by Marie Carnay
They were in an office, probably the space that got the most use in a mansion that size. No one who lived that large had time to be anywhere else. At least not people who earned their money like Ian.
The man never slowed down. Trent was impressed—between the two of them, they were burning the candle at both ends—but Ian never once complained. If only they were closer to finding who wanted to hurt Ian. Holly, too.
She perched on the edge of the desk and he smiled. So fucking sexy.
“You look beautiful tonight.”
She fingered the diamonds on her neck. “Thanks. Ian sent them over.”
“I wasn’t talking about the necklace, Holiday. I was talking about you.”
Holly didn’t smile. “Can I ask you something?”
Trent tensed. Questions like that never ended well. “Of course. You can ask me anything.”
“Why did you leave Midnight Cove?”
He exhaled. “A whole host of reasons.” He walked over to the window and stared out at the manicured gardens and stone walls. “You know I didn’t come from the best family on the block.”
“I remember.”
Trent was sure she did. It wasn’t easy to forget the shouting matches his parents had on the front lawn. Or his father’s buddies showing up in their patrol cars and calming them down. Or how his leather jacket hid more than tattoos. “My dad might have been a cop, but he wasn’t the nicest guy. If I’d stayed, it would have only gotten worse.”
“So you enlisted? That seems—”
“Ironic? Yeah, maybe. But it was the best thing to ever happen to me. Boot camp knocked some sense into me. All the rules and the structure and the conditioning—it showed me I wasn’t my father’s son. No one cared where I came from. They cared whether I’d be able to do my job.”
“Whether you could go to war.”
“Among other things.”
Holly pushed off the desk and the hooked rug dulled her footsteps. She slid up behind him and ran a hand over his back. “You’re different now. You have this calm confidence about you. It’s like you know what you’re capable of and don’t need to prove it to anyone.”
Trent’s lips twitched. “Like I said, the military was the best thing to ever happen to me.” He turned around. “Until I ran into you.”
Holly bit her lip. “I think it was the other way around.”
“Details.” He slid his hands around her waist and she melted against his chest. “Why are you mixed up with me and Ian, Holly? What can you possibly see in us?”
She smiled and her eyes sparkled in the light from outside. “I see two men who know what they want. Who accept me for who I am and not who they want me to be.”
He licked his lower lip and slid his hands up her sides. “What else?”
“I don’t…I…”
Trent leaned in and kissed her neck, just below her ear. “The sex isn’t half bad, either. Am I right?”
She shuddered against him. “I won’t lie. It’s pretty spectacular.”
He pulled back with a grin. “I don’t know how we all ended up together, Holly, but I’m in this for more than a vacation. I don’t want you to go back to LA.”
“What about your work?”
Trent shrugged. “I can have a home base anywhere. Midnight Cove’s as good as New York.”
“What about Ian?”
“I can share, if you want me to.”
She paused. “I don’t want this to come down to me picking a winner. I’m not some prize to be won. Trent, I—”
Trent shushed her with a finger on her lip. “I know. I don’t want to make you choose.”
“You don’t?” Her voice cracked on the last word and Trent grinned.
“No. But if you hadn’t noticed, it’s just you and me in this office. And I can think of a million things I’d rather be doing instead of talking.” He leaned closer and slid his hand down Holly’s body to cup her ass.
He plumped the soft swell of her flesh and tugged her closer until her thigh pressed into his crotch. She gasped as he rubbed his erection against her leg and Trent’s smile grew. “Let me fuck you, Holly.”
He kissed her ear, diamond and all. She shuddered.
“I want you. Right here. Right now. Let me show you how little I care about the world outside and all the people you can’t stand.” He squeezed her tighter. “I’ve got all I need in you.”
* * *
HOLLY
Oh my God. She’d known Trent had changed. That he wasn’t the troubled boy she knew all those years ago. But this? The way he gripped her tight and whispered dirty words in her ear? He didn’t do this when Ian was around.
Holly ran her hands up his chest and dug her nails into the starched white of his tux shirt. She wanted to rip it off him. Strip both their bodies as bare as she felt on the inside. He’d gotten inside her head and opened up the past. Exposed her fear and anger. The bitterness she still held onto like a crutch.
Maybe a few stolen minutes with Trent would banish all her insecurities and hurt. Let her see the good in Midnight Cove instead of her unhappy past. Holly reached up and cupped his face in her hands.
“You haven’t answered me. Tell me yes, Holly. I need to hear it.”
She swallowed. Admit what you want. Just say it. She pulled her lower lip into her mouth and let it go. “Yes.”
Before she could say another word, Trent spun her around on her heels and crashed against her.
His breath heated her neck. “Grab your dress. Pull it up.”
This is really happening. Holly shook as she grabbed fistfuls of the black velvet. She pulled it higher and higher, bunching the mass of fabric around her waist. The cool air of the room hit her ass and Trent’s hand followed.
“Hmm. This is the Holly I can’t get enough of. The one who’s so proper on the outside and dirty underneath. The wild one.” His fingers slipped beneath her thong and Holly’s breath caught in her lungs.
“Are you sure we—”
“Shh. Don’t talk.” Trent’s hand slid over her hip and down the front of the lace and Holly bit back a groan. His fingers parted her folds, stroking and caressing and searching. The pad of a finger swiped across her clit and Holly couldn’t hold back, couldn’t keep it in.
A moan rumbled up from the depths of her, loud and dangerous, and Holly let go. Screw caring what anyone at the party would think. Trent stroked her clit again and she trembled.
“You’re so wet for me, Holly. So fucking wet.” Trent’s breath fanned across her bare neck and he pulled his hand free. “Bend over.”
The sound of Trent’s zipper sent a shudder through Holly and she did his bidding. She bent at the waist until her breasts mashed into the wood grain of the desk and her ass stuck out behind her. So very exposed.
His satisfied moan sent shock waves through her body. “That’s it. Just like that.”
As she turned her head to find him in the moonlight, Trent’s hand stroked her bare skin.
“You have a perfect ass.” He circled his hands, up and down, over and around, touching every swell and curve.
She was so vulnerable in that moment, bent over a stranger’s desk, her whole backside exposed. But Holly didn’t care. Trent’s hands spread across her ass and her sex throbbed with unsatisfied need. He’d stoked her desire with barely a touch. Turned her reckless and brazen and wanton.
She moaned and he stepped forward. His words came out rough. “I’d find something to hold onto.”
Holly reached out, scrambling for the edge of the desk. As her fingers wrapped around the polished wood, Trent tugged her thong to the side. Oh! One thrust and he’d claimed her. His cock sliced through her slick channel and his thighs slammed against her ass.
Holly was full and throbbing and so close to coming all she could do was hold on. He fucked her mercilessly, pulling back and plowing home as she rocked into the desk. Over and over. His thick shaft filling her up, again and again.
Her breasts slid up and down on the wood gr
ain of the desk, her ass bounced in the air, and as Trent slipped a hand back inside her thong, she cried out. He shoved his fingers through her swollen folds and…there!
One swipe of his finger across her clit and she came. An orgasm barreled through her. Gone was the desk, the office, the party outside. Just light. Magic. Bursts of euphoria pulsing inside her.
Trent grabbed her by the hips, pistoning his way to his own climax as Holly rode her orgasm to the very end. He grunted his release, holding her tight and still as he emptied deep inside her. The rush sent shockwaves through Holly and she shook on the desk, overcome.
At last, Trent leaned over, draping his body over hers. He kissed her earlobe and Holly exhaled.
“That was amazing.”
“My thoughts exactly.” As Trent braced to stand, a woman’s voice carried into the room.
“…sure you can handle it?”
It came from the hallway. Holly tensed and Trent gripped her tighter, his black tux fanning out and covering her naked backside. His cock, still thick inside her, twitched and she bit back a moan.
A man’s voice answered. “Of course I’m sure. By the time we’re through tonight, he’s going to wish he never messed with you.”
Holly stiffened. It couldn’t be.
“Good. Because if you fuck this up, I’ll…” The voices faded as the couple walked past the room and Trent backed away.
The sudden loss of him and the voices had Holly reeling. She wobbled and gripped the desk as her dress fell back down into place. Now wasn’t the time to be needy.
She turned to Trent. “You don’t think—”
His look confirmed her fears. “I don’t know. But I’ve got to check it out.” Trent put himself back together and planted a quick kiss on Holly’s lips. “You stay here where you’re safe. I’ll tell Ian you’re here and be back for you both.”
Holly nodded. She hoped what they heard was just coincidence—a conversation out of context they weren’t meant to hear. But she couldn’t shake the dread that crept down her spine. Something was going down at the party that night and it wasn’t good.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
HOLLY
TWENTY MINUTES LATER and Holly had had enough. Stay here and do what, exactly? Her heels wore a pattern into the carpet as she paced back and forth. She knew Trent meant well by asking her to stay put. He thought she’d be safe.
But she needed to be out there, helping him and Ian. Not sitting on the bench twiddling her thumbs. She crept over to the door and opened it enough to stick her head out. No sign of Ian, Trent, or the would-be criminals. Damn it. She shut the door and bit her lip.
Holly had been in a daze when Trent had rushed out the door, still high from the way he’d taken charge and taken her right over the edge. She glanced at the desk and couldn’t help but laugh. She’d never look at burled walnut the same way again.
“Something funny?”
The voice caught her off guard and Holly spun around. “Ian! Did Trent find you?”
He nodded and stepped forward. “He did, but he rushed off before I could ask him anything. What’s going on?”
“We were in here and we heard voices in the hall, a man and a woman. It could be the people harassing you.”
Ian tilted his head. “Why were you in here?”
Holly blushed, thankful Ian hadn’t turned on the light. “Just getting away from the party.”
“Is that all?” He stepped closer and reached for her. His hand slipped around her back and Holly closed her eyes. But instead of kissing her, Ian nuzzled her neck and breathed deep.
Her body molded against his and Holly held her breath.
“You smell like Trent. Don’t tell me you were only talking.”
“I didn’t say anything about talking.”
His lips brushed against her earlobe. “Is a night out with me that terrible?”
“No. You know I don’t like parties in the Cove.” His lips traced over her neck and she held her breath.
“Mmm. I thought you’d make an exception tonight.” He traced the outline of the necklace with his thumb. “Do you like it?”
“I don’t need fancy presents.”
“I don’t need fancy parties.”
“You don’t?” Holly pulled back and found Ian’s stare in the dim light. “But—”
“But what? I only go to these things because I don’t have anything else to do. If you don’t like them, I’ll stop.”
“It’s expected of you.”
His lips twitched. “I can change expectations.”
Holly didn’t know what to say. First Trent opened up about how he wanted her to stay in Midnight Cove and see where this whole thing went. Now Ian had his arms wrapped around her and he was claiming not to care about the things she hated.
She wanted to ask him more and figure out where he stood, but now wasn’t the time. “You should find Trent. If the people responsible are here—”
“He’s on it.” Ian’s arm cinched tighter around her waist. “I’m on you.”
Holly frowned. “Aren’t you listening?”
“To every word.” Ian kissed her earlobe and nibbled the bare skin beneath the earring. “No one will find us in here. We’re safe.”
She pushed against his chest. “This can wait.”
“No, it can’t.” He pulled back and waited until she looked him in the eye. “All week I’ve been denying it to myself…what this three-way relationship means. I can’t do it anymore. I walked around that party tonight and you know what? I felt empty. Alone. A crowded room full of people I’ve spent countless hours with and all I could do was scan every cluster of bodies for you and Trent.”
“Ian—”
“No. Let me finish. I want you—us—the three of us together. I can’t bear the thought of you walking out of Midnight Cove and out of my life.”
“You can’t mean that.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m…you’re…” Damn it. Holly knew Ian wasn’t thinking straight. He couldn’t possibly want an ordinary woman from LA when he had his choice of the rich and famous right there in the Cove. Hell, she couldn’t even stand by his side for an hour at a charity party. How could he think they’d make it together?
“Tell me what you’re thinking, Holiday.”
“I’m not made for this life.” She palmed his chest. “Your life.”
She pushed him away and focused on the carpet. “I hate these parties. I can’t stand the people. I’d be a fun killer if I stayed. You can’t want that.”
Ian grabbed her by the chin and pulled her face back up to his. “Stop it. You think I do all this because I like it? I do it because I’m lonely, Holly. What else is there to do? I’ve thrown myself into the shipping business, I travel all over the place for months at a time, and when I come back home, I’ve got nothing. No one. Of course I go to parties. At least there I can pretend.”
He let her go and stalked to the other side of the room. With one hand raking through his hair and one stuffed in his pocket, he looked every bit the brooding billionaire. But his words said the opposite.
She stepped forward. “What are you saying?”
Ian spun on his heel. “I’m finally alive, don’t you see? You’ve brought me back, reminded me what it’s like to have more than work and money and an empty house. I don’t want you to leave. I don’t want to lose that.”
“What about Trent?”
He paused before answering. “I won’t get in the way. You two have something. I can see that. And when we’re all together—”
She almost smiled. “It’s good.”
“It’s electric.” He stepped up to her and took her by the arms. “Don’t you see? I want you so much, I’m willing to share.”
A million thoughts and emotions flooded Holly’s brain and she didn’t know what to say or where to look. Ian had basically come out and said he loved her—not in so many words, but Holly understood all the same.
Trent had too, in his own wa
y.
But was this what she wanted? It’d been a wild week tangled up in Ian’s sheets with both men in the dark. The whole time she’d told herself it was temporary. A vacation from her real life. A bout of momentary insanity.
Not forever.
She bit her lip. “I don’t know, Ian.”
He gripped her tighter. “Yes, you do.”
* * *
IAN
Running his hands over her skin was like stroking silk. Ian would never get enough. He knew way back when she was in high school and he was a college kid that they had something. A spark. A connection.
Now that he’d had a taste, no way was he going back. So he’d poured his heart out and practically begged a grown woman not to leave him. Not the manliest of moments. But he could handle it.
He could handle anything if Holiday stayed wrapped up in his arms. Her eyes fluttered shut and he took advantage, kissing away her hesitation. She already knew what they had was different. She just needed to admit it was worth the risk.
Maybe it was the stalker they’d been hunting since Trent came to town. The added pressure of someone out to hurt his business, his house. Even Holiday.
Something about the whole past week had Ian on edge. He needed her to admit it, to give in to the rush that hit deep and hard when they fucked. To the way all three of them connected in the moment. It wasn’t just the sex or the endorphins or the kinky excitement. It was more.
Ian pressed his body against Holly’s soft shape as he kissed her deeper. His tongue swiped across her full lips and she opened for him. Yes. He flicked his tongue against hers and she moaned. That’s it, baby. Remember.
Loosening his grip, he trailed his hands up and down her backside, sliding over the black velvet as Holly slipped her hands beneath his jacket. He broke their kiss and reached for her zipper.
“Do you know why I wanted you out there in the crowd next to me tonight?”
“So you wouldn’t be bored?”
“No. So I could make everyone in that room jealous.” He found the zipper at last and tugged it down her back. The velvet gaped open and Holly’s breasts came into view, stuffed inside a backless bra. Huge and full and so damn suckable.