His groan vibrated through her lips, making her sex tighten with desire. She wanted to fill it right now, to lift herself onto him and take him inside. But she also wanted to play. Needed that lightness, the simple joy of it.
“There’ll be time for talk later. Right now, I just want to be loved.”
Both hands now slid into her hair and tugged until she had to release his nipple or hurt him. She didn’t make it easy for him, though. She let her teeth graze the skin for a second, instinctively knowing he’d love it.
And if his indrawn breath was any indication, he did.
“And I will, baby, I swear,” he said. “Just…” He paused and his head cocked, as if something had caught his ear.
His darkened green gaze caught and held hers.
And she knew Duke had returned.
Nic nodded as if she’d asked a question. “Go,” he said. “He’s gonna fight you. Just don’t take no for an answer.”
Her breath caught in her chest as she slid off the bed. She didn’t bother with clothes. The air in the house was warm, her body temperature even warmer. Hurrying into the living room, she slid to a stop before the front door just as it opened.
Duke stepped through, naked and oh so beautiful. He had his clothes clenched in one hand and when he caught sight of her, his gaze devoured her in seconds. From the tips of her toes to the top of her head, he let his eyes caress her, her body temperature rising even more.
Then she watched as he realized what her nudity meant. Watched him take a deep breath, smell the scent of Nic on her skin.
So many emotions crossed his expression, she couldn’t decipher them all. Only his longing and desire registered. And those were all that mattered right now.
Anything else could wait. During these stolen hours, only those were important.
He had to understand that or this would never work.
“Don’t say anything,” she said as she held her hand out to him, waiting for him to take it. “Don’t ask any questions. Just come with me. I need you too. Please.”
He didn’t move and pain began to beat in her chest, sending little frissons radiating out and making it increasingly hard for her to breathe. She knew he saw what happened, knew he’d caused this pain and some dark emotion flashed through those brown eyes as his mouth flattened into a tight slash.
Blessed Goddess, please don’t let him say no. He can’t say no.
“What did you do, Tira?” He shook his head as if trying to make facts fall into place for him. “How—”
She didn’t want to explain, not now. Her body was awash in conflicting emotion—desire, despair, longing and heartbreak.
She wanted him to take her hand and let her lead him into the bedroom. She wanted him to give in to her. But she didn’t want to beg. She shouldn’t have to beg.
“We have less than twenty-four hours,” she said. “Do you want to waste it asking questions? Or do you want me?”
He hesitated and she thought the pain in her gut might make her cry. He was going to reject her. He was going to turn around and walk away.
No. He couldn’t do that to her. He couldn’t.
Tears welled but she blinked them away. She refused to guilt him into anything. If he truly didn’t want her like this—
“Vaffanculo, Tira, don’t look at me like that.” The tone of his voice was harsh, almost angry but the underlying emotion tugged at her heart.
“Then come with me.” She swallowed back the tears. “Come join us. Please.”
He shook his head and she could practically hear him gritting his teeth. “You think I don’t want to? That this isn’t what I’ve been dreaming about for almost a decade? But whatever you did, you did for him, Ti. Go be with him. I’ll be around. Later.”
Her mouth opened but nothing came out.
Idiot. He was a first-class idiot. Her brain practically stuttered in her amazement.
Duke had convinced himself she only wanted Nic. How could the man be so stupid as to not realize what she wanted was both of them? Equally.
She would beat him for this. Later.
Now she let her anger flare, giving the desire flowing through her body a run for its money. She didn’t have time to temper her words. Didn’t care how he took them. “Are you really this completely clueless? Or do you have to work at it?”
It was his turn to look dumbfounded. His mouth opened as if to say something but nothing came out. She didn’t think she could have stopped anyway.
“Do you honestly, honestly, think I begged Nortia to take my Gift for the day so I could spend the day fucking Nic and shutting you out? Is that what you think of me? Do you think I want to stand here arguing with you when I could be in bed enjoying the two men I have loved since I was fifteen?”
She paused to take a breath and, in the space of a heartbeat, he closed the distance between them. With no time to breathe much less speak, she could only gasp when he tossed her over his shoulder in a fireman’s hold and stomped into the bedroom.
She had no time to wonder about the indignity of her position before she was flying through the air to land on her back on the bed beside Nic.
“Duke—” she managed to say before he crowded onto the bed next to her and silenced her by putting his mouth over hers.
The roughness of his kiss stole her breath and fired every nerve ending in her body. She felt the heat of Duke’s body press against her front as he crowded onto the bed beside her. Turning her body into his, seeking more of his heat, she pressed herself to him, arching her back for more contact.
Duke ravaged her mouth, his hands framing her face to hold her steady for his onslaught. The intensity of his passion consumed her, lit sparks in her blood that heated and pooled low in her body.
Her sex clenched and ached as he fit his cock into the notch of her thighs, the length hard, firm and hot. They were both naked and the heat of their bodies fused them together.
Her arms wound around his neck, her fingers digging into the flesh of his back, entranced with the flex and play of his muscles. As his tongue dueled with hers, she wriggled her hips into position, lifting her leg over his thigh to open herself to him.
She needed Duke to fill her, needed the friction—
Another hot male body conformed to her back. Another hard cock pressed against her ass.
She began to drown in sensation as Nic put his lips against her left shoulder and sucked on her skin, drawing it into his mouth before he bit her. Hard enough that it could mark her skin.
Her body bucked against Duke’s, making him groan as his cock pressed against her throbbing clit. But Nic’s hands on her hips held her in place as he began to rub the tip of his shaft between the cheeks of her ass.
Duke’s mouth released hers and she was able to draw in a breath before she had it stolen again as he lifted her higher on the bed, just enough that he could get his mouth on her breasts.
Nic followed, his mouth moving to her nape, where he bit and licked, inciting her nerves to dance and flame.
Conscious thought fled as she became a creature of pure sensation. She wanted to drown between them, let them take her under and never come back up for air.
Duke’s lips covered her nipple with uncharacteristic gentleness, almost too meek for her mood. She wanted him to devour her. But he refused to take the hint. He laved the taut tip with his tongue, one hand cupping her breast, kneading her with a gentle motion that made her squirm and beg for more.
“Please. Please.”
She kept repeating the word, the necessary language escaping her. She wanted to arch her back and force him to suck her hard, bite her, to ease the building wave of tension in her body.