Battered Not Broken (8 page)

His fingers worked her slick passage,
thrusting, moving and sliding against that one special motion that
made her body writhe in pleasure. The orgasm she’d been coaching
and begging her body for burst forth in a tidal wave of sensation
washing over her from head to toe, only to recede and rush forth
again and again. Like a tightly strung string on a bow, she
snapped, her back arching, as she pressed against his mouth and
fingers as she screamed his name.

“Max!”

His mouth never stopped, his fingers
continued. He kept time with her breathing, slowing as she did,
allowing her to float languidly down from her orgasm high and back
to earth, to his arms. He pressed soft kisses to her thighs, her
mound, as she came back to herself. Relaxing into the cushions with
a sigh, she whimpered when he withdrew his hand and watched in awe
as he licked his fingers clean.

“Delicious. Thank you, Gilly.”

“Thank me?”

Max rose up on all fours and crawled over
her, pressing his considerable bulge to the juncture of her thighs.
She could feel his hardness through his jeans and she felt needy,
wanting.

He pressed his lips to her neck, inhaling as
he rained kisses beneath her ear and along her jaw.

“Yes. Thank you for trusting me and sharing
that bit of yourself with me.”

He pulled back, brushing a kiss across her
lips, her tongue snaked out, hoping for a kiss, but instead she was
met with a hint of her own musk. Her arousal grew anew. Never had
she done anything so risqué before. But before she had a chance to
search out more of her own flavor on his lips, he lifted his body
off of hers and stood next to the couch.

“Come on, Gilly. Conner and Ronan are almost
home, let’s get you changed.”

His wicked smile was back and he winked at
her before hoisting her body off the couch. Good thing he was doing
the walking, she didn’t think she’d be able to if she tried.

The scent hit him the moment he stepped from
the truck. He didn't wait for Ronan to exit Gilly's car, which he’d
towed behind the truck. Instead, he strode for the front door, ice
and mud shifting beneath his feet as he made a beeline for the
cabin.

The scent—God damn—the smell permeated the
air surrounding the cabin, sifting through his clothes to seep into
his skin. The scent of Gillian’s arousal, like sweet, musky honey,
wove through the planks and snuck through the cracks in the door to
reach him.

He’d kill Max. The ass had fucked Gillian
while they were out seeing to her car and personal needs. The
moment they’d driven off the property he’d weaseled his way into
her pants and claimed her.
Fucker!
They’d agreed, all of
them, that the first time anyone made love to their Gillian they’d
all be involved by either watching or participating. All of them,
or none of them. Their lives would be shared from the first moment,
and Max had ruined everything.

Conner threw the front door open, banging it
against the wall with a thud.

“Max!” He didn’t bother with removing his
mud-caked shoes. Ronan would have to get over it.

“Max!” He tried to hold his breath and resist
the effects of Gillian’s scent on his beast. His cock hardened as
he passed the living room, the scent seemed concentrated there. He
veered to the right as he searched for his soon-to-be-dead brother,
and found him exiting the kitchen, a dishtowel in his hands.

“What?”

Conner pulled his fist back and let it fly at
Max’s face. Unfortunately, Max ducked, causing Conner to swing at
air and connect with the wood plank wall. Growling, he followed Max
as his brother dashed around the kitchen table, placing it between
them.

“What the fuck, Conner?”

“You’re asking me that question? You ass. You
fucked her. You fucked her the minute we were gone…!”

Ronan raced into the kitchen, sliding across
the polished wood floor, the melting snow making the polished
flooring slick. He came to a halt near the center of the table.

“I didn’t!” Max threw his hands up. “I
swear!”

“What the fuck do I smell then, asshole?”

Max had a satisfied, pussy-eating grin on his
face and Conner wanted to shred the table to get to him and tear
his brother apart.

“Now, Conner, hear him out.”
Ronan, the
voice of fucking reason.

How could he want to hear Max out with the
scent of Gillian’s arousal and release infused in the very air they
breathed? The heavy musk seeped into his pores and beckoned his
beast, begging it to claim her.
Reason? Hear him out?
Maybe
after he’d ripped Max to pieces first—teeny, tiny, itsy bitsy
pieces.

“You smell a satisfied woman, but I swear we
didn’t have sex, Conner. I couldn’t, I’d never…”

“You swear?” He growled, shoving the table
into Max’s groin. If he had fucked Gillian, he’d still be tender
and if he hadn’t, he’d still be hard. Conner got satisfaction out
of hearing Max’s grunt.

Max clutched his groin, a grimace of pain on
his face. He croaked out a response. “I swear. I just pleasured
her, Conner. I’d never do anything else without you two there.”

Conner ran a hand through his hair, taking a
deep breath. Bad idea, Gillian’s scent still hung heavily in the
air. He needed to get out of the cabin, away from the smell of her
arousal and away from his brother’s satisfied smirk. He may not
have claimed their mate, but he sure as hell did something to
her.

The need to mate or fight rode Conner hard as
he stood, staring his brother Max down, but Ronan’s words brought
him back out of his anger filled haze.

“Do you really want to do this again? Have
another fight with Gillian in the house? You saw how she reacted
this morning.” Damn Ronan for being sensible. He really wanted to
tear a piece out of Max’s hide. Hell, both of his brothers' hides.
They’d gotten to touch her, spend time with her alone and relate to
her in ways he had yet to. He wanted his time.

“You’re right.” Conner backed away from the
table, shuffling until his back connected with the wall. He leaned
his weight against it, taming his beast and calming his heart. He’d
come too close to harming his brother—over a woman.

Once he’d calmed considerably, he raised his
head, eyes meeting first Ronan’s and then Max’s.

“I’m sorry, Max. I just smelled… And I’m
jealous as hell and my beast…”

“No sorry needed, Conner. Though, you may
have put my equipment out of commission for a while.”
Max, ever
the joker.

“Good. More for me later.”

“Not if we tear each other apart first.”

Ronan was right. Their father had warned them
about this. The time between finding their center and claiming her
could either bring brothers together, or tear them apart.

“That’s not going to happen, Ronan. We won’t
let it happen.”

“It nearly happened to Dad.”

Conner dropped his head back, thumping it
against the wood.

Max spoke up. “Just because our parents
nearly killed one another, doesn’t mean we will. We’ve agreed we
won’t make love to her without the other’s presence, right?”

“Yeah,” he grumbled. Conner wanted nothing
more than to sink into her sweet depths, but he wouldn’t. Not
without Max and Ronan by his side.

“So, we won’t. If, however, you can stimulate
her and get her used to our touch, maybe making love with the three
of us, opening her arms to us, won’t be so difficult for her. She
wasn’t raised like us, guys. We need to remember, in her world,
three men and one woman are the formula for bad orgy porn.” Max,
ever the master of the spoken language.

Connor pushed away from the wall, yet stared
at his feet, trying to figure out where he could go to get away for
a while. He needed to get out of the house, away from his brothers,
and the temptation of Gillian.

“Fine.” He knew just the place. He could
prepare them for the cold winter’s night and work off some of his
energy at the same time. “I’m heading out for a while. Be back in a
bit.”

Turning toward the back door, he stomped
through the house, leaving a trail of mud in his wake. Well, at
least he knew what Ronan would be doing while he was gone.

* * *

Gillian pressed her ear to the door, trying
to hear the conversation in the kitchen, but couldn’t. She’d heard
Conner yelling at Max, but their voices quickly dropped too low for
her to make out. When she heard the stomping of boots and back door
slam, she figured it was safe to come out. Somehow, she seemed to
be the center of arguments between the three men, which could only
mean one thing. It was time for her to go.

Hopefully, they’d fixed her car. If not,
she’d be trekking through the snow on foot. She wasn’t looking
forward to it, but she couldn’t come between the three brothers.
And if she had to be honest with herself, their tendency toward
violence frightened her.

She opened the door, then leaving the
bathroom behind, she padded to the kitchen to find Ronan and Max
sitting at the kitchen table. Both men wore grim expressions.
Yep, time to go.
Gillian wrapped her arms around her waist
and cleared her throat to make her presence known.

“Hey Gilly.” Max held an arm out to her. She
wanted to run into his arms, let him tell her it wasn’t her fault,
she didn’t have to leave. She ached to have someone to fall into,
instead, she remained rooted to the spot.

“Gillian?” Ronan stared at her, eyes focused
as if he tried to read her mind. She dropped her eyes to the
floor.

“I’m, uh, leaving.” She heard a startled
“what” from Max, but Ronan must have quieted him. Neither man said
anything else. She kept her eyes glued to a knot in the wood floor.
“I appreciate your hospitality. If you could just tell me where my
clothes are, I’ll leave.”

Tears burned in the back of her eyes, but she
didn’t dare look at the two men. She’d lose it completely if she
did. Never before had she met such caring, compassionate and tender
men in her life. Too bad they couldn’t treat each other with the
same caring and compassion she received from them. Love shouldn’t
come with a fist attached.

“Gillian, sit down.” The sound of wood
scraping on wood filled the silence in the room and gentle hands
wrapped around her shoulders, steering her toward the chair.
“Please?”

Before Ronan could seat her, she buried her
face in his chest, sobbing into his shirt. She didn’t want to
leave, didn’t want to walk out into the cold, to her death. But she
couldn’t stay and watch them tear each other apart either. Max had
said they wouldn’t be mad and yet the three men had argued. She
presumed it had been about her.

Once she started, tear after tear poured from
her eyes, her body wracked with sobs. She cried for every beating
Kyle had given her, for every scrape on her body from her trek
through the snow and for every piece of her heart she’d already
given the three brothers. Ronan pressed his lips to her temple
before her feet left the ground. The trust she had in him prevented
her from squealing as she had every time before.

Instead, she wrapped her arms around his
neck, pulling closer to him as he settled her on his lap. One hand
stroked her head, while the other stroked her thigh and hip. The
addition of two more hands didn’t startle her a bit. She assumed
Max had joined in comforting her.

God, she’d turned into a weepy female, the
worst kind of woman according to her mother. Drying her eyes on
Ronan’s shirt, she looked from one set of concerned eyes to
another.

“I really am leaving.”

“No, you’re not.” Would Ronan always argue,
she wondered.

“Max said you wouldn’t be angry, but you
three were shouting.” Fiery heat burned her face and she imagined
the blush covering her cheeks could light her way at night. “I
can’t stay and tear you three apart and I can’t seem to not want,”
Lord, let the floor swallow her whole before she admitted her
feelings, “to touch all three of you.”
Too late.

Max leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to
the tip of her nose before he spoke.

“We weren’t arguing. Well, we were, but not
for the reason you think. Conner thought you and I had gone farther
than we did and he thought I’d broken a promise. That’s why he was
angry, poppet. He’s also jealous as hell.”

“All three of us care for you, Gillian. I
told you all this last night, remember?”

As if she could forget. But Conner? Jealous?
She licked her lips and felt Ronan’s cock twitch beneath her and
she thought she heard Max groan. But, it could have been the house
settling. Sure.

“I don’t want to drive a wedge between you
three.”

“You won’t,” they said in unison, their hands
rubbing what she supposed they thought were soothing circles on her
body. All their touch served to do was cause her arousal to blossom
anew.

Turning to look into Ronan’s eyes, she asked
the question sure to cause her a premature death by mortification,
but the question had to be asked.

“So, you’re not angry that Max and I…”

“What did you and Max do, Gilly?” Ronan’s
voice was but a whisper as he leaned closer. For a second she
thought he’d kiss her, but he nuzzled her cheek and neck instead,
his unshaven cheek scratching and teasing her skin.

Max opened his mouth to speak, but one stern
look from Ronan had him snapping his mouth shut. She wondered if
she could learn to give those same looks. They could be useful.

“Gilly?”

Oh, damn. She’d hoped he had forgotten his
question.

“Max, uh, he, um…” Gillian took a deep
breath, before she told Ronan what they’d done. “Max sort of tore
my pants and he kissed me, you know,
there.
”

“That’s all?”

She buried her face against his chest and
nodded. Yep, death by embarrassment could come any minute now.