Night Is Darkest (17 page)

Tyler’s account of their ill-fated car ride made it clear more than drowsiness had influenced Lacey’s behavior. However, the lab hadn’t turned up any abnormal substances in her blood or the last few drops of her coffee. They were going over her car, her clothes and anything else they could think of now.

Ty limped across the floor from the bathroom, disrupting Mason’s circuitous pattern of thoughts. His raven hair spiked in damp clumps as he finished drying his torso with ginger swipes of the maroon towel before tossing it into the open hamper without looking. The grotesque line of bruises marching up his ribs stole Mason’s breath. He’d bet there were more beneath the baggy sweatpants riding low on Ty’s slim hips as a result of his impact with the dash. His solid body had sheltered Lacey from the worst of the collision.

The tree branch that would have impaled him had he been wearing his seatbelt had prevented him from being thrown out the window but it had smashed into his exposed ribs. Mason would have sworn at least one or two were cracked but the X-rays the stubborn ass had finally agreed to, after insisting he be allowed to stay with Lacey, showed they were merely bruised. Still, Mason bet they hurt something fierce. They’d come so close to disaster, he still couldn’t entirely convince himself of their safety.

“I think I’m going to take a quick nap. My hip is throbbing like a bitch.”

“Wuss.” The jab came out half-hearted. Ty’d refused the pain medication the doctor had prescribed in order to stay alert. Mason could respect that but knew his partner would be paying for it now.

“Come lie with us, Mason. Today’s been hardest on you.”

“Oh yeah, because getting pulled from a mangled car had to have been the most relaxing thing you’ve done this year.”

“You’re so tense I’m afraid you’re going to crack a tooth.” Ty reached out to hug him when he neared but Mason drew away as if burned.

Tyler’s shunned hands fisted as they dropped to his side. His usually brilliant eyes seemed to dull further from pain or, maybe, betrayal. With stilted strides so different from his standard loose-limbed grace, he lumbered to the bed. When he eased onto the mattress he looked drained, like a hundred-year-old man. Defeat slumped his shoulders, making Mason feel like a royal bastard.

The man had been in a serious wreck then practically walked it off. Sure, he’d zoned out for a minute or two but, as soon as he’d realized Lacey needed help to get extricated from her crunched sedan, he’d perked up. After guiding her limbs around the distorted steel, he’d hauled himself out before anyone could help.

In the next heartbeat, they’d crowded into the ambulance with a still unconscious Lacey. He’d deferred all medical attention in order to ensure she got premium care. He’d only permitted his own exam in the hospital once the doctor had assured them Lacey’s injuries were minor and Mason had threatened to have him admitted if he didn’t permit the check-up.

He’d grudgingly agreed, though Mason had watched him struggle to refrain from snapping at the staff to hurry. They still had no idea who’d fucked with Lacey. They’d stowed her at Mama Rose’s where Mason intended to ditch Ty as well but he’d resisted being left behind. Together, they’d headed to the station with zero downtime for the badass to recover.

“You must feel like shit.” Mason knew he’d compounded the physical discomfort with emotional trauma. Tyler didn’t respond.

“Son of a bitch, Ty. Hang on a minute.” He rushed to the other man’s side when he struggled to settle into a more comfortable position. “Want me to get some pillows from one of the other rooms?”

Instead of answering, the wounded man closed his heavy lids, refusing to acknowledge Mason’s presence.

“Don’t you get it? I
can’t
touch you, Ty. Not now. Not when everything is churning in my gut.” Silence. Tyler never shut him out like this. “You’re hurt! I won’t be able to stop once I unleash this…”

“Why would I want you to stop, dumbass?” Ty splayed on his back. He flung a forearm over his face as though he could block out the world. He must not have expected an answer.

Mason dropped to his knees beside the bed. The erratic rise and fall of Ty’s chest hurt him all over again. He had to explain. “Because Lacey is less than a foot away?”

“So?” He still didn’t remove the defined arm to meet Mason’s gaze.

When Mason didn’t answer right away, Ty heaved a huge sigh. “Look, Clark. I just want to decompress for a few in case we get a hit on the second round of tox screenings.”

The clear dismissal rankled. Despite his best intentions, Mason began to get angry. “We’d be cheating on her. I stand by what I said to you the other day. If we’re committed to her, we shouldn’t be with anyone else. Including each other. It’s not right. It puts her at risk!”

Ty went rigid. Mason tried to ignore the residual droplets of water that slid into the contours between Ty’s flexed abs but his cock noticed. It sprang to life in response.

“Do you hear what you’re saying, Mason? I don’t fuck around. You know that. And we’ve always used protection with other women. She signed up for both of us. At the same time. Multiple partners and all that. What we want is only our dirty little secret because you refused to let her in on it.”

“She didn’t…”

“You never gave her the chance!” Ty struggled to sit up but collapsed with a groan.

Mason balled his fingers in his pockets to keep from soothing Tyler. He glanced at Lacey’s face to ground himself—to remind him of his beliefs. Relaxed but dotted with bruises, she looked like a fallen angel, not the kind of woman to take on two rough lovers. Never mind the kind of person who would enjoy the explosion of base physical lust he and Tyler seemed to revel in when they got together.

“She would be disgusted.” He swallowed hard. “And I can’t handle that, Ty. I don’t understand it myself. How could I explain how I feel to her?”

“No, Mason. It’s
you
who’s always struggled with our attraction. Don’t make this about her. You saw the pictures she had on her hard drive. There were plenty of bi scenarios, not to mention all the hot gay action she had mixed in. You don’t have to say anything, just show her how it is between us.”

“I’m not gay.”

“You’ve buried your monster cock in my ass more times than I can count. What do you call that, Mason? Is it so hard to admit you want me?” Tyler turned his head toward Lacey. “Just think… She didn’t horde all those pictures overnight. I wonder how many times she’s kicked back in her desk chair to stroke herself while she added a new morsel to the stash. I can imagine her fingers sliding over the slick folds of her pretty pussy, coated in that sweet juice while she thought of…”

“Fuck! Shut the hell up, Ty.”

“Now imagine what she’d do if she saw the real thing.”

“That’s a cheap shot,” Mason growled as his cock rioted in his pants. After the adrenaline of the day, he needed an outlet to slake his bottled aggression. Fear of losing his loved ones incited a need to claim them all over again. He must be demented. Tyler’s reasoning was starting to make some kind of twisted sense.

“Fine. You’re immune to me. You can go forever without ever touching me again. But I don’t think I can live this way, Mason. I need you.”

Horror lanced through his heart when Tyler’s eyes turned glassy.

“After being so fucking helpless while we crashed, I thought…I thought she’d died, too. I thought someone had killed her right in front of my eyes. Just like Rob. I’m fucking pissed off. I’m terrified that someone could hurt her again. And I’m horny.”

Tyler groaned then slid one broad hand across his smooth chest, over his shimmering abs and into the waistband of his pants. Mason’s resolve began to crumble when Ty cupped the erection tenting the soft cotton. He tried to get up but his legs boycotted the decision.

“I jacked off twice in the shower. Nothing works. It’s driving me insane. Lacey is out of commission. She has a concussion, for God’s sake. Please, Mason. I need you. I’ll do whatever you want. Prove we’re okay.”

Ty’s other hand snaked out, wandering around Mason’s shoulders to bury in the hair at the nape of his neck. The tiny tug shouldn’t have propelled him forward at the speed of light but Mason couldn’t resist the temptation of a begging submissive. Every fiber of his nature harkened to the instinctive lure.

Before he could rethink the urge, he crushed his lips to Tyler’s then devoured his mouth. The kiss acted as an outlet for all his rage, terror and relief. They exchanged moans, lashes of their tongues and not-so-tender love bites. Mason nipped at Ty’s chin causing the other man to growl and arch his neck in invitation.

Lost in each other, they failed to notice the slight shifting from the other side of the bed. They didn’t even hear the tentative but awestruck, “Guys?” Instead, they continued to ravage each other until a delicate touch, unmistakably feminine, covered their joined hands on the pillowcase beside Ty’s head.

Then they both froze.

Chapter Twelve

“Don’t stop.” Lacey’s whispered plea rang out like the report of a high-powered rifle in the deafening silence of her bedroom.

Tyler observed Mason with longing oozing from every pore of his body. She could almost feel him willing Mason to continue his sensual assault. But Mason spun to face her so fast she feared he’d fall off the edge of the bed where he braced his torso over Ty’s on straight locked arms.

“Lacey! I-I can explain.” His breath burst from his chest in giant pants.

“No need.” She tried to roll onto her side to watch them full on but a wave of dizziness stopped her in her tracks. Though she clamped her mouth shut to prevent it, a whimper escaped. Tyler reached for her but Mason got there first. Leaning over Ty, he rested the backs of his fingers against her forehead then stroked her hair. “I’m fine. Really. I just wanted a better seat for the show.”

Instead of resuming where he’d left off, Mason nibbled at her lips then brushed his own over hers so lightly she couldn’t say if they’d touched or if she’d detected the breeze of his mouth passing nearby until she caught a hint of the cinnamon gum Ty favored. Stealing it from Mason made it taste twice as good.

“Excuse me.” Tyler nudged Mason’s face aside with his cheek as he butted in for a kiss of his own. Full, fluid strokes of his tongue tantalized her but the drugs she’d taken fuzzed her senses, restricting the pleasure that should have suffused her at his touch.

“I’m so sorry, Ty,” she murmured against his parted lips. Somehow he understood her reference to both the accident and her inability to relieve him.

“Shh, little one. We’re safe now. James, Mike and Razor are staked out around the house. All you have to worry about is getting better.”

“You sound like your mom.”

He dismissed her concerns as the guys appeared to ignore the sparks she’d seen flying between them when she woke. Had it been a lingering dream? She might have believed that if the scratch of Mason’s five o’clock shadow hadn’t painted Ty’s olive complexion bright red. They had so much practice cloaking their relationship, it had become second nature. But she refused to allow them to hide from her any longer.

She studied each man in turn. Mason refused to meet her stare. His fingers clenched in the sheets and she thought he might start vibrating beneath the effort of containing all the tension trapped in his strung muscles. But the agony she read in Tyler’s morose eyes, though he attempted to disguise it with a weak smile, tore her heart in two.

Another point for Mama Rose.

“Mason, could you help me to the bathroom?” She cleared her throat to cover her disgust. Playing into their misplaced notion of her helplessness couldn’t be avoided.

In a flash, he’d scooped her up tight to his chest. She watched his still-pounding pulse throb in the pronounced vein on his sexy throat as he jumped to accept any excuse for escape. Okay, so maybe their attention had its benefits every once in a while. When he turned toward the adjoining room, she caught sight of Ty as he crashed back onto the pile of pillows with a groan. The frustrated flop of his arms, not to mention the tent in his pants, cinched her resolve.

Lacey grimaced when her bare toes touched the chilled tile floor as Mason set her in front of the toilet. “Put the water in the sink on high and turn around, please?”

“I don’t want you to slip and fall, doll. Are you still dizzy?” The nearly translucent hue of her skin worried him further. He maintained a firm grip on her upper arms.

“I just moved too quick when I first woke up. I’m alright now, I promise.”

Though he didn’t necessarily believe she’d made a full recovery, he tested out her statement by releasing his support by degrees. When she stood straight and tall without a hint of wobble, Mason nodded then did as she asked.

He let his forehead fall onto the paneled wood door, straining for any hint of distress from her direction as he castigated himself for the rash behavior she’d interrupted.

He’d been so reckless! Foolish!

A whisper of sound ghosted to his ears as she approached from behind but he stayed perfectly still, afraid to meet her gaze. He jerked when her palm pressed to his tight lower abs. The muscles of his back flexed when she laid her cheek between his shoulder blades. Though he knew he should return her straight to Tyler then concoct some excuse to leave, he entwined their fingers then drew her hand over the steady thump of his heart instead.