by Vivian Arend
“You said you were in the mood for steak. I Googled the closest place to the office that serves good steaks.” He shook his head, his reasons for inviting Dean to dinner sliding to the backburner of his mind as he registered what his buddy had said. “You’d fuck me over Parker? Really?”
Dean nodded fervently. “Hell yeah. Mofo’s too intense. I want someone who’ll smile and laugh when we’re getting it on. And I have it on good authority that you like to have fun in bed.”
“What authority? You know firsthand what I’m like in the sack.”
“Exactly. Speaking as the person who’s tag-teamed with both you and Parker, I’d much prefer going solo with you.”
“Thanks?” Jack gave another shake of the head, wondering how on earth they were even having this conversation. On the other hand, he couldn’t have asked for a better segue if he’d tried.
As Dean picked up his steak knife and sliced off a hefty piece of rib eye, Jack took a quick sip of beer before continuing. “I’m glad to hear you approve of my sex methods, because I actually wanted to talk to you about something.” He folded his hands together. “Do you want to have sex with me and Pepper?”
Dean froze mid-swallow, then broke out in a fit of coughs that attracted the curious eyes of the other patrons occupying the restaurant’s various booths and tables. The guy even pounded his own fist into his chest a couple of times to dislodge the piece of meat that had jammed in his windpipe, and the scene would have been comical if not for the utter seriousness of the request.
Jack didn’t say a word as he waited for Dean to recover. But when his buddy finally spoke, it wasn’t what he’d expected to hear.
“No.” Swift and emphatic, zero hesitation.
“What do you mean, no?” When it came to sex, Dean Colter belonged to the anything goes camp. His turning down an opportunity to get kinky was unheard of.
“I mean no. As in, I’m not gonna do it.”
A mocking note entered Jack’s voice. “Are you telling me you’re not even the least bit interested? Because a little birdie told me you seemed pretty damn into the idea the day you watched me spank Pepper’s ass in my office.”
Dean looked alarmed, as if he hadn’t expected Jack to call him out on it. Three weeks had passed since that wicked scene in the office, but Jack hadn’t raised the subject after Pepper confessed to seeing Dean in the adjoining doorway. Dean hadn’t brought it up, either, which told Jack that his friend hadn’t purposely been creeping on them. Most likely Dean had popped his head in Jack’s office to talk business, stumbled upon them, and had chosen not to address it out of respect for both of them.
But there was no avoiding the matter now. Jack was a man on a mission, and if he wanted to succeed, he needed Dean. And only Dean.
Heat darkened Dean’s eyes to a smoky silver as he drawled out a response. “Was wondering when you’d bring that up.”
He shrugged. “Now seems as good a time as any.”
Dean speared a roasted potato with his fork and popped it in his mouth, a thoughtful look on his face as he chewed slowly. “I’m not going to deny it was one of the hottest scenes I’ve seen in a long time, but…”
“But what? You’re always down with three-ways. Why not this one?”
“Because it’s your girlfriend!”
Jack raised his brows. “You and Parker slept with Lynn. And Lynn is Parker’s girlfriend.”
“So that means I’m down to sleep with anyone? What, you’re pimping me out now? Snap your fingers and I pull out my dick and stick it wherever you want?” Dean sounded more amused than angry.
Jack swallowed his frustration. “Are you saying you’re not attracted to Pepper?”
“Of course I am. She’s smoking hot. But she’s your girlfriend. And she’s Parker’s sister. In most threesomes, you only have to worry about one person potentially beating you up. It’s a rare occasion when there’s two people gunning for you.”
“Nobody’s gonna beat you up, dumbass,” Jack said with a chuckle. “I’m asking you to do this. And as for Parker, he doesn’t have to know. Actually, we’ll make sure he never knows.”
Dean slanted his head in challenge. “You’re possessive as shit about her, man. You honestly expect me to believe you’re okay with someone else worshipping at her sacred throne?”
“Not someone else. You.”
Just Dean, and just once. Jack wouldn’t even consider it with anybody else. He trusted Dean Colter with his life. The two of them had been to hell and back together, surviving two tours of duty, saving each other’s asses more times than Jack could count. They were Rangers for life. Brothers for life.
If anyone was going to help him give Pepper her fantasy, it was going to be Dean.
Though a part of him still wasn’t sure why he was so determined to make it happen. Pepper hadn’t mentioned threesomes since Adam’s scathing online tirade, but Jack knew her curiosity hadn’t gone away. And he couldn’t fault her for it. She wasn’t as experienced as him when it came to sex. He’d indulged in his fair share of threesomes, experimented with kink that would make her blush. He understood that need to push the limits, to crave pleasure wherever and however you could get it, and he loved how eager she was to explore her sexuality.
The fact that she’d initiated a threesome with her two college buddies told him how badly she wanted to experiment. Well, he could help her do that. And so could Dean, the only man Jack trusted enough with something as intimate as Pepper’s sexuality.
“Okay…let’s pretend I’m saying yes,” Dean started gruffly. “What kind of rules am I looking at here? Will you break my fingers if I touch her somewhere you don’t want me to touch?”
“Nope.” Jack spoke in a firm voice. “It’ll be about her pleasure, not ours. If she asks you to touch her, then you touch her. Wherever she wants.” A lump of jealousy rose in his throat as he imagined another man’s hands on Pepper’s delectable body, but he quickly choked it down.
Dean caught the reaction. “See?” he said triumphantly. “You’re feeling possessive already.”
“I’m not gonna lie. I get a little crazy thinking about it, but…” Jack swallowed, once again conjuring up the image of Dean touching Pepper. Only this time, he didn’t focus on Dean’s fingers, but the haze of ecstasy on Pepper’s face as she rocked into that skillful touch. Her throaty moans. Her body trembling with pleasure.
Jack’s cock instantly stirred, thickening as the need to please his woman surged through his blood.
His woman. Jeez. He’d played the field for so long it was strange to think about settling down with one woman. But Pepper was different.
Pepper was…
His.
“But?” Dean prompted.
“But all I have to do is think about how hot we’re going to make her, and the possessive urges go away.” He had to grin. “That day in the office? She knew you were watching and it turned her on like you wouldn’t believe. That’s all I care about.”
Dean nodded slowly. “If I do this…you’d be calling the shots. From start to finish. I don’t do anything unless you tell me to.”
He nodded back. “Anything she wants, we give her. That’s the only rule.” When his friend suddenly looked stricken, Jack blinked in confusion. “What?”
“What if she wants you and me to…you know. Kiss or something.”
Laughter bubbled in his throat. “Five minutes ago you were saying how you’re dying to fuck me, and now you’re shitting your pants at the thought of kissing me?”
“Dying? Uh-uh. Way to rewrite history, bro. Obviously you’re vocalizing your own deep-seated desire for my fine ass.” Dean primly picked up his knife and fork, then offered a magnanimous smile. “Fine. I’ll kiss you if she asks.”
Jack rolled his eyes. “That’s a very generous offer. You’re such a prince.”
With that, the mood shifted from dead serious to lighthearted, and the two men dug into their food again. Once Dean had swallowed his last morsel of steak and polis
hed off his beer, he glanced across the booth and said, “You’re paying for dinner, right?”
A snicker flew out of Jack’s mouth. “Cheap bastard.”
“Hey, it’s the chivalrous thing to do. You’re the one who asked me out on this date—”
Their waitress chose that moment to check on them. Her smile faltered for a beat, then widened as she swept her gaze from one man to the other. “Are you gentlemen doing okay? Can I get you anything else?”
“We’re great.” Dean flashed a broad grin. “Can you bring us the dessert menu? My date’s treating tonight, so I want to order the most expensive chocolate concoction you’ve got.”
Her lips quivered with barely restrained laughter. “Right away, sir.”
After she was gone, Jack scowled at his friend. “You’re a jerk for toying with that poor woman.”
“Toying with her? No way. I just made her night.” Dean’s expression turned smug. “Every woman on the planet fantasizes about two hot studs doing the nasty. Trust me, she’ll make herself come a dozen times tonight and go to bed with a smile on her face.”
Dean was probably right, but Jack wasn’t too interested in putting a smile on their waitress’s face. He was more concerned with putting one on Pepper’s.
Yep, Pepper was the only woman who mattered, and by the time Jack was through, he’d make every single one of her fantasies come true.
Chapter Twelve
The steering wheel under her hands responded like a dream as Pepper took the final corner, following Jack’s directions into the hotel entrance way. “Damn, that was an awesome ride.”
“Except for the bit when you decided to drag race on the 101, you did good,” Jack teased.
“Drag race? Au contraire, I never even broke a hundred.” Pepper slowed to take the turn, easing the Aston Martin down the narrow ramp into the underground parking area. “Thanks for letting me drive her.”
“No problem.”
She drove into an empty stall, put the vehicle in park and pulled out the keys. She dropped them into Jack’s waiting hand, meeting his dark gaze with as much seriousness as her giddy happiness could allow. “Don’t try to bullshit me. I know this car is your baby, and I don’t expect to get to touch her again for a good long time.”
His grin was slightly sheepish. “It’s not that I don’t trust you.”
“Oh, I get it. Totally. I’m not letting you borrow my camera on a regular basis either. I mean, some things are sacred.” She remembered to push back the seat so that he wouldn’t be folded in two the next time he crawled behind the wheel, then accepted his hand as he magically appeared beside her door to help her out of the car. “I take it we’ve got some things to check for DreamMakers? The big gala in a couple of weeks?”
She didn’t mention the evil Charlene’s name, but somehow the woman still hovered in the back of Pepper’s mind. The meetings between the two of them continued to be wrought with cordial antagonism. Pepper felt she was currently winning, though, because every time Charlene said something derogatory, Pepper would think back to the last time Jack had rocked her world, and her satisfied smirk would instantly silence the catty interplay.
Jack seemed distracted as he opened the trunk and pulled out a gym bag. “We made the bookings for the out-of-town guests, but I wanted to make sure the rooms they gave us are up to standard. I hope you don’t mind.”
“The night is young. We’ve got tons of time after we’re done here. I thought we could try that new club on 9th and Howard.”
He laced his fingers through hers, pulling her toward the elevator. “You feel like dancing tonight, do you?”
Pepper waited until the elevator doors closed behind them before she pressed against him, fingers linked behind his neck as she licked her lips in anticipation for the kiss she saw waiting for her. “I always feel like dancing with you. Slow, fast, dirty, naked…”
A flash of heat nearly incinerated her in the second before he wrapped his hand around her neck, the other dropping below her butt as he raised her in the air and took her lips as if he were starving.
The sound of his bag hitting the ground barely registered through the rush of blood roaring past her ears as his tongue slipped into her mouth and tangled with hers.
Screw it. If there were security cameras someone was about to get an eyeful. Pepper wrapped her legs around Jack’s hips, clinging to him, soaking in every moment of the passion that flared so brightly between them.
Under her his erection was thick and solid, and she rotated her hips to rub their bodies together, triggering a low rumble as his arms tightened even more.
“Dammit, Pepper.” He eased his mouth away, his gaze burning into her from only inches away. “I could fuck you right here,” he growled.
Oh. Yes, please. Her heart pounded wildly, but she supposed the very rational and controlled move of him lowering her to the floor and picking up the gym bag was a better idea than having DreamMakers banned from the hotel altogether for breaking every one of the public displays of affection laws California had.
Still, her goals for the evening had totally changed. “Let’s get this done so we can find a place where I can suck your cock.”
It took Jack a second to recover from damn near tripping over his own feet. His hand on her arm tugged her to a stop beside one of the hotel doors, and then like some undercover ninja he had her inside the room and up against the wall in zero time flat.
His chocolate brown eyes held her trapped as he pinned her in place, one palm flat to the wall on either side of her shoulders. His blond hair was just messy enough she wanted to drag her fingers through it as he crawled over her and licked every inch of her body.
That wasn’t the look of a man who planned on taking her dancing later. Pepper put his comments about the hotel together with the fact that he had a room key without them going to the front desk.
Fucking A. He’d rented them a place to go crazy?
She drew her fingers along the waistband of his jeans until she could play with the button, her exploration slipping lower to linger over the heavy bulge pushing forward. “Please sir, may I?”
Jack swallowed hard, his hips thrusting into her fingers. “I’ve got a surprise for you.”
She stroked him again, pleased she’d played detective correctly. “I see you do.”
The fire in his eyes only grew hotter. “Do you trust me?”
She rapidly went through a list of possible answers to that, but the only thing she could do was push his button through the opening and ease down the first part of his zipper. “Hell, yeah.”
He pressed his lips to hers, just for a split second before working his way to the sensitive spot underneath her ear. The spot he’d discovered drove her crazy. Two could play at that game, though, and she snuck a hand under his briefs, wrapping her fingers around his thick erection.
“Playing with fire,” Jack warned.
“Make me burn,” she responded. But it was past time for games. “Tell me we’re not just here to check out the room. Tell me we can actually check out the bedsprings—”
“Yes—”
The rest of what he planned to say was lost in a moan as she slid down the wall to her knees, tugging aside his jeans to free his cock. Pepper tipped her head back to look up at him as he leaned on the wall, braced on both elbows as she pulled out the tasty treat she was dying to savor.
“That’s not what I planned for tonight,” Jack muttered. “Tonight is supposed to be all about you. All the things you want to do.”
“I want to suck you off, so we’re good,” Pepper retorted, extending her tongue to lick the head of his cock. She made that first contact while they were still staring at each other, and satisfaction hit in a rush.
Not only from the taste of the tiny drop of anticipation clinging to the narrow slit on his cock, but from the way his eyes damn near rolled back in his head when she licked him.
Whatever his big surprise was, she hadn’t lied. Down on her knees before him, swir
ling her tongue over the hot surface of his fully aroused cock—this was what she wanted. She felt wild and incredibly powerful. Even as he slid one hand down the wall to thread his fingers into her hair, it didn’t matter that with a single tug he could move her in any direction.
She’d made the choice, and that made the whole thing sexy as fuck.
“So damn beautiful,” Jack whispered as he stroked her hair. “Never dye your hair again, baby. It’s too damn pretty to hide.”
Pleasure swarmed her chest. “You like the return of the red?”
“I love it.” His fingers tightened slightly as he tilted her head so that the next time she wrapped her lips around him he could push forward. This was the moment when Pepper thanked whatever benevolent gods there were in the universe that she had no gag reflex.
The full length of his erection slid between her lips, her nose bumping briefly into his abs of steel before he cursed and withdrew, twisting himself away from her and dragging her to her feet.
“Pepper. God, you shatter my brain into a million pieces. Stop. I need to talk to you about something.”
Talking, smocking. Pepper grabbed the bottom of her shirt and peeled it off overhead, tossing it aside as she paced after him. Jack retreated into the open living space. She undid her pants, stepped out of them, and joined him in the middle of the room.
“Talk fast,” she demanded, lifting her hands to work on his shirt buttons. “I haven’t had hotel sex with you yet, and I can’t frickin’ wait.”
A knock sounded at the door, and Jack sighed. “So much for preparing you ahead of time.”
“Oh, did you arrange some kind of naughty room service?” Pepper glanced at the abandoned clothes on the floor. “Want me to go hide in the bathroom?”
He turned on her, examining her carefully. Something in his eyes clicked, and she was suddenly aware she was dealing with a very determined man with an agenda she didn’t fully comprehend.
“No hiding,” Jack ordered. “I want you to stand right there, hands at your sides, and I don’t want you to move an inch until I tell you to. Understand?”