Safe and Burning with Ecstasy [The Heroes of Silver Island 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Tonya Ramagos

  Nichols nodded and pursed his lips. “The call came through a little before seven, just after it started. I’d say it takes a good ten minutes or more to walk from here to the restaurant, especially in those heels I saw her wearing on the front lawn out there. She was already in your company when the call came in. That means she would’ve had to start the fire, lock up behind her, and run her ass off to get to Starry Skies in that amount of time.”

  A professional female, which I happen to be, by the way, can run a marathon in stilettos.

  Faith’s words echoed through Kalvin’s memory. Professional female or not, if the woman had run from the resort to Starry Skies, she would’ve exhibited some sort of signs. He’d held her, touched her, and smelled her. She hadn’t been out of breath, at least not before Blaze had kissed it right out of her. She hadn’t been sweaty or smelling of smoke, either.

  “And do all of that without drawing suspicion,” Kalvin added, shaking his head. “She didn’t do this, Chief,” he said again. “And, one way or another, I’m going to prove it.”

  * * * *

  “I can’t believe you talked me into buying all of this.” Delilah flopped down on the sofa and made a face at the bags, clothes, shoes, and lingerie strewn over the coffee table, end tables, and floor of Blaze’s and Kalvin’s living room.

  “I can’t believe you pulled that sleight of hand shit at the register,” Blaze drawled as he walked back into the living room from the kitchen. He stopped at the edge of the coffee table and held out a glass of wine.

  They had hit a couple of the island clothing shops after leaving the sheriff’s department. She’d only intended to buy a few things, just enough to get her through for a little while. She’d ended up with nearly a full new wardrobe. One shop had been a hit. She’d been reeling herself in, trying to be practical as she’d perused the store, pointing out things she liked to Blaze and mentally assigning each item into a category. The ones she’d deemed must haves, she had intended to buy today. The ones she’d considered more of a luxury, she had decided she would pass on.

  Her categories hadn’t meant squat to Blaze. He’d waited until she’d become fully engrossed in her shopping and had started picking up nearly everything she’d pointed at, insisting she buy it all.

  “Thanks.” Delilah took the glass and smiled around the rim as she sipped. “We’re not going to start arguing over that again, are we?”

  “It wouldn’t do any good.” He scowled and took a long swig of his beer. “It’s done now.”

  She’d argued with him all the way to the register, right up until the moment he’d pulled his credit card from his wallet. That’s when she’d shut up. She’d noted the sign next to the register that said the store preferred cash to credit and she’d known exactly how to fix the situation. She’d waited until he’d turned his head, slipped the attendant enough cash to cover the purchase, and slid his credit card into his back pocket.

  He’d thought she was playing with his ass at first. She’d barely been able to stifle her giggle at that. He hadn’t been happy at all when he’d realized what she’d done, but he’d held himself in check masterfully well. She figured he’d take it out on the punching bag at the firehouse when he went back to work.

  “I let you buy the wine and the outfit I’m wearing,” she reminded him, glancing down at the royal-blue boxy crop top she was wearing with a pair of gray boardwalk shorts, and gray sling-back sandals.

  He sat in one of the recliners, leaned forward, and propped an elbow on his knee as he took another sip of his beer. “Only ’cause I paid for it when you were in the dressin’ room puttin’ the damn thing on.”

  He’d slipped that one by her in the first store they’d stopped at. Though the selection there had more beach attire than anything, she had managed to find one outfit that sufficed enough to get her out of the make-shift dress she’d created out of the overly large T-shirt he’d given her.

  She found an empty space on the coffee table to sit her glass and started to refold the clothes draped over the cushions of the sofa beside her. “I wasn’t going to let you pay for everything, Blaze.”

  “Why the hell not?”

  Because I owe you so much already. Because I can’t stand the thought of you putting yourself out on a limb for me the way you’re doing. Because I need at least some little something to make me feel like the independent, strong, assertive woman I’ve always been.

  Rather than say any of that, she shot him a smile and waggled her brows. “Because I’m stubborn.”

  “Ain’t that the damn truth,” he muttered.

  “Thanks for going with me. I know how much men love to shop.”

  “Why do you think we’re drinkin’ at three o’clock in the afternoon?”

  Delilah threw her head back and laughed. “I suppose you deserve it considering you were such a good sport.”

  “You’re damn right I do.” His gaze didn’t leave her as he brought the can to his mouth and sipped again. “You owe me for that stunt you pulled.”

  She wadded the blouse she was folding in her lap and gaped at him. He wasn’t serious. The lines around his eyes and mouth were becoming more pronounced as he held back a grin. “Your calculator is malfunctioning if you think I owe you for saving you hundreds of dollars.”

  “Naw, my calculator is workin’ just fine.” He got to his feet, moved a pair of shorts from the cushion beside her she hadn’t yet folded, and sat down next to her. “See, the way I figure it, it’s gonna take a long time to pay off that debt. I’m thinkin’ at least several weeks, months, hell, make that years.”

  She stilled as her heart beat faster. He wasn’t holding back a grin any longer. He was serious. “Blaze, I—”

  “I don’t want you thinkin’ about it as repayin’ a debt, though,” he bulldozed over her as he pushed clothes aside on the coffee table to make room for his beer can. He lifted a hand to her face and grazed the backs of his fingers down her cheek. “Think of it as a new start in a place you belong.”

  She tried to swallow, but found she couldn’t with her heart securely lodged in her throat.

  She remembered the instantaneous, homely feeling she’d gotten the first time she’d walked into Blaze’s and Kalvin’s cottage. She’d wondered then how something as simple as walking into a house could feel so right. That hadn’t been the only time she’d gotten that truly right feeling, she realized as she gazed into Blaze’s eyes. She got it every time she was near him or Kalvin, as if being with them was exactly where she belonged.

  Unable to continue holding his gaze, she went back to folding the clothes. “I can’t think about anything like that right now, Blaze.”

  “There’s nothin’ to think about, darlin’. You’ve had it in your head since this mornin’ that you’re leavin’ the first chance you get. I saw it in your eyes.” He shook his head. “I’m lettin’ you know now that it ain’t gonna happen.”

  “Everything in my life is so screwed up.”

  He tugged the folded blouse from her, placed it on the stack she’d started on the coffee table, and took possession of her hands. “Not everything. Stay. Not just until this bastard is caught and things are straightened out in Chicago. I want you here a lot longer than that.”

  She wanted to be here a lot longer than that, she realized. She’d only been on the island a few days, but already she couldn’t imagine going back to any semblance of the life she’d had in Chicago. More, she couldn’t imagine her life without Blaze and Kalvin.

  And how in the hell had that happened? It wasn’t possible to fall in love with someone so quickly, was it? And not just one someone, but two!

  “Aren’t you forgetting something? Things might be okay with me and you, but Kalvin…” She had come to think of the men as a package deal. They had made it clear they both wanted her and intended to share her. At least, that had been their intentions before this morning.

  “Kalvin is—” Blaze broke off when the front door opened.

  As if on cue,
Kalvin walked into the cottage. He took one look at the stacks of clothes on the coffee table, the boxes of shoes littering the floor, and more articles of clothing on the end tables and his lips kicked into a wide grin. “I see the two of you went on a shopping spree.”

  He closed the door behind him, but didn’t move further into the living room. For the first time since she’d met him, Delilah realized he was uncomfortable.

  Blaze let go of one of her hands as he turned toward Kalvin, but held onto her other one. “What did you find out?”

  Kalvin raked a frustrated hand over his head and scowled. “Nothing we didn’t already know. I gathered some samples I’m having sent to the mainland for testing, but all that’s really going to tell us is what accelerant was used to start the fire.”

  “And if it was acetone like the others?” Delilah asked, her voice tight and unfriendly even to her own ears. He didn’t believe her. Blaze might have implied that Kalvin had a funny way of showing he did, but the way he’d acted this morning had made it clear where he stood, and it was by her.

  “Then we’ll have confirmation that the fire is connected to the others.” He held a small bag in one hand and he shifted it to his other hand as he took a few steps closer, his gaze locked with hers. “We’ll know that whoever is after you is definitely here on the island.”

  Hope tied a knot around her heart. The way he’d said that combined with the intense emotion in his eyes made her think he did believe her now. “Or you know I just decided to move my craft here, right?” she heard herself ask. The pain of his distrust this morning was still so raw. Except, could she really blame him? The question had been bouncing in her mind all afternoon. Did she really have a right to be angry with him for doing his job, especially when she’d kept her life a secret from him?

  Kalvin glanced at the bag in his hand and then met her gaze as he rounded the coffee table on the opposite end of where Blaze sat on the sofa.

  “What’s this?” Delilah asked when he handed her the bag.

  He lifted a shoulder and grimaced. “A peace offering.” He scoffed. “I guess I wasn’t thinking when I bought it. I’ve never seen you wearing any jewelry and I’m betting when you do it’s something you make yourself, but I saw it and…”

  Delilah pulled the square box from the bag, lifted the lid, and a lump of tears burned her throat. The necklace inside the box was simple, but elegant. A delicate silver angel hung from a thin silver chain. “It’s beautiful.”

  “Does it make you any less angry at me?”

  The hope in his voice made her smile. Men. She may not have had many relationships in her life, but she knew enough about men to understand they used gifts and sex as their way of apologizing and trying to make things right. “It helps. And it isn’t anything like the jewelry I design.”

  “The island could use a good handcrafted jewelry shop,” Blaze commented. “I’m bettin’ it would be a hit with the tourists.”

  “He’s trying to talk you into staying. I’m glad. I’ll move back to my room tonight if you don’t want me with the two of you.”

  Delilah stared at him, unable to imagine being in the enormous bed in Blaze’s room without Kalvin there, too. “Kalvin, I—”

  “I hurt you this morning.” The pain and anguish on his handsome face tore at her heart. “I never meant to. I led you to think I didn’t believe you this morning. I’m sorry for that. I had no right to dig into your life. I just…” He glanced away, took a deep breath, and looked back at her. “All I’m doing is making excuses now. I had no right and I apologize.”

  “You wanted answers you weren’t getting from me. I get that. You may not believe this now, but I was planning to tell both of you everything at dinner last night. Then the fire happened and…”

  “We didn’t make it to dinner,” Blaze finished for her.

  “I started second guessing my decision then, but when the three of us, um, when we…”

  “Made love,” Blaze supplied.

  Was that what they had done? She hadn’t been sure what to call it. Fucking had been the first word that had come to her mind, though she hadn’t wanted to use such an impersonal term. She hadn’t felt as though she were being fucked last night. The way they’d touched her, the way they’d kissed her, and the way they’d held her after, had made her feel cherished, coveted, and deeply loved.

  “I told myself I would tell you everything today, whether you believed anything I had to say or not,” she went on. “Like I told the sheriff in his office, I know how it looks. I know how my story sounds.” She bowed her head and closed her eyes. “Honestly, I half expected the two of you to march me to the sheriff’s department after I told you everything and turn me over to the Chicago authorities.”

  Blaze stretched an arm along the back cushions and gave the hand he still held a gentle squeeze. “We would’ve never done that. John isn’t going to do it, either.”

  She shrugged. “I didn’t know. I haven’t known what to do about anything in a long time.” She turned her attention back to Kalvin. “I owe you an apology, too, for being so angry with you. You put everything on the line for me. I didn’t realize just how much until we were in the sheriff’s office today. You withheld information from him and talked him into waiting until today to question me. You had my purse. Yes, you found the envelope in it, but you didn’t dig through it or turn it over to the sheriff. That was withholding evidence, too. You took a risk for me that put your integrity and probably even your job in danger.”

  “Because, deep down, I knew the woman I’ve started falling in love with could’ve never set that fire or any other one.”

  Her vision blurred as tears welled. She didn’t know what to say. She felt as if she were stuck in a whirlwind with everything spinning so fast around her she couldn’t keep up.

  Kalvin slipped a hand beneath her hair and cupped her nape as he gazed meaningfully into her eyes. “I am falling in love with you, Delilah. I think I started falling the second I turned around on that stool in the Karma Café.”

  “Faith,” she corrected him. “Delilah is the name that sounds funny now. She was a woman who had taught herself not to care about anything except her creations and the business she made out of them. She’d given up on men, on ever finding true love, and learned to be content with the life she had.”

  Blaze skimmed a hand down the back of her head. “Are you sayin’ you wouldn’t be content with that life now, darlin’?”

  “I couldn’t be because that life didn’t include the two of you.”

  Kalvin smiled as he used his hold on her nape to pull her face closer. His breath fanned her lips as he spoke. “This new life of yours will always include us, baby.”

  He kissed her and she melted against him. A new life. She’d never wanted anything except the life she’d had until she met them. She wouldn’t have that new life now until everything from her old one was put to rest. She knew that and ruthlessly pushed it all aside as Kalvin’s tongue found hers.

  The kiss was hot, full of passion, and ignited a burn deep inside that never seemed to go out when she was with him and Blaze. The cushion shifted beside her as Blaze leaned in, nuzzled his face in the side of her neck, and gave her flesh a tender nip.

  Kalvin eased back and licked his way along her jaw to her ear, nudging her head to turn toward Blaze.

  Blaze took control of her mouth in such a tender, delicate feast that sent desire shimmering warmly through her veins. It drew a soft purr from her throat, the sound muffled by Blaze’s mouth as he deepened the kiss.

  Kalvin’s lips latched onto the flesh at the curve of her neck and shoulder. He bit her flesh, not quite hard enough to break the skin, but with just enough pressure that a mark would surely be present. Mark her, claim her. After everything he’d just said to her, she knew that was his intention.

  A hand covered her breast. Blaze’s or Kalvin’s? She couldn’t tell. It molded her tit in its palm and she thrust her chest forward, wanting more of that touch, needin
g it to wipe away the thoughts of everything that had been destroying her life for so many months. All she wanted to do was feel the physical, to enjoy the primal, to revel in the heat, the passion, the sex, and the budding love between the three of them. Everything else, anything else, needed to be pushed aside, better yet, dissipated from her body and mind, leaving behind not a trace of what it had been.

  More hands moved over her body, these pushing beneath the hem of her shirt to grip the elastic waistband of her shorts. Kalvin’s hands, she deduced, given that one of Blaze’s was still on the back of her head as he continued to do delicious things to her mouth with his lips, tongue, and teeth. As his other hand, she knew now it had to be his other hand on her breast, working her nipple until electric sparks shocked at her heart and plunged to her center.

  “Lift your hips, baby, so I can get these off of you.”

  She complied, putting her weight on her feet as she pushed her hips off the sofa. Blaze let go of her breast as Kalvin peeled her shorts and panties off her bottom. She settled her ass back on the cushion as Blaze gathered the material of her shirt in his hand and pulled it up. He broke the kiss long enough to yank the shirt over her head and toss it to the floor. Then his mouth was back on hers, the hand on the back of her head slipping between her back and the sofa to free the clasp of her bra. He peeled the straps down her shoulders and arms, letting the bra fall as he covered one of her breasts with his large, callused palm.

  The cushion on her right seemed to inflate as Kalvin slid off the sofa. She heard a sound she couldn’t decipher, and didn’t try, because Blaze was nibbling at her bottom lip, his tongue grazing over the bite before licking down to her jaw to give it the same treatment. Her head fell back and a quiet moan rolled from her parted lips as he tasted her jaw, her neck, back up to her cheek, and then over to her earlobe.