by Calista Fox
He stared at the name neatly printed in bold caps:
MISS BAYLI STYLES
“Son of a bitch,” he groaned. Though he was glad to have found the note that evidently had fallen from the box, probably due to the stiff breeze and the vacuum it created when the door was opened.
He tore at the tiny flap and removed the card inside.
And bit back a litany of curse words at the message printed in the exact same way as her name:
STAY AWAY FROM HIM
Rory did an abrupt about-face and went back to the elevator. Returned to the apartment.
Christian and Bayli were standing by the fireplace. He’d changed into a pair of black drawstring pants and nothing more. She wore one of Rory’s sweaters and socks, the tops bunched at her ankles.
Christian took one look at him and visibly steeled himself for this next attack on Bayli.
Rory thrust the card at Christian, who snatched it away and then yelled, “Goddamn it!”
“Yeah,” Rory barked. “It is that fucking YouTube video!”
EIGHTEEN
Bayli took another shower. Then soaked in the tub with both Rory and Christian.
She needed the water rushing over her skin to chase away the lingering sensation of a gazillion legs crawling all over her. The guys needed something to relax them. Bring the blood pressure down a few notches. Make them a little less ready to wrap their bare hands around someone’s neck for terrorizing her.
She saw it all in their tense muscles and hooded eyes.
Unfortunately, Rory was doubly pissed off because he blamed himself for the whole mess. Bayli tried to convince him it wasn’t his fault.
She sat between Christian’s parted legs, her back to his chest as he cupped his hands on each side of her, filled them with water, and poured the streams over her shoulders and down her arms to keep her from being so damn creeped out. But her gaze was on Rory across from them in the giant tub.
“This’ll blow over,” she said. “The men who e-mailed me suggesting Internet affairs and swapping nude photos got bored with my lack of a reply and quietly went away. My more persistent stalker hung in there until I closed my e-mail account. He didn’t bother to track down the new one. Until recently, that is. When you don’t engage, they go away. That’s been my experience.”
“I’m not discounting that,” Rory said between clenched teeth. “On the other hand, has anyone ever sent you a box of spiders?”
“Well … no. Of course not.” Okay, so he had her on that one.
“This isn’t the same as annoying or lewd e-mails, Bayli,” he said.
“I understand that, Rory. And from here on out, I won’t accept any deliveries I’m not expecting. But what else am I supposed to do? What does this nutjob think I’m going to do? Back out of the show or my relationship with you and Christian just because he did something menacing to warn me off?”
“It scared the shit out of you,” Rory said with an unwavering look.
“Yes.” She sighed. “No lie. It did. But not enough for me to cower in a corner. I’m not walking away from everything we’re all currently building because someone thinks in their deluded mind they have a claim on you—or even me, if it’s my guy who’s all amped up.”
“Sweetheart,” Christian said in his low, sensual tone, ever the voice of reason. And extreme stimulation. “Rory’s just saying that it’s infuriating to see something so insidious happen to you, and I’m with him on that. The video is likely the catalyst. Whether it is or not is actually irrelevant.” He paused and she could tell Christian was staring at Rory over her head, making his own point. “We’ll have to deal with this, because chances are very good it’s not the last attempt this person will make in their quest to be heard. And there will no doubt be plenty of other fans who will get out of hand. Comes with the territory. Rory already knows this.”
“So we ought to talk about security measures,” Rory said.
Bayli gave a sharp shake of her head. “Do not go there, Rory.”
“Go where?” Christian asked.
“Bodyguards. She needs one.”
“Rory, I do not—”
“You’re right,” Christian said.
“Hey.” She shifted slightly to glare at him. “Don’t I get a say in the matter?”
Christian’s brow furrowed. “You don’t want a bodyguard?”
“Would you like someone shadowing you twenty-four-seven?” she demanded.
From behind her, Rory caustically said, “Well, it wouldn’t be twenty-four-seven. I mean, you won’t need a bodyguard when you’re with us.”
She slumped back against Christian’s chest and grumbled under her breath.
“It’s pretty standard operating procedure for celebrities,” Rory contended. “Hell, even Kris Kardashian has bodyguards. Can’t imagine who’d stalk her, but I guess there are rabid fans who want to touch her as she’s making the rounds from one designer to another at Fashion Week, just to say they did.”
“I’m not a celebrity, Rory,” she reminded him.
“Depends on who you ask is my guess.”
She climbed out of the tub and reached for a towel.
“Thank God,” Rory quipped. “This was getting too girly for me.”
“I did bring you brandy,” she shot back.
“Enough,” Christian said as he stood and wrapped a towel around his waist, then used another to rub the dark strands of his damp hair. “We can bypass the bodyguard for now, if you want,” he told Bayli. “But let’s all be on our toes. Keep our private affairs private.” He turned his gaze on Rory again. “No kissing her in public. You’re working together. Maintain some professionalism and this will likely die off.”
Bayli used the blow-dryer while the men settled in bed. She slipped in between them, under the covers, and said, “Sorry for the theatrics.” Her head rolled on the pillow and she stared at Rory. “Didn’t mean to get all girly on you.”
He smirked. “I suppose I can let it slide this time.”
“Awfully big of you.”
She gazed over at Christian. “And I know your brain is churning with every scenario imaginable, so hopefully we can all distract one another enough that we can actually sleep tonight.”
One corner of his mouth lifted. “What’d you have in mind?”
“As it happens, I have a surprise for you two.” She sat up and shifted so she could look back at both of them. “Jewel was in Paris on business recently and she sent me a gift. A toy, to be exact. One she thought I ought to have, given that I’m sleeping with two impossible-to-resist men at the same time.”
“And this gift—”
“Is what will allow me to have you both at the same time.” She waggled a brow. “After the ice cube incident, I realized I needed to expand my repertoire. Or my acceptance of yours. Whatever.” She shrugged.
Christian and Rory eyed her curiously. She kissed one, then the other. And explained, “I want to feel you inside me. At the same time.”
Christian grinned. Rory’s gaze smoldered. Bayli’s stomach fluttered.
“You think you’re ready for that?” Rory asked.
“Yes. I do.” She leaned into him and kissed him again, her tongue twisting with his, her hands skating over his wide chest.
She could hear Christian sifting through the nightstand drawer, retrieving the condoms and lubricant. Then he swept the covers away from her. His lips skimmed up her spine, sending shivers cascading along each vertebra. Bayli straddled Rory’s lap and she propped herself up on her knees, her forearms resting on Rory’s well-defined pecs. Christian’s fingers grazed her cleft, then rubbed her opening. She was already wet. His other hand covered her mound and his fingertips massaged her clit and slick folds.
Rory palmed her breasts and caressed aggressively. Then puckered her nipples with the pads of his thumbs whisking over the hypersensitive beads while Christian’s pace picked up between her legs and he stroked her quickly, two of his long fingers plunging into her. A moan l
odged in her throat.
She dragged her mouth from Rory’s and whispered, “You both make me so hot, so fast.”
“Well, you did utter magic words, honey.”
She smiled against his lips. “I’ve been fantasizing about this. What it’d feel like to have you both inside me.”
Her words seemed to excite Christian, because he stroked a bit more forcefully, pushing her right to the brink.
“Get her good and wet,” Rory told him. “So fucking wet.”
He kissed her again. Bayli’s body sizzled and her heart pounded. A tremor ran through her.
Recognizing the sign for what it was, Christian said, “She’s going to come. All over my fingers.”
Bayli trailed her hand down Rory’s abs and teased his balls. Then she reached for the lube and squirted it on his skin before she encircled his cock. Pumped feverishly, making his hips buck.
She smiled down at him. “You want to be thrusting into me, don’t you?”
His eyes blazed. “Hard.”
“And you know what I want, right?” Her gaze slid to Christian’s erection.
“Jesus, Bayli,” Rory all but growled. But after she dribbled lube onto his palm Rory fisted Christian’s cock and matched her pace on his.
“Fuck,” Christian said in a strained tone.
Their heavy breaths filled the room, over the crackle of the fire and the pinging of the rain on the windowpanes. There was a low rumble of thunder in the distance and an occasional flash of lightning. Bayli loved the moody weather, loved the scent of rainwater mixed with arousal.
Christian worked her a bit more fervently, and her pulse echoed in her ears.
“Yes,” she mumbled. “Oh, God, yes. I’m going to come.”
Rory drew her nipple into his mouth and suckled.
“Oh, God!” She panted in short breaths. Felt the tingles skate over her skin and the tremors move through her body. Her gaze was on Rory’s hand pumping Christian’s cock, a drop of pre-cum forming on the tip. “Yes,” she said on a sliver of air. “Oh, fuck, yes!” She lost it completely and cried out as the orgasm shot through her, stealing her breath, setting every inch of her on fire.
“Shit.” Rory released Christian, gripped Bayli’s hips, and just as Christian’s hands slid away from her Rory pushed her pelvis down and he thrust up into her and fucked her.
“Yes,” she sobbed. “Oh, God, yes. Rory, that is so good. You feel so good.” She could barely get the words out. But managed to say, “Christian, now. Fuck me now.”
He sheathed and lubed himself and then the tip of his cock pressed against her small hole. She whimpered in anticipation. And from the intensity of Rory plunging into her, blatantly excited by this next level of lovemaking they’d reached.
His hands shifted and he spread her ass cheeks to help accommodate Christian’s entry.
“Do it,” she insisted. “I have to feel you, too. Do it, Christian. Fuck me. Both of you fuck me.”
She was crazed. Her hips rocked and undulated as she opened further to Rory and took his cock deeper inside, eliciting sexy, desire-roughened sounds from him.
Christian’s cockhead penetrated so slowly and so deliciously. It was a completely different sensation from ice or a finger or the toy Jewel had given her. The smooth, lubricated tip popped in the way the ice did, but it was thicker, fuller. And felt a million times better.
“Oh, Christ,” she whispered as her fingers clenched around the sheet beneath Rory. She purposely avoided his shoulders, knowing her nails would tear him up at this point. Because she was completely out of control, clutching at his cock with her inner walls even as Christian warned her not to squeeze, not to tense up. She couldn’t help it. Couldn’t stop herself.
Christian had a firm hold on her hips and he tried to slow her movements as he eased farther into her. But Rory was losing it, too, fucking her ferociously, and all Bayli wanted to do was give in to the heat and moisture within her and surrounding their cocks.
Christian abandoned his attempt at being careful and let her meet Rory’s thrusts while Christian pumped slowly.
“Yes!” she wailed. “Like that. Oh, God. Just like that!”
She demanded more, the erotic pleas tumbling unbidden from her lips as Bayli slipped into some blissful realm where all that registered was how both men felt inside her, how Rory’s mouth felt on her nipple, his tongue flickering madly in time with the way he fucked her.
The sensations intensified. Magnified. Amplified.
And then it was just all too much. The climax hit her hard and fast and Bayli screamed. Her body jerked, then quaked.
“Damn,” Christian said. “I’m going to come.”
He shuddered and she felt the throbbing of his dick—and it added to the sensations consuming her.
“Rory,” she begged, “come inside me, too. Please come inside me. Let me feel you. Now.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m on the pill.”
“Oh, fuck.” He erupted and his seed flooded her pussy, sparking another orgasm.
Christian withdrew from her, and she was able to contract around Rory’s shaft, the squeezing and releasing drawing out both their climaxes. She couldn’t stop it, actually. The involuntary action was completely primal and self-gratifying. Though Rory reaped the benefit, too, as he continued to thrust into her until they were both drained, completely spent.
“Lord,” she mumbled as she collapsed against his chest. “That was so far beyond what I’d expected. Christ, that was so good.”
She wasn’t sure she’d ever get her breath back.
And she didn’t care.
* * *
Christian was in the middle of a conference call the next afternoon when Bayli let out a squeal.
His heart launched into his throat and he immediately said, “Gentlemen, I have to drop off. I’ll reschedule.”
He hung up, jumped to his feet, and rounded his desk. He stalked from the study and demanded, “What happened? Are you okay?”
She was bouncing up and down in her tennis shoes, clapping her hands together.
Christian frowned. “Bayli, what the hell just happened?”
“Good news!” She lunged for him and threw her arms around his neck.
Christian held on tight, his heart returning to its proper place, though his pulse still pounded harshly. “You scared the crap out of me,” he told her as he held her tight.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to shriek like that. But sometimes I just can’t control myself. You should know this about me already.”
“Now’s hardly the time to flirt. You sent my blood pressure through the roof.”
“Everything’s fine,” she assured him. “No spiders or disgusting e-mails today. This is exuberance, not horror.”
“Glad to hear that.” He released her and carefully set her away from him before he forgot all about whatever had made her so cheerful and took her upstairs to bed instead. With or without Rory, wherever the hell he was. Apparently not in earshot, or he would have come running, too, when she’d cried out. “So what’s all the excitement over?”
“I have the perfect locations for our test run with the webcasts. Breathtaking views, intimate villages, and flavor explosions for Rory. He’ll love this, I swear.”
“Where is he?”
“At the restaurant. He’ll be back after the dinner service. But I don’t know if I can wait that long to tell you—”
Rory suddenly came bounding down the entryway steps and into the apartment.
Bayli clapped again, clearly riding a high. She said, “You’re not supposed to be here yet!”
“Am I interrupting something?”
“Yes,” she told him. “I was trying to figure out how to keep from sharing my awesome news with Christian until you got here. Now I don’t have to wait!” She gave Rory a hug and a kiss. “You’re going to love this. But … why are you here?”
“The restaurant is completely mobbed with media,” Rory said as he whipped off h
is jacket and tossed it on the sofa. “They’re all asking questions about the cooking show. I fed them some sound bites, but I couldn’t get anything accomplished in the kitchen with Pierre constantly coming to get me. So I decided to be elusive. That ought to leave tongues wagging.”
“Most likely,” Christian agreed. “And besides, there’s only so much you can say, since we haven’t selected destinations yet.”
“Which is where my happy-happy-joy-joy moment comes into play!” Bayli interjected. “Notice the vibrant smile,” she said as she swirled her hand in front of her face. “Note the flushed cheeks and the glittery eyes.” She leaned in close to Rory. “My eyes are glittery, right?”
Christian snickered as Rory’s surly demeanor instantly softened. “More than usual. What gives?”
“Come sit with me.” She latched on to their hands and tugged. She led them to the breakfast nook where books, papers, and folders were sprawled across the smoky, glass-topped, counter-height table. She slid onto a stool and they each took one as well.
Christian reached for a computer printout of a beach, but she gently slapped his hand away.
“They’re all perfectly arranged. Silos, remember?” she said.
“Sure, sweetheart,” he humored her. “We’ll try to compartmentalize right along with you.”
“Smart-ass. Now,” she said, “I have a huge list of incredible places that will work for the show. But I want to save some of the more eclectic ones for when we get picked up by the network. If we get picked up.”
“That’s not going to be a problem in the long run,” Christian told her.
“How so?” Rory asked.
“Because most of my phone conversations of late have been threefold. One, we do have serious network interest—you’re a huge name, Rory. And Bayli is intriguing. Two, not only do we have traditional networks wanting to negotiate, but we also have interest from Netflix and Amazon, who are looking for original productions.”
“And third?” Bayli asked with bated breath.
“There’s absolutely nothing keeping us from producing the show on our own and streaming via the Web.”
Bayli bit her bottom lip.
Rory grinned. “Honey, he is saying exactly what you’re thinking. The show’s happening no matter the platform. Not just the test run, but a full season. Two, three, four. You get the picture. The big picture.”
