Their Summer Heat (5 page)

Max reached and took her hand in his. “I’m sorry. Can you forgive me?”

She glanced at her captured hand. “Maybe. I’ll have to think about it.”

She pulled from his grasp and grabbed her glass. The woman sure loved the bubbly. The candlelight shimmered off her red hair, hair Logan couldn’t wait to slide his hands into. Even in a ratty pair of jeans and a holey T-shirt, with her hair put up in a messy bun, wielding a vacuum cleaner, she was gorgeous. When he’d cornered her at the gala, he’d noticed how nicely she filled out that skin-tight sheath she’d worn.

“They were at the restaurant, too—the reporters,” interjected Max.

“Well, I guess I can catch it on the news. Tell me, whose idea was it to put me up for auction?”

Max smiled. “That would be me.”

Summer’s gaze slid to Logan. “And you couldn’t let your brother outdo you.”

“No. I couldn’t let my brother have all the fun.”

“Well, I’m sure Margo had a blast.”

“We told you we left her at the table,” said Logan.

“And I say you’re lyin’. You two sat there and stewed, forced yourself to be civil and tried to maintain some distance from Margo while you figured out where you screwed up.”

Logan tipped his glass to her. “That is correct.”

“It’s all about the game with you two.”

“No,” said Max. “This isn’t a game, not this time. We are really interested in getting to know you.”

“You mean gettin’ to fuck me, don’t you?”

“Damn, it sounds bad when you say it that way,” replied Logan.

Her gaze locked with his, and then she burst out laughing, a very seductive sound. When she was through chuckling at his expense, she threw her napkin in her plate and stood. “Thanks for supper. It was great. Now I have to get back to work. You want me to vacuum in here?”

“You haven’t had dessert,” said Logan, as he stood and wheeled a cart over to the table. He lifted the covers and watched her lick her lips. “We have cheesecake, chocolate cake, double chocolate brownie with ice cream on the side and
crème
brulèe
. We weren’t sure what you wanted.”

Summer sat back down and stared at the desserts. “You two don’t play fair.”

And you’d better remember it, baby.

“I’ll start with the brulèe.”

Max removed her dinner plate, and Logan served her the sweet. She spooned in a mouthful and savored it like a woman who hadn’t experienced the nicer things in life, knew this was one of them and wanted the feeling to last forever.

“Damn, she’s sexy as hell when she eats,” said Max.

“That she is, brother. That she is.” Logan leaned forward, scooped a dollop of the creamy dessert on his finger, and plopped it in his mouth. “I bet this would taste even better off her clit.”

She froze, her gaze darting between the two of them. Pink crept up her cheeks. “Not goin’ there with you two. So, tell me about yourselves.”

“It’s rather boring,” said Max. “He’s in real estate, and I’m in law.”

“Parents?”

“Both living on a wooded estate in the Hamptons,” answered Logan.

“Tell us about you,” said Logan.

“You mean what you don’t already know?” She glared at Max, which made Logan happy. “I’m a psych major. I work a lot.”

“What do you do for fun?” asked Max.

She frowned, and Logan wanted to kiss it away.

“I haven’t had any fun in a while. No time.”

“Okay, how did you get tangled up with a 900 number,” asked Logan.

She smiled. “I wondered when you’d get to that. My specialty is sexual behaviors and disorders and how it proliferates in criminal behavior. So, in order to understand the wide variety of sexual needs, I called into 900 numbers, and then I worked the 900 numbers, and the money was phenom, so I continued to supplement my income.”

“You love to study people,” said Max.

She nodded and reached for the chocolate cake. Logan knew the answer to dating—if that was the right word—her was somehow tied into her interest in people watching and studying human behavior, but how?

“Have you ever studied ménage?” asked Max.

Logan glanced at his brother.
Brilliant!

“I haven’t.”

“Do you want to?” asked his brother—the impulsive one.

“Hmmm. How many times have you two, eh, shared?”

“No,” said Logan. “You have to play, and then you can psychoanalyze us.”

She took another bite of cake, studying them both. “And do I get to ask any questions and you have to answer them?”

“If that’s what you want,” replied Max.

“We also have stipulations,” said Logan. “You have to quit all your jobs, because we don’t want you too tired to have fun. We’ll supplement your missing income. You can continue with school, and you have to live with us.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. I was talkin’ about a one-time thing, two, at the most. What you’re suggestin’ sounds like…I don’t know…a very long experiment.”

They’d have to allow her to think of this as an experiment, but that description didn’t sit well with Logan. For some reason, he was drawn to her like a moth to a flame, or a parched hummingbird to nectar. She brought out all kinds of instincts in him. He wanted to protect her, shower her with expensive gifts, lick champagne off her skin, claim her. And according to Max, he felt the same way.

After two more bites, she finally said, “Why? Why me? Why not Margo or one of the tons of women who must go out of their way to throw themselves into your path?”

“You’re intelligent, beautiful, sexy and quick witted,” said Max.

She shot him a look. “So, you’ve been datin’ dumb, butt-ugly, un-sexy and slow-witted women?”

Logan laughed. That was Summer. Straightforward and to the point. Call you on every bluff you tried. “No. What if we said we have a special connection with you and want to see where the connection leads?”

“You know that’d be a pretty weird connection.”

“We don’t care how weird it is,” said Max. “You’ll have plenty of time to study it.”

Max poured her more champagne, and Logan made a mental note to order several cases.

“But when this experiment is over, I won’t have any way to continue to pay for my education. There may not be an openin’ at DG.”

“I can draw up a contract for you,” said Max, “that states you can return to your cleaning job when the
experiment
is over, and if DG and your deli job won’t rehire you, we’ll pay your regular salaries from them until you get other jobs.”

Logan grinned. That deal was a win-win for her.

“You must really want to perform this experiment.”

“We do,” said Logan.

This experiment intrigued Summer on so many levels. They weren’t telling the whole truth, not that she expected them to. People had ulterior motives for everything, and not divulging all those reasons was a form of self-preservation. Everybody held back something, including her—well, before yesterday, anyway.

She was also bothered by the idea of taking payment for this arrangement, which would make her a prostitute, or, if she wanted to sugarcoat it, a mistress. As the person running the study, she should pay the participants, not the other way around. What she could learn sexually from this would have nothing to do with criminal behavior, so she technically was veering off her self-prescribed career path.

But she wasn’t sure she could pass up this opportunity.

They fascinated her, not because they were rich and successful, but because there was something about them that went way beyond—hell, she couldn’t even put it into words. And sex with both of them—oh, holy hell, it would be probably off the fucking chain.

And they wanted it with her?

Okay, that part didn’t compute.

She wasn’t rich or polished, and she didn’t have a pedigree unless you counted a drunk for a father—God rest his soul. No, there was something else, and she couldn’t wait to figure it out.

And they were so striking. Max’s blue eyes reminded her of a crystal lake. His black hair was straight and he’d worn it down tonight. She wanted to see if it was as silky as it looked.

Logan’s eyes were a darker blue. His black hair was short and wavy, curling along the collar of his white shirt. They’d both unbuttoned their shirts, which made her want to sneak a peek at the tanned skin barely visible within. Their shirtsleeves were casually rolled up, showing off dark muscular forearms.

They were the epitome of exceptional male flesh.

And she
would
take full advantage of this opportunity.

But first, she had ground rules of her own. “Does this experiment involve whips, chains, ball gags, or other things I’m not gonna to be comfortable with?”

“It’s all up to you,” said Max. “Neither of us are sadists or masochists. However, I’ll admit I’ve fantasized about tying you up and pleasuring you.” He smiled, his white teeth a stark contrast against his dark skin.

To think she’d gone toe-to-toe with him in a courtroom on Friday and now she seriously considering shacking up with him—
and
his brother.

“I’m not sure I trust you two.”

“We know,” said Logan. “But this is a reciprocal relationship where anyone of the three can walk at any time. We do belong to an extremely confidential BDSM club we can take you to for more research. The men wear black masks, the women white, and the patrons can only reveal their identities when they go to the back rooms.”

“Black and white. Why not blue and pink?”

“Don’t know,” answered Logan. “Does it matter?”

“Blue and pink are expected boy and girl identities. Black and white represents sin and innocence. The dark and the light.”

Max grinned. “We know the proprietor personally; you can ask him why he chose those colors.”

“Okay. Why such secrecy?”

“This club is full of lawyers, judges, politicians and business people who want to play but not be subjected to blackmail. The contract people have to sign to join is binding, but the damage to a career could be catastrophic if someone chose to reveal a member’s identity,” said Max.

“So the rich and famous have secrets too.” Probably more than the poor and the non-famous.

“But if we go, we will not share you with anyone, nor will we fuck you there. You’ll only be there to observe. What we have is private,” said Logan.

A-okay with her. BDSM wasn’t something she knew anything about other than the obvious, but she might take them up on their offer to visit their club later, just in the name of research, of course.

“Before I commit, I have to know; have you two had this relationship before, a live-in?”

“No,” they answered together.

“So I’m your first?”

“You’re our first live-in. When we were young and wild, we’d share a female for a night. Never two nights in a row,” said Max.

She snorted. They may have aged a little, but Summer had a feeling they were still, on some level, wild as boars. And Max had made it a point to tell her that bit about them never sleeping with the same woman two nights in a row, a seduction tactic; he wanted her to think she was special in some way. “So this live-in thing is somethin’ new for you?”

“Yes,” they said in unison.

She wanted to ask why again, but they’d already shot her that line of shit. Admittedly, she was weak. She should be furious with Max, out for his blood, but when they’d offered something she would probably never have a chance to experience again, she decided to jump in headfirst.

In the name of research.

“Are you on the pill or some other form of birth control?” asked Logan.

Heat flooded her face at such a personal question. Of course, they wouldn’t want to be trapped into a marriage of inconvenience. Condoms with an oral contraceptive as a backup were sure-fire prevention.

“I’m on the pill, so you’re safe from becomin’ a daddy.”

Logan arched a dark brow. “That’s not the issue. We want to fuck you without a condom.”

She blinked slowly as her mind screamed
what!
at the absurd suggestion. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“If you’re worried about STDs, we’ll have our doc fax over our last exams or we’ll redo the tests if it’s been too long for your peace of mind,” Logan stated as if that solved everything.

“We’re clean. We promise,” said Max.

Weird how Max answered with a
we
. Were these brothers that close?

No responsible adult had unprotected sex in this century; the risk was just too great. “Is that what you two do? Screw without a condom?” Because if so, it was deal breaker, exam or not. She didn’t know specifically how long it took STDs to take root, but just the thought of contracting something turned her stomach.

“Not me,” said Logan.

“Never,” agreed Max.

“So why with me? Why now?”

The two brothers glanced at one another in some silent communication before Max said, “We don’t want anything between our cocks and your sweet heat.”

Well now, that was…unexpected. Unsheathed sex would be a first for her. Did it actually make a difference for the male? She doubted a female would even notice. Something else to investigate.

Summer drained her glass, needing all the liquid courage she could get. “Okay. I’ll do it. We’ll do it—all do it, but I need to get a physical, and we need to use condoms.”

Both men threw those beautiful smiles at her, the ones that no doubt had broken many hearts. Well, this heart wasn’t involved, which was the beauty of this experiment.

“But I won’t move in with you.”

They started to protest, so she held up her hand. “Take it or leave it.”

The brothers glanced at each other, no doubt considering her final ground rule.

“Okay,” said Max, “but we reserve the right to try to convince you to stay with us.”

“Fair enough. Now, I must get back to what you pay me to do. Do you want this room vacuumed or not?”

“Not,” said Max.

She shot Max a not-your-call look.

“No,” replied Logan. “Let’s start our experiment now.”

“What? I can’t just walk off the job.” Jeez, their disregard for common decency peeved her.

“Sure you can, babe. We own the company,” said Max.

“And if anyone complains on Monday about their unclean office, I’ll fire them,” said Logan.