by J. L. Beck
War checks out my smile. “You always get what you want. Remember that.”
He opens the door, the tempo and beat heightening my pulse but tearing my heart to shreds when I’m met by Cole and his shadow, Melissa.
“Back for another beating, little girl?” Melissa tosses back blonde hair over her exposed shoulders and cocks her ‘dashian ass.
“Shut it, Melissa,” Cole snaps, shooting a death glare at her.
Melissa sways forward, bypassing all of Cole’s muscle and hulking warning to slide her fake tits along War’s arm.
I eye her up and down, trying not to react to Cole’s pale complexion as if he’s on the verge of getting sick again, but that’s when I spot Melissa’s hand in Cole’s, and the bitch is wearing his USMS ring, the one with Semper Fi inscription on the inside I know damn well he’d never let her wear.
“He’s a big boy and can take care—”
I yank forward Melissa’s hand and rip off the ring, staking claim to what’s mine by protecting them. “Stealing? Melissa he’s done with you. He’d never willing give you his ring.”
“I wore that ring more than he did.” She swipes her hand toward me.
I dodge left and slide up to Cole, handing back his ring that he slips on.
“What the fuck, Melissa,” Cole spits, his blue gaze turning black. “I’m done with you. Get that through your head. We’re never getting back together.”
She jabs a finger at me. “You better watch your back, little girl.”
If anyone’s taking these two home tonight, whether it be to heal them or fuck them, it’s me. “I won’t need to watch my back. I’ve got one man for my front and one for my ass, and they’re on duty full time. So why don’t you run along.”
She jams her body against mine before Cole can grab her. “Make me.”
Cheers erupt from the billiard’s area, and an idea pops into my head. There’s only one thing I’m better at than loving Cole and War with all my heart—okay, forget that. I’m an amazing veterinarian—and even better at billiards. I don’t have a clue how many times Melissa’s held a hard stick in her hands, in her mouth, or up her ass, but I’m counting on beginner’s luck and some good old-fashioned karma to save me.
Except I might be bat-shit crazy to try, considering what War’s just shared with me, but life’s too short to give up on those you love, even if the anger in Melissa’s gaze threatens to ruin us and our dreams.
Tonight I’m playing for No Regrets. “What do you say to a game of pool, Melissa? Winner takes both men home?”
Chapter Ten
Warren
Melissa rolls her lips into a flat smirk until she laughs out loud. “You’re even more naive than I realized, Maddie Brown. Why don’t you serve Cole and Warren to me on a silver platter...or a felt pool table? I’m Melissa Goodwin—a nine-ball contender for the Women’s State Billiards Championship, and I’m going to bury you and then fuck the Pierce twins tonight, like I’ve always wanted.”
I drag Maddie against me, and my dick couldn’t be harder, the head throbbing and the length pressed against my zipper begging to be buried deep inside her for her taking on the bitch, which says a lot, considering my mind’s spinning from the booze I’ve consumed with Cole today.
Maddie’s just surprised the shit out of me for thinking she can take on Melissa. And although Maddie is a badass at pool and has kicked my and Cole’s asses many times, Maddie just pitted a game against a pool champion. Fuck, I need to come up with a plan.
My insides churn as Melissa sneers at Maddie. I never did like Mel, not even when Cole dated her.
“Sorry, darling, but I got better things to do than babysit…” Melissa laughs as she tries to paw at Cole who keeps pushing her away.
“Babysit?” Maddie’s hands are on her hips. “I’m serious. One-pocket for bust.” Maddie pushes her chest out, her cleavage splitting her naturally firm tits.
She looks as if she’s ready to throw down. The thought of her knocking Melissa down a notch turns me on more, and I contemplate throwing Maddie over my shoulder and carrying her ass away. Because, in the back of my mind, the girl that reported that Melissa ran her off the road as a warning to stay away from Cole sits like a black mark in my mind. What if the rumors are true?
“Yes, babysit, because we all know you aren’t even old enough to be in this bar.” Melissa shoves away from Cole and steps right into Maddie’s face.
The need to protect Maddie slams into me, but I push the urge away. Maddie can hold her own, that much I know. And Maddie’s older than she looks—twenty-four now.
Maddie jabs her finger at Melissa. “Melissa, you’re too much of a slut to be in this bar. The strip club is in Monroe, since I’m sure that’s what you’re looking for, so you can slam balls in your flapping pocket there…”
A bubble of laughter slips from my mouth, and I cover it with a cough.
Melissa’s red-hot gaze slams into me as fuming rage radiates out of her. “What did you just say?” Melissa snarls.
Tension fills the air, thickening as the patrons start to quiet down so they can hear the conversation that’s taking place.
“You heard me. The strip club is in the next town over since you look like you belong there anyway.” Maddie’s brown eyes sizzle with anger.
Seconds tick by as they stare at each other, Melissa eyeing up Maddie to see if she can take her.
“Maddie…” Cole warns.
I send him a glare, telling him to shut the fuck up. Nervousness and fear, I assume for Maddie, ‘cause I’m feeling it too, radiates off Cole and rolls into me in waves. I plant my feet, letting the situation evolve. It’s important to let Maddie fight her own battles, to let her whoop Melissa’s ass if need be.
Melissa flips a hand. “You know what, you can have him. He’s got a small dick anyway, hence why I cheated…” Melissa grins as if she’s already won.
Cole’s mouth pops open, and before either Cole or I can react, sweet little Maddie pounces on Melissa, grabbing her by the hair and swinging her around.
Maddie pulls back her tiny fists before landing against Melissa’s ugly mug.
“That’s for fucking Cole over.” Another punch. “And this is for thinking you could stake claim to someone who never belonged to you.” A third punch. “And stealing his shit…”
I let her get three punches in before I pull her into my chest, stopping her assault on Melissa before it gets too out of hand.
I can’t have my little Maddie in jail over someone like Melissa.
“You’re fucking crazy, and you know what, you can have them… I’m out of here.” Melissa stumbles over her feet as her friend helps her out the door. She wipes at the blood dripping down her nose.
“I hate her,” Maddie whispers, twirling in my arms as Cole comes to her backside.
“You stuck up for me, Mad. You fucking punched another chick for me. Do you have any idea how hot that is?” Cole whisper yells.
Excitement zings through me. I don’t care that everyone in the bar stares at us or that Maddie just punched Melissa in the face.
It finally feels as if things are normal again, as if maybe Cole and I have a chance at having Maddie again, at having a life together, maybe more. Ignoring her was damn near impossible, but we wanted to protect her; we needed to protect her. Here she was protecting us.
“I want you guys. You’re mine. I told you that.” She turns, her lips finding Cole’s with ease.
My first thought is to be jealous, but how can I be jealous of a man who looks exactly like me?
He kisses her just as I did earlier, with possession, with a starving need for more. I watch her face, the soft flutter of her lids that express that she really does want us both.
Cole pulls away, anguish marring his features. “I can’t kiss you anymore right now because I want to fuck you, and I refuse to fuck you for the first time in a bar.”
I swallow hard, feeling the same arousal he is.
“I miss you both, so dam
n much.” Maddie pouts.
I move us toward the back booth, trying to stop the prying eyes that are most definitely watching us.
Cole shoots his hungry glare at her. “You have no idea how fucking hard it was to stay away, when all we wanted to do was run to you…”
“Right, it was either plow the fields or plow you,” I chime in, realizing how cheesy that sounds as soon as the words pass my lips.
“I wouldn’t have minded.” Maddie smirks, her brown eyes twinkling as she moves into the booth lit by a stained-glass pendant.
Cole and I take a seat on either side of her.
“Oh we know, but we also know there’s a time and place for everything, and as badly as we want you, we also need it to be perfect.” I rest my hand on her bare thigh and my cock twitches.
Maddie’s smirk falls.
I know she’s wondering how much longer she’ll have to wait. “Don’t fret, babe. Cole and I have picked the perfect place, and we won’t let anything get in our way this time. Not our fears or desire to protect you, and most definitely not anyone else’s opinion on us being together.”
I push away the desire to pin Maddie down and devour her pussy right here, because if I don’t, we’ll be headed to the bathroom in just a few seconds.
“We’re really doing this.” She wraps an arm around both of us, bringing us against her body.
Her scent slams into me, making it hard to breathe. “Was there ever a doubt, Mad? We’ve wanted you for as long as you’ve wanted us. Maybe even longer,” I whisper into her ear as I nibble on her earlobe, wishing I was nibbling on something else.
“No, there wasn’t a doubt. Just a fear that maybe it wouldn’t work out. That maybe I wouldn’t get my wish to share myself with both of you.”
Chapter Eleven
Maddie
I’m buzzing inside from the wine, and I’m tingling outside from the heat of the spa that snakes across my bare skin in pleasurable waves. Each breath I take, anticipation grows until I’m grinning like a fool.
Not only did I beat down Melissa’s ego, but I’m so fucking ready to dump my precious V-card and become Cole and War’s woman I could scream.
Of course, I don’t.
The thing is, even though I’ve fantasized about this moment for years, uneasiness swarms my belly and I can't pin down why.
That is until I catch my reflection in the water. I’m wide-eyed and, dare I say, a little scared looking.
The paper lanterns from above paint the surface in jewel tones, distorting my features and reminding me the limits we’re about to cross could blur and ruin the already fragile relationships we’ve built.
That’s my fear: destroying what we have. Doubt fills my mind.
What if I’m no good? What if they get bored?
What if all the buildup I’ve created fizzles?
I shake my head and push away the thoughts, not wanting to screw up the moment. Loving them means building a future with them—a future that demands I give up the perfect job to stay here with them, to face the town by exposing our relationship, and telling Mom and Dad that I’m never letting them go.
We are three people, three souls who will never be divided no matter what, until death even. The bonds we share link me to them so deeply, I feel our connection right down to my bones, and love reflects in their eyes when they look at me, so it must be true.
Love isn’t something any of us take lightly. Cole and Warren have always wanted a family to call their own. More than anything, I want to be that for them.
I sink into the oversized spa tub, letting the heat and the bubbles envelope me. A thrill of need rushes through me from their earlier kisses, but Cole and War are more than the eagerness racing through my veins to be one with them.
They are my everything.
There’s no doubt about what I want or who I want. I won’t settle, because if I can’t have them both, then I’ll have neither of them.
I rise from the water a bit, and the bubbles tickle the edges of my breasts. I run my fingers through my hair, smoothing it back and over my shoulders. It’s then that I find Cole and Warren at the edge of the tub.
Darkness grows in their gazes, even though the light from the lanterns illuminate their strong cheekbones and parted lips.
They want me. I can feel—hell, I can practically taste—their hunger for me.
I roam my eyes over both of them. Cole’s chest is thick and wide at the shoulders, tapering down to a ripple of muscles and that V—that sweet as hell V that heads straight toward his groin.
My pulse speeds up, and desire grows to lick a path from his bulked-up chest down to his hard length. I trail my gaze to his firm, pink staff that juts from his muscular body made even more evident against the dusting of dark hairs.
Just like War’s physique in every single way. Two perfect specimens that are all mine tonight…and hopefully forever.
I shiver, hoping they can’t tell how nervous I am. I don’t want to seem as inexperienced as I am, and I hope they can’t tell. I motion with the curl of my finger for them to join me. “Well, what are you two waiting for?”
War must not notice my trepidation, or if he does, he doesn’t acknowledge my discomfort because he slides into the water, taking me in his arms while Cole follows behind, sliding into the seat beside us.
“You sure you’re ready for us, sugar?” Cole growls in my ear.
Goose bumps rise across my skin. Ready? I’ve been ready for as long as I can remember.
Ignoring Cole’s question, I pepper kisses along War’s jawline that’s made rough by his scruff. The feeling of his skin against mine sets my body ablaze, and suddenly I’m wondering what having him lick between my legs would feel like with all that scruff grinding against my inner thighs.
Will he probe my virgin entrance gently with his tongue, or will he devour me from the inside out, making me beg for more?
“Well?” Cole prods, pushing back a stray lock of my hair and tucking it behind my ear.
Not wanting Cole to feel left out, but also not wanting to answer him just yet, I use my free hand to find Cole’s hardness beneath the water. I curl my fingers around his thick mast, loving when he hisses against my neck as I gently fist his cock.
Skin to skin, our bodies entangle like a bed of snakes, and my core clenches and releases in uncontrollable waves. I swallow against the pleasure they’re giving me, finally choking out my answer to Cole’s question. “I’m more than ready. I’ve been ready for as long as I can remember, and knowing I have you both together makes me feel sure of all of this,” I practically moan.
“We feel the same way, so get ready, sugar, for the game we have planned is going to have you begging both of us for more.”
I crimp my brows. I’m not in the mood for silliness or of the possibility of losing another game after the stunt with Melissa trying to take my guys, even though they assured me they’d have never gone home with her. Still, I don’t want to be a drag. “Hope it tops the last game I played.”
“Trust me, you’ll like this one. We’ll all win at the end.”
Cole pulls me into his lap and plants his hard length against my spine. He wraps his arms around my chest, letting me know with his caress that he wants me, too. In gentle strokes, he kneads the swell of my breasts until my nipples turn into tingling pebbles. He moves his hands over me, and my nipples draw trails across his rough-skinned palms. I twist, meeting him, thirsting for his mouth on mine as he leans his face forward.
His lips are pillows, his tongue an elegant dancer, testing and teasing me until the water swirls against my front, drawing my attention back to War.
My clit begins to swell when War eases from my arms, lifts my hips near the water’s surface, and drops down between my legs.
As if he’s read my mind.
I clutch Cole’s arm when War spreads my folds and lowers his mouth, linking us together. Breathless as I am, my heart thudding like a wild rabbit chased by coyotes, I have enough sense left to
understand where this is going, but still I wonder how this game is any different than what we did last week. “What’s the catch of this game?”
Cole lifts from where’s he’s kissing my neck only long enough to talk. He takes my wrists in one of his hands, lifts them over my head, binding me to him. His mouth ghosts my ear, he nips my lobe, and draws a yelp from me. “Don’t come.”
War draws my nub into his mouth and sucks. At the same time, he enters my core with his thick fingers that spread and widen my channel.
“Oh, my God…” Breathing hard, my chest rises and falls. Every exhale, my breath forms a little cloud that combines with the steam rising off the heated water.
Or the heart rising off me. Because two men—my men—work my body as if they’ve designed the manual to all my erotic zones I didn’t know existed.
Cole lingers his mouth at a place below my ear while he guides his free hand over my breast, rolling and pinching my pebbles, lighting me up inside. War stretches my core, entering and retreating with his fingers, while Cole’s still making magic happen from just touching my nipples and the tender length of my neck.
The pressure between my legs soars and I thrust my hips, meeting War’s mouth, only to have him pull away. God, he’s killing me, taking me to the height of orgasm and denying me release. “Oh, God, War. Cole.”
“Don’t come,” War commands while Cole tightens his hold on my wrists and lowers his mouth to my breast.
The sensations thrust my body into a quivering mess held in their expert hands. “It’s too much. Oh, it’s…”
War lifts my hips, burying his face once again, where he draws his tongue up my backside, stopping at the bundle of nerves encircling my ass while fingering my wet hole.
“War!” My scream ascends and is carried away, but still he denies me the release I’m desperately craving.
Over and over again, they torture my body and my will hold on until need consumes me and I’m jerking to free my hands from Cole’s relentless hold.
“Game over.” War lifts me from the water, cradling me in his arms while Cole uses a towel to pat dry every inch of my body.