Ren glanced between the two of them and shook his head. “Oh, hell no. It’s all of us or nothing. We’re here to have fun. Let’s go, Fox.”
Hayes’s mouth tightened. Almost like the words had jabbed him, but finally, he let out a breath. “Fine. One dance.”
Ren led them to the dance floor as Grace’s song ended and the deejay switched back to club music since no other suckers had volunteered yet to sing.
Ren put a hand to her hip and Hayes wrapped an arm around her waist from behind. The small sober, logical part of her said that she should maybe be worried that her friends would see her sandwiched between them, that they’d get ideas. Accurate ideas, but ideas nonetheless. But then she had to laugh at herself. As if her friends would ever entertain the idea that hermit Cora was going to bed with both of these guys. They’d believe she was an alien from the planet Zort before they believed that.
So she closed her eyes and found that place inside her that was getting easier and easier to access lately, that part that didn’t worry so much about what other people thought, and she danced. She hadn’t done it since college. And maybe not even then. Just dance without a care. Usually it took massive amounts of alcohol to even get her moving, but with Ren’s and Hayes’s hands on her as they danced and the scent of them surrounding her, she couldn’t think about anything else but the sweet oblivion of this moment. The pure feeling of it.
One song turned into another and another, and the guys moved her between them, sometimes having her face Hayes, sometimes Ren. And they danced with each other, too. A few of the people around them joined in at times, the whole thing becoming one big, happy mass of humanity. It was freeing and amazing and so much fun, Cora found herself laughing for no reason at all. Soon she was slick with sweat and moving without thought, hands in the air and hips rocking.
When a song with a slower beat replaced a fast one, Hayes spun her around and gathered her to him. Ren closed in behind her, cocooning her from any interference.
She lifted her gaze, catching Hayes staring, creases around his eyes, a hint of amusement there. She probably looked like a beet. Her face felt burning hot. Her makeup was no doubt melting off.
His smile was slow.
“What?” she asked, swiping sweat off her brow. “I look like I’ve been dipped in a pond, don’t I?”
He chuckled and warmth rained on her with that sound. His fingers stroked her tailbone. “No. You’re beautiful when you let go like that. Eyes closed, face tipped up to the lights, uninhibited.”
She wet her lips, tasting salt there. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” He brushed his mouth along her jaw and pressed a kiss below her ear, sending shivers racing over her skin. “We can bring you to that place without the alcohol, Cora. Beyond it. I want to see you let go. No phone lines or computer screens in the way.”
She lost her breath for a second, and he pulled her fully against him. Dancing still, but making it impossible not to feel the hard length of him against her hip or the heat of Ren behind her. If a body could groan without sound, hers did, their obvious arousal like liquid fire through her veins. She didn’t pull away, didn’t want to. Instead, she let her baser instincts take over. She channeled Lenore and ground herself against them both.
Hayes’s hand slid beneath her hair and cupped her neck. “I want you, Cora. We both do. Tonight.”
God. The words were like a hypnotic spell mixing with the music and wrapping around her. And all she could manage to do was nod. Yes. Yes, please. Yes, now.
His thumb traced over the hollow of her throat. “Tell us to stop and we stop.”
The feel of that big hand around her throat was erotic in a way she didn’t want to analyze. She closed her eyes, let the music and the feel of having these two men against her invade her senses. She didn’t say stop.
She tipped her head back, and Hayes kissed down her throat. Soft brushes of his lips, barely-there kisses, but it was like jolts of electricity straight down to the pulsing spot between her legs. And Ren matched the move with gentle presses of his lips against her shoulder. They held her hips, holding her in place, and letting her feel just how much they wanted her. She moaned at the feel of them pressing against her and making promises. Her clit ached, her heartbeat relocating below her waist, sensation trying to sweep her under.
Ren’s breath was hot against her ear. “Time to take you home with us, Benning. I’m not sure I have enough restraint for another dance.”
She swallowed past the dryness in her throat, every libidinous molecule in her body screaming Yes! but her logical side trying to hold on to a thread of sanity. She leaned back, meeting Hayes’s eyes, needing to see his honest answer. “Are you sure this is what you want? Are you sure you’re ready?”
Hayes pushed a sweaty lock of hair away from her face. “I’m sure. I trust you, Cora. I want you. But this is your call. There’s no pressure here. Ever.”
Ren kissed the top of her head as they swayed to the music, not really hearing it. “Yes. This is always your call. Any of us can throw the red flag at any time. You’re safe with us.”
The song ended and the swaying slowed.
“Next up we have Josh and Carlos singing ‘Under Pressure’!” the emcee on stage announced.
Half the crowd cheered, half groaned. But Cora barely registered the words.
Her head was whirling now and it had nothing to do with the alcohol. But it wasn’t fear. Maybe that should’ve been there. This was a risk. Her mother would’ve been appalled. But how many nights had she wondered what it would be like to really be under Dmitry’s hand, to give him the control? And now the man was here with his best friend, someone she was feeling more and more for every day. When else would she have the chance to have this? To simply give in to the urge and give herself over to two men she cared about? They were trusting her. She wanted to trust back. “Let’s get out of here.”
Ren squeezed her shoulders and Hayes kissed her. “Let’s go.”
She found her way to Grace, watched Josh and Carlos perform, and then told everyone good-bye. But before she could head back to find the guys, Josh pulled her aside, his eyes searching her face. “You good, Cora?”
She smiled. “Meaning?”