by Tara Rose
“That sounds like a cop-out to me.”
“You don’t understand. You don’t have Catholic Hispanic parents.”
Even before he was able to rein in his reaction, she realized what she’d just said. She reached out to touch his shoulder and the gesture sent shock waves of desire up and down his spine. “I’m so sorry, Trent. I don’t know why I said that. It was just a knee-jerk reaction. Forgive me.”
“No forgiveness necessary. I know you didn’t mean anything cruel by it. And you’re right, of course. They weren’t Catholic or Hispanic.”
The pain on her face nearly broke his heart, but at least he’d been right about her. There was good in this woman. A lot of it. But why was she so afraid to let others see that?
“I can’t imagine what you and Wyatt went through when they died.”
“It wasn’t easy.”
“They caught the driver of the truck, right? If I remember correctly? He’d been driving drunk.”
Trent nodded, amazed still that after sixteen years, the memory of that night was as fresh as if it had happened last week. “They caught him, but he almost got away with it. That was the incident that sparked Wyatt’s decision to go to law school, and mine to become a paramedic.”
Ria hugged herself, and he could almost see the shiver pass through her body. “Thank God you had each other. I’ve never had anyone close to me die tragically like that. All the people in my family who have died have done so because of old age.”
“It’s a different kind of experience to go through. It changes you.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“Not really. And I’m not saying that to be callous. We’re here to talk about you and Marisol.”
“I wasn’t trying to change the subject.”
“I know. And thank you for the offer. But back to you and your parents. You do realize, don’t you, that until you confront them and tell them how you feel, you won’t be able to approach Marisol.”
She sighed. “I know. Luke said that to me months ago. Rafe said it to me, back when he was still speaking to me. Bonnie and Leela have said it to me. Even Peppi told me that.”
“Then what’s stopping you?”
“I’m afraid of them.”
He bit his tongue so he wouldn’t laugh, because he knew she was being sincere. “What the worst thing that could happen?”
“They’d throw me out.”
“That’s it? That’s the worst thing?”
“Well, that and scream insults at me in two languages. But I’ve been there before, so yes. The worst thing would be that they’d make me move out of the apartment, and I wouldn’t be able to get my car fixed anymore.”
“Well, if that’s the worst thing, don’t worry about your car. I know people who can keep it running. And as for your living situation, I’d suggest you talk to Luke and Peppi as soon as possible and see if you can’t move into the apartment above the bar.”
She smiled. “You’ve just solved all my problems.”
He shook his head. “No. I’ve simply given you solutions that you already knew existed. The real work still has to come from you.”
“What if I can’t do it?”
“Ria, only you can decide what’s more important right now. You’re sitting here crying and in obvious pain over what’s happened during the past year. If you do nothing to change that, you can live in the apartment above your parents’ garage for the rest of your life, but that won’t make your discomfort right now any easier to bear. It will always be there. Always.”
She swiped at more tears and stared at him with so much intensity, he thought he would go out of his mind with the need to hold her and kiss away that look on her face. He’d never wanted any woman as much as he wanted her at that moment. Time stopped. There was only Ria, her big, dark eyes, and that look full of pain and lust in them.
He actually heard her swallow. “And then what? After I confront my parents and move out? What do I do next?”
“You talk to Marisol.”
“Do you believe I can do this?”
He placed his beer on the coffee table. “I wouldn’t be here with you right now if I didn’t.” Trent knew it was wrong. He knew it was the worst timing, and he knew it was playing with fire, but he couldn’t have stopped it even if he’d had to in order to save his life.
He pulled her close and held her for a few seconds. Her sharp intake of breath wasn’t from shock or revulsion. He knew that as sure as he knew that he was going to kiss her hair. It smelled like greasy burgers but he didn’t care. When he moved to her forehead, she moaned softly in the back of her throat and that did it. There was no way to stop it now.
He cupped her face and stared into her eyes, so full of trust and desire, and then he touched his lips to hers and kissed them.
Chapter Eight
Ria moaned loudly in the back of her throat as Trent’s lips moved over hers in ways she hadn’t expected. He tasted like beer, but she didn’t mind that. Fireworks exploded inside her head. Her pussy was soaked within seconds and her clit throbbed. She parted her lips, and Trent’s tongue moved inside to send her hormones into a raging mass of confusion and unbridled lust. Images of them both, naked and sweaty, filled her head.
She wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders and shifted into a kneeling position so that she could move closer to the rest of his body. When his hands grasped her hair, she groaned again as shock waves of desire raced up and down her spine. She became dizzy, but that only spurred her on. She imitated his movements with her own tongue, and when he began to moan, she forgot all about Marisol, Luke, Rafe, and everyone else in Racy.
Nothing else existed. There was only Trent and his incredible mouth, doing things to her that had her ready to rip off her clothes and fuck him silly, right there on the sofa. She had to have him. It was inevitable. Nothing could stop it, and she didn’t want anything to. She gave herself over to the raging fire of lust that consumed them.
He moved her around until he was lying on top of her, and she wrapped her legs around his muscled thighs and arched her hips, pushing closer to the impressive bulge in his jeans. How long had it been since she’d had sex? She had no clue. She couldn’t think. All she could do was kiss him and hold him, and try to pull him closer still as his mouth moved to her neck.
He planted tiny kisses and bites along her jawline, and then over both breasts through her sweater. “I want to fuck these. I want to suck your nipples and then fuck your tits. I want to fuck every square inch of your body.”
“Yes,” she whispered. She’d let him. She’d let him do anything he wanted. Tears spilled over her lids again as he began to tease her nipples through the cashmere. She wanted him to rip off the damn sweater, and her bra, but he seemed content to torture her instead. “Do it. Fuck me. Fuck me now.”
“Oh God…” Trent moved lower, parting her legs to bury his face in her groin. Even through her jeans she could feel his mouth on her pussy. “You’re so fucking sexy. You’re so fucking beautiful. I want you so badly.” Her orgasm was right there, ready to explode. She was going to come before she even had her clothes off. She was sure of it.
A noise stopped them both. Trent sat back on his heels and glanced toward the stairwell. Ria had to blink a few times before her eyes focused enough to watch a man descend the stairs. Trent took her hand and helped her sit up, but by the time she did, one look at Wyatt’s face told her it hardly mattered. He’d seen enough to know what had just happened.
“Hey,” said Trent. “Ria fell at work tonight. I was there with Maddox and Julie when it happened. I took her to the ER and pushed her through the red tape to get X-rays. Nothing’s broken.”
Wyatt stared at Trent like he’d just told him that Martians had landed on the front lawn. “Okay.”
“And then we talked about Marisol, and what Ria intends to do about that situation.”
Wyatt shifted his gaze toward her for a second, and Ria resisted the urge to reach up and smooth out h
er hair. She was sure it looked like she’d been rolling around in bed.
“Are we still having dinner later?” His voice was tight, like it had taken effort to ask the question.
“Yes. Of course we are.” Unless you don’t want to.
Wyatt glanced at his twin again. “So now what happens?”
Trent stood up. “Ria is going home to get some sleep, that’s what.”
She took that as her cue. Ria rose, scooped up her coat and put it back on, then grabbed her purse. Both men still eyed each other, Wyatt from the third step down and Trent from the sofa. She wanted to say something—anything—but she had no clue what. Nothing that raced through her mind seemed appropriate or useful.
She didn’t even say goodnight. She merely left. But she sat in her car for several minutes, watching the front of the condo, before she headed home. She wanted to shout her joy from the rooftops, but at the same time she was crying so hard she almost had to pull over.
Could she be any more of a complete fuckup? She’d more than likely just ruined things with Wyatt, and now any chance she might have had with Trent was ruined as well. He and Wyatt would talk, and then both men would decide she was trouble with a capital “T” and they both needed to stay the hell away from her. How could one evening have started out so fucked up, progressed to sheer perfection, and then ended as fucked up as this one had?
By the time she crawled into bed, she’d made three decisions. She was going to fall all over herself apologizing to Wyatt at dinner later, assuming he didn’t cancel their date. She was going to speak to her parents as soon as possible, and she was going to ask Luke and Peppi if she could move in above the bar. And assuming she moved back in with Peppi, she was then going to talk to Peppi about college and ask her help in choosing a degree.
She couldn’t spend the rest of her life working for her brother, and she couldn’t keep glancing over her shoulder every time someone walked into that bar, hoping it wasn’t someone in the BDSM community. This was ridiculous. She had to start living her own life, but first she had to make amends for the horrible things she’d done last summer.
* * * *
Wyatt felt like someone had punched him in the gut and then kicked him in the ass as well, just for fun. He finally took a seat in the armchair because it was either that or sock his brother in the jaw. “I don’t know what to say right now.”
“Look, I’m sorry. I don’t know what to say either. She fell on her hands and I offered to take her to get them X-rayed, but it was only her and Luke working tonight, and she wouldn’t leave until after her shift.”
“So you were just doing your health care provider thing.” He knew his voice sounded sarcastic, but he didn’t care.
“I was. I swear that’s how it started out.”
“So what changed?”
“She was all emotional tonight. Kept watching me, Maddox, and Julie. And then when I drove her to the ER after her shift, she told me how she wanted to make things right with everyone, but she didn’t know where to start. She was crying. She told me she was afraid that too much time had passed and she’d never be able to make amends.”
Wyatt nodded slowly. She’d told him pretty much the same thing. “How did that progress to what I just saw?”
“I don’t know.” Trent ran his hands through his hair, and Wyatt studied his face carefully. The poor guy looked like he’d just been hit by a truck. Was it possible that Ria was more of a sexy siren than either of them had anticipated? What the hell had she done to him tonight? “I swear I don’t know. You should have heard the things I said to her, right before I kissed her. I was like a runaway train. I couldn’t stop.”
“She is very pretty.”
Trent gave him a droll look. “It’s more than that. You know it is. I’ve seen the way you look at her. She’s under your skin as much as she’s under mine. Christ.” He rose and began to pace. “What the hell are we going to do here?”
“I wish I knew. But right now, I have to try and sleep. I really do. I can’t show up in court half-asleep.”
“I know. I’m sorry. Did we wake you? Is that why you came downstairs?”
“No. I had to take a piss and I heard moaning down here.”
“Jesus. I’m sorry. I really am.”
“Don’t be. You’re only human. Try and get some sleep, okay? I’m going back to bed. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
Wyatt tried to sleep but he knew it wouldn’t happen. He kept picturing was his twin on top of Ria, and the look on her face, lust-filled and completely oblivious to anything else. How long had it been since he’d seen that look on a woman’s face? Too long. He wasn’t upset with Trent because he totally understood how a man could get completely carried away with a girl like Ria. She was sexy but didn’t know it. That alone was more seductive than the most obvious attempts to get a man into bed that any woman could make.
And she was vulnerable and afraid right now. Those were two things that neither of them had ever been able to resist. They were the reason that Wyatt had never been able to find what he was looking for in a sub, and they were the same reason that Trent had followed Deanna to Indianapolis three years ago. The same qualities that made both men forget their own fucking names ended up being their downfall, each and every time.
Was getting involved with Ria a huge mistake for them? She wasn’t using them. He didn’t get that vibe from her. She’d seemed as embarrassed and confused as Trent had at being caught. She’d barely glanced at him, but the tone of her voice had left no doubt that she sincerely still wanted to have dinner with him. There had been no trace of playing games in either her body language or her eyes.
So where did that leave him? And where did it leave Trent? They couldn’t both have her. Wyatt’s mind tried to go there, but he wouldn’t allow it. It wasn’t that the idea of sharing a woman or a sub, in or out of bed, with his twin was repulsive. But they’d never discussed it seriously. As a fantasy, sure. And given the number of ménages currently in Racy, the subject came up quite often. But in reality, could they do that without killing each other over jealousy? Wyatt had no clue. And, he was quite certain Trent would never go for it at any rate, especially given his recent history with Deanna.
No. That wasn’t a workable solution for them. They’d have to figure something else out. One of them would have to back off. The trouble was Wyatt didn’t want to. Not even after he’d seen them making out like horny teens. What did that make him? A chump? No. He wasn’t. And Trent wasn’t an asshole who would hurt him on purpose. He knew that.
He finally fell asleep about two hours before his alarm went off, and when it did, he felt like someone had beaten the shit out of him. But work was work and he had to go. Maybe he could sneak out of the office later this afternoon and catch a nap before dinner.
Dinner. How the hell was he going to get through that? What would he say to Ria? How had he landed in this shitstorm?
* * * *
Wyatt pulled up to the Rodriguez house and was about to turn off his car and get out, when Ria emerged from the side door of the garage. She had her coat on, but his gaze traveled down to high-heeled black boots and he sucked in a quick breath. If she had on a short skirt as well, he was fucking toast tonight. So much for his resolve to keep things casual. Did this girl have any idea how pretty and sexy she actually was?
She didn’t even wait for him to open her door. She slid into the passenger seat and cast a nervous glance toward the house. “Let’s go. I had a talk with them earlier and things are not stable in there.”
“All right.” He pulled out of the driveway and headed downtown. “What prompted the talk?”
“When Trent and I talked last night, or early this morning I guess, he helped me realize that until I confronted my parents, I couldn’t move forward with making things right between myself and Marisol. So, I did.”
“Wow.” Wyatt was impressed, with both Trent and Ria. “What did you say to them?”
She gave him a sheepish glance. “I tol
d them I wanted to make up with Marisol, and that it was time they accepted her and Alexa. I said that Luke and Rafe were their only sons, and both loved them and missed them, and that it was also time they accepted their lifestyles and tried to understand them, because you only get one chance at life, and when people are gone, they’re gone.”
Wyatt swallowed hard as memories of the night of his parents’ fatal auto accident flashed through his mind. “I can understand that.”
“I know you can. Both you and Trent can. You lost your parents when you were too young. I reminded mine of that this afternoon. I told them that they’re blessed to still be here for all their children, and they shouldn’t waste this time with any of them.”
Wyatt stopped at a red light and gave her a long, searching look. Where had she been hiding this strength and courage of conviction? “What did they say?”
“Well, nothing I can repeat.” She laughed nervously. “Not even in English. And, I’m pretty sure I’ll be moving into the apartment above the bar with Peppi very soon. I called her and Luke today and they both said they’d be fine with me doing that.”
“I’ll help you move.”
“Thanks. I’d appreciate that.”
When the light turned green, he eased onto Market Street. “How do you feel right now?”
“Free. That’s the best way I can describe it. I feel as if I’ve been carrying around a big sack of flour and now I’ve finally dumped it somewhere.”
He pulled into the parking lot and found a spot, then turned off the motor and faced her. “Are you going to cry?”
She laughed again. “I might. Listen, I need to get this out before we go inside. I am so sorry about last night. I mean this morning. I don’t know what happened. But I never meant to hurt you by kissing Trent. You have to believe that.”
“I do believe it.”
“Really?”
“Really. But we do have a problem, because he likes you, too. A lot. As much as I do. And I’m not sure what we’re going to do about that.”
