by Lainey Reese
“Well, my Mom said Aunt Charlotte told her you got caught with another man’s wife,” Cade shot back with a grin. This was a familiar dance, one that had been performed between the two their whole lives. The mothers in this family were the grapevine. If anyone needed to know what was happening in a relative’s life, all they had to do was tap either of the mothers.
“It was another man’s fiancé,” Brice shot back, resigned to the family’s gossip chain, but still a little affronted that they thought he’d be party to breaking up a marriage. “She wasn’t going to marry him anyway. I was only the means with which she made that point clear.”
He didn’t point out that he would not have been a party to that if he’d known she had planned for her fiancé to catch them. It made it worse that she’d used him, and he did not want that known if he could help it. It was bad enough that he had gotten involved with an engaged woman in the first place. But it was that damn hero complex of his, he reflected ruefully.
He could not resist a damsel in distress. And what a damsel. She was a knockout with red hair and big tits, and she’d clung to him and wept prettily as she’d begged him to hold her tighter and help her forget. So he had. With his tongue down her throat and his hand up her crotch he’d done some forgetting of his own too. Like forgetting that he was in another man’s house, and in another man’s woman. That is until that other man had shown up and all hell broke loose.
“Well, in that case…” Cade said with a mocking bow of his head. Brice grabbed the nearest thing he could reach and threw it at him with some advice on what he could do to himself. Cade laughed and caught the paperweight easily with a chuckle.
“Well, you’ve had my invoices for a week now. I hope to hell you were able to find more from them than I was able to.”
“It’s a hell of a mess you got on your hands, Cade,” Brice started, all humor leaving him as he turned his attention to the file he’d brought with him. “As far as I can see, it’s got to be one or all of three people…” As Brice laid out his suspicions and the paths he had taken to get to those conclusions Cade felt a chill settle in his spine. All three were people he trusted and had placed in powerful positions in his employ.
He had known it would be that way, of course he’d known that. They couldn’t have had access to the invoices otherwise, but it still was a shock to see it laid out in black and white. Cade steeled himself for what came next and settled in to dissect three people he considered friends.
“Annie’s on your list, Brice,” Cade stated with surprise. Brice knew Annie as well as he did, and he was more than a little shocked that she would show up on the short list. “C’mon, we’ve known her since she was what? Six, seven years old? How could you think it would be her?”
“Yeah,—” Brice looked him cold in the eye, “—and I’m a cop who has learned all too clearly the statistics of close friends and family who commit crimes against their own.” Cade shook his head as if to object, but Brice went on. “Look at the circumstances here. She was here only about a month when it started, nothing that we could find happened before she got into town. She signed for most of the deliveries and was at least on the premises for all of them. Look, I don’t want to think she could do this shit any more than you do. But I wouldn’t be doing you any favors if I didn’t include her. The fact is she’s the most likely for this, and if she wasn’t practically family I would’ve already questioned her.”
“Okay. I still think you’re way off base with this, but okay. Don’t roll your eyes at me, I mean it. She’s been here trying to get me and Trevor to take her out. I hardly think a girl who’s hot for me would be stealing from me and then try to kill me. Maybe you’ve been a cop too long, but attempted murder is hardly ever considered flirting out in the real world.”
Brice knew that Cade felt that was a point in her favor, but to him it was just another mark against her. He remembered Annie better than he thought Cade did. He remembered a spoiled little brat who was decidedly vicious in her tantrums whenever she didn’t get her way. He remembered watching her bat her eyes and prettily plead with her father for a new bike on one of his many summers there. When told no, gently but firmly, the pretty little girl had quickly turned into an ugly little demon. One who had shouted and stomped and swung at her father until, red faced, he’d had to carry her from the yard and upstairs to their apartment. Moreover, after two weeks of never seeing her without a pout and red-rimmed eyes, she was riding a brand new bike. Brice shook his head at the memory. If he had ever acted that way he doubted that he would have ever seen a bike again.
“Here’s what I want to do,” Brice stated and laid out a plan of action while Cade interjected with his own ideas and it was another two hours before they left the office.
As the two walked into the restaurant lobby, Brice stopped in his tracks. Every muscle in his body tensed as if he were ready for an attack and his gaze zeroed in on the cocktail lounge. Cade knew who had caught his attention before he looked. Brice had very similar tastes as he and Trevor. Riley was the only woman he knew who could stop them in their tracks.
Riley was in a particularly decadent outfit tonight. She wore a Grecian style dress in a lightweight white that swayed and ruffled around her like she created her own breeze. It hung loosely, but hugged every curve at the same time. It was slit to her navel in the front and the back draped lovingly across her luscious rear. It also left her entire back beautifully bare. A rhinestone collar around her neck was attached to the dress. She wore matching rhinestone bracelets on each wrist and her hair was piled on top of her head in a mass of curls with tiny rhinestones winking in the light from among them. When she spotted them and started walking forward they caught glimpses of her thighs thru the leg slits, that is if a man could tear his gaze away from the swaying of her breasts that were loose in that dress. Cade didn’t know what she did to that garment to make it stay so stubbornly in place, and he was both glad for it and a little disgruntled.
Brice was still staring open-mouthed when Riley stopped in front of him and smiled warmly up into his face. Cade almost felt sorry for him. He remembered all too well the impact of her smile the first time he saw it. He was still reeling.
“Hi,” she began and put her hand out to Brice. “I’m Riley. You must be Brice.”
Brice managed to close his mouth before he drooled and clasped her hand in both of his. She was a vision with her big dark eyes and a mouth that made him want to weep that she belonged to his cousin. First the redhead now this. The world just wasn’t right as far as he was concerned. He bent down to brush a kiss on her cheek, and the subtle fragrance of her perfume mixed with the essence that was pure female heat made his blood run thick. His voice was just a little too gruff when he replied, “Pleased to meet you.” He shot a gaze at Cade as he said, “My cousin’s a lucky guy. You’re breathtaking.” He was charmed when her cheeks got pink, and she nodded her thanks for the compliment.
“Brice. You mean to tell me you haven’t gotten yourself dead yet?” Trevor said as he came up behind Riley and gave Brice a good-natured shove on his shoulder.
“Superman can’t die,” Brice, replied, “you know that.”
“Hey, didn’t you hear?” Trevor said, “Superman did die.”
“I have heard that rumor. I’ve chosen to ignore it.” Brice winked at Riley with this reply and then asked Cade, “Got time for a drink?”
The four of them headed back to the lounge with Riley in front. She could feel the intensity of their gazes on her. Riley smiled wryly to herself and thought this must be what a gazelle feels like in front of a den of lions. When she reached the rich mahogany bar, she turned her back to it and rested both elbows on it behind her, showcasing the split in her gown to its fullest. If they were going to gawk, by golly she would give ’em something to gawk at, she thought.
All three men stood frozen and transfixed. They watched as each delicate breath she took lifted and parted her gown. She could tell they were marveling that the material cl
ung against all rules of gravity, hoping that with the next breath it would shift and reveal the flesh it so barely concealed.
“For crying out loud, fellas,” Riley said in exasperation, “it’s double sticky tape and it’s not going to give or I wouldn’t be standing here like this.” She laughed softly and shook her head, but they didn’t share her lighthearted manner. As one by one they lifted their gazes to meet hers she realized that what for her had been teasing, they had taken very seriously. The look of arousal was apparent on the three men’s faces, and Riley quickly sobered. She was unsure what to do. Brice was an unknown element to her. He was handsome and very dashing with his cop mystique, but she was in love with two men and did not think she had the room in her heart, or body for a third.
Cade, always in tune to her every expression, leaned in to whisper in her ear, “We don’t share. Rest assured that Trevor and I are the last men who will ever touch you.”
“Although, “Trevor cut in, “Brice always makes a wonderful audience.”
He quickly explained to her that a year or so ago, they’d had a particularly adventurous girlfriend when they had invited Brice over for dinner. Half way thru the meal, she had stood up from the table and taken off her dress. While he’d politely refused the offer she made to join them, he had stayed and observed. That evening had been a satisfying surprise for all of them and it had been repeated on a few equally satisfying evenings since.
Riley looked again at Brice. He was handsome, tall, well built from the way his clothes fit, but it was his eyes that caught her. There was an intensity there that caused her to shiver in appreciation. There was also kindness there, maybe it was the cop in him, or maybe it was just his nature, but there was something in him that just oozed trustworthiness and honor. He did not fit the image she had in her mind of what a voyeur would look like. He definitely seemed a hands-on kind of guy. When she said as much, he replied, “Oh, believe me. If this were a situation where I was allowed a hands-on approach with you, I’d take you so thoroughly you’d forget these two and run away with me.”
He smiled in a way that could only be described as cocky and added, “But there is a thrill that can be had as an observer that can’t be achieved anywhere else. Tell me, have you ever gotten hot watching a skin flick or reading a steamy novel?” When she shyly nodded he said, “There you have it. Only take that feeling and multiply it by a hundred when the sex you’re watching is in person.”
“Oh,” Riley whispered.
Twenty minutes later Riley thought she was going to go mad. Brice had directed the men to undress her as soon as she had gotten to the living room. He had then instructed her to lay back in one of Cade’s black leather chairs. After she’d sat he had Trevor drape her legs over the armrests, he then told him to pull her arms back over the top of the chair and told her not to move them for any reason. Then he’d told Cade to go down on her while Trevor kissed her and played with her breasts. He’d sat quiet and watchful as the men had devastated her and in ten mind-blowing minutes she’d been screaming into Trevor’s mouth as Cade had relentlessly sucked and licked and kissed her to climax.
“Cade,” Brice’s voice penetrated the fog that engulfed her mind. “Step to the side of the chair and let me see you make her gush.” Cade gave a last suckling, swirling kiss to her clit and moved behind the arm of the chair.
Riley knew what was coming. They had done this to her a handful of times. It was devastating every time. It was the most explosive, earth shattering experience she’d ever had. They gave it to her sparingly, like a decadent dessert reserved for special occasions and Riley whimpered, her body quivering in anticipation. With Cade out of the way, Brice had a clear view of her open, dripping sheath, his gaze was zeroed in on it and Riley felt connected to him in this incredible act of intimacy.
“Trevor,” Brice said without looking up. “Let Riley suck on you while Cade brings her.” Trevor stood with a murmured, “My pleasure.” Trevor’s long fingered hand brushed her cheek and turned her face to him after he had shed his clothes, easing the bulbous head of his shaft between her lips. Both of them hummed in pleasure as he slid to the back of her throat. He then slid that hand down and gently but firmly clasped her neck, only slightly restricting her breathing. His other hand grasped a handful of her hair, effectively holding her face a willing prisoner to his thrusts.
Then Cade slid his wide hand between her legs. Her gaze was locked on Trevor’s when Cade dipped two strong fingers into her and curled them up. Trevor slid slowly in to the back of her mouth, and Cade flexed twice. Riley jumped and a moan sounded in her chest.
“Hold still.” The command came from Cade and the heel of his other hand settled firmly just above her mound. Then he flexed again. Riley’s legs started to close, and her arms came down. “Stop,” Trevor said, giving a sharp yank to her hair. “You know better, little one.” He gave a couple quick short thrusts into her mouth, and Riley watched as his muscles bunched and passion tightened his features. Cade flexed again hard and fast and Riley lost her ability to think.
Brice could smell her. It was intoxicating, she smelled as good as she looked, and she looked like nirvana. He watched as, against the men’s warnings she started to buck, and Cade put more pressure on her with his free hand and doubled the pace of his thrusts. Brice swore soft and low when Riley screamed and a fountain flushed from her body to spray her thighs and splash on her stomach as Cade continued to pump her. Cade leaned over her with a groan and furiously sucked on her clit, clamping his hands on her thighs to keep them open when she screamed again and started to fight their hold on her. It was an amazing thing to watch, and Brice felt waves of heat and lust pouring off the trio as they strained and bucked together.
Cade stood and stripped his clothes off without waiting for direction from Brice, his focus on Trevor as he fucked fast and deep in her mouth while her body continued to twitch with aftershocks. “Fuck her in the chair, Trev,” Brice said, his voice sex-roughened and deep. Trevor stepped back and lifted her as if she weighed nothing then sat on the chair. He pulled her onto his lap backward, so her sweet ass was nestled on his lap while he faced Brice and plunged into her throbbing sheath. “Put your feet on his thighs Riley…yeah, like that. No, keep your knees wide. Umm, that’s good. Pretty.” Trevor’s hands cupped her bottom, and he set up a hard fast rhythm that brought more screams of delight from her. Cade stepped up and kissed her deep, his tongue thrusting as fast between her lips as Trevor’s shaft between her legs. He groaned and pulled her head back by the hair, sliding his fingers between those lips now and watching as she licked and sucked while he slid them to the back of her throat. Then it was his shaft slipping and sliding along her tongue, his groans mixing with theirs. They both took her with a pounding pace that made it impossible to last.
All too soon, Cade recognized the signs that Trevor was at his limit, his rhythm breaking as he started to lose control. Cade changed his angle and started thrusting faster into her mouth, determined that they would reach the end together. Trevor pulled back on Riley’s ass and his next thrust hit her g-spot. Riley detonated and gushed again. It was a surprise to all of them and the sight of her orgasm spraying from her body like a faucet galvanized the men.
Trevor shouted and pumped so hard into her it lifted them off the chair as his climax joined hers and then Cade joined them, his semen filling and spilling from her frantically sucking mouth.
Brice groaned as his body gave an involuntary thrust and it took every bit of his will power to prevent himself from doing some flooding of his own.
Brice didn’t dare move. He was so hard he thought even his slacks brushing against his aching shaft would be enough to bring him. He had seen Cade and Trevor with two other women. Women they had cared for and been passionate about, but it was nothing compared to what he had just witnessed.
The look that had been on Cade’s face as he came into her mouth had been more than lust. He had looked into her eyes and in that moment had been vulnerable and st
ark. He really is in love with her, Brice thought, they both were.
As his body reluctantly subsided, he mused that even though theirs wasn’t a conventional relationship, it was a genuine one and wondered how all the families concerned were going to handle the trio. It was certainly going to be interesting come next Christmas he thought and quietly made his way to the guest room he used whenever he stayed over.
Chapter Nineteen
The next morning Riley was a mess of nerves and anxiety. They were leaving for the airport in three hours to see her parents. She was a complete mess. She knew that they loved her and wanted what was best for her, but what if they couldn’t see that Cade and Trevor were what was best for her? What was she going to do if her father looked at her as if she had disappointed him? She didn’t think she would be able to face it if it came down to a choice between her parents and her men. The only thing she could do was wait, hope and pray that it never came to that.
In the meantime she would cook. It was the only thing that calmed her nerves. She would make her dad’s favorite cookies to bring him, and then maybe a batch for the employee’s downstairs too. She shook her head at herself as she sifted flour into a bowl, she sure hoped the flight wasn’t delayed, if it was she was going to need more flour.
Riley looked up with a puzzled frown when she heard the elevator sound. The guys had left only twenty minutes ago. Trevor to see to some things at the rec center, and Cade to his broker’s office, something he’d said about contracts before he left. She was a little puzzled when she saw Ann step into the foyer.