by Mari Carr
“Horny,” she confessed.
Luc laughed. “Me too.”
Diego wished he could let go of his anxiety, but for all intents and purposes, this was Jeannette’s first time. He wanted it to be special. “Jeannette…” he started.
She shook her head. “No. No more worrying, Diego. No more stress or fear. We turned that corner last night. Let’s just keep moving forward.”
Luc pulled the covers down and lightly slapped her bare ass. She giggled.
“What do you say we get a shower?” Luc suggested.
Jeannette sat up, her face excited. “All of us together?”
Diego rose from the bed. “That sounds good to me. We can do a little pre-gaming while we’re there.”
Jeannette rolled her eyes. “Is that your dude way of saying foreplay?”
Luc reached for Jeannette’s hand, tugging her out of bed. “I don’t care what anyone calls it. So long as we do it.”
She gave both of them a saucy wink before rushing toward the bathroom. Diego was busting at the seams to be with her, but his desires didn’t seem to hold a candle to Jeannette’s.
She had the water running by the time he and Luc made it to the bathroom. None of them had bothered throwing on robes. Diego was pleased to see her unease, her shyness, had vanished.
Luc stepped beneath the steamy jets first, and then reached out for Jeannette. Diego stepped in last, chuckling as he stood bone-dry at the end of the line. “I need to put in another showerhead on this side.”
“We need a big bathtub, too. One of those Jacuzzi types,” Luc added.
Jeannette looked around. “I don’t think you’re going to be able to squeeze all of that into this tiny bathroom.”
Diego shrugged as an idea niggled. “Then we’ll move. Build ourselves a big house.”
Jeannette glanced over her shoulder at him. “Wow. That was quite a leap. We haven’t even had sex yet and you’ve got us all buying a house together.”
“I know how this is going to end,” he said as he placed a kiss at the nape of her neck.
“How’s that?” she asked.
“Just like those fairy tales do. Happily ever after.”
Jeannette turned to face him. As she did, a bit of the hot water found its way to his front. Then she made him even wetter as she rubbed her damp chest against his.
“I always was a sucker for Beauty and the Beast.”
Diego kissed her, both of them jumping slightly when Luc’s hands reached around her. His friend’s hands were soapy and Luc lost no time rubbing the fresh-scent lather over Jeannette’s breasts. Then he reached down to rub the soap along Diego’s erection.
They each took turns scrubbing all the essentials. Diego suspected he’d never been so clean in his entire life. He was panting by the time Luc turned off the water. His balls were so full, they physically hurt.
“I don’t think I can wait much longer,” Luc said, voicing exactly what Diego was thinking.
“Me either,” Jeannette confided. None of them reached for a towel. Instead, they walked back to the bedroom, heedless of the water dripping on the floor.
Once there, the three of them fell to the mattress in a pile of slick bodies, kissing, touching, licking. They were starving beggars set free at a feast. All semblance of control had vanished as they fought to consume and be consumed.
But despite the overwhelming need to take Jeannette, Diego still couldn’t shake off his concerns about hurting her.
Jeannette could sense both of her lovers holding back. They were born protectors. If she didn’t take matters into her own hands, they’d never get past this obstacle.
As always, the men had tucked her between them as they took turns kissing and touching. When Luc released her, the two of them coming up for air, she twisted quickly before Diego could move. She came over Diego, pinning him beneath her, her legs straddling his hips.
From his expression, she could see she’d surprised him. She also spotted the slightest trace of concern.
“Easy, angel,” he urged, when she lifted her hips, intent on taking him inside her. He gripped her tightly, holding her back from her desired target.
“No, Diego. No more stalling.”
He glanced to Luc, no doubt for support. She had apparently freaked-out the two strong, powerful, self-confident men. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry about that.
“Please,” she added.
Diego released her hips, reaching to cup her face. He dragged her down for a sweet kiss. “I think you might have the right idea here, actually.”
He stroked his fingers along the slit between her legs, grinning when he found her wet. “Lift up, angel. We’re going to let you hold the reins for a little while.”
From the corner of her eye, she saw Luc’s brows fly up. “Damn, Jeannette. You did what I never thought possible. You made D submissive.”
Diego scowled, but Jeannette wasn’t interested in picking a fight. She understood what he was offering her, and why. By allowing her to be on top, she wouldn’t feel overpowered. And she could decide how much she could take.
Before Diego could call Luc to task, she gripped his thick cock and placed the head at the opening to her body.
No one spoke as she moved. She suspected Diego couldn’t. His breathing had grown rapid, his nostrils flaring with the effort to suck in air. Luc knelt beside them, his gaze never leaving the place where Jeannette’s body joined with Diego’s.
Despite her desire, Jeannette felt the same fears creep in. She braced herself for the pain.
However, as she slid lower, more and more of Diego’s cock filling her, it became apparent there wasn’t going to be any hurting this time.
When that knowledge hit, she gave up the fight and sank down in one final rough thrust.
Diego jerked a bit, his hands flying to her hips to hold her still, but it was too late. He was buried deep.
She closed her eyes and groaned. “Oh my God.”
Luc placed a soft kiss on her shoulder. “Amazing, right?”
She didn’t bother to open her eyes. Instead, she just nodded. “So good.”
The mattress shifted slightly as Luc moved behind her. “Want me to make it even better?”
She glanced over her shoulder with one eyebrow lifted. “Think you can?”
It was a sexual dare—no, it was an outright taunt. Both men chuckled until Luc grasped her waist with his large, strong hands and lifted her. Strong men had always frightened her, but none of those fears emerged when Luc and Diego touched her. If anything, their power turned her on even more.
Luc raised her until just the tip of Diego’s cock remained inside. “Time to take a ride, angel.”
Then he pressed her back down—harder and faster than she would have attempted on her own. Stars flew behind her eyes, her hands reaching out for something to hold on to. She found Diego’s chest, her fingers digging into the steel-like muscles there.
Luc didn’t give her any chance to recover or assimilate to the new sensations pummeling her. He simply continued to take her on the ride of a lifetime—lifting and dropping, raising her up and pressing her back down.
Diego’s hands found her breasts. She wouldn’t have thought she’d notice anything besides the sheer electrical magic sparking between her legs, but she was wrong. When Diego pinched her nipples, her back arched as she screamed.
Her pussy clenched tightly around Diego’s cock as she came. For a moment, it felt as if she’d been swept up in a cyclone, her body a limp rag doll, at the mercy of the wind. It was an amazing flight.
Neither man seemed content to let her revel in the aftermath. Mere seconds had passed before she felt herself being propelled to her back, Diego coming over her.
His hands lay flat against the mattress by her head as his hips beat a beautiful rhythm inside her.
“Yes. Yes.” The single word came out with each inward thrust, as she provided the lyrics to his song. She wrapped her legs around his waist tightly. The next c
limax came out of nowhere. Her body trembled with the glorious impact.
Before she could recover, the song changed. She opened her eyes to discover Luc above her. She reached up—a challenging effort, given her lack of strength—and cupped his cheek. “Come inside,” she whispered when he remained there, hovering above her.
Unlike the rough tempo of Diego’s lovemaking, Luc didn’t use speed and force. Instead, he employed finesse. Somehow, he knew exactly where to stroke to set fireworks off.
“Holy shit,” she whispered. “Right there.”
Luc took care to find the spot again. And then again.
Jeannette’s fingers fisted the sheets in a white-knuckle grip. She was staring orgasm number three right in the face. If she weren’t so freaking happy to see it, she might have felt a bit of guilt over the fact neither of the men had come yet.
“Luc. I can’t…” Her words turned into a cry as waves of white-hot bliss washed over her.
“I’m with you, angel. God. I’m right with you.”
She came before he finished speaking—trembling, shaking. Had she seriously been afraid of this? Of this?!
Time passed without meaning. Hell, she wasn’t entirely sure where she was. For several minutes, she simply lay there, her eyes closed as she focused on her breathing. In and out. In and out.
And the pounding of her heart. Thump. Thump. Thump. Neither of those processes had ever seemed so fascinating. Or obvious. They happened every single second of every day, yet they’d never been so loud.
She was just about to drift off to sleep when she felt something nudge her legs apart.
“Jeannette?”
Diego.
She and Luc had found their pleasure, but he hadn’t. Exhaustion gave way to desire. It was incredible. She would have thought herself too tired, but the second she heard his voice, she wanted him. Desperately.
She opened her eyes as she spread her legs. “I need you.”
Diego smiled at her admission. “You’re the most amazing woman I’ve ever known.”
She grinned, warmed by his compliment. “Come here.”
Diego slid into her slower this time, his previous bat-out-of-hell approach gone. He moved in a way that calmed and stimulated at the same time. His motions were as gentle as a canoe floating on a lake. Soothing. Wonderful.
She wouldn’t have thought she could come from such tender care, but when Diego added a soft stroke to her clit, his motions mimicking the way he was rocking in her body. She was a goner.
“I need—” she started.
“I know.”
Diego gave up whatever grip he’d had on his own control and the two of them spiraled into orbit together, clinging to each other as they shook.
Jeannette lost all sense of reality after that. In fact, she blacked out. The next thing she recalled was waking up in a dim room, nestled between her two lovers. It occurred to her that Diego and Luc had made love only to her. While it had been the single most amazing moment in her life, there was part of her that longed for an even closer union. She wanted the three of them to truly be together. Equal partners in this unorthodox, but perfect relationship.
Then she glanced out the window and noticed the room had gone dark. Had they slept all day?
She grinned at the thought and decided she didn’t care. Instead, she burrowed closer to Diego and closed her eyes again. Sleep didn’t scare her so much anymore.
Chapter Eleven
“Who was that?” Jeannette asked when Luc hung up the phone.
“Evan. Apparently he caught wind that Billy is back in town. He’s headed out to Roy’s right now to question him.”
Jeannette didn’t like the identical looks of fury on her boyfriends’ faces.
“Is that right?” Diego, who had been ready to sit down to breakfast, changed his course and headed for the living room. “Let me put my shoes on and I’ll be ready.”
“Ready for what?” Jeannette asked.
“Luc and I are going to go have a word with Billy.”
She barked out a loud, “Yeah right.”
They both stopped in the midst of getting ready to leave.
She put her hands on her hips. “Neither one of you is going anywhere near Billy.”
Diego’s brow furrowed as he somehow managed to take his six-foot-two frame up a few inches. “Excuse me?”
If his attempts at intimidation weren’t so blatantly obvious, she might have been put out. As it was, she was tempted to laugh. “I mean it. The last thing I want or need is for the two of you to go over there half-cocked and get into a fight. You just said Evan was going to question him. You show up with fists flying and my cousin will have to arrest you both for assault. And I’m telling you right now, I won’t bail your asses out.”
“You don’t seriously expect us to do nothing?” Luc’s tone matched the utter disbelief on his face.
“Actually, I do. What happened between Billy and me is ancient history. I’m not about to keep digging it up. It was hard enough talking to you guys about it. I can’t keep reliving it.”
Diego walked over when her voice betrayed her, cracking despite her efforts to remain calm. “Angel. He’s moving to Maris. He’s going to live here.”
“You’re right. He is. Which means I’m…” She paused and reconsidered her wording. “We’re going to have to find a way to deal with it. It happened fifteen years ago. It’s not like I can press charges now.”
Diego clenched his fists. “Which is why we have to utilize a different brand of justice.”
She shook her head. “No. That’s not justice. It’s anger, revenge, violence. I don’t want to be a part of that. For the first time in so damn long, I’m finally starting to feel at peace. If you go over there, if you start a fight, all of that is gone.”
Diego rubbed his eyes wearily. “Shit, Jeannette. What you’re asking…it’s hard. We love you and that asshole hurt you. Asking us to pretend that didn’t happen—”
“I’m not asking you to pretend. Or forget. I’m just asking you not to give in to that kind of hate. I’ve held on to my pain for years and look what it cost me. So much wasted time. If I’ve learned anything in this past month, it’s that sometimes you just have to let it go.”
“You’re not going to break into that freaking Disney song, are you?” Luc asked.
Jeannette laughed as she reached out to hug him. Luc found a way to make her laugh time after time, even during the heaviest moments. She loved him for that. “I’ll try to restrain myself.”
She glanced over her shoulder. She may have convinced Luc, but Diego was another story. “Diego—”
Before she could press her argument further, the loud blare from the fire station’s alarm sounded, calling all the volunteers in the area to the station. It was an old-fashioned system, but it worked.
Luc and Diego both raced to put on their shoes when the call came across the scanner. The operator gave the address of a lakefront cabin.
Jeannette gasped.
“What’s wrong?” Luc asked.
“That’s Evan’s cabin!”
Diego stood up and walked over to her, grasping her shoulders. “Go to the restaurant, Jeannette. Please. I don’t want you here alone.”
She nodded. “I will. Do you think Billy—”
“I don’t know.”
Luc stood by the open front door. “Diego. We gotta move.”
Diego gave her a quick kiss. “Go now, Jeannette.”
“I will.”
“We’ll call as soon as we can,” Luc promised.
Jeannette finished dressing, and then headed to the restaurant. She was worried to death about Evan’s wife, Annie, and their little daughter. She felt the need to be with the rest of the family.
She hadn’t made it two steps inside the restaurant before Gia saw her and raced to hug her.
“You heard about the fire at Evan’s?” Gia asked.
Jeannette nodded. “Are Annie and Eryn there?”
Gia shook her
head. “No. Annie had dropped Eryn off at the sitter’s and was nearly to work when she heard. She’s headed back to the cabin now.”
Jeannette was relieved to know they were safe, but she didn’t wish anyone to experience the personal hell she’d just endured by losing their home. “And Evan?”
“He was almost to Roy’s house when he heard.”
Jeannette walked to the counter and sank down on one of the stools. “I hope to God Diego and Luc get there in time.”
Gia sighed. “Yeah.” Her sister went behind the counter to retrieve a coffeepot and started topping up the cups of their customers. Jeannette was just about to put on an apron and start pitching in when the bell above the restaurant door caught her attention.
Her chest tightened when Billy walked in. For a moment, she considered running away, but decided she was safer in the dining room surrounded by people. That feeling of security grew stronger when Uncle TJ and Tyson followed Billy into the restaurant.
Tyson made a beeline for her, murmuring in her ear. “I was next door in the bakery when I spotted Billy walking in here. You okay?”
She nodded.
“Jeannette?”
She jerked at the sound of Billy’s voice, and then she forced herself to look at him.
“I was wondering if I could talk to you for a second.”
Her mouth went dry at the thought. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”
Tyson crossed his arms, giving Billy a look that warned him to back off.
Billy didn’t take it. “I know y’all think I set those fires, but I didn’t.”
“Why was your truck parked outside Jeannette’s house a couple of days before it burned down?” In Evan’s absence, it appeared Tyson was prepared to issue the interrogation.
Billy’s jaw twitched and he swallowed nervously. Tyson had asked the question, but Billy directed the answer toward Jeannette. “I wasn’t the one parked outside your place.”
“It was Roy’s truck,” she said.
“I know. Scott was driving it.”
She frowned. “Why would he come to my house?”
Billy looked around the restaurant. Clearly news of the fire had begun to spread, and more and more locals had filed in, looking for some gossip. “Can we sit down? Somewhere more private?”
