A Touch of Fae (7 page)

Nodding, Rory rubbed at his tired eyes.

“Come,
caro
, I think she wouldn’t mind us sleeping next to her. Holding her in the night.”

Without a word Rory stood and stripped off his clothes, everything except his boxer briefs. Sandro did the same. Both men crawled in on opposite sides, Sandro scooting his bottom into her front, and Rory spooning them both from behind. Once again he felt tears start in his eyes at the thought of losing her. Hell, them. Wrapping his arm around her, he snugged her into his lap then tugged Sandro in tighter. Leaning over, he met Sandro’s lips over top of Violet. He slept better that night than he had in weeks.

‡

V
iolet was exceptionally
warm. Reaching out a hand, she shoved the comforter off, trying to get some air. It was difficult to move though. What was up with that? The room was just beginning to gray with morning, telling her it was almost time to get up.

She froze as the bed moved beside her.

Sitting up, she strained in the murky light to see who was in bed with her. There was a lump to her left and an even larger lump to her right.

The previous night’s craziness began to tumble back at her when she scrunched up her face in confusion and gasped in pain.
Oh yeah, the wrench
. Pulling her hand out from beneath the covers she surveyed the bandage.
And we can’t forget the fan blade
. How the heck had she gotten up here to bed, though?

As if in answer the larger lump moved again, drawing her attention. Double ringed green eyes blinked up at her sleepily. A slow, sexy smile spread his lips.

“Good morning.”

Violet thought her memories of what had happened that day had been exaggerated in her mind, but as soon as she heard Rory’s sleep roughened voice she knew they hadn’t been. Desire tightened her nipples under the silk of her nightgown. Wait. How the heck did she get into her nightgown?

Firming her spine, she sat up and away. Her movements pulled the comforter away from Rory’s body. Catching movement to her left, she was unsurprised to see Alessandro smiling brilliantly at her, even with his eyes mostly closed. “Mmm,
cara
, how are you this morning?”

Trying not to panic Violet struggled out of the tangle of blankets and nightgown, crawling on her knees down the bed. She almost tumbled off the edge when she fumbled over a pair of big feet under the comforter. Standing, she crossed her arms over her chest and turned back to lay into the two uninvited men in her bed.

Absolutely nothing came to mind though when she saw the two of them staring at her in curiosity. Rory had propped himself up on his left elbow and Alessandro had done the same, only on his right. The two of them were positioned mirror image of each other. And it was damn distracting. Stunningly beautiful, actually. There were too many bunched muscles and sexy, sleepy looks to count. Her escape had pulled the sheet and comforter down the bed, and both men were exposed to their legs. Violet was glad to see that both men still had underwear on, kind of, but not so happy to see the erections tenting the underwear. Shaking her head, she tried to shake off the building desire as well but it wasn’t working. Her body was betraying her once again. Clenching her teeth, she tamped it down. She needed answers more than sex right now.

“What the hell are you two doing here? And in my bed, no less.”

Rory sat up to face her, making the bed groan with his weight. In the half-light, his chest seemed to stretch miles across. Even relaxed as he was his muscles were bulging, making her mouth water. The taste of his skin had been phenomenal. She remembered that with a startling clarity.

“We found you passed out in your car. Sandro used the keys and I carried you in here. Your clothes were wet from the rain so we changed you into the nightgown on the bed.”

Those few sentences told her a lot but he had not exactly answered her question. “Okay, great. What are you doing in Kentucky—Pickerington in particular?”

Glancing at Alessandro, who shrugged slightly, Rory stared at her for a long moment. “We came back to see you.”

Weakness poured through her and Violet was afraid she was going to pass out. Rory must have sensed something as well because he was at her side instantly, a hard hand gripping her elbow. Violet pulled away sharply.

“I’m fine.”

Turning, she escaped to the bathroom to give herself some breathing room and because she desperately had to pee. Once her business was done she braced herself against the vanity and looked at her face. It was horrible. She had had black eyes before but this one beat all others. Purple ran from her temple to her chin and there was a tiny cut at the corner of her eye where the wrench had landed. Looking down she realized her arms were still greasy from working last night. She thought about taking a shower. No, she didn’t want to give them the impression she was doing it for them. She settled for washing up in the sink.

Indecision worried at her. What was she going to do with the two of them? Had they actually come back to see her like he said? Or were they just horny and knew where to come to have an easy lay? Is that what he had meant? Anger swept through her as she remembered how Rory had looked at her before he walked out the door last time. Did he actually think she would just spread her legs for him again only to be pushed aside once he had blown his nut? Nope, not gonna happen.

Sandro had been remorseful when he left, but she knew for a fact he would follow Rory’s lead.

Grabbing her brush she forced it through her tangled hair, pulling it back into a band. Looking around she found her robe on the back of the door. It was too warm for the thick terry cloth but it was more concealing than just the gown.

Snatching open the door, she stomped back out to the bedroom.

Rory had lain back down on the bed but he was staring at the doorway as if he had been waiting for her to come out. Sandro was still on his elbow but he had shifted closer to Rory so that he could run his hand up and down his arm. It looked to Violet that he was trying to soothe Rory.

Clearing her throat, she stopped just inside the room. “I appreciate what you did for me last night. I think you guys need to go now though.”

Rory sat up and swung his tree-trunk sized legs to the side of the bed. Heavy auburn brows lowered over his unhidden eyes. “Violet, we need to talk. Please sit down.”

He made the mistake of motioning to the bed beside him and Violet felt renewed anger roll through her.

“No, I will not sit down. I’m not repaying what you did for me with sex. As enjoyable as it was I’m not willing to be your little backwoods Kentucky lay whenever you happen to be driving through. You need to go.”

Rory’s brilliant green eyes blazed in anger. “That’s not why we helped you,” he snapped. Sandro sat up and rested his hand on Rory’s back, trying to calm him. Rory shrugged him off as he stood up directly in front of Violet. “We helped you because we had to. There was no way we could have left you out there. Hell, it’s why we came to Kentucky. We weren’t passing through as you put it—we were coming to see if you were as affected by that night as the two of us were.”

Violet was speechless. Had they actually come to Kentucky to see her? Rory made it sound as if the past six weeks had been as hard on them as it had been on her.

Stepping into her space, Rory made her look up at him. “I’m sorry we left the way we did. But I didn’t know what to do. You knocked me for a loop.” He tried to smile, but it came out more as a grimace. “I don’t react well to emotional stuff. Ask Sandro.”

Alessandro broke into laughter and Violet couldn’t help but lean around Rory to look at him. “Ach,
caro
, you have no idea how difficult you are,” he agreed. Sitting up, he told Violet, “It is true,
bella
. He has been very upset since we were here.”

Frowning in confusion, she turned away from Rory and walked to the window. Dawn was just beginning to break to the east. Everything had turned lush and green from the rainstorm last night. The middle of August was usually very dry in the bluegrass state, but this year it had been especially rainy.

Main Street had just a few cars on it. Looking down, she saw they had driven the black Ferrari she had been waiting weeks to see coming into the lot.

“Get dressed,” she told them, “and I’ll make some breakfast.”

In the kitchen, she pondered what they had told her as she started grabbing eggs, cheese, and milk out of the fridge. The chance they were telling the truth was probably slim to none, but she couldn’t help but be at least a little hopeful. She was glad to know that she wasn’t the only one who had had a tumultuous month and a half.

Over the long weeks she told herself she was going to find out more about them if they ever came back. Even if she had wanted to look them up she had no information on where to start. Hell, she didn’t even know their last names or where they lived, just that they’d stopped at the shop several times and were the best lovers she had ever had, hands down. Her pussy was tingling just from seeing them in their undies. Well, the erections had probably helped too.

There was a deeper connection she was trying to understand as well, but she couldn’t be sure what it was. It felt as though she had been destined to meet them. She scoffed at the ridiculous thought. Sounded like something fanciful her grandad would have told her.

Rory was the first one to come out, as she had known he would. He was the dominant of the pair. Glancing around her kitchen, he settled carefully on the stool on the opposite side of the counter from where she was cooking. Once again he was dressed impeccably, but still upscale. No suit, but still stylish in Ralph Lauren slacks and a button-down shirt. He had run his hand through his hair, straightening it. But he hadn’t dug the wrap-around shades out yet. Violet considered that a victory on her part, because she could see his eyes and what he was feeling. At their first meeting she had thought Alessandro was the emotional one, but the more she watched him she had a feeling that Rory felt things more deeply than his partner.

God, his partner. It was obvious they were a committed couple. Even if she was interested in a repeat performance, would the dynamic work between the three of them?

The questions were beginning to drive her bonkers. It was time for some answers.

“So, where are you guys from?” she asked, beating eggs into a pan. “What do you do? Fill me in on all the questions I should have asked before I let you screw my brains out weeks ago.”

Rory’s hard lips tipped up in a full smile. It was the first time Violet had ever seen it and she found herself pausing to take it in. When it slowly faded away she wanted more.

“Well,” he rumbled, voice especially rough from sleep, “we are from the St. Louis area. I have a business consulting firm I run from downtown.”

Alessandro came out of the bedroom then looking rumpled and cute. Dragging a matching stool out he plopped down beside Rory, planting his elbows on the counter. Violet moved to the coffee machine to get it ready. Sandro looked like he could use a cup. She smiled, realizing she’d adopted Rory’s contraction for Alessandro.

“Sandro here is a professor at Missouri State. Art appreciation.”

Somehow Violet knew that the job suited him perfectly and she smiled even more.

Sandro launched into a spate of Italian to Rory and the bigger man nodded his head.

“What did you just say?” she demanded.

Smiling at her gently, Sandro placed an eloquent hand against his heart. “I told him you are more enchanting than any art I have ever seen,
bella
. You are truly beautiful with the sun just coming in from the skylight and gilding your beautiful skin.”

Violet frowned at him fiercely even as she battled a furious blush, debating whether or not he was making fun of her. His expression was open and sincere so she tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. “Thank you. That’s very sweet of you, considering I look like Frankenstein’s bride right now.” The bruises on her face throbbed as she thought about them.

“Ach, you are still breathtaking. Though the bruises, they are painful, no?”

“No. Well, yes,” she agreed, flustered. “They do hurt.”

“What did you do to yourself before we got here?” Rory asked, looking pointedly at her hand.

Violet stirred the eggs absently and reached for bread to put in the toaster oven. “I was under a car looking for an oil leak. I was tightening bolts with a wrench and my hand slipped. I cut it on the fan blade, then the wrench fell down through the engine and hit me on the eye.”

Both men cringed at the same time and Violet thought it was actually pretty cute. They had the mannerisms down of two people who had been together a long time.

Turning, she fished plates out of the cupboard and began dividing up the dozen eggs she had scrambled, the bulk of them going to the guys. Jam and butter she placed on the bar, along with a stack of wheat toast. Filling two mugs with hot coffee, she slipped them in front of the men. Sandro reached out first and took a scalding sip. “
Graci, graci, bella
. Wonderful.”