Light as Air

by Mari Carr

  Instead, he gestured toward the spot next to Rosalia. “You got room for us in there?”

  Rosalia licked her lips as she nodded.

  TJ claimed her left, sitting next to her on the mattress, his back against the same wall as her. Doug forgot to move until they both looked at him.

  Rather than sit directly next to her, he dropped onto the opposite side of the bed from TJ, facing them.

  TJ reached down and took her hand, lifting it to his lips. Rosalia watched him, and Doug sensed she was barely breathing.

  “Rosie,” Doug started. “About earlier—”

  She shook her head, stopping him, her gaze still locked on where TJ was kissing her knuckles. She gasped softly when he took one of her fingers into his mouth.

  TJ gave her a guilty grin, slowly pulling her finger out until it was freed with a soft pop. “I’m sorry, Rosalia.”

  She lifted her shoulders casually and gave him a smile that said all was forgiven. Just like that.

  “You know why we’re here?” TJ asked.

  She nodded.

  “You okay with that?”

  Rosalia’s response came slower, but when it did, she nodded again.

  “You forget how to talk?”

  She narrowed her eyes at TJ’s smart-ass question, and Doug was grateful to see her spunkiness return.

  “No. But I’m not sure the two of you will like what I have to say.”

  Doug frowned and scooted closer, reaching out to rest his hand on her knee. He needed to touch her, to show her how much he wanted her. “Say it anyway,” he urged.

  “The other night…when we were alone by the campfire…”

  He nodded to indicate he knew which night she was talking about. It was the only thing he’d been able to think of since.

  Rosalia kept her gaze glued on his face. Apparently, she felt safer making this confession to him.

  “That was the first night I’d ever been kissed.”

  Doug tried to make some sense of those words, but it was taking him a minute.

  TJ cupped her cheek, turning her to face him. “First kiss?”

  She nodded, her face flaming red. “In case you haven’t figured it out, I was a nerd in high school. Frizzy hair, thick glasses, no makeup, nose always in a science book. I was the whole package when it comes to teenage nightmares. And it didn’t really get better in college. I lived in the science lab with guys just as nerdy as me. We were a whole department of awkward and shy.”

  “There was no one?” Doug asked, still struggling to catch up.

  “I suppose there was one guy in college. He actually used the line ‘if there was no gravity on the planet, I’d still fall for you.’ I laughed because I thought it was a joke. He admitted to me at his wedding that he’d been seriously in love with me back then, but I never realized. And he didn’t have the courage to try after…well…after I laughed. Which I still feel terrible about.”

  Doug couldn’t help it. He laughed. Not at her, but, God, the whole situation. He and TJ had walked into this RV hoping to convince her to join them in a threesome, which was a shocking enough proposal on its own.

  Toss in the fact they’d found the only twenty-seven-year-old virgin in the country, and it got a whole lot crazier. How could they expect her to say yes to what they were asking? It was an extreme concept for most woman who had sexual experience.

  “Worst-case scenario?” Doug murmured, thinking it would make TJ laugh, but his friend wasn’t seeing the humor in any of this.

  TJ shook his head. “Best case. She’s ours. Just ours.”

  Chapter Six

  Rosalia let TJ’s words soak in. She had spent every minute since returning to the RV fighting to still her trembling hands. She’d been pissed off at TJ’s over-the-top alpha-male behavior during the taping, but in truth, every word had sent tingles straight to her vagina.

  By the time she’d reached the shelter, she had been in serious hormone overload, her insides quivery with need.

  When Doug leaned close, telling her to change her clothes, that they would come to her, she’d nearly melted into a pile of goo. Somehow, she had found the strength to get to the RV.

  That was when she realized she didn’t own one single sexy nightie. Or bra and panties set.

  She was the world’s worst when it came to sex appeal.

  So she’d put on the T-shirt and fleece pants and written off the whole crazy idea. There was no way two hotter-than-the-surface-of-the-sun, rugged, gorgeous cowboys would want her, the nerd with granny panties and one ovary.

  “Why now?” Doug asked.

  She understood his question. For three spring trips, she’d rebuffed his advances. The workaholic professional had actually been proud of that fortitude, that power of resistance.

  Then the doctor found the tumor, and she was left with nothing but regret.

  “I had surgery in May.”

  Doug reared back, and she realized her words had come out of left field.

  Raising her hands, she hastened to add, “I’m fine. It was a tumor.”

  His brows creased with genuine alarm. “What? What the hell—”

  She was fucking this up. “Benign. It was benign. But they had to take out one of my ovaries.”

  “Rosie.” Doug said her name in a gush of air. “I’m sorry. Why didn’t you tell me?”

  She lifted one shoulder. “I found out about it a week or two after Jake died. I didn’t want to put that on your shoulders.”

  “That was the wrong thing to do. You had to know I’d want to be there for you.”

  “I know. But when it turned out to be nothing, I figured everything would go back to normal.” She reached out to take both of his hands in hers. “I can’t do that normal anymore.”

  “But you’re sure you can do this one?” He gave her a comforting smile. “Because there are a lot of folks who wouldn’t call this normal at all.”

  She wasn’t sure how to explain it to them in a way they’d understand. Probably because she didn’t even know if she got it. It had been easy for her to remain a virgin, to never reach for that first kiss, because she’d never been tempted, never met the man who could claim her heart.

  Doug had stolen it the first spring he’d joined the team, but she’d resisted his advances for all the wrong reasons.

  He made her laugh, made her happy.

  She loved him. It was as simple as that.

  TJ was something else altogether. He touched somewhere a little more exciting and a lot more forbidden. She wanted him physically. There was no question about that. But there was more to it. She kept coming back to those sad eyes. Something told her they needed each other just as much as they wanted each other. The old Rosalia would have backed away from that, thrown the chance away and then regretted it.

  She wasn’t doing that tonight.

  “Does it feel normal to you?” she asked.

  Doug nodded. “Yeah. It does.”

  Rosalia glanced over her shoulder, asking TJ the same question without repeating the words.

  TJ pushed her hair over her shoulders, his fingertips grazing her cheek. “We’ll take it slow.”

  She shivered, the response triggered by arousal, not fear. “Not too slow, I hope.”

  Her flirty words fired a starting pistol. TJ took them to heart. One second, she was completely covered. The next, her T-shirt was tossed over his shoulder, leaving her naked from the waist up.

  Given her lack of pretty underwear, she’d opted for wearing none. That seemed bold when she was ninety-nine percent sure nothing would happen.

  Now…

  She quickly covered herself, cursing the hot flames she could feel erupting in her cheeks. She hated how easily she blushed, always feeling like a silly schoolgirl.

  TJ wrapped his large hands around hers, tugging them away.

  “You don’t have to hide from us, Rosalia.” TJ’s eyes drifted lower, looking at her breasts. Doug shifted until he was sitting directly behind her. She jerked when
his hands reached around to cup them.

  “Shoot. Sorry, Rosie. Are my hands cold?”

  “No. It’s not that.” Her heart beat so hard and so fast, she wondered if they could hear it.

  “You’re shaking,” Doug whispered, his lips at her ear.

  “I’m not scared.” Her words came out too quickly, too loudly.

  TJ chuckled. “No one thought you were. For God’s sake, you chase tornadoes, darlin’.”

  Oh damn. A term of endearment.

  It no doubt spoke to her innocence that she fell head over heels for TJ in that moment. Maybe she’d pay for that somewhere down the road, but for tonight, she was going with it.

  “What do you say we get the talking out of the way now?”

  She tilted her head, confused by TJ’s suggestion. “I thought we already said it all.”

  He shook his head. “We covered the tough stuff, rode out the storm. Now we analyze the data. See what we have to work with.”

  She laughed as TJ started speaking her language. “Wow. Maybe science isn’t that hard after all.”

  Doug snorted behind her. “Jesus, Third.”

  TJ shot Doug a dirty look. “What did I say about that?”

  “Sort of puts a fun spin on that nickname, doesn’t it?” she joked.

  She and Doug laughed, while TJ gave them a narrow-eyed glare that didn’t fool anyone. He was just as amused by it as they were.

  “You finished?” TJ asked, the corners of his lips tipped up.

  Rosalia giggled. “Yes…Third.”

  He reached out and pinched one of her nipples, the sharp squeeze catching her by surprise, a weird combination of ouch and wow rumbling through her.

  She squeaked.

  “That’s a cute sound,” TJ said. “I’m going to make sure I hear it a few more times tonight.”

  “Okay,” Rosalia replied, more breath than word.

  “I know you’re a virgin, but are you on the Pill?”

  Suddenly, she understood TJ’s need for data.

  She nodded. “I started taking them after the surgery.”

  “Toys?”

  She frowned. “What?”

  “Do you play with toys? Vibrators? Dildos?”

  The volcano erupted, painting her cheeks red again as she shook her head. She wondered if her response would change things. She’d grown up in a small house with six brothers, her parents and her grandmother. Privacy was a privilege she got precious little of.

  In college, she’d opted to live in the dorm because it was cheaper, so she’d always had a roommate.

  Hindsight was twenty-twenty. She probably should have tried to learn some of this stuff on her own.

  “I read romance novels,” she said quickly. “Dirty ones.”

  TJ cupped her cheeks and kissed her, gently at first, but then with more passion. It reminded her of the kiss by the campfire. It had rocked her world. That night she had gone back to the RV and wished for something…anything to offer her relief.

  She’d run her fingers over her clit, adding pressure and pace—until she felt everything inside her seize up right at the pinnacle. She’d slid two fingers inside, shocked by how wet she was, but in the end, she’d only succeeded in making herself more frustrated, unable to get herself off.

  “Turn around,” TJ said when their lips parted. “Let Doug see you, kiss you.”

  She moved without thought, the fact she was topless no longer as mortifying as it felt just minutes earlier. These men cared about her, genuinely.

  She’d had twenty-seven years to dream about this moment. Apparently, she was a shitty dreamer because the reality was far, far better.

  Doug was waiting for her, his lips on hers before she even finished her twist. “I’ve waited for this moment for years,” he confessed when they came up for air.

  “Me too. Sorry I was such an idiot.”

  He pressed his forehead to hers. “You’re the smartest woman I know.” As he spoke, he leaned back enough that his eyes could travel downwards, allowing him to sneak a peek of what he’d already touched.

  “Why don’t we level the playing field?” Doug tugged his own shirt off with one hand.

  “Oh yeah,” she whispered as Doug revealed his six-pack, ranch-hand abs. “Wow.”

  He winked at her, clearly delighted by her praise.

  She turned her head when she felt TJ moving behind her. Like Doug, he’d taken off his shirt. Rosalia had chosen the wrong profession. If she’d known there was so much eye candy available on ranches, she would have bypassed the lab and learned how to ride a horse.

  “Lay down, Rosalia.” TJ’s hands were on her shoulders, pressing her to the mattress. She’d only just gotten into place when Doug grasped the waistband of her fleece pants and pulled them off.

  She clinched her legs together—the response fueled by shyness and nervousness.

  TJ lay down next to her. He was warm and big and hard all over. Doug claimed the other side, and any vestiges of chill left from her time out in the rain vanished.

  Doug kissed her cheek, but she wanted more. She turned her head and he gave her a proper kiss, firm lips, open mouth, soft tongue.

  As they kissed, TJ’s lips took the time to do some exploring of their own. Tingles traveled all the way down her spine when he ran his tongue down her neck, over the top of her breast before settling at her nipple. He sucked it into his mouth, roughly, and her back arched.

  “Shhh.” TJ’s breath felt cold against her overheated skin before he repeated the suction.

  Through it all, Doug kept kissing her, causing a serious sensory overload. There was too much to feel and it was all amazing.

  “I don’t want to miss anything,” she whispered against Doug’s mouth.

  He lifted his head. “What?”

  “It’s too many good things happening at the same time. It’s all new and I’m struggling to keep up.”

  TJ chuckled. “That’s a valid complaint.”

  She shook her head quickly. “I’m not complaining. I mean, I don’t want anyone to stop or leave or…”

  “I’m not sure one of your F5 twisters could drag me or Doug out of this bed right now, darlin’.”

  “Tell you what. Why don’t TJ and I work together a little better.” Doug glanced up at his friend with a wickedly sexy grin. “Boobs?”

  She laughed even as she shivered. The sound died quickly when both men took one of her breasts in their hands, squeezing the plump flesh before lowering their heads and taking her nipples into their mouths.

  “Fuck me,” she breathed out.

  “That part comes later,” TJ murmured, his lips still against her breast.

  Neither man skimped on the foreplay, and Rosalia felt an intense ache between her legs. She rubbed her thighs together, trying to find some sort of pressure that might give her release. Her hands rested on the back of each man’s head as she ran her fingers through their hair. They were blocking her path, making it impossible for her to touch herself down there.

  “God,” she gasped. “I need…you to…”

  TJ lifted his head first. “Touch you?”

  She nodded, perfectly aware that her face was flushed again. But this time, it had nothing to do with embarrassment and everything to do with the sudden rise in temperature.

  “Touch you where?” Doug teased as he ran his finger—too lightly—along her side. He was a champion tickler.

  Her eyes closed as her hips thrust upward in silent invitation.

  TJ’s large, calloused palm gripped one of her knees. “Open up, Rosalia. Let us in.”

  Until he spoke, she hadn’t been aware that her legs were still pressed tightly together. However, she didn’t have to worry about following TJ’s directions, because Doug grasped her other knee and they pulled her legs apart together.

  Cold air hit her pussy and she gasped again. “It’s so hard to breathe right now.”

  Doug kissed her quickly. “If you can still talk, we’re not doing a good enough job.”


  There was no chance she could reply because TJ wasted no time taking advantage of her new position. His finger stroked her clit firmly, and she reared back against the pillows.

  Every touch sent a shock through her. It was lightning, electricity, high-voltage currents. She could power a city at this rate.

  Doug bent his head again, sucking her nipple back into her mouth as TJ shifted until he was kneeling between her parted legs. It occurred to her she was completely naked, open, exposed.

  And yet she didn’t feel the need or desire to cover up.

  Especially not when TJ lowered his face to her opening and touched her clit with his tongue.

  Doug must have read his friend’s intent ahead of time, because his hand firmly pressed on her stomach, holding her to the bed so she couldn’t rear up.

  TJ’s large palms spanned her inner thighs. Rosalia had the sense of being held captive, the sensation erotic as hell and fueling her already over-the-top arousal.

  TJ pressed his tongue inside her and she squeaked, the sound prompting Doug’s laughter.

  “God, you’re adorable,” he murmured against her breast.

  Any reply she might have made vanished when TJ pushed a finger inside her. Her inner muscles clenched tightly and for a second, she thought she might come. Was that possible? Because it sure as hell hadn’t worked for her.

  “Holy shit,” she muttered.

  “So tight and wet.”

  She lifted her head from the pillow to look at him, because she wasn’t sure if he meant that as a good thing or a bad thing.

  “TJ?”

  He smiled at her. “You’re beautiful, Rosalia, but that’s not making this any easier.”

  She frowned, confused.

  “Not sure how to do this without hurting you.”

  “You won’t hurt me.” The words were sure and strong because she believed them, all the way to the depths of her soul.

  TJ moved until he was lying next to her again. Then he gestured to Doug.

  “Should be you. You two are practically married, after all. Besides, I already got the first kiss.”

  Doug chuckled, but there was no denying he wanted what TJ offered when he shifted, coming over her.

  He held himself up on bent elbows on the mattress, kissing her.