“Just don’t hurt her,” Mercy paused, reached for a muffin before meeting his gaze once again, “Or him.”
Grant swallowed hard. How the hell… Was it that fucking obvious?
He didn’t get a chance to ask Mercy that question because she turned and sauntered away, saying good morning to the handful of guests who’d trickled in before the sun was fully up in the sky.
Scared that someone else was going to question him and ultimately know that he’d spent the night with Lane and Gracie, Grant took the plate and made a beeline for the back door.
□●□●□●□
Grace woke up with a warm body snuggled up against her back. She didn’t move immediately, instead opened her eyes and looked at the door that led to the living room.
She knew where she was. And she knew who was there. Through the night, she’d become familiar enough with both Lane and Grant that she could tell the difference in their touch. It was strange, but oddly comforting at the same time.
Oh, yes, she knew without a doubt that she was hopelessly in love with both men. Over the moon. But that hadn’t stopped the fear from taking control of her mind. What were people going to think? This was her family’s ranch. Lane and Grant worked for her father. And her father had made a point over the years to repeatedly warn the cowboys away from his daughters.
Not that the cowboys listened. Grace happened to know for a fact that her sisters had been intimately involved with at least one man who worked on the ranch at some point. And now, she knew that there were a couple of cowboys sniffing around her sisters again.
As she lay there, her hands resting on Lane’s arm that was wrapped around her, she looked up to see Grant now standing in the doorway. She hadn’t even realized he was gone, but yes, there he was in all of his handsome glory. He looked… sad.
“What’s the matter?” she whispered, hoping not to wake Lane.
Too late.
He stirred behind her, his arm pulling her closer to him while he lifted his head from the pillow they were sharing. “You ok?” he asked Grant.
Grant nodded as he moved into the room, quickly shunning his clothes as he moved toward them.
Once he was naked, he crawled into the bed facing Grace, sandwiching her between them.
“I’ve never been better,” he told them.
Why didn’t she believe him?
Afraid of ruining the moment, Grace didn’t ask the inevitable question. She just stared back at him. For now, this was going to be all right. The rest of the world was safely locked outside and she could enjoy the warmth of these two men for the today and maybe tomorrow.
And Monday, she’d worry about that then.
Because until they had to face the harsh realities of the real world, nothing else mattered.
□●□●□●□
Lane felt the tension in the air around him. He could see it in the way Grant moved, in the way he looked at them. Fear was already setting in.
He fully understood that fear. Fear of what tomorrow would bring. Fear that they’d lose this moment and never recapture it.
Last night had been perfect. In fact, it had been so incredible that when they found each other in the early morning hours, he’d been so overcome with emotion that he’d had to sit back and claim to only want to watch. These two moved him in ways he never expected.
Well, actually he had expected it. From the moment he met them. Lane wasn’t one to fall in love easily, but he’d been in love – at least a little bit – with both of them for so long that this just felt normal. But it wasn’t normal. At least not by everyone’s standards and he knew that’s what Grant was worried about. He could see it in the man’s stormy blue eyes.
Grant was thinking too much.
Wanting to erase the shadows he saw in Grant’s eyes, Lane willed him to look at him. And almost as though he could feel his request, Grant looked away from Gracie and up at him.
“I love you,” Lane said, putting it all out there. “I love you both.”
“I –” they both said simultaneously.
“No, wait,” Lane interrupted. “I’m not asking you to say anything back. I just needed you both to know. It’s true. It’s always been true.” Lane hated that his emotions were getting the best of him, but he forced himself to continue. “I don’t want this to end. Ever. But, I’m not naïve enough to think it won’t be hard. I just want you both to know that it can be done. If we want it enough, it can be done.”
Neither of them spoke, but Gracie shifted so that she was looking up at them. There were tears in her eyes and Lane leaned down and pressed his lips to hers.
“I want it enough,” she told him, a mere whisper against his lips.
Lane lifted his head and met Grant’s eyes. He didn’t speak, but he nodded his head.
And right then and there, Lane knew that they could make this work. They would make it work.
There were a few obstacles that they would need to overcome first. It was just going to take some time.
And he was all right with that because he had all the time in the world. And loving both of them would only make that time pass much more easily.
The End
Dear reader,
I hope you enjoyed the introduction to the sweet, sultry Lambert sisters and the sexy cowboys they love. Don’t worry; there’ll be plenty more of Lane, Grant and Gracie in book 1 of the Dead Heat Ranch series coming later in 2014.
About the Author
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Nicole Edwards lives in Austin, Texas with her husband, their three kids, and four rambunctious dogs. When she’s not writing about sexy alpha males, Nicole can often be found with her Kindle in hand or making an attempt to keep the dogs happy. You can find her hanging out on Facebook and interacting with her readers - even when she’s supposed to be writing
Additional Books by Nicole Edwards
The Club Destiny Series:
Conviction
Temptation
Addicted
Seduction
Infatuation
Captivated
Devotion
Perception
Entrusted
The Alluring Indulgence Series:
Kaleb
Zane
Travis
Holidays with the Walker Brothers
Ethan
The Devil’s Bend Series:
Chasing Dreams
The Dead Heat Ranch Series:
Boots Optional
Nicole would love to hear from you:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NicoleEAuthor
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Author.Nicole.Edwards
Website: www.nicoleedwardsauthor.com
And don’t forget to sign up for Nicole’s monthly newsletter on her website or on Facebook.
Shameless
By
Cherrie Lynn
Copyright © Cherrie Lynn, 2014
All rights reserved.
Chapter One
Meredith Taylor was deep into her third beer when the moaning started.
She narrowly avoided choking on the gulp she’d just taken and wondered if she’d really heard what she thought she’d heard. Seven stories below and perhaps fifty yards in front of her, the Gulf of Mexico was a flat black oblivion in the night, but even with the unrelenting white noise of the waves washing ashore, the sounds of pleasure were unmistakable.
Someone on one of the balconies above her was getting it on. Or they were about to.
Meri set her beer down on the table beside her and stared wide-eyed at the ocean with blind concentration, straining her ears. Ordinarily, she would think of herself as a moral person, one who would, under normal circumstances, discreetly excuse herself and allow the couple above to carry on with their carnal activities without worry for a secret audience. It was after two in the morning, after all—they probably hadn’t counted on anyone being awake and watching waves nearby.
But Meri had muted that inner mo
ral person with more than her usual dose of alcohol. So fuck that. She stood, moved to the railing, and silently cursed the incessant wind for its rushing in her ears. Or maybe that was her buzz. Or whatever.
Even with it, though, she could hear clearly enough.
“Oh, God,” a feminine voice purred from above.
Yeah, yeah, Meri thought. You gotta do better than that, honey. Give me something to work with here. She smirked to herself, turning and leaning her back against the railing. Hopefully it wouldn’t give with her weight...she could just see the headlines now: Vacationer Falls to Her Death During Voyeuristic Acrobatics. Were you a voyeur if you could only hear the sexual encounter? She made a mental note to Google that later. God, sexual frustration had turned her into a perv.
More moaning. Male and female. He sounded kind of hot, which was good. The last guy she’d been with—she refused to allow herself to think about how long ago that had been—practically sounded like a woman when he came. That was a thing with her now...she loved manly male voices. Rich, deep, dark, shivery male voices. Since that incident, she judged each and every voice she heard from a potential suitor on its likelihood of sounding like a dying cat in the throes of passion. The one above her now...zero percent chance. In fact, she could close her eyes and imagine that murmuring voice in her own ear, hot breath tickling there, hot fingers trailing down her neck, her breast, to tease her nipple into aching attention... and she didn’t even have a face to put with it.
But that was the beauty of the situation, wasn’t it? He could be anyone she wanted him to be.
Cameron’s face floated through her thoughts, never an image to be muted by alcohol. God forbid she have any respite from that one; even on this trip, Cameron Moore was an ever-present fixture. As her brother Dane’s lifelong best friend, he’d been that fixture further back than her memory could reach.
She didn’t want to think about him.
Except for a murmur here and there, she couldn’t hear much anymore. What were they doing now? Was he inside her yet? Maybe they were only in the foreplay part of their lovemaking session. Meri imagined clothes being pushed aside for teases and kisses and caresses. The woman still mewled her approval of whatever he was doing to her, but her sounds weren’t the staccato moans of fucking. No, they were still playing, by Meri’s guess, not having made it to the good stuff yet.
Long-term couple or onetime hook-up, they were lucky. Meri swigged her beer and stared sightlessly at the patio door leading into her bedroom. They weren’t out here alone in the middle of the night, letting the waves lull them into a melancholy that really had no place on a fun-filled, friend-packed summer vacation at the beach. But insomnia was a familiar if unwelcome companion of hers, no matter the occasion. And she’d figured it would be better to stare at the waves than the ceiling above her bed. And maybe a little self-medication wouldn’t be unheard of, hence the beer. Who knew she’d have some unsuspecting company?
Despite not wanting to think about Cam, he invaded Meredith’s thoughts anyway. It was a vicious cycle. Having been friends with her brother for so long, her brother with whom she was very close, Cam was simply always there. In just about every conversation, at every get-together, and now, this summer at least, on vacation too. The man was inescapable.
But who’d want to escape that? He was built like a god. A personal trainer, he all but lived at the gym. Tattoos meandered down his shredded arms and torso. Dear God, she kept up her gym membership just to be able to ogle him, and he often stopped by as she huffed it on the elliptical to chat or give advice or convince her to let him train her.
She always turned him down. He would probably kill her.
Okay, so she had a crush on the guy. It wasn’t a big deal. She’d always kept him at arm’s length, but sometimes gave in to temptation and let her darkest fantasies out to play. Fantasies starring Cameron Moore. He was hot; who could blame her?
And why did her thoughts keep going to him and not to the goings-on above?
“Yes. Oh, yes, baby.” That was distinct; the woman again. Then, two long, loud moans harmonized and stole Meri’s breath away. Oh. If he wasn’t in her before, he’s in her now. Sliding in slowly, by the sounds of it, savoring it, making her feel every inch. And judging by the woman’s little cries of “More, more, oh, God, more!” there were many thick inches to feel. Jesus. Meri swiped at a trickle of sweat at her temple, then trailed her cold beer bottle down the side of her neck. It left a shivery trail in the sticky summer heat clinging to her body.
Her thighs trembled. Those sounds…the man…his rough, primal groaning, his growling, more groaning, damn, his dirty-sweet sex talk. She couldn’t actually decipher any of his talk, but it had to be dirty and sweet. She would not allow herself to believe otherwise. She caught a few of his guttural curses, though, and her knees grew so weak she dropped into one of the chairs and crushed her thighs together, unsure if she was trying to encourage the building ache between them or fight it. It just seemed so…so wrong, so naughty, to get off on someone else’s pleasure when they didn’t even know she was there.
But she couldn’t leave. Couldn’t stop listening. Had she no damn shame?
Just one time, she thought desperately, be wrong. Be naughty. Her body didn’t need any encouragement; her pussy clenched regardless of her permission. With every sound that guy uttered, it clenched harder.
Hell, it seemed the hottest sex she’d ever had was someone else’s. She didn’t think she’d ever been this responsive, not with the three lovers she’d taken in her life. Not with their flesh-and-blood hands on her. But these hands, these phantom hands she only imagined, that disjointed male voice coming from above…oh, God. Her blood felt like thick lava in her veins, and it was pooling, weighing her down in her pussy and her nipples and a few other erogenous zones she hadn’t known she had. Even her mouth felt numb and tingly; she tasted something sweet and forbidden at the back of her throat and swept her tongue across her needy lips.
Her hand trailed down the thin cami she wore, noting how tight and peaked her nipples were, down further, toward her boxer shorts. Inside, she was so wet.
Should she? No. She shouldn’t.
But she was so wet. So needing to feel what that girl was feeling, even though her hand would be a poor substitute.
She parted her legs.
Would she let someone fuck her out here where anyone could hear? Would she even want that, knowing there were creeps like her around? Listening, invading her and her lover’s privacy, getting hot, getting themselves off to her pleasure…
Would she let Cameron, if he ever decided to show the slightest bit of sexual interest in her?
Meri opened her eyes, not even realizing she’d closed them. Her fingers brushed her thigh and, imagining it was Cam’s fingers, that small contact sent a jolt through her. The waves went on forever out on the beach, oblivious to her moral quagmire. Her sharp arousal. The Gulf was as black as Cameron’s hair. The sky was as dark as his eyes—the sky, yes, because of the stars, because she could swear that his eyes had lights in them…
She’d let him. The more she thought of it, the more certain she was.
The couple fucked on, the woman’s cries sharp and quick. Meri slid her fingers into her drenched panties. Talk to her. Talk to me. Let me hear you.
The rumble of the man’s voice reached her above the cacophony of the waves and her own pleasure, almost as if he had heard her thoughts. “Do you want to come?” A shiver went through Meri. Her pussy clenched helplessly. Yes. I want to come.
“Yes,” the girl pleaded. “Yes, make me come, make me come, make me come…” The chant died out, blown away by the wind. Did he have her against the wall? On the floor?
“The wall,” Meri whispered to herself. That’s how she would want it. Against the wall, because she’d never had it there. Cam could put her against the wall; he was definitely strong enough. Yes, he could put her back to the wall and fuck her silly, that hard, muscular ass pumping into her while she clu
ng helplessly to him. Like a ragdoll. Invaded. Overwhelmed. God, she wanted that. With someone who sounded like the man above her, not someone who caterwauled.
Her fingers slipped easily against her slick, swollen clit. Ohhh. Did the guy up there go down on his lady, by any chance? Out here with the wind and the waves and the moon and stars as witnesses, did he spread her open wide and lick and suck her? Was that what Meri had heard earlier? As her finger drew lazy circles on her clit, she dreamed of Cam’s mouth on it. Hot, wet, making her hotter and wetter. She would drip for him before he would take her. Yes.
This was so fucked up. But thinking it only made her burn more brightly. She wanted to bare her skin to the wind. She wanted to taste the salt of the ocean as the dark waters engulfed her naked body. She wanted the moon to cast her skin in silver light and black shadow.
And she wanted someone to share that with, to taste those shadows. It wasn’t so much to ask.
No longer lazy, no longer soft. She worked herself feverishly, building the ache, giving over to it, even allowing a whimper when the woman’s cries were high. Yes, he was getting her there. He was getting Meri there. So close. So close. Her pulse throbbed thickly throughout her entire body. Coming. The wave peaking, cresting, starting to curl deliciously in her belly…
“Cameron, oh, Cameron! Oh, yes, yes, yes…”
Meredith Taylor’s eyes shot open. Her orgasm burst inside her, wracking her with cruel, guilty pleasure, but her heart crashed and burned in a fiery death.
Cameron.
She’d been imagining him, but he’d really been there. Only not with her.
Chapter Two
“What’s wrong with you?”
For probably the millionth time in her life, Meredith wished she weren’t the sort of person whose emotions were written in big, glaring letters across her face. She might as well be an open book—hell, a window, wide open, no blinds. And there was nothing to be done for it despite all her efforts to change it.
Some Like It Hot: An Erotic Romance Anthology Page 15
