Angel Without

by Rhiannon Ayers

  Odd business decisions notwithstanding, he was even more confused by his own reaction to the two of them. He’d never met anyone who radiated as much charisma as the two of them did—not even Maddox. There was something about both of them that called to him, but damn if he knew what it was. All he really knew was Sidri made him hard as rock just by looking his way, and Tatum made his heart turn over in his chest whenever the big man came within ten feet of him. While he didn’t have any physical attraction for Tatum—not the way he did for Maddox—there was still something about the guy that drew Riley to him. He didn’t understand it, couldn’t fathom why he would have such a strong reaction to the two of them.

  And then there was Allen. Allen, who was one lucky son of a bitch, that was for sure. Sidri and Tatum both loved the guy desperately, and it was obvious to anyone and everyone who happened to notice their relationship. Riley had heard of triads before, but he’d never seen one until he got a glimpse of the three of them together. And after seeing the way both Sidri and Tatum expressed their love for the gorgeous black-haired man they both claimed…

  God, the fantasies he’d jerked off to, once he realized the three of them all slept together. That Allen and Tatum were intimate was blatantly obvious. Add Sidri to the mix, the embodiment of every man’s wet dream, and you got smoking hot sex that could literally set your sheets on fire. Riley’s imagination had run riot on him, coming up with a gazillion sexual positions that three young, healthy bodies could get themselves into. And the more he fantasized about it, the more he wanted it.

  Christ, he was a mess. Ever since he started this job, his libido had been on the fritz. He needed to get the fuck over this ridiculous attraction for his boss, needed to stop fantasizing about smoking hot threesomes, and move the hell on. But damn if he knew how.

  Fortunately, his time for introspection was up. His effed-up thoughts had brought him to Amber’s door. He paused on the stoop, took a deep breath, and knocked.

  “Come in!” A voice called from inside. Riley frowned—what if it had been the guys who were after Amber at the door? They had no business just randomly letting people inside. If they were going to keep her safe, they needed some ground rules, pronto. Scowling, Riley pushed the door open, ready to give everyone inside a lecture on personal safety.

  But he never got that far.

  The most beautiful woman he’d ever seen—barring Sidri, of course. No one could hold a candle to Sidri—was standing in the foyer, staring at him with big blue eyes. She had long blonde hair, so pale it was almost white, though her lashes and eyebrows were more golden. Her sexy, long legs were lovingly molded by a pair of black jeans, her gorgeous tits hugged by a tight blue T-shirt. She was a tiny little thing, couldn’t be more than a hundred pounds, which meant Riley outweighed her considerably. Short, too—she only came up to his chin, and he was just under six feet tall. But she had killer tits, a tiny little waist, and legs that went on for miles. He could definitely picture those legs bare, wrapped around his waist as he pounded into her…

  Whoa. Holy fuck. The hell was wrong with him? He hadn’t found a woman attractive since meeting Sidri, hadn’t wanted sex with a woman since meeting Maddox. Yet here he stood, hard as rock, staring at this gorgeous woman he hadn’t even spoken to yet, and he desperately wanted to drag her over and kiss her senseless.

  Christ, he really was fucked up.

  Riley cleared his throat and spoke with a voice filled with lust and gravel. “You must be Amber.” The woman nodded, eyes still wide as dinner plates. Riley tried to smile, tried to put her at ease, but it wasn’t easy when he was fighting the urge to rip her clothes off. “I’m Riley. Maddox asked me to come over and introduce myself.”

  Amber cocked her head at him, licked her bottom lip. It took everything he had not to taste her lips for himself.

  “Are you part of my protection detail?”

  Her voice was a sexy, soft whisper that stroked his cock like hot, wet velvet. Riley choked back a groan. “Yeah, I’ll be helping Maddox watch out for you. I just wanted to say hi. So you wouldn’t freak out if you saw a strange guy hanging around.”

  She gave him a soft smile, so cute and sweet he wanted to wrap her up and put her in his pocket for safekeeping. “Thank you, Riley. And tell Maddox…” She winced. “Tell Maddox I’m sorry, okay? I reacted badly earlier. I don’t know what got into me.”

  Wish I could get into you. “It’s all right. I’m sure he understands.” Riley cleared his throat, hoping she wouldn’t notice the telephone pole stuffed in the front of his pants. “I’ll just…be going now. Get me if you need anything. I live in the last house, opposite side from where we’re working now. Just knock on my door if you want me. Or, I mean, if you need anything from me, that is. Or come find me. I’ll be around. And I should go.” He started backing out the door.

  “No, Riley, wait. You, too, Amber. This concerns you.” Allen stepped out of the kitchen, followed closely by Sidri. Riley grimaced, pausing in the open doorway. Fuck. Amber and Sidri in the same room? Add Maddox, and Riley would explode like a teenager with a stroke book. He needed to get out of this room, away from these people, before his balls turned into firecrackers.

  “What’s up?” Riley said, trying to sound like he was interested instead of desperately fighting a raging hard-on.

  Allen gestured toward the couch. “Come sit with us for a minute. There are a couple things we need to discuss with Amber. You should know what’s going on, since you’ll be helping Maddox watch out for her. It won’t take long, I promise.”

  “Sit, Riley.”

  Sidri’s voice shot lightning straight to his balls, and he bit back yet another curse. Adjusting himself surreptitiously, Riley followed Amber to the huge sectional, choosing a seat on the far side, as far as he could get from the gorgeous little pixie. Sidri and Allen sat right in the center, Sid with her legs over Allen’s lap. The two of them looked so cozy, so comfortable with each other, envy nearly choked him. He looked away, only to find Amber watching him with those baby-doll eyes of hers. He smiled for her, but couldn’t find enough voice to reassure her.

  “Here’s where we are,” Sidri began quietly. She was petting Allen, running her fingers through the short hairs at the base of his neck. Watching her do that made Riley wish he could get petted, too.

  “Early this morning, Amber’s father filed a missing person’s report.” Her green eyes sought out Amber’s blue ones, her mouth set in an unhappy line. “We managed to convince them you weren’t missing, that you were hiding out, but it wasn’t easy. Your father and Wes tried to insist on seeing you, tried to force us to reveal your location. The only thing that prevented it was the fact that my guys had already started pushing the paperwork for the restraining orders. Even then, your father almost won, Amber. It took everything we had to get that missing person’s report reversed so every cop in the city wouldn’t be looking for you.

  “Unfortunately, there’s no telling how many cops have actually seen the rescinded order. That means you could be picked up by the police if you leave this property. Please, Amber, do us a favor and stay here as much as possible, all right? They have no reason to look for you here. As long as you stay on our property, they shouldn’t have any way of finding you.”

  The pixie nodded, face grim. Riley wanted to go over there, wrap his arm around her shoulders, and give her a squeeze to make her feel better. Then rip her clothes off and fuck her until they both collapsed from orgasm overload. Down, boy.

  “In addition to the missing person’s report,” Sidri continued, “your father also had you cell phone and the car tracked. We got lucky. Allen killed your phone last night, so he couldn’t get ahold of that. He did track the car, though. I’m sorry, Amber. It’s been impounded.”

  “That’s okay,” Amber said in that breathy whisper. Riley wondered if she always talked like that, or if her constant fear and skyrocketing stress levels made her voice that high and tight. What he wouldn’t give to provide her a little stress rel
ief.

  “Tatum ordered you a car, anyway,” Sidri said with a half smile. “It was supposed to be here when we arrived, but apparently there was a delay at the dealership. You will have your own car, though. All I ask is that you stay on the property until we’re certain the cops won’t be looking for you, all right? After that, you’re free to come and go as you please, but keep in mind you’ll be vulnerable if you go somewhere on your own. Ask Riley or Maddox to go with you if you need to go somewhere, please?”

  Amber glanced at him, her big blue eyes filled with shadows. Fuck, he wanted to clear those shadows away, make her smile and laugh and scream from multiple orgasms. This precious little pixie should have nothing but joy in her life, nothing but pleasure. If he ever got his hands on the bastard who raped her, he’d rip the fucker’s head clean off.

  “On the plus side, we did get the restraining order in place against Wes,” Sidri said, bringing all eyes back to her. She gave Amber a sad look, voice turning grim with her next words. “We couldn’t push the one against your father, Amber. I’m sorry about that. There wasn’t enough cause. But Wes is forbidden to come within five hundred feet of you, and your father can’t force you to marry him.

  “The only thing left is your bank account, and unfortunately that is going to take a few days. Maybe even a week or more. Your father had himself named the executor on the account. It’s going to take a court order to remove him from it so you can get your money. Our lawyers are working on it, but it’s not an overnight process.”

  Her green eyes were soft. “So, I’m afraid you are stuck here for a little bit longer than we originally planned. But, don’t worry. My buddies in the department, Ryder and Shawn, are going to be doing random drive-bys for the next few days. They’ll keep an eye on anyone approaching this property and alert us if they see your father—or they’ll arrest Wes if he happens to find you.”

  “I’ll kill the fucker,” Riley snarled, surprising himself with the amount of rage in his voice. Everyone in the room turned and blinked at him, obviously stunned. Riley felt his cheeks heat, cleared his throat. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to sound so vicious. But if that asshole comes anywhere near here, Sid, you better hope your cop buddies get to him first, ’cause I promise there won’t be anything left of him by the time I’m done.”

  Sid rolled her eyes, but gave him an appreciative smile. “Between you, Maddox, and all the other guys, I think a pinprick like Wes will steer clear. But it is nice to know Allen’s baby sister has so many willing protectors.” She looked at Amber, one eyebrow raised. “You’re still okay with staying here, aren’t you? If you want to be somewhere else, now’s the time.”

  Amber closed her eyes, shoulders jerking up in discomfort. “No, I’m fine, I promise.” She looked at Riley, gave him a tiny smile that punched him right in the gut. “Thank you. Thank you for wanting to protect me. And thank Maddox for me, too. You guys don’t even know me, yet you’re willing to put yourselves out there to protect me. That means…a lot.” The last was said in a watery whisper that nearly ripped Riley’s heart out of his chest.

  Fuck this shit. Riley stood, crossed the room to where Amber sat, and dropped to his knees in front of her. She sucked in a breath, obviously shocked to find him suddenly so close, but he couldn’t stand it anymore. He took both of her hands in both of his—fuck, she was little, her whole hand barely covered his palm—and put as much sincerity as he possessed in his voice.

  “We’ll keep you safe, Amber. I promise. Maddox and I will do whatever it takes. Not just for Sidri and Allen’s sakes. For you. The world would really suck without you in it. As long as Maddox and I are here to protect you, neither one of those fuckers will get their hands on you. Okay?”

  A tear tracked down her left cheek. Unable to help himself, Riley reached out, gathered that tear on his index finger, and brought it to his lips. He caressed her cheek, drying the tear’s track while she stared at him in open wonder. It took everything he had, every scrap of integrity he possessed, not to bring her in for a soft kiss. But he couldn’t help running his thumb across her lower lip, knowing his eyes were flashing with lust he couldn’t hide even if he wanted to.

  Which he didn’t. Want to hide it, that is. He wanted Amber. That much he knew. She was the first woman who had intrigued him in over a year. No way was he going to pass up this opportunity.

  Allen cleared his throat—loudly. Riley sighed, dropping his hand from Amber’s cheek, but he snuck in a little squeeze on both her tiny hands before he stood and faced Allen with a raised eyebrow. Amber’s brother was scowling, regarding Riley with open hostility. Riley opened his mouth to tell the guy to fuck off, but Sidri beat him to it.

  “Allen,” she scolded, though her voice was more amused than anything else. “Amber is a grown woman. If she chooses to get to know Riley, that is her decision. You have no business inserting yourself into her love life.”

  Allen’s ears turned red, but he looked mutinous. His dark brown eyes pinned Riley in place for a moment. “You hurt her, I kill you. Period. She’s been hurt enough. I like you, Riley. But you hurt my baby sister and I swear to God I will rip off your balls and feed them to you. Got it?”

  Riley held up both hands in surrender.

  “And wow, thanks for talking about me as if I wasn’t in the room!” Amber snarked saucily, making Riley grin. He looked at her over his shoulder, flashing her a wink. She blushed, ducking her head in confusion. Christ God in Heaven, this woman was too fucking cute. He needed to get out of here before he did something really, really stupid.

  Riley cleared his throat, started speaking even as he made a beeline for the door. “I’ll be around, Amber. Don’t hesitate to come find me if you need anything. Or Maddox. He’s a good guy, you know. You can trust us. Both of us.”

  The rest of his reassurances froze in his throat, because the moment he said those words, the most delicious, stroke-worthy fantasy he’d ever had suddenly popped into his head. Riley, sandwiched between Maddox and Amber, getting fucked from both sides. Then it morphed into Amber between them, both men filling her over and over again as she screamed her pleasure to the rooftops. And finally, Maddox in the middle, with Riley’s hard dick pounding his ass as Amber rode Maddox’s cock like a goddamned racing jockey. In point of fact, every fantasy he’d ever had about Sidri, Tatum, and Allen popped into his head in an instant—only now, instead of those three, it was him, Amber, and Maddox together.

  Lust choking his throat, Riley managed a wave as he bolted out the door. The moment his feet hit the sidewalk he was running, running for all he was worth for his own townhouse. Once there, he banged into the downstairs bathroom, ripped open his zipper, and palmed his aching erection as a moan of pure need poured from his throat. Using the copious amount of pre-cum already leaking from his cock, he began a hard, fast hand-job as image after image flashed before his mind’s eye. It only took three strokes before his balls drew up and he threw back his head with a silent scream. He shuddered through the hard, bright orgasm, already knowing it wouldn’t be nearly enough to cool the raging inferno inside him.

  Shaking from the adrenaline still pulsing through his system, Riley sagged onto the closed toilet, rested his elbows on his knees, and buried his face in both hands. God help him, how was he supposed to do this? Both of these people were completely off-limits, and he damn well knew it. He could desire Amber all he wanted, but he knew he would never risk pissing Allen off by trying to date her. All it would take is the guy getting mad at Riley for both Sidri and Tatum to come down on him like a raging thunderstorm. And Maddox was off-limits because he was, well, Maddox. Riley had no business lusting after either one of them.

  God help me, I am so screwed.

  Chapter 6

  Amber stood in her new kitchen, staring into her very empty fridge, and thought, Guess it’s a good thing I’m not really hungry for food right now.

  Sighing, she closed the door and leaned her forehead against the freezer door. Too much. Everything that happened
today was just too much. In all her twenty-four years, she’d only ever been attracted to two people—her ex, Brandon, and Wes. Of the two of them, Brandon had affected her more, since he was a Dom and had introduced her to what it meant to be a sub—though, not in the way she’d hoped to be introduced to it. And Wes, he’d turned her on because he was the exact opposite of Brandon, though she’d never put it together before today. Regardless, in all her life, she’d only ever been physically attracted to those two men.

  But now, in less than a day, she’d found herself panting over not one, not two, but three distinctly different individuals. Sidri, she knew, was just a crush, an infatuation, simply because she was the first Domme Amber had ever encountered. She could move past her attraction for the gorgeous, green-eyed beauty because she knew, down to the core of her submissive soul, that Sidri would never claim her as a sub.

  But the other two…

  Maddox was bad enough. She’d never, ever experienced that kind of knee-melting attraction before, despite the very real fear that almost stopped the breath in her chest. That he was a Dom in the truest sense of the word was blatantly obvious. He made Brandon look like a little boy playing dress-up in his father’s closet, assuming he was all grown up because the clothes almost fit. But after one look into Maddox’s beautiful silver eyes, she knew for absolute certain that Brandon had only been pretending, and that she, Amber, had never actually experienced what it was like to be taken over by a true Dom. All this time, she’d thought she knew what being a submissive meant, thought she knew what she’d be in for if she ever let another Dom get close to her.

  She didn’t. She knew that, now. And it scared her to the bone. Because even though her whole body screamed for her to drop to her knees in front of Maddox, she was terrified that if she let herself become that vulnerable for a Dom again, she would find herself in a place so much worse than the one Brandon had taken her to. Just because Brandon had only been playing at being Dominant didn’t mean he wasn’t on the right track. And if he had been terrifying…