Stealing the Bride (2 page)

“Mara, you’re overreacting,” Jacob called.

She angrily paced to her duffel bag and yanked out a pair of khaki shorts. “Why didn’t you tell me before?”

“That you’re overreacting?” Daniel asked.

She glared at the canvas flaps. “You know what I mean!”

“There didn’t seem to be a good time to tell you?”

“Not once in the entire year we’ve been roommates? You couldn’t manage to say ‘hey, by the way, we’re bisexual’? Don’t give me that crap.”

Silence greeted her, and she imagined they were looking at each other and trying to decide their next move, which sure as hell had better be to get out of her campsite.

Turning from the flaps, she went back to her duffel which was set on one of the two camping cots. She needed underwear and a shirt. She sighed as she pulled out a pair of lacy pink panties. Any clothes would be unbearable in this heat. Even as she considered dressing a droplet of perspiration rolled down the center of her back.

Enraged at the men’s intrusion and the way they made her tummy tremble with need, she spun back to the front of the tent to yell at the men and instead screamed as she plowed into a very solid, very male chest.

Eyes wide, she stared into Daniel’s azure-blue gaze. He gently pressed his finger over her lips. His arm snaked around her waist to steady her. “We were afraid you’d freak out then move out.”

Good guess.

“Then you’d marry Marco before we could stop you,” Jacob said from beside him.

Her gaze whipped toward him. “Stop me?” she repeated slowly. “What is this? Some game to break up my engagement? How could—”

“Tell us you love him. Truthfully. Tell us,” he demanded.

“I…I respect Marco. We respect each other, and he meets my needs—”

“Marco puts people to sleep whenever he speaks,” Daniel interrupted. “You need love and passion, not a good discussion on the exchange rate of the Pekinese yen.”

“Japanese,” she corrected.

“I know. And
you
know what I’m getting at. You’re deluding yourself. Worse, you’re settling. You’re worth way more than that.”

Jacob stepped closer to her. “We have a proposition for you.”

“No,” she said automatically as her entire body shook with the anticipation of what he’d say.

He smiled with the knowing, smug curve of the lips that had women swooning in theatre aisles. His fingers trailed down her naked arm. “I think yes.” He closed his eyes for a moment as if savoring the feel of her skin. “Just listen for a second. Give us a chance. Give us until the end of your retreat to convince you that Marco isn’t the right choice for you.”

The end of her retreat would be her wedding. Both she and Marco would be getting back into town from their separate trips on the morning of their small ceremony. No rehearsal. No last minute details would be attended to. They’d get back and head for the chapel. They were both ready. And now, her roommates were proposing she wasn’t…

“How?” she whispered.

Daniel’s fingers tensed at the small of her back. “How do you think?”

Lord…this isn’t happening. What nefarious, dreamland nymph was making her secret fantasies become reality? Maybe she was just delirious in this horrid heat.

She squeezed shut her eyes and reached up to rub them, only to discover she still held the lacy panties clasped in her fist. Her eyes widened in shock, and Daniel gave her a broad grin. “My favorite pair.”

Agilely, he worked them from her bloodless fingers then tossed them to Jacob when she snatched for them.

“I’ve always liked that you wear this type panties instead of thongs. Skimpy, yet so modestly feminine.” Jacob’s thumb stroked over the cotton crotch of the garment, and she swallowed as she imagined him touching her and finding her wet.

Defensively, she pressed her legs together and crossed an arm over her puckered nipples again. She held out her other hand. “Give those to me.”

He handed them over, but she knew better than to think she’d won the battle, especially when his fingers closed around her wrist. The slightly callused pads caressed the tendon leading into her palm, and she shuddered with the lightning that zapped her clit. A knowing gleam filled their eyes. Both guys were filled with a determination and a desire she’d never before seen when they looked at her.

Had she been blind to it, or had they always hidden it from her?

What was she going to do about this? What would they do if she climbed on one of the cots and spread her legs for them? She wanted them both right now, so much so that it never occurred to her to question her need for two men at the same time. Ménage had never been something she’d considered—until them. Late at night, she’d entertained that secret fantasy.

“Sleeping with you would be a very bad idea,” she muttered, half to convince herself of that truth. Her heart jolted, protesting her refusal. The pain of her denial spiked relentlessly into her middle. Here was everything she’d ever wanted, and she was rejecting it…

It was for the best. How long would she have them if she said yes? A few hours? A few days?

“Mara…” Daniel pleaded, but she interrupted.

“I want you to leave. Both of you.”

Jacob smiled, his wide grin the nail in her coffin. He was gonna say something she didn’t like. She just knew it.

“Can’t,” he said, confirming her fear. “We don’t have a way out of here until our ride comes back—just like you.”

Well, fantastic. Wasn’t that just friggin’ great? How on earth would she keep them at bay when her body wanted to gravitate toward them? Her brain screamed ‘have at me’, and her womb twisted with the tension of her need. As much as she wanted to fool herself about perspiration, the moisture in her cunt had nothing to do with sweat and everything to do with desire.

Dread settled in her belly. She was screwed. Probably quite literally.

“Please, leave my tent,” she said, quiet defeat weighing her words. “I want to get dressed then I’m going for a walk.”

A long walk. If it wasn’t so damned hot, she’d make the thirty mile walk all the way back to civilization.

* * * *

The afternoon air grew more oppressive with each passing minute. The air seemed to drip with humidity, and as the sky darkened, Mara was convinced they’d soon be battered by a storm rivalling the turmoil roiling inside her. She hurried back to camp, knowing she’d be drenched if she didn’t beat the rain.

Her walk hadn’t solved a thing. For every argument against Jacob and Daniel’s proposition, her body returned with two “why nots”. They were right. She wasn’t as committed to Marco as she should be. That was why she’d taken this trip. Though it was late in the game and she should have been sure about her decision before now, she needed to get her head on straight before she walked down the aisle. A week before she’d hightailed it out of town, panic had set in. Marriage wasn’t disposable as far as she was concerned. She had to be sure before she said “I do”. Was she ready for a lifetime of scheduled Wednesday night sex?

Not really. In fact, the more she thought about her future, the more she freaked out. Comparing it to her reactions to Jacob and Daniel was the acid test. Being with them, even if it was temporary, didn’t send bolts of terror through her.

Why was marriage scaring her? The permanence? That was the very thing she wanted most. Marco represented that and stability. Her roommates represented lifestyles of scattered instability. Honestly, how stable could an actor and an internet blogger be? Not as steady as an international banker like Marco.

As she re-entered the site, both men sat under the gazebo-like canopy, each immersed in work they’d brought with them and looking remarkably fresh despite the wilting heat.

See they’re hard workers
, her traitorous body pointed out. She didn’t want to notice that. It was easier to cling to ‘no’ when she pictured them as the opposite of what she wanted.

To one side, Daniel scribbled in a notebook, his bare feet resting on the canvas seat between Jacob’s spread thighs while Jacob slouched in the chair and flipped through a script. Gusts of wind from the incoming storm ruffled the pages he studied, but he didn’t seem to notice. It was awfully convenient for him that his show had just finished its off-Broadway run and had made the coup of securing an
on
-Broadway run so he had a bit of time between the two to come torment her.
Why the script, then?
she wondered.

Before she could question it aloud, the sky seemed to open and sheets of rain pounded to the earth, the sound deafening as it pummelled the wood roof of the shelter. The wind pushed the downpour sideways. It sprayed Jacob and Daniel and spattered across the picnic table where she’d rested earlier. The men leapt to their feet.

“In the tent!” Daniel yelled, his voice barely audible above the rain. He and Jacob each grabbed their folding canvas chairs and headed to the tent for shelter. Jacob shoved her inside ahead of them. In seconds, all three were out of the rain, and Daniel was securing the flaps against the driving winds. Jacob flicked on her battery-powered lantern.

The enclosure was large with plenty of room for the three of them. The men opened their chairs to one side, set down their papers then, having been soaked on the sprint to shelter, stripped off their shirts. Two wide, bare chests. Four nicely muscled arms. Two sets of hands going to the waistbands that fastened over two hard bellies. The hands froze, and she glanced up to find both men watching her with fire in their eyes. Intent. Clear. Unveiled. Devouring her.

Mara shivered despite the heat of the day. Goose bumps rose on her arms but had nothing to do with the clammy clothing sticking to her. A fight raged inside her as burning arousal rolled through her veins, torching her earlier resolve and turning it to ashes. They wanted her, she only had to say yes.

With a shaky breath, she turned away from the alluring sight. Her hand pressed to her middle and the jumping sensation there.

The sight that met her didn’t calm her nerves.

They’d been busy while she’d been gone. The two camp beds were pushed together, making one, and a sturdy air mattress had been laid over the top. A haven made for three. Unbidden a vision of the three of them together on it blinded her.

“Give us a chance,” Daniel said, his words a low rumble that sent another round of trembling through her.

She shook her head. “I don’t understand why you want me. You could have any woman. I’m plain and…” She trailed off. She couldn’t say ‘fat’. Not to them. “Chubby,” she finally said.

Her chin wobbled, but she didn’t try to hide. She looked up at them just in time to see a shock Jacob couldn’t feign. Daniel looked equally surprised.

“Who sold you
that
pile of shit?” he demanded. “Marco? I’ll kill him.”

She shook her head. She didn’t want to talk about what she knew was true. It was humiliating to point out her flaws. Earlier, she’d been too horrified and shocked by their appearance to acknowledge her insecurities. Now, seeing their near-naked perfection…

She was an average girl for an average guy. So why were they eating her up with their eyes?

“I love your curves,” Jacob said. “Finally feeling them against me earlier…” He let out a sigh. “Wonderful.”

“I want to feel them against me again,” Daniel enjoined. His tongue darted rapidly along his bottom lip, so fast Mara wasn’t sure he even realized he did it. He grinned. “I want to taste them, all salty from the heat.”

“And sweet with pure Mara,” Jacob added. “I want to trace every cute freckle.”

She bit her bottom lip, staring at them as the rain beat on the canvas overhead and the wind tore at the sturdy walls of the military-style tent. As the storm outside grew more and more violent, the calm inside Mara grew—the calm she’d sought when she’d gone soul-searching on this solitary retreat. Oh God…it couldn’t be. Jacob and Daniel? Not Marco?

Suddenly, she wanted nothing more than to be in bed with these two men, finding comfort as the thunder raged outside, finding herself as the tempest inside her disappeared.

Looking from one to the other of them, she took a deep breath and slowly raised her arms.

Chapter Two

Jacob released a pent up breath at the look of submission and acceptance in Mara’s eyes. As an actor, he’d watched people to train himself in their mannerisms and understand their minds. He’d learned to read people. Mara wanted Daniel and him. She had reservations, but she was ignoring her worries and confusion. It was a start. Before the end of her retreat, she’d know for sure that she should be with them.
Them
. Not Marco.

Both he and Daniel stepped close to her. All four of their hands slipped beneath her T-shirt, gliding over her smooth skin, slowly pushing up her shirt as they explored. Goose bumps sprouted along her skin as they touched her, and he knew she enjoyed their fingers inching over her.

Forgetting about removing her shirt, he slid the fingers of one hand beneath the band of her bra. Mara whimpered as he cupped her breast. Gently, he grasped the nipple and rolled it as he leaned forward and kissed her neck. Her pulse thundered beneath his lips. He suckled at it as her head fell backward on her shoulders.