Adams, Eve - Trio [Gideon's Ring 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (10 page)

Chris and Barrett exchanged surprised glances.

“Where’s your couple?” Chris took a step toward her. Barrett knew from the look on his cousin’s face and that horny gleam in his eye that he’d already forgotten about Sarah. “Were you too much for them?”

“They’re sleeping,” Carol explained and batted her large blue eyes at Chris. “And now I’m all alone.”

“You don’t have to be.”

Carol’s gaze flicked over to the bed. Instead of fear flashing in her eyes, she licked her lips and bit down. “Looks like you already have plans.”

“Plans can be altered,” Chris countered in a hungry growl.

Barrett didn’t want Carol. He didn’t realize it until she hadn’t showed, but he was actually looking forward to seeing Sarah again. Having her decide to leave even after the heated banter between them really cut deep.

“Where is she now?”

Carol turned to Barrett and gave a long sigh. “She’s out front. I tried to talk her into staying, but she refused. She said something about not being good enough for two men. Wait, did you both pin her?”

Barrett didn’t answer. He hurried out of the room and toward the front door to stop Sarah from leaving.

Carol’s voice echoed behind him. “Why would either of you pin her instead of me?”

“Let me see if the twins are busy,” Chris said, and then closed the door.

Barrett opened the front door and easily spotted Sarah sitting on one of the wrought
-
iron benches, her teeth chattering on this March evening, surrounded by gracefully falling snow as she waited for her cab. When she glanced over and saw him approaching, her eyes widened, and she quickly turned to look straight ahead.

She looked more at home in her faded blue jeans and heavy pullover, wafflestompers covering her feet. And for some reason he couldn’t explain, this Sarah Emerson had him immediately and painfully hard, his want for her tightening in his balls. She looked so natural, so beautiful as the snow fell around her.

“I’m leaving,” she informed him as he stopped next to her, her voice firm.

“I heard.” He glanced down at her small rolling bag and frowned. Most of the guests had at least twice that for a weekend at the ranch—one for clothes and one for when they weren’t wearing any. “Do you need help with the rest of your bags?”

She swung her large brown eyes up to him, and Barrett had to suck in a breath. Her eyes sparkled with defiance through her glasses, with uncertainty. And more than anything else, fear. It wasn’t the kind of fear that excited a sub. No, this fear meant so much more. Seeing it flash in her eyes made him feel it, too.

Damn it.

He’d scared her. Him. This was his fault that she now sat out in the cold waiting for a cab that would more than likely never come. When it snowed, the long, winding road up to the ranch could be dangerous to travel on. The ranch owned several ATVs and snow mobiles as backup just in case.

Barrett lifted his gaze to the sky. Thick grayish-white clouds hung low like a dense fog. With the temperature continuing to drop and from the looks of the fat clouds, the guests could be in for a longer stay than anticipated.

“I don’t have any other bags.”

“May I?” He motioned at the empty spot next to her.

“I’m leaving,” she repeated, her tone not quite as sure as before.

He sat, ignoring the numbing cold as the snow sank into his backside. “Heading to Holston to visit your brother?”

“I’m not sure. Maybe.”

“Travel is going to be tricky in this weather.”

“I’ll take my chances.”

“Fine. I’ll stay with you until your cab gets here, or until we freeze to death. Whichever comes first.”

She blinked at him and swept her pretty chestnut curls behind her ear. “Are you going to try and talk me into staying?”

He’d give anything to run his fingers through that hair. The mist from their breath combined and swirled above them, and he couldn’t help but want that to be them, twisting and joining together as one. “Do you want me to?”

She shrugged as her answer. “I left your charm up in my room, if that’s why you’re here.”

“That’s not why I’m here.”

“Then why?”

Hell, he didn’t even know the answer to that question. Ever since he’d spotted her in the bar, sitting alone, looking about as comfortable as a balloon in a cactus patch, he wanted to know more about her. Her innocent yet seductive look intrigued him. When
Chris
approached her first, it irritated Barrett. And then his
cousin
had made the signal that he needed a closer to come in and assist.

So assist Barrett did. And in return, he’d found himself even more intrigued. “Can I ask a question?”

“Sure.”

“Why did you come to the ranch?”

She drew in several breaths that had her high, firm breasts rising and lowering. Small, yet real. “My brother had the bright idea that I needed this.”

“Don’t you?”

Her laugh lifted into the air and slammed into his chest. He’d never heard a giggle so sweet and yet so sensual. “I don’t know what I need.”

An honest answer. Another thing he liked about her. “Did I do something to frighten you? Is that why you’re leaving? Listen, if you aren’t into BDSM, we don’t—”

“Oh, no. It isn’t that.” With wide eyes, she turned to him and placed her hand on his arm. The heat from her touch shot up his arm and coiled around his heart, which had him both curious and a bit alarmed.

His already throbbing cock ached at the thought of them taking their conversation from the bar to something more than talk. To see her running away, tail firmly planted between her pretty legs, made him wonder what he did to scare her. It had to have been him.
Chris
didn’t stick around long enough to say more than a few words.

“Then what is it?”

“Please don’t think it’s you. It isn’t. It’s me.”

He grinned and shook his head. When she crinkled her brow at him, he laughed. “The proverbial response when breaking up with someone.”

She laughed as well, and the sound would forever be imprinted
o
n his very soul. “That isn’t what I meant. Besides, it isn’t like we had a moment back there.”

“We didn’t?” He thought they had.

Turning to him, she lost her smile. Her wide gaze bounced from his eyes to his lips and back. She then licked hers before sucking her lower lip between her teeth.

“We did?”

“Didn’t we?”

“I…uh…I’m not…I mean…”

No sooner did she pull in a breath before his mouth caught hers. He licked her lips open so his tongue could play with hers. They tasted each other, taking their time exploring.

He lifted his hand and weaved his fingers into her silky waves. When he fisted the thick tr
e
sses, Sarah moaned and leaned into him. He fought against the need to reach up and touch her with his free hand, to grab her by the hips and pull her closer to him. He wanted to sink his cock inside her with a hunger so deep, so vivid, that he didn’t know how much longer he could fight it.

She had him on edge. His skin way too sensitive. His senses on high alert. He pulled back and stared into her eyes. “You do know what goes on here at GR&L, right? Norris explained what we do here?”

One word. Three letters. Hell, she could nod and that would be enough for him. He’d take her back to his room, fall to his knees, and worship the moist flesh between her thighs, slowly driving her insane with his tongue.

For starters.

Barrett watched as she drew back. Her pretty eyes lost some of their amazing shine. “I know, which is why I’m leaving.”

“But you knew before you agreed to spend the weekend here.”

She hesitated, and the wait nearly killed him. Then she gave him a slight nod. “I knew.”

He frowned. “Then why are you leaving?”

After visibly swallowing and forcing out a slow breath, she turned to him. “Listen, you really don’t need to do this.”

“Do what?”

“This. Right here. You’re being nice to me because you have to. Don’t worry, Mr. Gideon. I won’t be requesting a refund. This is my choice to leave. I thought I was ready for something like this, but I’m not.”

Mr. Gideon?
What happened to them being on a first-name basis? Especially when they’d hinted at doing unspeakable things to each other. “So what are you ready for?”

“To tell you the truth? I don’t know.”

“Then how do you know you aren’t ready for something like this?” Whatever
this
was.

Instead of protesting, she smiled and nudged at him as she lowered her gaze to her boots. “Good point.”

He let out a long sigh and stared up at the way his breath hovered above them. “It’s freezing out here. Why don’t we take this inside and get something warm to drink?”

The way she smiled, flirting at him with nothing more than a look, had him ready to start panting. Dear God
,
she was beautiful.

“What did you have in mind?”

He wondered if she had any idea what that look did to a man. It made him think of only one thing, and it involved her beneath him, her sweet body writhing and glistening with sweat as he drove into her over and over until they both screamed out.

“Let’s start by going inside. We’ll see what sparks our interest.” He stood and held out his hand.

She slipped her hand in his, and he didn’t miss how well it fit. The heat from her touch sank into his bones, and despite his last statement, his cock twitched as the heat reached his balls. They tightened as the lust that suddenly raced through him bubbled in his groin.

“Are you sure?” Her eyes were wide as they searched his.

“About spending time with you?”

She nodded. “I’m not exactly the type of woman men like you tend to go for.”

“And what kind of man am I?”
This ought to be good.

When she blushed furiously, the beautiful color lit up her cheeks as well as her eyes. She lowered her gaze and offered him a sheepish smile. “Are you really going to make me say it?”

“Oh yeah.” He laughed.

She
looked up and
rolled her eyes, and Barrett loved the way it lit up her entire face. He’d never seen anything like it. Most women rolled their eyes as a sign of irritation. She did it more as a way to taunt him even more. His dick pushed against the buttons of his jeans.

“Fine,” she groaned. “You’re like a tall, dark, and dangerous dream. You and your cousin shouldn’t be allowed in the same zip code, let alone the same room.”

“Is that so?”

“Sure. You two are destructive to any woman’s self-control.”

“We are?” They were? That was news to him.

“Just look at you,” she went on, her words falling faster and faster. “You both have shoulders that could hold up the world, hair that just makes me want to run my fingers through it, and eyes—oh wow, your eyes are like these unending pools of deep blue. They’re like a midnight blue, your eyes. And what’s worse, your cousin is just as gorgeous with his dancing hazel eyes and yummy caramel hair. It’s like God so wanted to tempt every female on earth that he created the Gideons as punishment.”