Torn Between Two Brothers [Billionaires: Too Hot to Handle 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Jan Bowles

  Although he heard her, Shane didn’t really hear a word Jessica said. “You took my woman while I was away on company business, Reed. Even you’re not dumb enough to think I was about to overlook that fact, or are you?”

  “Your woman? You always did have delusions of grandeur, Shane. Jessica is not your woman, never was. She’s my woman. One who came to my bed willingly. We did things together that you could only dream of.”

  Reed was taunting him now and there was only one way this confrontation was going to end. More than anything else in the world he wanted and needed to destroy the brother he was once willing to die for. “You piece of fucking shit, Reed. Jessica is mine. She belongs to me and I will kill you if I have to.”

  “Reed, Shane, please listen to me.” Jessica’s voice cracked with emotion. “Please, it’s not too late to stop all this madness. You’re brothers, twins. Before I came to MAT you were inseparable.”

  Shane pushed her to one side and now stood nose-to-nose with Reed. “Well, that’s all ancient history, honey. It’s the present that’s important, and not the past. Any moment now I’m about to tear this lying, deceiving, no-good bastard apart with my bare hands.” He stared directly into the eyes of a brother he’d once loved. As expected, Reed didn’t show one single ounce of fear.

  Jessica’s hands were now clasped together as though in fervent prayer. “Please don’t, Shane, I’m begging you. I’m begging you both. Please don’t. Let’s all sit down and calmly talk about this. We can sort things out if only you’ll both give it a chance. Really we can.”

  Shane felt Reed’s nose push harder against his own as his five-minute-older twin tried to fuck with his mind. “You’re no match for me, little brother. I was always able to kick your sorry ass when we were kids, and nothing has changed.”

  * * * *

  The two men Jessica loved more than life itself seemed intent on destroying one another, and right now she felt powerless to stop them. How had they reached such an impasse? When raw, untamed violence and hate finally defeated logic and brotherly love, there could be no winner. Neither willing to give an inch, Reed and Shane would fight themselves to a standstill, or worse still, fight until one or both of them lay dead. Undiluted hatred and anger filled their eyes and distorted their once beautiful faces, and Jessica instinctively knew that something not dissimilar to nuclear annihilation was about to take place.

  Desperate almost to the point of despair, she did her utmost to burrow between them. She couldn’t, because so close were their war-like bodies she found it impossible to separate them.

  With tears streaming down her face as pure emotion got the better of her, she pitifully beat her fists against their arms.

  “Stop it… Stop it… Stop it. I refuse to be the reason you want to kill each other.” However hard she hit them, it made no impact, because their masculine, pumped-up torsos appeared to be made of granite rather than flesh and blood. “I refuse to be the reason you are fighting, and I refuse to accept the winner, because there won’t be one. Can’t you see that you’ll end up killing each other? I just couldn’t bear it if that happened.”

  With his eyes still focused solely on his brother, Reed finally broke the deafening silence.

  His baritone delivery chilled the blood in her veins. “Don’t worry, Jess. Don’t worry your pretty little head about a thing, because there is only going to be one killing here today, one fatality. And it won’t be me.”

  With her emotions now in free fall, she sobbed with frustration at the sheer insanity of what she faced. “If you kill your brother, the brother you were once willing to die for, I won’t accept you, Reed.”

  Still he didn’t look at her. “You will. You’ll have to. You have no choice. The winner takes it all, remember?”

  Where it came from, Jessica had no idea, but a calming acceptance seemed to wash gently over her, making her respiration return to near normal levels. Like a warm cosseting blanket, it gently eased her panic and fear aside, allowing rational thought to take control once again.

  Now icily calm and composed, she whispered, “I won’t accept you, Reed, and I won’t accept Shane either if he kills you. I’m not part of this, and don’t kid yourselves that this madness is some gallant, noble gesture on your part. It isn’t. It’s brutality for the sake of brutality, and I want no part of it. What’s happened to you both? How did it come to this? What I see before me is two men whom I love and adore, two men I am willing to die for should the need arise. I see two courageous individuals who have achieved so much in life by working together and working for each other. Please, I’m begging you, don’t throw it all away, because of some temporary insanity that has afflicted you both.”

  After her lecture, Jessica thought it best to return to submission and compliance. Appealing to the protective nature that lay hidden deep within them, she dropped to her knees and wrapped her arms around their legs. “Please, Reed. Please, Shane. Please… I love you both so much. I need you both so much. Without you both to guide me, scold me, teach me, discipline me, and most of all love me, I’m nothing. I’m nothing without you both. Can’t you see that?”

  For the first time since the gut-churning confrontation began, Jessica felt the tension in the air begin to drop from its dangerously high peak. With her arms still wrapped around their powerful thighs, she thought she felt the tension ease there, too. “Please, I’m begging you.” She submissively kissed their calves. “I can only be happy when both of you are willing to love and share me equally. There is no other way. Is that too much to ask of brothers who deep down, and despite what has happened, still love each other dearly?”

  The drum-tight tension so evident in their legs dropped another notch and she wasted no time in pushing home her advantage. “It would make your obedient servant so very…very grateful if you would do this one little thing for her… Please.”

  Shane let out a noise that half resembled a cough and half resembled a grunt. “Well, honey, if you put it that way, I suppose I could be minded not to rip Reed limb from limb today.”

  Reed grunted with indignation. “In your dreams, little brother. But I can see the distress our difference of opinion has caused you, Jess. With this in mind, I may put off breaking every bone in Shane’s body for another day.”

  She was finally getting through to them. Finally making them see sense.

  Jessica let out a sigh of pure relief. “Yes, that’s it…that’s it. Save beating the crap out of each other for another time.”

  She felt Shane’s hand in her hair. “You realize I’m doing this for you, and you alone, honey?”

  She took hold of his hand and feverishly kissed it. “Yes…yes of course, and I will be eternally grateful to you.”

  Reed’s hand feathered through her hair, too. “Same here, Jess. I’m saving Shane from a beating he would never forget, just to make you happy.”

  “Yes…yes, I know, and thank you. Thank you. Thank you.” She smothered his hand with kisses, just as she’d done with Shane.

  In unison, they took a step back and Jessica felt her sense of relief grow. “Thank you.”

  Reed and Shane still eyed one another suspiciously and were a million miles from being the best of friends they once were. However, they were no longer the worst of enemies, and for now at least, that was the best Jessica could hope for.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Three weeks later

  Reed pushed open the floor-to-ceiling window of the opulent hotel room and breathed in the heady environment. An environment that contained one sixth of the world’s population—China.

  This was his fourth visit to this magical place, and he never grew tired of the diversity this most ancient of civilizations had to offer. Just as with the other times he’d visited Beijing, he was here on MAT business. However, China was one of the few destinations around the globe where Reed felt genuinely able to mix business with pleasure. With this in mind, he was looking forward to immersing himself in the tradition and culture. In his experi
ence, the Chinese people were never less than courteous, and despite this huge country having more than its fair share of crippling poverty, he witnessed far more happy smiling faces here, than he would back in the States.

  Three weeks ago to the very day, he’d come perilously close to killing, or at least badly injuring, his brother. Jessica had been right. Sobbing hysterically, she’d told Shane and himself that a form of temporary insanity had clouded their judgment to such an extent that they had lost all reason.

  Reed shuddered at the memory. Only a woman—a very special woman—could have such an effect on brothers, who despite all that had gone before, still loved each other. Were he and Shane best buddies again? No, far from it, but the seething resentment that so characterized their relationship had now diminished to a point where they could work together again as equals.

  He shook his head with disbelief. “Dumb fuck.” He and his twin had nearly thrown away all they had achieved in making Masters Advanced Technology one of the foremost companies in cutting-edge software manufacture. Truth be known, he owed a debt of gratitude to Jessica, as did Shane, for saving them from drowning in their own stupidity.

  As the sights, sounds, and smells of the bustling city filtered into the luxurious, thousand-dollar-a-night suite, Reed lay on the bed and did his best to relax. He linked his fingers behind his head. He needed time to think. Time to think about his future.

  Jessica, beautiful Jessica, was such an asset to MAT. He and Shane had made the best decision of their business lives when hiring this multi-talented lady. China was full of surprises, and so impenetrable was the language that Reed figured that should he make it to a hundred, he would still have trouble speaking and writing Mandarin. Jessica on the other hand was accomplished in all things Chinese. The consequence of an intelligent and caring mother and father taking the place of the sadistic fuck-ups who’d cruelly masqueraded as parents for the first ten years of her life.

  As he stretched out on the ultra-comfortable king-size bed, Reed enjoyed the insistent hard-on that twitched in his pants. And what of the sexual dilemma he now faced? Suite 416 of the Cosmo Hotel, which was located slap-bang in the center of the city, was his home for the next ten days. Deep down he hoped to be able to rebuild some bridges with his brother—take things back to how they once were. Right at this very moment, Shane was relaxing in suite 418. While their delectable personal assistant, Jessica, enjoyed the numerous facilities and amenities available in Suite 417.

  Last night he had taken the short walk to her room, where she had unconditionally invited her boss in before sexually surrendering to him. The next three hours had been a blur of sexual ecstasy, because this was the effect Jessica had on him. She loved him and he loved her right back. He’d willingly die for the woman if he had to.

  His woman?

  Reed was worldly, though, and therefore well aware that the previous night Shane had also visited Jessica’s room and sampled those very same delights. His kid brother loved her, too, and exactly as with himself, Jessica loved Shane right back.

  Reed sighed. Each time he and Jessica fucked, whether it be like wild animals or alternatively making sweet gentle love, she had made it clear that she needed them both to make her happiness complete. Regardless of the pressure from himself or Shane, she steadfastly refused to put one of them above the other. Although Reed still wanted her all for himself, he respected the principled stand that Jessica was taking. The lady was genuine and he loved her all the more because of it.

  With all the bitterness and anger from the past still festering, was it possible he and Shane could come together as friends and pleasure the woman they both loved? Three weeks or a month ago, his answer would have been a resounding no. He didn’t need to be Albert Einstein to figure out that Shane’s answer would have been exactly the same. However, time was slowly healing old wounds, and Reed couldn’t completely dismiss the possibility of enjoying a threesome with his brother, just as they had many times before in more carefree times. He instinctively knew that was what Jessica wanted, had always wanted, believing this type of sexual union to be the only way to bring total harmony back into all of their lives.

  * * * *

  Six days later.

  On a beautiful June morning, Beijing excited Shane’s senses like few cities around the world could. He figured he shared that sentiment with Reed, who appeared happier with life than he had seen him for some time. Taking breakfast in the traditionally decorated yet opulently furnished dining room, they calmly discussed the day that lay ahead of them.

  This was how it used to be, twin brothers from the same egg, unselfconsciously sharing their views of the world with one another.

  The seismic rift that could so easily have resulted in the destruction of themselves and MAT now seemed to be receding into history. Thank God for that at least.

  What a crazy fucking world they lived in. It was Jessica’s bewitching beauty that had taken them to a place Shane hoped he would never have to visit again, and it was she, the most wonderful woman alive, who’d made them finally see sense when teetering on the very brink of catastrophe. They both owed Jessica a debt of gratitude that however long they lived could never be repaid in full. Shane loved her, just as his brother did.

  So why the problem in the first instance? After all, Shane and his twin had shared more women than he could remember, literally. Sexually enjoying the same woman had been as natural to them as breathing, eating, or drinking. But none of those women were Jessica Hyde.

  That simple realization summed it up. Jessica was so very special, and Shane clearly wasn’t the only one to be enthralled by her. He’d hesitate to call her a siren, the irresistible beauty of legend who lured sailors to their deaths. No. Jessica wasn’t like that at all. She hadn’t deliberately tried to manipulate them in any way shape or form. This wholly genuine lady hadn’t woken one morning and then set out to seduce two extremely wealthy businessmen for her own financial gain. He and Reed would have seen through that charade almost immediately, just as they had many times before when career gold diggers had deliberately set out to ensnare them. Besides, Jessica just wasn’t made that way. She wore her heart on her sleeve. Cold and calculating, she wasn’t.

  Shane poured himself another glass of juice. “Reed.”

  “Yes, what?”

  “We so nearly fucked things up, man.” For some reason he felt the need to squeeze his brother’s shoulder. The physical contact felt good, because barely a month ago the demons within him were compelling him to squeeze the life from Reed’s body. That was a measure of how far their relationship had deteriorated

  His five-minute-older twin returned the show of affection. “I’m still not quite sure how we reached the point where we wanted to kill each other.”

  “Me neither. Jessica was right, though. We both lost the plot, and insanity took the place of reason. Jesus, Reed, if it hadn’t actually happened, I wouldn’t believe it myself.”

  “And we must never allow anything like that to tear us apart again, Shane.”

  “Damn right.” As they confided in each other, Shane figured that their brotherly bond was now about ninety-five percent restored, and the mere thought of wanting to destroy Reed by wiping him from the face of the Earth now made Shane feel sick to his stomach. “And both you and I know that none of this madness was any of Jessica’s doing. She’s blameless in all this.”

  “I agree entirely, Shane. We messed up because we were too fucking macho for our own good. We were thinking with our dicks instead of our heads.”

  “Yes, too fucking macho is right. Our crazy behavior really freaked the girl out, and dumb bastard that I was, it was only then, when we were fully focused on obliterating one another, that I realized things had gone too far.”

  “Same here. We were too wrapped up in our own private vendetta, to see we were hurting what we loved most. Jessica.”

  “Yeah, Jessica. You have that right. The most wonderful girl in the world, and a lady who loves us both as much
as we love and adore her.” Shane clinked his glass of juice against that of his brother. “To Jessica.”

  “To Jessica.” Reed smiled and their brotherly connection now lay at ninety-eight percent. “As well as overflowing with beauty, she has more than her fair share of brains. It’s awesome the way she purposely acts like a dumb blonde when we leave her alone with Mr. Chang and his raft of business advisors. She should win an Oscar for her performance. Not one of those supposedly intelligent guys has enough smarts to realize that someone so gorgeous could possibly be fluent in Mandarin. They just see she has blonde hair, and naively assume she can barely walk and chew gum at the same time. Then she reports back to us.”

  “Yeah, you have that right. How much has she made MAT so far on this business trip?”

  “About twelve million dollars and rising. You and I had agreed a figure of $268 million for the rights to the CRB 60 processor. Chang let slip that his company was willing to pay $280 million and Jessica was right there taking it all in.”

  “Clever girl.”

  “A very clever and talented girl. And though she is blonde and beautiful, she is certainly far from dumb.” They laughed, and Shane felt the final brotherly connection with his birth twin slot effortlessly into place. “I say we give our delightful personal secretary a substantial raise as soon as we return to the States.”

  “Yes. I’m sure she will appreciate that.” Reed took a deep breath and Shane understood where the conversation was headed next. “Of course, both you and I know what Jessica wants more than a significant raise. Wants more than anything in the world.”

  Shane nodded. “You’re right. I know exactly what she wants. What she has always wanted. Jessica wants us, Reed. She wants both of us deep inside of her at the same time. Are you feeling what I’m feeling, buddy? That it would be disrespectful to disappoint the lady?” Shane already knew the answer, but he wanted to hear it from his best friend in the world—his brother Reed.