Three Rings and a Rose (17 page)

Backing up, she continued her hunt for the elusive purple pot. She looked high, and she looked low. She bent down then she got up. She rose to her tiptoes, balancing precariously like a ballet dancer practicing pointe for the first time. Yet she still didn’t see the damn thing.

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Ella refused to give up. She wouldn’t be the only girl who lost in this special game of Truth or Dare. Her competitive nature wouldn’t allow it. With an exasperated sigh, she moved on, walking around the entire shop in one giant circle before stopping by the flower case.

Unable to help herself, she admired the beautiful bouquets. Her eyes drifted over one colorful arrangement after another, seeking her favorite flower. A mere moment passed before she found them—

roses.

Without conscious thought, she slid open the glass door then reached inside. Fingering the orange petals, she smiled to herself.

Who would have believed that Penelope and Piper had the unique colored rose in their shop? She wouldn’t have. Not many people carried that color on a regular basis.

“Beautiful isn’t it?” Caedon asked, his voice appearing out of nowhere, and she screamed in fright. “But it’s not nearly as beautiful as you, sunshine.”

Whirling around, Ella demanded, “What the fuck are you doing here?” She surveyed the room, wondering how in the hell he’d gotten in here without her noticing.

“The back door,” another masculine voice answered.

Jerking her head to the side, her eyes met Micah’s, and she nearly groaned. She didn’t need this right now. Maybe she could handle it later—when she was a little stronger. “Why are you both here?”

“Because we want you,” Caedon replied.

Ella turned her head to the side again, this time meeting Caedon’s gaze. “Well I don’t want you,” she retorted. Her face colored at her lie. Not that it mattered. Both men chuckled knowingly, which pissed her off. “Okay, fine. I don’t want
to deal
with you.”

“That’s a little better,” Caedon informed her. He moved one step closer. On her other side, Micah mirrored him.

“We need to talk,” Micah said.

The ominous words sent a chill down her spine, and she fought the urge to run like hell. She wanted to. She really did. She even
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considered it. But she wouldn’t leave this damn shop without the motherfucking pot she’d been challenged to find. “No, we don’t,” she countered. “I need to find the flowerpot, and you need to leave.”

“Good luck with that,” Caedon muttered. “I have a feeling you won’t find the purple pot with the forget-me-not flowers in here.” Ella narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean?” Micah smirked and took another step forward. “He means that there is no pot in here that matches the description Shannon gave you.”

Shit, shit, shit.
Her friends
had
set her up. They’d made it to where she would fail. They’d worked it out so that she got stuck with the two men she wanted but couldn’t have. “I hate those bitches,” she sneered.

Whipping her phone out of her pocket, Ella ignored both Micah and Caedon. She dialed Shannon’s number, her shaking fingers slowing her down drastically. When she finally finished dialing, she put the phone to her ear and turned to face the front door where she knew Shannon stood.

Of course, she was right. Shannon stood outside of the flower shop holding a purple pot in one hand and her phone in the other.

Instead of answering the phone that Ella could hear ringing outside of the store, she grinned and walked away.

“Motherfucker,” Ella cursed. “I’m going to kill her. I’m going kill all of them.”

Ending her call, she realized that she had yet to close the refrigerator door, and she’d been letting out all the cold air. She shivered, partially from the cool temperature and partially from the nerves inundating her. Then moved from behind the door and shut it.

“Fine, you all win. I’m stuck in here. So start yapping.” Reflecting their displeasure openly, both men frowned at her.

“What?” she asked, feigning disinterest, as she strolled over to the counter and hopped up on it. Getting comfortable, she tugged at her skirt nervously, hoping to cover some of her overheated flesh in
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defense of the sinful men nearby. “The faster we get this over with, the faster I can get out of here.”

Micah scowled. “You are going to listen to us—really listen—or I will be forced to make you.”

She snorted. “How the fuck are you going to do that? You may be my best friend, but you are not my owner.”

“We’ll see about that,” Micah muttered so softly that she barely heard him. But then, he raised his voice loud enough that she could hear. And so could Caedon. “If you want to push me, I will do what I’ve always wanted to do—tie your pretty ass up.”
Yes please. Do you want me to get the rope for you? I can get it,
get naked, and get you on top of me in no time flat.
She cleared her suddenly dry throat. “Good luck with that,” she sneered, choosing to use the words that Caedon had used earlier. “I’m not exactly an easy girl to wrestle down. I like to fight dirty.”

“So do we,” Caedon responded, his honest words surprising her.

Swaggering his sexy self around the counter, he came up behind her.

But before she could flee, Micah blocked her from the front, trapping her body between theirs. “You just have no idea how much.”

“I—”

That was all she got out before a giant hand latched onto her hair and yanked. Her head flew back, and she moaned against her will.

The decadent pain spreading through her scalp heated her up instantly, and she felt her pussy melt.

Caedon’s unbelievably clear blue eyes met hers, the arousal burning so brightly they singed her skin as he raked them across her face. “Ella, I want to share you with Micah. I want all that entails. I want to fuck you while he watches. Then I want to turn around and watch him while he fucks you. I want us to fuck you together, and I want us to fuck you apart.” He grinned at her crookedly, causing her heart to skip a beat. “I pretty much just want us to fuck you in general.”

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Her eyes grew tenfold, and she opened her mouth to speak, but Micah distracted her when he slid his strong hands up the inside of her legs then paused between her thighs. He attempted to widen her legs, but her skirt hindered him. Grunting, he ordered, “Up,” and she knew exactly what he wanted.

Not allowing her eyes to stray from Caedon’s, Ella shamelessly lifted her ass from the countertop. At the same time, Micah swiftly pushed her skirt up just enough that he had room to step between her legs, and, before her ass hit the countertop once again, he had already stepped between them. “Let’s talk about what I want for us, Ella. See, I love you more than I ever thought possible, but the things I want sexually are demanding and explicit. I know you can handle it, but I want to give you fair warning. All right?” Unable to find her voice, Ella wiggled unabashedly, silently giving him the answer she knew he craved.

Micah snaked his big hands around her waist and pulled her body tightly to his. Then he slipped his hands lower until he slid them between the rigid counter and her ass cheeks. Cupping her bottom firmly, he rocked her hips forward and pressed the ridge of his hard cock into her barely covered cunt, making her hunger for more. But she couldn’t look at him or beg for more. Her gaze remained transfixed by the dark look on Caedon’s face. All she could do was stare into Caedon’s magnetizing eyes while feeling Micah’s maddening lust and hearing his sensual voice.

“Ella Embry Dawson, I want to possess you in every way a man can. And so does Caedon. We want to fuck your cunt.” Pausing, he rubbed his jean-encased cock against her nearly exposed pussy. The thick material rasped against the silken panties covering her mound, and she moaned. “Fuck, you’re going to be so hot you’ll burn us alive. Then we want to take your pretty little asshole. It’s going to be so damn tight we’ll have to take our time to work our way inside you.”

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Leaning forward, Micah kissed her exposed neck tenderly—once, twice, three times. The sweet gesture brought tears to her eyes, and she had to blink them away. “I want to restrain you while we fuck you. The thought of that makes me nearly come in my pants.” His cock grew, elongating further in the confines of his jeans, and she knew he wasn’t kidding.

Unexpectedly, Caedon lowered his head to her and crashed their lips together. He didn’t seem to notice the odd position of her head or his. Instead, he worked around it. Using her hair, he angled her head to the side, just as he angled his head to the opposing one. His mouth opened before hers did, but he didn’t seem deterred by that. His tongue rushed forward, breaching the seam of her lips in a smooth, forceful move, and he went wild.

Micah progressed in his naughty run-down of what he wanted to do to her as Caedon kissed her thoroughly. “I have a closet full of toys with your name on them, Ella, but I’ll warn you. I don’t mess around.

When I play, I’m like you—I fight dirty. So remember that.” Micah kissed a path down her neck on a sensual path, and it just happened to be one she didn’t have a clue to where it ended. His mouth left a hot, wet trail as it journeyed toward her breast bone.

Without removing his lips from her skin, he murmured, “I’m dying to spank the lush curve of your ass. I’ve been fantasizing for years about turning it red.”

Ella arched with a gasp, her lips accidentally releasing Caedon’s kiss, but he didn’t seem to mind. He merely smiled at her, the indulgent twinkle in his eyes bringing a grin of her own to her face. “I want to fuck you in a public place. Can you imagine what it would be like for us? We would have to be careful and not get caught. You never know when a camera is lurking nearby.
Although,
I have to admit the thought of fucking you on camera makes me as hard as a rock.”

As soon as Caedon finished his last sentence, Ella froze. They all did. Then two male curses split the air.

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“I’m sorry, Ella,” Caedon apologized immediately then loosened his grip on her hair before letting it fall. He stepped away from her with a deep frown and strolled around the counter to stand next to Micah. “I didn’t mean for it to come out like that.”

“N–n–no, no. It’s okay,” she replied then wriggled, desperately trying to get away from Micah. “It’s better that you said that. It reminded me of so many things.”

“Ella,” Micah murmured as he released her. The regret she felt in his mechanical movements caused her heart to seize. But she pretended not to notice it. “I know what you’re thinking. You are not leaving this shop until we’ve talked.”

Jumping from the counter, she landed on the balls of her feet and snorted. “Like we just talked? Is fucking a new foreign language that I forgot to take at NYU? I would have hated to miss something as orgasmic as that.”
I sound like the Wicked Bitch of the Midwest.

“Shit, Ella. We got lost in the moment, and so did you. Don’t pin it all on us. We would have stopped if you had asked us to,” Micah said.

The reminder didn’t sit well with her, and she ended up growling before she could bite it back. “Aw, come on. What woman wouldn’t want Hollywood’s Golden Boy and Mr. Big Time Military Writer to fuck her together? Tag team never looked so good.” Micah flinched. “We’re more than that to you, Ella, and you know it as well as I do.”

Standing her ground, Ella rolled her eyes and snapped, “No comment.”

This time it was Caedon who flinched. “Ella…” Micah shot his arm out and blocked Caedon who’d started to walk toward her. “Don’t do it,” he barked. “She is just trying to get to you.”

“Well, she’s succeeding,” Caedon muttered but stopped.

Ella crossed her arms over her chest and sighed. “Are we done yet? I have things to do like wash my hair.”
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Micah frowned and said, “We need to talk, and you’re going to listen.”

Confused by Micah’s declaration, Ella didn’t move. Although, she apparently should have because Micah darted forward and clamped her wrists in his sizeable hands. “Handcuffs,” he barked.

Before she had time to speak or move or even breathe, a brush of metal caressed one wrist then the other. She probably should have fought them, but she didn’t. There were two of them and one of her.

She would lose no matter how dirty she fought.

As soon as her hands were restrained, Caedon came around her front and hefted her in his muscular arms then tossed her over his shoulder. Patting her ass once, he stormed through the shop without speaking. The determination in his deliberate steps and deep, even breathing caught Ella off guard, and she realized that she was in deep shit. Deeper shit than she’d ever imagined.

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Micah stayed one step ahead of Caedon and Ella as he crossed the interior of Pretty Petals. He rapidly reached the door to the storeroom then opened it and hustled inside. Before the door had time to swing closed, he caught the wooden edge and propped it open with his foot.