Everything the woman did turned him on. She made even the most innocuous activities look dirty. Folding laundry, sweeping the kitchen floor—didn’t matter what she did, he wanted her. Tonight it was watching her eat pizza that got his blood going. His gaze was glued to her mouth, so focused on it, in fact, that one of the rugrats finally decided to comment. No surprise as to which one, either.
“Why are you staring at my mom?” Sophie demanded.
Seth blinked out of his lust-filled stupor. “Ah, because she had tomato sauce on her cheek.”
“I did?” Miranda’s dubious look said she saw right through him.
“Yeah, but it’s gone now. You wiped it away.”
Sophie pursed her lips in disapproval. “It’s rude to stare.”
“You’re right. It is.” He met Miranda’s eyes. “I’m sorry for staring, Miranda.”
“It’s quite all right, Seth.”
She held his gaze for another second before turning to scold Jason, who was making a huge mess as he dipped his slice into a plastic container of barbecue sauce. Which kinda floored him, because Seth had never met anyone who slathered BBQ sauce on pizza the way he himself did. Neither he nor Miranda’s son had remarked on it, but there’d been unmistakable pleasure in Jason’s eyes when Seth had called dibs on one of the barbecue sauces. It was obvious the kid liked having something in common with him.
“Anyway, thanks for dinner,” Seth said, standing up. “I was dying of hunger when you got home and I couldn’t decide what to eat.”
Their gazes locked again. Miranda’s cheeks turned pink.
You, he told her with his eyes. I wanted to eat you.
Still did, too. He wanted to latch his mouth on her sweet pussy and eat her until she screamed his name.
Her tone was nonchalant as she answered, “Well, if you’re hungry again later, let me know. I could always stop and grab you something to eat on my way back from the club tonight.” Later being the operative word in that sentence.
“Actually, I won’t be here later. I’ve gotta be at the base at one a.m. We’re doing night dives.”
More eye contact. Another unspoken message.
“Whath nithe difes?” Jason demanded through a mouthful of pizza.
“Jase,” Miranda chided. “Chew, swallow, talk.”
The little boy did as asked, then repeated himself. “What’s night dives?”
“It means we’re diving in the ocean in the middle of the night,” Seth explained brusquely.
“You go in the water in the dark?” Jason’s eyes widened. “But Mom says it’s dangerous to go swimming when it’s not sunny.”
Miranda smiled at her son. “Dangerous for you,” she corrected. “But see how big and strong Seth is?”
Jason nodded, visibly awed.
“Well, that means he’s allowed to do dangerous things every now and then. He underwent a lot of training, years and years of training, to be able to do what he does.”
Seth shifted in discomfort. Each word she said only succeeded in giving Jason a bigger case of hero worship, and he didn’t want to be the kid’s hero.
“Okay, uh, I’m gonna catch some shut-eye until I have to go,” Seth said before she could continue. He gave the rugrats a quick nod, Miranda one final look, and then left the living room.
After he shut and locked his bedroom door, he stripped off his T-shirt, cargo pants and boxer briefs, and made his way to the bed. He hadn’t lied—sleep was definitely on the docket. Except he wouldn’t get a wink of it unless he remedied the problem down below.
He stretched out on the bed and fisted his erection, disappointed that he and Miranda wouldn’t be able to find any private time tonight. But she’d be busy with her kids until the babysitter showed up, and by the time she got home from work, he’d be deep beneath the ocean’s surface, engaged in mock amphibious landings.
Closing his eyes, he pumped his cock in quick, even strokes and envisioned Miranda’s perky tits. Her dusky nipples, so responsive to his touch. The sexy curve of her ass and baby-soft skin of her inner thighs. It didn’t escape him that he was jerking off to the thought of a woman who was by no means out of his reach. She was right beyond that door, and it drove him nuts that he couldn’t just have her whenever he wanted. But Miranda was a mom first—she’d made that abundantly clear—which meant that the twins claimed first priority on her time.
His dick, unfortunately, was of lesser importance.
No sooner had he accepted that grim assessment of his position on the totem pole than a soft knock sounded on the door.
“Can I come in?” came her quiet voice.
His cock twitched with excitement, a drop of fluid seeping from its slit.
He was off the bed in an instant, unlocking the door and tugging her into the room.
“Eleven minutes,” Miranda whispered.
He shot her a questioning look.
“There’s eleven minutes left in the movie. It’s the final battle scene between the aliens and those weird purple monsters. The kids are hypnotized.” She was sliding out of her leggings as she spoke. “So we’ve got eleven minutes to make this happen.” Her gaze swept over his naked body. “I see you’ve already gotten started.”
He brought his hand back to his erection and gave it a firm squeeze. “I had no choice. Watching you nibble on that pizza got me hard as a rock.”
“Hmmm, I can see that.” Her hand replaced his, her graceful fingers curling over his stiff shaft.
When she pumped him nice and slow, he let out a husky moan and reached for her. He slid his hands underneath her shirt and cupped her breasts over her sports bra. Neither of them made a move toward the bed. They simply stood against the door, his hands fondling her tits, hers jacking his cock in a lazy, torturous rhythm that made his vision waver.
He leaned his forehead against hers, his breath coming out in pants as she quickened the pace. “Condom,” he ground out.
“In a minute.”
Before he could blink, she dropped to her knees, her face level with his cock. Every muscle in his body coiled tight as she gripped the root of him and brought him to her mouth.
Oh Jesus. Wet warmth surrounded him, the suction so unbearably sweet. Miranda pulled the skin taut and delicately licked the exposed head, flicking the underside with her tongue before sucking him deep again. When her hands came into play, one wrapping around his base, the other cupping his tight, achy balls, he hissed out a curse and withdrew from her eager mouth.
“No fair,” she complained. “You never let me have fun.”
He almost shot his load when he saw her big eyes peering up at him, her lips glossy with moisture. “That’s because I’m always in a hurry to get inside you,” he grumbled.
“Well, too bad. Today you get to exercise some patience.”
“Patience? We only have eleven minutes.”
“Eight minutes now,” she corrected, her gaze straying to the clock by the bed. “So if you don’t want to waste any more time, I suggest you shut up and let me suck your dick.”
Hot animalistic lust clamped over him. Well. Who was he to argue with that?
Changing positions so that he was the one leaning against the wall, Seth tangled one hand in Miranda’s long brown hair and guided her back to his cock. She opened wide, took him deep, and sucked him hard, eliciting a strangled groan from his lips.
For someone who hadn’t been with a man in seven years, she knew exactly what to do, exactly how to drive him to new heights of agonizing pleasure. She gripped him with the perfect amount of pressure, pumped with the right amount of force. She tightened her mouth’s suction with each downstroke, flicked her tongue over his head on each upstroke. Soon he was pistoning his hips, body straining for deeper contact, desperation building and gathering in his balls.
Miranda let out a muffled moan. He noticed she’d moved one hand between her legs so she could furiously rub her clit. Her excitement fed his own, her enthusiasm bringing forth a rush of male satisfaction. He fu
cking loved that she enjoyed going down on him, that it turned her on the way going down on her did him.
She increased the tempo, her mouth and hand moving up and down his cock, which glistened with saliva and throbbed with anticipation. He was close. Very close. He should pull out. Get a condom. Slide into her tight heat and fuck her hard. Yet he didn’t have the strength to leave the warm heaven of Miranda’s mouth.
“I’m gonna come,” he muttered. “You want it in your mouth?”
Her head bobbed as she nodded, her eyes hazy, shining with passion.
That eager gaze was all it took. He exploded in a boiling rush, one hand entangled in her hair, the other braced on the chest of drawers next to the door. Black dots danced in his vision, his mind losing the capability for thought. A fire of ecstasy burned in his blood, blazing hotter as Miranda’s throat worked to swallow.
“Jesus.” His erection popped out of her mouth, coated with saliva. “I guess we don’t need a condom after all.”
Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she wobbled to her feet and smiled. A tiny smile boasting of feminine satisfaction, as if she was mighty pleased with herself. “We weren’t ever getting to the condom part, babe. Wasn’t part of my dastardly plan.”
“Your plan involved getting on your knees, sucking my cock, and making me come?” When she nodded, he raised a mocking brow. “Then why’d you take off your leggings and panties?”
“So I could get myself off while I was carrying out the aforementioned dastardly plan.”
“I see.” He slanted his head. “And did you get yourself off?”
A sheepish smiled lifted her lips. “No. I totally got distracted.”
Seth checked the clock. “Well, we’ve still got two minutes left…”
“No way would I be able to come in two minutes.”
“Is that a challenge?”
“Seth—”
He dropped to the floor, making her yelp as he grabbed one of her legs and draped it over his shoulder. Her slick folds, pink and perfect, hovered directly over his mouth.
Licking his lips, he tilted his head to meet her eyes and said, “Challenge accepted.”
* * *
“Are you seriously trying to convince me that the 49ers are a better team than the Bears?” Aidan shook his head in disbelief before taking a long swig of beer. “No way, Wade. You’re nuts.”
“Me? Look in the mirror, Rhodes. You’re living in the past,” Dylan retorted. “Newsflash—it’s not 1985 anymore. The glory days are over.”
Aidan flashed his middle finger.
Dylan’s phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen and read the incoming text from Seth, then glanced at Aidan.
“Seth and Jackson are chilling at the Sand Hole tonight. You wanna go?”
Aidan shrugged. “Not really. You?”
“Nah.”
They eyed each other for a moment, and something shifted in the night breeze slithering over the terrace. After a beat of silence, they both reached for their respective beers.
Dylan fixed his gaze on the skyline, pretending to be fascinated with the tall skyscrapers and twinkling lights when all he could think about was how good Aidan looked tonight and how awesome the last few days had been.
Despite the awkwardness of that first night, it turned out they made pretty good roommates. Neither of them were slobs, they both liked to cook, they enjoyed watching the same programs on TV. And Aidan subscribed to the NFL network, which meant football twenty-four-seven. Dylan never got to enjoy football talk at home—pansy-ass Seth was all about boxing matches and pay-per-view fights, which was probably a Vegas thing, but annoying nonetheless.
Then again, there was a definite upside to living with Seth: Dylan didn’t want to rip the guy’s clothes off every time he saw him.
And interestingly enough, Seth, who was intense as hell, was actually less intense than Aidan. On the surface Aidan was charming and funny, but every now and then he got quiet, his dark eyes becoming shuttered. And if you looked really hard, you sometimes glimpsed a shadow or two that you couldn’t decipher, a hint of the secrets that lurked behind his enigmatic expression. But whatever shadows Aidan harbored, he didn’t seem inclined to shed light on them, and Dylan wasn’t one to push.
However, when it came to another aspect of Aidan’s life, he was far too curious not to bring it up.
“So what’s the deal with you and Matt and Savannah?” Dylan asked, leaning back in the cushioned chair.
Aidan grinned. “What do you mean?”
“Those two are in a committed relationship, right?”
“Yes.”
“Yet according to Cash, you’re frequently over at their place, in Matt’s bedroom…” He shrugged. “How does that work exactly?”
Aidan’s dimples made an appearance as his grin widened. “You need me to spell out the logistics of a ménage à trois, man?”
“Ha-ha. I mean, don’t you feel like the third wheel? Matt and Savannah are in love.” He paused in afterthought. “Unless…wait, are all three of you…?”
“No, the three of us are not in love.” Rolling his eyes, Aidan reached for the pack of Newports on the glass table and extracted a cigarette. He lit up, chuckling as he exhaled a cloud of smoke that swiftly got carried away by the breeze. “It’s really not that complicated. Matt and Savannah are together and they love each other. Matt’s my best friend. Savannah’s a good friend.”
“Okay, I’m following you so far…”
“Savannah and Matt are also the most sexually adventurous people I’ve ever met in my life. They like to have fun and experiment, and they also happen to enjoy variety.” He flashed those dimples again. “And when they want variety, they call me.”
“And it’s not awkward?” Dylan wrinkled his forehead. “Aren’t they all, I don’t know, intimate with each other? Lovingly gazing into each other’s eyes, whispering I love you, all that couple shit?”
Aidan snickered. “If that’s how they acted, I wouldn’t be there, bro. I have no idea what they’re like when they’re alone, but trust me, when it’s the three of us, it’s all about pure, carnal fucking.”
A dark thrill traveled up Dylan’s spine. When was the last time he’d indulged in some pure, carnal fucking of his own? The kind where you didn’t think, didn’t question or doubt, didn’t stop to consider propriety or pesky emotions.
Cash and Jen.
Shit, that was totally it. The last time he’d experienced that kind of raw, modesty-be-damned sex had been six months ago with Cash and Jen. He’d given his best friend a blowjob that night, slept with his best friend’s now-serious girlfriend, and though he’d been with plenty of chicks since then, he couldn’t remember any of those encounters leaving him with that same sense of carnal satisfaction.
“Anyway,” Aidan was saying, “I’m not sure how much longer the arrangement will last. The three of us haven’t hooked up in a few months, actually.”
Dylan inspected the other man’s face for signs of anger or disappointment and found none. Aidan looked relaxed as hell as he flicked his ashes in the ashtray before bringing his cigarette back to his lips for another drag.
“Maybe they got sick of you,” Dylan joked.
“Doubt it. I’m pretty frickin’ good in bed.”
Aidan’s tone rang with humor, but there was nothing humorous about the way their gazes collided again. Or the current of heat that coursed between them.
Breaking the eye contact, Aidan gave a small shrug. “Matt’s going to propose to her soon.”
“Seriously?”
“I helped him pick out the ring. Nothing too flashy—Savannah hates showy displays of wealth. According to her, only flowers are allowed to be showy.” An indulgent smile quirked Aidan’s lips. “They’re good for each other. They just…fit, know what I mean? I think they’ll be happy.”
Silence descended over the terrace, each man getting lost in his own thoughts. Dylan had to wonder if he’d ever meet that one person who fit him. He’
d been told he wasn’t “relationship material”, accused of being too impulsive and fun-loving, qualities which apparently weren’t conducive to a serious relationship. Who knew.
“So where are you going to get your ménage fix now?” Dylan asked with a grin.
“No clue. I might have to start inviting myself to the orgies you keep going on about.”
“I’m afraid my orgy calendar isn’t as lit as it used to be. Cash bowed out when he started dating Jen, and Seth’s been panting after Miranda the past few months. Which leaves Jackson, who was always the weak link in my three-way circle. He prefers one-on-one, claims it’s the Texas way.”
They both laughed. Observed each other again. Reached for their beers.
A groan got stuck in his throat, joining the ball of frustration and lump of unease already taking up residence there. This had never happened to him before, damn it. Lusting over another man? Just another man? With no woman around to balance everything out?
Fuck.
The lack of estrogen on the balcony became glaringly apparent the longer he and Aidan watched each other. Unsettled, Dylan chugged the rest of his beer, but the liquid was lukewarm by now and did nothing to extinguish the fire raging down below.
Enough. He was tired of the strange waves of tension palpitating in the air whenever he and Aidan were alone together. He needed to get laid. It was the only way to purge his body of this tight, antsy feeling, the only way to vanquish this inappropriate craving.
“Shoot, I forgot, I have to return this chick’s call.” He scraped his chair back and reached for his two empty beers.
Aidan beat him to the bottles. “Make your call out here. I’ll take the empties in.”
“Oh, thanks, man.”
“No problem.”
Their fingers brushed as he handed Aidan the bottles. A tiny shockwave coursed through his veins, making him gulp.
With a knowing twinkle in his dark eyes, Aidan headed for the sliding door and quietly moved through the threshold.
Dylan stared at the man’s retreating back and resisted a groan. Crap. He was approaching a critical point here. A potential point of no return.
Out of Uniform Box Set: Books 4-6 plus 2 Bonus Novellas Page 15