Authors: Rhian Cahill
The office ran along both sides of the building and across the back with the foyer, front doors, and staircase taking up the rest of the space. Other than the conference room, the workspace was open and spacious with the back wall being all glass like the upstairs. The exception being these windows were covered with timber shutters angled to let in light but block enough so the glare wasn’t too bright to work. Piper returned to the desk she’d used earlier and pulled the chair out. She hadn’t forgotten Sam behind her, but she still jumped when he reached around her to grab the chair like they were about to sit down in a fancy restaurant.
“Thank you.” Piper slipped into the seat, careful not to brush up against him in any way. It didn’t matter that they’d shelved the sex for later. Her body still hummed with arousal and her mind kept rolling that mental film strip of images, each one more scandalous than the last. She licked her lips, her parched mouth and throat making it difficult to swallow.
“You’re welcome.” Sam removed his hand from the chair. His fingers brushed the top of her shoulder and trailed up to graze the delicate skin of her neck. A shiver racked her, each tiny vibration leaving goose bumps behind.
She closed her eyes, struggled to hold back the moan in her throat. He stepped away, the loss of heat against her back noticeable. Piper waited, for what she didn’t know, but the very room seemed to hold its breath as her body fought the onslaught of desire that saturated every nerve ending. Drowning in her own lust, she barely heard Sam speak. Barely saw the piece of paper he placed in front of her with both his and Nate’s phone numbers on it. When he finally left the room, all the air that had backed up in her lungs exploded in a gust of desperation.
With a groan, Pip wondered how she would make it through the afternoon without dying. She burned with an ache foreign to all she’d known, an ache that threatened to be her undoing. But with the ragged edge of desire came the slice of pleasure, and with every soothing breath she drew into her lungs, she knew she’d never be the same again, never know the sweet innocence in which she’d lived before now. The thumping beat of her heart became a timekeeper to the last seconds of an existence that would soon experience untold ecstasy. A sliver of fear stabbed her. Could she go through with it? She had to.
Because once her Bondi Beach Boys returned, there’d be no going back.
Nate turned his wrist and glanced at his watch for the hundredth time since arriving at the job site.
“Stop it. Time isn’t going to go quicker just because you’re staring at it.” Sam growled in frustration.
Nate eyed his mate, and took in the taut muscles and frown lines in his forehead. “Like you’re not wishing the day was over any less than I am.”
“Never said I wasn’t, but with you looking at that fucking watch every second, you’re driving both of us fucking insane.”
The tight line of muscles along Nate’s back loosened. Just by knowing he wasn’t alone in his torture brought relief. But it couldn’t reduce the fear. “What if she says no?”
Sam shrugged and gave him that know-it-all grin. “Not much we can do except pull out every dirty trick we know to convince her to say yes.”
“Seduce her?”
“Hell yeah! You tasted her. Can you honestly walk away without having more?”
Damn. Sam was right. That one little sample only whetted his appetite for more. “So what’s the plan?”
“Don’t bring it up.”
Nate cocked an eyebrow and looked at Sam dubiously.
“We go home, ask about the site upload, get her to demonstrate. By then dinner will arrive because we’ll order that before we get home. She’s less likely to say no to the meal if it’s there in front of her and smelling delicious.”
Nate nodded. So far Sam’s plan sounded good.
“I’ll open a bottle of wine to have with dinner. We’ll keep the conversation light and easy, keep the mood mellow. Three people enjoying a meal and each other’s company. Then one of us can suggest a movie. You’ll make popcorn, and we’ll drink more wine.”
“Damn you’re good.” Nate shook his head. “Sometimes the way your mind works scares me. I’m seduced just by listening.”
Sam’s smile spread. “Yeah, but you’re easy.”
Nate rolled his eyes. “Jeez, don’t go telling everyone.” He glanced around but no one else was in this bedroom of the two-story refurb they were currently doing. Good thing too because he couldn’t hide the boner currently tenting the front of his pants.
“Wanna shut the door and deal with that?”
He looked back at Sam who eyed his groin with interest. Nate thought about it, though it wasn’t a bad idea, breaking the hard ridge of need currently consuming him, but he doubted it would soothe him for long. Nothing short of having Piper under him, over him, around him, and trapped between him and Sam would bring relief now.
Nate palmed his cock. Squeezed the throbbing flesh confined under his zipper. “Now that the taste of Piper is coating my tongue, there’ll be no dealing with this unless she’s involved.”
Sam sighed. “I know. The only thing that has a hope in hell of appeasing me at the moment is holding her between us.”
Nate could picture it. Could imagine her soft arse snug against his hips, his chest pressed along her spine, and the feel of her skin as it molded to his. He could see Sam as he flattened his front to hers, her breasts crushed by the hard wall of his chest. She’d wither, rock her hips, and drive them all insane until they moaned and searched for bliss in each other.
“Fuck!” Sam gave him a shove. “Stop. Whatever the fuck you were thinking, stop!” He paced two steps away, spun and came back, got right into Nate’s face. “Jesus. I have no idea what just went through your head, but I can imagine well enough. If you want to push us both over the edge, keep going, but if you don’t rein it in you’re going to scare the shit out of Piper. You do that, and I’ll ground you into dust.”
Nate stared into Sam’s eyes, saw the raw hunger, the naked fear behind his words, and swallowed. Until this moment, he hadn’t really believed they were in the same place where Piper was concerned. He’d thought the insane emotions boiling inside him were his and his alone. Sure, he knew they both wanted her physically, that was a given, but after spending the morning and lunch with her…
“How can she mean so much? We don’t even really know her.”
Sam closed his eyes, dragged in a deep breath, and ran a hand over his face. “I don’t know man, but she is.” His friend’s shoulders sagged a little.
“We can’t fuck this up,” Nate said.
“No. We can’t.”
* * *
Sam pulled the pickup into the underground garage and shut off the engine. Neither of them got out. They sat there in the quiet, each caught in his own thoughts for several minutes. He blew out a breath and reached for the door handle.
“Let’s get started.”
“Right behind you.” Nate jumped out the other side and slammed the door. He walked around and met Sam at the door to the basement. “Do you think we ordered the right food? What if she doesn’t like Chinese?”
He wanted to laugh at Nate’s obsessing, but he couldn’t. It matched the streak of fear running down his spine that his best mate might be right. “Everyone loves Chinese,” he said with a hint of desperation lacing the words.
“Yeah, you’re right. It’ll be fine.”
The air around them seemed to vibrate with their anxiety. How one woman could reduce them both to scared little boys in less than a day Sam didn’t have a clue, but that’s exactly what Piper had done. They made their way up the stairs. He could hear Piper muttering in the office as they neared the door. Two feet inside the room they came to a complete standstill. There in front of them on her hands and knees was Piper. Her delectable arse wiggling as she backed out from under the desk. Sam sucked in a breath as every muscle in his body tensed.
Blood rushed past his ears as it left his brain for areas further south. His cock thickened, lengthened, filling the space behind his zipper and threatening to do some damage if he didn’t do some rearranging soon. Next to him, Nate groaned and the raw sound of need dragged across Sam’s skin like nails on a chalkboard, sent a fist sized knot into his gut, and dropped tingling weight into his balls. Sam made a strangled sound that brought Piper upright, but she hadn’t cleared the desk and the back of her head smacked against the timber edge.
Her cry of pain had them both charging across the room. On their knees beside her in less than a second, Nate pulled her into his arms and Sam rubbed the bump forming on her skull. Piper looked up at him and if he hadn’t been on his knees already the tears in her eyes would have taken him there.
“You need an ice pack. Some pain pills.” Sam started to stand but Piper placed her hand on his arm to stop.
“No. I’m okay.” She smiled but he wasn’t reassured. “It’s just a little bump, not much more than a sting.”
He wasn’t convinced but when she pulled from Nate’s embrace and stood up on steady legs, he decided a trip to the hospital wouldn’t be necessary. The thought brought him up short. Since when was he prone to panic? He worked in construction and restoration, and never in all the years of workplace accidents had he ever felt the bone-shaking terror he did now. And over a little bump on the head? Sam glanced at Nate and saw the same concern and fear in his eyes. The sight made him feel marginally better, but only because he wasn’t making a complete fool of himself on his own.
“Are you sure you don’t need an ice pack?” Nate asked as he got to his feet to stand beside Piper.
“No, the sting is almost gone now.” She ran her hand over the lump on the back of her head. “See? It’s not even tender to touch.”
Sam got up and stretched to his full height. He looked down at Piper and examined her eyes. They didn’t appear glassy any longer and the pupils seemed normal, but then he wasn’t a doctor, so what would he know. The doorbell sounded, interrupting his thoughts and his probing stare.
“That’ll be dinner.” He wrapped his fingers around her arm, cupped her elbow in his palm, and began to steer her toward the door.
“Dinner?”
“Yes. We ordered Chinese on the way home.”
“But—”
“Don’t argue. You’ve just had a bump on the head, and you need to rest.” Sam strode to the stairs while Nate went to collect their food and pay the delivery guy. “You can eat while you rest.”
“Sam, that’s not necessary. If you’ll just let me finish up work for the day, I’ll call a taxi and head home.”
“No.”
The one word, said with a hint of steel in his voice, stilled her protests and allowed him to continue on up to the living room.
He nudged her onto the couch and said, “Don’t move. I’ll get some plates and forks.”
Drawers slammed and cupboard doors banged as he took his frustration out on the kitchen. Sam fought with the swirling emotions Piper provoked without much effort and wondered what the hell was happening to him. Nate walked in and dropped the bags on the granite counter. Quickly, they pulled out the plastic food containers and filled three plates. Sam placed the leftovers in the oven and picked up his plate and the utensils while Nate grabbed his and Piper’s dinner and headed for the lounge.
They were almost finished eating when Sam realized he’d forgotten to open the wine. There’d been no conversation over dinner, but the silence wasn’t uncomfortable in any way. In fact it had been rather pleasant, the three of them consuming their meals as the last of the summer light faded outside. As far as the seduction plan went, tonight had turned out to be a bust. He leaned forward, put his empty plate on the coffee table in front of them, and then relaxed back into his seat.
Piper’s scent combined with the smell of Chinese food made a strange erotic concoction that tantalized his senses. Sam watched as she picked up a king prawn and popped it into her mouth. The sauce coated her lips and glistened in the twilight, her jaw moved as she chewed the succulent morsel, and he wanted to nibble on her. His gaze remained glued to her when she swallowed, the smooth column of her throat flexing as the muscles worked, and he wondered if it would look the same if she were swallowing his cum.
The bump on her head didn’t hurt as much as the ache in her core. From the second Piper had sensed them behind her in the office, her body had twisted into a coil of need that made her blood heat and pump through her veins like lava. Her breathing came in choppy bursts, the effort to fill her lungs almost too difficult to manage. She felt hot and swollen all over and her clothes itched her skin like a thousand unseen prickles. How she’d made it through dinner without melting into the couch was anyone’s guess.
She put her plate, still loaded with food, on top of Sam’s. They’d sat on either side of her, their body heat doing nothing to help her gain control of her rampaging hormones. How did these two men drive her to distraction without trying? What was it about them that pulled unknown needs and wants from deep inside her? Needs and wants Piper had had no clue existed until they’d yanked them from her. Urges and desires so outside her universe she could be on an alien planet.
Piper leaned back against the soft leather seat. Sam’s hand brushed the back of her neck where it rested stretched along the top of the lounge. Shivers rippled over her, taking delicious waves of sensation to sensitive flesh already plump with arousal. Her nipples hardened, the two buds drawing up tight as desire laced intricate patterns between her breasts and pussy. Inner walls clenched, sending hot cream into her undies. His fingertips toyed with her hair and more shudders rolled over her.
Nate finished his meal and added his plate to the bottom of the pile. It took all her concentration to watch the mundane action and not whimper with need. She must have made a sound because Nate’s head jerked around and his gaze collided with hers. Banked flames burst to life in the dark brown depths, and Piper’s breath stalled in her lungs. He stared at her with such naked longing that her core pulsed, her clit throbbed. Sam’s fingers cupped her neck and tugged her face around to his.
“Piper?”
Her name held the question on both their minds and fell from his lips as barely a whisper. Each letter tripped across her nerve endings to tangle with the yearning that grew stronger with every breath. Sam’s eyes burned with a hunger to match Nate’s. To match hers. Moisture soaked her panties, coated her flesh, and filled the air around them with the scent of desire. All thought fled and only one word echoed in her head.
Yes
.
“
Yes
.” She slurred the word and moaned, her lungs and throat unable to function properly.
Twin growls dropped harshly over her before Sam took her mouth with his. His tongue thrust deep, penetrating her with little finesse, but her body didn’t seem to mind the roughness. Her breasts grew heavy, and when hands cupped the tender globes, she didn’t care who they belonged to. Sam continued to lay claim to her mouth, and she surrendered beneath the onslaught. Spirals of heat wound their way through her. Fabric ripped and buttons popped as their hands worked to free her of the restriction.
Not to be outdone, Piper’s hands sought to push aside cloth until her fingers encountered warm male flesh. She gasped as heat seared her skin. Her nails raked over hard muscle, and Nate’s groan told her who she touched. Sam pulled his mouth from hers, leaving both of them panting for breath. Piper struggled to raise her heavy eyelids and couldn’t remember when she’d closed them. They both tugged their shirts off over their head, tossing them to the floor. Next they removed the tattered remains of her blouse, the garment ruined in their haste to undress her.