Gryff sank into the chair he was banished to, Trey doing the same. The other man’s eyes narrowed as he stared at him from across the table.
Gryff glared back, judging the distance.
“Don’t even think about it,” came her warning from the stove. “I swear to God, if either of you do something stupid, neither of you will get laid. And I didn’t wear this and make dinner for nothing.”
Then Trey smirked. And Gryff relaxed. Well, for the most part. He still had a raging hard-on. Not caring who saw him, he adjusted it to a more comfortable position.
“Problem?” Trey asked, his smirk widening into a grin.
“You.”
“I gave you that? I’m flattered.”
“Have you ever had a cock this big in your ass?”
“Bigger.”
Rayne slapped something on the counter and both of them jumped. “I worked hard on this dinner. Don’t ruin it.”
Gryff finally tore his gaze away from the man across from him to see Rayne standing there upset.
Damn it.
He had looked forward to this date with her. Their first date. And now he was ruining it. No. Correction. Trey was ruining it.
“Fuck you, Trey,” he said under his breath.
“I look forward to it,” Trey mouthed back.
“Can someone help—”
Before she could finish the request, both of them were out of their seats rushing to help her.
“Stop!” she yelled and they slid to a stop, inches from each other. “Civilized, please. Like adults, not two dogs fighting over a bone.” She held out a large bowl. “Trey, take this. Gryff, take the bread.”
They did what they were told, side-eyeing each other the whole time. The food got to the table safely, and there wasn’t any bloodshed by the time they settled into their seats, Rayne between them.
No one said a word as the food was passed. Until Trey swallowed his first forkful of her homemade Fettucine Alfredo. “Damn, baby, this is good. Even though I really only came for dessert.”
Gryff ignored the last part, but agreed with how good the pasta dish was. Even the rolls were freshly baked.
Yeah, she was worth fighting Trey over. She wasn’t going to slip through his fingers. He’d do whatever he needed to do.
Chapter 8
Rayne pushed her empty plate out of the way and looked at one man and then the other.
This was not going as planned. If she didn’t take control now, she didn’t think the three of them would even have a shot.
She knew Gryff was attracted to Trey, but he was being too stubborn to admit it. Obviously, Trey wanted Gryff, but he confessed to Rayne he wasn’t sure if it was worth the grief.
She didn’t blame him. She wondered that herself.
So, if things didn’t go right tonight, she would have to step back and reevaluate. She might have to pick one or the other, and she didn’t want to do that.
Just as stubborn as the two meatheads sitting at both ends of the table, she would make this work if it was the last thing she did.
Or someone got seriously injured. Or even died.
She frowned.
Trey snagged her chin and turned her to face him. “Don’t frown, baby. Dinner was great, Gryff hasn’t tried to kick my ass yet, we’ve kicked two bottles of wine, and it’s still early.”
“Yep. Night’s not over. A good ass-kicking may be in the works yet.”
Rayne closed her eyes, inhaling deeply. When she opened them, Trey’s were soft and caring. “Thank you for dinner, baby.”
She nodded, breaking his grasp, and turned toward Gryff. Waiting.
His dark eyes met hers and a second later they widened like he’d forgotten his manners. “Yes, thank you for dinner... baby.”
She sighed, trying desperately not to slam her palm on the table. “This is what’s going to happen... I’m going to go upstairs with my glass of wine. To my bedroom. To my bed. I’m going to be waiting up there. Either still wearing this or possibly wearing nothing. While I’m waiting, both of you will clean up this mess. Put away the leftovers. Scrub the pots. Leave this kitchen spotless. No fighting. No blood. Nothing. Then when you’re both done, you both will come up and find me. Then we will work this all out. I had hoped this would be accomplished during dinner. But, since no one talked that became a little impossible. So, now we’re following my rules. My house, my rules. My bed, my rules. No exceptions. If you don’t like my rules, you know where the door is. If you don’t want to share my bed, you know where the door is. If I hear one argument, one tussle, one curse, I’m locking my bedroom door. Is this clear?”
“Crystal,” Trey said, already standing and taking her plate away.
Rayne’s gaze bounced to Gryff. “Boss?”
“Can I refill your glass?”
She smiled. “Yes, please.”
As she made her way upstairs, she couldn’t wipe off that smile even if she tried.
“Why a defense attorney?” Trey asked, his hand deep in sudsy water as he scrubbed one of the pots. Alfredo sauce was a bitch to clean up. He would have dish-pan hands.
Next time, they just needed to throw some steaks and potatoes on the grill. Cleanup would be easy-peasy.
“Because I know what it’s like to need one,” Gryff said behind him. Trey couldn’t get enough of his deep-timbre voice. He could listen to it all day. Or preferably, all night.
Even if the guy was being a stubborn shit.
“Really? I can’t even imagine you getting a parking ticket.” He wondered about the story behind that. But that thought quickly fled when Gryff set another pot next to the sink. “Another one?”
“Last one,” Gryff assured him. “Hey, I wanted to take her out to dinner where someone else does the cleanup. This was not my ideal first date.”
“First date?”
“Yeah, I know dating is probably a foreign concept to you. You probably just fuck your groupies in alleyways. Oh, wait. Behind bars.”
“Seriously? You want to start with me and lock yourself out of her bedroom?”
Trey looked over his shoulder when he only received silence for an answer. Gryff stood staring at him. And not just looking through him, but really looking at him, studying. Trey wasn’t sure if that was a good thing, or bad.
“If anyone is going to get locked out, it’s you,” Gryff finally answered.
“Why’s that? Because once you go black, you don’t go back?”
Gryff shook his head. “You did not just say that.”
Yes, he did. It was stupid. He wasn’t supposed to be starting a fight. Instead he should be encouraging Gryff to take the next step. But the man could be frustrating.
Trey never had to work so hard to get someone in his bed. He wondered, more than once, if it was even worth the effort.
“Like I asked before, have you ever had a cock this big in your ass?”
Trey chucked the sponge in the pot and turned to face Gryff. He wasn’t sure how to answer him without pissing the other man off. And they needed to get past that. “Are you offering?”
Gryff’s lips flat lined and he handed Trey the dishtowel.
After Trey wiped his hands off, he leaned back against the sink, crossing his arms over his chest. “Do you want to fuck me in the ass, Gryff?”
Gryff broke eye contact, grabbed his nearby glass and took a gulp of wine. Trey couldn’t pull his eyes away from the thick, corded muscles convulsing in his throat as he swallowed.
Trey pushed away from the counter and moved behind Gryff. He reached around him, took the wine glass from his fingers and carefully placed it on the counter. He brushed a hand over Gryff’s broad back, feeling the muscles bunch beneath his shirt. “Gryff,” he said, his voice catching in his throat. “Do you want to fuck me?”
Gryff’s head dropped forward and Trey skimmed a hand over his ass. The man was solidly built and took care of himself. Trey already knew that since he’d seen him naked in his apartment. Ever since then, he couldn’t wait
to see Gryff naked again. He couldn’t stop thinking about touching and tasting his dark skin. All of it.
“Gryff,” Trey whispered, sliding his hand around Gryff’s hip to the front and discovering the proof he turned the man on. “Why do you fight it?”
Gryff shook his head slightly, his head still bowed.
“Why do you deny yourself?”
“I don’t know,” Gryff finally answered. His words raw, painful. To hear them squeezed Trey’s heart.
“Is it because it’s me? Because I’m not good enough? I’m not worthy?”
“What the fuck, Trey. No.” He lifted his head, grabbed Trey’s arm and pulled him around to face him. “No. It’s not you. It’s me. This is... I don’t... I’ve never had this reaction to any man before. It’s freaking me out a little. Hell, not a little, a lot.”
Trey swallowed hard, understanding where the man was coming from. Finding out you’re attracted to someone of the same sex hit everyone differently. Some accepted it easily. Some never accepted it and went their whole life denying themselves what they really wanted, what they needed to feel fulfilled.
Gryff seemed to be in the middle right now. Trey and Rayne both knew Gryff had that desire, otherwise she never would have pushed the issue tonight. Gryff knew he had the desire, otherwise he would have walked out that front door. But he didn’t. He didn’t. Instead he stood in the kitchen with Trey, letting another man touch him. If he had no attraction to Trey, Gryff never would have allowed it. Trey would have been knocked down and out. He was sure of it.
“Now that I’m in the vicinity of your fists, I’m going to ask first; Can I touch you?”
Gryff blinked once, twice, blew out a breath, then met his eyes. “Yes.”
Trey’s lips twitched. “Was that a difficult decision?”
“Don’t push your luck,” Gryff grumbled.
Trey lifted his palms in mock surrender then plastered them on Gryff’s pecs, which flexed under his hands.
Damn. The man was powerful. No doubt. He could stand right beside him in the Bulldogs’ locker room and put some of those guys to shame.
“I don’t even know what to do,” he muttered.
Trey moved closer, letting his hands slide down the man’s abs. “The same as you would with a woman.”
Gryff shook his head slowly. “Not quite the same.”
“Close enough.”
Trey slid one palm along Gryff’s hard length, then placed his other hand along Gryff’s cheek. They were the same height, which made it hard for Gryff to avoid Trey’s eyes when they were so close.
“Look at me,” Trey murmured.
Gryff’s nostrils flared, but finally met his eyes. “You shaved.”
Trey smiled. The man finally noticed. “Yes.”
“You trimmed your hair.”
“I did.”
“Why?” Gryff asked softly.
“So I look a little more respectable.”
“Why is that important to you?”
“It’s not. I think it’s important to you.”
“Why do you care what I think?”
“Because I want you in my bed.”
“You think shaving and trimming your hair will get me in your bed?”
“I’m hoping it’ll get both of us in Rayne’s bed tonight.”
“Did you help her plan this?”
Trey leaned in until his lips were a hair’s breadth from Gryff’s. “Yes. Are you going to keep talking or can I kiss you now?”
“Why are you asking?”
“Because, I’d like to keep my lips attached to my face. They’re usefu—”
Gryff cut him off, taking his mouth, pushing his lips apart with his tongue, then jamming it deep. Trey fought back, wanting to explore Gryff’s mouth instead. He groaned, his hand finding Gryff’s hot, heavy sac and cupping it over his pants. He squeezed softly, then stroked the hidden, hard length a couple times before Gryff’s fingers tangled in Trey’s T-shirt. Not pushing him away. No. Pulling him closer.
Trey struggled to breathe since Gryff dominated the kiss. He tried to pull back slightly, but the man wouldn’t let him. He held him even tighter, shoving Trey back until he hit the counter behind him. Gryff pinned him, his hips pushing against him.
Trey finally shoved his hands between them and pushed him away enough to break the kiss, panting. “Damn, now that’s what I’m talking about. I want it like that. You want to dominate, I’ll let you. I want you any way I can get you.”
Gryff’s chest heaved with each deep breath he took. He seemed just as oxygen starved as Trey.
“I want to take you in my mouth again, but then we may never make it upstairs. And we really don’t want to leave Rayne hanging.”
“No, we don’t,” Gryff said slowly. “Trey…”
He could see the struggle on Gryff’s face.
“It’ll be all right. I promise. We’ll take it slow. We won’t do anything you don’t want to do. Anything Rayne doesn’t want to do. If we need to keep her between us tonight, we can. But, hear this, I won’t have the patience for that very long. I want to touch you, I want you inside me.”
Trey left off the part where he wanted to be inside Gryff, too. No point in freaking him out. Baby steps.
“Do you have—”
“Rayne has a lot of lube and condoms upstairs.”
Gryff stepped back, letting Trey ease away from the counter. “How do you know that?”
Shit. “I dropped them off to be sure.”
“So, the last time you were here, you didn’t fuck her?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Jesus.”
“Gryff, you fucked her while I listened on the phone.”
“Yeah. And?”
“And yeah,” Trey threw back at him. “At least I didn’t call you and make you listen.”
“No one forced you to listen.”
“Yeah, but it was hot.”
“And you came.”
“I certainly did.”
Gryff laughed. “Fuck you, Trey.”
Trey smiled. “Rayne’s waiting.”
Tired of waiting, Rayne had lost all of her patience. After listening to the low voices downstairs, although they didn’t sound raised in anger, she hoped they weren’t bickering. As the moments ticked by and she didn’t hear a slam of the front door, her optimism grew.
Then she heard their feet, heavy on the stairs. Two sets. Her heartbeat surged, and she trembled in both anticipation and nervousness.
She still wore the outfit she’d worn for dinner, wanting to leave a little something to their imagination. She ripped the nightstand drawer open to make sure that the lube and condoms Trey had brought over last time were still there. They were. They hadn’t disappeared since the last twenty times she checked.
Should she feel guilty that Trey and she had gotten together without Gryff? She didn’t think so. There were no rules for this sort of thing. Nothing set in stone. At least not yet. If things continued like the two of them hoped, if things moved forward with Gryff being willing, rules may need to be put in place. But for now, Gryff shouldn’t have a problem with what Trey and she did a couple nights ago. Just like he didn’t have a problem fucking her against the wall in her office to rub it in Trey’s face.
She had left her bedroom door open and wondered who would be the first through the door.
Trey. He gave her a secret smile, along with a wink. Next, he’d be giving her a thumb’s up and a high five.
Gryff followed close behind and when he stepped around Trey, he pinned her to the bed with his gaze. “You left it on.”
“Yes. I figured you’d want to take it off me.”
“Oh, wait. He gets to?” Trey said, approaching the bed, ripping his T-shirt over his head and tossing it aside. Rayne lost her breath and her train of thought for a moment. Trey, even though very muscular, was leaner than Gryff. His body was nothing short of spectacular, as a professional athlete’s should be. Being low in body fat, every muscle r
ippled along his torso. The other night, she had explored each tattoo decorating his chest. Some had meaning, some didn’t. He didn’t regret even one.
The one that had caught her attention first had been the Boston Bulldog logo on his right pec over his heart. She had asked him what he would do if he couldn’t get cleared of his charges and ended up kicked off the team permanently.
He had said, “I have faith in you and Gryff. Grae has faith in you two. You’ll get me clear. I’ll be back on the field soon.”
She was glad he had such confidence, and she believed she’d get them to drop the charges, but the judge he drew was tough. She didn’t look forward to going head to head with him. Or helping one of the other associates to go up against him, since Gryff didn’t want him or her publicly standing up for Trey in the courtroom for obvious reasons.
When her eyes slid to Gryff, heat bloomed into her cheeks. He watched her checking out Trey. She was sure her expression left no doubt to what she’d been thinking.
“Now you,” she told him, her voice husky.
She sat up straighter against the headboard while Gryff slowly unbuttoned his shirt.
Suddenly she yelled, “Stop!” and he hesitated halfway down his shirt. He looked at her with a question in his eyes. “Let Trey do it.”
“I like how you think, baby,” Trey said and approached Gryff, who stood in the center of the room, his arms now dropped to his side.
“Just don’t block my view,” she warned him.
Trey chuckled and after he finished unbuttoning the dress shirt, he pulled it from Gryff’s waistband and moved behind him to slide it off his shoulders. He tossed it on a nearby chair, then reached around Gryff’s waist, snagged the bottom of his undershirt and tugged that over his head. It landed somewhere near the chair.
“Like a piece of art, right?” Trey asked Rayne, brushing his fingertips over the hard curves of Gryff’s abs.
Rayne couldn’t answer. Having two scorching hot men in her condo, in her bedroom, and soon in her bed... she had to be dreaming. It seemed like the guys had come to some sort of understanding while they talked downstairs. Gryff didn’t seem so uncomfortable. At least not yet.
A Daring Desire (Dare Menage Series Book 4) Page 9