Missing Linc (3 page)

over the ocean and enjoying the warm evening breeze.

Mitch”s strong arms slid around her waist, and he pulled her tightly against him. “It”s

nowhere near as beautiful as you,” he whispered in her ear.

Her eyes fluttered closed as Mitch”s lips moved along the column of her neck. Leaning

back, she offered him a kiss, moaning softly when his mouth covered hers. Immediately, her

lips opened, her tongue automatically sought his, and she poured everything she felt for him

into her kiss before their lips parted.

As they continued to watch the sunset in silence, Tomi”s thoughts shifted to their limo

ride. She”d forgotten how much it turned her on to have sex in front of another person. In

fact, she still felt turned on. Linc was an extremely handsome man, his skin a beautiful shade

of butterscotch, and he had the most amazing gray eyes she”d ever seen. Even in his uniform,

it was obvious he was in great shape. Tomi found herself wondering what he looked like

underneath all those clothes. The thought of Linc naked had Tomi feeling grateful that Mitch couldn”t see her face.

If he could, he”d see the sudden guilt — and desire — she was certain shone plainly in her

eyes.

She was here to marry this wonderful man. They”d gone through so much — their

relationship had seen far more than its fair share of happiness and heartache during the three

years they”d been together.

Through it all, they”d managed to not only survive but grow stronger, their love for

each other becoming even deeper, leaving no doubt in Tomi”s mind that she”d found her soul

mate. With mere days to go before they were scheduled to say “I do”, it seemed wrong

somehow that she”d be distracted by thoughts of any man other than Mitch, let alone

someone she”d only met a little more than an hour ago.

Still, she couldn”t deny the way she felt. There was no way to pretend she didn”t notice

the way her body responded to Linc when his heated gaze moved over her in the limo. It was

impossible to forget the look in his eyes, burning with need and passion, touching and

caressing her as sensuously, as seductively, as if he were using his own hands while

promising that the real thing would be even better than the fantasy.

Her eyes slid closed as a shiver of pleasure raced down her spine, forcing her to bite her

bottom lip to stifle the moan attempting to escape.

“You”re trembling.” Mitch”s strong arms tightened around her. “Are you cold?”

“No.” She turned in his arms. “I”m fine.” Tomi was far from cold. And that was the

problem. “So…that was some limo ride, huh?” Her words were spoken quietly, almost

hesitantly, as she stared into his handsome face. Tomi needed to see whether their earlier

activities had affected her fiancé as much as they did her. She wanted to make sure that he

had no regrets about what they”d done, knowing that she”d rather die before she did

anything that would cause him any more pain than he”d already endured. “Oh, yeah, that was one ride I won”t forget anytime in the near future.” Mitch

chuckled before he paused, and his expression suddenly turned serious as his blue-eyed gaze

searched hers. “Are you okay with what happened?”

“Yes.” Tomi nodded. “I am.” She was more than okay with it, but she had to know that

he felt the same way. “Lincoln seems nice.”

Mitch continued to study her; the look on his face told her that he shared her concerns.

Tomi smiled at him, wanting to ease his worries — and her own. As long as he was okay, she

was fine.

Several long moments passed before Mitch”s face relaxed, and Tomi felt her fears begin

to evaporate. “So, you think he”s nice?” His voice sounded playful once again, and the smile

returned to his eyes when he looked down at her.

“Yes, I do.” She continued, “He”s really gorgeous too.”

“He”s okay.” His words were nonchalant, but the smile tugging at the corners of his

mouth gave him away.

Tomi leaned her head against his chest to hide her own smile. “Just okay, huh?”

“Yeah, he”s not bad, if you like the strong, sexy, Latino-stud type.”

Tomi leaned back and looked up at him again. “Oh, and you don”t?” His dismissive tone

didn”t fool her at all. She knew him as well as she knew herself. They had so many things in

common; their wants, needs, and desires were so similar, they often mirrored each other.

Whenever she saw him, it felt as if she were looking at a male version of herself.

Like her, Mitch didn”t discriminate between genders. He loved both women and men,

and so did she. Their tastes in members of the male sex were the same as well.

“Don”t get me wrong, he”s definitely my type.” Mitch laughed. “I was simply making an

observation.”

“Uh-huh, that”s what I thought.” Tomi”s laughter joined his. From his words, it was

apparent that Mitch liked Linc as much as she did. It would bother many people to hear their future spouse admit to an attraction to

another person. Fortunately, Tomi wasn”t one of those people. Mitch”s comments didn”t

bother her at all. Instead, they thrilled her and reminded her once again why he was the

perfect match for her.

They had a relationship that was far from orthodox. It was uninhibited and filled with

adventure. Those things that most people frowned upon — even condemned — when it came

to sex were the same things they found exciting and arousing. Having multiple partners was

something that many would view as an exception in a relationship, but for them, it had been

the norm during the years they”d been together.

Until recently.

Tomi”s joy left her in a sudden rush as thoughts of the last time Mitch and she shared

pleasure with another person raced through her mind and left her ready to scream and sob at

the same time.

The bitter betrayal of that experience had changed them. The months they”d spent

recovering left them hardened, feeling wary and unwilling to risk ruining their relationship

after spending so much time repairing it.

Since then, their sex life consisted of just the two of them. Tomi never imagined they”d

even consider including another person in their relationship again.

Until Linc.

With effort, Tomi pushed her negative thoughts to the side, refusing to allow them to

disrupt her happiness.

“I”m glad you invited Linc to dinner,” she said to Mitch. “I know we just met him, but I

like him. There”s something about him that feels right…” She paused and looked away,

unable to find the right words to describe the immediate attraction she”d felt, the

instantaneous connection she made whenever she met someone special. It was the kind of

reaction that was hard for her to explain — and even harder for others to understand, unless

they”d experienced it before.

Mitch”s hand caressed her cheek, and Tomi met his eyes again, taking comfort in the

look on his face that told her an explanation wasn”t necessary. He understood what she

meant; he”d experienced what she felt. It”d been that way between them when they first met.

“I know.” Those two words confirmed her thoughts. Mitch leaned down and kissed her

on the lips. “I think it”ll be nice getting to know someone new, like we used to.”

“I think so too.” She smiled up at him. “We haven”t let another person into our life

since…” Her voice trailed off as the memories of an unhappy time, the images of an

unwelcome face, intruded into her thoughts once again.

“Hey.” Mitch cupped her face. “Don”t do that to yourself. We”re over that part of our

life. We”re over him. We”ve wasted enough of our time, enough of our lives, wanting and

wishing for someone who neither of us even needed.” The kiss he gave her was gentle and

filled with so much love. Leaning forward, he rested his head against hers.

“This is about us, Tomi. It”s been too long since we enjoyed ourselves, too long since we

enjoyed being around another person like that.” His lips met hers again. “If this thing with

Linc turns into something more, that”s great. We”ll have a lot of fun while we”re here, and

great memories to take with us when we leave. But if nothing happens and we never see him

again after tonight, that”s fine too. We”ll still have each other, and that will never change.”

“You”re right.” Tomi practically melted into Mitch”s tight embrace. She loved the feel

of his strong body pressed against hers.

“I”m so happy.” Tomi put a voice to her feelings. “I”m so glad we”re finally doing this.”

“Good.” She felt Mitch”s lips against her hair. “You deserve to be happy, and I”ll do

whatever it takes to make sure that you are.”

“As long as I have you, I”ll always be happy.” Tomi held his gaze, wanting him to know

without question that she meant every word. “Prepare yourself to be happy for a very long time then.” His mouth covered hers

again, the kiss equal parts love and lust. His hands touched her body, moving downward

until he reached her ass. With their lips still connected, Mitch lifted her and carried her back

into their suite. Gently, he laid her on the bed, his hard body coming down on top of her.

With his weight resting on one elbow, Mitch stared down at her.

“I should have married you a long time ago. I can”t wait until you”re truly and officially

mine in every way.”

“Me too.” She reached up and stroked his face. “I love you so much, Mitch.”

“Love you more.” Mitch grabbed her hand and placed a kiss against her palm.

Tomi leaned up and kissed him. “Prove it,” she whispered against his lips as she pulled

him even tighter against her.

Linc hadn”t felt this good in a long time. He couldn”t remember the last time he”d

looked forward to a night out as much as he did this one. Not even Miguel”s ridiculously

pathetic excuses for missing work or Lorna”s incessant and irritating flirting were enough to

dampen his mood.

After he dropped off Tomi and Mitch, Linc returned his limo to his company”s garage

and hurried home to take a shower and change clothes before he went to pick them up.

While he drove to their hotel, Linc kept reminding himself that this wasn”t a date; it

wasn”t the start of some new and lasting relationship between the three of them. Despite

what happened in the limo, Linc had no idea whether Mitch and Tomi were even into the

whole threesome thing. Although it seemed as if they were genuinely attracted to him,

maybe it was wishful thinking on his part. For all he knew, they were just a friendly

heterosexual couple who got off on other people watching them while they fucked.

Not that it mattered anyway. Linc had gotten over the need for full-time commitments

a long time ago. When it came to relationships, he was all about instant gratification,

immediate satisfaction. And he”d made it a point to have plenty of it over the years. He”d learned the hard and painful way that it wasn”t worth the risk of losing his head — or his

heart — over anything more substantial than that.

Even if he did want more — which he adamantly told himself he didn”t — it couldn”t be

with Mitch and Tomi. Hell, the only reason they were even in Puerto Rico at all was so they

could get married. They wanted to enjoy themselves and each other before they headed back

home to New York. As appealing as the thought was, Linc suspected that having a fling with

a stranger wasn”t on their list of things to do during their honeymoon.

Nope, Tomi and Mitch definitely weren”t the couple for him. They were just some nice

customers he was joining for dinner and would probably never see again after tonight.

Yeah, right. Linc snorted. Tell that to his racing heart and throbbing dick. The thought

of seeing them again made him more excited than he had any right to be.

They were already waiting for him in the hotel lobby when he arrived. Linc watched

as they walked in his direction, his arousal increasing with every step they made toward his

car. He got out and met them at the curb. Reaching out, he tried to shake Tomi”s hand, but

she ignored his outstretched hand and pulled him into a brief embrace instead.

Linc wanted to groan. God, she felt so damn good in his arms. Her body was soft and

warm, and the sweet, seductive scent of her perfume teased his nose and made him ache.

With effort, Linc released her and reached out to shake Mitch”s hand.

“I hope we”re dressed okay,” Tomi said, glancing at Mitch and back to him. “We

weren”t sure what kind of restaurant we were going to.”

From where Linc stood, they looked a hell of a lot better than okay. Tomi wore a short-sleeved dress with a colorful paisley print. It was short enough to show off her beautiful legs,

and the neckline plunged deep enough to display her incredible cleavage. Mitch looked

equally as good in a pair of loose-fitting, cream-colored linen cargo pants and a white linen

shirt. “Trust me, you”re fine.” Linc held the car door open for her while Mitch opened the

rear door and had a seat in the back. “You both look great.”

“Thanks.” She smiled up at him as she got into the car. “You do too. The color of that

shirt looks good against your skin. It reminds me of Mitch”s eyes.”

Linc glanced down at his shirt. Tomi was right. The different shades of blue were

similar to Mitch”s eyes. And he”d admit — if only to himself — that it was the reason he”d

chosen to wear this particular shirt tonight.

“Nice car,” Mitch commented from the backseat once Linc climbed into the car.