***
Adam faced his two brothers once they reached the bedroom. “This changes things a bit.”
“What are you talking about?” Ryan demanded.
“Holly’s a virgin,” Ethan said.
Ryan lifted a brow but said nothing more. He merely pinned Adam with a questioning stare.
“What?” Adam asked, sensing there was a lot on his youngest brother’s mind.
Ryan sighed and shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “How do we know she won’t change her mind? How do we know she didn’t have cold feet and take off from her husband?”
Ethan started to protest but Adam silenced him with a look. He could see the uncertainty in Ryan’s eyes, knew Ryan would be the most distrustful.
A twinge of pain squeezed his chest. Would he ever know what Ryan had endured in Iraq? Sadness weighed heavy on his mind. God knew he and Ethan had tried to get Ryan to open up, but ever since his return a year ago, he hadn’t uttered a word about the time he’d spent in captivity.
“Ryan, she needs us. I’m not saying it’ll be easy. Hell, she’s married. She’s scared to death, and she’s confused over what she’s feeling for us. All we can do is protect her and show her how very good it can be with us.”
He turned to Ethan. “She trusts you. She’s already established a bond with you. I think you should be her first.”
“She’s not a piece of meat to decide over,” Ryan said in disgust. He turned and walked out of the bedroom before Adam could respond.
Ethan chuckled softly. “He’s right, you know. You don’t have to control everything, Adam. No need to orchestrate the entire act of sex. I think we can handle it on our own.”
Adam didn’t respond. That wasn’t what he meant, but maybe they were right. He was trying too damn hard. He rubbed a hand through his hair and massaged the back of his neck.
“I’ll be out in the barn,” Adam said. “You can see to Holly.”
Truth was he needed some fresh air.
***
The water had grown tepid, and Holly wasn’t going to wait on the men any longer. Hell, it wasn’t as if she couldn’t handle herself anyway. Yet she sat docilely in the tub like an obedient stooge.
She stood, water running down her body. She reached for a towel that hung on the rack beside the tub and began drying off.
“Let me.”
The towel slipped from her fingers as Ethan took it and began rubbing her back.
“I can do it,” she said, more sharply than she intended.
She reached for the towel, not liking the fact she stood naked before him.
He probed her with his stare for a second then let her have the towel back.
“I’ll be in the living room if you want to join me,” he said as he walked out of the bathroom.
She took her time, her mind a mass of confusion. She was seriously deluding herself if she thought it would be as easy as setting up a new life here with the three brothers. She knew nothing about them, had no idea what she would do here, and there was the little matter of her marriage to a vile, sadistic monster.
Oh, he hadn’t shown himself for the asshole he was until their wedding night. She’d been starry-eyed and all agog that he had chosen her to be his wife. She’d quickly learned that behind his charming exterior lurked a controlling, abusive man.
Would things have been different if she hadn’t witnessed him killing a man in cold blood on the day of their wedding? Probably not. After all, he’d had no difficulty raising a hand to her. No regret, no emotion had crossed his face as she’d lain there crying.
She shuddered and shook her head to rid herself of the memory. Never again would she put herself in such a position. If she remained here, it would be because she wanted to, not because Adam dictated it.
If she remained here. Was she contemplating it? Really?
“You’re out of your mind,” she muttered to her reflection in the mirror.
You want them as much as they want you
. Maybe more.
Her nipples puckered as she imagined them making love to her. She felt an unbearable tightening in her groin. It spread throughout her pelvis, and her clit pulsed in reaction.
She may be a virgin, but she wasn’t immune to sexual attraction.
Rolling her eyes heavenward, she dressed and slipped out of the bathroom. She meandered down the hall and, for the first time since her arrival, took stock of her surroundings.
The cabin exuded masculinity. All the rooms were sparsely decorated in earth tones. The living room was dominated by the stone fireplace, and the glow spread warmth over the rustic wood floors. It was just as a cabin may have looked a hundred years ago.
Ethan sat at a desk several feet from the fireplace. He was concentrating on a computer screen and occasionally tapping on the keyboard. Did they have internet access here in the middle of nowhere?
She looked around for the others, but the house was silent. Taking a deep breath, she crossed the room until she stood behind Ethan.
“Ethan?” she asked, damning how quivery her voice came out.
He swiveled around in his chair and looked inquisitively at her.
“Can I ask you some questions?”
“Of course.”
He stood up and tucked her hand in his then pulled her over to the couch. “Let’s get comfortable.”
She sank down beside him, careful to keep a safe distance from him. One touch from him and she was likely to throw herself into his arms and beg him to make love to her.
She stared at him for a long time then gathered her courage around her. “Is this for real?”
His gaze softened, and he sat back as if realizing she needed the space.
“This must be difficult for you.”
She nodded. She swallowed what she wanted to say then hesitated. Holding back her emotions wasn’t natural for her, as problematic as it may be. Something told her she could be honest with Ethan.
“It’s difficult, but not in the way you’d think.” She blushed and looked away as she spoke.
He didn’t prompt her to say more. He merely waited.
“I don’t understand,” she began again, trying to formulate her thoughts. “How can you all want me? I mean I can understand wanting me, wanting to have sex, that is, but…you want me to
stay
.”
Ethan nodded.
“But how? You don’t know me. How can it be any more than lust at this point?”
He smiled, reached over and curled his strong fingers over her palm. He picked up her hand then turned it over until her palm faced up. Bending his head, he pressed his lips to her skin.
She shivered in reaction, a chill racing straight up her arm.
“Lust? Oh yeah,” he said as he lowered her hand. “But it’s more than that.”
Her hand fell to the couch, but she wanted to press it back to his mouth. The urgency between her thighs had her shifting to alleviate the discomfort.
“If you’re asking me if we’re in love with you,” he began, “well, I can’t speak for my brothers, but I don’t think it’s that simple. As you said, we don’t really know you. But we recognize you. Does that make sense?”
She shook her head.
“Put it this way. I recognize you as the woman I
will
fall in love with. Maybe I’ve already started down the path. I won’t know until we’ve had more time to explore each other.” He flashed a wicked grin at her. “And explore, I plan to do.”
For some reason, his simple honesty comforted her more than declarations of undying love and devotion. She’d gotten those from Mason, and they certainly hadn’t done her any good.
“What do
you
want?” he asked softly.
“I want never to have gotten married,” she blurted, allowing her regret to pour out of her soul. Tears stung her eyelids and she looked away.
“Ahh, doll.”
He scooted forward and pulled her against his chest. He tilted her chin up until she looked him in the eye.
“You don’t have to stay married to the bastard.”
Sadness swelled in her chest. “I don’t think he’ll let me go. I know…I know too much.”
He arched his brow.
“What do you know?”
She closed her eyes. She needed to release the heavy burden she’d been carrying for the last two weeks.
“I saw him kill someone,” she whispered. “On our wedding day.”
Ethan’s grip tightened around her. “Hell.”
She pushed away from him, gritting her teeth to keep the tears at bay. “You see, that’s why I can’t stay here. He’ll find me. He’ll kill you. It’s nothing to him.”
Ethan released his breath then looked over her shoulder. “You hear everything?”
She swiveled around to see Ryan leaning against the wall behind her.
Ryan nodded, his eyes glittering dangerously. “Did you email Cal?”
She looked back at Ethan in confusion.
Ethan nodded. “Yeah.”
“Who’s Cal?” she asked.
“He’s a lawyer,” Ryan said.
Her eyes widened. She looked between the brothers, checking their expressions for something, some clue as to their intentions.
“He’s a good friend of ours. He practices law in Denver. I emailed him about your situation. Asked him how best to proceed with terminating your marriage.”
She stood up in agitation, shrugging off Ethan’s hand.
“You can’t tell him where I am!”
“No one’s going to tell him where you are, doll.”
“Don’t you want to be rid of the bastard who hurt you?” Ryan asked.
She looked up to see him studying her, probing her as if measuring her reaction. Her eyes narrowed. Did he think she wanted to stay married to Mason?
“After what you heard, how can you doubt that?” she asked, staring back at him just as intently.
They squared off, neither backing down as they burned holes through each other with their eyes.
He relaxed his stance then crooked his finger at her. “Come here.”
It pissed her off that she found herself crossing the room to stand in front of him.
He pulled her roughly into his arms and melded his lips to hers.
She moaned low in her throat. God, he felt so good. She threaded her arms around his neck, and in that moment, she didn’t give a damn what he thought about her. She wanted to rip his clothes off.
He sucked her bottom lip between his teeth and nipped erotically. He wasn’t gentle. His touch was demanding. He slid his hands underneath her shirt, upward until he cupped her breasts in his palms.
She flinched when his thumbs flicked her nipples. She arched closer to him, wanting more.
Her breath came in ragged spurts as his mouth left hers. He burned a trail down her neck then sank his teeth in the curve of her shoulder.
She cried out, her legs collapsing beneath her.
Something caught her. Not something. Someone. She found herself rocked against two hard chests. One in front. One in back.
Gentle kisses rained where before Ryan’s teeth had seared her skin. She leaned back, wanting more of Ethan’s touch.
Ryan shoved her shirt upward, baring her breasts. He bent and sucked one nipple into his mouth. God, he was hot. No preamble with him. No teasing. He went for it. Hard and fast.
“Do you want it?” Ryan murmured.
Did she want it? If she didn’t get it, she was going to kill someone.
“If you don’t want this, now is the time to say so,” Ethan said as he rocked her ass against his rock-hard erection.
“No, don’t stop. Please.”
“Never let it be said I could refuse a lady,” Ethan said, his voice thick with desire.
Ryan pulled the shirt the rest of the way from her body and tossed it on the floor. He hooked his finger in the waistband of her jeans and pulled her hard against him.
He devoured her mouth with his as he fumbled with the zipper. In a few seconds, he was impatiently shoving her pants down her hips.
“You’ve got too many clothes on,” she protested.
Ryan’s eyes flashed. “In the bedroom. Now.”
She slipped past him and walked on shaky legs down the hallway toward Adam’s bedroom. She was clad in only her panties, but for some reason, she couldn’t bring herself to be the one to divest herself of that last barrier.
She turned around as Ryan and Ethan walked through the door. Ryan yanked his shirt from his jeans while Ethan slowly unbuttoned his.
Her eyes were drawn to Ryan’s groin as he unfastened his jeans. He let his pants drop then pulled his cock from his underwear.
He was magnificent.
“Come here,” he said, as he fisted his cock in his hand.
She knew what he wanted, didn’t need further instructions. She went to him and knelt on the floor in front of him.
He grasped the back of her head and guided his cock into her mouth. He let out a harsh groan as he slid into her throat.