by Jane Jamison
“Let’s talk about something else.” Smoke slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her against him.
She could feel his heart beating under the palm of her hand. Was he as excited as she was? Lifting her chin, she once again parted her lips.
Kiss me.
His gaze fell to her mouth. “You’ve got great lips. Plump and perfect.”
“I do?” she answered in a breathy voice.
“Yeah, you do.” Tatum’s mouth brushed against her ear. “You’re perfect in every way.”
“Except for being spoiled?” She smiled.
“We want to spoil you.” John took her hand and tugged her away from his brother. “Let’s take this into a bedroom so we can spoil you the right way.”
“What about dinner?” she asked.
“What dinner?” answered Tatum.
Giggling, she let John pull her toward the hallway and the bedrooms. Tatum and Smoke followed behind, keeping a hand on her every step of the way.
Finally.
At first, she wasn’t sure what the sound was.
At first, she thought that her knee was giving out.
“Get her in the doorway,” shouted Tatum.
The world around her started shaking. Dishes rattled off the table to shatter on the floor. Pictures tilted sideways. Books fell off the small bookcase in the hallway.
“Oh my God. Is it—?” The rumbling noise of the monster tearing at the earth drowned out the sound of her voice. Or so she thought.
John tugged her against him. “Yeah, darlin’, it’s an earthquake.”
Chapter Five
By the time the quake ended, Catherine was shaking in her shoes. She clung to John, too frightened to move.
“Come on, darlin’.” Lifting her as though she weighed nothing more than a child, John carried her in his arms through the front door and down the porch steps. He didn’t stop until they were several yards away from the house.
She was still clinging to him, her fingers dug into his shirt when he set her down on her feet. “I can’t believe it.”
His eyes, hard as glass, splintered into her. “Why not? This is why companies like yours need to stop fracking.”
She gaped at him, stunned at his vehemence.
“John, don’t take it out on her. She hasn’t been in the business long enough to bear any of the guilt.” Tatum spoke softly, but the menace in his voice was unmistakable.
Finally turning John free, she moved away, suddenly wary of them. The amber she’d seen before and had meant to question them about flared in both their eyes. “I don’t understand what’s going on.”
Smoke moved between her and the other men, blocking her view of them. He took hold of her arms and forced her to meet his gaze. “It’s okay. We don’t blame you. John doesn’t blame you. He’s just upset.”
“I’ve heard about fracking, but I didn’t realize…” How could she explain herself? John was right. She was in charge of the company that allowed the fracking to go on. “I’m sorry.”
“Shit. Robin,” muttered Tatum.
“We have to check on her.” John pointed at her. “Stay put until we get back. There will be aftershocks, but you’ll be all right as long as you’re out in the open.”
To her surprise, the men started running toward John’s pickup. “Where are you going?”
“To check on Robin,” called Smoke.
“Why?”
John whirled around and stared at her. “Because she’s sick.”
“She’s out of the hospital.” Didn’t that mean she was recovering? “Let me come with you.”
John thought about it then shook his head. “It’s better if you stay here. We’ll be back soon.”
“But why can’t I come?” She stared after them as they jumped into the pickup and sped off. “What the hell just happened?” Did Robin mean more to them than she’d thought? Was she filling in, playing the part of a replacement girlfriend while Robin regained her health?
* * * *
If she’d had a car, Catherine might have hauled ass back to Tulsa. How dare they run off and leave her alone? Not only had they left her alone, they’d left her alone to go and check on another woman.
Robin. Is she more than a friend to them?
If Robin was their lover, then Catherine didn’t want to have anything to do with them. Had that been the reason they hadn’t tried to have sex with her? Yet they’d been on the brink of doing exactly that.
If Robin wasn’t their lover, if she really was just a friend, then didn’t that tell her how little they cared about her? Granted, they’d known her only a short few days, but in that time, she’d grown to care about them. Not only did she feel fiercely attracted to them in a way that defied explanation but she genuinely liked them as people.
She was still sitting on the porch—after all, if another quake happened she could run again—when she finally saw the red pickup speeding down the dirt road heading to the house. Standing, she got ready to give them a piece of her mind.
Striding toward the men as they got out of the truck and headed toward her, she was loaded and ready for bear. “Who the hell do you think you are leaving me alone? And to see another woman? Fuck that.”
They slammed to a stop as though the three men were one.
Damn it. If only they weren’t so hot.
The sun cast a glow around their hard bodies. If they hadn’t been dressed in jeans and shirts, she would’ve sworn they were Greek gods returning to Earth to claim her. For a moment, she almost forgot why she was so angry.
“You’re kidding, right?” Tatum studied her as though his question was a serious one. “Don’t you want to know if Robin’s all right? Or is this all about you?”
She did care. She just hadn’t a chance to ask. He was right, though. While she’d waited, she hadn’t given any worry to whether or not Robin was safe. It wasn’t until she’d seen them drive up that she’d wondered. “Is she? Well? Is she all right?”
“Yeah. She is,” answered John.
“Good.” In fact, she was relieved. But not enough that she wasn’t still angry. She didn’t wish any harm to Robin, but shouldn’t they have stayed with her if they cared for her more than their friend?
“You’re ticked off because we went to check on her?” Tatum let out a sarcastic laugh. “You are, aren’t you?”
“Damn straight I am.” It wasn’t right. She realized that much, but the old her, the selfish her wouldn’t back down. Maybe she hadn’t really changed as much as she thought she had.
“She’s our friend and she needed us. We’ve known Robin since we were kids.” John’s hard glare bored into her. “If you don’t get that, then we’ve got a problem.”
She paced toward them then reversed direction. It was time to come clean. And time for them to tell her where she stood. Everything had happened so fast, yet she couldn’t shake the feeling that it was supposed to happen that way. “I don’t get it. Why would you invite me to stay with you if you didn’t want me?”
“Who says we don’t?” Smoke was the first to saunter toward her, his brother and cousin following close behind.
“Men don’t leave a woman to see another woman unless the first woman doesn’t mean squat to them.” She frowned, unsure she’d made any sense. “You know what I mean.”
“Yeah, we do.” Smoke took her by the wrist and tugged her along behind him.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“Taking you to bed.”
She jerked her arm free. “Like hell you are. I’m not playing second fiddle to anyone.” She seared him with a hard glare. “Or taking anyone’s sloppy seconds.”
“Tell her,” demanded Tatum.
She jumped her attention from one man to the next. “Tell me what?”
“It’s not our place.” John scowled at the others.
“I don’t give a damn. What she’s thinking isn’t right, and we need to set her straight.” Tatum crossed his arms and planted his fee
t apart. “We have to tell her about Robin.”
All at once, she wasn’t sure she wanted to know. But not knowing would eat at her. “Tell me. She’s your lover, isn’t she?”
John blinked, obviously thrown. Tatum rolled his eyes while Smoke let out a string of curse words.
“Well? Is someone going to admit it or not?” She couldn’t take it much longer. Either they’d tell her or she’d walk home if she had to.
“Robin’s sick.”
“Yeah, I know. I met her in the hospital, remember? But she got out the day after I did. She’s back home now, so she’s fine, right?” Yet there was more she had to hear. Something they didn’t want to tell her. She could see it in the tightness of their expressions.
“She’s not going to be fine.” John let out a hard breath. “Robin’s dying.”
Catherine slapped her hand over her mouth. It took a minute before she could speak again. “She can’t be dying. She’s too young.” Yet it made sense. Robin had looked awful. In fact, she’d been surprised when Robin had been allowed to go home.
The fierceness John had shown before was gone, replaced by sorrow. “Robin has cancer. Because of that, she has to go in for tests and treatments.”
“But she’s getting better, right?” Shame and guilt swamped her. She’d been jealous of a dying woman. Please, tell me she’ll get better.
He shook his head. “No. She’s not.”
“You have to do something, John. There has to be something that can be done.”
“There isn’t. She left the medical center because she doesn’t want to spend whatever time she has left hooked up to monitors and stuck with needles. The treatments failed.”
“I can’t believe it. She’s dying.” She’d wanted to hate Robin. Regret for her thoughts, her actions, and her words ate at her.
“I wish that made a difference,” said Smoke. “The best we can do for her now is to make sure she’s all right. That’s why we ran off to check on her.”
“I thought you were her lovers.” She felt foolish. Foolish and self-centered.
“We’re her friends. We’ve always been her friends and we’ll always be her friends.” John’s dark gaze met hers. “But only her friends.”
“Is there anything I can do?” she asked, already knowing the answer.
“Not unless you want to send her on a trip around the world.”
Was Tatum joking? “She wants to go around the world? While she’s sick?”
“Once the treatments wear off, she’ll feel better. At least, for a while.” John swallowed as though choking back emotion. “It’s been her dream to go around the world. We’re trying to make that happen. Us and the rest of her neighbors in Twisted. Someone will have to go with her, but we’ll cross that bridge once we’ve raised enough money.”
“I’m an idiot.” Yet, a glimmer of an idea tickled the edge of her mind.
“No, you’re not. Maybe a little selfish.” Tatum grinned and jerked back as though he expected her to hit him.
“You’re right. I am. Here I am complaining about picking up a few eggs and she’s fighting for her life.”
“It’s okay, baby. Don’t blame yourself.” Smoke pulled her to him. “I know the answer to this, but I have to ask.”
She would’ve sworn he looked nervous. “Yes?”
“Do you feel anything for us? Not just me, but for all three of us?”
Nerves got the best of her until she closed her eyes and forced herself to be calm. When she opened them again and looked into his, then into John’s, then Tatum’s, she was sure of her answer. “Yes.”
John brushed her hair back, his hand lingering on her shoulder. “I know you feel a major attraction to us because we feel it, too. Like an electric current zapping its way through you, right?”
She couldn’t have explained the sensation any better. “It’s like nothing I’ve ever felt before.”
“That’s a relief.” Tatum wasn’t joking.
“Like I said, we feel the same way.” John cupped her cheek. “We’ve waited a long time to find you, and now that we have, we never want you to lose you.”
She swallowed, subdued by the need in his tone. “This is crazy fast.” Yet wasn’t crazy sometimes the best way?
“It is, but when it’s right, you just know it.” Smoke placed a hand over his heart then placed the same hand over hers. “We want you so much it physically hurts, baby.”
“How about we pick up where we left off?” Tatum was the final end to the triangle they’d formed around her.
“Yeah.” Her pulse picked up speed. She’d waited for this moment, and now that it was here, she wasn’t sure she was ready. What if she wasn’t good enough in bed? What if she couldn’t handle more than one of them at a time? “You’re talking about all of us together, aren’t you?”
“You’d better believe it,” quipped Tatum. “We’ve always wanted to share one woman. She has to be one hell of a strong woman to handle the three of us. Are you strong enough, Catnip?”
“Hold up.” Smoke grew serious. “You do want the three of us, right? Not just one or two?”
In her mind, they were the same. How could she reject one of a three-part puzzle? “Yeah. I feel the same way toward all of you.”
“Then what the hell are we waiting for, darlin’?”
John had her in his arms before she could react. He carried her down the hallway, moving as fast as any man could go. Faster even.
“Don’t you dare take me to that cramped little room.” Not that she really cared. She would’ve been happy making love to them in a tent, but she couldn’t resist teasing them.
“Nah, darlin’, you’re going to the big room. My room.” He glanced at his friends then at her. “Our room.”
John set her on her feet beside the bed then yanked the covers away. “I don’t want anything covering your body.”
“Good thinking, cuz.” Tatum yanked off his T-shirt and tossed it aside.
Her mouth watered as his hands went to his belt buckle. Hard muscles, muscles earned through intense physical labor, rippled as he worked. John and Smoke began disrobing with John taking off his boots before unbuttoning his shirt while Smoke worked from the top down. She watched, entranced by the inch-by-inch revelation of their magnificent bodies. They were amazing male specimens, zero-body-fat men who could no doubt press more weight than any bodybuilder. Yet the best thing about them was that they weren’t the types to focus on how big or strong they were. Instead, they’d gained their physiques the old-fashioned way and didn’t give a second thought to how buff they were.
“Baby?” Smoke’s gaze dropped from her face to the top of her jeans.
“Oh. Yeah.” She’d forgotten about getting undressed, becoming too immersed in watching them. She unbuttoned her jeans, but Tatum wasn’t one to be patient.
He came at her, naked now, his cock extended and ready for play. He knelt in front of her, speeding up her heart, then snagged the bottoms of her jeans and tugged them to her ankles. She gripped his shoulders as she lifted on foot then the other. Taking her shoes along with them, he jerked her jeans off and threw them aside.
“Damn.” His hands slid along her legs.
Should she open her legs for him? Or wait until he demanded that she do so?
“Damn is right.” Amber flared in Smoke’s eyes. “Keep going, baby.”
She’d seen the amber before and had wondered. “What’s with your eyes? Every so often you, all of you, get bits of amber in them.”
Tatum rose, taking hold of the hem of her shirt and dragging it over her head. “That’s what you want to do right now? Talk about our eye color?”
“Yes.” She smiled, giving in. “No.”
“Good.” A very naked, very sexy John came to her side. Like those of the other two men, his cock was long, thick, and erect. Purple veins decorated the length of it while pre-cum glistened on the tip. “No more talk. Not unless it’s to tell me where you’d like me to put my tongue.” A second lat
er and her panties were gone, yanked off her by John. His fingers slip under her bra, undid the clasps, and let it drop behind her. Suddenly, strangely shy, she covered her breasts, her nipples peaked and ready to be sucked. Picking her up, he placed her on the bed.
Smoke moved to the other side of the bed and started to crawl toward her. “I’ve waited way too long for this.”
“Hold up,” ordered John.
The amber in all their eyes increased. Did it have something to do with how turned on they were?
“Are you sure you want to do this?” asked John.
“What the fuck, man?” Smoke pushed down on the bed, making her bounce. “Shut the hell up.”
“Or get the hell out,” ordered an equally incensed Tatum. “If you’ve changed your mind, then fine, but Smoke and I are doing this.”
John’s lip lifted in a snarl. “I just want to be sure we’re not going too fast for you, darlin’.”
She was surprised and yet touched. “I want this, John. I want you. All of you.”
“That’s all I need to hear.” Smoke pounced on her first like a big cat capturing a mouse. He landed between her legs, his cock bobbing up and down.
She giggled, once more at ease. “So are you other two going to join in?”
“Don’t worry. I’m going to have you, darlin’. But first, I want to see these guys make you come.” John crossed his arms, a smile forming on his lips.
Tatum crept onto the bed, reminding her as Smoke had, of a cat coming after its prey. “Fine with me. His face was washed with yearning. “Spread ’em and give me a taste of that catnip.”
But she had a different idea. Giggling, she flipped over and presented her bottom to them. “How about we do it doggy-style?” When none of them answered, she craned her head around. “What’s the matter?”
“Just don’t call it doggy-style and we’re fine.” Tatum’s grimace quickly changed into a grin. “We’re more pussy men, but whatever you want is what you’ll get.”
Smoke pushed Tatum out of the way. “You snooze, you lose, man.” He slid his hand over her ass, patted her butt cheek, then caressed her puckered rings. “I’ll try and take it easy.”