by Mia Ashlinn
“I—”
That was all she got out before a giant hand latched onto her hair and yanked. Her head flew back, and she moaned against her will.
The decadent pain spreading through her scalp heated her up instantly, and she felt her pussy melt.
Caedon’s unbelievably clear blue eyes met hers, the arousal burning so brightly they singed her skin as he raked them across her face. “Ella, I want to share you with Micah. I want all that entails. I want to fuck you while he watches. Then I want to turn around and watch him while he fucks you. I want us to fuck you together, and I want us to fuck you apart.” He grinned at her crookedly, causing her heart to skip a beat. “I pretty much just want us to fuck you in general.”
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Her eyes grew tenfold, and she opened her mouth to speak, but Micah distracted her when he slid his strong hands up the inside of her legs then paused between her thighs. He attempted to widen her legs, but her skirt hindered him. Grunting, he ordered, “Up,” and she knew exactly what he wanted.
Not allowing her eyes to stray from Caedon’s, Ella shamelessly lifted her ass from the countertop. At the same time, Micah swiftly pushed her skirt up just enough that he had room to step between her legs, and, before her ass hit the countertop once again, he had already stepped between them. “Let’s talk about what I want for us, Ella. See, I love you more than I ever thought possible, but the things I want sexually are demanding and explicit. I know you can handle it, but I want to give you fair warning. All right?” Unable to find her voice, Ella wiggled unabashedly, silently giving him the answer she knew he craved.
Micah snaked his big hands around her waist and pulled her body tightly to his. Then he slipped his hands lower until he slid them between the rigid counter and her ass cheeks. Cupping her bottom firmly, he rocked her hips forward and pressed the ridge of his hard cock into her barely covered cunt, making her hunger for more. But she couldn’t look at him or beg for more. Her gaze remained transfixed by the dark look on Caedon’s face. All she could do was stare into Caedon’s magnetizing eyes while feeling Micah’s maddening lust and hearing his sensual voice.
“Ella Embry Dawson, I want to possess you in every way a man can. And so does Caedon. We want to fuck your cunt.” Pausing, he rubbed his jean-encased cock against her nearly exposed pussy. The thick material rasped against the silken panties covering her mound, and she moaned. “Fuck, you’re going to be so hot you’ll burn us alive. Then we want to take your pretty little asshole. It’s going to be so damn tight we’ll have to take our time to work our way inside you.”
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Leaning forward, Micah kissed her exposed neck tenderly—once, twice, three times. The sweet gesture brought tears to her eyes, and she had to blink them away. “I want to restrain you while we fuck you. The thought of that makes me nearly come in my pants.” His cock grew, elongating further in the confines of his jeans, and she knew he wasn’t kidding.
Unexpectedly, Caedon lowered his head to her and crashed their lips together. He didn’t seem to notice the odd position of her head or his. Instead, he worked around it. Using her hair, he angled her head to the side, just as he angled his head to the opposing one. His mouth opened before hers did, but he didn’t seem deterred by that. His tongue rushed forward, breaching the seam of her lips in a smooth, forceful move, and he went wild.
Micah progressed in his naughty run-down of what he wanted to do to her as Caedon kissed her thoroughly. “I have a closet full of toys with your name on them, Ella, but I’ll warn you. I don’t mess around.
When I play, I’m like you—I fight dirty. So remember that.” Micah kissed a path down her neck on a sensual path, and it just happened to be one she didn’t have a clue to where it ended. His mouth left a hot, wet trail as it journeyed toward her breast bone.
Without removing his lips from her skin, he murmured, “I’m dying to spank the lush curve of your ass. I’ve been fantasizing for years about turning it red.”
Ella arched with a gasp, her lips accidentally releasing Caedon’s kiss, but he didn’t seem to mind. He merely smiled at her, the indulgent twinkle in his eyes bringing a grin of her own to her face. “I want to fuck you in a public place. Can you imagine what it would be like for us? We would have to be careful and not get caught. You never know when a camera is lurking nearby. Although, I have to admit the thought of fucking you on camera makes me as hard as a rock.”
As soon as Caedon finished his last sentence, Ella froze. They all did. Then two male curses split the air.
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“I’m sorry, Ella,” Caedon apologized immediately then loosened his grip on her hair before letting it fall. He stepped away from her with a deep frown and strolled around the counter to stand next to Micah. “I didn’t mean for it to come out like that.”
“N–n–no, no. It’s okay,” she replied then wriggled, desperately trying to get away from Micah. “It’s better that you said that. It reminded me of so many things.”
“Ella,” Micah murmured as he released her. The regret she felt in his mechanical movements caused her heart to seize. But she pretended not to notice it. “I know what you’re thinking. You are not leaving this shop until we’ve talked.”
Jumping from the counter, she landed on the balls of her feet and snorted. “Like we just talked? Is fucking a new foreign language that I forgot to take at NYU? I would have hated to miss something as orgasmic as that.” I sound like the Wicked Bitch of the Midwest.
“Shit, Ella. We got lost in the moment, and so did you. Don’t pin it all on us. We would have stopped if you had asked us to,” Micah said.
The reminder didn’t sit well with her, and she ended up growling before she could bite it back. “Aw, come on. What woman wouldn’t want Hollywood’s Golden Boy and Mr. Big Time Military Writer to fuck her together? Tag team never looked so good.” Micah flinched. “We’re more than that to you, Ella, and you know it as well as I do.”
Standing her ground, Ella rolled her eyes and snapped, “No comment.”
This time it was Caedon who flinched. “Ella…” Micah shot his arm out and blocked Caedon who’d started to walk toward her. “Don’t do it,” he barked. “She is just trying to get to you.”
“Well, she’s succeeding,” Caedon muttered but stopped.
Ella crossed her arms over her chest and sighed. “Are we done yet? I have things to do like wash my hair.” Three Rings and a Rose
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Micah frowned and said, “We need to talk, and you’re going to listen.”
Confused by Micah’s declaration, Ella didn’t move. Although, she apparently should have because Micah darted forward and clamped her wrists in his sizeable hands. “Handcuffs,” he barked.
Before she had time to speak or move or even breathe, a brush of metal caressed one wrist then the other. She probably should have fought them, but she didn’t. There were two of them and one of her.
She would lose no matter how dirty she fought.
As soon as her hands were restrained, Caedon came around her front and hefted her in his muscular arms then tossed her over his shoulder. Patting her ass once, he stormed through the shop without speaking. The determination in his deliberate steps and deep, even breathing caught Ella off guard, and she realized that she was in deep shit. Deeper shit than she’d ever imagined.
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Chapter 13
Micah stayed one step ahead of Caedon and Ella as he crossed the interior of Pretty Petals. He rapidly reached the door to the storeroom then opened it and hustled inside. Before the door had time to swing closed, he caught the wooden edge and propped it open with his foot.
He held the door for Caedon who still had a silent but red-faced Ella over his shoulder.
Struggling to remain still, Micah immediately burst into the room behind Caedon. With the lust surging through his veins and the jitters of the t
alk to come, he could barely contain himself as he watched Caedon deposit Ella on the floor beside the giant stainless steel work table that dominated the middle of the room.
Ella frowned. “The whole caveman act doesn’t make my panties wet, Caedon. I’m a progressive kind of girl.” Micah had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from snorting. If it weren’t for the fact that they would get off track, he had more than one smart-aleck remark for her bold-faced lie. Their woman might be progressive, but she found primitive, possessive men arousing. Her body gave her away. The accelerated rise and fall of her full breasts, the pointed nipples he could easily make out through her clothes, the perceptible expansion of her pupils, and the way she nibbled on her full bottom lip told a lot more than she realized.
Caedon apparently agreed with him. He smirked but quickly put it away before circling Ella, staying close enough that he visibly brushed against her with each step he took—but just barely. “Now, Ella, we got distracted earlier, but that’s over. We’re going to explain a few things to you about our”—he halted and pointed at Ella then Three Rings and a Rose
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Micah before finishing off with himself—“future. We have it all worked out.”
“Oh really?” Ella inquired in a too-calm voice. “You think you
know about my future because you worked it out without me.” She snorted. “Bullshit, baby. If you think you can come in here and tell me what to do, you have another thing coming. I don’t deal well with orders.”
Once again, Micah had to bite his tongue. Ella might not know it yet, but she would love being ordered around in the bedroom. He’d seen a submissive side to her that she hid from others. She might be mouthy, independent, and an all-around handful, but he knew there was more to her than that. And he couldn’t wait until he and Caedon brought it out. He just had to be patient. Because patience is a virtue, right? Um, how about, fuck no?
This time Caedon didn’t hold back. He chuckled, a rich, deep rumbling sound coming from his chest that went straight to Micah’s cock. Holy fucking shit. Taking a deep, unsteady breath, Micah willed the arousal tormenting his blood-filled cock to abate. Down boy.
Down.
“Sunshine,” Caedon murmured, drawing the endearment out, as he slowed to a crawl before coming to a complete stop behind Ella.
Lowering his head, he whispered into her ear, “We’ll make you eat those words one day soon. But for now, I’ll let them slide.” Then with a wide smile to Micah that Ella couldn’t see, he winked. “What about you, Micah? Are you willing to turn a deaf ear to Ella’s smart mouth tonight?”
That’s easy. “Sure I am,” Micah replied, returning Caedon’s smile. “We have more important things to talk about than that. We’d be here for the next month if we did.”
Ella harrumphed.
Caedon ignored her and said, “All right. Let’s talk.”
“Let’s not,” Ella countered.
Micah rolled his eyes. “Shut up.”
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Ella grinned and quipped, “Make me, Micah.” That was the wrong thing to say to him. Sauntering around the room, he pointedly ignored Ella and Caedon, as he searched for duct tape. “Damn it,” he cursed when he couldn’t find any. Of course, our venue would be a flower shop that was actually spotless. “They don’t have any tape.”
Returning to stand by Caedon, who’d stopped walking at some point, Micah watched Ella’s eyes grow until he could only see a sliver of the sparkling blue around her pupil. “You wouldn’t.”
“I would,” Micah retorted smugly, “in a heartbeat with a smile on my face.”
Ella scowled but snapped her jaw closed.
“That’s more like it,” Micah ribbed. “Now let’s sit down and talk about this like mature adults.”
Caedon nodded then placed his hand on the back of a still-silent Ella and guided her to the couch. Helping her sit down, he dropped down beside her and heaved one arm around her shoulders. “Sit with us, Micah.”
Smiling, Micah joined the two people he loved most on the couch.
Without thinking, he draped his arm across the back of the cushion behind Ella where Caedon’s already laid. His bare skin touched Caedon’s bare skin, and he sighed softly, so softly that he prayed no one heard him. Glancing around Ella to Caedon who’d already peered over at him, Micah locked their gazes and relished the moment—but only for a second—before he pulled his arm back and instead placed his hand on Ella’s knee.
Micah was tired of beating around the bush with Ella. It hurt enough with Caedon. He just couldn’t bear to do it with her, too.
Giving in, Micah went for broke and blurted out, “I love you, Ella.
And Caedon loves you. Neither one of us is willing to give you up, so we’ve decided to share you.”
“Wow,” Ella breathed then turned her big, blue eyes on him. She batted her lashes with a charming grin. However, Micah sensed a Three Rings and a Rose
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storm brewing beneath the surface. When she spoke, he knew he’d been right on target. “That is just what I’ve always wanted to hear. I don’t know what’s better—the part about you two not being willing to give me up or the part where you two decided to share me.” She shook her head, muttering obscenities about bonehead men and baboon asses. “I feel like a fucking doll neither of you want to quit playing with. Assholes. ”
Micah squeezed her knee. “Calm down, Ella. This isn’t a joke.
We’re serious about sharing you.”
Immediately, Ella stopped and eyed Micah. Then she switched to Caedon, and checked him out, too. Finally she shrugged negligently.
“I kind of know you are.”
“Kind of?” Caedon asked.
Ella nodded before she sighed. “You two think you’re going to share me, but you won’t.”
“What do you mean?” Micah inquired, slightly insulted that she thought they were lying to her. “We are going to share you.” Sliding her eyes shut, Ella shook her head sadly. “The two of you were jealous jackasses the whole time we lived together. That won’t have changed—not in two years or two hundred.” She opened her eyes then turned to Caedon and said, “You constantly bitched about how I always put Micah in front of you.” Rounding on Micah, she pinned him with an arctic stare. “And you regularly reminded me how I needed to make sure I didn’t forget who my friends were.” They had both done that to her. They’d dragged her back and forth between them like a ragdoll. One couldn’t stand the other getting more attention, and it had taken a toll on Ella. Remembering how much they’d tormented her with their jealousy, Micah cringed. “Ella, I can’t speak for Caedon, and I won’t. He has his own mind. But I want you to know that I love you and would do anything to be with you. If that means sharing you with the man I lo”—pausing, he cursed himself viciously before correcting himself—”respect, then it means 134
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sharing. I know it won’t be easy, but I can and will do it. You mean that much to me.” And so does Caedon.
Caedon placed his index finger under her chin. Tipping her head back, he guided her face toward his and said, “Yeah, I agree with Micah. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to have you in my life.” He sighed. “When we broke up, I told you that you weren’t worth it and that our relationship wasn’t worth it…but I lied to you. I lied to myself. I lied to the whole goddamn world. You are worth everything to me—my money, my pride, my heart, my mind, and my soul. You are worth all those things and so much more. I’m going to stay here with both of you, and I will prove how committed I am and how much I love you.”
Ella turned away from Caedon. She gazed straight ahead with a sad smile. “I wish I could believe you both. I really do. But I just don’t know that I can.”
Caedon peeked around Ella. “How can we convince her?” he asked.
Micah paused. He’d been mulling over the answer to that question since yesterday, but he didn’t want to just spit it out because he didn’
t know how either of them would respond. He figured Caedon would approve. However, Ella might not be thrilled with the idea. Sucking his fears up, he told Caedon exactly what we thought would work. “I say we show her.”
Ella gasped, her head coming around so quickly that her hair flew into Caedon’s shoulder. “What? Huh? How? Where?”
“We’ll show you how well sharing works for us,” Micah repeated.
“We can go back in time, so to speak. We’ll do the things we used to do together and see how different things are this time. I think you’ll be amazed by the changes, because this time we all know how we feel about each other.” Well, that’s almost true. I haven’t told Caedon how I feel about him, but Rome wasn’t built in a day.
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Ignoring his trivial musings, Micah smiled. “What do you think, Caedon?” he asked, but he kept his eyes trained on Ella who seemed to be thinking hard.
“I think I like it. What about you, Ella?” Shrugging, Ella sighed. “I don’t know. Yes, things have changed.
But is it enough? You’re both still who you are, and I’m still who I am. Caedon’s the hot actor who the whole world adores. Micah’s the talented writer who everyone thinks hung the moon. Then there’s me.
Those things won’t change—not now, not ever.” Tears filled her eyes, making the blue sparkle like the ocean. “I’m not the girl for you two.
I’ll ruin everything.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Caedon demanded to know before Micah even had the chance to fire the synapses in his brain. “Ella, you are who I want. You’re who we want.”
“And so?” she asked scathingly. “No one else is going to see it like that. I’m the washed-up plus-size model who used to fuck Caedon Asher and hang out with Micah Gunner. I’m the trashy woman who sullied Fifth Avenue because my ex-boyfriend from college made a tape of me at a party where I did nothing wrong. But hell, I was fucking there for ten minutes while Joe Blow shot heroin, Jane Doe got shit-faced, and a couple dozen people fucked each other.” She gasped dramatically then sighed. “I’m proud of who I am, but the world will always see me as those things. As far as the press and the people are concerned, I’m tainted goods.” Caedon shot to his feet almost as fast as Micah did. They both rounded on her, towering over her. She lifted her head and frowned.