* * * *
Madeline set the oyster shell back down on its bed of crushed ice and wiped the corners of her mouth with her napkin. The way the men looked at her unnerved her. She got the distinct sense that they wanted to eat her alive, which was ridiculous. These were two powerful men who could have anything and any woman in the world. They certainly wouldn’t want her, at least not for anything meaningful. Despite her earlier argument, she was petite and maybe even a little on the mousey side. The Ellis brothers probably dated tall, lithe models or heiresses with legs that went on till next Tuesday. She didn’t come from a wealthy, well-connected family and had never once in her life said, “Do you know who my father is?” in a defiant or haughty manner. Madeline was just a regular girl with regular dreams. Except, a part of her knew that her dreams would soon be infiltrated by two not-so-regular guys.
“I know it sounds ridiculously cheesy, but I have never seen an oyster eaten so lusciously in my life. Truly.” Garrett leaned toward her and again held an oyster out for her. This time it was plain, simple and pure, just the way she liked it. “Please, have another.”
She took it genially, though it was suddenly the last thing she wanted to put in her mouth. Garrett ran his tongue across his lips, and she wanted nothing more than to have him inside her. She thought she heard a low growl to her left and turned to see Dalton still eyeing her with that same ravenous look.
She offered Dalton the oyster. “You look hungrier than I am. You want it?” God, she needed to get out of there or at least out from under their stares. The intensity in Dalton’s dark green eyes, like two smoldering emeralds, bore deep into her, and she felt like she would melt beneath his gaze.
Dalton let out a low chuckle. “Darling, I’m starving, but what I want wouldn’t be on the menu.” His voice sounded husky and thick, guttural.
“Oh?” Madeline’s mouth went dry. Her panties became damp as her pussy throbbed at his words and the way his deep voice drawled each syllable in that rough way. She wanted it to be her that he hungered for. But was she? How could he possibly want her of all people? And, besides, this was not the right time to start a relationship and, anyway, whom would she choose. Ha! As if she had a choice. It was more likely that neither man had any interest in her, let alone both. No, Madeline had a job to do. People, families depended on her. She couldn’t let them down, especially not for something as frivolous as a roll in the hay with someone who could secure the future of her organization. It was a risk not worth taking. Just when her resolve had been re-cemented, a single touch began chiseling away at her.
She felt warmth spreading across her thigh and realized it was Garrett’s hand. Even though it was through a couple layers of fabric, his touch singed her skin. She wanted to be professional, and a professional would be offended at this intimate and unsolicited contact, especially at a business meeting. But she wanted it there. She needed his hand on her, all over her. Then an even stronger heat surrounded the left side of her body as Dalton inched closer to her, invading her personal space and her wanton fantasies at the same time.
It had been a long time since she’d been with a man, and the prospect of being with either of these men both frightened and tantalized her. Then the image of both of them on her flashed in her mind, and the onrush of feelings and sensations that flooded her body from within verily scared the wits out of her. Being with two men, especially these two men, at the same time was ridiculous. She wasn’t that kind of girl.
She suddenly struggled to remember why she was there in the first place. All she could think about was the overwhelming heat surrounding her body that was ignited by these two brothers.
“You know, this place has been in our family for generations and was named after our great-great-aunt Hester,” Dalton said.
“That’s right. Since we were children we’ve been eating USDA Prime grade meat,” Garrett drawled.
The children. She chastised herself for her unprofessionalism, her lack of focus. She had a purpose and that was getting funding for her kids. She couldn’t let misdirected hormones get in the way. She knew Ellis Enterprises could afford to spare a few thousand dollars. And once she secured this deal, she would move on to the next corporate sponsor and then the next. She couldn’t think about herself right now. There wasn’t time for that. She had other obligations that were far more important than what her vagina wanted.
She cleared her throat and thanked her lucky stars their dinner was being brought out. “Great, food,” she said cheerily.
One waiter set down Garrett’s ample steak while another hefted to the table two plates of the thickest, juiciest, bloodiest hunks of flesh that Madeline had ever seen. Instead of being repulsed, she found her mouth watering at the sight and the smell. Her eyes fixated on the large T-shaped bone, and salivating for it made her feel like an animal.
“You look a little surprised, Madeline. It’s a porterhouse. That’s what you ordered. This is what real men eat, not some sissy steak where they take the bone out for you,” Dalton teased his brother.
“Well, I don’t see the point in messing with all that if what I want is the tender, juicy, flavorful parts. More payoff for far less work.”
“A little hard work never hurt anybody. Isn’t that right, Miss Spencer?” Dalton ate a piece of steak, and the way his jaw muscles worked mesmerized her. Her thoughts momentarily flitted back to her desires, and she imagined those strong muscles tantalizing her before she determinedly pushed those thoughts away.
“My sentiments exactly, which is the reason I’m here tonight. As we were discussing before, I am trying to start a non-profit organization for—”
“You got the money, Miss Spencer. Now can we enjoy the rest of dinner? You haven’t even touched your steak yet. It’s not getting any deader.” Dalton put another forkful of red meat into his mouth and smiled smugly.
“Wait, what did you say?”
“I said it’s not getting any deader, meaning—”
“No, before that. About the money?”
“Yeah, you got it. How much do you need? We’ll write you a check in the morning. I don’t carry my corporate checkbook with me everywhere I go.”
Madeline sat there for a moment, stunned. Well, that wasn’t so hard. She then realized he was waiting for her to respond. How much money should she ask for? She didn’t want to say too little, but she also didn’t want to offend them with an exorbitant amount. “How about twenty-five thousand?”
“You’re saying it like it’s a question, as though you want me to haggle or something. Ellises don’t haggle. We demand and that’s how you get what you want. Now, try it again. Tell me how much money your organization needs.”
“Twenty-five thousand…and not a penny less.”
“Twenty-five thousand? Is that all?” Dalton smiled broadly at her in a way that made her think he was toying with her.
“Thirty thousand,” Madeline countered.
“Done.”
She felt proud of herself and yet had a niggling doubt in her mind that she should have asked for more money, but this would make up more than half of what they needed to run the center for the first six months. Her mind raced with what that money should go toward first and calculated how much she would need, estimating how much more time she needed to raise the funds.
“Madeline? I can’t decide whether your jaw is hanging open because you’re surprised or hungry.” Dalton held a forkful of steak up, brushing the meat to her bottom lip. “You want a bite?” Dalton chuckled as did Garrett.
She shut her mouth with a snap and then covered it with her hand, but she got a hint of the meaty flavor, and her stomach grumbled. Her body seemed to yearn for it, just a taste, just a nibble, but it seemed so wrong.
What was it she said earlier about red meat?
“Sorry, I was just thinking about the center and how important your donation is to keeping this organization on its feet.”
“And we’re happy to help any way we can.” Dalton smiled.
> “Yes, and I am eternally grateful.” She looked down at her watch. As much as she enjoyed their company, she had gotten what she wanted, and it was time for her to get back home and start planning for the next day. She had an entire list of companies to visit, and she doubted the meetings would go as smoothly as this one.
“Do you need to be somewhere?”
“How rude of me. Actually, yes, I really ought to get going soon. It’s getting rather late, and I have a lot of planning to do still and organizational needs to attend to before morning.”
There was an awkward silence, and both the Ellis brothers looked displeased. She cringed inside, realizing she still had a lot to learn when it came to public relations and corporate schmoozing. Wasn’t business like a game? She needed to learn how to play if she was going to succeed.
Dalton had a somber expression on his face. “It does sound like you have a lot of work to do, and I understand if you have to leave—”
“But,” Garrett said, “I think we have another option that we could discuss tonight, since you’re here. I mean, it would be a waste of a beautiful steak and your time for you to leave right now before you fully explore all the opportunities before you. For your company.” Garrett smiled devilishly, and his eyes twinkled.
She had a feeling his intentions were less than sincere, and she could swear he had inched even closer to her. Her gut told her something was amiss. But when her stomach growled again, she realized it wouldn’t be the worst idea to stick around a while longer. Running out on a free meal was something she never did as a college student, and it was that kind of frugal ethos that she needed to get back to for a while. Yes, that was exactly the reason for her staying, nothing more.
“Umm…that—”
“Is a good point, Garrett.” Dalton finished her sentence and made up her mind for her. She swallowed nervously and studied each brother. She normally didn’t like pushy or chauvinistic men who were more Neanderthal than Nobel Prize winner, but something about Dalton and Garrett made her insides turn to hot jelly. Maybe it was just nerves, she reasoned. It wasn’t every day that she met with two of the most powerful men in the Dallas area, and she had a lot on the line, too.
Still, she wouldn’t let them absolutely dominate her. If they were planning on working together in the future, she’d have to lay the ground rules down now. “So what did you have in mind?” She tried to sound confident and strong, picturing herself poised above them, controlling them and their sexuality as they clearly tried to do with her. But then those thoughts turned to the simple want of having a cock insider her.
“We, my dear, have something that you want, that you need, but don’t have.” Garrett’s words rolled seductively off his tongue.
She nearly choked right then and there. Had they been reading her mind? Or was she just that obvious? A mini panic attack began to take hold. She felt like all her blood had just rushed from her brain to her pussy. It was like a hungry bear had awakened from a long hibernation.
“And what is that?” Her words came out sounding too meek and breathless to her. She wanted so badly for Garrett to kiss her with that wicked smile of his while Dalton wrapped her up in his oversized hands.
“Connections, sweetheart.” Garrett smiled and pulled back. It was like the breath had been sucked out of her. She felt stupid for hoping.
“Connections? That sounds promising.” She looked down and started cutting her steak, praying any sign of disappointment wouldn’t reveal itself on her face. She tended to be a blusher, a constant source of embarrassment. She wanted to spend the whole evening cutting that damn steak, but the meat was so tender, the knife so sharp, it took no time at all. She took a bite and chewed slowly, letting the juices and flavors of the perfectly seared meat explode in her mouth. It tasted intense, smoky, and satisfying in a most primal way.
“My, would you look at the appetite on this one?” Dalton said as he sat back, resting his wrists on the edge of the table. She felt eyes on her again and paused from her voracious eating to see Garrett eyeing her mouth. She thought perhaps she had remnants of cow on her face and gingerly wiped her mouth with her napkin. “Who knew such a pretty little thing could put away food like that?”
Garrett chuckled. “Darling, something tells me you really have been deprived of meat for quite some time.” He made eye contact with Dalton and grinned devilishly. “Looks like you found us just in time.” He tilted her chin toward him and wiped the corner of her mouth with his white linen napkin.
The contact was so intimate and unexpected, Madeline again found herself in a chaotic state of mixed emotions. It made her heart flutter, her pussy purr, and her mind reel all at once. Was this just how big executives handled themselves in Male Order? That old Texas cowboy attitude still thrived in this little town? Was it just the Ellises?
Madeline cleared her throat. “So, you were saying about connections?” She pulled back from Garrett, pushing her plate away, and closed her fists together, resting them on the table. She angled her elbows out to force personal space.
His face seemed to fall ever so slightly. Good. Dalton seemed to have a hint of a smirk, but she had no idea why. Maybe he always looked like that, though something told her that wasn’t likely.
Garrett cleared his throat. “Yes, uh, there are several powerful families in Male Order who all have an interest in philanthropy. Every year we, the five founding families, have an annual meeting. I could put in a good word, even introduce you to them.”
“That’s an excellent point, little brother.” Dalton’s smirk remained as he leaned toward Madeline. She couldn’t help but angle her elbow a little farther into her body. “If you can get in good with them, it’ll be like killing five birds with one stone.”
“If you go alone, cold calling, you’ll have to hit the pavement hard. I promise you, getting funding for your organization won’t be as easy as it was with us.”
“As you may have noticed, my brother is very easy.” Madeline couldn’t help but smile at Dalton’s statement.
“Think about it. If you want, we can set up time for another meeting tomorrow or the next day. I see a bright future for you and your organization, Madeline. Partnering with the Ellises might be the best choice you ever made,” Garrett said with a wink.
Staring from one brother to the next, she wondered if she really had a choice, in business or anything. Their charm was so magnetic. Though she prided herself on her iron will, they broke her easily. Then Garrett rested a finger on the top of her hand so his arm barely rested on hers. He had taken his coat off and rolled up the sleeves of his pressed shirt to his elbows. She could feel the hairs of his forearm tickling her skin.
Dalton reached his arm behind her, but rested it on the top of the booth so that it only pressed ever so slightly against the back of her head. She would only have to lean twenty degrees in his direction, and she could be cradled in the crook of his shoulder, pressed against the solid mass of his body.
Madeline fought to breathe. It felt as if the world had closed in on her. Every sip of air she managed was inundated with the spicy male scents of the Ellis brothers. It intoxicated her. She reasoned with herself that it might have been the heavy meal or the stress that came with starting any new enterprise, but deep down she knew she simply did not have the power to resist having two beautiful men on either side of her body.
She radiated heat from the top of her scalp to the tips of her toes. She could feel the telltale flush of crimson spreading on her face and down the length of her body. She knew even her ears burned a dark red. She rested her forehead in her hand while putting her other hand to her chest as if that would still the overwhelming beating of her heart. Maybe she was having a panic attack, something she’d had only once, during her freshman year of college. This seemed different, though.
“Madeline? Miss Spencer, are you okay?” Dalton put his big hand on her shoulder, which only made the tingling sensations radiating through her intensify. “Garrett, give her a glass of water o
r something.”
Madeline took a deep breath and looked up. “I’m fine, I’m fine. It’s probably all this rich food.” She put a clammy hand to her cheek and forehead before fanning herself a little. “It seems warm in here, doesn’t it?” She untied the silk kerchief around her neck and raised her hand to fan herself. Instead, she knocked over the glass of ice water that Garrett had set in front of her.
The chilly contents of the glass seemed to flood the table, sending a waterfall into her lap and likely the laps of Garrett and Dalton. She vainly pushed the ice and water away with her scarf, but the little scrap of material could do nothing to halt the deluge.
Instantly, Alfred and four other servers, each wearing matching uniforms complete with vests, crisp white shirts and bowties, descended on the table with expert ease, quickly and efficiently clearing the table and wiping up the spilled water.
“Oh, crap, I’m so sorry. I’m so clumsy. I didn’t see it there.” She couldn’t look at either man but focused all her attention on the mess in front of her, dabbing and dabbing even though the servers had already cleared most of it off.
“You know, I think you’ve done all you can with your kerchief, Madeline…but if you’re intent on helping out, I do have a couple cubes in my lap that could use some attention.” With a sly smile, Garrett leaned back and pointed to his crotch. Madeline felt her mouth drop in horror, though she wasn’t sure what exactly horrified her so. Was it that this man whom she’d just met would come on to her with such a lascivious and crass line or that she actually wanted to do exactly as he told her? She cautiously followed his finger to where it pointed, and indeed, there were exactly two cubes of ice in his lap.
Great.
Dalton chose to take care of the cubes in his lap on his own, collecting them in his hand and dropping them unceremoniously onto the table. He turned to Madeline and smiled, but she doubted the sincerity of it, even though it was truly one of the most beautiful smiles she had seen in a long time. “Let’s move to a neighboring booth. Alfred will have the entire meal prepared again in no time at all.”
Mitchell, Ava and Holiday, Sydney - A Bride for Two Tycoons [Male Order, Texas 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 7