Erica's Choice (26 page)

Silencing her cry of pleasure when Corey pushed aside the miniscule panties and delved into her wetness with his middle finger was the hardest thing Erica had ever done. His pecs grazed her nipples, heightening the sensations as he used his thumb on her swollen clit.

He watched her face as she mouthed the words
yes
and
oh please.
The only sound between them was that of their shallow breaths and the soft shifting of fabric as they moved against each other. Wearing the underwear all day had already put Erica’s arousal levels on full alert. It took no time at all for Corey to bring her to a furious orgasm. He kissed her as she broke apart, swallowing her whimpers into his mouth so no one would hear them.

Afterward, his chest heaved and even through the thick material of his pants Erica could feel his hardness. “I have condoms in my purse,” she whispered.

His groan tickled her earlobe. “Not here.”

It was only then the sound of voices filtered back into Erica’s consciousness. The other men were still talking in the common room, not too far away. Heat stole into her cheeks as she quickly began refastening buttons. “God, I’m shameless.”

“Hey, I don’t want you thinking you have anything to be ashamed of.” Corey tilted her chin up with his fingers, holding her gaze steady. “Unless you think Griff ought to punish you for what you did here today.”

The heat in Erica’s cheeks intensified. “He told you about that.”

“A while back. I don’t care that he did that to you, as long as it was what you wanted. I couldn’t though, Erica. I couldn’t hurt you, even if you wanted me to. I care about you too much.”

Care, not love.
Corey cared about complete strangers and abandoned animals. The soft look in his eyes didn’t mean he loved her. “I care about you too.” Guilt assailed her at Pam’s remembered words.
You’re just using him.
She rushed on, suddenly desperate for him to believe her. “I really do care, so much. I want you to be happy more than I want anything else in the world.”

“Baby,
you
make me happy.”

“What about Griff?”

“Griff drives me up the wall most of the time. Especially here.” Corey glanced around the garage. “We have to ignore each other here—at least that’s what he said. We can’t let our other ‘stuff’ interfere with the efficient working of the unit.”

Erica recalled the way Griff had frozen earlier when Corey had done nothing more than casually touch him. “Does it hurt that he ignores you?”

“He has to, I get that. But the guys are starting to speculate that we’ve had some kind of falling out. It’s all different than how it was before.”

They’d lost the easy friendship they’d had because their relationship had grown in other ways, forcing the camaraderie to change shape. “But when you’re both with me, he doesn’t ignore you, Corey.”

His grin was a touch shy. “I know.”

“It’ll work out.” Erica stroked his cheek. “But you need to tell him how you feel. That you love him.”

Corey looked about to say something, perhaps to protest. But then he sighed in resignation. “I don’t think he feels the same way.”

“He does, I know it. I’ve watched the two of you make love, remember?” Erica lowered her voice from a murmur to a whisper. “I was there the first time you let him into your body. You didn’t see the look on his face, but I did. Griff loves you. He’s not going to let you go.”

“He said he would, Erica. He told me that months ago.”

Erica dropped her hand and took a step back. “What?”

“He thinks you and I have a better chance of making it as a normal couple, without him involved. He was always going to walk away—when
he
decided it was time.”

Erica stood motionless, stunned by Corey’s confession. Griff had always intended to walk away from her—from Corey too. It had been her intention as well, to take her leave when either of the men had had enough of her cramping their intimacy. But to hear Corey say Griff had planned to do the same hurt more than it should have.

She had no right to take offense for herself. On Corey’s behalf she could let her anger flow freely. “He can’t do that to you. Is it what you want?”

“It never was. I want both of you—I always have.”

Erica shook her head. “Your future is with Griff. I can’t be a part of it, Corey. I’ve never lied to you about that.”

“That was in the beginning. These last couple of months must have meant something to you.”

He could have no concept of how much it had meant. She didn’t think she’d ever felt more like a woman than she had since she’d met these two men. She’d learned to appreciate what it was to be desired, to inspire passion and hunger, to feel entirely feminine. The experience had reminded her that her body wasn’t only a vessel with the potential to carry disease, but a thing of beauty to be celebrated.

“They have meant a lot to me.” More than he could ever possibly fathom. “But I can’t…”

The rest of what she’d been about to say was drowned out by the shrill peel of an alarm. A voice sounded over a PA system, relaying details of a warehouse fire in a neighboring suburb. Erica scurried to get out of the way as footfalls sounded on the cement floor and men started grabbing gear, heading for the truck.

Corey grasped her arm. “Erica, come to Griff’s tonight. We need to talk.”

She considered refusing, but now wasn’t the time to explain why she had to. Corey and Griff had a job to do.

She had a job to do, as well, one she should have done weeks ago. Mutely, she nodded. A second later Griff’s voice yelled out Corey’s last name, and Corey raced to gather his heavy yellow jacket and helmet.

The men piled into the Firepac. The engine roared as it came to life. The siren wailed. Erica remained pressed up against the wall of the garage, as far out of the way as she could get. Before the truck pulled out of the station, Corey rolled down his window and stuck his head out.

She couldn’t hear his voice above the cacophony, but she read his lips easily.

I love you, baby.

Erica closed her eyes on a gasp of pain as the vehicle sped away.

Corey was in love with an illusion. And it was well past time she shattered it.

Corey had a really bad feeling in his gut.

Part of it was due to the aftereffects of adrenaline, the mingling of excitement and fear that always swirled in his stomach when there was an emergency call. But the warehouse fire turned out to be minor and relatively easy to deal with.

Not what he would say about his personal life.

Although the job was fairly straightforward, the team had worked overtime to ensure the building was unoccupied and that there was no possibility of further flare-ups. By the time Corey arrived at Griff’s house, the twilight was being swallowed by night’s blackness.

As had become the custom, Corey let himself in. The absence of her scent confirmed what the empty car space in the driveway implied.

Erica wasn’t here.

“Hey, Cor. Long day, huh?”

Griff’s arms wound around him from behind. Corey smelled soap and shaving cream, the familiar brands Griff used that he would recognize anywhere. His smooth cheek was damp where it pressed against Corey’s, his chest bare where it warmed the back of Corey’s T-shirt.

Slipping a hand beneath the cotton, Griff found Corey’s flat nipple and stroked it to a point. “Did you have fun giving Erica the grand tour this afternoon? Get her off out there between the trucks?”

The memory and the reality of Griff’s tensile strength surrounding him made Corey’s cock stir. As though he knew, Griff sent his other hand down to cup him through his jeans. “I knew it. You made me horny at work, you dirty bastard. I’ve wanted to fuck you for hours.”

Corey groaned at the words, even as a part of him resented them.
Can’t have you feeling any damn thing at work, can we?
The bulge in his pants filled Griff’s hand, even as the annoyance took root.

It was always like this after they shared a shift. Corey nursing the thousand tiny injuries Griff had inflicted with his coldness, Griff soothing the pain with his hot desire, which he let out only when they were alone or with Erica. Within minutes Corey was usually moaning under the heat of Griff’s hands or his tongue, his cock twitching with need until he was ready to beg for whatever scrap of attention it now suited Griff to give him.

He was vulnerable like he never had been before. This afternoon Erica’s questions had forced him to face how much it did hurt that Griff had put such distance between them. Knowing they couldn’t make out in the locker room was one thing. Accepting Griff’s utter departure from the uncomplicated warmth of their previous friendship was another.

Griff kissed along Corey’s neck, melting him and drawing every desperate need he tried to bury to the surface. He delved into Corey’s jocks, stroking skin. “We’re going to give it to you so good tonight, Erica and I. Or don’t you want to wait? God knows I feel like I’m about to blow.”

The solid nudge of Griff’s erection fitted between Corey’s ass cheeks as Griff tilted his hips. Corey almost succumbed to it, knowing Griff could make him lose his mind up against the kitchen counter, filling his ass and stroking his cock until he forgot all about how bad it sometimes felt to need him this much.

And then Erica would arrive and guess what they’d been doing. She’d get that soft smile on her face, the light of mischievous arousal in her eyes. He’d be at her mercy too, and her feminine caresses would open him up further, until the both of them had his heart gripped tight in their careless hands.

In a burst of frustrated movement, Corey broke free of Griff’s embrace. “I can’t do this anymore.”

“Can’t do what, exactly?”

“Any of it.” Griff didn’t say anything as Corey moved away and shoved back the hank of hair that always fell over his forehead. When he got himself more or less under control, Corey turned back to face Griff. “I don’t think Erica’s coming tonight.”

Griff scowled. “Why not?”

“I’m pretty sure I fucked up when I told her I loved her.”

Dead silence. Corey couldn’t have read the look on Griff’s face if his life depended on it. At length he asked, “What did she say?”

“She didn’t exactly come racing after the truck to shout it back.”

Griff made a sound somewhere between a scoff and a laugh. “You yelled it out the window on the way to a fire? Classy, mate.”

“You can talk.”

Griff tipped his head, conceding the point. “So that’s it? She didn’t fall at your feet right away so you’re giving up on her?”

He made Corey sound like an immature dick. “
I’m
the only one who’s been making an effort. I’ve given all I’ve got and I’m getting squat back.”

“She’ll come around. No woman in her right mind is going to turn down those baby blues of yours.”

The sardonic inflection he gave the words stripped any flattery from them. They also completely dodged the fact Corey wasn’t only referring to Erica’s emotional distance, but Griff’s too. “Maybe she isn’t in her right mind. She’s been fucked senseless because you wanted to make sure this whole thing stayed about sex.”

Griff stalked into the kitchen, pulling a beer out of the fridge and popping the top. “I never did anything she didn’t beg me for. But if you can’t handle that she gets down and dirty for me in a way she doesn’t for you, I guess I know what that means.”

“What do you think it means?”

“I always said I’d walk away when it’s time,” Griff said. “It’s time.”

The announcement sucked all the air out of the room. Corey couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. All he could do was stand there and feel the intense pain infiltrate his body and take over. Griff had told him he’d do this very thing one day, but Corey had dared to hope over the past couple of months that he’d change his mind.

“No.”

As one they turned toward the doorway to see Erica standing there, her hand on the knob, wearing some tight black dress that barely covered her. If Corey felt like he’d been sucker punched before, now he knew he was down for the count. He remained speechless as she shut the door behind her and strode toward them—or prowled more like it, her heels clacking on the hardwood floor.

When had she learned to walk like that?

Erica reached his side and placed a hand softly against his chest. Beneath her fingers his heart was reborn, pounding with a new lease on life. “I thought you weren’t going to come,” Corey finally managed to choke out.

“I had to. Apparently it’s my job to talk Griff out of making the biggest mistake of his life.”

She turned toward Griff, who was staring at her body like it was buried treasure he’d been searching for his whole life. At the mention of his name, he blinked once and raised his eyes. The lust in them was obvious from clear across the room. “What’s that?”

Erica stated unequivocally, “You’re not going anywhere.”

Chapter Fifteen

Well, he wasn’t going anywhere right this second, Griff thought. The hugest erection he’d ever had in his life wouldn’t let him breathe, let alone move.

He tightened further when Erica slid toward him on those impossibly high heels, the fabric of her dress hugging those ample curves like it never wanted to let go. Her smoky-dark eyes made him harder, her red lips caused him actual physical pain. Griff had to clutch the beer bottle tight in his fist to keep from grabbing her and pulling her closer.