More Than a Fling [Uniformed and Blazing Hot 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (17 page)

Of course they have something to do with it. Both of them are at the core of the problem.

Yes, but the real core of the problem was something she really didn’t want to admit. Sighing, she pulled the note off the door, balled it up as she entered the house, and tossed it in the trash as she detoured through the kitchen on her way to her bedroom. Tired of being in work clothes, she changed into a pair of shorts, pulled her hair into a ponytail, and slipped her feet into a pair of tennis shoes.

Still debating if she should go or not, she stopped by the bathroom to brush her teeth before heading out the back door to feed Precious.

“What do I do, Precious?” she asked the dog as she knelt to put food in his dish.

Precious glanced at the house next door, as if he already knew what she was talking about, and barked once.

“You think I should go over there?”

Precious barked again.

Alyssa settled on her ass on the ground in front of the dog and petted his large head behind his ears. “You know I’m falling for them, right?”

Precious barked.

Alyssa snorted. “And I can’t believe I’m looking to an overgrown mutt like you for advice.”

Precious whined.

Alyssa rolled her eyes. “Really? There’s no way I just hurt your feelings.”

The dog angled his head as if he was wondering how she could even ask that.

Alyssa sighed. “Fine. I’m sorry. Do you want to go over there with me?”

Precious leapt to all fours and danced around her, barking excitedly.

Alyssa laughed as she got to her feet. “All right. I guess I’ll go and so can you. We’ll take the last couple of human interest pieces with us. I want to get their opinion on them before I turn them in anyway. Besides, it’s not like I can avoid them forever with them living right next door.”

* * * *

Tanner felt a slow grin unfold on his lips as he lit the candle in the center of the coffee table just as a knock sounded at the front door. That knock was followed by a bark that made him chuckle as he took a second to scan the room and make sure he hadn’t missed lighting any of the candles he had set out before he moved across the living room to let Alyssa and Precious inside.

Precious gave him another bark in greeting, dashed inside as he pulled the door open, and headed straight for the spot he had claimed in the far corner of the living room floor. Tanner started to chuckle again, but the sight of Alyssa had it sticking in his throat. The woman never failed to be cover model gorgeous in his eyes no matter what look she was going for on any particular day. Tonight, she had obviously taken the time to change at her house before coming over. She had pulled her long hair into a high ponytail, leaving her perfect neck exposed to tempt his taste buds.

His mouth started to water as his gaze slid down her body. She wore a dark purple T-shirt untucked with a pair of khaki shorts that hugged her hips and accented her shapely legs to perfection. His pulse sped at the sight.

Reflex more than thought had him reaching for her arm. He tugged it, pulling her inside and yanking her hard against him. A soft gasp escaped her lips as her mouth opened in an
O
of surprise. He capitalized on it, crushing his mouth over hers and driving his tongue inside.

Fuck yeah
.

She tasted of toothpaste and an innate flavor that was all Alyssa. It misted through him in a delicious euphoria more doctoring than any drug on or off the market. Her mouth was warm, a wet blanket that closed around his tongue to caress. He cupped her nape, drawing her head closer still, and deepened the kiss. What was he trying to do, crawl inside the woman's body through her mouth? Possibly. At that moment, being one with her in every way seemed like the best idea he’d ever had.

Her arms curled around his waist, her pliant curves molding to his harder planes, and,
damn
, it felt freaking good. He growled, the sound muffled by her wickedly amazing mouth. She licked the inside of his mouth, running her tongue over his teeth before drawing back just enough to nip his bottom lip.

Then she was the one who dived back in. She took the kiss from the borderline teetering of hungry and sweet to a famished attack that sent his cock on an aching spiral to Hard-onville even as it brought his heart to float up somewhere in his chest near his throat.

“Wow.” She said the word on a breathless half laugh as he finally pulled away.

Tanner rested his forehead to hers, gazed into her eyes darkened by desire, and knew there was no way he could fall any harder for the woman in his arms. He was already in love.

The knowledge didn’t scare him like it had when he first came to that realization. Ever since he had become an adult and watched his mother walk out of his fathers, he had vowed never to fall for a woman. He had managed to keep that vow, too, until Alyssa.

“Well, hello to you, too.”

Tanner grinned. “Hi.” His hand was still on her nape and he flexed his fingers, lightly massaging the muscles. The purring sound she made wrapped around his cock like a satin ribbon and squeezed.

“Where did that come from?”

“I missed you.”

He was pretty sure she had purposely been avoiding him and Nick for a few days now and he had missed her every second of every one of them, too. When he had recognized the emptiness he felt for what it was, that was when he had known beyond a shadow of a doubt he was in real trouble here. He couldn’t get enough of this woman.

Her laugh was soft and sultry. “I kind of gathered that. And, well, I missed you, too.”

Tanner got the sense she didn’t want to admit that even though she had as she drew back and eased herself from his embrace. He turned to give her room to walk further inside and watched her eyes grow wide at the sight of the candle flickering on the coffee table.

“What’s this?” she asked as she slowly walked toward it.

Tanner lifted a shoulder even though she wasn’t looking at him and closed the door. “Just a little something I thought you might like.”

She turned to look at him and there was no way he could miss the suspicion or caution on her angelic face. Her smile came slow as she gazed around the living room. “No overhead lights, lit candles…”

His arms already burning to hold her again, Tanner closed the distance between them and framed her hips with his hands.

She gazed at him and lifted a brow. “Would I be wrong to assume you’ve got a glass of wine to go with this romantic atmosphere you’ve created here?”

“How about champagne instead?” Nick asked as he entered the room, his fingers curled around the bases of three flute glasses filled with the bubbly alcohol.

Alyssa glanced at Nick. “Champagne works, too, I suppose. What’s the occasion?”

Tanner dragged his hands up her sides and let them glide down again. She slithered at the touch, her sultry body moving with the fall of his hand in a slow and sensual dance that made his pulse rev to defibrillating strength. “The first piece went to print today. We figured it was cause for celebration.”

“Or an excuse to wine and dine me.” Her tone was teasing as she turned between Tanner’s hands, took the glass Nick handed her, and sipped. “Or, in this case, champagne and, I’m betting, dine
on
me?”

Tanner chuckled, his attention dropping to the manila envelope in her hand as he forced himself to release her again. “Is that the pieces on the shifts at Station 4?”

“All except for their A-shift.” She passed him the envelope. “I’m interviewing them tomorrow, but I thought the two of you might want to give these a read before I turn them in.”

Nick plucked the envelope from Tanner’s hand and moved to plop down on the sofa. “We’ll read them. That way you won’t think the only reason we left that note on your door was to get you over here so we could champagne and dine on you.”

Alyssa laughed and visibly relaxed as she moved to the sofa to sit next to Nick. She kicked off her tennis shoes, shoved them under the coffee table, and folded her shapely legs beside her extraordinary ass. “Remember what I told you about the other pieces you read. Be honest and make sure, if I made any mistakes, you point them out so I can fix them.”

Champagneing and dining on her was sounding like a better idea by the second. Tanner watched her as he picked up the glass Nick had set on the table for him and took a swig. The romantic atmosphere of the room had caught her off guard and even made her a little tense. Now that they were kidding about sex, that tension seemed to be gone. He had noticed that lately about her. She seemed different, as if she were watching what she said and did around them more carefully. He was pretty sure he knew why. At least he hoped he knew why. He was praying he wasn’t wrong.

“What do you think?” she asked when Nick finished reading and held the sheets out for Tanner.

Tanner took them, half listening to their conversation as he read the pieces.

“I think you nailed it,” Nick told her. “Just like you did with the stories on the shifts at Stations 5 and 2. You’ve given the reader an insight into each person as a firefighter or paramedic and an individual.”

Tanner couldn’t agree more. She had done a bang-up job on the stories and given each station, each shift, and each firefighter and paramedic the recognition they deserved.

He looked up to tell her so, but bit his tongue when he saw Nick reach for her. The man laced his fingers in the side of her hair and leaned in, stopping with his mouth barely an inch from hers.

“Now that you’ve finished all the pieces, you can stop working so hard and spend more time with us.”

Tanner saw her lips part as if she were about to speak, but Nick didn’t give her a chance. He covered her mouth with his and kissed her in a way that sent a rush of relief rushing through Tanner’s system. He hadn’t told Nick that he had changed his mind about Alyssa. He hadn’t told his friend that he had fallen in love with her and wanted to try to turn what they had into more than a fling.

He had been watching Nick, though, and had started to wonder if he wasn’t the only one holding back the truth. As he watched the man kiss Alyssa, any lingering doubts about Nick’s feelings for her dissipated. He wasn’t the only one in love with her. Nick had fallen for her, too.

* * * *

Alyssa’s mind reeled as Nick took her mouth in a passionate kiss that stole her breath. His words echoed through her head, twisting her thoughts into a whirlwind of confusion. When one of them said things like that, it made her start to think she wasn’t the only one screwing up their flingy friends with benefits arrangement. And when Nick kissed her the way he was doing now, when Tanner gazed at her and held her the way he had done the moment he opened the door, it made her start to hope she was right.

She felt the sofa dip on her other side, felt the heat of Tanner’s body close in against her back, and lifted an arm to reach behind her and cup his nape. She opened her eyes when Nick slowly broke the kiss and eased back to look at her. The hunger darkening his eyes sent every pulse point in her body on a speeding race to the finish line between her legs. The deeper emotion she saw beneath that stole her soul.

Tanner hooked a finger beneath her chin, turned her face to his, and took control of her mouth in such a tender, delicate feast that a need to feed built inside her to an animalistic predatory state. She purred, the sound rumbling from low in her throat, only to be muffled by his mouth as he closed it fully over hers, his tongue diving deep.

Lips latched onto the base of her throat, teeth biting not quite hard enough to break the skin, but with just enough pressure that a mark would surely be present. Mark her, claim her. Was that Nick’s intention? Was that Tanner’s? It was exactly what she wanted and what she hoped they had decided they wanted, too.

Oh, dear sweet baby Jesus
.

As both men feasted on her mouth and neck, she finally admitted what she hadn’t wanted to face. She was in love with them. This was no longer just sex to her. It wasn’t a fling, and it wasn’t any kind of benefit thing. It was love and she was toast.

A hand covered her breast. She couldn’t tell if it was Tanner’s or Nick’s, but it molded her throbbing orb in its palm and she thrust her chest forward, wanting more of that touch. She needed it to wipe away all the other emotions swirling inside her like a tornado intent on destroying everything in its path. All she wanted to do was feel the physical, to enjoy the primal, to revel in the heat, the passion, and the sex. Everything else, anything else needed to be pushed aside, better yet, dissipated from her body and mind, leaving behind not a trace of what it had been.

More hands moved over her body, these bunching up her shirt and freeing the button and zipper of her shorts. Tanner was still doing delicious things to her mouth with his lips, tongue, and teeth even as both men worked to undress her.

“Lift your hips, sweetheart.”

She dimly heard Nick’s command over the pulsing rush of elation in her ears. She was half sitting, half slouching on the sofa between them. She had straightened her legs and put her feet on the floor when Tanner had joined them. She used the position now to push her lower body off the sofa, managing only enough height to allow Nick a moment to pull her shorts and panties off before she lost the strength and fell back to the cushion once more.