“I’m the easygoing brother, remember? You just keep your temper, and we’ll be fine.”
Xavier snorted and lay down on his back next to Chloe. She turned to face him, and Josh spooned her from behind. “Rest up, Mr. Sensitive, while I take watch. And pray Chloe doesn’t get all embarrassed and back off from us when she wakes, the way she almost did this morning.”
Josh hugged her tighter, content when he felt his brother’s hand graze his before Xavier left the bed. He prayed he could do right by her, by Xavier, and by the future he wanted so badly to come to pass. Then the sleep he hadn’t expected to come overtook him.
When Chloe opened her eyes, the memories of what had happened in this bed came to her in one large, impossible picture. Sex with two incredibly hot, giving men. Strong, powerful, and they wanted her.
Xavier had shown her Josh’s vulnerability, a brief mention of his ex, Karen.
Chloe could see his hurt, felt it as if it was her own. She’d never been that close to anyone, but she knew if Xavier and Josh suddenly walked away, she’d feel just as pained. It couldn’t have been easy for Josh to suffer that kind of rejection from someone he thought he loved.
And the way he looked at her, the way he felt… She wanted so badly to believe it was real. An arm tightened around her waist, and then something hard prodded her pussy.
“Hey, Chloe. You awake, finally?” He pushed inside her. On their sides, the positioning was somewhat uncomfortable, but waking to Josh sliding inside her took the awkwardness away. “Hook your leg over mine,” he whispered and tongued the shell of her ear.
She moaned and moved her leg, giving him better access as he thrust into her, pulled out, and thrust again.
“I love fucking you,” he said in a gritty voice, and then his hand moved lower down her belly, past her pelvic bone to her clit. “Your hair is soft, but here, you’re so wet. So sweet.” Josh slid his fingers over her clit and continued to play as he fucked her.
“You feel so big inside me,” she said between breaths. “Oh God. Yes. More.” He had her on the verge of coming. That thick cock inside her, his fingers strumming her nerves until she wanted to fly apart. He kissed her neck and cheek and whispered, “I think I love you.”
And she exploded. She cried out as she came, aware he stilled and moaned as he emptied inside her, jerking and pulling her tight against him.
“Thanks a lot. You two are making a mess out of me,” Xavier sent her, amusement and a lazy satisfaction coloring his words.
“Should have warned Xavier about that, I guess,” Josh murmured. He turned her head and kissed her hard on the mouth. “Christ, Chloe. I feel like I’m a walking hard-on around you.”
She took that as a compliment. “Yeah, well, I’m not exactly frigid around you and your brother either.”
He withdrew and pulled her into his arms. He hugged her tight. “God. This is so perfect. I’m so afraid I’m going to do the wrong thing or say something off, and you’ll leave. Don’t go, baby. Don’t leave now that we’ve finally found you.” She blinked and pulled back to stare at him. Josh’s heartfelt plea struck her, because his sincerity couldn’t be denied.
“Look, you don’t have to say anything.” His gaze traced her features, and she wondered what he saw when he looked at her. “We’ll give you all the time in the world. But Chloe, please, just give us a chance to show you what we could all be, together.”
“Be?”
“As a family. You, me, and Xavier.” His grin turned mischievous, and she saw a side of Josh that captivated her. A carefree, boyish happiness lit him from the inside out. “I’ve seen what our future can hold, Chloe. And it’s nothing short of perfect.”
“What? What did you see?”
His smile faded. “A few things. Some good, some bad. We’ll have to get through the bad to find the good stuff. And you have to take a lot on faith.”
“I have before, and it’s never steered me wrong.” She took his stubbled cheeks in her hands, not surprised to see him so clearly now. The love he felt, she felt as well. But she was scared to tell him, afraid her happiness could be so easily wiped away before she could explore it. She wanted him and Xavier to really know her before she put herself out there. To give them extra time to decide if they wanted to go their separate ways.
“Chloe, it won’t work.”
Just what she was afraid of. She cleared her throat. “What won’t work?”
“The silent treatment. This, us, it’s real. It won’t go away. No matter what happens, I’ll always love you.” The truth shone in his dark eyes. “I’ve seen the real you for years. I know you, even though you don’t really know me yet. I can wait. I’ll prove it to you.” He smiled. “You already know I’m a freak, and you haven’t run, so I have hope.”
She laughed. “Yeah, well, I’m not exactly normal.” She blew out a breath. “Sex with two guys. Twins. Oh man. I’m a slut.”
“My slut.”
“Thanks, Josh. I feel so much better now.”
He tickled her, and they laughed together until nature called.
“Oh man, I need to go clean up. I’m a mess.”
He grimaced. “This bed’s a mess. Time to clean up. Or we could leave it and make Xavier sleep in the wet spot.”
“I heard that.”
She shared a grin with Josh, then called dibs and darted to the bathroom.
After a leisurely shower in which Josh showed her how much pleasure could be had under running water, they dried off, dressed, and joined Xavier in the living room.
Unfortunately, Xavier didn’t look happy.
“What? What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Sam called. Apparently Chloe’s boss is less than pleased with her. He said she’s out of a job unless she comes back to town today. And he ordered us—”
“Ordered?” Josh asked.
“Yeah, ordered. The dick said we have to come with her, because some guy named Avery said if we don’t, we’ll… Oh hell. He’s having a vision,” Xavier said to Chloe.
Josh froze by her side. She felt that familiar tingle that told her his precognitive cloud had settled over him.
Then, as if in slow motion, he shoved her to the floor and covered her body with his own while yelling at Xavier to take cover.
An explosion of bullets shook the cabin, and then bone-deep dread settled in her bones. Not a promising start to the rest of her life with the Doublemint twins by her side.
Chapter Seven
Chloe didn’t have to like a situation to know how to deal with it. Fortunately, she’d found men who knew how to handle themselves in a crisis. Xavier crawled to one closet while Josh ordered her to stay still and crawled to another. Stay still?
Yeah, right.
She low-crawled to the front mudroom and found her boots. After shoving her feet into them and lacing up, she backed into Xavier.
“Put this on. Hurry up.”
Xavier threw her coat at her. He’d put his own on and handed one to Josh, who quickly joined them carrying an assortment of weapons.
Chloe buttoned up, glad she’d kept her gloves in her pockets. With no time to find anything more than what they had with them, she followed the men into the kitchen and down, through a hidden trapdoor in the floor under a braided rug.
Once under the house, the guys paused to hand out weapons and regroup.
Chloe tucked a knife away and loaded the gun Josh handed her.