“I feel so stupid saying this,” she began. She wrung her hands in front of her, her agitation increasing.
“Holly,” Ethan said. “Whatever it is, just tell us. It can’t be so bad, no matter what you may think. ”
She took a deep breath and looked between them. “I thought you should know, I mean I don’t even know how this whole thing works. Between us, I mean. About sex. ”
She broke off, her cheeks pink with a blush.
Adam waited patiently for her to come around to her point. The fact she was entertaining thoughts of sex was promising, but she wasn’t sure how it would work between them. He smiled. She was delightfully innocent.
“It’s just that I’ve never done this before,” she said awkwardly. “I mean sex in general. ”
Not that innocent surely! His head jerked in surprise, and he looked at Ethan to see the same surprise blazoned on his face.
“Say that again?” Ethan said.
Her blush deepened.
“But you’re married,” Adam began.
“I left him on our wedding night,” she mumbled.
A slow smile spread across Ethan’s face, and the same sense of satisfaction took hold of Adam. She was going to be more than just theirs. She would only belong to them. They would be her first. And her last.
“Maybe you should explain, baby,” he said gently. They needed to know all they could about her. The more they knew, the better chance they had of keeping her. And letting her go wasn’t an option.
“Water’s ready,” Ryan called from the door.
“We’ll let you talk in the tub,” Adam said. He stood and closed the distance between him and Holly. She stepped back slightly when his hand slid under her shirt.
“Trust me, baby. I won’t hurt you. We need to get you out of your clothes. ”
She licked her lips then captured her bottom lip between her teeth and nibbled furiously. She was, in a word, adorable.
Holly glanced between the three men in front of her and nearly hyperventilated. She wanted them, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to be naked in front of them. The mere idea had her wanting to hurl.
Adam’s hand slid underneath her shirt, his fingers brushing the underside of her bre
ast. The thin material of her bra did nothing to muffle his touch. She felt the scorching blaze of his heat to her very depths.
Feather light, his fingers brushed across her skin, around to her back and to the clasp of her bra. With a flick of his hand, the clasp broke free.
Another hand slipped underneath her shirt, shoving it upward. She gave a startled gasp as she realized Ethan had joined Adam.
Ethan pushed her shirt to her neck then Adam gently tugged it over her head. She self-consciously covered her chest with her arms.
“Don’t,” Ryan said huskily. “You’re beautiful. ”
She looked up to see him staring at her from across the room, his eyes burning into hers.
Slowly she let her hands fall away until she stood in front of them in only her jeans.
“Jesus,” Ethan breathed.
Adam undid the fly on her jeans then slid the zipper down.
“If you don’t hurry, the water is going to get cold,” Ryan drawled.
“We can’t have that,” Adam said in a voice that sent spasms from her belly to her pussy. Her muscles clenched in red hot need.
He began to peel her jeans down her body until she stood in only her panties. Ready for the agony to end, she hooked her thumbs in the waistband and quickly shimmied out of her underwear.
“You’re perfect,” Adam said.
She found herself lifted into his arms, and he carried her into the bathroom. He lowered her into the huge tub of foamy suds, and she moaned in pleasure as the warm water lapped over her body.
“We’ll give you some time to relax,” Adam said as he stood back up. He dropped a kiss on top of her head. “I’ll be back to wash your hair and dry you off in a few minutes. ”
She watched as they filed out of the bathroom, and she sunk lower into the suds, closing her eyes. Would they want to have sex with her now that she had told them she was a virgin? She was nervous about the whole idea. Not only had she never done it, but she had three men wanting to make love to her. And she had no idea how they planned to go about it. But damned if the idea of it didn’t have her toes curled.
* * *
“This changes things a bit,” Adam said as he faced his two brothers in the bedroom.
“What are you talking about?” Ryan demanded.
“Holly’s a virgin,” Ethan said.
Ryan lifted a brow but said nothing more. He merely pinned Adam with a questioning stare.
“What?” Adam asked, sensing there was a lot on his youngest brother’s mind.
Ryan sighed and shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans.
“How do we know she won’t change her mind? How do we know she didn’t have cold feet and take off from her husband?”
Ethan started to protest but Adam silenced him with a look. He could see the uncertainty in Ryan’s eyes, knew of anyone, Ryan would be the most distrustful.
A twinge of pain squeezed his chest. Would he ever know what Ryan had endured in Iraq? Sadness weighed heavy on his mind. God knows he and Ethan had tried to get Ryan to open up, but ever since his return a year ago, he hadn’t uttered a word about the time he spent in captivity.
“Ryan, she needs us. I’m not saying it’ll be easy. Hell, she’s married. She’s scared to death, and she’s confused over what she’s feeling for us. All we can do is protect her and show her how very good it can be with us. ”
He turned to Ethan. “She trusts you. She’s already established a bond with you. I think you should be her first. ”
“She’s not a piece of meat to decide over,” Ryan said in disgust.
He turned and walked out of the bedroom before Adam could respond.
Ethan chuckled softly. “He’s right, you know. You don’t have to control everything, Adam. No need to orchestrate the entire act of sex. I think we can handle it on our own. ”
Adam didn’t respond. That wasn’t what he meant, but maybe they were right. He was trying too damn hard. He rubbed a hand through his hair and massaged the back of his neck.
“I’ll be out in the barn,” Adam said. “You can see to Holly. ”
Truth was he needed some fresh air. Needed to think.
* * *
The water had grown tepid, and Holly wasn’t going to wait on the men any longer. Hell, it wasn’t as if she couldn’t handle herself anyway. Yet, she sat docilely in the tub like an obedient stooge.
She stood up, water running down her body. She reached for a towel that hung on the rack beside the tub and began drying off.
“Let me. ”
The towel slipped from her fingers as Ethan took it and began rubbing her back.
“I can do it,” she said, more sharply than she intended.
She reached for the towel, not liking the fact she stood naked before him.
He probed her with his stare for a second then let her have the towel back.
“I’ll be in the living room if you want to join me,” he said as he walked out of the bathroom.
She took her time, her mind a mass of confusion. She was seriously deluding herself if she thought it would be as easy as setting up a new life here with the three brothers. She knew nothing about them, had no idea what she would do here, and there was the little matter of her marriage to a vile, sadistic monster.