by Zara Chase
“Sure it is, but you need to address your concerns to Washington. Those people in Fort Lauderdale have to manage their budgets the best they can or they’ll find themselves out of work. That’s why they were so defensive.”
She expelled a long sigh. “I know, but I get so frustrated when no one takes responsibility or tries to do something about it. All they ever do is defend their own little patch and pass the buck.”
God, she was irresistible when her passions were roused. Her eyes sparked with fiery determination, her breasts strained against the fabric of her top and she… Shit, keeping his hands off her was going to be harder than he’d thought.
“Ready when you are,” Bryce called up the stairs.
And not a moment too soon.
“Come on, babe, let’s not keep the maestro waiting.”
Jared felt mildly euphoric when he took her hand and she didn’t snatch it back. His fingers closed around her warm palm as he led her down the stairs, into Bryce’s inner sanctum.
“Oh!” she gasped as she stepped into the windowless room. “This is…er, atmospheric.”
“That’s the idea,” Bryce said, standing back and watching her. “Take your things off, darlin’, and we’ll get started.”
* * * *
Panic welled inside Caitlyn. Did they really expect her to get naked? And did Jared plan to hang around and watch? Part of her wanted him to. Her body wasn’t spectacular, but she wasn’t ashamed of it, either. She had never forgotten Jared following their brief public exchange in Fort Lauderdale. There was just something about him that stuck in her memory, some gravitational pull that made her want to argue with him, even though they appeared to be on the same side. Obviously, he was good-looking, but she hoped she wasn’t so shallow that his appearance influenced her thinking. A man with a decent brain was as much of a turn-on for her as a handsome face. That elusive something that he possessed—the lazy charm and probing insight—stoked her internal fires. Now that she had two of them for the price of one, those fires were in danger of raging out of control.
When she realized the turn her thoughts had taken, it brought her up short. Between them they’d already distracted her from the danger she was in. Worse, she hadn’t given Mia a second thought for the past half hour. What sort of mentor did that make her?
With a reckless shrug, Caitlyn returned her mind to her first meeting with Jared. She’d heard a lot of her fellow delegates speculating about his availability and had tried not to feel jealous. She’d been thinking about approaching him when the session broke up, but the moment it did he was completely surrounded, mostly by women, and she had no intention of adding to their number. Besides, there was somewhere else she had needed to be and she was short on time.
Now they’d met again under the most bizarre circumstances, like it was supposed to be. Caitlyn was a great believer in fate. She never would have gotten through her crummy childhood if she didn’t have a strong sense of karma—cause and effect, or whatever—and she firmly believed that everything happened for a reason. She was here, in a place where she couldn’t breathe the frigging air, in a house with two gorgeous men, one of whom was offering to give her a massage, both of whom appeared ready to fight her corner, when she was a complete stranger to them. Was she insane, surrendering control to them?
Before she could decide, she’d already started to remove her clothes.
All of them.
She felt two pairs of eyes boring into her naked body as she climbed onto the massage table like displaying her naked body to them was no big deal. Her confidence left her, and she wished they’d say something to reassure her. When they didn’t, she quickly lay face down and concentrated on regulating her breathing. The scent of eucalyptus aromatherapy candles assailed her nostrils, and the soft background music gradually soothed her. She heard a sharp intake of breath from both men, and although she couldn’t see their expressions it suddenly felt as though the power in the situation had shifted her way.
“Comfortable?” Bryce asked.
“Hmm.”
She felt warm oil trickle over the base of her spine and then a finger-light touch rubbing it in, slowly, rhythmically. Bryce’s actions quickly sent her into sensory overload, which was when she started to question the wisdom of agreeing to this. Caitlyn felt as though she’d lost control of her own body, and she hated to be out of control. Already her nipples had solidified, tingling exhilaration streaked through her, and her throbbing pussy reminded her that it didn’t like being neglected. She’d have to be dead for it not to be that way. She was naked in front of two strangers. One almost-naked stranger was using his hands on erogenous zones she didn’t even know she possessed, and she could feel the eyes of the second almost-naked stranger burning into her back. If that wasn’t a cause for arousal then she didn’t know what was.
It was the most erotic feeling imaginable. Caitlyn felt liberated, having shed her inhibitions along with her clothes. Brazenly she opened her legs so they’d see the liquid trickling down the inside of her thighs—liquid that had nothing to do with warm massage oil covering the rest of her body.
“Fuck!” she heard Jared mutter.
“Something wrong?” she asked lazily.
“I was about to ask you the same question,” Jared replied.
She sensed him standing up and walking to one side of the table—the side to which she’d turned her face. She opened one eye and almost elevated from the table. He was buck naked—magnificently so—and sporting the biggest, thickest erection she’d ever seen in her entire life.
“Damn, I’m good.” Bryce chuckled. “I’ve got you both on the brink and I haven’t laid a hand on Jared.”
“Make that all three of us on the brink,” Jared said with a soft laugh.
Hell, don’t tell me Bryce is naked, too.
“The purpose of this massage,” Bryce said in a hypnotic cadence, running his hands along the insides of Caitlyn’s arms until she squirmed with pleasure, “is to help you obtain peak levels of arousal and remain there for an extended period of time. I do that by focusing on your pleasure centers.”
“Is this how you treat all your clients, or am I getting the deluxe program?”
“Have I found your pleasure centers yet, Caitlyn, or do I need to delve deeper?”
She mumbled something that was intended to be incoherent. He knew damned well what he was doing to her, and she’d die if he stopped. Even so, he didn’t need to hear her say it. She gasped when the tenor of his ministrations changed. Something hot and soft worked its way up her inner thigh. Instinctively she spread her legs and allowed it easier access to her pussy.
“A heated massage pad,” Bryce told her. “You like?”
“Hmm.”
A small squeal of protest slipped past her lips when the massage pad retreated and was reapplied to the cheeks of her butt. Her disappointment was quelled when more oil seeped between her ass cheeks and slid down, tantalizingly close to her aching nub. She bit her lip to prevent herself from begging. She needed to come, and she needed to come now, with or without his help. She could feel it building deep inside her, close and yet frustratingly just out of reach.
Although Bryce was the masseur, she sensed that Jared was somehow directing operations, and if he didn’t let her come soon then she’d take matters into her own hands—literally. She ought to know how. She’d had enough practice. All the stress of the previous day was now at a boiling point inside her head. An orgasm, just one measly little orgasm, would clear the fog from her brain. She just knew it would. Surely that wasn’t asking too much?
“Turn over, darlin’.” Bryce slapped her rear. “Time to do the rest of you.”
This was the part Caitlyn had been concerned about. She’d known they would ask but hadn’t been able to decide if she was ready to give them the full-frontal view. The moment the order left Bryce’s lips, Caitlyn turned over with a speed that defied belief. So much for being shy! She couldn’t quite bring herself to look at them yet bu
t heard both men suck in deep breaths when they looked at her. Hopefully she didn’t disappoint. She opened her eyes and found a man with a huge erection standing on either side of the table, staring down at her with concern in their expressions, like they really cared about her.
“Feeling better yet?” Bryce asked.
It definitely wouldn’t be in her best interests to lie. “Not exactly.”
“What’s missing?”
Like you don’t know! “Argh!” she cried when he touched one breast and gently massaged. Red-hot heat surged through her that had nothing to do with the warmth of his skilled hands.
“You like that?” He tweaked the nipple. “You want Jared to help out with the other one?”
“Yes,” she said, panting, no longer caring about her dignity or the fact that she was on the brink of begging.
“Well, I’ll be happy to help,” Jared said, “but I don’t have the same skill as Bryce. You’ll have to tell me if I get it wrong.”
His touch was different. Harder, more purposeful, and more direct. Jared Carlton was clearly a man who knew what he wanted from life and went straight for it. Caitlyn wasn’t complaining when he homed in on her right nipple and pinched it hard. Bryce continued to administer soft, teasing touches to its partner, and Caitlyn experienced a deeply disturbing jolt as a result of their differing approaches.
This was no longer a massage, and neither man was pretending otherwise. Jared’s handsome features hovered above hers as he closed the distance between them and claimed her lips in a drugging kiss. Caitlyn responded with indecent haste, their tongues tangling in an exotic dance with no formal steps as sensation assailed her from all angles. Her breathing fractured beneath his firm lips as surging tides of emotion rocked her body. She so deserved this after everything she’d been through, and surrendered herself to their capable hands without thought for the consequences.
The hell with deserving it, she thought as Jared deepened the kiss. She absolutely needed it!
Both men continued to massage her breasts as Jared’s lips remained fused with hers. Lights danced behind her closed eyes as the vortex of desire building inside her reached a boiling point. She snatched her lips away from Jared’s, lifted her hips and spread her legs.
“Please!”
She had a horrible feeling that they might refuse and continue to tease her. She noticed them exchange a glance and expelled a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding when Jared nodded.
“Slide down the bed,” he said in a gruff tone.
As soon as she’d done so, Jared stood between her legs and brushed the tip of his erection against her throbbing pussy. Caitlyn cried out, that one small contact almost enough to send her over the edge. Jared flashed an annoyingly smug smile.
“I told you he was good. He’s really got you thinking about your own needs for a change, hasn’t he?”
“Jared!”
He chuckled. “Okay, babe. I hear you.”
With annoying slowness, he lowered his head and fed upon her sopping cunt. Parting her slick folds with his tongue, he delved inside and then retracted to flick it across her nub. He grazed her vulva with a delicate touch that sent shivers down her spine.
“Oh yes!”
Was that her? Did she just cry out those words? Caitlyn was self-contained and never let her emotions rule her head. These guys had clearly picked up on that and were out to prove some obscure point.
Fine, guys, have it your way.
“We’re many things, babe,” Bryce said in a seductive done. “But ill-cliterate ain’t one of them.”
Caitlyn barely heard him since what Jared was doing to her blew her mind and claimed her complete attention. He certainly knew a ton of stuff about cunnilingus. Damn, his tongue was a lethal weapon, sweeping between her clit and perineal nerve, driving her wild. It was good, wonderful, but not enough.
“You,” she said, thrashing her head from side to side. “I need you inside me. Please, Jared.”
“Later,” he said. “We have plenty of time. This’ll take the edge off.”
Caitlyn was too aroused to care about the rejection. They wanted her but obviously didn’t want to fuck her. What sort of man would resist such an invitation, especially men as aroused as they were? She ceased to care when Jared’s lips fastened themselves on her nub and sucked. Hard. She cried out when several of his fingers disappeared inside her and started to move. All she could think about now was the climax building momentum like a tidal wave. Unstoppable. Inevitable. Threatening to shake off the shackles of her recent traumas and remind her how it felt to be truly alive.
Caitlyn’s hips moved in time with his fingers and lips. Her mind lost focus as blood pounded through her ears, anticipation shook her limbs, and fire lanced through her veins in unstoppable waves.
“Let it go, darlin’,” Jared said in a soft, persuasive tone. “You need this.”
She groaned, writhing as Bryce leaned in to kiss her. His lips captured her scream as her orgasm hit, threatening serious damage to her spinal column as she thrashed against it and was transported to oblivion.
“Better?” Jared asked when she finally stopped pulsating and opened her eyes.
“Much,” she said, waiting for embarrassment that didn’t manifest itself. “That was unlike any massage I’ve ever had before.”
“Glad to be of service,” Bryce said, wiping the hair away from her brow.
“Let’s get you up to the shower, darlin’,” Jared said, swinging her into his arms and kicking the door open. “Then we need to get across to the Cat’s Whiskers.”
“Er, what about you guys?” she asked. “It doesn’t seem fair—”
“We’re good for now,” Jared replied.
“Oh.” She wasn’t sure what to make of that. “What’s this Cat’s Whiskers?”
“The bar across the street. Rafe runs it, and he has news for us about your mystery policeman.”
Still not entirely back to earth after her mind-blowing orgasm, Caitlyn didn’t have the energy to ask him how he could possibly know that.
Chapter Six
“It’s only just across the street,” Jared said when Caitlyn reemerged from the shower. “Think you can walk it? If not, we can get a golf cart.”
She felt distracted, unsure how to behave after what she’d just let them do to her. The guys were being friendly, like it was no big deal. But to Caitlyn it was. She didn’t do casual sex, but if either one of them had wanted to fuck her, all that would have changed in a heartbeat. Come to think of it, hadn’t she actually suggested getting it on? Make that begged them for it. Her face heated at the memory. She’d never before felt such abandon, so unselfconscious, so determined to go after what she wanted.
What did that say about her?
Presumably her desperation had been a massive turn-off for them because they’d both been aroused but didn’t want to take things further. Instead they’d given her oral sex, just to be kind. Humiliation swamped her senses, but she pushed her shoulders back and refused to let it show. What was done was done. She wouldn’t put herself in that situation again, but until she decided where to go, she had to interact with the guys. If they could be casual about it, so could she.
“If other people can manage, I guess I can,” she said in answer to Jared’s question.
“We’ll be there to catch you if it gets to be too much.” Bryce opened the front door. “Ready?”
Marvin shot out ahead of them, tail erect, and stalked regally across the street as though he already knew where they were going.
“He doesn’t seem to have a problem,” Caitlyn said, gasping as soon as she stepped outside, feeling like her lungs had been caught in a vise.
“Kids and animals don’t.” Jared took her hand and slipped it through the crook of his arm. “Just take it easy, get as much air into your lungs as you can, and let it out slowly. Can you do that for me?”
“I think so.”
“This is a mistake,” Jared said after she’
d taken a couple of steps and had to stop to catch her breath. “We shouldn’t be subjecting you to these conditions when you haven’t had a chance to recover from your near-death experience.”
“It’ll be okay… Oh!”
Jared swept her from the ground and into his arms. He strode across the road with her cradled against the solid wall of his chest, still struggling to breathe. Only when he’d pushed through the swing doors into the Cat’s Whiskers did he put her back on her feet.
“Thanks,” she said, still gasping. “I can breathe better in here.”
“Come and meet some of the gang.”
Jared led the way into an attractive open bar with a nice view over the Intracoastal. The remnants of what was presumably the breakfast crowd lingered over coffee and newspapers. Jared and Bryce seemed to know everyone by name, and greetings were exchanged. An obviously pregnant lady stepped out from behind the bar and received a kiss on the cheek from both Jared and Bryce.
“Hey,” she said. “This must be Caitlyn.”
“It sure is,” Bryce replied. “Caitlyn, meet Chantal. She’s Rafe’s partner.”
“Nice to meet you,” Caitlyn said, shaking hands. “Apart from the air, this is a real nice part of the world.”
Chantal laughed. “You’ll get used to it.”
“I won’t be here that long.”
Chantal smiled, like she knew something Caitlyn didn’t. “Let’s get some coffee and have a chat. I think Rafe’s waiting for a word with the guys upstairs.”
“I’d like to be included.”
“We’ll come right back for you, honey,” Jared said.
Before she could protest they’d left the bar, moving with the same lithe grace that had so fascinated her about Jared when she’d first met him in Fort Lauderdale. Everything both he and Bryce did seemed to be underlined by agile coordination that somehow blended with their not-entirely-civilized male auras.
“Are all the men around here that dictatorial?” she asked, peeved when they just seemed to assume that she’d let them sort her problems without any input from her.
