“An interview?” Duncan lifted his head, then dropped it back down on Emma’s shoulder. “Fuck.”
“Get up, get up.” Jake was shoving at them.
Emma groaned and put her arms over her eyes. “No, no, go away.”
Duncan laughed, then heaved himself off the bed. “Rest for a few more minutes while I shower.” He leaned down and kissed her breast making her giggle. “The interview is in New York, right?” He looked at Jake and the other man nodded. Emma peeked out at them from between her arms. Jake stood in the middle of her bedroom, naked and beautiful. The morning sun lit his skin and she admired the view for a moment before her gaze skipped to the bonding tattoos on his arms. They were gorgeous, the colors and black markings highlighted somehow by his aura, making them three-dimensional. Then Duncan stepped up and cupped Jake’s cheeks. Jake stilled for a moment, smiling as Duncan moved in. Emma caught her breath as the two men she loved more than her own life kissed each other passionately. Best morning ever, she thought.
Worst morning ever, Emma thought two and a half hours later. She sat on a hard stool in front of what seemed like a thousand cameras. She tried not to fidget, but the tight jeans Duncan insisted she wear were a little uncomfortable and she wanted nothing more than to rip them off. She glanced down at her boots, grateful they’d let her wear the low heels.
You’re not going to die from wearing tight jeans for a few hours, Duncan thought affectionately. She blushed as he smiled at her. She grinned helplessly back at him, wrinkling her nose at Jake, who sat on Duncan’s other side. They were in the foyer of Duncan’s favorite recording studio, holding a press conference. She felt like a fish out of water.
This is not a ‘little’ interview, she thought to Jake, disgusted. There are a hundred cameras out there!
You’ll be fine, Jake thought back, distracted as he scribbled something down on his clipboard. She exhaled, trying to calm down. Duncan reached for her hand and she let him capture it and run his fingers over her wrist. She looked down, watching their auras slip around each other, the colors playing and melding.
“I can almost see them through your eyes,” Duncan said, his voice low so the cameras wouldn’t catch what he was saying.
Emma smiled up at him, suddenly feeling better. “They’re beautiful.” She looked at his face, loving the way his hair fell across his cheeks. He winked at her and she laughed, then Jake held up his hand and everyone quieted down. There were more people outside, some of them pressed to the glass, trying to see in. She sighed, hoping that Ms. Brown wasn’t one of them. Emma hated to think that there were still people out there making drugs from the blood of bonded couples, but she had to face reality. Just because they’d rescued a handful of kidnapped bond-mates didn’t mean that everything would go back to normal. The woman got away and she could be anywhere by now. Bonding was here to stay, and someone had already found a way to manufacture a very dangerous drug from it. Judging from how crazy Eric had been to get his hands on more after using Path for a short while, Emma knew there would be a demand for it. She and her two lovers would always be in danger. Even more frightening for Emma was the knowledge that other bond-mates didn’t have the power to protect themselves like she and Duncan and Jake could. Emma intended on doing all she could to find those who were behind the kidnapping and bring them to justice. She was immensely grateful that her men agreed with her and that Duncan’s fame and money would help them as they investigated the source of the criminal organization. Then Emma felt Jake straighten on his stool in preparation to speak and banished her negative thoughts.
“Thanks for coming today,” Jake said. “We have a brief statement to make, then we’ll take questions.” He took a deep breath and Emma sensed his nervousness, though no one watching would ever guess. He balanced on the stool confidently, his jeans and black leather jacket casual yet still appropriate for a press conference involving his rock star bond-mate. Duncan sat between them, his long-sleeved T-shirt glittering with silver threads woven in a subtle abstract pattern down the front. He looked good, Emma thought, especially sitting next to Jake. The two of them were a lethal combination. Jake shifted on his stool, shooting her a quick glance, and Emma reined in her wayward thoughts.
“To answer the question I can see on all of your faces, yes, Duncan and I are bonded.” Emma flinched slightly as the crowd went crazy, flashbulbs going off and people shouting questions. Duncan shook his head. Emma could feel his amusement.
“Hang on, hang on,” Jake was saying, trying to get them to settle down. When they realized none of them were going to answer their questions until they behaved, the crowd settled down. “Duncan and I are also bonded to Emma.” Jake gestured to her on the other side of Duncan, and she waved with her free hand, smiling despite the butterflies in her stomach. “And yes, that makes our bonding a triple-way thing. I don’t know of any other cases of this kind of bonding, but it’s real and we’re very happy.” He paused, gathering himself. “We’ll take your questions now, one at a time.” The commotion started again and Jake glanced over at Lisa, who stood waiting on the sidelines to organize the questions.
She stepped forward, raising her hand. “Yes, Melissa, what’s your question?”
“My question is for Jake—I thought you were straight? How did you end up bonding with Duncan?” Melissa leaned forward, holding her recorder out as she waited.
“I was straight. As far as I know, I’m still straight, but once you bond, labels like that don’t really matter anymore. You love where the heart goes, regardless of gender. Loving Duncan was easy. Falling in love with him was a surprise and bonding was a total shock, but I’m happy.” Jake set his hand on the back of Duncan’s neck and squeezed slightly, smiling when Duncan leaned into the gesture.
Lisa pointed to a man wearing a bowtie and a belligerent expression. “Matthew?”
The man shoved forward, ignoring the dirty looks thrown his way. “You say the three of you are ‘bonded.’” He used air quotes to emphasize his skepticism and Emma found herself frowning. At a quick glance from Lisa, she smoothed out her expression, listening to the man’s questions. “Do you have a sexual relationship? How does that even work? Do you take turns?”
Emma sighed as Duncan straightened up a bit. “Yes, we have a sexual relationship, not that it’s any of your business.” Then he grinned, eyes wicked. “And why would we have to ‘take turns?’ There’s plenty of room on a king sized bed for three people.” The crowd laughed as Matthew’s face turned red. Emma found herself blushing and smiling at the same time.
Lisa chose another journalist, this time a woman dressed in bright pink. The woman smiled at Emma. “My question is for Emma—how did you meet Duncan and Jake? What was it like finding yourself bonded to a rock star?”
Emma cleared her throat. “Um, well, we bonded before I met them.” The crowd erupted and Emma looked over at Jake, worried she’d said something wrong.
He held up his hands. “Let Emma finish.”
She waited until the murmurs died down then tried again. “The bond wasn’t solid or complete, but we dreamed about each other for weeks before we finally met. I didn’t understand what was happening, actually. I remembered seeing some reports in the news about bonds, but then all the information disappeared. It wasn’t until a couple of students in my school bonded that I realized what was happening to me.”