Going All In

by Jess Dee

  She didn’t have time to protest. Jay took Hunter’s place before she registered the loss of contact with him. He gave her a dazzling smile and claimed her mouth in another bone-melting kiss.

  Jay. The guy who tempted her on a weekly basis with his shameless flirting but never quite carried through on his half promises, was now brushing her lips with his, teasing her with his tongue and igniting all sorts of fires in her belly.

  Kissing him was nothing like kissing Hunter. While his lips and tongue tantalized, his body caressed, moving first this way then that, ensuring every part of her was stroked by every part of him. He was just as solid as Hunter—everywhere—but his height and her position threw Julia off balance. His hands spanned the width of her back and waist, and she stood on tiptoes, wrapped her arms around his neck and held on for dear life, never wanting to let go.

  The kiss they shared wasn’t just temperature-raising, toe-curling unbelievable, it was a culmination of a year’s worth of teasing.

  As horny as it made her—and man, was she ever horny—Julia wasn’t sure she was ready for this. How could she kiss Jay and Hunter? She’d spent months agonizing over her love for both of them. Months trying to choose one over the other—and now they were both kissing her.

  On the other hand she wasn’t sure she was ready to pull away. Because no one had ever kissed her quite like Hunter or Jay. No one had ever evoked such a physical response from her in quite so short a time. In fact, no man had ever kissed her two seconds after another man had pulled away.

  Jay lifted his head, catching his breath. God, she was kissing Hunter and Jay. Both of them!

  Too much. It was happening too fast. She couldn’t let it go any further.

  Could she?

  Lordy, if she felt this good being kissed by two men, imagine how she’d feel making love to them both.

  What the fuck? Was she out of her mind even considering the idea?

  Her answer was a resounding yes. She had to be out of her mind. Good girls did not do that sort of thing, and she’d been raised to be a good girl.

  Even as her mouth opened to welcome back Jay’s tongue, she used her hands to push him away. He let her go—but didn’t release her lips.

  Hunter took her hand and twirled her out of Jay’s embrace, back into his own arms. Jay swore. The world spun out of control. Her chest hummed, her pussy clenched and she accepted Hunter’s greedy kiss again. For a second. A minute. An hour.

  Then there was pressure at her back, another person melding his body to hers. His hips cradled the top of her butt, and his cock pressed firm against her lower spine. Her hair was pushed to the side, and feather-light kisses were pressed to her neck. Tiny nips attacked her ears, so light the sting was less like pain and more like darts of pleasure rushing through her.

  Here she was, cocooned between the two finest-looking men she’d ever had the pleasure of meeting, being treated to a sensory seduction of lips and tongues, and damned if she wasn’t steaming past boiling point.

  Why the heck did good girls not indulge in activities like this? It felt incredible.

  If she didn’t put a stop to this, fast, there was no question where they would end up. And much as she fancied herself in love with both men, she couldn’t quite see herself sleeping with them at the same time. Sure, ménages were okay in erotic romance books, but in real life? Not even close.

  Although God knew the thought of a three-way with Hunter and Jay had her perspiring. It had her heart smacking against her ribs so hard she feared it might cause permanent damage. And damn it, it had her knickers so wet the evidence might well show through her jeans.

  With more reluctance than she would have liked, she drew away from Hunter’s kiss. “Stop,” she whispered. “Please.”

  Her breasts ached, and her stomach rolled with rebellious anger. Her head might be telling her one thing, but her body spoke a very different language.

  Brown eyes stared intently at her. The same brown eyes that seemed to look into her soul whenever they talked. “You sure that’s what you want?” Hunter asked.

  Jay’s lips trailed delicious sparks down the back of her neck, making her shiver.

  “N-no. I’m not at all sure,” she admitted, and was rewarded with a hand skimming the side of her breast. She closed her eyes as extreme pleasure fluttered through her chest. Whose touch it was, she couldn’t fathom. Either of them would have set off the same reaction. “But I can’t do this. It…it’s not right.”

  “It’s…different, perhaps,” Jay said. “But it’s as right as you want it to be.” He nipped her earlobe one final time, and then he too stepped aside, freeing Julia from her exquisite prison.

  She moved away from the men, her steps shaky and uncertain. How could two men seducing her, together, be right? Even if she did love them both?

  Because it feels incredible, her body answered, still talking a different language from her head.

  Yes, her head agreed. It felt bloody fantastic. But still, two men? At the same time. Uh-uh. She couldn’t do it.

  Without saying a word, she grabbed her denim jacket and car keys and walked to the front door. She knew she’d left her winnings but couldn’t face going back for them.

  “Four Eyes?” Hunter stopped her. She turned to face him. His bottomless brown eyes brimmed with desire. “It’s not true,” he told her, while Jay opened the door, making it clear he wouldn’t prevent her from leaving. “Men don’t give a shit whether girls wear glasses.”

  Chapter Two

  “I cannot believe it.”

  Julia cringed.

  “Both of them?” Kim stared at her, perplexed.

  “Don’t look at me like that. It was just a kiss.” Yeah, and the pope was just a priest.

  “A kiss?” Her sister raised her eyebrow.

  “Okay, a few kisses.” Julia studied her nails. “Is that so terrible?” God, she hoped no one could hear their conversation. The coffee shop they sat in was small, and other customers need only prick up their ears to listen in on them.

  Kim set her cappuccino down on the saucer. “I don’t know. Is it?”

  “Shit,” Julia bit out in frustration. “You’re supposed to be helping me out, not questioning me. Give me some big-sisterly advice.”

  Kim looked at her apologetically. “I’m sorry. You just, er, surprised me.”

  “Yeah, well Jay and Hunter surprised me.” There was the understatement of the century.

  Damn, she’d spent four months with the men, teasing and flirting. What had changed? Why had Hunter suddenly upped the stakes? What had inspired him to kiss her?

  What if he’d never touched her? Would Jay have shown her his hand? Would he have taken the initiative and kissed her? And if he had, would Hunter have pushed him out of the way to lay his wager, like Jay had?

  Did it matter? The cards had been dealt. Both Hunter and Jay had expressed their interest. The rules had changed. The game was different. The only question Julia was left with was did she still want to play?

  “Please, help me,” she begged her sister. “Tell me what to do about it.”

  “Hmmm…” Kim thought out loud. “Have you spoken to them since Friday?”

  “I’m kind of doing my best to avoid them.” No way could she face either of them yet. “Jay phoned a few times to meet for lunch, but I made up excuses so I wouldn’t have to see him.” The last time he’d phoned, she’d stammered out some garbage about not being able to take time off work for lunch and still keep up her call rate, what with Christmas just around the corner.

  “You can run, Jules,” Jay had told her with a husky laugh, “but you can’t hide.” He’d hung up, leaving Julia shaken and aroused.

  “How about Hunter?” Kim asked.

  Julia’s skin grew hot at the very mention of his name. “He’s phoned too.” Which was out of character for him. “But I was too chicken to answer his calls, so I texted back saying I’d see him at poker tonight.”

  “Brave of you,” Kim said sarcasticall
y.

  “Hey, you kiss two men you have the hots for, at the same time, and then let’s talk about brave.”

  “Russell might protest,” Kim pointed out.

  Julia pulled a face. “See, you’re lucky. Being married and all, you don’t have to worry about these things.”

  Kim frowned. “Even when I wasn’t married I never found myself in a situation like this.”

  “I didn’t tell you about Friday night so you could get all righteous with me,” Julia snapped. “I’ve never been in a situation like this either. I thought you might be able to offer some sage advice.”

  Kim laughed. “You’re talking to the Queen of Conservative here. Why on earth do you think I’d have any wise words of wisdom?”

  Julia eyed her with an evil grin. “Because you’re weren’t always the Queen of Conservatism, Miss I-slept-with-three-different-guys-in-one-week Savage.”

  Kim grinned right back. “Yeah, so maybe I did. But not at the same time.”

  Julia sniffed. “I haven’t slept with Jay and Hunter at the same time.”

  “Yet.”

  “You’re not helping,” Julia grumbled.

  Kim sat up straight and wiped the smile off her face. “Okay, let’s talk this out logically. You were nuts about them before this all happened. How do you feel about them now?”

  Julia blinked. How could she tell her sister that she’d spent the week in a sexual frenzy, desperate for the touch of both men? She’d been so aroused by Jay and Hunter’s advances that she’d spent every night since with her faithful vibrator. And damn it, more than once she’d found herself wondering what it would be like using two vibrators at the same time.

  Although the toy had helped to soothe the ache in her pussy, its benefits had been temporary. A jellied penis didn’t kiss her or hold her afterwards. Nor did it ease the bewildering ache in her heart. She wanted Jay and Hunter for that. Jay or Hunter.

  “I’m still nuts about them,” was her candid response.

  “Both of them?” Kim asked. “Or now are you more attracted to one than the other?”

  Julia shook her head in despair. “Both of them. I still can’t choose.” If anything, the interlude had just reinforced her feelings. “And yes, before you say anything else, I am considering sleeping with both of them.”

  Kim’s eyes widened, but to her credit she didn’t make any further sarcastic remarks. “Here’s what worries me.” She hesitated as though wondering how to word her concerns. “I think that if you take this any further, the three of you will never be able to go back to being what you were before, or to having what you had. If you sleep with both of them the dynamics of your friendships change. They have to. There’s now sex involved.”

  Julia’s stomach sank. That was not what she wanted to hear.

  Her thoughts must have been reflected on her face because Kim hurried on. “Look, I know you’ve got this vision of yourself being involved with one of them. But do you think that either Jay or Hunter would want a relationship with someone who slept with him and his friend?”

  Julia blanched. “I hadn’t thought so far in advance.” Since last Friday she hadn’t thought further than lusting after both of them and knowing she shouldn’t. Served her right for asking Kim’s advice. She wanted a serving of reality, and her sister was giving her just that.

  Kim squeezed her arm. “I’m sorry, Jules. I know I’m not saying what you want to hear. And remember, I haven’t met either guy, so I may be wrong.” She shrugged. “But I don’t know any man who would be okay with that scenario.”

  Julia thought about it. Would either Jay or Hunter consider having a one-on-one relationship with her if she did sleep with both of them?

  She didn’t have a clue.

  “Okay, let me turn the scenario around,” Kim said. “Let’s say you sleep with both of them, and then you introduce them to Mom and Dad as your…boyfriends. How would you feel?”

  “Are you out of your freaking mind?” Julia exploded. Almost immediately she lowered her voice to a whisper as people at the tables around them turned to look at her. “I could never introduce them to Mom and Dad under those circumstances!” God, the mere thought was excruciating. Her parents would be appalled.

  “Why not?”

  “I’d be embarrassed. Downright mortified.” As open-minded as her folks were about issues like sex before marriage and spending the night at a boyfriend’s place, they were also open about their expectations of their daughters. Neither Kim nor Julia had been under any doubt growing up that they were expected to get married and have children. Kim had already lived up to her responsibility. She had a husband and a gorgeous daughter. Now all eyes were turned to Julia as the family waited for her to announce her nuptials to some lucky bloke.

  Julia had made it clear she wasn’t ready for marriage. One day, but not now. Still, that didn’t mean her parents would welcome two men into Julia’s life, and certainly not at the same time. On the contrary, they would be horrified.

  Kim nodded and cringed, and Julia knew she understood exactly how she’d feel. “Does that tell you anything?” her sister asked.

  Julia closed her eyes. “Mom and Dad wouldn’t approve.”

  “Afraid not.”

  Julia took it a step further. “And if I’d be all embarrassed about introducing them, it probably means I don’t approve either.”

  “Probably.”

  She opened her eyes, feeling miserable. “So if I don’t approve, why can’t I stop thinking about them?”

  “I’m sorry, Jules. I can’t answer that.” Kim frowned. Again she hesitated before speaking. “Okay, you want to know what I really think?”

  “Of course I want to know. That’s the whole purpose of this conversation.”

  “I think that you should stop this right now. Whatever is going on between the three of you, don’t take it any further. You’ll ruin the relationships you already have with the two of them. Plus you won’t be proud of yourself—not if you’re embarrassed by your actions.”

  Kim was right, of course. Her sister had an uncanny knack of seeing things from a different angle to her. A clearer angle.

  Julia dropped her head in her hands. As appealing as the idea might be, sleeping with both men was unacceptable. If Julia had approved, she’d have gone the distance last week. She’d have torn off her clothes, and Hunter’s and Jay’s, and demanded they all make love right there on Jay’s dining room floor.

  She hadn’t, because that kind of behavior would demand she cross a line she wasn’t prepared to cross. Not if she ever wanted to look her parents, or herself, in the eye again.

  Julia sat up straight. She knew what she had to do. The next time she saw Jay and Hunter, her focus would have to be on getting their relationship off the track it had jumped onto last week and back onto neutral ground. If she had any hope of forming a lasting relationship with one man, she had to give up the unexpected invitation to sample both of them.

  Chapter Three

  “Come in, Jules,” Hunter invited, looking altogether too good in a pair of jeans that sat low on his hips and framed his powerful thighs beautifully. Not that she was looking there. His T-shirt hugged his shoulders and chest, defining the muscle that bunched in his arms. Not that she was looking there either. For the moment she was through looking at either Hunter or Jay in any meaningful way. Look at the trouble it had gotten her into last week.

  “Am I the first one here?” she asked. Silence emanated from the house. Usually a barrage of voices and laughter greeted her arrival. This was the last game of the year. The following Friday’s poker was cancelled because of Christmas, and the week after that because it would be New Year’s Day.

  “Second,” Hunter said, not bothering to hide his appraisal of her. He gave her a very slow once-over, his gaze halting at chest height.

  Her nipples pebbled.

  “Christ,” he muttered as he stepped aside to let her in. “I’m getting turned on just looking at you.”

  Blood w
armed her cheeks. Crap, she had to keep this platonic. Had to return their friendship to the point it had been before last Friday night. “Even though I’m wearing glasses?” she tried to tease him.

  His brown eyes turned molten. “I hadn’t noticed.”

  Julia shot him an annoyed frown. Damn it, how could she play it cool when he turned her blood to fire with just a glance? “That’s because you haven’t looked above my neck since I arrived.”

  He shrugged. “When I’m staring at perfection there’s no need to look anywhere else.”

  Julia shook her head. Oh dear, tonight was going to be even harder than she’d imagined. She wanted to be exasperated by his response, wanted to not blossom beneath his gaze, but his overt reaction delighted her. She walked inside and headed for the lounge room. Her heart drummed wildly and then cart-wheeled. Jay sat on the couch.

  “Hey,” she murmured as heat gathered between her legs.

  Shit. Shit, shit, shit. This situation wasn’t good for her resolve. Not good at all.

  “Jules.” His hair was ruffled and he had a sleepy look in his eyes. A sleepy, do-you-want-to-do-naughty-things kind of a look.

  Her unvoiced reply was a resounding yes. But then she gave it a second thought, mentally kicked her own butt and changed her answer to no. Under no circumstances. No, no and no again. Can’t and won’t cross that line.

  She glanced around the room. “Where are the cards?” The table was bare, with no hint of poker chips either.

  “You didn’t get the message?” Hunter asked as he followed her into the room.

  “What message?”

  “The one saying poker was cancelled tonight.”

  She turned to face him. “Noooo.”

  Jay chuckled. “That’s because we never sent it to you.”

  Hunter nodded. “Des and the other boys had a late business meeting. They couldn’t make it.” He paused for a heartbeat. “Lucky for us.”

  The temperature in the room shot up by at least fifty degrees. This was not good news. Not good news at all. Especially not to a woman who wanted these two men in a way no woman should want two men. “And you decided I didn’t need to know this little bit of information?”