“Kimber!” A voice bellowed. Then she heard stomping in the rest of the house.

A bolt of gladness and relief struck her. “Deke?” She had only to say his name once and he appeared in the doorframe, filling the space with his massive shoulders and huge presence. His breath rose and fell in heavy, angry pants. He swayed on his feet. Those blue eyes of his zeroed in on her wrapped in Luc’s arms. They stripped her clothes off with a glance. Immediately, her nipples beaded. She swallowed.

“You’re drunk,” Luc bit out in disapproval beside her.

“I wish. But not for lack of trying. If I was, I could have drowned out all desire to touch her.” Deke pinned Kimber to the sofa with a hot stare. “Then I could have passed out into oblivion without needing to feel her around my cock.” Kimber’s stomach clenched at his words. So did her sex. Why did this man get to her, despite being so dangerous and difficult, so angry? Luc was gentle and understanding, charming, seductive, talented. The desire he roused was gentle and beautiful.

And nothing like the hot blast of need that scalded her every time she experienced Deke’s demanding caress.

“Not when you’re in this mood.” Luc stood and crossed his arms, half standing in front of her protectively. “You know what we had planned next, and you’re in no shape to carry it out. You’ll hurt her.”

“I won’t.” He stared, then sent her a smile that glittered with danger. “Look at her.

Those pretty nipples are hard. Her hot hazel eyes are eating me up. And her pussy…”

Deke pushed past Luc in the small den and fell to his knees. Before Kimber had any idea what he had planned, Deke had pushed up her miniskirt and ripped out the crotch of her panties.

“Damn things,” he muttered. “Naked. You should always be naked.”

“But—”

He spread her legs wide, slammed two fingers inside her wet sex, and bent his head to her clit, consuming her in a devouring sweep of his tongue Moaning, she called out, “Deke!”

Immediately, fire sizzled down her legs, roaring into an inferno low in her belly.

Tight and aching, hot and out of control, the sensations slammed into her. She couldn’t breathe. Definitely couldn’t stop him.

Didn’t want to.

Kimber curled her fingers around his head and gasped. His greedy licks were shocking to her system. He was eating her alive—all her passion and yearning, all her doubts, hopes. Her indecision.

Why did Deke reach her on such a deep level? Because she sensed he was wounded and wanted to heal him, as any nurse would? Why did he rule her body more than any other man? Why had some part of her fantasized about him, even before she understood sexual fantasies?

The question dissipated in her mind, dissolving like sugar in wine, as Deke’s fingertips stroked the sensitive bundle of nerves inside her. Luc sank onto the couch at her side and watched, arousal fierce across his face.

“I won’t let him hurt you.”

“He won’t,” she gasped.

“He’s arousing you?”

“Yes.” She threw back her head and closed her eyes. “Yes.”

Luc’s thumb suddenly swiped across one nipple as he pulled her summer top down, anchoring it beneath her breasts. “I’m going to arouse you, too, sweetheart.” His tongue flicked across the beads of her tight nipples, followed by a nip of his teeth. Deke mirrored the action, clamping down on her clit, then manipulating it with the tip of his tongue. Relentless, one swipe after the other, he made her burn.

The fire spread, injecting its way through her body, shooting up to her nipples, down her legs, sizzling across her skin. Building, building… Her heart careened out of control, the sound of its beats roaring in her ears, blocking out everything else except the hungry sounds of Deke’s mouth and Luc’s moans.

In seconds, the need grew and towered above her until she hovered right on the edge of wildfire pleasure. Totally beyond her control, her body jerked with every hard flick of Deke’s tongue. The fire gathered, coalesced, peaked. Then it erupted, bursting behind her eyes until black spots clung to the edge of her vision. Her back arched, and she screamed, gripping Deke’s head, his shoulders.

Enormous. Huge. Had she ever orgasmed so hard?

She struggled to catch her breath, to right her crazy, tilting world. Deke merely pushed her thighs wider, stabbed his tongue into her core, and demanded, “Again.” Sensations assailed her faster than her body could process them as his tongue stroked across her clit again. Too much, all at once. “Oh… Wait. Slow down.”

“No,” Deke barked, lifting his head from between her thighs, his lips wet with her juice. “You’re here to learn how to accommodate two men. I told you things would get hot. Sometimes, they’re fast and furious. Adjust.” Continuing to caress her breasts, Luc sent him a stern stare. “She’s inexperienced.

We can moderate—”

“Why? She’s a big girl. An adult, she keeps saying. In the next five minutes, she can be gripping your cock in her ass. And don’t lie; I know how bad you want it.”

“I’m sure it would be very enjoyable, if that’s what Kimber wants.” Deke flashed him a bitter stare. “You smug bastard, always hiding behind the good image, the chevalier to my caveman. Don’t forget, I was there when you had sex with that flight attendant in Memphis last year. You went at her for over three hours. Do you think Kimber could keep pace in one of your marathon sessions?” Kimber stared at Luc in a whole new light. Sweet tempered, gentle Luc? He flushed guiltily, lending credence to Deke’s assertion.

“She wasn’t complaining. Besides, you participated, too.”

“Once. The rest was all you, buddy boy. And she’s not the first one to get that treatment. Don’t pretend you don’t have a dark side. You want to win Kimber over?

You’d better show her the real you.”

Luc swallowed. “She knows the real me. I’ll always be as gentle as possible with Kimber.”

Deke snorted. “Sooner or later, you’re going to have to give her a taste of that killer stamina or you’ll be doing nothing but lying to her.”

“Shut up.”

Kimber watched the byplay with astonishment. The anger.

The secrets they’d both been keeping from her. Did they keep things from one another, too? Stunned didn’t begin to describe how she felt.

Clearing her throat, Kimber cut in. “Luc, really, I’m—”

“Here’s the deal,” Deke said to her, as if Luc hadn’t growled at him, as if she hadn’t spoken. “We work well together because Luc has patience and likes to get a woman all hot. I strike fast, make sure she gets off a few times. Somewhere in the middle of it all, Luc moves in.” Deke slanted another ugly stare at Luc.

“Shut up, cousin.”

“When his dark side takes over, he’ll fuck a woman for a good three hours. More, if he’s on a real tear. Never say die. Isn’t that your motto?” The bitter words hung in the air.

Mouth open, Kimber watched as Luc dragged Deke to his feet and curled a fist in his T-shirt. “You’re scaring her.”

“I’m telling the truth. And she should be scared. She’s a little virgin playing with grown men. I damn near fucked her sweet pussy this morning on your kitchen table while you slept.”

It was Luc’s turn to send her a sharp stare. “Are you okay?” What could she say? Kimber nodded. Embarrassment didn’t count as harm. She’d been stupid, allowing her good sense to be overwhelmed. It wouldn’t happen again. She hoped.

Deke scoffed. “What, you think I would have forced her? Raped her?”

“Normally, I wouldn’t think so, but you’re awfully pushy today,” Luc growled.

“If I had fucked her, it would have been because she aroused me and didn’t have enough control of her faculties to say no. I put a stop to it.”

Luc hardly looked impressed. “You don’t want the responsibility of taking a virgin.”

“I don’t want to hurt Kimber, and I have very little control with her. We all know it.” He paused. “Is your dark side wailing at you tonight, cuz?” Kimber watched as Luc released Deke’s shirt and shut his eyes, refusing to look at anyone. She had the distinct impression that he was embarrassed by his occasionally extreme behavior.

Oddly, she wasn’t afraid of Luc’s answer; she just wondered what caused him to need to fuck a woman so…thoroughly.

“No,” he murmured finally.

“Good. Since you have all the patience and no whiskey in your system…” Deke reached into his pocket and pulled out a condom and a tube of lubricant. He tossed them on the table right in front of her. “You know what we had planned tonight.

You do it, all gentle and shit, so it will go down smooth. Or I will. And heaven help us all, then.”

Luc let out a shaky breath.

Mr. Calm? Mr. Never-Ruffled? Wow… There was far more going on here than she’d ever suspected. What the hell was brewing in this place? She didn’t want to answer her own question the hard way, not when she knew what the condom and the lube meant for her.

“Guys, if neither of you is sure—”

“I’m sure,” Luc cut in quietly. “As indelicately as Deke might have said it, he’s right to push the issue. This is part of your training, and one of us has to do this.

Deke is in no shape. You know what we’re discussing, right?”

A glance again at the items on the table didn’t lead Kimber to any other conclusions. The thought of it happening to her—right now—both alarmed and aroused her. Would it hurt? Get her off? It didn’t matter. This was part of Jesse’s world, a big part of what Jesse would probably want. She was here to learn if she could accept it, take it, like it.

“Anal sex,” she finally answered.

“Yes.” Luc’s voice, usually smooth as brandy, was like a rough drag over gravel.

“Are you going to be okay with that?”

“It’s necessary to take two men at once. It’s part of what I signed up for.”

“But tonight? It’s late and we’ve argued—”

“You two argued. I’m fine. Are you…up for it?” Kimber glanced down at the crotch of Luc’s shorts.

Even as she spoke, his erection rose. “I’m always up for being with you.”

“It’s settled, then,” Deke said as he plopped down on the sofa arranged perpendicular to the one she occupied.

Kimber frowned as he reclined and looked at her with a cool smile. If Deke wanted her too much, why didn’t he want to be the first to do this? He’d said he had very little control with her.

Did he think he’d go wild and hurt her? Or push his way into the wrong orifice?

“Apparently.” Luc shot his cousin a puzzled glare. “And what are you going to do?”

The stare Deke sent Kimber damn near sizzled the flesh off her bones. “Watch.” That one word set off a detonation of hot longing inside Kimber. He wanted to watch Luc take her anally, planned to enjoy every moment of watching her writhe in ecstasy. A quick glance down proved the mere thought of it made him hard. The thought of his arousal made her ache. Her sex clenched, and fresh moisture drenched her already-wet folds.

“Eventually, you have to participate,” Luc pointed out to his cousin.

“Eventually.” He leaned back, crossed his ankles, and clasped his hands behind his head. No one could mistake the enormous erection jutting against the front of his jeans. “Get started. I’m ready.”

Arrogant bastard. But a sexy one. Kimber tried to form some pithy comeback, but then Luc touched her arm.

“Sweetheart?”

He was asking her if she was ready for this, for him. No. Yes. She sighed. Maybe.

She was curious, but afraid. She needed to be able to accept a man anally, but worried it would hurt. And if Deke wasn’t going to touch her, she wanted to drive him crazy, make him so insane for her that he couldn’t stay away.

Stupid and reckless, Kimber knew. But after this morning on the kitchen table when he’d refused her because she hadn’t had the willpower to say no… He’d mustered the self-control to put a stop to disaster and left. Clearly, he hadn’t wanted her half as badly as she’d ached for him. He’d done the right thing, she supposed, and part of her thanked him for it. But it still hurt.

Why did his opinion matter? She was here for Jesse. Jesse, damn it. Not Deke.

But he’d said no this morning, and now he’d given up the opportunity to be the first one to take her anally. Instead, he’d deferred to Luc. The devil of doubt rode her hard. Kimber was determined to make Deke regret what he’d passed up. He’d had better get ready for a hell of a floor show.

“I’m ready,” she whispered to Luc, sending him what could only be called a saucy, fuck-me smile.