Chapter four

She was sitting in the middle of the bed, naked, the sheets in a whirl around her, bunched as she pulled them to cover her nudity. Jace was the first to enter, his gaze immediately finding her. Ash followed behind, his fingers already going to the buttons on his shirt.

Even as Ash was undressing, making no bones of what he wanted, her gaze was riveted on Jace. Locked to him in a silent reverie that was unbreakable. His nostrils flared and his jaw flexed and clenched. There was a near-naked gorgeous man in the room and all she could do was stare at the fully clothed one, waiting and wanting so badly she hurt.

“Let go of the sheet,” he said in a soft voice. “I want to see you.”

It was soft, but no less of a command, one that sent a shiver over her skin. Carefully, she let the sheet slide from nervous fingers. It glided down her body to gather at her waist, baring her breasts to his piercing stare.

“Up on your knees,” he said. “Push the sheets aside. I want to see all of you.”

If she were smart, she’d fear this man. This situation. It had been an impulsive decision borne of desolation and a need for a temporary reprieve from her reality. No one knew she was here, at the mercy of these two men. No one cared. No one would worry if she simply disappeared. Except Jack. And how would he know? She hadn’t told him anything other than she had a place to stay tonight, and at the time it had been a lie.

“Second thoughts?”

She glanced up to see Jace studying her intently, his expression indecipherable. Her gaze skated sideways to where Ash stood, naked, gorgeous, his erection jutting forward. When she peeked back at Jace, he frowned as though he didn’t like her looking away from him.

Her mouth dry, she licked her lips and then she shook her head. “No.”

It was another lie. She’d had plenty of second and third thoughts but she kept coming back to the fact that tonight she wanted the oblivion found in a different kind of drug. She wanted to be warm. To know a moment’s peace. Was it too much to ask?

Jace started toward the bed as she levered up to her knees, allowing the sheets to fall completely from her body. When he reached the edge, he reached for her and then hauled her into his arms, his mouth descending in a fiery rush over hers.

She closed her eyes and surrendered, melting into his strong arms. The air crackled around them. Their desire was a living, breathing entity that swelled to enormous proportions.

His tongue pushed in, soft and velvet, warm over hers. Soul-deep comfort. His hands skimmed down her arms, gripping her tighter and then pulling her even closer as the heated sounds of their kisses rose and filled her ears.

And then Ash was there, momentarily pulling her attention from the moment. His hands slid over her bare back and the bed dipped as he moved in behind her. She tensed against Jace and then Ash’s warm mouth pressed to the curve of her neck and she relaxed. He was going slow, not overwhelming her. He seemed content to allow Jace to take the lead.

Jace pulled away, and her mouth tingled from his rough possession. He stared down at her, his dark eyes scorching over her skin. Her breath caught and held. She stared back, her chest tight with anticipation.

Ash’s hands skimmed over her shoulders, his mouth at her neck, but she only had eyes for Jace as she waited for the moment he staked his claim. She wanted his hands on her body. His mouth on her skin. Him inside her, covering her. He was a man who would always make a woman in his care feel safe, and she was a woman who wanted to feel safe.

As Ash’s hands slid down her arms and then more firmly back up to grasp her shoulders once more, Jace began to unfasten the buttons of his shirt. Ash pulled her back against his chest, cradling her against his body as Jace slipped out of his clothing.

Awareness simmered low in her belly as Ash’s heat surrounded her. His palms slid up her belly to cup her breasts. He lifted and weighed the slight swells in his hands and then he brushed his thumbs over her nipples, causing them to go instantly and achingly erect.

She sucked in her breath when Jace’s pants hit the floor and he stood in front of her in only a pair of black boxer briefs. They were tight, encasing muscular thighs and very clearly outlining the rigid length of his erection.

The man was beautiful in a scary, oh-my-God way she’d never experienced. Light and dark. Ash and Jace. Two completely different personalities.

Jace was intensely brooding, his gaze devouring her as he reached for the waistband of his briefs. She forgot to breathe. Forgot Ash’s sensual assault on her breasts. Jace’s cock surged from his underwear and strained upward, thick and pulsing.

Jace stepped forward, leaned down and roughly hauled her from Ash’s grasp and into his arms. She landed against him, his skin a shock against hers. Her knees barely brushed the mattress as he held her for his kiss. His arms wrapped securely around her, one hand splayed possessively over her ass and the other between her shoulder blades.

Her breasts were crushed against the hard wall of his chest, and she promptly forgot all about Ash’s hands, which had so gently caressed and teased her nipples. Her entire body was on fire. This was . . . insane. It transcended simple lust or need. She knew nothing about this man and yet she knew she needed him like she’d never needed anything in the past.

“Her pussy is mine.”

Bethany blinked as she heard the low growl tear from Jace’s throat. His words were bald in the silence and then Ash’s chuckle skittered through her ears.

“Not like you to be so selfish, man,” Ash said, amusement still evident in his voice. “But I can deal. Her mouth is sweet and I bet her ass is even sweeter.”

Jace shifted and power coiled tautly through his arms. She almost expected him to toss her down and fuck her brains out, but his touch was exquisitely gentle as he lowered her to the bed. There was a reverence in his hold that mystified her.

Her back met the mattress and then his hands slid over her body, caressing and touching as if he couldn’t help himself. His palms glided over her breasts and then to her belly and finally to her hips. He positioned her so her ass was right at the edge of the bed and her legs dangled over.

To her utter shock, he knelt on the carpeted floor between her thighs. Her breath hiccupped and tore violently from her throat as he lowered his mouth.

Oh God.

“Going to taste that sweet pussy,” he breathed out.

When his tongue touched her clit, her entire body spasmed. Using his fingers to spread her farther, he licked her again and she shuddered as pleasure rolled through her body.

Ash feathered a hand over her jaw, turning her toward him. Her lips met the tip of his cock, and she hesitated.

“Open up, sweetheart,” Ash said.

Though it was prettily rendered, it was not a request. There was nothing remotely cajoling in his voice. It was a command and one she didn’t think to refuse. Her lips parted and he fit his cock to her mouth, easing inward as he put one hand to her head to hold her in place.

“That’s it. Suck it,” Ash said as he pushed farther in.

His quiet groan hovered and his fingers tightened against her scalp. She closed her eyes, allowing Ash to dictate the pace. It was fine because she lacked the concentration to be in control. Jace was destroying her with his mouth. His wicked, beautiful mouth and tongue.

Jace wasn’t at all tentative. He stroked his tongue over her clit and then down to her entrance and pushed inward, sucking and licking like she was a delicious treat. Ash leaned up and over her, angling himself into a more dominant position, so she had no choice but to take his cock as deep as he wanted her to take it.

And then Jace’s mouth left her for the briefest moment. “Don’t hurt her, Ash.”

Ash immediately stilled. Tension she could feel rolled off his body. He stiffened and withdrew and she could see him turn in Jace’s direction, his expression one of fury.

“When have I ever hurt a woman, Jace?”

There was a lot in his voice. Pissed off, surly alpha male rising to the surface. Gone was his playful, flirty demeanor and in its place was something altogether different.

“Jesus, what the fuck, man? Really? You’d say that kind of shit? What the hell are you thinking?”

Bethany tried to sit up, suddenly wanting to not be between these two men. But Jace put a gentle but firm hand on her belly and held her down. He didn’t even look at her, but kept his hand there, a silent order for her to stay put.

“It was just a warning,” Jace said in a quiet voice. “I don’t want to overwhelm her.”

Ash was silent as the two men stared hard at each other. Ash’s lips curled and then he seemed to read something in Jace’s gaze that made him back down. Ash’s eyes went blank and then he lowered his mouth to Bethany’s, kissing her in a manner clearly meant to comfort and reassure.

“I won’t hurt you,” he whispered against her mouth.

“I know,” she whispered back. And she did. Because Jace wouldn’t let him.

“Hands and knees,” Jace said, interrupting the brief tenderness between her and Ash.

She glanced down to see the intensity in Jace’s gaze and she shivered all over again.

Even as she went to turn, Jace was there, his hands against her skin as he helped her to her hands and knees. As soon as she was in position, Jace pressed a kiss to the small of her back.

“Have to get a condom, baby.”

And then he left her and cool air brushed over her skin, eliciting a wake of chill bumps.

Ash delved his fingers into her hair, brushing the strands back in repeated, gentle motions as he positioned himself in front of her. Up on his knees, he angled his cock to slide it back into her mouth. He kept one hand in her hair and with the other, he caressed her cheek and jaw, petting and coaxing her as he inched his way past her lips.

His scent filled her nostrils as his taste filled her mouth.

And then Jace was back, his hands covering and caressing her ass. He kissed the small of her back again and then let his tongue slide up her spine. She shivered to her toes and closed her eyes as Ash thrust deeper into her mouth.

She wanted Jace inside her. Needed it. Wanted him filling her over and over, pushing away the darkness, warming her from the inside out.

Finally, Jace cupped one hand over her ass and, with his other hand, guided his cock to her entrance. He rubbed the condom-covered tip from the mouth of her pussy down over her clit and then up again to glide through her wetness. He was testing, ensuring she was ready. She fidgeted and then gasped out a please around Ash’s cock.

Jace went still. So still that for a moment she thought she’d done wrong. And then he pushed inward. His hand tightened on her ass and she realized what his restraint was costing him. He seemed so afraid of hurting her. Did she seem so fragile to him? What had he seen in her eyes that would make him all but insult his best friend and make him treat her so reverently?

“Beautiful,” Ash murmured as he stroked inside her mouth again.

“Beautiful,” Jace echoed.

Jace pushed in to maximum depth, his balls straining against her mound. Then he held himself there, his hands sliding over her back, eliciting strong shivers from her very core. She closed her eyes, loving the sensation of being filled, so full she stretched around his erection. Each movement through hypersensitive tissues made her twitch and quiver.

He withdrew and then rocked forward again, slow and sensual, utterly controlled. She didn’t want control. She wanted him to lose it. To bury himself hard and fierce. She wanted to get lost, immerse herself so deeply in the experience that she thought of nothing else but the breathtaking pleasure she knew they would give her.

She pushed back against Jace, her mouth sliding over Ash’s rigid penis, his taste rough, masculine on her tongue.

Jace smacked his hand over her ass, startling her, but the sensation wrenched a groan from her mouth, vibrating over Ash’s cock.

“Patience, baby,” Jace murmured. “Want to make this good. You’re so fucking sweet. Don’t want it to be over too quickly.”

“Fucking hell,” Ash moaned when her tongue swirled around the mushroom head of his cock. “Not going to last this way. Her mouth is like silk.”

She smiled, suddenly confident in her ability to make them as crazy as they were making her.

“Sweetheart, you keep working that mouth around my dick the way you are, I’m going to come all over that tongue, and like Jace said, definitely don’t want this over with too quickly. Want to fuck that mouth for as long as possible.”

Jace’s hands tightened on her ass. His entire body went tense but she knew it wasn’t from impending release. He seemed . . . agitated. Every time Ash spoke, Jace went rigid. Almost like he wanted to forget the other man was present. How weird was that? It was obvious from the way Ash had spoken that this was not an unusual practice for them. She briefly wondered if they swung both ways, but they’d kept a careful distance from each other. There’d been nothing to hint that they were remotely attracted to each other. Now her? They were definitely attracted—at least physically—to her.