Sharing Hailey (27 page)

She flicked the tip of her tongue against his sac. He hadn’t shaved since the shooting and the short, bristly hairs scraped her tongue. She nuzzled his groin and inhaled his scent.

He groaned. “Hailey, this isn’t about sex. It’s not about me. That’s not why I’m here.”

She peered up at him. “It would be a real shame to let this—” she kissed his shaft, and it jerked in response, “—go to waste.” She frowned. “Unless you’re afraid I’ll hurt you.”

“God no. We can work around it.”

Her lips curled up. “Hmmm. That’s just what Mark said.”

She flattened her tongue against the base of his cock and dragged it to the tip as she lightly brushed the sensitive skin between his balls and anus with her fingers. His sac tightened, and his hips thrust forward. Hailey engulfed his cock in her mouth, taking him fully without preamble. She was afraid to tease him, afraid to draw it out. Tony grabbed the sides of her head and pulled out as quickly as she’d sucked him in.

As he held her head in place, preventing her from sucking his cock, he kneeled in front of her.

“I need to be inside you…not your mouth. You,” he said roughly.

“I don’t—”

Tony pressed his lips against hers, cutting off her words. He pushed her back on the mat and lay on his side, propped on an elbow next to her. “It’s been so long,” he murmured. “I don’t want to rush this.”

He languidly kissed, licked and teased her mouth. By the time he moved on to her breasts, he’d melted her so completely she didn’t think she’d ever be able to move again. She proved herself wrong when she arched her back, urging him to take more of her breasts. But he moved down her belly and slipped a hand between her legs, palming her and dipping a finger inside. She grabbed his shoulders, kneading them. Her hips lifted to take his finger farther, and he added another, finding her G-spot. His mouth hovered over her mound, his hot, moist breath puffing against the bare flesh. His tongue flicked her clit, and she ground against his mouth. He focused on that tiny bud just long enough to drive her crazy with need before he flipped onto his back and encouraged her to straddle him. Her sex enfolded his thick cock. Between her own juices and Mark’s leftover seed, she was drenched. She rubbed her wet folds against him.

She wanted him.

Now.

Wanted to join with him as perfectly as she had with Mark. Wanted him inside and surrounding her. To know they were both still alive, that Daniel hadn’t stolen their essence, their passion, their love for each other.

She lifted her hips and grasped his cock with one hand, guiding it to her opening. Releasing it, she slowly slid down his length until every hot inch of him filled her. Skating her hands up his torso, avoiding his wound, she leaned over and licked his hardened nipples. He tightened his arms around her until her body was flush against his. His heart thumped against her breast. His hands moved down her back, over the globes of her ass until his fingers touched the pucker of her anus. Her vaginal walls contracted in response to the light stimulus along those sensitive nerve endings. He’d never touched her like this when they were alone. But as he began the rhythmic thrust, the pressure of his finger against that forbidden hole brought her closer and closer to orgasm. All thoughts disappeared. She heard their raspy breaths and pounding heartbeats, basked in the heat of his flesh surrounding her, tasted the sweet offering of her juices on his lips, breathed in the perfume of their blended scents. Then she plunged over the edge of climax. Three more thrusts and he was with her, his cock pulsing and filling her with his seed.

She held him tightly, wanting to always be this close to him, willing him to understand how much she loved him. Because at this moment, that was all she felt. Love.

After their hearts had slowed and they’d caught their breaths, she remembered his wound. She stiffened and carefully sat up. “Did I hurt you? Are you okay?”

His grin was lazy, all smug, satisfied male. “Do I look like I’m in pain?”

“No.”

Hailey slid off of him and lay on her side, one leg draped over his thigh. She splayed a hand on his chest. “How did you get in here? I locked the door.”

He wiggled his fingers in front of her face. “Exceptional fine motor skills. It’s a requirement for pediatric surgeons. Comes in handy when picking locks too.”

“Right. Good to know you have a backup profession,” she said sarcastically.

She began drawing small circles on his chest with her fingers. She needed to ask him about the nightmares, but she was afraid to talk about it. Afraid she would lose it again. When she circled his nipple, he placed a hand over hers to stop her.

“Are you having nightmares?” she whispered, fearing his answer.

He slipped out from under her and sat up. “If we’re going to talk about this, let’s get Mark. Okay?”

She nodded and got to her feet. Her anger with Mark had already dissipated. Tony grabbed her terry cloth robe off the back of the bathroom door and held it while she stuck her arms in the sleeves. Then he put on the white boxer briefs he’d discarded before joining her in the shower. He opened the door and, placing a hand at the small of her back, guided her into the bedroom, where Mark was stretched out on his back one arm behind his head, the white sheet covering him from the waist down.

Thank you for that.
She didn’t need the distraction of his nudity. He stared at them, his expression inscrutable.

Hailey crawled into bed and sat cross-legged at the end, facing Mark. She rested a hand on Mark’s shin and waited for Tony to settle against the headboard.

Finally, Tony looked directly at Hailey and spoke. “Yes, I’m having nightmares. They started a couple of nights ago.”

Mark gave her an I-told-you-so look.

“So, let’s talk about that night,” Tony said, his voice matter-of-fact, as if they were discussing the weather.

Her gut twisted. “I don’t think we need to do that. We all know what happened.”

Tony shook his head. “We all have different perceptions of what happened. When Daniel attacked us, we were all worried about different things. We saw different parts of it.”

Although the bedroom was dark except for the light seeping in from the bathroom, Mark covered his eyes with his forearm. His lips tightened.

Tony started. “I was walking to the garage, thinking about my patient, already going through the surgery in my head. Even though the security lights were on, I didn’t see anything. I just heard the shot and felt something slam into me. I thought maybe a branch had snapped off and hit me. I kept walking while I scanned the ground for the branch. I didn’t see anything, so I looked at my side. That’s when I saw the hole in my jacket. I still didn’t understand what had happened. I unzipped the jacket and saw the blood on my shirt. And I knew I had to get back to the house to warn you, to protect you. That’s all I was thinking.

“Next thing I know, Mark’s there helping me and I’m afraid I’m going to get him shot too.” His voice became angry. “And I’m pissed, because who the hell is going to take care of you if we both die?”

Mark lifted his arm, and Hailey saw the tears in his eyes as he stared hard at Tony. “You know I couldn’t leave you out there. I couldn’t have lived with myself. You would have done the same damn thing.”

“I heard the gunfire,” Hailey whispered.

“I didn’t.” Mark grimaced, dropping his arm to shield his eyes again. “I was already asleep.”

Hailey shook her head. “I was lying there, wondering how you could get back to sleep so quickly. That’s when I heard it.”

They continued talking it out, what they saw, what they heard, what they felt, what they should’ve, would’ve, could’ve done differently. Sometimes they didn’t speak at all—just processed what had been said, silently mulling it over before moving on. Although they didn’t follow the chronological sequence of events, the conversation seemed to flow logically, as they needed it to flow. Their bodies moved as the conversation moved. Curling together, breaking apart, touching more often than not. Holding. Reassuring.

As the sun rose, their bodies melded together, and the quiet that fell over them was different from the earlier silences. This silence was, if not contentment, then something close. There was nothing left to say.

In a few days, maybe a few weeks, they’d have to go over it again. They’d been through hell, and Hailey knew one night of talking it out wouldn’t put it to rest, wouldn’t heal them. But it was a beginning.

They were alive. Tony was right. The rest of it they would deal with one day at a time.

Chapter Twenty-Six

When Tony went back to work, Hailey took a mental health day. It wasn’t like she’d be able to get any work done. Because she was telling them tonight that she was returning home tomorrow. They wouldn’t be happy about it. She was hoping dinner and wine would help.

As they sat at the bar eating the beef burgundy she’d prepared, Hailey pushed chunks of meat around in the sauce and sipped her wine for courage.

Tony talked about his first day back at work. He seemed happy but tired, and Hailey wondered if she shouldn’t wait until tomorrow to share her plans.

Chicken,
her conscience chided.

Abruptly Tony said, “Spit it out, sunshine.”

She jerked her gaze from her plate. “Huh?”

“You’re playing with your food. Either you’re sick or you’ve got something to say that you don’t think we’ll like. You don’t look sick, so I’m guessing the latter.”

Mark slipped his hand under her hair and gently massaged the back of her neck. “He’s right. What’s bugging you?”

She took a deep breath. “I’m going home tomorrow.” She rushed on. “I appreciate everything y’all have done for me.
Everything
. Protecting me, feeding me, giving me the best orgasms ever,” she added, hoping to lighten the mood. Besides, it was true. “But I need to go home.”

Tony surprised her when he said, “I know you expect an argument from me, but I understand.”

“Wh-what?”

“I think we started off right, but this thing with Daniel got us off track.” He shrugged. “I love your brother, but he wasn’t very helpful either. They both forced us to make decisions we weren’t ready to make, to talk about stuff…I don’t know…out of order.”

God, that was it exactly. Talking about marriage and living together before they’d even been dating a week. Mark was nodding.

“You need to get your life back,” Tony said.

“Yeah,” Mark agreed. “The life you had before Daniel stole it from you.”

“And maybe we shouldn’t have made our proposal when you were on the rebound,” Tony added. “But the three of us have never had the best timing.”

She couldn’t believe he was apologizing. He hadn’t done anything wrong. All he’d done was love and protect her.

Her heart swelled, and tears burned her eyes. “I love you both. I do.” One hot tear slipped free and trickled down her face.

“Why are you crying, babe?”

“I was afraid you’d fight me on this. I am
so
relieved you’re not angry.”

Tony brushed the tear away. “Will you save one night a week for us? Or is that too much?”

“Only one night? I was thinking two, since there are two of you.”

“I dunno. You might have to twist my arm a little harder,” Mark teased, but the misery in his eyes didn’t match his smile.

“What will y’all do?” she asked. “Tony, are you going to stay here?”

“Nope, I think we need to go back to the beginning. That means going back to my loft.”

“It’s gonna be lonely around here without y’all,” Mark said. His glum expression pierced her heart.

“You weren’t lonely before we moved in, were you?” she asked gently.

“No, but I didn’t know what I was missing. I’ve gotten used to having y’all around.” He sighed and his next words were lighter, more optimistic. “But you’re right. We need to take it back a few steps. I get that.” He smiled then leaned forward and brushed his lips along the side of her neck. “Any special requests for our last night together?”

“It’s not our last night,” she murmured. “It’s only the beginning.”

* * *

The next two months were incredible. The first week back home had been difficult. She’d had trouble sleeping. She’d missed Mark and Tony. She’d felt guilty about Daniel’s death, even though she knew in her head it wasn’t her fault. Her heart kept telling her she could have done something to prevent it. Thanks to Beth, Hailey had started working with a psychologist who helped women deal with the aftereffects of domestic violence. And it was alleviating some of her lingering guilt and insecurities.

She reconnected with old friends, and she and Beth got together every couple of weeks. Her business grew until she was turning away customers. She hated saying no, but she couldn’t maintain the quality of her grant writing if she overextended herself.

But the best part was Tony and Mark. They went to the movies and out to dinner. They clubbed and partied. They watched TV and made love. It was more incredible than she ever imagined, comfortable and exciting, old familiar affection and new blossoming love.

They spent more and more time together. Sometimes just Hailey and Mark. Sometimes just Hailey and Tony. But mostly, the three of them together. And yet, as much time as she spent with them, she was still able to see her friends. She couldn’t help making the comparison to her time with Daniel.

There had been a brief blip in their happiness when Daniel’s parents had filed a civil lawsuit against Mark. But after viewing both videos of Daniel’s attacks, their lawyer had convinced them to drop it.

At the end of April, she flew to Austin for a week to see Nikki and Jake. When she flew back to Albuquerque, Mark and Tony were waiting for her just beyond security. Her heart expanded until it about burst from her chest at the sight of them. God, she’d missed them. They looked better than ever. Had she only been gone a week?

Mark lifted her feet off the ground in a bear hug. When he set her down, Tony rested one arm on her shoulders and tucked her into his side before dropping a light kiss on the corner of her lips and heading for the escalators.

“How’s the old married couple?” Mark asked.

“Nikki looks great. She’s showing all six months of my nephew,” she said. “And it looks like Jake is going to survive the pregnancy. He’s so much calmer.” She focused on Tony. “And that’s
your
doing. He keeps saying, ‘Tony says this,’ and ‘Tony says that.’ And Landon was in Austin for a couple of days. He may be coming to Albuquerque later this year for a few months. Something about starting up a nanotech cancer research center.”

“At UNM?” Tony asked.

“Yeah.”

“Sounds interesting. I’ll have to give him a call.”

“So, babe, you hungry?”

“Starving.” Although Jake had fixed a huge send-off breakfast for her, that had been six hours ago.

Mark rubbed his hands together. “Good. We’ve got lunch in the car.”

“Burgers?”

“Nope. Tony got Nita to pack a picnic basket for us. In fact, she’s thinking about adding it to her menu as a take-out option.”

They’d become regulars at Nita’s Place since Beth introduced Hailey to it.

“Ooh, a picnic. That sounds romantic.”

Mark and Tony grinned at each other peaking her curiosity. “What’s going on?”

“Patience,” Mark replied.

“You finished your house while I was gone,” she guessed.

Tony’s bark of laughter answered that question.

“Y’all are so funny,” Mark growled.

Hailey sat in the middle of the back seat in Mark’s extended-cab pickup as he drove from the airport parking garage. They seemed as excited to share their week with her as she was to share hers with them. It sounded like the guys had spent all of their free time together, and she was sorry she’d missed out on it. But it had been great to see her brother, especially since their vacation in Hawaii had been cut short.

Mark drove along the river. It was a beautiful spring Sunday afternoon. Blue skies. No wind, which was unusual for spring in Albuquerque. Warm. The leaves on the cottonwood trees were beginning to leaf out and form a silvery green canopy.

Mark parked next to a few other cars, and they began walking. Tony carried the picnic basket, and Mark carried an old quilt. When they hadn’t seen any people for a while, Tony and Mark led her off the path into a grove of cottonwoods surrounding a grassy meadow with a few wildflowers blooming. Mark spread out the blanket and Hailey unpacked the picnic basket. The yeasty scent of Nita’s ciabatta bread was intoxicating, and she couldn’t wait to rip off a piece. They’d even brought a bottle of red wine. She couldn’t have planned a better homecoming.

When they’d finished eating, Tony and Mark lapsed into silence. Leaning back on her hands, she closed her eyes and lifted her face to the warmth of the sun. It was nice just sitting with them, not saying anything. Just being with them. The river swished by. Birds called to each other. Insects buzzed.

Tony cleared his throat. She opened her eyes, and they were both on their knees in front of her, their expressions serious, nervous. Mark held a small box in his hand.

Hailey’s heart stopped, and panicked thoughts pinged around in her brain as she tried to anticipate what they were doing. Proposing? But what—marriage? That looked like a ring box. Were they going to ask her to choose whose name to take?

“We talked to Jake today,” Tony said.

She blinked. “You did?” What did Jake have to do with that little box and their serious expressions? Had they asked
him
which one she should marry?

Nah, they wouldn’t do that.

“We asked for his blessing.”

She tucked her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms tightly around them. This could not be good.

Tony smiled. “He gave it.”

She looked to Mark for confirmation. He nodded, his smile as big as Tony’s.

“No.” She shook her head. “I told you, I’m not marrying either one of you. I won’t choose.”

Mark opened the box. Inside lay a ring. Three different strands of gold twisted together in a circle. Rose gold, white gold, yellow gold. It didn’t look anything like an engagement ring.

“We’re not asking you to choose,” Tony said. “We’re asking you to spend the rest of your life with us.”

“The three of us, together,” Mark said.

She glanced from one man’s hopeful face to the other. “Jake gave his blessing?” she squeaked.

Mark chuckled. “Impending fatherhood must be making him soft. He even said he’d pay for a ceremony in Hawaii.”

Hailey pressed her hands to her heart. The warmth and love filling it were almost painful. “Y’all are sure you want to do this?” she asked. “This isn’t some guilt thing?”

“Sunshine, the last few months have been the happiest of my life.”

“And it just keeps getting better,” Mark said. He held up the box. “This will make it perfect.”

She nodded jerkily. Tears blurred her vision, and her lips quivered. “Yes,” she whispered, then a little louder. “Yes.”

Eyes wide, Mark looked to Tony for confirmation. “Did she say yes?”

Tony grinned and high-fived him. “Put the ring on her finger before she changes her mind.”

Mark’s fingers shook as he lifted the ring from the box. Tony held her left hand, and Mark slid the ring in place. The sun-warmed metal was heavy on her finger, but it was a solid, secure weight, not a burdensome one.

Mark kissed her, his lips lingering sweetly until Tony pushed him aside. “My turn.”

Tony took his own sweet time until Mark asked, “Are you ready to go home?”

“Yes,” she said simply.

She didn’t even ask where.

* * * * *