Elizabeth Raines (6 page)

One by one, he released each of the buttons until the shirt parted. When she tried to shrug out of it, he stopped her. “Leave it on. It’ll keep your back from getting scratched by the hay.”

He slid his hands inside to stroke her breasts, teasing the pink nipples with his fingertips and tweaking them until they hardened into tight nubs. She was always so responsive, moaning and arching into his caress.

Her hands were on his waistband, jerking his shirt free of his pants. She made him stop touching her long enough to remove the shirt. Before he could return his attention to her delectable tits, she unbuttoned his pants and unzipped them. Pushing them and his underwear over his hips, she smiled as his erection fell into her open palm. She stroked his length, rubbing her thumb over the crown to smear the drops of fluid leaking from the slit.

Jake groaned, loving the softness of her touch. He was hard and ready, as he always was whenever she was near. “I love you,” he murmured as he laid her back on the bale.

“I love you,” she replied, turning him loose as she settled on the blanket, her thighs spread wide. “
Amano jala
.”

Her shirt had fallen open, revealing her pale breasts topped with pert nipples. His gaze traced down her body. A flat stomach. A neat triangle of blond curls on her mound. Slender but firmly muscled legs. He set a palm against her stomach, moving lower to comb his fingers through her crisp hair. Then he slipped his fingers between her folds, stroking and gentling as her fluids coated his fingers.

She sucked in air when he found the hard nub of her clitoris. He smiled at her, rubbing harder as she drew her knees up. Then he slid a finger deep inside her. She bucked, arching her hips when he added a second finger. He thrust them in and out, in and out, savoring her hot, wet pussy.

“Jake…come to me.”

“Patience.” Jake dropped to his knees and ran his tongue up her cunt. Opening her wider with his fingers, he found her swollen clit and sucked it gently.

Syla was a screamer, always had been. She was wailing like a banshee as she came. He captured her orgasm, jabbing his tongue in and out of her while she tugged on his hair hard enough it stung. Once he’d wrung every last spasm from her, he rose over her, rubbed his cock against her wetness, and then plunged inside her as she wrapped her legs around his hips.

“Someone comes,” she huffed out between panted breaths.

“Yeah, sweetheart, you.
You’re
coming.”

She tapped Jake hard on the shoulder and pointed toward the entrance.

Luka’s shout made him stop moving.

“What in the hell is going on here?”

Luka gawked at what he saw. He’d heard Syla’s shouts, and his heart had started hammering in his chest. Visions of things that could be hurting her flashed through his mind. She’d let one of the horses out its stall and it was running her down. She’d seen one of his barn cats and was freaking out the way she had in the woods when he’d mentioned mountain lions.

Or worse…someone had followed her and Jake here.

He’d grabbed a pitchfork and run into the barn, ready to defend her, only to find Jake with his cock imbedded in her while she held him tight with her slender legs around his hips.

Luka dropped the pitchfork and froze. Erotic images assaulted him from every angle. The times he and Jake had made love to Kimini tumbled and turned until they got mixed up with what was happening right in front of his eyes.

Jake was gaping at him and easing away from Syla while she groaned in clear disappointment.

“Don’t,” Luka snapped, taking a step closer. “Don’t…stop.”

The shocked look on Jake’s face spread into a slow, inviting smile. “You want to watch. Just like—”

“Just like the old times.” Luka took another step, remembering how exciting it had been to watch Jake bring Kimini to orgasm. Everything inside him wanted to go to Jake and Syla, to see them making love and then join them. He wanted to smell the musky scent of sex. He wanted to taste two partners’ essences in intimate kisses that lasted for hours. “Don’t stop.”

Syla reached up, cupping Jake’s cheeks as she pulled him down into a heated kiss. The exchange of tongues, the sweet moans were enough to make Luka fear he’d be coming in his jeans like a damned adolescent.

Jake pulled back and then thrust his cock into Syla again. Slowly. Tantalizingly. Each time, she would raise her hips to meet him. Her breasts would bounce, and simply watching suddenly became more than Luka could bear.

He moved forward, bending down when he reached the couple. Jake stopped, his dick planted deep inside Syla’s cunt. “Care to join us?”

“I…I’d like to.” Luka turned his gaze to Syla.

Her eyes were glazed in passion, the rings of emerald having grown larger, drowning out most of the sky-blue. She reached for his hand and guided it to her breast.

That was all the permission he needed. Bending down, he laved one of her distended nipples as Jake withdrew and then plunged into her again. Her hand fumbled with Luka’s waistband. He pulled away long enough to toss aside his clothing. When he stood next to her, Syla wrapped her fingers around his erection and stroked.

“Straddle her, Luka,” Jake said. He’d stopped moving, although he was still intimately connected to Syla. “Let her suck you while I fuck her.”

His words sent shivers racing over Luka’s skin. He didn’t even think as he crawled on the hay bale and set himself over Syla. She ran her hands up his thighs and over his balls before grabbing his cock again. She leaned up on one elbow as she took his dick and licked him from root to crown.

Luka held her shoulders up to help her as his hips moved of their own volition, thrusting into her hot, wet mouth. She allowed him to support her and used both her hands and her mouth to love him, alternating between licking and nipping at him to deep throat his cock and apply suction with such vigor he knew he wouldn’t be able to stand the sensual torture for long.

Jake’s teeth scraped over Luka’s shoulder, adding to the thrill of the three of them coming together. Syla sucked harder on his dick, and the sensations became too much. Luka let the orgasm wash over him, spraying the back of her throat as she swallowed all he gave her.

Spent, he could have easily collapsed against her, but he didn’t want to stop her climax or Jake’s. The rhythm of their fucking sped, and the same cries that had sent Luka running to the barn came pouring from her mouth at the same time Jake bit down hard and groaned. Knowing they were both coming made Luka close his eyes and savor the warmth still racing through his own body.

The aftermath was awkward.

Luka had no idea what to say to either of them. He eased her back down onto the bale and threw himself off. Gathering his clothes, he donned them with his back to the couple. He could hear them murmuring and suddenly felt entirely vulnerable.

Damn it if he hadn’t allowed Jake back into his heart. And once the armor he’d shielded it with cracked, Syla had slipped right through as well. Luka hadn’t been thinking of Kimini. No, when Syla had her sweet mouth on his cock, she’d held his entire attention.

“I’m going to finish my chores,” Luka announced. He stepped out of the barn before either of them could try to force him to talk about what had happened. It was too soon. He had to sort it all out first.

Syla watched Luka go, feeling tears sting her eyes. For a few very special and passionate moments, she’d felt a connection—something special—between the three of them. That was what she’d hoped for from the time she’d fallen for Jake. She’d realized his heart could only partly belong to her—the rest was still held tightly in Luka Arma’s hands. Her only chance to make a life with Jake was to get Luka to accept her—to hopefully have him love her one day.

A three-way relationship didn’t concern her. She wanted a loving marriage that allowed her to raise her children to be strong and confident, just as her parents had done for her. The form of that marriage didn’t matter, so long as it was happy and satisfying.

Then her mother had died. So sudden. So sad. Syla could hardly handle her own sorrow, let alone bear her father’s pain as well. In his grief, he’d been easy pickings for a predator like Thama, one of her mother’s ladies-in-waiting. Such an old custom to have so many women around to attend to a self-sufficient queen. When Syla became queen, she’d bring Trilan into the modern era. No more old court practices. No more intrigue and speculation and rumors about the chosen few accepted as part of the royal household. She had other plans.

If
she was ever queen…

First, she needed Jake and Luka to be her champions. Not only was it her hope that they could help her bring Thama to heel, she also wanted to restore her father to his former glory. Then one day, she wanted her husbands to share her burden of being queen.

Right now, that future seemed impossible.

“Did he like me not?” Syla asked as she buttoned her shirt. She hated to think that all she’d been was a warm and willing substitute for another woman.

Jake jerked his own shirt over his head. “He liked you
too
much, sweetheart. That’s what’s bugging him right now.”

“He wants another,” she said with a shake of her head. “Her I cannot be.”

He brushed his knuckles over her cheek. “No, Syla. He only saw
you
. And he loved what you did to him and how you made him feel. Now, he just needs to accept that and realize that life goes on.” He pulled her into his arms and rubbed his chin on top of her head.

She loved how he always made her feel so cherished. She loved Jake. Unconditionally. He’d been her savior during her darkest hour. So why was she so concerned that Luka wouldn’t fall for her as easily as Jake had?

Probably because Luka had already touched her own heart. Those haunted eyes called to her. The passion that he could barely leash matched her own. Something about him had reached deep inside her and rooted into her soul so fast it left her breathless.

Syla might be able to heal physical hurts, but curing heartache wasn’t within her abilities. She couldn’t reach out and help his mental wounds heal, no matter how badly she wanted to.

She needed to find another way to reach him.

“Let’s feed the horses,” Jake suggested. “Then we can see what else needs to be done around here.”

Since breakfast has been so deplorable, Syla figured perhaps it was time to take her late mother’s advice. The queen had always said the way to a man’s heart was by pleasing his stomach. “Cook I shall.”

“You want to make supper?”

She nodded.

“Go for it. I’ll help any way I can.”

* * * *

The smells that wafted through the screen door made Luka’s mouth water. He hurried inside and then stopped to take in the domestic scene.

Syla was standing at the small two-burner stove, stirring something in one pot while constantly shifting her gaze to the second. She was humming a soft tune that he didn’t recognize but enjoyed. Some of her white-blond hair had escaped the braid, and wisps of it framed her face in gentle curls.

She looked so natural and at ease as she took a pinch of spice and tossed it in the pot. After she stirred it again, she raised the spoon to her lips to taste the mixture.

“What’s cooking?” Luka asked.

She jumped, dropping the spoon and letting out a small gasp. Her hand flew to her chest. “Luka! Scared me you did!”

“Sorry.” He smiled and moved closer. “What made you decide to cook?”

“Morning meal was not…good. I better can do.”

“Smells wonderful. What is it?”

“Surprise you I shall.”

He picked up the spoon. She playfully slapped his hand and took the spoon away from him.

“How does a princess know how to cook?” he asked.

“Cooking my mother loved. A teacher she became to me.”

Jake came into the house, letting the door slam behind him. “Wow, Syla. That smells delicious.”

Her smile was so genuine Luka had to smile in return.

“You two must wash,” she said. “I shall serve you then.”

“Your English is improving,” Luka remarked. “Is it hard for you?”

She nodded. “Difficult because backwards from Trilani. Figure it out I will.”

Jake motioned to Luka. “Since she’s taking up most of the kitchen, let’s go outside and wash up.”

That translated into
I need to talk to you alone
. Funny, but Luka felt as though he and Jake were still in sync, as if the year they’d spent apart and the light-years they’d put between themselves hadn’t dimmed their connection one bit.

That made him smile even broader as he followed Jake outside.

They stopped at the old cistern pump and washed their hands in the urn that held the overflow.

“You got me out here,” Luka said. “So tell me what you couldn’t say in front of Syla.”

“Do you like her, Luka?”

“I’d think that little show in the barn would answer that question.”

“Oh, come off it. You’re a man, and there isn’t a single one of us that will turn down a blow job or a good, hot fuck.”

Hearing Jake describe what had passed between them in such harsh terms bothered him. A lot. What Syla had gifted him with had been special, something much more than a mere blow job. “It wasn’t just a blow job.”

“So you
do
like her.”

“What’s not to like? She’s kind. She’s beautiful. She obviously loves you. What I don’t understand is where you want me to fit into this little scenario. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I just don’t see the two of you settling down out here in Montana with me.”

“Syla wants to go back to Trilan.”

“Already?”

Jake shook his head. “One day, but not yet. I brought her here to keep her safe. Betinsa and I felt it was the only way.”

Luka sat down on the back porch and leveled a hard stare at Jake that he hoped made the man he loved realize he needed to tell the whole truth now. “What happened?”