by Vonna Harper
Either that or on the same page, whatever that was.
“I saw you drink one of these yesterday.” He handed Narah a bottle. “I figured you’d like this.”
“Thanks.”
Watching her long, slim fingers on the glass, he imagined her hand somewhere else, circling and caressing him. Sweat bloomed on his upper lip, and his cock ached. He stabbed another beer in Levi’s direction.
“So.” He took a long, cold swallow. “You aren’t married.”
“Nope. What about you?” Narah asked.
“I haven’t gotten around to that yet.”
“Maybe because you saw the mess I made of my marriage,” Levi said.
No, he amended, he didn’t want Levi gone after all, not when his friend was still dealing with something that hadn’t been his fault.
“We’ve been through this,” he said, facing Levi. “She cheated on you.”
“Yeah.”
“I’m sorry.” Narah went from staring at him to doing the same to Levi. “That had to have been hard.”
“It was.” Levi downed a good third of his beer.
Whose turn was it to speak? For the life of him, Briant couldn’t come up with a way of ending the silence. The others must have been feeling the same way, because there was a lot of looking around and shuffling of feet. He should have removed his coat. If he had, he wouldn’t be standing here sweating and wondering what Narah was like in bed.
“You were how many years behind us in school?” he finally came up with.
“Two? I was a sophomore sitting in the stands watching that state championship game when—”
“When we came up short because our kicker’s nerves got to him,” he finished for her. “You like football?”
“Are you kidding?” Her cautious expression disappeared, replaced by delight. Damn, but he liked the look. “I’ve always loved sports. Played basketball and ran track.” She extended a jeans-clad leg toward him. “For a while, I thought I could qualify for the Olympics if I wasn’t so short.”
He hadn’t been thinking about her height. The damn ragbag sweatshirt was so loose he couldn’t tell enough about the woman beneath, but those were breasts all right, and her jeans snugged in all the right places. She wasn’t wearing makeup, making him wonder when he’d last seen a woman without her war paint in place. The natural look went with the setting.
“I know.” She sighed. “It was a crazy adolescent dream. I’m not made out of the same jock material you are. You too.” She nodded at Levi.
Levi chuckled. “You don’t have to cover your tracks. My feelings aren’t hurt.”
Briant had been to enough bars with his friend to know Levi was a woman magnet. It was too bad Levi hadn’t learned the art of seduction, or more to the point, was so straitlaced. If he weren’t, Levi would be notching his bedpost on a nightly basis.
Was Narah picking up sexual vibes from Levi? Or from him? Maybe neither. Damn, he hoped it wasn’t that because something should come out of the storm. Something that would change all three of them.
Looking at her with a practiced eye, he soon had his answer about her sexuality. She kept rocking from side to side, and her nostrils were a little flared. She carried herself straight and tall with her mostly hidden breasts reaching for the males in the room.
Males, not singular.
What was with that? Maybe, like a cow elk pursued by two bulls in rut, she was trying to make up her mind which one she’d let mount her.
Shit! He was a man, not an elk! What was with the rutting thought, the impulse to mount and penetrate? To command.
Alarmed by something he couldn’t or wouldn’t put into words, Briant whirled and took aim for the front door. He was through it and smack in the middle of the storm before he knew what he was doing. He’d noted Narah’s flared nostrils, but they were nothing compared to the way he figured his looked.
Flakes stung his face and the top of his head. When getting a professional haircut had become an extravagance he couldn’t afford, he’d started taking his electric razor to it. Now, with his dome getting colder by the moment, he wished he’d at least put on a cap. He should go back inside before the others started thinking he was an idiot, but damn it, his blood hadn’t felt this hot since his teen years.
When had he last had sex? Facing the river mostly hidden beneath the thickening white curtain, he struggled to go deep enough inside for the answer. Today everything was crystal clear, especially the last few minutes. Everything before that—hell, he couldn’t care less.
A woman was inside, waiting for him, needing to see him naked, waiting for the feel of his fingers on her skin and his cock inside her. The sooner he rejoined her…then what?
Eyes wide open and snow pushing past his lashes, Briant mentally went where his blood demanded. Narah’s clothes no longer existed. Hell, maybe he’d thrown them in the fire. Considerate soul that he was, he’d drawn her away from the stove so she wouldn’t burn her lovely skin. Looking up at him, she’d extend her arms in unspoken invitation. Touch me wherever you want, she’d say with her actions. Claim and control me.
He would, starting with her face. His rough fingertips would roam over her forehead, nose, cheeks, and eyelids. He’d move on to her throat and the silken flesh there. Despite his growing need, he wouldn’t rush the first brush of male fingers on female breasts, but when the contact was made—
Where was Levi? What was his role in this—whatever the hell this was?
Confounded by the question and his out-of-control thoughts, he finished the beer and stepped to the edge of the porch. Even with his mind messed up, he knew better than to lean against the rickety railing. At least he could rest his hands on the top and watch as snow piled on and between his fingers.
He’d never been in this place before. Oh yes, he was familiar with Wolverine Lodge. Just this summer, he’d taken several fishing clients past the stately but neglected structure. He’d explained that the recession had been responsible for its derelict look. Fortunately its closure would soon end.
Damn it, his mental state had nothing to do with log walls and metal roof!
Barely aware of what he was doing, he ran his free hand down his front. His jacket ended just south of his waist. Which meant only denim and cotton lay between his fingers and his erection. He didn’t trust himself to touch there.
Today, surrounded by winter weather, he no longer understood himself.
“Come back in.”
I’m not sure I dare. “In a minute,” he told Levi.
“Then I’ll join you.” Putting action to his words, the jacketless man joined him. Together they stared at the whitening world. Levi wasn’t shivering.
“What’s she going to think?” Briant asked.
“I don’t know.”
Something in Levi’s tone told him he wasn’t the only one caught in the storm’s message. Levi had always been the more studious and conservative one, more aware of what was going on in the world. He’d never walk bareheaded into a freezing afternoon.
However, maybe for the first time in his life, Levi wasn’t dressed for the conditions.
“I feel different today,” Levi said, not looking at him.
Me too. “In what way?”
“I’m not sure. Disconnected from myself. At the same time, hyperaware.”
That pretty much summed up how he felt. “It can’t be the beer. It’s only been one apiece.”
Shrugging, Levi absently wiped snowflakes off his forearm. “I’ve been so tense lately. Between learning what I did about Angela, the divorce, not having enough work—right now, I don’t give a damn about any of that.”
“Good.”
“Yeah, good.” He sighed. “You know what I’d love to do right now? This is going to sound crazy, and I probably don’t really mean it, but I’d give a lot to get my hands on a big-ass speedboat and tear up and down this river. Go faster than I’ve ever gone in my life, challenge class-five rapids.”
“Shit.”
/> “Shit what? You’re thinking I’m crazy?”
“No.” Briant gave his friend his full attention. “I don’t, because I want the same thing.” Hearing his words, he plowed ahead. Where was Narah? She needed to be out here, listening and contributing, part of whatever the hell this was. “But not just the Wolverine. We’ll take that big-ass speedboat all over the world, maybe end up on the Amazon.”
Facing into the wind, Levi laughed. “Free. Doing whatever we want to.”
“More like what we need to.”
The way Levi stared at him, Briant believed his friend understood what he was trying to say. All their lives, they’d done right, sensible, and legal things. He couldn’t explain why they’d come to the same realization at the same time that those things no longer mattered.
“Maybe we need to get laid,” he heard himself say. “A little satisfaction, and we’ll be back to normal.”
“I can’t argue with the sex part, but I don’t think that’s all there is to it. Maybe…”
“Maybe what?”
By way of answer, if that was what Levi was doing, he looked skyward. Snowflakes started plastering his face. Wanting what Levi was experiencing, Briant did the same. Even off balance, he couldn’t make himself move. The weather was all around him, a blanket, full of challenge and promise, wild.
Turning him hungry for a thousand things, one predominant.
The longer he presented his face to snow and wind, the more connected he felt not just to the storm but to his body. It wanted, needed. Craved.
“I’m tired of me,” Levi said. “I want to be someone I’ve never been.”
Me too. “Who?”
“I’m not sure. Primitive. Yeah, primitive.”
“Like an elk in rut.”
When Levi didn’t respond, Briant stopped studying the snow kaleidoscope and again focused on his friend. Levi’s head and shoulders looked like he had a world-class case of dandruff, but that wasn’t what caught Brant’s attention. Levi seemed both older and younger than he had this morning. He stood taller, and his shoulders were back as if he were ready to tackle the whole damn world.
“Yes,” Levi said at length. “Rut time.”
Nothing else.
Making sex everything.
SEX WAS HIGHLY overrated. Okay, the moment when everything turned red and her body shook was pretty damn good, but the truth was, she didn’t understand what all the excitement was about. Foreplay—well, to her way of thinking, that was a lot of work and time to spend in order to reach the red-world moment. Making sure a man got what he needed could be a royal pain, especially since she couldn’t read his mind. If he’d tell her how to handle his various body parts, maybe she’d approach her role with confidence. So far, that hadn’t happened.
The front door opened, and cold galloped in. Seeing Briant and Levi standing there, she understood why she’d been mulling over the things she had. Damn, double damn hot! A nod, a pig-simple word from her, and they’d be all over her, ripping off clothes and pawing and fucking her until the top of her head exploded.
Oh holy wonderful crap!
It was going to be the three of them until the weather let up and the rest of the crew could be flown back in. Not a soul in the outside world cared what happened in here.
Briant closed the door behind him, but although he must be chilled to the proverbial bone, he made no move to head for heat. Neither did Levi. Instead, they looked at her as if they’d never laid eyes on her before—either that, or they’d never seen her in this light.
That cut both ways.
Every inch of her skin felt alive. There wasn’t a molecule of her being that hadn’t connected with the two men. In a vague way, she knew the storm had a lot to do with it. The elements had wrapped around her and brought her to life in ways she’d never experienced.
“If you could do anything you wanted,” Briant said, “what would it be?”
To fuck both of you. “That’s a crazy question.”
Levi shrugged. “Maybe. That’s what we were talking about out there.”
Their faces were storm-reddened, and Levi had goose bumps on his strong, still-tanned forearms. Beneath their jeans, two erect cocks demanded her attention. Neither man made a move to shield his arousal from her. Her belly contracted.
“I don’t fantasize,” she came up with. “What’s the point? The world’s what it is.”
“That’s sad.” Leaving Levi to lean against the door, Briant approached her—stalked her, really. He stopped when he was only a couple of feet away. “You mean the whole time you’ve been alive, you’ve never considered doing something and damn the consequences or logistics?”
“A few times.” Coolness radiated off him, yet the heat at his core called to her.
“What kind of things?”
Getting down and dirty. Just getting. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Yes, it does.”
She’d been so intent on Briant, she hadn’t noticed that Levi had joined them. Added his cold/heat to the air. “Why?”
“Because today’s about the truth,” Levi said. He swept his hand over the bulge in his jeans. A heartbeat later, Briant did the same.
The men didn’t have to do what they had for her to get the message. A small part of her brain insisted they weren’t having this conversation and doing these things, but she silenced it. She needed every word and gesture.
Before she could decide how to handle what she’d just learned about herself, the picture window shuddered. No matter how much she was drawn to the men—and hell yes, she was—she couldn’t ignore the storm’s call. With every step she took toward the glass, her legs felt stronger.
The clouds had let go. There was nothing restrained about what was going on out there. Nature had a statement to make about strength. Snow obliterated all but the barest outlines of the largest trees. The river no longer existed. With each windblast, she wondered if the building would survive the attack.
Good! Let nature attack! She’d applaud its power, worship its awesomeness. Become part of it.
Infused with the elements’ might, she faced the men. The world beyond the lodge had evaporated, disappeared. There was only male energy and female need. Wanting. “The truth,” she whispered, “lies in this room.”
Chapter Three
Something he’d never felt before slithered through Levi. He was changing in some undefinable way, becoming different. Maybe dangerous.
“Let me get something straight.” Stepping into her space, he wrapped his fingers around her arms with enough strength that she couldn’t get away. “Are you saying you’re into threesomes?”
Her nostrils flared as she looked at what he’d done. “I don’t know. I’ve never been there.”
Neither have I. Keeping her so close wasn’t a good idea, but his cock needed to feel her warmth, and his veins fed off her femininity.
“Interesting,” Briant said as he joined them. He bumped Levi’s shoulder as if testing Levi’s hold on Narah. “I’ve never seen this side of you.”
That makes two of us. “Do you have a problem with it?”
“The question is, does she?” Briant ran his fingers into her hair, disturbing the ponytail. “Out with it, Narah. What’s your sex life like?”
Any other time they wouldn’t be having this conversation. But they were, and Levi almost desperately needed to hear his captive’s response. At least his cock did.
Something in her sigh told him she was making a decision. Maybe it’d help if he gave her some space. Instead, he shook her a little. “Answer him.”
“Or what?”
“Or I’ll make sure you regret it.”
Her eyes widened. “Turning macho, are you?”
“Maybe.” What did he mean, maybe? Damn, but he’d like to rough her up a bit, no more gentleman and no asking himself where this side of him had come from. “You haven’t answered his question.” Releasing his hold, he slid his hands down her arms and grabbed her wrists. Studying her, h
e forced her right arm behind her. Instead of fighting, she breathed more quickly, and something he’d never seen in any woman flashed in her eyes.
“My so-called sex life’s a joke,” she ground out. “My sister says it’s because I don’t act like a woman, whatever that is, but I’m in a male-dominated career. I have to prove myself.”
“When deep down, you want to be taken.”
Levi had been so intent on Narah that he’d again forgotten about Briant’s presence until he spoke. Not letting up his hold, he looked over at his friend. He couldn’t say whether he wanted Briant here or for this to be between Narah and himself.
“That’s the truth, isn’t it?” Briant pressed. “You’re self-confident and determined. You’ve always been like that, yet part of you needs a take-charge man, especially in the bedroom. Deep down, you want what you aren’t getting.”
She’d started shivering before Briant finished. Her eyes glistened. “What makes you think you know so damn much about me?”
Briant started to shrug, only to smile. “Give her to me.”
Was this really happening? Levi pondered while he did as the taller man commanded. Settling his hands over her shoulders, Briant held Narah before him. In the world they’d left behind, she’d be fighting like an alley cat. Instead, her arms hung loosely. Breathing fast, she watched him.
Maybe Levi imagined it, but weren’t Briant’s hands less than steady as he reached for her sweatshirt hem? He started to lift it.
“Any questions?” Briant asked.
She licked her lips, and her fingers twitched. “No.”
“What about objections?”
Would she call a halt to the insanity? End what he needed as he’d never needed anything? Instead, she glanced at the window where Mother Nature’s fury tore at the wilderness. “No. None.”
A less than practiced move later, Briant had hauled the old sweatshirt off her and tossed it over his shoulder. Levi wasn’t seeing this. No way was Briant running a hand between Narah’s legs and pressing his fingers against her crotch. Nor was she sinking down a little and closing her legs. But she was. “Oh God,” she mouthed.