Worlds Apart (28 page)

“Oops,” Roo said. “I’m not usually such a pig, but that was delicious.”

“Thanks.” Niall smiled at her.

“No carrot cake until we’ve finished,” Taylor said.

“Hurry up,” Roo said. When they both slowed, she scowled. “Quit teasing.”

The looks they gave her were identical. They might as well have had
lust
written across their foreheads. Roo picked up her wine, gulped more than she’d intended and coughed.

“I like teasing,” Taylor said quietly. “How about you, Niall?”

“Yep.”

They carried on eating slowly as they stared at her, and a gush of cream wet her panties. Niall’s nostrils flared.
Oh God.

Taylor slurped up a strand of pasta and licked his lips. “Very tasty, but I can think of something tastier.”

Roo let a whimper escape.

Taylor frowned. “I was talking about Niall’s carrot cake. What did you think I meant?”

Niall laughed.

The bastards.
Well, Roo could tease too.

She slid her bare feet up their legs and into their groins.
Uh-oh.
They both had erections. Roo almost came off her chair. The pasta fell from Taylor’s fork and Niall’s hand froze on the way to his mouth.

Put your feet down!
Before she could, hands gripped her ankles and held tight. Maybe they didn’t know they both held her. But Niall smiled at Taylor, and Roo let out a quiet groan. The bastards ate even slower. Despite their hold on her, Roo managed to wriggle her toes over their crotches.

“Tell me you can unbutton and unzip with your toes and I’ll give you a raise,” Taylor said.

“Only on Mondays.” It was Friday. “And isn’t that a raise I can feel?”

The guys laughed.

When Niall stood to fetch the carrot cake, Taylor let her ankle go and Roo shuffled back on her chair. She hadn’t actually believed eyes could smolder, but Taylor’s were doing a good impression of it, like coals getting ready to blaze.

Niall put three plates on the table, and as Taylor reached for the one with the most frosting, Roo swiped her finger over the sweet topping and put it in her mouth. Every taste bud tingled.

“Hey,” Taylor barked.

Roo snatched a different plate and jumped out of reach.

“Why don’t we take dessert into the drawing room?” Niall suggested.

“Great. I think
The Sound of Music
is on.” As Roo bolted, she heard twin growls behind her.

She settled on the rug in front of the coffee table and put her plate down. When she spotted a pack of cards sitting on top of a pile of books, Roo took them out and shuffled.

“Want to play cards?” Taylor settled on the floor on the other side of the coffee table while Niall sat adjoining her, leaning back against the couch.

“Hearts?” Roo suggested.

Taylor forked a chunk of cake into his mouth and took the cards from her hand. He flicked through until he found the two of diamonds and set it aside. “Lowest deals.”

Roo won. And she was going to win the game too. They just didn’t yet know it.

“Loser takes off an item of clothing,” she said as she dealt. “Winner chooses what item.” Silence followed that. She hadn’t thought they’d object.

Niall was the first to lose his shirt then Taylor.
They have such great bodies.
Taylor was slightly broader than Niall, a little more muscular. She could only see part of Niall’s tattoo where it wound up his neck, but it looked impossibly clear, as though the ink hadn’t bled into his skin. Roo wanted a closer look but needed to concentrate on the game.

By the time the guys were down to their boxers and Roo had yet to remove one item of clothing, there were rumblings of discontent. She made sure she lost the next hand.

“Shorts,” Taylor said.

Roo shuffled out of them without standing up and Niall laughed. Her heart was conducting a lively symphony with her other organs, firing them up into a state of acute excitement, priming every cell in her body for lift off. The three of them knew where this was leading, what was going to happen. And Roo understood that how far they went was up to her. They had to have guessed she was cheating, but not calling her on it was their way of letting her take control.

Niall lost the next hand. Taylor won. Niall hopped to his feet, pulled down his boxers and stepped out of them. His cock reared up, dark with arousal, the tip glistening, his balls hanging full and heavy beneath. Roo’s jaw dropped, and when she realized she was staring, she stuffed more cake into her mouth.

Taylor’s turn to lose. He wriggled out of his boxers without getting up and Roo giggled. She made sure Taylor lost again and she won.

He shrugged. “Nothing left to take off.”

“Your toupee,” Roo said and he glared at her. “Or your false teeth, I don’t mind.”

Niall let out a choked laugh.

“No clothing left, you have to pay a forfeit,” Roo said. “Suck Niall’s nipples.”

One moment of hesitation while Roo held her breath before Taylor slid round the table to Niall. Her nipples tightened as Taylor’s tongue fluttered over Niall’s pecs. Niall arched back, groaning, his arms outstretched, his eyes shut tight. Taylor’s hand closed over Niall’s other nipple and Roo pressed her thighs together.
Hot, hot, hot.
She was torn between watching Niall’s face or Taylor’s mouth. When Taylor eventually pulled back and licked his lips, she was drooling.

“Deal,” Taylor croaked.

Roo messed up the cards and lost.
Damn.

“T-shirt off,” Niall said.

The hypnotic draw of her low-cut blue lace bra gave her chance to reorder the cards and make certain Niall lost the next game. Both men looked at her expectantly. How far could she go? How far would
they
go?

“Kiss Taylor’s—”At the last moment, she lost her nerve. “Lips.”

Watching the pair of them lock mouths made her instantly hot enough for spontaneous combustion. She’d always been turned on by the sight of two guys kissing, but these two guys did more than turn her on. They made her sizzle. But as Taylor pulled away from Niall, she saw something in Niall’s eyes that made her heart ache so fiercely a sob slipped out. Roo forked the last bit of cake into her mouth to stop her making another sound.
Love. Oh God.
Niall loved Taylor. The way he touched him, looked at him, reacted to him, it all said the same thing.

But the heat was different in Taylor’s eyes.

Then Taylor looked at her, and as Roo glanced at Niall, she watched pain flash across his face. At that moment, Taylor wanted her more than he wanted Niall. And Niall knew.

Oh fuck. This isn’t going to work.

The only thing that stopped Roo running was the awareness that it was nothing more than lust for her that she saw in Taylor’s face. She didn’t want Niall to get hurt, but lust was okay. It was all she ever had from guys.

“You’re thinking too much.” Niall’s gentle voice snapped her back, his fingers tracing circles on her back.

“And cheating too much,” Taylor said. “We’ll be here all night trying to get you naked. Who taught you to play cards?”

“No one.” No point arguing about the cheating and they hadn’t asked who’d taught her how to do that.

Taylor arched his brow. “You’re too quiet. No veering off on a tangent? No worry that aliens are about to land on the house or a flash flood’s going to rip down the valley and sweep us away?” He sat up straighter, the smile falling from his face. “Don’t worry, angel. None of us know what we’re doing. We’re all struggling. There’s no right or wrong. You don’t
have
to do anything.”

“I can just lie there?” Roo whispered, unable to stop her mouth twitching.

Taylor smirked. “I bet you
can’t
just lie there.”

Roo pushed herself up. Niall’s hand stayed on her back. “I bet you can’t either,” Roo said.

“If we both just lie there, nothing would happen.” Taylor raised his eyebrows.

Roo looked at Niall. “You’d have all the fun.”

“Not if neither of you move.” Niall turned to her. “What’s worrying you?”

What wasn’t worrying her?
Is there room for me too? I know you love Taylor. You might both want me for now, but I don’t want to cause problems. For me or for either of you.
Roo wanted them to love her, but knew it was asking too much, too soon. Yet she’d already slid down that slope. All the pep talks she’d given herself about not falling in love had paled into insignificance. She loved them. Didn’t matter if they didn’t love her. Well, it did, but that wasn’t going to hold her back.
I am such an idiot.

“What is it?” Taylor whispered.

“You can tell us,” Niall said.

I love you and you don’t love me.

“The usual.” Roo sighed. “How to solve the issues in the Middle East. Whether wind turbines are a blight on the landscape or a necessary evil. If my legs are bristly.”

Taylor almost choked laughing, but Roo knew Niall understood that she had to hide what she felt.

Niall looked from one to the other. “How about we each write down ten things we’d like to do and put them in a bag. Then we pull them out one at a time. That way no one has to choose who goes first at anything.”

“That’s a great idea,” Roo said. “Do you have a whip and a couple of cock rings?”

“In the drawer with the nipple clamps.” Taylor leapt at her over the table and she squealed.

He pulled her into his arms and pressed his mouth against her throat. “Niall, grab pencils and paper out of that drawer. Since Roo cheated at cards, she has to pay a forfeit—we’ll follow her up to my room.”

That didn’t sound so bad. “No spanking?”
Darn it.
That slipped out.

Taylor grinned. “You have to go upstairs on your hands and knees. And yes, spanking is involved. Thanks for the suggestion.”

Bugger.

Her panties didn’t cover much of her backside, but Roo could play the game too. She thought about racing up, but instead went slowly. The first smack from Taylor was just hard enough and she shuddered. Roo turned to look over her shoulder and both guys had their hands around their cocks.

“Not sure this is such a good idea,” Niall croaked.

Niall was far gentler with his smacks, though Roo’s butt still tingled. She wasn’t into the infliction or receipt of serious pain. There was no pleasure for her in that, but this highly charged sexual reprimand made her gasp with delight. Her nipples throbbed and she suspected one touch between her legs would flip her over the edge.

By the time he and Taylor reached the bedroom door, Roo still crawling, her delectable butt flushed from their slaps, Niall’s balls were as hard as his cock. Roo wavered between confident seductress and skittish kitten. He could hear it in her voice, see it in her eyes. She worried that Taylor wanted her more than he wanted Niall, but she didn’t see that as much as Niall wanted Taylor, he was desperate for Roo as well. Niall had never met a woman he liked better, never met a woman he wanted more.

As they watched Roo crawl toward the bed, Taylor’s fingers entwined with his. Niall swallowed. All this time waiting and now Taylor’s bed beckoned. Had this been what they’d needed? A woman to bridge the gap between them, to bring them together? His heart leapt in excitement and not regret that he alone wasn’t enough for Taylor. There was no doubt in Niall’s mind that he wanted Roo just as much as the man he’d spent so long pining for.

Roo flopped belly down on Taylor’s bed and leaned up on her elbows, facing them.

“You better make it worth me missing
The Sound of Music
,” she said.

Taylor looked at Niall and laughed. “Think we’re up to it?”

“I’ll score you,” Roo called.

Taylor looked as though he was going to jump on her until Niall pushed pencil and paper into his hand and gave the same to Roo. Niall sat on the bed. Not difficult to think of ten things he wanted to do to the pair of them. If all thirty actions were different, it was going to take some time to get through them.

“Rip three sheets into four and when you’ve written on ten pieces, fold them twice so there’s no cheating.” Niall pinned Roo with his gaze and she gave him a bright smile.
Yeah, she’s going to cheat.

“I’ve only written three things I’d like to happen,” Roo said. “My toes licked, my fingers licked and my ears licked. Then I’m off to watch the Von Trapps.”

Taylor laughed.

They put the folded papers inside Taylor’s leather wash bag. Niall could have cheated too and ensured one of his came out first, but why waste his energy when he knew he’d get what he wanted sooner or later? In any case, what he wanted had become blurred.

Taylor went into the bathroom and came back with a long strip of condoms, a towel and lube. The last made the breath catch in Niall’s throat. When had Taylor bought that?

“Ready?” Taylor asked.

Niall held the bag out to Roo. “You first.”

Roo pulled out a scrap of paper. She opened it and read, “A turkey sandwich, hold the mayo. Oops, sorry. A Taylor sandwich. Can’t read my own writing. Oh damn. That wasn’t very anonymous.”