Elemental Pleasure (15 page)

Carly put her other hand on Preston’s arm, connecting all of them. For a few quiet minutes, they simply stood together, Lance and Carly offering Preston their silent support.

Then Lance yawned, ending the moment. “Sorry.”

“No, it’s late. I should go,” Carly pushed back from the table.

Lance frowned. “Stay.”

“My place is only twenty minutes away.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Lance grabbed her hand. “Stay with us.”

She looked from one
to the other. “The three of us won’t fit in one bed.”

“We should be together.”

She nodded slowly. “Al
l
right.”

Together they made their way upstairs to Preston’s room. They helped each other undress, clothes falling to the floor. Still satisfied from their earlier session, the touches were soft, meant to comfort, not arouse.

They climbed into Preston’s bed, Carly in the middle. Lance’s hand brushed Preston’s as he laid it on her belly. Lance looked at the other man across her body.

Carly yawned and stretched, putting
her head on Preston’s shoulder
and throwing her legs over Lance’s as she lay on her back.

Despite their rocky beginning, Lance realized they were beginning to fit. The tension he’d felt since entering this odd union began to melt away, leaving him warm, complacent. Happy.

“Good
night,” Lance said.

“Good
night,” the others whispered.

Smiling, Lance closed his eyes.

*****

Preston woke just before he fell out of the bed.

Stumbling away from the mattress, he grunted. Sleeping together seemed so romantic. His parents had a large mattress, and always slept together when they could, though Imo had her own house, and Mom a
nd Dad each had their own
rooms.

Preston looked at the bed. Lance was sprawled with his arms and legs at odd angles. He had one leg thrown over Carly, who had one knee bent, the same knee that had been pushing into his back and nearly sent him to the floor.

He needed a bigger bed. Maybe the
y could have one custom built for
the new house.

While he was up, he went to the bathroom. Splashing some warm water onto his face, he studied his reflection in the mirror. He’d woken up enough to remember what Lance had discovered last night. His chest tightened and he knew
he
wasn’t going to be able to get back to sleep until he did something about it.

Preston went to his office and powered up his laptop.

Zeesh,

A friend of mine noticed a discrepancy in the quarterly financial re
port. I’m back from my vacation
and will come in tomorrow morning so we can talk.

See you in a few hours.

Preston

With the message sent, he yawned and headed back to bed. In the few minutes he’d been gone, Carly and Lance had managed to lay claim to the entire mattress. Sighing
,
he went back to the office, intending to make use of the
pullout
couch.

Kicked out of his own bed. He grinned. What a night.

*****

Wearing Preston’s button-down shirt,
Carly rested against the counter,
a
cup of coffee in hand. Lance, naked except for boxers, poured a cup for himself and leaned next to her, snaking a hand under her hair to knead her neck.

“Sorry about last night.” Carly watched
as Preston finished his own coffee and then slipped on his suit jacket.

“We’ll get a bigger bed for the new house. A much bigger bed.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking abou
t. I slept great.” Lance grinned
.

Preston folded
the spreadsheets and tucked
them into his inner coat pocket. “I’m sorry about having to leave like this. I should be back in a few hours. I want to get some things in motion now that I know there’s a problem.”

“That’s fine. I’m going to check my email, but I won’t go into work today,” Carly added. “I’ve got my laptop with me. We can do a late lunch here when you get back. Maybe Lance can cook for us again.”

Lance walked to the refrigerator, examining the contents. “I’m up for that. I’m here until my flight back tomorrow. I might take a nap in that nice big bed of Preston’s.”

P
reston raised a brow. “If I was
n’t feeling eternally grateful to you for uncovering the problem in my financial statement, I’d be compelled to strongly object to that.”

Carly laughed, enjoying the easy banter between them. It was amazing the difference a few days made. Spending the next five or six decades with these men wouldn’t be so tough after all.

“I’ll see you both later.” Preston looked from one to the other.

Lance swatted Carly on the butt. “Be a good wife and give him a goodbye kiss.”

Carly
glared at Lance over her
shoulder, but went to Preston anyway. She wanted to kiss both of them, but in the cheerful light of morning
,
she felt a bit awkward again.

The moment her lips touched Preston’s that uncomfortable feeling went away. It felt too good to b
e wrong. She reached a hand out
for Lance, drawing him into the embrace. When he stood at her back, she took his hands, linking them with hers and resting them on Preston’s hips, so they were both embracing him.

Preston’s eyes were dark when he pulled away. “Maybe I don’t need to go. The company president didn’t email me back.”

“You need to go.” Carly eased
from Preston to lean on Lance.

“I’m coming back.
” Preston’s gaze raked both of them. “Soon.” He grinned. “And remember, no sex if I’m not here.”

“Damn.” Lance grumbled. “I forgot that rule.”

“You’re the one who insisted on it.”

Lance shrugged. “I really only meant it for you.”

Preston laughed. “Too bad.”

Preston left them in the kitchen. Carly watched from the window as he walked down the steps of the small condo to the tiny lot in front of the building. There were only a few spots—the condo was one of four in the building, which had
been two different Victorians at
one time. The buildings had been merged to form four spacious two-story apartments, with storage space on the ground level in what had once been tiny garages.

“Are you going to show me your computer game?” Lance poured himself a fresh cup of coffee.

“Sure, let me grab my computer.”

She went over to her laptop bag—an expensive black briefcase s
tyle she
bought to replace the battered, patch-covered messenger bag she’d carried in school. It had been part of her attempt to reinvent herself from gamer and programmer to CEO and businesswoman.

She flipped open the bag and looked at the unfamiliar laptop.

“This isn’t my bag.” A little flutter of panic went through her.

“What?”

“This isn’t my bag. This isn’t my computer.” She looked up, panic clawing at her. She lived and died by that laptop. “Where’s my bag?”

Lance looked at what she held. “Don’t panic.
I think Preston has a laptop case
just like that.”

Carly raced to look out the window, feeling instant relief when she spotted her case in Preston’s hands. “He’s still here.” She tapped on the glass and waved, but he was too far away, so she dashed toward the door.

“Carly.” Lance set his mug down. “You’re not wearing pants.”

She laughed.
“I don’t care.”

~~~~

Chapter
Nine

Preston looked up as Carly came tearing down the stairs. Her
legs were bare, her hair spilling
over her shoulders
and wearing
nothing but one of his button-down
shirts.

“Carly?”

“My bag.” Her feet were bare and she winced as she walked across the parking area. “You took my bag.”

Preston got out of his car and grinned. “Nice outfit.”

Another car pulled into the drive, stopping just behind Preston’s. Carly looked at the vehicle
, then down at herself. “
I think your neighbors are going to know you had a lady friend over.”

Preston looked at the car that was blocking him and f
rowned. “They don’t live here. T
hey’re probably just turning around. Besides…” Preston pulled her against him, rubbing her bare ass through the fabric. Carly was vaguely aware of the sound of a car door opening. “I don’t mind making my neighbors jealous.”

“Hey, buddy.”

They both jerked and turned. Two men had emerged from the other car.

“Can I help you?” Preston asked as they advanced. When they positioned themselves to fill the gap between Preston’s car and the car next to him, warning bells started going off. His alarm grew when he realized the taller man was wearing a stocking over his face, obscuring his features.

“Give me your bag.” The taller of the two men took a knife from his pocket.

“You’re mugging me in my driveway at nine a.m. on a weekday?” Preston’s voice was more curious than concerned. He lived in one of the safest neighborhoods in the city.

“Fuck this,” the shorter man shouted. “Just do it.”

They lunged, reaching for Preston. Carly screamed. Thi
s was a nice residential street
with Victorian homes all arou
nd them on a rare sunny morning. It made
this scenario so ludicrous that Preston was slow to react. He pushed Carly behind him, desperate to protect her.

One of them grabbed the bag from Preston’s shoulder. He released it,
more focused on
Carly’s safety. The taller man held the laptop bag. Opening it, he looked inside, then looked at Preston before passing the bag to the other man. “Hand over the coat too.”

“We don’t
want any trouble, so I
suggest you leave now. My neighbors will have
already called 911. Leave now
while you still can.” Preston didn’t know about the neighbors, but he hoped Lance was looking out a window and could see what was happening.

“Give back that bag.” Carly came out from behind his back, leaving the shelter of his protection. Her voice was panicked. “I’ll go get my purse and you can have money
.
Just give me back that bag.”

Preston lo
oked at her. Panic and anger were
written on her face. The bag they’d taken was hers, and from her expres
sion, he could only assume
there was something in there she couldn’t afford to lose.

The shorter of the two men gl
anced around. “We’ve got it
. Let’s go!”

The men scrambled for the car.

“No!” Carly ran after them.

“What are you doing? Carly, leave it!” Preston was a step behind her, but Carly moved fast.

She grabbed the strap
of the bag from the shorter man
who was getting into the backseat of th
e car. S
he pulled hard, but the man held onto it. There was a moment where they were locked in a desperate tug-of-war.

Then, time stood still for Preston as he saw the man reach up and grab Carly, dragging her into the vehicle and slamming the door.

One instant she was there. The next…she was gone.

*****

The man dragged her into the car with him.

“Let her go!”
The closed car door muffled Preston’s shout
.

“What are you doing?” The man in the driver’s seat sounded as panicked as Carly felt.

“I’ve got her. L
et’s go!”

Carly had fallen awkwardly onto the floor of the backseat. Struggling to sit, she swung at the man who had grabbed her, punching him in the nose. He cursed as blood poured down his face. She scrambled toward the door, re
aching for the handle as the engine roar
ed
to life
and the locks engaged. Before she could escape, the man grabbed her arm and folded it back, wrench
ing
it
up. Every move she made put
terrible pressure on her shoulder. Tears streamed from her eyes. It felt like her arm was being pulled from its socket.

She glanced outside, praying for a way out.

“Carly!” Lance was running down the steps, shouting her name. Preston banged on the window as he yelled his address into his cell phone.

Lance was nearly to the vehicle. “No! Carly!”

Her gaze met Preston’s, and in his eyes, she could see the startled horror she felt. This couldn’t be happening.