Doubling Down

by Bianca D’Arc

  She was taken aback. “Are you going to do it?” She wondered if that was a conflict of interest with their sworn oaths to protect the country as a whole and uphold the Constitution.

  “Not sure yet,” he replied as Jay came back and gave him a rather obvious hand signal from the doorway that led into the house.

  Zack unlocked the doors and helped her out of the big vehicle, then escorted her into the house. They all went into the living room, taking seats on the comfy couches while she waited to learn the rest of what had happened that evening.

  Jay spoke first. “After the weirdness with Renvil, confronting Salvatore in his lair was almost anticlimactic.”

  “We told him we’d talked to Renvil and that all his banking information would be changed within the hour and that you would be of no use to Salvatore in his vendetta against Renvil,” Zack added.

  “We also impressed upon him that we would take a very dim view of any further aggression against you,” Jay put in.

  Zack smiled. “That part was kind of fun.”

  Becky, sitting next to Zack on his couch, swatted him with a throw pillow.

  “The upshot is, Salvatore agreed to leave you alone from now on,” Jay replied once Zack had disarmed her, taking the throw pillow and tossing it across to Jay before putting one big arm around her shoulders and drawing her into his side.

  “Do you think we can trust that?” she asked in a small voice. Being so close to Zack made her feel safe, but she remembered the terror of being attacked on the street, too.

  “Trust but verify,” Zack replied in a mock serious tone.

  “Isn’t that what President Reagan said about the nuclear treaty with Russia?” She rolled her eyes at Zack and pulled away to sit on the other end of the couch. Declaring her independence, but not too far away from his comforting presence.

  “Gorgeous and brainy, too,” Jay mused. “How did we get so lucky?” His rhetorical question seemed to be aimed toward Zack, who only shook his head.

  “So, that’s it? I’m safe and suddenly the wealthy owner of one of the best restaurants in the city?” She couldn’t quite believe how quickly things had changed.

  “Well… There’s just one more thing,” Jay told her, causing Becky to frown over at him. He was suddenly tense. Zack moved closer, turning toward her, but the expression on his face wasn’t encouraging either.

  “We can read each other’s minds,” Zack said, making her wonder if she’d heard him right.

  “What?” she asked, hoping for clarification.

  Jay sighed. “We’re part of a military experiment in expanding mental powers. In our case, we can read what each other is thinking. It’s something we use in the field. It’s what makes us such an effective team.”

  “We really do know what each other is thinking,” Zack put in. “Surely, you’ve noticed a certain level of…coordination…when we’re, uh, all together. That doesn’t just happen by accident.”

  “You mean you two have been holding a secret conversation even when I’m right there with you?” A shocking thought occurred to her. “Wait. Can you read my mind?”

  Zack shook his head. “No, honey. We’re not mind readers. We can only communicate with each other. Nobody else. It’s just the way the experiment worked. There are teams of us. You’ve met most of the guys in our unit. Ever notice how we all seem to travel two by two?”

  “You mean all the guys who come into the restaurant?” Her jaw dropped. “No way.”

  “Way,” Jay replied quietly, looking at her from under his lashes as if afraid what she might think.

  She didn’t know what to say. She thought about it and realized there had been signs. The way they worked together was almost supernatural, at times. She’d seen them in battle, now, more than once, and it was eerie how well they’d coordinated complex actions—all without making a sound. She hadn’t really thought about how they must’ve been communicating, but it was clear from the level of synchronization that they had been. Somehow.

  “Telepathy?” she asked, still unsure whether or not they were pulling some kind of prank on her.

  She didn’t think so, really. They weren’t that immature. Their jokes tended to be more straightforward, and usually didn’t involve making anyone look the fool.

  “Yeah,” Zack said gently, coming closer. “Me and Jay. We’re a team, now. For the rest of our lives. Once somebody is in your head the way we’re in each other’s, it would be really hard to separate us. That’s why most of the guys share space, living together in the same houses.”

  “All our teams live together, and one other pair has already found a special woman to marry into our personal brand of weirdness,” Jay put in. “My brother, Mike, and his partner, Peter.”

  “Lilly,” she breathed, remembering her confusion about which of the men Lilly was married to. In reality, she was involved with them both! It all made sense, now.

  “We want you to be a permanent part of our lives, Becky,” Zack said quietly as her hopes rose.

  “Why?” She knew her own heart, but she wasn’t exactly sure of theirs. She thought they cared for her, but she needed the words.

  Zack looked shocked. “Because we love you,” he said, as if she should have already known.

  Becky looked over at Jay. He got off his couch and came over to her, taking her hand in his as he looked down at her.

  “We do love you, Becky,” Jay said seriously as her breath caught. “I think I’ve loved you since the first time I saw you, bustling around, taking care of things in the restaurant. You’re the reason we kept going back. It wasn’t the cuisine. It was the gorgeous manager who captured our attention.”

  “And our hearts,” Zack supplied, backing up his partner, as usual.

  Both of the men got down on one knee in front of her.

  “Will you marry us?” they said in unison.

  As far as proposals went, it was a strange one, but it was also a glorious moment for a woman who hadn’t ever expected to hear those words in her lifetime. She’d all but given up on love and finding a man to share her life. Now, she’d found two, and she sure as hell wasn’t letting either one of them go.

  Becky reached out, putting her arms around them both as she hugged them to her.

  “Yes!” she cried, tears rolling down her face of joy and dreams of a future filled with love and laughter and two men who would always put her first…just as she would put them.

  She now knew the team would expand to become a trio. Even if she could never read their minds the way they claimed to read each other’s, she knew what they liked, and that was going to keep them all entertained for many years to come.

  She put her thoughts into action, reaching up to kiss first one, then the other, her hands busy, stroking them both. She wanted to celebrate their love in the most primal way. She tugged them to their feet, and they complied, hugging her close as first Jay, then Zack, kissed her soundly.

  “I love you, Becky,” Zack whispered in her ear on one side, while Jay kissed her on the other. Then, Jay repeated his friend’s words.

  “I love you,” Jay whispered in her other ear.

  She told them how much she’d come to love them, and things progressed from there. Clothes disappeared. Time seemed to stand still. Passions rose, and still, they spoke of love and commitment. It was a dream come true.

  She thought about their claims of telepathy when they let her come up for air, occasionally, but she decided, whatever it was that made them work together so well, it didn’t matter. The fact was that she loved them just the way they were, and if they happened to be part-superhero, who was she to complain. She was one of the luckiest girls in the world to have not one, but two of her own private supermen at her disposal.

  And they both knew just how to touch her to make her forget everything except them. They three of them together were magic. Sensual, pleasurable, excruciatingly passionate magic.

  Jay cupped her breasts and kissed her deeply, claiming her focus. Meanwhile, Zac
k had his hands on her ass, rubbing and squeezing. Then, Jay lowered his head to lick at her breasts. One sexy superman in front, one behind—life couldn’t get much better than this. Zack pushed on her back to bend her forward as Jay sat on the couch. The position kept her hovering near Jay’s mouth while granting Zack access to her lower half, of which he took swift advantage.

  Becky cried out as Zack plunged two fingers into her pussy, drawing out the wet need that was her response to them both. He coated his fingers, pumping into her a few times, making her moan. Then, he moved higher, one wet finger testing the back hole. She sucked in a breath as he penetrated deep, this time.

  As before, it felt odd, but sensual. Forbidden. Tempting. She didn’t know what the rest of it might feel like, but he was definitely making her want to know more. His touch became slower, more deliberate, careful. She appreciated his caution and his delicate handling. She wasn’t used to the way he touched her, and she would need time to figure things out before they attempted more. She knew that in her mind, but her heart—and her body—seemed to have other ideas.

  “You’re not ready for this yet, but there may come a day when we can take you together, this way.” Zack leaned over her to whisper in her ear, making her squirm against his hand. Then, he retreated. “I think she likes that idea, Jay.”

  Zack moved away while Jay repositioned her, lifting her off her feet and placing her on her knees, in front of one of the couches. She’d lost track of whose couch they were using. She barely knew her own name, much less anything else, with the way they’d kept her head spinning in a delicious mix of pleasure and need.

  All she knew was that Zack was in front of her, his muscular thighs spread, his hard cock sticking out proudly in anticipation. She didn’t think. She just skooched forward, taking him in her hands and then bending at the waist to lick him like a lollipop.

  Jay was behind her. She could feel his hands still working to position her just right. A moment later, she tensed slightly, his entry hard and fast…and utterly fantastic. She loved being with them both at the same time. Thoughts about how they could make this even better were banished to another time as Jay began to move inside her.

  She couldn’t be absolutely certain, but it seemed like the men were coordinating their moves on a silent level. She could easily come to believe that they were communicating privately, in a way she couldn’t hear.

  She sucked on Zack as Jay pumped into her from behind. Each forward thrust brought her down over Zack, taking him deep. Each retreat drew her back. The motions were slow and sexy at first, then took on a more desperate intensity over the course of the encounter, until she didn’t know where she left off and the men began. They were one entity. One entity consumed in passion the likes of which she hadn’t known existed before them.

  Her men. Her Jay and her Zack. She belonged to them now, as they belonged to her. She could have this for the rest of their lives, and she thought things between them would only get better with age. They’d be there for each other throughout their lifetimes, caring, helping…and loving.

  She felt so loved. She wasn’t sure exactly how it was all going to work out, but she was sure of their love and that they would all work together to figure it out. Somehow, they’d find a path for their relationship, and they’d be there for each other through thick and thin.

  Becky shattered into a million points of light as she came with them both. Zack reached down and dragged her up into his arms while Jay held her from behind. Somehow, they all ended up on the floor, the two men cuddled around her on the soft carpet and discarded clothes.

  She was replete. Happy as she had never been before. Sandwiched between two amazing men who she would continue to love and learn over the next fifty or sixty years—if they were lucky. Becky touched them both with gentle caresses. She couldn’t wait to start living the rest of their lives… Together.

  Epilogue

  Major Daniels didn’t look happy when Marlon and Jeff reported to his office, as ordered. They were a team that had been brought together by common backgrounds.

  Marlon’s people were dyed-in-the-wool Texans who had gained both influence and power because of huge oil fields under their land. They’d parlayed those original strikes into an empire over the years, but Marlon had felt the need to serve his country and had gone into the military.

  Likewise, Jeff’s folks owned huge tracts of land in what had started as a large ranch on the Oklahoma panhandle and had grown into something enormous. Cattle barons, that what people like his father and uncles were called, even to this day. They were proud of their boy, who had answered the nation’s call to serve in the military.

  Once Marlon had met Jeff, they’d found they had more in common than most and had forged a friendship that had lasted years. That friendship had led them both to volunteer for the Gemini Project, which had resulted in a change in their lives that could never be undone. They could share a brain… Or, at least, their thoughts.

  But both of them remained silent, both physically and mentally, as they faced their commanding officer. He didn’t look happy.

  “You two both have a reputation as card sharks,” Major Daniels began. “Is there any truth to the rumors? Do you cheat, or are you just that good?”

  “What the hell is he asking that for? Do you think we’re in trouble for gambling?” Jeff sent to Marlon in the blink of an eye. They’d been told by the scientists in charge of the project that their telepathy was among the best of the test group. Fast and accurate, but not very long distance.

  “I don’t know, but I think we’d better play it straight with him,” Marlon shot back before stepping forward to answer the Major’s question.

  “We mostly play poker, and not for stakes. Neither of us need the money, sir.”

  “It’s just a way to pass the time, sir,” Jeff put in, also stepping up.

  “Yes, but are you really any good at it or are you using your telepathy to win?” Daniels probed.

  Jeff looked affronted, just as Marlon felt, but it wouldn’t do to berate an officer. “Sir, we don’t cheat.”

  “Ever,” Jeff added, leaving off the obligatory sir, in his anger, but Daniels let it pass.

  “At ease, boys. Take a seat,” the major said, waving them toward two chairs placed in front of his desk. Marlon and Jeff sat. “If you really are good at poker, and not just bragging, then I might have an op for you.”

  “An op where we play poker, sir?” Jeff asked, disbelief and a bit of humor in his tone.

  Surprisingly, Daniels nodded. “The stakes are high. The caliber of player is elite. And the whole thing is really shady. We need someone on the inside and though this sort of thing would normally be handled by the CIA, they need people unknown in intelligence circles to infiltrate because the vetting of players is apparently done on a level that’s hard to crack.”

  Both Marlon and Jeff waited to hear more. The major didn’t disappoint.

  “You wouldn’t be officially military for this,” Daniels told them. “Officially, you’d be on leave. Your pay for the op will be funneled through the CIA, but not until after the mission has ended. You’d be going in on your own merits since your family backgrounds might just be sufficient to get you in the door. Whether you stay, will be up to your caliber of play.”

  “Is it some kind of tournament, sir?” Marlon asked. He’d heard about secret tournaments for rich folks. He’d even been invited to one or two when he’d been home in Texas, but he’d never accepted the invitations.

  Daniels nodded. “An illegal one catering to power brokers, billionaires, the odd politician and several underworld characters. It’s the politicians we want you to watch. There is concern a certain senator has been compromised by his fondness for five card stud.”

  “That’s not good,” Jeff sent to Marlon silently.

  “You think we should do this?” Marlon asked his partner. He was willing, but he knew they both had to be on board to accept such a mission.

  “I don’t think
there’s anybody else who can do this job the way we can,” Jeff responded.

  Marlon thought about it for a second, then made his decision. “You’re right about that, partner.”

  They both turned to Daniels in unison and said, “We’ll do it.”

  *

  Thanks for reading Doubling Down (Gemini Project 2). If you enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a review.

  If you want to know more about John Marshall and the scary-assed retired Spec Ops soldiers on his team, check out John’s book, titled Alpha Bear, or any of the books in my Grizzly Cove series. Scroll down for a sneak peek of John’s book.

  A complete list of all of my books, separated by series, follows the excerpt. You can also check out my website at WWW.BIANCADARC.COM. Or you can sign up for my new release list to be alerted when new books are released.

  Excerpt from Alpha Bear

  ©2015 Bianca D’Arc. All Rights Reserved.

  Chapter One

  Ursula and Amelia were settling in to their new apartment in their new town, but things were definitely strange here in Grizzly Cove. For one thing, the place was lousy with magic. Shifter magic, if she didn’t miss her guess, just like her grandmother had told her about.

  Nonna Ricoletti had taught her granddaughters all about the unseen world. The sisters hadn’t really believed most of what Nonna had told them until they got out into the wider world and realized Nonna wasn’t just some crazy old Italian eccentric. No, Nonna was a witch. A strega.

  And she was a Catholic too, but that was Nonna—a woman full of contradictions. She preferred to see the Catholic mother of God as the Mother of All. And if she mixed a little blasphemy into her daily devotions, in the privacy of her own mind, she figured it was between herself and the divine. No need to get some priest involved.

  Ursula missed Nonna, but her grandmother had played a large part in shooing Urse and Mellie out to seek their futures In this new adventure. And this new place. Teeming with shifters.