Bad in Bed

by Faye Avalon

  With his uncanny ability of seeing right into her head, Ethan tipped her chin up until she looked straight into his eyes. “Leave it.” His tone was firm. “You are one hot woman. You’ve worn me out, given me more hard-ons in one night than I’ve had in a month. You’re responsive, beautiful, and probably more than any one man can handle.”

  His words warmed her heart, made her feel as if she really was all those things he said. Then a little memory popped into her head, one that she’d been meaning to ask him about since the moment in the restaurant. “When you first introduced me to Marco and he said that thing about me being his present? You said something like, ‘not this time’. What did you mean?”

  He looked a bit sheepish, his eyes flickering left and right and not landing on her. “Private joke. Stupid.”

  His obvious discomfort had her antenna buzzing. “Have you gotten him women as presents before?”

  “No.” He had the grace to look insulted, then turned from her and went to the kitchen counter where he poured coffee. “Not exactly.”

  Intrigued, she came to stand next to him. “What does that mean?”

  “Want breakfast? I’ve got eggs, cereal, and bread somewhere.”

  She moved closer, a woman on a mission now. “Just coffee, thanks. So, how exactly?”

  “Uh?”

  “Marco. Not exactly getting women for him.”

  He grabbed a cloth to wipe up coffee he sloshed on the counter. “Look, it’s just a stupid thing we did. It didn’t mean anything.”

  “Then it won’t matter if you tell me.”

  He placed the cloth to the side, turned, and handed her a cup of coffee.

  Since he didn’t look as if he was about to offer anything further, Amber didn’t take the coffee but stood looking at him.

  With a sigh, he placed the cup down. “You’re not about to let this go.”

  Amber remained silent.

  “All right. Marco and I shared a woman once. Twice, technically.”

  She tried not to look shocked, although her insides did a flip. They’d shared a woman and remained friends? “Did you both know? That you were seeing the same woman?”

  His eyebrows came together. “What?”

  “It must have been a real shock. How did you find out?”

  He ran his hand over his mouth. “You’ve got the wrong end of the stick. We shared her, you know, shared.”

  It took a moment, but when it dawned on her, Amber felt like an idiot, a sheltered, inexperienced idiot. “Oh, I get it.” Her cheeks felt hot. “You and Marco. At—at the same time?”

  “That’s how it works.”

  Amber remained silent as she met Ethan’s eyes. She wasn’t exactly sure what she felt most right then. A tad shocked of course, but perhaps more curious, maybe even a little envious. “Was it the same woman? You said you did it once, technically twice? With the same woman?”

  Again, he ran his hand over his mouth and around the back of his neck. “Yes.”

  As Amber stared at him, she felt heat rise in her cheeks…and between her legs. God. That was so incredibly hot. She’d never given it much thought before, but now that she did, it seemed so amazingly sexy. Perhaps it was because it involved Ethan…and Marco, two really delicious men. She was barely able to digest the result of her night with Ethan and how she’d responded to his every touch, let alone that he’d responded so readily to hers and come back for more—and more. Never in her wildest dreams had she expected to keep a man as sexually adept as Ethan satisfied through the night. She couldn’t even begin to imagine how it would be with two men at the same time.

  She experienced a tiny flash of jealousy at the thought of any other woman enjoying Ethan’s skilful lovemaking, but hot on that came the image of being shared by Ethan and Marco, the beautiful, sexy Italian. That would be one lucky woman. Hell. Where had that come from?

  “You okay?”

  “Fine.”

  Since Ethan watched her carefully with a slight frown, Amber wasn’t quite sure how to openly react. Did she simply shrug it off, or did she question him further about the dynamics of the situation? She wanted so much to know more, despite the niggling doubt that she might live to regret it. It was hard enough to imagine Ethan with another woman. Did she really want to know the details?

  Damn it. Yes. She was intrigued.

  With his eyes on hers, he reached for her coffee and handed it to her. “I’ve shocked you.”

  “Perhaps a little. I wasn’t expecting it.” Thoughtfully, she sipped her drink, then looked up at him. “She must have been some woman to have kept the two of you interested. At the same time.”

  He hesitated, obviously uncomfortable and still looking a little sheepish, except for the slight frown as he studied her. “It wasn’t planned, exactly.”

  She took a longer sip of her coffee, suddenly wanting to be away from his penetrating gaze and the odd feelings that settled in her chest as she continued to imagine him having sex with another woman. Perhaps some things you were best not knowing about. “You don’t have to explain anything. It’s up to you what you indulge in and with whom.”

  Slowly, deliberately, he took the cup from her hand and placed it down on the worktop. He reached for her hands. “Just so you know, I’ve enjoyed indulging in you more than twenty women. At the same time.”

  Despite the shaky feeling in her chest, she laughed. “Not sure how that would work, technically, but thanks for the sentiment.”

  He squeezed her hands. “I want to see you tonight. How about I cook supper and then we head for Papa Niko’s? One of my employees is playing in the band tonight. Piano.”

  “I’ve got one more question.” Amber wasn’t quite ready to drop the subject, despite his skillful sleight of hand and the myriad thoughts still vying for her attention. “Didn’t it place a strain on your friendship? I mean, there must have been tension between you afterward.”

  He made a sound low in his throat and dropped her hand to run his through his hair. “We’ve been friends too long for that to happen. We both saw her in the bar at the same time, she seemed up for it, so it happened.” He grated out the words, as if he was getting pissed with the whole conversation.

  Too bad. “What about afterwards?”

  “What about it?”

  “Did you see her again? Either of you? Both?”

  He scrubbed a hand across his mouth. “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “Shit, Amber.” He reached for his coffee and took what she suspected was a fortifying swig. “It was a one-off, okay? No big deal.”

  “Seems like a pretty big deal to me.”

  He sucked in an irritated breath. “Marco and I couldn’t agree who should make a play, so we joked that maybe we should both take a run at her and let her decide. She couldn’t, so she suggested a threesome. End of story.”

  Amber nodded, trying to accept that she shouldn’t push any further. She failed. “If it was a one-off, the technically twice part means you had sex with her, both of you, twice on the same night then?”

  “Correct.”

  “But you enjoyed it?”

  “Jesus. I’m starting to wish I never mentioned it. Yeah, I enjoyed it.”

  Well she’d started it, pushed it, so she deserved the disagreeable twinge that pierced her chest. “Then why are you getting annoyed? Why are you frowning?”

  He gave a mocking laugh. “It’s not exactly a topic of conversation for the morning after, green eyes.”

  Perhaps he was right and if she continued to press things might get even more uncomfortable between them. Shouldn’t she be content with the knowledge that right now she was the woman he wanted to be with? That they’d shared some amazing sex? That for the first time in a long while her confidence in her own abilities had leapt several rungs up the ladder? She moved closer to him and touched his arm. “My place is nearer Papa Niko’s. What if I cook and we go from there?”

  Since he seemed to brighten at that, Amber pressed her lips to
his disgruntled mouth. “Eight o’clock? Flat three,

  Piper Way

  . By the convenience store.”

  “I’ll find it.” He pulled her in for a scorching kiss, then released her to reach up and retrieve her bag from the top of the refrigerator. He held it out, but gripped it tighter as she went to take it. “Shall I bring my shaving gear?”

  Her feminine muscles clenched and flooded with heat. “If you want.”

  “I want.” He brushed his fingers along her cleavage. “See you at eight.”

  Chapter Seven

  Ethan had sensed a reserve in Amber as they’d shared the tasty pasta dish she’d produced. He timed it from his confession about the damned three-in-a-bed romp. Shit. Why had he told her? He could have easily hedged around her question about Marco’s remark, put it down to his friend’s lack of social niceties.

  In retrospect, it wasn’t the thing to confess to a woman whose belief in her own sexual skills had taken a battering. Though why in heaven she’d believed that loser of an ex was beyond him. His cock had throbbed all day at the memory of how many times he’d been inside her the night before, how many times he’d wanted to be inside her. Yet, still he sensed her reservations, her doubts. So what had he done? Gone and mentioned that one damn occasion he and Marco lusted after the same woman and, at the woman’s suggestion, had taken things to its logical conclusion. If there was one thing you didn’t confess to a woman lacking in confidence, it was how you and your buddy enjoyed a little ménage with another woman.

  The fucking idiot she’d been engaged to had already done a number on her. He’d been screwing her best friend, for God’s sake. Her male best friend.

  Shit. What did that do to a woman’s esteem?

  As they sat together at one of Papa Niko’s bench tables, Ethan decided to lighten things up, bring them back on the same footing they’d been the night before.

  He leaned closer, mostly because he desperately wanted to touch her and partly because the noise in the bar was so loud it was hard to hear above the din. Normally, he enjoyed the noise, the movement, the sheer volume of people flooding the popular bar, but tonight he just wanted Amber. “Enjoying yourself?”

  She’d been tapping her fingers against the stem of her wine glass as she bumped along to the music, but now she turned those glorious green eyes on him. “It’s great. Simon’s brilliant, isn’t he?”

  “Yeah. Keeps threatening to go full-time with the music gig. I’d be damn sorry to lose a good engineer.”

  She smiled at him, her eyes bright, face flushed.

  It was so damn hot in the bar, yet she made no attempt to take off her short-sleeved red jacket. Those scars. He hated that she was so conscious of them, hated what had happened to her that she’d suffered them. Didn’t she realize how beautiful she was? So beautiful that it would take more than a few scars to even begin to diminish her appeal. What the hell had the prick of a colleague been thinking letting her on a damn bike without protective clothing?

  “Why don’t you ditch the jacket? It’s a furnace in here.”

  She smiled again, a little apologetically, and it hiked up his annoyance levels.

  “You think they’re worse than they are, gorgeous. Most people won’t notice them.”

  “I know, but I feel a bit self-conscious.”

  He kept his eyes on hers, took the chance, and reached for the lapels.

  She covered his hands with hers, staying him. Emotion stormed in her eyes as she swallowed. “Why does it matter to you that I take off my jacket?”

  “It doesn’t matter, that’s the whole point. I want you to start to believe that.”

  Her muscles went rigid and he thought she’d refuse, but then she released her hands and leaned forward so he could help her slip off the jacket. He noticed her red dress had tiny sleeves masking the worst of the scars, but his attention was immediately diverted to the neckline which plunged to reveal the top of her tits pushing against the fabric. Shit. His cock hardened and his blood heated. “Do you want to get out of here?”

  With a glance to where his attention was currently fixed, she laughed. “Not sure your friends would forgive you skipping out two nights in a row. Besides,” she said glancing at the door. “Here’s Marco.”

  Ethan turned and saw his friend striding across the floor of the bar, heading for their table.

  Marco acknowledged the greetings of the rest of their group seated around the bench, then his gaze met Amber’s as he squeezed in next to her. “What happened to the two of you last night?”

  With some irritation, Ethan saw Marco give Amber a once-over, his gaze settling on her delectable cleavage. “We’ve already had the third degree from this bunch,” he said, indicating the group around the table. “Like I told them, nobody’s business.”

  “Touchy.” Marco snuggled against Amber and covered her hand with his. “Have you decided to dump this loser and try me out, bella?”

  Shit. When Marco started laying on the accent and using endearments, he was usually interested. Beyond interested.

  Seemingly unaware, Amber laughed. “Not just yet, but I’ll be sure to let you know if things change.”

  Ethan knew he should be pleased that Amber felt comfortable enough to joke with Marco, that she genuinely seemed to like his friends, and they her, but a flare of something hot burned in his chest. Marco wasn’t about to get his hands on Amber.

  Pointedly, he stared at Marco’s hand, then looked up and glared at his friend.

  Marco only grinned and kept his hand where it was.

  Ethan decided to take it for what it was, Marco’s attempt to wind him up, and concentrated on enjoying the evening. It wasn’t easy.

  Thankfully, conversation flowed around the table, the bar becoming more lively as the evening went on. Half way through the evening, two of the women headed for the cloakroom and invited Amber to join them.

  Ethan frowned as she went to slip on her jacket, but felt ridiculously pleased when she glanced at him, smiled, and left it on the back of the bench. He watched her link arms with the women as the three of them walked across the bar. When they were out of sight, he turned to Marco. “You want to keep your fucking hands off my woman?”

  Marco gave a lopsided grin and reached for his beer. “Don’t hear any complaints from her. What’s the big deal anyway? You’re screwing her. She seems happy about it. Where’s the problem if I have a little touchy, feely? Never bothered you before.”

  Christ. Would that damn threesome ever go away?

  “Well, it bothers me now. Lay off.”

  Obviously aware that he’d rankled his friend, and not in any rush to stop pushing, Marco’s grin intensified. He leaned back against the bench and laid his arm along the back of Amber’s empty seat. “And here I was hoping for a little action. It worked before.”

  “That was a one-off. And why mention it now? You haven’t been the least interested in any woman I’ve screwed since.”

  “You’re right. I haven’t been interested in any woman you’ve screwed since. Same as you’ve not been interested in any woman I’ve screwed. Now I’m interested.”

  His throat suddenly parched, Ethan took a swig of beer. “Not going to happen.”

  “She’s hot.”

  “I said it’s not going to happen,” Ethan said between gritted teeth. “Go find your own woman.”

  “I want yours.”

  Damn, but Marco could be an asshole when he wanted to be. Ethan sucked in a breath and reminded himself that Marco was winding him up. He bit down on the bile rising in his throat. “Fucking let it rest.”

  Laughter in his eyes, Marco held fast to Ethan’s menacing gaze. “She likes me.”

  Slowly, Ethan put down his glass. “You want to feel my fist connect with your nose, my friend? You keep this up.”

  Marco gave one last grin, shrugged, and then sipped his beer.

  Ethan knew the sparring was over. He felt his insides relax, but couldn’t resist one last glare at his friend. W
hen Marco looked over his shoulder and signalled with his glass, Ethan knew Amber was on her way back to their table. “Keep your hands to yourself,” Ethan warned again as he started to turn towards Amber. “Unless you’re in the market for cosmetic surgery on that pretty boy face.”

  Before Ethan could shift into her place, Amber settled between them again. He ignored Marco’s surreptitious grin but Amber, it seemed, had caught it.

  “What?” she asked, looking from one to the other. “Is something wrong?”

  “No.” Ethan’s clipped response had her looking at him, her big green eyes full of question. “He’s just being a jerk.”

  Amber gave him a speculative look, then swung her attention back to the group opposite who had engaged her in conversation.

  * * * *

  Having enjoyed herself, Amber was sorry when the evening came to an end a little before midnight.

  Ethan’s friends were good company and since they had welcomed her at Marco’s party the night before and again tonight, she almost felt part of their group.

  As they said their goodbyes, Ethan’s hand came around her waist. He tightened his grip when Marco came over, cursing softly when his friend swept her into a theatrical dip and planted a kiss on her cheek.

  Amber laughed, but as Marco swung her upright again, she couldn’t help notice how Ethan’s eyebrows drew together in a dark scowl.

  His frown remained until Marco said his goodbyes.

  As they walked alone back along the promenade to Ethan’s SUV, Amber thought about Ethan’s reaction and the look the two men had exchanged when she’d returned from the cloakroom earlier that evening. She couldn’t shake the feeling they’d been talking about her.

  As much as she hated considering it, she wondered if Marco had questioned Ethan about her scars. She hadn’t wanted to take her jacket off, but Ethan had seemed so adamant that she did. Perhaps Marco was turned off by her appearance and had said as much to Ethan. Hadn’t he said that Marco was being a jerk?

  She shivered a little at the thought and Ethan put his arm around her shoulders as they walked. “Cold?”

  “No. Just thinking.”

  “And thinking makes you shiver?”