Anthology - Threefold

by Desiree Holt

  “Um…you…threw it in the lake. Last night. When it kept ringing.”

  Great. McKenzie knew exactly why it had been going off. And now she felt even worse.

  * * * *

  It was mid-afternoon before she could move without the world spinning. Looking in the bathroom mirror, she couldn’t imagine she looked better now than she had when she’d woken. What could look worse? she wondered. Her hair appeared as if squirrels had nested in it then left because the quarters weren’t fit. Her eyes were bloodshot, and her skin was so pale it could give a Dracula a run for his money—except for the nearly black circles under her eyes.

  “I look like I’ve been run over by a truck. Hey, boys, are you sure you want this back?”

  she growled in the mirror. Hell, they’d look at her like this and run. She’d deserve it. How freaking irresponsible had she been to let Kim get her drunk for the first time in her life? Last night of all nights. Of course, ‘let’ was a generous word.

  Still, Gareth and Logan were liable to be pissed. She’d tried to call the bar, since she didn’t have their numbers memorised. She’d relied on her phone…which was now somewhere in Lake Michigan.

  There was no answer at Sin’s Door so she’d have to try to find them that night after the doors opened. The prospect of hunting for them at the club and the scene that might ensue was daunting, but she’d hazard it. If nothing else, this episode underlined how important they were to her. The thought of losing them left a hollow emptiness in her belly that had nothing to do with the awful hangover. She was not willing to end things because of what people might say.

  “What about this one?” Kimberley said. McKenzie had charged her with helping get her sexy for the night and now Kim was dragging out dresses that might work. This one was a short red number made of glittery fabric and rhinestone studded straps.

  “How cold will it be tonight?”

  “It has a shrug jacket.”

  “Perfect.” And it did look perfect on her, especially once her hair was back to its sleek fall down her back. The fabric hugged her curves and fell just to her upper thighs—

  dangerous since panties were impossible. A pair of four-inch heels pushed her into the land of smokin’ hot. At least, she hoped so.

  Kim agreed to drop her off at the club—part of her penance—and McKenzie prayed she wouldn’t need a ride home. Of course, the club looked packed to capacity so she might have trouble finding her men. It was so crowded that a line had formed outside with a bouncer guarding the door. With a sigh, she headed for the back of the queue.

  “Hey!” an unfamiliar voice bellowed.

  Out of habit, she looked up though she was sure the man wasn’t yelling to her. To her surprise, the bouncer was beckoning to her.

  “You’re McKenzie Stewart, yeah?” he said. “The bosses showed me your picture. They want to see you ASAP so get your ass inside.”

  “Bosses?” she echoed.

  He rolled his eyes. “The owners. Your boyfriends. Mr. Black and Mr. Hunter? Ring a bell?”

  Not the part about them owning Sin’s Door, but she nodded anyway. She should have known. They’d never been secretive about their work. She just hadn’t made the connection.

  “So you going in or what?” the bouncer asked, holding open the door.

  “Going in. Definitely in,” she replied.

  The bar was the same as she’d remembered it. Loud, crowded, and now that she wasn’t on the make for sex, a little sweltery. She glanced around through the masses of gyrating bodies, searching out Logan and Gareth. As far as she could see, they weren’t on the main floor or at the bar. A quick scan of the mezzanine showed them in a semi-circle booth, surrounded by women.

  She stopped and stared, unsure what to do. They weren’t acting as if they were at all into the bevy around them. Instead, they scanned the club with pensive gazes. The blatant ignoring of the females didn’t halt the spark of jealousy that prickled through McKenzie. Her fingers fisted as her eyes narrowed.

  Then one of the women put her head on Logan’s shoulder and placed her hand over his heart. Her face looked dreamy, and a sharp fury swept through McKenzie. She spun around and stormed the other direction, dodging people on her way. She’d deal with the two men when they weren’t so…busy.

  She’d almost made the door when a hand clamped around her upper arm and she was pulled against a hard chest. The fingers slid to her elbow then his forearm clamped around her middle. She closed her eyes as she felt him bend to her ear.

  “You’re late,” Logan rasped.

  “We thought you might have been in a car accident or been hurt or something. Do you know how many hospitals we called? How many times we went to your house and pounded on the doors? Waited? And what the hell is wrong with you calling? Us? Or picking up our calls for that matter?”

  “My phone’s in the lake,” she muttered, but somehow, they heard her.

  “What?” Gareth exclaimed in disbelief. She looked to where he stood at her side. His arms crossed his chest. His face was stony, but his eyes were full of unmasked hurt. Logan lips pressed to her shoulder, his grip tightening as Gareth glared.

  “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” she said. “I meant to be here. I was coming—”

  “Let’s go somewhere quieter,” Logan interrupted. He swung her onto his shoulder and headed towards the back of the bar. She shrieked as she realised it would hike up her dress then immediately started flailing, trying to yank down the skirt. It was fruitless, and she settled for bending up her legs in hope that her feet would cover her private parts. Despite her exhibitionism the first night here, she didn’t want every person in the bar seeing her pussy.

  In moments, Logan and Gareth had her through the double red doors. Alternating red and blue lights slowly circled the room this time, giving it the feel of a dark police scene.

  Moaning instantly wrapped around her, beckoning her to come play, but neither man slowed. They march through the door at the back of the Den, and into the hallway that led outside.

  Gareth stopped halfway down the passage. He pulled a key card from his pocket and swiped it through a reader she couldn’t see. A moment later, bright light filled the area as a pair of elevator doors slid open. Logan stepped inside, never letting her down, and Gareth followed. Silently, he pressed the button for the upper floor. Neither spoke as they moved upward. For her part, McKenzie wasn’t so sure what to say, so she remained quiet, too.

  “Well?” Gareth demanded when she’d been dumped onto a wide leather couch covered in soft, creamy leather. He was the angrier of the two, but she sensed it was more from worry than anything else. Hell, if any other man had pulled this caveman tactic on her, she’d have been out of there in a New York minute. But she could practically feel the pain and frustration rolling off her guys.

  She closed her eyes for a moment and pulled her lip through her teeth with a sigh before she spoke. Her excuses sounded so lame to even her. She’d deserve it if they never forgave her after she’d told them what had happened.

  “Yesterday morning…no, before that.” She shook her head. “Everything was so…perfect. But in the back of my mind, I knew trouble was out there. That we’d run into it; that society would dump a bunch of opposition on us. I was ignoring it. I wanted to be with you more than I wanted to face the difficulties. Then yesterday Kim came over. She means well. She loves me. But she made me face hard facts.”

  Gareth made a sound deep in his throat then stalked a few paces away. Though he didn’t speak, she knew he was pissed. Whether at Kim or her or both was a tossup.

  Logan sat in a club chair perpendicular to the couch. His arms rested on his legs as she spoke. He didn’t look at her, but his head was cocked to indicate he listened.

  “Don’t be mad at her,” she urged though she wasn’t sure if they were. “It made me think and decide, and even though she accidentally got me drunk last night, I had decided for you. No matter what crap people throw my way. I was coming here last night, just like
I’d promised. To be with you for however long this lasts. And now, I feel so stupid. I mean, who gets drunk by accident? Even so, I feel worse that I stood you up. That’s the last thing I wanted to do.”

  Logan moved from the chair and sat beside her, taking her hands. He lifted one to his mouth and gave it a soft kiss. “If there are problems, they’re our problems. You wouldn’t have to deal with it alone. Right, Gareth?” he prompted.

  Hs cousin didn’t respond to the unspoken directive. “What happened to your phone?”

  he asked instead. She was relieved that he didn’t appear angry anymore. He looked more…confused but amused.

  “Kim lives on the lake, too. Just like me. I don’t remember but…well, she tells me that last night, when the cell kept ringing, I tossed it in the water.”

  Logan snorted. “McKenzie… Princess what are we going to do with you?” he laughed.

  “Don’t ever get me drunk. That’s for sure. And…maybe…keep me?”

  Suddenly, Gareth knelt in front of her and hugged her tightly, his head against her middle. Logan rubbed a hand over his cousin’s back while he rested his chin on McKenzie’s shoulder, his mouth near her ear.

  “We’ve been ditched before,” he said. “We’ve been the fun new toy, the naughty game for a moment or a rebellion against someone’s daddy. But we’ve never cared about someone like we care about you. When we thought…”

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

  Gareth lifted his head and pulled her mouth to his. His arms went around her, and he pulled her to sprawl across his chest as he lay on the area rug. “No more sorrys,” he said as his fingers buried in her hair. “It was just a big mistake, and we’ll leave it at that.”

  “Okay,” she answered, relieved that they’d both accepted what had happened.

  “That’s some dress you’re almost wearing,” Logan commented.

  She looked over her shoulder to see him staring at her ass. “It was perfectly respectable until you two hauled me up here.”

  Gareth’s hands wandered over her rear. “No panties, either.” He clicked his tongue.

  “Such a bad girl.”

  “You like it.”

  “I do, but so do you,” he agreed as his fingers skimmed along her bottom and pressed in to find her tight anus.

  She moaned at the memory of him filling that space. Her body heated. Squirming upright, she straddled him then pulled the skimpy dress over her head.

  “Beautiful… You should always be naked,” Logan decided. He crouched behind her and cupped her breasts. His thumbs scraped over her taut nipples while she rubbed against the bulge beneath Gareth’s fly. On a different, desperate level, she needed sex with them. She wanted to reassure herself things were once more on the right track. That they were ‘good’

  again.

  Gareth stilled her hips, and Logan pressed to her back, arms going tight around her middle. She crossed her arms over them to complete the embrace as his cheek nudged beside hers.

  “McKenzie,” Gareth began in a voice so serious her sexual haze thinned. “Last night drove home to us… We’ve enjoyed being with you—”

  Oh hell. Maybe things weren’t good. She started to get up, but Logan held her in place.

  “But we want more,” he said. “We want to know you’re our girl, and that we have every right to be worried sick if you disappear—”

  “I won’t.”

  “And that you’ll know you’re ours,” Logan continued. “We won’t share you, and you should expect us to be faithful to you, too. We’ll be your protectors and supporters.”

  “It’s too soon for promises of forever,” Gareth affirmed. “We know that. But we want our intentions for you perfectly clear. We’re not going anywhere unless it’s with you. We love you.”

  “Love you,” Logan echoed.

  Warm prickles erupted across her skin. She bent forward, Logan moving with her to sandwich her between the two hard chests. His clothed cock pressed against her ass while his fingers sought her pussy.

  She brushed her lips over Gareth’s as his hand wandered towards her clit.

  “Love you,” she said, wanting to tell him before she was enveloped in the heavy desire seeping through her once more. She turned her head, twisting towards Logan. “Love you.

  Love you both.”

  And she did… That would be her strength in whatever came their way.

  His mouth covered hers, taking her cries as he and Gareth pushed her closer to a perfect release. The first of the many promised by their love. Joy filled her as she plummeted into the chasm of bliss.

  Who would have thought she’d find her future with the two strangers who’d waited behind Sin’s Door?

  About the Author

  When it comes to books and movies, Brynn has one rule: there must be a happy ending. After that one requirement, anything goes. And it just might in her books.

  She lives in Michigan with her husband and two children, who love her despite her occasional threats to smite them. They humour her and let her think she's a goddess…as long as she provides homemade chocolate chip cookies on a regular basis. Brynn has conducted workshops at several writers’ conferences around the country and enjoys mentoring and meeting new people.

  According to Brynn, her writing success can be attributed to an eclectic collection of music, her local road construction crews, a trusty notebook, and of course, her husband, Mr. Inspiration, who puts up with a lot in the name of research.

  Email: brynnpaulin@yahoo.com

  Brynn loves to hear from readers. You can find her contact information, website and author biography at http://www.total-e-bound.com.

  Also by Brynn Paulin

  Redemption: Fallen

  Redemption: Incubus

  Tribute for the Goddess

  Circle of Three: Tempting Tamera

  Circle of Three: Phantoms’ Pleasure

  Circle of Three: Forgotten Family

  Brit Party: Boy Toys

  Legend: A Legend Arises

  Legend: A Legend Accomplished

  Brits in Time: In the Dark

  Summer Seductions: Stealing the Bride

  Single White Knight

  KEEPING FAITH

  Kris Norris

  Dedication

  To Shelley, for listening, laughing, crying and scheming with me. Where would I be without you, girl? You’re more than my best friend, you’re my soul-sister.

  To Kyle, Jared and Sydney, for being my biggest fans and doing the happy dance at the drop of a hat.

  To Claire, Nicki and the talented staff at TEB who help make a story into a treasured book.

  To Chris…my other soul-sister. Thanks for keeping me honest and never getting tired of listening to me babble on. I’m truly blessed.

  Trademarks Acknowledgement

  The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

  Freddy Krueger: New Line Cinema Corporation

  Astar: Eurocopter

  Chapter One

  “Faith! Wait!”

  Donovan Jones scrambled through the house after Faith, tripping over a pair of shoes he’d left lying in the hallway. He stumbled into the wall, clipping his arm on a shelf as he slammed to a halt. Faith glanced back but kept moving, juggling her pack to her other shoulder as she raced for the door. The little minx wasn’t going to give him a breath of time to catch up, but he’d be damned if he’d let her go without so much as a word.

  He gained his balance and dashed after her, catching the door as it swung open. He threw his weight against the wood, slamming it shut before she could dart through. A hushed curse lit the air, but she didn’t turn to look at him, merely stared at the door, shoulders hunched, back stiff. Her raspy breath whispered across the room, and he knew she was fighting not to cry.

  “Damn it. Would you just stop for one second and let me explain? I—”

  “I don’t want explanations,” she huffed, c
utting him off, jumping when Parker roared down the hall, a white towel clutched in his hands as he skidded to a halt beside them, his rough breath fluttering his hair as it whipped across his face, making him look more than dishevelled.

  Donovan cursed, aware that the other man’s presence wasn’t helping the situation.

  Faith glanced over at him, tears pooled in her eyes, the glassy reflection stabbing guilt through Donovan’s gut. He’d royally fucked up, and he knew it.

  “Faith.”

  She raised her hand, nodding at Parker. “I think he’s explanation enough.”

  Her voice cracked as a single tear cascaded down her cheek, shattering against the wood floor as if it were glass. She wiped at her face, irritation furrowing her brow. Donovan knew how much she hated crying in front of him, and he could tell it was only adding fuel to the fire.

  “Look, darling, it’s not what you think. I swear.” He tried to smooth his hand down her arm, but she jerked it away, stepping back in order to avoid him.

  “Of course not. It’s perfectly normal that Parker was waiting for you in your bed.

  Naked!”

  “He was waiting for us, in our bed,” said Donovan.

  A flicker of hope bloomed in his chest when her eyes softened for a moment as she chanced a glance at Parker. The man nodded, reaching for her, only to have her shake her head. Donovan cursed, wishing she’d just listen to him.

  “We’re not lovers,” he insisted, motioning to Parker. “It’s not like that.” More tears spilled down her face, and Donovan knew he’d lost her.

  She turned away, fisting the handle again. “It doesn’t matter what it is,” she whispered, her voice raw. “You still lied to me.” She looked at him this time. “You know that’s the one thing I can’t live with.”

  Donovan’s chest tightened, purging what little breath he had from his chest. His hand fell from the door, as she pulled it open and disappeared, the faint scent of her perfume still lingering in the air. Pain followed the click of the door, and he sank to the floor, unable to move.