Temptation (Club Destiny) (37 page)

Fully expecting Sierra to set the story straight, to reassure both of them that she wasn’t going anywhere, Luke held his breath as he waited for her response.

“I am.” Sierra whispered, a single tear rolling down her cheek.

“What?” Luke’s stomach knotted, and he clinched his fists at his side. The sudden need to hit something overwhelmed him and he had to remember where he was. “Why?”

“There’s nothing for me here.” Sierra said, wiping that lone tear away. “I tried. I really did.”

Was she trying to convince him or herself? Luke knew she’d tried. She’d done everything that could be expected of a woman and he still succeeded in pushing her away. And now, as he stood in Sierra’s house, only feet from the two people he needed more than he needed oxygen, Luke felt his body come to life. Apparently heartbreak wasn’t even enough to dispel the sensual need these two aroused in him.

“Shit.” Cole stated, turning his back on Sierra.

“I’m sorry.” She said, taking a step closer to him, not looking at Luke.

Cole surprised Luke when he turned around quickly. “You don’t have anything to be sorry about.”

When his penetrating glare landed on him, Luke knew what Cole was getting at.“What do you want from me?” Luke growled back at Cole, fury lighting him up from within.

Cole turned to face him, and Luke noticed Sierra was stepping backward, leaving them alone in the living room. He wanted to call out to her, but the intent look on Cole’s face captivated him.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with you, man, but this shit has to stop.” Cole said, his voice low. “You’ve been running for too long.”

“Fuck you.” Luke barked, his hands clenching at his sides. He was sick and fucking tired of being told that. He hadn’t run last night, had he? No, he’d gone home where he was supposed to go, looking for Sierra and waiting for Cole. Neither of them had shown up. But he didn’t fucking run. “What the fuck does it matter to you, anyway?” Luke asked, suddenly feeling like the outsider.

“Are you serious? Are you that fucking dense, Luke?”

“Why are you even here?” Luke choked out. “Why aren’t you with Lucie?”

“Lucie? Why the hell would I be with Lucie?” Cole asked, sincere confusion contorting his features.

“I saw the way you two looked at each other. I know you’re paying the doctor bills. I know you care about that little girl.” Luke found himself rambling, but couldn’t seem to stop.

“Yes, I care about her, and I care about Lucie. She’s a friend of mine, and that’s what friends do.”

“Friends? I saw the way you looked at her. That looked like more than friends to me.”

“No, Luke. You saw what you wanted to see. Lucie and I are friends. That’s it. That’s all it ever will be.” Cole’s tone had cooled considerably.

Was that true? Had Luke projected his own thoughts on Cole? Had he tried to find something to explain the wedge he’d inserted between them all on his own? Yes, damn it. That’s exactly what he had done. The same thing he had done with Sierra…

Sierra.

She was leaving.

For good.

“You’re full of shit.” Luke said, his voice coming out as a choked whisper. He wasn’t sure if he was talking to himself or to Cole. All of the adrenaline drained from his body as he leaned against the wall thankful there was something to hold him up.

“The only woman I care about, the only one I have ever cared about is Sierra. Cole stated solemnly. “But she’s not the only person I care about.”

Luke stared into the depths of Cole’s eyes, seeing something he’d always known was there, but something he hoped he’d been wrong about. Something he’d refused to acknowledge.

“It’s always been about
you
.” Defeat tinged Cole’s words and Luke felt a hard tug on his heart.

What had he done?

Sierra’s sharp intake of breath told Luke she was still there. He didn’t look away from Cole. He couldn’t. The man’s admission had stunned him. Ok, so maybe he’d had an idea of how Cole felt about him, but the denial he’d shrouded himself in didn’t allow him to dwell on it. And now… now he didn’t know what the hell he was supposed to do.

“Obviously not nearly as much as you say. I know you were with her in Vegas. When I left.” Luke said, not sure what the accusation meant at this point. Up until today, Luke had wondered if Cole and Sierra had gotten together. Hell, he had actually hoped they had at one point. But now he was certain of it. And by the looks of it, there was more between these two than just sex.

“I was. I’ve never denied it. She needed me and damn it, I needed her.” Cole admitted, and the red haze began to cloud Luke’s vision once more. The feeling was anomalous, considering the types of relationships, or lack thereof, that Cole and Luke had once engaged in. Luke wasn’t used to this possessiveness that overcame him; the desire to have Sierra all to himself defied logic.

“Christ, Luke! What the hell did you expect me to do?” Cole asked, pacing the open area, not looking at Sierra. “You walked out on us – um…
her
. She needed someone to comfort her.”

Luke looked at Cole. Really looked at him. The little slip of the tongue wasn’t lost on him, but for the life of him, he didn’t know what to say. Yes, Luke overreacted in Vegas. Yes, he walked out on Sierra. And yes, God help him, he walked out on Cole… numerous times. What did that mean for them? Did he want it to mean more?
Did
it mean more?

 “But you fell for her, didn’t you?” Luke asked, not wanting to hear the answer, but needing to just the same. Cole’s penetrating gaze rooted Luke in place. He had. Cole had fallen for Sierra, the same way Luke had. Only Cole managed to stay away from her, at least for a little while. “You love her.”

Cole didn’t answer, and the silence told Luke everything he needed to know.

“Do you love him?” Luke asked, turning to Sierra. He was on the verge of having a breakdown and her response could very well send him over the edge.

~~  **  ~~  **  ~~  **  ~~

Sierra didn’t know how to answer the question.

If she told the truth, she would hurt Luke. Although the truth was much more complicated than just how much she cared for Cole. She was in love with Luke, was pretty sure she had been all along. But how did she explain that?

“I love you both.”
Well, that was easy
. Sierra’s gaze didn’t waver from Luke’s as she waited for his response. The words had tumbled out of her mouth before she had thought better of them. “But that doesn’t change anything.”

“What do you mean it doesn’t change anything?” This time Cole was the one to speak up. “It changes
everything
.”

“No. It doesn’t.” Sierra argued, turning back to her bedroom. She’d attempted to sneak away a few minutes ago so she could get dressed, but the turn in conversation had kept her rooted in place.

“Sierra. Stop.”

Why was it that Luke’s grumbling voice had the power to stop her in her tracks? She needed to get away from here. And not just to her bedroom. No, she needed to put some miles between them or she wasn’t going to stand a chance of getting over Luke McCoy. But no… her perfidious body chose to stop before she made it out of the room.

“We have to finish this.” Luke demanded, and Sierra jerked back toward him, ready to give him hell for all he had put her through.

“
Finish
this?” A giant bubble of anger and hurt swelled up inside of her and Sierra marched the few feet in his direction until she could smell that sexy, intoxicating scent of man. “
Finish
this?” She repeated. “As far as I’m concerned, Luke McCoy, you
finished
this last night.”

Tears threatened behind her eyelids, and Sierra fought down the knot that formed in her throat.

“What do you want from me, Sierra?” Luke’s voice lowered, a whispered rumble that shook Sierra to her core.

“Are you so dense that you really don’t get it?” She asked, staring up into those green-brown eyes searching for something that would help her get through this. “I don’t want anything
from
you.” The terse words were loud in the silence of her house. “I only want
you
.” Turning to face Cole, Sierra caught the tortured expression moments before he masked it. “And I want you too. Heaven help me, I love both of you and this is killing me.”

Sierra sobbed, the strangled sound forcing the tears from her eyes. This time there was no stopping when she turned and all but ran from the room. She couldn’t take it anymore. Her heart was splitting in two, and through all of the pain, through all of the misery, she felt as though she had been torn in half.

When it happened, or how it happened, Sierra didn’t know, but she had come to terms with the fact that she loved them both. With the backs of her hands, Sierra brushed away the tears. They were useless. They would get her nowhere. The fact of the matter was she was in love with two men. Two very different men and for the life of her, she didn’t know how to deal with it.

She saw the way Cole looked at Luke. She knew he harbored some deep feelings for Luke, but she didn’t know if he would ever divulge that information. Or maybe he had. And where did that leave Luke? To make a choice?

A quick glance at the clock told Sierra she didn’t have time to sit around and figure out what Luke was going to do. She couldn’t predict him any more than she could predict the weather. She had an appointment with Susan Toulmin in a few of hours, and though she didn’t have any desire to be raked over hot coals twice in one day, Sierra knew she had to go.

Dropping the sheet to the floor, she walked to the bathroom and turned on the water. Hopefully Cole and Luke could let themselves out because she’d had enough for one day. The water hadn’t yet heated up by the time she stepped in, so she let the icy rivers flow over her skin, through her hair. The blessed numbness that came along with it was a welcome relief from the emotion churning inside of her.

Closing her eyes, she tilted her head back, letting the water flow over her, trying her best to forget what had happened just that morning. The way Cole made love to her, the way he held her afterward, the thoughts heated her from the inside out.

The sound of the glass door opening had Sierra blinking her eyes open, expecting to see Cole standing in front of her, but surprised when he wasn’t the only one. There before her were the two most impressive male specimen she had ever seen. Neither of them wore shirts, but they both still had on their jeans, so their next move startled her.

Before she had a chance to blink, both men were inside the glass shower stall with her, filling the space and crushing her between their two massive bodies.

“We don’t all fit in here.” She stated unnecessarily as the two men maneuvered around her.

“We’ll fit.” Luke’s dark, hungry voice washed over her and the water temperature was no longer an issue because her blood heated despite her need to put space between them – both physical and emotional apparently.

Cole pressed up against her back, pulling her until she leaned into him, his arms wrapping around her.

“What are you doing?” She groaned as Luke went to his knees in front of her.

“What we should have been doing all along.” Cole whispered in her ear, his rough calloused hands roamed down her chest, cupping her breasts, making her skin sing with heated relief.

“Open your legs.” Luke’s voice sounded more rough than usual, making Sierra spread her legs without conscious thought. Standing between the two men reminded her of Vegas, when Luke had used his tongue to torture her in the most sensual of ways. She longed for him to do the same now, but the rational side of her brain was warning her that this was wrong. This wasn’t doing anything to increase the distance between them that she so desperately needed.

But it felt oh so right.

The raspy feel of Luke’s tongue as he snaked between the folds of her pussy, lapping at her, caressing her ever so slowly was enough to make her mind go blank. When Cole used his thumb and index fingers to pinch each one of her nipples, alternating between soft pulls and harder tweaks, Sierra leaned her head back and let the rapture take over.

“Open your eyes.” Cole’s warm breath teased her ear as he plucked at the lobe with his teeth. “Watch him.”

Sierra couldn’t watch him because the erotic scene playing out in her shower was hot enough to have her knees turning to rubber. She wanted to grind against Luke’s mouth, to force him to that one spot guaranteed to make her body hum with pleasure.

“Open.” Cole punctuated the word by pinching her nipples simultaneously and biting the sensitive skin on the back of her neck.

Sierra’s eyes flew open, making direct contact with Luke’s as he stared up at her, his tongue thrusting while he gripped her hips, pulling her forward, increasing the pressure. God the man could do wicked things with that tongue.

Then the warmth of the man behind her disappeared as Cole lowered himself to the tiled floor, his calloused hands caressing every inch of her skin as he went down. Hot kisses trailed down her spine and Sierra’s skin prickled, goose bumps igniting over every inch, her nipples puckering painfully. She needed more. She needed something…

Suddenly her legs were spread awkwardly, and she had to reach for the small shelf to maintain her balance as Luke’s lips latched onto her clit, sucking and pulling while Cole’s hands spread her butt cheeks wide, his wicked mouth doing the most erotic, forbidden things.