by Vanessa Vale
“That’s it? No other ways to burn off steam?” Dane asked.
I glanced up at him. He was so close I just had to lift my chin and our lips would brush.
“Help from a friend, perhaps?” Leo asked. “A boyfriend?”
I turned to look at him and smiled at his less-than-subtle question. “No boyfriend.”
Dane lifted my left, ring less hand. “No husband?”
“I wouldn’t be sitting between you if I were married,” I countered tartly.
“No, I don’t think you would be. You’re not that kind of woman,” Dane observed.
“And what kind of woman do you think I am?” I asked, wondering what he’d answer.
“One who can set her sights on two men and doesn’t look away. You don’t get intimidated easily. You’re devoted to what you put your mind to. Fierce about it once you have it.”
Dane’s words hit the mark, although about work, not my sex life. “Two men?” I asked.
“You want us, don’t you, sugar?” Leo asked, placing my feet in his lap so I was curled up between them. His big hands settled on my calves.
“I’m curious,” I admitted. “Fine, I flirted earlier because I was interested, but I never expected to end up with you like this.”
“Between us?” Leo asked.
I nodded.
“Ever been with two guys before?”
Hell, no. Why I was interested now, I had no idea. There was something appealing—and fucking hot—about both of them. I hadn’t been able to pick one when I first saw them at the party, and I still couldn’t now. Plus, I didn’t want to. I wouldn’t call myself adventurous in bed, but I wasn’t a prude either. Having a threesome could be fun. So sure, it was a bonus to consider being with them both. Being shared.
Leo leaned in, all but hypnotized me with those green eyes. “Sugar, whether you’re naked with our cocks buried deep or safe in our arms like you are now, you’ll always be between us.”
Another wave of heat flooded my body, making my limbs feel thick and sluggish. My cheeks flushed, my nipples hardened, and no doubt, my panties were soaked.
Dane stroked my hair back, and I settled into him again. It did feel good to be between them. Protected, definitely. Dane had said he wouldn’t try anything now, even though they’d both, very blatantly, expressed their desire to fuck me.
They had been crystal clear about that.
And so I relaxed, let the small bit of whiskey mellow me. Enjoyed being held. Comforted.
It was such a new sensation to experience, in more ways than one. I had no support. My parents didn’t live nearby, and they were busy with their own day jobs and everyday lives. I had friends, but I wouldn’t have gone to any of them to tell them about the dead body. I was a loner. An introvert. I had no one to turn to.
So to have someone—two men—so willing to watch over me, not asking for anything in return right now, well, I just wanted to enjoy the moment. For tonight, I did. So, for at least a few hours, I’d take the shelter and warmth from them.
“Would you believe that Dane is into Shakespeare?” Leo asked. “He was into drama and shit in high school. Even performed in a few plays back in the day.” He shot his friend a wide grin. “Macbeth.”
“Shut up or I’ll tell her about the time you stumbled onto internet porn on one of the grade school library computers and was naive enough to show it to a teacher,” Dane shot back with his eyebrows raised and a smile on his full lips.
I knew what they were doing, making me forget. The thought of a young Dane spouting Shakespeare up on stage had me smiling. And Leo experiencing porn at that age. It was cute. A welcome distraction. They talked about their pasts, silly things that made me smile, made me relax, not forcing me to make conversation. At some point, Leo handed me back my glass of whiskey, and I finished it. Content and sated, I let their voices, their stories, soothe me into sleep.
Five
DANE
It was fucking torture, not being able to touch Harper while she rested between us, her head on my shoulder and her mile-long legs stretched across Leo’s lap. Although she was sleeping, having her in my apartment did something to me.
It overpowered me.
Ridiculous, since I’d only known her a few hours. She was different. I’d never brought a woman back here before. A night of sex was either at the woman’s place, a hotel or a quick lay in the back of a limo. My space was sacrosanct. Until now. Even Leo agreed about Harper, bringing her here without question. It was the only place we knew she’d be safe, and between us.
It only ratcheted up my urge to have more of her. I wanted the smell of her perfume in my bedroom, the citrusy fragrance of her hair on my pillow, or her sweet feminine scent infused into my bed sheets. And the sugary sweet taste of her on my tongue.
To do that, we needed to get her out of that restrictive dress. We’d be able to admire every curve and contour of her body. To touch every inch of her. To witness her intense reaction from head to toe when we took her. To hear every whisper, moan, and whimper that left her lips. To finally have her cry out our names when we made her come.
But we meant what we’d told her earlier.
We wouldn’t lay a finger on Harper unless she asked us to. Even if my dick hated me.
Leo and I had shared countless women before, but this was different. Those women had been casual hookups. One-night stands. Maybe two nights. Rarely three. I couldn’t remember seeing any of them more than a few times before we moved on to the next. It was just easier that way. Less complicated with no expectations. A woman barely ever got to close their eyes and recover for too long, let alone stay the night. Even at a hotel.
Already, Harper was different. The circumstance that led to her being here wasn’t sexual. Sure, we definitely would have brought her here for sex if she hadn’t found that damned body. In a fucking freezer.
But we’d skipped from initial attraction to having her stay over without all the steps in between. Like conversation over a meal or even foreplay. Only a bit of flirting in the kitchen, but she’d been working, and hell, we’d been in O’Sullivan’s house. And because of that, she was here with us for her protection. Not sex. This was potentially a life or death situation. She’d seen a dead body—Leo had confirmed the unlucky bastard was as cold as the quart of ice cream his head had been resting on—and that made her a big fucking liability to Shamus.
While we hadn’t shared a woman in a while, I realized now the reason why. We’d been waiting for Harper. Oddly enough, no other woman had interested us much anymore. Here we were, on a fucking couch and holding a woman. Letting her sleep. I felt more for Harper than all of the other women combined, and I barely knew her. Chemistry? Fuck, yes. But there was more, and when she was awake, we’d discover it. We’d discover it all.
As for Harper, I had to hope she’d want the same from us.
Everything.
As Leo had said, if she decided she really wanted us to share her, she’d have to beg for it. Because then we’d know we had her consent, that she was all-in.
As her head started to slip lower down the front of my chest, Leo glanced over at me. “We should probably put her to bed,” he whispered to avoid waking her.
“Sure. My room.” My voice was low, but bristled with a gruff finality I didn’t intend but wasn’t surprised to hear. In fact, I was glad it came out that way, letting Leo know that, in no uncertain terms, Harper was staying in my bed tonight.
His eyes narrowed as his gaze shot to mine. I could tell that he wanted to object at first. His eyebrows always furrowed together before an argument, the same way he’d always move his right hand behind his back to hide the fact that it was balled into a fist long before an argument turned into a physical fight.
But after a moment, he backed down and nodded. Stood. Reaching one hand to her upper back and the other behind her knees, he leaned forward and effortlessly took her from my arms, carrying her down the hall.
“Fine,” he grumbled as he went. “Yo
ur bedroom for now.”
A smile tugged at the corner of my lips. “We’ve never fought over a woman before. It seems we’re both a little possessive.”
“No fucking kidding,” he muttered.
I followed closely. I held my breath down the long, wide hallway, bracing myself until he passed by his room and made it to the last door. My master bedroom. I went ahead, tugged back the sheets. When he lowered her onto my king-sized bed, I could breathe.
Yes.
This was exactly where Harper belonged, hair fanned out on my pillow. Next time, perhaps naked, but this was a good start.
For now, Leo had said.
I was being fucking selfish, especially since he’d convinced her to stay—although he would have forced her if she’d said otherwise under the circumstances. He protected people for a living, but when it came to his personal life, to the woman we wanted, he’d do anything to make sure she was safe. She’d been so close to leaving, to going to the police, but that was because Leo had scared the living fuck out of her when he said those things about the O’Sullivan family. I didn’t know much about them, but I knew Leo wasn’t one to exaggerate. He never sugarcoated anything, and while the truth was scary as fuck, it was also what kept her from walking out my front door. She was smart enough not to take chances.
Leo’s foray into the world of an MMA fighter after leaving the Army had put him on a different track from mine. A lot of what went on in that industry was legitimate and above board, but elements were definitely in the gray area. Underground fight clubs. Illegal sports betting. Paying off fighters to throw a match. Its close ties and overlap with security, private investigators and law enforcement. People disappearing, never to be found again. It was no wonder so many of the guys who went into it were ex-military and ex-cops, all mixing in with the underbelly of society. It was no surprise that Leo knew who Shamus O’Sullivan was. I dealt in million-dollar deals over lunch and wore silver cuff links. The semi-frozen dead body was a new one for me and more than enough to make me a believer.
“Should we get her out of her dress?” he asked. Her feet were bare, those ruthless stilettos on the floor by the couch.
“No.” I stared at her in my bed. “Later. Let her rest.”
He met my eyes. Nodded, but shifted his cock in his pants. Yeah, I felt the same way. My dick was pretty fucking hard for Harper. While my brain told me to be a gentleman and preserve her modesty, my dick wanted to strip her bare and do all kinds of dirty things with her.
“We should talk…but not here,” he said, breaking me from the list of what we’d do to Harper when she was awake and into it.
“All right.”
We left the room, and I pulled on the door, but left it partway open. “Were you honestly going to let her leave?” I asked.
He sighed. “Only if she insisted.”
I shook my head. “And what if she did?”
“Then I’d have followed her,” he said, his voice deepening with certainty. “Trust me, I wouldn’t have let it get that far. I was ready to point out that her place probably wasn’t safe, but didn’t have to. She was too freaked.”
I remembered her face after she’d just seen the dead body, how pale it was, how she’d jumped a foot when I’d come into the kitchen. “Good thing you didn’t.”
Leo’s jaw clenched, and I was surprised I didn’t hear his molars crack. “She’s not safe anywhere. If O’Sullivan figures out what she’s seen, he won’t hesitate to have his men looking for her. He knows her name, her business address. Hell, probably even her Social Security number.”
“No one knows she saw the body though, right?” I walked out into the living room and poured myself another drink.
“I don’t think so, but still,” Leo said as he followed, dropping down onto the couch with a sigh. “The place was crawling with his goons. I also noticed a few security cameras on the property. They may even have hidden cameras installed all through the place, for all we know. If anyone saw her come back in the house from the garage—besides me—they’d know something was up. She was freaked out.”
That was a sobering possibility. External cameras would also mean they’d know she left with us. And with hidden cameras, if there were actually some in the garage, both Leo and Harper would’ve been seen. We couldn’t afford to make assumptions either way. “Fuck. We’ll have to cross that bridge if we get to it,” I muttered.
“Agreed. The best thing she can do for now is lay low.” Leo pulled out his phone and unlocked the screen. “I can make a few calls, see if people heard anything unusual went down at the party.”
I pointed at his screen. “Make sure they’re subtle about it. No need drawing unnecessary attention, although we do have to assume O’Sullivan’s aware. We have to stay on the offensive.” I angled my head toward the doorway. “For her.”
I glanced back at my bedroom door. Harper was so fucking gorgeous while she slept, her dark hair spread across my pillow. That made my dick harder than anything else tonight, knowing she was in my bed.
I stood at the floor to ceiling glass windows, cradling my glass of whiskey as I looked out at the city lights while Leo worked from the tiny screen of his smartphone. He grabbed his drink from the coffee table, took a sip.
That was when we heard the scream.
“Harper.”
Bolting from our spots, we rushed down the hallway to get to her side, but found her sleeping. She was trembling, her skin covered in sweat, with her head moving left and right in seeming denial, and her hands closed into fists, each gripping the bedsheets for dear life. When she whimpered out a word I didn’t understand, I sat on one side of the bed, ready to wake her if she screamed again.
“Nightmare,” Leo groaned.
“Sounds like it.”
He disappeared into my ensuite bathroom and emerged with a damp face towel. “Here,” he said, passing it to me.
I ran it gently over her face, then smoothed back the damp, stray strands of dark hair that stuck to the sides of her face.
“Her mind’s still processing what she saw.”
“No doubt. It’s more than most normal people can handle.” He stood beside the bed, gazing down at her, eyes full of compassion. “Poor thing.”
Leo had a point. We could protect Harper going forward, but were helpless to protect her from what she’d been through. No one could take away what she’d seen. Not even me. The damage was done. “She’ll probably need trauma counseling after it’s all over.”
“Totally possible. You should stay with her…while she sleeps.”
That was the Leo I knew. Protecting at all costs.
The reason he’d been my closest friend since we were kids.
“Okay.” I told him. “Thanks.”
“I’m going to turn in. I’ll be in my room,” he added and turned to leave. “Give me a shout if she needs anything.”
“Will do,” I answered, kicking off my shoes.
After a few minutes stretched out beside her on the bed, she stirred. She mouthed the word no, to whoever was with her in the dream, tossing and turning a bit before settling on her side. As I rested my hand on her upper arm, she inched closer to my side of the bed, still asleep, likely drawn to my body heat and the dryer, warmer bedsheets.
Her bare skin felt like silk and the scent of her...something tropical, filled my senses.
I kissed her hair without thinking as she settled into me, her head tucked under my chin. She sighed and her trembling eased. Her back was pressed against my chest, her ass tight against my groin, and legs molded to mine. She was warm, soft and perfect in my hold. My cock ached, pressed against her, our clothes the only barrier keeping me from sinking deep.
Willing my cock down, with no success, I knew it was going to be a long night, but at least she was safe. At peace.
That couldn’t last, but I was sure of a couple of things.
I was ready to fix her problem.
Leo was ready to fight for her.
Together, we
’d keep her alive. Even if it killed us.
Six
HARPER
I woke up shaking. I’d heard the sound of my own voice, shrill and hoarse, shouting for him to please open his eyes.
The dead man.
I was unraveling.
My hand rose to my neck, and I swallowed down the bile in my throat, hoping to soothe the rough feel of it from all the times I must’ve screamed while sleeping.
Then I felt it. Warmth. Muscular arms wrapped around me. A firm chest at my back. And that steely thickness pressing up against the back of my upper thigh. I was in bed with a man. My first instinct was to quickly raise the cover and look down my body. Thank goodness, I still had clothes on. Although my dress was bunched up past my hips and my panties were the only thing between me and that firm, masculine smelling source of body heat.
“It’s all right,” his deep voice rumbled at the whorl of my ear. “You’re safe. Everything’s fine. Do you remember where you are?”
Turning in the circle of his arms, I faced him and it all came flooding back. The job. The body. The panic. Leo’s cool, level head. Dane’s comfort. I was lying in Dane’s bed with him, my skin balmy and my hair hanging tangled about my shoulders. I swallowed hard as our eyes met, and scrambled for something to say. “Did we…did you and I—”
“No. You were having nightmares. Nothing happened.”
I sat up and pulled the cotton sheets up to my shoulders. “My clothes are still on.”
The room was softly lit from a light coming from the bathroom, and I could see his dark, steady eyes. They didn’t hold any of the heat from earlier, only calmness. Steadiness.
“They are. When I undress a woman, I want her conscious and enjoying it.”
I flushed, thinking of what that would be like, him helping me out of my dress.
“Oh…I guess… I should thank you,” I blurted out and instantly regretted it. “Sorry. That came out all wrong. I didn’t mean...well, not the way it sounded.”
