“How is she?” Ryan asked from the front seat as he sped up the mountain, taking the switchbacks as fast as he dared.
“Good question. How are you, doll?” he asked, smoothing her hair from her face.
“I’m okay,” she said in a shaky voice. “He didn’t see me, did he?”
“No, doll, he didn’t. I promise. You’re safe.”
He continued to caress her, running his hand up and down her back. “We’re almost home.”
He nuzzled the top of her head, pressing kisses to her hair. Gradually she ceased shaking, but she held him tightly, a fact he wasn’t complaining about. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, she trusted him. She trusted all three of them. It was a start.
Chapter Six
Adam was furious when Ethan and Ryan arrived with a visibly shaken Holly. He scooped her up in his arms and hugged her tightly against his chest. His eyes flashed over her head, demanding to know what happened from his brothers.
“Her h—the bastard was in town,” Ethan spat.
“Did he hurt you, baby?” Adam demanded.
She shook her head against his chest.
He looked up to his brothers for confirmation.
“He didn’t see her,” Ryan said. “At least we don’t think. He was parked on the street. Holly saw him from the store window.”
“Fuck.”
This certainly complicated things. He exchanged glances with his brothers. All silently agreed. Something would have to be done about the bastard. They couldn’t allow Holly to be terrorized any longer.
Adam pulled Holly away from him slightly and framed her face in his hands. “Listen to me, baby. We won’t let him hurt you, I swear it.”
She stared at him for a long moment then slowly nodded.
He let out a growl of satisfaction. “Go run some bathwater, Ryan.”
Ryan left for the bathroom, leaving Adam and Ethan in the room with Holly. Adam ran a hand down her cheek, down the curve of her slender neck and down to the neckline of her shirt.
“Let us take care of you,” he murmured. “First a bath…” He let his voice trail off suggesting there was more to come.
She shivered in his arms. But she didn’t look at all worried about the idea of more to come.
“Adam, there’s something…there’s something you should know.”
He lifted his brow at her nervous statement. He looked over at Ethan who shrugged.
She pushed away from him, and he allowed her space. She stood up and moved several feet from both him and Ethan.
“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 breast. 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 pu**y. 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.
Oh, he hadn’t shown himself for the ass**le he was until their wedding night. She’d been starry-eyed and all agog that he had chosen her to be his wife. She’d quickly learned that behind his charming exterior lurked a controlling, abusive man.
Would things have been different if she hadn’t witnessed him killing a man in cold blood on the day of their wedding? Probably not, after all, he’d had no difficulty raising a hand to her. No regret, no emotion had crossed his face as she’d laid there crying.
She shuddered and shook her head to rid herself of the memory. Never again would she put herself in such a position. If she remained here, it would be because she wanted to, not because Adam dictated it.
If she remained here. Was she contemplating? Really?
“You’re out of your mind,” she muttered to her reflection in the mirror.
You want them as much as they want you. Maybe more.
Her ni**les puckered as she imagined them making love to her. She felt an unbearable tightening in her groin. It spread throughout her pelvis, and her clit pulsed in reaction.
She may be a virgin, but she wasn’t an idiot. She was as horny as a priest in the Playboy Mansion.
Rolling her eyes heavenward, she dressed and slipped out of the bathroom. She meandered down the hall and, for the first time since her arrival, took stock of her surroundings.
The cabin exuded masculinity. All the rooms were sparsely decorated in earth tones. The living room was dominated by the stone fireplace, and the glow spread warmth over the rustic wood floors. It was, she imagined, just as a cabin may have looked a hundred years ago.
Ethan sat at a desk several feet from the fireplace. He was concentrating on a computer screen and occasionally tapping on the keyboard. Did they have internet access here in the middle of nowhere?
She looked around for the others, but the house was silent. Taking a deep breath, she crossed the room until she stood behind Ethan.
“Ethan?” she asked, damning how quivery her voice came out.
He swiveled around in his chair and looked inquisitively at her.
“Can I ask you some questions?”
“Of course,” he replied.
He stood up and tucked her hand in his then pulled her over to the couch.
“Let’s get comfortable.”
She sank down beside him, careful to keep a safe distance from him. One touch from him and she was likely to throw herself into his arms and beg him to make love to her.
She stared at him for a long time then gathered her courage around her. “Is this for real?”
His gaze softened, and he sat back as if realizing she needed the space.
“This must be difficult for you.”
She nodded. She swallowed back what she wanted to say then hesitated. Holding back her emotions wasn’t natural for her, as problematic as it may be. Something told her she could be honest with Ethan.
“It’s difficult, but not in the way you’d think.”
She promptly blushed and looked away as she spoke.
He didn’t prompt her to say more, he merely waited.
“I don’t understand,” she began again, trying to formulate her thoughts. “How can you all want me? I mean I can understand wanting me, wanting to have sex that is, but Adam said… He made it sound like you wanted me to stay.”
Ethan nodded.
“But how? You don’t know me. How can it be any more than lust at this point?”
He smiled and reached over, curling his strong fingers over her palm. He picked up her hand then turned it over until her palm faced up. Bending his head, he pressed his lips to her skin.
She shivered in reaction, a chill racing straight up her arm.
“Lust? Oh yeah,” he said, lowering her hand. “But it’s more than that.”