Elemental Pleasure (3 page)

He grinned.

She was his.

“Preston Kim.”

Lance had been so wrapped up in imagin
ing what he’d do to Carlene
he’d forgotten this wasn’t just about the two
of them. He looked
where the other figure in black now stood. The hood fell back to reveal a tall man with a lean
,
handsome face. He had dark hair and slanted eyes that probably meant he was at least part Asian.

Preston’s gaze focused on him
, and Lance felt the challenge.

Black velvet
dropped to the floor. The
man wore a pair of dark boxers. He was trim and muscled. Lance was sure he could take him in a fight, but it wouldn’t be easy. Preston reminded him of some jungle cat, maybe a black panther.

“Lance Glassco.”

Finally
,
it was his turn to stand. Lance rose to his feet. Impatient
,
he stripped off his robe, toss
ing it to the floor. He looked at Carlene, saw her brows go up as she caught sight of him. He’d kept up with his physical training while in the reserves. He wasn’t vain, but he knew that physically h
e was a good specimen. And his m
ama always said he was handsome.

“You now belong to one another. Come forward.”

Barefoot, they approached the Gran
d Master, stopping when they
stood on the medallion. He grasped each of their right hands, bringing them into the center. Taking the chain from around his shoulders
,
he bound their wrists with it. Lance saw Carlene shiver as the cold metal touched her.

Lance’
s hand was on top of hers. H
e squeezed her fingers. She looked at him, and Lance smiled. She tentatively returned the friendly gesture.

“Preston,” the Grand Master said.

The other man stepped closer and
his hand, which la
y atop Lance’s, tightened.
Lance tensed. Reaching out with his free hand, Preston cupped Carlene’s face. Her eyes wi
dened as Preston pulled her to him
.

He kissed her long and deep, their cheeks only inches from Lance’s face. Desire warred with jealousy. Lance wanted to be the one kissing her, and yet he like
d seeing Preston touch her. It
didn’t make any sense
to him
.

Lance hated
things he couldn’t understand
.

The instant Preston pulled back, Lance jerked Carlene to him. Burying his hand in her hair
,
he nipped her lower lip, demanding she let him in. When she took a breath
,
he pressed his tongue into her mouth, tasting her sweet flavor.

Preston touched his bare back,
his
hand sliding over skin and muscle. Startled, Lance ended the kiss when Preston reached for him.

Lance knocked his hand away. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Dark eyes examined him. “The same thing we just did with Carlene.”

They stared at each other, right arms held awkwardly,
their
hands still bound together by the chain.

“Don’t touch me,” Lance snarled. It wasn’t that he had a problem wi
th men touching each other, but he’d never had one try to kiss him
.
He hadn’t signed on for that.
Had he?

Preston raised one brow. “You must have known there was a chance you’d be placed with another man.”

“I did,
but we
have a woman.”

“Oh, you must be fucking kidding.”

They both jerked, then looked at Carlene. Her lip was curled. Lance wasn’t good at reading people, but he was pretty sure the look on her face was one of disgust
and anger
.

“You have a woman? I really hope you don’t mean me.”

Lance frowned. “You are our woman.”

“I’m not your fuck toy
or some baton you’re going to pass back and forth.” She jerked her wrist free of the chain and took a ste
p back, rubbing the marks it
left.

“Carlene.” The Grand Master’s voice was menacing and dark, dripping with warning.

She stopped in her tracks.

“You are incorrect. You are theirs…and they are yours.”

The Grand Master reached out and undid the chain from their wrists. Preston and Lance both stepped away.

“Your relationship is yours. You will choose how to live your lives, but there are rules. No one must know about the trinity and you may never stray outside your marriage.”

The Grand Master focused on Lance. “You have one month. At that time you will return here and be formally bound in the marriage of the Trinity Masters.”

The words echoed in the suddenly hushed space.

“Now, go.”

~~~~

Chapter Two

Carly
let h
erself in
to the hotel room, braced to find one or both of the men there. Instead, she fo
und fairly standard accommodations
, empty except for her.

When she’d retu
rned to her dressing room, she
’d
discovered
the keycard to her room at a luxury boutique hotel g
one, replaced by a key to this one,
in a larg
er, more elegant hotel. She was on the top floor and
only mildly surprised to see her bags wa
iting for her
.

Bone-tired, she dropped into a chair, tossing her scarf and purse on the bed.

Lance Glassco and Preston Kim.

What
in
the
hell had she gotten herself in
to?

Separately both
men were gorgeous
. Preston had a bit of an Asian James Bond thing going, while Lance was rock hard muscle with melting brown eyes. Their kisses had been di
fferent,
unique. The whole thing ha
d been a little surreal—the ceremony
, the robes, the chain and then the kisses.

What were they going to do? Preston and Lance had jumped on each other and, in the process, acted like she was some bone they were fighting over. Of all the things she’d imagined for her
ménage
, this wasn’t one of them. She might not exactly be thrilled, but she’d been prepared to follow through and be with whomever the Grand Master matched her. Apparently the gentlemen didn’t feel the same.
One thing she had not signed on for was a life as a referee or buffer.

She heard something and lifted her head. There was a connecting door in the side wall. Rising
,
she stripped off her jacket and tiptoed over, listening for the sound that had roused her. She heard a clink, like glasses touching.

S
he bit her lower lip, considering her next move.
Cowardice would get her nowhere.

Reaching out, she
opened the connecting door. Stepping through
,
she realized her bedroom was part of a larger suite.
This must be the living room.
There was a sunken sitting area, a baby grand piano and a bar.

“Well, hello.”

Preston stood behind the bar, putting ice into a glass. He held up a bottle of whiskey. “Would you like some?”

Smoothing her
skirt against her hips, Carly
made her
way
over and perched on a stool. “No, thank you, but if you have some wine or champagne
,
I wouldn’t say no.”

He ducked down,
then straightened
to present the half bottle of bubbly. “For the lady.” He popped the cork and poured it into a glass.

They raised their glasses and toasted. Preston’s gaze remained focused on her as he s
ipped. When he lowered the drink
, he smiled. “I don’t believe we’ve been introduced. I’m Dr. Preston Kim.”

“Carlene Kenan. Call me Carly.”

“Carly.” He raised his glass to her again.

“Dr. Kim.” She took a sip, feeling more like herself than she had since receiving the summons.
After the craziness of the rest of the day, she was grateful for normal, polite conversation.

“That doctorate is in Chemistry, so I don’t use the title too often. Call me Preston. Wouldn’t want someone expecting me to deliver a baby in an airplane or something like that.”

Carly nodded, though her lips twitched. “Of course, that makes total sense. So you’re a chemist?”

“Specializing in nanotechnology. I live in San Francisco.”

“Then we’re neighbors. I live in Menlo Park.”

“Silicon Valley? Do you work in the industry?”

“Nexus Six.”

“The video game company? Very cool.”

“Do you play?”

“I do. Their games are
off the chart
, very cutting edge. I’d love to know how they’re running the living gameplay. It’s closer to artificial intelligence than any designated A.I. technology.”

She laughed. “Thank you. T
hat’s great to hear. People thought I was craz
y focusing on game play, but i
t allows for the greatest data input. It’s basically human experimentation. Plus, I love to game.”

H
is eyebrows rose. “Carly Kenan. Y
ou’re the owner of Nexus Six.”

She nodded and giggl
ed when he pretended to stagger.

“Well, holy shit. I
never
would
have guessed from looking at you, but then again, didn’t GeekWire do some sexy photo shoot with you?”

“They did. It was fun, though
it didn’t exactly help
change the way t
he world sees women and games. B
ut it’s getting there.”

They lapsed into silence for a moment. As Carly looked Preston up and down, the thought that she should take him home, enjoy his kisses and his touch, flashed across her brain.
She enjoyed sex, recognized the definite chemistry sparking between them.

Then reality intruded.

He was, for all intents and purposes, her
husband. She would be taking this stranger
home. Forever.

’Til death do them
part.

Sh
e set her glass down harder than she meant to
.

Preston must have read her
anxious
expression because he came around the bar and took her elbow. “Why don’t we sit?”

He led her to the sunken couch, seating himself next to her.

“This is all so
bizarre.” She glanced
out the window. It was still only afternoon. The sun was going strong, providing copious amounts of bright light in the room. How was that possible? It felt like it had been days since her plane landed
rather than just
this morning. Surely it should be midnight by now.

Preston took another sip of his drink.
“How did you become a member of
the Trinity Masters?”

“In college, at Harvard. An older girl in my sorority introduced me to people. I thought it was so they could hear my business pitch. Even a
t nineteen I knew what I wanted;
all I needed was the money.”

“But you agreed to join, once you understood
what would be expected of you
.”

“I suppose.” She rubbed her palms on her thighs. “They offered me what I needed, but until today I didn’t really understand what they were asking.”

There was a mom
ent of silence before Preston
put his drink on the coffee table.
“You don’t want this.”

She got only a glimpse of his face
as he rose
, but it was enough to see that she’d hurt him. She stood too. “Preston.”

He didn’t turn.

“Preston, I’m sorry. It has nothing to do with you.”

“It seems I am the only one who truly embraced what this is, what we are meant to be.”

When he did turn, his face was a hard mask. ”You’ll excuse me?”

Without waiting for an answer, he walked away, disappearing into one of the connecting bedrooms. The door closed with a snap.

“Carly, you dumbass,
”
she muttered to herself.
Preston seemed genuinely hurt that she
wasn’t enthusiastic
about their new relationship. But how could she be after that interlude between him and Lance?