Glutton for Pleasure (7 page)

No, a girl needed a clear head to deal with such a curve ball. One didn’t get a clear head by getting banged in the shower. More’s the pity. “I think I’ll stay in bed for a little bit longer.” She www.samhainpublishing.com 41

Alisa Rai

faked a yawn and stretched her arms above her head. Only then did she realize how sore her muscles really were.

He gave in good-naturedly. Unashamed of his nudity, Jace plodded over to a small duffel bag sitting on her delicate pink vanity bench. He unzipped it and removed neatly folded Jockey’s.

She bit her lip as knowledge dawned. “How did that get in here?”

“Marcus brought it in from the car. We each keep an extra change of clothes in both of our trunks.”

Of course. That’s what all playboys must do. Stupid to feel hurt about that. Just then Jace glanced up. She tried to mask her expression, but she must not have been quick enough, because he straightened. “For the gym, Devi. See?” Jace reached into the bag again and pulled out a pair of running shorts. “I don’t mind wearing my pants from yesterday, but it’s nice to have fresh boxers and a T-shirt.”

If it was stupid to be hurt over the thought of them being prepared for trysts, it was probably more stupid to be relieved that wasn’t the case. Nonetheless, the knot of anxiety in her stomach eased.

Jace dropped the shorts back into the bag and walked over to a pile of clothes which lay on the floor. Devi blushed to realize her bra lay right on top. Marcus must have gathered the garments from the foyer. Jace picked up and shook out his dress shirt and slacks with a snort of disgruntled irritation. “The least he could have done was fold them neatly.”

She rose up on her elbows and eyed the bundle of white cotton and grey twill in his hands. “I never buy any clothes that need an iron.”

“Did I spend the night with a slave to the mass-produced wash-and-wear industry?”

“Guilty.”

“If you want, I’ll iron your clothes for you.” He waggled his eyebrows. “I’ll even wear nothing but an apron while I do it.”

“Hmm, I can picture you in something pink with ruffled lace…”

“A manly apron,” he corrected with haste. “One of those ones with a boiled lobster on it.”

“I guess I can kiss the pearls and high heels goodbye, right?”

“Hey, look, lady, I’m kinky, but you’re scaring me.”

She was still chuckling when she heard his shower turn on. Devi jumped out of bed, gathered fresh underwear and clothes and headed to her attached bathroom.

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Steam filled the small room and sank into her pores. She smiled to herself as she soaped up and thought of Jace in her pink guest bathroom. Bantering with him could become addictive. She didn’t feel at all shy or awkward around Jace as she normally did around most men. Even Marcus, as intimidating as he was, made her feel relaxed and herself at some basic level.

I don’t want it to be for just one night.

She ducked her head under the spray, allowing the water to wash away the suds in her hair and down her body. What had he meant? Did he want to keep seeing her? Having sex with her?

By himself or with Marcus? Was Marcus in agreement? Where was he anyway? Had he left?

Maybe Jace just wanted to have another threesome. Like once more. Not multiple times. She shouldn’t get her hopes up. Wait, was she hoping for more? Of course not.

“Argh!”

She grabbed the loofah and scrubbed her body until her skin grew pink. This was not supposed to have happened. An easy no-complications night now brimmed with complexities and potholes, and all thanks to a single sentence.

This is what happens when you shine the light of day onto a fantasy. Way to go, Devi.

Not that she would have changed a single second of last night for anything. For one night, she had lived her fantasy, and it had been amazing. She hadn’t been frumpy or chubby, or heaven forbid, comfortable or sweet. She had been sexy. She stepped out of the shower, wrapped thick terrycloth towels around her body and hair and swiped her hand over the mirror to stare at her reflection.

With her hair slicked back, her features looked different, her eyes darker and bigger, her cheekbones more pronounced, her skin softer and clearer. As if her lovers’ bodies had renewed her own.

She shook her head at such a fanciful thought but reached for her Victoria’s Secret lotion instead of the generic store-brand stuff she normally used. She dropped the towel and slicked the cream over her flesh, the scent of jasmine permeating the room.

Even her skin felt different, the nerve endings more sensitized, tingling as she slipped a satin and lace bikini up her legs and snapped the front snap on her matching bra.
Thank goodness Rana
gave me the matching set for my birthday.
Otherwise she’d be wearing striped orange briefs with a purple polka-dot bra. She really needed to invest in more lingerie.

Would she be needing it?

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Yes. Even if Jace had been talking nonsense—which she was okay with, damn it—she liked the way she felt today. Like a new woman. No, like a real woman. Even if no one ever saw her nice panties, she would know. That would feel pretty cool.

She slipped a cute little yellow sundress over her head and sucked in her breath to pull up the side zipper. A much-needed improvement over her usual Sunday wear of faded jeans and oversized men’s T-shirts. Devi ran a brush through her hair and studied herself in the mirror critically. Nice. Well, she would never be in her sisters’ leagues, but the A-line skirt flattered her curves and the glow in her skin made up for a lot of flaws this morning.

Now, time to meet her men.

~ * ~

Devi had a magnet on her dishwasher.

He should never have slept with her.

Marcus took a sip of his scalding coffee and studied the little happy hummingbird on the stainless-steel appliance. On one side, the hummingbird chirped “CLEAN”, while on the other, it proclaimed “DIRTY”. For some reason, the cheery domestic little magnet encapsulated everything that was different and wrong with them mixing it up with Devi. Hell, he’d never even seen any of their previous women’s houses by the light of day. However, he doubted any of them had been the type to care what state their dishes were in.

He had tapped Jace awake around five, just when dawn had started to break, but his brother had merely shaken his head, drawn Devi closer and snuggled in to sleep. Marcus could read his thoughts without him even speaking.
You leave if you want, I’m staying.

Marcus told himself he couldn’t possibly leave, for the practical reason that they had come in one car and he didn’t want to put Jace in the awkward position of having to call a cab in the morning.

You could have called a cab.
Marcus winced. Well, duh. His practical reason didn’t hold much water, especially since the truth was clearly evident. He didn’t want to leave for the same reason he feared he saw in Jace—he was already halfway to smitten with the woman. That scared the figurative pants off him.

God, he wished he could have just jumped back into bed and grabbed a handful of her softness for himself. But he’d never in his life slept next to a woman, and starting with Devi 44

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seemed like a monumentally bad idea. So, like an idiot, he spent a few sleepless hours on the too-short couch in the living room before stumbling in to brew a pot of his favorite gourmet coffee in Devi’s state-of-the-art coffee maker.

Jeez, she would have to be a coffee connoisseur too, wouldn’t she?

He glared at the hapless hummingbird and took another draw of his elixir.

Marcus didn’t need to hear the footsteps behind him to know Jace had entered the kitchen.

He could feel him. “Coffee’s on,” he grunted.

Jace didn’t say a word until he had poured a large mug, taken a sip and sighed. He turned and surveyed the kitchen. “Wow.”

“Yeah.”

“It’s very—bright.”

Marcus took a look around the room. The stainless-steel appliances were all professional grade, worthy of someone who knew cooking, but the rest of the décor could only be called cheerful whimsy. Yellow gingham curtains hung over the large window and matched the tablecloth and chair covers on the little breakfast table, and daisies were everywhere. A vase of the fresh flowers on the countertop, magnets on the fridge, a cookie jar. If he didn’t know better, he would have sworn Devi had exploded a can of spring in the room.

Jace cocked his head. “After seeing some of her rooms, I’m thinking our girl goes for the monochromatic effect.”

Our girl?
What, was she wearing their letterman’s jacket? “Stop that.”

“What?”

“Is she up yet?”

“Yup. And I even let her shower by herself. I think she’s feeling shy again. She had a death grip on the sheet.” Jace shrugged. “I didn’t want to push her.”

Marcus would have. The idea of Devi hiding her body bothered him, and as he had proved last night, he couldn’t keep his civility around her. Then again, Jace generally had a softer touch where women were concerned. That was why they worked so well together.

“So what do you want for breakfast?” Jace opened the fridge. “We could go out, but I figured we’d do dinner out.”

“Are you serious?”

“Well, I guess we could make dinner. It’s just that we have such a limited repertoire, and I hate for her to feel pressured to cook for us constantly, you know?”

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“I’m not quite sure what you’re up to, but it needs to stop.”

Jace closed the door and turned to him, his eyes round with surprise. “You
do
want her to cook for us? That’s not really fair. She probably gets sick of it by the time she gets home.”

Marcus felt like pulling his hair out. “Stop being obtuse. We need to leave.”

“Now? Why?”

“Because that’s what we do.”

“Maybe that’s not what I want to do.”

“What about what I want? What about what she wants?”

A trace of something that looked like pity moved in Jace’s expression. “You want to leave?

Walk out on her without even saying goodbye? You think she would want that? That she wouldn’t care?”

“We’ve done it before.” They had, and he’d never thought twice or cared how the woman felt. A feeling close to shame wormed through him. Because no matter what tough-cookie act Devi put on, he knew she had never in her life had a one-night stand with one guy, let alone two.

No, he didn’t flatter himself into thinking her heart would break, but all of a sudden he didn’t want to think of her experiencing that same feeling of emptiness that crept over him occasionally.

“We should never have messed around with her.”

“Why?”

“Why…?” Marcus battled the urge to shake his brother. “Christ, Jace. She’s got a fucking magnet on her fucking dishwasher.”

Jace leaned down and picked up the bird, his frown clearing as he turned it over in his hand.

“Hey, this is ingenious. You’ll never have to wonder if your dishes are clean. How clever.”

Marcus gritted his teeth. “She didn’t invent it, man.”

“Still.” Jace replaced the magnet. “I don’t see what the big deal is.”

“The big deal is she’s not our type. I shouldn’t have even agreed to this last night, but since I did, we need to minimize the fallout here.”

“Why? Has she kicked us out? No. Do you want to leave?”

Marcus ran a hand through his hair. How could he possibly explain the fight-or-flight instincts running through his system? He felt trapped, like a cage was closing in behind him. “We never stay this long. I don’t see what the point is. We’re done here. I just—I think we need to go.”

“So go.”

The voice came from behind him. And it wasn’t his brother’s. Aw, shit.

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It’s no big deal, it’s no big deal.

Devi repeated the mantra to herself as she entered the room to walk purposefully to the coffee maker. She managed to avoid the eyes of both men. No easy feat—though her kitchen was roomy, the two giants took up a good amount of space, and then some. Jace wore his wrinkled pants from the night before, his spotless white T-shirt snug against his muscles, but Marcus wore only a pair of unsnapped jeans. His shoulders looked even larger than normal.

You didn’t even expect to see them in the morning
. So Marcus’s words couldn’t hurt her.

They shouldn’t.

They did.

At least in that stupid, sentimental part of her heart that had fluttered when Jace had said what he had in bed. Clearly, he had only meant he wanted to stay to enjoy a cup of her excellent coffee. Well, she owed them that for all the pleasure she received, she supposed. She poured herself a mug and turned to look at them, pasting a pleasant expression on her face.

Silence filled the room for a second as they both eyed her warily, as if she might fly into dramatic hysterics. Devi imagined what the three of them would look like to someone peeking in the window, standing like strangers in a stiff circle, while only hours before they had lain entangled in her bed in a human pretzel. “Well, thanks for the night, guys.” She raised the coffee in a toast. “It’s been real. Do you need directions?”

Jace set his mug on the counter with a clink and walked over to her to turn her around into his arms. He pulled her untouched cup away and placed it on the counter behind him before he encircled her waist with his arms and ignored the fine tension in her body. “Devi, sweetheart, like I told you, I don’t want to go.”

“I think Marcus would like to.” She made a concentrated effort to keep her voice matter-of-fact, not whiny or petulant. She was proud of the final result.

A tortured sound came from behind her and Jace shook his head, sorrow in his eyes. “No, he doesn’t. Or he would have left by now, not talked me to death.” He looked over her shoulder.

“Right?”

Devi gave a careless shrug. “You guys really don’t need to stay on my account. Seriously, I didn’t even expect to see you today.”