Nobody's Angel (13 page)

“You aren’t eating,” he said, pointing to her plate.

She stared longingly at the meat dish, hiking the corner of her mouth up as if in regret. “I don’t have much of an appetite.”

“
L’appetito vien mangiando
.”

“Hey, Marc, I bet I can translate that one, because my Mom used to say ‘Appetite comes with eating.’” He’d hung out with Marc long enough to pick up some of the Italian words, like
mangia
, the man liked to sprinkle in his speech.

Both Angel and Marc smiled at him. Hell, yeah. He’d gotten it right. Luke reached out and took her fork from her hand, cut off a piece of the meat, and lifted the fork to her lips. Her sexy mouth opened as she accepted his offering, her eyes on him rather than the food.

He tried not to think about how it would feel to kiss her mouth or feel her lips around his…
whoa there, buddy
. Watching her eat brought that long-neglected appendage to full attention. He’d never thought about how sensuous feeding a woman could be. She closed her eyes and moaned as if in the throes of sex. Her face was so damned expressive. She clearly enjoyed eating. So, why had she feigned no appetite?

Next, Marc broke off a piece of the bruschetta and brought it to her lips. “Open.” She opened her eyes and smiled, then accepted the crusty bread. “How is your appetite now,
cara
?”

“Improving.” She smiled at Marc.

Angel didn’t seem anything like Maggie. His wife had been a biologist and took everything so damned seriously, especially herself. Angel seemed to know how to let her hair down and have fun. To be spontaneous, not plan everything to the nth degree. Maggie didn’t veer from a plan once it was made.

Which is probably what got her killed. He’d spent seven years blaming himself for her death, but damned if Maggie didn’t own a share of the blame, too.

Luke took another bite from his own plate, but didn’t taste the food any longer. He glanced at Angel who, at the moment, was eating out of Marc’s hand. Damn. If he wanted to stay in the game and not just hand her to his partner on a platter in short order, he needed a hurry-up offense.

“Please, stop! I can’t eat another bite!” She laughed, a deep, rich laugh that sent electricity arcing from his chest to his cock. “You all are the ones who are supposed to be eating. This dinner is for you!”

Jeezus, too late. He needed to stay on his toes tonight.

* * *

They all agreed to save dessert for later and Angelina stood and reached for a plate to begin clearing the dishes from the table, but Marc and Luke banished her to the living room. Needing to calm her nerves, she went to the stereo. The sounds of their rinsing and stacking dishes were soon drowned out by Mary Chapin Carpenter’s
Time*Sex*Love*
CD.

While waiting for them to join her, she stretched out, leaning her head against the armrest and closed her eyes. Soon, the music engulfed her. Despite their earlier admonition for her to put Allen out of her mind, images of the attack and the memory of his threats caused her to worry at her lower lip. What if he came back later, after Marc and Luke left? What if he was outside now, just waiting for them to leave?

“I haven’t eaten like that since…” Marc began, then stopped. “Worrying again, pet?”

She kept her eyes closed, but averted her face in guilt. When she felt the edge of the sofa cushion sink under his weight, she started to open her eyes.

“Keep your eyes closed.”

Okay, no argument there. She was exhausted. The pressure of firm fingertips soothing the worry lines from her brow caused her to sink back against the armrest, no strength left in her body. Yet, despite her outward appearance of relaxation, her insides were strung tighter than a
mandolina
.

“Tell me what you’re worrying about,
cara.
”

Why did she feel a strange compulsion to answer him honestly? She opened her eyes and he removed his hands. “I said eyes closed.” She complied and he trailed his fingers along her cheek, relaxing her a bit, then she began worrying again.

“I, um…I’m afraid Allen might come back after you leave.” Before he could reassure her with empty promises, she continued, “I hate to ask this, after all you’ve both done already, but if you don’t have to head back to Denver tonight, would one of you mind staying here?” She prepared herself for rejection, knowing they had to get back to their own lives.

Rather than answer, Marc leaned closer and whispered into her ear. “
Cara
, we won’t let him anywhere near you ever again.”

Ever? She pushed him away and opened her eyes, despite his orders, and searched his eyes. How could he make a promise like that? They couldn’t stay on guard duty forever. And yet he looked so certain, she wanted to believe him.

When Luke came into the room from the hallway bathroom, Angelina tried to push herself up. Marc stood and helped ease her into a seated position in the middle of the sofa. He sat down on one side of her and Luke on the other.

“We’re both staying, darlin’.” He sounded as though the two of them had already made up their minds before she’d even asked.

She turned from one to the other. “Thank you,” her voice sounding husky. Strangely, even though she knew they couldn’t keep their promise to protect her forever, she hadn’t felt this safe and secure since…well, since Papa died. Her world had tilted on its axis that day and had never righted itself again.

She laid her head against the back of the sofa and closed her eyes, the heat from their bodies warming the chilled air around her. “I’m sorry you two are always having to rescue me.”

Luke leaned over and whispered, as if for her ears only, “That’s what we do, darlin’.”

“I’m not usually so needy.”

The two chuckled at the same time, then Marc nuzzled her neck, his scruff scratching in the most delightful way, sending a series of zings shooting straight to her clit. She didn’t even know the two areas had a direct-current connection.

“What else do you need from us,
cara
?” Marc’s fingertips grazed her bare shoulder in feather-light strokes, causing chill bumps to rise over her entire body. Her nipples beaded. Only she didn’t feel the least bit cold anymore.

Luke ran his fingers through her hair, then lowered his head and nuzzled that side of her neck. A tingling raced down her spine, settling in on her now throbbing clit.

“Mmmm.” Her moan seemed to embolden him because Luke’s fingers trailed lightly down her arm.

“Well,
bella
?”

What was the question? She opened her eyes and turned toward Marc, who lowered his lips toward hers, then stopped and pulled back. He blinked and she regretted it when he pulled away. Hadn’t he just been about to kiss her? Hadn’t she wanted him to?

Definitely yes on both counts.

But that wasn’t the question he was waiting for her to answer. “Can you tell me what the question was again?”

When Marc remained silent, Luke reminded her. “What can we do to make you feel better tonight?”

Kiss me
.

“Love to, darlin’.”

Mio Dio!
Had she spoken the words out loud? All ability to form a coherent thought fled as Luke leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers. While she’d spoken the words for Marc, the tingling in her lips spread down the length of her body. When the tip of Luke’s tongue flicked across the opening of her mouth, she opened and welcomed the teasing of his tongue in a sexy mating dance. This time, her clit pulsed in response to Luke. Apparently, it didn’t have a preference between the two men.

When he pulled back, Luke smiled and she saw a sweet vulnerability in his eyes. He really did tug at her heartstrings, even though he didn’t cause her to go weak in the knees as Marc did. She reached up and brushed a lock of hair off his forehead. To have lost the love of his life at such a young age must have been devastating.

“You’re so beautiful, darlin’. I’ve been dying to kiss you again since last night.”

Luke’s hand stroked up and down her arm, his callused fingers sending delicious tingles through her body. Then his fingers started downward again, brushing over one breast. Her nipple hardened and her clit actually became uncomfortable, needing his touch. She tensed. She wasn’t about to admit what she needed right now.

“Relax,
bella
. Let us bring you pleasure after all you’ve given us tonight?”

Bring her pleasure. She’d never been one to accept pleasure without giving it All she’d done was cook and serve them a meal. But she wasn’t about to serve herself up as dessert. She’d made a perfectly delectable Italian cream cake for that.

“I don’t think I can do this.”

“We aren’t going to jump your bones, darlin’.”

“
Cara
, we just want you to fly apart for us a time or two. That would please us immensely. Anytime you tell us to stop, we’ll stop immediately.”

“Angel, you’ve been through a lot tonight. You need to release some of the stress.”

They just wanted to please her? Her dream lover had commanded her to fly apart, as well. Now she found herself wanting these two gorgeous men more than she’d ever wanted anything in her life.

She smiled. What would they say if they discovered she was sitting between them without any panties? That was supposed to be her little secret, but if she let them go any further…

“Does that smile mean what we think it does,
cara
?”

“Probably not. Depends on just how much pleasing you plan to do.”

“Ah, the lady offers us a challenge, Luke.” Marc’s hand massaged her neck and shoulders, so sweet to avoid the sore areas. There must be visible marks for him to know where not to touch her. She grimaced, remembering…

“Your muscles are too tight. Relax, pet.” His fingers worked their magic, pressing the knots out of her neck, stiff from when Allen had backhanded her. She moaned.

“Like that, do you?”

“Oh, yes.”

Luke’s hand reached down to cup her breast, gently rolling the nipple between his fingers. When he began to lower his mouth toward her chest, she felt a momentary return of her good judgment and was about to stop him when he took her nipple between his teeth right through her blouse.
Mio Dio!
Her chest developed a will of its own, pressing up toward his lips as she arched and threw her head back. The cloth of the blouse added to the friction against her engorged nipple, sending runaway electrical current ricocheting throughout her body.

She squirmed in her seat. Not used to such intense sensations, Angelina gasped and reached out to move Luke’s head away, but Marc intercepted her hands and held them against the back of the sofa above her head.

“Just feel,
cara
. Stop thinking and feel.”

The removal of her hands gave Luke easier access, but also removed more of her inhibitions in some strange way. Luke cupped her other breast and tugged at the already aroused bud there. His hand continued to explore, roaming down to massage her thigh. She tried to close her thighs tighter.

“Open yourself up to receiving pleasure, rather than always giving it. Tonight is all about your pleasure,
bella
.”

She knew he meant more than opening her legs. Could she lower her inhibitions long enough to let two men please her at once? Hardly. But what harm was there in letting it go just a little further? As if she could have stopped Luke now even if she’d wanted to. But she was a sensible, good girl. She’d come to her senses in time.

Luke’s mouth left her breast—the cold air against the wet cloth causing her nipple to harden even more. As if sensing her surrender, he smiled. Marc turned and moved until his back was against the armrest, then they both helped swing her around lengthwise on the soda until Marc pulled her snuggly against his hard body, cradling her in his arms.

His erect penis pressed against her buttocks, telling her she wasn’t the only one aroused. Oh, my! She started to get up, when he chuckled.

“I’m not a teenager,
cara
. A thirty-three-year old man can control the urges of his body. You’re safe.”

Safe. This was not the kind of safety she’d been taught to need. And yet with these two men, she’d felt nothing but safe since she’d met them.

“Keep your hands here,
cara
.” Marc bent her arms at the elbows and tucked them behind her head with her hands pressed tightly against the back of her neck. The position caused her breasts to jut out. She knew she could move her hands at any time she wished to, so she felt no fear.

“Close your eyes.”

Angelina obeyed Marc’s instructions, her ability to deny either one of them dwindling. She wanted more. Much more. For the first time in her life, she decided to let herself experience the kind of pleasure she’d only read about, not worrying about what she needed to give in return. They’d said this wasn’t about their getting off.

She was going to be decadently selfish.

The thud of her heart against her chest confirmed her need. Marc gathered her hair away from her chest and face, around the back of her head, and then let it cascade down her left arm. He pulled her head and arms back against his chest and lay his chin lightly on the top of her head. Though the pressure of his chin was gentle, she felt even more restrained. The only other time a man had placed his chin on her head like that…no, this was no time to conjure up a dream lover. Two real men were more than enough.

Just as she began to wonder what Luke was up to, she felt him remove her ballet flats and massage her feet and ankles. Marc’s fingers feathered along the undersides of her arms through the blouse, raising gooseflesh wherever he touched her. When he continued the path downward, he brushed against the sides of her breasts. She sucked in a breath, her chest and hips arching upward, toward which man she didn’t know.

Luke’s lips brushed over her calves, trailing kisses as he continued to blaze a trail.

She’d never experienced so many sensations at once. When Marc’s fingertips skimmed down to her abdomen, she nearly kicked Luke in the head as her leg reflexed.

Marc laughed. “Ticklish?”

“Sorry.”

Luke looked up at her and grinned. “I think I might need to hold these babies down for my own protection, darlin’. He wrapped his arms around her calves and pressed his lips and tongue against her, moving upward. The muscles at the opening of her vagina clenched in anticipation.