Pepper's Journey Home [Grey River 9] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Maia Dylan

  “About as good as can be expected,” Trent said. “They haven’t killed anyone yet, but they are close to simply throwing Sophia over their shoulder and dragging her back here. I’ve told them that might not net them the relationship they want.”

  Diego had to agree, but if he were in their shoes and Pepper was about to go out on date with another guy, he’d sure as hell be turning her over his knee.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “It’s so pretty!” Pepper exclaimed. “I never knew the city would be so beautiful.”

  Tomas watched their mate as she stared out the front window of the truck, her expression filled with wonder. The sun had just set, so the city was coming to life in a sea of lights.

  Diego took his eyes from the road for a second to smile at their mate. “You’ve never spent any time in the OKC, cariño?”

  Pepper shook her head, her red curls bouncing around her shoulders. “No. I think I might have driven through here on my way to Grey River, but to be fair I was in the trunk, so I’m not entirely sure.”

  Tomas growled low in his chest at the reminder of the fucker Rafael who had tormented his mate for years before she found the courage to end him. Pepper smiled up at him and reached out to take his hand.

  “Quiet, mate,” she scolded even as she lifted his hand to her lips for a soft kiss that stole his breath. “These things are in the past, and form part of my journey to you, so stop with the growling.”

  Twenty minutes later, they were checking into their hotel room. When the door opened into the large luxurious suite, Pepper’s reaction was priceless. He and Diego watched as she ran around the room exclaiming about everything she saw.

  “Damn, how the hell did we get so lucky?” Tomas murmured as Pepper spun in a large circle in the center of the room with the most delightful giggle.

  “No clue, brother,” Diego answered as the two of them moved to follow their mate into the bedroom. Neither of them wanted to miss a minute of her excitement.

  “Oh my God,” Pepper exclaimed as she ran out of the bathroom. “There is a bath in there big enough for all of us, and a shower that comes from the room not from the wall! This must have cost a fortune.” Pepper suddenly stopped, the smile falling from her beautiful face. “We could have stayed somewhere cheaper. I’m not fussy at all. As long as the three of us are together, I don’t mind where we stay.”

  Tomas grinned as he walked to their mate, wrapped his arms around her, and lifted her up against his chest. “Pepper, don’t worry about it. Diego and I can afford it just fine and have plans to wine and dine you tonight to show you we can be all romantic and shit.”

  Pepper giggled as she placed her arms on his shoulders, and Diego laughed from behind him.

  “All romantic and shit?” Diego repeated. “Christ, Tomas, I always suspected I got all the romantic genes, and you got nothing.”

  Tomas shrugged and turned to look back at his brother. “Then why is it I’m the one with the beautiful woman in his arms and you’re standing over there all on your own?”

  With that parting shot, he carried Pepper into the bathroom with Diego right on their heels. The three of them spent the next hour and half enjoying that bathroom and everything it had to offer. Tomas suggested that the three of them cancel the reservations and just order up some room service, but Pepper wouldn’t be swayed.

  “Xanthe and Parris helped me get something to wear tonight,” Pepper said as she stood wrapped in a towel in the bathroom, pushing him and Diego out. “I want to dress up for you both. Get changed and go down to the bar. I’ll be there in thirty minutes.”

  He and Diego grumbled, but they knew they would never deny her anything and did exactly as she asked. Thirty minutes later, dressed in jeans, business shirts, and suit jackets, the two of them were enjoying a beer in the bar when a ripple of conversation rolled through the area, and he and Diego turned from where they had taken up position at the bar.

  “Holy fuck…” Tomas whispered a prayer at the sight of their mate standing at the entrance to the bar area. Diego simply made a masculine sound of need, and who could blame them.

  Pepper was the most beautiful woman in the world. That went without saying. But to see her standing there in a long black dress that molded to her upper body like a second skin, only to flare out from the waist and drop to the floor, she was fucking phenomenal. She had piled her hair up in one of those twisty knot things that women did, and it left the creamy expanse of her shoulders bare. Pepper smiled, a knowing glint in her eye and walked in their direction.

  “Madre de dios!” Diego groaned as the split in the dress was revealed, and they were treated to the view of her legs as she walked, the spiked black heel adding to the overall picture.

  When she was within reach, Tomas pulled her between them, casting a glare to any man who dared still look at her. “You look… I can’t find the words.”

  “Beautiful, gorgeous, stunning,” Diego whispered as he pressed his face into the side of her neck, “but none of them do justice to how you look.”

  Pepper smiled a wicked smile, that special one a woman had when she knew she was looking fantastic and her men were willing to crawl over broken glass to get to her. “Thank you. I’m glad you like the dress. I am also glad that I managed to walk in here and not stumble on these damn heels. Xanthe told me they were killer and made my legs pop, her words not mine, but boy, they take some getting used to.”

  Tomas wrapped his arm around her waist. “Then we’ll hold you and make sure you don’t stumble.”

  The three of them walked out, and Tomas felt like he was ten feet tall. He could read envy in the eyes of the men he passed, and he was just shallow enough to admit that he liked that. A lot.

  “Where are we going for dinner?” Pepper asked as she leaned into him and held Diego’s hand.

  “Steak house,” Tomas said with a wince. “If I’d suspected you’d wear something this killer, we would have worn full suits and taken you somewhere fancy.”

  Pepper shook her head. “I don’t need fancy. A steak sounds great.”

  “You are the perfect woman, Pepper Gallagher,” Diego said as he held the door open to the restaurant Tomas had chosen. It was next door to the hotel and had fantastic reviews.

  When they were seated with a glass of wine, their dinners in front of them, Pepper suddenly fell quiet. Tomas shared a worried look with his brother.

  The restaurant was full, so Tomas reached for their bond. “Pepper, what’s wrong?”

  Pepper looked up and met his gaze, but she was still biting her bottom lip. “I want to ask you both something, but I am not sure if it is something that I can ask you, or if it is something that must come from you.”

  Tomas put his knife and fork down and reached out to take her hand. “You can ask us anything. Just say the words.”

  Diego startled. “Wait a minute! Can I ask if what you are about to ask us has anything to do with our future?”

  Pepper frowned at him. “Well, kinda I guess. It has to do with who we are as a mated triad, and it is something I have been thinking about for a while now. I even spoke to some of the women in Grey River about it.” Pepper blushed beautifully. “I wasn’t going to tell you that part.”

  “Why not?” Tomas asked out loud.

  “Because I thought you might not like me talking to them about us,” Pepper said, her gaze locked once again to the table. “You might consider it a breach of privacy.”

  Diego reached out for her free hand and tugged on it until she looked up. “Cariño, whatever it was that you spoke to them about, did their answer in any way help you?”

  Pepper nodded enthusiastically. “I was a little confused at first because we couldn’t use the word moist, but referring to me as buttercream was a little hard to follow.” Tomas blinked slowly as his mind desperately tried to follow what she was talking about. “But then Faith just talked straight, and it all made sense, and I want to try it, but I am not sure if I ask or if I should just leave it and wai
t for it to happen naturally.”

  Their bond radiated confusion and frustration, and Tomas knew exactly who was responsible for both. His wolf growled within him at the thought of their mate unhappy. “Right, enough of this. We need to know what is upsetting you. Are you about to ask us to marry you?”

  Pepper gasped out loud and sat back in her chair. “What?” she asked out loud, obviously shocked.

  “Okay, so you weren’t about to propose then,” Tomas said, hating the heat he could feel rising in his face.

  “No!” Pepper spluttered and then looked scared. “Was that what you thought? What would you have said? I mean, I’ve thought about it for sure, but I didn’t know if you had. It could be too soon. I mean we’ve only known each other for—”

  Tomas leaned in, reached his hand around to grab her nape, and tugged her closer, taking her mouth in a passionate kiss. He poured all the love he felt for this amazing woman into it, and when she sighed, melting into him and submitting to his kiss, he knew she did.

  “Pepper,” he said in a hoarse voice when he finally pulled back. “Diego and I have talked about it, and we most definitely see that for the three of us in the future. We will be the ones to ask you, so don’t you worry about that, okay?”

  Tomas released her to his brother so he could kiss her, too, and all of them ignored the surprised gasps in the room. Yeah, their relationship was unconventional to many, but screw them. Pepper didn’t seem bothered by it at all, so neither would he.

  “And when we do ask,” Diego said when he released her and sat back, “you will say yes. I’m just stating that now so you know what is expected, and you won’t feel pressured to make a decision in the moment.”

  Pepper giggled, her face still flushed, but this time for a very different reason. Satisfied that she was happy once more, he sat back, picked up his cutlery and began eating once more.

  After a few moments, the three of them enjoying their meals, Tomas was hit by a thought. “Pepper, what were you going to ask before?”

  “Oh.” Pepper grinned as she sliced into her steak. “I wasn’t going to propose, and I am relieved I will know what to say when the time comes.” They all laughed, and Tomas reached for his wine. “I was going to ask you both if tonight we could make love and I could take the both of you at the same time.”

  Tomas froze his glass raised halfway to his lips. From the corner of his eye, he could see his brother had a similar reaction, and a fork filled with steak hovered just beyond his mouth.

  Pepper grinned at the two of them as she popped another morsel of steak into her mouth, and whatever it was that had held Tomas immobile snapped. He slammed his glass to the table with enough force that the wine spilled over the top onto the pristine white tablecloth, and the clatter of cutlery hitting the ceramic plate told him that Diego had broken free of it, too.

  “Check please!” he and his brother yelled at the same time.

  * * * *

  Pepper held on tight to Diego’s hand as Tomas struggled to get the key to their room into the lock. The three of them had left the restaurant and made their way back to the hotel so fast the journey had been nothing but a blur. Now her body hummed with arousal at the thought of the night ahead. She could tell from the emotions pouring down their bond that her mates were just as anxious for it to happen as she was.

  “Fucking door,” Tomas cursed, still fumbling with the door.

  “Just rip the fucking thing off its hinges,” Diego growled, tension rolling from his body in waves.

  “Fuck, just turn—goddamn it—please!” If Pepper hadn’t been filled with desire and anticipation, she might have laughed at Tomas pleading with the door. When she was just about to recommend they go with Diego’s suggestion, the door finally swung open. She was swept into Diego’s arms and ushered into their room and straight to the bedroom.

  The three of them were standing at the foot of the bed before the echo of the slamming door behind them had faded. Pepper expected one of them to strip her of her dress, but they both stood there, eyes flickering the artic blue that said her wolves were close to the surface, breathing heavily.

  “What is it?” she asked in a whisper.

  “We want to get you out of the dress,” Diego answered through gritted teeth, “but are shit scared that we might rip it.”

  Pepper’s heart melted at the thought of her two strong dominant wolves foiled by a few yards of material and a zipper.

  “It’s pretty easy,” she said in a sultry tone she never knew she was capable of. “All you have to do”—she turned so that her back was to him and looked up at him over her shoulder—“is slide that zipper down for me, and I’ll do the rest.”

  She loved that Diego’s hands shook as he complied with her request. She was also quite partial to the growls of desire both men gave as the zipper was lowered. When she felt the dress give a little, she gripped it to her front and took a couple of steps away from them before turning to face them.

  Both men stared at her hungrily, and Pepper had never felt so powerful. “Why do I get the feeling that as soon as this dress comes off, the two of you will pounce?”

  Tomas gave her a wicked grin. “Because that’s exactly what’s going to happen.”

  Pepper smiled and then nibbled on her bottom lip. Diego and Tomas both took a step forward, and she countered, holding her hand out to stop them. “Wait! I want to see you both first.”

  Without any hesitation, the two men stripped off their clothes and Pepper felt a heat start to build within her. They were the picture of male perfection as far as she was concerned, and knowing that the erections they both sported were because of her was almost too hard to believe.

  Pepper took a deep breath and then lifted one hand from the dress to release her hair. As the curls fell to bounce around her shoulders, both men groaned. She had often considered cutting her hair and getting rid of the unruly curls. Now, seeing their reactions, she was glad she never had.

  Taking a hold of her inner vixen, Pepper smiled what she hoped was sexy, and dropped the dress.

  “My…” Tomas breathed.

  “Goddess,” Diego finished.

  Xanthe had helped her pick out what she wore beneath the dress, too. The black strapless demi bra did something amazing to her breasts and made her waist look tiny. The waist band of the matching black thong she wore sat on the flare of her hips, and from her men’s reactions, the entire outfit, paired with the spiked heels, was exactly the look she was after.

  When the two men just stood there staring at her, Pepper decided to take matters into her own hands. Literally. She reached up and cupped her own breasts in the palm of her hands. Just as she lifted them slightly, Tomas and Diego moved toward her. Whether planned or by accident, they settled her between them, Tomas pressed to her back, Diego against her front.

  “You are so beautiful,” Diego murmured, his lips close to hers, “absolutely stunning.”

  Pepper closed her eyes as Diego took her mouth in an all-consuming kiss.

  “We’re going to take you at the same time, baby,” Tomas said in a deeper voice than normal. One that had heat pooling between her legs. “But we are going to make sure you are ready.”

  Diego pulled back, and Pepper leaned forward, trying to reclaim his mouth. “Soon, my love,” Diego said with a grin. “First, I want to get you on that bed. Step out of those undies. We’ll be getting you a lot more of them.”

  Pepper stood still as Diego slid his hands under the waistband of her thong and slid the item down her legs, not stopping until she could step out of them completely. She cried out as Diego licked deep into her pussy as he moved to stand.

  “Mmm, sugar and spice and all things nice.” He grinned at her and then started to tug her toward the bed.

  “Wait!” Pepper froze at Tomas’s order. “Leave the shoes on, niña.” She had been about to step out of the heels, but kept them on at his request.

  Diego sat back on the bed and tugged her until she moved to straddle
his hips. When he lay back, he pulled her with him, and she ended up with her arms resting on the mattress beside his head, her hair pooling around them and her body poised in the perfect position to take him.

  “I love you, Pepper,” Diego murmured as he reached a hand that she could see had a tremble in it to cup her face.

  “Te amo, my mate,” she whispered back as she reached down to grip his cock and guide him into her. Both of them moaned as she took him to the hilt. She pushed up a little so that she could place her hands on his abs. She locked her gaze to his and began to ride him. Over the past few weeks, she had learned what her men liked and added the twist of her hips when she got to the bottom of her glide. Diego clenched his fingers against her hips the way he did when he liked what she was doing.

  She was so caught up in the moment with Diego, she missed Tomas moving around the room until he was standing behind her, a hand in the middle of her back gently pushing her forward.

  “Get a little closer to Diego, my love. I want to make sure you’re ready for me.”

  Pepper complied, gasping as the move created a delicious pressure in her clit that had her rotating her hips.

  “Shit!” Diego groaned, arching his back making the muscles in his chest stand out. “Hurry the hell up, Tomas, or this is not going to end the way you think.”

  Pepper gasped as Tomas smacked her on the ass, just a pop that sounded in the room and had heat building in the spot that radiated heat straight to her core.

  “Christ,” Tomas moaned, “you liked that, didn’t you, Pepper? We’ll explore that one day, too, my love, but for now I need you to stop driving my brother crazy long enough so we can give you what you asked for. A little cold, my love.”

  Pepper bit her lip as she held still. It was difficult to do it with Tomas touching her and making use of the lubrication that would enable her to take him. She cried out when he pressed a finger into her. There was a slight pinch and burn, but she liked it. When he pressed in another finger, she cried out at the sensation.