Wet For Her Warriors (Book 5 of the WILD -- Warriors Intense in Love & Domination -- Boys of Special Forces) (23 page)

He nodded. “Her
freedom to let go and fly comes from your strength as the Dom.”

“Which was what
you gave to Lani last night.” Kellan let his hand go flat on the table. “And
exactly what she needed. So who’s the one thanking who for ‘gifts’ around
here?”

Tait turned his
gaze out toward the sea. The turquoise and azure depths still swished with whitecaps,
clinging to the violence from last night’s storm. His psyche felt the same way.
Part of him craved to be back on that couch, lost in the sensual symmetry of
what the three of them had shared; another part already accepted the fleeting
fantasy of it…perhaps the stupidity of it.

Because now,
life felt even emptier than before.

Which made his next
statement even harder to form.

“Yeah, well…from
now on, you’ll be the one giving her what she needs, man.”

Kellan let out a
heavy breath. “Fuck. You—you really think?”

“Hell, yes. Take
it in little bites—or in this case, gentle swats. You and Lani have the most
important element already. Open, considerate communication. Talk to her. Ask
her what feels good and what doesn’t. She’s very good at expressing herself.”

I need to please
both of you…at once…

Dear fuck, was
the woman good at self-expression.

“Okay. I can do
that.” The statement was Cool Hand Luke, but Kellan’s fists, now twisting with
each other atop the table, were complete Joan-Crawford-with-a-pile-of-wire-
hangers.

Despite the
throb in his groin, another grin was surprisingly easy to produce. “Hey, it’s
all right to be a little scared.”

“A little?”

“
Breathe
,
Slash-aroni.” He chuckled. Kellan didn’t.

“T…I have to say
something. I’m not sure I’ve ever felt this way for a woman before.” His gaze
flew across the floor as he worked his jaw back and forth. “I don’t know what
this shit is. And I don’t know whether I even
like
it.”

“But imagining
your life without it is impossible?”

Kell gawked like
he’d just revealed the secret formula for time travel. “Exactly!”

“Imagining your
life without what?”

The interruption
came from the doorway to the house—and the woman standing there, a little sleepy,
a little disheveled—and a lot of too fucking sexy. Tait adjusted his position
to try hiding his hard-on, already given a kick-start from the flashbacks of
last night. Lani wasn’t helping things a goddamn bit with her girlish stance
and robe-covered body. The garment, clearly borrowed from a female’s closet
somewhere in the house, was a pale pink contrast to her hair, which she’d
tugged into a loose side braid. He wondered if she was still naked under the
thing. Part of him prayed yes. Part of him bellowed no. If Kell decided it was
time to start “communicating” with her right now about their newfound discovery
of kink, it was going to be time for a long,
long
torture session of a
run for him. Or maybe he’d just go out to Waimea Canyon and wear himself out on
a ball-breaker of a wilderness trail. Or five.

“Well, good
morning, starshine.”

Thank fuck one
of them was still able to function. Besides, it made more sense for Kell to go
greet her, rising and pulling her close with a tender kiss on her lips, which
were still plump as ripe strawberries from all the attention they’d gotten last
night.

Stop staring at
her goddamn lips. Stop thinking about anything they did with you last night. Or
to you
.

Tait rose as
well, but headed as far down the lanai as he could without seeming a reclusive
douche. Lani peeked around Kell and gave him a mock scowl, anyway. “What, no ‘good
morning, dreamgirl’ from the T-Boner?”

What was that
word Franzen used for her? “Sass-slinging?” Yep, that was about right. Every
muscle in his body longed to stalk back to the woman, hike up that pretty kitty
robe until he saw pussy of another kind, and make her “sling” sounds of a
different kind until she apologized for letting that snark fly.

Instead, after
tossing a shit-eating smirk of his own, he swept a low, teasing bow. “You
twinkle above us, babe, and we twinkle below.”

She giggled.

His pulse raced.

Yes, his fucking
heartbeat
raced
, like a line from a bad pop song by a guy with good
hair.

Shit, shit, shit
. Time to lay
low—translation, cut the hell out of—this bantering with her. It was playful
and innocent yesterday. It was outright flirtation today. All three of them
knew it.

Thankfully, Lani
let the moment slide, as well. She wasn’t benevolent enough to give him mercy
from her sweet smile, swinging it to both him and Kellan. “Thanks for letting
me sleep in. Guess I needed it.”

Tait studied
her. “Guess you did, considering all the times you got up to pace.”

A glance from Kellan
indicated Tait had stolen the words out of his mouth. So his buddy had noticed
her nocturnal ramblings, too. Kell hooked a gentle hand to her elbow when Lani
turned, presumably to gaze over the ocean. “You were up at least three times,
sweetheart.”

“Four,” Tait
corrected.

“Wasn’t counting
her stop at the head.” Kell said it without breaking his attention on Lani.
“Care to share what’s going on in that beautiful mind, sweetheart?”

The pause before
her reply was long enough to notch up Tait’s apprehension, as well. “I’m fine,”
she finally asserted. “Really. Just fine.” Her averted eyes, gleaming bright as
the foam topping the waves, said otherwise.

“And I’m
Tinkerbell.” Tait strode back with slow but purposeful steps. “You want to try
that one again? Keep in mind that your audience is a couple of guys who’ve been
trained to tell someone’s lying in less than a minute.”

“I—” She gave a
little huff. Pursed her lips. She was clearly going for frustrated, but Tait
was so entranced by her effort, he hoped she never got there. “I just have a
lot on my mind, okay?” In a surprise turnabout, she dropped the insecurity for
a new, saucy smile. “Besides, it was fun watching the two of you sleep.”

“Oh, how sparkly
vampire of you.”

Hell. How long
had he lasted on the ban to the bantering? A minute? But the jibe was too good
to pass up. Lani’s impish grin said she agreed.
Damn
. He could get addicted
to that smirk of hers…to the warmth it spread through his senses, pleased as
hell with himself for lightening her day. But that was the problem with
addiction. The words itself had synonyms like
dependence
and
enslavement
.
And somewhere in that mess, there was guilt, leading him back to the throne in
his soul reserved for the one woman who’d ever dared occupy it.

Luna.

She was still
there, all right. He felt her, reclining in her serene feline glory—but why the
hell was she only smiling, giving him cute little golf claps of approval?

Why are you
playing with me like this, woman? Where the fuck is my slam of remorse, my gut
punch of grief?

They were gone.

And he was
confused.

Thank God for
Kellan and his disgusted scowl. “Sparkly vampire? Did you really just go
there?”

Lani laughed
louder. Another box added on the addiction list. “He totally did. And it was
cute.”

Tait narrowed
his eyes. “I don’t do cute.”

“Yes, you do.”

Kellan joined
her on the comeback. His friend sobered fast after that, running his touch up
to her shoulder. The guy’s features went gooey in a way Tait had never seen
before. “You want me to take you back to the ranch?” he queried. “I’m sure you
want to see Leo.”

Lani returned
the Valentine’s card stare, running a thumb across the stubble on Kell’s jaw. “He’s
up and off to school by now. At least he’d
better
be.”

During her
statement, the phone on the table
bing
ed with an incoming text. Tait knew
that because the phone was his. “I can confirm the school arrival,” he said,
reading the window. “Killer K says he’s going to first period, sends his love
to sis and Slash-gasm, and promises there won’t be any cave explorations on his
behalf again today.”

Lani’s face
relaxed. At the same time, she slanted him a curious glance. “Killer K?”

“The kid doesn’t
have a monopoly on creating dumb nicknames.”

She smiled at
that, but the look was a more subdued version of her norm. Once more, Tait
observed that Kellan shared his insight. There was a deeper issue on the
woman’s mind, and a rocket science degree wasn’t necessary for figuring it out.
“Tait’s made some coffee,” Kell offered. “Let’s all go grab some then sit down
for a talk.”

Tait wasn’t
surprised to watch Lani’s posture stiffen. Fuck. He knew the feeling. So much
to say. So few ways to say it without everyone signing up for Camp
Uncomfortable. Forget wanting to spank her. Now, he just wanted to pull her
close one more time, inhale the jasmine of her hair, and tell her everything
was going to be all right.
Everything
.
They were going to protect
her land from Benson, and he was going to save her spirit from conflict.

What she and
Kellan had forged together already was clearly awesome. He refused to be the
dickwad to stomp all over that, no matter how incredible things had been over
the last forty-eight hours. All he had to do was say that, right? A cup of
coffee, a few lines of speaking the truth, and they could all shelve that last
couple of nights into the closet of damn good memories. Best plan for everyone.
Safer for all. Especially Lani.

“I don’t want to
talk.”

Except if the
woman herself dropped a grenade on the plan.

Kellan slid his
hand from her shoulder to her nape. “Sweetheart, I think we need to. I can
speak with confidence for Tait in this case. We’ve both come care about you—a
lot. And while the last two nights have been—errmmm—enjoyable for everyone—”

“Enjoyable?”
Tait shoved out a snort. “Step down, Poindexter. You aren’t talking for me
anymore. They were fucking awesome.”

 “All right,”
Kell muttered, “what he said.”

Lani’s gaze shined
at sun-bright power once more. “I couldn’t agree more.” Her smile, though
tinged by sadness at the edges, was no less dazzling. “Which is why I don’t want
to talk.”

He fell into
silence along with Kellan. Damn. This was an unexpected impasse. As his buddy
jammed hands into his pockets and shuffled in confusion, Tait let his stare
fall on Lani. He really studied her now. Tension still gripped her stance, but
that celestial calm continued to rule her gaze. In short, she revealed nothing.

“Shit,” he
finally muttered. “Lima-Lima-Mike-Foxtrot.”

“Copy you loud
and clear, brother.”

“Huh?” Lani
queried.

“Lost like
mother fuckers,” Tait explained. When she returned a puzzled grimace, he
charged, “Why don’t you want to talk? Girls always want to talk.”

Her whole face
darkened. “You don’t always get to peer under the dome, okay?”

He hated admitting
it, but she was right. She wasn’t his submissive. She wasn’t even his girl.
From now on, it was probably best that she wasn’t even his friend. She was his
stunning mission asset, and nothing more.

“Fair enough.” He
took a measured step back. He wondered why her face fell like he’d shot one of
her horses at the same time, but maintained his new position. That plan didn’t
earn a thumbs-up from the woman, either. Her eyes squeezed as if she were about
to open the waterworks again. Kellan stepped over and grabbed her shoulders
again, shooting him a what-the-hell-happened glare, and Tait spread his arms in
a wide shrug. This was the most bizarre “morning after” he’d ever experienced.

The next second,
it twisted even weirder.

With a tight
cry, Lani shoved away from Kellan, too. In an instant, Tait realized why his
buddy had just been glowering at him. Seeing her upset in the arms of another
guy, even his best friend who’d done nothing, made his very marrow scream with
the need to yank her away and hold her.

“Starshine? You
sure you don’t want to—”

“I don’t need a
talk.” As she cut him off, she also spun back toward the house. “I need a
drive,” she called from the living room. “We
all
do.”

Kellan didn’t
look back to Tait until she’d crossed the living room and disappeared toward
the bedroom. His friend blinked a bunch of times, as if trying to reconcile his
perception with reality, before muttering, “I guess we’re going for a drive.”

Tait rocked back
on his heels. A black laugh tempted his lips, “Appears so.”

Kell paced to
the edge of the lanai, turned and came back. “You think Leo will be all right
if she totes our asses to the opposite side of the island?”

He nodded. “Ike
adores that kid like the son he never had, so I can text him to be diligent.
Besides, Gunter doesn’t know we’re digging in his secret underwear drawer…yet.”