by Anya Summers
"Okay, ciao. My portfolio should be in your inbox. Oh, and don't do anything I wouldn't do."
Laughing at Elise's comment, it was usually their line for the other when they had a date, Kara said, "I won't. We'll have to have a girls' night when I get back."
"Absolutely, be safe." Elise hung up just as Kara opened the door and felt the breath whoosh from her lungs.
"Hey gorgeous, ready for this?" Chase stood outside her door and the only word her brain could come up with was 'yummy'. He still hadn't shaved his goatee and it shrouded his delectable lips making them more pronounced. Kara would have loved nothing more than to suck on his plump bottom lip. The curls of his thick midnight hair beckoned a woman's fingers, tempting her to see just how silky his hair was. His onyx eyes smoldered as they assessed her form.
Had there ever been a man of her acquaintance who wore a pair of jeans so well? They rode low on his lean hips and she stifled a groan. She couldn't be this attracted to her partner. Maybe she should find a distraction in Scotland. She'd heard they wore nothing under their kilts and were rather strapping in all the right areas. It wouldn't be a hardship to head to a local pub and have a sweaty bout of sex with a willing Scotsman to wrestle her hormones back into line.
"Yes, I am ready." She pointed to her luggage perched near the door.
His eyes widened when he spied her suitcases lined up. "Have you ever heard of packing light?"
She snorted. "Sweetie, this is me packing light. Let me grab my purse and we can go."
Kara switched off the lights, double checked that her passport was stowed in her purse, shouldered her computer bag, and then hefted two of her suitcases. The lighter ones, of course. Chase grabbed the other two that were packed with her Bridal Dreams samples. Damn things weighed a ton. She'd had to test them on her luggage scale and they both came in at forty-nine pounds apiece. Locking her door behind them, they descended the three flights of her walk up in Brooklyn.
Zeke stood outside underneath a canopy of fall foliage beside a sleek black limo, holding the back door open and talking on his cell. In the middle of the day her neighborhood was relatively quiet, for New York standards, anyway. There was always movement and hustle in this city. Kara loved her tree-lined street, especially at this time of year. All the leaves were bright orange and yellow, with a hint of frost tinging the air. Zeke smiled at her as she and Chase met the driver at the curb. He relieved them of her luggage and the three of them slid into the back of the limo. Chase went in first, she followed, and Zeke in his tailored slacks, looking very dapper for a long flight over the Atlantic, climbed in behind her.
Kara found herself smooshed between her partners. A long black limo, and they were all piled onto the back seat. She didn't want to be the rude one and ask for more space so she fastened her seatbelt. It was rather cozy being positioned between their large frames. Zeke was a good six feet tall, lengthy and lean like a swimmer. His broad shoulders brushed hers. Chase was a smidgeon shorter than Zeke at roughly five ten, but he had a stockier build, much more like a boxer. His thick thigh rested alongside her leg.
Zeke hung up his phone as the limo pulled away from the curb and they were speeding off toward JFK International Airport.
"Declan's fiancée is thrilled that we have agreed to come on board her last minute wedding. Did you have a chance to contact Elise?" Zeke inquired.
"But of course. She just returned my call before you two arrived. She emailed me her portfolio so I will have it to entice our bride-to-be with."
"Excellent. Declan provided me a bit more of the run down. He's fine with paying for the best, and to ensure it goes off without a hitch. He's set aside five million on the budget but said if more is needed, so be it. Exact words. The entire wedding and reception are all going to be at his manor home. His fiancée wants to use the music conservatory for the actual ceremony, then the grand ballroom for the reception."
The man had a manor home and a huge budget. Kara couldn't wait to plan this wedding. "It should make it so much easier to have it all in one place. The trick will be making the transition between the two rooms orderly and elegant." Kara thought over her mock-ups. There was one in particular that might serve them well.
"That where I come in," Chase injected. "I've thought about it, and once we view the space we will know whether it would work, but my thoughts were to create a path from the conservatory to the ballroom for the guests and bridal party. Depending on the type of theme she wants, I could design some Greek or Celtic style columns, string them with lights, and make it so the path between the music conservatory and the hall is partitioned from the rest of the manor."
"Have I told you lately just how brilliant you are? I knew there was a reason I agreed to this partnership. I had the exact same idea." Kara grinned at Chase.
Chase's lips landed on hers, his hands holding her face as he plundered her mouth. Shock radiated throughout her being as he skillfully thrust his tongue between her lips, stroking over her tongue in his ardent caress. Shock bleed into need and her lips and body responded, kissing him in return as he possessed her mouth.
She was in heaven. Chase's mouth erotically teased her lips, nipping them open wider so he could plunge inside her depths. The short stubble above his lip grated against her upper lip. The abrasion burned, sending waves of desire pulsating in her body. This was what had been missing from her life lately, unabashed passion. She lost herself in his kiss, tasting him, running her tongue over his. He tasted like whipped cream and caramel coffee, and she wanted to drown in him. She sighed against his lips as the reality of his kiss exceeded her wildest dreams.
A large hand cupped her right breast, Kara groaned as the firm hand kneaded her flesh through the fabric of her top, brushing her jacket aside. Then a warm mouth replaced the caressing hand, closing over the puckered tip and sucking her nipple through the fabric of her top and bra. Awareness zapped her brain. It was Zeke's mouth on her breast. When he rolled her nipple in his tongue, biting the turgid peak through the material, the sharp pleasure made her stiffen. She pushed at Zeke and Chase, shoving them away from her, unbuckled her seatbelt and scrambled out of the seat to the other side so that she was facing her partners.
Her breathing rasped in her lungs as she drew a shuddered breath. Kara battled back the desire thrumming in her system and stared in bewilderment at her partners. Her breast still tingled from Zeke's mouth, and her lips were on fire from Chase's stubble. And, god help her, a part of her wanted to sink back into their embrace and see where it took them.
"What the hell was that?" she questioned them, her glare bouncing between the two men. Need churned in her belly and she fought the rising tide as her pulse pounded in her ears.
Chase had a pained expression on his face, while Zeke's face was an unreadable mask as he studied her. The air was charged with explosive potential. The usual camaraderie that existed between the three of them had transformed into startling need.
"Well?" she prodded. Her tumultuous emotions wouldn't allow her to back away from understanding why the game had so suddenly changed on her.
Zeke spoke first, taking the lead. "That, pet, was the first volley from us. We want you in our bed, Kara. You might know our tastes when it comes to sex are different."
"I knew you guys were a gay couple, but—"
Zeke sputtered. "I could see why you would think that, but we're not gay. We're what the BDSM world calls tops, we're Dominants who have found that we enjoy topping a woman together."
Chase interjected. "We've wanted you to be our sub for some time, Kara. We thought this trip would be the perfect place to see if you would give us a try."
They weren't gay! But she'd thought, she'd assumed, and had never thought to ask, thinking it was rude. Her defenses rose to Defcon 1 as she crossed her arms over her chest. The anger that came spewing forth did surprise her. "So you're not gay, and you want me to have sex with both of you. Gee, let me see, no. How's that for an answer?"
Chase's face fell at he
r caustic response and he leaned back against his seat. He seemed disheartened and deflated by her response. It made her want to hug him and bring his cheery disposition back. Which only served to irritate her further and she clenched her fingers into fists. Then there was Zeke. The bastard had the audacity to have a wicked grin on his face. She wanted to deck him, wipe the smugness from his face.
"Your lips say no, but your body is saying yes. I can see your pert nipples from here. Think about it, is all we are asking," Zeke murmured with a husky tenor to his voice that she'd never heard from him before.
The rampant desire in his gaze made her tremble. She wasn't prepared to deal with this in any way. "I cannot believe the two of you would want to throw our partnership away like this." Kara felt all of her dreams for her company, now their combined company, go up in puffs of smoke. A relationship would kill it. There was a reason why you kept your job and personal lives separate. Most relationships were hard enough, even before you threw in working together. She could imagine them getting into a spat and it totally disrupting a client meeting. It didn't matter how professional you were, when you mixed the two, you were asking for it, in her book.
"No one is throwing anything away. No matter what you decide, we will still be your partners. Just think about it and give us your answer when we arrive in Scotland," Zeke replied, his voice firm. It almost sounded like he was giving her an order.
Feeling cornered with her back against the wall, she had a retort on the tip of her tongue, one with a spate of four letter expletives coloring her vocabulary which would give her asshole partners a response they would never forget, when the driver opened the side door and the noise of JFK International Airport streamed inside the small compartment. Both men seemed to relax as the din made any vehement response on her part ill-advised. She wouldn't want to alarm security before an international flight just because her partners were jack-asses.
"Let's get this trip over with," Kara muttered, cursing her own damn luck. Gathering her purse, she waited for them to exit the vehicle before she did. She didn't want them touching her. In part, because she was afraid of what she might do.
"Not until you answer me, Kara." Zeke stared her down. The bastard would do it, too. Was it any wonder she'd been so attracted to him, he was a freaking Dom, and right now he was acting like it. She'd always had a thing for Doms. It was why she had flirted with the lifestyle in college—but his attitude was also one of the reasons she'd stopped her little foray.
"Fine, I will think about it. Happy now?" She was shaking she was so furious. Rather than get into a physical altercation and wind up with a court date instead of a wedding to catapult her company into the stratosphere, she crossed her arms in front of her, if only to keep from launching herself across the limo and doing him bodily harm.
"It'll do for now." Zeke nodded and exited the limo, confident in his movements.
"Kara," Chase began, looking more dejected than she'd ever seen him. Her heart squeezed. Why the hell had he gone and changed the game on her like that? It didn't help that her stupid hormones had loved his kisses.
"Later, I'm not discussing this right now. We have a plane to catch."
He bowed his head, acknowledging her wishes, and climbed from the limo. She scooted back over to the exit. Ignoring Zeke's outstretched hand; she left the limo feeling betrayed.
Kara spent the next two hours avoiding them and the situation in the limo entirely, pretending she was an ostrich. She was too infuriated to respond with anything more than yes or no answers anyway. Lucky for them, her partners seemed to understand that she needed the space, and cut her a wide berth. It gave her room she needed to breathe and mull over her options. So she sat with her laptop, responding to emails from some of her clients. She already had a spate of spring weddings lined up for next year, but the real busy season didn't begin until after all the holidays.
By the time they boarded the Aer Lingus 757 and found their seats in business class, she'd wrapped up her emails and had a firm idea of how she would approach Miss Zoey Mills. Thankfully, she was seated apart from Zeke and Chase, which would give her a chance to contemplate the events in the limo. The business class seats were spacious. She had a whole row to herself, with Zeke and Chase in the row across from her.
The most startling revelation from everything this afternoon was that they weren't gay. She could have sworn on any number of bibles that they were. That little nugget of a belief had given her an excuse to calm her own sensibilities when she'd found herself daydreaming about either of them in rather erotic situations. But in all her fantasies, the one she'd had on more than one occasion had been her imaging what it would be like joining in their bedroom antics. It had been purely fantasy on her part, the idea of being with two men at once, but never something in a million years she thought could actually occur.
She'd dabbled in BDSM in college in Florida. Kara enjoyed the bondage, enjoyed the freedom it gave her, but she'd never in all her years experienced two men at once. Oh, she'd fantasized about it. She had even witnessed a ménage scene a time or two at the club she'd attended in college and had thought it was one of the most erotic things she'd ever seen. So she understood exactly what they had meant by tops. The fact that they liked to top a sub together made her blood simmer and her sex pulse in ardent anticipation. The memory of Chase's lips firm over hers, and Zeke's mouth over her breast, made her sex throb in need.
They wanted her to be that sub, their sub. She wasn't going to lie, she was tempted. Tempted to discover how blissfully thrilling it could be to have two men love her at once. And to have it be Chase and Zeke, sweet merciful heaven, her pulse spiked just considering it.
Which was crazy! The fact that she was actually contemplating throwing caution to the wind and taking them up on their offer was asinine. What about their company? Inter-office relations were one of the worst ideas they could possibly come up with. It was paramount that they keep the relationships platonic.
She squirmed in her seat when dinner was served, and tried to put the thoughts of what could have happened if she'd hadn't thrown on the emergency brake in the limo out of her mind. She tried to immerse herself in the onboard movie playing. It was one of those superhero films that had become all the rage lately. As much as she loved action flicks, it couldn't sidetrack her brain from veering back to her partners' scandalous, yet thoroughly tantalizing, offer.
Kara didn't know what she should do about it, about them. Did she desire them? She blew out a breath. That was a no-brainer. Zeke and Chase were two of the sexiest men she'd ever had the good grace to know. So did she want them? Holy moly, did she ever! Would it be a good idea to start any type of physical relationship with her partners? Absolutely not, probably one of—if not the worst—idea to pop into her head in a decade. It could only spell disaster for Bridal Dreams. She'd worked too hard to accomplish the foothold she had in the wedding planning industry, and indiscretions like that could tank her career faster than bridesmaids hooked up with groomsmen at a reception.
What were they thinking? Making her a proposition like that.
And then she remembered the delicious feel of Chase's lips on hers. The grazing of his goatee against her lips, how seductive he tasted, and how it had made her want to crawl inside him. The need had been so stark, and vivid; she'd felt that kiss all the way to the center of her being. The feel of Zeke's mouth on her breast had made her eyes roll back with pleasure. Need had slammed her system when he rolled her nipple between his teeth. If the pleasure hadn't been so intense and startling, she may not have stopped them.
It had felt natural to kiss Chase back. And secretly, she'd yearned for him and for Zeke. Most of her anger wasn't even directed at them, but at herself for being so weak and needy. How could she have misread their signals so poorly? The air had always seemed charged whenever the three of them were together, but Kara had ruled it out as the sexual tension the two men had toward each other and figured she'd just happened to be an innocent bystander caught in
the crux of their passionate electricity. Granted, each one had sent her smoldering glances, but like a moron she had just written it off as misdirected or misread on her part. Then felt ashamed for her naughty thoughts about her partners.
When the movie didn't work to sidetrack her obsessive mental energy, Kara reclined in her seat, opting for the oblivion of sleep instead of superheroes saving the world. At least in sleep, she could ignore the decision she faced once they landed on Scottish soil. She'd never known Zeke to back down from anyone or anything. He was like a dog with a bone, that one, and would pester her until she gave them an answer.
What if she said yes? Then what? How would it affect their partnership? If she said no, how could they go back to the way things were? She felt like a rat in a maze; that no matter what option she chose, the relationship she had with her partners would never go back to the way it had been. She felt the loss of it keenly. Kara had begun counting on them. She'd known them for years as they had maneuvered in the same business circles and had forged a pseudo partnership over time. When she planned a wedding, she automatically had suggested Zeke as the head chef caterer and Chase for any design and architectural additions when needed. So their forming a conglomerate enterprise had made sense over a month ago. And now? She just didn't know what to make of their relationship.
Between one breath and the next, she slid into a restless sleep. Shadowed images of bodies entwined in ecstasy invaded her dreams.
Chapter 3
They arrived at Mullardoch Manor just as the sun was cresting the eastern horizon. The home, the land surrounding it, was breathtaking as far as Kara was concerned. Rolling green hills spliced with rough-hewn mountains that speared the sky with their starkness. Mullardoch Manor blended with the land it was upon. And it wasn't just a manor, but a freaking castle. If she weren't so tired, she'd dance a jig. A million ideas swirled in her exhausted brain as they entered the front door. The possibilities for creating a once-in-a-lifetime wedding were endless with this place, from the grand staircase to the crystal chandeliers and beyond, she was certain. More tired than she could ever remember, she hid her yawn as the introductions were made in the grand foyer.
