by Cathryn Cade
“Let me ask you this,” Keys said, his hand cupping the side of her neck. “When you watched Remi and me earlier, how’d that make you feel, Red?”
“Um ...” she shrugged helplessly, her heart pinching, then swelling.
“Disgusted?”
“No! It was ... it was kind of beautiful.” Her face went hot as the words left her mouth. Oh, well, may as well go all in. “And hot. But ... uh—”
“But what?” his hand tightened, and his gaze said he would accept no less than the truth.
“It sort of hurt, too,” she admitted, her voice quavering. “B-because I thought—”
He squeezed her neck. “You thought you’d be with me--but you want Remi too, right?”
Kit nodded, the blush scalding down her chest, her mouth trembling. Okay, so now they both knew how confused she was. Keys was turning her inside out and poking around in what he found.
Remi enveloped her in a hug, his arms sliding around her from behind, warm and strong. “Shit. Shit, so sorry. Rather cut myself than hurt you.”
“Truth,” Keys agreed. “And we all know Remi’s an expert with big ass knives.”
“Babe,” Keys said, his expression turning serious, his eyes holding her rapt. “We both want you, too. Right where you are now, and more. I get the two of you in my bed, that’ll be my idea of a little bit of heaven on earth. I want that, want it bad.”
“So do I,” Remi said. He was trembling, or maybe that was only her, Kit wasn’t sure.
“You do?” she breathed, her voice quivering. “Oh, my God. I ... oh, my God.” They both wanted her, with each other?
“Take it that’s a yes.” Keys grinned.
“Well ... it’s ... I guess so?”
“You gonna let us work on getting that to yes?” he asked.
She nodded, her heart pounding, her legs trembling like jelly. “Uh-huh.” She wasn’t sure she’d survive the attempt, but oh holy Jesus, yes.
“Fuck, yeah,” Remi crowed. “Fuck, that’s ... that’s so fuckin’ sweet. I thought you were running from us.”
No, she’d been running from the loss of them.
Keys pulled her and Remi close, and Kit went. With hard, warm man at her back and front, their arms around her, she felt like the best kind of jelly sandwich ever invented. And the thought of more ... she couldn’t even comprehend that right now.
Keys kissed her, then leaned past her to kiss Remi, and that was as good as him kissing her. She wanted to whine with disappointment when Keys stepped back, letting them both go. “All right, let’s eat. Then we got shit to do.”
He thumbed her lower lip, then grinned at Remi. “Pouting. Our Red doesn’t wanna stop. I like that.”
“Me too,” Remi said, and held onto her, guiding her to one of the chairs. He stayed close, like he was afraid she’d get away or something.
Kit could’ve eaten cardboard and not noticed, but instead she sat between the two men, and they both served her up Remi’s scrambled eggs with bacon and melty cheese, half a huge cinnamon roll and some pineapple chunks. And more of Keys’ hot, strong coffee. When he saw her grimace as she sipped it, he chuckled.
“Think we better make up a grocery list, including creamer or some shit for you to put in your java. ‘Cause I like it strong, and that’s how I make it.”
“He checks to see if a nail will stand up straight in the cup,” Remi told her. “If it does, he knows it’s strong enough.”
Kit peered into her coffee. “That should work in this brew. I can’t even see the bottom of my cup.”
“Why’d you wanna do that?” Keys teased. “Just means it’s that weak shit that restaurants serve in Cali. Up here in the north-west, we know how to make real coffee.”
“So do I,” she told him, “Half creamer, and half coffee.”
He merely grinned at her, then pushed away from the table. “All right, I’m out. I’ll spend half an hour or so with the crew, then we’re takin’ care of business.”
Leaning into her, he took her hand and gave it a squeeze. “And Red, listen. Me and Remi hooked up the first time, we did it cautious--used condoms. Then we went and got blood tests. We’re both clean. You wanna be with us, you’ll get checked too.”
Kit looked to Remi, who nodded earnestly. “I’ll show you mine, you show me yours.”
“Okay,” she said. “I see why it’s a good idea.” And when she knew both of them had taken care to get checked, it took the rest of the sting out of being asked herself.
“Okay,” Keys said, his gaze warm with approval. “So clinic, then new phone, then groceries. Then we’ll see, yeah?” He gave her hand a squeeze, and let go.
“If we go to FG Meyer, we can get her phone and groceries,” Remi pointed out.
Keys shoved back his chair and rose. “Don’t care, you two figure that out.”
He leaned over and kissed Kit, while Remi watched. Kit kissed him back, then hid her face in her hands as the two men grinned at her. They both laughed.
“I can’t get used to this sharing,” she said, her voice muffled.
Remi yanked her hands away and gave her another kiss, just as hot as Keys’. “Me too, axa’ashe. But I want to, and you do too, right?”
She nodded. She did—she simply wasn’t sure she could trust this much bounty dropped into her lap. This wild and sexy kind of thing never happened to her. She was the girl who did casual hookups, then waved goodbye as guys wandered off to new women, or she ducked and ran herself.
She wasn’t the kind who was invited to a hot, gorgeous, three-way sexathon that looked like lasting for at least the duration of her hiding from Bouncer and his minions.
Which brought back the terrifying experience of nearly being kidnapped. God, it would be a while before she could walk around back of the shop without her heart trying to jump out through her throat.
“What did you do with those two guys who tried to grab me?” she asked.
Keys expression turned dark, but he lifted his chin to Remi. “You won’t be seeing them again—although that doesn’t mean you’re not still in danger. Remi can fill you in for now, babe. I’ve gotta get outside.”
Kit watched him walk away, then turned to Remi, who looked wary again. She gave him a look. “Hey, gimme. And don’t worry about me going squeamish. I’m the one who smashed the little one’s balls.”
Remi nodded. “True that. Okay, so Keys basically threatened them with death and a swift burial out back if they ever show their faces here again, and I gave them a ride down to their car.” He waggled his dark brows. “It may have been a bumpy ride. Took their names and turned them loose to crawl home.”
“Awesome,” she approved. “God, I can’t believe Bouncer actually got them to sneak up here and try to grab me. Ugh!”
Remi sobered. “Yeah. That brother’s off the deep end with this. And he sent those two, he may try something else.” He took her hand. “Kit, you gotta be smart. You can’t go out—into the woods or anywhere, without me or Keys.”
Kit nodded, a chill running down her spine. “Don’t worry, I get it now. Those guys scared the ever-living shit out of me, popping around the corner like that.” She clung to his hand. “I was never so glad to see anyone as you two.”
Then she bit her lip as she remembered how he’d looked. “And you totally rocked that towel with a gun in your hand. I think I saw a shower scene like that in a James Bond movie.”
He rolled his eyes, and Kit gave in to the laughter that bubbled up. It felt good, release from tension and angst. In a moment, Remi laughed with her.
“I’ll never forget that dude folding up like a popped balloon, clutching his balls when you kneed him, either,” he retorted. “That was some serious bad-assery right there.”
“Yeah, one of the bikers’ old ladies taught me that one when I was fourteen,” she said. “I, um, developed early.”
His gaze heated. “You got beautiful early, you mean. Damn, Kit, I’m surprised you weren’t snapped up long ago by some club office
r, even a president. You’d make a biker queen.”
She widened her eyes at him. “Have you seen the president of the High Flyers? He’s like the Norco version of the Terminator.”
Remi’s lips twitched. “You mean the Nordic version? Good point, although I think Stick’s Russian. He is kind of a big iceberg. As long as you’re not saying that in comparison, me and Keys are sweet like puppies.”
Kit snorted a laugh. “No worries, Redhawk. You, you’re all Native warrior, and Keys is like a biker sensei warrior.”
Remi’s cheeks darkened, and he grinned at her. “Kit Weeks, you are amazing, you know that?”
“No,” she mumbled, her own face heating. “But you can keep thinking so if you want.”
He tugged on her hand, and she let him pull her astride his lap, although she tried not to give him all her weight. She wasn’t too sure about Keys’ old chairs. Remi pulled her close and gave her ass a squeeze.
“Axa’ashe,” he told her. “Gonna do better than say so, gonna show you. Until you get it.”
“What does that mean?” she asked. “Ahk-sa ah-shay?”
“Means pretty woman in Crow language.”
“So you’re part Crow? Cool.” She definitely wanted to ask him more about that later. “And you think I’m pretty?”
“Uh, yeah.” He gave her a look of disbelief, and Kit looked down, tracing a pattern over his chest.
“Well, you’re not just ... saying that? I mean, because Keys is interested in both of us?” she asked. “If you’re, you know, just into him, that’s okay.” Except that she would whine with disappointment, but she did not want him kissing her because he thought he should to please Keys or something.
Remi tipped his head forward and groaned. “Right. No, see ... I’m bi. I’m into both guys and girls—I mean women. I’m no pervert.”
“Of course you’re not,” she said instantly. “So you really are, um, attracted to me?” And if her face got any hotter, she was gonna burst into flames, and he’d be holding a puddle of ash.
His cheeks were red under his dark tan, as well. In answer, he took her hand and pressed it to his groin, over a long, stiff shape.
“That,” he told her, “is because you’re on my lap. That doesn’t happen with many women. There’s just something about you.”
“Oh.” This was all for her? She couldn’t resist holding on for just a few seconds longer, and giving him a cautious squeeze. He sucked in a breath, his nostrils flaring, and she let go, curling her hand closed around the tingling in her palm.
Remi gave her a shit-eating grin. “Now d’you believe me? Good. Then gimme a kiss and I’ll flip you for who cleans up.”
“‘kay.” Kit kissed him. Then they cleaned up together, and both of them managed to brush against each other more than once. Once, Remi stood close behind her and reached around her instead of moving past her to set their empty cups in the sink. Kit could feel him inhaling her scent. She wanted to wriggle with pleasure like a puppy.
She wasn’t sure she was going to survive a weekend of this much sexy sweetness, without being able to follow through. But she was going to give it a try. And she wouldn’t think about what the heck she’d do when it was over, because that was just too depressing. All good things ended, that was just the way life was.
Chapter Ten
Keys knew a doctor who was willing to get Kit in that morning for a health exam. The three of them drove into town in Keys’ truck. Keys said this was because they had groceries to buy. But Kit noticed both men kept a vigilant eye on their surroundings as they drove along the road with the big lake to their left and the mountain looming to their right.
They didn’t meet any bikers on the way into town. Although, her two attackers had been in a car, so none of them relaxed.
Their first stop was at an older home near downtown Coeur d’Alene with a wooden sign on the front walk that read ‘Dr Ann Clark, Family Practice’. Before Kit knew it, she’d been gone over in brisk, friendly fashion from head to toe, and told that her sexual health test results would be available the next day.
“I thought it took a week,” she said.
The doctor, an older woman with short graying hair, smiled. “It usually does, but Keys is very generous with donations to my free health clinic for teens, so I like to do him a favor when I can. Now, let’s talk birth control. We can do the shot every three months, the pill which you have to remember daily, or condoms and a cervical cap, which you have to remember in the heat of the moment.”
“The shot,” Kit said. “Except ... what if I, um, can’t afford the next one?” As in, where would she be in 3 months? She was terrified to look that far ahead. Heck, she was too scared to look even a week ahead into whatever was happening between the three of them.
“Then you abstain, or you switch to one of the other methods of birth control,” the doctor said calmly. “And if you decide to have sexual relations with another man outside the relationship, you make him use condoms.”
Kit blinked. “Ah ... not happening,” she muttered. “Not sure I can handle the ones I have.’
The doctor’s eyes twinkled, but she regarded Kit calmly. “Just remember, your body, your choice. If anything makes you feel uncomfortable or afraid, perhaps it’s not for you.”
Oh, God. Did she think Kit was going let the guys do kinky shit to her? Kit knew her face and chest were all kinds of red.
But the doctor was rising, setting her clipboard aside. “I’ll get the shot. We’ll get that done, and set up your next appointment. If you need to cancel, just let us know as many days ahead as you can. And if you have any questions or problems, call me.”
Kit nodded, although she was pretty sure the kinds of questions she was going to have couldn’t be answered by a doctor. Maybe by a Ouija board. Could a three-way really work between three such different people? Or were they really that different? Keys and Remi were alike in obvious ways--they were hot guys who loved motorcycles, were bi-sexual and liked to ride outside the lines.
And she and Remi were alike in some ways--they’d both had sketchy childhoods, grown up with nothing and didn’t have family, although at least she had Deni.
She and Keys? She wasn’t sure they had much in common, except the desire that flamed between them. But that sure felt like enough to make her want to stay. Whether he’d want her for long, that was another story.
Kit walked out into the lobby of the small office, where Keys and Remi both sat waiting. They rose as soon as she appeared, and Keys lifted a hand in farewell. “Thanks, doc. Send me the bill.”
Their next stop was the big FG Meyer grocery and department store just off I-95, the main north-south highway through Coeur d’Alene. However, Keys stopped only long enough to drop Remi off.
“Taking you to the phone store,” he told Kit. “Wanna get you a good phone like mine, so you can have your music and shit, as well as the phone.”
“I can’t afford that,” she told him. “I’ll just get a flip phone--that I can pay you back for when I get my check from Lindi.”
He pulled out onto the road, and revved the truck as they headed north. “Babe,” he said, “One thing you gotta get about me--I want something, I go after it. I can’t afford it, then I work for it or I trade for it. What I want right now is a phone for you. That I can afford without even noticing it. You wanna work it off, you can help me in the shop, with accounts like we talked about or what have you.”
“Okay,” she decided. She’d choose the cheapest phone and then she’d work hard to pay him back. She’d never been afraid of work, she liked to be busy. She just never had a plan for long term.
Shopping with Keys, however, did not go according to any plan she may have formulated. He did not want to talk prices with the helpful clerk, he wanted Kit to have a phone like his, which was top of the line, and he wanted her to have all the accessories. Then he pointed at the rack and told Kit to choose a cover while he walked to the counter and paid.
Not sure how she f
elt about his high-handedness, she pointed at a bright turquoise cover with a design picked out in black that looked like a butterfly.
And a short time later she walked out of the store, the owner of a new iPhone.
“Thanks,” she said to him when they were in his truck. “But you do know you now have a long-term employee, right? ‘Cause it’s gonna take me months to work this off.”
Keys laughed and then urged her back over beside him and squeezed her bare thigh. “I like that idea, Red. I could get used to havin’ you around.”
Kit shivered with pleasure, but she tamped it down resolutely. Yeah, people said stuff like that, but life happened and they changed their mind. She needed to just enjoy this—whatever it was—for as long as it lasted.
But she had to admit, she loved sitting at his side in the truck as they rumbled along the busy road. She loved the envious looks she got from two young women in an SUV beside them at a stoplight, and the admiring look she got from a guy in a delivery truck. However, he cut his gaze back to the road in a hurry when Keys looked his way.
Kit didn’t blame the guy--Keys might be laid back, but he also radiated ‘bad ass biker’.
By the time she and Keys walked into the grocery store, Remi had amassed a big cartload of groceries and was waiting for them near the doors. Keys tossed him the keys to the truck and cocked a brow at Kit. “You got a swimsuit?”
She wrinkled her nose. “Um, no.” The summer before she’d swum in a sports bra and cutoffs, which chafed her lady parts, but worked.
He grabbed her hand and steered her left into the women’s clothing department. “C’mon. Gonna buy you a bikini.”
“Get her a little one,” Remi called after them. He grinned at Kit, and then pushed the groceries out the front doors.
“Let’s just go home—I mean, back to your place,” Kit said, tugging at Keys’ hand. There were reasons she didn’t own a swimsuit—she didn’t have the extra money, she was too fat for the styles she liked, and she wasn’t wearing materinity suits.
Keys kept walking, and since she apparently had to go with him or be dragged, she went with him.