I heard the hint of anger, but it wasn’t directed at me. It was his possessiveness showing. I hadn’t seen him in years and all of a sudden, he was all alpha male. Well, not all of a sudden. I’d heard they were both veterinarians and ran their own animal clinic in town.
They were smart and gorgeous. I remembered him that way when we were in high school. But they were older now. Dash took it—possessiveness—to a whole new level. And that level made my clit throb.
“You’re not just two men,” I countered. “It’s been a long time, but I know you guys. We went to high school together.”
Dash just continued to study me, dark brow raised.
“You’re very possessive,” I replied, stating the obvious.
“Baby doll, you have no idea,” he countered, stepping to me and sliding my hair back from my face. It was wild and crazy and never stayed put, even in a sloppy ponytail. “Whether we do anything tonight or not, whether you let us get you naked and get you off, you’re not sleeping in the damned airport. We’re done here with our conference and we’ll see you safely home.”
While we were stuck in Minnesota for the night, we were all heading back to Bridgewater. I’d run into them at the gate, all three of us on the same flight. The cancelled flight.
I might have been born and raised in the small Montana town, but I’d left for college and rarely went back. Not with my crazy family. But my sister’s wedding wasn’t something I could avoid, so here I was. Almost back to Bridgewater. Not home. Dash and Jackson considered Bridgewater home, but I didn’t. I didn’t really have a home. I lived out of a suitcase and lately, it had been shoved underneath a narrow bed in a casa in Mexico. As a travel journalist, I didn’t put down roots, especially in Bridgewater.
The cancelled flight was a reprieve. A delay in returning to my fighting parents and every obvious reason why I kept leaving. While it might be December and Christmas was two weeks away, my family wasn’t like a Norman Rockwell painting. I knew my parents wouldn’t have a tree or any kind of holiday decorations. They didn’t bother. They didn’t bother to get along.
“I won’t spend the night at the airport. I won’t turn down your hospitality. Besides, Jackson just had a hand up my shirt and I think he left a hickey on my neck. I’m not sure how that’s possible wearing a turtleneck,” I grumbled, tugging at the high
collar. “I think the chances are pretty good you’re going to get lucky.”
A wild romp with two boys I’d had a crush on in high school. And by the look of them, they weren’t boys any longer. No, at twenty-seven, they were all men. Tall, broad shouldered. Muscled. No, chiseled.
I wanted them, wanted to feel the weight of them pressing me into the bed, of me holding onto the headboard as they took me from behind. As they sucked my nipples. Fingered my pussy. Hell, licked it.
I wasn’t a virgin and I wasn’t going to pretend otherwise. I’d been with men. Men I’d met traveling for work. Men who meant nothing to me more than a quick orgasm. After watching my parents fight for my entire childhood, I had no idea what a real relationship could be like. If it was anything like theirs, I had no interest. That was why I enjoyed the physical, but that was it. No strings. No dating.
My parents’ marriage was completely abnormal for Bridgewater. Almost all marriages were solid, the husbands—yes, both of them—were possessive and very protective of their wife. Affectionate. Loving. My dad was nothing like that. Hell, he’d had a whole string of mistresses and my mom ensured she wasn’t lonely. Why they stayed together after almost thirty years, I had no idea, but it was like watching a car accident, stuff strewn everywhere, people hurt and no way to make it better. I was tired of being used as a tool to fuel their arguments. That was why I stayed away. I’d stopped in for a weekend last summer on my way from Alaska to the Florida Keys between assignments, but I’d spent more time with Aunt Louise than anyone else.
And now I was going back to Bridgewater. I was dreading every minute of it, especially the seafoam green bridesmaid dress I’d wear. My mother had emailed me a picture while I was in Mexico. Perhaps this night was a reprieve, a reprieve with two gorgeous men who I hoped would be naked very soon. A night I could remember when I was laying in my childhood bed listening to my parents fight. I had no doubt Jackson and Dash would be front and center in my thoughts as I got it on with my vibrator for months—no, years—to come.
Vibrators didn’t have affairs, didn’t talk back. And I wasn’t the one being used.
“Lucky?” Jackson asked, hands on my shoulders, nudging me closer to the bed. His thumbs pressed gently into my back. “Lucky was finding you at the gate, that we were on the same flight. That we’ll spend the night with you.”
“That we’ll be traveling with you back to Bridgewater,” Dash added. He worked off his fleece jacket. It was freezing out, well below zero and the snow was blowing thick and sideways outside the window and yet he didn’t wear anything heavier.
“As for what we’re going to do to you, there’s no luck involved.” Jackson’s cocky grin returned and damn if it didn’t look mighty fine with that beard of his. While his hair was brown like Dash’s, it was several shades lighter. I’d felt the softness of it as he kissed me and I wondered what it would feel like…other places. Like between my thighs. Tangled in my fingers as he got me off. And I knew he’d be able to do it. Dash, too.
I’d never slept with a guy from Bridgewater, let alone two. But if I was going to, and I was…Jackson and Dash were definitely my fantasy men and I knew tonight was going to be one wild ride. We had nowhere to go until the blizzard cleared up and the ground stop was lifted. There weren’t any other hotel rooms—that’s why they offered to share theirs with me—even if I wanted one.
“What are you doing in Minneapolis? What brought you to my gate?” I asked, smiling. We hadn’t talked much since we walked to the connecting hotel and were able to get one room.
“Vet conference,” Jackson said.
“That’s right,” I replied, making small talk even as I fantasy-fucked them with my eyes. “You guys opened a clinic in town, right?”
I remembered hearing that from my sister. Jackie had never left Bridgewater. Hell, she’d never even left her high school job waitressing at the local BBQ joint. We had next to nothing in common these days so our conversation consisted of her filling me in on town gossip. For once, her running commentary proved useful.
Dash nodded. Neither of them touched me, but their gazes were hot and sexy as hell.
“Enough small talk,” he said.
“I agree. As Jackson said, running into each other wasn’t luck. A night together, stuck in a hotel room with nothing to do.” I shrugged. “Why not have a little fun while we’re stranded? Like I said, I’ve never been with two guys before but I’ve definitely thought about it. Show me what I’ve been missing?”
“You’ve thought about it?” Dash’s lips turned up at the corners. “I think you’ve got it all wrong, Jackson,” he said to his friend, but kept his eyes on me. “It seems little Avery here grew up to be awfully naughty.”
My knees went weak at the way he’d said the word naughty so Dash wrapped an arm around me, keeping me upright. Fucking hell, I did feel naughty around these two. My brain had gone to a wickedly dirty place—between them.