No Simple Sacrifice Read online

  Talia’s moan turned into a harder sound—her own appeal for the ultimate shattering. She was so close now. So close.

  Which meant it was time.

  “Tolly,” I rasped against her mouth. “Look at me.” When her eyes dragged open once more, I let the demand out. “Do you feel this? The energy? Our adoration? Our love, flowing between the three of us? Why the hell are you ignoring it, Talia? Why the hell would you say we don’t have anything together?” I pressed in closer, until our noses nearly touched. “Your breaths are our breaths. Your life, your happiness, is our greatest joy. You’re ours, Talia. We won’t let you go.”

  “Never.” Drake took just two seconds to growl it, before pushing his mouth to her clit again and sucking hard.

  She screamed, giving in to her orgasm with complete abandon. It had to be the sexiest thing I’d ever seen. Only with astonishing self-control did I not join her—yeah, right there in my pants. Drake groaned from the same supreme effort. My fingers itched to squeeze her throat tighter, to watch her battle at organizing her thoughts enough to still find oxygen. And I’d be the one to give it all back.

  I would give her everything she needed. Always.

  She finally reopened her eyes with a drowsy, sated expression. I kissed her again, though the action was quick. It still took every force of my will not to scoop her up, carry her to the sofa and sink balls-deep into her. Nothing felt better than the pussy of a woman who’d just come. Best yet, our woman.

  But our question still needed an answer.

  Gently, I guided her hands up. “Put your hands on my shoulders so you don’t fall over, baby.”

  With a jerking little nod, she complied. Drake rose, repeating my kiss with his own—not lingering much longer, either. His lips and chin still glistened with her juices He let his mouth trail over her jaw, her cheeks, her nose…totally cherishing her. “Thank you, sweet girl.”

  “Why are you thanking me?” Her voice was low and husky. “That…was amazing. Thank you.”

  “It’s an honor to make love to you.” His word choice didn’t escape me. Make love. Neither of us had ever used the expression before…until now. “And we want to do it again and again…day after day…making you feel like this.”

  Talia threw her stare between us, as if he’d spoken in a foreign language. That had the guy tossing a questioning glance at me, and vice versa. Where was the disconnect here? What the hell were we doing wrong that she wasn’t grasping how deeply we meant this…how completely we wanted this with her? All of it. We were in, bodies, hearts and souls.

  Drake found a much better way of saying it. “I love you, Talia.”

  Yeah. Much better. Boom. Cards on the table. I admired his no-bullshit approach and copied it without shame. “As do I.” I caressed the elegant bones beneath her cheek. “With all of my heart, baby. That was why, after we got done at SGC, we decided to get back here as soon as possible.” Drake’s affirming nod encouraged me further. “We refused to let that bullshit we heard become the new definition of us.”

  Beneath my fingers, her face crunched on a frown. “But I never said that. I mean, I do talk to Taylor, she’s one of my closest friends—but I never denied that there had been something between us. And no way would Taylor have deliberately twisted my words.”

  “I believe you.”

  “I do, too,” Drake murmured.

  “All the women, here and in Chicago, know to tread carefully around Melissa. That doesn’t mean it’s always possible. If you’re in her crosshairs, you brace for the bullet.” She pushed out a heavy breath, reaching to us both. “She’s a mess and I’m sorry she lied to you.”

  Drake, firing on all his perceptive cylinders again, dove right into the opening she’d cracked. “So…you are acknowledging the three of us really have something here?”

  It was textbook Newland, about as black or white a statement as they came, but this time, I couldn’t fault him for it. Even sent him a wordless cheer. Enough was enough. We needed an honest answer from her, once and for all.

  A chirp sounded in the other room—a notification from her cell, since ours were both still in our pockets. When we flanked her with direct stares, curious if she’d jump at the chance to escape the conversation, she instead quirked a little smile and asked, “Uhhhh…do you want to see my bedroom?” But the coquette disappeared beneath our shocked stares. “Or…not. I just thought maybe we could all—well—you know—since you came all this way.” Her smile changed from coquette to lamb. “My bed isn’t giant like yours, just a normal queen size, but I think we can manage?”

  “I’m sure we can.”

  My eagerness earned me another Newland special—a baleful glare that betrayed how deeply he wanted to keep pressing her on the commitment. But a man could only stand so much torture before dying or breaking—and I sure as fuck didn’t feel like dying tonight. That left one option. Screw the rest of the resistance from her. If we made love to her all night, we’d surely have all our answers by dawn.

  Drake picked up my strategy, loud and clear. Didn’t stop him from scrubbing a frustrated hand down his face. “You have any bottled water in your fridge?” he asked her softly.

  “Of course,” she answered. “Oh! God, I’m so sorry, where are my manners? I’ll get one for everyone and be right there. Straight back, end of the hall. And don’t scare Titus. He’s probably sleeping.”

  “Titus?” we charged it in unison.

  “My turtle. I’ll formally introduce you when I get in there.”

  “Oh, right. The selfish bastard.” I borrowed the comment from the day she’d first made it, during our flight out to Vegas on the SGC jet. It’d been an unforgettable day, leading to a life-changing night. The night we’d first touched her…

  “The one and only.” Talia’s laugh was beautiful, like little bells tinkling—though I suspected she was still seeking an out from our heavy moods.

  Her bedroom was everything I’d expected it to be. Organized, clean and simple. She had a style in both her fashion and decorating that was classic, easy and elegant. Her queen-size bed took up most of the room, with the no-frills Scandinavian design of the big box furniture store we’d passed on the way in. She made a decent salary at SGC, but rent was high in this neighborhood and it looked like she valued a good location over material things. The easy blue tones of the walls and bedding made the room feel relaxing and inviting.

  I sat on the edge of her bed and kicked off my shoes. Drake paced back and forth, ending up near the turtle’s corner of the room.

  “For a little dude, that thing smells bad.” He nodded toward Titus’ aquarium.

  I snorted “Well, she clearly loves him, so we do, too.”

  “That simple, huh?”

  “Isn’t it?”

  “Yeah. It pretty much is.”

  “Pretty much what?” Talia entered, her swaying hips a perfect complement to her curvy nudity. She seemed comfortable that way, making me anything but—especially as I entertained the fantasy of her being like this all the time. Would she ever agree to such a thing? Being naked for us around the house…all the time?

  Fuck.

  I took a second to adjust my cock as she turned toward Titus’ tank. Then yet again—like it did any damn good—while watching the reverse heart of her delectable little ass.

  “Oh,” she whispered dramatically. “Titus is sleeping. We’ll have to have our meet-and-greet with him in the morning.” She straightened as if startled. “Oh, shit. Wait.”

  “What?” Drake, closer than me, stroked reassuring knuckles down her shoulder.

  “Well…are you…do you guys want to spend the night?”

  I gave up on the adjustments. I was hard as a nail just looking at her. With the innocent pensiveness thrown in, as if she were literally asking us just to sleep over, my dick was a goner.

  Drake, while clearly dealing with the same issue, was fortunately thinking clearly enough to respond, “We’d like to, if that’s okay?”

  Tal
ia gave him a soft smile. “I would like that, too.”

  She blinked in surprise when he didn’t return the expression. Came as no shock to me when he revealed his purpose. “Tolly, we need to talk.”

  She flung up a hand. “No.”

  He arched an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

  “Please.” She lowered her arm and ducked her head. “Please no, okay? No more tonight. You two must be tired, and I—” Her face lifted, beseeching us both. “I just want us to…be…right now. I just want to fall asleep with you both, locked in your arms. Can we just…do that and worry about the rest tomorrow?”

  I didn’t respond right away. Neither did Drake. He assessed her from raven-dark eyes, calculating the cost of her plea…and I almost laughed at him for it. We both already knew what his answer would be. What it always would be. Nothing mattered more than our girl’s comfort and happiness.

  Finally tired of waiting on him, I stood then pulled the top comforter down to the foot of the bed. He grabbed the other side and helped, before pivoting to drop a gentle buss onto Tolly’s forehead.

  “Go get ready for bed.” He pulled back, flashing a quick wink. “Perhaps we’ll help…tuck you in.”

  Her delight nixed her from understanding the full force of D’s innuendo. “You two are the best.”

  “We are.” I gave her the grin I was famous for, letting her have the innocent illusion a while longer. “I’m glad you’re admitting that to yourself.”

  As she walked away I heard her mumble something. I could’ve sworn it sounded like, “I may be naïve, but I’m not stupid.”

  Now that was a reason to share a good chuckle with my best friend. We did just that while stripping out of our clothes and climbing into bed. As we waited, Drake side-eyed me, appearing a bit tense.

  “What?” I finally prompted.

  “If this all goes the way we want it to, we’ll have to tell her the turtle lives outside.”

  I chuckled harder. “A news flash you get to deliver, man.”

  He started to fume but forgot about it—the same way I did—as she emerged from the bathroom. Still naked. And twice as sexy. If that was even possible.

  She’d piled her hair atop her head in some crazy-looking bun and had applied lotion that made her skin gleam more than before. And holy shit, did the stuff smell good. A hint of floral wrapped in creamy coconut…stirring all my fantasies of fucking her on the beach.

  Someday.

  God help us, someday soon.

  “Well, what do you know Fletch? No creepy flannel nightgown for our girl.”

  She wiggled her eyebrows in a teasing invitation. “Definitely not flannel.”

  “Thank fuck.” I sat up against the headboard then reached for her, hypnotized all over again by her tan, smooth, glorious flesh. “Baby.” I couldn’t help revealing my reverie. I was captivated…intoxicated. I wanted to spend the night worshipping her body and nourishing her spirit. I needed to make her mine.

  I pulled her down onto my lap, palming her breast while kissing her pillowy lips. She moaned into my mouth as I kneaded and tugged on her hard tip, her areola tightening beneath my hot fingers. She felt so good. So damn good. I bucked a little, pushing my erection against her ass. Only the blankets separated our bodies.

  I tilted my head to trail kisses down her neck and across her bare shoulder. Soft trembles claimed her.

  “Easy, love,” I whispered. “No need to be nervous.”

  “I’m…I’m not nervous.” It was breathy but carried honest certainty. “Not anymore. It—it just…”

  “Just what?”

  “It feels so good.” She scratched her delicate nails inward from my shoulders, all the way down my spine. “You feel so good, Fletcher.”

  Her exploration set off trembles through my own system. Everywhere. What this woman did to me…

  “Baby. I can’t hold out much longer.” A groan escaped as I listened to Drake setting up shop on the opposite nightstand. The rustle of condom packets being stacked. The plastic flip of a lube bottle. Where the hell had he stashed those? And did I really care? The Marine had come prepared and I was really thankful. “I need to fuck you, Talia. We both do. We need to be as close to you as we can get.”

  She let out a long sigh. “Yes. Please. I…I need it, too.”

  I shifted her over, rolling until she was beneath me. Drake scooted over closer.

  We gazed down at her. So damn gorgeous. That high knot of hair sprawled across the pillow. Her cheeks were flushed, her lips swollen and strawberry red from our kisses. And her eyes…they gleamed like chocolate diamonds as she looked back and forth at us, alive with so many facets and feelings. I gave up trying to examine them all.

  Finally, I uttered the only thing that made complete sense. “I love you, Talia. I’m in love with you. No matter how I twist the words around, they all come back to that, sweetheart. Only that.” I readily accepted the packet offered by Drake, impatiently ripping it open, sliding the latex over my aching length. “I’m going to make love to you. I can’t stand to be away from you any longer.”

  “Yes.” She licked her lips again. If my cock hadn’t been spiking a code red for arousal before… “Yes.”

  Drake stroked strands of hair from her face while I pressed my body on top of hers, sliding her knees open with my own. Heaven had been sent to me in this girl and I longed to climb inside her and live there. I was more and more sure of how right this was, with her and Drake and me.

  We would never leave her.

  And tonight, after we showed her how much we loved her, we would tell her that, too.

  This time, we wouldn’t let up on the message until we were certain she understood it—in full. After replaying our last serious conversation—at least a thousand times—I was positive that had been our prime mistake. We’d left things open for interpretation, and she’d traipsed down all the wrong avenues to work it out. This time, there’d be no mixed signals, zero deviated paths. When we got back on the plane to Chicago, she’d be damn clear about where we stood.

  “Open for me,” I growled in her ear, nudging her wider. She squirmed but obeyed, parting her perfect thighs even farther, exposing the stunning perfection at her center in all its dewy glory. Fuck. She was so wet. So ready.

  My cock pulsed in my hand as I guided it toward her succulent entrance. I lined up, fitting just the head in…while watching my best friend draw lazy circles around her nipples with an index finger. She gasped and mewled from the attention. Drake’s rough skin was probably adding extra pleasure, abrading her in all the best ways. Her eyes were closed, mouth relaxed, breath even and steady. She trusted us. The point was written all over her body, swelling my spirit with satisfaction. We were still taking baby steps, but at least we were moving forward again.

  I slid into her tightness, gritting my teeth to keep from moaning out loud and betraying the true state of my self-control. And soon, so very soon, my utter lack of it.

  “Dammit, girl.” My shoulders clenched. My ass tightened. Not yet. Not yet. “Better than last time. Better every single time.”

  I pushed in a bit farther, struggling not to let go and pound. I didn’t want to make her so sore Drake couldn’t take his enjoyment. Her head fell back as she spread her legs wider, welcoming me deeper. I surged forward until our bodies were pelvis-to-pelvis. It was good. So fucking good.

  I buried my face against her neck. She gasped, arching it higher for me. I breathed in hard and her mountain-flower scent shot straight to my balls. I quivered, fighting the urge to rock my hips then completely explode inside her. I needed to savor her longer. I needed the moment to last. For all of us.

  Drake leaned in to absorb her sexy little moans with his mouth. He pushed her mouth open, kissing her senseless while I worked her body. Her pussy was soaked and tight and fiery. Soon, even my balls were covered in her moisture, making that sexy wet sound each time our bodies smacked together.

  Damn. Damn. I could fuck her all night. I needed to come ten minu
tes ago.

  I needed to focus on pleasing her, before detonating and ending it all. With a clenched effort, I pulled up enough to get a hand between our bodies. I found her clit, rubbing it as I retreated but then pressing my hand in on the down stroke. Her stare grew wide, unleashing the burnished magic in her eyes, letting me know just how much she liked the new sensation.

  Letting me know one undeniable truth. “Oh, my God.” She cried it out, now that Drake had shifted his mouth to her neck. “I’m—ohhhh—Fletcher, please! I’m going to—going to—”

  “Going to what, sweetheart?”

  “I’m going to come if you keep doing that.”

  I chuckled softly. It was a weird relief to know I could. “Isn’t that the point?”

  Without waiting for an answer, I picked up my pace. Talia’s long, sweet moan spurred me on even faster. I thrust in and out, building my release as much as hers. Pressure pounded my balls. My shaft screamed with need. Every beat of my heart swelled it all over again, pummeling every inch with heavy, painful desire.

  “Baby?”

  “What? What?” She punched out the second question in a harsh whisper. The breathiness of her voice drove me to the last possible point of resistance. I couldn’t hold back the fiery flood crashing down my cock.

  “Talia. I can’t wait anymore.”

  “Me, neither. So close. Fuck me. Fuck me!”

  “Come with me. Do it now, Talia.”

  “Harder. Take me harder, Fletcher!”

  Her filthy plea finished me off. The wind sucked from my lungs as it felt as though my balls crawled up into my body and damn near exploding through my cock. I threw my head back, nearly howling like a damn wolf at the moon. It was the best orgasm of my life. The best fucking moment of my life. The moment our innocent girl had let go, begging me to fuck her? Yeah, if I could bottle that magic and sell it…