by Shayla Black
“You’re not helping, fucker.” Liam grimaced as he thrust fast and deep for a blissful, teeth-gritting second. Sweat lined his brow as he panted and pulled away. “I need a minute.”
Hammer wanted to laugh, but the need bubbling inside him screamed for the feel of her tongue trailing over his sensitive crest, cradling his cock. As Liam gasped for breath, Hammer took hold of her mane and turned her head to him.
Gazing down at the woman who haunted his dreams, he drank in her hard, dusky nipples. Her creamy flesh glowed with a pink, aroused hue. Wet and swollen, her lips all but begged to be fucked. It took every ounce of strength not to pound at her like an animal. He wanted what Liam had just felt. The desire, yes. But the connection, the completion. He fucking needed those.
As Hammer gazed down at Raine, her big blue eyes spoke the silent words he’d forever longed to hear: I give you my soul, Sir. I’m yours.
I’m yours, too, precious, he vowed.
Clenching his jaw, Hammer rattled in a breath, then drew his leaking crest over her lips. “Part those pretty lips and show me how you yearn to please.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Raine glided her tongue over her bottom lip, swiping at his offering. A groan ripped from his chest. She was killing him, and she hadn’t even begun.
His stare never wavered as he wrapped a fist around his aching cock. At the rush of breath spilling from her lips over the sensitive head, he jerked, then pressed into her willing mouth. Hammer’s heart clutched as she closed around him. As she licked her way down his throbbing length, a moan escaped him. It turned to an agonized roar as she danced back up to drag her tongue across the sensitive rim and glide over his swollen veins.
“You look stunning, love,” Liam praised. Crouching in front of her, he nudged her legs even wider. “Show us your cunt, Raine. We can smell your hot spice, but we want to see your swollen slickness.” He ran a finger through her folds. “Yes, you like Hammer’s cock gliding down your throat, don’t you? I can tell. He likes it, too.”
She writhed and whimpered, splaying herself even wider as she rolled her hips in need. Hammer drank her in, their gazes still locked, wishing to fuck this could go on forever.
“Seeing your lips stretched around me, feeling you take me all the way down…”
Raine did it then, swallowing on him. He grunted a curse, trying to keep himself together.
Clawing for control, Hammer found his rhythm. Her soft throat constricted around his crest again, and he rocked, fucking his way into her mouth, loving the feel of her nails in his hips and her teeth grazing over the head of his cock before she paused, made him wait, and started all over again.
Jesus, she was dismantling him without a word.
Liam skimmed his palms up her torso, then plucked and pinched Raine’s nipples. Her mewls vibrated up Hammer’s shaft, all the way to his aching balls. Sweat dripped from his forehead. The familiar prickle of release slammed down his spine. With a curse, he jerked away from Raine’s seeking lips and tried to calm the tremors wracking his body.
Without hesitation, Liam stood and thrust between her lips once more as she took him deep, again and again, until he looked staggered and on the edge. With a curse, he withdrew once more, and Hammer resumed.
Seamlessly, each took up where the other left off. For long minutes, they each filled her mouth, riding the edge of control and prolonging their pleasure.
Hammer’s skin felt too tight. He struggled for breath as he watched Liam command her once again, recognizing the moment ecstasy peaked and he began to spiral out of control.
“That’s it. Don’t stop,” Liam roared, locking stares with her. “Ohhhhffffuck, Raine!”
“Drink him down,” Hammer urged her.
“Harder! Suck harder,” Liam gasped. “Take it all.”
Hammer watched him buck furiously. He grunted and growled while Raine’s slender throat worked to swallow every drop. Her feminine little moans went straight to his cock. And as Liam pulled out, she kissed the man’s hip, then stared up at him, her eyes begging for reassurance.
Their give and take hadn’t just aroused Hammer; it moved him. Hanging by a thread, he barely resisted the urge to shove his friend aside, grab her by the hair, and launch deep.
“Thank you, love.” Liam struggled to recover his breathing as he dropped to the bed, sliding in behind her. “That was perfect. Give Hammer the relief he needs now. Open for him, Raine.”
She glanced up as Hammer finally positioned himself between her legs. A coy smile turned her lips up as she cupped his sac in her palm and gave a gentle tug. “Did you want something, Macen?”
His restraint snapped. He plunged his fingers through her tresses and shoved into her mouth, to the back of her throat. Her silky heat surrounded him as she hollowed her cheeks and sucked hard, the ride fast, furious. Hammer burned with the shocking jolt of pleasure. He refused to look away from her for even a second. She was his for now, and he intended to burn this one glorious moment into his brain.
As he fucked her lips with hard, demanding strokes, his breathing grew labored. His body tensed as tingles sizzled under his skin. Every nerve ending blazed. Absorbed in the rightness of Raine and the silky heat of her mouth, his need to mark her drove him. He breathed like bellows, gritting for air between clenched teeth as orgasm brewed at the base of his spine.
“Good,” Liam breathed against her ear. “Watch him. See what you’re doing to him. Open wider. Let him fuck your mouth like he’s ached to for years, love. Show him how much you need him, too.”
Raine whimpered. Her gaze beseeched him. That was all it took.
A thunderous growl ripped from Hammer’s chest as he exploded. Spasms gripped his shaft, cradled by her fiery tongue, as he jettisoned down her throat. His ears buzzed. His limbs numbed. He watched in awe as Raine gulped and swallowed, her gaze still clinging to him.
When the room stopped spinning, Hammer eased from her mouth and collapsed onto the bed. Raine curled up between them, exhaling a sigh of contentment. With a shaky hand, Hammer smoothed a palm down her arm. She wore a little smile.
“Thank you, precious, that was…” A smile tugged one corner of his mouth. “Amazing.”
“You’re welcome, Sirs.” She beamed and blushed all at once. “I enjoyed that.”
Liam eased her to her side, wrapping an arm around her and cuddling her back against him. Her eyes drifted shut as Liam glided his hands over her body, bathing her in gentle affection. Raine purred like a sated kitten as they nestled her between them.
“We’re so proud of you, Raine,” Hammer murmured in her ear before he brushed his lips over hers. “So beautiful.”
With a little moan, she smiled up at him. “Thank you, Sir.”
“So generous,” Liam crooned. “And so fucking sexy.”
She peeked over her shoulder at him. “When I’m with you both, that’s exactly how you make me feel.”
“Sleep now, darling girl. You’ve more than earned it.” Hammer cupped her head and ran his fingers through her hair.
Liam traced indiscriminate patterns over her stomach with his fingertips. “Is breá liom tú, siubhail. I love you, sweetheart. Now dream of us. We’ll be here when you awaken.”
Hammer’s heart was in his throat. Liam made it seem so easy, almost natural, to tell Raine how he felt about her. Soon, Macen vowed, he would have a chance to say those same three words to her. He just prayed it wasn’t too late.
#
“She’s asleep,” Liam whispered. Tenderly, he stroked her delicate face.
He loved watching Raine sleep because she gave herself over completely. It was the only time she let go of all her fears and trusted him enough to protect her. It was the only time she really let go.
At least before today.
What she’d given of herself to him and to Hammer earlier had gone above and beyond his every expectation. He ached with love.
“Precious?” Macen called in a low voice.
She didn’t move
a muscle, drugged by the blissful respite.
Christ, Liam wanted to stay in bed with her and hold her tight, breathing in her heady scent all damn night. But he knew they needed to debrief, prepare for tomorrow, and find a fucking drink.
“She won’t wake now. We’re good to go. And we won’t be far if she needs us.”
Carefully, he rolled to the side of the bed, stood on legs still shaking, and zipped his trousers. He heard Hammer do the same before they walked to the door. At the doorway, they both peered back at her. Raine’s dark mane spilled over the white pillow. She looked so small and vulnerable, all but swallowed up in the big bed.
With a faint smile, Liam ambled down the stairs, his body still humming with the sensations of her soft mouth engulfing him. After spending all day with a cock that could have pounded nails through concrete, they’d watched as she’d climaxed so beautifully under their hands. Under their control. It had taken every ounce of restraint not to fuck her mouth like a wild man and shoot his seed down her throat in two seconds flat. It had helped knowing Hammer suffered in equal measure.
Neither said a word as they made their way to the great room. At the liquor cabinet, he passed Hammer a bottle of tequila as Liam accepted the Scotch offered in return. They knew one another so well, and Liam took comfort in that.
After pouring their drinks, they settled into matching armchairs before a roaring fire, each taking a few silent moments to reflect. He stared at the flames, then shifted his attention to the wall of windows along the front of the lodge. Gazing out into the wide vista, he saw the cotton-like hue muting the moon and shrouding the snowcapped mountains. No doubt, snow was on the way.
Hammer raised his glass, a satisfied smile spreading across his face. “To a hell of a job well done.”
“To good beginnings. Dea-shláinte.” Liam raised his glass. He couldn’t help but grin, too, before they both tossed back a healthy swallow. After a fiery gulp of the alcohol, he sat back in his chair, content for the moment. “We did it. We reached Raine.”
“And managed to set aside our jealousy for a whole day,” Hammer drawled.
Liam nodded. And didn’t that shock the fuck out of him? Though he couldn’t lie to himself; the first few miles in the car had been excruciating. As Raine had cued into them, listening, obeying, becoming aroused… Somehow, he hadn’t thought as much of his jealousy then.
“We did. I think, in part, because she’s an amazing woman. And we’re giving her exactly what she’s needed.”
“No doubt about it. But I also think it’s because we’ve done this before, even though Raine responded so differently.”
“Than Juliet?” Liam finished. “Yes, she did.”
“Fuck. I know I shouldn’t, but a part of me feels guilty. The connection with Raine feels ten times deeper and more powerful than it did with my own wife.”
That didn’t surprise Liam. Now that Hammer wasn’t trying to hide it, even Raine should be able to see the love Macen had for her.
“Something about all this feels... Shit, I don’t know.” Hammer scrubbed a hand through his hair.
“Familiar but not. So it wasn’t just me, huh?”
“No.” Hammer looked at him long and hard before he spoke again. “What just happened upstairs was… It blew my mind. Do you think that’s what it was supposed to feel like before?”
Liam swirled the liquor in his glass before taking a sip. “I don’t know what I expected, but I’m not sure I’ve ever felt that sort of bonding or connection with another person.”
“Compared to Raine, I see now that Juliet only went through the motions. I guess she thought it was what we wanted. No. What I wanted. No wonder her heart wasn’t in it. God, I was so fucking full of myself.”
“Let it go, Macen. It’s ancient history. I don’t know what was going on in her head and neither do you. But now, we’ve got to put all our focus on Raine.”
“You’re right, man. In my wildest dreams, I didn’t think she’d respond to us like she just did. Raine did more than peek around her walls; she tore them down before our eyes.” A look of wonder spread over Hammer’s face before a smirk curled his lips. “And you didn’t throw a right hook all damn day. I appreciate that.”
He cocked his head with a faint smile. “I could say the same to you. You’re not going to try and convince me that you didn’t want to take a swing too?”
He grunted. “I wasn’t going to give her any reason to stop what we were doing.”
Liam raised his glass again. “To self-restraint.”
Hammer chuckled and lifted his tumbler.
“I guess we know that she’s serious now about opening herself.” Liam stared at the fire licking over the logs, recalling how Raine pushed ahead and persevered to meet their every demand.
“I’ve got to tell you, I thought we’d spend at least the first few days trying to pry most everything out of her.”
“I thought the same.”
“Just because she’s done well so far, we can’t give her any wiggle room,” Hammer warned. “Now we’ve got to make sure she leaves her defenses down for the rest of the tasks.”
“Agreed. Otherwise it will be too easy for her to slip back into old habits. But it’s a hell of a start.”
“It gives me hope, man. Definitely gives me hope.”
“Christ, I’m sorry about the photos. I didn’t mean to walk right into that one.” Liam grimaced.
“Don’t sweat it. She needed the truth sooner or later. But fuck, I hated hurting her that way. Betraying her wasn’t at all what I’d intended. I should have told her about them long before now.”
Liam sent Hammer a speculative look. “Why haven’t you ever told her that you’re in love with her?”
“Where the hell did that come from?” Hammer barked.
If they were mending fences, Liam was tired of tiptoeing around his friend. The time had come to lay everything out in the open.
“Seriously, mate. You should have told her. She’s never held back how she feels about you.”
“Everything that happened today tells me that you’re right. I should have confessed my feelings a long time ago. I just let all the other fears and bullshit get in the way. Fuck me.” Hammer shook his head. “Now that I’m ready to say it, it’s not the right time or place. There’s no way I’ll distract her from what we’re trying to accomplish here. Besides, her telling me that she loves me is only a recent thing. I may have suspected but…”
“I’d give anything to hear her say those words to me.”
Hammer’s mouth hung open in shock. “She never has?”
“Not once.”
“Just because she hasn’t said the words doesn’t mean… Christ. You’re joking, right? Can’t you see the way she looks at you? You have to know she loves you.”
He hoped. Wanted. Pined, even. But he didn’t know.
Liam stood and walked to the windows. “She feels something for me, but I still need to bloody hear it.”
He felt Hammer stroll up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder.
“I can see it’s tearing you up. But trust me, she’ll tell you. Be patient. She’ll sort things out and say the words you want to hear.”
“I wish I shared your confidence. I sure as hell don’t want her learning how to share her heart by your example,” Liam poked.
“Fuck you, asshole.” Hammer laughed, then sobered quickly. “I did the best I could at the time with both you and Raine. The hiding and evasions snowballed somehow. The truth hurt too much. Before I knew it, the avalanche of hurt and confusion buried me.”
“Don’t shut me out again, Macen. I would have been there for you. I still am, you bloody wanker.”
“I know, man. Thank you.” Hammer gripped him in a brotherly hug and smacked him on the back.
“So, are we done measuring our cocks now?” Liam asked. “Because mine is still bigger than yours.”
“In your fucking dreams.” Hammer chuckled.
“See, I told you th
ey were idiots,” Seth grumbled as he and Beck strolled into the room. “They’re even talking about whipping them out and comparing.”
“Obviously, there’s nothing wrong with their size or mojo. I think everyone who lives on the mountain overheard Raine’s screams.” Beck smirked.
Liam and Hammer exchanged a smug look of pride.
“Which brings me to my next question.” Seth groaned and adjusted the swell beneath the zipper of his jeans. “Are there any available women at this godforsaken altitude?”
“Oh, bugger off. There’s a bottle of lotion under the sink in your bathroom. Have a grand time with your fist.”
“Just jack off quietly,” Hammer instructed.
“And clean up afterward. I don’t want Ngaire having to mop up behind you.” Liam laughed.
“You two made a Raine sandwich, I take it?” Beck asked with a leering grin.
“You perverts.” Hammer scoffed. “We didn’t fuck her. We rewarded her for a job well done.”
“Like it’s any of your bloody business,” Liam growled.
“Well, technically it is. You brought us up this mountain to help, so…yeah, we need to know if you gave her a good reward or a mind-blowing one. By the sound of her screams, I’d say she definitely got her mind blown.” Seth grinned. “Wish I could have seen it.”
“Shut the fuck up and get a drink,” Hammer grumbled. “We’ve had a hell of a breakthrough you need to hear about.”
As the four men settled in near the fireplace, he and Macen told the others about the inroads they’d made with Raine. Liam was still in awe at how she’d burst open and shared her soul with them both. They’d worked as a team, like they had in the past—but better, more naturally. It reassured him that he and Hammer were on the same page. Same page, nothing. It felt as if they’d started writing a new chapter in their friendship. After the chasm that had so recently divided them, mending the fracture felt damn good.
