Her Three Rangers: A Reverse Harem Romance

by Roma James

  She didn’t answer, but her eyes told me everything I needed to know. I was onto her. If this was the game, I knew how to play it.

  When she still didn’t say anything, I continued, “But look me in the eye right now and tell me there isn’t even a tiny part of you that wonders what it would be like to kiss me.”

  I leaned in again to hold her gaze, the heat in her eyes plain to see. “Tell me,” I repeated. “Just so you know, I wonder what it would be like to kiss you. I think about it a lot. I’m thinking about it right now… and so are you. Now tell me I’m wrong.”

  She didn’t look away this time, but she didn’t deny what I said this time, either.

  “You really think about that?” she asked, her voice just above a whisper. “About what it would be like… to kiss me?”

  “All the time,” I answered, leaning in closer. “I wonder if those pouty pink lips are as soft as they look. I wonder if you liked to be kissed gently or hard and rough. I wonder what you taste like.”

  Her lips parted and she drew a ragged breath. That’s when I knew she was done pretending. That was when I knew for sure that she wanted it, too.

  But first I wanted to hear her say it.

  “Do you want it?” I asked, slowly moving closer until our faces were just a couple of inches apart. I could feel her breath against my skin, and it took every ounce of willpower I had not to give up this little game and reach out to pull her close. “Do you want to kiss me right now?”

  She gave an almost imperceptible nod. “Yes,” she whispered.

  That was good enough for me.

  I brushed my lips against hers, and yeah, they were every bit as soft as they looked. I reached out and lightly stroked my fingers across her cheek, my hand moving down and around the back of her neck, pulling her closer as she opened her mouth to me.

  I kissed her deeply, loving the delicious little whimper that escaped from the back of her throat as she melted against me. She was fucking gorgeous, and the way she kissed me back, hungry and needy, had my cock struggling to get free of the towel that was just barely draped across my lap.

  This kiss was even better than I had imagined, and I hadn’t been lying when I’d said she had been on my mind pretty much constantly since we’d arrived in Grey Ridge.

  I let my hand move down from the back of her neck to her shoulder, intending to work my way lower still, when she forcefully pushed me back and practically leapt back onto her couch cushion and as far away from me as possible.

  “The fuck—” I muttered, blinking as my body tried to figure out what the hell had just happened. One second we’d been kissing, the next… this.

  She reached up to smooth back her hair, her wide-eyed expression and her kiss-swollen lips completely giving her away.

  Before I could finish asking what the sudden change was all about, Ty walked in through the door. So that was it. She didn’t want him to know we’d been kissing.

  Unfortunately for her, he shot me an inquisitive look the moment he walked in, his expression changing from curious to completely satisfied as I nodded once.

  Ty and I had known each other for so long that we usually didn’t need to actually speak in order to communicate. He had been able to tell we’d been kissing—I was pretty sure it would have been obvious to anyone with eyes—but the fact that he hadn’t actually said anything spoke volumes.

  “Back so soon?” I asked, struggling not to smile as he looked from me to her and back again. “Grace and I were just having the most interesting conversation.”

  “Oh, really?” he asked, his eyebrow quirking up. “Anything you want to share?”

  I looked over and gave her an inquisitive look. “Grace?” I asked. “Anything?”

  She shook her head, but would only meet my gaze for a couple of seconds before shifting her attention back to Ty.

  “Guess we’re going to keep that conversation to ourselves,” I said, shrugging as I stood up from the couch and re-adjusted my towel. “I think I heard the shower shut off,” I said, tossing her a wink as I left the room.

  “Still in that towel, eh?” Cody laughed as he passed me in the hallway, fully dressed.

  “This towel has been good to me tonight,” I replied, loving the confused look he gave me in return.

  He could sit and wonder what the hell that meant while I was gone.

  At least my clothes were dry by the time I was finally able to retrieve them. I hurried to put them on, the warm, soft fabric—clean again after a long day out in the Texas sun—felt good against my skin. A washer and dryer were just a couple more things that you take for granted until you suddenly have to do without.

  I was no stranger to extended trips on the road—hell, none of us were—but man, it had been a lot of years since I’d had to really rough it like this. Living in a tent for more than a couple of days at a time was fine for rowdy kids, but I was getting too old for that shit.

  Walking out of the bathroom, I headed straight for the front door, pausing only for a second to give Grace a knowing look.

  It might be rough as hell here, but at least the scenery was nice.

  She only met my gaze for a moment, though, before turning her full attention back to Ty and Cody. Which was fine. I wasn’t the jealous type to begin with, but especially not now that I knew where I stood with her.

  If we could work something out between the four of us, that would be great. It wouldn’t be the first time Cody, Ty, and I had made a similar pact.

  Now it was up to each of them to give it their best shot. In the end, only Grace could decide if being with all three of us was something she wanted to do.

  Chapter 8 - Ty

  I gave Grace a questioning look as Jaeger stood up and left the room. She was clearly uncomfortable, and that was the last thing I wanted. Still, if we were going to ask her to spend a little time with each of us, this was really the only way to get the ball rolling.

  Crossing the room, I paused where Jaeger had been sitting next to her, then grimaced. “Did he really sit here with his wet towel?”

  She rolled her eyes and laughed. “That’s what I said. But I guess I can’t blame him too much. He did ask before he sat down.”

  I grinned. “Nah, we can still blame him. Trust me, he catches plenty of hell on a regular basis from me, Cody, and the rest of the guys. He can take it.”

  “Where are the rest of the guys?” she asked, gesturing toward the seat next to her. “And please feel free to sit down, though you’ll probably have to sit to one side to avoid the wet spot.”

  I quickly saw what she meant as I sat down. Of course, Jaeger had planted his big ass right in the middle of the cushion, meaning that if I wanted to avoid getting my ass wet, I’d have to either sit as far as I could to one side of the couch or the other.

  He had probably planned it that way, the bastard. He was always getting a laugh by doing shit like that.

  But even though he seemed to take it as his mission in life to find a million new ways to piss me off, I couldn’t help but grin as I wondered how he’d react if he’d known that he had actually done me a favor with his little cushion prank.

  The way I saw it, it was the best excuse to sit a whole lot closer to Grace than I normally would have a reason to.

  She had even said it herself that I’d have to sit on one side or the other, so who could blame me for choosing the side closest to her?

  As soon as I tried to sit down, I discovered another bonus to the fact that we’d be sitting so close—there was nowhere to put my arm.

  Or, rather, there was only one place to put it—over the back of the couch behind her. If my arm slipped just a little, it would be draped around her shoulders.

  Just another win handed to me by Jaeger, as far as I was concerned.

  “Is this okay?” I asked, feeling a little twinge of guilt for being so happy to get way up into her personal space. “I can, uh… sit somewhere else if you want.”

  She looked at me and smiled, her face already
so close to mine that it was hard to concentrate on anything else.

  “This is good,” she said. “Besides, the only other place to sit is the floor, and that’s out of the question.”

  It wouldn’t have been out of the question if that had been what she’d asked me to do. But yeah, sitting here next to her, my arm practically around her was a hell of a lot better than sitting on the floor.

  “So… the other guys?” she prompted. “Will I be seeing any of them?”

  I shrugged. “Hard to tell. Probably not, though. First, there aren’t that many other guys. Cody, Jaeger, and I always ride together. The others join us when they can. But we have guys from all over the state. Guys with jobs and families who can’t always spend weeks at a time on the road. But they’re always around if we need them.”

  “I see,” she said, nodding. “And the three of you don’t have families? Jobs?”

  “This is our job,” I answered. “We were on a job when we had to stop here.” I paused. That was really all she needed to know about our line of work at the moment. “Anyway,” I continued, “Our lives aren’t really conducive to holding down a relationship. I’m sure there are women out there who want a man that’s never in one place for longer than a few days at a time, one who curses too much and hangs around with guys like Jaeger and Cody.” I snorted. “I’m sure she’s out there somewhere, but she’s a rare lady, indeed.”

  Grace laughed. “I see what you mean. In your defense, the three of you make for some really interesting company. I’m pretty sure having you all around is the most interesting thing that’s happened to any of us in a while.”

  “It has been an interesting time, hasn’t it?” I looked over at her, letting my arm move down just a little so that my fingers were playing along the top of her shoulder, teasing at the neckline of her shirt, just barely skimming across the soft, tanned skin there.

  She sucked in a quick breath but didn’t pull away. Her eyes drifted down to my mouth, then back up to meet my gaze as I leaned in just a little closer.

  “Ty, I…”

  I let my arm fall completely across her shoulder, kneading and massaging as I tentatively explored with my fingers.

  “Yeah?” I asked, still so close I could hear every breath, could even see her pulse fluttering wildly at the base of her neck. Jesus, did she have any idea how beautiful she was? “You… what?”

  She opened her mouth like she wanted to answer, but no words came out. Instead, she tipped her head back just a little, just enough to let me know what she wanted me to do.

  And how in the hell was I supposed to resist an invitation like that?

  I kissed her. Slowly, tentatively at first, then deeper, harder as she opened her mouth to me, moaning just a little as her hands reached for me.

  Cradling her head in my hands, I explored her mouth with my tongue, loving the sweet taste of her as she held onto my arms, her fingernails digging into my biceps from the intensity of that kiss.

  “Oh my God, Ty,” she gasped, looking up at me as she broke away.

  I brushed my thumb across her full lips as I looked into those big, beautiful blue eyes. Her pupils were blown, and she drew a ragged breath as her lips parted again.

  Jesus, she was the hottest woman I’d had in front of me since… ever. There was really nobody else who even came close.

  Even now, in regular clothes with her hair pulled back in a pony tail, she was simply beautiful. And she had me hard as a fucking rock.

  “Is this okay?” I asked, shifting my position a little to relieve some of the tightness in my jeans. I hadn’t taken my hands away from her face, but I wanted her to know that she was the one in control of this situation. “We can stop now if you want…”

  “No,” she said without hesitating. “That’s not… I don’t want to stop. Just… just kiss me again. Please.”

  I didn’t even try to respond with words. Anything I could have said would have only delayed what we both wanted.

  Kissing her again, I skipped the uncertain, tentative part and she responded just as urgently, gasping and moaning directly into my mouth as I kissed her hungrily, deeply.

  I let one hand trail down her neck, then lower and lower, until I was cupping one of her perfect, beautiful breasts.

  She leaned in, pressing herself against me, moaning so loudly that I honestly thought we might wake up her grandmother.

  Then, just as suddenly as she had started, she stopped, pulling away again breathlessly as I sat there in a daze.

  “I-I can’t,” she said, softly. “I can’t keep this from you anymore. It wouldn’t be right…”

  My mind was still on the kiss we had just shared, and on those fucking perfect breasts, so it took me a few seconds to register the words she’d just said.

  When they finally made it through to my brain, I still couldn’t make sense of what she was trying to say.

  “Can’t keep what from me?” I asked. “What wouldn’t be right?”

  “This kiss…” She shook her head. “I mean… not this kiss. It felt… so right. But then, so did the others.”

  Realization started to dawn on me as she spoke.

  She wanted me. There was no doubt about that. And God knows I wanted her, too.

  But she also wanted Cody.

  And Jaeger.

  “The others?” I asked, just to be sure I was on the right track with my thinking. Just to test the waters and see if she really might be interested in trying the kind of thing the guys and I had already discussed. “The other guys?”

  “Jaeger,” she said, swallowing hard and looking down away from me for a split-second before finding my eyes again through those long lashes. “And… and Cody, too. I kissed both of them. Earlier tonight. Oh my God, you probably hate me now. You probably all will. You’ll think I’m some kind of… of…”

  “No,” I said, holding up a hand to stop her from going there. “That’s the last thing I would think. It’s the last thing any of us would think about you. You’re beautiful, Grace. You’re sexy and confident and… and a fucking amazing doctor. Can you blame the other guys for seeing that in you, too?”

  Her brow furrowed, then she slowly shook her head. “No, I don’t guess I could… but…”

  I quirked a brow and waited. “But…”

  “But don’t you think that makes me some kind of horrible person? I don’t think they know, either…”

  All I could do was shrug. “I think they might know more than you give them credit for. To answer your question, though—no. I don’t think that makes you anything except a grown woman who knows what she wants. There’s nothing wrong with that, from where I’m sitting.”

  “That’s just it, though,” she sighed and opened her hands. “I don’t know what I want. If I knew, I would have just kissed you. Or Cody. Or Jaeger. But I couldn’t make myself stop with just one. I wanted all three of you. You don’t see a problem with that?”

  So, she’d come to the conclusion that I’d hoped for, but she was still beating herself up over it. That wasn’t ideal, of course, but at least I wouldn’t have to worry about the other guys having their feelings hurt if she hadn’t liked one of them.

  Clearly, that wasn’t the issue here.

  “I don’t see a problem at all,” I answered. “Look, Grace. You’ve already said you want all three of us, right? Well, there’s a simple solution.”

  “There is?”

  “Yeah, there really is.” I smiled and reached for her hand. “You can have all three of us. We can share.”

  “Oh my God…” She pulled her hand back and gave me a sideways glance. “Share? I think you might have the wrong idea here. I’m not okay with being passed around like… like…”

  This had taken a left turn. I had said the wrong thing somewhere, and I needed to get us back on track before she convinced herself that I meant for her to be some kind of party favor.

  “I’m not okay with passing you around like that, either,” I said, looking directly into her eye
s and hoping my calm tone would reassure her. “That’s not the kind of arrangement I’m talking about.” I could tell that she was going to need more of an explanation, so I just decided to cut to the chase. She was a smart woman. She could make up her own mind once she had all the facts. Best to just lay it all out there and leave it up to her. “Listen, I’m sure you can imagine that in a group of guys like ours, there aren’t a lot of women who come around.”

  She nodded.

  Okay.

  We were getting back on the same page.

  So far, so good.

  “And so,” I continued, “it isn’t unheard of—or even uncommon—for just a few women to be attached to more than one man. There isn’t anything inherently bad or wrong about it. We’re all adults here. We all understand the situation.” I paused for a moment to let those words sink in, my eyes roaming up and down over her body in the meantime. “And the situation here is that the three of us like you a lot. You clearly like the three of us as well. I think we can work something out that would be good for all of us, that we can all agree on.”

  I sat back, letting her think about what I’d just said. I’d been upfront and honest about what we wanted and how we could all happily make it happen. Her body was clearly on board, but it remained to be seen whether she could convince her brain to go along for the ride.

  “Let me get this straight,” she began, speaking slowly. The look she was giving me was skeptical, to be sure, but it wasn’t hostile. A part of her was really open to the idea. “You, Cody, and Jaeger are all totally fine with the idea of sharing me, for lack of a better word? “

  “Totally fine with that,” I nodded.

  “And it would be like I was dating any one of you, but I’d really be with all three of you equally?”

  Dating was sort of a strong word for how these things usually went down, but she was different from the women who normally came after us, too.

  For starters, she wasn’t chasing us. We were all three after her. And whether she knew it or not, that gave her the upper hand.

  If she wanted to make this work, we’d play by her rules.