Candy Apple (13 page)

“Is everything okay?” Kiah asked.

Nathan shrugged. “I hope so.”

Chapter Ten

Dear Diary,

I just don’t know what to do.

Tasha sat on the couch sipping her wine, staring at the rim
of her glass. The other occupants in the house—Heather, Cain and Paxson—were
hiding in the kitchen. She knew she should go back to her room—no reason to
depress everyone in her vicinity—but she’d spent the past four days hiding.
Refusing calls and visits.

Finally tonight, Heather had managed to drag Tasha
downstairs and slapped a glass of wine in her hand. Tasha hadn’t progressed to
getting dressed. She’d dragged on her robe, feeling the need for terry-cloth
comfort.

“Your cell is ringing again,” Heather said from the kitchen
doorway, her voice soft and infused with sympathy.

“I know.”

“You’re going to have to talk to them.” Heather walked in and
sat down on the edge of the coffee table.

“I know.”

“Soon.” The sympathy left Heather’s voice, replaced by the
hint of a nag. Heather didn’t handle self-pity well and Tasha knew she was
nearing the end of her “grace period”. Pretty soon Heather was going to start
demanding she get off her ass and do something.

“I know,” Tasha finally said again. “I just don’t know what
to do.”

“Talk to them.”

“And say what?” She looked up at Heather. “Do I tell them
you’re great guys and I’m pretty sure I’m in love with both of you, but you
know, I want kids. It’s old-fashioned and not hip but I want to get married and
settle down and have two or three kids and really how is that going to work
with me having two lovers?”

“Maybe that’s what they want too,” suggested Heather.

Tasha rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Really? Nathan is
moving up the corporate ladder. There’s talk of him becoming the next partner.
He doesn’t need a frumpy wife who bakes cookies. He needs a tall, slim blonde
who can host cocktail gatherings and do charity work.”

Jason’s engagement announcement loomed large in her memory.
The woman he was marrying was a financial lawyer. Hopefully she was smart
enough to understand what his coworkers talked about.

“You don’t know that.”

“And then there’s Kiah. Is there any better description of
‘carefree bachelor’?” A lump formed in her throat. “He hops on his bike and
just leaves town for a few days. He has no responsibilities except his job.”

“You’re right. Neither of them is husband material and God
forbid they procreate.”

Tasha glared at Heather. She knew what Heather was doing but
that didn’t piss her off any less. Heather shrugged.

“Well, it’s like you said. Nathan’s a workaholic who would
never see his children.”

“That’s not true.” Tasha couldn’t help but defend him. “He
works a lot but he always makes time for me. And when we go out, he doesn’t
answer his phone or make every date a work event.” Unlike Jason.

“That may be true but you’re right about Kiah…you couldn’t
trust him alone with kids. He might forget he had them and take off.”

“That’s insane.” Tasha sat up and slammed her wineglass onto
the coffee table. “Kiah would never forget he was watching the kids. He’s got
eyes in the back of his head. He would never do anything to harm our children.”

“Then if you don’t think we’d totally suck as dads, why did
you run?”

Tasha gasped and spun around staring at the open kitchen
door. Kiah and Nathan stood, shoulder to shoulder. The grim looks on their
faces made her heart sink.

Heather stood up, causing a slight ripple in the tension.
She leaned over and hugged Tasha.

“You set me up,” Tasha hissed.

“Actually, Cain and Paxson set you up. I was just the
go-between.” Her grip around Tasha’s shoulders tightened, almost to the point
of pain. “Now, talk to them.”

The lump in her throat grew as Heather backed away and
walked into the kitchen. As she passed by Nathan and Kiah she gave them
sympathetic nods and patted their arms.

Knowing Heather, I’m lucky she didn’t pat their asses.

Once the kitchen door swung shut behind Heather, Tasha stood
up and faced Nathan and Kiah. Kiah was walking with crutches but she could see
he was leaning on them heavily.

“You should sit down,” she said, stepping back and
indicating the high-backed chair. She knew it was difficult for him to get out
of the soft cushions of the couch.

“I’m fine,” he growled. “And I’m not sure I’m staying.”

Her heart dropped.

“Please, can we all just sit?” She looked at Nathan,
silently pleading for his support. No light or connection glowed in his stare
but he nodded.

“Let’s sit down for a second,” he said to Kiah and she knew
he was making it clear he was doing this for Kiah’s sake, not hers.

Kiah limped forward and dropped onto the chair with the full
force of gravity. Nathan stayed standing.

“How’s your leg?”

“Now you care? I’ve been fucking telling them to just cut it
off so I could get out of PT faster in case I missed your call and you’re
sitting over here pouting?”

Her first reaction was to apologize and say she was sorry
for making them worry. But she’d changed in the past few months. Even in the
past few days.

They—Nathan and Kiah—had given her the confidence that she
was worthy of love and lust.

“I wasn’t exactly pouting,” she replied, giving her words
enough force to make them strong. She couldn’t quite stop her body’s
instinctive protection. She crossed her arms over her chest and sank down onto
the couch. “I was trying to figure out what I was going to do, you know, with
the rest of my life.”

“And you thought it best to do that without any input from
us?” Nathan demanded.

Her newfound confidence wavered but she lifted her chin
higher and met his angry gaze.

“Yes. I needed to think,” she said, directing her words to
Nathan, hoping he would understand.

“But what you were planning involved us, right?”

“I guess? Maybe?”

Nathan straightened to his full height. Kiah slid back on
the chair, putting his spine against the cushions.

She pushed all of the breath from her lungs then let her
gaze bounce between the two men. “I saw the announcement for Jason’s engagement.
He wasn’t the best catch in the world, but he wanted to marry me and we would
have had pale, pasty children who were good at math.”

Kiah barked out a laugh. “Sorry,” he muttered between
chuckles but she could tell he didn’t mean it.

She glanced at Nathan and he was smirking as well.

“At least Jason wanted to marry me.”

“You never asked us,” Nathan replied. “I mean, me,” he
corrected.

“Or me, so yes, that’s technically us,” Kiah added.

She sat up straight. “It isn’t really something a woman
thinks to ask,” she said.

“That’s pretty chauvinistic, don’t you think?” Kiah nudged
Nathan.

“He’s got a point,” Nathan said.

Her throat tightened and she stared at the two men she was
pretty sure she was in love with, but asking them to marry her wasn’t really
part of her dream.

Nathan took the issue off the table.

“But, chauvinistic or not, I’d like to do the asking…you
know, when we get to that point.”

He looked at Tasha as if waiting for her approval. The knot
of tension that had lodged in her chest eased just a bit. He’d said “when” not
“if”. Heck, she’d even take an “if” at this point. The dream of having a family
quickly rebuilt itself. She nodded.

“And we don’t immediately have to have children, right?”
Kiah asked. “I mean, I want kids but I’m thinking we could wait a year or so.”
He shrugged. “Figure out how this is going to work between us, huh?”

He also looked at Tasha. Marriage. Kids. With Nathan
and
Kiah. Like Kiah had said, they needed to figure out how this would work and she
wasn’t going to give up the chance to be with both men.

Again she nodded. The relief was so great, tears pricked the
corners of her eyes and she had to draw in a long breath.

“So no more panicking when something happens,” Nathan said.

“I’ll try.”

“Good.” Kiah inched to the edge of the chair. “Now help me
up. I need to be in bed.”

Tasha jumped up and ran to his side. “Oh you’ve been doing
too much. You need to rest.”

Kiah raised his eyes and met her gaze. “I’m not planning on
resting. The doctor cleared me for sex almost a week ago and I’m still sleeping
alone. Let’s go home so I can fix that.”

She blinked and stared as Nathan crossed his arms and
glowered down at Kiah. “How are you going to fuck her?” Nathan asked. “Your
back’s almost healed but your leg is nowhere near ready.”

“She’ll have to ride
me
this time.”

Nathan nodded and tipped his head to the side and she could
see he was considering the idea.

“Hmm, does that mean I get to spank her this time?”

“Oh hell yes.”

Tasha sat there for a moment, her mind racing at what just
occurred.

“Babe, you’d better go put some clothes on.”

“Top’s down on the Mustang.” Kiah winked. “We love you naked
but it might be a chilly ride home.”

Tasha stood up, her first instinct to run upstairs and get
dressed, just as Kiah and Nathan instructed. As she stood up, the front of her
robe fluttered open, revealing just a hint of her thigh.

Instantly she felt the eyes of both men, trained on the gap
in the material.

A surge of power and hunger flowed into her pussy. She
lifted her chin and stared at Kiah, her hands skipping across the belt that
held her robe closed.

She tapped her fingers on the knot, waiting for him to look.
She glanced to her left and saw she’d caught Nathan’s attention as well. The
heat from their matching gazes warmed her from the inside.

She undid the knot and let the robe fall open. She wiggled
her shoulders. The gap widened. Nathan’s chest rose in a long breath.

“Babe, remember there are other peop—”

“Shut up, man,” Kiah snapped. “Baby, you can take off your
clothes any time you want.”

Her eyes flicked toward the kitchen door. Nathan was right
but somehow she knew Heather and her men would be cautious coming back in the
room.

Hoping that she was right, she shrugged the terry-cloth robe
off her shoulders and let it drop, leaving her standing there, wearing nothing
but her panties, candy-apple red. She’d been wearing them to remind her of Kiah
and Nathan.

Cool air rushed over her skin, tightening her nipples. She
hooked her fingers into the waistband of her panties and dragged them down. She
let them drop and stepped out of them, moving toward Kiah.

“I’m not sure I can wait until we get to your house.” She
stopped beside Kiah’s knee then lifted one leg over until she straddled him.
“I’ve been without both my lovers,” she glanced at Nathan, drawing him in, “too
long.”

She leaned forward, not putting any weight on Kiah’s legs.
His gaze locked on her breasts. She placed her hands on the arms of the chairs.

“Remember that first morning, when I sucked you off.”

Matching groans escaped from Kiah and Nathan. She snagged
her lower lip between her teeth. “I want to taste you again.” She closed the
space between her and Kiah, pressing her lips to his. He opened his mouth,
meeting her tongue as she licked inside.

“Fuck.” The word came out of Nathan’s mouth soft and filled
with awe.

She pulled back from the kiss and looked at Nathan. “That
too.”

Nathan stared at her for a long moment then seemed to
understand what she meant. He nodded and sat down on the couch, relaxing back
against the cushions. The hard line of his erection pressed against the front
placket of his jeans.

“You’re just going to watch?” she asked.

“For now.” He lifted his chin toward Kiah. “He’s been
directing me for a month now, I think it’s only fair.” Nathan draped his arm
across the back of the couch. “Hez, why don’t you suck on those pretty tits of
hers? You know how much she loves to have her nipples sucked.”

The cold and his words pulled her nipples tighter, making
them ache without anyone touching them. He was right. In the past few months,
she’d become quite addicted to having her nipples touched and licked.

Kiah rested his hands on her hips, the rough calluses on his
fingers scraping across her skin, adding delicious sensation to the slow
passage of his hands. He slid his hands around front and cupped her breasts in
his palms.

“Come a little closer, baby,” he whispered. “I’m injured.
You don’t want me to have to work too hard.”

She giggled and looked at Nathan, rolling her eyes at his
cousin’s antics. But she also leaned in, offering him her breast. He closed his
eyes and moaned as he sucked the peak between his lips. Tasha’s fingers
tightened on the armrests, holding on as Kiah licked and sucked on her nipple.
Heat swelled inside her. She pressed her hand to the back of his head and urged
him closer.

She couldn’t stop her hips from rocking forward, a slow need
to soothe the ache in her pussy.

“Fuck.” Nathan threw himself out of the couch as if he
couldn’t bear not participating. He came up behind her, one hand on her hip,
the other on her bare breast.

Kiah’s lips popped off her nipple.

“For a guy with a desk job, you can’t sit still for long.”

“I don’t have this kind of temptation at my office.” He
pressed up close behind her, his erection sliding between her ass cheeks,
adding wicked stimulation to her sensitized body. He thrummed his fingers
across her nipple. “Fuck, babe, that is—”

“We should,” Cain’s voice rang through the room seconds
before the kitchen door popped open, “head to—whoops.”

Tasha blinked and looked up, knowing her eyes had to be
wide, knowing Cain could see her naked breasts. Cain froze in the doorway. He
looked—seemed to take in the whole scene—and gulped.