by Hart, Sadie
Tegan nipped over her earlobe, drawing it between the gentle scrape of his teeth before he let it go. “Sweetheart, haven’t you been paying attention?”
Tegan nuzzled into the frantic beat of her pulse, nipping over it before soothing the skin with a kiss. She whimpered, leaning into him and he slid a hand down the curve of her belly and under her skirt. “Tell me something.” He nipped her pulse again. “You think Kanon’s jealous right now?”
She was wet for him already, the cotton of her underwear soaked through and Tegan teased over her clit, rubbing softly through the fabric. She moaned, her head falling back to rest on his shoulder, leaving her neck bare for him. He trailed nips over her skin, but his gaze turned to Kanon’s. His partner’s attention was dark with want. Hunger.
Kanon watched his fingers, trailing soft circles over the pale fabric and as she gasped, Kanon groaned. He started to step for them, but caught himself, one hand reaching out to catch the banister, as if he couldn’t hold himself back.
“Look at him, Lennox.”
A whimper crawled out of her throat but she rolled her head up, her lips parted. He knew the moment her gaze met Kanon’s. Her whole body jerked, hips thrusting into his hand and Tegan ran his teeth over her shoulder, holding her to him. Kanon shuddered, but the wicked, wanton grin that slid over his face was hardly jealous.
Tegan slid his fingers beneath the cotton of her panties, revealing slick skin. Lennox grabbed his arm, holding fast to him. “Does he look jealous to you?”
Lennox shook her head, her throat working but no sound came out.
“Were you jealous this morning, watching Kanon suck me off?”
Another whimper rose from her but he heard the delicate, “No,” hidden beneath all that want. He kissed her temple. Shivers trailed through her, like electric shocks running under her skin and Lennox quaked against him, her hips circling after his fingers as she fought to dip him inside her.
Need clawed through Tegan too. He wanted to finish her, to plunge his fingers hard and fast inside her, feel the wet clutch of her body around his hand. He wanted to taste her, press her back against the sofa and fuck her until they both couldn’t stand. And one glance at Kanon and he could see the same want bared in his partner’s face. The same burning need coursing red hot under his skin.
Tegan kissed her, curving his hand so that the tip of his index finger slipped inside her before he pulled away. Lennox clutched at his arm, desperate to hold him to her but he slipped away, pressing a kiss against those swollen, red lips. He wasn’t about to have her on her best friend’s floor. Not with Mel politely sitting in another room, waiting for them to finish.
Lennox gasped, her skirt still hitched up around one hip, her thighs wet as she stood there watching him walk over to Kanon. Kanon’s eyes went crazed as Tegan lifted his hand to run her sweet juices over his lips. Kanon shook as Tegan leaned closer, licking the taste of her from Kanon’s lips.
“Take it,” he whispered, and this time when he lifted his hand Kanon sucked his fingers in, tongue twirling against his skin until he’d sucked and licked every drop of Lennox off Tegan’s hand.
Tegan wrapped a hand around Kanon’s neck and kissed him. He’d never been so fucking hot in his life, but Kanon held him up, dominating the kiss even as Tegan towered over him. When they finally broke it was Kanon who gave a soft smile, hand trailing down Tegan’s cheek, eyes darting to Lennox. He arched an eyebrow at her, voice husky with want and amusement. “Still don’t know how this is going to work?”
Lennox shuddered, confidence leaking back into her. “I’m getting the idea.”
“Good,” Kanon whispered, nudging Tegan back a step. “Then maybe you should go try on that top. I hear we’re going out tonight.”
Tegan watched the heated curve of Kanon’s lips, the molten stare burning out of his partner’s gaze and Lennox shook as she walked down the hall.
“Damn,” Tegan whispered.
For the first time since it had begun, Kanon bent his head and leaned it against Tegan, a hard, body wracking shudder working through him as he managed, “Yeah.”
Tegan couldn’t remember ever wanting anyone but Kanon as badly as he wanted Lennox now. The thought of her between them... He wasn’t sure he could last this much longer, teasing her inch by inch until she caved. She’d been ready, willing just now. If it hadn’t been for Melody, one of them would have had carpet burns on their ass before they’d let her go.
“We need privacy,” he murmured against Kanon’s ear.
“Shower, try two?”
Not quite what he’d been going for, but Tegan grabbed the bag and took a step for the bathroom. “Glad you bought that lube then.”
Kanon gave him a grin fully meant to drive him crazy with want. “If you’d let me stop at the Lion’s Den on the way home, we’d have more than just lube.”
Tegan’s grin came wicked then. “I’m sure we can make do.”
He lugged Kanon down the hall, head tilting as he yelled towards Mel’s bedroom. “We’re going to get cleaned up.”
Then he shoved Kanon into the bathroom and shut the door, diving for his partner’s zipper.
***
“Hold still for a sec,” Melody muttered, grabbing Lennox by the chin so she could apply the lipstick.
“I feel awkward.”
Mel rolled her eyes. She capped the lipstick and tossed it in her makeup bag before grabbing a square of toilet paper, folding it over and passing it to her. “Bite down on this.”
“Why?” Lennox scrunched up her nose, but she did as she was told.
“Because honey, lips that red don’t mesh with your hair.” Melody grabbed her by her shoulders and spun her around. She snatched the large hair clip off the counter and wound Lennox’s hair back before pinning it atop her head. “I’ll be nice to the boys and make this easy to take down. And before you start whining, remember they could use the pick me up. They lost three good friends recently.”
“More reason for me to stay focused on the case and avoid pity sex.”
Melody squeezed her shoulder. “There’s nothing pitiful about them and besides Lennie, you need a break. Even good girls take vacations every now and then.”
“When people are dying?”
“No one has died since you got here. One more night isn’t going to hurt anything and you’re going to make them and you very happy.”
Lennox shivered at the idea. She knew going to Krystal Kandi would be fun; anywhere Mel worked was a blast, but she also knew that if she waltzed out of the bedroom looking like this and she might not make it out the front door.
Melody braced her hands over Lennox’s shoulder, meeting her gaze in the mirror. “You look gorgeous.”
Yeah. Not something she’d have ever admitted before. Her normal orangey red hair shimmered, a few diamond studded bobby pins making the simple up-do look stunning. It made her eyes seem darker, richer, like polished emeralds and that said nothing for the outfit. The yellow had worked okay, but the olive green skirt with its slightly darker, skin tight dancer’s shirt with sequins made her almost unrecognizable.
It was one heck of a step up from camo and khaki.
She’d never even looked this nice to go on a fancy date.
“Wanna go see if your lions are done playing in the shower and are ready to go?”
Melody had switched into her uniform while Lennox had been trying on this last outfit, and the flouncy mini skirt, fish net stockings, and ruby red top put Lennox to shame. But for once, she wasn’t the pale outcast next to her friend. For a change, no one would mistake her as Mel’s butch girlfriend.
One look at the door to the hallway though and her heart picked up speed. They’d seen her in the yellow, not-so-hot outfit, and no makeup and she’d ended up getting groped in the living room. This spelled disaster. “What if we don’t make it to the club?”
“Oh you will.” Mel squeezed her shoulders. “Because right now you look ready to faint. Get out there, have some fun tonig
ht and then when you don’t feel like you’re quaking in your heels, let ‘em take you home.”
She brushed a kiss against Lennox’s cheek. “You’ll have the house to yourself most of the night and the guest bed is big.”
“And you don’t mind?”
Lennox shook her head. Only Melody would be having a good ole time hooking her best friend up with two hot men, and not care that she’d be coming home to find a lion orgy in her guest bedroom.
“Please. That bed needs to be broken in. It’s new, the springs don’t even squeak yet.”
Then before Lennox’s confidence could completely escape her, Melody ushered her out the door and down the hall. Lennox hated walking in heels. They felt unsteady, high, and worked muscles in her ass and thighs she hadn’t even known she’d had.
One look from the pair of men lounging in the living room though and she knew they liked the heels. A lot. Melody leaned forward and murmured, “There’s a reason they’re called fuck-me heels.”
No kidding. Lennox wavered to a stop, feeling more buck naked than she had with Tegan’s hand up her skirt. They both simmered, their gazes trailing up and down her and just when Lennox thought she might bolt back down the hall, Kanon met her graze, that slow, sensual tug of his lips drawing a forward step out of her. Straight towards him.
“Beautiful,” he whispered. “Absolutely, fucking beautiful.”
A growl rumbled out of Tegan and she turned to see the hunger in his gaze, the look of sheer want almost enough to buckle her at the knees. “You look stunning.” He cut his gaze to Melody, a polite grin tipping his lips as he added, “You both do.”
“With that settled, I vote we go.” Melody snagged keys and purse off the bookshelf behind her dining room table. “That way I’m not late for work.”
“Ah, no dances?” Kanon teased.
“Wouldn’t dream of stealing you away from Lennie.”
The look in Kanon’s eye told Lennox he wouldn’t dream of it either. His large, calloused hand found the small of her back as he stepped up alongside her, the warmth of his breath trickling down her neck and she leaned into him, suddenly unsteady.
“Need help?”
“A little.”
“Could carry you.”
Instantly her back straightened and she shot him a daggered glare. Like hell. She could walk. On wobbly steps she made it to the door and shot him a triumphant look over her shoulder, but Tegan caught her elbow before she could face plant down the front steps. “The heels take a little practice,” she told him. “So I’m probably not dancing material tonight.”
Kanon snorted. “Honey, you don’t have to walk to dance.”
Tegan helped her towards the car, leaning in to whisper softly against her ear. “We’ll make sure your feet never touch the ground.”
Chapter Eleven
Kanon wasn’t sure how he was supposed to make it through a night of dancing. Just the thought of Lennox pinned between him and Tegan made it hard to focus. They’d driven separately, Melody insisting they wouldn’t want to stay there for her full shift, and while he agreed he also caught the undercurrent between her and Lennox.
Something had shifted, changed.
Closing his eyes, he inhaled the ripe, sultry scent of Lennox. Mel had dabbed a hint of perfume on her, but it did nothing to hide the soft smell of fur to her skin, and even stronger than that, desire. Red hot desire burning up her veins. His tonight, the animal inside him insisted. He could smell the lust, the soft, sweet scent that brought the promise of sex.
They could have had her earlier.
She’d wanted it so damn bad that if Tegan hadn’t pulled away... Kanon leaned back, his head falling against the headrest so he didn’t have to look at the back of her head, the pale line of her neck. Tegan drove, though how the hell his partner focused on the road was beyond him. All he could think about was the smell of her wetness, the cherry colored twist of a shy smile on her lips, and the fact that Lennox, big bad Lennox, was vibrating with want of him and Tegan.
“You ever been here before?” Tegan asked.
“Uh, no.” Lennox shifted in her seat and Kanon groaned, leaning forward so his head rested on the back of Tegan’s seat. Lennox blushed, her hands fisted in her lap but she turned to look at him. One look in her eyes and all he wanted to do was unpin her hair, shove a hand through the dark, copper mass and kiss her until she couldn’t breathe.
“We need to figure out who’s after you.” Her gaze was level, but the undercurrent of lust in her eyes undermined any intention she could have had. Tonight, at least, Kanon didn’t want to look reality in the eye unless it involved her naked and stretched out over a bed.
“Nothing is going to happen tonight.”
The look she gave him was pure Hound, lips tense. She wasn’t buying it.
“Lennox,” he started, but she reached a hand out and laid a finger against his lips. Kanon shut up.
“Tomorrow, we need to sit down and see what we can figure out.”
“And tonight?” Tegan glanced at them both in the rearview mirror, the blinker clicking on as he followed Melody into a packed parking lot.
Lennox swallowed, her eyes sliding away, but there was steel in her voice when she whispered, “Guess that depends on the two of you.”
Kanon shuffled forward in his seat. He caught her wrist and laid a kiss against her fingertips, then opened her hand and laid one against her palm before pressing it to his cheek. “I thought ridgebacks didn’t do lions,” he teased, low and dark, and it drew a small tremble from her.
“They don’t.” She rolled her head to look at him. “Guess I’ll be the first.”
A grin stole over her lips, more wild and confident than he’d have thought possible by the way she was shaking. “Two in one night too. If you guys swear you’re okay with—”
“More than okay,” Tegan growled from his seat.
“We’ll need to stop somewhere for protection, I’m on the pill but there’s no way either of you are getting anywhere near me unwrapped.”
Kanon rumbled out an amused laugh. “Girl, we bought a box with our new outfits today.”
Not just because of her, but for the two of them too. Still, he loved watching her eyebrows draw together, censure building on her lips before he leaned forward and kissed away whatever snarky comment she’d had bubbling up inside her. “And a few other things,” he murmured against her lips. “Call it wishful thinking.”
“And shower play,” Tegan said, unclipping his seatbelt.
Krystal Kandi was a squat building with a neon rainbow colored sign flashing against the darkening night sky. Kanon could feel the thud of music from the car. The place was already packed, but Melody had said that they served damn good food, on top of killer booze and some incredibly sexy dancers.
The only dancers Kanon particularly cared to see on that floor tonight were Lennox and Tegan.
“Shall we?” he murmured.
“Hell yeah.” Lennox opened her door and slid long, bare legs out, her skirt barely mid thigh, leaving very little to Kanon’s imagination. Especially after Tegan’s peek-a-boo show this morning. “You two need to work for it.”
Oh. Kanon loved a good hunt. Rumbling out a growl, he slipped out of the car after her, hearing Tegan’s snort behind him as they trailed after Lennox to the door. Melody stood by the bouncer, his hand on her hip as they flirted, but she waved them inside with her.
“That’s not your lion,” Lennox murmured.
“No. I was asking Isaiah if he’d seen him though. We don’t want him here tonight.” She jerked her head towards them and Kanon stiffened. “You all aren’t on pride turf, but it could still get a little tight in here tonight if too many of the big boys show up.”
Melody wrapped a hand around Lennox’s waist and gave her friend a quick hug. “Have fun. Be safe.”
She leveled a glare at both of them. “Behave.”
Then pressing the flat of her hand to her lips, she blew them a kiss and disappeare
d into the crowd, leaving Lennox all alone in front of them. Kanon grinned, one hand extended. “Dance, sweetheart?”
Lennox took a deep breath and extended both hands, one for each, and smiled. “By all means. Just watch your toes.”
“Honey, you won’t be doing any walking.”
Tegan stepped around her, taking her by the hand. “We were sweeping you off your feet remember?”
“All talk,” she whispered. “Woo a woman by showing, will you?”
It was all the invitation he needed. Kanon swooped in, a hand finding her hip and he let Tegan lead them out into the sway and pulse of the music, before he drew her flat against his chest, Tegan pressed up behind her.
Lennox stepped on his toe and Kanon hitched her off the ground, rocking her between them. Just the feel of her hips against his, the way she curled into him, and he wanted her. They alternated songs, Tegan holding her, then him, and back again. They danced solos with a lot of wincing and laughter.
Kanon watched as Tegan tried to spin her to a fast song, her balance slipping on the heels and she stumbled into his partner, only to have Tegan tip her back and kiss her, both feet dangling in the air. Kanon stalked across the dance floor, catching Lennox as Tegan righted her, wrapping a hand around the base of her neck and he kissed his partner, drawing a startled groan from Tegan.
“Enough,” Kanon said. “Let’s go.”
Lennox shivered, but she didn’t argue. Instead she rolled her head back against his hand, her hair tickling over his knuckles and Kanon turned to nip over her pulse. “Ready?”
“Yes.” The word came out breathy. Sultry. Hot. The reaction that one word drew from him was physical, as surely as if she’d wrapped a hand around his cock and squeezed. By the look on Tegan’s face, it had the same effect on him.
“Then by all means, let’s go.” Tegan scooped her up, carrying her across the dance floor. Lennox flushed as red as her hair, but they were out the door before she could open her mouth to do as much as protest.