It Takes Two

by Allie K. Adams

  “More than anything.”

  Well, that was easy. When he pushed off the couch, she frowned. Please let there be more to the seduction than that. “Then why are you moving away from me?”

  Jason joined him. “Before you two take this to the next level, I want to clear the air.”

  “There’s no reason to clear the air,” Jeremy jumped in quickly. Too quickly.

  “What are you talking about?” She scooted forward and folded her hands on her knees.

  Jason went on. “Not a day goes by that Jeremy hasn’t regretted these past ten years, all because of that damn party.”

  Her breath caught. “Did you regret letting me leave?”

  Jeremy nodded. “Every goddamn day.”

  Shock held her speechless and sent chills ripping up her spine. He’d just let her go. If he would have pulled her into his arms and really kissed her… If he would have begged her to stay… If he would have just told her how he felt…

  But he hadn’t done any of those things. He’d just let her go. He’d given a single feeble attempt at a protest. He never told her how he felt. She had to tell him first and even then he never said those three little words back. It’d been the final straw to push her over the edge and move to Pasadena. She’d had to get away from him in order to move on.

  “So, why’d you let me go?”

  “Because I was eighteen,” Jeremy said, as if that somehow justified his actions. “I didn’t know what I wanted. Hell, do any of us at that age?”

  “I guess not.” She had. She’d wanted him, wanted to spend the rest of her life with her best friend. Because he’d never shown any interest in her outside the friend zone, she ran away. She couldn’t face the idea of him falling in love, finding his happily ever after, when it wouldn’t be with her.

  “Don’t look at me like that, Breanne.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like I just broke your heart.” He held her in his gaze. “The way your eyes shine when you look at me like that just about kills me.”

  “Why’d you let me go?” she asked again, this time in a whisper. “If breaking my heart kills you, then why do you keep doing it?”

  He lost all expression as he rested that gaze on her. “Because your happiness means more to me than mine.”

  “Then prove it.” She stood and thrust out her chin.

  Jeremy and Jason exchanged glances. Jason hesitated, searching for some sort of answer from his brother. Jeremy gave him a single nod and removed his glasses, setting them on the table next to his drink.

  And then they both moved toward her.

  EIGHT

  That look in Bree’s eyes charmed him and tortured him at the same time. Jeremy had to find something about her that didn’t drive him bat shit crazy. She wore her beautiful dark curls piled high on her head, showing off her slender neck and driving him wild. Her wide-set eyes held his, and in that moment everything else faded into the background. The past dissolved and they were right back at that party. A million emotions swirled in those soft gray eyes. Curiosity. Passion. Hunger. And lust. Definitely lust.

  A mix of fury, irritation, and a lingering hunger of his own filled him as he fought against the lust threatening to flay his control. He should have listened to Jason and given this job to one of the other teams. He thought he could handle it, thought he’d be able to control this intensity threatening to shred him whenever it came to Breanne Willows. Not Willows now. Breanne Harrington.

  After she’d walked away from him at that party, a part of him had died that night. He’d spent the next ten years planning out the time he’d see her again. With his brother’s help, he’d finally get the girl. He’d planned to play it cool, relaxed, and wait for her to come to him.

  And then he saw her tonight.

  That curve-hugging little red dress had him ready to come undone. It left nothing to his imagination, which definitely didn’t help the situation any. The way that dress showed off her pretty thighs and shapely ass would have been the death of him had he spent much longer studying her from the shadows. Jason hadn’t said anything untrue. Jeremy really had had a hard-on for Bree since junior high.

  Thankfully his brother had more control when it came to Bree, which was the other reason Jeremy needed him to come tonight. Maybe with Jason here, he wouldn’t give into the ardent need bubbling inside him and race to the finish line like a damn teenager.

  But the way she now watched them both, fear and excitement shadowing her expression, shattered what little control he had. He wouldn’t leave here tonight without a taste of her. He couldn’t, not after wanting her for as long as he had and never acting on it.

  Tonight that all changed. It had to. For his sanity. For both their sanity.

  She stroked her tongue over her lips. “Now what? Is this where the seduction starts?”

  He chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck as he shot a sideways glance at his brother, who shrugged and grinned in return. “I’m game.”

  She widened her eyes. At first. But then a darkened haze settled in them as a hunger he felt more than saw washed over her. The flush in her face spread to her neck. “Both of you?”

  “Yes.” Jeremy removed his blazer and loosened his top button. “You told me to prove it. This is me, proving it.”

  “Right.” She nodded quickly. “At the same time.” It came out as a question.

  “Exactly.” Jason unbuttoned his shirt.

  Jeremy brushed the hair off her face. Her skin felt like silk beneath his palm. He rested his hand on her cheek and ran his thumb across her lower lip. The moist heat from her breath burned into him. He stared at her in silence until it ate him alive. “Tell me what you want, Bree.”

  “You. I want you, Jeremy.”

  “And me?” Jason moved behind her. “You don’t expect me to stand here and watch while you two have all the fun.”

  She trembled beneath his touch. Something ignited in her eyes, lighting them up and sending his pulse skyrocketing. That look forced him to clench his teeth to fight back the explosion of want now flooding his body, hardening his cock. Dear God in heaven, it was so unfair to have her look even better now than he could have ever imagined.

  “Can I kiss you?” Every muscle in his body tightened and left him struggling for air as he waited for her answer.

  “It’s way hotter to just do it than ask permission, bro.” Jason bumped him out of the way. He then framed her face with his hands. Jealousy bit into him. Pulling her closer, brushing his body against hers, Jason went for her mouth.

  Jeremy refused to let his brother move in and take control. He’d allowed it with other women and even welcomed it, but not with this one. Not with Bree. She was his.

  He slipped between them and melded his lips to hers. She whimpered as her lips parted. He held back instead of devouring her the way he wanted to, knowing the minute he let down his guard he’d never be able to get it back. He’d bury himself deep inside her and never come out.

  Bree tasted even better now than back at the bar. He tasted the desperation on her tongue. Desperation and hunger. He could relate. Nothing compared to her, in every sense. Behind her Jason eased closer, careful to not interrupt them yet moving into a position both he and his twin knew so well. Jason reached around and slid a hand down the flat of Bree’s stomach, pulling her against him and breaking the kiss. When she moaned and rested her head against Jason’s shoulder, Jeremy dropped his gaze to catch Jason dipping his hand below the waistband of her sweats.

  Sweet Jesus. That was sexy, having her writhe against his brother’s hand, her head tilted back, her eyes closed. The barely there shirt hugged the curve of her breasts and had Jeremy wishing he was that shirt.

  “Bree.” It came out as a strangled moan. He lifted the top over her head and tossed it aside. Those tantalizing, dark nipples twisted and tightened before his eyes. It was the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen. His hand trembled as he reached for her. Hesitantly, scared to take the chance but terrified n
ot to, he touched her, cupping her breast. When he brushed his thumb across that hard peak, she sucked in a breath.

  “Jeremy,” she breathed.

  “You’re beautiful.” He covered her mouth with his, devouring her and getting drunk off her lips. This kiss was different than anything they’d shared. She came alive at his touch and gave as much as received. Sliding her hands underneath his shirt, she moved to slip it over his head. He grasped her wrists like manacles, stopping her before she touched one of his many jagged scars. The time would come to have to explain them. He didn’t want that time to be tonight.

  Jeremy held her body to his and cupped her face. He feathered kisses along her jaw and settled in on the sensitive spot behind her ear, remembering her reaction when Jason had kissed her there. She dug her sharp little nails into his chest through his shirt, and he lost it.

  He nipped her lobe and then licked it to soothe the playful bite. She trembled in his arms. When she moaned, he groaned in response. Drawing his hand between them, he ran it along the flat of her stomach and stopped when he felt something hard in her belly button. Pulling back, he caught a glimpse of a diamond. She bit his shoulder in response. Oh, hell yeah. “You have a pierced belly button. Damn, that’s sexy.”

  Reaching beneath the elastic band of her sweats, he ran into Jason’s hand. They knew the score when they’d come here. Bree was his. Jason was here for one reason and one reason only—to help him. To open the imagination. To give Bree more pleasure than she could have ever imagined. To stop Jeremy from losing himself in her.

  Jason conceded and brought his hands around to pinch her nipples. She cried out and rocked against Jeremy’s hand. He cupped her through her damp panties. Damn, the heat she put off could sear skin. He slipped his hand underneath the material and teased her, drawing more juices from her.

  “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted you to touch me like this.” She pressed her hips to him, moving in time with his hand. When he sank a finger deep into the depths of her silky warmth, she squeaked and stiffened. “Ah, Jesus!”

  He stopped moving. “Are you okay?”

  “I just can’t believe we’re finally doing this. No, don’t stop. Please, don’t stop now.”

  She moaned and arched her back. Jeremy didn’t know where one of Jason’s hands had disappeared to, but he an idea. When she screamed out as her eyes flew open, he knew exactly where Jason had eased his finger. “Holy shit.”

  “I’m right here, Bree. Right here, baby.” Covering one of her nipples with his mouth, he flicked and teased it, drawing it harder and causing Bree to squirm in his arms. With his thumb, he brushed it across her nerves and she went wild.

  “Oh God!”

  He stroked methodically, first in slow, lazy circles, but the way she writhed against him had him ready to drop them both to the ground so he could bury himself inside her. He increased his pace, pulling mewling noises from her as she moved faster. Her hips pumped faster still, her moans amplified, as she drove the pace.

  “You have me… Not fair… Jeremy… I can’t…”

  God how he loved her disorientation as she writhed her hips and thrashed her head back and forth. “Let it go, Bree. Please, baby. Please let me feel you.”

  She threw her head back and screamed as she came on his hand. Her body clamped down on his finger as she pressed her nails into his shoulders. He hissed in a breath. Damn, that hurt, even through the shirt.

  Jason stood behind her, doing what he did best by drawing wave after intense wave from her. She cried when she threw her head forward, resting it against Jeremy’s shoulder. She held onto him and pumped into his hand until she finally fell limp. He wrapped his arm around her to hold her up.

  Once she slowed her movement, Jeremy slid his finger from her. Jason must have done the same. Her body jerked. She let out a whimper that melted his mind.

  “Oh wow,” she purred as she rested her body to his. He wrapped her into his arms and never wanted to let her go.

  “Having us protecting you has its benefits,” Jason offered in jest as he moved to the sink to wash his hands.

  She stiffened suddenly and pushed Jeremy away as she quickly righted her sweats and grabbed her shirt, throwing it on. “Oh, my God. That’s not at all embarrassing.”

  “You have nothing to be embarrassed about.” Jeremy took a step toward her.

  She put her hands up. “Stop! We shouldn’t be doing this. We shouldn’t have done that.”

  He didn’t like the look in her eyes. They were wide, rounded in shock. The color drained from her pretty face as she staggered back. “Bree?”

  Her gaze, at first full of surprise and disbelief, cooled at an alarming rate. She narrowed her eyes at him as she thinned her lips. That couldn’t be a good sign. “I, uh, have to get up early and drive.”

  “You have a car waiting, remember?”

  “Good. I’ll go home tonight.”

  “Are you okay?” Jason dried his hands and faced her. He snagged Jeremy’s gaze. Do you have a clue what’s going on?

  She shook her head vehemently. “No, I’m not okay. This is not okay. I can’t believe I just did that. If this got out—”

  “It won’t,” Jeremy cut in. “Bree, you did nothing wrong.”

  “I just fucked your hand,” she cried before nodding at Jason. “And yours. Oh, God. I’m screwed. I’m so screwed. If the board caught wind of this, I’d be out on my ass. Oh, shit. They’ve been salivating, just waiting for me to make a mistake like this.”

  “Wait a goddamn minute,” Jeremy barked. “This was not a mistake.”

  “You have to go.” She handed him his jacket. Once he had it on, she pushed at his back. “You can’t… You just… Please. Just leave. Now. Take the stairs. Separately.”

  Jeremy knew better than to push her when she got like this. She used to get hysterical before finals. She was beyond panicked and if they didn’t do as she asked, she’d explode. Or worse, cry. “Come on, Jas.”

  Jason didn’t argue. Instead, he stuffed his phone into his pocket before grabbing his coat and slinging it over his shoulder. “Next time I get to kiss her.”

  “What next time?” Bree’s eyes flashed. Oh, shit. Jeremy knew that look. He had to diffuse the situation before she started throwing things.

  “We’re going.” He grabbed his brother and dragged him to the door. “I’ll see you back in Seattle, Bree.”

  “No, you won’t.”

  “You still have someone after you.”

  “I have my own security,” she explained, determination swirling in her eyes. “They’ll do just fine.”

  Jeremy shook his head and set his jaw. “Not an option.”

  “Not a choice,” she countered.

  “I’ll call it in.” Jason pulled out his phone. Jeremy rested a hand on Jason’s and pushed it down. They exchanged glances. Wait until we’re in the car. He shrugged and tucked the phone away. “If you say so.”

  “I hate it when you two do that,” Bree snapped.

  “Do what?” They both feigned innocence.

  “You talk to each other without actually talking. You used to do that all the time. It’s freaky.”

  “It’s a twin thing,” Jason explained with a grin.

  “I have enough to freak out about. Stop it.”

  “As you wish.” Jeremy leaned in and stole a kiss, using the words from her other favorite movie of all time. She stiffened, and he braced himself for the slap. Instead, she melted to him and kissed him back. “Until Monday.”

  “Do I have a choice?”

  “No.”

  “Then I guess I’ll see you Monday.” She slowly closed the door on them, but not before she offered a flirty little smile that had him biting back a groan as he grew hard once again. He didn’t want to leave. He couldn’t keep her safe if he didn’t stay by her side. He stood there frozen, staring at the door, debating whether to use an excuse when she answered his knock or just take her into his arms.

  “You’re an idiot
if you think that will work,” Jason drawled and shot him a knowing look.

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about.” That was a lie. He couldn’t deny the uncanny ability they shared when it came to knowing what the other had on his mind.

  “You are so screwed,” Jason laughed.

  Jeremy tossed a sideways glance at his brother. “How so?”

  They walked to the end of the hall and descended the stairs. “You have a type. Petite brunette with ridiculously curly hair and darker skin. Gray eyes that look just like the sky on a stormy Seattle day. You’ve never been able to find her because it wasn’t her. Now that you’ve had a little taste, you’ll never want anyone else. It has to be her.”

  Jeremy didn’t want to believe that, but deep down…he knew. Jason was right.

  He’d never been satisfied with anyone else. Now that he’d had a taste of the real thing, he never would be.

  NINE

  “You’re an idiot.”

  Jeremy gripped the steering wheel and stared straight ahead. The rain was relentless, matching his mood perfectly. Listening to Jason lecture him the entire time it took to get back to Seattle would be the death of him. Or the death of his brother.

  “Why do you look ready to pop?”

  “Because you keep calling me an idiot.”

  “That’s because you totally screwed up.”

  “We screwed up,” he corrected as he sliced a glare at him. “Let’s not forget you were there, too.”

  “Yeah.” He smiled. The son of a bitch actually smiled. Jeremy tightened his grip on the steering wheel so he wouldn’t cold-cock his brother. “But it’s you she’s pissed at.”

  “I’m aware of that.”

  “You didn’t need me there. She was totally open to you.”

  “I know.”

  “So, why’d you ask me to come?”

  He should have driven a separate car. “To stop me from taking it too far.”