by Angel Payne
“Show me.” Kellan’s mandate swung her attention back to him. He pumped his penis with his whole hand, expanding the girth he was going to pound into her soon. God, she hoped it would be soon. “Show me,” he repeated, “how much your body wants me. Spread your legs. That’s good. Wider. Yes, sweetheart. Perfect.”
She smiled as he stepped into the wide V she’d created, close enough for her to see the engorged veins in his shaft. “It feels good to please you,” she whispered.
He rewarded her with a gentle smile. “I know. I really do. But there’s someone else you’ve got to please tonight, remember?”
She flashed a saucy smirk. “Oh, I haven’t forgotten.”
“Good.” When his lips took on an audacious angle of their own, alarm skittered down her spine…and through her pussy. “Because I know for a fact that our ‘guest’ has special cravings from time to time.”
“Cravings?” She gulped. “For what?”
Kellan lowered to his knees. Just watching his quads do the work on that made her sex pulse all over again, not that she’d openly disclose that tidbit. Her gaze was drawn back to his face all too fast anyhow. His intense study was a little unnerving. “He likes the sight of a woman receiving all the pleasure she can.”
She grinned and wiggled her hips. “Sounds good to me.”
“He likes to make sure of that by tying her down.”
Her lips fell. “Excuse me?”
He stuck out his lower lip in contemplation. “No movement, no temptation to get in the way of the pleasure. It does make poetic sense.”
“I’m not a big fan of poetry.”
Kellan chuckled. “Not asking you to be.” He lowered a kiss that was soft at first but grew in sexy intent as he teased her tongue with the tip of his own. “Why don’t we just pretend?”
“I don’t understand.”
Keeping his face just inches from hers, he reached to secure both her wrists in his hands. His lips stayed sinful and intentional as he stretched her arms straight out, making her feel like a splatted butterfly. “Keep them there,” he directed, “as long as you can.” He brought his own arms back in by trailing his fingertips along the inner flesh of her wrists and elbows and then across the sides of her breasts. As he slid his thumbs over her nipples, making her shiver and gasp, he murmured, “I have to admit, maybe T is on to something. You’re pretty damn sexy like this, my captive island goddess.”
She prepped a sarcastic comeback, but it faded as he dipped his head, capturing one breast and then the other in lingering kisses. Gods, how this man knew how to touch her, to make her quiver as he added his teeth to that treatment, tugging her nipples with insistence, teasing to the point where she wanted just a little more pain to stoke the fire deep in her pussy…
She brought her arms up to seize his head, trying to urge him on.
Kellan grabbed her wrists again. Lowered both of them again. “They call it play bondage for a reason, sweetheart. Is that really all you could take?”
The tender claws of his fingers made her gasp. “Was that really your idea of playing?”
He pinned her mouth beneath his in a merciless kiss, finally pulling up to trickle a wicked laugh along her cheek. “Welcome to my jungle gym.”
She moaned low and long. The rough cuffs of his hands on her wrists…the stubbled needles of his jaw on her face…the consuming hulk of his body… If this was the big kids’ playground, she knew why no one ever wanted to leave.
Kell kissed her again, harder and deeper. She opened willingly for him, letting him jam her mouth wide, possess her completely with his tongue. Less than a minute of contact, but oh, how it flipped a strange, permanent, amazing switch in her psyche. Fighting this was no longer an option she needed—or wanted. The realization stunned her. He was going to use her. Fuck her. Excite her. Satisfy her. Offer her, along with himself, as a gift to his friend, helping Tait build a bridge back to himself. And she was going to let him. Trust him. Expose herself to both of them in a surrender she’d never allowed a man before, by letting herself be completely helpless.
Just the knowledge of it set her free.
“Oh.” Her voice resounded in her ears, full and vibrant in its new amazement. As Kellan slipped his grip off her wrists again, she kept them locked down without effort.
“Good girl,” he uttered, pushing the hair from her face and kissing her forehead. “You are my good girl, Lani. So beautiful for me. So open…for us.”
“Yes,” she whispered. She wanted to say more, but the words clogged in her throat. If they came out now, she’d mean them too much. Care about them too much. This is just sex. Just an erotic dream coming true. The increased huffs from the bushes behind them, accompanied by the rhythmic sounds of a hand pumping against flesh, embedded that affirmation deeper. She sighed in response, lifting her hips toward Kellan. Without taking his eyes from her, he seized the packet from the ground and freed the condom with one rip. His breaths quickened as he rolled it over his rigid red stalk.
“You can hear him, too, can’t you, Starshine? He needs to see me fuck you. Take you hard. Bury myself to my balls in you. Kind of like—this.”
With his hands clawing her hips, he pulled her body forward as he thrust hard, invading her fully in one plunge.
“Ahhh!” Lani arched her back and screamed it to the sky, hating him and loving him in the same surreal moment. She kept her arms stretched out because honestly, there was no other choice. She had no strength. All the energy in her body flowed toward the cave that was captive to Kellan’s thick, hot cock.
“Holy fuck,” he rasped. “You’re taking me so deep, Lani. It’s so good. So damn…”
He cut himself off with a groan. The air was filled with the violent sound of his balls against her ass. Lani bit back her scream, using the violent energy to clamp her body tighter around his shaft. His cock grew in its demand for release; her clit throbbed in its lust for completion. She curled her hands into the moss, borrowing the strength of Mother Earth to keep from losing control. It was hard, so damn hard not to let his lunges stimulate her to orgasm, especially as he pumped even harder. His thrusts coincided with the increase in Tait’s frantic cadence. Both men growled in the throes of their primal need.
“My sweet Starshine. You have no idea how beautiful you look right now. Neither of us can keep our eyes off you. Such perfect tits, bouncing every time I fuck into you. Such an obedient body, spread wide in surrender. Such a gleaming, wet pussy, clamping me so tight…”
“Kellan,” she managed to whimper. “Oh gods, Kellan!”
“You want to come, don’t you, sweetheart? You’re so close…”
“Yes. Ohhhh, yes!”
“But you won’t, will you? Not until I’m ready. Until we’re ready. Say it for me, sweetheart. Focus on me and say it.”
“I…I won’t come until you’re both ready.”
“That’s our girl. Our good, sweet girl.”
A strong wind suddenly kicked up, sending untamed energy through the forest. Lani breathed in deeply, smelling hibiscus, papaya, and pineapple…and salt, sweat, and sex. She moaned, joining the symphony of harsh male grunts that consumed the clearing. Screw the ganja; this was a high that couldn’t be paralleled: the beautiful, feral energy of two warriors with cocks that needed to explode…because of her. She still couldn’t see Tait, but she guessed his body and face were a lot like Kellan’s now: taut with passion, focused on release, eyes fixed on her open nudity with unbridled lust. Just thinking of it made her vagina clench with wet, wild need.
“Kellan! Please!”
Like a miracle, a snarl erupted from the bushes, seeming to concur with her urgency. Thank you, Tait!
Kellan gave her a tight nod. Finally. “Yeah. Surrender to it, Starshine. Scream for us, baby. Come hard for us.”
As if she needed it, he slicked a thumb over her distended clit. The single contact, along with Tait’s long groan, sent her spinning into a vortex of pure bliss. Her entire pussy convulsed, consumin
g her with blistering joy. The euphoria increased upon hearing Tait groan in the throes of his own climax.
“Damn,” Kellan growled a moment later. “Damn, sweetheart. You’re going to make me blow like—” His roar practically shook the fruit out of the trees. “Goddamnit, Lani. Yesssss.”
She exulted in how his cock expanded against her walls, stretching her even tighter before his come left him in a long climax. Lani wrapped her legs around his waist before succumbing to the urge—too intense now—to touch him again. He groaned his approval, dropping his head in order to claim her in a deep kiss that made her wish for the power to freeze time.
Fulfillment rushed through her like a tsunami, lifting out all the garbage of her life, making it feel like floating pieces of nothing. For the first time in a long time, her mind was actually free. Without a care. Without a decision that extended beyond what part of his back she wanted to explore next with her “unshackled” hands.
For the first time in a long time, she was…happy.
Any second, she expected the inevitable. Her brain was going to echo with the screech of mental brakes. Loud ones. There’d be a cogent explanation for them. This was all just postorgasm endorphins at work, combined with the extra electricity generated from the wind. She could once more tell herself this had been solely about sex—hell, she wondered how much longer Tait was even going to continue hanging out—but why? She refused to acknowledge logic again right now. The bastard needed to go take a long break.
She needed to just…be. To keep feeling the soul-drenching, bone-deep satisfaction that had come with Kellan’s soft words. Good, sweet girl. Her eyes closed as she let the perfection of that moment drench her again. Though Tait hadn’t said a word, she’d felt his deep approval. She smiled, sorely tempted to toss a glance at the foliage where she still felt his presence and fling a saucy zinger. How was that for lifting the dome off my platter, Sergeant? But that would entail an explanation to Kellan about their conversation from this afternoon, leading to her memory of the kiss that followed and the furious blush she’d try to hide after that. True to form, she’d ride the massive fail whale on that front. Unacceptable.
The irony of it didn’t escape her. Was she actually squirming at the thought of Kellan learning Tait had kissed her, after the jungle fever the three of them had just shared?
Maybe the shit under her emotional dome really was a casserole of crazy.
Or maybe that kiss meant more than you’re giving it credit for.
She didn’t realize she’d given volume to her scoffing laugh, until Kellan shot an inquisitive glance over his shoulder while pulling his khakis back on. Since he only had the pants halfway up his ass, she thanked herself for the timing. Was there any part of the man that wasn’t muscled perfection?
“A half-moon for your thoughts?” he quipped.
“Just enjoying the view.” At least it wasn’t a lie.
“Once we’re back at the house, you can ‘view’ a lot more if you want.”
She giggled, acknowledging stomach tingles she hadn’t felt since seventh grade. “You’re insatiable.”
“When it comes to you, I am.” A curious grimace crossed his face, as if the admission surprised him. He banished it by quickly shaking his head and pulling up his pants, and then offered a hand to help her up. Once she stood, he pulled her in for a long, hot, tongue-tangling kiss. Lani let him take over, melting into his strength with a sigh. What a damn good thing he wouldn’t be here long. She could get dangerously addicted to kisses like this…
Even when thoughts of Tait made her pull back from them. More accurately, the emptiness in the air that he left behind. How could it be that she felt his presence, and lack of it, like some strange light switch got flipped in her soul?
“He’s gone, isn’t he?” she asked Kellan quietly.
He nodded. “Likely bugged for Franzen’s again.”
“Will he be okay?”
Another contemplative frown crossed his face. “I may have to finagle a reason to stick around here if you don’t watch it, woman.”
Damn it. There went her stomach, trying out for a tumbling act again. “Why?”
“Because that enormous heart of yours is going to get you into trouble one day, and someone needs to be here for the rescuing part.” He chuckled when she socked him in the chest. “Don’t worry about T, okay? I’ll go over and see him tomorrow. He likely needs some time to process.” He rolled his eyes. “At least that’s what he calls it, after all the shrinking his big lid’s been through. If you ask me, they’ve all been poking around in the wrong place. It’s his fucking heart that needs the work. It was long before Luna, too.”
She took a turn to frown now. “What do you mean?”
He sighed. “T-Bomb is…special. He’s more than a good soldier. He’s a good man. He has a Super Bowl-sized heart. It deserves—”
“Cheerleaders and foam fingers?”
He laughed with her. “Damn close. Celebration. And joy. God knows, life’s shown him more than enough agony and sacrifice.”
Lani wanted to press for more details, but Kellan gave himself another dismissive head shake and tugged her hand into his, effectively closing the conversation. She tucked her head against his shoulder, telling herself that was for the best. Deeper discoveries about either of these men would only make their departure harder—and she’d already started steeling for a bumpy goodbye.
No.
She crammed the thought away while snuggling tighter to Kellan as they made their way toward home. If logic was banished for the night, so was melancholy.
The wind hit a strong speed as they crossed the garden and half-jogged to the house. It brought the smell of a strong rainstorm with it, making her hope Coach Price had called an early end to Leo’s fencing practice. To her relief, they entered the kitchen to find her little brother hunched over the pizza pan, inhaling the leftover contents in his practice sweats.
“Hey, kaikaina,” she greeted. “Are you still hungry? I thought you already grabbed some dinner with the guys from the team.”
Leo grunted. “That was a half hour ago.”
“Oh, yeah.” She stepped next to him and bumped shoulders, though her shoulder now hit him a few inches above his elbow. “Forgive me for overlooking that pertinent detail.”
She moved a hand up to squeeze his neck in affection, but Leo shrugged her off, ducking deeper over the pizza. She rolled her eyes toward Kellan. He held up his hands with a smirk. “Your sister makes good pizza, yeah?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Hey,” she chastised. “Manners?”
Leo let out the universal teen boy chuff of irritation. “Yes, Sergeant Rush. My sister makes excellent pizza.”
“Thanks for the support,” she gibed.
Leo only grunted again.
“How was practice?” Kellan queried. “You’re on the fencing team, right?”
“Yeah. It was fine.”
Lani succumbed to a wave of alarm. Yes, Leo’s communication style was largely chat-speak shorthand, but her brother had also been fond of inserting his new nickname for Kellan into every interaction he could. When “Slash-gasm” was officially a no-show for the conversation, she looked at Leo with heightened concern before glancing back to Kellan. She was a little vindicated to see a concerned frown on his features, too.
“Just ‘fine’?” she prodded her brother.
Leo sighed. “It wasn’t brain surgery. It was practice, okay?” After grabbing a soda from the refrigerator, he pivoted for the back stairs, back still hunched and hoodie still up.
“Hey!” Lani rushed after him. “We’re not the enemy, kaikaina.”
“I have homework.”
“Yeah?” She grabbed the back of his jacket and yanked, toppling his hood. “Well first, you have an apology to—”
Her breath clutched in her throat. She felt her jaw working to find words, but she was shock’s speechless bitch thanks to the black-and-blue welt that swelled up Leo’s left eye and c
heek. A gasp finally escaped as she stumbled back.
“Whoa.” Thank the gods for Kellan, who’d obviously dealt with sights like this more than she. “If this was ‘just practice,’ dude, I’d love to see what you do in competition.”
Maybe her thanks for the man was premature. She whipped her stare between the two males. “Are you two laughing about this?”
Kellan shrugged. “You have a better suggestion?”
“Are you serious, Sergeant?”
“Are you?”
“Look at him!” Despite her dictate, it was torture for her to do the same. Since she’d decided to toss logic out the window for the night, she had to fumble to find it again, to dissect her rage. She was angry—make that enraged—with whoever had done this to him, not the kid himself. But Leo was the one standing here. And like it or not, she had to consider that damage like this wasn’t usually one-sided.
“Oh, I’m looking,” Kellan replied in a tone that sounded like they were still taking their postcoital stroll through the garden. To Leo, he murmured, “Just assure me the other guy is worse off.”
Leo raised a sideways fist. “You know it.”
As Kellan lifted a fist to meet the bump, she snapped, “You are not helping.” The grin he turned back to her, deepening his dimples, only worsened her frustration. How the hell did he make her want to slap him and jump him in the same damn moment? “And you”—she pivoted back at Leo—“are grounded. One week.”
“What?” Her brother winced as his face retaliated for the effort of trying to return her glare. “Why?”
She arched her brows when he pulled his fist back from Kellan and drove it against the fridge. “You want to go for two?”
“You suck!”
“Better stop while you’re ahead, ace,” Kellan murmured.
Leo curled his upper lip. “Figures you’d take her side.”
Kellan grimaced and shook his head. “There’s no ‘sides’ here, man. Your sister cares enough about you to throw out some discipline. Be grateful.”
