by Leah Brooke
Biting her lip against the pain, she took several deep breaths before speaking. “Give it to me, damn you. And leave my truck here. I’ll get someone else to take care of it.”
Dropping her bag on the asphalt, Ryder whipped an arm out, snagging her waist and lifting her several inches off of the ground, plastering her against him. His other hand caught hers when she lashed out to smack his face.
“Settle down before you hurt yourself. Settle down, damn it.” He shook her once, the sharp pain forcing her to stop struggling.
“Listen, you asshole—”
“No, you listen.” His green eyes flashed. “I don’t know you. I met you less than an hour ago. You need repair work on your truck and after acting like you don’t want anything to do with either one of us, you change your mind and within minutes you’re offering sex. Just because we told you we go to the club, don’t think we don’t have standards. Every woman there is checked out before she’s allowed in the door. I don’t know you from Adam, lady, and until I do, I’m not buying what you’re selling.”
His grin sent a chill through her, making it difficult to breathe. “And by the way, there’s no other place in town to get your truck fixed. You’re just going to have to deal with us.”
Alison hid her wince when he set her none too gently on her feet. Careful not to move any more than necessary, she poked him in the chest. “For you information, I’m not selling anything. I thought I made that clear. And it has nothing to do with you anyway. I was talking to Dillon. I wouldn’t have you on a silver platter!”
Ryder gripped her chin, running his thumb over her bottom lip, a satisfied smile curving his lips when she shivered. With the other hand, he made a slow trail with a wandering finger from her chin, down her neck, stopping at a spot right between her breasts, making both of her nipples tighten unbearably and flare to life.
His low tone, laced with promise and intent, sent an answering surge of need through her.
“Real soon I’m gonna make you eat those words.”
Dillon’s gentle hands turned her toward him, shooting a look of impatience at Ryder over her shoulder. “Look, I can understand how hearing about the clubs and seeing Rachel with Boone and Chase have given you the wrong idea about our town. In Desire, we take sex and our women very seriously. But Ryder’s right. We don’t know each other very well. Let’s get you checked in and we’ll talk over dinner.”
He ran a hand though her hair, his eyes alight with erotic anticipation. “One thing you should know, though. Just like Boone and Chase, Ryder and I share.”
Chapter Two
Reeling from Dillon’s announcement, Alison could only look from one to the other in stunned silence. She found it hard to believe that two men, so different in personality, would even consider sharing a woman.
“You’re kidding, right?”
Ryder’s eyes raked over her, cold and assessing. “No. He’s not kidding.” He smiled lecherously, a dark brow going up. “Scared?”
Dillon laid his hand on her arm, the gentleness in his touch making her yearn to cuddle against him and beg him to teach her the way it could be between a man and a woman.
He smiled when she looked up at him. The tenderness in it had a calming effect, settling some of her butterflies and making her inch toward him. “We’ll see you to your room.”
Walking through the parking lot, she turned to make sure no one could overhear. “Okay, let me get this straight. Neither one of you ever—”
“Fucks?” The unmistakable sarcasm in Ryder’s voice had her moving closer to Dillon.
Nodding, she looked straight ahead. “Yes. Neither one of you fucks another woman without the other?”
Dillon wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer. “Not usually. It’s something we learned about ourselves a long time ago. We moved to Desire because of it when we were in our midtwenties. We’re both thirty-six now. We know what we want, Alison. We want a woman to build a future with. We want a mother for our children and a partner, one who would embrace a ménage marriage and do what it takes to make one work.”
Not daring to look at Ryder, she looked up at Dillon through her lashes and bent closer, keeping her voice at a whisper.
“I’d rather just see you. I don’t think your friend likes me.”
Dillon smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes.
“I have eyes, Alison. How long do you think that would last before you let him into your bed? You’d feel guilty for wanting him, he’d feel bad about intruding on what we had. No, Alison. We start as we mean to go on, or we don’t start at all.”
Sliding a glance toward Ryder, she sighed in regret that she wouldn’t be able to have such a gentle, decidedly masculine hunk, but if it meant dealing with the wild and far-too-good-looking Ryder, she’d have to pass.
Ryder seemed to enjoy her discomfort, brushing against her far too often for it to be accidental, the masculine lines of his body hard and unforgiving against her feminine curves. His arm brushed the curve of her breast as he shifted his hold on her bag. While she checked in at the front desk, he leaned over her, his cheek brushing against her hair at the same time he flirted with the beautiful, young hotel clerk.
Turning to glare at him, she opened her mouth to tell him to back off, snapping it shut again when he lifted a brow expectantly. She turned away, determined to ignore him, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of knowing he riled her.
Her growing lethargy left her too tired to deal with him anyway. When the young woman held out her room key, Alison breathed a sigh of relief, anxious to get to her room and away from both men.
The young woman slid a sidelong look and slow wink at Ryder.
“Would you like me to escort you?”
Dillon snatched the key before Alison could take it, shooting a dirty look at Ryder over her head before taking her arm.
“No, thanks. We know the way. Come on, Alison. You look done in.”
Deciding it would take less energy to let them take her to her room than to stand in the lobby and argue about it, she fell into step beside him, her lethargy growing with every step.
A poster caught her attention, an advertisement for a place called The Bar, which stated that Friday night was ladies’ night and women could drink for free.
Interesting.
Since an affair with Dillon no longer appeared to be an option, she could go there after grabbing a quick bite somewhere. Who knew? She might meet another man who would be willing to help her with her research and not make her feel like a jerk afterward.
Flanked by Dillon and Ryder, and aware of their scrutiny, she stared straight ahead, letting the idea roll around in her head. The more she thought about it, the more she liked it. She wouldn’t have sex tonight, of course, but it would give her the opportunity to meet other men, hopefully one like Dillon.
If she found someone interesting, she could meet up with them after the seminar tomorrow and see where it led. She just wanted one fling before she left, one chance to feel good again and shake off the lingering effects of her time with Danny once and for all.
While walking through the lobby, her back started to tighten up again, and she knew from experience that the only way to relieve it would be to lie down for a while. The medicine had started to take effect, however, and she had trouble keeping her eyes open. Her legs felt heavy, and each step seemed to take an inordinate amount of energy. Not wanting to slow down, she clenched her jaw and kept going, desperate to get away from both of them and to fall into bed as soon as possible.
She looked neither right nor left as she walked between them, just staring straight ahead and concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other as they made their way down the hallway.
Dillon finally stopped, tugging her arm when she would have kept going.
“Here’s your room. Are you sure you’re all right?”
Alison nodded once, regretting it immediately as the hallway spun.
“I’m fine. Look, about d
inner, I think I’m just going to take a walk around town later and grab something. Thanks anyway.”
Dillon paused in the act of opening the door and turned to frown at her. “I don’t think so. We’ll pick you up at six.”
Not about to get caught up in an argument, she said nothing as Dillon opened the door and she went inside. Avoiding their probing stares, she stood in the center of the room.
“Thank you for coming to get my truck, and for the ride. I’d appreciate the estimate as soon as you can get it ready. If I’m not here, you can leave a message at the front desk.”
Ryder stood with his hands on his hips. “Sure thing, doll.” His flip answer didn’t match the intensity of his expression or the assessing look in his sharp green eyes. “You don’t have to worry about me at dinner. I’ll grab something at the club so the two of you can be alone.”
Alison watched Ryder leave the room, his long legs eating up the ground in an apparent hurry to get away from her, jumping when he slammed the door behind him and wincing at the pull of tight muscle.
Sucking in a breath at the cold blade of the inexplicable slash of pain to her stomach, she blinked to force back tears. She didn’t understand why it mattered so much that he wanted to get away from her, especially when she’d been trying to get away from him from the moment she’d met him.
But she couldn’t deny that it hurt.
Dillon stared after Ryder for several long seconds before turning back to her, cupping her cheek, his eyes searching. “Alison, look at me.”
Lifting her gaze, she sucked in a breath, struck again by the tenderness in the eyes of such an overwhelmingly masculine man. Her heart pounded nearly out of her chest when his hands went to her waist beneath her jacket.
His palms left a trail of heat in their wake as they slid higher, not stopping until they reached the outer curve of her breast. Her nipples beaded, tingling for his touch and poking at the front of her cotton shirt.
Her breath hitched, a moan escaping before she could prevent it. She hadn’t been touched with tenderness in longer than she cared to think about and definitely hadn’t expected to respond with such heat to a man as gentle as Dillon.
God, she needed this. Needed to be touched. Needed to feel again.
Seeing the way he eyed the swell of her breasts, she stepped forward, flattening her hands on his chest and pressing her breasts against him. Perhaps he was shy and needed encouragement.
He lifted his gaze to meet hers at the same time he lifted his hand, pushing her hair back from her face and threading his fingers through it, brushing his thumb back and forth over her cheek. He stared down at her, his gaze raking over her features as though memorizing them, the tenderness and desire in his eyes laced with amusement.
She’d never been so turned on by a look. She would do anything he wanted if only he would keep looking at her that way. Pressing against the hand caressing the curve of her breast, she licked her dry lips, whimpering when his eyes flared.
“Dillon, touch me. Please.”
He hesitated only a second or two, his eyes becoming hooded, before he shifted his hand and placed it over her breast.
“You’re so incredibly beautiful, and you don’t even realize it, do you?”
Even through her shirt and bra, the friction and heat of it shocked her. Crying out, she grabbed his arms for support, pressing herself harder against his hand to encourage him. She’d never been held so carefully, but with such purpose before.
He only touched her head and her breast but, with such little effort, somehow managed to possess her, not allowing her to look away and increasing her need with every caress of his palm.
“You’re starving, aren’t you, Alison? Starving for the kind of attention a woman like you needs. Starving to be taken to your limits.”
Closing her eyes, she savored the image his words invoked. Opening them again, she sighed. “God, yes. Please, Dillon. Take me there.”
Dillon’s eyes narrowed, his lips curving. “You’re surprised that you’re responding this way. You’re not as brazen as you let on. Hell, you couldn’t even look me in the eye when you offered yourself to me. Don’t mistake my tenderness with shyness or inexperience, Alison. I’m capable of tenderness, but there’s a darker side to me that any woman who took me on would have to accept.”
Alison cried out again as he pinched her nipple, the jolt of heat from it going straight to her clit, making it throb with delicious anticipation.
She had soaked panties, her body trembled with need, and he hadn’t even kissed her!
She’d always known she needed a man like him—strong, yet gentle, but the reality of having both wrapped in one man proved to be more intoxicating than she could have ever imagined.
“I’ve never done anything like this before, Dillon. I swear. I’ve never met anyone like you before. I need you. If you’re worried about Ryder, he doesn’t need to know.”
Dillon leaned closer, brushing his lips against hers, tightening his hand in her hair to keep her from following. “Do you know what I would do to you right now if you were my woman?”
His low, seductive drawl oozed over her like molten desire, sending her lust soaring.
Licking her lips, she gasped as he used just the tip of his finger to tease her nipple and fisted her hands in his shirt in an attempt to bring him closer. She needed his kiss, needed to feel his mouth plunder hers, whimpering in her throat when he denied her.
“What would you do?” Her voice, barely more than a whisper, came out breathless and needy. Oh, the possibilities. Her pussy clenched just imagining the kinds of things he might have in store for her, things she’d probably never even heard of.
“I’d shove those tight jeans down to your thighs.” His lips moved over her face, brushing over her eyes, her nose, her cheeks, letting her feel the warmth of his breath caressing her features with each soft-spoken word.
“Do you know it makes a woman feel more exposed to have her pants pulled only partially down while the rest of her is covered? It makes her feel naughty when only her ass is exposed. Or breasts. Or soft pussy. It focuses all of her attention there. I’d do that to you.”
Alison couldn’t speak, the whimpers in her throat almost continuous now. She couldn’t open her eyes because each time she tried, Dillon moved his lips over them again. Being unable to see him made her senses sharper, made each touch of his finger on her nipple more intense, each word he spoke more arousing.
His hand changed positions, the possessiveness in the hand that cupped her breast unlike anything she’d ever experienced. Not rough or demanding, the slow, soft caress like loving strokes over a prized possession.
The low rumble in his voice made her tremble. “I would rip your panties from that beautifully rounded ass so that it was bare. The sound of the material ripping would excite you as much as it would excite me.”
“Oh, God, Dillon, you’re killing me. I’ve never heard anyone talk that way before. Please, Dillon. Touch me again. Kiss me.”
The sharp pinch of her nipple made her knees buckle, and only his hold kept her from falling.
Crying out, she rubbed her thighs together as the throbbing became unbearable. She couldn’t get enough air in her lungs, breathing heavily against the need raging inside her. Her abdomen tightened with each clench of her pussy, her clit feeling so swollen and heavy as though it had taken on a life of its own.
“I’m not finished telling you what I would do to you. Don’t you want to hear it?”
Licking her lips, she managed to nod while gulping in air. “Yes, oh, God, yes!”
Using his finger to tease her nipple again, he nuzzled her jaw, speaking so slowly that each word was like a stroke to her clit. “I’d put you over my lap, where I could look my fill. I’d run my hand over that gorgeous ass, listening to your moans and cries of anticipation. You’d try to cover yourself, but I wouldn’t let you. I’d hold both of your hands in one of mine so nothing would get in my way.”
Dillon li
fted his head, not speaking again until she opened her eyes. “That ass would be mine, wouldn’t it, Alison? For that moment in time, you would give yourself over to me, wouldn’t you, Alison?”
Alison swallowed heavily before speaking, her voice huskier than she’d ever heard it.
“Yes. Yours. Please, Dillon. Just this once, let me be yours. I won’t tell Ryder. I promise. Just you and me. No one else would ever know.”
She didn’t know where the words came from, but they spilled from her with ease. She wanted him more than she’d ever thought she could want a man.
He smiled, a cool smile, his eyes darkening into two chips of blue ice.
“If you were mine, and that ass was mine, I would give you a sound spanking that you’d never forget for trying to pit me against Ryder. And for your information, when I have you, I’m sure as hell not making a secret of it. I would make sure the world knew you belonged to me!”
His cold tone penetrated before the meaning of his words, but when they did, she gasped and tried unsuccessfully to pull away.
“You wouldn’t dare spank me! You’re nothing but a brute. You’re not gentle or nice at all!”
She couldn’t believe she’d been so stupid. The way he’d gone into detail told her that he would carry out his threat with no hesitation at all.
Later on she’d deal with the fact that those little details he’d mentioned had aroused the hell out of her.
Dillon looked down to where his hand covered her breast again, the possessiveness in his eyes and in his touch both irritating and arousing.
Alison turned away, her face burning, a little surprised, and more than a little disappointed that he released her.
That made her even madder. She didn’t know how to handle him, didn’t know what he wanted from her, but it became increasingly obvious that she didn’t have the experience to deal with a man like Dillon, after all.
Taking several steps away, she wrapped her arms around her middle, willing the lust still raging through her to disappear.