by Calista Fox
The conundrum grew.
Was she still as adventurous as she’d once been?
Was it even a possibility that she was mentioning the “murmurs” for a specific reason? Planting the seeds in his mind—possibly Rogen’s, too?
Oh, fuck.
His cock twitched.
Jewel interrupted his errant thoughts, asking, “What are you doing here, anyway?”
Ah, thank God. A much-needed distraction.
Back to the business at hand.
He said, “Rogen wanted me here as his general counsel.”
“It’s only champagne and charcuterie, Vin,” she flippantly said. “Hardly requires legal representation.”
He gave a half snort. “That’s subjective.”
“Hey. There you two are.” Rogen suddenly appeared as they stood in a throng of tourists hoping for a table. The locals knew to make reservations well in advance on the weekends. Or possess the proper last name. “We’re set up out back.”
Rogen swooped in and kissed Jewel on the cheek. Vin fought a scowl, his temper simmering as they skirted the large fountain and made their way through the bar and lounge area and onto the patio.
It had always been so easy-breezy between Rogen and Jewel. And always so damn tumultuous between Vin and Jewel.
The bane of his existence was that he’d never gotten over her. Had never gotten her out of his system.
They’d kept their romance to themselves. Mostly because the Angelinis had taken Vin in after his parents’ deaths and Jewel had worried over Gian sending Vin off to Trinity, too, if he found out about them.
Vin had always been torn between attending the prep school with his best friend and staying in River Cross. With his best friend’s girlfriend.
In the end, she’d been impossible to leave. She’d been heartbroken and devastated when Rogen had left. Vin had sworn he’d never leave her. He’d sworn she could always count on him.
That had turned out to be another lie.
But again … not entirely his fault.
The trio crossed the threshold of opened glass doors and Rogen directed them to a collection of oversize armless patio chairs with thick cushions and a round glass-topped coffee table with a decorative black wrought-iron frame positioned in the middle of the seating area. The way the chairs were arranged created a inverted triangle with Vin and Rogen at the top and Jewel at the bottom.
Or maybe Vin just couldn’t get threesome connotations out of his mind.
Had it been Holly McCormick Rogen was making love to the other night, Vin would have joined them. And vice versa. But no. It had been Jewel.
And that was different.
So very, very different.
Yet … tempting.
So very, very tempting.
The two of them with her … Yeah. That’d pretty much comprise the be-all, end-all of ménages. And no fooling himself, he burned for it. Wanted more than anything for him and Rogen to do what they did best—work together to make her come, over and over, in the most dynamic ways.
But again … Not a fantasy that would ever become a reality.
Let it go, man.
Their server greeted them as she set out the charcuterie board with an assortment of cheeses, breads, pâtés, and olive oil–soaked almonds, while someone from the bar rushed over with a freestanding chiller, both Jewel and Rogen being wine-country royalty. The server popped the cork on a bottle of Cristal and the men deferred to Jewel to sample the champagne. With her nod of approval, the server poured.
When the trio was left alone, they raised their glasses, said “Salut,” in unison, and sipped.
Then Vin got right down to business. Once more latching on to the fact that it was the safe, sane thing to do.
He told Jewel, “Rogen and I figure the reason you came to the mansion was to make a play for the property your family co-owns with the Angelinis.”
She sipped again. “You could have gone straight to the source for confirmation—Gian.”
“He left for Italy this morning,” Rogen informed her. “And it was a pretty easy assumption to make, considering you said everyone’s fine at your estate. What other reason would you have to speak with my father?”
“It’s true,” she told them. “And he agreed to the sale.”
Vin sucked down more champagne as his blood boiled. What was it about Jewel Catalano that held him enrapt—and chipped away at him at the same time?
It wasn’t just the nearly palpable sexual tension that naturally sparked between her and Rogen. Hell, it flamed between Vin and her as well.
Maybe that was what put him so on edge. How could she be so addictive to both men? And why the hell could none of them fully break free of the web they’d woven years ago? For that matter, why were they spinning and twining fresh threads now?
Vin set aside his glass. There was raw agitation coursing through his veins that wasn’t entirely related to this land deal Jewel was trying to pull off. He was too damn caught up in her for his own good. The smart, savvy woman she’d become. The sweet, shattered girl she’d once been.
For Christ’s sake, how many tears had he brushed from her cheeks?
How many times had he told himself it was pointless to fall for her? How many times was he going to tell himself now that she could never be a part of his and Rogen’s current sexual lifestyle? While in the back of his mind he wondered if she actually could be.
With a mental shake of his head, he tried to steer clear of all the emotions she evoked, all the desire. All the landmines inherent to their situation.
He said, “You’re forgetting that it’s not just Gian’s and Rose-Marie’s signatures you need on a bill of sale, Jewel. You have to get Rogen’s, too. And I’ve advised him not to sign.”
Vin pushed to his feet and stalked off, not wanting to see the look of defeat on Jewel’s face.
That he’d put there.
SIX
“What the hell?” Rogen questioned as Vin stormed off.
Jewel’s gaze was on Vin’s back. Her stomach knotted. Her heart wrenched.
Vin’s hostility was wrapped in pain.
She’d experienced it enough in her lifetime to recognize the signs. To hear it in his voice. See it in his eyes.
But what, exactly, was his full source of contention? It was clearly directed at her. Yet Jewel had no idea why he was so razor-sharp with her.
Sure, the fact that he’d come across her and Rogen making love the other night might have something to do with it. Might have cut deep.
Though it really shouldn’t.
Vin had walked out on her. Not the other way around.
Obviously, she was missing something.
“Here I thought this was going to be a civilized afternoon,” she lamented. Cocktails and appetizers. Vin in black pants and a robin’s-egg blue dress shirt, the sleeves rolled up his impressive forearms. Rogen in black pants as well with a magenta polo shirt from the local country club, the hems of the short sleeves straining against his bulging biceps. Her in her mini and sandals.
She sighed. Polished off her champagne and deposited the crystal flute on the table. To Rogen, she said, “This is unresolved angst. I need to speak with him.” Clear the air. Once and for all.
Jewel followed after Vin, through the dining room toward the restrooms. She found him at the end of the long hallway, by the windows, talking on his iPhone and pacing agitatedly.
He caught sight of her, disconnected the call, and sauntered toward her.
“What business is it of yours if I make a deal with Gian for the property?” she asked.
“Maybe Rogen has plans for that land, Jewel. Ever occur to you?”
“No, actually. He’s never personally come to my family to buy us out.”
Vin shoved a hand through his dark, tousled hair. “He’s equally entitled. By inheritance.”
“Jesus, Vin. We could be sixty or seventy before that property passes to us. It’s just going to sit undeveloped for the next thi
rty, forty years because of some absurd argument?”
“If that’s what both your parents choose.”
Her gaze narrowed on him. “And what did you advise, exactly? Surely you’re not passing judgement because it’s me who wants that land?”
“You’re pretty damn good at getting everything you want—”
“I’ve gotten nothing that I wanted!” she erupted, not giving a damn who heard her. Luckily, the hallway was currently empty. “There were only two things, ever. And I lost them both, so—”
His hand shot out and he clasped her upper arm. He dragged her into an unoccupied restroom and slammed the door behind them. Locked it. Pressed Jewel’s back against the smooth wood.
“You didn’t lose me,” he insisted, his eyes full of rage … and red-hot desire. Stealing Jewel’s breath. “I was just never enough for you.”
Emotion roared through her. Tears burned her eyes. “That is absolutely not true.” Her chest rose and fell quickly, her body instantly responding to the nearness of him. The heat and intensity that always lit her up. “I’m not the one who left.”
“Goddamn it, Jewel.”
Anger radiated from him.
Exciting her.
A heartbeat later his mouth crashed over hers in a hungry, demanding kiss. A greedy one that immediately commanded her passion and ignited a firestorm within her.
She’d never forgotten how crazed Vin made her—not just in an infuriating way but also in a sexy way. How powerful the attraction was between them. The need … the fever. Her fingers plowed through his thick hair as his arms wrapped around her and he hauled her up against him. Held her tight.
She remembered how sometimes the insanity and intensity of the moment would scare her—not because of anything she feared Vin doing to her. But because of how vehemently she responded to him. How willingly she gave herself over to him. How she let the inferno consume her, let him have her in any way he wanted her.
It was irrational, illogical, how she became someone else with Vin D’Angelo. How she became a wild creature that wanted to claw at him. To rip open his shirt and literally claw at him.
Jewel knew he felt the same.
He shoved her skirt up, pushed her thong to the side, and thrust two fingers into her. Rocking her to the core of her being. Not just from the sudden, scorching invasion, but because he knew—he’d always known—she’d be wet for him, dripping and ready for whatever he did to her.
He stroked aggressively, confidently. Masterfully. Owning her as all the sizzling sensations flamed within her.
The pad of his thumb rubbed her clit with just the right amount of pressure. He didn’t release her from their sizzling kiss, making the fire burn brighter.
Her orgasm was seconds away. She wondered if he’d let her have it. Or if he intended to punish her for her night with Rogen.
But then he stroked faster, with sheer determination. Jewel tore her mouth from his and cried out as the climax burned through her. She instantly bit into Vin’s shoulder to quiet herself.
Oh, God! He’d been right—he did make her scream!
Her body quaked from her release and she clung to Vin, her breath coming in heavy pulls. As did his.
Getting her off turned him on. Melded to him, she could feel his steel erection.
“You want my cock inside you, don’t you?”
It was so fucking risky to get tangled up with both men. She’d already forewarned herself.
But it was also inevitable.
“Yes,” she said on a lust-filled breath.
Vin let out a low, sensuous growl at her immediate consent. Her instant surrender.
“Can you take me the way you used to?”
Magma replaced the blood in her veins. “Yes.” She had a well-stocked goody drawer at home that kept her primed. Even though there hadn’t been anyone in her life these past several years to be primed for.
Vin reached in his pocket for his wallet. He extracted a condom. Extra Lubricated the packet read.
“Bend over the vanity,” he quietly demanded. His devilishly handsome face was a mask of hard angles, etched with need and desire. That need was centered on possessing her. She had no doubt.
Jewel crossed the room and did as instructed, propping her forearms on the granite counter. She watched Vin in the large oval rattan-framed mirror. He stood behind her, his gaze locked with hers as he undid his pants and shoved them and his black boxer briefs to mid-thigh. He tore open the foil square and Jewel’s breath hitched. Exhilaration flooded her veins. Tinged with anxiety. Because Vin was huge.
“Spread your legs wider for me,” he said.
She inched them apart as he rolled on the condom. Then he jerked the sliver of lace from her thong over one ass cheek. His fingers massaged her cleft, rubbing slowly from the small hole of her anus to the opening of her pussy. Back and forth. Teasing her.
“Vin,” she urged as a familiar, though long-buried, restlessness took hold of her. She was desperate to feel him, desperate to see all the emotions play on his strong features as he fucked her. And that was exactly what he’d do. Unapologetically. Assertively. Not sweet and romantic like Rogen, but forcefully. Fiercely.
She desperately yearned for it.
His fingers dipped into her pussy, stroking deeply. Her inner muscles clutched and released involuntarily, her body wanting more. So much more.
“You get so damn wet for me. Do you get this wet for him?”
“Yes,” she said.
Angst flashed in Vin’s hypnotic green eyes.
“Do you want me to lie?” she asked.
“No.”
He continued to stroke.
“Do you both really enjoy one woman at the same time?” she challenged.
His jaw worked rigorously. Then … “Yes.”
She blinked, actually taken aback. When she shouldn’t have been.
Ask the question, expect the answer.…
“Do you want me to lie?” he taunted.
“No. I want you to fuck me.”
He withdrew from her and used the cream that coated one of his fingers to rim her anus, pressing in to lubricate her with her own juices. Her knees nearly buckled at the searing sensation. The intensity of Vin’s expression. All his dark edges and his powerful presence.
“Are you okay?” His gaze continued to hold hers in their reflection. “Is this going to be too much?”
“I want you,” she repeated. The anticipation mounted, seizing her, making her crazed for him.
Vin removed his finger and nudged the hole with the tip of his cock.
The anticipation nearly burst her wide open, to the depths of her soul.
“Jesus, Vin,” she pleaded in a breathy voice. “Do it. Let me feel you.”
He very slowly, very carefully entered her.
Jewel let out a small cry of pleasure. There was something incredibly enticing about the discomfort. The pinching. The raw sensations.
Though Vin had thoroughly educated her the first time he’d taken her this way and she’d known what to expect, in theory, there really was no describing, no preparing for, the purely primal heat and lust invoked by the forbidden act.
“Breathe, baby,” he said in a strained tone.
Jewel sucked in a slice of air, not even realizing she’d been holding her breath.
He pulled out of her, then pushed back in, a bit hastier this time. The action jolted her and he wound an arm around the front of her, at the waist, to steady her. To keep her hips from hitting the granite.
Jewel’s spine bowed and she lifted her ass higher.
Vin let out a carnal grunt. “You really do want me to fuck you.”
“You know I do,” she shamelessly said.
Vin pulled out once more. Plunged in. Pumped steadily.
“Oh, Christ,” she whimpered. She reached for his free hand and covered her mouth with his palm as her moans bounced off the river rock–trimmed walls, only slightly diffused by the jazz music piped in. She would have
turned on the water faucet for more camouflage if California weren’t in the middle of a drought.
“Goddamn, Jewel.” Vin’s voice was tight, gruff. “You feel incredible.”
She kept her hand over his at her mouth and slipped the other one between her legs to rub her clit. Quickly. Like the way he moved inside her. Sliding along the narrow walls, not thrusting all the way in but far enough to send them both soaring.
His jaw clenched again. His chest heaved. She watched him barrel toward orgasm right along with her.
“Oh, yeah,” he ground out. “This is good. So damn good.”
He fucked her faster, his hips jerking. Her muffled cries were more frequent now as the pressure built. The searing mixed with the sheer pleasure of having him inside her in this incredibly forbidden, decadent way. And knowing he was about to explode. As was she.
“Come for me, baby,” he insisted, need blazing in his eyes.
She was so close.
His hips continued to buck. Her hard nipples ached for his touch. Her pussy wept. Her clit tingled. Every fiber of her being was caught in the sensuous heat and she knew she was going to come hard. Feared the scream that would wrench from her lips. But there was no turning back. No stopping.
Vin worked her into a blissful frenzy, setting her off with explosive potency. Her wail was barely stifled. Her eyes squeezed shut and her legs shook as the feverish climax took her.
“Fuck, yes,” Vin said in a rough tone. “I love it when you lose it for me, baby.”
His cock surged. His body convulsed. And then Vin let out a low roar as he came inside her, pushing just a bit deeper and prolonging her orgasm.
Jewel couldn’t breathe. She quaked and flamed to the core. Rocked by Vin’s intensity and aggression.
“Jesus,” he muttered. “You make me so fucking hot.”
She pulled his hand from her mouth and tried to inhale beyond slight wisps of air. Vin took his time riding out his own release. He looked as dazed as she felt. Slowly collected himself.
Eventually, he withdrew from her and peeled off the condom. Wrapped it in a tissue and tossed it in the trash. Then he cleaned himself up and dried his hands with a plush towel. His breathing was still labored.
Jewel was afraid to move. Wasn’t sure her weak knees and trembling legs would support her.