Erin M. Leaf (5 page)

Gideon sucked in a sharp breath. “What?”

“You heard me,” Bea said, feeling
Theo smile against her cheek. “I don’t think Theo minds sharing.” In the dark,
it was like another person had taken over her voice. Suddenly, she could talk
about what she really wanted. She didn’t want to choose between them.
And it’s
just a kiss,
she told herself.
No big
deal.

“Yeah, okay,” Gideon said, low and
husky. “As long as Theo’s okay with it.”

“I don’t mind,” Theo muttered,
moving closer and pressing his body into hers.

Bea caught her lower lip between
her teeth. Was this really happening? She felt bold and sexy, totally unlike
her usual self. Theo slotted up against her and she abruptly felt the hot
length of his cock on her hip. His injury wasn’t slowing him down at all, not
that she’d expected it to. Any man who could maintain an erection in the
emergency room while someone sewed up his thigh was certainly virile. He was also
large and strong. Bea melted into him as Gideon moved closer. The long line of
his body pushed into her right side so that they surrounded her. She liked the
way it felt. A lot. She didn’t feel trapped. She didn’t feel nervous. Instead,
she felt more aroused than she’d been in years.
Or ever.

“You smell so sweet,” Theo said,
nosing along her cheek.

Bea laughed breathlessly. “I
probably smell like antiseptic.”

“No, you smell like gorgeous,”
Gideon said, kissing under her right ear.

The double whammy of the two men
moving in at the same time had her trembling. “God,” she said, voice thick.

“Not God,” Theo said arrogantly as
he moved in. “Just me.” And then his mouth was on hers.

Bea gasped. He kissed her the way a
drowning man craves air, the way a runner pushes to the finish line: all-out,
nothing held back. He devoured her mouth, hands in her hair holding her steady.
Gideon kept her upright, an arm going around her waist. She didn’t know if the
two men had done this before, but she thought not. She sensed Gideon straining
to see, but the darkness cloaked them all in a sort of hushed arousal.

When Theo finally let her up to
breathe, Gideon moved in, kissing her lightly at first, and then deeper, slow
and teasing. She held onto his hand, picturing his electric blue eyes as his lips
moved on hers.

“Fuck,” Theo said, pushing his
erection into her. “I can hear you kissing each other.”

Gideon shuddered into her mouth and
she grabbed his shoulder with one arm and wound the other around Theo, bringing
him in again. She kissed Gideon wildly and then switched to Theo. When she
moved back to Gideon, he groaned and she realized that he was hard, too. His
cock lay against her right hip. When she kissed him, Theo hadn’t quite moved
away yet and suddenly, they were in a three-way kiss that felt hotter than an
inferno. When they finally broke apart, Bea couldn’t catch her breath.

“Jesus.” Gideon dropped his head
into her neck. “If we weren’t trapped in here—” He broke off, hips rolling in
unmistakable intent.

“Yeah,” Theo agreed, hands around
his friend as well as Bea.

Bea couldn’t do anything except
nod. Her voice was gone. She hung onto to them, not wanting to let go, not
understanding how she’d so abruptly released her inhibitions. When a sudden
deep boom shook the building, she didn’t at first realize what was going on.

“What the hell?” Theo said, lifting
his head.

Bea frowned. The elevator vibrated
alarmingly. “Oh my God,” she whispered as fear shot through her, chasing away
her arousal. Another boom reverberated through the building. Gideon tensed.

“I have no idea what the fuck that
is,” Theo said, hands tightening on her and Gideon.

“We need to get out of here. Screw
safety,” Gideon replied. He eased away.

Bea clung, but he kissed her
fingers. “Don’t worry,” he said, then turned. “Theo, give me a boost.”

Theo let go, too, and she shivered
as they took the heat of their bodies with them. She heard grunting and then
banging overhead. “What are you doing?” she asked.

“We’ll go out the emergency hatch,”
Gideon said.

“It’s pitch black in here.” Bea
didn’t think she could handle crawling around an elevator shaft in the dark.

“Hopefully we’re right near a
floor,” Theo said, voice strained. “Watch out.”

Something clattered to the bottom
of the elevator and Bea flinched. She heard rustling and some grunting.

“You okay?” Theo asked her.

Bea told her heart to behave. “Yes,
I’m fine. Was that the hatch?”

“Yeah. Gideon’s up on top.”

“I wish I could see,” she murmured.
“This elevator is starting to freak me out. I’m not claustrophobic, but I’ve never
been anywhere this dark.”

“I agree,” he replied fervently,
bumping his shoulder against hers.

“We’re in luck,” Gideon called, his
voice sounding muffled. “The floor is right here. We don’t even have to climb,
but I need a hand getting it open.”

“Of course,” Theo muttered. “Hang
on, I’m coming up,” Theo called, then he pulled Bea close. “We won’t leave you
here, I promise.”

She nodded, not trusting herself to
speak, and he moved away.

“Okay, give me a hand up,” he said
to Gideon.

Bea heard more scuffling, then
steps on the roof of the elevator. She wrapped her arms around herself,
wondering how she could go from crazy-aroused to terrified in a few short
minutes. Outside, she could hear some more booms, not as close as the others.
That didn’t help calm her down one bit. She made herself take shallow, deep
breaths, trying to slow her heart rate. It would be stupid to have a panic
attack now, over nothing. She heard cursing, then a deep scraping sound that
shook the elevator.

“Got it,” Theo called, then he dropped
back down.

Bea shrank against the wall, not
sure where he was.

“Bea?”

“Here,” she said. He put a hand on
her breast and she giggled.

“Oh, whoops,” he said, amused. He
moved his hand to her shoulder. “Sorry about that.”

“Sure you are,” she joked, trying
to recapture the flirting from before. Anything was better than this tension.

“Are you two canoodling down there?
Come on, time to go,” Gideon called down. He was teasing, but his voice also
held a note of worry.

“Canoodling? Who says that?” Bea
asked, smiling.

“Gideon does, because he’s just
that weird.”

“I can hear you,” he called down.
“Stop making goo-goo eyes at each other and let’s get out of here.”

Bea giggled again, unable to stop
herself.
Stress reaction
, her
doctor’s brain told her.

“Okay, I’m going to boost you up.
Gideon will catch you,” Theo said.

“I’m afraid of heights,” she
whispered. “And I’m too heavy for you.”

“You’re not even close to being too
heavy, Bea. Trust me. Remember, Gideon pulled
me
up. You’ll be a piece
of cake.” He kissed her hair. “It’s not that high. You’ll be okay, I promise.”

She nodded, then realized he couldn’t
see the movement. “Okay.” It wasn’t like she had any other choice. They had to
get out of the building.

He drew her along the wall, then
crouched down. “Put your foot into my hands,” he instructed.

She had no idea where his hands
were.

“Just feel down my arm,” he said,
interpreting her confused silence.

She did as he asked, then put her
foot in his palms, thankful she wore sensible shoes to work. Doing this in heels
would be impossible.

“Put your hands on my shoulders.”

She took a deep breath. He was warm
and solid. As he lifted her, she felt his muscles bunch under her palms. She
tried really hard not to think about how far above them the ceiling of the
elevator was.

“Reach up,” he said. He didn’t
sound the least bit strained.

“I don’t know if I can do this,”
she said, gut clenching. She swallowed against the fear. Being in the dark made
it so much worse.

“You can. Just reach up and Gideon
will be there.”

“I’m right here, Bea,” Gideon said,
closer than she’d expected.

She took a deep breath and made
herself do what they said. As soon as her hands went up, Gideon touched her
fingers. She jerked, surprised, but he grabbed her wrists firmly. “Ready?”

“Ugh,” she said, making him
chuckle.

“One, two, three.” Together, he lifted
and Theo boosted her out of the elevator into more darkness.

Chapter Three

Gideon pulled Bea up onto the top
of the elevator.
She isn’t nearly as heavy as she thinks she is,
he
thought, guiding her to the side where she could hang onto the wall. “Just stay
there for a moment while I get Theo. Don’t go into the hall yet.”

“Okay,” she said, sounding breathy.

He knew she was frightened, but he
didn’t have time to reassure her. He reached down again, catching Theo’s hands
immediately. He grunted, hauling him up.

“Dude, time for a diet,” he
muttered.

“Shut up. This is all muscle,” Theo
retorted.

Gideon rolled his eyes and moved
back to Bea. “You doing okay?”

“Yeah,” she said. “I just want to
get out of here.” The building shook again. She grabbed his arm. “I want to get
out of here really, really bad.”

“Yeah, me too.” Gideon murmured. “I’ve
got you, don’t worry.” It was time to go. He didn’t know what was making the
place shake or what had happened to the power, but it couldn’t be good.

“I’ll go into the hall first,” Theo
said, moving past them.

“Theo, wait.” Gideon slipped his
hand under his shirt and unholstered his Bersa, handing it to Theo.

Theo took it, grumbling something
about guns the size of his palm.

“Just take it and shut up,” Gideon
told him. “It’s better than nothing, Mr. Cranky.”

Bea snickered. Gideon patted her
arm reassuringly, then guided her behind him.

He strained to see as Theo moved to
the doors, checking as best he could for intruders. There was some natural
moonlight coming in the windows, but all the streetlights were out, so it was
still really dark. Weird points of light flashed here and there against the
night sky, but he wasn’t sure if they were stars or just his vision going wacky.
And he didn’t even want to imagine what the hospital across the street was
dealing with. He followed Theo onto the wide passageway, Bea’s hand tucked into
his belt. The building shook again, straining his nerves.

“I can’t see a damn thing,” he
said, trying to see something. Anything.

Theo shook his head, then abruptly
shoved them back. Gideon flattened himself against the wall, making sure Bea
was protected. A large shape chittered down the hall at the opposite end of the
corridor. It didn’t look human.

“What the fuck was that?” Gideon
whispered.

“I have no idea,” Theo said, moving
forward cautiously. “We need to get to those stairs though, and the door is
down that hall.”

“Of course it is,” Gideon sighed.
He tensed as another low
boom
sounded in the distance. What could
possibly be happening?

Bea tightened her fingers in his
belt. “I think we’re on the second floor. At least we’ll only have to go down
one flight of steps.”

Gideon nodded. “True.”

“Okay, I’m going to check it out,”
Theo said. “We need to get moving.” He inched forward cautiously, then stuck
his head out to look down the hall, whipping it back immediately.

Gideon heard nothing except the
rumble of the building moving again.

“I think it’s clear.” Theo eased
around the corner.

Gideon tugged Bea behind him and
followed. The hall was a long stretch of darkness. He eased down, following
Theo to the stairwell door.

Theo paused.

Gideon looked at him, then nodded. “Gotta
do it.”

Theo rubbed his face, then eased
open the knob. Thankfully it didn’t squeak. He moved in, then gestured to them
to follow. Gideon drew Bea with him and the three of them headed down. The
stairwell was pitch black so they had to feel their way around the mid-point
landing. When they reached the bottom, Gideon waited. Theo had their only
weapon, so he got to go first again. Bea’s hand trembled slightly on Gideon’s
belt, but otherwise she betrayed no nerves. He admired her courage.

When Theo opened the door, Gideon
didn’t know what he was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t what he actually
saw: cars overturned, streetlights flattened, and the flicker of an enormous
fire against the brick of the building. He sucked in a breath, willing himself
to focus. There were bodies everywhere. As he watched, a large insect-like
creature stooped and picked one up. He clamped his mouth shut. Behind him, Bea’s
breathing picked up, but she didn’t make a sound, thank God.