Adams, Eve - Trio [Gideon's Ring 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (6 page)

This shouldn’t turn her on, but it did. Liquid heat boiled inside her, melting her, flooding her own pussy. She turned away and almost gasped when she spotted the man at the bar, his gaze intent on watching her. Those dark eyes, so full of thick lust and hunger, didn’t so much as falter as he continued to watch her.

He quirked his lips into a sexy grin that had Sarah smiling in return.

“What’s his name?”

She didn’t miss the spark of amusement in Chris
’s
expression when he glanced over at the man. “That would be my charming cousin, Barrett. Forget about him. He’s about as friendly as a rabid dog.”

He glanced back toward the crowd. “Looks like Carol is about to be pinned by the Spanglers. Too bad. I would have liked to take her for the weekend.”

Sarah grabbed her wine and brought it to her lips to hide her disappointment. As usual, she served as the inferior choice, the one men were stuck with instead of being with the one they really wanted.

“Carol is definitely going to enjoy herself at GR&L.” He stopped and turned back to her. “Once you start enjoying yourself.”

She stopped mid-sip and looked at him. “Excuse me?”

“She told me that she’d only feel free to enjoy herself if she knew you were taken care of first.”

Great. Now she had guilt to add to the mix of emotions she had fighting for dominance. She couldn’t do this. She’d find another way to find Lucky.

“Looks like we may be stuck with each other if you don’t get out there and find yourself a couple.”

That did it. She didn’t want anyone
stuck
with her. It was high school all over again, being picked last in gym, for prom, and even to sit with someone at lunch. She already felt bad enough about herself. She didn’t need to sit here and be reminded of all of her shortcomings.

She found herself once again looking at Barrett. He looked away and scowled, and what was left of her hope shattered.

“I’m sorry. I think I made a mistake by coming here.” She pushed away from the table. “I’ll just grab my bags and call a cab.”

“Don’t break my heart and tell me that you’d leave me alone.”

“Something tells me you’ll be fine.”

He raised his hand, and before she knew it, the one Gideon she hadn’t been able to take her eyes off of joined them. Her mouth fell open, and she lost her ability to speak. She thought the first one had to be straight from her dreams, but this one—he had to have been chiseled out of bronze
. He
was that perfect.

“May I?” The God grabbed the back of the chair next to hers. With a quick nod, she consented and secretly granted him permission to do whatever else he wanted.

“What are we drinking?”

“Uh…um…” She should go back to her room. She should pack and get the hell out of here before she did something she’d regret.

Like agree to sleep with two complete strangers, no matter how intoxicating they looked.

Instead, she scooted back to the table. “Wine.”

The way he curled his sensual lips into a breath of a grin had her stomach flipping like a little kid on a trampoline. “Merlot? Cab? Shiraz?”

“Yes,” she whispered, unable to think straight when he smiled like that. Blinking, she forced her brain to engage. “I mean, Merlot.”

“
I’ll fetch us fresh drinks,
”
Chris stated and stood.

“But my glass—”

Barrett grabbed her glass from her and emptied the contents before finishing her sentence. “Is empty.”

Oh wow. She really liked the way he just took complete control like that. When he licked the remnants of the wine from his lips, Sarah licked hers in return. He missed a spot, and for the love of all things good she wanted to retrieve it for him.

Screw her search for Lucky. She wasn’t supposed to be working anyway. She smiled and leaned toward the Gideon God known as Barrett.

“That wasn’t very nice. You didn’t even ask.”

He flicked his tongue out and swiped up the wine, a wicked glimmer in his gaze. “When I see something I want, I don’t ask. I take. And I want you.”

Okay, maybe she should stay, at least for the night. After all, she didn’t want to seem rude.

“I see you’re dressed in black,” he pointed out.

She glanced down at her LBD and nodded, her heart now in her throat. How were they supposed to do this? Did they say a few niceties about each other’s clothes, the weather, and then find a room to have heated and meaningless sex until morning? Would the Gideon who went to fetch them all drinks be joining them?

“It’s new.”

“Bought for this occasion?”

She nodded.

“My name is Barrett Gideon.” He held out his hand. When she took it, he ran the pad of his thumb across the tender part of her wrist, and her body immediately responded. Chills danced across her skin and coiled around her breasts, twisting her nipples into hard peaks.

“Sarah Emerson.” Her voice sounded so foreign, so distant, as she purred her response.

“Your wine,” Chris said as he rejoined them. “Barrett, this is Norris Emerson’s little sister.”

Sarah didn’t bother correcting him this time. It didn’t matter. She couldn’t form a coherent thought at that moment with them both staring at her, surrounding her with heat.

She darted her gaze back and forth between two men who rivaled in her mind for the most perfect being in the world. Both had amazing square, chiseled chins straight out of her dreams, and broad shoulders that blocked her view from anything else. Barrett had deep blue eyes that rivaled the color of the Montana sky right before dark. Chris, on the other hand, had playful hazel eyes that made a girl both skeptical and intrigued
by
their power.

Chris wore his
light brown
hair longer than Barrett’s, but still neatly groomed around the brim of his black hat. The strong, fierce features they shared had her body humming and ready to give in to whatever they wanted to do to her.

As long as she could get out of this damn dress.

With his glass held high, Chris declared a toast. “Here’s to the future, whatever it has in store.”

Barrett growled and even snarled, and Sarah set her glass back down without taking a drink, the harsh realization slamming into her like a callous wind. Her heart crashed to the pit of her stomach when she realized what this was. A drink meant to make the wallflower sitting off in the corner feel a little bit better about her pathetic self. Well, it backfired. Now she felt even worse. And, to add to it, it really pissed her off that they thought she needed a pity drink.

The bastards.

She stood and tugged at the hem of the dress to pull it down. “Thank you for the drink, but I need to call a cab.”

Chris lost his smile. “Still thinking of leaving?”

“If she wants to leave, let her go. Story of my life,” Barrett finished in a mutter.

She glanced over at him, who still had a scowl on his face as he continued to stare at the glass of wine in front of him. The sadness in his voice hit her and fed on the despair eating away at her. Why would someone who looked like him have anything to be sad about? Those stunning blue eyes swirled with such pain it made her ache for him.

“Are you okay?”

Barrett glanced up, met her eyes briefly, and then darted his gaze back down to the wine in front of him. “I’m fine.”

“You don’t seem fine.”

He shrugged his massive shoulders as his expression hardened. “Maybe this
is
me being fine.”

“If this is you being fine, you suck at it.”

He stiffened and narrowed his gaze but still didn’t glance up from his cup. The emotions swirling in those dark blue eyes had tears threatening hers. This broke her heart
,
seeing him so sad, so lonely. She didn’t know him from Adam, and yet she wanted nothing more than to ease that pain—or, better yet, remove it altogether.

“So what if I do?” His gaze pinned her to the spot, paralyzing her and leaving her powerless but to stare back. At first the fear gripping her threatened to take over, but then something moved in those dark eyes, something wicked, something roguish.

She had to blink to convince herself of that look in his eyes. He was enjoying this, his torment, and it only made her want to take off her three-inch stiletto and throw it at him.

If he wanted to sit here and feel sorry for himself, she wouldn’t stop him. But she’d be damned if she sat here and let him take her down with him.

“So how about you stop feeling sorry for yourself.” She ignored the heat brushing against her skin from the way he glared at her. When he didn’t respond, she pushed further. “Or is this what you think passes as a pick-up line nowadays? Tall, dark, and troubled. Every woman’s fantasy.”

“Is it your fantasy, Sarah?”

“Rescuing the hardened heart? Hardly.”

“And why is that?”

“Because I’ve been there, and frankly, I have no desire to ever go back. So either channel some charm or plan to spend the night with Rosie and her five little sisters.”

Barrett’s lips tightened as he
looked like he
fought to stop them from pulling up into a grin.

“So what is your fantasy?” Chris asked.

“Definitely not watching your cousin feel sorry for himself.”

Barrett raked that mystical, midnight-blue gaze across her face, and delicious chills washed over her.

“Wasn’t that exactly what you were doing?”

She sucked in a breath, but then snapped her mouth closed when she couldn’t think of any witty retort. Besides, he’d nailed it.

“So women are allowed to do whatever they want, but men can’t.” He challenged her with a spike of his ebony brow.

“As a matter of fact, yes. We also have the right to change our minds, and I’ve changed mine about you. Thanks but no thanks, Barrett Gideon. You can go back to sulking. I’ll find someone else to fulfill my fantasy.”

“Baby, there is no one else.”

Oh, it was so on. This man’s arrogance needed to be taken down a few thousand pegs. “Ha! I could have anyone in this bar if I wanted to. You are not the only man here.”

Barrett shrugged those massive shoulders. “Maybe not, but I don’t see anyone else knocking me over to sign your dance card, sweetheart.”

Chris leaned toward Barrett and clenched his teeth. “Barrett, what the hell are you doing?”

Barrett didn’t answer. Instead he watched Sarah with those penetrating blue eyes, waiting. She debated leaving. She could easily walk away and never give the arrogant ass a second thought. She’d slap him as she walked away, just for good measure.

But she didn’t. Instead she unleashed all of her pent-up frustration. Frustration over Ryan dumping her. Frustration over thinking she could come to the ranch and blindly find a man who’d successfully evaded the best trackers on the planet.

Frustration that she couldn’t attract a man for anything more than for him to bring her down just so he felt better.