by Marie Jermy
“Then, jeez, she’ll probably be up half the night baking more chocolate cake for Nick to fill his guts with.”
Nick pointed his fork at Steve. “Don’t think I didn’t see you eyeing up her fruit bowl.” He turned to her, his gorgeous midnight blue eyes twinkling with mirth and something ultimately male. “I’m surprised he doesn’t look like a grape, the amount he eats.”
“At least grapes are healthier,” Steve said tit-for-tat.
Jez laughed. “Do you two always rib each other? Should I referee? Stand between the pair of you should things get heated?”
Steve turned his easy grin on her. “You can stand between us any time, sugar.”
She blushed and hastily forked some curry into her mouth. Steve’s hazel eyes were dancing with the same fire as Nick’s. Their innocent conversation was turning into something more intimate with ease. She should be careful, but she didn’t want to be. She liked the banter between them. It was a good way to discover what made them tick and to know their limits. “So what else did you do today?”
“I took Steve around the lake,” Nick said with a hot smile at Steve. “We followed Sanders all the way from the station, before he went to the abandoned mine and we turned in the opposite direction. He had a smirk on his face a mile wide when he saw we were holding hands. Everybody else in town accepted us apart from him. Narrow-minded prick.”
“Why do you think he was going to the abandoned mine?” Jez asked, her brows winging up in surprise.
“I have no idea. Nor did I care. We went the other way ’cause I wasn’t having him fucking up our day.”
“There’s nothing up at the mine.” She frowned. “Unless, he got a call saying kids were messing about up there and he went to speak to them. It’s not safe at the mine.”
Nick snorted. “What, in this weather?”
“You may not have looked over your shoulder,” Steve said, “but I did.” He lent back in his chair, his expression now as serious as Nick’s usually was. “He was watching us. Making sure we weren’t going to double-back on him. He’s hiding something.”
“What, at the mine?” she asked.
“I’d say so, yeah. And to hazard a guess as to what? Well, I’m certain it’s—”
“The stolen vials of ketamine,” she and Nick finished together. She glanced at them in turn. “So what do we do? Arrest him?”
Nick ate the last of his curry before answering. “At this point in time? Nothing. Like I said before, I’m not having Sanders fucking up our day. Or…” His smile was slow and sure. “As it is now, our night. Tomorrow, however, will be a different story.” He picked up his glass and tilted it toward Steve. “While I go and talk to the Houseman brothers, you can introduce yourself to Sanders. But’s that it.”
“What do you mean, ‘but that’s it’? I can do a whole lot more than that.”
“I know, but you won’t. Two reasons, though basically they’re one and the same,” Nick said quickly before Steve could interject. “One. You’re on sick leave. Two. You’ve just come out of a coma. You go off half-cocked and you’ll be back in that hospital bed, guaranteed. Besides, your transfer hasn’t been approved yet.”
“So?”
“Just saying.”
Jez smothered a smile when it looked as if Steve was going to start an argument with Nick. Of course, Nick’s reasons were valid. She didn’t want Steve back in hospital any more than Nick did. “I’ll arrest George.”
“No. I’ll do that. You can sleep.”
She wasn’t sure if she’d heard Nick right. If she had, she didn’t like it. “Sorry? I can what?”
“Sleep. You’ll be on duty tomorrow night, so you’ll need your rest.”
She crossed her arms, not happy in the least. “I understand your reasoning with Steve. But as for me, I will not be pushed aside. You said this was my case, too. I want to be involved.”
“And you are. But if Sanders gets nasty—”
Jez interrupted before Nick went any further. “So what if he does get nasty? It’s not as if I haven’t arrested anybody bigger than me before. I’m perfectly capable of holding my own, you know.”
“I know. Shit, I’ve seen how capable you are. You’re tougher than steel. You knocked Ian Houseman’s nuts well into next month.” Nick’s grin was beautiful and sexy and made her heart go thump and her pussy weep. “What I meant was, with Sanders gone, it’ll be you and me. Two officers covering two twelve-hour shifts. Like it was before I came along. There’s no need for a big shake-up. We can carry on as normal with officers from Butte covering our rest days, vacations, or sick leave. Then when Connors retires, I’ll take his place, and then it’ll be you and Steve doing the same thing. Although,” he continued, his brow furrowing in contemplation, “I might cut your hours and revert back to ten-hour shifts again, maybe even reduce them down to eight hours.”
Steve laughed. “Not even chief yet and he’s already barking orders and doing things his way.”
“For your benefit, I might add,” Nick said, tossing his napkin at Steve.
She laughed when Steve stuck his tongue out. Nick then stood up and went over to the upright freezer. “Would you like marshmallows on your ice cream?” he asked.
“Would you mind if I didn’t have any? That curry was so delicious that I don’t want to take the taste away.”
Steve grinned. “More for Nick then.”
“Oh, go suck on a vineyard.”
“Hey, baby, I was only thinking of your cravings.”
Nick closed the freezer door and leaned against it. “I haven’t got a craving for chocolate at this moment in time.” His gaze bore into hers. “You’re even more beautiful when you blush.” His tone was low and loaded with desire. He held out a hand.
Her cheeks burned and there was a tingly sensation in her stomach that vibrated straight down into her womb. With direct eye contact, Jez pushed her chair back and went to Nick. Behind her, she heard Steve also rising to his feet and following her. The air between them thickened with heat and she found it hard to catch her breath. Oh, God, she wanted these men. Craved them even. She knew her emotions were crumbling fast.
“We’re not rushing you into a decision as to a relationship with us, all right? But would you like to go all the way tonight?”
Nick’s intense midnight gaze made her knees wobble. His warm, woody smell enveloped her and she couldn’t resist any longer. “Yes.”
“But no regrets.”
Jez palmed Nick’s cheek. “No regrets.” Behind her, Steve cupped her shoulders, and she could feel his breath on her neck as he moved closer. She leaned back into his solid chest. “Definitely no regrets. But I won’t be staying over.”
“That’s okay.” Nick smiled. “We’ll walk you home.”
“If you have the strength,” Steve added with a wicked chuckle.
“Then you can carry me home,” she returned with a naughty bump and wiggle to Steve’s groin. He turned her around. The fire in his hazel eyes made her breath falter before it came in an audible moan when he fix his mouth over hers with a kiss that was too short and too mind-numbing to catch what he said.
Nick’s hands on her hips, steadying her, she shook her head and met Steve’s still fiery gaze. “Uh, what did you say?” This time his lips lingered on hers, and she breathed in his citrusy marine scent, her hands splayed on his chest and her fingertips digging into his sweater when his tongue lightly tangled with hers.
“I said, go for a walk. Give me and Nick ten minutes or so to set the scene.”
Nick’s voice in her ear was just as low and rough. “Candlelight. A roaring fire. Plenty of cushions and blankets to make you comfortable while Steve and I make love to you.”
Her vivid imagination of a very erotic scene that came to mind made Jez envious of all the women Nick and Steve had given the same favor to. It was a ridiculous sentiment really, considering it was here and now that mattered the most. Any woman from Nick’s and Steve’s past was just that—the past—she wa
s the present. And hopefully the future. Their future.
“I’ll take a walk to the lake and back. Fifteen minutes tops.”
Outside the air was crystal clear and the only sounds were the soles of her boots crunching on snow as she made her way down to the lake. The full moon easily lit her quarter-of-a-mile journey and she soon came to the two tall pine trees that stood guarding the lake’s entrance.
Her thoughts back at the house where two gorgeous men were busy lighting a fire and candles and planning to fuck her silly—she sincerely hoped she fucked them just as hard, too—she walked past a couple of picnic tables. The lake, its waters frozen solid, lay before her. By day it was magical, but by night, it simply took her breath away. The moon had cast everything, the trees, the iced waters, and the snow with an eerie silvery light. A winter wonderland was no better description. An intensely cold winter wonderland, she decided. The cold had never bothered her before, but now it seemed to seep into her bones. She shoved her hands further into her pockets, wishing she’d worn her gloves and wooly hat.
A loud crack sounded beneath her feet. What the…? Looking over her shoulder toward the picnic tables, Jez immediately realized she’d walked too far and was now actually standing on the frozen lake.
“Shit!” She spun around. However, before she took one step there was another loud crack and the ice beneath her gave way, dropping her straight down into the darkened depths. The freezing water knocked the breath from her lungs. She surfaced, reached for the edge of the hole, and tried to pull herself up. But it was too slippery and the ice kept breaking away in her hands.
“Help!” Her yell echoed around the lake. She again tried to pull herself out, but her hands were now so numb, she couldn’t get a firm enough grip.
“Help!” Again, her yell echoed around the lake, but apart from the trees, nobody heard it.
Jez repeatedly tried to pull herself out, but the icy water was fast sapping the strength out of her. She was shuddering so much she couldn’t think straight, let alone continue to yell for help. She was rapidly losing consciousness and she didn’t know how much longer she could hold on. She was freezing, and the weight of her boots was dragging her down.
Oh, God, I’m gonna die!
Chapter 14
Soft warmth cocooned her. Jez had never felt so content in her life. It was like she was lying naked in the gentle bubbling surf on some distant exotic beach, the hot sun burning the skin on her chest, her neck, in her armpits, and between her thighs. Okay, so that wasn’t so pleasant, but then the sun’s rays lessened and became soothing, as if someone was massaging after-sun lotion into her skin, taking the sting out.
A mojito cocktail would go down well now. She could ask one of the two waiters she could hear coming toward her.
“Jez, can you hear me?”
Yes, of course she could hear him. It was Nick. But hang on a minute. Nick was a detective, not a waiter.
“She’s coming around. Jez? You’re gonna be okay, sugar.”
And that was Steve. But he wasn’t a waiter either. He also was a detective. And why did they sound so worried? She was okay. In fact, she was cozy and relaxed, if a little constricted. Even her hair felt bound. It was a far cry from freezing her butt off in Silver Creek Lake. Fuck me! Her eyes sprang open. A worried-looking Nick was seated on her right and an equally worried-looking Steve was to her left. Their positions were exactly the same as earlier at the kitchen table, only this time it was a king-sized bed.
“It’s okay, Jez,” Nick said in a low voice. “Wrong words I know, but chill.”
Definitely the wrong words, but she couldn’t give a shit. She was safe. Nick and Steve must have dragged her from the lake and brought her home. A glance down explained the constriction. She was wrapped in a duvet. She assumed that the warm spots to her neck, chest, armpits, and inside thighs were heat packs, and the way her hair was bound must mean there was a towel wrapped around her head.
She looked at Nick and Steve in turn. Could she wake up with them every morning? Share her life with them? Commit to a ménage relationship with them? Damned straight she could. They would understand her embarrassment and shame with the symptoms of PCOS. They had to. God, they had to. She couldn’t bear the humiliation otherwise.
Nick held up three digits. “How many fingers can you see?”
“Three, why?”
“Do you know who I am?”
“Nick, why?”
“Last name?”
“North!”
“Stop teasing her, Nick.” Steve’s lazy grin further pissed her off, particularly when he, too, asked, “Who am I?”
“Steve South,” she answered through thin lips.
“Just checking, sugar.” He then blew out a long breath. “You had us so worried. When you didn’t come back, we went looking for you. What the hell were you doing in the lake?”
“Taking a midnight swim.”
“Funny. It wasn’t even midnight,” Steve said returning her sarcasm. His glare softened with the emergence of his easy grin. “When we got you home, I was all for putting you in front of the fire we’d made or giving you a hot shower, but Nick stopped me. He said I do that and I was liable to kill you. Apparently it’s not recommended to place a person suffering from hypothermia in front of direct heat, such as a fire. You need to warm up gradually. Too quick and your heart can stop.”
Her brows winged up with surprise. “How did you know that?” she asked Nick.
“I read it in the Montana travel guide I purchased at LAX before flying up here. Luckily Jess and Ross had heat packs in the bathroom cabinet. The only things Steve put in front of the fire were your wet clothes and boots.”
“So I am naked?”
“Very much so.” Nick’s voice dropped to a husky whisper and his midnight blue eyes darkened so much she couldn’t see the irises. “You have a very beautiful body. Soft. Sensual. Perfect.”
With a hairy chin, she was far from perfect, but his compliment ignited an ache deep down in her soul. She couldn’t feel them, but she was certain her nipples were hard and her pussy was wet with arousal. She glanced at Steve and swallowed hard. His eyes were a melting pot of brown and green. Only they could satisfy her. “I want you both.”
“You’ve got us.”
She wriggled, loosening the duvet, and they helped her into a sitting position. Nick removed the two heat packs on either side of her neck and placed them on the floor. She looked around the room and was relieved at its impersonality. At least it wasn’t Jess and Ross’s bedroom or their bed. She noted a uniform hanging over a nearby chair and a pile of newly purchased thermals on a dresser. This must be where Nick and Steve sleep. “Take your clothes off. If I’m naked then it’s only fair you are, too.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” they both said complete with mock salutes.
Jez didn’t know who to keep her eyes on. She didn’t exactly want to miss anything while the men stripped. Thankfully, when Nick and Steve moved from her sides, they both went to the end of the bed and stood together. In unison they lifted their tops up and over their heads, revealing their bare chests. Oh, my! Though Steve was a little leaner in body frame than Nick, his chest was no more powerful than Nick’s. Just as hairless, just as tanned—sculpted pecs and abs ran down and disappeared into the waistband of their jeans.
Again, together, their fingers flipped the buttons from their enclosures, dragged the zippers down with a growling noise that was loud and erotic in its meaning, and both pairs of denims were tugged over slim hips and fell to the floor with a soft thud. Her mouth dropped open in an O shape. Oh, double my! Both wore white thermal leggings with extremely hard bulges to the front. There was no visible evidence of underwear, meaning they were naked underneath.
She snickered when they hastily and somewhat awkwardly divested themselves of their socks and boots. But her laughter stopped the moment they slipped the thermals down their legs, off their feet and stood to attention, hands by their sides, their intent gazes on her and
most probably her reaction.
Their cocks and ball sacs were massive. Nick’s was surrounded by trim black hair while Steve’s tidy pubes were blond. Both cocks proudly stood upright and rigid, the bulbous heads seeping pre-cum. She licked her lips.
“You want a taste of us?” Nick asked.
“Oh, yeah,” she purred.
Steve wagged a finger. “But just a taste. Tonight is all about us pleasuring you. And only you.”
She couldn’t wait. Just one thing…“I’ll still be going home though.”
Nick shook his head. “Forget it. You’re staying with us.”
“Oh, okay.” She could do this. She had her razor in her bag. She just needed it within easy reach for the morning. “My bag?”
“What, now?” Nick turned to Steve. “Go get it.”
“You get it.”
“Hey, no need to argue,” she cut in. “I’ll suck your cock when you come back, Steve.”
Steve was out the door in a flash. “Hold that thought.”
Jez laughed while Nick came to her right side and peeled the duvet completely from her body. Without the warmth of the cover, her skin formed goose bumps. Nick put the remaining heat packs on the floor, though he was slow to remove the pack from between her thighs.
His eyes burned hot as he took in her pebbled nipples. “We’ll warm you up again.”
She bet they would. He was stood by the side of the bed and she moved onto her knees and leaned closer to his waiting cock. His full, masculine smell reached her nostrils and she took a deep breath, drinking him in. She curled a hand around his thick shaft and lightly pulled him to her parted lips.
“Wait a sec, angel.” Nick quickly tugged the towel from her head and her hair fell in her face in damp ringlets. He swept it back then and held her hair in his hand so he could watch. “That’s better.”
First, she tentatively rimmed the head with her tongue, followed by licking the cream from the slit. He tasted as good as he smelled. She again rimmed his cockhead, slightly firmer this time, and then empowered by his groan, she opened her mouth and sucked him to about halfway in.