Fahrenheit (The Power of Three Love Series Book 2)

by Leigh Lennon

  38

  Scarlet

  I woke the next morning in my bedroom at the lake house with a view of Lake Michigan. It was almost therapeutic until I heard giggles and laughter and moans. Oh, no! Not the moans. I tiptoed out to the living space with my eyes closed.

  “Whoever this is, I hope you’re here to rob me because if you’re having sex, I’m calling the cops.” Of course, I knew Elliot’s giggles. It was the guys and their gal, but I was confused because they knew I’d be here with my men.

  “Oh, shit.” Thankfully, the men still had pants on, and Ell had lost her shirt but not her bra. “Fuck, Scar. We didn’t see your car here, and I saw Levi today leaving your apartment, so we assumed you all couldn’t come.” It was then that their faces turned to my cast and then moved to the bruise that was on my face. “What the fuck, Scar? What happened?”

  The tears began to fall, and I couldn’t stop them. Ell was next to me in a second. Both men were pulling their shirts over their heads. When I looked up, the tic in their jaws told me all I needed to know. Arden had keys in his hands when Daimen and he were almost out the door.

  “Stop right there.” I didn’t have to say the words because Ell had their number. “Before you go kill both Andrew’s and my brother, let’s figure out what happened.”

  In a matter of minutes, they had me surrounded on the couch, and I spilled everything to them about Jordan denying his feelings and Levi pushing him. Ell was off the couch. “You two don’t have to kill them because I’m about to do it.”

  Arden pulled at Ell. “Hold on, hot stuff, let’s breathe.” Based on the pulsing vein on the side of his neck, Arden was not calm either.

  “Listen,” Daimen started. He could be the voice of reason when he was calm. And surprisingly enough, he was. “Scar, we’re pissed, but the question remains, if Jordan doesn’t come around, it can’t be forced. Sure, he took the first swing, but Levi promised this was for you. And I know a little about what’s going on in Levi’s mind.” He leaned in, placing the sweetest kiss on Arden’s cheek. “This stubborn bastard had a hard time coming to grips with it, too.” I never tired of seeing the three of them happy as they were. “But I couldn’t push him, or we wouldn’t have what we have now.”

  I hadn’t realized I’d been crying again until Ell gave me a box of tissues. “And, honey,” Daimen in his business-like way continued, “only you can decide if this is worth it, but you do have to know that we aren’t going to stand by and watch both men destroy you.”

  Yep, I understood he’d get to this point eventually, and I had a feeling these brothers of mine would be having a heart to heart with Levi and Jordan.

  “I don’t want to lose them. But if Jordan isn’t willing to be honest, even if Levi backs off, how can we build on this?”

  Elliot pulled me into her embrace. “You know what we need, girl?”

  Oh, it was an open-ended question, wasn’t it? With one look at the same eyes that her brother had, she turned to her own men. “This calls for a carton of rocky road, butter pecan, moose tracks, and vanilla.”

  With Elliot’s order of ice cream, both men were up, heading to the door when Arden turned around. “Hot stuff, when have you ever been into vanilla?” he teased.

  Before she could answer, Daimen replied, “Certainly not in the bedroom.” They both high-fived one another and were out the door to get us our creamy calorie-filled goodness. In their comradery, I missed my own men and wondered what they were up to today, and if we’d ever get anywhere close to what these three had. It made my heart ache because I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answer.

  39

  Jordan

  We stayed in our respective rooms last night. I’d gotten a text from my brother first thing in the morning, letting me know Red was safe.

  The Ugly Brother: I’m being generous. I’m still pissed as fuck, but Scar is at the lake house, safe and sound. Leave her alone. Let her work through this.

  Yeah, he was generous. Andrew wasn’t known as the hothead in the bunch. That title was left for Kayla and me to share equally. I thanked him as I lay in bed with thoughts clouding my very black and white mind.

  My thoughts turned to the man in the other room on that uncomfortable as fuck futon. A smile and a twinge of guilt pricked away at me. Why was this so hard for me? I liked him, his body warmed my own even if we were not physically close, so I was fighting the inevitable. I understood that to give Scar what she needed and deserved, I had to be honest with myself. And I couldn’t keep Levi at arm’s length either in this scenario. It confused us both, especially after my bitch attack at Dane and Cami’s house the other night.

  I’d heard the screech of Red’s office door and then movement out in the hallway. We needed to get to Home Depot to fix Red’s room. Me in Home Depot? I didn’t think my hands had ever been used for home repair. Body repair, yes. Bodily enjoyment, hell yes. But home improvement—no. We paid someone to do that stuff. My dad was an accountant, and we were comfortable. My dad knew as much about that shit as I did. He taught me everything he knew about sports yet that stuff, we hated.

  Now, I’d be working side by side with him. He probably would be taking off his shirt. Fuck, what if he wore sweats? Oh, shit, the images broke through the clouds messing with my mind, and I was not thinking straight. I was out of bed in my boxers with the door opened, almost sprinting to where he was in the apartment.

  When I turned the hallway corner, he was in a pair of jeans with his hands on the coffeepot and doughnuts on the table. He turned to me with a nod to acknowledge I was in the same room. But my eyes were hungry and not for the daily cup of java. When his eyes locked with mine, he put down the coffeepot, the chiseled cheekbones of his begging for something, anything from me.

  I stormed over to him like I was pissed. Yeah, I was pissed at myself for letting it get this bad. So bad, we pushed our girl away. “Doc?” It was a question, and I didn’t wait to answer him. Closing the space between us, I grabbed him by his shoulders, pulling our faces mere centimeters apart.

  “Sorry, morning breath.” I was finally about to take the plunge, and those were the words that formed on my lips.

  A sweet smile, one where it met his eyes, was what I watched when he merely replied, “I don’t give two shits about morning breath.” His hands moved to my bare back. “Doc, you sure?”

  My fingers moved to his cheeks, those fucking chiseled by the gods sort of cheekbones. I rested my forehead on his. “Yeah,” I choked out, stroking the purple bruise on his face.

  His emerald greens danced with excitement, yet he waited for me. But at the end of the day, this was still Levi. A wink from him was all it took, and my mouth crashed to his. Our tongues didn’t dance. No, that was not the manly thing to do. We dueled for control. His hands were in my hair, and mine were messing with his short blonde curls. His moans made me push further. I couldn’t help it when I physically slammed him against the closest wall, causing a picture to crash to the floor. Shit, we had other stuff to fix, so a broken picture was the least of my concerns at the moment.

  He pulled away, and I let him. His face … how the fuck had I turned him down for so long? “Doc?”

  “Yeah, I’m here. I finally pulled my head out of my ass.” I leaned in, kissing his forehead when the sexiest chuckle left his kissable lips.

  “Um, I know what I’d like to do with your ass.”

  I didn’t know why that scared me, but it did. The same fire that Red elicited within me, I had with Levi. Before I could say anything, Levi cupped my cheeks. “No reason to rush this, Doc. We can take it slowly.” Now, he rested his forehead on mine, and we stayed like this for a while.

  I looked down at the broken glass and grinned. “Looks like we have more to replace,” I began.

  “Yeah, we’ll add it to our list.” He kissed me one last time. “Doc, we’ll go at your pace. But for now, let’s get ready so we can fix Scar’s room.” He released me, and the second he walked around the corner, I missed everyth
ing that had captivated me about him.

  He’d closed the door behind him to the home office, and I’d collected my clothes, heading to the hallway bathroom. I’d get ready while Levi decompressed from my kiss. The steam from the shower filled the room. I was lost in my own thoughts of how our mouths fused perfectly together, and I needed some sort of release. Through the clear glass, while I stroked my dick, I looked up to see Levi watching me.

  “Fuck, Doc, I’m sorry.” He turned from me, walking toward the door.

  “No, LT. You want a show, I’ll give you one.” What the fuck had gotten into me? I was horny, and I was daring. Yeah, the first one, I was a lot. But the second one, it normally wasn’t me. I turned to the side to give him an easy view as I took the tip of my cock and stroked it just in that area. When I looked in Levi’s general direction, he had stripped, his cock in his hands.

  “This okay with you, Doc?”

  I nodded, continuing to watch him as I worked the tip of my own. “Yeah, as long as you watch me the entire time.” Sure, I was bossy, but this was so unlike me. A large smile covered Levi’s face.

  “Yeah, Doc, you watching me won’t be a problem.” His tone was low and controlled, and his eyes were on me, every part of me.

  With my hands squeezing my balls, I moved my fingers up and down my shaft. Levi was not trying to be quiet. His moan, groans, and sometimes whistles had me so turned on, I didn’t think I’d last much longer. And I didn’t. My orgasm came on so quickly and so thunderous, I took my eyes from Levi. When I’d finally drained everything within me, I looked at him, his eyes hungry for my own. Fuck, I wanted him. But he nodded, winked one last time at me, and then gave me the privacy I required to right my thoughts. Shit, this would be an excruciatingly hard day.

  40

  Levi

  Holy fuck, we just jacked off together. I watched him explode. There was so much cum that if it had been blood, I would have thought someone died.

  I left him to his demons. I’d be there for him, but he needed to work this out on his own. I hadn’t planned to go to him, but when I walked by the door, I saw it was cracked. I wasn’t sure if it was an open invitation, so I peeked in quickly, and I couldn’t look away at him jacking off. I’d hoped our kiss had been the inspiration he needed to unload.

  But there was so much more I wanted from him, and I couldn’t spook him. There was too much riding on this, and fuck, we both needed our redhead seductress back in our lives. She was our everything. I missed her so much.

  I’d walked to the kitchen to grab my cell I’d forgotten about after the mind-blowing kiss. Picking it up to look at some instructional videos on drywall repair, I saw a text message from my sister.

  Opening it up, my heart fell. At her name, which my sister had programmed in on her own, I knew I was in trouble.

  Twinnie: If you don’t think there will be words about what you did to Scar, you’re fucking wrong. My men are fucking pissed. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

  What in the world? They knew we were going to be taking over the lake house for the next several days for our own sex-capades. But they were up there? How? Well, I guess logistics aside, I’d be pissed if anyone hurt Elliot like we’d hurt Scar. And since Scar was technically their little sister, we had it coming.

  Me: Is she okay?

  Twinnie: We are drowning our sorrows in some rocky road, butter pecan, and moose tracks with a side of vanilla. We saw you this morning with doughnuts and thought you all had stayed at home. When the security firm did a drive-by and there were no cars, we assumed we’d have a nice romantic night at the lake house. So my guys are doubly pissed that Scar, of all people, walked in on our sexy times.

  Yeah, I could have lived never knowing about my sister’s sexy times or what they called it.

  Me: But is she okay?

  My sister still hadn’t answered my question.

  Twinnie: Fuck, Levi, I don’t know. She’s proud, having lived through a complete shit life. She’s scared of losing you. But you two screwed up. Fuck, I’m too pissed off to even text you. Just know, I’d watch your back. Daimen and Arden don’t take kindly to their kid sister being hurt.

  I knew that was all I’d get from my twin. I placed the phone down to look up into the dark eyes of the good doctor.

  With a pair of jeans slung low on his hips, his face met mine.

  “What’s wrong?” His question was sincere.

  “It was my sister. They didn’t think we were at the lake house, so they went up there. Scar woke to them … well, I don’t need to know what she saw. Daimen and Arden saw her injuries, and if Ell doesn’t kick my ass, I’m sure Arden and Daimen have dibs. Or maybe they’ll take turns.”

  I poured him a cup of coffee while he sat on a barstool on the other side of the island. Placing the cream in front of him, I grabbed a stool near the wall and sat down in front of him.

  “We fucked up bad, Doc. Really bad.”

  “I know.” His face fell, but this wasn’t all on him.

  “You know, I meant it when I said this was supposed to be for Scar. I did; it was, well, my feelings for you multiplied each day we shared her. I wouldn’t have shared Scar with anyone, but I couldn’t deny you. It would be like telling my stomach I wasn’t going to feed it for a month. Instinct would have kicked in, making me eat. It was what my love for you did. It took over.”

  Those words were out of my mouth before my mind processed what I had just said.

  “Shit, Jordan …”

  He grabbed my hand. “Levi, I’m not shocked. I mean, I’m not sure how I feel about you. Telling you I love you, I don’t think I can do it at this point, but fuck, these feelings are intense. I know it’s deep ’cause they are like the ones I have for Red.”

  “So what do we do?” I asked, lost for once on how to fix this.

  “Well, first, we fix Red’s room. Then we wait for her like she asked. Until then, maybe we can hash this out between us.”

  His hand was still in mine. “Yeah, Doc, I like this plan—very much.”

  41

  Scarlet

  One day was all I could handle with this threesome hovering over me like I was an invalid. This group was driving me crazy. At eight p.m., I’d finally had enough and retreated to my room.

  I stared at my phone as if it was going to talk to me or read my mind. After a couple of minutes, I said screw it and placed a FaceTime call to Jordan. I needed to know if they were still together at my house, or if they’d caused more damage to my place and to my heart.

  “Hey,” I said the second both men came into view. They were still together, and it looked like they were eating on my couch. Pizza maybe.

  “Scar.” Levi’s voice wasn’t his normal confident tone. No, I’d scared him, and he was a little insecure of this call. I could see it in his face. “Fuck, Scar. Look at your bruise.” It had turned purple, and though it hurt, it looked worse.

  “Red, honey.” I heard in Jordan’s voice how fearful he, too, was. But what I hadn’t missed was how close they were sitting. Sure, they both wanted to be in the screen so I could see them, but it was almost intimate how their bodies touched.

  “I need to come home. I don’t want to avoid this, not anymore. We need to face our future together.” My words surprised me, especially after the ultimatum, but after a couple of days without them, I needed to embrace these two. I wasn’t sure what our future held, but I’d fight for them, for both of them.

  “We can come get you.” It was Jordan. He was always my man of action.

  “No, I’ll be home in the morning. Just stay and wait for me.” I didn’t want to be away from them anymore.

  “Yeah, okay, Scar. We’ll see you tomorrow.” Levi waved at me, and I ended the call. I never had a choice in foster care, but I had a choice now, and I’d do anything to make it happen.

  42

  Jordan

  Red was coming home. I wondered if she noticed how close we were. How our shoulders touched or the change in my stance. Sure, we’d sp
ent the whole day together, though he did most of the hard lifting. And hell, something inside me shifted. The man, this man was hot, so very hot. The way his hard muscles rippled with all the hammering and heavy equipment he’d been in charge of. I acted like I was working, but I wasn’t. I was watching him.

  And it was freeing to finally admit what I had been fighting for the past several weeks. Levi’s face was near me, at that moment, though his mouth was full of a Chicago deep dish pie from Vinny’s. “Can you believe it? She wants to come back home.”

  He grabbed my face and brought it close to his. “Yeah, we’re being given a second chance. Our girl is coming back to us. I don’t want to push you, but we gotta sort this out. I mean, we don’t need to have it all figured out, but fuck, Jordan—she’s coming home.”

  It might not have been a physical home that we shared with Red, but she was our home. He leaned over to take a swig of his beer. I did, too, in order to wash down the pie. We hadn’t kissed, not since the morning, but we’d been close, an ease to us we hadn’t shared in the past.

  He turned his body from me for a moment, getting comfortable. Turning off the game that had been on, he stared at me. “So,” he began.

  “So,” I replied, my eyes narrowing in on him. “I guess you want to know what this is?” I pointed at him and me.

  “We don’t need labels. Don’t overthink this, Doc.” I could feel the color drain from my face.

  “Yeah, okay, let me get out of my mind.” I stopped to gather my thoughts. “I’m scared, Levi. I won’t deny it. I’m my own worst nightmare.”