“Well, what the hell are we going to do now?” Garvan asked him.
“Make it up to her.”
“Apollo, she isn’t going to accept gifts. More than likely that will piss her off even more,” Garvan said.
“I’m not going to just let her go and forget about what we all felt,” Apollo said. “We want her. Want to know more about her, want to spend time with her, and want her in our beds. Don’t stand here and deny it. The connection and attraction was that fucking powerful. Holy shit, talk about getting sideswiped. Fuck.”
Garvan wondered what, if anything, could come of this.
“She doesn’t seem like the kind of woman to engage in a ménage with three men. She would see it as an orgy of sorts. She seems old school,” Garvan told them.
“We do this the right way. We get her to work on the job on-site,” Apollo stated.
“On-site? You mean in Hawaii?” Roman asked. Apollo smiled.
“Damn straight, and what better place to win her heart?”
“Is it her heart you’re after or her body?” Garvan asked, feeling protective of Venetia for some crazy reason.
“Both,” Apollo replied.
“What about the others?” Roman asked.
“We’ll call them tomorrow and explain things. Right now, we have a video to post and brochures, mailing, and an advertising push to get out there. Let’s get to work, so next week we can engage in pleasure.”
Chapter 4
Cena was chopping up carrots and talking to her cousin Venetia in Cena’s kitchen. “So what are you going to do?” Cena asked after Venetia told her all about the photo gig, leaving out the brothers’ names.
“I’m not going to do anything. I’m never going to see them again.”
Cena looked at her and gave a sympathetic smile. “You said you felt the attraction and nearly let them kiss you.”
“That would have been disastrous. These men are so wealthy and attractive that they could get any woman they wanted to join them in bed. I mean, really?”
“You said they were superhot, and they really seemed upset that the woman threatened you.”
Venetia popped a piece of carrot into her mouth and looked toward the screen door. More guests were arriving for the barbecue, and it seemed to her there were more men here than women.
“They were, and that’s another thing. Do I need some stalker female trying to kill me over men she’s obsessed with? Like my life hasn’t been eventful and dangerous enough?”
Cena smirked. “Most women search all over the place for wealthy, attractive guys who will pay attention to them and want them. You just bump into them, insult them, land a job, and then blow them off because they’re too wealthy, too good-looking, have a stalker after them that could lead to problems. Maybe you could just have sex with them if they’re that hot.”
“What?” Ken walked into the room, and behind him were three huge guys, who had to duck to enter. They immediately filled up the space in the room as Cena and Venetia started laughing.
“Nothing, Ken, nothing.” He gave her a look, and she shook her head.
“I don’t know if you remember them or not Cena, but this is Titan, Ace, and Zane. When we first started dating you, me, Ned, and Brian would help these guys out with basic training at the military base in Jacksonville.”
“Oh, yes, of course I do. You invited us onto your boat that time.” She shook their hands hello. She noticed the three men looked at Venetia, and Venetia seemed a bit intimidated. These men were super huge.
“This is Cena’s cousin Vin. Vin, meet Titan, Ace, and Zane.”
“Nice to meet you.” She shook their hands, and Cena saw her cousin’s eyes widen and then Zane didn’t release her hand right away.
“Vin? Why a guy’s name?” he asked her.
“It’s short for Venetia. Only my family and close friends call me Vin though.” He released her hand, and Zane looked at her as though she just said he couldn’t call her Vin. What the heck was her cousin doing?
“Hey, are we ready to cook this stuff on the grill?” Ken asked her, and then Ned and Brian came in.
“Vin, can you show the guys where the beers are and the cabana, too, so if they want to go swimming they can change?” Cena asked, and Vin looked at her as if she were crazy.
“She doesn’t have to if she’s busy,” Zane said and gazed over her body.
“No, I’m fine and could use the fresh air. Follow me.”
Cena smirked as they exited the house.
“What’s that smile for, and what was the talk about having sex?” Ken asked her as he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind.
“Oh, just some rich guys Vin met and was attracted to, but they pissed her off. She’s sure hitting the jackpot with good-looking guys. I just wish she would take a chance and find someone she can trust.”
“Well, don’t go playing matchmaker. Zane, Titan, and Ace are military and hard-core. I don’t even think they date. I have never seen them with a girlfriend either.”
“Are they gay?” she asked, and he laughed and then cupped her breast. “Ken,” she scolded.
“Not gay, just particular and untrusting.”
“Hmmm, kind of like someone we all know.”
“Exactly.” He kissed her neck, tickling her until she turned into his embrace and kissed him.
* * * *
Venetia was laughing and listening to the stories Ace, Titan, and Zane were exchanging with Ken, Ned, and Brian. The sun was beating down on them, but they had yet to go in the pool like most of the other guests. She was shocked to feel such an immediate attraction to them, and when she thought of that, she thought about Apollo, Garvan, and Roman. Who really were all wrong for her because they reminded her of Conan, or at least his attitude toward women and money. Maybe she’d been too hard on them?
She listened to the men talk as she wiped the sweat from her brow. Zane stood there shirtless, wearing camo swim trunks just like his two brothers. He had more of a martial artist or boxer’s body, where Titan and Ace looked thick, wide, and solid filled with muscles. They were at least six feet four, and she stood between Ace and Titan feeling like a shrimp. She noticed that Titan and Ace both wore identical crosses around their necks, and she wondered why.
When someone splashed water toward them, it felt so good.
“Oh, God, the water feels nice.” She then felt Ace’s hand against her lower back and her skin. She wore a short flare skirt and a light tank top, but it was over a hundred degrees outside.
“Want to go swimming to cool off?” Ace asked her.
“I’m thinking about it,” she replied.
“Go change, Vin, and Ned will make some frozen daiquiris we can have in the pool,” Cena said to her.
“Okay, I’ll be right back.” She walked toward the cabana, glanced over her shoulder, and saw the three soldiers watching her.
Vin couldn’t see what the bathing suit looked like on, but as she adjusted her breasts in the top, she heard Cena call to her.
“You ready yet?” she asked.
“Just about. You know what you guys are missing in here?”
“No, what?” Cena asked.
“A mirror.”
Cena chuckled. “I’ll be your mirror, hot stuff.”
Vin grabbed her bag and towel then opened the door. Cena crossed her arms in front of her chest and gave her body the once-over.
“Is the green too much?” she asked.
“Most definitely not. It brings out the color in your eyes and that badass tattoo you have along your hip. Hey, when did you get the new belly jewelry?” Cena asked and stepped closer.
“Like it?”
“Hell yeah, I want one.”
“I picked it up at that little boutique on Smith Street, along with this green bikini.”
“It’s beautiful, but I have to be honest, I don’t think it matters what bathing suit you wear or what color. You have a great body, cuz.”
“Thank you, and you d
o, too.”
“It pays off to be athletic and work out a lot, plus having soldiers for boyfriends who constantly work out and eat right. No being a junk-food junkie anymore,” Cena stated as they walked out of the cabana.
“You are so full of crap. I know about the stash in your car.”
Cena looked over her shoulder and placed a finger over her lips. “Shh, or one of them may hear you,” she scolded, and Vin chuckled.
Her eyes looked past her cousin and locked onto Titan’s. Holy crap, his expression was fierce as he ate her up with his eyes. He stood by the bar holding two drinks, and she assumed the other was for her. She glanced at Ace and Zane, who appeared just as fixated on her body as Titan was.
“Hey, sure shot, do your thing,” Brian, Cena’s other boyfriend, called out to her and tossed her the pool basketball.
“Sure shot?” Ace asked him.
“Oh, yeah, she’s a beast at water basketball, very competitive at sports.”
She caught the ball and looked at the net in the pool across the path. It was a good distance, but now that her cousin’s boyfriend had drawn attention toward her, she had to take the shot.
“No promises, Brian.” She then aimed and shot the ball. As it went right in, not even hitting the rim, everyone cheered.
“Vin’s on my team. Let’s do this,” Randal, one of Brian’s friends and a police officer in town, called out, and the other guys started making teams.
She noticed that Zane, Ace, and Titan wound up on the other team. She approached with Cena, who threw a towel at Brian’s head.
“See what you started. Venetia was going to enjoy a cocktail with me by the pool.”
“After the game,” Brian said, all serious, and pointed at Vin. “You’re going down,” he threatened in a teasing manner.
“I don’t think so,” she said, and Titan handed her the frozen drink.
“Thank you.” She took a sip, and then she looked at him and his two brothers.
“Don’t listen to Brian. He’s making things up. I’m not that competitive at all.”
“Liar!” Ken yelled out.
“Come on and let’s do this,” Randal called to them.
She took one more sip and then placed it down on the bar. As she walked closer to the pool, she felt the hand at her hip.
“We’ll have a drink together after,” Ace said to her. She nodded.
“You’ll be pissed at her for kicking your ass later,” Colby, one of Randal’s friends and another player on her team, said, and the guys started laughing.
They all got into the pool, and she started with the ball, checked it with Zane, passing it to him, and then he passed back. He moved slowly, more than likely feeling out her capabilities, and it cost him. She threw the ball to Randal, and she swam closer to the right with Zane on her but giving her space. Randal took a shot and missed, and Ace went for the ball but had to throw it back to Titan before they could take a shot. He threw it to Brian, but Vin jumped up, grabbed it, and took a shot at the net, and the ball went in. Her team cheered.
From there on out, it was an intense game for something as casual as pool basketball. Chelsea, someone on the other team, gave Vin a shot to her side hard. Vin gasped and then swam to the net, and when Chelsea missed the shot and didn’t hit rim, it gave Vin the opportunity to rebound and take a shot. She swooped up backward and slammed the ball into the net. The move definitely caught the men off guard as her team cheered, and then she gave Chelsea a wink.
As the game continued, the guys got rougher and rougher with one another, and then the fun cheating began. As Vin went for a shot, Zane grabbed her around the midsection, pulled her back, and dunked her. She’d gone back in for another shot to grab the ball from Brian when someone grabbed her ankle and pulled her back. When she got out from under the water, she saw it was Titan. He smiled and then pulled her close.
“You’re cheating,” she scolded.
“I don’t know what you mean.” He smirked.
She clenched her teeth and growled but really she was feeling so attracted to him and his brothers she didn’t mind them touching her in the water one bit, which should have scared her. She hadn’t let another man close and definitely hadn’t let one caress or kiss her in a long time.
She got away from them and went back into the game, ready to score again. This time when she got the ball, Titan, Zane, and Ace covered her. They raised their hands up, and considering how tall they were, there was no way she could get passed them or throw over their hands.
“You’re cheating.”
“You’re short,” Zane said back, and the others laughed.
“It’s not fair,” she scolded.
“Okay, then I’ll lower down for you,” Zane said, and as he began to lower, she hurried toward him, stepped up on his one bent knee, and took the shot. His hands immediately landed on her ass and hips as she fell forward, and she felt his mouth against her belly and saw the ball go into the net, allowing her team to win the game.
She wasn’t sure what surprised her more, the shot she’d taken and gotten in or the feel of Zane’s hands on her ass and her hips, plus his mouth on her belly as they fell deeper into the water and he remained holding her against him.
As her teammates cheered about winning, Zane held her gaze then looked at her breasts pouring from her bikini top, and he didn’t release her. She gripped onto his shoulders as Ace and Titan took position close by.
Everyone seemed to go into their own conversations about the game and grabbing beers. That was when Brian called out to Ace and Titan and threw them cans of beer. Cena came over, smiling wide.
“That was some move, Vin. I especially like how you used Zane as a body stepladder to make the shot.” She winked, and Vin chuckled.
“Here, this is for you, sure shot.” Cena passed her a frozen strawberry daiquiri.
“Thank you,” she called out, and the four of them took position on the built-in seats by the wall in the pool.
“So now I get the whole nickname thing,” Zane said to her.
She smiled at him and couldn’t help but stare at all his muscles. He seemed a bit younger than his brothers Ace and Titan but still older than her.
“There’s more to that nickname than she’ll let on,” Ken said as he and Cena got into the pool and sat a few feet away on the stairs.
“More?” Ace asked her.
He looked like a soldier with all those tight muscles, but he was thick and solid, not trim like a martial artist.
“She can do shots of tequila like a pro, never mind whiskey,” Ken added.
“Ken,” she scolded and felt her cheeks warm. Then she felt Zane’s palm caress her thigh under the water and give it a squeeze.
“Pretty interesting stuff,” he whispered to her and stared at her lips.
“She’s a professional photographer, so she takes awesome shots,” Cena added.
“Thank you, guys, could we maybe have a conversation over here on our own?” Vin asked, and they all chuckled.
But Titan and Ace just seemed to squint at her as though they were trying to read her mind. These two were definitely intense, and she wanted to pull the conversation away from her. She looked at their chests and those crosses they wore.
“What’s with the matching crosses?” she asked then took a sip from her daiquiri.
Titan licked his lower lip. “Ace and I are twins.”
“Oh.” She looked at the crosses and wondered why grown men would wear matching jewelry, brothers, twins, or not.
“That’s…cute.” She didn’t want to be rude.
Zane laughed.
“We purchased them at different times in completely different states. I was away, and Ace was away. I found this in a jewelry store and thought it was cool. I get home and who’s wearing the same identical cross and chain?”
“Ace,” she said.
“Yup and we haven’t removed them since,” Titan told her.
“That’s so cool. I had friends who were twins.
They used to finish one another’s sentences and things. They had a lot of the same qualities and even expressions.”
“We do a lot of things the same, but not everything,” Titan said and looked at her body.
She could only imagine what kind of lovers they would be. Titan seemed very hard-core and tough. Zane looked sweet but was probably good at disguises and characters. He seemed kind of playboyish, a lady magnet. Ace looked older, distrustful but commanding.
Titan, who was so filled with muscles he looked constantly ready to battle, reached out and touched her hip.
“That’s a gorgeous tattoo. Is that an acacia vine and flower?” he asked, and she was surprised that he knew what type of flower it was.
She lifted up so she could show him the entire tattoo. It dipped down low below her bikini, over her hip to her ass cheek. He placed his hand on the step and leaned closer. His face was inches from hers when they locked gazes.
“It must have hurt,” he whispered, and she felt his finger stroke over her hip bone.
“Tequila,” she replied, and his brothers laughed, and he winked.
“I think we should take out a bottle and have some fun, Venetia.” His tone and the way he said her name did something to her. She felt aroused and also in the mood to challenge him.
She looked away from him.
“Wasn’t me beating you in pool basketball enough?” she asked, and Ace laughed.
The sound did something to her insides. These men were tough through and through. Even their laughs sounded tough, and their voices, God her body reacted to their strong, deep tones. It was insane.
“Oh, shit, if that ain’t a challenge, then I don’t know what is,” Zane said.
“Did someone say tequila?” Randal came over with a bottle and a bunch of plastic shot glasses.
“This party is fucking great. Brian just said a bunch of other people are heading over. Let’s get this going,” Randal said to them and started pouring shots. “No guts no glory.”
They all clinked the plastic shot glasses then took a shot. One look at Ace and she had a feeling she was going to be in over her head, but after the week she had with the Corbias brothers and how Apollo had used her to get some a stalker off his case, she could use a drink or two, definitely.
A Six-Pack & a Shot at Love [Love on the Rocks 1] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever) Page 5