by Marla Monroe
Every direction she turned, eyes watched her. Jungle eyes, animal eyes, children’s eyes, dead eyes, and those who had asked her to kill them, but she hadn’t. They closed in on her until all she could see were their bloodshot images bearing down. When they touched her, she screamed.
“Easy, River. You’re safe. Nothing is going to happen to you here,” Cassius soothed.
Her breaths came in shallow gasps as she panted in an effort to draw a deep breath. Once she was able to speak, she looked around to find both Cassius and Merrick bare chested in the bed with her.
“You’re in bed with me,” she pointed out as if they didn’t know where they had been sleeping.
Merrick’s amused expression only made her angry. She glared at him. “You can’t sleep with me, Merrick. Get your own bed.”
“This is our bed now and you’re sleeping between us where you’ll be safe. No one will take you from between us, kitten. Just relax. We have on boxers.” He said that last, as if the word “boxers” was a vile disease.
“I don’t care! We can’t sleep together.”
Cassius chuckled. “We can and we have been until you had a nightmare and started beating us with your tiny little fists.”
She looked down at her hands then back to theirs. Hers were small compared to their massive ones. The fact that she’d hit them in her sleep was a little embarrassing. Still, if they hadn’t been there in the first place, she wouldn’t have touched them.
And I wouldn’t have had someone to wake me out of the dream.
“I’m sorry if I hurt you,” she said softly.
“As if those wimpy things could hurt a fly.” Merrick grinned and shook his head. “I was much more worried about the thrashing legs. Your knees came pretty damn close to my balls a time or two.”
River felt her face heat at that. Why did they affect her this way? Who was she kidding? They were handsome hunks who had saved her life and then made it their business to care for her. She would be a real cold-hearted bitch if she didn’t feel something for them.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Cassius asked out of the blue.
Merrick rested his hand on top of one of hers and gently squeezed. Her eyes jerked to his, but all she saw was concern there. She’d expected pity. Instead, he seemed genuinely worried about her. It contrasted harshly with his bad-boy persona.
“Kitten?” Merrick ran a finger across her cheek. “You can tell us anything. It might help if you talk about it.”
She hesitated then sighed. She needed to figure this out. Something told her that she didn’t have much time before her luck ran out.
“I–I just get images and feelings. I’m being chased by someone, but I don’t know who it is. There are all of these eyes in the jungle around me, watching me, following me as I run. Some of them are from the animals but some of them are human. Some of them are children and they hurt the most. Some of them are dead, and I know that I can’t help them anymore.” Her chest began to hurt and she realized that she’d held her breath in as she talked. River let it out and winced at the pain in her ribs.
“Are you hurting? Do you need a pain pill? We got your prescriptions filled,” Cassius said as he started to roll off the bed.
“No. I just moved wrong. I’m not really hurting,” she assured him.
“What else, River?” Merrick asked, pulling her back to what they’d been talking about.
“That’s really all. They just keep begging me to help them, but I don’t know how.” She shivered.
“You’re safe here, River. You need to go back to sleep. It’s only four. It’s way too early to think about getting up,” Cassius said.
Merrick turned over on his side with his back facing her. “Put your arm over my waist. I don’t want to risk hurting you.”
She didn’t even think about it, just followed his directions and immediately relaxed against his warm skin. She could feel the heat radiating off his bare skin all the way through her shirt. The addition of Cassius’s chest to her back soon had her toasty warm. Their combined heat felt good to her sore muscles. It wasn’t until she’d relaxed that she remembered that she’d been angry that they’d been sleeping with her in the first place. That led to the reason she hadn’t wanted them sleeping with her, and now one very obvious and hard cock pressed in at the crack of her ass. She should have been furious, or at the very least, mad. Instead, River squeezed her eyes shut at the fact that she was turned on. Her pussy was leaking and her nipples had pebbled hard against Merrick’s back.
Every fiber in her body ached to feel their hands on her, touching and stroking her. Their touch would be rough and insistent. Their callused hands would rasp exquisitely across her tight nipples and down her sides, stinging her skin and leaving it feeling alive. More of her juices leaked from her pussy to wet her inner thighs as she closed them tighter together.
She drew in Merrick’s heady scent. The strange mixture of hot male and leather went straight to her head. She very nearly groaned out loud with need. Somehow she had to stop her wayward thoughts from taking her down this road. It would only lead to torment and a broken heart. She couldn’t let herself forget that men weren’t to be trusted, no matter how well they treated her. It was just their nature to deceive and disappoint in the end.
Cassius’s warm breath fanned across her neck and shoulder, its warmth seeping even deeper than her skin. It sank right into her soul. She was in so much trouble. Her body had already deserted her. It wouldn’t take much more for her mind to make the leap.
“Kitten, if you don’t stop humping my ass and moaning in my ear, I’m going to turn you over and fuck you blind. There’s only so much a man can take.” Merrick’s voice came out in a soft rumble that vibrated through his back straight to her nipples.
“I can smell her, Merrick. She’s on fire,” Cassius said from behind her. He nuzzled her neck, nipping and licking his way over to her jaw.
“Hell. None of us are going to get any sleep this way,” Merrick groused.
River thought her face would catch fire as hot as it grew, but when Merrick pulled away from her to roll over, there wasn’t disgust or anger apparent on his face. Instead, pure desire lit his eyes with a fire she almost feared.
“We can’t fuck her, Merrick. We’ll hurt her ribs, man.” Cassius stared over her at his brother.
Merrick smiled. “I could sure use a taste of her sweet pussy. What about you, brother?”
Cassius’s grin lasted only long enough for him to slip down the bed, pulling the covers with him until she was bare to the cool night air. She yelped and started to reach for the sheets, but a reminder pain from her ribs stopped her.
“Guys. This isn’t a good idea,” she warned them.
“Oh, it’s a good idea all right. Lie back and relax, kitten. We’re going to take good care of you,” Merrick said with a smug smile. Then he, too, scooted down to the foot of the bed, leaving her to gape down at the two men.
Cassius crawled slowly up, straddling her body with his arms and legs. The shaggy-haired man stopped even with her waist. He shoved the shirt she was wearing up her belly to just below her breasts. Then, as if on second thought, he pushed it over them to bunch under her neck. The fingers of one hand rubbed lightly over the taut nubs before pinching first one then the other giving her a wicked smile.
River’s eyes closed at the delightful sensation it caused. She could feel that slight pinch all the way to her clit. Before she could fully enjoy it, Cassius began licking and kissing his way down her body, pausing at her belly button to lick and kiss her there. His tongue dipped inside then circled around the tiny hole before moving lower to skim over her hip bones and the ticklish spots at her pelvis. She nearly shot up off the bed, but Merrick’s broad hand was there holding her down.
“Don’t jump, or you’ll end up hurting yourself,” he said in an amused voice.
“C–can’t help it when he tickles me like that,” she gasped.
Merrick chuckled then softly rubbed her belly as his brother
worked his shoulders between her thighs until they were spread almost wider than she could stand. River had never been able to do the splits and damn if their shoulders weren’t almost wide enough to require it. But then everything about the two men screamed awesome.
To distract herself from Cassius being up close and personal with her girly parts, River studied what she could see of Merrick’s tattooed body. She wanted to ask him to turn on the lights so she could really look at the artwork on him. Ink traveled from an inch above his elbow up his arm to curl over his shoulder and continue down either side. The one on the arm she could see now looked like part of a dragon that covered his upper arm to rest on his shoulder with the wings flapping down on either side, but she couldn’t be sure. The design work on it was breathtaking. River started to reach and touch it, but Cassius’s tongue struck in that moment and everything fell away to sensation.
A flick of his devious tongue across her clit sent her soaring for the sun. She knew if she reached it, she’d disintegrate, but at the moment, she didn’t care. Every rasp of it across her throbbing nub had her cunt tightening and her pussy juices flowing. He pulled back and circled it several times before slipping down to her slit and stabbing it inside of her.
River’s moans and groans soon turned to whimpers and soft shouts as Cassius drove her higher and higher toward release. He slid his hands beneath her ass cheeks and lifted her closer to his mouth as she groaned with his mouth over her clit. A thick finger pressed inside of her sopping wet slit letting her know that Merrick hadn’t left when his mouth had disappeared from where he’d been torturing her breasts and nipples. Now he was closer to her cunt and helping his brother torture her by stretching her hot pussy with his thick fingers. When he seemed sure she was relaxed enough, he pumped his fingers in and out of her.
Now she knew she was done for. With both of them working her cunt over, she’d come soon for sure. Every nerve ending in her body was alive with sensation, keeping her on edge and aware of every touch to her body.
Cassius sucked her clit into his mouth, nipping the tiny bud before drawing on it as a baby would a teat. Fire danced across her body, causing her to jerk on the bed as she came apart between the two men. Her body jerked, but once again Merrick held her still with his hand so she didn’t jar her ribs too much. Cassius slowly softened his licks on her clit before lapping at the cum leaking from her slit.
“Move over, Cassius. It’s my turn. She tastes like pure candy,” the big man said.
River’s eyes flew open to see him licking his fingers clean of her cream from when they’d been inside of her earlier. The sight of him obviously enjoying her taste had her body heating up all over again.
Cassius moved out from between her legs to crawl up the bed. She felt Merrick slip between her legs and push them even farther apart before his tongue began licking her slit. Pleasure poured over her as he tasted her, licking her pussy back into full-blown arousal once again.
Then all she could see was Cassius crouched above her. His eyes seemed dark to her now as he slowly lowered his head and kissed her. River tasted herself on his tongue as he thrust it in and out of her mouth before using it to explore and map every crevice. He tangled it with hers before pulling back to nip at her lower lip and trail kisses all along her jaw to her neck where he once again nipped at her.
“I can’t get enough of how you smell and taste, sweetness,” he said in a gruff voice.
Before she could respond, he dipped his head and sucked at one nipple, pressing it flat to the roof of his mouth with the tip of his tongue. He drew on it in long slow pulls, sending tiny sparks of electricity directly to her clit. The fingers of one hand toyed with the other nipple, pulling and pinching it until she couldn’t remain still beneath him. River squirmed, needing more.
“Easy, River. You’ll hurt your ribs,” he murmured.
“You’re both driving me crazy. Don’t tease me like this. God! I can’t believe I’m doing this,” she rasped out.
“What? Having multiple climaxes until you can’t think?” Merrick’s deep voice came from between her legs. “’Cause that’s what we’re doing, kitten. Giving you so many that you won’t be able to remember your own name.”
Cassius chuckled at her obvious worried expression. If they truly did that, she’d go insane from it. Hell, she’d never had more than one climax at a time in her life. Most of those had been by her own hand. Well, she’d used a toy but still.
“Don’t worry. We’ll let you rest in between if you’re good,” Cassius assured her.
Then they stopped talking and began teasing and tormenting her again. River threw back her head and cried out as together, the two men drove her over the edge once again.
* * * *
Merrick groaned at the sweet taste of River. He wanted her so badly he could barely keep his head on straight. He knew she needed more time to heal before they made love to her, but it didn’t stop the need burning in his veins and filling his cock to the point of pain. She’d come apart in their arms three times and was begging them to stop. He grinned. She was perfect. He might not have seriously thought about sharing with his brother, but having found River, Merrick wasn’t willing to give her up and knew his brother felt the same way. Together they would be able to keep her happy and safe.
He frowned. If they could convince her to stay with them, that was. She was a free spirit, much like them, but her heart flew farther afield than theirs did. She’d grow to resent them for keeping her close and denying her the freedom she’d been used to. Logic wormed its sneaky way into his thoughts. They couldn’t dictate her life no matter how much they would want to.
Merrick shoved those thoughts aside. There would be plenty of time to worry about that once she was safe from whoever was after her and free of the fear that plagued her. They would take care of her now, make sure she was satisfied in every way and when the time came for decisions, maybe she would choose them without any need for them to try and convince her.
He and Cassius laid stretched out on either side of her. Her breathing slowly returned to normal and she opened her eyes, desire still raging within them. He watched as the tip of her pink tongue slid from between her lips to lick at her bottom one. Merrick’s dick twitched in his boxers, and he barely contained a groan at the tempting sight.
“I want you, Merrick,” she said.
He squeezed his eyes tightly before opening them to stare into hers. “We want you, too, kitten, but your ribs are not healed enough for that yet.”
“Let me taste you. I want you in my mouth, Merrick.” She looked over at Cassius. “You, too. I want you both. Please.”
It was the “please” that got him. He groaned. Frantically, his mind raced at ways to work it so that she wouldn’t put any pressure on her ribs. It was his brother who came up with a solution.
“Prop her up with pillows and she can just turn her head back and forth between us. I want to come on those gorgeous breasts of hers. You take her mouth,” his brother suggested.
The sight of her eyes brightening with excitement let him know she was on board with the idea. God, he wanted his seed on her in some way. She was theirs but just didn’t know it yet. Merrick had never felt so protective or attached to another human being other than his family before. It shocked him at the lengths he already knew he’d go to in order to keep her safe.
Together, he and Cassius positioned her against the headboard with several pillows behind her to make sure she was comfortable and wasn’t straining her ribs at all. They would do all the work, he vowed. They stepped off the side of the bed and peeled off their boxers before climbing back on the bed to kneel on either side of her. To his surprise, River grasped both of their shafts in her small, delicate hands and squeezed tightly. Pleasure shot up his dick and down into his balls. He had to grit his teeth to keep from shouting out at how good it felt. He didn’t want her to think she’d hurt him when, in fact, it felt fucking amazing.
Her soft hands moved up and down their co
cks in a slow sensual rhythm that threatened to drive him insane. Just when he was ready to grab her hand to stop her from torturing him, she dropped her hand to his balls and gently squeezed them. This time he couldn’t stop from shouting out.
“Fuck!”
His brother’s curse assured him that she was treating him to the same amazing torture. Then she blew his mind when she bent over and licked across the top of his cock, dipping into the slit and starting over again. She ran her tongue all over his cockhead, teasing around the rim of the helmet with the tip of her tongue then flicking it at a spot underneath that had him gripping the headboard to keep from squeezing her head. It felt so fucking good. He nearly choked when she suddenly wrapped her mouth around just the head and sucked like an Oreck vacuum cleaner. He swore stars burst in front of his eyes as she applied even more suction and took him to the back of her throat, swallowing down along the length of his hard dick.
“Hell, yeah! That’s perfect, kitten. Just like that,” he snarled.
She backed off of him and released his throbbing cock with a soft pop. When she looked up at him from beneath her lashes, he swore his heart stopped beating for a second at the desire and obvious enjoyment on her face.
Before he could say anything, she turned and focused all of her attention on his brother. It was in that moment that Merrick realized he’d totally lost focus of the world around him while she’d been using her amazing mouth on his shaft. Even as she poured her attention on his brother, the fingers of one hand continued to taunt his balls and then his shaft, moving back and forth so that he wasn’t completely clear in the head.
No one had ever made him lose sight of where he was or what was going on around him. He’d always been slightly paranoid. Cassius said it was the fact that he’d studied so much political bullshit and had a degree in psychology. He knew the lengths men went to in order to get what they wanted and had delved into enough abnormal psychology to develop an intense mistrust of most people.
Now, as he watched her lave attention on his brother, Merrick knew he wouldn’t let her go. If it meant leaving The Ghost Riders to follow her all over the world, he’d do it. She was worth it. Her sweet smile and warm heart made him believe that there was good in the world around him after all. She gave him hope that he could one day have a family to love and care for. That he’d be sharing her with his brother didn’t bother him nearly as much as he’d thought it would. It just meant that there were two of them to keep her safe and make sure she didn’t get hurt with all of her globetrotting and stepping on the wrong people’s toes.