Make Me

by Turner, Alyssa

  She giggled. “Boy, I thought Manny was bad.”

  “Aw, honey, wait until you get the two of us together.”

  He slid closer. The swaying boat didn’t do her fizzed head any good. The beer had nothing to do with it. Hurricane Kyle was going to kiss her again, and she was going to let him. She lowered her eyelids in anticipation and felt his warm breath pass over her moistened bottom lip. He smelled amazing—clean, with complex layers of man and earth.

  His words came out as a whisper. “If I try, I bet I could still taste him on you.” His tongue flicked at the divot in her bottom lip.

  Rebecca could only think of one thing to say. “And if you can’t?”

  “I think we should try to change that, don’t you?”

  Kyle pulled back, and Rebecca had to keep herself from jumping him. Her lips were suddenly very lonely. He studied her closely, silent for a moment while he took to rubbing a lock of her hair between his fingers. She kept perfectly still, waiting for what would happen next.

  “You like him.”

  She nodded. “Yeah, I do.”

  “He likes you too. I can tell. I can also understand why.”

  His stare was molten, like the sun, and too dangerous to return. So, she cast her gaze to the shore. “What are you getting at, Kyle?”

  He stilled his fingers with the lock of her hair. “How do you feel about the thing with me and Manny? No jokes.”

  Truth time. The question sliced at her, peeling her open and making her feel exposed. “It was kind of a shock last night. I’m not going to lie.”

  Kyle placed his index finger under her chin and guided her face back to him. There was simply no escape. “What else?”

  “I thought you looked amazing together.” Rebecca dabbed at her bottom lip with her tongue, wishing it was Kyle’s despite herself. “It was an instant turn-on.”

  “That’s why you didn’t say anything when we first came into the room. You were hoping to watch.”

  “I was in shock.” Her face burned like a furnace, and she frowned to mask her embarrassment.

  “You wanted to watch.”

  Rebecca pressed her lips together on a held breath and finally, when there was no hope of hiding, she nodded. How was it that Kyle reduced her to a mute with little more than his penetrating stare and a few words?

  He curled his lips in a slow, simmering grin. “Say it…say, ‘Yes, I wanted to watch.’”

  The gates fell, her guard obliterated. “Yes.”

  The word felt like a prisoner dying to be free. Rebecca wondered if her pounding heart would gallop out of her chest. Perhaps it would hitch a ride with her common sense and take off for places unknown. Still, what use was there in avoiding it? He had her pegged.

  “I wanted to watch,” she said.

  “That’s what I thought.” Kyle sat back and sighed. “So how are we going to make this happen?”

  “What?”

  “Manny. How can we get that scaredy-cat to see what he’s missing?”

  “Are you suggesting we try to seduce him?”

  Kyle smirked at her. “I don’t try to seduce anyone.”

  Rebecca rolled her eyes. “Mighty sure of yourself, mister.”

  “What? I’ve already made you kiss me once today.”

  Rebecca was suddenly furious with herself for having melted against those lips earlier in the library room. “If that’s an invitation for another, I’m sorry to disappoint you…you know, with your track record and all.

  Kyle laughed. “That smart mouth of yours is bound to get you into trouble one day.”

  She raised her chin at him, pinning him with fearless eye contact. “Oh really? It’s been doing me just fine.”

  “I think it keeps you from getting what you really want.” He raised his eyebrow and picked up his beer. “You’re talking yourself right out of the best sex you’ve ever had in your life. Right now that’s what that mouth is doing.”

  “The best sex I’ve ever had? You really are a piece of work.”

  “True.” He continued to grin. “But, you’d better let me kiss you again, just to prove once and for all that you’re right and I’m wrong.”

  Rebecca couldn’t exactly bring herself to say no. She frowned instead, feeling like a petulant child and pretty sure that she looked like one too. She tried for sarcastic instead. “And then what? We forget about Manny so you and I can ride off into the sunset?”

  “No, Rebecca,” Kyle said, slowly and deliberately. “Manny is the sunset.”

  “Huh?” She shook her head, as though rattling the words between her ears would help. “Did Olivia drop you on your head? What are you talking about?”

  Kyle sighed. He put his beer down and knelt on the deck, slipping between her knees. “Listen, I’ve been thinking about this all night. Manny and I have this need for each other; we always have and probably always will. We started exploring the whole sexual attraction thing because it just felt natural.”

  Rebecca didn’t detect an ounce of cockiness in his tone this time. She looked down at him and saw honesty.

  “But he wants you too,” Kyle continued. “That’s what’s tearing him apart right now. And here’s the thing…I don’t want him to have to choose. As far as I’m concerned, he doesn’t need to. I think we can both make him happy.”

  “You really love him.”

  Kyle grimaced and took a breath before speaking. “I fucked up. Back on our last tour I told him I couldn’t see him anymore. Having to keep things platonic with that need for him clawing at me was more than I thought I could handle. It was the worst thing I ever did, but I was afraid of the backlash on my mother. She pulled a lot of strings to get us on the same command. The scandal would ruin her.” He looked up at Rebecca with eyes seeking understanding, maybe even absolution. Rebecca nodded for him to continue. Kyle shrugged and then shook his head. “I should have known I’d never be able to walk away from him. I never should have tried. I hurt him, and I hate myself for it.”

  Rebecca’s heart dropped. She cupped his face. “Oh, Kyle. He’ll forgive you.”

  Kyle averted his eyes. “I hope so.”

  “Then Olivia doesn’t know about the two of you.”

  “I went to tell them everything, but I only got to the gay part. Not the Manny part.” He rubbed her thighs up and down. “Or the bi part.”

  “So you consider yourself bi, even though Manny is the only guy you’ve ever been with?”

  Kyle stood. “Straight guy with a man-crush? A gay guy who still likes women? Maybe it’s just Manny that has me switching teams.” He threw his hands up. “Who cares what you call it. I just know what I want.” He placed a sculpted arm on either side of her and leaned in, surrounding her in flexing muscle. He raised his chin toward her, head tilted, eyes sharp like an arrow. “Do you know what you want, Rebecca?”

  Rebecca nearly broke out in a sweat under the pressure, suffering a sudden shortage of witty replies. She was shooting blanks. “I…”

  A sexy little smirk bloomed on his lips. “Yes, you…”

  “I have no idea how to be in the middle of what’s going on between you and Manny.”

  “Come on, Rebecca.” His voice took on a deep rasp. “The middle of anything is always the best part.”

  Holy flooded knickers. “So…” She wet her lips and rubbed them together, then took a long swallow, because the atmosphere was suddenly thick. “How would this work?”

  “Pretty sure you have a good enough imagination to figure it out.”

  “No.” She looked up at him, trying her damnedest not to be hypnotized by the turquoise blue of his eyes. “I mean how do we get Manny to be comfortable with this? He practically wanted to crawl out of his skin last night. I don’t think he’s interested in a thirty-toe fiesta.”

  “Manny just needs some convincing that he’s not selling his soul if he gives it a try.” He paused. “Let’s drive back after you meet with my mom tomorrow morning and show him how hard it is to say no to us.”
<
br />   With his thumbs, he drew long strokes on either side of her neck. She felt her resolve floating away. When he sank his lips onto hers, taking her tongue hostage and making her mouth a willing prisoner, Rebecca was reminded of the look of pure pleasure they’d put on Manny’s face together.

  Call her crazy, but she wanted to see him look like that again.

  Chapter Eleven

  “We’ve already secured the exhibition hall for the first two weeks of October. I can clear my calendar for a gala reception on the sixth.”

  Rebecca was speechless, watching the congresswoman move about the kitchen, pouring herself coffee and handing out marching orders.

  Olivia snapped her fingers. “Thomas, who was that woman from Channel Five who owes me a favor?”

  “Christine O’Shea.”

  “Yes, get her on the phone and tell her I’d like Rebecca to be interviewed on their morning show.” Rebecca almost swallowed her own tongue. “You would love to be on TV, wouldn’t you, Rebecca?”

  “Um…I don’t think…”

  “They’ll softball you, dear. Don’t worry.”

  Rebecca nodded. What else could she do? She was now caught in Hurricane Olivia.

  “Show me what you’ve come up with so far?”

  Rebecca opened her laptop at the kitchen counter. “I’ll have the letters mounted when I get back to the city. Do you have any of your great-grandparents’ personal belongings? It would be awesome to put something tangible in the exhibit. Also, I’ll need a photograph of them if you have one.”

  “I’m ahead of you, honey.” She presented Rebecca with a framed sepia print of the young couple. “Her wedding ring is in this box along with one of his handkerchiefs.”

  “Great! I also thought that you might like to write an introduction for the pamphlet.”

  “Absolutely.” She smiled at Rebecca, stopping for the moment to look directly at her in one long, unwavering stare. “You impress me, Rebecca. Anyone will tell you that’s not easy to do.”

  “Thank you, Olivia.” Rebecca bit her lip and then took a deep breath. A better opportunity to bring up reinstating her department might never come. “Perhaps you might reconsider—”

  Thomas appeared at the door with a phone in his hand. “Olivia, the vice president is on the line.”

  She gave Rebecca a thumbs-up and a wave good-bye as she greeted the vice president in her signature lilting style.

  Rebecca sagged on her stool, feeling exhausted and winded. The Hunters all seemed to have that effect on her.

  * * *

  Manny hung his messenger bag on his closet door and glanced at his phone once more. He took it from the counter and read the last text message again.

  Meet us at my place. Rebecca feels like sushi.

  It buzzed in his hand.

  Don’t worry. We’re ordering the California rolls for you, rookie.

  Manny had to grin. Sushi was definitely out of his comfort zone, and Kyle knew it, but anything had to be better than spending another evening wondering what they were doing without him. Rebecca had been in Lake George or traveling back with Kyle for the last thirty-four hours, and, yes, he was counting. She was supposed to be coming back to his place, not Kyle’s. All weekend he’d struggled with the idea of her returning and worse with the possibility of her not returning.

  Rebecca seemed to have moved into a corner of his heart when he wasn’t looking, and now Kyle was back in his life too, stoking his hunger for more of him. But Manny still felt empty inside. He cursed aloud, hating the confusion that swirled in his head. Manny was a Marine. Marines don’t waffle, don’t get strung out on their emotions.

  He texted back. I’ll be there in forty-five.

  Kyle lived way the hell downtown in one of the posh new high-rises overlooking the harbor. Manny decided to leave Holly in her cozy little spot and take the subway. Parking downtown was impossible. It was already nine. Service on the subway would be nearly nonexistent by eleven, and the usual forty-five minute trip would resemble an eternity, but the idea of spending the night hadn’t crossed his mind—at least not for longer than it took to locate his metro card.

  The Hunters purchased the apartment for Kyle when they were still in Afghanistan. Manny and Kyle had even talked about living there together when they returned stateside. But that was before they’d been threatened with court-martial, before Kyle swapped bunks with another Marine and started avoiding Manny at all costs. Missions had wound down as their tour came to an end. They barely saw each other that last month in the desert. It had suited Manny fine, since looking at Kyle and not being able to have him was a fresh new kind of living hell.

  Not much had changed, really. With two weeks left on his official hiatus—temporary lapses notwithstanding—he still couldn’t have Kyle, because he also wanted Rebecca. There was something just dishonorable about wanting your cake and eating it too. Greedy and selfish—that’s how wanting them both felt.

  He scrubbed his face and grabbed his keys, then headed to the elevator with the gravitational pull from Battery Park putting one leg in front of the other. Outside, he pounded the pavement with a quick and steady beat. Greedy…selfish…greedy…selfish. These words drummed in his head like a vicious spell.

  * * *

  The glass doors of Kyle’s shower fogged up quickly. Rebecca ran the water as hot as she could stand it and scrubbed her skin with the natural loofa Kyle had bought at the organic market along with special soap made with green tea extract. She watched the suds run between her breasts, fork at her navel, and find the smooth valleys at the juncture of her thighs. Her nipples tightened, despite the hot water.

  Kyle knocked on the door. “He should be here in about fifteen.”

  “Just rinsing off.” And freaking out. She turned off the water and placed the loofa on the marble bench seat along with the soap. The masculine, custom-appointed bathroom was bigger than her bedroom growing up, with its separate shower and soaking tub. The apartment might have been newly renovated, but old money dripped from its walls. She stepped onto the velour bath mat and let the water drip from her body as the air conditioning cooled her skin.

  She followed his instructions, so no towel except for her hair. Rebecca hung her head upside-down and gathered her wet locks atop her crown, letting the natural ringlets tumble around her face. Minutes passed like days, but eventually she was dry.

  When Kyle told her to search nyotaimori on the trip back to the city from Lake George, she had been almost speechless when the results showed images of women serving sushi in the nude—with their bodies as the platter. Taking a moment to stash her common sense at the bathroom door, Rebecca stood up straight and walked into Kyle’s dining room naked. He was busy pouring soy sauce into the small plastic saucers provided by the restaurant for takeout.

  Maddeningly, Kyle seemed entertained by the way she rolled her arms inward to form a V-shaped screen over her tasty bits. He raised an eyebrow at her. “Are you having second thoughts?”

  Rebecca wrung her hands. “No, but I can’t believe I let you talk me into this.” She nodded toward the wall. “If you’d be so kind…”

  He chuckled, but turned for the moment it took to arrange herself on the glass table. “You know every bit of that adorable modesty is about to go right out of the window. I’ll be ogling you all evening.”

  Rebecca had the distinct sense that ogling wouldn’t be the half of what was about to happen and her body tingled with every unspoken promise in his smug tone.

  He turned around, the silly grin melting away from his face. “Wow. I’m almost sorry I ordered so much food. You’re way too beautiful to be covered in fish.”

  If she blushed any more, Rebecca was sure she’d suffer an aneurism. He brushed his thumb against her cheek.

  “Are you ready?”

  She smiled up at him. “Go ahead. Maki me.”

  He grinned, picked up the chopsticks, and got to work. Rebecca tried her best to keep still as he lifted each elaborately fashioned pie
ce of edible art off the chilled plate and rested them in orderly formation onto her skin. He started with her right thigh on down to her ankle, then did the same for the other leg. The pieces were cold, but Rebecca’s nipples puckered with the anticipation of hungry mouths eating their fill.

  Next, Kyle arranged pieces on her collar bone, down one arm and then the other. Four for her rib line, three for her belly. She concentrated on not moving. Kyle focused on each placement with a special kind of precision that turned his usually playful expression into something dangerously sexy. Mouth parted, eyes narrowed, he looked as though he would eat her alive.

  “Five more pieces and you’re done.”

  Rebecca chewed on her bottom lip. “I actually really like sushi.”

  “I’m pretty sure you’re going to like it even more after tonight.”

  “So, I’ll get to have some?”

  “You’ll get your fill, don’t worry. But not until Manny gets here.”

  “Normally the model is supposed to just be still. No eating, no talking.”

  “What, are you an expert now?” He raised an eyebrow at her and placed a piece atop her left nipple.

  She laughed nervously. “I’m a librarian. Tell me to look something up and I’ll be able to write a thesis on it in twenty minutes.”

  He winked at her. “Remember what I said about the brainy ones.”

  Rebecca’s blood rushed hot, nerves and all. “Am I really doing this?”

  He nodded. “Because you’re dying to see the look on Manny’s face when he sees what’s for dinner.”

  Rebecca couldn’t keep the wicked smile from her lips as she nodded in return. Kyle made her want to do wicked things, made her think that she could. “You are such a bad influence on me,” she said through her grin.

  He trailed his finger down her sternum, putting enough pressure there to make her feel pinned. He leaned in just inches from her face, flicking his tongue against her lips. “The worst.”

  Kyle pulled back, feeling about to burst through his zipper. Rebecca lay there on his glass dining table, looking suspended in the air and his for the taking. But she wasn’t. She was a present for Manny, practically wrapped up in a bow. It hadn’t been easy to get her to agree to this crazy plan during the ride back from his parents’ place. Even then, he’d known the stunt wasn’t just for Manny’s benefit. Rebecca wiggled her nose and tried to blow a wisp of hair that had tangled in her eyelash. He laughed at her cross-eyed attempt and swept it away from her forehead.