An Indecent Proposition Part III Read online

  But apparently, it was all just a stupid dream on her part.

  They’d used her for their own purposes and she’d been paid. She should’ve stayed away.

  “God damn it, Keegan.” Erik’s voice startled her out of her thoughts and she looked up to find him closer than he’d been. Actually, he was closer to Keegan. “Say it. Go ahead, just fucking say it.”

  Keegan’s hands curled into fists at his side for several seconds before he made a conscious effort to release them. “Whatever you’re thinking, you’re not right.”

  Erik shook his head, his expression sarcastic. “How the hell would you know what I’m thinking? We don’t fucking talk anymore.”

  “That’s not all on me.” Keegan finally turned to face Erik, and Jules knew she’d just been sidelined. But she didn’t move.

  “I know that.” Erik shook his head but this time didn’t look away. “I know I’ve been a bastard. But that’s not her fault. Don’t make her pay for things I’m guilty of.”

  “You’re not guilty of anything.”

  “And neither are you!”

  Erik was shouting by the end but she didn’t flinch this time. She couldn’t take her eyes off Keegan. He looked so tortured, she almost felt sorry for him. Sorry she’d started this.

  “I don’t know—”

  “Don’t fucking lie,” Erik shot back. “Did you really think I wouldn’t get it? Why you’ve been so damn apologetic? You walk around like a kicked puppy. What happened to me was not your fault.”

  “But I should’ve been there that night!”

  Jules’ eyes popped wide.

  Oh wow. That explained so much.

  Erik scraped a hand through his hair and pulled it back, apparently forgetting, for once, to keep the scarred side of his face covered. “Jesus, Keegan. When the hell are you going to let that go? What happened to me was not your fucking fault. The fault’s with whoever set up that explosion.”

  As Keegan shook his head, Jules frowned at Erik. “You think someone deliberately tried to hurt you?”

  Erik turned to face her. “I think so, yeah.”

  She turned to Keegan. “And you don’t?”

  Keegan closed his eyes and shook his head. “I never said that.”

  “You don’t have to say it.” Erik’s voice sounded flat. “I can read it in your face. You think I’m delusional—”

  “Oh, that’s utter fucking bullshit.” Keegan’s hands clenched into fists at his sides. “You’re not delusional.”

  “I know that. I know there’s a goddamn reason why that burner blew other than a simple malfunction.”

  “You think someone sabotaged your lab?” she asked.

  Both men turned toward her but she kept her eyes on Erik, watching him come closer.

  “Yeah, I think someone deliberately set it to blow.”

  “Do you know who?”

  Erik shook his head. “I have some suspicions but nothing concrete. Not yet.”

  “And you’re driving yourself crazy trying to figure it out.” Keegan slammed his fist against the wall. “You need help, god damn it.”

  Erik threw his hands in the air. “And there you go. You think—”

  “Oh, fuck that. You know that’s not what I meant. I don’t think you’re crazy. If you really think someone rigged that explosion, then you need to hire someone.”

  Apparently this was an ongoing battle between the two of them, but she couldn’t help but ask, “Why won’t you get someone to help you with the investigation?”

  “Because what if he’s wrong?” Keegan’s voice held a bitter tone. “What if whoever we bring in proves him wrong? You’re never wrong, are you, Erik?”

  Erik shook his head, his expression bitter. “Oh please. You know that’s bullshit.”

  “Then why won’t you let me hire someone?”

  “What if this was an inside job? What if we bring someone in and tip off whoever did it? No. I can do this. I just need a little more time.”

  “And in the meantime, you leave me to keep everything else going. This is supposed to be a partnership, Erik.”

  They seemed to have forgotten she was there again, squared off against each other.

  She should leave. She couldn’t help them with this and she felt useless. And slightly guilty for pushing them into this discussion, although apparently, they needed it.

  Erik sighed loudly. “I know I’ve been preoccupied but I’ve been putting in as much time as I can on that new pad and—”

  “Jesus, I’m not questioning your schedule.” Keegan shook his head. “I’m fucking worried about you. After that last operation, you walked around like a fucking zombie. This past year, you started to come back to the land of the living but you’re still not here completely. When you saw Jules, I thought…”

  Thought what?

  She looked at Erik, watched another flush creep into his cheeks. He didn’t look at her, and she wasn’t sure if that was deliberate or not. She’d begun to feel like she was at a tennis match.

  “Don’t.” Erik’s voice had a sharp edge to it. “Don’t put that on her.”

  “I’m not putting anything on her.” Keegan shook his head. “But admit it. The first time you saw her, you finally started acting human again.”

  They stared at each other for several seconds before Erik’s gaze slipped toward her.

  “Is that true?” She wanted to know. She knew she’d been his first after the accident. He’d told her so. And Carol had practically said the same thing earlier tonight.

  After several seconds, Erik nodded with a sharp jerk.

  She frowned. “Why wouldn’t you want me to know that?”

  Erik just stared at her as Keegan released a frustrated sigh.

  “Because he doesn’t want you to feel obligated. God damn it, Erik. Just tell her how you fucking feel.”

  Erik’s gaze slid to Keegan. “Because that’s exactly what you’re doing, right?”

  Keegan’s jaw locked and she had that sensation of being on the outside again. Maybe there really was nothing romantic between the men. But they had one hell of a complicated relationship.

  And she was making everything worse.

  “I’m leaving.”

  She couldn’t take it anymore, this constant push and pull. Was she crazy thinking they could build something between the three of them?

  Definitely crazy. It would never work.

  “No.”

  Two male voices spoke in unison. Two pairs of intense eyes locked on to her. Determination shone from each of them. But she wasn’t backing down.

  “You two need to work this out. I can’t help you.”

  Erik reached for her, wrapping his fingers around her wrist. “Don’t go.”

  “I have to.”

  “No, you don’t.” Keegan had stepped up behind her, enclosing her between them. “Neither of us want you to go.”

  “And what if I don’t want to stay? Would you keep me here against my will?”

  It was a pretty shitty thing to say and she wanted to take the words back immediately, especially when she felt Keegan go rigid behind her and watched Erik’s expression harden into a mask.

  When he released her, she wanted to grab for him but managed to curl her fingers into her palms. She couldn’t play this seesaw game. It wasn’t fair. To her or them.

  “Do you think we’d do that, Jules?”

  Keegan’s voice held a hint of ice she’d never heard before.

  Frustrated, she threw her hands up and took two angry steps away from them, giving them both her back.

  “No, I don’t think that. You two are screwing with my head and I hate this.”

  Behind her, dead silence.

  Which just fucked with her head even more.

  Forcing herself to take a deep breath, she reached for calm. But knowing they were there, just as screwed up as she was about this, didn’t help.

  But they’re both here.

  The thought lodged in her brain and wouldn�
��t leave.

  They’re here and they want you.

  No, she shouldn’t be thinking about sex.

  And yet she couldn’t stop thinking about it. For the past two weeks, all she’d done was obsess over that night.

  And you could have that again. Right now.

  All she had to do was turn around and tell them. Tell them she wanted them. They wouldn’t deny her.

  And is that fair? To any of you?

  Right at the moment, she didn’t care about fair or unfair. All she cared about was easing the ache deep in her gut. The ache these men created simply by being in the same room.

  Finally, behind her she heard movement.

  She held still, waiting, unwilling to move. Biting into her bottom lip, she sucked in a deep breath.

  Had Keegan left? She didn’t want him to leave.

  Or had Erik retreated?

  A hand grasped her shoulder and her eyes closed.

  Only to fly open again when another body moved in front of her.

  She found herself staring into Keegan’s dark blue eyes.

  Which meant that was Erik’s hand on her shoulder, the hand now smoothing down her arm, sending erotic shivers through her body.

  Keegan’s eyes were rimmed in red but they were clear. Sober.

  His mouth, when he sealed it over hers, was hot and demanding. The same as Erik’s when he pressed it to her shoulder.

  Feet anchored to the floor, her hands curled into fists. She was almost afraid to reach for either of them for fear they’d pull away. She knew that was ridiculous, but it didn’t make her move.

  Her lips stayed still beneath Keegan’s mouth, waiting. For what, she wasn’t sure. Her skin heated at Erik’s touch as he stroked his hands down her arms to the hem of the shirt.

  When his hands slipped beneath it and splayed across her lower back, she shuddered and Keegan released her mouth, though he didn’t step away.

  “This is your last chance to run, Jules. If you really don’t want to be here, you need to go now. If you stay…” Keegan’s breath as he spoke fanned against her cheek, making her lashes flutter to stay open. “This is where you’re going to be all night. Between us.”

  She drew in a sharp gasp as Erik tugged the shirt up and over her head in one swift motion. Then he snapped the clasp on her bra and drew it down her arms. Bared from the waist up, she didn’t feel exposed. She felt desired.

  Erik’s arms wrapped around her from behind, pulling her against his chest. His erection pressed against her lower back and she couldn’t help but wiggle against it. His groan echoed in her ear.

  Her gaze snapped up to Keegan’s face, but his eyes were focused on her body. Watching Erik’s hands stroke her belly before moving up to cup her breasts.

  When Erik began to play with her nipples, tugging on the tips, her eyes fluttered shut but Keegan grabbed her chin in his hands and tilted her head back until it hit Erik’s shoulder. Her eyes flew open and locked on to Keegan’s.

  “He’s going to play with you until you come.” Keegan’s voice was nothing more than a dark rasp. “Then we’re both going to make love to you. On the couch, on the floor, against the wall. In the middle of the damn room. I don’t give a fuck where. We’re going to give you what you want. And we’re going to make sure you enjoy it.”

  Oh God. She had no doubt she would.

  Her skin broke out in goose bumps, shivers of sensation moving through her.

  This was what she’d wanted. So why was she afraid to move?

  Maybe because she was afraid she’d break the tenuous truce. Between them. Between her and them.

  Erik’s teeth sank into the tender spot joining her neck and shoulders as Keegan crossed his arms over his chest and watched. The slight pain sent a shock through her that jolted her against the cage of Erik’s arms. They tightened around her even more, and for a second she felt helpless.

  God, it made her wet.

  Her eyes closed again and this time Keegan didn’t tell her to keep them open. The darkness heightened her sense of touch, and every inch of skin pressed against Erik’s felt like it was on fire.

  Erik’s fingers plucked at her nipples, teasing them into hard, aching points. The cooler air of the room brushed against them, pebbling them. Her skin soaked up the heat from Erik’s hands until it sank into her veins and made her blood boil.

  Leaning back against him, she finally let her hands reach behind her. She slipped her fingers into the waistband of Erik’s jeans, scratching at his skin. Her fingers fumbled at the button but from this angle, she couldn’t undo it. So she contented herself with cupping his erection through the material.

  Erik’s chest rose and fell against her back in a furious rush even as one of his hands began a slow slide down her stomach.

  He took his own sweet time but finally his fingertips pushed beneath the hem of the baggy sweatpants she wore. His sweatpants, actually. She wished he would get rid of them. Shove them down her legs and get her naked.

  She lost all sense of shame when she was with these men because they made her feel as if nothing she did was wrong. Or bad.

  She wanted to strip them as well. Keegan’s physical perfection made her want to lick him from head to toe. Even Erik’s scars held their own dark attraction. Or maybe it was just the fact that he’d survived.

  She sucked in a sharp breath as Erik’s hand slid over her mound then arrowed straight between her legs.

  “Fuck, you’re wet.”

  His fingers slid over her clit and through her slick pussy lips, teasing, rubbing. Making her wetter.

  She was already so close…

  Moaning, she arched her back and rubbed her ass against his cock.

  “Make me come, Erik. While he watches.”

  She opened her eyes now, looking right at Keegan. His jaw looked ready to crack but his gaze stayed on hers.

  “Shove the pants down, babe.” Erik spoke directly into her ear, the words felt more than heard. “Let him look.”

  She obeyed without hesitation, hooking her thumbs in the waistband and pushing down. The material fell without much help, and in seconds she stood there naked.

  Now Keegan’s gaze dropped and didn’t rise. The burning ache between her legs intensified because she knew he was watching Erik play between her legs.

  Erik’s fingers stroked along her labia as his thumb pressed against her clit. Without entering her, he worked her body closer to orgasm. She felt it coiling inside, tighter with each stroke. Her hips began to move in rhythm with his hand, seeking more.

  She hadn’t realized her eyes had closed until she felt Keegan step close enough that she could feel the heat of him searing her.

  When she opened her eyes, her first view was of Keegan’s chest. Broad, strong. She leaned forward and put her mouth on him, right over his heart. She swore she felt it pounding against her lips. Sucking in a breath, she filled her lungs with Keegan’s scent until it mingled with Erik’s and her own arousal.

  Erik chose that second to release her, and she let out an unhappy moan as she reached behind her.

  But just as fast, Keegan replaced Erik’s hand with his own. He took a second to wet his fingers in her juices before he parted her sensitive lower lips and began to fuck her with his fingers. Long, slow strokes, in and out. Stretching her, filling her. Giving her friction. Just not enough.

  Erik’s arms wrapped around her again, his hands molding to her breasts. Her back arched, her pelvis tilting toward Keegan, inviting him deeper.

  He didn’t take her invitation. He withdrew and she gasped. But Erik was there, twisting her head so he could take her lips. Overloading her senses.

  Vaguely, she heard the sound of a zipper releasing, but Erik’s kiss engaged her mind and body, hot and drugging.

  Yes. This. Exactly.

  She jolted when Keegan’s hands gripped the backs of her thighs, but she wasn’t surprised when her feet left the floor.

  As Keegan stepped into the vee of her thighs, she wrapped her
legs around his waist, her back braced by Erik’s chest, Keegan’s hands on her hips. Suspended between them, she had no fear they would drop her. She trusted them implicitly with her body.

  With other, more delicate things…

  She moaned when she felt the tip of Keegan’s cock press against her swollen labia, demanding entrance to her body. She gave it to him willingly. Her sex lips parted for him then enclosed the head. It lodged there, spreading her, making her want more.

  Her moan echoed through the room as she wrapped her arms around Keegan’s shoulders.

  The sense of fullness in her pussy increased as gravity took hold and she slid farther down his cock. Keegan held her poised there for several seconds, his breath a harsh rasp in her ear. His arms were tight bands around her, his body throwing off heat like a furnace.

  Then he moved, his erection shifting inside her, hitting points that made pleasure shimmer through her.

  Keegan turned and she caught a glimpse of Erik, eyes narrowed, bare-chested. And staring at her with so much heat, she clenched around Keegan in reaction.

  Groaning, Keegan lowered them onto the couch and she lost eye contact with Erik as Keegan sank even deeper.

  Taking her face between his hands, he stared into her eyes. “Move, Jules. I took you earlier. You take me now.”

  God yes.

  Heart pounding, she rose up on her knees, careful not to let him slip out of her, then started to fuck him. Slow and steady, feeling every inch of him as he filled her.

  Now there was no sense of the frantic urgency that had consumed them earlier tonight. She savored every second, each drag of his flesh against hers. His cock felt thicker, hotter. His gaze burned as he stared at her. He released her face to grab her hips, keeping a tight grip on her but not dictating her motions.

  She had total control as she rode him, loved watching him hold himself in check when she knew he wanted to move. Keeping her motion steady, she worked them both into a deepening state of eroticism.

  She wanted to drown in it, to stay here as long as possible because the rewards were going to be much sweeter later.

  Keegan held still beneath her, his breathing a harsh rasp. He watched her with the intensity of a predatory animal. She’d never seen that focus from him, was surprised by it now because he’d been so visibly drunk earlier.