God, she could get used to this kind of service.
She stood at the counter to eat, scalding her tongue in her hurry but needing the caffeine too much to care. Brandon and Patrick sat at the table, Brandon wrapped in Patrick"s big terry robe, which shouldn"t have been so damn sexy, and Patrick in khakis and a blue-striped oxford. The shirt and the morning sun made Patrick"s blue eyes glow. That probably shouldn"t have been so damn sexy, either. Then again, at this point, her body was so needy it was clamoring for release. She"d gone so long without and wanted them so much, anything about these two men was likely to turn her on.
She could feel her body swell, arousal seeping from her and soaking her panties, tightening her nipples until they chafed against her bra. Jesus Christ. If coffee, a bagel 81
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and a big terry robe could practically set her on fire, what would the two of them naked do to her?
She put a hand down on the counter until she could steady her wobbling knees.
Patrick and Brandon exchanged a look before Patrick turned those laser-beam blue eyes back on her.
She needed to get the hell out of the house or she was never going to make it to her meeting.
She was dumping her mug in the sink, reaching for her briefcase on the counter, when Patrick came up behind her. His heat seeped through her clothes and she had to fight not to press back against him.
“Kitten, I have something I want to tell you before you go.” Kitten? Her heart rolled in her chest. God help her, she couldn"t miss this meeting or she would seriously lose her job. Turning, she pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. “I can"t.
I have to go.”
“It"s kind of important.” The warmth and laughter in his voice rippled through her.
Her body screamed to be touched, to be sucked. Everywhere.
She backed toward the door, her hand up. “No. I have to go. Don"t look at me like that! I can"t miss this meeting.” Dropping her hand, she clutched the handle of her briefcase. “I swear to god, Patrick, stop looking at me like that. It"s not fair.” Brandon covered his mouth with one hand, doing a fairly poor job of hiding his laughter. They both knew what they"d done to her. Jerks. Mouth-watering, hunky, sex-god jerks.
Spinning on her heel, she darted through the door. She could hear their laughter as she climbed into her car and drove away, the sound haunting her all the way to her stupid meeting.
* * * * *
Destiny arrived home that evening to find Patrick"s truck in the driveway.
Must be a slow day for crime.
Juggling her laptop, her briefcase and the bags from Luigi"s, she struggled into the house.
For the second time in as many days, the only one to greet her was Farley.
Fortunately, this time he didn"t appear to be desperate so she dumped everything on the kitchen table and went straight for the stairs. She was only halfway up when she could hear the boys arguing, loudly, about whether or not the Red Sox"s David “Big Papi” Ortiz was the greatest designated hitter in Major League Baseball history.
Some things never, ever changed.
Standing in the doorway, she took in the scene before her. Patrick and Brandon were propped up in bed watching the game on Patrick"s giant TV. Both were shirtless, with a beer propped on one thigh and a bowl of popcorn jammed in the space between them. Her eyes lingered on the bowl, narrowing.
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“Patrick McLoughlin Brown, your Aunt Ethel would be spinning in her grave if she knew her one-hundred-year-old Limoges soup tureen was being used as a popcorn bowl.”
They both jumped. Patrick instinctively dropped one hand to shield the bowl from her view.
Brandon was the first to recover, his smile somehow both guilty and shameless.
“Busted.”
How many times had they said that when Aunt Ethel had caught the three of them at something? A hundred? A thousand? And she"d forgiven them, time and again.
Amazing how Aunt Ethel had shaped them, taught them right from wrong, guided them when their parents were not paying nearly enough attention. And how they"d loved her, listened to her and bent to her will because she did pay attention. It meant something that she"d cared. It had meant everything.
“Shit. I still miss her all the time,” Destiny said quietly.
Patrick and Brandon nodded, their laughter replaced with equal solemnity.
Shaking off her melancholy, she dug up a fresh smile. “I"ve got a surprise for you two. Stay here, okay?”
They both lifted one eyebrow, which was ridiculously cute, but stayed put.
Excellent. She wanted to have a nice, relaxing night at home so Brandon could continue to heal and they could all spend some time together. Dashing back down to the kitchen, she spread the dinner she"d picked up on a tray and carried it and a decent bottle of Chianti back up to the bedroom. She hadn"t planned on serving dinner in bed, but it struck her as decadent, which suited her mood perfectly. The boys had left her on edge all day and now she wanted to relax.
While Brandon opened and poured the wine, she changed into her “pajamas”—
Patrick"s oversized t-shirt—before she dished out three plates of toasted raviolis and Caesar salad. Patrick shut off the TV and tossed aside the remote.
Settling on the bed, she sat facing the boys, her bent knees brushing their legs, her plate warming her lap. It was comfortable. Easy. They talked about their days, the Sox, the headlines and made fun of Farley begging from all the way across the room with just his pleading eyes. If it hadn"t been for the fact that she had to rein in her wandering eyes as they roved over their bare chests, she wouldn"t have thought anything had changed in the twenty years since she"d met them.
Well, to be honest, that wasn"t that much different either. She"d always wanted both of these men desperately.
And now she might get to have them. Both. Her skin prickled with awareness even as, for the first time, she felt the sting of fear. She loved these men. They were her best friends. Her family.
What if it got serious? Like a real relationship serious? What if they wanted that?
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The idea made her dizzy with fear, her fork frozen midair en route to her mouth.
Forcing herself to choke down her bite of ravioli, she gulped air into her lungs.
She didn"t do serious. They both knew it. She was more than cool with monogamy and would never cheat—she was no slut—but she"d always made it very clear to the men in her life that she was Ms. Right Now. Not Mrs. Right.
Which Patrick knew. Hell, they"d been down this road a few times and he understood perfectly. She"d begun to suspect he was the same way, since they always ended up circling back to each other.
It was comfortable. They were comfortable.
The image of Patrick bending her over the back of the couch and fucking her ass popped into her head.
Okay, maybe comfortable wasn"t the exact right word.
But it made sense. She was proposing three people get together and have an adventure. Not be a couple or whatever it would be called. No one was going to get confused about it being anything serious. That was the beauty of it.
Right?
Right.
With one more deep breath, she forced herself to relax. Geez, way to give yourself a panic attack, Destiny. She was being foolish. They all knew the rules. If anyone got confused about that, she"d pull the plug. Immediately.
Anxiety returned when she thought about ending it. She forcibly shrugged it off. It had never been a problem in the past. It might be a little trickier with Brandon and Patrick, but nothing they couldn"t handle. She and Patrick had been down this road a few times.
Anyway, she shouldn"t be worried about crazy things that weren"t going to happen.
She should be thinking of ways to convince the boys to make good things happen. Soon.
Before she spontaneously combusted.
When she was finished with her d
inner, Brandon was nice enough to take her plate and put it on the bedside table before serving himself and Patrick seconds from the tray.
He was holding his wineglass in one hand, his plate balanced on his legs, and taking a bite of the sinfully rich wild mushroom ravioli when a dribble of the thick red sauce landed on his bare chest.
“Shit.” He put down his glass and picked up his napkin.
“Here, let me get that,” she offered quickly. Grinning, she leaned over and with a long, slow sweep of her tongue, licked salty tomato and garlic from his skin.
Interestingly, it was only the taste of Brandon that exploded over her tongue.
Sitting back, she savored his flavor on her lips, harvesting every trace. Brandon stared at her mouth, his eyes growing heavy, his lips parted and full. He looked unreasonably kissable.
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Patrick didn"t look much different. He watched her tongue trace over her lips, then his own lips twitched and he turned to look at Brandon"s face. His eyes narrowed, focusing on the wet strip of skin shining down the middle of Brandon"s chest.
She wondered what the heck Patrick was doing as he dipped a finger into a rich red puddle on his own plate. Then he drew a line of tomato sauce down over one of Brandon"s nipples.
Her brain short-circuited.
Patrick"s smile set her body aflame, her skin prickling with arousal and hope.
“You missed a spot,” Patrick said, his voice deep as he bent his head and drew the hard brown nub of Brandon"s nipple into his mouth.
Patrick closed his eyes and savored the taste of Brandon as it washed across his tongue. Brandon held his head close, looking down at him with his mouth open as he sucked in a deep breath. Patrick could see the effect he was having as Brandon"s erection bloomed, tenting his shorts. Patrick was tempted to reach out, to cup and hold and pull and pleasure, but first he thought he should check on Destiny.
He lifted his head—then promptly burst into laughter. “Kitten, you look as through you"ve been hit over the head.”
“My god, I think her panties are about to catch fire.” Brandon guffawed, his shoulder knocking against Patrick"s in shared victory.
He studied her flushed face, her soft lips swollen and parted, and grinned, totally unrepentant. The surprise had been worth the day of torturous need. He only wished he could somehow capture her expression to tease her with later.
Finally, Destiny snapped her mouth shut and brought her hands to her hips. “Are you two having fun?”
Patrick chuckled. If she was trying to be stern, she should probably wear more than an old t-shirt that outlined every detail of her hard nipples and a thong.
He glanced at Brandon and was gifted with a smoldering look so fucking hot it sent blood surging to his cock.
Was he having fun? “Shit, yes.”
“Jesus, Patrick. Is there something you want to tell me?” she asked, her voice rising.
As quickly as he could, he shoved his and Brandon"s plates to the bedside table, his need for food replaced by more pressing hungers. Crawling to her, he skimmed his lips against hers, hoping to soothe her ruffled feathers. “I"m sorry, Kitten. I tried to tell you this morning, but you wouldn"t listen.”
“I had to go to my meeting.”
“I know you did. So we let you go. But we wanted to tell you.”
“Tell me what?”
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Brandon leaned in, his face brushing against Patrick"s as he, too, nibbled at Destiny"s mouth. She whimpered against their lips. Brandon spoke between soft kisses.
“We want to try it, Des.”
“Try what?” she asked, breathless. Patrick traced her full lower lip with his tongue, meeting and sliding along Brandon"s for one electric moment before delving briefly into the warm dark recesses of her mouth. He pulled away only so he could answer her.
“Us, Kitten. The three of us. Together.”
Brandon also retreated a little, so they both could study her upturned face. Her eyes were wide, her mouth swollen, her cheeks flushed. She was so beautiful, his sweet, generous, sexy-as-hell Destiny. Or rather, their sweet, generous, sexy-as-hell Destiny.
Another chill ran down his back. God, it was going to be so fucking hot.
Dipping his head, he tried to take her mouth in another kiss, but her hands came up to push them away.
He forced himself to settle, to wait for whatever Destiny needed. Because he knew Destiny and no way in hell was she saying no.
“Preliminaries,” she said, obviously forcing herself to be sensible.
Brandon shot him a confused look. He just smiled and winked.
Destiny sighed. “Although I"m guessing you two have either already covered the preliminaries or just blew right past them.”
Patrick knew his sheepish expression was an admission of guilt and he accepted the dark look she sent him. In his defense, he"d been safe. It was Brandon. There were no secrets between them.
“What are the preliminaries, Des?” Brandon asked, still confused.
Destiny took his hand. “I have never been with anyone but Patrick without a condom, ever, and not with anyone at all for the last twelve months. I"ve been tested in the last four months and I"m on the Pill.”
Brandon smiled, understanding dawning, his face more than a little intrigued when Destiny said without a condom. “No one in eighteen months, no one in four years without a condom, tested more than once in the meantime, including my department physical eight months ago.”
They both turned to look at Patrick. Jesus, could they get down to business now? Patrick thought with increasing exasperation. When neither budged, he acquiesced. Quickly.
“Twelve months, never without a condom except with Destiny and one girl in college, and my department physical with tests was four months ago. Now, can I please kiss at least one of you?”
Destiny"s lips had barely curved when he took her mouth, pushing past her lips with his tongue, devouring her. She rose up to meet him, her hand slipping into his hair and clenching in a tight fist to hold him to her. Her tongue met his aggression with equal measure, the whimpers in her throat driving a spike of lust straight through him.
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Brandon pressed close and Patrick turned toward him, tearing his lips from hers so that Brandon could dive in for a taste of Destiny.
His cock, well on its way to being engorged, rocketed to full hardness. God, how had he never known, never guessed, that watching Brandon and Destiny together would be this intense? This arousing?
His blood pounded in his ears as Brandon"s clever mouth worked its magic on Destiny.
Patrick slid his hands under the hem of her shirt, his fingers stroking over the thin strap of her thong and up her silky belly to her full breasts. Cupping them, he let his thumbs draw over her tightly beaded nipples, circling and tweaking the hard nubs. It had been so long since he"d been with her. He wanted to see her. Grabbing fistfuls of the thin cotton, he lifted it until he reached the point Brandon"s chest pressed to hers.
Brandon, no doubt as eager to finally see Destiny, sat back, ending their kiss as she raised her arms, unresisting as he pulled her shirt over her head and tossed it away.
For a moment, he did nothing more than drink in her beauty. Brandon"s hand wrapped around his arm and he looked at his friend staring at Destiny, his eyes wide, his hand clasping Patrick tightly to anchor himself. Patrick smiled. He understood perfectly that look of wonder.
Returning his gaze to Destiny, Patrick tried to imagine what Bran was thinking.
Seeing. She was beautiful. Round, soft hips that tucked into a small waist beneath a long, strong back and full, pouting breasts. There wasn"t an inch of her skin he hadn"t explored with his eyes, his hands, his mouth. He was drawn to her constantly.
Completely. She was a witch who had long ago bespelled him. At that moment, for the life of him, he couldn"t remember why he"d ever let her go, even for a day.<
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Brandon groaned, leaning in to nibble along her neck. She tipped her head back and looked into Patrick"s eyes. “He has the most incredible mouth. I could spend hours with just his lips on my skin.”
He smiled, watching how Brandon"s lips curved against her skin as he enjoyed the compliment. “I know. Me, too.”
Brandon"s head came up and their eyes met.
How long would it take for Brandon to stop being surprised that he wanted him, was there with him, needing him, ready to touch and taste? Not that Patrick could blame him, since he was still surprised by it himself. But he was well on his way to getting used to the idea. He wanted Brandon to get used to it too. He thought to start convincing him immediately and captured Brandon"s wicked, talented mouth with his own.
He hadn"t been kidding. He would happily beg Brandon to kiss him for hours.
Would happily kiss him back. He sank deep into Brandon"s mouth, rolling under a wave of arousal.
Destiny"s sharply indrawn breath was released on a moan. “God, watching you two is incredible.” She slid a hand into the elastic at his waist, her fingers warm against his 87
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skin as she slowly drew his shorts down and off. The bed shifted as Destiny moved to Brandon and with Patrick"s help, she removed the rest of his clothing before she hastily disposed of her thong.
Patrick sat back, sorry to leave the wonders of Brandon"s mouth, but wanting to take in the scene before him. His friends were achingly beautiful, their bodies strong and sexy, their faces familiar. Beloved. When he reached out to run the back of his fingers down Destiny"s cheek, his hand shook, his heart filled.
“I"ve missed you, Kitten,” he said, quietly.
She smiled softly. “I"ve missed you too.”
She meant this, their time in bed. And he did too. But he also meant so much more.
He was so focused on her face, her striking whiskey-dark eyes, that he didn"t see her hand snaking out, didn"t know what she intended until her fingers wrapped around him. He sucked in a breath as she tugged along his length.
Her smile turned mischievous. “I"ve missed every single inch of you.” She reached out to wrap her hand around Brandon"s cock, looking at him as he stared back. “And I"m looking forward to getting to know every single inch of you.” Brandon"s response was strangled off when she began to work her fingers up and down his shaft, simultaneously running Patrick"s cock through her other hand. He edged closer and Brandon followed his lead. Patrick dipped his head to nibble on the strong pulse beating beneath her jaw while Brandon pressed close, taking her mouth again.
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