by Lily Harlem
I was breathing fast now, panting. I felt hemmed in, there was no escape. “Yes.”
He licked his lips. His nostrils flared. Something in the base of his eyes burned brighter than any flame.
A shocking realization came over me. I didn’t want to escape. My God, I couldn’t take my eyes off his mouth, that sullen, annoying mouth that was glistening from where he’d just swept his tongue over it.
My taste buds actually tingled to taste him. Learn what flavor he was. Would he be the same as Todd or would he be richer, darker, more intoxicating?
“I need to know,” he murmured, “if he kissed you like this?”
Suddenly his mouth hit down on mine, hard and demanding, hot and urgent.
I gasped and he took full advantage, sweeping his tongue deep. I dropped my shoes and clutched his waist, spreading my fingers over his warm, smooth flesh. The feel of his thick brawn and honed muscles beneath my palms sent all the right signals to my desperate female hormones. Desire rushed across my skin, tingling down my spine and settling between my legs. I wanted to press harder up against him, crush my breasts to his chest.
As though he knew what I needed, his weight dropped forward, pinning me to the wall. The denseness of his body was the most wonderful sensation I’d experienced in a long time, and suddenly, any last slivers of control vanished. I couldn’t get enough. I wanted to make him part of me. Get lost in him forever—or just for one night anyway.
Our kiss heated to inferno levels, slick tongues writhing and chasing. The sound of my breathing and his rang in my ears, wild and noisy. I was roaming my hands unashamedly over his back, his butt, his shoulders, uncaring of the fact that this man had made me want to slap him several times since our first meeting.
He groaned into my mouth and cupped my breast, slid his other hand down over my belly and hip, tempting me with his explorations.
Why the hell are we still dressed?
Some primal response deep inside me was yelling for more. I wanted to fuck, get satisfaction. It had been so damn long.
The thick wedge of his erection shoved up against me. Hard and determined, it strained through his sweats onto my waist. Lightning flared through my clit, a heated kick of sensation.
Reality hit.
He didn’t really want me. He was a miserable bastard who just couldn’t stand for someone else to have me—competitive sportsman and all that crap. Todd wanted me to be his girl and Raven had to beat him to it, have me first. It was the challenge of being the first warrior to throw the spear and bring down the bison, or something macho like that.
I tore my mouth from his. “No.” I shoved at his chest.
He sucked in a breath, scrunched up his nose and stared at me. He didn’t move.
“No, we can’t do this,” I said.
“Give me one fucking reason why not?”
“Because we can’t. You don’t even like me, and I just spent the evening on a date with Todd, your friend and teammate.”
“Fuck Todd.” He did that thing again where he spoke with his teeth gritted, just his lips moving. “And who said I don’t like you?” He pulled me tighter, once again wedging the very obvious evidence of his need into my belly. “I do like you, very much.” He let out a juddering breath.
He did like me. I liked him too, well, his hot body at least. My pussy quivered at the thought of having him plunge into me. Ramming that big, hard cock into my depths and squeezing orgasm after orgasm from me. Oh, the temptation. “Please, I’m trying to be professional here,” I gasped.
“Screw professional.”
“Raven.” I shook my head as a sudden infuriating thought raced into my mind. “Are you teasing me again?”
“Fuck, no. I’ve never been more serious in my life.” His lips touched mine as he spoke. “I want you, Fiona. You’re driving me nuts. I can’t stop thinking about you. You’re like no other woman I’ve ever met.”
My eyes fluttered shut and I hung on to him all the tighter. “I’m not?”
“No, you’re sexy and clever and beautiful and you’re as ballsy as they get. Who else would try and tease me, the Raven Starr?”
“I am?” I was? “But, but…still, I might be ballsy, but we can’t do this.”
“Now you’re being a tease,” he breathed.
Indignation gripped me and I pulled my head back from his. “You started this. You kissed me. I’m not being a tease.”
Silence.
The heat from his cock was still burning into me. His wide shoulders and desire-heavy gaze filled my vision. Temptation was rising again, washing away indignation the way the wind blows away seeds.
I gathered the last shreds of my willpower. “No,” I managed, shoving away the mental image of us naked in his bed.
He swallowed tightly. “Okay, I hear you. But answer my question first.”
Question? What question?
“Did he kiss you like that?” he asked again.
“No, nothing like that.” I pushed at his chest. “Nothing like that at all.” My grip on sanity was tenuous and would soon slip completely if I didn’t get away. “Please, let me go to my room.”
He shoved several thick strands of his hair out of his face and stepped backward.
I staggered toward the stairs. The ache between my legs had constricted into a painful knot, making it hard to walk.
Damn, why couldn’t Todd have kissed me that way? Dragged me against his cock and given me that let’s-get-naked-and-rampant look? Why did it have to be Raven who had me almost coming just from a kiss?
Why?
Chapter Five
I slept fitfully, my head full of dreams of the two men who’d kissed me the night before. When I awoke, I was hot and naked, my fingers fragrant from fretting my clit. Masturbating hadn’t served me well. Several short, sharp orgasms had done nothing to take the edge off the lust Raven’s kiss had ignited or dampen the desire at the thought of being in bed with Todd.
What the hell was I doing? I’d never been attracted to two men before. I was a one-man girl.
But there was something about both of them that had set a fire in my belly that refused to be dulled, even in the light of day. And as I set about having a shower and washing my hair, applying a little makeup, I had no damn idea what I was going to do about it.
The small kitchen that was part of my area was out of coffee, so I headed downstairs in my underwear and robe. Raven had a stash of the good stuff in his cupboard.
After putting the coffee on, I stared out of the window. It was another sunny, blue-skied day in Orlando. Not a wisp of cloud to be seen. I thought of my parents in rainy Wales. I ought to give them a call later and check on how they were.
The house was quiet despite it being nearly ten. I guessed Raven was sleeping in after the late night. I wondered if he’d relieved himself the way I had, and if so, had it been any more fulfilling? The thought of him touching himself, jerking off with images of me in his head did something strange to my stomach.
What was it about this intriguing man that had my libido so riled? His Native American history, his steely determination and brooding manner had clearly clicked some switch in my Welsh genetic makeup. He couldn’t be any more different to me, physically and emotionally. The way he preferred to fold in on himself was so opposed to my love of talking through problems.
It was the age-old conundrum of opposites attracting, good girl goes for bad boy, not to mention the thrill of knowing someone wanted me enough to back me up against a wall and kiss me until I couldn’t breathe. There was no doubt about it, that had been the hottest kiss of my life.
I sighed and thought of lovely, perfect, polite Todd. He would be here in a couple of hours. I was looking forward to spending the day with him. Perhaps I’d get to see his place tonight and if so, bed action with him might shake this ridiculous attraction I felt for Raven. And it would hardly be a chore, jumping into Todd’s bed. The guy was a slice of man heaven just waiting to be devoured, or was that let him devour me
?
A noise behind me jolted me from my sexy daydream. Turning, my breath caught and my head went fuzzy. Standing just inside the doorway of the kitchen were Todd and Raven.
Their shoulders were almost touching, each as tall as the other, but that was where any similarity ended.
Todd looked suave and sophisticated. His blond hair was carefully tousled, he wore smart navy pants, a white shirt and pale-blue tie. He held a pink gift bag decorated with an enormous bow and he was grinning broadly.
Raven once again wore just his sweats. His skin, the color of a perfect, just-baked loaf of bread, appeared shower damp and his hair was scraped back. He topped off his look with the usual scowl and drawn-down eyebrows.
Todd walked over to the table, his shiny leather shoes clacking on the floor, and set down the gift. “Morning, sugar, how’d you sleep?”
“Well, I…not too good actually.”
“I’m sorry about that.” He stepped up to me, slotted his hand into my hair and gave me a soft kiss, right in the center of my lips. I couldn’t help but melt, and had to curl my hand around his forearm to keep my balance. Damn it, he was good. He smelled and felt marvelous, his cologne a combination of lemon and green apples, and his just-shaved chin as smooth as silk against mine. If I hadn’t been holding on, I would have pinched myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.
“Sorry, I’m early. I guess I was looking forward to seeing you,” he said quietly against my mouth.
“That’s fine, but I’m not quite ready and I just need to…” I glanced around his shoulder at Raven. “I just need to do ten minutes of acupuncture on Raven before we go.”
“Ah, the silent acupuncture treatment.” Todd dropped his hand from my hair and turned to face Raven.
Raven’s fists clenched and his shoulders lifted toward his ears. Somewhere in my subconscious, I took that as a good sign, but I was more worried about the stormy expression flitting across his face—the tight set of his jaw and the way his lips had thinned—none of it boded well.
He hasn’t calmed down from last night then.
“I’ve heard all about your arrangement,” Todd said to Raven with a laugh. “How you two can’t bear to speak to one another. You’re a fool. I keep telling you, lighten up.”
Raven’s nose twitched and he took several ground-eating paces across the kitchen until he was face-to-face with Todd.
“Fiona and I communicate just fine,” he said, narrowing his eyes. “You’d do well to remember that.”
Todd raised his eyebrows. Amusement sparkled in the depths of his blue irises. He didn’t seem in the slightest bit bothered by the murderous intent oozing from Raven.
Hell, I am.
If they were going to kick off, I had no intention of getting in the middle of all that brawn. And if Todd kept smirking at Raven, then fireworks were really going to explode. Spectacularly.
I stepped away but a sudden arm around my waist stopped me moving far.
“Hey,” I gasped, staring up at Raven. “Let me—”
Suddenly he was kissing me with the same extreme passion he had the night before. I murmured a weak, pitiful complaint and, to my shame, allowed him to take total possession. I was helpless, too far gone. Raven’s particular brand of kissing was addictive and completely irresistible.
His tongue probed deep and he tipped me backward, dipping me to the floor at the same time as pulling me up against his warm skin and holding me secure in his arms.
As suddenly as it started the kiss stopped. He pulled me up and looked deep into my eyes. I was breathless, breathless and turned-on and about to become a quivering mass of helpless need on the kitchen tiles.
Jesus, what girl wouldn’t be?
My robe had slipped open and I could feel the cool air-conditioning blowing down on my cleavage, my belly and the tops of my thighs. I welcomed it, I was feverish.
“You see, Todd, no problem,” Raven said, gently pulling me completely upright but doing nothing about my exposed body. “Communication is not an issue at all. We’ve got a great system.”
A seed of sense returned and hurriedly I covered myself—words, apologies, excuses tripping through my brain. “Todd, I-I’m sorry, he…I…”
Todd tipped back his head and laughed. A great big guffaw. “Don’t worry about it.” He held his palms up to Raven. “I’m just glad you haven’t completely ducked out of the land of the living, buddy. I was worried about you there.”
“I’m fine.”
“Yeah, I can see that.” Todd pulled in a deep breath, looked at me then back to Raven. His face fell serious. “Only thing is, you’ve just kissed my date.” He lifted his eyebrows. “And I’m not sure what to do about that.”
Raven folded his arms. “Your date?”
“Yeah, it’s Phoenix and Brooke’s little one’s christening. You did get an invite. I saw it on your desk.” He paused. “But Fiona is coming with me.”
Raven grunted.
Todd reached out and traced the chenille collar of my robe. “If you still want to, that is?”
“Yes, yes of course.” More than anything, I didn’t want to ruin my chances with Todd, but it was also clear I was as trustworthy as an ice cube in the desert when it came to Raven.
I glanced at Raven and he pressed his palm to my cheek, as though absorbing the blush burning there. “It’s okay,” he said in as soft a voice as I’d ever heard him use. “Don’t sweat it. Go with Todd.”
My heart swelled. I didn’t want to leave him out or hurt him. “Why don’t you come, too? With us.”
“He will,” Todd said quickly. “He can catch up with everyone. Show them all he’s still alive and kicking.”
“Will you?” I asked.
“Yeah.” He leaned forward. “If you want me to.”
His breath breezed across my cheek, or was it Todd’s? He was right next to me too, stroking down my neck, across to my shoulder. His aftershave was mixing with the raw, male smell of Raven—black pepper, soap and sex.
A white-hot shiver ran through my body. They were both so close, circling me, surrounding me. Far from fireworks of the fisticuff type, there seemed to be sparks of arousal flashing all over the place. And it wasn’t just me.
Raven’s mouth was by my ear now, his tongue just touching my lobe, his stubbled cheek against mine.
“Well, since we both want you,” Todd said, brushing his lips over my mouth, “why don’t we both have you?”
“What, like share me?” I asked, widening my eyes and curling my hands over the crisp material of his shirt. I didn’t know how much longer I would be able to stay standing, my damn legs were like noodles.
Todd gave me a lopsided smirk. “Yeah, why not? You like both of us, we both like you. Let’s have some fun.”
Raven caught my gaze. His lips were in a tight line again, his eyes thin slits of concern. “Fiona? Are you up for…fun?”
Oh dear Lord above. “Well, it does seem like an answer to the situation,” I managed, feeling my pussy tremor in anticipation.
Todd slipped my robe from my shoulder, his lips following his fingertips and kissing over my bra strap. “Of course it’s an answer, because we’re all hot for it,” he muttered onto my skin. “And I’m sure as hell not going to fall out with my best friend over a woman.”
“No,” I whispered. “Falling out would be very foolish.”
“It’s a solution…for now,” Raven murmured, going back to exploring my neck and throat with his tongue and tugging at the other side of my robe until it fell around my elbows, exposing my white silk bra completely.
“I guess you’re not talking about just sharing the date then?” I managed. I’d never been in a threesome before, and now it seemed here was the opportunity, with two drop-dead sexy hockey players. Clearly I’d been a very good girl in a former life and that was giving me the chance to be seriously bad now.
I could hardly wait.
It seemed I wouldn’t have to.
Todd chuckled. “No, not just the
date. I came here early with the intention of finishing what my jet lag deprived me of last night. So we have hours before the christening, Fiona. Hours and hours to both adore you.”
Okay, they had me. I felt like a sacrificial lamb trapped between their bulk. My nerves were on overdrive. Every touch, every kiss and caress seemed to burn right through me, thrill me, overwhelm me. I clung to each of them, allowed Raven to kiss me in that devastating way of his as Todd slipped off my bra.
“In here?” I gasped as my legs finally failed me. “The kitchen?”
Raven caught me. I was worried for a moment about his shoulder, but it didn’t seem to be an issue for him so I let him support me, cradle me in his other arm.
“Yeah, the table looks perfect,” Todd said, plucking at my right nipple while sucking my left deep into his mouth.
Breathing was becoming difficult, my heart was thudding, bruising against my ribs. Oh sweet Lord, Todd knew how to use his mouth on a nipple.
“You’ve made me feel so much better, Fiona, now it’s your turn. Let us make you fly,” Raven whispered. “We can, you know, if you let us. Just relax.”
He spoke with such confidence, such resolution, that it briefly crossed my mind they’d done this before. Maybe this was a hockey player specialty—hot ménage. I wasn’t complaining. I was going to take what I could. Last night’s sexual frustration was still simmering and taking it to a boiling point was all I could think about. It was more than a need, it was a necessity.
Todd was busy relieving me of my underwear.
Taking deep, steadying breaths, I lifted my legs and allowed him to loop off my panties. They were slung across the floor and landed next to my bra. “You have too much on,” I said when he stood with a triumphant grin on his face.
“Not for long.” He tugged at his tie and scanned his gaze down my curvy, naked body. “You’re fucking beautiful,” he said, hunger dripping from his tone.
“You’re not so bad yourself,” I said as he laid his shirt neatly over the back of a chair. Oh, his chest was lovely. Different from Raven’s but equally beautiful. He had absolutely no hair, sculpted and angular like his face. Tanned and perfectly smooth.