“Can you be cute and sexy?” Noah asked lightly.
“You’re sexy…” Danea answered. “He’s cute.”
“Cute? I get cute? I’m old enough to…” Wade stopped and inhaled slowly.
“But you are cute…especially when you wear your glasses and you’re teaching one of the classes,” Danea shrugged. “That’s how I see you. A sweet, rugged kind of cute.”
“He’ll take what he can get at this point,” Noah assured her with a chuckle. “I think we can clean this up and move to the other room with the wine.”
“Cute…I’ll never live it down,” Wade finished off the last of the egg rolls and started tossing containers into the large trash can near the kitchen. “And kindly keep that assessment to yourself, Danea.”
“I…” Danea decided she was going to just have to get used to looking from one to the other. Partly to figure out her own head but mostly to try and figure out why the mysterious forces of nature chose her for them.
Them, not him. Them, she repeated numbly to herself as she walked to the bedroom and closed the door without speaking.
She was staring in the mirror as she changed into a comfortable button down nightshirt and pair of silky pants that swished around her bare toes. They were loose enough to let the air flow since the heat was only now starting to fade from the apartment. Not sexy, she thought, but comfortable. If she was going to be confused, it might as well be done in comfort.
She listened to the girl in her lecturing. In a voice that sounded amazingly like her mother’s, but still… It wasn’t like she was so totally repulsive and crudely annoying. She had some redeeming qualities.
She was still pondering this as she wandered back to her living area that was now occupied by two men. Who somehow, made their occupation look completely natural and even cozy. Her feet came to a stop and she frowned. Her livingroom had been rearranged.
The large, thick quilt that had been on the back of the sofa was now spread out on the floor in front of the fireplace. The heavy stone ledge of the fireplace, that was not in use, now held two bottles of wine, three glasses and two males, one leaning on either side like book ends and watching her. Like prey. Like she really should turn and quietly creep back into her room and lock the door.
But not because she was afraid of them. More, she was afraid of herself.
“Are you going to hide, Dani?” Noah asked quietly.
Wade had gone to her computer while she was changing and found her music, selecting one of her playlists and setting it to playing in the background. They weren’t setting up a seduction. They’d agreed they had to get her talking to them, relaxing with them before that could happen; if that could happen.
“Red or white, Danea?” Wade asked, waiting just as Noah was for a reaction.
“I like sweet wine…but I’m not much of a connoisseur.” The smile she found was shaky at best as she sat on the floor between them. “I learned a few…Riesling is my favorite…mother and I did a trip to Europe a few years ago, when I graduated from college,” she accepted the goblet Wade held out to her and took a slow drink. “You had to dig to find these.”
“They were behind a few other things,” Wade admitted. “I washed them.”
“I found them in Italy,” she turned the fine crystal in her fingers, touching the etchings lightly and smiling. “They’re the only ones I ever liked…I had four but one broke when I moved my things into the apartment,” her voice had dropped, wondering at the coincidence that she had three wine glasses. For three people. She took another drink.
“It’s a beautiful design and very fine crystal,” Wade told her.
“Why do we make you uncomfortable?” Noah asked, the goblet filled with red wine at his lips when she tore her gaze from her fingers to stare at him.
“I’m not…Alright, maybe I am, a little…” her gaze shifted to the soft chuckle from Wade. “I did some reading at lunch…it was very interesting…and I forgot to eat again, but the point is, the material and information out there is fascinating and some of it’s clinical and a lot of it is supposition, but still, it’s…helpful,” she concluded before taking another deep swallow of the chilled sweet wine.
“What type of information, Dani?” Noah prodded.
“About you. About you both, actually. About the theories behind mating and the statistics gathered to date regarding successful relationships,” she recited what she’d been thinking of most of the day. “I don’t think it’s so much you that bothers me as…as I don’t want to fail. And it isn’t even that he failed – he just used the woman as he was instructed by his father and the oracles. They knew what they were getting out of it. But I don’t want to be like…”
“Like your father,” Wade suggested with a nod. “That’s understandable. But something to consider, Danea, if you were like him, I’m not sure it’s something you could have battled as well as you have.”
“And I get the impression your mother doesn’t think you’re anything like him.” Noah lifted the bottle of white wine and added more to her glass.
Danea unfolded her long legs and stretched them out toward the stones of the fireplace, sparkling yellow toes wiggling as she thought.
“My mother was sixteen when I was born,” she sipped the chilled wine. “She admits she didn’t think she was in love. He’s charming and kind and he’s not a bad person,” she said hurriedly, wanting them to understand. “She didn’t believe she could get pregnant. One of those prediction-oracle claims things,” she waved her hand in the air. “Obviously they were wrong. I didn’t meet him until I was five and by then, I had two step-sisters and another on the way.”
“How old was he?” Wade asked curiously, getting drawn into the story since his research turned up nothing on Danea or her mother.
“He was twenty when he met my mother.”
“Did he know about you, Danea?” Noah watched her nod.
“She says he did. And when I began asking about him, she made arrangements for me to spend time with him,” she smiled at them both. “He’s not a bad person or even a bad parent and if I gave that impression, that’s wrong. He’s…morally challenged, I think,” she listened to their laughter. “And I met my little sisters slowly over the years. I kind of feel sorry for them. He…their mothers were only vessels. He paid them and some of them disappeared from their daughter’s lives. They never knew what having a good mom was like.”
“Why was he so intent on having kids? That’s a little on the unusual side,” Wade commented honestly.
“Damned unusual,” Noah corrected flatly.
“It’s expected of him,” she answered with a shrug and wave of her free hand. “Regardless…they’re nice…my step-sisters. Gorgeous…beautiful long hair and perfect bodies. They’ve had nice nannies and he dotes on them.”
She pulled her legs back and sat Indian style, her glass twirling between her hands.
“I know – logically – I’m not like him. I know that,” she repeated firmly. “Sometimes I tend to over analyze things and that’s why I chose children as my field in college. There’s no agenda with them. It’s simple and pure and honest. So I went for childcare specialist and a business degree.” She pushed a long breath between her lips and took another drink. “Now it’s your turn to talk.”
“What if we like listening to you?” Wade teased, adding more wine to her glass.
She pulled her lower lip gently between her teeth. “I don’t know what else to say.”
“You said you read information about us,” Noah prodded carefully. “What kind of information were you looking for?”
She hesitated. She didn’t want to hurt their feelings or doubt them.
“Honesty, Danea,” Wade urged.
“To find out why. But the answers are as varied as…an answer to anything,” she said with a sigh. “Some blame the female.”
“I’m not sure they use the word blame,” Noah corrected with a frown. “Maybe attribute.”
“You’ve read up o
n it?” She asked hesitantly.
“I know people in triads. I know that the female holds the circle together because she’s strong,” Noah told her firmly. “Not because anyone blames her.”
“The separation rate in species outside humans is next to zero,” Wade saw her nod and take a drink of her wine.
“Humans are different. They sometimes equate sex with love but that’s not always true,” she said as if talking to herself. “But with you…it’s almost as if you have no choice. That because some…some instinct says so, you’re here.”
“I’m pretty sure it’s a little more complex than that,” Wade tried hiding his smile and failed when she scowled at him.
“The girls in the grocery looked at me like I was stealing prime rib off the market,” Danea heard the words leave her mouth seconds before she clamped her palm over her lips.
“Ahh…so that’s where the blame comes from. And why do you care what they think?” Noah asked with one brow raised. “You think you should feel guilty for more reasons than should be, Dani. We’re not attached to anyone. We’re free to make our own choices, just as you are.”
“But that’s my point. You didn’t make the choice. It was made for you and you have to live with it,” she leaned a little forward, unaware of the front of her shirt gaping open and revealing her breasts. She was feeling pretty warm, though, and blew a puff of air between her lips at the hair that had fallen over one eye. “How do you trust it?”
Neither Wade nor Noah missed the betrayed rounded breasts beneath the light shirt she was wearing. And while it was far from cold in the apartment, her nipples had been peaked for the last half hour as she moved when she talked, the fabric rubbing on them and awakening things.
“It?” Wade finally forced himself to ask, lifting his gaze from the opening of her shirt. “Why do you wear clothes so much bigger than you are?” He blurted out.
“My clothes?” Danea straightened and looked down. “This is my sleep shirt and I thought pants were a good idea because otherwise…there’s nothing but me there…and I like my clothes. I spend most of my day wrestling with little kids and tight things tend to make it harder to move. And yes, it…it…um…the instinct thing,” she said, straining to remember the train of thought she’d been following.
“She’s a lot smaller than the clothes,” Noah stated, pulling his phone out and tapping on it before turning it to Wade.
Chapter Eight
“I…you…” Danea made a grab for the phone and had it in her fingers at the same time Wade’s eyes widened. “You didn’t!?” She turned the phone, blinked and crushed it to her chest, flames of heat striking her cheeks. “You did! How dare you!” She scooted back and bounced to her feet, clutching the phone against her. “How dare you take photos of me like…like that!”
“Anyone coming along the coast highway could take photos of you, Danea,” Noah was on his feet, pacing carefully closer. “Give me the phone. I told you to stop swimming out there or at least wear a damn swimsuit.”
“You swim out there naked?” Wade asked, remaining leaned against the fireplace and watching them.
“She swims out there every fucking Monday at six in the morning,” Noah reached for his phone only to have her make a run around the sofa, glaring at him.
“You are not the boss of me, sheriff!” She turned away from him and ducked swiftly behind the counter, her fingers fumbling to slide the back off his phone. “I want them gone! Gone!”
“Give me that…damn it, Danea!” Noah made a quick lunge, the phone in one hand and the other wrapped snuggly around her waist, hauling her back against him. Long legs were sent kicking out which followed with a very loud protest. “It’s not my fault your toe hit my boots. Now hold still. No one is going to see those photos.”
“Photos?” She squealed as he carried her back to the spread quilt. He dropped her to the floor, shaking his head. “You took more than one?”
Noah tossed the phone to Wade, both arms around Danea this time.
“I took half a dozen. It was like watching a goddess rise from the sea,” Noah whispered the words hotly against her ear. She stopped wiggling, her chest rising and falling rapidly.
“Venus,” Wade said softly, his finger tapping on the phone and scrolling through the photos. “You really are swimming in the Pacific ocean in September.”
“Rain or shine,” Noah responded, slowly letting her feet touch the floor again, his hands on her hips and holding her against him. “Every Monday morning for the last seven weeks. I told you it’s how I met her,” he gave in to the urge and ran his tongue down the slim column of her throat until he could nip at the hollow between her shoulder and neck. Her hands gripped his where they rested on her waist and he felt the hard shudder race through her; felt the full softness of her ass pressing against an erection he couldn’t even begin to hide.
“I think I need to sit down,” Danea whispered, her eyes closing. She had seen the expression on Wade’s face as she stood there with Noah kissing along her neck. She saw the hard outline of his cock beneath his pants and felt the same thing pressing against her ass. Hot was the word that ripped into her brain. A heat like nothing she’d known before sped through her and his hands hadn’t left her hips. He’d done nothing but kiss her while Wade watched from the floor.
“I was hoping for a taste,” Wade said after clearing his throat. He lifted the glass to his lips and drained it.
“I can’t choose…I can’t…”
“Why, Dani?” Noah nipped at her throat. He moved one foot and helped her sit on the quilt, closer to Wade. He sat behind her.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” she answered, amazed at the thick fog surrounding her as her head drifted to the side, granting him full access to her throat and shoulder. A small whimper broke from her lips when she felt a pair of hands on the buttons of her shirt. Heat speared hotly from her throat to the spot dampening between her thighs. Noah’s hands hadn’t moved from her hips. That meant…she swallowed and opened her eyes to find Wade on his knees in front of her.
“You’re beautiful, Danea,” Wade murmured, sliding to sit at her side and lean in to brush his mouth over hers. “You might not believe it right now…our other halves found you for us…but the men are the ones here with you because we want to be.”
She was positive a little part of her melted. Between the words he whispered against her mouth and the hands that had opened her shirt and bared her breasts, she really wasn’t sure she was still breathing.
“Beautiful,” Noah murmured against her throat. He pressed his nose against her throat, just at the thickness of her hair and inhaled deeply, groaning softly as a fragrance of some exotic flower mixed with the arousal that wafted from the woman in their arms.
She liked the dark, husky sound of Wade’s voice. Different from the faintest of Midwest accents that drifted into Noah’s words now and then. So different and so real.
“Have dinner with us tomorrow, Danea,” Wade lifted his mouth from hers, leaned away and drew two fingers gently around the half scallops of her bra. “We’ll go slowly.”
“Nothing more than you’re willing to give,” Noah whispered close to her ear, his hands turning and twining her fingers with his at her hips.
Danea knew what it felt like to be caught up in the center of a whirling tornado of emotions and sensations. A sexy, vibrant man on either side of her. Caressing her with words, soft touches and a kiss now and then. She could feel each of them breathing, a warm sweet feeling sweeping across her skin each time they exhaled or whispered.
“Dinner?”
“I think she’s speechless,” Wade said with a soft chuckle. He placed a finger beneath her chin and tipped it up. A soft fluttering of tawny lashes lifted and stared. “Tomorrow after work, Danea. Dinner, maybe a movie or just more talking.”
“Yes…but I’ll make dinner here,” she ran her tongue around her lips. “Tomorrow.”
Noah stepped carefully back after making sure she wasn’t goi
ng to slip to the floor. “I had no idea we could have that kind of effect on you, Danea,” he teased, adjusting his jeans and dragging in a long, slow breath.
She closed her eyes for a long minute before opening them to see the pair of them standing near the door.
“I don’t believe that for a minute. I think you’re both very aware of the damage you do to a girl’s psyche,” she ignored the open couple buttons on her nightshirt.
“Damage?” Noah offered a crooked grin that fell to nothing when his phone sounded loudly. “Damn it,” he pulled it from the pocket of his jeans.
Danea watched his face harden, change and felt a strange ache of worry inside her. “Noah? What is it?”
“Work,” was all he offered, one large hand out and cupping her chin. He tipped her face back and kissed her fast and hard. “Tomorrow. I’ve got to go.”
“Wait,” the word burst from inside her. It was mere seconds while she gulped the nerves, placed her hands on his face and kissed him this time. “Please. Be careful.”
“Always,” he promised, taking a step back with a look at Wade. “See you tomorrow. Take care of her.”
Wade offered only a nod and stood with Danea.
“I don’t know what the problem is, angel,” Wade said softly when the sound of the lower door echoed in the silence. “But he didn’t sound overly concerned. Just annoyed.”
Danea looked up at him, the shadows from the one light that had been on in the room cast a soft glow around him.
“Why…why did you call me that?” She asked with a slight shift of her feet, her hands twisting nervously. “I hope he’s alright…I never thought about what it…”
“He’s been in law or security most of his life, Danea,” Wade took a step closer, his hands on her shoulders and pulling her against him. She pressed her face into his chest, her arms circling his waist. “It’s okay to worry, but I have a feeling he’ll always come home to us.”
Newport/Aftport #2: Danea Page 6
