Page 10 of Three Reasons
Her eyes drop briefly before coming back up ever so fucking slowly to meet mine, and in them, I see what I suspected. Despite feeling hurt, she wants us; she’s just afraid of our connection. Like her, I’ve never felt anything like this in my life, and I want more. So much fucking more, and the only way we’re going to get it is if she says yes when we ask her out.
Clearing her throat, Gray backs off and begins tossing used materials as she cleans up. I understand what she’s feeling because I feel it so often, too. The need to hide what’s inside, guarding your heart so it can’t be broken.
If I want her to give us this shot, I must givehersomething first.
I just don’t know how.
“Uh, I’ll just finish straightening this up and meet you at the counter, okay?” Her head dips, hiding from us in the only way she can at the moment.
As Eli stands, their bodies collide. His hands grip her hips, pulling her into him, and I step up behind her. “You’re in my way, hulk.” She sounds a little uncertain, thrown off guard.
A smile lights up Eli’s face at her use of a nickname for him. Bending down, he whispers something in her ear I can’t quitehear, so I move closer, pressing my front up tight to her back and ass. She takes an audible breath, but silence surrounds us. You could almost hear a pin drop.
Lightly, I run my finger across her delicate shoulder, down over the intricate tattoos on her arm to her fingertips. Intertwining our hands, I raise one to my lips first, then the otherto Eli’s, who doesn’t hesitate to kiss along her delicate digits.
Releasing her hand once Eli takes it from me, I slide my finger back up her arm and take a detour across her collarbone. Her skin is so soft, so dainty, so damn addictive. I want to taste her. Our girl smells like sunshine on a warm day and expensive brandy shared with a good friend.
Pressing closer, she takes a step forward into Eli’s body. I can’t help rubbing my erection against her plump ass cheeks as Eli does the same to her front. With every one of our movements, her breath catches, and her head leans back and to the side just a little bit more.
An obvious invitation from her to both of us.
I’m captivated by how she allows us this small amount of control when we know how reserved she is. Instinctively, I understand this is hard for her, and she’s never done anything like it before. We’ll both treasure it forever. It leads me to believe this might be just what she needs—a man, or men, in our case, to take away her control. To be the ones to give her everything she wants but refuses to ask for.
Leaning down, I kiss along the column of her throat, finally getting that taste I’ve been craving, before whispering in her ear, “Have dinner with us tonight.”
Her head lolls to the side in order to meet my eyes. Her indecision lies in their dark pools of swirling blue. The need and yearning have her vibrating between us. I feel the same level ofdesire for her, and when I look up at Eli, it’s clear he does, as well.
“Tomorrow,” she breathes out as I move closer to her lips.
Capturing her mouth in a kiss sweeter than I ever thought I could deliver, I release a need-filled groan when her minty taste infiltrates as our tongues touch. Spurring me on to deepen the kiss, I nip at her as my hands slip around the front of her stomach, holding her tightly.
Her mouth opens more on a small gasp as Eli bends down to kiss and nip along her neck and shoulders, granting me deeper access to her mouth. I take full advantage, needing to taste all of her, to feel her passion deep inside. I need this woman so desperately that I can’t imagine leaving her tonight.
Eli’s aching need to taste her comes into focus, and I draw back just as he swoops in to capture her lips before I’ve finished tasting her.
Gray
Fingers to my lips, I’m stuck exactly where they left me ten minutes ago. Eli and Callan are expert kissers who know how to read a woman’s body.
Confused, aroused, even a little mad, I curse the two of them.
Callan drew me in with a single heated look, and it pisses me off now. Never before have I zoned out like that, never fallen into a man’s eyes or arms with so little effort. I’m not some frigid bitch like Tad and the whore accuse me of, but I’m no easy slut either.
I’ve slept with a total of two men in my life. Pathetic, I know, but neither were anything to remember. They certainly didn’t get my heart pounding in the same way Eli and Callan have, with only gentle touches and one very heated kiss.
Neither of the previous men holds a candle to Callan and Eli. Peer pressure from my oldest sister led me to do something I hadn’t wanted to when I was sixteen, and after that, I just wanted it to be my choice. Thinking back on the first time makes me realize that’s when many of the problems at home began. I started rebelling and turning into someone I hadn’t anticipated.
Glancing at my wrist, I’d gotten my first tattoo after sleeping with my sister's friend. The memory of what I felt that day bombards me…
Lost.
Tainted.
Alone.
So very alone and terrified.
I walked into a tattoo parlour, expecting to be turned away, and when I wasn’t, I’d asked for a simple white daisy on the inside of my wrist as a way to remember who I was. To remind me that I was a child when I gave up something so precious that I now wish I’d held onto.