by Zara Chase
Damn it, so was she. This was beyond sensual.
“Guys, please, I—”
“Told you so,” said a smug-sounding Lewis.
“Let it go, babe,” Hunter said. “Let’s get there together.”
“You like having Hunter’s cock inside you, darlin’? You just wait until you have mine. The two of us will take you places you never knew existed. Trust me on this.”
The sexy words, the return of Lewis’s teeth to her nipple, the feel of Hunter’s cock fucking her senseless—the combination was lethal and once again her world fragmented. This time Hunter followed her over the edge, paddling her ass hard as she sensed an endless flow of hot sperm shooting into the condom.
“Hey, welcome back,” Hunter said a short time later as she lay panting and sweaty between two hot bodies. The blindfold and handcuffs were removed and two handsome, smiling faces came into focus.
“Next time you plan a party, make sure you invite me along,” Lewis said, pouting.
“It was spontaneous.” Anais grinned, thinking the entire world should be grinning right along with her. “I had to talk Hunter into it. He didn’t want to.”
Lewis laughed. “I could see how much he didn’t want to.”
“I changed his mind for him.”
“You okay, darlin’?” Hunter asked. “I was kinda harsh with you there.”
“You warned me you would be and I loved it.” She smiled at them both. “When can we do it again? I have lost time to make up for.”
Lewis grimaced and placed a hand over his cock, which was covered by a pair of very small briefs. “I’m in pain here, but I also happen to know you’re new to this. We’ll get you cleaned up and tuck you up in bed. I’ll take a rain check.”
“Aw.”
Both men chuckled. “I’ve awoken a beast,” Hunter said.
“Looks that way,” Lewis agreed. “Seems to me she was always supposed to be one of us. I should have recognized the signs.”
In spite of her best efforts, she couldn’t persuade either man to make love to her again. They wiped her clean, but she was too lazy to take a shower. An hour ago she couldn’t sleep to save her life. Now she had discovered the ultimate cure for insomnia. Her last thought before falling into a blissful sleep was to wonder if she could patent the remedy. She would be set up for life if she could.
Chapter Six
Hunter and Lewis were both up early. Hunter set the coffee going, knowing Lewis would cut to the chase. He didn’t disappoint.
“So, what brought about the change of heart?” he asked. “Not that I’m complaining or anything, but you were adamant we keep things all business with Anais.”
“What can I say?” Hunter flashed a sheepish smile. “She caught me at a weak moment.”
Lewis rolled his eyes. “Of course she did.”
“I heard her moving around so I got up to see if there was a problem. She was crying, and…well I had to—”
Lewis grinned. “Yeah, I get the picture.”
“Actually you don’t. I told her it wasn’t a good idea, and I meant it, but she insisted.” Hunter flashed a smug smile. “And get this, she’s only been with one man her entire life.”
Lewis’s brows snapped together. “You’re kidding me? She hasn’t been with anyone since her husband died.”
“Nope.” Hunter shrugged. “Well, not until last night.”
“No wonder she couldn’t resist your rather obvious charm.” Hunter flipped Lewis the finger. “And now she wants to take up with us both? Please tell me I didn’t manfully resist her last night only for her to have a change of heart this morning.”
“So she said last night and…well, you saw for yourself how abandoned she was. I gotta say, she’s a natural, but in the cold light of day I wonder if our lifestyle will be too much for her.”
“You ask me, I think we’ll have a tough time stopping her from experimenting. It’s like she’s just realized what she’s been missing out on and wants to make up for lost time.”
Hunter smirked as he poured coffee for them both. “Or you just wanna get laid.”
“Yeah well, there’s that, too.”
“Well, I guess we can still be professional and have some fun. We kinda have an added incentive to get her out of this mess now.”
“Too right we do.”
“I’ll hold breakfast until Anais comes down. She was pretty beat, poor baby. Best to let her sleep. I don’t think she’s been sleeping too well lately.”
“I can think of a whole load of ways to help her sleep.”
Hunter shot him a look. “We need to take things slow.”
“Didn’t see you going too slow last night.”
“That was different.”
“So what are you saying? You don’t think she’ll want me to wake her up with a cup of tea and a big…err, smile?”
Hunter chuckled. “I’m sure she would appreciate the size of your smile. But not right now. We need to take a look at some stuff, get a handle on how we’re gonna fight back against the goons trying to frighten our girl.”
“Our girl. I like the sound of that.”
“Okay,” Hunter said as Lewis followed him into their study. “I called Raoul last night asking him to see what he could find on the investigation into Gary’s disappearance. You know how quickly he can hack into stuff. There might be news.”
They were unsurprised to find an e-mail from Raoul, with attachments.
“It’s the military file into Gary’s disappearance,” Lewis said, punching the air. “Way to go, Raoul.”
Hunter didn’t answer. He was into Raoul’s e-mail, and Lewis read it over his shoulder.
“I knew it,” Lewis said. “There is more to this than a straightforward accident.”
“Looks that way,” Hunter agreed. “Raoul says we won’t find much in the attached file, and that the main investigation is now eyes-only.”
That was a euphemism for the investigation becoming top secret and the details being kept in paper form only. Paradoxically, a number of organizations paranoid about security had reverted to keeping just one or two copies of sensitive documents in paper form only. Given that averagely intelligent computer-savvy teens had repeatedly proven they could hack into just about any online facility from the privacy of their own bedrooms, Hunter could understand the retrograde step. Still, it made him wonder what Sergeant Harrison had gotten himself into to cause the top brass to get its collective panties in a wad.
“Curious,” he said to Lewis.
“Something tells me our Gary wasn’t as clean cut as his wife would have us believe.”
“Evidently not.”
“Raoul hasn’t been able to find out what foreign attachments Gary was a part of.” Lewis grinned. “I bet that pissed him off.”
“Yeah, and I bet it won’t take him much longer to find out. But in the meantime.” Hunter clicked to open the attachment. “Let’s see what the official record has to say about his disappearance.”
Lewis pulled up a chair and the two guys studied the report together, starting with pictures of where Harrison’s rifle had been found. There were close-ups of the stock, covered in blood, and longer-range shots of the gun in situ. Hunter zoomed in on the shots, examining them minutely. He then read the report that led to the find.
“Hmm, this position is a seldom-used trail that was soft underfoot, not close to any water.” He paused. “Notice anything about the terrain, buddy?”
“Yeah,” Lewis replied without hesitation. “No footprints other than one set leading to the rifle, which are presumably Gary’s, no disturbed foliage or signs of a struggle.”
“Right.” Hunter ran one hand through his hair. “We know gators don’t only stick to the swamp, so we can’t rule out the possibility of him being attacked by one, but if he was—”
“If he was, there would be all sorts of signs.”
“Right, and that would have set alarm bells ringing for the investigators. It was the first thing we noticed, an
d they would have done, too.”
“You think the scene was staged? Gary faked his own death?”
“I’m trying to keep an open mind, but my initial thoughts are that it looks that way. He was too good with the outdoors to be caught by a rogue gator, or anything else living in the ’Glades. Something is definitely off about this.”
“We already knew that,” Lewis pointed out. “It’s not the military trying to scare the shit out of Anais.”
The guys flipped through the pictures of the scene. Apart from Gary’s rifle, all that was found was a strip of material from his fatigues, or what was assumed to be his fatigues. The investigators thought it must be his because it was too fresh and clean to have been there for long. The written report didn’t draw any conclusions, but listed the people who had been spoken to after the disappearance.
“Harrison left the other three instructors to do a spot check on some of the trainees,” Hunter read, noting down the names of Gary’s fellow trainers. “He always insisted on going alone, even though it was against regulations and they were supposed to go in pairs.”
“Sounds as though he was a lone wolf.”
“Yeah. When he didn’t return, the others searched the area where he said he would be, but there was no sign of him. His gun was eventually found in a sector where no trainees were supposed to be, so Gary had no reason to go there.”
“No legitimate reason, anyway.”
“Right,” Hunter agreed. “And that’s where the report, such as it is, goes all secret.”
Hunter returned his attention to Raoul’s e-mail. Ever efficient, he’d found the names of the other three instructors on the course.
“One has been returned to active duties and is currently deployed overseas,” he said, “so we can’t talk to him. Mike Pearson is still in the service, but lives off base, and we have an address and phone number for him. Tony Regan got invalided out last year but still lives locally. Raoul has come through with his details, too.”
“Right,” Lewis said. “Looks like we need to start by talking to them. They were probably in deep shit for letting Harrison go off on his own so were busy covering their backs when spoken to officially. They might have more to say to us.”
“Hey.”
They both turned to see Anais standing in the doorway, clearly fresh from the shower, damp hair tumbling down her back. She wore tight-fitting jeans and a sleeveless top, and looked a little embarrassed, as though unsure of her reception.
“Hey yourself.” Hunter sent her a killer smile. “You okay?”
“Err, yes.”
Lewis stood up and gave her a kiss. “Did you sleep well?”
“Actually, yes.” She blushed. “Better than I have for ages.”
“That’s what mind-blowing sex does to a body,” Hunter said, keen to get the subject out in the open. If she had regrets, now was the time to say so. Neither man would be happy if she tried to dodge the issue.
“So it would seem.” She hugged her torso and briefly met Hunter’s eye. He exhaled, glad to realize she was afflicted with nothing more permanent than embarrassment. It would, of course make his life far less complicated if she’d had a change of heart, but Hunter desperately didn’t want her to do the sensible thing. There was just something about Anais, and he was already in too deep to pull back. She wandered farther into the room and peered over Hunter’s shoulder. “What are you doing?”
“Looking at the official report into Gary’s disappearance, but there isn’t much of it.” Hunter explained about the investigation becoming top secret. Anais appeared stunned by the news.
“Why?” she asked. “Gary wasn’t that important.”
Hunter wasn’t ready to share his theories with her. “That’s what we need to find out. Do you know either of these guys, Mike Pearson and Tony Regan? They were also instructors on that survival course.”
“I think I met them a few times at the base on social occasions, but I don’t really know them.”
“Well, I shall pay them a call today, see what they can tell me.”
“I’ll come with you.”
“No, babe, better if I go alone. You stay here and keep Lewis company.”
“But why?”
“You don’t wanna keep me company?” Lewis affected a hurt expression. “Is it something I said?”
“No, silly. But everyone was real nice to me after Gary disappeared and…well, they’ll probably talk openly to me.”
Not if Gary wasn’t the upstanding guy she supposed him to be, Hunter thought. “Leave it to me.”
Hunter closed the computer down and stood up. “Come on, we could all use some breakfast.”
Hunter cooked for them all, amused to see that Anais, who had only picked at her food the previous evening, had a voracious appetite this morning. Another benefit of hot sex, he thought.
He left Lewis and Anais to clear up while he went back to the study and called the numbers for both of Gary’s colleagues. He caught a break in that they were both home, and willing to talk to him.
“Okay guys, I’m out of here.” He picked up the keys to their truck from the hall stand and leaned down to kiss the top of Anais’s head. “Play nice without me.”
* * * *
“Is he always so decisive?” Anais asked, staring after Hunter.
Lewis grinned as he drained his coffee. “Yeah, pretty much, but we love him anyway.”
Anais looked as though she didn’t know what to do with herself. Lewis had a few ideas about how to distract her. He knew that was partly why Hunter had left them alone, but in spite of the raging lust that gripped him whenever he was anywhere near her, he wouldn’t push her into anything. It was way too soon, and she was still pretty fragile.
“Wanna catch a few rays outside on the deck?” he asked.
“No thanks.”
“Oh, okay, then what would you like to do?”
She sent him a dazzling smile. “I think you know.”
Lewis shook his head. “There’s no pressure, darlin’.”
“Oh yes there is. You guys started this thing. I need to know what happens next.” Her sultry expression was full of newfound awareness. “My education is sadly lacking.”
“We can’t have that now, can we?” Lewis offered her a wicked smile. “But I’m worried you might be sore. I’m betting Hunter paddled your sweet ass last night. It’s what he does.”
“Yes, he did.” Her smile widened but gave way to a wince when she wiggled about in her chair. “It’s a little tender, but in a good way. It reminds me of what I’ve been missing out on all these years.”
“Well, if you’re okay, I guess I could be persuaded.”
She tossed her head. “Only if it’s not too much trouble. I mean, we could talk, and stuff.”
“For you, darlin’, I don’t mind how much trouble I get into.” His cock was already standing up and taking avid interest in the proceedings. He hoped she didn’t notice. The last thing he wanted was for her to think he was forcing himself on her, even if his intentions had been far from innocent ever since Hunter deliberately left them alone. He joined her on the settee, and ran his arm along the back of it, twisting a lock of her hair around his finger. “What would you like to talk about?”
She grinned. “How long have you got?”
“All the time in the world.” He dropped a light kiss on her lips. “Just so that you know, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”
“You don’t have to sweet talk me.”
“Hey, you need to learn to take a compliment.”
“Sorry, I guess I’m still a bit new to all this.”
“I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable, or obligated.”
She wagged a finger at him. “Are you trying to wiggle out of your obligations?”
He caught her finger and sucked it into his mouth. “Not a chance.”
“Tell me about you and Hunter,” she said, blushing again. “You guys seem kind of tight. Did you meet in the military?”
> “Yeah. I had an easy time of it as a kid. Came from a middle class family, with a full set of parents and siblings. No drama, no abuse. My only problem was I got picked on a lot because I was puny.”
She glanced at his torso and flexed a brow. “I find that hard to believe.”
“Oh, believe it. I have the military to thank for muscling me up.”
She laughed. “Most people content themselves with joining a gym if they want to get in shape.”
“Baby, I’m not most people. I got out of college with a degree in mechanical engineering, but with no clear idea of what I wanted to do next. I knew Hunter from high school. He skipped college and went straight into the army because he had a crap family life and wanted something to take him away from being a fulltime parent to his brothers and sister.”
“Oh, that does sound tough. How did he find himself in that situation?”
“You’ll have to ask Hunter if you want to know more. Even I don’t know it all, but I can tell you it wasn’t all white picket fences and apple pie for him. Far from it. He was a bit of a lost cause when I knew him, and I couldn’t believe the difference when we met again.”
“The army made a man out of him,” Anais suggested, grinning.
“Yeah, it got me thinking along the same lines and the rest, as they say, is history.”
She drained her coffee mug and placed it aside. “I’m not a great fan of the military. Wives don’t always have a good time of it, but I do know most of the guys feel a great sense of camaraderie.”
“When you have one another’s backs in life and death situations there has to be trust.” Lewis sensed Anais’s eyes lingering on his torso, and lower.
“You have my trust.” She placed a hand on his bicep. “But I believe we have unfinished business.”
“Are you sure?” He met her gaze, caressing her with his eyes. “I don’t want to put pressure on you.”