Nichols, Tara S. - Island of Three (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Tara S. Nichols

  He flinched visibly, and she watched him struggle with his decision.

  Would he choose modesty over comfort? To her surprise, she felt him press against her as he moved through the increasing dark. He draped an arm over her shoulders and hugged her in tight. So, he wasn’t as uptight as she first thought.

  Blaine shifted, and his arm snaked around behind her where he wrapped it around her waist. Mmm, yeah, I’m definitely warmer now.

  Sitting that close, she noticed each of their colognes, a mild yet distinguished scent, lingered from what hadn’t been washed off in the lake. Blaine smelled of a woody musk, and Tyler had a spicy scent. The two mixed together well. She inhaled deeply, marveling at their soft skin brushing against her, the feel of their strong muscles as they shifted slightly, and the sound of their breathing inside the small enclosed space. Outside the wind howled and thunder crashed, but she felt dry, warm, and calm.

  “I see you aren’t shivering any more.” Blaine’s voice sounded loud in the darkness.

  “No,” she answered, feeling self-conscious, and another awkward silence fell over them.

  “How’s the toe?” she casually asked Tyler to combat the discomfort she felt.

  “Still throbbing, but better.”

  She felt Blaine’s hand move, and he grazed her left breast as he shifted to a new position. She let it slide, knowing it couldn’t be helped under the circumstances, then again, maybe it could. They could get quite frisky in the dark. Her skin warmed imagining her body caught between them as they moved inside of her. They were barely more than strangers, but she found she wanted that from them, wanted their hands pawing at her, greedy and insistent. What would they think of her? Would they assume she was easy? Again she blamed her raging libido.

  She’d automatically sat down in a way she often did when watching television in her apartment at home, with one leg bent so her heel rested against her groin. When she wore thin clothing she could secretly rock gently against her foot and eventually bring herself off. Her pussy grew slick, and she longed to shift her weight so her throbbing clit wasn’t pressed against her heel. Neither of the guys seemed to notice how she was sitting, but if she intended to maintain her dignity in the company of these two strangers, she didn’t dare move.

  The sound of Blaine flicking the lighter came now and again filling another deafening silence. There was no improvement since the last time he had tried, and oddly enough, Adele was all right with that. The way she was getting warm was far preferable to struggling with a small, damp fire.

  Chapter Six

  To Tyler, sitting there in the dark, not saying anything, seemed far more deafening than the unpredictable, ear-splitting rumble of thunder. All to aware of Adele’s thigh warming his own, he fought the urge to imagine the silky smooth skin that he’d been admiring all afternoon, but he was quickly running out of boring subjects in which to distract himself. Every time he harnessed his thoughts, he would remember where he was, washed up on an island with a beautiful woman, and a whirlwind of erotic scenarios would flood his mind. The situation wasn’t ideal, the weather was cold and wet, and Blaine proved to be competition, but he couldn’t resist a silent prayer of thanks to whatever good spirit had placed Adele in his path. Even the brief glimpsed he’d received when Adele removed her top was enough to keep him hard long into the night. He could only assume Blaine was in the same predicament. Tyler felt his excitement fade. Thinking of others, especially when they were two hundred pounds of muscle, had a way of making his libido falter.

  “They must be worried,” Tyler said a moment later, his voice echoing off their small enclosure.

  He felt Adele stiffen. “Do you think they’re out there now looking for us?” She sounded alarmed, and he regretted distressing her.

  “No,” he confirmed. “Not in this weather.”

  “We should never have strayed from the group, I guess.” Adele spoke after a pause.

  “Yeah, but they sure were getting pretty tiresome what with their singing and perkiness,” Blaine chimed in with a little laugh.

  “Ugh, you can say that again.” Adele groaned. “So how did I luck out getting the only two cool guys in the whole lot?”

  Tyler’s breath caught in his throat. She thinks we’re cool. A giddy laugh nearly erupted from him, but he successfully stifled it. He noticed Blaine didn’t say anything, either.

  “About the same way we lucked out with a hot babe, I suppose,” Tyler finally said and gave her shoulder a gentle nudge with his own.

  “Who knows, maybe they were glad to get rid of us?” she added with a laugh.

  “Yeah, they had us all pegged for trouble makers,” Tyler suggested.

  “Why? Do you have a history of delinquency?” she teased.

  “Maybe,” he singsonged back.

  “What kind of delinquencies?” She gently poked him in the ribs, making him jump.

  “Maybe you’ll just have to find out,” he added mysteriously.

  “Hmm, maybe I will,” she answered softly.

  Tyler felt a shiver across his skin and was relieved she couldn’t see his ear-to-ear grin.

  Chapter Seven

  Adele woke to the bright morning light streaming in through the gaps in their makeshift house. Just the fact that she had managed to fall asleep at all amazed her, let alone the tranquil sounds just outside their shelter. The wind no longer buffeted their little shack, and despite the fact that water dripped all around them, it seemed as though the rain had stopped.

  Glancing around, she noted that both of the guys snored lightly. Blaine stirred and twitched with his face lined from a seam in the lifejacket he used as a pillow, and Tyler slept soundly, still sitting up, his body slumped over with his head against his knees.

  Taking pity on him, Adele gently pushed him down so he lay against the ground, then arranged him in a more comfortable position. It still felt strange, being so familiar with strangers, but the situation seemed special in that case. He’d revealed a playful side, something she found both refreshing and relieving. Her tall, quiet, blond island-mate was proving to be quite the contender for her heart, workaholic tendencies and all.

  She knew a silent battle waged between them, it showed in their wary glances, but she was in no rush to tie herself down to one man again so soon. Yet, for some reason, she found it rather difficult to leave their side.

  Not long after the joking had died down the wind picked up, stopping all conversation. It had howled mercilessly for hours, only let up enough to hammer their little hovel with heavy rain. Thunder had rumbled loudly over their heads, and flashes of lightening sporadically blinded them. She’d never felt more vulnerable, yet so safe at the same time. Something about their warm bodies pressed up against her had a way of making her feel comforted. It made her wonder if the boys were as scared as she was. If they were, they didn’t show it, and for that she was grateful.

  Stretching, she grabbed her still damp clothes then crawled through the small hole in the hut.

  The sky was still gray with small sunny patches. It looked as though it could split open at any moment and dump rain on them all over again.

  Feeling dismal, she hurried around the corner to a sheltered place and relieved her aching bladder, then she went to investigate a rustling noise that had irritated her most of the night.

  The noise turned out just to be a loose corner of Tyler’s nylon jacket that had come free from the improvised roof. Other than that, everything looked as though it had survived the storm, including them. They’d taken turns dashing out to patch gaps and persistent drips, but overall, Adele was impressed with their handiwork.

  Walking out onto the wide shelf of rock, she dropped her pack at her feet then shook out her wet top.

  Preparing for the unpleasant chill, she squeezed her eyes shut, and flinched as she slipped her arms into the sleeves.

  “Oh!” she said, letting the breath out. “That wasn’t so bad.” She took a deep breath for more courage. Next came the hard part, the
bottoms. The thought of touching her wet shorts to her waist felt as appealing as a trip to the dentist. Holding the damp cloth out, she sucked in her breath for the second time and braced herself for contact.

  “Oh this is torture,” she said through gritted teeth as the material grazed her midriff.

  “Then leave it off.” Blaine’s voice startled her.

  She turned to face him. He stood on the highest point of the waterfront, grinning at her. It seemed he’d taken his own advice and left his clothes in a bunch next to Tyler. There wasn’t much point to it anyway. They would still be wet and terribly uncomfortable. Besides, he was wearing close-fitting, black cotton boxers that could easily pass for shorts.

  Seeing she had an audience, she wasted no time with the shorts and had them on before he reached her side. Although his face still looked haggard, an optimistic expression shone from his eyes. She noted how his dark hair complimented his tanned skin, the way the finer hair at the nape of his neck curled into spirals and grew lighter at the tips. Her eyes followed the contours of his throat, over his oarsman’s shoulders, down to the broad plain of his chest, taking in his chiseled pecs and iron-clad abdomen, which she imagined she could serve breakfast on. Her gaze swept over his masculine form, admiring the lean taper of his waist to his hips, but when she reached his midsection, she got more than she was expecting. Either he was unaware of the oblong bulge beneath the fine black material or he didn’t care. It could be the male reaction to the early hour, or a response to seeing her semi-naked and dressing on the shore. She hoped it was the latter. Her scrutiny done, her gaze found its way back up to his face where she boldly met his penetrating gaze once again. He smiled as though he knew everything she’d been thinking. He was beautiful, and he knew it.

  They looked wordlessly at each other for a moment before shyness settled in, and they returned their attention to the beauty around them.

  Water lapped against the flat granite shore, calmly now in comparison to the previous day’s ordeal. Birds, hungry for insects, dove at the surface of the water, and a patch of bright blue sky opened on the horizon.

  “Not bad,” he said, but when she turned to look at him, he was staring at her. He had a fiery look in his eyes that warmed her deep in her belly.

  Her cheeks heated at the intensity of the moment, and she found it hard to look away.

  “No,” she agreed, raising her eyebrows suggestively, letting him see that she was looking directly at his erection. “Not bad at all.”

  With a sly downward glance, he spared her a wink and partially turned away. “Whups,” he said, feigning innocence.

  “You look like you could use a little privacy.” She couldn’t hide the smirk that crept up her face. “Tell you what, I’ll use this boulder here to dry out the rest of my clothes.” She announced, “While you sort out your morning routine.” Grabbing up her backpack, she walked over to a rock the size of a car that was perched against the shore and plunked her bottom down. To her surprise, the boulder felt warm, and she realized the sun blazed above her, at least for the moment. Turning her face to the sky, she basked under the glow, letting it warm her skin and dry her clothes.

  All too soon a cloud moved in, and she opened her eyes again. Dropping her gaze to the ground, she saw the dark shadows of the clouds glide across the granite beach, to the edge of the forest, and up to a steep incline. It donned on her that higher ground existed further inland.

  It had been too stormy when they’d dragged their soaking wet bodies up on shore to have been able to see the lay of the land, and they really had no idea where it was that they had washed up. For all they knew civilization, could exist on the other side of that bluff of pine trees.

  The quicker they found out the better, she decided, forgetting all about her pack.

  No sooner had she hoped off her rock than did she hear the sounds of rustling from within the hovel. Tyler had roused. A moment later he crawled out, still shirtless. He’d managed to put his jeans back on, and although magnificent in design, she shuddered with sympathy. Seeming oblivious of her appreciative gaze, he stretched gingerly then shrugged his damp, black button-down shirt onto his shoulders, the muscles in his abdomen rippling as he moved. He limped over to where she stood with her mouth opened in awe.

  She couldn’t decide if it was a blessing or a cruel trick of fate to be stranded on an island with, not one, but two good-looking guys. How would she ever choose between them? Blaine started to walk over, and she stole a sideways glance at the two of them. She didn’t know which one she wanted more. In fact, she knew that she wanted them both. Remembering the feeling of both of their bodies pressed against hers brought up the same fond memories that had danced through her thoughts for most of the night.

  Now is neither the time or place for it, Adele, she scolded herself. We’re trying to survive here, not play the dating game.

  She straightened her back and cleared her throat to get their attention. “Now that we’re all awake, I think we should organize ourselves here a bit,” she announced and turned to face both of the guys, who had come to stand in front of her, side by side. Her knees went weak and her mouth watered at the glorious sight of them, and she struggled to stay focused. She tossed her hair out of her eyes in frustration. “What do you think?”

  The guys exchanged a look she wished she understood.

  Blaine gave the slightest of shrugs.

  “What do you have in mind, Captain?” Tyler asked with a boyish grin.

  She let the “Captain” comment slide. “Well, for starters, one of us should have a look around, explore the area a little, just in case there’s a burger joint just over the ridge. And for that, I nominate myself.”

  “You?” Blaine asked astonished.

  “Yeah, me. Why not?”

  “What if you encounter a bear?”

  “Then I’ll scream, and both of you will come running to my aid.”

  Blaine rolled his eyes, but neither of them disputed it any further. She nodded once firmly. “Next we should gather firewood and build a pyre for a smoke signal in case a plane flies over.”

  “What the hell?” Blaine protested again. “Did you win a round on Survivor or what?”

  “So, I know a thing or two, okay?” she answered, the irritation coming through in her voice. She could see that she was stepping on toes. Clearly he wasn’t used to being bossed around. She, on the other hand, was quite accustomed to bossing others around. It came with her job description as a personnel manager of a large corporation, and she wasn’t about to change it to save his sentimentalities. She needed to draw upon a whole different side of Adele now, the one her dad had drilled all the worst-case scenarios into whenever they’d gone venturing into the woods.

  Her old man had tested her wits as well as her brawn, and she’d resisted him at every turn like any righteous teenager would. With each lengthy lecture on the proper storage of food, to the patient encouragements he’d uttered while he coaxed her over just one more rise, she’d bitched and whined and dug her feet in until they were no longer talking to one another. But by the time they’d tucked into bed, they would be on good terms and planning their adventures for the next day.

  Suddenly, she missed her dad. He’d know what to do in a situation such as the one she’d landed herself in. Then again, having her overprotective father around with two prime-cut hunks to flirt with didn’t seem like a good idea, and she was instantly grateful again to be on her own. This was the ultimate test. Her dad had taught her well, now she would use those skills. It would be up to her to make it home alive.

  Ignoring Blaine, Adele turned her attention onto her backpack.

  “We could also stand to know exactly what we own, what kind of supplies we still have, then fix a few things on our home sweet home just in case we have to spend another night.”

  Tyler’s eyes widened with alarm. “Do you really think we’re going to?”

  “We can’t know, and I’d much rather be prepared.”

  �
�Sure. Whatever.” Blaine shrugged and walked over to her backpack resting against the rock. “But I suggest we take inventory together. Then one of us should build the fire, and two of us should explore the island.”

  Adele shifted uncomfortably. Apparently she wasn’t used to being contradicted, either. Back at the office she called the shots, but clearly Blaine had some experience in that department out on the loading dock.

  Taking a deep breath, she steadied herself. “That makes sense.” She’d overcompensated, and her words came out sounding perkier than she intended, but there was no point in making and issue out of it. She pried Blaine’s fingers off of her pack then sat herself down on the ground with her back propped against the boulder. She pulled the zipper open, and the guys gathered around. It felt strange going through her belongings in front of an audience, and Adele couldn’t shake the wary feeling that had formed in the pit of her stomach. She’d packed her bag in a hurry, and she couldn’t remember what all she’d included. Well, they were all about to find out.

  Chapter Eight

  Tyler watched Adele’s hand dip into her backpack and was reminded of his own expensive loss. He should have known better than to bring the office with him, but he had no other choice. He felt surprised at his anger toward the company. Sure, they drove him too hard, expected too much, but he knew that going in. Maybe he’d simply had enough? After all, he hadn’t had a day of fun since he’d taken that last big promotion. Looking back, he now saw it had been a mistake to take the job. He’d exchanged his life for a padded wallet.

  His gaze centered on Blaine and Adele as they hovered over her backpack. He saw that their faces seemed free of worry, and that they seemed fairly content in general, so why couldn’t he be?

  Adele’s short laugh pulled him from his thoughts. He saw her bright eyes meet his, and she raised two very sodden rolls of toilet paper up for them to see. “Well, that was for nothing,” she said, tossing them away.