Unbridled and Untethered [The Double Rider Men's Club 10] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (9 page)

She nodded, not trusting her voice. “I’d like to go anyway. Is that okay?”

“Sure. Just so you know, his best friend, Luke Benton, will be there. He wants to meet you and say thanks.”

Emma Rae looked up at Clay. “Thanks? For what?”

She didn’t mean to sound so alarmed. The memory of memorizing Luke’s formal military picture from that first night after meeting Zeke flashed right into her head. On the heels of that recollection came all the memories of the sexy, X-rated fantasies she’d had all week starring the two of them.

Once she had both of their faces imprinted securely, her vivid imagination put Luke in her bed along with Zeke many times in the last several days. She’d pleasured herself repeatedly just remembering what they looked like and imagining what they’d do to her if they both had her in their bed. The memory of her extreme fascination with these two made her face go hot all of a sudden.

If Clay noticed her embarrassment, he didn’t comment. He answered, “He wants to thank you for keeping Zeke from getting killed. The word is out that you stepped in front of his body to keep him from further bullet holes. And also scared the guy out of the bank with a barrage of bullets.”

Good. Change the subject.
“Wow. That’s such an interesting and different take on today’s events. The police weren’t as excited about my protective nature, but I’ll meet Zeke’s friend.” How could she decline?

Emma Rae’s insides tensed at the very idea of meeting Luke. She understood what their
close
best friend
relationship meant in the great scheme of the DRMC world. Luke and Zeke were partners in threesome sexual escapades.

They got together in sexy, remarkable locales and took turns pleasuring lucky women to gasps of orgasm on top of release on top of climax. At least that was what she’d pictured over and over this past week nestled by herself between her lonesome sheets. The many positions she’d pictured starring two men she didn’t even know had delighted her repeatedly.

Who in the world wouldn’t want two attentive men in the sack?
A week ago, Emma Rae would have nominated herself for that category. Now she wasn’t so sure. Her curiosity level was definitely at an apex.

Clay drove her to the hospital after the sun had long since set in the mountains. As late as it was, Emma Rae knew she’d feel better if she could just get a glimpse of Zeke. Even though it would likely be one where he was hooked up to machines with endless tubes inserted everywhere helping him breathe and live.

As they arrived at the entrance of the hospital, Clay got a phone call. He remained in the lobby, where cell phones were allowed, but told her to go on ahead. He promised to meet her at the ICU waiting room in a few minutes.

Emma Rae rode the elevator to the intensive care unit’s exclusive floor. She stepped out into the quiet of the evening shift. She searched the rooms along the way to the waiting room but didn’t see Zeke’s name anywhere. She finally asked a very young nurse and was directed to a room and told he could only have visitors for a few minutes. Surprised to even be allowed in the room, Emma Rae hurried inside before anyone discovered her nonfamilial connection and kicked her out.

Zeke, with his tousled hair and even more pronounced five-o’clock shadow, rested on his back in the hospital bed with his eyes closed peacefully. There wasn’t any sort of bandage around his head, surprisingly. He seemed to be breathing on his own but had a small oxygen canula affixed beneath his nose.

Beyond the bed was an IV stand with a bag of fluid hanging. A clear tube ran from the plastic and went under his sheets near his arm. She didn’t see any other machines keeping him alive. What a relief.

Zeke looked very still. Very quiet. Very serene. Just exactly as he had resting on the floor of the bank vault. After the third robber had run off, Emma Rae had fallen to her knees and put her ear to his chest, taking care to avoid the excessive blood on his shirt.

The steady heartbeat she heard calmed her. He was alive. She intended to keep him that way. After dropping the gun behind her, she’d removed her outer shirt, wadded it up, and pressed it to the bullet wound on his chest to stanch the flow of blood.

The police arrived shortly thereafter. She asked for medical help, and then the ambulance crew soon relieved her minimal efforts to care for Zeke.

Emma Rae shoved those memories aside and studied Zeke’s handsome features. The fleeting memory of their kiss before all the chaos registered vaguely in her mind. She walked around the far side of the bed to approach him and took hold of his hand.

“Hi, Zeke, it’s me, Emma Rae,” she whispered in deference to the surroundings. “I know you want to sleep. And I don’t blame you. But please, could you wake up just for a minute?” She stared at the masculine angles of his face. He didn’t move.

A glance at his lips and the full force and inherent passion of the kiss they’d shared in the vault roared back into her soul. Calling on a fairy tale story from her childhood, Emma Rae leaned closer. Maybe he’d wake up if she kissed him. First, she looked up at the doorway to ensure her privacy and then quickly planted a soft, heartfelt kiss across his lips.

He still didn’t stir. Didn’t even move a single muscle. Pity. She watched for a delayed reaction. She was so engrossed in watching Zeke’s gorgeous face, Emma Rae didn’t notice anyone else had entered the room until he spoke. “Are you Emma Rae?”

Startled, she dropped Zeke’s hand and backed away from the side of his bed as if she’d been scorched.

“I’m sorry,” he said quickly. His hands came up in a placating gesture. “I didn’t mean to startle you.” The familiar man made his way toward the foot of the bed, where she’d passed moments ago, and closed in on her. It was Luke. She recognized him from his picture.

Luke was older and infinitely more attractive than the fifteen-year-old photo she’d seen. At least he was in her humble opinion. Her heart stuttered a bit as she took in and memorized his rugged current features.

Emma Rae gazed into his clear blue eyes and registered the strong, handsome face of another very attractive man. His sexy blond hair, cut short but in need of a trim, bespoke a man who looked like he’d forever be comfortable on a horse’s back. He looked like every woman’s fantasy cowboy, and very close to what she’d pictured this past week wrapped, alone, between the sheets of her bed in carnal splendor.

Luke passed by the foot of Zeke’s bed. His arm came up, as if he intended to shake her hand. Trapped on the far side of the bed, Emma Rae had nowhere to go. She locked her knees and prepared to touch his beautifully calloused fingers.

“I’m Luke Benton.” He stepped into her sensory range. The scent of leather and musk and man washed over her being. He smelled exactly the way a sexy man’s man should. And even better than she’d fantasized.

Emma lifted her fingers, and he grasped her hand securely in his. She tried not to swoon. Seriously, the guy was so very attractive. And he smelled great. After the recent week of dreaming about his hands on her, she was a little off center about meeting her fantasy lover in person.

She managed to say, “I’m Emma Rae Madison. So good to meet you.” She couldn’t believe she’d gotten so many words through her suddenly-dry-as-the-Sahara lips.

“I wanted to say thank you for taking care of Zeke. He’s my best friend. I heard you kept him from getting killed.”

She shook her head in denial. “No. I really didn’t do that much. In fact, he saved me first.” She looked deeply into Luke’s eyes and was mesmerized. She wanted to feel his calloused fingers skimming along her naked body. The desire of that vision hit her like a fist to the chest.

“That sounds just exactly like Zeke,” he said and glanced at his friend. Emma Rae also captured a look as his friend did. Both of them were just so viscerally engaging, either face she stared at gave her a thrill.

Zeke’s eyes fluttered open for a second and then closed as she and Luke looked on.

“Zeke?” Luke said and moved toward the bed. Now she was even more pinned in.

She put her hand on his shoulder and also said, “Zeke? Are you awake?” His eyes opened once more but didn’t seem to focus before drifting shut again.

“Looks like he’s trying to come back,” Luke said quietly. He turned his intense gaze back to her face. She returned the stare. Maybe two men would be okay to try once.

“What in the world are you two doing in here?” came an irate voice from the doorway. They both turned, and a nurse marched into the room with a scowl on her lined face.

“We’re friends of Zeke’s,” Luke said.

Emma Rae was stunned into silence. She took a step closer to Luke.

“He’s not ready for visitors yet. The man is barely out of surgery. He hasn’t even woken from anesthesia yet.”

“Well, perhaps you could inform your staff then, because I asked after him and was led here.”

“Me, too,” Emma Rae piped up.

The older nurse glanced over her shoulder as the young nurse Emma Rae had spoken to passed by the door. She frowned as if in much displeasure then turned back to them. “Well, I’m very sorry, but you were misinformed. Go on out to the waiting room, and I’ll call you if and when he’s ready to receive visitors. And I’m warning you, it may not be tonight.”

“Well, he just opened his eyes a couple of seconds ago.”

“He did?” The nurse approached the opposite side of the bed. “Did he say anything?”

“No,” Luke responded this time. “He just opened his eyes briefly and closed them again. Maybe he heard our voices.”

The older nurse huffed as she checked first one eye and then the other with a pen light. “Good try, but you still have to leave.”

“Okay. Fine. We’ll be waiting down the hall.” Luke reached out and grabbed Emma Rae’s hand as if he’d done it a hundred times before. He led her quickly out of the room after another fast glance at Zeke. Emma Rae didn’t have the wherewithal to pull her hand from Luke’s even after they’d left Zeke’s room. She allowed him to lead her away.

Luke squeezed her fingers even tighter as they walked out of the ICU area. He didn’t let go even after they made it to the small waiting room at the end of the hall. In fact, after he sat down on what turned out to be a surprisingly comfortable love seat, he promptly enveloped her fingers in both of his calloused hands.

The kiss to her knuckles was unexpected. A wave of dizzying lust sped from her hand to her core. She knew she should pull her hand away, but Emma Rae couldn’t seem to tear herself from his intimate touch. The scent of him had her head spinning in a thousand different directions. She hadn’t felt lust like this since meeting Zeke for the first time. Luke smelled almost more intoxicating than Zeke did. If that was even possible. Each man was unique. Each was heartrendingly able to keep her focus off center and her libido dancing in fiery delight.

The weight of the long day pressed her spine against the back of the sofa. One hand still firmly sandwiched between Luke’s strong fingers, Emma Rae closed her eyes to rest her weary soul for just a minute.

Instead of nightmares, the memory of all the lustful sexual situations she’d thought about all week starring both Zeke and Luke filled her mind with a fury of scandalous images.

Luke wasn’t often surprised by women. One look at a woman he’d never met before and he usually had their number fairly quick. Listening to a single sentence they uttered then usually confirmed his suspicions as to their overall character. However, the woman with her head leaning sweetly on his shoulder as she slept had certainly surprised him with her unrelenting vulnerability.

He’d wanted her instantly after simply witnessing her hold Zeke’s hand. The tenderness with which she caressed his best friend and hovered protectively over him while he slept was easy to see. Emma Rae was obviously very concerned about Zeke. Not only that, but her angst-ridden expression told him she must have serious feelings for him, too. Her angelic countenance as she watched him had stirred Luke on a visceral level. He not only wanted to get to know her better, he wanted her.

The sexy, sultry look she gave Luke when he interrupted her moment with Zeke made a considerable amount of blood rush to his groin before he could temper his unexpected reaction. Once her gaze fastened on his face, she looked like she wanted to eat him for lunch. For the first time in a long time he was heartened that a female might actually be interested in both of them.

That she didn’t balk at holding his hand currently made Luke feel like he definitely had scored a victory with this exceptional young woman. He couldn’t wait to get to know her much better. Maybe once she woke up they could have a more meaningful conversation. But for now he enjoyed holding her.

Luke hardly breathed as Emma Rae shifted her hand from between his fingertips. He was let down for a second until she slung her free arm firmly around his waist while she slept. He slipped his arm beneath her torso as her face burrowed against his chest between his shoulder and neck, settling against him with a soft sigh. They snuggled close, like they’d been together for years. Luke leaned in and kissed the top of her head.

The sweet, flowery fragrance of her hair nearly made him intoxicated with each breath he took. His arm was trapped happily beneath her slim body. His hand rested on her lower spine, and the deadening feeling of his limb going to sleep beneath her didn’t make him want to move it.