No Simple Sacrifice (Secrets of Stone Book 5) (16 page)

“We want you to come again, baby. Can you do that?” After she made an attempt at a nod, I lifted my thumb, rolling it across the erect button of her hottest desire. “That’s our girl. You’re going to do it with Drake’s cock in your throat, and my fingers in your beautiful cunt. It feels so good, doesn’t it?”

“Yes.
Fuck,
yes.” Drake, unable to help himself any longer, tangled his fingers in her hair. His voice was so rough, he nearly coughed the words out. “
Baby
. I’m going to come. If you don’t want it down your throat, stop now.”

Her stance on the issue would have to remain unclear. At that moment, her orgasm hit, and her head fell back as a moan spilled out. Drake climaxed a second later, shooting hot white ropes all over her neck and breasts. We couldn’t have planned a sexier sight. She seemed to like the feel of his essence on her skin, because she clamped down hard on my fingers.

“Fuck, girl!” Drake rubbed her cheek with his thumb, his other hand still buried in her hair. When she finally opened her eyes, he forced her to look up at him. They tangled stares for a tense few seconds, then crashed into a violent kiss. I pulled out of her pussy and waited to kiss her as well. I needed it.
We
needed it. We were bound now, and like hell was I letting her forget it.

I wrapped my fingers around her neck from the back, circling her face toward mine as soon as she pulled away from Drake. Her eyes, dark and intense, searched mine. For what? A commitment? I had that. A profession? I had that too. I would give her anything and everything she needed.

“I love you,” I rasped. “God help me…I love you, Talia.”

She twined her hands around my neck. Yanked me to her in a tight, hard kiss. I returned her love with matched intensity. Funneling
myself
into it.

We both sucked in air when we finally broke apart. I pulled back a little farther, raking my fervent gaze over her exhausted face. I wouldn’t let her go. I was waiting. And she knew—she
knew
, in that way she always knew—what I was waiting for.

But she still didn’t say the words back.

And as much as it killed me, I didn’t force her to.

“Lay down, love.” I settled her between us, with Drake pressing her from behind. Wordlessly, she complied.

“It’s late, baby,” he concurred. “Let’s get some sleep.” He sounded like he’d crossed the Mohave without a sip of water.

Our sweet, stunning angel closed her eyes and sighed. She was asleep within a minute, which might have been a good thing. I stared at D over her head, letting my concern blare out from my gaze. It took a second to see he completely concurred—especially when he mouthed three distinct words.

What. The. Fuck
?

We had to face the gruesome truth. We were both so far out of our league with this woman. With these feelings for her. That was why I just shrugged, and Drake barely reacted. He knew I was as lost as he was. Hardly able to wrap my comprehension around the sweet surprise of her in our lives, much less get proactive about a plan for it all.

Right now, I was exhausted. One full look at Drake confirmed he was paddling that same ship. We needed sleep and clear heads to try to sift through this new dynamic between the three of us. We were so uncertain…about so much.

But there were a couple things of which I
was
certain.

One: I wouldn’t be able to walk away from this girl unscarred. I wasn’t sure I could walk away at all.

Two: my best friend was in no better shape than I was.

Drake

M
y head swam.
Not a leisurely-sidestroke-in-the-backyard-pool kind of thing, either. This was a 200-yard medley relay between three people, and I was pulling the last leg. If I’d been in bed alone, I’d be tossing and turning, but the sexy little woman in bed with us was my anchor—
I’ll take “Mushy Symbolism for Saps” for the Daily Double, Alex
—keeping me still so she could get her much-needed rest.

And how she rested. Naked and bronze and beautiful, an arm sprawled on top of the pillow over her head, a sight I longed to soak up until morning’s light. There was certainly no worry of her noticing how intently I was staring. The woman was knocked out as if we’d been drinking instead of fucking. And yeah, I owned the crap out of that. Supremely. Proudly. Took just a glance at Fletcher to see he fully shared the credit.

We’d accomplished the mission we’d come here on. To make love with her until she passed out. She’d done just that, nearly from the moment I pulled my spent cock from her swollen lips.

But now what?

And there it was. Full circle, back to the same damn question. It loomed larger than ever now—nearly as huge as the feelings we’d spilled tonight. And like before, Talia had reciprocated so fully, so effortlessly—but as soon as she got dressed come morning, the layers of her heart would be covered back up too. She’d grab her car keys, rattling off some excuse to get to the office—her personal code for turning tail on us once more. On all our feelings and commitments.

Shit.

What the
hell
was this
?

Who the fuck was this person, with
these
thoughts? Sure as hell couldn’t be me. Feelings? Commitments?
Layers on hearts
?

I gripped my cock just to make sure it was still there. I sounded like a bitch, even in my own head.

I didn’t care.

Fletch and I had finally found the girl that fit between us perfectly. Now all we needed was to secure her there. Talia felt it—
knew
it—too. I was sure she did, but her damn self-talk was getting in the way of her self-
expression.
To herself—and definitely to us.

Maybe that wasn’t the case at all.

Were Fletcher and I kidding ourselves? Were we rewriting the truth to fit our perceptions…to form only what we wanted to be real? What if she wasn’t in the same place we were at all?

Wouldn’t that be karma’s big finishing number?

After all of the women who’d begged us to keep them, insisted they were cut out for our lifestyle, promised they’d be good for both of us…
to
both of us…

All those women we’d turned away…

And only one we’d ever needed to stay. The only one we wanted more than our next breaths.

Right here. Beneath our fingertips—literally—but still so far away. From the outside, she was nestled right where she needed to be, but all I could think about were my rebuttals for every reason she’d conjure
not
to stay.

To my shock, Talia stirred. Seconds before, her stillness had nearly prompted me to check for vital signs. Now, her tiny twitches brushed my body in ways that had me gritting down a new hard-on. Her movements were delicate yet graceful, reminding me of the cartoon princess who’d been showing on the monitors at Anya’s party, giving the illusion that she was much younger than her years. But that wasn’t the truth at all. This woman had the resilience and wisdom of someone twice her age. It just came wrapped in one of the hottest packages on Earth.

As she continued waking, my dick twitched more. Then even more, at the mere thought of another round inside her body. I stifled a groan. With her, my cock was nineteen all over again.

Maybe it was the wrong tactic, but I shut my eyes and evened out my breathing. She really needed more sleep. If she knew I was awake, she’d try to fix whatever was wrong. And God help me, I’d probably let her. Plus to that plan? There’d be more amazing fucking. Minus? There’d also be more lame excuses and avoidance of what the three of us really needed to discuss. Talia Maria Perizkova was the mistress of sticking her head in the sand.

After another minute of twitching, our little one roused fully. Carefully, she extricated herself from both our embraces, slid to the foot of the bed, and shuffled into her adjoining bathroom.

As soon as the door snicked shut, Fletcher’s eyes popped open. Didn’t surprise me that he’d been playing possum too.

He widened his gaze, a word-free form of questioning. I didn’t need the vocals, anyway. I knew exactly what he was asking.

What the hell are we going to do
?

I shrugged, hating myself for every inch of it. I was as lost as he was.

I leaned across the pillows. Tolly’s scent lingered on hers, a mix of floral and forest that clutched at my blood all over again. Fletch met me halfway, making it possible to keep my voice to a whisper.

“Do we press her now—or wait until morning?”

Beneath his tawny stubble, the line of his jaw hardened. “No damn idea.”

“I am
not
getting back on a plane without a commitment from her.”

“Agreed. But what if we push it and she bolts?” He looked terrified. I probably wore a mirrored expression.

“We’re talking like a pair of pussies.”

“Also agreed.”

“Fuck.” I scrubbed a hand down my face. “I don’t know what to do anymore. You think…that maybe…”

“What?”

“That maybe she really doesn’t want this? That we’re misreading things? Misunderstanding her? Ourselves?”

He gaped like my head had turned into a radish. Reading women was our forte. We had it locked down. But locking
her
down was rapidly becoming our Shangri-La. Perfect, but non-existent.

“Dude, I’ve never heard you say you love a woman outside of your mom and Lizzie. This isn’t a misunderstanding.”

I nodded, letting him see the slight relief I’d gained—

Until the bathroom door opened.

We both slammed our eyes shut again. But Talia didn’t crawl back into bed. Through the haze of my lashes, I watched her slip into a short satin robe, then pad out of the room on quiet steps. My ears damn near pricked up, keeping track of her soft steps on the bare floor down the hall, but eventually, she walked out of earshot.

Fletch and I stared at each other again. We waited a few minutes, anticipating sounds confirming that she’d gone to the kitchen for water or a snack.

Silence.

With determined economy, I rolled out of bed. Slid into my underwear—then set out to find her.

It’s not creepy if you just want to know she’s okay.

It was also normal to keep track of one’s heart, when the woman who held it had left the room.

And to want to comfort hers in return—if that was what she needed.

I refrained—barely—from calling out to her. I stopped when I heard another woman’s voice, only to realize she was listening to a voice mail on her cell. It was likely the message that had come in earlier—when my face was buried in her pussy.

Don’t go there, man.

“Natalia darling, it’s your Aunt Oksana. I won’t keep you long. I just wanted to tell you that I met a nice young man today. I think you’ll really like him.
Milakha,
he’s a
doctor
! I met him at the clinic where I volunteer. Anyway, I got his number, so call me and I can give it to you, and tell you all about him. Oh, and Talia, his family is from St. Petersburg! Isn’t that just perfect? Okay, call me please. I love you, dear.”

Her shoulders sagged.

The line clicked dead.

My heart jammed into my throat.

I let another pause go by, examining her posture…wishing like fuck that I possessed Fletch’s uncanny ability to just read her at a glance. My connection to her wasn’t such a direct line. It was the scenic route, filled with curves and hills and dips—but hell, the views were breathtaking.

Right now, I wished I
could
take a breath. Auntie Oksana’s call had hit like a bucket of ice water. We’d never clearly asked Talia to stop dating. We’d never clarified
anything
except how
we
felt, meaning everything from her end was up in the air.

Not acceptable.

Not anymore.

From the doorway, I cleared my throat. Tolly swung around, panic on her face, nearly dropping the phone.

“Sorry.” My voice, rough and low, seemed to bounce off her little kitchen’s walls. The space was just like her, clean and classic, with a hint of old world evident in some framed needlepoint pieces near the refrigerator. “Didn’t mean to startle you…”

Her lips thinned. “What are you doing up? I thought you were sleeping.” I pictured canary feathers floating from her mouth.

“Bathroom.” I lied. The air thickened between us. “A doctor, huh?”

She darkened the phone’s screen then set it down with a determined
clump
. “She’s just a silly old woman, Drake.”

“Is she?”

“Yes.” Her eyes narrowed. “But you don’t believe me, do you?”

“Didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t need to.” She took a step toward me but stopped herself. I clenched back a frustrated growl but let the ire beneath it roll right out. That widened her gaze a little. And maybe that was a good thing.

Fletcher stepped up beside me, taking up the other half of the doorway. He palmed the sleep-deprived grit from his eyes.

“What’s going on in here?”

“Nothing,” Talia blurted out before I could answer.

“Now that’s not really true, is it?” Screw the patience. Now I was just pissed.
Nothing
. There she went again with that damn word.
Nothing
.

“Actually, it
is
.” She approached again, her steps decidedly bolder, an obvious gain from Fletcher’s arrival. That was a good thing—or so I should’ve seen it. But I didn’t. As the poison of jealousy wound in deep, I wrapped myself deeper in a cloak of tight composure.

“Tolly?” Further justification for the cloak: as usual, Fletcher read her at once, knowing something was way off.

Talia froze. Frantically looked from me to him. “I think we should all go back to bed. This isn’t the right time—”

“This is the perfect time.” My clipped dictate held her there.

“For what?” Vexation edged at Fletcher’s voice too.

“For getting this all out in the open.” I put physical action to it, striding across the kitchen. “Clearly, none of us is sleeping anyway.” In front of the sink, I turned. “Might as well go for broke, right?”

“About
what
?” Fletch demanded.

Talia huffed. “I
told
you—”