He’d brought her shoes and bag along, and he dropped them inside when she unlocked the door and didn’t take the measure of closing it in his face. He looked around the attractive space while she moved through it. She stopped at the door to what was no doubt her bedroom. Without looking at him, she said, “I have to shower.”
Yeah, he figured she did. And it had nothing to do the rain she’d been out in.
She closed the door on him but didn’t tell him to get the hell out of her place. He took that as a sort of consent. Retrieving his own bag from the Wrangler, he peeled out of his wet clothes, ignored his mother’s chastisement in his head and dried off some with a kitchen towel, then put on sweats and a fresh tee. Figuring she might be a while, he poked around the kitchen. By the time Haidee peeked out from her room, he had the table set, bowls of soup out that he’d doctored up from a can, and plates with grilled cheese sandwiches.
She looked it all over and then met his gaze. He stood behind one chair, waiting for her.
“I’m not hungry.”
He knew she’d flown with Vash, who would not very likely have stopped to feed her before he…well, whatever.
She couldn’t outlast him as he stayed put, waiting. Finally, she frowned then ducked back into her room. When she came out, she was in sweats, too. But her bottoms looked like the sort a girl would sleep in, and he could see the strap of a little cami at the neckline of her oversized sweatshirt. She’d gotten herself ready for bed, surely hoping that he’d do her the favor of disappearing while she dawdled at it.
When he hadn’t, she’d armored up, adding the big sweatshirt.
It was a fairly pathetic effort, given the way it tended to slip off her shoulder and reveal soft, nicely scented skin.
She might have wished him gone, but he wasn’t all that sorry to disappoint.
Danya waited her out, not sitting until she did. She started out picking at her food, but, in the end, she made a decent meal of it, though he ate the second half of her sandwich after he’d finished his own. Neither spoke.
He sat while she cleared the table, rinsing the empty dishes and loading them into the washer. She stayed in the kitchen, the barrier of a small island counter between them, when she was done and finally faced him.
“I can walk to the hospital for my car tomorrow. Thank you for bringing me home, Danya. And feeding me. I appreciate that you’ve been…kind.”
It was a pretty decent kiss-off. He held back his smirk. “I’m not leaving you tonight, so you may as well show me your bed. I hope there’s room for both of us.”
She crossed her arms under her breasts—kind of a strategic error, if only she knew. “Danya.”
“Haidee.”
Maybe his determination was visible in his face. Either way, she sighed. “Danny, after what you saw today, you can’t possibly have any interest…”
“I have a whole shitload of interest, and every intention.” He stood and met her gaze evenly. She tried to steady a look back, but tears got in the way. She finally broke contact and shook her head, looking down and away.
“You must think I’m a…a whore.”
He walked around the island to stand next to her and stroked his hand down her braid. She hadn’t dried her hair, but had woven it in a thick strand down her back. He put his hand on her shoulder and brought her in. “That’s not what I think, and it’s not what you are. Don’t ever say that again.”
He kept her against him as she let out a couple miserable sobs. Pressing his lips into her hair, he spoke quietly. “I’m not going to make love to you. That’s not what I meant. But you’ve had a night, and I’m not leaving you alone.”
She nuzzled her face into his chest so he could barely hear her when she spoke. “You heard about Kyle? His wife?”
“Yeah.” She was still stiff against him, and he stroked his hands up and down her back. “I’m sorry, Haidee.”
She shook her head. “It shouldn’t still hurt.”
“But it does. You cared for him. This isn’t your fault.”
“Yes, it is. What I did tonight…that’s on me, not on Kyle.”
“Well, Kyle had a hand in it, didn’t he? And you’re not the first one to get a little crazy with a broken heart.”
Danya felt the vibration of her quiet moan. “I can’t believe—”
“Shh,” he said, pressing her head a little further into his chest. “You were safe. My brothers protected you.”
She lifted her head to look at him. Tears still spilled over her cheeks. “You saw that. I can’t believe you could be so nice after you saw…”
Pulling up the hem of his shirt, he wiped at her tears. When he was done, he held her head with both hands, forcing her gaze to meet his. “Did you think I’d be disgusted?” He shook his head. “Maybe you don’t realize what I saw. You were beautiful. Incredible. I saw a gorgeous woman reveling in her sexual power. You slayed those two. And they’re not easy. You slayed them, and you gloried in it. You were fucking spectacular.
“You think that would make me not want you? Think again, Haidee.” He couldn’t help what was happening inside his pants. She’d brought the subject up and gotten him recalling the images burned into his retinas. He slid one hand down to the base of her spine and pulled her against him so she would know what was happening down there, too.
Completely without decorum or even basic etiquette, he rutted into her. “My plan was to get into bed with you and hold you while we both slept. But if you need me to prove how fucking hot you are, if you need to know how much I want you, then, by all means, let’s keep talking about this!”
Danya took a huge breath and tried to rein himself in. He took hold of Haidee’s shoulders and inched his lower half back, away from her. “Sorry, baby. Sorry. Sorry.”
He still held her close enough to his chest that he felt the strange rumble. He almost panicked, thinking it was tears again, but—“You’d better not…you’d better not be laughing at me, Haidee Wells.”
The brat smooshed her face into his shirt before she straightened to look up at him. She almost had the humor wiped from her face.
Fuck. He was in love.
* * * *
Haidee forced herself to meet those sweet, fiery blue eyes. It seemed to matter to him, so she squelched the last traces of her laughter. “Will you come to bed with me, Danya? Will you hold me while we sleep?”
He nodded, fully serious, and she took his hand. Like the lamb she was very, very sure he was not, he followed her.
She had a queen bed and knew it would barely fit him. Like his brothers, he was long and broad. She happened to know now that, also like his brothers, he was very well-endowed, but she didn’t have to go there at this point in time.
An hour before, she’d been thinking she would never feel right about herself again. Danny had been correct, in those things he’d almost said. She’d known that he was interested in her. They’d flirted in Denver, and he’d made it abundantly clear that he wanted more from her, that he would pursue her.
But she’d had that moment in the parking lot at the hospital, that moment of complete defeat. When Vashi made his indecent proposal, she should have thought of Danny. She so wasn’t the sort to juggle relationships. She would never go home with one man while she expected to be seeing another.
It just wasn’t her.
Yet, she’d gone with Vashi, and the small intent that had formed between her and Danny hadn’t even crossed her mind. She’d fallen into Vashi’s powerful sexuality, into a spell that hadn’t broken even when another man had joined them, had penetrated her.
She’d never had an adventurous sex life. She’d been with men…one at a time. Sharing her body had always given pleasure to her and to her partner. There had never been any concern that she wasn’t adequate. But there was also never any suggestion that she was a rock star of sex. She’d never even fantasized about being with two men. And having a huge cock shoved up her… Well, she’d never had even the mildest anal play before. Had never
, ever considered that she’d scream with mind-blowing pleasure as two men fucked the hell out of her.
Her first reaction was embarrassment and then shame. Even if Danny hadn’t shown up at that incredibly awful, awkward moment, she would have felt it. She had behaved so recklessly, so irresponsibly. Danny might be sure that both men had worn condoms, but Haidee hadn’t made sure of it. In fact, she was quite certain that she wouldn’t have cared one way or the other.
She’d let Vashi bind her. He’d asked—somewhat indirectly, he’d asked permission for all of it. And she’d agreed. Not being careful at all, not making sure of the particulars, she’d just given herself over to it. Bind her wrists? Sure. Take her in the ass? No worries. Share her body when his brother happened along? Why the fuck not?
She’d been endlessly, hopelessly stupid. Like a monk in a hair shirt, she’d taken that forlorn walk, barefoot, in the rain. It had seemed a just and reasonable punishment. She deserved that and worse.
And yet, Danny—sweet, kind, really quite dear Danny—had made her feel better. Had made her behavior seem somewhat reasonable, somewhat acceptable. She was still a long way from thinking that her actions this night had been anything like spectacular, but he’d eased her spirit even so.
He made her feel better still when he walked to the bed with her, stopped her from crawling in long enough to slip the big sweatshirt off over her head, and then snuggled in with her. Like it was a matter of course, he kept his own sweats on and even his slightly damp T-shirt. He tucked her onto her side and spooned up behind her, his one arm under her neck and the other wrapped around her waist.
Apparently, they were both aware that his cock thought there should be more than cuddling going on. She felt it not just press against her ass, but throb there, seek.
“You can ignore that,” he said at her ear. “I intend to.”
She smiled. “It’s hard to imagine you can sleep with that going on.”
He nuzzled her hair, and she was half in love.
“I’ve slept in worse circumstances.”
“Really?” she asked. “Tell me.”
His arm tightened around her, and she loved the feeling of it. His chest was warm and solid behind her, his arm was all hard muscle and safe containment. “Well,” he said, and she could feel his breath along her neck. He brought his knees up, tucking them firmly behind hers. “I’ve done winter camping in the Beartooths and the Snowies. I’ve taken wilderness survival courses in Colorado and New Zealand. I sleep in the helo pretty often. And, when we were kids, we’d stay with my grandmother sometimes when our mom worked a night shift. Baboushka had one little bed for the three of us and, well, I might have been a bit of a bed-wetter.” He kissed her bare shoulder. “That’s what Vashi and Lev claimed, anyway. Either way, I usually ended up on the floor.”
Haidee laughed, more content than she could ever have imagined. “I heard the story of your grandmother from Vashi today. She must have been quite a woman.”
“She was.” His words agreed, but she felt sure there was a rueful tone to them.
“Was your father flying?”
“Hmm?”
He almost was asleep, she thought, though his erection hadn’t relinquished even a smidge of hope.
“When your mother worked, and you stayed with your grandmother.”
“Oh,” he said, somehow nestling even closer around her. “That was…complicated.”
Like life, she thought, as she heard his breathing settle into sleep.
* * * *
Haidee slept, too, surprisingly well. She and Danny had changed positions during the night. She remembered waking at one point with Danny on his back and herself tucked against him. His arm was still around her, holding her close, and his cock, where he held her leg across him, nearly at his waist, was hard again. Or, somehow quite possibly still hard.
But when daylight filled the room, coming in from the east windows, she was on her side again and he was tucked up behind her just like they’d started the night. Just like before, his hard cock pressed against her. Only, different from before, he was deliberately rocking into her. And his hand wasn’t wrapped snugly around her abdomen anymore, but cupped one breast. And his chest was hot and bare behind her.
He’d lifted over her and was nuzzling at her neck, her ear. “Haidee,” he whispered, and she knew then what had woken her. “I want you. Really, really want you. You should tell me ASAP if you’re not ready for this.”
She was ready—at least, her body was. He felt so very good, his large, muscled body so warm, so much in need of hers. She took stock and knew that her nipple was hard against his palm, that her clit was already swollen, her pussy wet and needy.
“I can wait,” he said, though his hand had moved on her breast and he fingered her nipple now. “I can,” he said again, like he was trying to convince himself. He moved enough that he could roll her onto her back and then came over her. He cupped her face and his breath was hot over her, his eyes needy. “But I don’t want to.”
He kissed her, and she learned that he’d been up to the bathroom and used her toothpaste, if not her brush. He didn’t seem to mind that she hadn’t. “Haidee,” he said again. His leg pressed between hers, his hand stroked over one breast then the other. “Say yes.”
She knew he would stop if she didn’t give her consent. She was sure of it. Closing her eyes for a moment, she simply enjoyed his hot hands on her breasts, his knee so provocative against her clit. It was possible she humped a little in response. That might have been what she heard in his breath.
Not twelve hours earlier, she’d fallen into an orgy of wild, no-holds-barred sex with this man’s brothers. She should certainly give it a little longer—or even a lifetime—before she consented to make love with him. But he was sweet, and hot, and, oh, how she wanted him. Her body sang for him. His each touch was just right, just so beguiling, inflaming.
She remembered thinking that with Vashi, wondering how he knew her so well, read her need so correctly, made each touch so perfect.
It must have been some genetic, inbred magic.
Haidee couldn’t say no. She opened her eyes and looked into his. She held his head with both hands and lifted to kiss him. “Yes, Danny. Yes.”
He growled out his satisfaction and came right up over her. He let his weight capture her body while his mouth took command of hers. Haidee loved it, loved the mass of him, the heat, the…mastery. Like he owned her and like he was hers. For both, their bodies were a source of shared pleasure, meant just for that purpose.
He kissed her, holding her head between his hands, cherishing her. Then he propped himself up on one arm, so he could move a hand to her breasts. He marauded there, covering one then the other, chafing then finding the hard nipples and pinching, tugging.
He followed with his mouth, sliding down her body, planting himself uncompromisingly between her thighs. He ran his mouth over her tits, nipping at her peaked nipples, sucking them through the slubbed linen of her cami. His tongue stroked her, his lips pulled at her. The rough fabric, wet from his mouth, hot then cool, added its own erotic stimulation.
He kept at it as though it was a feast, until she whimpered and unashamedly rocked and arched, seeking more of his mouth, more of that sweet pressure between her legs. Finally, finally, he raised his head. “Lift,” he instructed. One-handed, he tore the cami up, bringing it along her arms until she could grasp it and toss it away. Then he looked down at her.
“God, you’re gorgeous.” He pushed up on both hands to look at her. She felt her breasts tighten, basking in his adoration, showing off just for him like they lived for that purpose alone. He took a heavy, sultry breath and moved his gaze to hers for just a moment. Then he lowered himself to his elbows, took a breast with each hand, pushed them together, and buried his face in her cleavage.
He wallowed there, nuzzling, breathing her in. He turned his face from one breast to the other, chafing, sliding his tongue over. Closer and closer to her nipples, but not qu
ite reaching. She could tell he was torturing himself and her—he wanted his mouth all the way there, and she needed it. She had her hands on his shoulders and then in his hair, urging him to give in to her need.
But he resisted until she lifted, until she arched and grasped at him, and brought herself to him. She cried out in blessed relief as he took her—hard, hard. Sucking her nipple in deep, drawing roughly so she felt inflamed, distended, and then abruptly tearing away, without easing the suction, to find the other side. He alternated that rough treatment with slow strokes of his tongue, firm caresses that incited even as they soothed.
Haidee dug her heels into the bed and rocked up, trying to chafe herself against the hard expanse of his abdomen that pressed not quite satisfactorily enough at her clit. He had a narrow swath of coarse hair there that was almost enough. She tried, and tried, and then collapsed in frustration.
Danya lifted again, covering her breasts with his hands once more, and inspected her face. His lips curved in a knowing, satisfied smile. “Need something, baby?”
He worked her nipples between thumb and fingers as he watched her, waiting for her answer. She huffed out her breaths, nearly pulling her hair out in frustration.
“Dan. Danny.”
“I’m here, Haid. What do you want me to do?”
Want? Like it should be so simple. Her body screamed with raging need, and he was egging things on by working her nipples that way. She had a burning temptation to batter him into submission and only just barely found her words. “Touch me. Touch…” She knew he would wait forever for it. She just knew it. “My clit.” There. A word she’d never in her life said out loud, and she’d nearly yelled it.
Three Men and a Woman: Haidee (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 8
