Burning Up (3 page)

Pam was struck speechless. She peered up at the shadow of Rob’s head that she could just make out in the dark. Although she couldn’t see his expression, she’d bet he was smiling that soft smile, the one that had made her think once or twice that he was sweet on her. But Rob—Golden-god Rob—sweet on her? It was a fantasy.

Yet the way he angled himself toward her, so his body heat set off tingles, was no fantasy. Rob was really standing that close, too close for comfort. Pam instinctively retreated a step, only to find herself pressed against a solid wall of muscle and sinew. Steve. Instead of taking a step back and allowing her some room, Steve stood his ground. He even settled a hand on her waist, as though to keep her in place.

Rob took another step forward until she was crowded by them both. Bracketed between two warm male bodies—nowhere to run or hide.
Do you want to, Pam?
Ever since she’d accidentally admitted her threesome-related musings earlier, she’d been having seriously debauched thoughts involving both Rob
and
Steve. She’d never had fantasies about Steve before, but she was making up for that tonight. She couldn’t stop noticing, with more than the empirical interest she’d had in the past, how aggravatingly sexy he could be when he was teasing her, how great his ass looked in his fitted jeans.

She had to face it—Steve turned her on as much as Rob.

Pam had wanted to talk to Erica about her confusing feelings, but her friend had been busy setting up for the party. Besides, even with Erica, who she knew wouldn’t judge given her own situation, Pam was embarrassed. In the end, she figured she wouldn’t have occasion to see Rob or Steve again until the next joint social event, so all she had to do was get through the night without further making a fool of herself and she could soon forget the whole awkward business.

A great plan, until the two objects of her wayward desires decided to press themselves against her, trapping her with their combined heat.

Pam wriggled a little, an indication that she’d like some space. But Steve merely tightened his grip on her waist. To add to her torment, he even pressed his lips to her ear, brushing a hot breath over it that made her shiver. “You feel okay there, Pammy?”

Her response came out as little more than a rasp. “I don’t understand.”

She feared that was a lie. She feared she did understand all too well what Steve and Rob had planned for her.

Confirming her suspicions, Steve whispered. “Then we’ll show you. Do it, Rob.”

In an instant, Rob’s large hand was bracketing her jaw. The next thing Pam knew, his lips were on hers.

Softness. So much softness. She should have expected it from Rob, the nice guy, but she hadn’t. She’d imagined him passionate and out of control. But this kiss…it was lovely. He brushed his lips against hers, requesting her compliance before working her mouth open. Too shocked by the turn of events, Pam didn’t resist as Rob slid his tongue into her mouth. Her heart pounded as he deepened the kiss, sliding his tongue over hers, stroking her waist…

No. That was Steve stroking her waist, Steve’s hand moving upward, and upward, until his fingers encountered the underside of her breast through the thin cardigan and silky camisole. Her nipple beaded, anticipating his touch. She wanted him to touch her there, to stroke her flesh to a hard point while Rob kissed her into a state of dreamy desire. She wanted it so badly, she arched her spine, writhing now not in protest, but in invitation.

“Surprise!”

The loud chorus that erupted from the assembled group startled Pam as surely as an electric shock. The lights came on and, blinking at the brightness, Pam saw the stark reality of their little tableau. Steve had her pulled close to him, so close she could feel the jut of his arousal against her ass, and his hand was closed around her breast, his thumb mere millimeters away from her nipple. Rob drew out of their kiss quickly, but with obvious reluctance. The full outline of his sensual lips and the acute longing in his deep-brown eyes made Pam’s heart thump hard against her chest—against Steve’s hand.

Dear God, they were in a crowded room. What on earth was she doing?

Pam pushed against Rob’s chest and twisted her body so sharply Steve was forced to release her. She darted a look around, but thankfully everyone at the party seemed much more interested in Griff’s reaction to his surprise than in her. No one had noticed her highly inappropriate clinch with two men.

Relieved about that at least, Pam let out a shaky breath. Pushing her hair back from her face, she at last mustered the courage to meet Rob’s eyes, then Steve’s. “I don’t know what that was, but it can’t happen again.”

“Why not?” The question came at her in stereo, uttered by both men. Rob was looking at her like a puppy that had been told he couldn’t have his favorite treat, and Steve had raised one eyebrow in an aggravating challenge. Frowning, Pam cast a look between them. “It just shouldn’t. It’s weird.”

Steve folded his arms across his chest and narrowed his eyes. “You think Erica’s relationship is weird?”

“That’s not what I meant.” At first she had thought that, or at least that a triad relationship like the one Erica had was unusual. That wasn’t a judgment, it was simply a fact.

But as the months had passed and Pam had had the opportunity to see her friend and her two lovers together, she’d come to see their union as the beautiful, uniquely special bond it was. It wasn’t dirty, it wasn’t weird, and it worked for them.

Yet Pam’s acceptance of her friend’s choice didn’t make it the right choice for her.

Your body seems to think it would be more than right, Pam.

Steve lifted a finger and traced a line along her jaw, causing tingles to radiate outward from that scant touch. “We’re not talking about moving in together. Only about having a little fun.”

Rob settled a hand on her lower back, close enough to her ass to make Pam’s pussy clench. “You admitted you’ve thought about it,” he whispered.

Why, oh why couldn’t she have kept her big mouth shut about that? She couldn’t deny what she’d said any more than she could deny she’d responded to Rob’s kiss a few moments ago, or that she’d arched into Steve’s touch, hoping he’d stroke her breast. She couldn’t deny what she wanted, so her only option was escape. “I’m going to go wish Griff a happy birthday, something you two should be doing instead of harassing me.”

With that, Pam strode off, heading towards Griff, Erica and Corey with a fake smile glued to her face. “Griff, happy birthday.”

“Pam, good to see you.” He sent Erica and Corey a sideways glance. “Did everyone know about this except me?”

“Just about,” Corey said, and hooked his arm around Erica’s shoulders.

Griff turned back to Pam. “I told them no parties. But did they listen to me?”

“He’s getting too old for parties.” It was Steve’s voice coming from behind her left shoulder and it was followed by Rob’s over her right.

“All he wants is a comfy pair of slippers and a newspaper these days.”

Griff narrowed his eyes at both men. “Thirty-eight will come around for both of you one day.”

Not for ages in Rob’s case,
Pam thought, feeling it sink in that not only had she been involved in a clinch in a crowded room with two men, but that one of them was practically a boy. Seven years her junior. Although all that hard muscle pressed against her and that smooth way he’d kissed had screamed
all man
.

Pam’s temperature started to rise again as Steve, Rob and Griff exchanged friendly insults. Griff used to be their team leader, but now that he’d transferred to another station it seemed they had a lot of mutual ribbing to catch up on. It was all very manly and testosterone-laden, especially when Corey joined in and they started trading stories about recent fires and road-side rescues.

Pretty soon a fire was going to start right here in the living room. Pam was going to spontaneously combust and all four of them would have to put her out.

“Pam, are you okay?”

Pam turned to find Erica watching her closely, her forehead crinkled in concern. “Me? I’m fine.”

Erica raised one dubious eyebrow. Pam could understand the other woman’s disbelief. Her voice had been so high, it had sounded like a Minnie Mouse impression. Erica glanced at the group of men and the mystification seeped out of her expression. She showed Pam a knowing smile. “I think you could use a drink.”

Erica grabbed Pam’s hand and led her to the kitchen, where she opened the fridge and extracted a bottle of wine. She pulled two glasses down from the overhead cupboard and filled them half way. Pam took hers and gulped some of the sweet liquid. Then she closed her eyes and put the cool glass to her cheek. “I can’t drink too much. I drove tonight.”

“I’m sure you could find a couple of volunteers to drive you home.”

Pam opened her eyes once more to find a teasing light had entered Erica’s big brown eyes.

“Steve and Rob seem quite keen to cater to your every need.”

Pam groaned. “You noticed that?”

“I’ve been busy, but I’m not blind. And I recognize the wild look in your eyes. I saw it in the mirror a time or two when I was first getting started with Corey and Griff.”

“I’m not going to start anything,” Pam said vehemently. “It would be…”

Pam stopped herself from saying the word
wrong,
but Erica seemed to know where her statement had been headed. She took a sip of her wine before speaking again. “For women like us who were raised to want only the normal, traditional things, the idea of being with two men takes some getting used to.”

“Erica, I didn’t mean anything. You know I’m happy for you, right?”

Erica smiled. “I know. But if you think I jumped into a relationship with Corey and Griff without doing a lot of soul-searching first, you’re wrong.”

“There’s no chance of a relationship coming out of this…this thing, whatever it is. Curiosity, maybe. The fact that I haven’t had sex in six months isn’t helping.”

“Then what’s to stop you satisfying your curiosity?” Erica touched the rim of her wineglass to Pam’s and smiled. “And your horniness.”

Pam laughed into her own glass. “Are you trying to get me drunk so they’ll have to drive me home?”

“No, I recommend being completely sober the first time you have a threesome so you don’t forget a moment of it.” Erica turned the wine bottle around on the bench so Pam could read the label. “This is non-alcoholic wine.”

“Non-alcoholic? Some friend. What are you—pregnant?” She’d meant it as a joke, but the moment Erica’s pale cheeks flushed crimson, Pam realized the truth. “Oh my God. You
are
?”

Erica shushed her. “Don’t say anything to anyone. Griff and Corey don’t even know yet. I only found out today.”

Pam matched Erica’s low whisper. “I had no idea you were thinking of having a baby.”

“The boys and I have been trying a while, but I didn’t want to jinx it by telling people. You’re not mad I didn’t mention it to you?”

“Of course not.” Pam was too distracted by Erica’s mention of
the boys
to feel anything but an increase in her desire levels. What would it be like to have two men trying to get you pregnant, both of them having sex with you as much as possible to increase the chances of conception?

The answer was obvious. It would be freaking
awesome
.

What was she doing hesitating? Why was she pushing two hot firefighters away when they both wanted to show her a good time? Was she insane?

Pam put her half-empty wine glass down on the counter. “Congratulations, Erica. I’m so happy for you. I really am.” No one deserved a happy ending more than Erica, a woman who had lost so much.

Erica smiled. “Thanks. Now you go and make yourself happy. Don’t overthink it. Do what feels natural.”

If it was natural to want to climb on top of two men and go to town, Pam was in the mood to be completely
au naturale
.

Steve knew he was in trouble the second he looked across the yard and saw Pam giving him the come-hither look from his fantasies. His heart pounded so hard that breathing became difficult and the tightness in his jeans that had been bothering him all night got a whole lot worse.

She’s going to go for it.

She wanted a three-way with him and Rob. It was what he wanted, what he’d planned on. So why did the idea that Pam might actually do it send weird, anxious tingles down his spine?

What little oxygen he had in his lungs burst out of them in a rush when Rob hit him in the stomach with the back of his hand. “Did you see that?”

Steve wheezed out his answer. “I saw it.”

“Pam’s giving us the look.”
Us.
That look hadn’t only been for him, which was what made it different to Steve’s fantasies. “I reckon she’s thinking about it.”

If Steve was interpreting that look correctly, Pam had already gone way past thinking and had moved to anticipating the night ahead. She took a sip of wine and eyed them over the rim of her glass. The way her throat moved as she swallowed knocked the wind from him as surely as Rob’s friendly nudge had.

“What do we do now?”

Steve didn’t take his eyes off Pam as he answered Rob. “We eat steak. I’m starved.”