Twice As Delicious

by Vanessa Vale

  “What’s this?” he asked, looking down at the screen but not touching it.

  Smart man. No fingerprints.

  “Insurance.”

  O’Sullivan glanced at the screen, saw what his nephew had shared, but remained silent.

  A commotion at the door had all of us looking that way.

  I’d been calm. On edge, sure, but calm. I couldn’t fight off a bunch of guys with guns. This wasn’t my turf. But when I saw Harper with her arms up and being frisked—no, fucking groped—by one of the goons, I saw red.

  Stood.

  My chair scraped across the wood floor.

  “What the fuck is she doing here?”

  Harper’s gaze met mine. I saw determination in her face. Not fear.

  “I didn’t bring her in,” O’Sullivan said. While he didn’t show any change of expression, I heard something akin to surprise in his tone.

  When the old man gave a nod, the goon released Harper, and she came over to the table. She gave me, then Dane a quick glance, and I grabbed her arm and pulled her roughly into my side. She squeaked at the move, but there was no way in fucking hell she wasn’t going to be glued to me until we all got out of this place.

  “Mr. O’Sullivan, I’m Harper Larson. Your caterer from the event last night.”

  He gave a slight nod of greeting, but waited. So did I. Dane’s hands clenched the edge of the table, his knuckles white.

  She licked her lips. “I think there’s been a misunderstanding, and I think everything that’s happened can be forgotten.”

  O’Sullivan arched one silvery red brow. “Oh?”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “And how is that to come about?” he asked.

  “You should ask your wife. She’s expecting your call.”

  The brow went up higher. One second, then another. I held my breath as I waited to see what the guy was going to do. I felt the way Harper held her breath, too. While her voice was steady, I knew she was afraid as fuck.

  If O’Sullivan didn’t kill us, I was going to kill her. At least take her over my knee and spank her ass for scaring me like this. She should be in the penthouse. Safe.

  “She said to tell you that when you fed Charlie this morning, you left kibble all over the floor, and that you would be in trouble when you got home. You should call her, Sir.”

  The man’s blue eyes narrowed.

  Harper held up a hand. “Her words, Sir, not mine.”

  Oh fuck. Dog kibble? We were going to die.

  O’Sullivan pulled out his cell from the pocket in his suit jacket, pressed a button, put the phone to his ear. “Yes, dear.”

  There was complete silence in the bar as O’Sullivan listened to his wife. Not even the bartender pretended to be working.

  After a minute—that woman talked for a long time—he said, “Yes, dear,” again and disconnected the call.

  He looked at Harper, studying her closely. “Miss Larson, I have to give you a lot of credit. Coming here as you did. While many people have negotiated with me for all kinds of business related issues, not one of them provided such a...persuasive argument. Even your men, here.” O’Sullivan pointed at Dane’s phone on the table. “I have never once had an adversary go through my wife.”

  Oh shit. We were going to die.

  “A smart move. Well played. Because my wife likes you and found the party last night a smashing success—her words, not mine. Since my wife is happy, you are under my protection.”

  What…

  “You have the rehearsal dinner in eight weeks—”

  The…

  “And the wedding reception after that. I look forward to seeing what you serve. I will text you the location of an alternate industrial kitchen to use until yours has been cleaned up. Have a good day.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “Gentlemen.” He gave a nod and waved his hand in the air.

  The bartender snapped to it and began to build a Guinness.

  Dane glanced up at me, then stood.

  I nodded in return, grabbed my handgun off the counter, and walked to the door, not letting go of Harper as we went. I didn’t stop walking until we were down the block and around the corner. Then I veered to the side of a building and pressed Harper into it.

  “What the fuck were you thinking?” I couldn’t keep the snarl from my voice. My heart was beating out of my chest, and I was sweating. Jesus fuck, she could have been killed right then and there, a bullet to the forehead.

  “I was saving us,” she gasped. Her eyes were wild as she looked from me to Dane.

  “We had it taken care of,” Dane added, his voice coming from over my shoulder.

  “Yeah, well, this was my problem. I take care of my problems. I fell apart earlier, but that ended.”

  She wasn’t freaking out now. I was. I ran a hand over my face, trying to forget the sight of her as she’d come into the bar.

  “Where the fuck are my men? How did you get out of the apartment? I left specific instructions.”

  She gave a little impish smile and I wanted to spin her around and spank her ass right here on this busy street. My fingers itched to do so.

  She lifted her chin. “I told them I got my period and needed tampons. They could either go out and get them for me, or they could take me to the store.”

  Tampons? God, I could only imagine the look on my men’s faces when she said that word.

  “Obviously, they took me to the store. And I ditched them.”

  I pulled my cell from my pocket, saw that I’d missed ten calls and three texts. Since I’d had it on silent for the meeting, I’d missed them all. They’d all be about Harper. The bastards lost her. They could sweat it out a little longer.

  “That was stupid, sugar.”

  She looked down at the sidewalk. A car honked behind us, the people walking around us, going about the day filled my ears. Sounds that proved we were alive.

  “Reckless, but what you did was reckless, too.”

  “We had insurance. Dirt on O’Sullivan that guaranteed we stayed alive.”

  “I did, too,” she countered, crossing her arms over her chest. She wore the long-sleeved shirt and yoga pants from when she worked in the kitchen earlier. A hint of flour clung to the material, otherwise she didn’t look as if she’d been well fucked or shot at.

  “What the hell did Mrs. O’Sullivan say to her husband?”

  “I told her the freezer had been full and that I had to take the leftovers home with me. She was not happy about that as she was the one who personally told me where to put the extras because she loved them so much.”

  I stepped back, paced back and forth.

  “O’Sullivan is afraid of his wife because of a few leftovers?”

  I shrugged. “She knows what her husband does. She’s no dummy. She comes across as a flaky socialite, but she has that man by the balls. I was the third caterer for this job. While it doesn’t speak well about my company coming in third, I was the only one who didn’t run away screaming. She’s not going through any more caterers, and it turns out she loved what I did for her. Besides, I told her I’d give her the recipe for the Swedish meatballs.”

  “Swedish meatballs?” Dane asked.

  “It’s my grandmother’s recipe. Trust me, you don’t want to see Mrs. O’Sullivan unhappy.”

  I had to smile then. “Yeah, I think Shamus knows that, too.”

  “You’re under Shamus O’Sullivan’s protection because of some meatballs?” Dane asked.

  She shrugged again. “That and the little come-to-Jesus chat she had with me about the confidentiality clause in my contract. Women talk differently. I’m not going to mention a dead body, and she’s going to get the two other events catered the way she wants. I’m not going to end up dead because she’ll know her husband did it. Like I said, she has him by the balls.”

  I shook my head. “Unbelievable.”

  “So between whatever you had and his wife, we’re good.”

  “We’re good with Shamus
, sugar. As for you? You’re not good. You’ve been very…very bad.”

  “That’s right. When we get back to the penthouse, we’re going to have a little talk.”

  “Talk?” I saw her swallow.

  “Talk. While you’re over my knee and my hand is turning that gorgeous ass fucking bright red.”

  Sixteen

  DANE

  I aged ten years when I saw Harper in the bar. It was then I realized I had it bad for her. Sure, I was protective of all women, but it seemed I was prepared to die for this one. And I’d been fine with that, walking into the literal lion’s den. While we’d had the info from Liam to keep the three of us safe from O’Sullivan, Harper had saved herself. Going to his wife had been smart. Betsy had more dirt on the old man than anyone else. And what she said goes. She wasn’t a simpering, mild, meek woman.

  No, I’d met Mrs. O’Sullivan at the engagement party and she had a spine of steel and a resolve even her husband couldn’t bend. If she wanted Harper alive, then Harper stayed alive. Period.

  I could only imagine O’Sullivan with some of his men cooking for a rehearsal dinner because he’d killed off the caterer and had to fill in.

  Yeah, that was probably what he’d been thinking while his wife talked his ear off.

  And now? Now that we were done with O’Sullivan—yet Harper would have to do two more events for the murderer—we were alive. Free.

  In twenty-four hours, we’d gone from not knowing Harper to saving her, and to her saving us right back. This wasn’t a fling. It wasn’t steamy sex. It wasn’t just a good time I shared with my best friend.

  No fucking way.

  This was Harper and us.

  Us.

  By the time we got to the penthouse, Leo had chewed out his men and Harper had chewed at her bottom lip, obviously worried about the spanking she was going to get.

  Yeah, Leo had said what was going to happen, but I agreed with him completely. This woman needed to know we were in this for the long haul, that her safety was the most important thing.

  “My bedroom, sugar,” Leo ordered as he dropped his gun on the table by the door and flicked the dead bolt. “Take off all those clothes and wait for us.”

  She narrowed her eyes and shook her head.

  “I’m going home. I don’t need this from you.”

  I took her arm as she walked by, spun her around to face me. “Yes, you do. You need to know you’re safe. That we’re here for you no matter what. That we’ll spank your ass if you don’t take care of yourself.”

  “I can take care of myself,” she countered. “I’ve been doing it for years.”

  “Sugar. Think of it this way. We saw you walk into a bar filled with guys with guns. We need to spank you so that we know you’re alive. Whole. Ours. We need to let out some of this fear of you getting hurt on that ass of yours.”

  Her mouth fell open at Leo’s admission.

  She eyed me, then gazed at Leo, saw the seriousness in his green eyes, but the truth of his words. He didn’t outright say it, but he cared about her.

  “I need to know you’re okay.”

  Harper launched herself at Leo and he staggered back a step as her arms went around his neck and she kissed him. His hands reached for her butt and held her up as her legs went around his waist. She clung to him like a fucking monkey and it was hot as fuck to see.

  This wasn’t calculated or planned. Her kiss was hot and wild, full of emotion, the same kind Leo just expressed.

  We were alive. We’d put our necks on the line for her just as she’d done for us.

  And now all that emotion, that energy, had to come out.

  If she wanted to fuck it out of her system, then so be it.

  Leo walked her down the hall as he didn’t stop kissing her. He pushed her shirt up and Harper took over, lifting it over her head. Her lips returned to his immediately.

  I followed, watching the two of them go at it.

  My cock pressed painfully against my zipper. Hell, it had been hard like that since the second she put O’Sullivan in his place.

  Seeing the way Leo set her on her feet so he could strip off her yoga pants and work clogs and she was—fuck! I couldn’t stop admiring the fact that she wasn’t wearing any panties. Just the laciest, sexiest pale pink bra. She was all woman—our woman—yet she had a pair of brass balls. She’d gotten past two of Leo’s most well-trained security men and put the head of the Irish mafia in his place. Really big balls.

  And all I wanted to do was fuck her.

  Leo lifted her up by the waist, tossed her on the bed. She bounced once, then came up onto her knees.

  “Like that bra?” he asked.

  She nodded. Her breath came out in pants and color flooded her cheeks.

  “Get it off before I rip it.”

  Reaching behind her, Harper undid the clasp, let the scrap of lace and straps fall to the bed.

  Better. So much fucking better. Her breasts were full and lush, upturned with hard nipples the same color as her full lips.

  I didn’t wait a second longer. I couldn’t. I tugged at my clothes, toed off my shoes, pushed off my pants. My cock bobbed toward the one place it wanted to be. Deep inside her pussy.

  “No plug this time, sugar,” Leo said. “I’m going to fuck that gorgeous ass.”

  “The plug,” she groaned. “It’s sitting on the counter in the kitchen.”

  I strode over to her, pulled her up against me, her soft breasts pressing against my chest. Her breath fanned my neck. I stroked her hair back from her face as I reached around and gave her ass a swat.

  She gasped.

  “It’s sitting right beside a whole bunch of bullets. Don’t worry, we’ll get it.”

  Leo went to his dresser, pulled out a small bottle of lube.

  “Until then, you’ll just have to make do with two cocks.”

  It was my turn to kiss her then. Fiercely, possessively.

  When I pulled back, her eyes were hazy, her lips swollen even more.

  “This…whatever the fuck this is, Harper Larson, is forever. Not one night. Not two. We’ve been through enough to know when it’s the real deal.”

  “Yes,” she said, kissing me, taking over.

  Her hands slid down my body to my cock and she gripped it, stroked up from the base.

  “Jesus, woman. Who’s in control here?”

  She grinned. “Me.”

  “For now,” Leo added coming around the bed. He lifted his shirt over his head and Harper followed the action, all the while stroking me off.

  “I need this. I need to feel alive. With you, I feel that way for the first time,” she admitted.

  When Leo was naked, he moved to put one knee on the bed so she could take hold of his cock too.

  She stroked us both and I was sure I was going to come in her hand.

  “You’re right. This is more. I want more from you. From us.”

  Leo stepped back with a groan, his cock bobbing toward her, an angry plum color and pre-cum oozing from the tip. He grabbed the lube and climbed on the bed, made his way around behind her.

  “Let’s feel alive together, sugar. Suck Dane’s cock while I get this ass ready for my cock.”

  She looked over her shoulder at him as he opened the lid on the bottle of lube and drizzled some onto his fingers.

  Her gaze flicked to mine before she bent at the waist and took me into her mouth.

  “Fuck,” I groaned, tangling my fingers in her silky hair.

  Yes, this was the woman for us. The one who could stand on her own two feet and make me sink to my knees.

  HARPER

  Maybe it was the adrenaline. Maybe I was just in lust with these guys. Maybe it was love. I had no idea. It had been the craziest and most amazing twenty-four hours of my life, and I didn’t want it to end. They’d approached O’Sullivan for me. They’d fought my dragon like two white knights. But I hadn’t been the damsel in distress. I’d saved myself, too.

  Yeah, I couldn’t blame them f
or being mad, or for even spanking my ass. I probably deserved it. If I stopped long enough to think about what I’d done, I’d probably want to spank my own ass. It had been an insane move, but it had to be done.

  I had to know I could stand on my own two feet and protect myself. And what was mine.

  And Dane and Leo? They were mine.

  Just as it seemed I was theirs.

  That was why I’d jumped Leo. He was bold and brash. Protective and wickedly possessive. He wasn’t mad at me for being myself. He was mad that I could have gotten hurt.

  And that filled a place inside my heart I didn’t know was empty. Dane, too. He’d been livid I’d walked into that bar. But I was mad they’d done it, too.

  We’d been in a no-win situation we were all able to walk away from.

  That was all that mattered. And now, I wanted to show that we were alive, together.

  Whole.

  So I sucked Dane’s cock with eagerness, only stopping when Leo spanked me. Once, twice. Then I felt his finger on my back entrance, coating and spreading the slick lube. I’d let them put that plug in me at the kitchen. It had felt good. Weird. They’d made me come. No, not just that. They’d fucked me with it in. And I’d loved it.

  Now they were going to fuck me at the same time. To claim me together.

  I looked up at Dane, his dark eyes almost black, his jaw clenched. His slick cock was just a few inches from my mouth.

  “I want both of you.”

  He smiled, cupped my jaw and thumbed the corner of my mouth. “You have us.”

  Leo hooked an arm about my waist, pulled me up so I was kneeling before him, my back against his front. His hand slid up to cup my breast as he kissed my neck. “You’re ours, sugar. We’ve said it before. Do you believe us now?”

  Angling my head to the side to give his lips better access, I nodded. “Yes. I want to be yours. I want both of you. Together.” I reached a hand out for Dane. “Now.”

  A small smile formed on Dane’s lips. “How do you want us?” He gripped his cock, stroked it. “This belongs to you now. Tell me what you want me to do with it.”