Primal Passion (8 page)

Price kissed her. “Good. I’m not using a
condom.”

Gunner lifted his head. “Price…”

“I’m clean. You?”

Gunner nodded.

“Then this conversation is over. She’s ours.
We’re hers. I’m not putting anything between us. If you want to,
that’s your call to make.”

“Does everything about today feel completely
weird to anyone else, or is it just me?” While Deni had spent
nearly every second since Price walked into her lab struggling to
adjust, neither man displayed the slightest bit of unease or
confusion or…hell…anything.

Gunner pressed a quick kiss on her shoulder.
“It’s all odd, Deni. But that doesn’t mean it’s wrong.”

“I’m not saying that. It’s just—”

Price interrupted her. “I understand what you
mean. You and I are jumping into this relationship in the middle.
Most couples have a definite beginning where they play the dating
game. They get to know each other slowly, in safe places like
restaurants and movie theaters. You and Gunner got to do a bit of
that. Meanwhile, we skipped the preliminaries, hopped into bed
within hours of meeting, talking about birth control and
masturbating while—”

“Masturbating?” Gunner asked.

Price chuckled. “You missed that part.”

Gunner looked like he wanted specifics, but
Price continued. “Regardless of how strange this situation is, I’m
not sure I’ve ever been in a relationship that felt more natural.
More honest.”

Deni wanted to agree, but she had no
comparison. A quick glance at Gunner’s face confirmed he felt the
same way as Price. She’d take their word for it, because the simple
truth was she trusted them.

Apparently the time for talking had passed.
Gunner sat up, moving her legs apart and kneeling between them. As
she looked into his beloved face, she recognized the power of this
moment. And how much she wanted these men.

She’d told herself she would never experience
love. She was wrong. She would fall in love with them. She probably
was already there with Gunner, and there was something about Price
that called to her, touched her.

Price rose and stood beside the bed. His gaze
never left her face as Gunner leaned forward, placing his cock at
the entrance of her sex. She sucked in a deep breath as Gunner
slowly pressed in.

There was a twinge of discomfort, then a
stinging pain. Deni tried to mask her slight wince, but she clearly
failed. Price frowned as Gunner froze.

“Don’t stop,” she whispered.

Gunner studied her face and then he continued
to move until he was seated to the hilt.

“Okay?” he asked.

She nodded and then grinned. “Guess I’m not a
virgin anymore.”

Gunner didn’t immediately agree. She gasped
when he started to pull out, the sudden movement catching her by
surprise.

He didn’t stop until he’d completely
withdrawn. She was confused until she watched him stepped aside so
Price could take his place.

“Oh,” she said softly as Price entered her.
Like Gunner, he left her feeling uncomfortably full. She’d have to
research the male anatomy, determine if her men were a bit larger
than the norm.

Price leaned forward and kissed her. “Ours,”
he murmured against her lips.

She smiled, no longer feeling threatened by
his undeniable claiming. “Mine,” she declared.

Price moved back the slightest bit and then
pushed in faster.

Deni released a completely unladylike squeak
and wrapped her legs around Price’s waist, urging him to do it
again.

Price complied, thrusting in and out for at
least a dozen strokes. The twinges of discomfort gave way to pure
pleasure.

Then Price left her and Gunner took his
place, driving her farther, higher. Her fingernails dug into
Gunner’s back and he hissed with pain. She recalled his comment
about good hurts. This one must have qualified because he increased
his speed, groaning in obvious desire.

She cried out when Gunner left her again, but
Price didn’t give her time to miss him, picking up the same
maddening, beautiful rhythm.

Deni looked over and watched as Gunner
stroked his own cock, his eyes glued to the place where Price
entered her.

Price had said they would share her. She
hadn’t fully understood what that meant until this moment. When
Gunner reached over to touch her clit, Deni knew she wouldn’t last
much longer.

Price increased his speed, pumping harder as
Gunner stroked her. Deni closed her eyes, struggling not to fly
away. It was too much. Too good.

Mercifully, Price gave her permission to let
go. “I’m not going to last much longer, Denise. Come with me.”

It was all she needed to hear. Her back
arched as lightning struck. Price stiffened above her, a stream of
curse words flowing from his lips. “Jesus Christ. So fucking good.
Shit. Shit, Denise.”

Mere seconds passed before Price pulled out
and collapsed next to her and Gunner returned to take his place.
The head of his cock nudged her and then he stopped.

Deni opened her eyes as Gunner leaned over
her.

“Sore?”

She was touched by his concern. And while she
was definitely feeling twinges of pain in unique places, she would
never tell Gunner. She didn’t want this moment to end.

She shook her head. “No.”

“Liar,” he whispered.

She grinned, cupping his handsome face.
“Don’t you dare stop.”

He slid in slowly, his path eased by her
arousal and Price’s come. He moved slowly, giving her time to
recover, to regroup.

Gunner moved slowly, his face reflective of
someone savoring the moment. Deni smiled, tears forming in her
eyes. She didn’t realize how powerful this experience would be. How
perfect.

Price leaned closer, tugging on her jaw so
she faced him. “Crying?”

Gunner stopped moving, but she shook her
head, tried to pull him closer with her legs around his waist.
“Happy.”

Gunner chuckled and began thrusting deeper,
faster.

Deni tried to catch her breath as the
telltale tingles started in her pussy. Again? She didn’t think it
was possible. Physical exhaustion was claiming her and yet her body
wanted more. Would it always be this way with them?

Price gave her a long, slow, extremely
thorough kiss as his hand gently caressed her breast. Gunner’s
motions became harder, less graceful. He was getting close. So was
she.

Price rubbed her clit—the clever bastard had
found her self-destruct button—and she broke away from his kiss,
struggling to suck in air as her body gave way to another
orgasm.

Gunner came with her. Dropping to his elbows,
he caged her beneath him, his lips and tongue traveling over her
sensitive skin in a way that felt almost reverent.

He withdrew slowly and she couldn’t restrain
the shivers his departure produced. Every part of her body was on
system overload.

Gunner twisted her as he claimed the other
side of the bed, shifting her so that he could spoon her from
behind. Price lay facing her. He dragged one of her legs over his
and nuzzled closer. None of them bothered to pull up the sheet or
blanket. There was enough heat between the three of them that such
things weren’t necessary.

Gunner placed a sleepy kiss on her shoulder
and then she listened as his breathing turned deep, heavy. Price
cupped her face, simply staring at her.

“I wasn’t happy when I got that letter,” he
confessed.

She smiled. “I know. I don’t blame you. I had
pencils in my hair.”

“I was wrong.”

It was three very simple words. Taken apart
they would mean little. Spoken now, together, by Price… Deni wasn’t
sure she’d ever heard anything more beautiful.

A lump formed in her throat, making it
impossible for her to reply. What the hell could she say? He and
Gunner had taken her from her safe, boring world and shown her
Heaven. Thank you seemed insignificant, almost trivial.

As always, she waited too long, forgot to
speak out loud.

Price grinned. “Go to sleep, Denise.”

“Good night,” she whispered, closing her
eyes. Usually her mind raced a mile a minute each night as she lay
down. She’d spend at least an hour playing over her experiments,
analyzing data, plotting out her next day’s course. She jokingly
told Curtis she did her best thinking in bed and the shower. He’d
told her that was a sad state of affairs. She didn’t understand why
he felt that way at the time. Now she did.

She rested her head on Price’s shoulder when
he shifted to his back and snuggled closer.

Then she fell asleep.

Deni opened her eyes, surprised by the bright
sunlight filling the room. Typically she woke before dawn, anxious
and ready to start the workday. She’d slept hours later than
normal.

Heavy breathing coming from both sides
reminded her why. Glancing to her left, she saw Price sacked out on
his back, one arm thrown above his head, the other lying across his
chest. Her dark, dangerous-looking warrior appeared almost
peaceful. The sheet drifted low, only covering him from the waist
down. She was tempted to lift it, to peek beneath to see if he was
hard. She resisted, too afraid she’d wake him.

Looking right, Gunner lay on his stomach, his
face turned toward her. His jaw was covered with a shadow of a
beard, and she realized she’d never seen him looking anything less
than completely put together. She preferred this version of the man
with his mussed-up hair and scruffy beard. He was real.
Handsome.

Hers.

Deni needed to get a grip. Needed time to
figure out what the hell she was supposed to do now. It would be
too easy for her to disappear into these men, into this unusual,
but highly addictive relationship. She squeezed her legs together,
relishing the slight ache in her muscles.

She should have taken a bath last night.
Indulged in a nice long soak to clear away the confusion and clean
up the stickiness. They’d all fallen asleep immediately following
their orgasms.

She sat up slowly and carefully made her way
to the bottom of the bed carefully so she didn’t wake them up.
She’d get a shower, get dressed—in the same damn jeans and
T-shirt—then head over to the lab. A few hours away from the hotel
and Gunner and Price would give her time to put her thoughts
together.

Deni tiptoed to her room and locked the door
behind her. She didn’t trust her men not to follow her, to take her
plans and toss them out on their ear. After her shower, she pulled
her hair into a ponytail, got dressed and threw her shoes on. She
listened through the door but didn’t hear anyone.

With any luck, Gunner and Price would sleep a
while longer. She knew what she was doing was dangerous, but she
needed to get back to the lab. Her heart raced as she grabbed the
keycard and headed for the door to the hallway. If she could just
make it to the lab safely, she’d talk to the director about beefing
up security. God, she would never do anything so stupid if she
weren’t at such a vital place in her research, but it couldn’t be
helped. She needed to go.

She opened the door and then gasped, jumping
back. Price leaned on the doorframe.

“Going somewhere?” he asked.

She narrowed her eyes. “Work.”

He shook his head. “Bad girl.”

“Dammit, Price, I told you last night I
needed—”

“I told you,” Price interrupted, “that you’re
not going anywhere for the next couple days. And after that, you’re
not walking around without either Gunner or me with you. Someone is
trying to kill you, Denise.”

She rolled her eyes and tried to play off
what she knew was a real and present threat. “Don’t be dramatic.
Everything so far has just been scare tactics, nothing more.”

Price scowled and walked into her room,
pushing her farther in with each step.

Yeah. That didn’t work.

Price closed the door behind him but didn’t
stop until he’d backed her against the bed. Deni, unable to retreat
any more, sat. Price towered over her.

“I hardly call a bomb a scare tactic. It was
a serious threat, and if you refuse to treat it as such, then
perhaps Gunner and I need to change our approach toward protecting
you.”

She didn’t like the sound of that. “What do
you mean?”

“If you refuse to cooperate, we’re going to
have to treat you as subordinate. A captive.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“Actually we would.” Gunner’s voice startled
her, coming from the door that connected to the rest of the suite.
Somehow he’d unlocked it.

“Take off your clothes, Denise.”

Her gaze flew back to Price. “What?”

“Get undressed. Now.”

There was a hard, demanding edge to his voice
that left no doubt in Deni’s mind she would be finishing this
conversation naked. “Why?”

Gunner walked into the room. “Deni. Do it
now.”

She struggled to understand the compulsion
that had her reaching for the hem of her T-shirt. She’d never had
problems with people in positions of authority. Hell, she’d been at
the mercy of others for most of her career—the lab director, the
executive committee who controlled much of what her facility did,
colleagues with seniority, research lobbyist, politicians. She
played the game in order to protect her research.

But this was different. Wasn’t it?

“We’re losing her again.”

Gunner’s comment captured her attention and
she realized she’d frozen in the middle of pulling off her shirt,
baring herself only to her midriff.

“Does she do that a lot?” Price asked.

Gunner grinned and nodded. “Our Deni’s a
thinker. One of these days, I’m hoping she’ll start sharing some of
those deep thoughts out loud instead of disappearing into her
head.”

Deni pulled her shirt back down. Price
scowled and made a deep sound of disapproval. “Wrong way.”

“Why do you want me to take my clothes off?”
Deni didn’t have problems following orders if the reasons why they
were issued were explained to her.