Three Way, the Novel (13 page)

What would it be like to be with Ryker’s brother? Would he fuck the same? Would he feel the same inside of me? Would he taste the same when we kissed?

These questions dominated my mind’s landscape and knocked any melancholy thoughts of Ryker right out the back door.

“You want to go for a walk?” Quinn asked me as I finished my breakfast. I took a sip of the orange juice he’d brought for me and thought about it.

“I do, but maybe alone,” I said. “I need to clear my head.”

“Ain’t gonna happen,” he said, shaking his head. “I told Ryker I’d keep watch over you if he had to go away. So I’m keeping watch.”

“He didn’t mean literally I’m sure,” I argued.

“He did, I know him.”

“How about just ten minutes and I’ll be right back?”

“It’s going to rain. I booked this room for another night if you’re up for sticking around and exploring the town, but we ain’t gonna be doing much today. I don’t feel like driving in the coming storm either so let’s go stock up on some supplies and prepare for the rest of our day together.”

I sighed and realized Quinn was as stubborn and single minded as his brother. Once they got an idea in their heads, there was no luring them off the beaten path.

“Fine,” I said, “come with me but don’t get in the way.”

I stood up, grabbed my clothes and headed to the bathroom. I got dressed and walked out to find Quinn waiting, his arm out for me to hook my hand on. He was ever the gentleman, even if he was kind of an arrogant asshole every once in a while.

Well, a great deal of the time.

We strolled along the street and looked for little shops to purchase food and entertainment. There was no TV in the room so we bought a deck of cards and I picked up a trashy romance novel at the drug store.

We picked up some pastries at the same bakery Quinn found earlier, a few bottles of good wine at the grocery store and some snacks for later. The bed and breakfast hosts had told us about dinner that night so we’d most likely join them if we felt like it.

I surprised Quinn by breaking free from him on the beach and running down the sand against the wind. The rain hadn’t started yet, but the wind in my hair made me feel wild and powerful and I laughed at him left behind with all the grocery bags in his hands.

He watched me as I frolicked in the waves, as much as my shoes would let me and was waiting for me when the rain did start and I ran to him on the sidewalk.

“Did you get it out of your system?” he laughed as I ran up, just beginning to get soaked.

“Yes, we need to go!”

“Are you sure? You don’t need to kick up your heels one last time?”

“No, I promise!” I yelled and grabbed his arm, tugging him towards the bed and breakfast across the road.

It amazed me how quickly the streets and beach cleared the moment the storm started.

We raced into the bed and breakfast and up the stairs to our room. I opened the door and Quinn brought the groceries in and for a moment I felt like we were married and on our honeymoon.

There with Quinn like that felt shockingly normal and right. It felt like I could be with him as his wife even just for a short time.

I vowed to erase all thoughts of Ryker from my head while I was with Quinn and live in the moment.

The rain pelted our windows and Quinn cracked open the first bottle of wine and we toasted to new beginnings.

Chapter Twenty Two

“Never have I ever had sex in an elevator,” I said and stared at Quinn waiting for his answer.

We were playing Never Have I Ever and I was losing badly. Or winning, depending on how you looked at it. I had barely taken any drinks of wine and he was already halfway to drunk. He had way more sexual experience than I did.

He gave me a lopsided grin and brought his glass to his lips and took another sip of wine.

“Are you kidding me?” I laughed. “Is there anything you haven’t done?”

“What can I say, I’m a curious sort,” he chuckled and raised his brow. “Now let me see. Never have I ever kissed a girl.”

He took a drink and I hesitated. I sighed and thought about a couple crazy nights with my best friend back in high school. Did that even count? We’d been playing spin the bottle a couple months before graduation and ended up kissing.

There’d been barely any tongue and it was mostly done for the guys.

But still, I could finally have a drink and seem a little more daring than I actually was.

I smirked, looked at Quinn from under my thick lashes and brought the glass to my lips.

“No way!” he exclaimed as I sipped my wine and licked my lips. “You have to tell me all about it!”

“Why don’t you tell me all about your experiences kissing a girl?” I laughed.

“Then we’d be here forever,” he winked.

“You’re incorrigible,” I sniffed.

“I never said I wasn’t,” he smiled. “I think I’ve had most of the bottle so you need to catch up.”

He poured the rest of the bottle into my glass and set the bottle back on the table. I settled back onto the sofa and held my glass up to look at the light glinting through. I sipped some more and looked at Quinn.

“Why don’t you tell me about Ryker’s escapades?”

He looked visibly uncomfortable and gave me a cheeky grin. “I know he’s pretty head over heels for you.”

“Yeah? How?”

“He doesn’t bring girls home.”

“Never?”

“Nope, never. You’re a special girl, Margot. No matter what happens, always remember that.”

“Then why did he leave me?” I asked, my voice hitching into a sob.

“I can’t answer that,” Quinn replied, looking over my shoulder out at the darkening night and rain beating against the window.

“You can’t or you won’t?”

“A little of each maybe.”

“This isn’t fair!” I exclaimed and gulped the last of my wine.

“Life isn’t fair, sweetheart,” he said and got to his feet. “We should get downstairs if we want any dinner though.”

I wasn’t that hungry but I could feel the wine sloshing around in my empty stomach. If I didn’t eat, it would go straight to my head.

“Fine,” I said and stood and almost fell back again. The wine had gotten to my head more than I’d thought.

“Easy, sweetheart,” Quinn said and his hand shot out to hold my arm and keep me steady. “You’re a lightweight, hang onto me when we head downstairs.”

“I’m not a lightweight, you’re just a big old horn dog with way more experience than me,” I said but I took his arm as suggested.

“You might want to stop drinking now or you will be climbing on top of me tonight. Ryker told me how excited you get when you drink.”

“He told you what?” I squeaked. “Why would he tell you that? And there was only that one time—“

“I was kidding,” he laughed and shook his head.

“You ass,” I grinned and we almost tumbled down the stairs into the dining room. We interrupted the other guests with our loud talking and hushed laughter, but settled in and managed to maintain some modicum of civility until we could head back upstairs.

It wasn’t that dinner was awful, it wasn’t. The owners of the bed and breakfast, Shannon and Rob, were really nice people and so were the other guests.

It was just that we apparently didn’t realize how much wine we’d consumed until we were forced to interact with sober people.

And it wasn’t that much fun.

So we wolfed down some roast beef with potatoes, skipped dessert and headed back up to our room.

As we left the dining table, I heard Shannon remark, “I miss those days. They’re on their honeymoon and can’t keep their hands off each other. Young lovers are so inspiring.”

Once inside our room Quinn locked the door and I broke down laughing.

“Was it just me or was that awkward as fuck?” he asked and joined me in laughter.

“It was awful, I kept feeling the room spinning and I thought getting something to eat would help but I swear I’m drunker than before.”

“Only one thing to do then.”

“What’s that?”

“Make a toast!” he declared and opened another bottle of red wine.

I groaned but happily held out my glass. “Did you hear what Shannon said as we left?”

“No, I did not,” Quinn replied and set the bottle down.

“She thinks we’re on our honeymoon,” I giggled. “She called us young lovers.”

“I could see why she’d make that mistake,” he said with a wolfish grin.

“Why’s that?”

“Because she can tell how much I want to fuck you,” he replied in an even tone, his gaze burning into mine.

I gulped, held up my glass and said, “I guess I’ll drink to that.”

He tapped his glass on mine and said, “Me too.”

The rain beat against the window and the sky was dark with storm clouds. I sipped my wine, stared at Quinn and wondered what the hell I was getting myself into.

***

We were in the middle of a game of Go Fish, a card game that I knew from when I was a kid and pretty much the only one I knew as an adult.

“Do you have a five?” I asked, looking over my cards at him. Quinn’s green eyes glimmered mischievously as he slowly flipped through his cards.

“Go fish,” he replied at last.

“Dang it,” I said and reached for another card when there was a bright flash of lightning followed by a huge boom of thunder. I shrieked and jumped up right into Quinn’s waiting arms.

“Easy,” he said and rubbed my back. “It’s just a little storm.”

“I hate thunder,” I said with my body trembling. “Ever since I was a little kid, I know it’s pathetic.”

“It’s not pathetic, we’ve all got something,” he said in a soothing voice.

“Do we?” I asked. “What’s yours?”

“I’m afraid of clowns. I hate them,” he said with a grin.

“Yeah, right,” I laughed. “Thanks though, I think I’m okay now.”

“Are you?” he asked and looked down at me without removing his hands from my body.

“I’m sure,” I said softly and didn’t break apart.

Another flash of lightning lit up the room and I winced as I waited for the thunder.

It hit with a great boom that rattled the windows. I pressed my face against Quinn’s broad, muscled chest and squeezed my eyes shut tight.

“Oh shit,” he said and held me closer.

“What’s wrong?” I asked and opened my eyes. I was disoriented at first because the room was all black.

“The power just went out,” he said. “Sit here, I saw some candles in the side table.”

“Okay,” I replied and sunk back down in my chair. Outside the storm seemed to grow in intensity and I was a quivering mess as Quinn crossed the room.

“Fuck,” Quinn said under his breath and I heard a thump.

“What’s wrong?” I asked breathlessly.

“I hit my leg on the table but I found the candles. There’s a box of matches in here too, it’s like they expect this kind of thing around here.”

“We aren’t exactly on the beaten path I guess,” I said. I saw a flame flare in the darkened room and Quinn lit a single candle. He stuck it in a candleholder and pulled out another one.

He repeated this several times around the room until the entire place glowed in beautiful amber light.

“It is very romantic I guess,” I said and lifted my glass to my lips. It was empty; once again I had drunk more wine than I’d thought. Being on edge around Quinn seemed to have that effect on me.

The room flooded with light as lightning flashed again. I gasped, set the glass on the table and hunched over waiting for the thunder.

It boomed and I cried out. Quinn was by my side in an instant, comforting me and soothing me in a gentle voice.

“You’re terrified, sweetheart,” he said and took my hand. He led me to the bed and said, “Let me hold you, let me protect you.”

“What about Ryker?” I asked, almost unable to say his name. Guilt and desire choked my words.

“Ryker’s not here,” he said and stroked my cheek with the back of his knuckles. “Besides, I know my brother well and I know he’d want this. You know it too.”

“I do,” I admitted. “He wanted me to turn to you but I didn’t understand it at the time.”

“We’ve always shared our lives,” Quinn told me, brushing a tangle of hair off my forehead. “It makes sense that we’d share you, Margot. You mean so much to him and I can see now that you mean so much to me. If you’ll let it happen.”

“It’s so hard for me to move ahead without knowing where he is,” I said. “I feel stuck.”

“He’ll be okay,” he told me. “My brother always is. But if you’re stuck, then I’m stuck with you.”

With that he leaned over and lifted me off the ground and turned towards the bed. He set me down and caressed me as he kissed me softly, moving his lips up my shoulder, along my collarbone and across the curve of my throat.

He found my lips swollen and waiting, my hunger beaded on them like dew on a flower.

I moaned and reached for him, found his body almost identical to Ryker’s, especially in the candlelight.

He climbed onto the bed with me and at once his hands were everywhere, tearing and pulling my clothes off as I ripped at his.

I could blame it on the wine, but I knew I wanted it, I needed it. I wanted Quinn as badly as I’d wanted Ryker and I wasn’t going to ignore it.

I couldn’t.

My body would rumble and crash like the thunder brewing outside if I denied my overwhelming desire for Quinn.

“Oh Margot, beautiful Margot,” he exhaled as he pulled away from me. His eyes raked my body in the dim light. I moved around under him feeling sensuous and decadent. This had been building up between us and it was about to break loose.

He pushed me against the pillow and lifted my hips up so my legs fell to either side of him. He sat up on his knees and rubbed my thighs and drew his huge hands across the flat plain of my stomach.

My eyes felt like they were on fire when he pushed my thighs apart, slid between my legs and began to eat my pussy like he was a starving man and I was his only sustenance.

“Oh Quinn,” I moaned and ran my hands through his hair.

It was strange, up until that moment it felt almost like Quinn and Ryker were interchangeable to me. But the second Quinn’s tongue found my clit and he sucked my pussy until I could barely remember my own name, I realized they were different men.