Forbidden Legacy (5 page)

“I don’t care. Take me out of the equation and everything is easier. You’ll find two partners who share your philosophy and who want to share their lives with you. It’s what you’ve always wanted.”

There were too many factors she wasn’t taking into account. Like his feelings for her. And hers for him. And then…there was Michael. “Don’t be ridiculous. It’s not that simple. It never has been. If it were, I wouldn’t be sitting here.”

He cupped her cheek and kissed her softly, meaning to comfort her. That intention was soon thrown out the window as their tongues tangled once more. Her breath was so sweet it made his mouth water. He’d never been so turned on by mere kisses.

Alexis lifted her head, her eyebrow raised in disbelief. “Seriously? Already?”

He grinned when he realized what she was referring to. “I’ve wanted you for a very long time.”

“Are you sure Michael’s not sneaking Viagra out of the pharmacy for you? You’re nearly forty-five. There’s no way…”

He turned her on his lap so she straddled him. Slowly, he eased back inside her pussy. They groaned in unison.

She rested her forehead against his. “God. We’re being stupid again.”

“No, we’re not.”

This time the sex was slower. Neither of them felt compelled to grab the ring too quickly. Instead, they took the time to explore, to enjoy.

When Alexis reached the peak this time, Harrison was right there with her. For several moments, they simply remained still, her cheek pressed to his. Harrison didn’t seek to pull out, anxious to remain connected to her for as long as he could.

“Give me one month, Lex.”

“What?”

“Give me a month to show you why the Trinity Masters works. Four weeks to prove to you this is a good thing.” Sadly, he couldn’t risk taking any longer than that. He was already pushing the deadline to the limit, endangering the Trinity Masters as well as Michael and Alexis. Unfortunately, he couldn’t walk away until he knew the future was set.

“How would you do that?”

“I’ll introduce you to our third. You’ll agree to keep an open mind about the lifestyle. You’ll date us. Both of us. And I don’t mean cafeteria lunches at midnight. Real out-of-the-hospital dates. And you’ll be open to seduction.”

She shook her head. “I can’t do that.”

“Why?”

“How can you ask me to give up my free will? To accept someone else as a potential lover?”

“Lex—”

“It’s time for you to be honest, Harry. If not to me, then at least to yourself. Why aren’t you taking another woman as your third?”

He frowned. “It wouldn’t be fair. I couldn’t love her like I love you.”

She smiled sadly. “And yet that’s what you’re asking of me.”

His brow creased with frustration. “I can’t explain to you why this will work, but dammit, it will. I watched it every day of my life with my parents and I’ve seen it happen over and over countless times with every match I’ve created. I know this will make you happy.”

“Me?”

He realized his error. “Us,” he quickly corrected.

“And I’m just supposed to put that decision out there in the universe. Let your secret society dictate to me who I’m supposed to love, to spend the rest of my life with.”

They’d had this exact same debate ten years earlier when he’d invited her to join the Trinity Masters and she’d rejected the offer.

“Do you trust me?” he asked.

She sighed. “That’s not fair. You know I do.”

“Then it’s not the universe making the call. It’s me. I know you, know your mind, your soul, your heart. Everything. Let me show you what I’m offering. For one month.” He paused and took a deep breath, forcing himself to tell the biggest lie of his life, to say the one thing she’d never forgive him for. “If, at the end, you still don’t want to join, I’ll leave the Trinity Masters and it’ll just be you and me. Forever.”

She shook her head. “I’ll give you the month, Harry. But if I still feel the same way in four weeks, my answer to your proposal is no. I won’t let you give anything up for me.”

“All or nothing?”

She nodded.

“Then I guess I can’t fail.”

Alexis grabbed her purse and jacket, cursing as she glanced at the clock. She was late. Great.

For some reason, she’d allowed Harrison to convince her to go along with his suggestion of participating in a month-long ménage affair.

What the hell was she thinking? She wasn’t this person.

Then she recalled she hadn’t been thinking at all. She’d allowed Harrison to fuck her into a brainless stupor where she would have agreed to anything and everything just for another ride. All of a sudden, the tune to Lady Gaga’s “Disco Stick” started playing in her head. Hello, unwanted earworm.

This was all her fault. She’d gone years without sex, spending all her time at the hospital pretending her life was fulfilling enough without a relationship. In one afternoon, Harrison had proven just how wrong that assumption was.

Now that she’d cracked the door open, she was a veritable mass of hormones with only one goal. To find Harrison and get laid again…as soon as possible.

And if that were all that tonight was going to be about, she’d have been on time. Hell, she would have been early. But Harrison wasn’t the only man she was meeting.

He hadn’t told her who this elusive third was, and based on what she’d been told about the Trinity Masters when they offered her membership, it could be anyone from a Fortune 500 CEO to a Nobel laureate poet. He had said that the person lived here in Boston, which in theory meant she could have met him, except she and Harrison didn’t travel in the same circles. While he was far more sociable and involved, frequently attending shows and charity events, she spent ninety-nine percent of her time in this hospital. She could count the number of friends she had—who weren’t work colleagues—on one hand.

Mercifully, Harrison knew her well enough to know time management wasn’t one of her strong suits. He’d arranged to meet her in one of the hospital conference rooms, claiming he’d simply do some work on his tablet until she was ready to go.

“Dammit,” she muttered, racing out of her office. She hadn’t made it two steps before she plowed into a mountain. Or rather…a mountain of a man. Her boss.

Michael captured her upper arms, steadying her as her ankles wobbled on her high heels. “I’ve got you, Dr. Jenner.”

“Sorry, Michael. I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

“You look like you’re in a hurry. Is everything okay?”

“I’m late for a date.”

“A date? That would explain the sexy shoes. Thought those heels were impractical for doing rounds.” He grinned as he looked her up and down in a less-than-professional manner.

Alexis narrowed her eyes and prepared herself. Michael took a great deal of pleasure in teasing her, so she decided to beat him to the punch. “Yep. A date. Dinner, dancing and then kinky, fuck-my-brains-out sex until dawn. I can’t wait.”

Her words had the intended effect. They took the wind out of Michael’s sails. For about three seconds. “Is that how all of your dates go? Because if so, what are you doing tomorrow night? I’ve got a couple of tickets to a show…”

The jest hit her in a weak moment and she laughed. “Gross. Shut up. What are you doing on this floor anyway? Shouldn’t you be in the penthouse office sitting with your feet up at your desk pretending to work?”

The two of them had established this routine of trading barbs nearly a decade earlier and Alexis didn’t see the status quo changing any time soon.

“I’m late for a meeting myself. I’ll walk with you.”

It wasn’t until they fell into step next to each other that she noticed the tight lines around his mouth. Then he reached up to rub a kink out of his neck.

“Rough day?”

He nodded. “Yes. I had to fire an employee this afternoon and then watch him be arrested for stealing drugs from the pharmacy. And I just ran into an odd young man in the elevator who was very interested in where I got my ring.”

Alexis glanced at the signet ring. She’d never seen Michael wearing it before, but she understood why he wouldn’t want to field questions about it. The ring was emblazoned with the symbol of the Trinity Masters. It was one of the few pieces of information she’d gleaned from her invitation to join the secret society a decade earlier. Harrison wore the same ring.

Which meant Michael was a member as well. That realization hit her hard, despite the fact it made sense. He and Harrison had been best friends forever. Her thoughts whirled over what that meant.

She didn’t question him about the ring, though it was clear he’d pointed it out to her on purpose. “I…” She had no idea what to say, so she simply said, “I see.”

An uneasy churning began in her stomach.

Together they continued toward the conference room at the end of the corridor. When Michael matched her step for step, not bothering to turn, her suspicions were confirmed and panic set in. They were running out of rooms before they would hit the administrative wing, which meant…

“No,” she whispered, stopping in the middle of the hallway.

Michael looked around, taking in their surroundings. Only one RN sat behind the nurse’s station talking on the phone while typing on the computer.

Michael grasped her arm and gestured toward an empty hospital room. She let him drag her inside, her head swimming, white noise drowning out all conscious thought. Harrison wanted her to sleep with Michael? Her boss? The guy who drove her nuts on a good day?

Surely she was mistaken. Harrison couldn’t seriously believe this would work.

“Who did you say you were meeting?” she asked once Michael closed the door behind them.

“I didn’t.”

“Michael.” She was in no mood for games.

“You agreed to a month.”

She gasped. “No. No way. Not with you.”

He gave her a grin that was far too charming, revealing dimples she’d never noticed before. He was almost handsome when he smiled. That thought caught her unaware. Since when did Michael look like anything other than a stuffed-shirt bureaucrat? “Why not me?”

“Because you make me crazy. Because we fight all the time. Because you’re the Joker to my Batman.”

He chuckled. “Why do you get to be Batman?”

She rolled her eyes. “Will you be serious?”

“You started it.” He sobered up. A little. There was still mischief glimmering in his blue eyes. Blue eyes? God, why was she suddenly looking at his eyes? “I am being serious, Alexis.”

It was the first time she’d ever heard him call her by her first name. For a decade, she’d simply been Dr. Jenner, despite the fact she’d called him Michael for years. She shook her head. “This isn’t going to work.”

Michael studied her face for so long she felt heat course to her cheeks. She was blushing, for God’s sake.

“Maybe not. But I can’t dismiss it this easily. The truth is I’ve always wanted you.”

Alexis tried to process that fact, found herself analyzing their relationship. Suddenly, she recognized something that knocked her off-kilter. There had definitely been sexual tension under the teasing. However, she’d ignored it for years, labeling it as inappropriate, wrong. The man was her boss, after all.

Michael gave her a few moments to come to grips with his confession and then he grinned. The wolfish smile made her uneasy. Had she given herself away? Let him see that somewhere, buried deep, she’d harbored some lust for him as well?

He reached for her face and cupped her cheek in a way that actually made her pussy tingle.

He leaned closer. “What do you say we test the waters before we give up so easily?”

“What do you me—” Before she could finish asking what he meant, he was there, kissing her. She remained still for a moment, marveling over his obvious skill. She would have sworn no one could kiss as well as Harrison, but there was no denying he and Michael were pretty much dead even in that arena.

Then she reclaimed her wits and pushed him away. What the hell was she doing? “Don’t kiss me.”

Michael sighed. “Can’t you give me a chance, Alexis?”

She didn’t respond, but she was certain her face told him what he was asking for was impossible.

His face was serious—and even a little sad—when he sighed. “If not for me, then can you try for Harrison? I know he told you what’s at stake.”