Sexual Healing for Three (9 page)

“I’ve heard of it.”

“Really? How?” It’s not like it was common knowledge to the average Joe or Jane. Unless someone was intimately affected by the effects of domestic abuse, there was no reason for someone to know about a place like Safe Haven. And most men, other than social workers or police, would never have a reason to seek it out unless they were a determined stalker.

“My ex-wife referred a girlfriend to the place when we found out her boyfriend was hitting her. Then I went over to talk to the guy, let 66

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him know that Jennifer wasn’t alone in the world and had someone looking out for her.”

“You do know that kind of behavior might have exacerbated the situation?”

“I read the material from the Web site, so, yes, I had an idea. But I couldn’t just sit on my hands and do nothing, and I figured I’d take a chance that the guy could be reasoned with.”

No, he wouldn’t sit on his hands since she could see he was a man of action.

Donna wondered how much reasoning Russ had done with the guy, and when she looked at the hard-muscled biceps contrasting against the sleeves of his white T-shirt, she bet not much that didn’t involve his knuckles connecting with said guy’s face.

She didn’t know why the thought of Russ’s possible brutish behavior turned her on, but it did. Or maybe it was the idea of him coming to the defense of a woman in need that did the trick. Either way, she felt her face, as well as other strategic areas of her body, heat, and she shifted in her seat for, like, the umpteenth time since he had sat down beside her and they had been talking.

“So what happened to your ex-wife’s friend and the guy?”

He shrugged and raised a glass of water to his lips before saying,

“He left town.”

Russ must have really scared the guy. “And your wife’s girlfriend?”

“She’s still in New York, single and flourishing in her career.”

Probably afraid to get with any man after her experience, Donna thought.

After Bo she’d sworn off the male species for a long time and gone out to take some self-defense courses, determined not to let another man put his hands on her again without making him think twice.

Donna decided it was time to change the subject to something lighter. Usually she was too wary to give and take the way she and
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Russ had been doing the last half hour, to drift into waters even remotely personal and heavy. That Russ had the capacity to knock down her guard so easily indicated her initial impressions about him were on point. He was used to being in charge and just as, if not bossier than, Angela.

“So, what about you, Russ? How long have you been in the architectural landscaping business?”

“It feels like all my life, but it’s been about fifteen years.”

“My father was a landscaper. He just sold his business several years ago.”

“Angela mentioned that to me.”

Donna just bet and wondered what other coincidental facts about the family Angela had shared with him.

She knew she was being unfairly judgmental. The man had spent months working on the exterior of her sister’s house. It would be natural for them to get friendly—especially considering Angela’s outgoing personality—and share personal information with each other. But how personal? And had it been more personal than what she and Russ had just exchanged?

“Listen, Donna, I realize this is an awkward situation for you, coming here with my brother and not knowing anything about me or your sister’s plans. So don’t feel obligated to sit here and let me monopolize your time.”

She would have argued with him until she saw the proud tilt of his chin. He didn’t want her to take pity on him. Not that she thought anyone would ever make that mistake. He was not one to be pitied. In fact, she pitied the fool who tried to pity him. And she was not a fool.

Donna caught Chance’s approach out the corner of her eye just as she was about to respond. He looked upset, and that upset her, like she had some kind of intimate bond with him already, one that allowed her to feel his feelings.

God, she was hanging around Angela way too much!

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“What’s up?” Russ asked, evidently picking up on Chance’s state too.

“An emergency at the hospital. They need some extra hands. I’m sorry I have to cut this short, but…” He turned to Donna, genuine regret in his eyes. “You don’t mind catching a ride home with my brother, do you?’

What was she going to say? No? And make it seem like she feared Russ? No way would she reveal that weakness. “Of course not. Duty calls, after all.” She understood all too well. And fully expected most men to understand when
she
got called away on an emergency with a client, though most didn’t understand and didn’t want to hear how her clients needed her support at a moment’s notice.

When she was with a man, he expected her time to be exclusively his time, and he didn’t want to hear any arguments about it. Even the ones who had no claims on her time and were only mere fuck buddies felt the compulsion to dictate.

What was it with men?
Okay,
she unconsciously deferred to the voice of Angela,
not all men, but definitely some.

“You don’t mind, do you, Russ?” Chance grasped his shoulder.

“Not at all.”

Donna watched him, trying to gauge his mood and see if he really did mind, but concluded that he could win the Grand Prix of Texas Hold ’Em with that poker face. It was all chiseled angles and dramatic lines, as hard and powerful as his body.

Could God have made two more perfect men?

That was
the
question, and Donna’s answer was no. No one was that perfect, despite Angela believing each of these men was perfect for
Donna.

Chance leaned in to give his brother a firm hug, pulling away several seconds later to hand Russ a business card. “Call me when you get a chance. Otherwise, I’ll be in touch.” Then he turned to her with an apologetic frown, taking both of her hands in his. “I really
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hate doing this. I was looking forward to spending more time with you.”

“I was looking forward to spending time with you t—” Donna sucked in a breath when Chance leaned forward and touched his lips to hers. His mouth was at once tender and forceful, his tongue slipping inside her mouth and taking no prisoners. He was staking a claim.

Donna didn’t know if he was doing it for her sake or his brother’s and didn’t care. She just went with the flow, pushing her tongue out to meet his, tangling with it in an age-old dance of give-and-take until the lines blurred so much she didn’t know who was giving and who was taking, only that all cylinders of her pleasure center were being engaged as they never had been before.

Her clit tingled as if Chance’s lips had a direct line to her growing kernel of flesh, and something hot and alive fluttered in her stomach and spread up and out until her nipples sang for mercy. Donna thought she had never been so close to climaxing from a mere kiss. If he could do this to her with his lips, she didn’t want to think what he could do to her with the rest of his body.

When Chance pulled away, Donna opened eyes she hadn’t realized she’d closed and lowered hands she hadn’t realized she’d slid up around his strong back.

“I’ll call you.”

Breathless, she nodded and licked her lips.

If he’d wanted to leave an impression, he had certainly succeeded, and not just on her. Donna caught Russ’s hungry gaze as she pulled away from Chance.

It seemed there
was
something that could break his stony countenance after all.

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Watching Chance kiss Donna had done something to Russ, tapped a part of his libido he hadn’t known existed, but more, it had turned him on.

He had wanted to be in Chance’s place. He had wanted to feel Donna’s lips against his, but at the same time, he got off watching Donna and his brother together. He imagined what it would be like to see them do more and with less on. He imagined what it would be like to have Donna sandwiched between him and his brother as they each worked to pleasure her, thrust inside her.

It wasn’t enough that he was into Domination and submission, but now he was adding voyeurism and multiple partners to his sexual scenarios? How sick was that?

“You’ve been quiet since we left the barbecue. Everything okay?”

Russ glanced at Donna briefly before turning his gaze back to the road ahead, shrugging and feeling like he’d been caught in the act of masturbating, feeling as if Donna knew exactly what he was thinking and fantasizing about.

Would she judge him?

“You really didn’t have to drive me. I could have called a ca—”

“I don’t have a problem with driving you.”

“Your tone says you do. So does your body language.”

“And you’re an expert on that?”

“No, but my brother EJ is a body language expert. He’s very generous with his knowledge too, and I’m a good listener.”

Russ chuckled and shook his head remembering the youngest, blue-eyed brother she referred to. He had gotten a definite vibe from
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EJ, something that reminded him of Angela and his brother Chance—

something mystical and otherworldly, as if Russ was in the presence of beings more than human.

He shook his head at the idea, tried to concentrate on driving, but it was sorely difficult when he thought about the sexy woman in the truck beside him. The scent of her, a subtle mix of vanilla and musk, tickled his nostrils and made him fidget in his seat as much as being in the driver’s seat allowed.

Russ had tried his damnedest not to see Donna as a sexual being, someone he wanted to bind, blindfold, lick, and nibble all over and take forty different ways to Sunday. He kept reminding himself that she belonged to his brother—and after that kiss, this hadn’t been hard to do. But alone with Donna now, all he could think about was getting closer to her, feeling her soft skin next to his, giving her those whisker burns his daughter had mentioned on her face and on the insides of her thighs—on every inch of skin on her body, in fact.

Shit, this was impossible. He barely knew her, had only spent a half hour, if that, speaking with her at the barbecue. But those thirty minutes had been enough to show him hints of her vulnerability and strength, hints of a simmering sensuality that he wanted to see ignited to a full-blown blaze beneath his guidance and direction.

He shouldn’t be feeling this way about her. She was taken. Except that, according to her, she and Chance were just colleagues, hardly knew each other except in passing at the hospital. He knew he was trying to convince himself that there was no connection deeper than this. It helped with the guilt, guilt he was feeling over wanting something that he shouldn’t, wanting
someone
he shouldn’t.

“So, you don’t care to share?”

“Now I can see the social worker in you.”

“Occupational hazard. The professional persona comes out when I least expect it.”

He caught her grin, his heart stuttering in time to his cock pulsing in his pants, fingers tingling with the need to encircle her wrists and 72

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hold her down on a bed beneath him, make her beg him to take her, make her beg him to fuck her. He hadn’t felt this possessive or primal around a woman in a long time, not even Suzie, especially not Suzie.

Suzie, sweet and innocent, brought out the protective instincts in him.

And although he sensed an inner vulnerability about Donna, her core independence, strength, and don’t-fuck-with-me attitude far outweighed it, leaving no doubt that she could and would always be able to take care of herself.

The only thing that kept him from further pursuing his caveman fantasies was the memory of his brother’s lips on hers and her seething reaction to the kiss. He wanted her to release that heat with him. But would she? Or would what he was scare her away?

“I have a feeling you don’t know any other way. It’s a part of who you are.” He sensed the truth in his words as he spoke them and saw her frown.

“As much as I’d like to deny it, you’re right.”

“Why would you want to deny it?”

She shrugged. “Some men aren’t very tolerant of my career, especially when it interferes with the time I spend with them.”

“I take it your career interferes a lot?” It wasn’t just an idle question.

He wanted to know what he was getting into, what kind of competition he was up against.

This isn’t a competition. You’re not in the running. She’s not
yours
!

“It interferes enough to make a difference.”

He knew the answer to his next question without asking. The mere fact that her sister saw the need to fix her up on a blind date with him told Russ Donna dated about as much as he did. But he asked anyway.

“I take it you don’t date a lot?”

“Not much, no.”

She didn’t sound as remorseful as she sounded resigned, and he wondered what had caused that resignation. Who had caused it?

“What made you go out with my brother?”

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“The truth?”

“Always.”

She shrugged, peaches-and-cream complexion flushing seductively. His mouth watered to lick her all over, see if she blushed everywhere as attractively, and taste her heated skin. “I was trying to beat my sister to the punch.”

“I take it she makes a habit of trying to hook you up.”

“The three in-laws you met tonight? All her handiwork.”

“No way.” He wondered how many blind dates Angela had masterminded before she’d hit pay dirt with her brothers and sisters.

Were her siblings all test projects, or had she perfected her matchmaking skills with friends before moving to her family? Was she anywhere near as determined as Suzie and her friends?

Donna nodded, smiling. “I have a sister in Colorado married to a cowboy thanks to Angie too. She’s relentless.”

“So what does that say about you and me?”