One thing he knew for certain. Maddy sure as hell was going to be pissed.
Chapter Sixteen
“That slimy little son-of-a-bitch!” Maddy wanted to punch someone. Actually, she wanted to punch Kevin Marsh right in his fat little nose. Since that wasn’t an option at the moment, she paced back and forth in her office. She’d never been so angry in her entire life.
Chase sat at the keyboard of her computer, where he’d headed as soon as Lucas had finished recounting his little adventure in the east pasture. Lucas had just returned to the house after sending Pat and Charlie out to fix the newly-compromised fence, and had installed himself in the wing-back chair that faced her desk. Both men seemed determined to stay out of her way while she had her little rant. She appreciated that.
“I knew the bastard wanted my land, but I had no idea he wanted to sell it to a developer!” She stopped and turned to look at both men. “Even with that business with the photo, I thought ‘yeah, he’s an asshole, but not a terribly clever one’. I mean, the guy’s a screw-up, he always has been. But this is different. This is going too far.”
Lucas shook his head then fixed her with a hard stare. “The threat to throw you in jail wasn’t going too far?”
Maddy had blown enough steam that she was finally able to take in the mood of her men. Both of them looked as pissed as she felt. She was out of practice—if she had ever been in practice—of taking a lover’s feelings into account. Now she realized that she did indeed need to do just that. Both Chase and Lucas had been remarkably restrained, all things considered. But lack of reaction in no way reflected a lack of intense emotions. They were men, and even if they respected her right to fight her own battles, there were limits to the insults to her they’d tolerate.
Maddy responded with honesty and candor. “That scared me. This pisses me off.”
Lucas met her gaze for a long moment. “Yeah, all right, I get that. And for the record, us too—on both counts.” He turned to look at Chase. “You find anything yet?”
Maddy turned her attention to Chase as well. “Anything what? What are you doing?” It had just occurred to Maddy that she’d accepted Chase’s commandeering her computer but had no idea why he’d done so.
Chase looked up from the monitor, his eyes glittering with purpose. By the expression on his face, he was way beyond pissed. “An investment company that would undertake this kind of a venture without any kind of due diligence—which is exactly what’s happened—can’t be on the up and up.”
“Oh. Shit.”
“Shit, indeed. I’m not real happy with what I’m seeing here, so far. There’s not much of a prospectus, not much information on the company, and it’s a privately held entity. I can find no list of properties developed, and almost no chatter of any kind.”
“So, what do we do?” Maddy asked. It occurred to her then that she’d come a long way in a short while. Not too long ago, she would have insisted on looking at all the information available, weighing her options, then choosing her course of action—all on her own.
But in the last couple of weeks, while she hadn’t completely toppled her walls, she had made a door and opened it, allowing these two men in.
She didn’t really understand how trusting them with her body had led her to trust them with everything else, too. Except they accepted her, warts and all and didn’t appear to want to change her. Get her to relax some, yes; lean on them a little, most definitely. But she knew in her heart they were truly equals in this relationship, for they would lean on her too, if necessary.
“I’m going to call Phil. He’s still connected to the Justice Department, and he can let me know if there are any ongoing investigations involving this Barnes character or his company.”
“And if there are?”
“Despite what you might think, that would be a positive for our side. We’ll have to get in touch with Sean Paris, too. He’ll want to know if someone like that had come to play in his back yard, and actually, Kevin’s having made this move changes the situation, considerably. Even more so if Barnes is dirty.”
“And if he isn’t?” There still existed a part of her that just wanted to do something about this entire situation now, and alone. Chase must have seen that in her eyes, because the look he sent her was one of the most tender she’d ever seen.
“One step at a time, darling. We’ll cross that bridge if and when we come to it.”
“All right.” There really wasn’t anything more to be done in the moment. She could wish either things moved faster or that she had more patience. But beyond that, she knew everything that could be done, was being done. Of course, that didn’t mean she stopped thinking about it.
Maddy continued to pace while Chase spoke to his friend. She couldn’t imagine how Kevin could have thought he’d get away with selling her land out from under her. Had he really believed that attempt at blackmail would work? Couldn’t he figure out that if worse came to worst, she would pick jail over marriage to him?
Not that long ago she would have said she’d pick jail over marriage to anyone. She didn’t feel quite the same way now.
Oh, she knew she couldn’t marry either Chase or Lucas, because it would have to be both of them, or neither. Somehow she didn’t think the laws of Colorado would change anytime soon to allow for the formalization of ménage relationships. Didn’t seem fair to her. Hell, it had never seemed fair to her that couples of the same sex couldn’t get married if they wanted to. People had the right to chart their own course, didn’t they? The Constitution guaranteed the right to the pursuit of happiness. Why did other people have to dictate the definition of that happiness?
She’d always held marriage was a convenience contrived by some to take advantage of others.
A promise and a vow and a piece of paper.
That’s how she’d always thought of marriage. Only now those words took on an entirely new meaning.
“You’re tense, darling,” Lucas said.
Maddy realized then that Chase had finished his call and both he and Lucas were gazing at her intently.
Just that quickly, she was wet. “So I am. What are you going to do about it?”
The two men exchanged looks and then gave her twin Cheshire-cat grins. Chase got to his feet and came around the desk.
“Why, we’re going to do what any concerned and thoughtful lovers would do. We’re going to rid you of your tension, of course.”
* * * *
Chase had never been an Eagle Scout. Still, he thought he’d done all right.
“Does that hurt?” he asked.
“N…no.” Maddy’s voice came out just a bit wobbly.
“You’re not frightened, darling, are you?” He wanted Maddy off balance, not afraid. She hadn’t objected to the ropes they’d used on the hammock, out under that tree. But he suspected ropes in the bedroom seemed an entirely different thing.
“I’m not exactly sure what I am.”
Lucas chuckled low and deep, the sound a masculine caress that licked down Chase’s spine and settled at the base of his cock. “What you are, Maddy darling, is bound and blindfolded and gloriously naked,” his lover said.
“We’re going to play with you now, baby.” Chase whispered.
Chase lay on the bed on her right and took a long moment to just enjoy the view. Her breasts, plump and firm, had been kissed by a shiver, causing her nipples to peak. Dipping his head down, he captured a bud in his mouth and was immediately rewarded by Maddy’s groan.
Lucas, on her left, began to pet her, delivering long slow strokes from her arm—secured over her head and fastened to the brass headboard—all the way down to just above her mound.
Chase smiled as Maddy trembled and twitched.
“Oh, please…give me more.” Her plea emerged as a whisper balanced on the edge of desperation.
“We’ve only just started,” Lucas said. The moment Chase released one nipple from his mouth, Luc began to suckle the other one.
“You’re so re
sponsive to us, sweetheart,” Chase praised, and captured her mouth with is. She tasted of honey and cream, a flavor he knew he’d crave for the rest of his life. A woman of strength, but incredibly feminine, she was everything he’d ever envisioned her to be, and more. She’d turned out to be the perfect woman for him. His tongue delved and swirled, drank her in and plundered.
Chase weaned his lips from hers at the same moment Luc raised his head from her breast. Desire swamped Chase and he leaned forward and kissed him.
A different flavor here, stronger, just as potent, just as vital. Their tongues met and played, Luc’s shyness having given way to a fine boldness that thrilled Chase. They complete me. How lucky he was to have found the only two people in the world who could.
As if of one mind, they ended their kiss and turned their passion on their woman.
* * * *
They drove her quietly insane.
Restrained, her eyes covered, Maddy’s reality became a world of sensation only.
They suckled both nipples at the same time, a powerful stirring of arousal stretching a tight electric current from those pebbled peaks to her womb. They’d stopped talking when they’d stopped touching her long enough to remove their clothes. She didn’t know who’s hand was where, because the caresses had become fleeting, teasing. Could she stand any more? Oh God, yes.
Something soft, like fur, brushed against her belly, dipping down to gently stroke against her woman flesh. Maddy cried out, flexing her hips, trying to capture the illusive touch. Low, masculine laughter washed over her then, and she tried to figure out who lay on which side, but couldn’t. A gentle stroke against the side of her face made her turn in that direction. Her lips were captured in a kiss hot, wet and carnal. Lucas. Two men, two different flavors, both lip-smackingly delicious. Then he withdrew, replaced by Chase, whose tongue demanded and commanded, then he was gone just as fast.
Desire dominated, controlled, begged. “More.”
How could it thrill her so to beg, and to be denied? How could she feel free while being restrained and controlled? She couldn’t force this, couldn’t command an orgasm as she did when she masturbated, something to be slid into her busy schedule before rushing off to the next task. She could only lie here and take whatever they wanted to give her, all they wanted to give her, and luxuriate in the sense of soaring liberation that filled her.
The caresses resumed, sweeping bold touches that ended in a tight grasp of flesh, or feather-light kisses like butterfly-wings, barely there, yet brazenly erotic. They teased her, nearly petting her damp folds. Nearly. Close, not close enough, so she stretched, pushed her hips up, seeking, pleading. There, just there, and, ah yes, delving deep, strong fingers, surrogates for strong cocks. Then gone again, leaving her near madness, panting and desperate.
Back and forth across her slit, a gentle rubbing brought her clit to attention. She strove toward it, a pinching of her nipple now in concert with that rub, the pressure increasing, until it almost became painful. Warm breath stirred the mouth-dampened skin of her breasts, a similar breeze caressed her woman flesh, and Maddy’s panting increased as rapture danced coquettishly close, then skittered away.
She was taken hold of by strong hands, turned onto her right side. The heat of a male body pressed against her back, her left leg pulled up and over a hirsute male thigh. One hand came from behind and cupped her breast, squeezing possessively. A hot, hard cock slid into her pussy from behind, surging deep.
“Yes...oh yes, please, harder.” Desperate to come, her hips tried to piston, but instead were restrained by firm masculine hands. The image flashed in her mind, her imagination keen to replace denied vision, of one lover behind her, buried deep within her, fucking her, while another lay before her, holding her steady while he watched. Her heart pounded fast in her chest, every nerve ending in her body sizzled and snapped, and arousal surged, a hot spiral of need that climbed and climbed to impossible heights.
Slow, sultry thrusts inside her, stretching her, burning and chilling, her hands unable to move, her eyes unable to see, so that there was only this, only the firm grasp of her breast in a callused hand, and the hot, hard, deep thrusting of a lover’s cock into her pussy, the flexing of strong fingers on her hips, and hot, hot breath against her mound.
Masculine lips descended on her then, moved back and forth over her labia, as a tongue lapped and tasted and drank of them both, woman and man. Teeth captured her clit, delivering it to the hot moist cavern of a mouth. Long, and deep, he sucked on her nub.
Maddy screamed as she came, screamed and bowed and writhed as she was held strong, held fast. No escape, no ease, just a wild, harsh, electrifying ride that went on and on until she thought she might faint, on and on as the climax crashed, ebbed, then built again.
* * * *
“Sweetheart?”
Maddy surfaced briefly, the sensation of blankets being pulled up and tucked around her, the warmth and the comfort of them urging her to return to sleep.
“I’d say we took care of her stress problem.”
Masculine smugness. She opened her eyes, blinked. She must have slept, for she was no longer tied to the bed or blindfolded. But she was alone in her bed.
“Where are you going?” Was that her, sounding needy, almost whiny? It didn’t matter, did it, if they knew she needed them, because she knew they needed her, too.
There wasn’t much light, which told her she’d slept for a while already, and it had turned to night.
“We’re going to let you get some sleep,” Lucas said softly. He bent down and kissed her lightly. “You’re exhausted.”
“And tomorrow the new bed arrives. So tomorrow night, you’ll have us both to snuggle with. But Luc’s right, you are exhausted.”
She almost denied that, but her yawn swallowed the words.
“Okay.”
“We’re going back to my place,” Lucas said, “have a few beers and watch a movie. Can we get you anything before we leave?” Luc’s question sounded far away, and Maddy felt herself drifting back to sleep. She did want something, but could only say “Window.”
“She likes the window open,” Luc explained.
Maddy thought Chase might have said something, but a soft evening breeze danced across her face just then, and she fell fast asleep.
Maddy didn’t know what had awakened her. She blinked, feeling disoriented. Slowly she realized she lay in her own bed, and alone. The afternoon’s activities flooded her memory, and she smiled. Their intention had been to rid her of her tension, and man, had they ever succeeded there. Turning her head, her gaze sought her bedside clock. The green LCD glowed in the darkness proclaiming three-thirty a.m.
An orange glow reflected against the wall at the same instant she smelled the smoke.
Catapulting from her bed, she spun toward the window even as her hands reached for her jeans. Terror froze her arm in mid reach.
Lucas’s house was on fire.
Chapter Seventeen
Chase coughed, struggling to rise from sleep, his mind foggy, jumbled. Something prickled his nose and he tried to brush it away but his arms felt too heavy and he was so very tired.
Whisper thin images floated across his mind, calling to him. Maddy, spread out on her bed, naked, needy. Lucas, his cock rigid and ready, his strong arms outstretched as he reached for him. The images pulled at him, seducing him to come back to them, to the realm of sleep and dreams where they awaited him. Where they’d be his forever. Yes, he wanted them to belong to him forever. He nearly gave in then, nearly listened to the siren call whispering in his mind.
But something was wrong, dreadfully, horribly wrong.
Chase coughed again, and the taste of smoke, rancid ugly smoke seared his nostrils, coated the inside of his mouth. Struggling, he opened his eyes. They immediately began to water and sting. He shook his head, harsh reality exploding as he realized what was happening.
Fire!
Rolling to his side, he fell to the floor. The air was sligh
tly clearer there, allowing him to inhale, focus, and get his bearings. He’d fallen off the sofa, where he must have fallen asleep while watching television. Yes, he remembered. He’d stayed up late watching DVD movies with Lucas after coming back from Maddy’s.
Lucas! Where the fuck was Lucas?
Chase shook his head, trying to think. Not on the sofa. Had he gone back over to Maddy’s?
No. Threads of a conversation surfaced in his memory, of Lucas trying to rouse him, then giving up and telling him goodnight. Telling Chase goodnight as he’d gone off to bed.
The smoke thickened and Chase could hear the hiss and crackle of the flames. Terror filled him as he realized the worst of the blaze was toward the other end of the house, the end that had the bedrooms—and Lucas.
Frantic, Chase crawled in that direction, heedless of the danger. The urge to stop, to give in to the coughing was strong, but he willed himself to push on. The smoke was so thick he couldn’t see ahead, but on hands and knees he followed the route in his memory, down the hall to the first room on the right.
The bed stood well inside the room, directly across from the door. Chase found it with his head. Scrambling, one hand reached up, searching, searching.
There! Chase’s hand connected with a denim-covered leg. He shook it, hard, trying to call out his lovers’ name as he did, but choking on the breath he inhaled to do so. The leg moved, a twitch that flooded relief into Chase’s soul. Reaching up with his other hand, he grabbed the waistband of Luc’s jeans and pulled hard.
“Chase.”
His name, weakly whispered and wrapped in coughing sounded sweeter than the most stirring symphony. Chase kept tugging and Lucas must have understood, for he heaved himself toward him.
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