“Think you better get used to hearing me say it, mate. I get the feeling I’m going to be repeating myself quite often in the future,” Damon said.
Before Phoebe could respond, Will lifted his head from the crock of her neck and gazed up at her, his stare so intent she felt it caress her very soul. “Something tells me you’re correct, Stretch.”
Pheobe’s heart raced faster. She stared at him, her throat thick.
Damon plonked down beside her, pinning her with an unwavering gaze. “We’re not taking no for an answer, Phoebe Masters, so don’t even think about it.”
“I—”
He shook his head, putting his fingers on her lips. “Before you go on, let me say something.” He shot Will a look, his eyes conveying words to his friend she couldn’t hear. “Yes, both Tiny and I are pretty bloody hotshot, flying-up-the-ranks investigators. Yes, we’ve both been tapped more than once for promotion to the Sydney offices.”
Phoebe gasped. They had? “When? Before I moved here?” she asked. “Why didn’t you tell me?” She swallowed a sudden lump in her throat. “Why didn’t either of you go?”
Damon gave Will another of those meaningful looks. “Neither of us wanted to live in Sydney. Why would we? It’s too far away from you.”
She swallowed again, searching his face for any hint of mirth.
Nothing.
Damon, the man who seemed capable of finding humor in every aspect of his life, was serious. A prickling heat began to creep over her body.
“Eight years we’ve been working together,” Will said, and she jerked her gaze to him. A grin curled at his lips. Will was gorgeous when serious, but that small smile… “Eight years since I was promoted and transferred to the Newcastle offices from the Outback. Eight years since Stretch here became my boss…and my mate. In all that time, do you think there haven’t been rumors about what we do together when we’re off duty?”
She blinked. She knew how gossipy the firefighting organization was. What she hadn’t known was that Will and Damon were the subject of such gossip. “Why?”
It was Damon’s turn to grin—the patented Damon Hunt grin, sardonically cheeky and flippant. “We’re two hot, bloody sexy men who spend most of our time together, turning down one woman after another. Hell, most of the blokes in the Newcastle unit are convinced we’re fucking each other.”
It was the last part of his sentence she should have focused on, but as it seemed wont to do of late, her mind latched onto something far less significant. “Why did you turn down one woman after another?”
Damon burst out laughing, loud and completely free of shame. “Fuck a duck, Masters,” he shook his head at her, “I thought you were smart.”
“We turned down one woman after another,” Will stated, his grin growing wider, “because we only wanted you, Pheebs. Even if we didn’t know it at the time.”
She gave him a steady look, her pulse thumping in her neck, that prickly tension sweeping over her. “So, who were the dumb ones then?”
“And then when we realized, we ran like gutless chickens,” Damon continued, pulling an expression of such boyish exasperation she had to bite back a laugh. “Well, you did the running, although it wasn’t a run as such but a planned move. But we let you. And we didn’t come after you. As much as we wanted to.”
“Again,” Phoebe asked, her voice teasing, “who are the dumb ones?”
“We were, Pheebs.” Will took her hand, his fingers warm, his grip loose and yet so very, very firm. “Bloody dumb. We should have followed you to Morpeth and apologized for being dickheads and begged you to come back to us. We both know that, but the point Stretch is trying so badly to make here—honestly, I sometimes wonder how he manages to fill out all the paperwork involved in our job—is that we’re already shrouded in rumor and conjecture and it hasn’t killed our careers one bit.”
“But rumor and fact are two very different things,” Phoebe said quickly. The prickling heat had become a tingling sensation, like all the blood in her veins was charged. Like she was a glass rod ready to be blown into something beautiful, beyond comprehension—or shattered beyond repair.
“Pheebs,” Will leaned toward her, his grin making her heart thump and her sex constrict, “we’re not going to get kicked off our jobs because we’re both in love with the same woman.”
“Might if we bring said woman to a possible arson scene and fuck her senseless on all the evidence, but I think we can control ourselves a little, don’t you, Masters?” Damon cocked an eyebrow at her. “Besides, I’m pretty certain you’re going to be too busy overseeing the rebuilding of your studio here in Morpeth to come make love to us at crime scenes.”
Phoebe’s lips tingled. Her nipples pinched tight. “Morpeth? Not Newcastle?”
Damon gave Will a conspiratorial smile. “I actually enjoyed the drive up here today. Reckon I could do it every day, how ’bout you, Tiny?”
Will rolled his eyes. “As long as I’m driving. And by the way, how many times do I have to tell you not to call me Tiny?”
“I’ll make you a deal. Masters here says ‘yes’, I’ll stop calling you Tiny. Deal?”
Both men turned to look at her. Her men.
An image of them pleasuring her flashed through her head, their bodies so close they were almost one, their lengths buried in her body…three forms of living substance, wrought by desire so hot, so absolute, one would never be able to exist without the others again.
They were one. They would always be one. It was as it was meant to be.
Born from a fire intended to destroy.
New creation from old.
Future from past.
They loved her. They wanted her. And she loved them. Society be fucked, she loved them both.
Always would.
“I’m thinking the nickname ‘Bilbo’ would suit more. I mean, Will is shorter,” she said with a grin.
A second before both men threw themselves at her. Their eyes ablaze with elated desire…their bodies instruments of wicked, wild heat once more.
The End
About the Author
Lexxie’s not a deviant. She just has a deviant’s imagination and a desire to entertain readers with her words. Add the two together and you get darkly erotic romances with a twist of horror, sci-fi and the paranormal.
When she’s not submerged in the worlds she creates, Lexxie’s life revolves around her family: a husband who thinks she’s insane and her daughters, who both utterly captured her heart and changed her life forever.
Living in Australia makes it a bit tricky for Lexxie to pop by for coffee, but she still loves to chat! Contact her by email or find her at her website or her blog (http://lexxiecouper.wordpress.com/).
Lex welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email address on her author bio page at www.ellorascave.com.
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Also by Lexxie Couper
Cougar Challenge: Copping a Feel
Seven Deadly Daemons 1: Timeless Wrath
Seven Deadly Daemons 2: Endless Lust
Stone’s Soul
Print books by Lexxie Couper
Passionate Peridot anthology
Discover for yourself why readers can’t get enough of the multiple award-winning publisher Ellora’s Cave. Whether you prefer e-books or paperbacks, be sure to visit EC on the web at www.ellorascave.com for an erotic reading experience that will leave you breathless.
www.ellorascave.com
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