Bonds of Desire

by Lynda Aicher

  Before Tyler could react, Seth kissed him, his lips so warm and gentle Tyler almost whimpered. Oh fucking hell, it was incredible. The touch of moist lips over his, the pass of tongue swiping across but not entering his mouth, the firm grip that held him grounded as his head was tilted for better access—it was all beyond amazing.

  Seth owned the moment, and that was right. Tyler leaned into the Dom but didn’t press for more. Seth nipped his lip, and the sting blended with the warmth that funneled through him. He moaned and parted his lips, opening to the man who could so easily own him.

  Seth explored Tyler’s mouth with a lazy slowness that missed nothing. He played with Tyler’s tongue, leaving behind the sugary taste of the soda and something that was just Seth. Sweet, yet hard like a candy Tyler wanted to suck on forever.

  He clenched his hand tighter, resisted the urge to forget his position and grab the Dom’s hips to yank him closer. He didn’t want to fight this man, didn’t want to disappoint or push him just to see what would happen. Seth slid his hand around the side of Tyler’s head until it once again rested on Tyler’s nape. It was like the Dom sensed his struggle and knew just what to do to calm him.

  The hard knock on the door thundered through the loft. Tyler jerked back and winced, startled out of the kiss. He hissed through the flash of pain as he stared at Seth, loving how the Dom returned his look without hesitation.

  “You’re sure?” Seth asked that half smile returning.

  Tyler was pretty certain who was on the other side of the door. It could be anyone, but his instincts told him it wasn’t just anyone. “Positive.”

  “She won’t be easy.”

  “All the better,” Tyler answered with a smirk.

  The knock thundered again, a rapid insistence that was sure and clear. Seth glanced at the door before looking back. He grinned, the anticipation darkening his eyes, the brown just a shade lighter than the black of his large pupils.

  This is so fucking nuts.

  “Come in,” Seth hollered. “Door’s open.”

  Tyler held still, unable to move even if he wanted too. Once again, his back was to the door. A part of him wanted to get off the floor, his position before Seth so blatant that whoever came in would know what was going on. He was vulnerable, exposed in way that made his blood turn to ice.

  The squeeze on his neck held him in place when he started to shake. The door clicked open, followed by the hard rumble of wheels over the floor. Tyler stared at Seth, who watched the entry.

  For the second time that day, the soft sound of Allie’s inhale floated over them.

  “Allie,” Seth said. He leaned in and brushed a kiss on Tyler’s forehead, the gleam of challenge shining in his eyes when he eased back. “It looks like you plan on staying.”

  “I don’t...I don’t get it.”

  The subtle confusion in her voice pulled at Tyler and banished his own fears. The need to ease her distress was suddenly more important. Somehow, Seth seemed to get that. He smiled at Tyler before removing his possessive claim on Tyler’s neck and rising.

  The fire burned across Tyler’s back and ass as he tried to stand. There was no way he’d have made it to his feet without Seth’s support. He leaned into the Dom and breathed through the pain. The scent that was so Seth flooded his nostrils with each shallow inhale.

  The sting bled through Tyler’s nerve endings when he turned around and shuffled toward Allie. She watched him with large, guarded eyes. His dick was still half-hard and there was no way to hide that behind the flimsy cotton pants, so he didn’t try. She would think what she wanted.

  Her hair was down, loose and curling around her shoulders in a way that made his fingers itch to mess it up. She’d ditched the expensive suit for jean capris and a tight-fitting tank top in a rich brown color that made her eyes look like dark pools of chocolate. Still sexy as hell and way out of his league, but she wasn’t sprinting for the door.

  No. The ballsy lawyer was staring him down as he approached. But he could also sense the nervous woman beneath that was scrambling to hold strong.

  “What don’t you get, Allie?” He stopped before her, her suitcase held between them like a barrier he needed to scale.

  She sighed and turned her head to stare out one of the large windows that showed off the bright summer evening. Her grip tightened on the suitcase handle before she turned back to him. “You. This. Him. Why am I here?”

  “Because you want to be.”

  The tight chuckle was mostly derogatory. “Not really. But here I am.” She shook her head, her curls bouncing gently against her shoulders.

  Damn. He wanted more than he should with her. With Seth. Both of them. Was it even possible? Seth seemed willing, but Allie was clearly out of her comfort zone.

  He laid his hand over hers on the handle. It was warm beneath his, her skin as soft as he remembered. He hooked his thumb under her wrist to find the rapid beat of her pulse. A rhythm that matched his own.

  Her eyes dropped to stare at their hands. The tremor that followed was so tiny he wouldn’t have noticed if it hadn’t shimmied up his own arm. Damn. “Thank you.”

  Her gaze shot up to his. “For what?” Guarded. Protected. Her body language almost screamed those words at him. He got that. Knew it well.

  “For coming back.” He released her hand and stepped back. “It’s a first for me.” He caught a brief glimpse of her stunned expression before he turned away. “I’m gonna take a shower.”

  He didn’t look at Seth or glance back at Allie as he made the long, shuffling trek to the bedroom. He couldn’t. They’d see too much. He didn’t know what to make of their silence, but he was grateful for it. He’d already said more than he should.

  The bedroom was blessedly cool and dark when he finally made it there. The curtains were still closed, the heat of the sun held at bay. That single room was almost as big as his whole damn apartment. Part of him tried to believe that he was only staying to take advantage of the luxuries. But that didn’t hold much weight when stacked against the two people he’d left in the other room.

  He swiped the clean cotton pants Seth had left him off the dresser and continued to the bathroom. The shower would probably hurt like hell, but damn, did he need to clean the scum off his skin. He couldn’t spread his filth to Allie or Seth, and last night still clung to him like the bad reminder it was.

  Water won’t reach the filth inside, boy. He gave a silent finger to his dad and trudged on to the shower because he really wanted to touch both of them. Maybe even hold them. For just a bit. But he needed to be clean to do that.

  Chapter Ten

  Allie crossed to the cabinets behind her and opened each door down the row until she found the few spices Seth had. The low beat of some alternative rock played through the loft, and she tried to focus on that, not the man who seemed to soak up all of the air in the large room. She grabbed the garlic salt and slammed the door closed. The crack of the wood echoed through the kitchen and gave away too much.

  Crap. She squeezed her eyes closed, trying to compose herself before she turned back to the cutting board. The sweet scent of the red peppers mingled with the sharper onions, and she inhaled, desperate to smell something other than the spicy scent of the loft owner who sat on the bar stool, watching her.

  The man looked too damn good in a simple dark green polo. Somehow the causal shirt made his shoulders seem broad and defined the muscles of his chest without being tight—not that she was looking. And what was up with his hair? Long hair should not be so sexy on a man. Ever.

  “Anything I can do?”

  Leave? She gave him a stiff smile. “No. Thanks.” She tucked her hair behind her ear, picked up the chef’s knife and imagined that each stroke of the blade was hitting another target. She stifled a grin. There was no doubt Seth wouldn’t like her train of thought.

  “How long are you staying?” Seth was staring at her suitcase. “Your bag’s not very big.”

  She glanced at her luggage, her brow w
rinkled in confusion. “What do you mean?” It was a basic black rolling flight bag. “I don’t need a lot for a week here.”

  “So you’re staying the whole week?”

  She set down the knife to keep from launching it at him. Seth was toying with her. She’d been around enough law tables to sense that. And Tyler was reeling her in, all slow and seductive, impossible to resist. “That’s what you offered. So yes, I’m staying the whole week.”

  He flashed a smile that crowed like victory across his chiseled face. He was damn lucky the extremely sharp object wasn’t in her hand anymore. Not after the groveling she’d had to do at the office to get the time off on such short notice.

  “You two fighting over me again?”

  Allie looked to Tyler as he shuffled across the loft. His hair was wet, making it appear dark and glossy under the dim lighting in the main room. The longer bangs brushed across his forehead and winged up just enough to increase his boyish appeal. However, the drawstring pants that rested sinfully low on his hips and the long expanse of muscles down his chest and abs dispelled the boy notion. Just like the memory of his long, hot kiss did. He was definitely a man.

  “No,” she finally managed to answer.

  “Yes,” Seth countered right behind her.

  She shot him a killer glare before glancing back to catch Tyler’s grin as he shook his head. His gait was slow and cautious, his feet lifting just enough to skim over the floor.

  Seth swiveled around in his chair to watch Tyler. “How was the shower?”

  “Awesome.” The full, open smile he flashed had Allie clutching the counter to keep her knees from buckling. God, he’d been attractive before, but now, when his defenses were down and that open grin lit up his eyes, Tyler was devastating. “Hurt like a bit—” he cleared his throat, looked away, “—but worth it.”

  Allie snatched up the knife, grabbed a stalk of celery and started chopping. The rhythmic beat of the task held her steady against the earthquake that shook her foundation. She could do this. She would do this.

  Unwanted, her mind zipped back to the image of Tyler and Seth on their knees, touching and intimate. Damn, damn, damn. She had no idea what she’d walked in on, but her stomach dropped and flipped just remembering it. She’d intruded on something personal, but then Seth had invited her in. He’d wanted her to see them like that. There was no way she could’ve missed Tyler’s erection, and he hadn’t tried to hide it. But whatever had happened, it’d obviously helped to bring about this change in Tyler.

  She seized the red pepper, sliced it down the middle and ripped the top off. She tossed the discards into the garbage bowl in the sink, the splat of the contents doing little to appease her mood. She whacked the knife down on the cutting board as she went to work on the defenseless vegetable.

  “Hey,” Tyler said from behind her. Startled, she stopped her pepper slaughter, knife held high, but didn’t look at him. “What’s wrong?”

  Everything? “Nothing. How’s your back?”

  “Fine.” He shuffled closer until his presence seemed to surround her. He didn’t touch her, but she was aware of him towering behind her, inches from her back. “But you’re not.”

  Her hold tightened around the knife handle until her knuckles turned white. Her toes curled into the wood floor as the almost electric sizzle of his presence shimmered down her back. She glared at Seth, who watched them from his perch on the other side of the counter. He raised his brows—in question, or yet another challenge?

  “‘Fine’ is a code word for ‘not fine,’” she told Tyler as she set the knife down before her hand started to shake.

  “And ‘nothing’ is code for ‘everything,’” he answered back. His voice was low, nonthreatening. However, the cornered-animal feeling pressed on her, every nerve ending sensitized and waiting for the attack.

  She slid to the left, stepping away from the confining spot by the counter. The cool depths of the refrigerator rushed over her cheeks, and she used the escape to catch her breath. The meat for the stir-fry was directly in front of her, but she rooted around in the drawers until the heat receded from her skin and her breathing was once again normal.

  Straightening, she grabbed the meat and shut the door, ready to face her challengers. She knew how to handle men. She spun around directly into the path of Tyler. Dang it. She pulled up short before stepping to dodge around him. He touched her arm, the lightest of pressure on the skin of her bicep, and she froze. The plastic bag crinkled around the package of beef where she clutched it in a death grip.

  “Why are you running?”

  “Why are you chasing?”

  Tyler stroked up her arm, a slow pass that had every tiny hair shimmying and tingling as his palm glided to her shoulder and around the side of her neck. God, she didn’t want to turn into that touch or close her eyes against the slow glow of desire that flowed to her sex. Just like when Seth had kissed her. She didn’t want to want it. But she did.

  “You know why, Allie.” Tyler stepped in behind her, his chest coming full to her back until he pressed against the entire length of her body. He slipped his hand around to cup her throat, not hard or threatening, but insistent enough to tilt her chin up until her head rested on his shoulder. His thumb pressed on the rapid beat of her pulse, and she swallowed.

  “No. This isn’t right.” Couldn’t possibly be. She inhaled a low hiss when his other hand slid across her abdomen. The full whiff of the clean soap scent from his shower pushed another wave of longing through her. Her stomach contracted to escape his touch, but it didn’t work.

  “Why not?” he murmured, his breath skimming over her ear. “I’m not good enough for you?”

  “What? No.” She shook her head, but it didn’t clear the fog. “Because...” There was a reason, she knew it. Seth! Her eyes flew open. He was staring at them, absorbing everything. His eyes were dark, heated. “Him.”

  Tyler turned his head toward the other man. “Seth?” he asked with a smile in his voice. “I like him. And I like you too.”

  “You can’t,” she breathed. Why wasn’t she pushing away from him? His hold on her neck wasn’t restrictive or forceful.

  The chair scraped over the floor, the sound cutting a raw vibe through the mounting tension. She was helpless to watch as Seth rounded the counter and entered the already too-small kitchen. She shuffled back, trying to get away from him, but there was nowhere to go. The hard form of Tyler was already at her back, his growing erection pressing directly over the crease of her ass.

  The shiver that raced down her was a complete surprise. She wasn’t cold, far from it. In fact, she was an inferno inside. Seth moved in, taking up the small bit of space available between her and the counter.

  “I do,” Tyler said. “I like both of you.” He moved his hand from where he’d been caressing her abdomen to grip Seth’s hip, urging the man closer.

  “Is that possible?” She sounded so naïve, just like Seth had accused her of being. It didn’t sit well, but then, neither did her attraction to two different men.

  Seth’s low laugh teased her with its seductiveness. “Yes, Allie. It is.” He looked down and took the forgotten meat from her hands. The Styrofoam package cracked under the pressure when she resisted. It was the last barrier she had. “Let go.”

  She didn’t know if she could.

  “You want to,” Tyler insisted. He slid his hand down from her neck, smoothing over her cotton tank to circle his palm over her hard nipple. She flinched away from the flash of sensation, only to jam his erection into her back. Shit, shit, shit. Her lip stung from where she bit it to keep silent and she tried to focus on that.

  Against her will, she loosened her hold and the package slipped from her hands. She stared after it as Seth set it on the counter. “I don’t,” she whispered then stopped. Her denial was as weak as her resolve.

  Seth took one last step closer, and she put her hands up to fend him off. His shirt was soft beneath her palms, but his chest was all hard underneath.
She didn’t stop him though, push at him or force him away. Instead she let her hands slip down his sides and around his waist until he was pressed full to her front. He was a solid wall of man, and she responded to the memory of being crushed to him, his mouth hot on hers.

  Tyler brought his hand over hers and held it to Seth’s lean hip. Pressed in between them, she was in so much trouble. So out of her depth, she didn’t know if she was sinking or already drowned.

  “Then why’d you come back?” Seth asked. He brushed the back of his fingers down her cheek, and she closed her eyes against the tidal wave of emotions that followed. The truth that shined in his eyes was too close to what she didn’t want to admit. She’d come back for this.

  She couldn’t breathe. Tyler still teased her nipple, slow circles that were like tiny torture spins that shot straight to her womb, making everything hot and liquid in between. Seth pressed in, his erection lying firmly against her stomach. A counterpoint to Tyler’s on her back.

  There was no denying their desire. But she still didn’t get their game. Her vanilla mind couldn’t accept this. But her body wanted to stay. And her heart? It wasn’t even allowed to play.

  “Open your eyes, Allie.”

  She wanted to refuse him. Seth wasn’t her Master or Dom or whatever they called it. The firm pinch on her already aching nipple jerked her eyes wide open. “Ow,” she protested. “That hurt!”

  Tyler chuckled. “Honey, that’s nothing.”

  Instantly she was humbled. Tyler knew what pain was, and that little pinch was nothing compared to what he’d endured. The blush rushed up her neck and over her cheeks until her face was on fire. “I don’t like pain,” she mumbled.

  “Neither do I.” Tyler’s response was so low it was doubtful she’d have heard it if his mouth wasn’t three inches from her ear.

  “Nor I.” Seth said.

  She did look at him then. Was he telling the truth? But he was focused on Tyler, his eyes so intense with a silent message that she could only stare in wonder.