Checking It Twice (22 page)

Nick flashed a grin. “But blue is my color.”

“Nice try.” Snorting, Jana jumped out of the vehicle.

Working as a team, they lugged the presents into the condo and piled them in one corner of the living room. Shrugging from his jacket, Nick surveyed the goodies before glancing at Kevin. “Don’t see any point in you giving her that present now. Ms. Snuggie Hoarder’s got plenty.”

Jana pinched Nick in the side. Ignoring his yelp, she rubbed her hands together gleefully, her eyes sparkling. “I’ve been waiting freakin’ forever for this.”

Her giddy excitement banished the lingering phantom of Kevin’s melancholy. Chuckling, he trekked to the hall closet and snatched the large gift-wrapped box squirreled out of sight behind an old ski jacket and snow boots. He handed her the container, and she
oohed
and
ahhed
over the sparkly bow and expensive designer paper before thoroughly demolishing both as she ripped through the packaging like a tornado. She tossed the cardboard cover aside, a long, drawn-out awed breath floating from her.

Nerves getting the better of him, he waited while she lifted the fluffy pink mohair coat from the box. When he’d spotted the garment several months ago at a boutique shop in Birmingham, he’d known right away that it was destined to be Jana’s. It was outrageous, sexy and unique—just like her. The price tag had been inconsequential. He just hoped to hell she liked it.

Nick clamped a hand on Kevin’s shoulder. “I heartily approve. Can we consign that leather trench to a bonfire now?”

Jana wiggled out of the garment in question and shook her finger at Nick again. “Paws off my trench. I’m keeping it for spring.” She held the mohair to her cheek and rubbed it against her skin with a blissful exhalation. “It’s so soft. Seriously, I want to walk around
naked
in this coat.” Her eyes widening, she dropped the wrap and kicked off her boots before popping the tab on her jeans.

“Jana, what are you…?” Kevin’s voice trailed off as she yanked off the remainder of her clothes and tugged on the coat. She pranced around the room, earning groaning laughs from him and Nick as she performed a goofy dance and struck a pose.

Rolling her shoulder, she let the coat’s right lapel slide open, awarding them a tantalizing flash of her nipple. Lust ricocheted through Kevin, nearly deafening him to the low growl that rumbled from Nick.

Her mischievous giggle tightening Kevin’s balls, Jana pivoted and gave them a sultry bat of her eyelashes before flipping the garment’s hem up and mooning them.

“You are abso-fucking-lutely looking for a spankin’, naughty girl.” Nick lunged for Jana, making her squeal and dart for the hallway. Tossing his jacket to the floor, Nick headed after her, his stride brisk and purpose-filled.

The hunger burning within Kevin was like a living thing, spiraling and thrumming through every cell in his body. Desire and his need for Jana an unrelenting leash yanking at him, he followed the sound of Nick and Jana’s voices to his room. Jana had crawled onto his bed and was shooting Nick seductive, come-hither grins while she indulged in a languid stretch.

A fractured memory slipped past the lock on Kevin’s tainted past. Madison, reclining on his bed, her crimson lips curved in a calculating smile and her elegant fingers teasing over her pussy.
“You like to watch, don’t you, Kevvy? Don’t worry, this will be our special little secret.”

Kevin froze in the doorway, his pulse a chaotic tattoo pounding his eardrums. Shame welled like an unforgiving beast clawing at his belly. Despite that, he couldn’t tear his entranced stare away from Jana. Even now, faced with the damning reminder of his youthful transgressions and the pervasive control his voyeurism wielded over him, his addiction to Jana outweighed all else.

She held the power to cripple his defenses. To rip out his heart and soul and leave him with nothing. Every survival instinct he possessed screamed at him to run, to protect himself while he still had the chance. He gripped the doorframe, muscles tense. Jana glanced in his direction, and the sexy sweet smile she graced him with twisted his insides. She started to say something, but her words morphed into a giggling yelp when Nick captured her ankle and towed her to the edge of the mattress.

Wiggling and gasping, she tried to escape as Nick rolled her onto her stomach and rucked the coat up over her waist before swatting her ass. Rather than shrieking in outrage, she moaned and raised her hips. His features set in wicked consideration, Nick massaged her reddened butt cheek before giving it another smack, earning her excited murmur.

Kneading her flesh enticingly, Nick leaned down and nipped the side of her neck. “I think you like being spanked.”

“Mmm. Whatever gave you that idea?” Jana waggled her butt in encouragement. Ignoring the blatant invitation, Nick straightened and divested her of the coat before pulling the belt free of the loops. Her breath quickened as he dangled the sash in front of her. “Are you going to tie me up with that?”

“You wish.” Chuckling evilly, Nick draped the soft fabric over her eyes and knotted it behind her head. “Have you ever worn a blindfold while making love, sweetness?”

Jana licked her lips before shaking her head.

“It heightens the sensations.” Nick’s palms skated along the delicate slope of Jana’s spine. “Makes you acutely aware of every caress and stroke.” His mouth followed the path of his hands. “Every nibble and bite.” Nick’s teeth grazed Jana’s ass cheek, and she arched.

Kevin swallowed hard, his skin on fire. He fumbled with the buttons on his jacket and shrugged from its sweltering embrace. Letting the garment fall to the carpet, he stepped farther into the room, his rapt focus centered on Jana. Nick caught his eye, his expression sending sizzling sparks of anticipation racing through Kevin. He’d seen Nick in performance mode too many times not to recognize the signs. The heat enveloping Kevin intensified to furnace-blasting level as Nick began undressing, his slow, methodical motions stringing out the torment.

Employing the same deliberate laziness he’d used while removing his clothes, Nick fished a condom from his wallet and sheathed his cock. Kneeling at the foot of the bed, he stroked the insides of Jana’s quivering thighs. “Are you wet, baby?”

A groan shook from Jana, and she nodded. Nick spread her legs wider. “Then present that pussy to me.”

Lust fisted in Kevin’s gut as Jana obediently lifted her hips, displaying the glistening treasure trove between her legs.

“Beautiful.” His thumbs sliding through her liquid essence, Nick held her pussy lips open, granting Kevin a mouthwatering view while Nick licked a leisurely path toward her swollen clit. She jolted with each teasing lap of Nick’s tongue, her sensitive tissues growing wetter and wetter.

Mouth, jaw and chin glazed with her juices, Nick settled on his knees behind her, his cock nudging her soaked slit. “Keep your ass raised. Good girl. Just like that.” Flexing his hips, he eased inside her, the slick sound of his penetration igniting Kevin’s blood. Swiveling his hips in a way that provoked a strangled gasp from Jana, Nick fucked her in shallow, gliding strokes, the angle of his thrusts designed for devastating contact with her G-spot. She panted and squirmed, fingers digging into the bedding. Nick cupped her mound, thumb coasting over her clit. “Can you feel Kev’s ravenous stare on you, baby?”

A choppy moan tore from Jana, and she automatically turned her head in Kevin’s direction. The makeshift blindfold of her coat’s belt prevented their gazes from meeting, but the connection was there nonetheless. One of her hands released its stranglehold on the quilt and reached for him.

Any prayer Kevin had of remaining a mere observer of her pleasure disintegrated with that small but oh-so-significant gesture. Fingers shaking, he rid himself of his shirt, pants and shoes before crossing to the nightstand and grabbing a condom from the drawer. He climbed onto the bed, and Nick rolled onto his side, taking Jana with him so that she faced Kevin. Heart drumming in triple time, Kevin stroked her cheek before tasting her lips. She yielded with the sweetest surrender, her tongue welcoming his in a coaxing glide that swept goose bumps along his skin. Tracing the gentle dip of her waist, he moved in closer, his cock nestling into her heat.

Her nails grazing his shaft, she guided him to where she was already joined with Nick. “Together. I need you both. So much.”

Jana’s trembling admission wrapped around his heart and vised it tight. He knew she wasn’t merely referring to the physical act of sex, and the knowledge filled him with equal parts longing and panic. As if she sensed the tumultuous emotions running rampant within him, Jana sifted his hair through her fingers, the touch soothing and tender. “Don’t think. Just make love to me.”

She’d whispered those same words to him before. This time no force on Earth would stop him from giving in to her request.

Splaying his fingers on her hip, he aligned his cock with Nick’s and entered her with a shuddering groan. Hot, velvety and unbelievably snug, she rippled around him, enslaving his senses. He pumped deeper, scalding pinpricks of pleasure skipping down his spine at the luscious friction along his shaft. His rough exhalation gusting free, he retreated slightly, his focus glued to Jana’s face as Nick thrust in countermotion. She gripped Kevin’s shoulders, her breaths thin and reedy. He ghosted his hand over her rib cage, caressed the straining peak of her nipple, before surging deep inside her again. The tension in her body hinted she was close to the breaking point. His desperate need to take her over the edge eclipsing all else, he rocked faster, harder, fucking her with fierce, determined strokes that rattled the bed.

“
Oh God
.” An ecstatic wail snagging in her throat, Jana clutched at him, her fingers slipping in the sweat dampening his skin. She bowed in his and Nick’s arms, ceaseless tremors racking her as her pussy milked their cocks.

Watching her come lit the fuse to Kevin’s climax. Her name wrenching from his lips, he shook with the force of his orgasm and the crushing magnitude of his love for her. Her hands reached for the makeshift blindfold, but he held it in place as he rested his cheek against hers. He spied the all-too-knowing look in Nick’s eyes and felt like a bastard coward. Still, his soul had been stripped, laid bare in the most devastating of ways. He wasn’t ready to relinquish the tiny shield that protected him from exposing too much of himself.

Not now.

Maybe not ever.

Chapter Seventeen

“I’m freakin’
starved
.”

Chuckling, Nick unknotted the belt and let it fall around Jana’s neck. “Kev and I just made you come your brains out, and that’s all you have to say to us?”

Puckering her lips, she gave him a saucy kiss. “Thank you for the
ah-mazing
orgasm…and I’m freakin’ starved.” She hitched one shoulder. “What can I say? Apparently mind-blowing climaxes make me hungry.” Right on cue, her stomach growled.

Nick caressed her tummy. “There’s leftovers in the fridge. How about I make us all a snack?”

“
Excellent
plan.” Awarding him a cheeky grin, Jana crawled over him and dashed toward the bathroom.

Soon as she was out of earshot, Nick settled his focus on Kev. “Everything all right?”

“Yeah.” Kev’s expression remained shuttered.

Frustration and worry bloomed inside Nick. He’d witnessed Kev’s emotional lockdown countless times and knew only too well the destructive outcome that came with it. “No, you’re not. Don’t do this to her. Or to
you
.”

Jana strolled back into the bedroom. Without a glance toward Nick, Kevin hefted off the bed and disappeared into the bathroom. A hint of vulnerability shadowing her eyes, Jana peered at Nick. “Did I do something wrong?”

“No, baby. Kev is just having a rough day.” Stroking her cheek, he offered her a reassuring kiss. “Come on, let’s go get you that snack.”

While Jana situated herself at the kitchen table, Nick deposited his used condom in the wastebasket under the sink and washed up before rummaging through the crisper drawer. “How does a grilled chicken salad sound?”

“Terrific. Need any help?”

“No, you stay right where you are.” Most of the prep work had already been done, so tossing together all the ingredients took minimal effort and time.

A commercial suddenly blared from the surround-sound speakers in the next room, announcing that Kevin had left the bathroom and turned on the TV. Shaking the bottle of raspberry vinaigrette, Nick strode into the living room. Kev was slouched at the farthest end of the couch. Unlike Nick, he’d pulled on a pair of sweats. Nick flicked a glance toward the TV screen before eyeing Kev. “You gonna join us?”

Kev shook his head.

“Suit yourself.” Gritting his teeth, Nick returned to the kitchen.

He and Jana devoured their salads and shared a bottle of wine. The meal and her company managed to distract him from the situation with Kev. Being treated to the delectable sight of her bare, mouthwatering curves soon had his cock at rigid attention again. The tightened buds of her nipples thankfully implied that she was equally as aroused.

Leaning toward her, he smoothed his thumb over her bottom lip. “In the mood for a little dessert, sweetness?”

Her tongue swept the pad of his thumb. “Mm-hmm.”

His cock bobbed against his navel. “Then wait for me out in the living room.”

Her skin flushing, she rose from her seat and padded from the kitchen. Nick made swift work of cleaning their plates and strode into the guest bedroom. Snatching his presentation case, he carried it into the living room and set it on the carpet next to the pine coffee table.