by Gia Dawn
“Marco’s family will be happy that we’re happy,” Jason explained, his face lighting up as she’d never seen it.
Wow. The woman they were interested in must be amazing. Her heart tore in another place. “And what about your family? They okay with a permanent three-way?” Even to her own ears her voice sounded detached, as if she was speaking down a tunnel or through a wall of stone. Jason’s expression returned to its usual glower.
“My parents were killed in a car crash just a few weeks ago.” His voice bottomed out. “But we hadn’t spoken for a very long time.”
Kiera immediately moved to his side, offering him the comfort he’d so recently offered her. He’d always been the more reticent of the two men, but she was now beginning to realize they had more in common than she ever would have imagined.
She grabbed his hand and held it tight, nearly sick over her thoughtless question. “Oh God, I’m sorry, Jason. I didn’t mean to be so flippant.”
“It’s okay. We were never close, but I had hoped… I guess I had hoped that someday we would find common ground. Now I’ll never know if we could have worked things out.”
Kiera didn’t know which of their situations was the saddest. Never having had a family at all or losing one you’d never felt close to. She supposed the latter, given her present predicament. It was infinitely worse to have loved and lost—no matter what the stupid poets said.
But Jason was already standing so she pulled her hand away. Now they seemed as far apart as they had ever been, the lingering heat of his skin against her palm the only thing left of their earlier closeness.
“You will come to dinner tonight and stay at our place until your window is repaired. If you argue I promise to toss you over my shoulder and parade you around where all the neighbors can see.
He wouldn’t. Not a snowball’s chance. But was she willing to take the risk? The thought of being put on such humiliating display sent Kiera’s mind into overdrive.
And she couldn’t stay at a strange hotel. That thought made her shudder. She could call Manette, but then she’d have to explain how the men had dropped her and how desperately she wanted them back, and she had no doubt her friend would step in and make the situation that much worse.
Although she doubted she would feel even remotely comfortable at Jason and Marco’s house, the alternatives were unacceptable. She could only hope the window was repaired quickly and she wouldn’t have to put herself through the torment of spending too much more time listening to them tell her all about their new affair.
“Kiera, do not challenge us on this.” Jason’s tone was as cold as she’d ever heard it. “I promise you, you won’t like the outcome.”
* * * * *
Kiera was in a near state of panic as she dressed for dinner that night. She’d picked up her cell a dozen times to call and cancel, but the way Jason had said, “You won’t like the outcome,” made her feel certain he would follow through on his promise that the two men would break down her door, carry her to their house and tie her to a chair if she dared not show up.
What then should she wear?
While she didn’t want to put on anything even remotely provocative, she didn’t want to show up in paint-splattered jeans and a t-shirt, her usual attire. Not that they cared what she looked like. God knows they’d seen her looking her very worst. And this wasn’t a date or anything that remotely resembled one. It was a plain and simple dinner followed by a plain and simple night alone in a guestroom while the damage to her house was being repaired—which they owed her anyway because Jason was the one who’d smashed it into pieces.
In the end she decided on a long printed skirt and two tank tops layered over each other along with a decently thick bra so they wouldn’t see her nipples bead if she got too excited about being so close to the both of them.
She actually made an effort to do her hair, using a flat iron to sleek it down, but the curl was so stubborn she gave up after half an hour and twisted it into a knot at the base of her neck. It would have to do.
She was ready an entire hour early, and filled the rest of the time by pacing back and forth across her kitchen floor while she used her cell to search for properties in Ohio, growing more despondent by the minute.
Every now and then she stared out the hole in her wall to see what Marco and Jason were doing, but they had their curtains drawn tight for once and she could not see a blasted thing.
She could, however, smell barbecue. The spicy scent enticed her, making her hungry for the first time all day as she checked the clock and decided it was time to go. After grabbing a bottle of wine from the fridge, she picked her way across the lawn, heading around to the back of the house instead of knocking on the front door. Her hands shook despite herself as she spied Marco bent over the grill while Jason sat by the patio table frowning at his laptop.
They both looked remarkable in faded jeans and t-shirts, although Kiera could only stare in shock when Marco turned and she saw he was wearing an apron with Barbeque-Bitch printed in bold letters across the front.
“You think this one’s funny?” Marco caught sight of her and waved a pair of tongs in her direction. “Just wait ’til you see Jason’s. It says Housecleaning-Whore. I had it specially made.”
Jason snorted. “Everything-else-slave is more like it. Marco spends way too much time at the stove. I clean, shop, do laundry—”
“You so do not do my laundry.”
“—mow the yard, trim the hedges. I swear the man doesn’t do a damn thing around the house.”
“Careful, che cazzo, or I’ll spit on your ribs.” Marco gave Kiera a wink as he turned back to his grill.
“Suck me,” Jason muttered, finally making Kiera giggle. “Much better,” he said as he stood and took her hand, leading her to the table. “You looked like you were being led to the gallows standing there in the shadows. We don’t bite, do we, Marco? Well, at least not much,” he added with a look that made Kiera doubly glad she had worn several layers to hide her breasts.
“I’m sorry about this morning.” She quickly spewed out her rehearsed apology, blushing as she remembered her sorry state on the couch when Jason had found her. “I worked much too late last night.”
“Doing another portrait?” Jason watched her with way too much attention.
“Of course.”
“Why don’t you do one of us?”
“That’d be great, don’t you think?” Marco had the nerve to smile.
Kiera’s eyes grew wider at the all-too-familiar request. She didn’t like where this conversation was leading. Was this their new come-on line? And what about the woman they’d told her they were interested in as a long-term partner?
“Seriously?” She snapped up the glass of wine Jason held out to her and took a decent swallow. It hit hard in the pit of her stomach, making her nauseous as it refused to settle. “I can’t,” she added as Jason opened his mouth. “Sorry, but I don’t have time.”
It was almost the truth. She’d finally managed to contact a Realtor who had agreed to help her find a new home. If all went well, she’d be packed and gone before she could watch them move their wonderful new woman in.
She took another decent swallow of wine to follow the first. This one settled so much better she finished the glass and held it out for a refill.
“Unh-uh.” Jason shook his head. “No more alcohol for you after last night.”
“What happened last night?” Marco stopped in mid-flip as he glared at them from the grill. “She was fine when I left.”
“And I was fine when Jason broke through my window this morning.”
“It was nearly two in the afternoon,” he interrupted.
“So what? I worked later than I should have, drank an extra glass or two of wine, then fell asleep on the couch. No biggie.”
“There was wine and red paint splattered all over the floor.” Jason’s tone was every bit as stern as when he’d ordered her to submit at the Red Mask, and Kiera was every bit as tempte
d to duck her head and sink to her knees at his feet. But she quelled the impulse. They no longer deserved that respect.
“I am an adult woman perfectly capable of taking care of myself,” she told them both, rising to her feet. “I thought you asked me over to apologize for ruining my house, but if you plan to yell at me all night I’ll go find a hotel.”
Marco grabbed her hand as she stormed past Jason, pulling her close as he worked at the grill. “Then you’d miss the best ribs in Charleston.” He closed his eyes and sniffed appreciatively. “I promise they will melt in your mouth.” Her stomach growled in appreciation as Marco cut off a tiny bite and placed it against her lips. “Open.”
She obeyed but refused to meet his eyes as he slid the morsel into her mouth. “Oh my God, that is amazing,” she told him honestly.
“Thanks for the compliment, but Marco will do,” he had the nerve to answer. “Now we eat.”
Before she remembered why she was leaving, Jason grabbed her shoulders and steered her back to the table, sitting her down as Marco placed a mound of the barbequed meat on her plate. Then Jason brought out a bowl of salad and another of golden mashed potatoes which he heaped next to the ribs on her plate.
“I can’t possibly eat all this.” Kiera tried to protest but the men were insistent, placing twice as much on both their plates before digging in with abandon. They didn’t speak for a very long time as they plowed their way through the food, each of them taking turns holding out bits for her eat, trading jokes and work stories when they’d finished the first serving and helped themselves to a second.
And just when Kiera thought she would burst, Marco brought out a pecan pie—made from scratch and still warm from the oven—and a can of whipped cream, which he squirted into his mouth before Jason could snatch it away.
“Cretin.”
“Asshole.”
“You kiss your momma with that mouth?”
“No, but I kiss yours.”
Jason grabbed the can with a sigh. “You see what I have to put up with? What woman could possibly want to spend the rest of her life with idiots like us?” He shook his head as he cut a piece of pie and put it on his plate, smothering it with what Kiera thought was the entire rest of the can of whipped cream.
“Hey, leave some for me.” Marco frowned and wrestled the can from Jason’s hand.
Kiera would have enjoyed their banter immensely if she wasn’t so steeped in self-pity. She snuck another slug of wine when the guys moved to clear off the table, chugging it down in record time. But as the alcohol kicked in, so did her earlier anger at the two. They had no right to make her want them so desperately and then act as if they didn’t see her need. No right at all to toy with her feelings.
“So how did the two of you meet your new party queen? Does she know how many other women you’ve had in the past?” she demanded recklessly. When Jason’s lips thinned Kiera knew she was on dangerous ground. It didn’t stop her from taking another step across the mine-strewn field. “And is she really ready for full double penetration?”
Chapter Nine
Kiera clamped her hands over her mouth in horror as she heard the words that popped out without hope of retrieval. She swore she could hear the grass grow as Marco and Jason simultaneously snapped to alert.
“As a matter of fact, yes,” Jason stated grimly, “although after that rude outburst I am thinking of withholding the pleasure. Don’t you agree, Master Marco?”
“I do, Sir Jason. She has grown decidedly rebellious tonight.”
“And she has started drinking. Another bad sign.”
“She should be properly punished. Would you care to do the honor?”
“I would welcome the chance.”
“Not that she was ever informed we disapprove of too much alcohol,” Marco ruminated.
“Or that we found it decidedly intrusive when she watched our other encounters,” Jason added.
“And lied to us.” Marco’s tone was as stern as Jason’s. “Don’t forget her continuous deception.”
“Continuous deception.” Jason sat back in his chair and spread his legs. “Bring her to me, Master Marco. I’ll hold her down while you get the whip.”
“Do you think we have a chance of turning her into our perfect mate…even with certain punishment for her continued transgressions?”
Kiera was going to die on the spot. Fall to the floor and pray it swallowed her whole. And she would have fled in abject horror if Marco hadn’t suddenly grabbed her hand and taken a zealous interest in the brace that wrapped her wrist.
“Now you will explain this.” He refused to let her pull away as he held her hand up between them, his frown growing ever more pronounced. “And if you dare hit us with that carpal-tunnel shit, I will spread you across this table and make you beg for leniency.”
He growled as he ripped off the brace and bared the entire length of the scar, his normally easygoing expression holding no trace of sympathy as he stared at the jagged line.
Kiera squirmed in her seat as she thought of them stripping her bare and splaying her across the table, aroused and terrified all at once. “You already know or you wouldn’t be so angry.”
“We’re angry because you lied, little one.” Jason reached for her other hand. “Not because of what happened. I already told you it wasn’t your fault,” he added, his expression softening just a bit.
Kiera took courage from their closeness, her heart beating with brand new life. “Luckily that maniac didn’t know I was left-handed or I never would have painted again.”
For so long she’d been determined not to pay any attention to the wound. It brought back memories she could not afford to dwell on—terror and pain and grief. Now she found herself watching in fascination as Marco continued to track the scar with his finger as if he could smooth her pain away with the sheer force of his will.
To her surprise the memories faded, pushed into the past where they belonged. They could not touch her now. Not here, caged between her two amazing heroes. Her heart soared as the weight of the attack was lifted and tossed to the wind, made insignificant in comparison to the pleasure she had in the present moment.
They were hers! She was their perfect mate. She would face whatever punishment they meted out if they gave her a lifetime of pleasure upon pleasure.
Hunger sparked between them like lightning in a storm.
Dangerous.
Powerful.
A blast of energy that locked them together.
Kiera was utterly overwhelmed as they led her to the playroom, not certain she wanted to be taken where they had entertained so many other women before. But when they opened the door and drew her inside, she let out her breath in a whisper of awe.
They had changed the room entirely. She didn’t know when they’d managed the miraculous feat, but they had done a redesign that rivaled any she had seen on TV.
The king-size bed was brand new, complete with a sturdy iron frame that had plenty of places to tie her hands and feet. It was covered with pale ivory sheets, and when she ran her hand over the cotton it flowed like water beneath her fingers.
An elegantly carved chest of drawers graced one side of the room along with a stack of towels that had Kiera’s initials sewn onto the corner. It also held her favorite soap and shampoo, and an assortment of edible body paints that made her giggle in remembrance.
There was a chair in one corner covered with red brocade, and a full-length mirror along the wall at the foot of the bed. And two bedside marble tables with a bottle of champagne on one side and a dozen long-stemmed roses on the other. It was a room meant for both pleasure and practicality…one where she could beg them to take her then sleep safely in their arms ’til morning.
Her eyes stung and she blinked back tears as she understood the significance of their gift. “It is stunning,” she told them, moving to admire every corner. “I honestly don’t know what to say.”
Marco reached her first. “Say yes, cara mia. Say you’ll stay while we
try and work out this crazy arrangement.” His eyes were so black they seemed to suck in all the light, dragging her heart with it to the bottom of his soul.
She turned to Jason whose face reflected her own concern. How could they possibly make this work forever? But he was already kneeling at her feet, his head bowed low as he took her hand in his.
“Stay, little one. Help us make a family of our own.” His loneliness rose up to choke her, his need for connection as desperate as her own.
They were both so different and yet so attuned they seemed to move as a single entity when Jason rose and took one hand while Marco grasped her by the other and they settled her on the side of the bed.
Kiera felt naked without her mask as Jason peeled off her shirt and Marco ran his hands beneath her skirt. And then there was no room for doubt as she was stripped completely and laid on the bed between them, her world contracting to this single precious moment.
They devoured her. Two mouths sucked and nibbled at her breasts, two hands pulled her knees apart before they slid between her thighs and probed at the opening of her sex. She cried out in delight when they dove into her together, fingers thrusting high into her body while their two thumbs took turns tormenting her clit.
She closed her eyes and let them take her, giving up all semblance of control as need and want and love and desire mingled into a mix of multicolored sensation. She moaned when one of them bit her neck, the other pressing his mouth to hers and driving his tongue to the back of her throat.
She hissed when a second tongue flicked against her clit, teasing and torturing the tender flesh until she gripped the sheets in frustration. “Not yet,” a harsh voice gritted in her ear. “Tonight you will not come until we give you permission.”
But Kiera didn’t think she was strong enough to last as the tongue continued its torture of her clit. She cried and begged and arced her body in an attempt to increase the pressure, but her behavior earned her a slap of displeasure.