Inside Heat (7 page)

His comments took the starch out of her indignation, and her shoulders sagged. She’d been wrong. She’d jumped to conclusions based on…nothing. She had absolutely nothing on which to conjure her wild imaginings but her own insecurities. “I’m sorry. I’ve never been in a situation like this. I misunderstood.”

Jeff’s voice lost the edge it had before. “We should apologize. We gave you the wrong impression last night. We shouldn’t have taken advantage of you the way we did. We teased you, never expecting you to actually take your clothes off.” He shrugged his shoulders. “We’re only human. You have a great body, and we were dying to touch you, to taste you.” He turned to his brother. “Hey, Jase. We’ve got to get going or we’ll be late.”

Megan stood when they did. “What time will you be home?”

“We should be back by six, unless the game goes extra innings. Earlier if there aren’t a lot of base runners,” Jason said.

“How about I fix dinner for you then?”

“Okay. But only if you want to. We could pick up something on our way home, if you would rather,” Jeff offered.

“No. I’d like to cook for you. I’ll have to see what you have, and go pick some things up, but it’s the least I can do for jumping to conclusions the way I did.”

As they were leaving, dressed in suits and clean-shaven, Jeff stopped and pulled out his wallet. “Just so you know, we want to be with you, but we won’t act on that without protection, and we aren’t going to buy any.” He handed her two one hundred dollar bills. “This should cover dinner, and condoms, if you think you might be ready to take that step. If not, we’ll wait until you are.”

Megan sat for a long time sipping coffee and listening to the silence of the big, empty house. Everything they’d said and done played over in her mind, and the more she remembered the more clear her situation became. She wanted to believe them, but really? What kind of testosterone fueled, single athletes didn’t have condoms stashed? It was unheard of. But, if it were true, she bargained with herself, then she did owe them the home-cooked meal she’d promised.

A search of their bedrooms and bathrooms revealed a few things she hadn’t previously known. Jeff was a neat freak, and Jason was only a slob around Jeff. She’d been certain it had been Jeff who’d collected her clothes from the previous evening, folded them neatly and stacked them on the dresser in her bedroom. But now she wasn’t so certain. Jason’s closet and personal space was every bit as neat as Jeff’s. She had to conclude Jason’s slovenly ways outside his bedroom were nothing more than a way to annoy his brother, or perhaps it was his personal rebellion against having a clone.

After snooping into their nightstands, medicine cabinets and every other place she could think of to stash condoms, she concluded they had told the truth. They really didn’t have any in the house.

She unloaded the groceries, enough for dinner and breakfast, hid the box of condoms in her overnight bag, and took it back to her room, along with full size bottles of her favorite bath products. Somewhere between the produce aisle and the pharmacy section, she’d made up her mind to stay the night. She’d purchased the condoms, but still hadn’t decided if she wanted to use them. She wasn’t stupid. It was better to have them and not need them, than the other way around. She knew in her heart that if they kissed her the way they had last night, then asked to join her in bed, she wouldn’t be able to say no.

She turned the game on in the den and curled into the corner of the big, overstuffed sofa to watch. It was an easy game to follow, but she knew there was more to it. The announcers talked about pitch strategies, about right-handed batters versus left-handed pitchers and the depth of both teams’ bullpens. Megan listened carefully, trying to learn as much as she could about the game. If she were going to spend time with Jeff and Jason, she needed to understand what they did for a living. The Mustangs were ahead by one run in the eighth when Megan headed to the kitchen to begin dinner preparations.

Later, with the chicken ready to put on the indoor grill and the peach cobbler in the oven, she returned to the game. Reporters stalked the opposing team as they celebrated their victory. Her heart sank as she watched the replay of the final inning. Jeff had given up a run, then the next batter had hit a homerun. He struck out the next batter for the third out and stalked off the field.

Chapter Seven

Jeff slammed the door shut behind him and stormed through the kitchen as if the hounds of hell were on his heels. Megan followed his progress with her eyes, unsure if she should follow or not. Then Jason came in, shutting the door with a soft click. Weariness lined his face and added weight to his shoulders. He settled onto a barstool and sighed.

“What’s wrong with him?”

“Blown save,” Jason said. “Give him a few minutes. He forgets he’s not the only one on the team sometimes.”

“Where’s he going?”

“To the pool. He’ll swim a few laps, then he’ll remember that I struck out in the fifth with the bases loaded, and he’ll be mad at
me
for a while. By morning, he’ll put it behind him and focus on the next game.”

“Is he always like this when the Mustangs lose?”

“No. Only when he gives up the winning runs. Fortunately, that doesn’t happen very often.” Jason looked around, sniffing the air. “What’s that smell? It smells like food.”

Megan laughed at his enthusiasm. “We’re having grilled chicken and veggies. We have peach cobbler for dessert.” She pulled a plate of cut-up vegetables from the refrigerator and set it on the counter in front of Jason. “This is ranch dip. I thought you might want something to snack on until the chicken is done.”

Jason scooped up a handful of baby carrots and ate them like potato chips. “These are good. When’s the chicken going to be ready?”

“Soon. Should we wait for Jeff?”

“No need to wait,” Jeff said from the door. Megan gaped. He was stark naked and dripping wet, standing in the doorway he’d stormed through a few minutes earlier. He caught her look and shrugged. “We’re out of towels in the pool room. We must have used them all last night.”

Megan rolled her eyes. “The chicken isn’t done yet. Go get some clothes on.”

Ignoring her, Jeff grabbed a fistful of celery sticks and dragged them through the bowl of dip. He left, cradling the dripping vegetables in one hand while he stuffed one stick in his mouth. “I’ll be right back.”

Jason continued to pop carrots in his mouth, unconcerned about his brother’s nudity, or his juvenile behavior. Megan turned back to the chicken cooking on the built-in grill. She flipped the pieces over blindly. All she could see was Jeff’s limp package as he stood in the doorway and his tight ass as he disappeared in the direction of the stairs. They were supposed to talk tonight, but she wasn’t going to do much talking with her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth.

She reached for the glass of wine she’d poured earlier and left sitting on the counter. Perhaps alcohol wasn’t the best idea right now, given the state of her resolve, but the smooth spirits did a passable job of ungluing her tongue. After a few sips, she set the glass aside before she did something stupid like run upstairs and dig the box of condoms out of her bag. She was determined to give herself time to know these men before she let their relationship go any further.

Not that it was going anywhere tonight. Jeff returned, dressed in jeans and a Mustangs T-shirt. Jason’s suit coat hung over the back of the barstool. Megan grabbed his tie off the counter and folded it before setting it out of harm’s way. She transferred the meal to serving dishes and handed them each a plate. They helped themselves at the bar, then at Megan’s insistence took seats at the table in the breakfast nook. She poured them each a glass of wine and topped her own off before joining them at the table.

“This is good. Really good,” Jeff said as he lifted another forkful of mashed potatoes. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” She ate silently, watching the brothers for some clue as to their mood. Even though Jeff had been polite since returning fully clothed, Megan couldn’t help but think they were sitting on a powder keg that could explode at any minute. She soon found she wasn’t wrong.

“Why couldn’t you have just hit the fucking ball?” Jason cut his eyes to Megan at Jeff’s outburst. His wink and half-smile reminded her this was what he’d told her would happen.

“I didn’t hit it because it broke before it got to the plate. If you could throw a breaking ball, you’d know what I’m talking about, and maybe you wouldn’t have given up a fucking homerun to the number nine batter on a roster full of number nine batters.”

Megan listened as the brothers exchanged insults over the dinner she’d worked so hard to prepare. As they threw verbal arrows at each other, she was glad they hadn’t gone out to eat after all. When they finally pushed their plates away, they seemed to have exhausted their insulting vocabulary. She dared to ask what was on her mind.

“What would you have done if you’d had to eat out tonight? Would you have had this same…conversation…in a restaurant?”

“No. We probably would have called the pizza dude,” Jason said. “It’s the way we blow off steam. Jeff does this every time he blows a save. He blames himself first, then he blames me, then he comes to the truth – it was the whole team’s fault. Any number of plays in the course of nine innings could have changed the outcome of the game. It’s unreasonable to blame it on the last few pitches.”

“That still doesn’t change the fact that I gave up hits to the two worst batters in the major leagues,” Jeff said. “I couldn’t focus.”

“Focus is a big thing?” Megan asked.

“It’s everything,” he answered. “Truth?”

Megan nodded, afraid to hear what he was going to say.

“I was afraid you would change your mind, and you wouldn’t be here when we got back. All I could think about was you. Getting home to you, holding you, making love to you.”

Her woman parts, already loosened up by the wine, softened more at his admission. Then, as his words sunk in, she was horrified. “Oh no! You aren’t blaming me for this. I didn’t have anything to do with the game.”

“Whoa,” Jason said. His hand on her arm stilled her. “That’s not what he’s saying. No one blames you. The game is about mental discipline as much as it is about physical ability. Jeff was distracted tonight. He knows better, but he could have found the focus somewhere, if he’d wanted to.”

“Jase is right. I fucked up. I let my guard down because the team we were playing is the worst in the league. I let my mind wander, and I shouldn’t have. It was my mistake. However, we should have beaten the Anglers by a dozen runs. We certainly had the base runners to do it, but we couldn’t come up with the hits when we needed them. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one on the team who didn’t think they had to bring their brain to the field today. The entire roster is at fault, starting with the manager and all the way down to the bullpen. Probably the only person who didn’t have his head up his ass today was the ball boy.”

“Amen,” Jason added.

“Well, just so you know – I’m not taking the blame for your screw-ups,” Megan said.

“Never,” Jeff said. He rose and took his plate and glass to the sink. “Why don’t you go get comfortable in the den? Jase and I will clean up in here.”

She was half-asleep on the sofa when they joined her. They brought bowls of warm peach cobbler, and they’d found the exorbitantly expensive ice cream she bought to top it with. They ate in silence, Jeff and Jason sprawled in the two big recliners, her on the sofa with her legs folded beneath her. The men made satisfied noises as they finished off their servings, which she noted were twice as big as hers. She smiled. Leftovers wouldn’t be a problem with these two around.

“What’s so funny?” Jason asked as he sat his empty bowl on the table next to his chair. He had to shove a few things around to find a level spot first.

“Nothing. I was just thinking that I’d have to cook bigger meals if there were going to be any leftovers around here.”

“Then you’re thinking about staying?” Jeff asked. He had no trouble finding a spot to set his bowl down. Everything on his side of the room was military neat.

“I guess I am. At least a little. I’m not ready to move in, but I would like to spend more time with the two of you. I’d like to see if there’s enough between us…”

“We’ve told you what we want from you,” Jeff said. “Why don’t you tell us what you’d like from us.”

And there it was. The big question. The one she’d been struggling with since the night she’d allowed them to seduce her in the back seat of a town car. The one she still didn’t know the answer to. “I don’t know,” she answered. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t interested in the sex.” Her skin heated and the box of condoms stashed in her bag flashed in her mind. “So far, what I’ve experienced with you has been spectacular, but I don’t know if being a part of a threesome is something I want. It’s exciting to think about it, to fantasize about it, but in reality?” She shook her head. “I don’t know if I’m up to it, or if I could…uhm…handle two men at the same time…all the time.”

“We wouldn’t always ask you to be with both of us at the same time. There will be times when we’ll want you separately, or perhaps one will be with you while the other watches,” Jason said.

“Or we could come to you alone. One-on-one. We’d try not to do that to you on the same night, but it could happen.” Jeff grinned. “Right now, I don’t see a time when I wouldn’t want you.”

“Oh,” she said. Calculations ran through her mind. How many times a night? A week? A month?… “That’s a lot of intercourse.”

“It is, but we promise your pleasure will come before ours. Of course, you’re free to decline at anytime. We understand that you might not be up to fucking, but there are other things we can do.”

That damned heat was creeping up her neck again at the thought of "other things".

“What, ‘other things’ are you talking about?”

“Oral sex comes to mind,” Jason said, grinning ear-to-ear. Oh God. Why did she have to ask that question?

* * * *

Megan gave herself extra points when she arrived home on Monday via the town car Jeff had called for her, and the box of condoms remained unopened in her overnight bag. It had been a close thing, more than once, but she stuck by her decision not to take the relationship any further until she knew them better. And since Jeff and Jason were leaving on a week-long road trip today, getting to know them was going to take a while.

She unpacked, and stepped into the shower. It had perhaps been unwise to linger this morning, but waking up in the same bed with two of the most gorgeous men she’d ever seen in her life was a moment to savor, if ever there was one. She had to give them credit for creativity. She’d asked about the other things they could do instead of intercourse, and they’d spent most of the night showing her.

Megan slumped against the shower wall, closed her eyes and let the hot water steam around her. Memories and images played through her mind in an endless loop. She soaped her washcloth and ran it over her tender nipples. Her breath caught in her lungs as she remembered all the ways Jeff and Jason had touched her, and the promises they’d made while doing it.

“Your nipples will be sore tomorrow,” Jason promised as he sucked one between his lips and pulled it hard against the roof of his mouth.

“Every time your bra shifts, you’ll think of this, of us,” Jeff promised as he pinched an areola between his callused fingers, then clamped the protruding nipple hard with his teeth. She’d writhed beneath them, desperate for more, but they’d promised nothing more than touching until she asked for it, and provided the protection.

Her nipples still stood at attention, and sore didn’t even begin to cover it. The skin was chafed, leaving the nerve endings raw. She covered one breast with the hot soapy washcloth, and the other with the palm of her hand. The heat felt good on her tender skin, but it did little to ease the ache. It was useless to deny she missed them, missed their hands on her. But this was the way it would be if she took them up on their offer. They’d do all manner of wicked things to her body, and then they’d be gone for days, weeks on the road, and she’d be left standing in the shower alone, trying to ease the ache with a washcloth.

Her legs wobbled beneath her and she pressed her empty hand to the wall to steady herself. With the other, she moved the slick washcloth lower until she cupped her sex. They’d been gentle with her here, but even still, there was only so much the delicate tissues could take. Her heart tripped as she remembered lying in the vee of Jason’s legs, supported against his chest, her legs held wide open by his giant hands and strong arms.

Her knees gave out, and she sank to the shower floor, spreading her legs as far as she could in the confines of the stall. Would she ever forget the sight of Jeff between her thighs? Or the promises he’d made while he explored her most intimate parts?

“You taste so good,” he said between gentle laps of his tongue over her pussy. “You’ll remember this when we’re away. You’ll remember how it feels to have my tongue inside you.”

Her head banged hard against the shower wall as she dipped her terrycloth-covered finger inside, feeling the rasp of Jeff’s tongue as she did.

“We’re going to take you here, too.” His tongue flicked against her back door and she’d gasped and struggled to get free. Jason held her for Jeff’s explorations. His words did little to ease her concerns, and everything to make her long for what they were promising.

“Let him touch you, sweetheart. We want to take you there as well, but we won’t until you’re ready.” She’d cried out when Jeff thrust his finger deep inside her. “Shh,” Jason crooned. “Relax. Concentrate. The hurt will ease in a second.”