Gemini (11 page)

He got what he wanted from women, almost always—and it didn’t have to include heels to the sky in the sack. He loved the game, the seduction, even if it was only play. Even if it ended with nothing but a sweet, lingering kiss outside a woman’s door.

He knew it was really his pal who boned women all but indiscriminately. Clay was quiet about it, but he zeroed in on women like they had a homing signal built just for him. He had a rough, hard-hitting sexuality, and Jace was certain his buddy made an impression. He’d seen a lot of Clay’s discarded women send him hot gazes full of longing. And he’d watched Clay brush them off with nothing more than a brusque, careless nod.

So Jace hadn’t expected Clay to be the first to make his play for Gemini. The girl was their dead buddy’s sister, for Christ’s sake, and he assumed Clay would show a little respect. She wasn’t just free pussy.

And Jace knew Quinn, so he figured that one would bide his time. He’d be thinking about Gemini’s traumatic history and the fact that she was technically still married. The man had the patience of a saint. He’d wait, probably until Gem made the first move.

Ergo, ever since the night she’d walked into the bar, Jace had presumed that he’d be the one to have her. Even over the last ten days, as it had become clear they all had a hard-on for her. Even today, when they’d agreed they could each give it a shot however they wanted, he thought he’d be the first.

He’d been imagining it, really, from that first night. Dinner at the Broadmoor, dancing after—maybe out on his own deck, under the stars, with the city lights twinkling below. A couple nights of that, at least. No rush to get her to bed, no worries that he’d be the second act.

Oh, he wasn’t concerned about making his own impression. Women were more than satisfied when he left their beds.

It was just—
hell
.

He’d looked at Quinn when Clay and Gemini had disappeared down the stairs. That one wasn’t happy, either.

“Damn it. He’s going to fuck her,” Quinn said.

“No shit.”

“No moss growing under his ass.”

“Whatever the hell that means.”

“Yeah.”

Philosophically, Quinn slapped him on the shoulder and started cleaning up their lunch mess.

“I’m going for a run,” Jace said.

“Yeah, that’ll help.”

Fuck
.

* * * *

Quinn was tending bar, but mostly he was watching the door. Jace was sitting at the bar nursing his gin and tonic, his eyes locked on the mirror, pretending he wasn’t doing the same thing.

He’d started looking out for Gemini and Clay at about six, but he’d been thinking of them since Clay took Gem’s arm and walked her out of the apartment. He had to admit he’d been surprised some at Clay making the first move and more at Gemini’s acquiescence to it. That stung a little. Quinn had already put his cards on the table, had already let Gemini know he wanted her. He’d been as tender as he could be with her, holding back the hot desire he felt in favor of giving her time to heal and get back on her feet. Stupid as it sounded now, he thought they had an understanding.

But, hell, they’d just gotten done telling her she could be with them all if she wanted to. And what an asinine plan that was. The moment Gemini had stood up, following Clay’s command, Quinn was ready to deal himself his own ass-kicking. He should have claimed her, when the three men had sat together knocking back beers after their game. He should have said he’d already kissed her, already declared for her.

He’d held back, though. The fact was, they’d
all
already kissed her. Well, in Clay’s case, it hadn’t necessarily involved kissing, but it had sure as hell involved fucking. Whatever the hell they’d been thinking that night, they’d all lit into her, all wanted her. It hadn’t mattered a whit that she was Cap’s sister, and wounded.

Quinn felt he knew Gemini a bit now, and what he knew just didn’t jive with the events of that night. She wasn’t a damn “ho.” She wasn’t a party girl. She wasn’t loose. She probably wasn’t even easy. He had to figure it had just been the moment—her desperate flight from an abusive marriage, her lack of sleep, and that urgent need to wipe the stain of Tomlinson’s touch off her. Her harebrained scheme to counter any claim to paternity her ex could make had been a bit of self-deception on her part, Quinn was sure.

She’d felt low, unloved and unworthy. Letting three men fuck her had been a sort of self-punishment. She’d fallen into a pit of hell and, somehow, that night had marked a turning point for her. It had marked the bottom of the abyss, and she’d been climbing her way out ever since.

That fact didn’t relieve the three men from their burden of guilt. The help they should have given Gemini, the kind of concern for her they owed to Cap, had nothing at all to do with a freaking gangbang. Quinn had known that very night that he should have tucked her under his wing, walked her out of the bar, and settled her into his spare room unmolested. Should have given her a chance to heal and find herself without having to also deal with the fallout of her actions that night.

He was a hundred percent sure that giving herself to three men in a closed bar was not her usual behavior. They were strangers to her. Sure, their connection through Cap was a real one, but, still.

The fact was, he’d wanted her from the start. Before he knew whose sister she was or who and what she was running from. And though he’d known what he
should
do, when he learned her circumstances, he couldn’t undo the wanting of her. So he’d taken part in that gangbang and he’d fallen in with the devil’s bargain the three men had made over beers.

He wanted her. He was going to take what he could get of her. If his buddies felt the same way, well, they’d get it sorted out eventually.

Watching the door was apparently a strategic error. He figured that out when he saw Jace’s interest turn down the length of the bar and moved his own attention there.

Gemini was pouring a Stella for one of her regulars. She’d fucking gotten by him.

Clay must have brought her in the back and then made himself scarce. Probably a decent strategic move on his part.

Gem looked sweet and fresh. She wore a short swing skirt and a little top that was one of her usual work outfits. It was innocent and sexy, both, and worked with the kind of best friend’s little sister, hot-but-off-limits demeanor she portrayed behind the bar. It seemed to work for her with the patrons, if not the owner and his buddies.

She didn’t look like she’d spent the afternoon getting the hell fucked out of her.

But Quinn knew Clay, and knew that was exactly what had happened.

So he ignored the couple of empties that had been pushed to the edge of the bar, that universal signal for a refill, and walked down the length of the bar.

Not to say,
stalked
.

He was sure she felt him at her side for a couple minutes before she turned and met his gaze. She finished the second draft she’d been building and exchanged a few words with the customer. He was a jet-jockey, apparently, and had just aced his flight test.
So the fuck what?

But when her attention was done with him, it was all on Quinn. She turned to face him, close enough that she had to significantly tilt her head, looking up at him. She was all the way there, and it felt like they were in their own little bubble. Honest to God, he couldn’t see or hear anything but her.

“Hi, Quinn,” she said.

“Gem.” He took her hand, a move that was hidden from most, just a loose clasp where their bodies nearly touched. “You okay?”

She smiled. “Of course I am.”

Her eyes were warm, like they always were when she looked at him. Open, like he could see into her heart. And he fucking fell into them, like he always did.

“Did—”

Her eyes didn’t change. Didn’t harden, like a woman who had something to hide, who was playing one man against another. He almost hoped for a split second that he had it wrong. But—

“Yes.”

He looked at her some more, surprisingly warm, loving feelings in his heart, despite what she’d just admitted. And giving him back those same feelings, despite…

Going with his heart, he curled his free hand into her hair at the back of her neck. Then he leaned in and took her mouth in a soft kiss. There, behind the bar, like there weren’t a couple dozen interested gazes on them.

He didn’t take it deep, but he took it long.

And she accepted it. Her lips were warm and sweet and welcoming. He moved over them with just the slightest friction and felt her secure her place in his heart. When he lifted, still close, still looking at her, she smiled.

Damned if he didn’t love her. She’d just gotten done banging one of his best friends, and he loved her.

He was pretty sure she knew it, too. She let him have that gentle smile, then tilted her head toward the bar. They had work to do. He had empties waiting for him, and she had her drinkin’ fans.

They worked steadily to closing. Flyboy and his buddies got a little rowdy and rocked the juke box, but they had a DD who kept them mostly in line. The tables were busy and his two Saturday night girls were pretty happy with the tips they were pulling in.

Gemini worked her end of the bar and helped keep up with the tables. But when she’d gotten everyone happy with their first round, she walked down to face Jace. She kicked up onto a step stool and leaned over the bar to kiss him. It wasn’t the long, slow thing Quinn had gotten from her, but it seemed to pacify Jace. She leaned back after the smooch and looked at him. He looked back and after a while she nodded, and they both seemed satisfied.

Jace watched the end of the Rockies’ double-header while he finished his second G and T. He nodded good-night to Quinn, then walked down the bar to get Gemini’s attention. He leaned over the bar and pulled her close so they could hear each other without yelling. They talked for quite a long minute, Gemini nodding her head a couple of times. Then they shared another kiss and Jace left.

The flyboys wouldn’t give in until closing time. But the place slowed down in the last half hour. Quinn sat on his stool, leaning back against the bar, while Gemini served the last round to her little adoring posse. When she was done, she walked over, turned around, and leaned into him. He wrapped his arm around her, snugged her up to take a little of her weight, and savored the sweet feeling of it as she dropped her head onto his chest.

He kissed her temple. “Tired?”

“Yeah.”

They both knew he wouldn’t send her up alone to the apartment, so they just rested there together until lights out. When they were finally locked up, he had his arm around her and gave her a little support as they climbed the stairs.

“What did Jace want?” Quinn didn’t want to ask, but he wanted to know. So, when they got to the door to her room, he couldn’t keep the question behind his teeth. He had his hands clasped behind her back and she was resting against his chest again.

“He wants me to come do some paperwork in his office on Monday,” she said. She paused, like maybe she wasn’t going to say the rest, but he knew there was more. “And then dinner together after.”

Yeah
, that was Jace’s M.O. There’d be a little wining and dining before he hit the sheets with her.
Shit
.

Could he do this? But,
yeah
, he held her in his arms and knew he couldn’t do anything else. He couldn’t let her go, and he couldn’t keep her from his buddies.

He sighed and gave over to it. He lowered his hands a bit and brought her closer. Close enough that she could feel the hard-on he’d been fighting for what felt like forever.

“I want you, Gemini.”

No shit
, he figured she had to be thinking.

* * * *

No shit
, she said inside her head. Gemini pressed a smile into Quinn’s chest. Her three men—and that was pretty much how she was beginning to think of them—had neither the sort of sexuality nor the, uh,
build
that would allow their interest in a woman to pass unnoticed.

Quinn had promised her patience. Until she was ready, he’d said.

Well, given her activities of the afternoon, she could hardly claim that she was too emotionally fragile for a little hot sex. That ship had more than sailed.

But this was another boat in the water, and she wasn’t certain what she was doing contemplating stepping on board.

Okay, so she’d gone crazy and fucked three wildly attractive men
who were strangers
in one night. She supposed the stranger thing didn’t matter so much. It probably wouldn’t have been any better if she’d known them all.

She’d spent ten days now trying to process that event, and the best she could come up with was, well, the crazy had just gotten to her.
Almost
, she could put it away, just chalk it up to the temporary insanity that was the culmination of years of falling under Bryce’s control and her scary, exhausting flight.

This would be different. This desire—this
yearning
—to say yes, to slide her hand up Quinn’s hard chest, to stroke his neck, to finger his hair. She wasn’t crazy now. She couldn’t and wouldn’t want to claim it.

But she couldn’t deny the desire, either. She wanted Quinn. He was sweet and caring. He was strong and sexy. She longed to fall into his arms, into the love that she was pretty sure he felt for her. That she was pretty sure she felt for him.

If she fell, he would catch her. She was certain of it.

And it was beyond her to say no to it.

Like her hand belonged to someone else, she watched it move up the hard planes of his chest. She looked up into his face as her fingers reached the hot skin of his neck.

Those green eyes were heated, sparking as he read what was in hers.