Indifference? Or jealousy? That was the real question.
She decided if she couldn't find the spine to demand to know point blank, then there had to be a way to find out which of the two it was—short of provoking a fight.
Seduction. But how the hell was she supposed to do that? She'd never taken on the role of aggressor before, not in this sort of situation. Her lack of self-confidence hadn't been a problem with either Reese or Dante. She'd only had to say ‘yes'. Cain obviously wasn't going to ask and she had a feeling if she tried to ask him, he'd give her one of his withering looks and she'd—wither.
The only woman she'd actually seen ‘in action’ was her mother, but it took a lot of hard thinking to remember anything at all useful. Even when she did remember, she wasn't certain how useful it would be.
Perfume, clothes, special smiles and come hither glances.
She had perfume.
She didn't think she could master the come hither glance in this century.
He'd been ignoring her smiles.
She walked around the next thing to naked now, and there wasn't a huge variation in the clothing. Except for the colors, one outfit pretty much looked like the next.
She felt like weeping when she left the tub and went to examine herself in the mirror. Her belly looked HUGE! She stared at it in dismay, realizing she was really going to have to take the time to actually look at herself once in a while to avoid future shocks.
No wonder he wasn't interested.
The amazing thing was that neither Dante nor Reese had commented on it.
Maybe they had a stronger sense of self-preservation than she'd thought?
Maybehiding herself a little better would help? She thought glumly.
A thorough search of the wardrobe she'd been provided with revealed that she had nothing even close to what she'd been thinking about. Even her uniform would've been better than simply walking around bare bellied when her belly was so—round.
She moved back to the mirror and examined the side view. After some deliberation, she finally decided that it didn't look quite as big as she'd first thought. There was a very definite roundness that hadn't been there before, but if she could find something a little more concealing....
The skirts that she generally tied at her waist were virtually transparent, but she discovered when she tried tying it at her shoulders instead, that it seemed to have the effect she was looking for. It was open at the sides, however, and she had no belt to tie it with. After trying several variations, she finally chose two colors that seemed to go well together and used one as a top and the other as it was intended at her waist. The ties at the waist held the two sides of the skirt she was using as a top together, but allowed a peek of bare flesh on her sides.
Concealing, but not enticing. Her lips twisted wryly as she studied the effect.
She sighed, staring at herself critically. Finally, she stripped and pulled the skirts on again minus the top and briefs she usually wore.
The sheer fabric had a muting effect that was far more flattering to her mind than outright nudity, but she could still clearly see her breasts and the curly thatch of hair that covered her mound.
Her eyes narrowed.
If Cain didn't notice her in this, she would know he just plain wasn't interested and it had to be something else.
She'd heard both Dante and Reese return while she'd been experimenting with her clothing, listened as they'd mounted the stairs and gone to their rooms. After a time, they'd left again and gone back downstairs. Most likely, the three of them were gathered in the living room, talking or deciding on entertainment for the evening—which was usually some board or card game, although they occasionally watched digi-enactments on the hologram pad in the center of the living room.
Girding herself, she left her room and headed downstairs. Stopping by the kitchen, she collected her egg dishes first, deciding to arrange the food on a tray so that she wouldn't have to try to balance four different containers on her trip to the living room. She was nervous enough; she was bound to drop something.
Without allowing herself time for second thoughts, she strode down the hall to the living room, pushed the door open and headed for the nearest table to set the tray down. “I made food,” she said brightly as she settled the tray and turned to look at the men.
She discovered when she turned that she had their attention. Unfortunately, she couldn't read much into their stunned expressions. Her smile fell. “You don't like it?"
Reese blinked, slowly, as if surfacing from a deep trance. Dante swallowed audibly. Cain simply continued to stare at the curly thatch between her thighs, his eyes glazed, his complexion slowly darkening.
A blush rose in her own cheeks in response. Maybe, she thought, unnerved, this was a mistake. Maybe she looked as ridiculous as she suddenly felt and they were just too surprised by her silly ‘fashion statement’ to think of anything to say.
"What?” Cain finally said, his voice sounding hoarse with disuse.
She curled her lips in a forced smile. She wasn't about to mention the outfit and force them to comment on it. “The food. Cain helped me. It's actually quite good."
She moved to the couch and flopped down on it because her knees felt weak and she had to do something before she turned tail and fled.
Their gazes followed her, zeroing in on her breasts as the abrupt movement caused them to jiggle and sway beneath the sheer fabric.
Dante got up jerkily and took one of the eggs, gulping it down almost whole. His brows lifted. “It is good,” he said, swallowing convulsively again as he turned to her.
His gaze didn't meet hers, however. It zoomed in on her breasts and stayed there.
Amaryllis shifted. Sitting forward, she smoothed the fabric over her thighs. His gaze followed the movement and moved with her when she sat back again.
Maybe she'd misinterpreted their reaction? She thought a little hopefully. Maybe they were just surprised, not horrified, or embarrassed for her.
Neither Reese nor Cain had so much as moved. When she glanced at Reese, he blinked again, slowly, frowned and looked around as if he was trying to figure out where he was.
Cain very casually crossed his legs, but not before she noticed the hard ridge lifting his loincloth.
Smiling inwardly, she relaxed fractionally. “I should have gotten everyone drinks. I'll be right back."
When she returned, the three had pulled up a table and were half-heartedly attempting to sort through a game. They were still behaving strangely, but she saw when she met Reese's gaze that the thoughts running through his mind were all carnal.
Pleased with herself, she set the drinks out for everyone and settled on the couch once more, crossing her legs and lightly swinging the upper one.
When they'd cleaned the tray of eggs, the game got underway at last. Amaryllis didn't have much interest in that particular game, however. The looks they'd been giving her had fired her blood and she was far more interested in seeing how long it would take them to act on the desire she could see boiling inside of them—all three of them.
They were paying far more attention to the movement of her leg and the sway of her breasts caused by the movement than they were the cards. When it came her turn to discard, she leaned forward and tossed down two cards. Sitting back again, she uncrossed her legs and set her feet on the edge of the table, fanning her knees instead. The third time she parted her thighs, Cain shot to his feet so abruptly, his chair screeched as it slid across the floor.
Reese came to his feet almost simultaneously. The two men exchanged a look. More slowly, Dante rose. Abruptly, Cain muttered that he was going for a walk and strode from the room. Without a word, Reese crossed to her. Leaning down, he scooped her from the couch. Amaryllis let out a gurgling laugh. “What are you doing?"
His lips curled up at one corner. “I will show you."
Dante followed. Reese paused at the foot of the stairs. The brothers exchanged a look and then the three of them proceed
ed up the stairs.
Chapter Twenty Six
Amaryllis felt positively decadent when she woke halfway through the morning the following day. Ordinarily, she would've bounded out of the bed guiltily as soon as she realized she'd slept so late, but she realized she felt very little guilt over it. She had not, in point of fact, done that much sleeping.
She smiled dreamily at the memory. It had been the first time the three of them had played together since that first night and she realized she'd almost forgotten how good it felt to have both them at the same time.
The only fly in her soup was the fact that Cain hadn't seemed interested in joining them.
He'd definitely been interested, though. She was certain she hadn't been mistaken about that. She wasn't as certain that it was her in particular that he wanted, but at least she did know that he wasn't immune to her.
She frowned thoughtfully, but she was fairly certain that neither Dante nor Reese would have warned him away from her—and just as certain that, even if they'd tried it, Cain would've ignored it. In fact, it seemed that something like that would've made him more determined to have her.
She pondered over the possibilities for a while but finally decided that that was a dead end. He wouldn't talk to her and she didn't know him well enough to figure it out without some input from him.
He was needy, though. She was positive about that, and just as certain that he was unlikely to find it outside his contract. He simply didn't strike her as the type to willfully breach—besides which all the females were spoken for—several times over.
She was just going to have to keep battering at him until he caved in. That was all there was to it. Maybe, once he'd had a little relief, whatever it was that was eating him would go away, and even if it didn't, he would surely be more open with her and they'd be able to work it out.
The best way to start, she decided, would be to put him in the position of not being able to avoid her. As long as he could avoid her, he would, and whatever was bothering him would only fester and get worse.
Throwing the covers off, she rolled out of bed and went to bathe. She debated briefly over what to wear but finally decided to go with the typical dress. A glimpse now and then of the veils would keep all of them more interested than seeing it all the time.
That thought led to an epiphany. Maybe she should try her hand at designing clothing? She didn't know how to make them, but if shecould come up with ideas, she could ask Reese to design ‘bots for her to do the actual labor of making them. As far as she'd seen, there was no one on the planet to fill that particular niche, and with a quarter of the population female, there would almost certainly be a demand for it.
Cain, she discovered when she'd searched the house thoroughly, had made himself scarce. “Coward,” she muttered, plunking her hands on her hips irritably.
Balked of that possibility, she decided to try her hand at her idea and went into the study. She couldn't jack in, of course, which was a real pain in the ass and made for slow going since she had to depend upon voice response and visual. The computer did have access to design programming, but, not surprisingly, none of it dealt with fashion.
Unfazed, since she really hadn't expected it to anyway, she set to work streamlining a program that would. She was still working on it when Cain came in.
He stopped as abruptly as if he'd encountered a force field. If he hadn't, Amaryllis wasn't certain she would even have noticed him, she was so deeply into what she was doing. As it was, shehad completely forgotten what had brought her downstairs to begin with. She glanced at him absently. “You needed the computer?"
He studied her for a long moment, apparently debating whether to go or stay, and finally crossed to the desk. Propping a hip on the edge, he studied what she was doing for several moments in silence.
"Designing?"
"Mmm,” Amaryllis said absently. Ordering the computer to save and close, she got up and stretched her cramped muscles.
"What is this sudden interest in clothing?"
Amaryllis looked at him in surprise. “I need something to occupy my time."
His eyes narrowed, then moved pointedly to her rounded belly. “Forgive me for being blunt, but from what I've observed you don't seem to be having a lot of trouble finding something to occupy yourself with—and you may have more than you can handle when that little seed comes to fruition."
Amaryllis stared at him for a full minute while outrage slowly poured through her, finally erupting. “Seed? It's not a seed, damn you! It's a child—a part of this family unit—just as you're supposed to be. Is that what this is all about?” she asked tightly. “The child? Or is it because I welcome my partners?"
"This what?” he responded coolly.
Amaryllis narrowed her eyes at him. Striding up to him, she poked the center of his chest with one index finger. “The cold shoulder you've been giving me, because if it is, let me tell you, you can stuff it! I didn't have any decision in any of this—not in coming here in the first place and not in contracting. Nobody forced you in to it. Nobody begged you. Youdemanded to take part—and I'm doing my best to cope, which isn't at all easy by damn, whatever the hell you seem to think. And,yes , I do enjoy sex with my partners and I'm sure as hell not going to apologize for it! Because I care for Reese, and Dante ... and you! But if that isn't good enough for you, then I'll tell Reese and Dante you've changed your mind and want out of the arrangement."
He caught her as she moved to go around him, pulling her flush against his body. She looked up at him angrily.
"All that passion—for me alone?"
Amaryllis made a growling sound. “Don't tempt me, Cain."
He stared at her a long moment. “But you don't mind tempting me, do you, baby?"
The question knocked the wind out of her. “I don't know what you mean,” she said evasively.
"I think you do. I think that little display last night was to see what buttons you needed to push."
He was so perceptive sometimes it was downright scary.
Or maybe she was just that damned transparent? Embarrassing thought.
She thought it over for several moments. “Did I push the right one?” she asked sweetly.
Amusement entered his eyes. “I'd suggest a little more subtlety and a little less bite, but that was a good effort at sarcasm—you did want to, then?"
Amaryllis blinked, mentally grinding her teeth. He'd been on a fishing expedition and she'd landed right in his net. She should have known. Tricky bastard!
She pulled free. “Actually, I netted what I wanted,” she said haughtily, and stalked from the room. He caught up with her in the hallway, caught her totally off guard, swinging her off her feet. By the time her world had stopped spinning, he was halfway up the stairs.
"Exactly what do you call yourself doing?” she demanded indignantly.
He gave her a look. “Consummating our agreement."
Considering his mood, that was a rather unnerving thought.
She remembered suddenly something her mother had said to her—'Be careful what you wish for'.
She hadn't wanted it to be like this, though, she realized with perfect clarity. She'd wanted him to make love her, not have sex with her.
She had no grounds to object, unfortunately, particularly since she'd goaded him into it—threatened to terminate the agreement.
When he dropped her on her bed, she eyed him warily as he stripped the loincloth from his body, placed a knee upon the mattress and crawled toward her like a cat stalking its prey. Her heart was beating so frantically it felt as if it was trying to achieve light speed.
She jerked nervously when he slipped the straps of her top from her shoulders so that her breasts spilled into his hands. He hesitated, his gaze moving from her breasts to her eyes. After a long moment, he dropped onto the bed beside her. Scooping her up, he gathered her close, stroking her back. She heard him swallow. “You were right. I have a nasty temper."
Amaryllis lifted her head to look
at him. “You're not angry anymore?"
He sighed tiredly. “No."
She dipped her head and kissed her way up his throat to his lips, brushing hers lightly across his hard mouth. “Then—make love me,” she whispered.
He rolled, carrying her with him and covering her mouth hungrily. Excitement shot through her as his tongue skated along hers, dueled, teasing the sensitive inner surfaces as his taste and scent filled her mouth, invading her mind like a heady drug. She'd known, she thought dreamily, that his kiss would be this good.
His hands, as he stroked her body, exploring every inch of her flesh and touching off flutters of eagerness in her, were gentle, loving, and exquisitely stirring all at once. She was already burning with need when he lifted his lips from hers at last and worshipped her body with them, nipping at her skin, lathing her with his tongue. A shuddering sigh escaped her as he burned a path along the center of her body to her belly, paused to strip her briefs from her and meandered upward again. Sucking one distended nipple into his mouth, he unfastened her top and caught the opposite breast in the palm of his hand, massaging it. Fire erupted along every nerve ending, sizzling, sparking and she moaned as her belly tightened with anticipation.
When he'd so thoroughly tormented each nipple in turn that she could scarcely catch her breath, she pushed at him, sprawling on top of him when he rolled to his back and lavishing her own brand of appreciation on his body. He jerked, jackknifing upright when she reached his belly and opened her mouth over the head of his cock, sucking the sensitive tip. Planting her hand in the center of his chest, she pushed him back. After a moment, he settled again, his hands gripping the sheets on either side of him tightly. He began to shake with the effort to remain still. A groan escaped him. Abruptly, he speared his fingers in her hair and tugged. When she released him, he dragged her back up the bed and kissed her deeply, feverishly, moving from her mouth, along her throat to her breasts. She gasped, moaned, parting her thighs and arching against him. “Ohh, Cain! Now! Please!"
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