by Maya Banks
Noah came from the bathroom, just a towel wrapped low around his hips. He was the sexiest thing she’d ever seen in just that towel. His chest glistened with moisture and the whorl of hair in the hollow of his chest curled damply against his skin.
All it would take was the slightest nudge to bring that towel down . . .
Noah paused, seemingly aware of her avid gaze. He cocked one eyebrow and stared back. “You want something?” he drawled.
She licked her lips and Noah’s eyes darkened until they smoldered.
“I want you,” she whispered.
Noah slowly pulled at the towel until it slid down his muscular legs to hit the floor. She caught her breath and her pulse ratcheted up, hammering through her veins.
He was . . . beautiful.
All masculine. Muscled. Lean.
As Noah stalked closer to the bed, Liam pulled at the towel wrapped around Lauren until she too was nude.
“Lean back against me,” Liam murmured next to her ear.
He pulled her back even as she leaned into him, her back molding to his chest. He angled them both so that they lay on the bed, her between his legs and her body nestled into his.
As Noah crawled onto the end of the bed and between her legs, Liam’s hands wandered up and down her upper body, caressing, petting, cupping and molding her breasts in his palms.
On his knees, Noah lowered his head between her splayed thighs and she caught her breath and held it in anticipation of the first touch of his mouth.
Using his fingers to part the delicate folds of her pussy, Noah gently pressed his mouth to her clit.
The contact sent an electric current arcing up her body, nearly short-circuiting every nerve ending. Her legs shook spasmodically and her belly heaved as she tried to catch her breath.
Liam nuzzled her neck, his teeth grazing the sensitive skin. Marking her. Teasing. Sending shivers of delight to collide with the wave of electricity wrought by Noah’s ministrations.
Her entire body was an out-of-control tidal wave that was on a collision course with a mountain.
Noah’s tongue delved deep, licking and sliding inward, tasting her. She made insensible sounds, completely victim to the pleasure the two men gave her.
Liam’s hands were cupped over her breasts, his mouth on her skin. Noah’s hands gripped her hips as he used his mouth and tongue to drive her beyond her limits.
Erotic images flashed in her mind, heightened by her burgeoning arousal. Things that she’d never before imagined were now succinct in her mind. Both men, entering her at the same time. Stroking deep. Her securely positioned between them.
Her breathing sped up and her vision swayed drunkenly. She was high on passion. Drugged on their caresses. Intoxicated by their kisses.
Oh, but she wanted it, and she wasn’t even sure how it could be done, but she wanted them both inside her. She wanted it as she’d wanted nothing else.
“Noah, Liam!” she cried.
“I’m here, baby. I’m right here,” Liam soothed.
“Want you both so much,” she gasped out.
Noah raised his head to seek out her gaze. “Tell us how you want us, honey. You know we’ll do anything you need.”
“Both inside me,” she said, taking the plunge. “I want you both. Together.”
“Are you sure?” Liam asked hoarsely.
“Oh God yes. Please.”
Liam lifted her off him and maneuvered from underneath her. Then he caught her face in his hands and stared earnestly into her eyes.
“Stop us if it’s too much.”
She nodded. “Promise.”
But she knew it wouldn’t be too much. It would never be enough. She wanted them too badly. Need consumed her. They consumed her.
Noah positioned himself on the bed so he was lying flat on his back with his legs over the edge, feet planted on the floor. Liam helped Lauren climb astride Noah, and after Noah rolled on a condom, Lauren lowered herself, taking him deeply inside her.
They both let out a low moan when she took his full length.
Then Noah reached for her, pulling her forward so she was angled in a way that Liam could penetrate her. She swallowed nervously, but she was riding so high on anticipation that it didn’t even cross her mind to back out.
A moment later, Liam cupped her backside and boldly massaged and caressed the cheeks before spreading them. The movement drew her tighter around Noah’s cock, and she closed her eyes, allowing the sensation to wash over her.
Butterflies danced and fluttered in her belly when Liam fit himself to her tight opening. He seemed enormous. No way for him to fit, especially with Noah already stretching her so tight.
Liam pushed forward, and she felt the slickness of the lubricated condom as she opened around him. He was thick and broad. He seemed to go on forever as he eased more of his length into her.
“Okay?” Liam rasped.
“Yesss. Please don’t stop.”
“Baby, I have no intention of stopping. Give me one more thrust and I’ll be all the way inside you.”
His words incited her to greater arousal. The burn of his entry eased and a warm haze surrounded her, immersing her in a dreamlike fog. His pelvis met her ass and pressed even harder against her, flattening her cheeks against his body.
Oh God, they were both completely inside her.
She began to shake, tremors quaking over and through her body at supersonic speed. She was never going to be able to hold on. She was beginning to unravel and had no way to control her release.
Liam began to thrust. Withdrawing and then surging forward. Noah gripped her hips, and when Liam would ease back, Noah slid deep, filling her, until all she was cognizant of was being stretched and filled by two men. Owned. Possessed. Branded.
“I can’t . . . Oh God . . .”
She couldn’t even collect her thoughts. Had no idea what she was saying or what she needed.
Hands glided up and down her waist, soothing and calming even as her body spasmed and contorted with the force of their thrusts.
Then Noah’s hands left her hips and cupped her breasts, rolling the points between his fingers. He pinched lightly, just enough to exert delicious pressure. A tiny bite of pain that sent her spiraling into the abyss.
She yelled their names, reached for Noah, something to hold on to while Liam drove relentlessly into her from behind. Noah caught her against him, holding her tightly while Liam surrounded her.
Caught between both men. Loved. Cherished. Protected and pleasured. She sagged against Noah, eyes closed, her breaths coming in tiny puffs as the room swirled crazily around her.
He kissed the top of her head as Liam carefully withdrew from her body, leaving her still connected intimately with Noah.
A moment later, Liam returned with a warm washcloth and he gently soothed the tender, swollen flesh. When he was done, Noah carefully rolled, holding on to Lauren so she went with him. They landed on their sides, and Noah slid from her body.
He rolled away a quick moment to discard the condom, and then he was back, pulling her into his arms. Liam climbed onto the bed on her other side and pressed his body to her back, his legs twining with hers.
She let out a huge sigh of utter contentment. Had she ever been as happy or secure as she was right at this very moment? Snuggled between two strong men who’d do anything to make her happy. If only she could stop time and savor this night forever.
“I love you.”
Liam’s whisper against her ear was faint but unmistakable. She turned so that his lip met her cheek, and she closed her eyes, basking in those wonderful words.
CHAPTER 29
LAUREN lay sprawled over Noah’s chest, her legs tangled with Liam’s. Noah idly ran his hand up and down her back, gliding lower to cup her behind before smoothing back up her body again.
“You okay?” Noah murmured.
“If I was any better, I don’t know what I’d do with myself.”
“Ditto,” Liam said in a sleepy,
contented growl.
“It was new for us too, Lauren,” Noah said softly. “I’ve never done anything like that before, and I’m a little surprised that it came so naturally. And that it was so powerful. I’m at a loss as to how to even describe it. I’ve never experienced anything like it.”
Lauren pushed herself upward so she could see Noah’s eyes. They were utterly serious, warm and glowing with so much else he’d left unsaid. Like her, he hadn’t said the words yet, but she didn’t doubt for a moment that he loved her every bit as much as Liam did.
The words would come in time, when they weren’t forced. When they were as natural as breathing and completely sincere. She looked forward to that day when they could be so comfortable with each other. When there was no threat from Joel or any other quarter.
“We—I—didn’t hurt you, did we?” Liam asked gruffly.
She went soft at the concern in his voice and pushed herself upward more so that she was sitting cross-legged between them. She leaned over to kiss his firm mouth and let her lips linger over his, enjoying the simple act of affection between two lovers.
“You both were wonderful,” she said huskily. “Perfect. I never imagined something so . . . powerful.”
He touched her cheek, stroking his fingers down her jaw as he kissed her again.
“How much time do we have?” she asked.
Already the curtains were illuminated with the pale shade of dawn, and though they were going to a place where Lauren felt completely at home, she also knew that it would bring to a temporary end the intimacy between her and Liam and Noah. She felt its loss already and they hadn’t even left the warmth of their bed yet.
Noah slid his hand up her back, letting it rest at the small, just above the curve of her buttocks.
“We have time yet. A few hours more.”
Liam pulled one of the pillows up to prop behind her back and the headboard so she’d be more comfortable while the two men continued to rest on their sides.
Lauren wanted the quiet, comfortable time between them to discuss the future. It was all still so new and exciting in her mind that she could speak of little else for the next weeks.
“Can I ask you two something?”
“Anything,” Liam said firmly.
“Of course,” Noah said at the same time.
“What do you see in our future?” she asked. “Do you see us together long term?”
“I don’t have a crystal ball,” Noah said in a serious tone. “I can’t predict what will happen a year or five years down the road. But if you ask me what I want? I want forever. With you. And I’m going to do everything in my power to see that forever is what we share.”
“I see you with us for as long as either of us is breathing,” Liam said, his lips set into a determined line.
“And children?” she asked hesitantly. “What are your thoughts on children and a family?”
Both men were angled so they could see her face and she could see theirs. Light warmed Noah’s eyes. He looked . . . hopeful. And happy.
“I’d love a family one day,” Noah said.
She could hear the yearning in his tone.
“I’d want everything that I was denied as a child. And I’d never do to our children what my parents did to me,” he said fiercely.
“You’d make a great father,” she said in just as fierce a tone.
Liam smiled, warmth traveling to the very depths of his blue eyes. “I could see a few rug rats.”
Her breath caught in her throat as she was struck by a longing so powerful that she simply couldn’t breathe.
“Do you want children, Lauren?” Noah asked.
“Oh yes,” she breathed. “My own family. It’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
She touched both men, letting her hands creep over their arms so she had contact with them both.
“How would we do it?” she asked hesitantly. “I mean if we were trying to have a baby—down the road of course—would it matter to you if we didn’t know which of you fathered the child? Or would you want to make sure you each had a son or a daughter?”
Anxiety had crept into her voice and she glanced between them nervously.
“I can only speak for me,” Liam began in a low tone. “But for this kind of relationship to work, we’d both have to accept and love any child we bring into the world. Whether it’s my biological child or Noah’s. Honestly I wouldn’t care, because either way I’d consider that baby mine. I’d never treat a child differently because it was Noah’s biological child and not mine.”
“Amen,” Noah said. “I completely agree. If you’re asking if we want to ensure that a child you bear is ours biologically, then no. I say when the time comes, we both try as hard as possible to knock you up and let the seed fall where it may.”
Liam chuckled. “You certainly have a way with words. But I agree completely. Not knowing allows us both to believe that the child is ours. And it will be ours no matter who fathers it. You’re their mother and for me that’s enough.”
“What did the Colters do, do you know?” Noah asked curiously. “Holly had four children.”
Lauren laughed. “It’s a running joke in the family that no one knows where Dillon came from. Holly swears he was switched at birth. But no. She doesn’t know—or care—who the biological fathers were for her children. Neither do any of her kids.”
“I think that’s the best way,” Liam said softly.
“Do you know how overwhelming it is for me to be sitting here between you two contemplating a normal life, a normal relationship and things like family and children?” Lauren asked, her voice choked with emotion.
Noah grinned. “Well, I’m not sure you could consider our relationship normal, but I get what you’re saying.”
“I don’t care what anyone else thinks,” Lauren said in a determined voice. “All I care about is what you two think and what you want and that I’m able to make you happy.”
Liam reached up to pull her down into a kiss. “You make me very happy, baby. Never doubt that for a minute.”
She melted into him, kissing him back with the same fervor. Against her back, Noah’s lips pressed into her flesh as he kissed a trail down her spine.
“Do we have time before we go out to the Colters’?” she asked in a husky voice.
Liam’s eyes gleamed with purpose just as Noah’s hands slid to her hips. “We’ll make time.”
CHAPTER 30
LIAM and Noah packed the back of the SUV with their bags and then went back to the hotel room to get Lauren. Both men were wearing shoulder harnesses with pistols holstered and light leather jackets to cover both holster and gun.
“You ready?” Noah asked in a low voice.
She took a deep breath and nodded. Though they were just going up to the Colters’—a place she felt very much at home—the knowledge that in just two days she’d leave that shelter and make a trip into the unknown was playing havoc with her nerves.
Liam offered her a quick hug and a kiss, and then ushered her out the door and to the SUV. He put her in the front seat and then climbed in behind her while Noah walked around to the driver’s side.
As they pulled out of the hotel parking lot, she glanced down Main Street with the quaint shops, the bustling diner, her old apartment and the Mountain Pass Bar and Grill that Dillon Colter owned.
It was hard to leave behind everything that was familiar and achingly comforting. Thank goodness for Liam and Noah. How could she possibly face doing this alone? But then if it weren’t for Noah and Liam, she wouldn’t have the knowledge she now possessed, nor would she have had the courage to stand up and face the devil.
They turned out of town and she stared out the window, absorbing the beauty of the mountains. The Colters didn’t live very far, distance wise, but it was a drive up the mountain that had several switchbacks, and the going was slow.
But it was a drive she didn’t mind, because it had views that were breathtaking. Views she couldn’t see anywhere else in th
e world.
“We’ve got company,” Noah said tersely.
Liam immediately swiveled to stare out the back. Lauren’s heart did a flip in her chest and she yanked her gaze to the side-view mirror to see a truck bearing down on them.
“Moving too fast just to be another person on the same road,” Liam said grimly. “Lauren, does anyone else live on this road?”
She shook her head, her horrified gaze still glued to the mirror. “Only the Colters and Max and Callie. The doctor in town makes house calls and sometimes they have groceries delivered, but mostly they go into town for what they need because they don’t like their privacy intruded on.”
Just then the truck rammed them and Lauren was thrown forward, her seat belt cinching tight around her to prevent her from crashing into the dash.
“Son of a bitch!” Noah cursed.
He hit the accelerator, lurching forward, but the road turned into gravel less than a quarter mile ahead, and there was no way to have a race up the mountain without killing themselves in the process.
“Hold on,” Noah ordered grimly as he sped up.
They hit the dirt road, fishtailed slightly before Noah corrected and hit the first switchback going as fast as he dared.
As soon as they rounded the bend, putting a little distance between them and the car pursuing them, Noah barked back to Liam, “Get on Lauren’s phone and call the Colters. Tell them we’re coming in hot. We have no choice but to go up because we sure as hell can’t get back down.”
Lauren hastily fumbled with her phone, shoving it over the seat toward Liam.
They got to the second switchback, and Noah spun out as he rounded the sharp curve. Liam was punching the button to connect the call to the Colters, when Noah swore a blistering streak that singed Lauren’s ears.
When she stared ahead and realized what Noah was reacting to, cold fear paralyzed her.
“Noah, look out!” Liam yelled, dropping Lauren’s phone.
Hurtling down the mountain road on a direct collision with them was a Hummer with a reinforced steel grille.
