11
Liam flashed a toothy smile that didn’t change her opinion of his nature. Nor did it deter her. Ace wouldn’t let Liam push her further than she would enjoy. She leaned backward against his chest, confident he would be there to support her.
Regardless of the uncertainty she’d seen flash across his face during her rescue, she didn’t doubt him for a moment. Maybe after she was done with him, he could regain some of his cockiness. She’d wanted to hate that about him, but had secretly adored it from the moment he’d joined the Shields.
She smiled and tipped her face up. Ace didn’t disappoint her or leave her hanging. Not when Liam had done the same to him far too often. He cupped her chin and brushed his thumb feather-light over the split in her lip. “Tell me if this doesn’t feel good.”
Ace licked her lower lip, then slid upward to fuse their mouths more completely. He was sweet and tender, and if it stung some, it only added an edge to his kisses. Ruby nearly got lost making out with him until Liam stepped closer, heat radiating from the wall of muscle he made in front of her.
“Damn, you’re sexy together.” He put a hand on the back of each of their heads and angled them so they could sip more deeply from each other. “Better than every dirty dream I’ve had of you.”
Ruby’s knees wobbled, but Liam was there, his hands easily spanning her waist, as he held her in place for Ace to feast on. Knowing he’d thought of her, and Ace, in the same lewd and wonderful way she’d fantasized of them, often waking on the cusp of orgasm that a few swipes of her fingers easily fixed, made it harder to draw in a full breath.
“Devour her, Ace. Let me watch the two of you. Tempt me to do things I know I shouldn’t, even more than you already do.” His admission was tortured. If Ruby had a single bit of processing power left when Ace blew her mind with strokes of his lips and tongue over hers, she would have confronted Liam about his misconception. There was no reason to withhold this pleasure from themselves.
It would have to wait. Because Ace’s mouth on her wrecked her logic. All she could do was feel. And when Liam steered them to the side of his massive bed, she didn’t resist. Not either one of them. She let them caress every inch of her from her shoulders to her neck to her waist and everywhere in between.
“Strip her,” Liam commanded.
Ace opened his eyes long enough to verify she was on board. When she didn’t object, he did as he was told, wasting no time in fisting the hem of her black T-shirt with the title of her favorite wuxia novel in red characters across the chest. He grabbed it and walked it up her abdomen. She wasn’t cut like Sola or even softly rounded with womanly curves like Laurel.
Ruby was…average at best.
The guys didn’t seem to mind.
“Show her to me.” Liam backed up just enough that he could get a full view of her.
Ace nudged her until she lifted her arms. He stripped the soft, well-worn fabric from her, letting it fall, forgotten, somewhere behind them. Her basic beige bra was utilitarian but the intensity of Liam’s stare made her feel as though she was wearing crystal-studded lingerie from a French boutique instead of whatever Middletown’s general store kept in stock.
That’s what she found so addictive about them. They acted like she was everything she’d always imagined being when she’d gotten lost in one of her epic fantasy novels. Someone sensual and feminine and powerful and innately desirable simply for being herself.
“More,” Liam rasped, “Show me more.”
This time Ace knelt. She steadied herself with her hands on his shoulders, impressed as always by how solid he felt beneath her fingers. Despite his recent injury, Ace was in better shape than pretty much anyone she’d met in real life before coming to Shields. He was capable even if he’d forgotten that about himself.
He stripped off her sneakers, socks, and jeans, leaving her standing before them in her underwear. Ace nuzzled the spot right above her mound, breathing deeply of her scent even as he cupped her ass and tugged her tight to his face. But when he reached for her panties, she balked.
“What’s that about?” Liam asked when she shifted away from Ace.
Ace blinked as if he hadn’t picked up on her hesitation. He paused and looked to Liam for guidance. Their bond was natural and complementary. Ruby wasn’t surprised they were such excellent partners both in and out of bed.
“It’s nerve wracking being naked in front of someone who looks like you guys. Never mind two of you.” Ruby swallowed hard.
“You’re perfect, Ruby.” Ace kissed every bit of her he could reach from her stomach to the tops of her thighs. “You’re adorable and sexy at the same time.”
“Give her what she needs to be comfortable.” Liam shifted his focus to Ace. “Get naked. Now.”
Ace didn’t have to be told twice. He got to his feet, reached behind his head, and grabbed the back of his shirt, whipping it off in a single fluid motion that did funny things to Ruby’s insides. And that was before she took stock of the black and gray ink highlighting the ridges and valleys of his rippling muscles.
He toed off his boots and stripped his jeans down his legs, revealing a patch of dark hair that led to his stiff cock.
“I thought you were a spy, not a commando.”
Ace snorted. “See, you’re funny too.”
They might have joked around longer, but Liam wasn’t about to let them get sidetracked. He stared at her, the intensity of his gaze making her draw in a deep breath. “Better?”
“Halfway.” She couldn’t believe she’d basically asked him to strip for her, but she figured it was the least of what she’d requested when she’d decided to be the aggressor and demand they act on the attraction that had been zinging between them for so long.