by Maya Banks
it’s all any of us can offer with any certainty.”
“How does it work? How can it work? The three of you accept that I not only love you but two other men as well? What sort of commitment are we talking about here? I mean is this casual? Will you step away from the ‘relationship’ if you find another woman?”
She was babbling like a moron now, and judging by Brody’s expression, he didn’t have any liking for her gibberish.
He scowled at her, his eyes fierce. “This isn’t casual, Zoe. I won’t accept casual. There is no other woman for me. Just because there’s more than one guy in this thing doesn’t make my commitment to you any less. Or your commitment to me. Yeah, you’re with two other guys, but that’s it. No others. Period. Even in fantasy land.”
A ghost of a smile hovered on her lips. “What if you’re my fantasy?”
He cupped his hand behind her neck and pulled her into a fierce kiss. His lips melted over hers in a show of possession. He didn’t just kiss her. He owned her.
He pulled away, his eyes half-lidded and clouded with desire. “I’d say that’s a damn good thing.”
She glanced over his shoulder to see Tate in the distance, his head turned as he stared out the window. Brody turned and followed her gaze. Then he sighed and rose to stand in front of her. He extended his hand down to help her up.
The few steps toward Tate had a surreal quality, like she was inside a dream and couldn’t shake herself awake. He turned when she stopped just a few inches away.
“Tate?”
He watched her for a moment, his eyes dark and probing. “You want me to respond to that bullshit?”
She laughed, though it sounded strained. “No. Well, maybe. I probably didn’t say it like I should have, but I’m still spinning here. I could use some help. I feel like I’m falling down some hole that doesn’t have a bottom.”
The corner of his mouth lifted into a half smile. “Welcome to my world. It’s the way I’ve felt since the first time I touched you and made love to you.”
She leaned into his body and reached down to take his hand. “Did you mean all of that? All of what they said?”
“I did. I do. And as for that crap you said about casual and other women. Well, it’s crap and that’s all I really need to say about that. What I feel for you is anything but casual.”
She smiled and rested her forehead against his chest.
“This won’t be easy for you, Zoe. I don’t want to pretend it will be just so we talk you into something we desperately want. We have one person to please. You have three very distinct personalities, each pulling you in a different direction and sometimes at the same time.”
She closed her eyes, absorbing the words, the idea that she was loved by three men who meant the world to her. Three men she loved in return. One of whom she already had a stable relationship with. The other two? On the cusp of something new. Still fresh. Feeling their way around. Could they do it?
“I love you, Tate. I do. I need you to know that.”
He tugged gently at her hair until she tilted her head up so she could see him.
“I love you too, Zoe. We can make this work. I admit, I had to think about it. I’m still thinking about it. But I want to try. I don’t want to walk away, and I don’t want to lose you. Can you do the same? Try? For me. For us?”
Her stomach clenched, and instinctively, she turned, searching for Chase. The commitment had to come from her. Had to be her decision. Chase couldn’t do it for her. But she had to know she had his support. She had to know he was okay with this.
Tate loosened his hold on her and then leaned down to whisper in her ear. “Go to him. I know you’re worried.”
She rose up on tiptoe and brushed her lips across his and then backed away and turned to where Chase stood—alone—across the room, hands shoved into his pockets, his mouth set into a firm line as he watched the goings-on around him.
“Chase,” she said as she approached.
He opened his arms to her and she rushed into them, relief crushing down on her.
“I don’t know what to think.”
Her voice was muffled by his shirt, and her fingers curled into his waist in a silent plea. She needed time to process everything that had gone on in the last few minutes. It was easy to say yeah, okay, great idea. Nobody would be hurt. Everyone won. But beyond that initial gloss, what then? Would it really work out? Four people in a committed relationship?
“I know it’s a lot, baby,” Chase murmured against her hair. “I just want you to be happy. I want the hurting and uncertainty to stop. No one’s happy right now. We’re all miserable. I want you to stop feeling like you can’t come home because we’re here.”
She winced at the accuracy of his assessment.
“Answer me one thing, Zoe.”
Slowly she pushed away from his body and stared up into his eyes.
“What do you want? If you could have this work out any way you wanted, how would it go down in your mind? Don’t be afraid to be honest. Just tell me what you want.”
“I want us to be together,” she blurted. “All of us. I don’t want Brody or Tate to leave.”
Then she realized what she’d said. Her mouth rounded to an O, and her eyes widened as she met Chase’s gaze.
“That’s what we want too,” Chase said softly.
Could it be that simple? Really?
She briefly closed her eyes as her mind raced to catch up. What about . . .
“We can only take it as it comes,” she murmured.
When she opened her eyes again, Chase was gazing down at her, his face soft with love.
“That is all we can do,” Chase agreed. “I’m going to fight for this, Zoe. For you. For me. I’m not going anywhere. No matter what happens.”
She smiled, and the faint stirring of hope flared and blazed higher in her chest.
“We know it won’t be easy, Zoe,” Brody said.
She turned her head to see Tate and Brody standing a short distance away.
“But we’re willing to try,” Tate said. “It’s going to take work. From all of us. I can promise you that I won’t quit.”
She sucked in a deep breath, gripped Chase’s hand, and then reached across the space toward Brody and Tate.
Brody slid his palm underneath hers while Tate cupped his hand over the top of her hand.
“I won’t quit either, Zoe,” Brody vowed.
“I love you.” She tested the words on her lips. Liked how easily they rolled off her tongue. “I love you,” she said again. “I won’t quit either.”
For the first time, Brody and Tate smiled. Really smiled. She hadn’t seen them look so relaxed and happy in a while. Since before . . .
“I’m sorry,” she choked out.
Their smiles turned to confusion.
“What for?” Tate demanded.
“That night. Dillon.”
Brody shook his head. “You have nothing to be sorry for. We start fresh. Right here. Right now. From now on, any fantasies you want fulfilled, we’re your guys.”
She smiled. “I can deal with that. I still have lots and lots of fantasies . . .”
Chase groaned, and then they all laughed.
“She’s going to wear us out,” Chase said.
“And right now my fantasy is for you to love me,” she said in a husky voice as she looked in turn at the three men standing in front of her.
“That,” Tate said, “might be the easiest fantasy we ever fulfill.”
HER FANTASY MEN
SHAYLA BLACK
Thank you to the incomparable Joy Harris
and all the wonderful readers at Joyfully Reviewed
for suggesting that Maya and I do this anthology together.
I had so much fun working on this novella.
I hope you enjoy!
CHAPTER | ONE
“Which one of you lucky bastards is nailing Kelsey?” Rhys Adams leaned against the back of the sofa, beer in hand, and glanced at the oth
er two men. “It isn’t me, and she glows too much to be going without.”
Jeremy Beck raised a dark brow. “I assumed it was one of you, since she’s put me firmly in the boss category.”
Tucker Hall eyed the object of their mutual desire through the window as she bustled around the patio table, setting the last of the party favors in place. She wore another of those long, summery skirts that hid her lush ass. But in deference to the early September heat, she’d donned a little white tank top that hugged the ripe curves of her breasts. Sunlight poured golden over her pale skin and mahogany curls. Kels was like something out of time, one of those women who could have modeled for the masters of oil and canvas long ago. Just a glance at her made his dick stiff. Fantasies of her on her back, legs splayed for him, could make him come in record time.
“I guess Tucker is the lucky winner,” Rhys groused.
“Me?” He jerked his gaze back to the other guys. “No. I’m stuck in the friend zone, man. She put me there when we were four, and I haven’t been out since.”
“At least she’s put you two in a category,” Rhys complained. “I don’t think she knows I’m alive half the time unless she runs out of coffee or needs me to fix her cantankerous bathtub. Then she needs a good neighbor.”
A collective quiet settled over the trio as they all contemplated the question that Jeremy finally voiced. “Who, then?”
“No one at night,” Rhys offered. “I’ve got sweet views inside her bedroom.”
And he didn’t hesitate to take advantage of them, Tucker would bet. Unscrupulous but lucky bastard.
“She’s always home and always alone,” he went on. “Unless you count battery-operated boyfriends.”
“You’ve seen her masturbate?” Jeremy nearly came out of his chair.
Tucker nearly came, period.
Rhys smiled. “Oh, yeah. Our Kelsey has a healthy sex drive.” His smile took a nosedive. “She’s just not getting any from me, at least not while she’s at home. At the office? Nooners, maybe?”
Jeremy shook his head. “No. I keep her busy, half because I can’t stand the thought she could get laid at lunch, and I wouldn’t be participating.”
“The only time she disappears is to go to your place,” Rhys pointed out to Tucker, his look expectant.
“I swear, as much as I’d love to lie, we watch action flicks together, but we’re not making any action. I’ve tried a hundred times to think of ways I could bring sex up without ruining the friendship—or having her laugh in my face. So far, I’m striking out.”
Silence lingered. Tucker bet that, individually, the trio had often wondered who Kelsey shared that sweet body with. Frankly, his money had been on Jeremy. Tall, dark, handsome, rich, intense . . . What woman wouldn’t want that? Except Kels had never been a typical woman. She liked Stallone movies, football, and beer. In the same week, she might also salsa dance, buy a Coach purse, and then attend a lecture at the local college about the discovery of new black holes in the universe. She was always a puzzle.
This was the first time they’d ever discussed their mutual desire for Kelsey. Sure, he’d known the other two were hard for her. Rhys practically followed her with his tongue dragging the floor, and Jeremy watched her with those sharp, dark eyes that missed nothing. Like the others, he’d assumed one of them was Kelsey’s lover. Unless someone was lying, this conversation gave him a lot of hope.
“So ...” Rhys started. “If she’s not doing the horizontal mambo with her best friend, her boss, or her neighbor, who the hell is she fucking?”
The answer came to Tucker like a comet through his brain. He drowned the sizzle it roused with a long swallow of beer. Or tried to. Nothing doused his need for Kels.
“No one,” he said finally. “She was twenty-one when she lost her virginity.”
Tucker remembered it vividly, though he’d really like to forget. Alex the smooth talker had finally persuaded her onto her back by lying about his feelings for her. Kelsey had called Tucker in furious tears when she’d discovered that his feelings only lasted as long as the orgasm and extended to the next coed a week later. His Kels never gave herself easily, and since Alex, she never did unless she was sure. As far as he knew, she’d had only one other lover, David, the musician she’d nearly married. Close call, that. But Tucker couldn’t fault her. He’d genuinely liked David, even if he’d been jealous as hell. Kelsey had been the one to decide that twenty-three was too young to get married. David, at thirty, hadn’t wanted to wait. They parted, no harm, no foul. She even exchanged Christmas cards with David and his wife.
Many tried to get into Kelsey’s panties. She took none of them seriously. He, Jeremy, and Rhys were good examples.
“Yeah, she doesn’t sleep around that I can see,” Rhys agreed.
“She’s never so much as flirted with anyone at the office.”
“And that leaves us where?” Rhys asked.
“Fucked, and not in the pleasant way.” Tucker sighed. “Plan, anyone?”
Kelsey Rose Rena cast a nervous glance inside the living room. Her guys were talking intently. They’d all been a part of her life for at least the last three years, so they knew each other. Were even friends . . . of a sort. But she’d bet none of them had a clue how she felt about them all. She feared their reaction if they did.
Thank God this party would be under way soon. Let someone else wade through the testosterone in her living room. Once it had started getting thick, she’d had to dash outside. It was either that or overheat.
“Need help, Kels?” Tucker stuck his head out the French doors.
That wild wavy brown hair of his made her hands itch to trim it, run her fingers through it. But his blue eyes melted her every time. He had the biggest heart—and the sexiest smile she’d ever seen.
“I’m good. But could you guys find that cooler in the garage and ice down the drinks in the fridge?”
“Will do.” He hesitated. “You okay?”
She avoided his gaze. If she looked at him—at any of them—no telling what her eyes would reveal. Jeremy would be furious, Tucker hurt, and Rhys . . . he’d figure it out as he went.
Focused on the plastic flatware she set on her patio table, Kelsey murmured, “Great. When people start coming in, just send them out back.”
Tucker sighed. Something was off with him, with all of the guys. It wasn’t football season yet, so no one’s favorite team had lost recently. Tucker never let work stress him out. She wondered if he was having girlfriend trouble . . . then decided she didn’t want to know.
The door shut, and she breathed a sigh of relief. If she could just make it through the afternoon with those three, then shoo them out after the party, she could escape to her fantasy life. At least four hours to go. Damn! She glanced at her watch and started counting . . .
“Anything?” Jeremy asked as soon as he shut the door.
“Nah, man. She’s in her own world.” One that didn’t include them. Tucker resisted the urge to curse.
“What do you think she wants in a man?” Rhys asked.
“If I were an expert, I wouldn’t be telling you. I’d be dating her myself.”
Jeremy nodded. “She doesn’t seem to care about money. God knows, I tried that route.”
“Nope.” Tucker grabbed another beer, then headed for the garage, motioning the others to join him. “She’s more than comfortable with her ability to make her own money.”
“She’s also not impressed by anything with a fast engine. I