by Mari Carr, Red Phoenix, Angel Payne, Sierra Cartwright, Jenna Jacob, Victoria Blue
Drake didn’t copy the grin. His brow furrowed and his jaw tensed. “Wait. What reputations?”
I wasn’t sure if they really didn’t know or if they were just being obtuse.
“Let’s get downstairs,” Fletch interceded. “The sooner we start on this—obstacle—the sooner we can get to what really matters.”
“This launch is what really matters.” I whirled on him with a glare, tossing aside the fact that he was technically my boss. If he insisted on thinking with the wrong head right now, then I insisted on bring him to heel. “If you don’t agree, maybe you should stay in the room and rent a few movies.”
As I turned and stomped toward the door, Drake groaned from off to my right. It distracted me enough that I didn’t see Fletcher advancing from the left, deftly sliding into every speck of my personal space, until we were nose-to-nose. His eyes glittered, leonine and fierce. His chest sawed in and out with every breath.
“You should watch your sexy little mouth. I know you’re serious but you have no idea how fucking hot you are right now. None of us will leave this room if you keep it up.”
And just like that, I needed to change my panties. Something about the dance of dark and light in his eyes burned me up. For a split second, I considered forgetting the whole product launch and just throwing myself onto his glorious body.
Who are you and what have you done with Talia?
I swallowed hard and took a step back. Fletcher’s nostrils flared wider. I took another step back. Physical distance was my only ally in the room.
“We need to go or we’re going to miss the opening ceremony.” I squeaked it out, never taking my eyes from his.
“Dude, bring it down a notch. She wants to do this thing, so let’s do it.”
Thank God for Drake in that moment.
We grabbed our things and headed down to the casino level. My pulse still pounded so hard in my neck I was certain even bystanders could notice. I followed Drake through the crowd, his wide shoulders easily cutting through the throngs, even at this hour. The Nyte’s public areas hopped at every hour of the day. Fletcher was close behind, taking every opportunity to bump into me, rub up against me, or guide me by the small of my back. To outside eyes, his gestures were innocent, but the heat from his touch flowed straight to my core every time. I was nearly dizzy by the time we reached the convention center.
“Everything okay, Tolly? You look flushed.”
“Yes!” I probably sounded maniacal. “I’m fine.”
A glance showed me Fletch’s knowing grin. Bastard. He knew I wasn’t “fine” at all, and fully seized the chance to gloat about it. Drake caught that gist fast enough too, catching his friend’s Cheshire Cat smile—then emulating it. I sorely wanted to smack both of them.
“Everything good?” Drake drawled. “Yes? Then let’s go sell some girly shit.”
So I did hit him. Not hard, but hard enough. “Oh my God.” My fist barely registered against the hard brawn of his shoulder. “You did not just say that, Drake Newland.”
The second his name spilled from my lips, a woman’s blonde head popped up. “Drake Newland?” she echoed. “Oh my lucky stars, it is you! I thought I recognized that grin from across the room, but just thought my fondest fantasies were working overtime.”
I lowered my arm, watching speechlessly as the tall southern belle plastered her willowy curves all over my hot boyfriend. Instinctively, I dug my fingernails into my thighs, a painful reminder not to say a word.
You have a huge problem, Talia—and it’s not that woman.
Oh, God. I’d just called Drake Newland my “boyfriend”. Silently and privately—thank heavens for that—but if I slipped again, I might not be so lucky.
I had to get my shit together. Fifteen minutes ago, I’d demanded that Fletcher and Drake alter their naughty mindsets—but here I was, breaking my own freaking rules in a huge, crazy, do-not-go-there way.
Drake didn’t help things, instantly melting me with his apologetic glance while disentangling himself from her tentacle arms. “Janelle. Ummm…wow. I didn’t expect to see you here. You remember Fletcher? And this is our associate, Talia Perizkova.”
Janelle, if that was what we’d call her instead of the fifteen nicknames I’d already tagged for her, wrapped herself around Fletcher now. Her ridiculous pout needed its own showroom for spectacle’s sake. “Why didn’t you two call me when we left Chattanooga?”
“Janelle. This isn’t the place for that conversation. We’re here on business.” Fletcher extracted himself from her clutches too.
The blonde woman finally looked over to where I stood. Correction. Practically glared down her surgically perfect nose at me.
“Oh. Right. Business. Well, if you two want to have a little fun when you’re done working tonight, I’m in room 1545. Come on up; I’m sure we can pass the time one way or another. You know what they say? All work and no play?”
“Oh my God.” Though I mumbled it under my breath, I had a feeling the guys heard me. Janelle the gazelle kept on with her sing-songy oversharing.
“Remember what fun we had last time? I think we broke every piece of furniture in that room.”
“Enough!” Drake barked.
Fletcher calmed him with a hand on his shoulder. “We really need to get set up inside. Janelle…it was, uhhhh, nice to see you again.”
“Okay, then! Call me, ’kay?” She walked away, dramatically holding a phone-shaped hand up to her ear, in case they didn’t get the message when she repeated herself over and over, disappearing into the crowd.
In her wake, my heart felt weirdly crushed.
The butterflies swirling in my stomach five minutes ago? Now floated down, dead and lifeless, like leaves falling from an autumn tree.
I wanted to throw up. Several times over. I’d been such a damn fool. What on Earth made me think I would ever be anything special to these two men?
These two players.
I turned, barged through the conference room doors, and didn’t look back. The last thing I wanted to hear were lame explanations about who that woman was to them, and all the “fun” she’d been so eager to relive with them.
The exhibitor check-in desk was well-marked. I picked up the welcome kit then set out for the SGC Cosmetics booth. Nearly every step of the way, Drake and Fletcher were right behind me. Wisely, they kept their man-whore mouths shut.
The overnight team had set everything up the way we’d mapped it out back in San Diego. The booth looked amazing, helping me focus fully on the reason we were here, and not their slutty intentions for sideline fun. Getting physical distance from the guys helped a little too.
When they caught up, I was already storing my purse and water bottles under the table.
“Talia.” Drake’s directive was a quiet growl.
“Just let it.”
“We don’t want to just let it.”
“We want to explain,” Fletcher added.
“This isn’t the time or the place.” I was all business and it annoyed them both. They were waiting, resolution stamped across their gorgeous faces, when I rose again.
Drake was the first to nod and state, “Agreed. But we will talk about it later.”
“That won’t be necessary. You don’t owe me anything. Either of you.”
Between the check-in desk and the booth, I’d made a decision. I’d leave the show a little earlier than them, and catch a cab to the airport. I would purchase my own commercial ticket back to San Diego—it would cost a fortune but sometimes the cause had to justify the cost—and be in my own bed by midnight. It was a good plan. The only plan. It would also give me the strength to get through the day.
We put our name badges around our necks and braced for the onslaught of buyers, bloggers and media. By the afternoon, I was actually grateful to Janelle the gazelle. Her interruption had set me straight. I would knock this ball out of the figurative park then get the hell out of the stadium. While the crowd was still going wild, I’d disappear into
the chaos.
* * *
“I’m going to get a soda. Be right back to help with clean-up.”
I grabbed my purse from under the table and high-tailed it out of the convention center. The show had been a major success. We’d given at least five interviews to major magazines and all of our samples were gone. The brand was well-received, and once people started buzzing around the booth, the vibe about SGC Cosmetics was palpable.
Mission accomplished.
Now it was time for me to get out of Dodge.
By the time they figured out what had happened, I’d be airborne.
I was frantically packing my bag in my bedroom when I heard the door to the suite open so hard it slammed against the interior wall.
“Talia!” Drake’s voice echoed through the entire suite. Scary didn’t begin to describe it. I think my knees audibly knocked. Holy shit, he was pissed.
“Where the fuck is she?” Fletcher’s grumble wasn’t any more forgiving.
“Check her room.”
Within seconds, Fletcher filled the doorway. I froze, suitcase in my hand, feeling like Sylvester the cat with Tweety’s feathers drifting from my mouth. Only Fletcher Ford was no cute little Granny. He was huge, furious, and thoroughly set on not moving.
“Please,” I whispered, though meaning to shout. “Just let me go.”
His cobalt glare implied his refusal. “Why?” he bellowed. “Why are you running from us?”
Drake joined Fletch in the doorway. If the escape path wasn’t blocked before, it sure as hell was now.
“How did you know I left?” And why was that was my immediate question?
“You don’t drink soda,” Drake answered blandly. I saw the no-nonsense Marine side of the man now.
“What?”
“You said you were going to get a soda. You never drink soda.”
I dropped my luggage. “Well…hell.”
“We would’ve known, no matter what.” Fletcher stepped into the room, hands raising to his hips. “We know you, Tolly.”
“Just as we knew what was going on with you all damn day,” Drake added. “We were watching. You don’t think we were, but we saw it all. You put on an amazing act like nothing was bothering you, but we knew it was just that. An act.” He shifted closer, as well. “Talia…talk to us. Is this because of Janelle? Because she’s—”
“I swear, if you say she’s nothing, that what you did with her was nothing, I will knee you both in the balls.”
Drake’s lips twisted. “Baby, please.”
“Fuck that! Baby, please.” I mocked his tone. “Fuck you both!”
At once I slapped my hand over my mouth. I rarely—make that never—used profanity. Now, I’d yelled it at the top of my lungs. The men’s stares grew cautious. They weren’t used to hysterical women; I could guarantee that little factoid. No. They were used to soft, compliant, horny women. Right now, I was like a wild, escaped bear, and they were the rookie zookeepers tasked with rounding me up. Poor, poor boys. Not.
“Okay, you’re overreacting.” Fletcher squared his shoulders. “Do we have pasts? Yes, we do. Have we slept with other women? Yes, we have. But that isn’t news to you, Talia. This morning wasn’t the first time you confronted the truth about us being with a woman together. You’ve known for a long time, and you still agreed to work with us. You still came on this trip with us.”
My jaw worked on itself but no words came out. Yes, shock really could stun a person into silence. I truly couldn’t believe my ears. Did they not understand what all that made me look like?
“So…what?” I finally seethed. “You think that because I knew this all along, I was out here just hoping you sex gods would take pity and throw me a bone? Wait. That’s boner, isn’t it?” I sprinted my accusing glower between the two of them. “Is that really how little you think of me?”
I didn’t wait for them to answer. It wouldn’t make a difference. I was taking accountability, right now, for my part in this disaster. Truly, I had no one to blame but myself. Mama’s words rang through my mind. I’d let these men disrespect me all this time because I’d been disrespecting myself. I should have pointed in the mirror with my blaming finger, not at them. The disgusting thing was, they were right too. I knew exactly what they were when I signed on for this.
“Excuse me, gentlemen. I have a plane to catch.”
Fletcher folded his arms. “You aren’t leaving.”
Drake did the same. “I’ll tie you to that bed until you talk this out with us.”
“Mmmm.” Fletch’s eyes gleamed in his otherwise grim face. “There’s a vision, all right.”
My mouth dropped open again. “The hell you will!”
Drake inched forward. No wonder the Marines had loved him. Any insurgent caught beneath that glare probably surrendered without thinking twice. “Try me. Just fucking try me, Tolly.”
In a second, I decided against that. Instead, I turned right to Fletcher. “Okay, you’re supposed to be the rational one.”
Fletcher chuffed. “Says who?”
“Everyone.” I shot him a duh grimace before plunging on. “So tell me you can see my reasoning?” I hoped my subtle flattery would distract him. If I could just slip past the doorway, I had a good chance of outrunning them. Or so I thought.
That was a huge darn if—dashed by the man himself, as he smirked slowly and shook his head. “Sugar, I’m feeling a lot of things right now—but reasonable is not one of them.”
I stormed toward the doorway. “Fine. Just get out of my way then.”
Strong arms caught my waist while another set of hands scooped up my ankles. I was swept off my feet and utterly helpless within seconds. Ruthlessly, they tossed me onto my perfectly made bed. I bounced once before sitting up—in time to watch them prowling toward the bed with hunger in their eyes. Ohhh…wow. I couldn’t deny how sexy and exciting it was.
And reckless.
And foolish.
And directly against every rationality I’d just preached at myself.
“Stop!” I put my hands out in front of me—like they paid attention. “I mean it! Stay where you are.”
“Why?” Fletcher’s head cocked to the side.
“You know we’d never hurt you.” Drake’s tilted to the other.
“I—I need space! I can’t think clearly when you’re both near. I get all confused…turned around.” I kept babbling because, remarkably, it had stopped their advances. If I kept talking, they would stay put.
So much for that idea. Struggling for more words had cost me a vital second. Both of them made it to the bed, then sat on either side. If I wanted to get away now, I’d have to scramble down to the foot. It was pretty much hopeless, considering how quickly they’d managed to put me here.
“All right, angel.” Drake twisted around, planting a hand to the mattress close by. “Out with it. Tell us what’s going on. The shit with Janelle might have started it, but you sure as hell have run with it. Your pulse is beating a mile a minute; I can see it from here.”
As he talked, Fletcher snuck closer to me. As soon as he got close enough for me to inhale his decadent scent, I pushed away, trying to scoot farther up the mattress—
Only to collide right into Drake’s broad, hard chest.
Damn it!
Trapped between the two hottest men that walked the Earth. On a huge, pristine bed. For most girls this would be a fantasy come true.
I gave in to a fit of panic.
“It is not!”
That sounded mature.
“He’s so right, baby.” Fletcher leaned in, pressing his lips against my throat. “It’s throbbing. Right here.”
I could feel the blood surge into my veins. And wetness surge into my folds. Trouble. I was in so much trouble. “Fletcher…please.”
He continued to suck on the same spot…stopping just before a permanent mark would remain. “Please what, baby?”
Drake began stroking my thigh, long slow caresses between my knee and h
ip. I felt his fingers, like individual pokers, through the fabric of my skirt.
“I—I want you to—”
“You don’t want us to stop, angel. If you say you do, you’re lying.”
“I’ll bet her pussy’s wet.” Fletcher eased the words out through a sensual smile. “Probably as wet as it was last night when you had your fingers buried in her.”
“You’re probably right, brother.” Drake used his nails to catch the hem of my skirt and hike it up an inch. Then two.
“This isn’t fair.” God. My whining voice sounded like a toddler’s.
“Fair?” Fletcher frowned, turning even that expression into a vision of riveting gorgeousness. “What’s not fair about you feeling good?”
“I can’t fight you off when you gang up on me like this.” Screw the toddler. Now my voice was just idiotic but illicit, hoarse and needy, caving to the rising arousal in the air. Theirs. Mine. A force nearly impossible to resist…
“We don’t want you to fight us off anymore,” one whispered in my ear.
“You don’t want that, either,” the other crooned, moving in on the opposite side. They were hypnotizing me. Bending me to their will. Twisting my resistance into their perfect, willing plaything.
“No,” I finally rasped. “I don’t.”
I gave up. Let pleasure’s floodgate swing wide open—and carry me out to sea on its glorious wave.
As soon as I finished the words, Drake sealed his mouth over mine. I met his kiss with equal force, sucking his greedy mouth in with my tongue. He growled low in his throat, filling me with the ruthless vibrations, shaking my whole body with the force of his lust.
“You have the sweetest taste,” he finally grated. “I could just kiss you for hours.”
“Well, I’d have to object,” Fletcher teased. “I’m too damn greedy to go hours without tasting her too.”
Drake chuckled softly. “Idiot.”
Fletcher didn’t answer him. Instead, his piercing blue gaze still on me, he murmured, “If your mouth is this sweet, I can only imagine how delicious your pussy is.”
I squeaked. Yes, squeaked. What was my alternative, considering how he’d spoken something so forward? Although the images he evoked were nothing short of hot, I was flustered. Screw that. I was embarrassed. I’d never been completely comfortable with a man doing that. Luckily, Gavin was so greedy, he never bothered with oral sex. But Fletcher was already eyeing the apex of my thighs like a starved man.