Hotter Than Ever (Out of Uniform) (25 page)

“Damn right I will.”

They eyed each other for a moment, like two animals vying for territory, and then Savannah broke out in a smile and said, “Let’s go eat. That turkey smells delicious.”

“I really liked your friends,” Claire remarked during the car ride back to the condo. “For the most part, anyway.”

Confused, Dylan glanced over from the passenger seat. “What do you mean, for the most part?”

“Well, there’s that one teeny tiny issue of Savannah threatening me.”

In the driver’s seat, Aidan swiveled his head to stare at her. “She fucking did what?”

“Oh, you know, threatened to kick my ass if I ever hurt you.”

Aidan’s jaw dropped. “Son of a bitch. Great. Now I’m gonna have to kick
her
ass.”

Claire waved a careless hand. “Oh, don’t worry, she was just looking out for you. She and Matt are very protective of you, by the way.”

“That’s because he used to fuck them,” Dylan piped up. He found this entire conversation highly amusing, and he had to wonder if Savannah would issue the same threat to him when she learned he was sleeping with Aidan too.

“Excuse me?”

Claire sounded so displeased that Dylan couldn’t help but turn around again. Sure enough, he noted her shoulders had gone rigid.

Chuckling, he repeated himself, slower this time. “He used to fuck them.”

The unmistakable jealousy burning in her big brown eyes told him that had Matt and Savannah been in the SUV with them right now, Claire would’ve clawed both their eyes out.

“It was just an occasional thing,” Aidan said sheepishly.

“Besides, doesn’t it make you feel better about the whole threesome thing?” Dylan added. “Everyone we know has ’em. It’s the norm in our circle.”

“Well, I hope you’re not planning on paying them a visit anytime soon,” she told Aidan, her voice tight with irritation.

“Aw, she’s jealous,” Dylan teased.

Aidan caught her eye in the rearview mirror and put those dimples of his to good use. “Don’t worry sweetheart, I’m not going anywhere. I’m right where I want to be.”

Dylan wholeheartedly agreed. This time with Claire and Aidan had been so amazing he still couldn’t believe he wasn’t dreaming it. He was so ashamed of his previous attitude toward Claire—she was not at all what he’d thought her to be, and the more he got to know her, the harder he fell.

Claire McKinley was smart, gorgeous, sarcastic, compassionate. And open, so fucking open. She spoke her mind, never tried to hide what she was feeling from him and Aidan, and he loved and appreciated that about her. A lot of women expected a man to be a mind reader, but hell, a little guidance was nice, and Claire was a master of honest communication.

She was also the hottest, most passionate woman he’d ever met. Her sexual appetite was voracious, and Dylan knew he and Aidan appealed to that wild side she’d been forced to hide growing up. They fueled it, fed it, and damned if they weren’t having a good time doing it.

Ten minutes later, Aidan pulled into the underground parking of their building and the three of them made their way upstairs. The condo board had a strict rule about keeping the hallways decoration-free, so there was nothing Christmasy about the corridor as they crossed the cream-colored carpet toward their apartment.

Inside was another story. The tree was lit up and the ornaments were twinkling, giving the room a holiday feel that the hallway had lacked.

When Dylan moved to flick on the light, Claire intercepted his hand. “No, don’t,” she urged. “Look how pretty the room is with just the light of the tree.”

He couldn’t deny there was something magical about it. The red and silver ornaments shone like little gems, the glow from the strings of light creating a romantic ambience.

“You guys want some coffee?” Aidan asked.

“God, yes,” Dylan answered. “I’m feeling drowsy as hell from all that turkey.”

“None for me. I don’t want to be up all night,” Claire said. “But…hey, do you have any hot chocolate?”

With an indulgent smile, Aidan leaned in and brushed a kiss over her cheek. “I’ll see what I can do.”

As Aidan headed for the kitchen, Dylan led Claire over to the couch and pulled her down beside him. He wrapped his arm around her and planted a kiss atop her head, inhaling the sweet lavender scent of her hair.

“I’ve been wanting to hold you all night,” he said gruffly. “I thought I would explode from not touching you.”

She nestled closer, her loose auburn tresses tickling his neck. “Me too.”

He ran his fingers up and down her arm, his calluses scraping along the soft wool of her green sweater. “I hope Savannah didn’t upset you.”

“Naah, like I said, she was just looking out for Aidan. I totally understood. And by the end of the night, I kinda warmed up to her. She’s pretty hilarious. And I adored Jen. She’s so nice.” Claire paused. “And beautiful. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone that good-looking before.”

Dylan shrugged. “She’s okay.”

Ha. Fine, so he was lying through his teeth—Jen was drop-dead gorgeous. But he was scared that if he acknowledged her beauty, Claire might pick up on the fact that he knew Jen as carnally as Aidan knew Savannah, and no way did he want to see Claire’s look of cloudy displeasure directed at him.

Unfortunately, he underestimated her. He was no mind reader, but clearly
she
was.

“Oh, for the love of God,” she groaned. “You too?”

“Me too what?” he asked innocently.

“’She’s okay?’” Claire mimicked. “Dylan, that girl is more than
okay
. She’s movie-star beautiful. Argh. You totally slept with her, didn’t you? And let me guess, Cash was there too.”

He sighed. “I’m afraid so.”

A note of challenge crept into her voice. “Out of curiosity, who else at that dinner have you slept with?”

“No one but Jen,” he assured her. “And Cash. Well, kind of.”

“Kind of?” She looked amused now.

“I blew him.”

After a beat, Claire burst out laughing. “Well, at least you’re honest.”

“To a fault.” He smiled. “But I promise you, I’ve only been with Jen and Cash. And Aid has only been with Savannah.”

“Good.”

She placed a possessive hand on his thigh, eliciting a rush of satisfaction. Damn, he loved that Claire was staking her claim.

It really had been pure torture not being able to touch her tonight. Every time he’d looked at her, he’d had to battle the overwhelming urge to pull her into his arms and kiss her senseless, but he hadn’t wanted to embarrass her in front of the gang. His friends would never be openly rude or judgmental, or probably even care that Dylan was with her, but he couldn’t deny that Claire jumping into bed with her ex-fiancé’s brother so soon after the break-up didn’t look great.

The funny thing was, the fact that Claire had almost married Chris didn’t bother him in the slightest anymore. No, what bothered him was that he
wasn’t
bothered by it. Because…why the hell not? His brother had lived with this woman for more than a year, had nearly made her his wife, for fuck’s sake. So why didn’t he feel like he was betraying Chris? Because his brother was a jerk? Because he’d known from day one that Claire wasn’t right for Chris? All of the above?

Aidan returned to the room with a tray of steaming mugs, officially putting an end to Dylan’s internal self-examination.

“Hot chocolate for the lady.” Aidan handed Claire her mug. “And coffee for the gentleman.”

Dylan gratefully accepted the coffee and blew on the hot liquid to cool it. As Aidan settled in the armchair, Claire glanced over at the small stack of gifts beneath the tree.

“So when are we opening presents?” she asked. “My parents and I usually do it on Christmas morning, but I know some people like to do the whole gift thing tonight.”

“My dad and I do it tonight,” Aidan said in a gruff voice. “When he doesn’t bail on the holidays, that is.”

“At my house we do both,” Dylan told them. “We each open one present on Christmas Eve, and the rest in the morning.”

“Oooh, I like that idea,” Claire said. “Can we all open one tonight?”

He and Aidan both shrugged as if to say, “Why not?”

Beaming, she hopped off the couch and made a beeline for the tree. “Can I pick which ones you open?”

Aidan smiled at her. “Go for it.”

As Claire rummaged through the presents, Dylan had to wonder what the heck she’d bought during her numerous trips to the mall last week. They’d agreed to get each other only one or two things, and stick to a limit of a hundred bucks, and although all the packages she’d come home with were fairly small, there were quite a few of them.

She stalked back to the couch and handed each of them a present. “Now be warned, these are my joke gifts,” she said with a grin. “I’m saving the good ones for tomorrow.”

He and Aidan glanced at each other. “You first,” Aidan said graciously.

Dylan quickly tore the wrapping to reveal a Cliff Notes study guide to the novel
War and Peace.
He laughed in delight. “Best gift ever,” he told Claire.

Aidan went next, unwrapping his present to find a narrow cardboard box. He flipped it open and pulled out a black ballpoint pen, then raised his brows and glanced at Claire.

“Oh, it’s not just an ordinary pen,” she informed him. “It’s the kind that has invisible ink. You know, so when you’re jotting down your super-secret spy notes, nobody will see what you’re writing.”

Aidan threw his head back and laughed. “I love it.”

Claire was already moving back to the tree. “Okay, which one should I open?”

“The blue one,” they answered in unison.

Her soft laughter floated in the dimly lit room. “Is this the joint gift you two were teasing me about?”

“Yup,” Dylan confirmed.

She returned to the couch, resting the large rectangular-shaped box on her lap. She stared at the green bow taped to the center of the plain blue box, then gave them a dry smile.

“This is your idea of giftwrapping, huh?”

“Wrapping paper is overrated and unnecessary,” Aidan replied. “Sort of like clothes.”

Dylan nodded. “Exactly like clothes. Especially
your
clothes, honey. I don’t know why you bother wearing any, if I’m being honest. Now open our beautifully wrapped box.”

She lifted the lid, and a moment later, she was laughing again. “Of course. Why am I not surprised?”

Dylan and Aidan exchanged grins as Claire held up the sheer, red merrywidow and matching G-string.

“So let me get this straight, this is a present for
me
? Because it seems to me like it’s more of a present for you guys.”

Aidan’s voice lowered to a smoky pitch. “Trust me, you’re going to get as much enjoyment from it as we are.”

“How do you figure that?”

“You’ll really enjoy the way we tear it off you,” Dylan said helpfully.

“Hmmm. Let’s see if you’re right.” She tucked the lingerie under her arm and stood up. “Give me a few minutes.”

After she hurried away, Aidan joined him on the couch and flashed his dimpled grin. “Good call on the lingerie.”

Dylan grinned back. “I thought so.”

“You know she’ll look hot as hell in it.”

“Oh, yeah.”

“How much did it cost again?”

“Half the budget—fifty bucks.”

“Meh. So we’ll only be out twenty-five each when we shred it to pieces.”

“Damn good investment,” Dylan concurred.

It felt like an eternity before they heard her footsteps. They were both fidgeting with impatience by that point, Dylan’s cock straining against the fly of his khakis. A glance at Aidan’s lower body showed him to be in a similar state, sporting a bulge beneath his gray wool trousers.

They both hissed when Claire stepped into view.

Dylan couldn’t tear his gaze off her. The lacy red outfit hugged her mouthwatering curves, making her look like she’d just stepped out of a Victoria’s Secret catalog. Her full breasts were pushed up and practically pouring out of the built-in bra, and the little black center bow looked so naughty Dylan wanted to rip it off with his teeth.

“C’mere,” Aidan growled.

With an impish smile, Claire took her sweet time sauntering over to them. “How do I look?”

Dylan licked his lips. “Good enough to eat.”

She did a little spin, showing off the dental-floss-thin strip of lace nestled between her firm ass cheeks.

“Holy fuck, get over here,” Aidan burst out.

Dylan laughed as Aidan stuck out his arm and grabbed hold of Claire’s hand. He yanked hard and she fell into Dylan’s lap, her back colliding into his chest with a thud.

Dylan wrapped his arms around her to keep her in place. She shivered when he nuzzled her neck, then moaned as Aidan swiftly bent down and kissed one rigid nipple through the lace.

Dylan chuckled. “I think she likes that.”

“Not half as much as I do,” Aidan muttered before tugging on the lacy cups to expose Claire’s breasts.