Trey snickered behind them. "Zane has his obsessive side. He couldn't help shopping for you in the hopes that you'd hang around."
"I'm supposed to wear one of these?" She touched a long silk gown in pale peach. It was even fancier than the silver slip thing he'd bought for her. "These dresses are beautiful, but I'm not sure they're me."
"They're you," Zane said sternly. "The you you haven't met. Think of them as uniforms for billionaires' girlfriends."
She burst out laughing, which she hoped was okay. She looked at Zane to make sure. A muscle ticked in his chiseled jaw. Okay, maybe this was important to him. "Really," she said, patting his arm. "They're gorgeous."
"Pull out the blue one," Trey urged. "That color is exactly her."
The blue one was sapphire velvet. The skirt was cocktail length, and the neckline plunged dangerously. She believed it was the sort of dress people referred to as flirty.
"Uh," Rebecca said at the thought of wearing it.
"Please," Zane said, holding it out to her. "Try it on."
Still a little shy about undressing with the men, she took the dress into the bathroom. Naturally, it fit like a second skin, requiring that she remove her bra in order to look right in it. The skirt was snug and shorter than expected. She had booty in it. And legs. Truth be told, it made her a new woman: a glamorous, sexy, thinking-man's hot female. She didn't know whether to frown or gasp as she studied her reflection.
Both men smiled when she came out again.
"That's the one," Trey said. "Don't make her try on the others."
Rebecca was all for not trying on the others. The rest of the program she hadn't quite signed off on. "Where am I wearing this?"
"The center of the universe," Zane said.
He made her laugh in spite of her nervousness. "And that would be where?"
"New York. There's a charity function at the Whitney-Moeller Museum, to raise money for wildlife. Trey and I have been invited."
"And I'm your plus-one."
He cupped her face. "Always. For as long as you're willing."
She laughed again, because what woman could resist that prospect? "For you," she said, "I'll wear the matching heels."
~
Rebecca didn't expect him to, but Zane rustled up invitations for the twins. She was starting to feel bad about keeping them from their lives, but both boys seemed keen to come. She assumed this was because they'd be flying in a private jet, not because they loved penguin suits.
Space was also made for Charlie's geekalicious four-eyed friend. Caroline's curvaceous body was poured into black leather pants and a sparkly top. The pants made Rebecca jealousmdash;because they allowed the girl to wear flats. Caroline carried an overnight bag and a rather beefy looking small laptop.
"Studying for a final," the redhead said when she noticed Rebecca's attention to the computer. "I took summer session over the break."
Studying on a date didn't seem right to her, but if Charlie didn't mind her preoccupation, Rebecca had no business getting upset on his behalf. The girl did take a moment to admire Charlie's James Bond-ish attire as he took the seat next to her. Pete sat in the same grouping of chairs with them, so she guessed the outing wasn't meant to be romantic. Then again, what did she know about romance for college kids?
They landed after a brief flight. A private car service picked them up. Inside the tricked-out limo van, Zane and Trey went into mogul mode. Neither made less than a dozen calls, touching base and schmoozing.
"You're letting people know we're here," she said when they finally stopped.
"Here and kicking," Zane confirmed. "Our associates in Manhattan need to know we're doing business as usual."
"Will they be at the fundraiser?"
"Some of them."
Trey was sitting next to her, with Zane on his other side. Sensing her nervousness, he took her hand. "We show up. We drink. We dance. We write a big check for charity. We act like what we are to each other is perfectly normal."
"What if I screw up?"
"You can't," Zane said. "You look too damn delectable to be anything but an asset."
Rebecca hoped cleaning up well was all tonight would require of her.
Trey saw her skepticism. "We won't leave you on your own. One of us will be with you at all times."
"You don't have to go that far."
"We do. The more people see us together, the more they'll understand there's more to us than Showergate. We're serious about each other."
Rebecca snuck at look at Zane. He didn't bat an eye at Trey's claim. She knew he'd heard it. He wasn't murmuring in his phone. He was slipping that into his tuxedo jacket's inside pocket.
"We're serious," he agreed and straightened his black bowtie. He and Trey were so stunning in formal wear she had trouble thinking straight. She definitely couldn't afford to dwell on them finding each other stunning too. Her knees wobbled badly enough in these dressy heels.
"You're not nervous," she said.
Zane's sensual lips curved in an amused smile. "I seem to have gotten over that. Maybe all I needed was something to fight against."
She supposed that would light a fire under a competitive man like him. She wished she had a cure for her nerves. She was serious too. About Zane and Trey. About building some sort of future together. The fact that it was some sort was what threw her. She wanted the men forever, and she wanted a guarantee. Knowing nobody got that couldn't squelch her wish for one.
Trey leaned over to kiss her cheek. "This isn't life and death, Rebecca. We get through tonight, and we tackle tomorrow when it comes."
"Right," she said, tightening her grip on his hand. When Zane reached sideways to grip it too, she actually did feel better.
~
Zane was better at hiding his nerves than Rebecca realized. He hadn't lied about feeling ready to be a threesome in public, but he had trickier irons in the fire tonight. He hoped he wasn't crazy for letting her brothers talk him into Operation Blue Velvet.
Naturally, they hadn't heeded his request to leave Missy to him and Trey.
In the confusion of the scandal breaking, Zane had shoved Owens' confiscated laptop onto a shelf in the library. The boys had found it, read Owens' name on the case, and decided to take a peek. A phone call to Charlie's brainiac red-haired friend enabled them to ***** Owens' apparently pathetic security, whereupon they discovered the dismissed chauffeur had a long-term fondness for filmmaking.
Their plan for exploiting that was one Zane might have devised in his college days.
Too smart to propose the plot to Rebecca, the boys had come to him.
"It's the nuclear principle," Pete had said with frightening reasonableness. "We've got a bomb, and the swimsuit hanger doesn't. If we want her to stop taking jabs at you and Trey and Rebecca, we have to demonstrate we're willing and able to use it."
"Plus, Mystique going after you is the reason the bomb exists," Charlie said. "It's poetic justice. We'd be silly to feel guilty."
"You'll only push the button if she shows up?"
"She'll show up," Pete said. "Once she hears the three of you will be there, she won't be able to resist making more trouble. She'll dress to the teeth and try to show you what you're missing. Or play poor misled thing to anyone who'll listen."
"Or both," Charlie added. "I'm betting that's not beyond her."
That was a wager Zane wouldn't take. "I don't want you getting caught."
"We won't," Charlie promised. "No one but Mystique will guess where the bomb came from. Caroline has, like, criminal level skills."
Zane saw this didn't dampen Charlie's interest in the girl.
He'd accepted their offer with stipulations, which the boys agreed to honor. All that remained was seeing if Missy would act true to form. Knowing it was best to shelve his worries for the time being, he joined Trey in helping Rebecca out of the limo van.
She looked better squirming to get comfortable in her blue velvet dress than Missy could in a hundred designer gownsmdash;with or without photo retouching. The model would never understand why he and Trey preferred their shared lover, why her wobbly ankles were the most alluring, why her happy grin made their hearts stutter. Rebecca was a beautiful woman, but she was also a big bright soul. Being seen with her made him proud, no matter what anybody thought.
To his surprise, now that the truth was out, being seen with Trey had rather the same effect.
A man who'd won over those two had something to brag about.
"Watch the curb," Trey laughed as their date almost tripped on it.
"Damned heels," Rebecca muttered, holding tight to their hands. "I hope you two are giving me brownie points."
She forgot her grumbling the moment she saw the illuminated mansion behind the iron fence. The noise of nighttime Manhattan was all around them: the rush of traffic, the machinery of tall buildings. Other guests of the event stepped out of taxis and limos, chattering with their companions. Zane watched all of that fall away for Rebecca. Her face lit up at the fairytale house before her, her lovely eyes going wide.
"Wow," she said, her delight instantly becoming his. "This is cool!"
The turreted Whitney-Moeller Museum had once been a residence. Back in the twenties, the family donated it to the city, along with its extensive art collection and period furnishings. Today, it was a popular venue for charity events, thanks to its magnificently preserved turn of the century ballroom.
To escort her to it, Zane and Trey each offered her an elbow. The place was too packed for this arrangement to draw more than a glance or two. Rebecca, bless her, was too busy gawking to notice.
"Look at those tiger ice sculptures!" she exclaimed, understandably taking note of the catering. "I have to find out what artist supplied them."
Trey shot an inquiring look over her head at Zane, who nodded a go-ahead.
"Why don't we ask?" Trey said. "And maybe grab some champagne."
He steered her in that direction, leaving Zane with the other terrible trio. Caroline was already scoping the terrain for a likely place to set up her gear. The ballroom was long and tall with a painted barrel ceiling and a balcony on either end. The orchestra would claim the more distant perch. The nearer was arranged with fancy white-clothed tables.
"Up there?" Zane asked, nodding his head toward it. "If you blew out your table's candle, you'd be very hard to see."
"That'll work," Caroline agreed. She turned back to him, her eyes owlishly fascinating behind her thick glasses. "Switch on your earpiece, Mr. Alexander, and I'll hear everything you say. It'll only take a few minutes for me to be ready to make the delivery. All I'll need then is your signal that it's a go."
Zane squelched the childish thrill this cloak and dagger talk inspired. Charlie's nineteen-year-old friend was much more blasé than him. "Thank you, Caroline," he said soberly. "Charlie, why don't you make sure she gets into place safely?"
Charlie leaped to do it, inspiring the teensiest blush in Caroline. For Charlie's sake, Zane was glad to know she wasn't nonchalant about everything.
Pete laughed under his breath as he watched them go. "She is so out of Charlie's league."
"Maybe not," Zane said. "Charlie seems to have his own criminal tendencies."
Pete laughed at that as well, probably because he had them too. "Becca didn't mean to raise us sneaky, but we sure learned to be." He paused to narrow his eyes at Zane. "Don't let her down again."
"Not while there's breath in my body," Zane swore sincerely.
Pete nodded and then craned around the crowd. He touched his hidden earpiece to activate it. "Target entering the ballroom."
Zane stifled amusement even as his heart rate kicked up a notch. He wasn't the only person enjoying playing spy.
Missy was indeed coming in. On her arm was a hot young actor from one of the TV shows currently shooting in New York. Missy sure knew how to pick her dates. As irony would have it, Zane had heard some very underground rumors, from people who ought to know, that the stud was in the closet. That, of course, wasn't Zane's business. He waited until the actor peeled off toward the bar to approach Missy.
He had no trouble pasting on a severe expression. Seeing the model brought back more unpleasant memories than she probably imagined.
Always aware of her best angles, she leaned picturesquely against a column at the edge of the glittering room. She'd gone Roman tonight in a deep ruby gown gathered with a ribbon beneath her breasts. The shade suited her brunette coloring as perfectly as the style did her height and shape. One knee-high gladiator sandal peeped through a long leg slit, no doubt intended to declare her readiness for war. Her rich red lips formed a curve as he halted in front of her.
"Miss me already?" she asked archly.
"Probably as much as you miss Constance Sharp, now that her family's collected her."
"I enjoyed the old bag's company while I had it. It was useful."
"You'll find that particular usefulness has a price."
Missy toyed with the ruby pendant in her cleavage. "Men like you know what everything costs, don't you? What's it costing your little friend Trey, I wonder? His aunt raised such speculations about his childhood before her children whisked her away. Do you suppose Trey's mean old daddy explains why he turned out the way he did?"
Zane had heard those speculations. He supported Trey in his decision not to address them publically. If people discovered how he and Trey were raised, so be it, but for every person who understood there'd be ten like Missy who'd twist the facts somehow. The world might enjoy putting them under that microscope, but it wasn't their business.
No one should be forced to share their history.
"Careful," he said to the model. "You sound like you're implying bisexuality is a condition that needs explaining."
"It would need explaining, if it hadn't been invented by people who can't admit what they are. If you're gay, just be gay. Don't lead honest women like me on."
Zane let out a sigh, knowing this conversation was pointless. "I'm here to give you a warning. Leave off bothering me and mine, or I'll make you sorry we ever met."
"You're threatening me?" she asked in mock horror. "That's hardly cricket, Zane. I'm only here to support this fine charity."
He looked straight into her eyes, waiting an extra beat for her to understand he was serious. "You don't matter to me. Not as a supposed girlfriend and not as an enemy. Cause me the slightest inconvenience, and I'll cut you off at the knees."
This brought true anger into Missy's expression. Face hard, she opened her mouth to speak. She was too late. He'd given Caroline the signal. The phone she always carried in her clutch purse rang.
"You'll want to get that," he said.
She dug it out with a muffled curse. It was a videophone, of coursemdash;the latest, smartest model available. The minute she answered, the file Charlie and Pete had found on the chauffeur's laptop began to play. It showed her and Owens in bed in a hotel room. The picture was excellent, the sound a testament to Owens' skill at concealing microphones. Missy gaspedmdash;and not because of the video's graphic nature. Quite obviously, she hadn't known she was being filmed. As she rode her young panting lover, not as gracefully as she thought, she gave him instructions for planting a camera to spy on Zane in his home. She called Zane a revolting cocksucker and Trey a flaming queer. Owens negotiated an additional payment for his risk, and Missy agreed to pay. If this got out, GLAAD would have her ass on a plattermdash;and never mind Zane's lawyers.
This, however, wasn't the worst the footage had to revealmdash;or not from Missy's perspective.
Excited by the topics she and her lover had been discussing, Missy tossed back her hair and came.
A sound like a dying walrus issued from the phone's speakers. Missy might not mind the world seeing her naked, but she'd damn well mind them knowing the noise she made when she ed.
Missy jabbed her phone off, but not before half a dozen people turned curiously toward the noise. "You wouldn't," she hissed, her eyes shooting flames. "That . . . that is a private thing!"
"I would," Zane said, hard as steel. "What's more, I want you to know I can. Anytime. To anyone. Any damn where you go. If you want your privacy respected, you need to stop violating other folks.'"
"No." She grabbed for his sleeve, her fury tinged with pleading. "Don't do this."
Zane shook her off and touched his earpiece. "Make the delivery," he said to Caroline.
Thankfully, this event was packed with people who didn't turn off their lifelines for anyone. All around the ballroom, hundreds of phones in purses and pockets chirped and buzzed and played an endless variety of tunes. Attendees laughed, cheery from the free-flowing booze and food, assuming the charity had arranged a stunt to entertain them and raise money. As they opened the message they'd received, a chorus of moaning walruses succeeded the previous cacophony.
"Damn you," Missy cursed, humiliation tears in her eyes.
Zane caught her wrist before she could storm past him. "It's a cartoon."
"What?" she said, tugging to get free.
"They're watching a cartoon. Not your face. Not the rest of the vitriol you spouted. It's a cartoon woman having sex, making that sound you do. The caption says, lsquo;What's more generous than a big fat O? How about a check with a lot of O's that helps save endangered tigers?'"
"I don't believe you," Missy said.
Zane turned his phone around to show her. "This is your only warning," he said as she took it in. "Pull anything against anyone I care about, and this will seem like child's play compared to how I'll go after you."
She looked from the screen to him.
"Child's play," he repeated.
He saw the intelligence he'd once admired come into her face. "You mean it," she said, searching his expression.
"I will do whatever it takes to protect the people I love."
Hurt flicked across her eyes an instant before she looked away. She shoved her own phone into her spangled purse. "I won't bother you again," she said.
~
Rebecca and Trey snagged a small stand-up table to sample the hors d'oeuvres. She'd meant everyone to share it, but they seemed to have disappeared. Most troubling, after Mystique's big entrance, Zane had strode across the ballroom in the same direction.
Rather than give in to paranoia or jealousy, Rebecca frowned at the cell phone she'd just shut off.
"That was weird, huh?" she said to Trey. "Who knew the wildlife people were such pranksters?"
"Mm," he said, attention focused where the well-dressed crowd might be concealing Zane and Mystique. He didn't seem worried, but like he was distracted.
"They had to **** everyone's phone to do it."
"Maybe they had people's numbers from their fundraising."
"They didn't have mine."
Trey finally looked at her. "We'll get you a new one, with better security."
"I'll get me a new one. Don't you remember what you pay me?"
He smiled with soft eyes and a hint of wickedness. "I'm sure I barely scratch the surface of what you're worth."
A ripple among the partygoers stopped her from coming up with a smart remark. "That's Mystique," she said. "She's leaving without her date. I hope whatever Zane said to her didn't rile her up even more."
"I wouldn't worry," Trey soothed. "He's pretty good at encouraging people to cut their losses."
Something in his tone made her brows lower. "You know what he said. Her being here wasn't an accident."
"And there's the man himself," Trey announced as Zane's warm hand settled on her shoulder.
Rebecca turned at the touch. "Zane. What have you been up to?"
He smiled the way Trey hadmdash;like a mischievous angel. "What I've been up to is looking forward to our dance. I noticed the orchestra taking their seats on the balcony."
Rebecca wasn't that easily fobbed off. "Where are Pete and Charlie? Why did Caroline bring her laptop in here?"
He shrugged. "Maybe they're helping her study. Those summer courses can be a bitch. Come on, Rebecca. Aren't you going to dance with me?"
She was, and after that she'd dance with Trey, an arrangement she was secretly looking forward to. Apart from chaperoning Pete and Charlie, she'd skipped the proms in high school. In the interest of making up for that, she let her suspicions drop.
"No dipping," she stipulated. "Balancing on these heels is hard enough."
Zane's seductive grin broadened. "If I dipped you, you'd just have to hold me tighter."
"Oh God."
"Trey's the one you need to watch out for. He can dip and spin his partners."
Despite her trepidation, she let Zane lead her onto the dance floor. The music that started up was waltzy. Thankfully, Zane simply pulled her close, put his arms around her, and coaxed her head against his big chest. When he sighed, she felt tension run out of his whole body.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Nothing," he said, stroking her short hair. "Nothing now that you're here."
She couldn't spoil a moment like thatmdash;or the ones that followed when Trey took over. The men danced with her like no one else existed. Their care for her was wonderful and humbling at the same time.
Zane drew the line at taking a turn on the floor with Trey.
"He steps on my toes," he joked. "And he's way heavier than you."
She couldn't complain about his limits, not when he'd bent so far. Zane touched Trey nearly as sweetly as he touched her. He wasn't shoving people's faces in their relationship, but neither was he hiding that they all were romantically involved.
The people who knew the men appeared to take this in stride moderately well. Their trio wasn't avoided or whispered about where they could seemdash;any snarky remarks being saved for elsewhere. Some of the folks who stopped to talk were stiff, but no one was impolite. The worst the awkward ones could be charged with was that they didn't know what to make of them. Rebecca understood that. Although arrangements like theirs weren't unheard of, they weren't generally public.
Rebecca's biggest surprise was how natural being with both men felt.
You've come a long way, she thought. Her former worries about sleeping with the boss seemed quaint by comparison.
"What are you smiling at?" Trey asked as they enjoyed one last twirl around the dance floor.
"You. Zane. How lucky I turned out to be."
"We're all lucky."
His soft sweet kiss was better than a cherry on a sundae.
~
Rebecca knew the college kids wouldn't admit to being up past their bedtime, but all three slept through the flight to Boston. Once there, the twins decided it was time to return to their own lives.
Rebecca hugged them on the pavement outside their idling cab.
"Love you," Charlie said, sliding into the back seat where Caroline waited.
"Love you," Pete seconded.
"You have enough to cover the fare?"
"Yes," Pete said. "As long as you stop hugging me sometime in this century."
She held his face a moment longer. Apparently, her brothers had left off worrying about her. More than anything, that told her they'd been involved in scaring off Mystique at the fundraiser. The question was, did she really want to know what they'd done? Whatever it was, theymdash;and her two bad boysmdash;wanted to spare her the responsibility for their actions. Maybe, just this once, it was enough to know her life was blessed with truly amazing men.
"Go home and enjoy your hunks," Pete encouraged. "We'll call you before the next Sunday dinner, to find out where it is."
That startled her enough to let go. Sunday dinner was always at the row house. She waved as the cab drove off, noting that the boys also waved to the men beside her.
"Sunday dinner?" Trey asked.
"The boys and I have one together once a month."
"We could have it at our place," Zane said.
Rebecca turned to look at him.
She guessed he interpreted this as doubt. His jaw hardened stubbornly. "We're not putting you in a cab. You're coming home with us. And not just tonight, either."
She smiled. She understood how Trey knew Zane loved himmdash;with or without the words. An impulse to truly open to the miracle they were offering prodded her to speak.
"Could we stop at my place first?" she asked.
"Promise it's not pick up clothes."
"You're horrible!" she accused, unable to keep from laughing. "What if I need fresh underwear?"
"The stuff I bought for you is nicer. It's even comfortable."
Zane was right, so she relented. "I have another reason for wanting to stop. It'll just take a few minutes."
The sun came up as Zane drove, waking the old-new city with a wash of gold light. Rebecca's street was a quiet tunnel of leafy green, the trees at their peak of late-summer growth. As Zane parked his beloved silver convertible at the curb, she realized the construction dumpster was gone. Jesse must have finished the basement apartment.
What she'd feared would be a source of anxiety now barely made a blip on her nerves' radar.
"Should we come in with you?" Trey asked.
"Please," she said.
She unlocked the old scratched front door that held so many memories. She hadn't been away long, but the house smelled foreignmdash;part staleness and part sawdust. She went to sit on the steps to the second floor. The snugness of her blue velvet dress meant she had to do this carefully.
"I thought you needed to get something," Zane said in confusion.
She patted the steps next to and below her. "I want to tell you a story. And to show you where it happened."
Trey lowered his narrow butt next to hers. Zane chose to lean against the opening to the living room. He'd pulled his bowtie open at some point. Looking tired but insanely hot in his formal wear, he peeked in at the old couchesmdash;curious to see how she lived, she supposed. She was no decorator, and there wasn't much to see. Most of their furniture came from bargain stores.
She clasped her hands on her knees, refusing to give them a chance to tremble. "You see that door?" she said. "Where we just came in? That's where my father stood before he left."
Trey laid one hand around her forearm.
"It's funny how vividly I remember it when it was so long ago. His overnight bag was at his feet, right there on the penny tile. His shirt had a stain on it that hadn't come out in the wash. My mom had been dead a week, and he hadn't figured out the machine."
Zane was looking at her now, his eyes sad and serious. Rebecca shook off that consciousness. Pity wasn't what she was after.
"He told me he couldn't handle Mom being gone. He told me when I tried to cling to him, all he wanted to do was run."
"Shit," Zane said softly.
"I don't know if I'd been clingy or not. I was sixteen. Dad had never done much parenting, so maybe me needing anything from him was too much. I remember how he shuddered when he said it, like I disgusted him. When I saw that, I was so angry, I swear I'd have killed him if I'd been able to. I refused to beg him to stay. When he did go and didn't come back, I thought maybe I should have pleadedmdash;for the boys' sake, at least. I expect it wouldn't have made a difference. He told me to call child services. He said there'd be a family who wanted Charlie and Pete."
Trey breathed a curse like Zane had. Rebecca turned on the step to him.
"One of the last things my mother told me before she passed was to be patient with our dad. She said he needed us kids to love him. I still don't know if she was right, only that he needed even more to escape."
"We need you," Trey said, taking her hands in his. "We need you to love us."
"I do," she said. "That's why I'm telling you this. For most of my life I was convinced I'd never trust my heart to a man. Absolutely, I'd never let myself need one. You two did an end run around my fears. You made it easy to love you."
Trey's eyes spilled over, and hers did too.
"You need to sell this fucking place," Zane broke in.
She and Trey let out matching laughs.
"I mean it," he said, glaring at their amusement. "Your brothers shouldn't even live here. Those memories are bad mojo."
"I have good memories too. Raising Pete and Charlie here was great."
"Make new good memories with us. Move in with us. There's plenty of room for your brothers whenever they want to stay. Trey, give her the thing."
She looked at Trey, who smiled crookedly. He took one hand from hers to dig in his pocket. "We hadn't decided when to do this, but I guess now is a good time."
He handed her a plain square box with a lid. A quick glance at Zane showed he was frowningmdash;not an angry frown, more like a worried one. He wasn't sure she'd like this. She lifted the lid carefully.
A ring of keys lay on the white batting.
"Front door," Trey said, touching one with his fingertip. "Garage and master for all the cars. This one opens the door to our flat in Parismdash;"
"You have a flat in Paris!" she couldn't help exclaiming.
"We do. With an awesome view and a balcony. Remind Zane to speak French for you sometime. Trust me, it's super-hot."
"I bet it is." The leering grin she exchanged with Trey was all the more entertaining for the power it had to embarrass its subject.
"Show her the last key," Zane ordered Trey gruffly.
The final key was beneath the others and dangled from a golden chain. The links were hand-fashioned and looked a bit Medieval. The key itself was modern, but more complex than the others.
"The playroom," she breathed, knowing instantly.
"We'll put your prints into the system," Zane said. "That plus those keys will give you access to anything in the house."
Rebecca dropped the gold chain around her neck. The weight of the key fell gently between her breasts.
"Thank you," she said, her heart beating fast and strong. "I accept your very kind offer to move in with you."
"Good." Zane's blue eyes met hers with breath-stealing directness. "Let's go home and fuck ourselves silly."
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
The Cherry on the Top
REBECCA deserved a medal for not attacking the men in the car. They seemed to expect it. Both had erections when they got out.
"We've done the garage," she said airily, though her body was simmering. "Please follow me to the house."
Zane chuckled behind her. "Have something in mind?"
She didn't answer, just smiled to herself. Inside, the mansion had its usual nocturnal hush, twinkling with just enough tasteful lights to see by. She was carrying her heels and consequently dared to add an extra sway to her hips. It would have been a shame not to. The formfitting dress was made for it.
"Look out, Trouble," Trey said, apparently liking what he saw.
She stopped outside the elegant period elevator.
"Have you swept the place?" she asked Zane.
His focus took a second to travel back to her face. He'd been distracted by the dip of her neckline, in which the key now hung. "You mean for surveillance? Yes. Top to bottom. Nothing's here apart from the security that should be."
Smiling, she turned to Trey, where her eyes widened. She'd caught him tugging the crotch of his trousers to make room for his bulge. "When you're done there, big boy, could you work the door for me?"
"It's been a while," he explained, grinning.
"Not since Showergate," she agreed.
Trey laughed and opened the folding gate. Feeling like a femme fatale, Rebecca sauntered into the car. The walls were dark wood with art deco detailing. She pressed her back to one age-tarnished handrail and dropped the shoes she'd been holding.
"Please join me," she said to the men.
Zane stepped in cautiously, like he thought she might bite. "You sure you don't want to wait until we get to our bed?"
"I have elevator fantasies."
"Trouble," Trey repeated, his eyes twinkling.
Now that she had the men's attention, Rebecca shimmied the bottom of her short skirt to her hips, where the velvet's slight stretch held it. For the first time in her life, she wore honest-to-God silk stockings and a lace garter belt. She'd found both in the stash of clothing Zane bought for her. Her tiny black panties matched, though she wasn't flashing that much of them.
Zane swallowed at the visual. "You have the best girl thighs in the world," he swore.
She grinned, appreciating the distinction. Trey had nice thighs too, after all. She noticed Zane's tuxedo jacket was slung over his forearm.
"Please give that to Trey," she said.
Neither man seemed to mind catering to her whims. Trey accepted Zane's jacket. "Shall I shut the door?" he offered.
She nodded, and he closed them into the wood-lined space. He knew better than to take them to the third floor. They weren't leaving here just yet. Already caught in the spell, Zane couldn't look away from her. He wet his sumptuous lips, seeming nervous and excited. If she had her way, she'd turn the heat up under both reactions.
"Unzip," she said, the order husky, "but don't unbutton."
Wincing at the trickiness of the task, Zane lowered his zipper tab. His pleated shirt was tucked in. His big erection pushed a stretch of white through the slit.
"Reach back for the railing," Rebecca said. "Don't let go unless I tell you."
Behind her, Trey's breathing hitched and then sped up. He liked this game where she was the boss as much as she'd hoped he would. Lips turning up with pleasure, she stepped toe to toe with Zane. His eyes went dark as she dug through his shirt and into his briefs for the hot silk of his organ. His arm muscles bulged in his sleeves as he restrained his impulse to move them.
"Nice," she said when she found and stroked his erection.
She pulled it gently through the opening in his trousers. She knew Zane enjoyed that, but he controlled himself.
"This isn't fucking each other silly," he pointed out almost evenly.
"Fucking each other silly is the main course. This is the appetizer."
Because her dress's skirt was already hiked, she had no trouble kneeling in front of him. The carpet was soft and padded, like it had been designed for mischief. She wrapped her fingers around Zane's base, her thumb on the bottom to rub the raphe. The dark veins that fed his stiffness created a very masculine image.
"You're too tall for me to suck comfortably," she observed. "Please plant your feet wider."
He moved his long legs apart, his breathing going ragged in synchrony with Trey's. The sympathy between the men thrilled her, the fact that arousing one stirred up the other. She sensed Zane looking at his friend across the enclosed space.
"I want him down there with you," he said, more request than demand. "I'd like him teasing you while you're teasing me."
His manners earned him consideration. She glanced back around at Trey. He was a hot picture too. He had one hand clamped around his hard-on, like it needed extra confining.
"That would gun my motor," he admitted.
The rasp in his voice heated her pussy to overflowing. "You won't take control?"
"No," he promised, then broke into a grin. "Zane and I will save that for dessert."
She couldn't repress her shiver. Green eyes gleaming, Trey sank to the floor behind her. He yanked down his zipper, shoved the nice trousers to his hips, and took hold of the wall rail. He slipped his second hand down the front of her silk panties.
"Mm," he said, rubbing her outer folds with two fingertips. "You're all plumped up and hot."
The light strafing tingled more deeply rooted nerves, making her pussy clench. He brushed the tip of her clitoris, and she sucked in her breath sharply. She was swollen and sensitized. Each glancing touch felt incredible. He must have known. He took her bud between his thumb and finger and pinched gently.
"Trey," she gasped as sensation shot through her.
He bent to nip her earlobe, growling with enjoyment. "Better suck him now," he advised. "Before I destroy your concentration."
He could destroy it. His arm had shoved the blue dress higher, while his hand pushed her panties down. His cock throbbed hot and thick along the cleft of her bottom cheeks. He felt heavy, the aliveness of him exciting her. She suspected Zane saw him there.
When Zane licked his lips, she knew he did.
"Please," he said, hands fisted around the rail. "Rebecca, put your mouth on me."
She put her tongue on him first. Up the head she licked, lap after lap, until he quivered uncontrollably. Her lips were next, their nerve endings perfect for savoring how soft the skin that wrapped him was. She wasn't as bold as Trey, but she didn't neglect the ring where excitement had drawn back his foreskin. When she finally opened her mouth for him, he moaned like he was dying and pushed inside.
Trey chose the same moment to slip one finger inside of her.
Her lovers were both so careful and yet so tense with longing. She closed her eyes and took Zane's cock further, as if he were a delicious dish whose ingredients she needed to analyze. Thickness slid across her tongue. Heat. Strength that pulsed like a heart. She creamed around Trey's gently stroking finger.
Moved by that, Trey's body pressed harder against her back.
"Don't," she said when Zane's hand came to cup her head.
He'd forgotten himself. He returned his grip to the brass railing.
She sank down his shaft and drew up again, tightening her lips, working him with her tongue. Sweet fluid oozed from him.
"Christ," he said, his hips wriggling helplessly.
Rebecca pulled free and looked up his tall body. His eyes weren't exactly focused, but he looked straight at her.
"That was so fucking hot to watch," he confessed.
Rebecca smiled. "I bet Trey would like us both to watch him."
She leaned to the side so Trey could lean in, which he seemed happy to do. This was better than a ringside seat. She was so close to the action she could feel Trey's exhalations fanning Zane, could practically count how many degrees their temperature had gone up. A bead of pre-cum squeezed from Zane's championship hard-on.
"Keep steadying him," Trey directed her. "Zane, don't move your hands from where they are."
Trey licked him like she had, then brushed him with his lips. When he swallowed him halfway down, both men moaned with pleasure.
She guessed it got to them more than they planned.
"Fuck," Trey said, pulling free shakily. He moved his hands to lacy sides of her panties. No, he's not, Rebecca thought, but he did, making a growling noise as he ripped them off.
"What are you doing?" Zane panted.
"Can't resist." Trey caressed her thighs to urge them wider. "She is too damn sweet."
Air fluttered across her naked pussy a second before blazing hot skin nudged her. Trey pushed, and groaned, and filled her inch by arousing inch. Oh he was thick, stretching and throbbing as he went in. She couldn't control her neck arching back. Luckily, that wasn't required of her.
"Jeez," Zane breathed, admiring her reaction.
Trey pushed into her to his balls and pulled down her low neckline. Her breasts spilled free, sharp-tipped and shaking. Trey covered them with both hands and rubbed.
Again the men groaned like they were the same person.
"So pretty," Zane said as Trey pulled her nipples out.
If she'd had breath left, she'd have said the same when Trey leaned across her shoulder and slid his mouth down Zane's shaft. He got Zane wetter than she had, sucking him harder and more noisily. He undid the waist fastening to Zane's trousers, exposing more of him to work on. Rebecca decided that was good. His drawn up scrotum was perfectly in reach.
Zane made a pleasure-pain noise when she squeezed it.
"God," he moaned, hips twisting to get closer to both of them. His body arched like they had it on a rack. It seemed to be a good rack. He didn't ask them to stop until he couldn't stand anymore.
"Please," he said then. "I need a breather."
Trey drew back and panted, his cock hard as stone inside her. Zane wasn't the only one on the edge. Trey hadn't moved in a while. With a reluctant groan, he pulled out of her.
"Me?" Zane asked.
"You," Trey acquiesced.
Zane released the rail and held out his hands to her. His burning eyes told her if she took them, she'd pass control to him. She was ready for that. Actually, she was eager.
He lifted her to her feet.
"Arms around my neck," he said.
She put them there, and he boosted her by the bottommdash;which thanks to Trey was now bare. She hooked her stocking-clad legs around his waist.
"Jacket pocket," he said to Trey. "Right side. There's something in there for you too."
"Look at me," he added, when she would have turned to see.
Trey reached between their bodies to roll on Zane's rubber. Pleasure shifted Zane's facial muscles, but his gaze stayed on her.
"The other thing," Trey said. "Is it for you or her?"
Her eyes felt as wide as saucers. Zane studied them calmly.
"For her," he said. "No reasons she shouldn't get a taste of what this feels like for us."
Whatever this wasmdash;and certainly she could guessmdash;Trey decided her dress ought to be peeled off first. This left her in the black stockings and garter belt, plus the key on the golden chain. Probably she looked like a French sex slave. Zane bit his lip and smiled.
"Rub your breasts on my shirt," he said.
The cloth was smooth, the starched pleats supplying the perfect chafe for her tight nipples. She guessed Zane liked the friction too. The vein at his temple pulsed more quickly.
"Ready?" he asked like he really hoped she was.
"Yes," she said, meaning it all the way through her.
His strong hands tightened on her bottom, pulling her sex up and over him. The trip back down was with him inside her.
She adored the groan he let out for that.
She almost didn't notice the rustle of Trey taking off his shirt. Bare and warm from the waist up, he returned to nuzzle the back of her neck. His cock felt like it was sheathed.
"Don't be scared," he whispered.
His heart pounded into hers through his chest. Both men's did, the wall of powerful male on either side of her more exciting than anything they'd done to her before.
"You wouldn't mind if I was a little scared," she whispered shakily to Trey. "You'd like it a tiny bit."
His laugh was a broken breath on her shoulder. He enjoyed that she'd busted him.
"It's the edge," he said, hands smoothing around her thighs to the place where her pussy and Zane's cock joined. "Riding it makes sex better."
His touch explored their meeting until they squirmed with longing. Breathing even harder, Trey returned his caresses to her back and then his hands left her. She heard something squirt and twitched in reaction. Trey was lubing his erection, running his fist up and down. His body was close enough that his knuckles bumped her spine.
"That feels good, doesn't it?" she asked.
"It does. But not as good as this."
The lube trickled down her *****. He smoothed it with two fingers over her anus, which itched pleasantly as he rubbed.
"Rock her on you," Trey said to Zane. "She needs to be more relaxed."
Zane rocked, and she couldn't help moaning. She might be nervous, butmdash;Godmdash;she wanted this. Her body craved an orgasm. Satisfied with the change Zane's small motions had effected, Trey positioned his cock to enter her.
"I'll only give you what you can take," he said.
Taking him was easier than she expected, perhaps because they'd prepared her, or maybe she simply trusted Trey that much. He pressed into her, all the way, with only a few back and forth attempts.
"God," he said, one arm around her waist while the other still gripped the rail. His body trembled with excitement. "You okay?"
"More than," she said breathlessly.
Both her passages were throbbing, both stretched and hot and electrified. A current seemed to pass in waves between the men's erections. She was nearly too full, but she loved the sensation. Surrendering to it, she reached back to hold Trey's head.
The pads of Zane's fingers dug deeper into her cheeks. "I can feel him," he said, sounding awed by the realization. "The pressure of him in you is pressing me."
His face bent toward her as she looked up. Sweat glittered on his brow and his knotted jaw, his gaze intense with emotion. That she was the only woman they'd done this with moved her.
"I like being taken by both of you," she said, arousal shaking the words. "I love having the pair of you in me."
Zane slid one hand from her ass to the key that dangled between her breasts. "You're ours, Rebecca. You belong to both of us."
She believed him. The wonder of it drew tears into her eyes.
Zane's lips curved when he saw. "We'll be careful with you, sweetheart."
Trey kissed her shoulder from behind.
"You move," Zane said to him. "If we both thrust, we might hurt her."
Zane trusted Trey that much too. She gasped at his first cautious movement, unable to believe how good it felt. Talk about electric. A net of sensation she hadn't known existed suddenly connected her pussy, ass, and vulva.
She couldn't speak. She could only groan.
Trey thrust in again slowly.
Zane liked that, gasping and grinding close.
"Jesus," Trey said. "I think I just . . . felt your dick get bigger."
"Go in again," Zane said. "God, she's so fucking wet."
She was at their mercy: held up, pleasured, titillated from her ears to her curling toes by the men's actions. For a while, Trey went in and out by himself, but before too long Zane couldn't remain passive. He didn't pump, only moved enough to savor the squeezing tightness of her pussy.
"Bring her over," he said to Trey, his face twisting with pleasure. "I want to feel her clamp on my cock."
She cried out as two of Trey's fingers searched out her clitoris. He rubbed the hood over it, up and down, side to side, naturally not shy about touching Zane in the process. She felt the men swell harder.
She couldn't resist what that stirred in her. Her head went back, and the ache in her sex flashed hot. She came so hard it felt like her moan was kicked from her.
"Shit," Zane gasped, finding that too stimulating for his control.
"I'll . . . stop," Trey offered, his teeth grinding. "You go ahead and pump."
Zane grabbed the permission like it would save his life.
"Ah," he cried, pulling back and plunging deep. "Ah, ahmdash;" He held on for five more strokes, for ten. Then he simply seized with pleasure, his gorgeous mouth shaping out a silent fuck. His cock jerked and shot inside her, her weight held up by his pelvis's final dramatic lift.
Feeling him go like that was amazing. He took a while to slide back from the peak.
"Fuck," he breathed, his cheek next to hers. "Trey." His hand stroked up Trey's bicep.
"I'm good," Trey rasped. As if to prove it, his fingers resumed their stroking of her clit. "Can you come again, honey?"
She nodded, not up to speaking then.
"Good." He pulled back and forged in with a pleasured growl. "I want you to go with me."
She was swimming inside, so excited she could hardly stand to wait. Zane grunted as Trey slung in, firming up a bit inside her. She wondered if he might come again as well. As Trey thrust with increasing speed, she clutched Zane's shoulders, her fingernails surely pricking him.
"Yes," Trey said, registering her rise in tension. "Yes, honey, go for me."
His movements jolted her into Zane's hot chestmdash;harder, faster, the lube beginning to click in her. Zane held her and touched Trey too. Pressure swelled within her from her closeness to orgasm, from the crazily throbbing erections of the men. A noise tore from her as the sharp-sweet imminence spiked too high to contain.
Trey had been holding back too long. He snarled with pleasure, with determination to join her. He powered in to his limit and shot, his heightening hers. Once he let go, he came and came, like a demon had hold of him. Someone squeezed her breast at exactly the right moment. She was pretty sure it was Zane.
The glow that spread through her was headier than wine.
"Wow," she said, trying twice before her vocal chords cooperated. "I think my had a ."
"Me too," Zane said with a shaky laugh. "Trey, old friend, you are inspiring."
Trey might have wanted to speak, but what came out was a sated moan. His cheek rested on her shoulder, his arms wrapped around her midsection.
"I'll take that as a lsquo;you're welcome,'" Zane teasingly told him.
~
Trey didn't want to let go of Rebecca. Of the two of them, Zane had more stamina. Nonetheless, Trey felt a need to carry her to their bedroom. Zane didn't argue, pulling down the sheets and helping Trey settle her. She seemed so precious, now more than ever. She was the second half of Trey's dream come true.
When he laid his head on her breast, she stroked his hair.
"I love you," she said, exactly the words he wanted to hear.
"I love you," he said back.
She kissed his brow and held him. "Beautiful man."
Zane wriggled down on her other side. He reached across her, chafing the shoulder of the arm Trey had draped over her stomach.
"I think I need to see my aunt," Trey announced.
"She won't change," Zane warned. "She needs to believe what she believes about her father."
"That doesn't matter. I need to face her for me. If I don't, I'll worry I didn't talk to her because I was afraid."
"Don't lie to her," Zane said. "Your integrity is important. You can't pretend just to make her comfortable."
"I won't."
Zane leaned over Rebecca to kiss him.
Trey saw Rebecca was smiling. He let his past gomdash;at least for then. It didn't weigh on him so heavily anyway.
"How did you like what we did tonight?" he asked her.
"Oh come on," she said. "You know I loved it. If I were a man, you'd totally turn me gay."
He laughed, something he hadn't known was tense giving way in him. "So you think you'll like living here?"
"I know I will. You will have to give Raoul a raise."
"I will?"
"He's been filling in for me more often. I confess I'm eager to go back to work. I can't help being excited about running our restaurant. Sex fiends that you are, though, you probably won't want me at the Lounge every night."
This was truer than she knew, though not only because they liked having sex with her. "Maybe you'll enjoy work even more when you do it a little less . . . and when you have us to come home to. Any other demands?"
"You should design a perfume that I can wear. Your Bad Boy cologne and sweat is all over me. If you bottled a smell like that, females would line up for it."
"Bad Girl," he said, testing out what he knew she meant.
"Absolutely." She poked her finger into his sternum.
She did smell good, homey and sexy at the same time. She squirmed around and up onto one elbow. Her fingers traced the dragon tattoo on his stomach. That felt so nice, he didn't realize her lazy exploration included being observant.
"There are initials in this design," she exclaimed. "It's a lsquo;Z' and a lsquo;T.'"
"It is," he confirmed. "That was my commitment to Zane way back when."
"Aw," she said, laying her palm on it.
God, she was cute. "Guess I'll need an lsquo;R' in there now."
"Really?"
"Really. Zane wasn't speaking out of turn. You belong to both of us."
Grinning a little smugly, she settled down against him.
"Jesus," Zane huffed. "Trey isn't the only romantic here."
Rebecca turned her head to him. "I don't know, Zane. I haven't heard you say those three special words."
Zane cursed and stomped out of the bed.
"Where's he going?" Rebecca asked.
"The closet, I think."
"Uh oh. He's got crazy things hidden there."
Trey laughed. She felt like his ally and Zane's too, the piece that fit their puzzle more snugly together.
Zane returned with a black leather jewelry box. The image of a pair of hands holding a crowned heart was stamped on it in silver.
"They're Claddagh rings," he said, thrusting the box at Trey.
Three nestled in the velvet slit, one in each of their sizes, beautifully fashioned in platinum. Seeing them, Trey's eyes filled up with hot tears.
"They're hokey," Zane accused himself.
"They're perfect," Trey contradicted.
"Say the words," Rebecca urged softly. "Trey pretends he doesn't need to hear them, but he does."
"I love you both," Zane said. "I love you both a lot. I want us to be together for a long time."
Trey looked from the rings to him. Time folded back to the night they'd become friends and more. That was the night his life began. "How long is a long time?"
"Forever," Zane swore, his eyes as blue as sun-struck sapphires.
Trey smiled, reaching sideways to grasp Rebecca's hand.
