Once they started to talk about work, Jake was able to relax enough to enjoy his meal and the conversation.
“You want another beer?”
Jake thought about it and decided something stronger might be in order. “I have some bourbon. I’ll grab it after we’ve finished dinner.”
“Sounds good.”
They cleaned the kitchen together, working as a team. As the evening progressed, Jake started to feel more and more on edge. A casual touch here. The rumble of Hari’s husky voice. His laugh. They all added up to trouble.
Every minute seemed to ratchet up the tension in Jake until he wanted to touch Hari so bad his hands shook. Yeah he needed that bourbon now. He strode to the pantry and located the bottle right at the back.
Straightening from his crouch, he found a bottle of cola and two glasses from the cupboard. He poured a measure into each glass and added soda before carrying both glasses to the lounge.
“Thanks. So, what do you think?”
A loaded question if ever he’d heard one. He played rugby for god’s sake—the ultimate in masculine sports. But all he could think about was kissing Hari.
“Jake? The website?”
“Ah yeah.” He sucked in a deep breath and wished he hadn’t. There was too much of Hari in it. He focused on the laptop screen and the striking website design. It was exotic and oozed sex in a totally classy way with the silhouettes of an entwined couple sprawled across the opening page. His mind leaped ahead to the bedroom and all the things a couple could do. Suddenly his cock was hard enough to do the business, trying to burst from his jeans. He gulped his drink, desperate to control the urge to run his fingers down Hari’s back and nuzzle his neck, to kiss the soft skin behind his ear, right where his scar started.
“What do you think?”
Jake shook himself free of the sensual spell and cleared his throat. He didn’t think he should repeat his exact thoughts. He coughed again, took another sip of his drink, draining the glass dry. “It’s great. Very sensual. Ambar would say it was hot.”
Mention of Ambar should have stopped the sexual surge inside him or at least redirected it or slowed the thing down. That didn’t happen.
“I think the author will be pleased.”
“Yeah.” Jake nodded and wondered about getting another drink. Or even better, he should head to bed and keep out of trouble. A snort escaped at that, his mind and body battling about what he should do next. A drink. “Show me the other site. Bring it up while I get another drink.”
Hari sent him a long look that made his bare toes curl into the carpet. Without taking his gaze off Jake, Hari picked up his glass and swallowed the remains in one go. “You can fill mine as well.”
Jake took the glass, suppressing a shudder when their fingers touched. For a moment he thought Hari would say something, but he remained silent. Jake stalked into the kitchen, his body pulsing with sexual energy. Still confused but no longer surprised by the awareness between them, he topped up their glasses. This time he poured a larger measure of bourbon and less soda.
Taking another deep and hopefully fortifying breath, Jake sauntered back to the lounge with the two drinks. While he’d been in the kitchen Hari had set up the laptop on the glass-topped coffee table and was busy plugging in two gaming controls.
“Feel like testing out my game?”
“Yeah.” Just the thing to keep him focused on something other than Hari. Jake settled on the couch so he could see the screen. Unfortunately he hadn’t realized how close they’d need to sit. Their thighs brushed. Jake made a sound of distress and jerked from Hari’s touch.
“Steady. I’m not gonna jump you.”
Yeah, but that was the problem. After their earlier kiss, Jake wasn’t sure he could stop himself from jumping Hari. Of course he could do it the easy way and walk away… Jake considered the alternative yet again and discarded it. Something inside him refused to act the outraged virgin, refused to turn his back and walk away.
“Let’s play,” Jake growled. “Any instructions or things I should know about first?”
Hari chuckled. “I want you to start with the same knowledge as a beginner. That way I can make sure I’ve set everything up in an instinctive manner.”
“You have inside knowledge.”
“Your point being?” Hari’s evil grin held a hint of challenge.
“All right, smart-ass. Game on.” Jake picked up the control and peered more closely at the screen, trying to focus on the game instead of the man seated way too close to him.
“Wanna bet on who will win?”
Jake looked at Hari then and became enmeshed in his stare. Was it his imagination or did Hari’s eyes flash gold? Jake blinked. Nah, it was simple. He was going nuts. Maybe he should have gone out tonight and dropped in to see Ambar.
“You keep drifting off,” Hari said, his voice husky.
“Sorry. I’m tired.”
“We can do this another night.”
“Nah, it’s okay. We’ll play for an hour and then I’ll hit the mattress.”
Hari’s eyes flickered again. Definitely gold.
“Your eyes are funny. Must be a trick of the light.”
“Stop changing the subject. Do you want to bet or not?”
“What did you have in mind?”
Hari’s brows rose, his mouth curling with sudden amusement, and Jake knew he wasn’t going to like what came out of his mouth. “A massage?”
“I was thinking something more hands off.” Jake fought to repel the visuals slipping through his mind.
“You’re no fun.” Hari fluttered his lashes at him. Fluttered them!
Jake felt his mouth drop open and punched Hari in the arm. “Knock it off. I told you to stop flirting with me.”
“Is it working?”
Jake picked up his drink and knocked back most of it. “We’ll make the bet for a new bottle of bourbon. I’ll get us another drink.” He leapt to his feet and went to the kitchen, returning minutes later. “Let’s play.”
Hari nodded, pushed a button and the screen burst into life. Sound roared from the speakers he’d set up earlier.
Jake concentrated on the screen, tried not to let Hari distract him. “Are there levels to work through?”
“Yes. You have to collect crew and a ship before you can buy your hell-horse.”
“Yeah!” Jake cheered when he managed to avoid a pirate attack and stole their ship while they were distracted. An hour passed quickly and the level of his drink steadily declined. He yawned and grinned sheepishly at Hari. “Maybe I should call it a night. It’s getting late.”
“It’s okay. We’ve highlighted a few areas I need to tweak.” Hari clicked a few buttons and shut down the laptop before picking up his drink and leaning back. Their legs still touched.
Part of Jake wanted to move, yet he stayed exactly where he was, too comfortable to move. “I should go to bed.”
Chapter Five
Hari stared at Jake. All evening need had sizzled through him. Hunger. If Hari hadn’t been a tiger shifter, he might have thought he was going mad. Shifters were more fluid in their ideas of love, so while the idea of Jake wasn’t exactly what he’d had in mind, he was willing to follow his feline’s dictates. And right now, his feline wanted body contact.
Leaning over, he took the empty glass out of Jake’s hands and set it aside.
“Are you gonna kiss me again?”
“The thought had crossed my mind,” Hari said. “Mostly because I want to see if this afternoon was a one-off.”
“No.” Jake shook his head.
“No, you don’t want me to kiss you? Or no, it wasn’t a one-off?”
Jake swallowed, his confusion clear. He didn’t know what the hell was happening to him and signaled uneasiness with every subtle move of his big body. Hari would have laughed, but the primitive hunger flooding him called for action. Without giving it another thought, he leaned in and pinned Jake against the couch. He registered the wall of muscle aga
inst his chest, hard instead of soft. It didn’t matter. One of them groaned and craving exploded in him. Hari closed the last bit of distance between their mouths and settled in to tease and tempt the other man with his kiss. It was soft, a little tentative even though his feline stirred uneasily, pushing for hard and fast. Raw desire cinched his stomach tight.
“Open your mouth for me, love. That’s right.” Hari smoothed his hands over Jake’s face, his fingers skating over the dark stubble shading his jaw, the endearment coming easily. God, this afternoon hadn’t been an aberration.
If anything, their kiss seemed better.
Jake moaned, his hands creeping up to grip Hari’s shoulders. The firm pressure of Jake’s hands anchored Hari and told him Jake wanted this too. Hari’s nostrils flared, cataloguing Jake’s scent. It reminded him of the fresh outdoors, mouthwatering and tempting.
He licked Jake’s bottom lip, tasting him and the bourbon he’d been drinking. Then he started kissing Jake in earnest, caressing his starkly male lips, twining their tongues, fucking his mouth until his groin throbbed with the desire to come. Only the need to breathe made him ease back a fraction.
Jake stared at him through startled blue eyes, his lips swollen and red from their kisses. “I like kissing you.” Tiredness and the bourbon slurred his words. His eyes drifted shut and he cuddled into Hari like a sleepy kitten.
Smiling, Hari wrapped an arm around him, the closeness feeling exactly right.
Hari heard a car and tensed until he recognized the quick cadence of Ambar’s steps and her scent. Good. He was glad she’d come. They needed to talk, probably alone without Jake around. They needed a plan. He only hoped she wouldn’t try to send him back to England again. That wasn’t going to happen. Not now that he had a reason to stay. A sudden smile bloomed. Two reasons.
He pressed a kiss to the top of Jake’s head, a sense of satisfaction filling him despite the painful pressure of his cock against the fly of his jeans.
A sharp gasp jerked his head up. Ambar stood in the doorway, her hand pressed to her mouth. They stared at each other for a long moment before she turned and fled.
Hari scowled when he heard the shriek of tires as they fought for purchase. Hell, he hadn’t seen that coming. From what he knew of her to date, he’d thought she’d march inside and demand to know what the fuck they were doing. Instead she’d run like a wimpy girl.
Part of him was disappointed. He glanced at his watch, saw it was late and decided there was no point chasing after her at this time of the night. Tomorrow would be soon enough.
“Hey, sleeping beauty.” Hari shook Jake awake. The man did look beautiful in a purely masculine way, certainly better-looking than Hari with his scar. He shook Jake a little harder and watched his eyes flicker open. Soft blue eyes. Beautiful blue eyes.
Confusion clouded them for an instant before he closed them again.
Smiling, Hari pulled away enough to tug Jake to his feet. He half carried and dragged Jake to his bedroom, shouldering open the door and directing him to the bed. They fell to the bed in a tangle of limbs. Hari thought about leaving then gave in to temptation and settled back beside Jake. Even though they were still fully clothed, he fell asleep with a smile on his face.
* * * * *
Ambar didn’t remember running to her car and speeding back to Middlemarch. Her hands gripped the steering wheel, her mind in turmoil. What the hell was Hari up to and Jake…as the old cliché went, it took two to tango.
And they were doing a mighty close dance. Way too intimate for her liking.
Her foot pressed on the accelerator until her car sped along the gravel road, furious tears running down her cheeks. She swiped them away with the back of one hand in order to see.
“Stupid!” she snarled, anger making her grip the wheel so hard the color bled from her knuckles, hurt a piercing ache in her chest. “Why didn’t you storm into the room and demand answers? Ask them what the hell they were doing?”
Yeah, why hadn’t she ripped them a new one? They both deserved it. She wasn’t sure who she was furious with more—Jake or Hari.
And even worse, it had all happened so quickly. She and Jake had made love this morning, so what the heck had occurred during the day to change things? Another flood of tears ran down her face.
Panic—that’s why. She’d taken one look and instinct had taken over. Terror still rippled through her, making her breathing sound labored and choppy. Her pulse raced and her clammy palms stuck to the steering wheel. As she turned off the gravel onto the main road, she slowed for safety reasons and rubbed her eyes again. The last thing she needed was an accident. That really would crown her crappy day.
Five minutes later, she screeched to a stop outside the house she shared with Rohan and Kiran and stormed inside. She stomped straight to their bedroom and pounded her fist on the door.
“Can I come in? I need to talk to you.”
“Can’t it wait until the morning?” Rohan’s growling reply sounded muffled.
She thumped on the door again to emphasize her urgency. The door rattled in its frame.
“Quit that,” Kiran ordered in a terse voice. “Just a minute.”
Ambar paused a beat and opened the door. “Minute’s up,” she said, turning on the light.
Jake and Hari. God, she still couldn’t believe it. Jake was so…so masculine and he loved sex. It showed with his every touch. He liked having sex with her. She knew it. Men weren’t that good at pretence. Besides, she knew he’d stopped seeing other women. The thought sank in and took on another meaning.
Had he stopped playing the field because he’d discovered a liking for men?
Kiran blinked at her, his mouth set in a grumpy snarl. “Did you have to turn on the light?” He took a closer look at her and concern replaced his tetchy mood. “You’ve been crying. What’s wrong?”
Rohan’s face appeared from under the blankets, his lips swollen and his black hair sticking up in a good impersonation of a hedgehog. “We were busy. You couldn’t have—” He broke off on catching a glimpse of her tear-stained face. “What is it? What’s wrong? I thought you were staying the night at Jake’s.”
“I was.” Ambar sniffed and walked closer to perch on the corner of their big bed. “I walked in on Jake and Hari together.”
“Together?” Kiran asked blankly.
“Together how?” Rohan asked.
“They were wrapped in each other’s arms.” Ambar bit back a sob as the vision replayed through her mind. No, she hadn’t been mistaken.
Rohan frowned. “Maybe it was innocent?”
“I know what Jake looks like after he’s been kissing.”
“So what did they say when you asked what they were up to?” Kiran asked.
She let out a disgusted sigh. “Nothing. I mean, I didn’t ask them anything. I turned into a stupid wimpy girl and ran away in a panic. I was just so shocked. Halfway back I thought about returning to confront them, but…” she trailed off with a shrug.
Rohan sat up properly. “What will you do?”
Ambar jumped to her feet and started pacing. “I don’t know. I have no idea.” The more she paced, the more she realized that jealousy simmered inside her. The knowledge brought a frown. “I’m jealous,” she muttered.
“You have feelings for Hari,” Rohan said with a chortle.
“I do not,” Ambar snapped. “I barely know the man.”
“That hasn’t stopped Jake,” Rohan pointed out with a sly smirk.
Ambar scowled, not liking the truth pointed out to her. “What would you do?” Her gaze went from Rohan to Kiran and back. “Wipe that grin off your face, Rohan, otherwise we’re going to fall out.”
“You’re not allowed to hit Rohan. I like him exactly how he is.”
The searing glance the two males shared made Ambar uncomfortable. She paused in her pacing to glare at them. “Not helping.”
Rohan sobered but the echo of his hilarity continued to glow in his eyes. “You keep reminding us yo
u’re an adult.”
“Still not helping,” she snapped.
Kiran interrupted before brother and sister started bickering. “This is what you do. Leave it tonight. Work out why you’re angry. Is it because Jake’s been unfaithful or is it because you’re jealous of Hari and Jake together? Once you know the answers, you’ll be able to decide what to do. Only you can come to a decision. Neither of us intends to tell you what to do because you are an adult.” It was a long speech for Kiran and one that made sense.
She was the only one who could decide what to do. “Thanks,” she said, making her way to the door.
“Ambar?” Kiran’s voice halted her.
“Yes?”
“Don’t make us get a lock for that door,” he said.
She nodded, acknowledging she’d crossed a boundary she shouldn’t have tonight. Not surprising given her emotional turmoil. “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again. My thoughts were…are scrambled at the moment.” She closed the door and turned for her bedroom. She’d sleep on it and tomorrow she’d confront Hari and Jake and demand answers.
* * * * *
Jake woke slowly, the weight of the body against his back and the arm around his waist bringing warmth. He lay there, luxuriating in the sensation of intimacy. It beat the hell out of waking alone. Sighing because he knew he needed to rise and start his day, he opened his eyes and glanced down at the arm curved around him. The forearm bore dark hairs.
He bolted upright with a cry of shock.
“What? What?”
Jake realized several things at once. He was in bed with Hari. They both wore clothes, and Hari woke up a hell of a lot quicker than he did.
“You okay?” Hari reached out to touch him and Jake flinched away, almost falling off the bed.
“What the hell are we doing in bed together?”
“I dragged you to bed last night.”
Jake didn’t remember much of the previous night. He swallowed, the thickness of his tongue and bad taste in his mouth giving him a big clue as to why he didn’t recall his actions.
“That doesn’t explain why we’re in the same bed.” The harsh note of accusation hurt his head. He clamped his mouth shut and even that ached.
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