Authors: Emily Ryan-Davis
“Yeah, you know what? You’re right.” Eager to get on the road, Kat straightened off the desk. “I can be ready in ten minutes.”
Liam shoved backward, giving her room to step away. “I can be ready in five.”
“Ha! I’d like to see that.”
Standing, he wrapped his arms around her waist and drew her against his chest. “I can’t wait to be alone with you.”
A thrill jolted through her despite her earlier exhaustion. Kat hooked her fingers behind the collar of his shirt and loosened the first button. After freeing the second button, she kissed the bare triangle of skin. The spicy scent of his soap signaled her temperature to start rising. Lowering her voice, she said, “You’re alone with me right now.”
Liam groaned and cupped her ass. “Alone with you in a hotel room, with someone else to clean the shower after we fuck in it. Let’s leave our phones here. We won’t tell anyone where we’re going. Maybe we won’t even come back.”
Kat laughed. “I guess that is a pretty different kind of alone, isn’t it? Direct to fantasy land, do not pass go.”
Instead of answering, he squeezed her ass and released her. “Go pack. Let’s get out of here.”
Since there was no way in hell she would be ready in only ten minutes, Kat bolted from the room to get a head start. Halfway to their bedroom, she grinned at the sound of his ringtone. More time for her to dig through her lingerie drawer.
In their bedroom, she grabbed her smallest suitcase from beneath the bed and started filling it with options for a variety of situations and weather conditions. Odds were good they wouldn’t leave their hotel room once they checked in, but she had learned not to take chances with Liam’s impulsive spirit. After tucking black satin heels next to tooled leather cowboy boots, she moved on to the good stuff.
A rainbow of silky, lacy treats spilled over her wrists as she reached deep into her lingerie drawer, searching for something specific. Liam enjoyed delicate feminine things. He especially enjoyed sliding them off her body. As she moved his Christmas gift aside, the memory of that first night with Hunter knocked her on her butt. Sitting down on the floor, she pulled the red chemise onto her lap and smoothed her palm over the fabric.
Hunter had hated it.
Well, maybe not hated, but he wasn’t a fan. At first, he looked at her with shock in his eyes. Lust had quickly moved in, but not because of the sexy baby doll she wore. The first thing he’d done after carrying her up the stairs to her bed was pull the gown off her. Unlike Liam, Hunter had no patience or care for the wrapping paper.
And that wasn’t the only difference between her two men.
Frowning, Kat tucked the nightie back into the drawer and got up to find her phone. While she listened for Hunter’s voice mail to pick up, she gathered a few necessary toiletries from the bathroom. On the fifth ring, a computerized voice recited Hunter’s cell number and invited her to leave a message.
Hunter wasn’t a phone person the way Kat was, so she kept it short.
She emerged from the bathroom to find Liam leaning against one of the high bedposts, arms across his chest and frown lines on his forehead.
He nodded at her phone. “Who was that?”
“Hunter’s voice mail. I was just letting him know we’ll be out of touch for a bit.” Kat dropped her makeup bag into her suitcase.
“I thought we agreed not to tell anyone we’re going.”
“I didn’t tell ‘anyone,’ I told Hunter.” She hesitated, ready to zip her suitcase but suddenly unsure of Liam’s mood. Tilting her head, she watched him closely. “Is that really a problem?”
His frown lingered another moment before he shrugged and flipped his scowl around to a smile. “No. Of course not.”
“Liam...” Kat bit her lip. “If Hunter vanished for a several days without warning or notice, we would both be in a panic, wondering if he had decided he can’t do this. You know how important it is that we all communicate with each other.”
“You’re right, and it’s not a problem. Calling him was the right thing to do.” Straightening, he crossed to the dresser they shared and started pulling out clothes.
“But?” she prompted.
“No ‘but.’” He turned and glanced at her suitcase. “Did you leave any room in there for me or should I get mine out?”
Kat raised her eyebrows and Liam held up his hands with a chuckle.
“Okay, yeah. Stupid question. I’ll be ready in five. Will you call and book a room for us?”
“Sure. Hilton?”
“Perfect.” Liam started tossing clothes onto the bed.
Leaving him to it, Kat looked up the number and put in the call. Liam’s reaction to her calling Hunter left her with an unsettled feeling, but she couldn’t condense her vague concerns down into a question worth asking. Maybe they shouldn’t have postponed their upcoming relationship meeting, which didn’t work with Hunter’s weekend training. She would fight doubly hard for getting together next weekend.
True to his word, Liam finished packing in about five minutes. Fifteen minutes later, they were on the road.
* * *
In the car, Kat slipped off her shoes, reclined her seat and pulled the clip from her hair. When she reached into the backseat to drop the barrette into her purse, she caught Liam smiling. Her lips quirked in response. “What?”
He shook his head but the smile widened. “Nothing.”
“Uh-huh.” She reclined her seat and propped her feet on the dash. The pink-and-yellow stripes on her wool socks reminded her of her best friend, Adele, who had taken up knitting the previous year. Adele had given everyone handmade socks for Christmas. Liam’s were a more sedate navy blue, and three inches too long for his feet.
Kat reached for her phone with the intention of snapping a photo of her wool-clad feet on their way to Pennsylvania, but she caught herself at the last minute and rested her palm on Liam’s thigh instead. No phones meant no texting. Her tech-dependent skin started to itch. Casting around for a fix, she grabbed Liam’s iPod and scrolled through his collection.
“Liam,” she said a few minutes later. “Your music sucks.”
“My music is classic. Give it to me, I’ll find something.” He reached blindly for the iPod.
She held it away from him. “Your music is awful. There’s nothing on here from high school or college. We need something...road-trippy.”
“What, like ‘Life is a Highway’?” He slanted an amused look at her. “You’re not serious.”
“I am dead serious.” She turned on the radio and thumbed through the presets until she hit Jack FM, “Kryptonite” in progress. “There! That’s what I’m talking about.”
Liam snorted. “3 Doors Down? Really?”
“Do you not remember 2003?” She teased. “It was 3 Doors Down or Staind. Or Nelly, but ew.”
He shook his head, but he was smiling. “Staind? I don’t think so. You’re confusing me with Hunter.”
“No.” Kat sobered, her stomach turning inexplicably hollow at Liam’s casual statement. “I would never confuse you with Hunter.”
She saw his knuckles turn white as he gripped the steering wheel hard. “Kat—”
The driver of a maroon minivan swerved into their lane without warning. Liam braked and jerked the wheel to avoid being clipped by the other vehicle. “Fuck!”
He righted the car an instant later and killed the radio. Neither of them spoke for several minutes.
Kat broke the silence. “Listen, are you sure nothing’s wrong?”
“Maryland drivers are fucking idiots. Otherwise, everything is fine. Why don’t you use my earbuds for a while? I need to focus in this traffic.”
At Liam’s request for quiet, Kat closed her eyes. The energy of pop music no longer held any appeal. The long days she had spent inventorying their belongings, researching military bases Hunter might be transferred to and filling orders from her e-commerce business had caught up to her. She had never been able to sleep in a moving vehicle but her muscles grew heavy as the white noise of the highway filled her ears. Liam’s voice snapped her to attention before real sleep had a chance to settle in. She opened her eyes and blinked at the U-Haul trailer bouncing along the road in front of them.
“K-K?” Liam glanced at her.
She added “find a moving company” to her mental list and shook her head. “I’m sorry. I think I fell asleep. What did you say?”
“Do you want to go to the hotel first or go straight to Longwood?”
“Oh. Definitely Longwood first. We can have lunch at the café. I’m going to be starving by the time we get there.”
He nodded. “I think we’ll be too early for check-in, anyway. We can get lunch and take some pictures. Shit. Did you bring your camera?”
“No. I’m so used to having my phone.” Kat bit her lip as he reminded her of their tech disconnection.
“Damn. I thought you could get some pictures and make a note of the flowers you like, since you’ve been talking about a garden.”
Kat experienced a pang at his reminder of the landscaping plans she had started even before they closed on their house. With Hunter in their lives now, she and Liam were going to have to get creative about fulfilling their respective and joint wish lists. “It’s fine. Maybe I’ll do a box garden or something when we figure out where we’re going with Hunter. The climate will probably be different than here, anyway.”
Liam’s hand clenched on the wheel. “Listen, K-K...”
When he didn’t continue, she frowned. “What is it?”
He shook his head. “Nothing. Forget it.”
Frustration rose behind her breastbone. She exhaled through her nose before saying, “I really wish you would talk to me. Something has obviously been bothering you for a while now. Have I done something?”
“No, of course not. Jen’s being Jen. Her problems have me on edge. You, on the other hand, are perfect.” Liam reached over and squeezed her leg.
Kat covered his hand and pushed her fingers between his.
“What kind of problems?” she asked.
“The kind that we should just ignore for as long as we possibly can.”
“Ugh. I hate those.” Kat sighed. Jen was Liam’s foster sister. Kat had met Jen a handful of times and spoken to her on the phone a few more times than that, but she and Jen were barely more than acquaintances. Jen didn’t let anybody get close to her. Anybody except Liam. And Liam paid for Jen’s trust. Over and over again, usually in the form of diaper, grocery, or bail money. Kat didn’t begrudge Jen the material demands, but a small part of her hated the other woman. Every time she resurfaced, she dragged Liam back to the dark years of his life in the foster system.
She didn’t completely buy Liam’s explanation, though. Something was wrong and she didn’t know how to get it out of him. Frowning, she turned her face away, watching traffic fall behind as Liam pushed the speed limit. The truth was, she wasn’t sure she wanted to know what was wrong. She still hadn’t really recovered from learning about the secret Liam had harbored their entire marriage. If Hunter hadn’t outed him, Liam would probably still be hiding the fact that he had denied her the right to choose between him and Hunter.
Kat had forgiven Liam, but the wound was still raw. She wasn’t ready to be cut open again.
Chapter Two
The following Tuesday, Liam let himself into his Las Vegas hotel room before the sun went down. The city’s famous nightlife was just getting started but all he wanted to do was catch a flight back to Baltimore. After emptying his pockets on the bureau, which doubled as an entertainment center, he grabbed the room service menu and crossed to stand in front of the large window that overlooked the Strip. Even in February, the sidewalks bustled with activity and the cars moved in slow motion.
The last time he was in Vegas, he and Kat had spent a week touring the nightclubs together. Kat did amazing things for traditional club wear. His dick still hardened at the mere thought of discovering her bare-assed beneath a formfitting gold skirt that was so short, he hadn’t even needed to push the hem up in order to get inside her. All she had to do was lean over far enough to rest her elbows on the wall outside the Bellagio fountains, and he’d slid right in while the oblivious crowd pressed close around them. God, he loved that woman.
Room service forgotten, Liam swiped his thumb across his cell phone screen and unzipped his pants with his other hand. He had his cock in his fist by the time Kat answered.
“I wondered when you were going to call,” she said first thing, a smile in her voice.
“Today’s meetings ran late. I cut out when the developers broke for dinner. I’m sorry I couldn’t return your texts.” He turned away from the window and dropped into a deep armchair. The tension finally drained out of him as he leaned his head back, closed his eyes and pictured her, dark hair brushed into a silky cloud around her bare shoulders. He didn’t need to ask what she was wearing. Even though Kat adored her lingerie, she disliked sleeping in a tangle of clothing. By this time of night, she would be all creamy, warm skin and nothing else. His dick pulsed against his palm. “I miss you, K-K.”
She sighed. “I miss you too. I wish you had an earlier flight tomorrow.”
“You and me both. I could get a red-eye tonight but I don’t want to pull you out of bed at five a.m.”
“If you don’t mind the lack of sleep, I don’t either. I’ll probably wake up when Hunter leaves in the morning, anyway. Do you think you can change your ticket?”
Liam’s hand stilled. Not for the first time in recent weeks, something ugly stirred in his gut. “Hunter’s there?”
“Yeah. Do you want to talk to him?”
He squashed the dark emotion, which he refused to name. “I don’t need to. Is anything wrong?”
“No, nothing. He had some time and decided to drive up. Why didn’t you tell him you were going to be out of town?”
“Must have slipped my mind. What did you two get up to?”
“Wings and a couple of beers. I packed up some orders I need to ship tomorrow while he watched Netflix and binged on
Grey’s Anatomy.
I—” Kat paused and Hunter said something Liam didn’t catch. With a soft snort, Kat said, “Sorry.
Scrubs.
Apparently there’s a significant difference.”
“To a dude? Yeah, there’s a difference, babe.” Liam chuckled.
“Mmm, whatever. We had a pretty low-key night, anyway. We were about to get ready for bed since Hunter has to take off so early in the morning. Are you going to try to get an earlier flight?”
Liam revised his mental picture, as well as his plans for the evening. “No, I’ll stick around for one more breakfast buffet. But go ahead and put Hunter on the phone if he’s nearby.”
“He just went upstairs. I’ll get him.”
Kat went quiet. Liam reached over to the desk and woke up his laptop. While he waited for Skype to load, he imagined her walking through their Hampden row house, through the living room where their wedding pictures rested over the fireplace and up the stairs past an eclectic assortment of vacation snapshots Kat had gotten framed especially for that space. Their bedroom was behind the first door on the right, with a guest bedroom on the left. The bedroom Kat had converted into an office stood at the end of the hall and another converted bedroom housed his workspace. When they bought the older home, Kat had been charmed by the Baltimore neighborhood but it was the sunlit corner bedroom that had won Liam over. Now he couldn’t picture himself drafting designs anywhere else.
But he had to get over it. When he sought Hunter out in December, he’d turned away from the perfectly controlled life he’d always dreamed of living. So maybe in retrospect it didn’t sit well with him, how easily Kat had agreed to change their relationship by welcoming a permanent third in their bed. Sometimes it all seemed too easy once he, Kat and Hunter had worked through their initial problems. Liam couldn’t shake the feeling that something was going to break. Maybe Kat and Hunter would grow so close, they didn’t have room for him between them. Or the other possibility—that Kat would feel edged out by the attraction sizzling between Liam and Hunter.
Liam didn’t know which hypothetical frightened him more. In a quest for balance, he found himself trying to deny his draw to Hunter while at the same time trying to hold Kat close so she wouldn’t forget him. If he had it to do all over again...
But he didn’t. And, given a second chance, he wasn’t sure he really would do anything differently. Liam had wanted Hunter for himself and when Hunter finally stopped running, Liam didn’t hesitate to take the opportunity in front of him. He should be grateful he’d married a woman who not only understood and accepted the fact her husband needed to fuck other men, but also embraced an alternative lifestyle. If Kat had rejected Hunter, Liam would have a whole different set of problems because, with Hunter, it wasn’t about the sex.
Kat spoke, interrupting his grim train of thought. “I’m going to give you to Hunter and go take a shower. I love you.”
“I love you too, babe. Hold off on the shower for a few minutes. I’m not finished with you yet.”
She chuckled. “Okay. Here’s Hunter. Oh—Jen called this afternoon. She said she’s left voice mail but hasn’t been able to reach you on your cell. I told her to try e-mail, so watch for her in your inbox.”
Liam ground his back teeth together. Speaking of fucking problems, the shit piling up around his foster sister kept getting deeper and deeper. If he wasn’t careful, Jen would suck Liam back into the hell he’d fought so hard to leave behind. He schooled his voice into a neutral tone before responding to Kat. “I’ll check my messages.”
Kat wished him one last good night and a few seconds later, Hunter’s low, deep voice rubbed down Liam’s back. Liam felt his thigh muscles bunch. The Marine Corps had done damned fine things to his old friend and new lover. The thread of steel that ran through everything Hunter said and did was only one of Hunter’s many mouthwatering traits. Even at ease, Hunter was a hard, hot man. Liam’s second thoughts fled. He and Hunter weren’t in competition for Kat. They never had been, because Hunter had never wanted
just
Kat. Likewise, Liam hadn’t drawn Hunter back into his life for Kat’s benefit. Liam very possibly wanted Hunter even more than Kat did. They belonged together as a triad. Nobody would be leaving anybody else alone.
With that reminder to himself, Liam logged into Skype and worked out a plan with Hunter. By the time they ended the call, Liam looked forward to seeing Hunter almost as much as he looked forward to seeing Kat.
* * *
Kat was rinsing her mouth when Hunter appeared in the doorway. Without looking at him, she held up her finger to signal she’d be finished in a minute, and dropped her green toothbrush into the cup it shared with Liam’s blue one. Even though Hunter stayed over one night a week on average and had spent a handful of Saturday nights, he hadn’t moved any of his belongings into the house. More often than not, she felt a little twinge of annoyance that Hunter still viewed their relationship as something temporary. Tonight, however, she was glad for the visual reminder that Liam was permanent. She couldn’t wait to for him to get home.
After swishing with mouthwash, Kat turned to Hunter, ready to turn the bathroom over to him. Her smile faded before it could take full form. The man standing in front of her vibrated with tension, a startling change from the relaxed, easy manner he’d carried through the evening. His hazel eyes sparked with heat and his firm lips, pressed together in a tight line, didn’t soften his edge one bit.
She remembered that look from the first night, when she and Hunter had come face-to-face downstairs in the kitchen. Once he’d gotten past his shock, he’d moved over into desire. Oh, Hunter hid his need well but it hadn’t taken long for Kat to recognize the signs that he was working to maintain his self-control. Just like the first time she’d decoded his restrained need, she felt her body respond with a hot curl of interest.
“That must have been some chat you had with Liam,” she said, wondering why he was bothering to hide from her.
“It was something.” Hunter shifted his weight.
Kat’s focus dropped, homing in on the bulge already apparent behind his fly. Well, there was her answer. He wasn’t trying to hide from his attraction to her. He was trying to hide from his attraction to Liam. She had to believe Hunter would eventually become comfortable with his bisexuality; otherwise she would spend her days worrying and wondering when he would leave again. Unwilling to drive him away by pushing, she kept her thoughts to herself and focused on what Hunter had said.
“Was it? Something you care to share with me?”
“Yeah. Come with me.” Hunter turned and left the bedroom.
Now she was really curious. Kat followed him out to the hall. Hunter wasn’t there but the light was on in her office. She found him sitting at her small desk. His big hand swallowed her wireless mouse as he dismissed the screen saver and launched Skype.
He looked up at her. “Where’s your camera?”
Kat didn’t answer. As Skype loaded, her husband’s image appeared on the monitor and her breath caught.
Liam reclined in a high-backed chair, far enough away from his laptop that the camera caught him from the knees up. He still wore a long-sleeved button-down shirt but he had unbuttoned it, leaving his lean chest bare. He had also unbuttoned his pants. Navy wool encased his hips and thighs, making the image of him pumping his hand up and down his stiff, naked cock that much more shocking. Her nipples pebbled against the soft cotton of one of Liam’s T-shirts, which she’d thrown on for the sake of being close to him.
Swallowing, Kat looked between Hunter and the monitor. “Seriously?”
“I think you know the answer to that, K-K. Your nipples are already hard.” Liam shifted his gaze to Hunter. “Camera’s right at the top of the monitor, dead center. Wheel the chair back two or three feet and sit down, and you’ll be perfect.”
The instant their plan registered, heat exploded low in her belly. Kat watched, dumbfounded, while Hunter tilted the monitor and scooted her desk chair back under Liam’s direction. All the while, Liam kept slowly stroking his cock. Kat itched to touch him, to drag her fingertips through the pad of springy russet hair framed by his open pants.
Liam rubbed his thumb across the glistening plum-shaped head and she sucked in a breath. Hunter’s scent filled her lungs. She turned her head to find him close, so close he didn’t even have to reach to grasp the hem of her T-shirt. Kat wordlessly raised her arms and Hunter whisked the shirt over her head. Turning, she rested her hands on his broad shoulders when he took hold of the waist of her yoga pants and shoved them, along with her panties, off her hips. Behind her, Liam groaned.
Kat started to look over her shoulder at the monitor but Hunter was a beat ahead of her. He cupped her shoulders and positioned her to face the computer.
“This is very strange,” she said, catching Liam’s eye. Sort of.
A smile played over his lips. “We have to keep things interesting for our best girl.”
Hunter wasn’t much of a talker during sex, and he remained true to form tonight. Behind Kat, the springs in her office chair creaked as Hunter settled onto the armless seat. He spanned her waist with both hands and drew her backward, settling her right on top of the hard ridge she’d glimpsed earlier. Hooking his knees between hers, he widened his legs and spread hers in the process.
“Ahh, that’s pretty,” Liam said. “One of my favorite views. Reach back and put your arms around his neck, babe. I want your breasts right up in my face while Hunter plays with them.”
“Jesus, Liam.” Pulse racing, Kat raised her arms and clasped her hands at Hunter’s nape. The position rendered her completely vulnerable and pressed her fully against Hunter, who had removed his T-shirt at some point. His chest radiated heat, warming the ID tags he wore around his neck. That heat seeped into the muscles of her back while a draft from the closed window cooled the front of her body. Her nipples beaded into tight points and goose bumps spread across her thighs. Liam’s breathing took on a rough edge, telling her without words exactly what her role would be tonight.
Hunter, already in on the plan, didn’t hesitate. He fanned his fingers over her knees and angled her legs even wider, directing her by touch instead of with words. Kat inhaled slowly, trying to breathe around the anticipation and excitement. Watching two men together was her kink, but this—held between Liam and Hunter, the object of their mutual focus—was rapidly becoming her favorite situation in life. She opened her mouth to confess as much, but one look at Liam’s face silenced the words.
While Hunter skimmed his palms over her ribs to her breasts and grazed his work-roughened fingertips over the sensitive curves, Liam looked at something past her shoulder. She tilted her head and strained to follow his gaze. Her breath caught at Hunter’s tight expression, his jaw tense and eyes narrowed to gleaming slits, his focus not on her, but on Liam.
“Oh.” Understanding drew the heat deeper, making her squirm with the need to squeeze her thighs together. As she shifted her legs to do just that, Hunter shook his head sharply and tore his gaze away from Liam’s image.
“That’s not how this is going to go,” Hunter said, releasing her breasts and grasping her knees again. “Liam and I have a plan. You’re going to sit tight until we’re ready for you.”