Visions Of Paradise (8 page)

On the first floor, Milla followed the sound of voices to the kitchen. She didn’t pay attention to their conversation. She’d never been nosey. There wasn’t a need. She usually learned more than she wanted every time someone got too close.

Besides, she was too busy wringing her hands, trying to figure out why in the world she thought she was going to be able to seduce two hot white boys with her too-curvy forty-five year-old body and too frizzy hair. If she was smart, and she obviously wasn’t, she would have run back up to her room and locked herself in.

Instead, she stood with her hand resting on the open door and stared at the two men who had somehow grown more handsome over night.

“Good morning, sunshine,” Jonas said with a grin. “Would you like a cup of coffee?”

“I might kill for some coffee,” Milla replied with a groan.

“Be careful what you say around here, love.” Jonas chuckled. “Someone’s bound to take you seriously. After all, a few of the wilder males have slugged it out over the last doughnut at the diner.”

“You can’t be serious!” Milla shook her head with disbelief. “Really? Over the last doughnut? I could see if it was over the last cup of coffee, but fighting over a doughnut is absurd.” She grinned at them.

Taking the cup Jonas offered, she closed her eyes, brought the cup to her face, and took a deep breath. “God that smells heavenly.”

“A woman after my own heart.” Mel rested his hand against his chest. “I’ve never met a woman—or a man, for that matter—who loves coffee as much as I do.”

“I think we’ve both met our match in this little lady,” Jonas said just before he pressed a quick kiss to her lips. “Did you sleep well?” He looked at her for a moment and then frowned. “I can tell you didn’t. What’s wrong?”

Milla’s heart melted at his concerned expression. Her body responded to these men in a way that she didn’t understand. She burned for both of them. How would she ever be able to choose between them?

Sure she’d read in their minds that others here in Paradise practiced some sort of strange polygamy—two men for one woman, but she also read that they barely tolerated each other. There was no way they would agree to share her. Not that that was what she wanted. She really didn’t. Her face burned as she lied to herself. Besides, what she read in their minds couldn’t possibly be true. Maybe it was just some sort of weird fantasy they shared without their knowledge.

Jonas cupped her cheeks, his thumbs lightly brushing the dark circles under her eyes. Her stomach clenched as her body responded to his touch. Cream slid from her channel and coated her panties.
This
was how a man should be with his lady. He shouldn’t be overbearing and mean.

For once in her life, Milla not only had one decent man interested in her, she had two. It was too bad that she couldn’t stay and make a life with one of them.

Milla brought the cup of coffee to her lips, closed her eyes and took a sip. The hot liquid filled her mouth with its sweet and creamy taste of French vanilla. She moaned. “God this is good.”

Jonas escorted her to the table, his hand gently resting against the small of her back. “Have a seat, beautiful. I’ll fix you some breakfast.” He scooted her chair in before moving toward the stove.

Blinking back tears, Milla stared at the tabletop. She wore no make-up, her hair was a frizzy mess and the men called her beautiful.

“You
do
look especially lovely this morning,” Mel said with a smile. “You have a certain glow about you. I like it.”

“I just might fall in love with you both, if you’re not careful,” she said with a sad smile. “A girl could get used to this sort of thing.”

To Milla’s complete surprise, they both smiled and said, “That’s the plan.”

“Huh?” Milla tilted her head her gaze shifting between them. “What’s the plan?” They couldn’t have meant what she thought they meant.

“We’re
trying
to get you to fall in love with us,” Mel said. “I thought that was obvious.” He glanced at Jonas. “Apparently, we’re doing it wrong.”

Milla stared at them, her mouth hanging open. “You
can’t
be serious. You two want me to fall in love with you
both?
” Maybe what she’d read in them was true, but how could it be?

Jonas rested his hands on the table and met her gaze, his own expression intense. “That’s the way we do things here in Paradise, love. When two men find their mate, they do anything and everything to ensure that she’ll want to bond with them.”

“M-mates?”

“Yes, Milla,” Mel added. “As surprised as we both were to find out that Jonas and I are bond mates, neither of us is willing to give you up. Unless, of course, you reject us,
you
are our mate. We intend to court you and make you realize that you don’t want to live without either of us.”

“This place is crazy. You’re
both
crazy! I can’t possibly marry you both, no matter how much I might want to. It’s illegal!”

Covering her face with her hands, Milla couldn’t believe she’d just said that. She wasn’t complaining about the possibility of having two husbands, only that it was illegal for her to do so. What was wrong with her?

Lifting her head from her hands, she studied them both for a moment before asking, “H-how does something like that work?” Now that the initial shock was gone, Milla found herself getting aroused at the thought that they both
really
wanted her and it wasn’t some sort of far out fantasy on her part.

Jonas turned off the stove, their breakfast forgotten as he approached the table. “Darlin’, that’s something we’ve been dying to show you.”

Milla’s eyes rounded as she watched them both move around the table, toward her chair. “I…um…why are you two taking your clothes off?”

Jonas forgot about the stove as he approached the table and pulled his shirt off over his head. He tossed it into the corner, uncaring that it had been clean only an hour before.

He’d dreamed of this moment. He ached to show her how their relationship could work. He and Mel could learn to get along. They would learn to share her. It could work out. If Mel’s reaction was any indication, he felt the same.

They both stalked her, lowering their faces as they pinned her with a gaze that would have paralyzed their prey.

“Now wait just a minute.” Milla held her hand up as though to ward them off.

Jonas felt his gut clench as the tip of her tongue darted out to wet her upper lip. He couldn’t help but stare at her luscious mouth. He needed to kiss her again, but it was Mel’s turn. The poor man had watched him take their mate into his arms at least twice, now. It was time he experienced the joy of having their mate pressed close.

Jonas slowed his approach, a groan escaping him as he watched Mel pull Milla into his arms, duck his head and slant his lips over hers.

Milla brought her hands up, circled Mel’s neck with her arms and pressed her body against his, sensually rubbing back and forth, like a cat begging for attention.

Eager to feel her soft skin sliding against his, Jonas moved behind her, pressed the length of his body against her back and bent his head. Pressing his lips to the sensitive spot where her neck met her shoulder, he bit her gently, and then used his tongue to lave away the sting.

Milla jerked in their arms. Her legs gave out and they held her safe between them.

Jonas closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, drawing in her sweet smell and the intoxicating scent of her arousal. Reaching down, he grasped the full globes of her ass, and lifted her against him. He couldn’t help himself. He pressed the ridge of his hard cock between her cheeks.

This
was what he fought for day in and day out. He’d done it all for this one woman who held their hearts, their very lives in her delicate hands. This beautiful miracle was the reason they rescued countless women from the abuse of the rogue
Tudra
. There was no mistake. Milla carpenter was his and Mel’s miracle and a day would never pass that he wouldn’t thank the gods for sending her to them.

With another groan, Jonas pulled back, taking her with him. They couldn’t do this here or now. It was too soon. Milla deserved more. She deserved to get to know them first.

His cat screamed its frustration and his body burned with the mating heat, driving him to claim her. But his will was stronger than any instinct and, after a moment, Jonas found the strength to step away from her, taking a confused Milla with him.

Milla stared up at them, her dark-chocolate eyes wide, her lips still wet from Mel’s kiss. Reaching up, she pushed at her wild mass of hair with a trembling hand. Taking a deep breath, she leaned against the counter behind her and tested his resolve.

“Why did you stop?” The mixture of confusion and disappointment on her face almost had him taking her in his arms to prove that they hadn’t rejected her, but Jonas didn’t trust himself.

He held out his arm, stopping Mel when he would have stepped forward and done what Jonas had himself refused to do. His low growl warned the younger man not to test him. It wouldn’t be wise now that his control was already stretched so thin.

“We
do
want you, Milla. More than you know.” More than she could possibly imagine. “But it’s too soon. You deserve better. You deserve time to get to know us.” Reaching out, he gently stroked her cheek.

“Let us give that to you.”

Perspiration dotted his forehead as the heat of the
el calor
scorched him from the inside out. He rested his hand against his stomach as though he could somehow hold it there, but he couldn’t. The only way to rid himself of the expanding heat and pain was to complete the bond with his mate. As much as his cat urged him to force the issue, he couldn’t.

Jonas knew he was falling fast for his mate and he refused to do anything that could harm her—even at the cost of his sanity, or his life.

Milla stared at Jonas for a moment. She could tell he was in pain. She felt the terrible burn he had deep inside when he touched her. Both of the men burned, but the fire in Jonas was far worse, deeper.

She twisted her fingers together, nervous. What if they didn’t really want her? She knew it was unlikely. It was most likely just some irrational fear of rejection she held deep within her. Whatever it was, she needed to get over it—and fast. If what she read in their minds about this
el calor
business was true, Jonas didn’t have much time. He was older than Mel and the older they were, the more of a toll it took on the male.

“What if I told you I don’t need time?” She pushed away from the counter and sauntered toward him, instinctively knowing that
he
was the one that had to give in first. He was the older and stronger. He was also the one that needed it the most.

“I would disagree. You barely know us. You can’t sleep with a man, or men, you just met.”

“It wouldn’t be the first time.” She raised her brow. “I’m a forty-five year-old spinster with no viable prospects in the carnival. Those guys can be just plain creepy.” She shuddered. “Of course I’ve had a few one-night stands. I have needs just as surely as any man.” She smiled when he swallowed thickly, a low growl forming in his throat.

“I don’t think I need to hear about your previous sexual exploits. It might be bad for the heart.”

“Not for my heart,” she said as she lowered her head and looked up at him, giving him a sultry gaze. She rested her hand over his heart. “And not your heart. It beats as strongly as ever.”

“I wasn’t talking about us.” He pulled her into his arms. Glancing at Mel, he said, “We’ll be back. I need to talk some sense into our mate or claim her. Either way, I think it would be better if we did that upstairs.”

“Good luck with that,” Mel said as he turned back to the stove. “I’ll just finish fixing some breakfast while you’re at it. I’m starved in more ways than one. At least I can take care of one hunger while you’re gone.” He glanced at Milla, leaving no doubt in her mind exactly what kind of other hunger he alluded to. “Have fun.”

A rush of cream soaked her panties at that heated look and the low timbre of his voice as Jonas scooped her up in his arms and headed for the stairs, taking them two at a time.

He carried her into a bedroom she hadn’t seen before. She wasn’t sure whose it was because she’d seen both Jonas and Mel enter different rooms the night before. In fact, she’d listened to them both pace in the rooms on either side of hers for a good hour before she managed to fall asleep.

Setting her down next to the bed, Jonas pulled her into his arms. “I know we should wait. My mind tells me it’s too soon, to give you time to get to know us, but my heart cannot tell you
no
.” He rested his forehead against hers.

His strong arms circled her waist, pulling her still closer, holding her tight against his chest. Her head rested above his heart as she listened to the steady beat.

Milla’s heart raced when he gently cupped her chin, urging her face up to meet his gaze.

“Are you certain?” he asked as he lowered his head, his face growing slowly closer, inch by slow inch.

“Yes.” Milla nodded as her body melted into his. “I’m sure. I feel so much more when I’m with you two. My body aches, it goes up in flames and I can only wonder what it will be like when we finally consummate the bond.” She stared up into those beautiful brown eyes of his. Her stomach flipped, took flight as the sensation of a thousand butterflies filled her.

Jonas slanted his mouth over hers, his warm lips pressing gently, the heat from his body adding to her own.

Milla wrapped her arms around his neck. They moved almost of their own volition as he traced the seam of her lips with his tongue, begging entrance to the moist heat of her mouth. She met his tongue with hers, tentatively at first, then growing more urgent as his tongue swept into her mouth. Milla forgot to breathe. Her lungs ached until she finally remembered to suck in, filling her lungs with much needed air.

If she didn’t know better, she would have sworn the ground moved beneath her feet. But she knew better. It was all in her mind as he held her close, his hard body pressed tight against hers, safe and warm in his embrace.