I nudged his hand again, just a fraction, in the direction I wanted it to go. He trailed it up my ribs and cupped my breast through the fabric, gently but with confidence. The slow, deliberate movements he used to knead the soft flesh were driving me mental, but I let him take the lead for a while. He had nearly died after all.
His lips parted, his breath grew heavy. His hooded green eyes watched me with need. When I felt his rock-hard length press against my hip, my breath hitched.
Josh rocked his hips against me, and knowing he wanted me as much as I wanted him turned me on even more. I squirmed, rubbing my thighs together.
Our subtle movements must have woken Alec.
He shifted, and I froze, but Josh hadn’t noticed, his hips still rocking against me in a steady rhythm, his mouth now at my neck, pressing soft, moist kisses to my burning flesh.
My heart was on the edge of a cliff, ready to fall as soon as Alec realized what was happening and put a stop to it.
But instead, I felt Alec’s hand nudge the T-shirt aside, wandering up my torso until my other breast was in his hand. Instead of plummeting, my heart soared, and I moaned—a soft breathy sound as much surprise as it was arousal.
Josh paused what he was doing to look. He took in the fact that Alec had joined in, as well as the desperate, needy look on my face, and smiled a sleepy but excited smile right before he kissed me, hard, his hand on my breast becoming less gentle, his tongue immediately invading my mouth. But the kiss didn’t last long. He pulled back and nudged me so I faced away from him.
Suddenly I was face-to-face with Alec, Josh’s hardness now pressing into the curve of my ass. Alec’s stare was laced with lust but a hint of uncertainty too. His hand had come away from my aching flesh as I shifted, and he wasn’t making another move. So I did.
I leaned forward and kissed him as forcefully as Josh had kissed me. He responded immediately, fighting my mouth for dominance, growling a little as his strong hand went to my ribs. He was rock hard too, his arousal making itself known against my front.
Squished between them like that, not a breath of space between our writhing bodies, hands roaming everywhere—it was intoxicating. Almost too much. Too much skin, too much heat, too much sensation.
Yet it wasn’t enough.
As if he’d read my mind, Josh pushed forward, giving me more. His hand thrust its way between me and Alec to the throbbing flesh between my legs. Alec moved away just enough to give him access, and Josh started rubbing me over my borrowed boxers. The friction was exquisite, and I followed his lead.
I reached down and started rubbing Alec’s length the way Josh was rubbing me.
Alec growled again, a low sound that reverberated through his chest, through mine, and elicited a moan from Josh behind me. Alec pressed his forehead to mine, watching how I touched him. Encouraged by his enthusiasm, I moved my hand higher, to the waistband of his underwear. I didn’t let myself pause, didn’t let the memory of what had happened the last time my hand had been in this position stop me. I reached inside, pushing the fabric down, and wrapped my hand around his warm, engorged flesh.
He didn’t swat my hand away. He just closed his eyes and reveled in the sensation. And I smiled in triumph.
I started slow, pumping him up and down in deliberate strokes, slowly increasing the pressure, the speed. He began to move with me, his hips bucking slightly in time with my movements.
Josh moved his hand to the waistband of my boxers before pushing his long fingers under the fabric.
“So wet . . .” came Josh’s strained whisper at my ear. He licked a path from the curve of my neck to my ear and started nibbling. His words sent a shiver down my spine, and I moaned softly, making Alec open his eyes.
I closed the miniscule distance between us and licked his lips. He crushed his mouth to mine, pushing his tongue inside my mouth.
But just as fast as he’d kissed me, he pulled away. His hips stilled.
The atmosphere between us changed.
Something heavy settled in the pit of my stomach. Alec closed his eyes and took a deep breath. My hand slowed, stopped. I didn’t want to suffer the pain of having him remove it again, so I did it myself.
Josh stopped what he was doing too, pulling his hand out of my underwear and resting it on my hip.
Alec rolled onto his back and rubbed his closely cropped hair with both hands, sighing loudly before dragging his hands over his face. He pulled his underwear back up and turned to face me again.
“I want this so bad.” His eyes may have been icy in color, but they were burning with intensity.
I frowned, confused, disbelieving.
“I do,” he declared with more steel in his voice. Steel but also honey. He wasn’t returning to his cruel, detached self, but he was still pulling away. “I’m just not ready. I always thought you were mine. Just mine. And now I have to share you—and that’s OK, it is—I just need some time.”
I was still breathing hard, but I pressed my lips together and looked down. I couldn’t think. The throbbing between my legs was relentless, my body not yet aware of the rejection. I knew what he was saying, the words made sense, but I just couldn’t process them. All I understood was that I wanted him. I wanted him and Josh and Ethan and Tyler. I wanted them closer, more, completely. But he was rejecting me again.
He was ruining it again.
“Alec . . .” Josh’s whisper sounded exasperated.
“I’m sorry. I’ll fix everything. I promise,” Alec said softly, answering Josh’s unfinished question and all my unspoken ones. Then he pressed a kiss to my head and left, his bare feet silent on the plush carpet.
The soft click of the door closing felt almost worse than if he’d slammed it.
I sat up, staring at the closed door in bewilderment. My mind was struggling to process it all. My body was still wired, still craved.
Josh sat up too, resting his chin on my shoulder, his hand running up and down my arm soothingly. Ethan got up from the couch and came to sit in the spot Alec had just abandoned. I’d forgotten he was even in the room. He frowned at the closed door, but when he turned his amber eyes to me, they softened.
“How about I go down and make us some pancakes?” he whispered, cupping my cheek, rubbing his thumb over it softly.
He was always so gentle with me. But I didn’t want gentle. I wasn’t done. My mind was reeling, but my body was still on fire, my skin tingling, every nerve ending on edge.
“No,” I whispered back. For some reason, we were all keeping our voices, our moans and sighs, low. The curtains were still drawn, the room deceptively dark despite the light threatening to burst from behind the heavy drapes.
“No?” Ethan frowned, cocking his head.
“No.” I licked my lips, and his eyes dropped to my mouth for a split second. He was in nothing but underwear, the bulge under the thin fabric impossible to hide. Even if he hadn’t been a participant, he’d been affected by what we’d started in the bed. He’d heard the rustling of the sheets, our whispers, our soft moans. He was setting his desire aside because he thought that’s what I wanted. They both were.
But that wasn’t what I wanted. I wanted more intimacy with them, not less. If Alec didn’t want to be a part of that yet, that was his problem.
“Fuck him,” I breathed an inch away from Ethan’s mouth. Then I wrapped a hand around his neck and crashed my lips to his. His response was instant, the hand at my cheek threading back into my hair as his tongue met mine.
Josh’s hand pushed up under my T-shirt to find my breasts again. My nipples were hard and sensitive, and every touch, every caress, felt impossibly heightened, as though beyond what a human brain was normally capable of processing.
I broke my frenzied kiss with Ethan to rip the T-shirt off over my head.
We all fell back to the pillows in a tangle of limbs and bedding and heavy breathing. Two hands—one with long artistic fingers, one with strong athletic ones—dragged the last scrap of clothing off my body. Alec
’s boxers disappeared into the void beyond the edge of the mattress.
Nothing existed but the bed; nothing was going to interrupt, stop, or ruin what I’d started up again. While Ethan assaulted my mouth with his, his tongue pushing in and out steadily, Josh moved his hand between my legs once again.
This time there was no fabric hindering his movements. He teased me, spreading the wetness around, circling my clit.
“So fucking wet,” he whispered again, his hot mouth at my cheek, inches away from mine, from Ethan’s.
Ethan broke the kiss and looked at Josh.
“Is she?” he whispered, his eyes dancing, the amber vibrant even in the dim light of the bedroom.
“Oh yeah. Feel it.” Josh punctuated his statement by pushing one finger just inside me and then pulling it out again. We both groaned.
Ethan bit his lip, his eyes flicking between my flushed face and Josh’s, all our mouths so close that if I were to lean up just a little, I could probably taste them both.
I tilted my face, and Josh’s lips met mine, his tongue darting out. Ethan pressed his forehead to the side of mine, watching us kiss. He didn’t join in, but he didn’t pull away either, his lips inches from ours. He trailed a big, warm hand down the length of my naked body, and his fingers joined Josh’s between my legs.
“Fuck,” he groaned, his breath washing over our wet lips. Ethan’s face was glorious, his eyes half-closed, his mouth hanging open as he panted, running his fingers up and down my folds.
“I want to taste it . . .” he whispered so quietly I wasn’t sure he meant to say it out loud. But his face was so close to mine I heard every word, and it filled me with curiosity and desire so strong I finally broke the kiss with Josh.
Whatever Ethan saw in my face made him smile, his lips slowly turning up into a devious smirk. When he licked his lips, in what I’m sure was a deliberate move to make me imagine what his tongue would feel like on my lips, I couldn’t help smiling back and nodding.
It was all the encouragement he needed. He shimmied down the bed, kissing and licking my body as he went, taking his time with my breast, nipping at the sensitive spot on my ribs. All the while, Josh kept kissing my neck, his hips rocking against me from behind.
As Ethan’s face came level with my hips, Josh moved his hand out of the way. He grabbed my ass firmly and bit down on my neck, making me gasp. Then he moved his fingers back between my legs, only from behind, giving Ethan full access to the front.
Ethan grabbed the inside of my thigh and held my leg out of the way, giving himself enough room to press his mouth to my molten core.
As Ethan’s lips started kissing, then sucking my most sensitive flesh, Josh pushed two fingers inside. I was completely lost in the sensations of what the two of them were doing to me. The licking and sucking and pushing and stretching . . . It was almost too much. My mind completely shut off, and I became nothing more than what they were making me feel.
They worked in perfect synchronicity, Josh’s fingers and Ethan’s mouth finding a steady rhythm that had my ecstasy climbing with increasing intensity.
My body started to tremble, soft little shivers spreading from my core down my limbs. When Josh leaned over and took one of my nipples in his mouth, I reached the peak of pleasure and came plummeting down all at once.
I cried out, a guttural, almost surprised sound that broke the relative quiet that had enveloped the room. The intensity of the orgasm made my back arch off the mattress, lifting me onto my elbows.
Once the stars obscuring my vision cleared, things beyond the edge of the bed faded back into reality.
Tyler was standing in a pile of bedding near the fireplace, wearing tight black briefs and a crumpled shirt, half the buttons undone. He was holding his gun loosely by his side and staring at me as I panted through the aftershocks of my orgasm, his mouth slightly open, as if he didn’t quite believe what he was seeing.
Josh laughed—a surprised yet unabashed chuckle, as if he couldn’t quite hold it in. That made Ethan lift his face from between my legs. He glanced first at us, then over his shoulder.
His big shoulders started to shake too, and I deliberately, slowly closed my legs. I hadn’t known Tyler was in the room. With his mussed hair and glassy eyes, he looked half-asleep. I must have woken him with the unrestrained sound that Ethan and Josh had elicited.
“You all right, Gabe?” Josh asked, the laugh still in his voice as he gently kissed my shoulder, keeping his eyes on Tyler.
“Uh, yeah, I’m . . .” Tyler finally looked away, casting his eyes about the room, to the bedding at his feet, as if he was only just realizing where he was. His mind was catching up, but his voice still had that gritty, sleepy quality to it. “I heard a shout, and I . . . uh . . .”
He lifted the weapon in his hand and frowned at it. Obviously, when my orgasmic outburst had startled him from sleep, his training had kicked in, his senses looking for the threat.
“That was just us,” Ethan teased. His head was turned away from me, but I was sure his dimples were showing. “Giving our girl the wakeup call she deserves.”
He punctuated his answer by biting the top of my thigh and making me yelp.
Their laid-back attitude put me at ease. I’d had a moment of hesitation when I realized someone had been present for such an intimate experience. But it wasn’t just someone; it was Tyler. He was part of my Bond, and I was no longer unsure where I wanted our relationship to go.
I laughed too, throwing my head back and letting my sweaty, perfectly satiated body flop back into the soft bedding.
“I’ll just . . . ah . . . I need a shower,” Tyler mumbled, walking out of the room without waiting for a response. I peeked over Josh’s body just in time to see Tyler adjust himself before reaching for the door handle. I laughed again. To know he was as affected as we were—that he wanted it too—filled me with joy. Much as he fought for control of the situation with his mind, there was no hiding what his body wanted.
“Fifty bucks says he’s rubbing one out in the shower.” Ethan crawled up to settle himself on my other side, still chuckling.
“No way am I taking that bet!” Josh fired back, but he was grinning too. “He’s definitely rubbing one out in the shower. Plus, how would we settle it? Someone would have to go in there to check.”
“I volunteer as tribute!” I yelled, and we all descended into laughter once again. I wasn’t even self-conscious about how various parts of my body might be jiggling in unsightly ways. I was too busy wiping tears from the corners of my eyes.
Our giggles subsided, and we all just lay there, catching our breath and staring at the ceiling. Ethan’s hand rested easily on my bare thigh while Josh traced lazy patterns up and down my upper arm.
I didn’t want to get out of bed, didn’t want to break this sickeningly happy, naked bubble we were in by opening the curtains—letting the light illuminate all the shit we still had to deal with.
But my stomach had other ideas. It growled loudly, breaking the moment.
“OK.” Ethan slapped me on the thigh and sat up. “Pancake time.”
Josh pressed a quick kiss to my cheek and jumped out of bed too.
My eyebrows creased, and I shot up. “Wait.”
They were already standing, but they paused and looked at me.
“What about . . .” I gestured to the still obvious bulges in both their underwear. I was beyond satisfied—they’d been generous in the way they’d worshipped my body—but neither of them had finished. “I want to, you know, return the favor.”
I let my expression fill with lust, raking my eyes over their amazing bodies, taking in the tattoo on Ethan’s strong shoulder and the lithe muscles of Josh’s abdomen, dragging my eye lower . . . I wanted to make them feel as good as they’d made me feel. It was making me excited all over again.
They exchanged a loaded look before focusing back on me. Ethan growled and rubbed his short black hair with both hands.
Josh exhaled sharply. “You look so
fucking hot, lying there in the tangled sheets, naked and inviting.” I arched my back, pressing my breasts forward at his words, illustrating his point for him. “There is nothing we want more than to just crawl back to you and let you . . .” He growled too and rubbed his erection with the palm of his hand, as if it was painful not to touch it any longer. “But if we cross that line, if we receive from you in the same way you’ve received from us . . . I think it’s better that we sort out the situation with Alec first. You need to be sure you’re ready for this with all of us.”
He was talking about what I’d discussed with Tyler, what I’d done my best to research. The Light demanded equality in my connection to my Bondmates. The deeper the connection—the stronger the next level of intimacy—the harder it was to resist evening the score with the others.
Alec wasn’t ready; he’d expressed that clearly. I was ready; I wanted them all. But I was apprehensive about taking that step with Alec while so much was unresolved between us emotionally.
Once again, they’d thought of the consequences of our physical relationship, managed to push their own lust aside to put my emotional well-being first. What the fuck I had ever done to deserve them was beyond me.
I pulled the sheet up to cover my naked body and nodded, giving them both a genuine smile to show I understood.
They smiled back, then headed for the door.
“I guess we’re all rubbing one out in the shower this morning,” Ethan mumbled, but we both heard him clearly. I laughed, happy the moment was ending on a light note.
Once they were out of the room, I started looking for my discarded clothing, focusing on the promise of pancakes as I headed for the shower myself.
Twenty-Five
As I headed downstairs, dressed once again in borrowed men’s clothing, the heaviness of the past twenty-four hours started to settle in. With every step, the weight on my shoulders increased, wiping the smile off my face.
Step. Alec ran away from you. Again.
Step. You were kidnapped . . .
Step. . . . knocked out . . .
Vital Found (The Evelyn Maynard Trilogy Book 2) Page 29
