Page 3
No, she wasn’t a hypocrite, but she would use whatever edge she could get.
“If that’s all you need then, I’ll be going to lunch. ” Without looking she casually re-buttoned her shirt before turning away from him.
“It’s a half hour before lunch, Tally,” he reminded her smoothly. “I’ll have to dock your pay. ”
Tally shrugged in unconcern. It would be worth it.
“I’ll survive. ” She collected her purse and headed for the door.
“I didn’t take you for a coward. Maybe I was wrong. ” His voice had her stopping, anger seething through her body as she turned back to him.
“A coward?” She lifted her brow as she assumed an expression of haughty disdain. “And you came to this conclusion how?”
She crossed her arms beneath her breasts as she stared back at him. Damn him for the arrogant ass he was.
“Because you want me. You know it and I know it, yet you fight it. ” His voice was low, dark and husky. She hated it when he used that voice. Hated the way it made her pussy pulse and tingle, made her yearn for his touch. Unfortunately, she was also well aware of the fact that there wasn’t a chance in hell it could work.
“My dear Mr. Conover. ” She sighed mockingly. “I’m old enough that I understand I can’t have everything I want in this life. Perhaps this is a lesson you should learn as well. ”
It was one she took to heart. Some things, men like Lucian topping the list, just weren’t good for the emotions or the general stability of life. Tally prided herself on her stability. If she had thought for one moment that she could go to bed with him, enjoy a few hours of wild sex and have it done with, then it would be a different matter. Something warned her that this would not be the case, though.
She stood still, in control, as he paced over to her slowly. He was tall, broad, and if the bulge in those slacks was any indication, he was fully aroused and just as large as he had looked while fucking Terrie.
He stopped directly in front of her, staring down at her, forcing her to raise her head to stare back at him in unconcern.
“Funny,” he said with apparent gentleness. She wasn’t fooled in the least. “This suddenly antagonistic attitude didn’t show up until you walked into that office while I was fucking Terrie. Jealous, Tally?”
Her breath caught in her throat and she knew he caught the tightening of her eyes at his shocking question.
“Oh yeah, I saw you come in. ” He dropped the file on a nearby shelf as she backed away from him.
He was too close; she felt too overwhelmed, too weak when he towered over her like that. Unfortunately, there was no place to retreat. Her back came against the door as his arms bracketed her, holding her firmly in place.
“Your nipples are hard, Tally,” he growled. “And that cold little expression can’t hide the fact that you’re fucking hot as hell right now. You want me, and you’re damned scared to take it. ”
“Scared? Of you?” She only barely managed the disdain she was trying for. “Not hardly, Lucian. You’re letting your imagination run away with you. You’re not the first man to make me respond sexually and you won’t be the last. Never doubt that. But I decide who I fuck and who I don’t. And I won’t fuck you. ”
“Because you’re scared. ” She watched as his gaze softened, the brilliant green color warming drastically. “You’re small, baby, but you can take me. ”
His outrageous words had flames of anger—or was that violent lust—shooting through her.
“Oh, get away. ” Sarcastic amusement filled her voice; her hands flattened on his chest as she pushed him back forcefully. “You think your dick’s so big I’m afraid of it?” She straightened the shoulders of her silk shirt, smoothed the crease at the top of her skirt before staring back up at him, allowing her lips to curve with seductive knowledge.
“Dream on, Conover. It’s not your cock I reject, or even your hedonistic lifestyle, such as it is. Quite frankly, you couldn’t handle me, and I’ll be damned if I’ll deal with the complications of your bruised pride when you realize that. It’s not fear; it’s fact. Now touch me again and I’ll resign. I don’t have to deal with your advances as well as your snappish attitude. I’ll quit first. ”
She gripped the doorknob and jerked the door open as she rushed to leave, only to be stopped abruptly as she ran into the dark, devil’s version of the wicked apparition behind her.
“Easy, sweetheart. ” Devril Conover’s voice was rough sex, whisky at midnight and depraved desires all rolled into one. The same as Lucian’s. She was trapped between the two men now as Devril gripped her hips and eased her backward as he came fully into the room, pushing her flush against Lucian.
“Everything okay?” Dev asked her when she didn’t speak. She couldn’t speak. Lucian enclosed her from behind as Devril pressed against her breasts. Heat enveloped her. Like bands of invisible steel it held her motionless, curiously shocked by the sudden impression of protectiveness and strength that emanated from the two men. She was surrounded by their warmth. Wrapped in it.
She stared up at him in surprise. He was the devil’s image of the man behind her, watching her heatedly, reminding her of exactly what she was passing up by walking out that door. It was bad enough to have Lucian tempting her, but to have Dev, the dark-haired vision of the sin twin helping him? That was completely unfair as far as she was concerned. Fate had it in for her, that’s all she could say.
“Just what I need. ” She sighed with mockingly false patience as she stared up at Devril and batted her eyes seductively. “Tweedle Dee to join Tweedle Dum. Do you boys ever do anything solo?”
“Where would the fun be in that?” Lucian asked her as his lips settled against her ear, his hands on her shoulders as she felt the hard length of his cock against the small of her back, Devril’s against her lower stomach. “Or the challenge? I’ll make you beg me to touch you again, Tally. ”
The sexual tension thickened as she realized the implication behind his words. The breath locked in her chest and lust sizzled through her veins. Both of them? Brothers? The temptation was damned near impossible to deny. She couldn’t have thought of any sexual experience that would have possibly been better. Or one that came closer to her fantasies.
Except.
Lucian was her boss. Her position as assistant to the vice president of Delacourte-Conover could become extremely precarious and even if she did quit, resign or walk out, the gossip that would abound could destroy her career. They could destroy her heart.
“Ohhh, so confident,” she mocked him waspishly, well aware that she had lost her appearance of calm disinterest as she pushed her way past Devril and made it to the door again. “I could make you beg. ” She rolled her eyes with forced patience. “Not hardly. ”
She turned back to them. They were like night and day. Devril watched her with blatant lust while Lucian watched her with a mix of predatory interest and a flare of anger.
“We’ll forget this episode ever happened,” she drawled coolly as they watched her with their ever-present amusement. Fighting back the knowledge that she was walking away from the ultimate sexual fantasy, she bit back her sigh of regret and informed them instead, “I’m going shopping. I’ll be back when I get back. ” Her gaze hardened on Lucian. “And if you dock my pay then you better make certain you bring your own coffee to work. Because anything you get here won’t be safe to drink. ”
She turned and walked sedately from the room, though she closed the door a bit harder than she intended. The blood was rushing through her body, heat and lust curling through her womb as her cunt trickled with her juices. Had anything ever been so intensely carnal? Not that she knew of. Which was terrifying. They were a weakness she could ill afford.
She had turned them down. She drew in a hard breath and gave herself a mental pat on the back even as the darker part of her desires mentally kicked her. Could there be anything more sed
uctive than the thought of being mastered by the two fallen angels of Delacourte-Conover? Not to her mind there wasn’t. But, she reminded herself, was there anything more dangerous?
Chapter Three
Okay, so she had choices to make. Tally sat alone in the small gazebo in the center of the park, staring out at the placid blue of the pond, on whose banks it had been built. The wooden bench was hard but not uncomfortable. The slight breeze that flowed through the branches of the trees above her was soothing, even if it did little to cool the fires raging in her body.
She was out of control. Or at least as out of control as she felt it was possible for her to get. She was nothing if not well aware of the fact that she had run from that office and from Lucian and Dev like a scared little virgin. She was anything but a virgin. And just because they may not be aware of it, she was honest enough with herself to admit the truth.
She was scared.
She hadn’t anticipated that when she had first been moved to Conover’s. She knew she lusted after Lucian, knew she wanted a chance to experience his touch, to fuck him until she knew at least some small relief from the desires tormenting her. When Dev had been added to the equation, she had been positively gleeful. Two men at her beck and call, she had thought. Amazingly virile, able to provide her with her every carnal desire. She hadn’t expected the dominance as well. Nor had she expected the growth of her desires. Her needs were almost consuming her now. Needs she had no business seeking.
She watched a small flock of ducks waddle across the grassy bank and slip into the cool water. Their lazy quacks and playful antics in the water brought a smile to her face. Once, a long time ago, she would have followed them. She would have splashed in the water and dared anyone to deny her the pleasure of it.
Now, she hid her pleasures, kept them in the dark and allowed them out only under the strictest circumstances. She could tell Lucian and Dev were not going to allow her to decide where and when those desires came out. Or how they would be played.
“Still pouting?” Dev’s dark voice had her jerking in response, her head swinging around as he stepped into the sheltered gazebo and took a seat across from her. His legs took up most of the space; his big body seemed to fill the small open building to capacity.
“I never pout,” she informed him with a patient little smile. She wished she felt as patient as she forced herself to appear. “I was merely enjoying the peace. ”
A peace she was certain was gone for good now. Dev Conover looked like your typical bad boy. From his overly long jet-black hair to his intense green eyes and hard body, he was every woman’s ideal of carnal pleasure. He was the dark to Lucian’s light, as different physically from his brother as you could get. But she had a feeling that inside, where it counted, they were too damned much alike.
He watched her intently, leaning back against the bench, his arms stretched out along the back of it as amusement tilted the corners of his lips.
“I had you pegged as the Dragon Lady,” he finally mused quietly. “I expected you to come out with claws drawn, not to see you run away as though afraid of the two of us. ”
She lifted her brow mockingly, despite the fact he had described exactly what she had done.
“Devril, really,” she said, shaking her head. “Some things are worth drawing claws over. Others aren’t really worth the time. Perhaps you and Lucian fall into that latter category. ”
“Perhaps?” That demonically sexy quirk of his lips made her mouth water.
She breathed in deeply, refraining from rolling her eyes, though resisting the urge was a test of her patience. No matter how sexy he was, he was infuriating as hell.
“Fishing for compliments, Dev?” She fought to keep her voice calm, modulated. It wouldn’t do to let him sense any weakness. Like Lucian, he would pounce on it immediately. “You’ll need to bring better bait next time. ” She lifted her brow in mocking amusement as she glanced at his lap insultingly before looking away. No way in hell would she admit that bulge was more than outstanding.