More Than a Fling [Uniformed and Blazing Hot 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (19 page)

“The avoiding you’ve been doing this last week,” Nick added gently. “We want that to stop, too.”

Her head jerked his way at that and her eyes widened. “I wasn’t avoiding you. I was—”

“Avoiding us,” Nick repeated and grinned. “I know, because I did it the day after you interviewed our shift at the firehouse.”

Her brow lifted at that. “Oh, really? And why were you avoiding me then?”

Nick went for broke. “Because it hit me that I wanted to see if what is between the three of us can be more than a fling.”

She took a quick, audible breath at that, then shook her head. “Both of you made it clear…Hell,
I
made it clear—”

“We know what we told you, baby,” Tanner softly cut her off. “That doesn’t mean we don’t feel things changing.”

Suspicion overtook her amazing eyes as she looked at the both. “Changing how?”

Nick knew it was a cop-out, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to say the three words clogging his throat. Instead, he reached for her as he turned onto his back and pulled her to straddle his waist. “You feel it. We feel it. How about we leave it at that for now and see how far it goes?”

She stared down at him with so many emotions flashing through her angelic face that he didn’t dare to attempt to define them. He could’ve sworn her eyes started to glisten as she lowered her pussy onto his erect cock.

Nick’s hands flew to her hips in a tight grip that stopped her movement. “Sweetheart, wait. I’m not wearing a condom.”

She gave him a mischievous smile. “Birth control. Remember, I told you I would take care of that if our friends with benefits thing continued?”

Nick loosed his grip, far more than ready to feel her hot, wet pussy closing around his cock without the barrier of a condom. It felt more incredible than he had imagined and he had fantasized about it a lot. Her pussy muscles closed around his shaft, sucking his cock deeper inside her channel, and he angled his head back as he fought to breathe.

“Holy mother of God,” he ground between his clenched teeth as her pussy took his full length all the way inside.

She stopped with his dick buried inside her to the hilt and he opened his eyes when he felt her smiling down at him. “Does it really feel that good?”

“Sweetheart, I’ve never had sex without a condom.”

Her eyes widened and she quietly gasped. “Not even with?”

“Not even with.” His ex-fiancé. She had wanted him to. She had even tried, but something deep down had kept him from giving in, even when she had gone on birth control. Somewhere inside, something had always known it wouldn’t last with her. As he gazed into Alyssa’s olive-green eyes now, he wondered at the fact that he didn’t feel any of that caution and restraint tonight with Alyssa.

“Damn, there’s nothing like laying on the pressure.”

Nick saw the teasing in her smile, but didn’t feel a bit of it as she lifted her hips until only his cockhead remained inside her, and then lowered her sultry body once more, taking in his full length in a single thrust that had his eyes rolling back in his head.

“Tanner.” He didn’t know why he growled his friend’s name if for no other reason than reinforcement. He heard the man chuckle as the bed shifted and felt Tanner straddle his lower legs as the man moved in behind Alyssa.

“And you give me shit for not lasting long when I’m inside her,” Tanner commented, his tone full of amusement as he reached around their woman to cup and fondle her breasts.

She was their woman. Nick no longer had any questions or fears about that. It would last however long it lasted, but at least they would have whatever time they were allowed together.

Alyssa angled her head as she tipped it back and caught Tanner’s mouth in a heated kiss. She started to ride Nick’s cock, taking it slow at first and then picking up speed as Tanner massaged her breasts and her desire mounted.

“Next time,” she told him as she wrenched her mouth from Tanner’s and gazed down at him. “Not tonight, but next time, when we do this, we do it the way you really want.”

The promise on her angelic face coupled with the intention in her words sent Nick racing for the edge. “Christ, sweetheart.”

A nanosecond of reality shot through the pleasure he was feeling and he realized she hadn’t come yet. He moved a hand between their groins, found her clit, and knew in seconds she would go off for him.

She didn’t make him wait. He circled her clit with one finger, applied just a little pressure, and she exploded around him. Her sultry body jerked with the force of the orgasm, erotic moans of pleasure escaping her lips as her pussy bathed his dick in her hot, thick cream.

Nick let himself go, knowing his ejaculation wasn’t the only thing his woman had claimed. She had his heart, too, and there wasn’t a damn thing he could, or even wanted, to do about it.

“Shit.” It was Tanner’s softly growled word that broke through the roaring in Nick’s ears first.

“Tell me about it.”

Alyssa’s words sounded breathless and her breath was ragged, but Nick saw her luscious lips unfold in a smile as she tipped her beautiful head back to look at Tanner.

“I don’t suppose you can handle that a second time?” Tanner’s tone was full of hope as the man released her breasts.

Smiling, she met Nick’s gaze. “If you will excuse me, I have another man in need of pleasure again.”

Nick chuckled and grinned as she slowly lifted her sultry body off his cock. “Be my guest, sweetheart.”

He watched as Tanner rolled her over, spread her legs wide, and plunged his cock deep inside her pussy, hoping the change cemented between the three of them tonight was set in a stone that wouldn’t break, no matter how many years they were gifted with on this earth.

Chapter Eight

After interviewing eight of the nine fire department shifts that serviced the city limit district of Cherish, Alyssa had the routine down pat. She was grateful for that as she entered Station 4 to talk with the men and women of A-shift. If she could’ve done it, she might have put off the interviews until A-shift’s next rotation, if for no other reason than to get her head straight.

Last night with Tanner and Nick had left her mind reeling far more than any night she had spent with them before. And she had spent
all
night with them. They had fallen asleep together in Nick’s bed and she had woken up between the men that morning.

You feel it. We feel it. How about we leave it at that for now and see how far it goes?

Nick’s words reverberated through her mind even as she introduced herself to the first firefighter inside the firehouse bays that she saw. She painted her best friendly smile to her lips and extended a hand.

“Hi. I’m Alyssa Kinney with the Cherish Times.”

Tanner and Nick might feel something, but was it the same thing she felt?

She had to tip her head back to meet the firefighter’s ice-blue gaze. Her attention skipped over the embroidered word on his uniformed T-shirt over his right pec that read candidate. She had learned that meant he was the newest firefighter assigned to the shift. It also explained why he was sweeping the bays right now. The candidate was giving the grunt work around the firehouse as part of paying his or her dues until his probationary period ran out.

The firefighter’s lips were set in a thin line that didn’t seem to want to budge. Still, his greeting was friendly enough as he gave her a curt nod and shook her hand in a firm grip. “Ethan Albright. Captain Spencer and the rest of us have been expecting you.”

How far would things go? Could she afford to take the chance? Could her heart stand the devastation of another breakup, especially one that would be a double whammy of pain?

Alyssa forced herself to focus on the man in front of her and the job she had come here to do. She pulled her iPad from her shoulder bag and powered it on. “I can start with you, if you want.” She gave the broom in his hand a pointed look. “It’ll give you a break from house cleaning.”

The corner of Ethan’s lips twitched. It was the closest thing he gave her to a smile. “I’m the new kid on the block, so to speak. House cleaning comes with the territory.”

“How long have you been at Station 4?”

He leaned on the handle of the broom. “Two weeks. Fresh meat from the academy.”

Alyssa studied him. He was the fourth candidate she had met since she had started her interviews at the firehouses. The other three had obviously been fresh meat, as in barely old enough to even make it into the academy. Ethan Albright was older, but that wasn’t the only thing that made him different from the others.

“What branch of the military did you serve?”

A dart of surprise flashed through his hardened features. “What makes you think I was in the military?”

Alyssa gave him a soft half laugh. “I did freelance reporting before I came to Cherish. I’ve traveled the world, been overseas, weaseled my way into places civilians aren’t allowed, and seen things many don’t. I know a warrior when I see one.”

That finally got her a quick half smile. “Navy.”

She held his gaze for a long moment and noted the intensity in his ice-blue eyes. Coupling that with his build, the way he held himself, and the aura he presented led her to her next question. “SEALs?

This time she got a quick chuckle. “Good guess.”

Alyssa let her smile stretch. “It wasn’t a guess. How did you get hurt or is that classified?”

One ebony brow slowly lifted, but he didn’t answer.

“That’s not a guess, either.” She was ninety-nine percent certain she was right. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but you’re probably mid-thirties.” She let her gaze fall down his front. The man was built. Broad shoulders, totally ripped torso, narrow hips, and powerful long legs. If she hadn’t already been head over—

Shit. She didn’t want to think about how far gone she was on Tanner and Nick. Still, though looking at this man didn’t have any effect on her girly parts, she was certain it did on more than half the women in Cherish.

“You should’ve had several more years on active duty with the SEALs and most men take a desk job after that. Instead…” She turned and gestured to the bays around them. “You’re sweeping floors in a firehouse. That tells me you were likely injured in combat, went through some kind of rehab that got you back in shape enough to pass the physical demands of the fire department, but not the SEAL teams.”

“Maybe I just got tired of the dangerous missions,” he countered.

Alyssa shook her head. “Men like you live for danger. That’s why you’re here instead of kicked back behind a desk somewhere. Firefighting gives you the adrenaline rush you crave, even if it isn’t always as intense as what you felt when you were a SEAL.”

He stared at her for a long moment before he finally answered. “Right shoulder. Classified. I chose to leave.”

Because a SEAL team was only as good as its worst member. Alyssa had been told that years ago by another SEAL she had interviewed that had been injured in combat.

“Any regrets?”

“Aside from the fact that I got fucked up in the first place? No.”

Alyssa had learned from experience she wasn’t going to get much more out of him than that. It was okay. His career as a SEAL wasn’t the point of the story she was writing anyway. She started to change the subject when a clipped male voice behind her interrupted.

“Albright.”

Ethan straightened as his gaze flicked over her head. “Yes, sir?”

Alyssa heard the footsteps closing in behind her and turned to face the man approaching. She knew by his uniform he was the captain of this shift.

“My apologies, Miss. I didn’t realize Ethan had a visitor.”

“This is Alyssa Kinney, sir. She’s the reporter with the Cherish Times.”

“Wallace Spencer.” The captain smiled and shot a glance at the nearby door into the firehouse as he shook her hand. “You’ll find most of the rest of the crew in there. I’ll round up the others for you when you’re ready.”

“Thank you. I—”

A loud shrill over the firehouse’s intercom split through the air in the bay and she jolted. A no-nonsense voice followed the tone.

“All units. Explosion at twenty-four-fifty-one Jersey Pike. Station 5 is on scene and requesting backup.”

Fear iced the blood in Alyssa’s veins at the mention of Station 5. Tanner and Nick were on duty today. She turned as the door to the firehouse burst open as the firefighters and paramedics rushed to their respective trucks. A couple of her interviews with the other shifts had been interrupted by a call, but none of them had sounded as serious as this one. For Station 5 to request backup and all trucks from Station 4 to be called out to assist, the incident had to be bad.

The address clicked in her head as she turned back to the captain. “Isn’t that the chocolate factory?”

He gave her a curt nod as he backed away. “We’ll have to finish the interviews later.”

Alyssa watched the captain as he broke into a brisk jog for his vehicle. The sound of doors slamming and engines starting filled the bays with a deafening roar. She waited until the fire trucks pulled out, lights and sirens flashing, before she bolted for her car to follow.