by Opal Carew
Noah had never been into karma or kismet or whatever it was that cosmic forces dallied in to bring people together. But something told him this love triangle had purpose to it. A deeper meaning than anything he could currently comprehend.
So when he eased into her warm, wet depths, he wasn’t the least bit surprised that he nearly came. She was tight and slick and just so fucking all-consuming.
“Jesus,” he muttered.
Sylvia sighed. “Noah, you feel incredible.”
“He’s going to have to hold back a little,” Seth said. Then to Noah, he added, “Until she’s steadier on her feet.”
“I’m not going to be steadier on my feet,” she told them. “Not with these high-voltage tremors shooting down my legs.”
“Just take it slow for a few seconds,” Seth advised.
Sylvia let out a small whimper. “Seth. God. Your warm breath on my clit is as fantastic as your mouth.”
“Hold onto me, sweetheart,” Seth warned her, “because we’re just getting started.”
Seth tongued her and Sylvia moaned. Noah pushed farther into her. She gasped.
His cock slid almost all the way out, then glided back in, with a hint of friction because she was so damn tight. He repeated the move a few times, slipping along a bit easier the wetter they made her.
Her inner muscles contracted around his shaft, held him firmly, then released him. Over and over, intensifying his primal lust and longing.
Noah picked up the pace of his long, full strokes and thrust a bit harder until she was panting and whimpering and trembling.
“That is so good,” she mumbled. “Both of you. So damn good.”
Noah’s arm tightened around her. With his free hand, he palmed her breast and squeezed.
Seth was eating her pussy and Noah was pumping into her and Sylvia’s cries of pleasure heightened. Turning Noah on even more.
He pumped harder, the insanity of how unbelievably wonderful she felt fueling his passion for her. Until Noah was completely lost in her heat and moisture. And the sight of her as she arched her spine, lifted her ass further, and pushed back against his groin while holding Seth’s shoulders in a death grip.
The frenzy was unrelenting and enthralling. He rammed her and knew Seth was suckling her clit. Her wails grew sharper and throatier.
“Come for us,” Noah urged. “Now, Sylvia. Come now.”
He thrust deep and she screamed.
Then shattered all around him.
“Noah!”
Her orgasm sparked his. Everything inside of Noah pulled hellaciously tight—and then snapped. “Fuck, yes!” he all but howled. “Oh, goddamn, Sylvia!”
Magma rushed through his veins. His heart swelled.
The emotional tether was just as binding as the sexual one.
And Noah knew the three of them would never be the same.
Seth had carried her to his master suite. Noah had turned on the shower and they’d both propped her against their bodies as they’d lathered her up and then rinsed her off. Sylvia had stared dazedly at them and claimed she didn’t have a bone left in her body.
Seth had grinned triumphantly. Noah cockily. As was his way.
Now she was wrapped up in a thick white terrycloth robe, still quaking from head to toe.
Noah had left the bathroom to blow out all the candles and turn the lights off.
Seth combed his fingers through Sylvia’s long auburn strands and asked, “You do intend to spend the night, right?”
Her big blue eyes danced a little in their sockets. “Unless you carry me to the SUV that delivered me here. Walking’s not really an option at this point.”
“Then I’m officially holding you hostage.”
She smiled prettily. “Okay.”
“Mm, I love it when you agree so quickly. And I don’t have to argue with you.”
“I’m saving it for Noah.”
Seth chuckled. “He’s quite taken with you. As am I.” His lips brushed hers.
Sylvia sighed against them. “You are the absolute sweetest man. Noah is the most infuriating. But all in all, I’d say I’m one hell of a lucky woman tonight.”
Seth’s arms wound around her waist. He wore a towel slung low on his hips and his hair was still wet. A few drops of water fell on his shoulder and trickled along his pecs. She leaned in and licked at the thin stream.
With an excited groan, he said, “So maybe this whole threesome is worth exploring . . . beyond this evening?”
Her eyes widened. “Like . . . a relationship?”
“Is that so crazy?”
“I—I don’t know,” she stammered. “I mean, you only just introduced me to this ménage idea at dinner. Not that I wasn’t lusting after the two you prior to that, but still. I really had no clue what to expect. And I still don’t.”
“It’s just like any other relationship, sweetheart. Getting to know each other, giving each other what they want and need. Only . . . with three people instead of two.”
“Yeah, but . . .” She gave a slight shake of her head. Stared into his eyes. “I’ve never actually been in a relationship before. As in . . . ever.”
His gaze narrowed on her. “You weren’t a virgin the first time we got together.”
“One-night stands, Seth. Not many, just a few in the past several years. Nothing beyond a couple of hours, actually. Like with you.”
“Wow.” His brows rose. “So you didn’t skip out of here because of the snowstorm. You had no idea how to stay the night.”
Her lips pressed together briefly before she admitted, “And I still don’t.”
Seth grinned again. “Well, it’s all very simple, I assure you. See, first you use my blow-dryer so you don’t catch a cold, while I get the fire going in the bedroom. You snuggle between me and Noah and we exchange a personal anecdote. Then we make love again. If you’re not too exhausted.”
Her eyes remained locked with his. “Personal anecdotes?”
“Yes. That’s how we get to know each other, Sylvia.”
“Don’t be a smartass.”
“Pot calling the kettle black, sweetheart.” He stared a few seconds longer, then asked, “Think you can handle it?”
“Maybe,” she slowly, hesitantly said. “Though, again . . . not exactly something I’m accustomed to.”
“Well, neither was being fucked by two men, and yet you handled that brilliantly.”
She laughed and swatted playfully at him. “You are too much, Seth Lofton.”
“I’m thinking I’m just enough. Wouldn’t want to overshadow Noah or anything. It’s already embarrassing enough for him that my bod’s hotter than his.”
“A legend in your own mind. That’s so sexy, Seth.” Though she kissed him. As he’d hoped.
And it wasn’t a quick one at that.
No, Sylvia melded to him and kissed him ardently. His cock sprang to life.
Christ. He wanted her again.
Pulling away, he said, “Dry your hair. Meet us in bed.”
He turned and walked out. Before he had his way with her bent over the bathroom vanity.
Overnighters were not in her DNA. She’d contended that all along.
And yet . . . Seth tempted her. As did Noah.
Another go with them was exactly what Sylvia wanted, no lie there. It was the get to know them part that gave her pause. Well, not so much getting to know them. She was wholly amenable to that. It was the them getting to know her part that brought on the heart palpitations.
She supposed if she stuck to the basics—that she’d traveled extensively since she’d turned eighteen and had escaped the foster care system—then maybe she could stay on safe ground. She’d mapped out the spas she’d wanted to work at and had collected letters of recommendation at each one to land her the next gig. Until she’d reached the point of being able to open her own spa.
Sylvia frowned. Probably best not to discuss any of that, after all. Not in front of Noah.
She finished up in the ba
throom and did precisely as Seth had requested. Cozied up with both men in Seth’s huge bed, lying between them with her head on Noah’s chest and Seth’s hard body curled around hers.
“That really was enlightening,” she murmured. “I’m not even sure what the hell just happened. One minute I was overwhelmed by Noah doing something nice. Then blown away by all those candles and lights and those glittery flakes landing on my cheeks. And then . . . Jesus. The two of you. Separate, you’re your own forces with which to be reckoned. Together . . . Holy hell. Absolutely lethal.”
“Hmm, I think I like that analogy,” Noah mused as his fingers drew lazy circles on her arm.
“Yeah, I figured you would,” she quietly jested. “Such an ego.”
“With the cock to back it up.”
From behind her, Seth snorted. “For fuck’s sake, man. That little thing?”
Noah snickered. Sylvia laughed. “That’s how it is between the two of you? Make a woman come repeatedly and then argue over who’s the master of the domain.”
“Well, that would be me, sweetheart,” Seth said.
“Don’t listen to him. He’s clearly delusional,” Noah commented.
“I think you’re both full of crap. You are equally well-endowed . . . and skilled.” A delicious ribbon of desire ran through her. “I’m not exactly sure what you did to me, but I can tell you with certainty that it was one second after another of sizzling sensation.”
“There’s more where that came from,” Noah informed her in his intimate tone.
“I’m now officially president of your fan club. Both of you.” She kissed Noah’s chest, liking the contrast of a wispy, silky layer of dark hair covering his hard pecs, while Seth’s chest—still pressed to her back—was smooth and supple.
He said, “So maybe you ought to consider spending the weekend. Noah’s taking one of my guest rooms in the condo while the hotel is built.”
Sylvia glanced at Seth over her shoulder. “The weekend?”
He nodded.
Seth—and Noah—left the suggestion, the request, at that. Let Sylvia absorb the sentiment and all its implications.
Obviously, they both understood how she needed to process something this epic—hell, they seemed to grasp the reality, in general, that the mere notion was epic for her.
And because they were so perceptive, so attuned to her—and also capable of taking a step back after they’d given a gentle nudge—they had Sylvia falling more and more under their spell.
These were two men who put significant effort into figuring her out and working with her idiosyncrasies, all the nuances wrapped around her past and even her association with Chloe. Despite them not knowing the full extent of that association. Why she and Chloe were so closely bound together.
Both men were accepting of everything about her. It warmed her heart, and she welcomed the sensation, reveled in it. They were as consumed by her as she was by them. She felt it to the depths of her soul. And suddenly, she felt compelled to divulge her deepest, darkest secret.
Under the cloak of night and with their heat and muscles surrounding her in a protective cocoon, she told her two lovers, “Chloe saved my life. Literally. I would not be here today if it wasn’t for her courage . . . and sisterhood. I would have died. And no one but Chloe would have cared.”
Chapter Nine
Noah’s gut clenched. He’d picked up on plenty of signals that had warned him this woman had emotional scars. He wasn’t wary of them from a standpoint of not being able to handle whatever it was she’d been through. It was more the fact that she was damaged on the inside that made his heart constrict and his body tense.
She’d gotten under his skin from the second he’d met her. Definitely not a common occurrence for Noah. He honestly couldn’t recall a woman ever affecting him so profoundly—certainly not so quickly.
And while he wanted to know everything about Sylvia, he wouldn’t deny that seeing her tears earlier in the evening had all but gutted him. Because he’d been the one to make her cry.
He had the potential to ruin her dreams.
He also had the potential to make them come true.
It really depended on Sylvia’s point of view—what she could bring herself to trust and believe in. And perhaps telling him and Seth about her past was the purge she needed to arrive at the right decision for her—and Chloe’s—future.
So he gently coaxed her to continue, saying, “Tell us the whole story, honey. So that Seth and I know what you’ve been going through.”
She was quiet a few moments, drawing in a long breath before slowly letting it out, the warm air streaming over Noah’s chest.
Neither man rushed her.
Eventually, Sylvia told them in a surprisingly steady voice, “My parents were drug addicts. They fought all the time. Over money and how to pay for their next stash and just . . . everything. I was fortunate in that my mother was clean when she got pregnant with me. And stayed clean until she had me. There was a short period of time when she wanted a normal life and kids. Unfortunately, my dad only cared about getting high. She wasn’t strong enough to combat his desires for long, and after I was born she put me on a bottle and went back to shooting up.”
“Heroin?” Seth asked in a low tone.
“Yes. Among other things.”
“Fuck,” he mumbled.
“They were quite the pair. And we lived in absolute shit. Sometimes absolute shit with five or six other people. We moved around a lot. Wherever we could conveniently and cheaply crash. Until I was twelve. That was the year my dad kept a job for six months so that we could stay in an apartment through an entire lease term. But they still fought all the time. Nonstop.”
“That’s a horrible way to grow up,” Noah said. “The fighting is bad enough. I lived through it myself. But the constant upheaval and the drugs . . . Not something I’ve experienced. That’s a nightmare.”
“Yes,” she said with a slight nod, the soft strands of her hair brushing against his skin. “I used to hide in my bedroom closet when they’d really get rolling with an argument. If I stayed out of their way, no one threw anything at me or grabbed me by the arm to try to shake the life out of me. They forgot I existed when I was out of their line of vision and just focused on hating each other.”
“Not a good way to live,” Seth said.
“It got much worse,” she admitted. “I started sleeping in the closet since they never went looking for me there. One night, I had my headphones on because they were screaming so loudly the neighbors were pounding on the walls to get them to stop. I eventually fell asleep. The next morning, a police officer woke me. He told me my parents were dead.”
“How’d they die?” Seth asked.
“My dad smothered my mother with a pillow when she was passed out. Then he OD’d.”
There was a tinge of sadness to her voice now, more over the tragic end to their lives than her own loss, Noah surmised. He sensed a certain detachment that told him she’d resigned herself to her parents’ fate long before it had happened.
Still, his jaw briefly clenched that she’d been subjected to this. Though he reasonably said, “I want to say I’m sorry, but a situation like that would have only continued to escalate. And it could have been you that was killed.”
“Agreed. Though foster care wasn’t much better. It’s a crap shoot. Good in theory, but not always in reality. I met some people I thought I could count on—and quickly learned they didn’t give a damn about how the orphaned kid of heroin addicts turned out.”
“When did you meet Chloe?” Seth inquired.
“First family I lived with. She’d been there for a few months prior to me. The mom was really nice. In the beginning. Very maternal and caring. I liked her a lot. Thought I might have been blessed to find the right place. But there was always this underlying tension, mostly related to her son, who was a couple years older than me and Chloe. I had a bad feeling about him, but I didn’t say anything, initially. Not when I’d catch him i
n the room Chloe and I shared, going through my underwear drawer. Or when he’d walk in on me in the shower. That sort of thing.”
“Son of a bitch.” Seth murmured with a distinct edge to his voice.
“One night,” she said, “he cornered me on the back patio where it was dark and he told me he was going to fuck me. That I’d really get off on it.” She let out a pained laugh. “I was scared, I won’t lie. So I told his mother. Because she’d sworn I could tell her anything. That she was going to be the mother I never had.”
“What happened?” Noah asked, already knowing what she was going to say would ignite his temper.
“She slapped me. Hard. Called me a whore and said that if I continued to tempt her son, she’d make sure no one ever took me in and I’d spend the next six years in a group home. Or on the streets.”
It took all the restraint Noah had to keep holding her, when what he really needed was to pace as anger coursed through him, hot and bright.
Sylvia said, “I did everything I could at that point to blend in, not stand out, not draw any attention to myself. I was deathly quiet. I was as Plain Jane as you could imagine. I barely breathed, barely ate. I just tried to be as nonexistent as possible. Like I had with my parents. Because when people don’t notice you, they don’t hurt you.”
“Sylvia.” Seth’s tight tone revealed his own fury over her abysmal upbringing.
“Eventually,” she told them, “I started wondering why I was still alive.”
“At the age of twelve?” Noah asked, incredulous.
“Yes. Because nothing ever got better. I didn’t see my life changing. No silver linings on the horizon, no highlights to look forward to, just one bleak day after another.”
Noah tried to comprehend that. He’d had his share of bad times when his parents were together and had had their own explosive moments. Mostly over finances, as had been the case with Sylvia’s parents, though for vastly different reasons. Noah’s father had been an absentee one for a number of years as he’d worked practically around the clock to add to the Donovan dynasty, build a bigger empire, while his mother had insisted climbing the Forbes billionaire list wasn’t worth losing a family over.