Elemental Pleasure Page 3

  *****

  Lance savored the feel of Carly’s curves pressed against him. In the cab on the way to the hotel, he’d focused on the image of her standing in her lingerie, rather than on that Preston guy’s attempt to kiss him. He had to focus on something he could recognize. While emotional things confused him, he never had any problem with the physical. Carly was giving off sexy signals a blind man couldn’t miss. Her breathing had accelerated the second he pulled her into his arms and her body had softened.

  He’d been lying on the bed debating whether he should jack off when he’d heard a noise. Lance had been delighted when he opened the door to find the object of his desire waiting on the other side, looking sexy in her black dress and boots. There was precious little about this whole fucking situation he could control, but by God, he could take charge of Carly’s body, give her an orgasm she’d never forget. He’d handed over too much of the power today. It was time to get some back.

  “Lance…”

  He silenced her with his lips. She tasted like champagne and woman. He craved it, wanted more. Pulling her away from the bar, he scooped her up and carried her to the next closest thing—the piano. He set her on the bench and heard her gasp.

  He bent over as he kissed his way down her neck and her fingers twisted in his hair. He needed so much more of her—her breasts in his hands, her legs wrapped around his waist, her lips on his cock. Tugging at her dress got him nowhere, so he set her on her feet once more. His patience was in tatters.

  “Take it off.”

  “Lance, wait. We should…” She motioned to a door.

  He didn’t understand her sudden hesitance. It was obvious she still wanted him. “You should take off that dress before I rip it off.”

  “We shouldn’t do this without Preston.”

  Lance struggled to remain calm, but he was quickly passing a point of no return. Carly’s mention of the other man’s name went through him like a bullet to the gut.

  “I don’t feel like sharing right now.” He spun her around, pressed her against the piano and held her in place with one leg while he unzipped her dress, yanking it down so it pooled at her waist.

  She whirled, her wrists caught in the sleeves.

  “Better.” He took her breasts in his hands.

  She shuddered and her head fell back. Carly’s hair spilled over her shoulders in dark ropes. He rubbed her nipples through the lace. When they pebbled, he pinched them, twisting a little. Carly moaned, the sound one of sheer desire. Mercifully, she stopped trying to fight him. “Oh god,” she whispered.

  Dropping to one knee, he jerked her dress off. He could see she was wet, the silk fabric at the seam of her sex dark with moisture. He rubbed two fingers along her slit, forcing the fabric into the folds of her sex. Finding the nub of her clit, he pressed it, rolling it between his finger and the hard plate of her pelvic bone.

  She gasped and jerked. Lance looked her over, his cock rigid in his pants. She looked like sin and sex in her black lace, wearing those hot fuck-me boots. She was his. The thought caught him unaware.

  His.

  No one had ever been his before.

  He rose, still working her clit as he cradled the back of her head. Previous lovers had called him aggressive in bed. Some women had enjoyed his rough touch, while it had driven others away. Carly liked it. He could see in her flushed face, in her heavy-lidded eyes. She wanted more. And he wanted to give it to her.

  He kissed her hard and deep. Her hands fumbled with his shirt, undoing enough buttons that she was able to slide her fingers inside, digging her nails into his skin. There was fire and passion within her. For the first time today, something made sense. They fit.

  Lance used both of his hands to yank down the lace covering her breasts. She gasped, her hands coming up to hide herself.

  Carly shook her head. “Wait. We can’t do this, not like this.”

  “Yes, we can. We have to.”

  “Lance…”

  Taking her wrists, he forced her hands down, bent his head, and took the tip of one breast in his mouth.

  She tried to free her hands and he bit her nipple gently. A warning. He switched to the dry nipple, flicking it with his tongue before taking it in his mouth.

  “Stop, Lance. We should…should…oh…”

  He sucked harder, grinning in savage satisfaction as her objections trailed away. He pressed his leg between hers, forcing them open.

  He took one of her hands and brought it to his fly. Her fingers curled around the hard length of him through the fabric of his pants.

  “I’m going to fuck you,” he whispered against her breast, raising his knee until he felt the wet heat of her sex against his thigh.

  Her hand jerked away from his cock. “We can’t do this, not without Preston.”

  Lance’s teeth ground together. That name. Jesus. He struggled to calm down, to understand. “You want him, not me?”

  “What? No, but we’re supposed to be together, the three of us.”

  Years of military training reared its ugly head. Lance only knew one way. Kill or be killed. “If he wants you, he’ll have to come and take you.”

  Grasping her by the hips, Lance turned her and bent her over the piano. Her ass rubbed against his cock, driving him wild. Grabbing one of her wrists, he forced it to the small of her back, using it to hold her in place as he opened his fly. She shuddered at his bondage, moaning quietly. God, she was a wildcat.

  “We shouldn’t,” she whispered, even as her hips rocked back against him, enticing, inviting.

  He jerked her panties down. He couldn’t get them off because of the garters, but it was enough. He slid his finger into her sex, rubbing her clit and then pressing two thick fingers inside her. She shivered in pleasure, her tepid protests gone. “God. Lance. I—”

  “What are you doing?”

  Preston stood in the open doorway of a bedroom. His black gaze swept over the tableau before him. Lance pressed his fingers deeper into Carly and rubbed her clit, wringing another moan of pleasure from her.

  “Carly and I are getting to know each other.”

  “I heard her tell you to stop.”

  “She thinks you need to be involved. I think otherwise.”

  “You…you ass.” The words were muffled until Carly tossed her hair back and said it again. “You ass. Let me go.”

  Lance frowned. She sounded angry, no longer aroused. Lance wanted to howl in frustration. The moment had clearly passed, but he wished someone would explain that fact to his throbbing cock.

  Lance refused to give up. It was his biggest fault—and the thing that had earned him more commendations than any other Marine on his team. “Carly, I know you want this.”

  “I believe the lady asked you to let her go.”

  Carly braced her free hand on the piano and pushed. Acting on pure instinct, Lance leaned into her, holding her more securely. Control was slipping from his grasp again. For a split second, he’d held the reins, but now they were being stolen from him again.

  Preston darted across the space and knocked Lance’s hand off her back. “Let. Her. Go.”

  “So you can have her? I don’t think so.” Lance curled his fingers inside her, felt her body react. “She wants me.”

  “Maybe, maybe not.” Preston grabbed the wrist of the hand that was still buried in Carly’s warm sex.

  “Move that hand or you’ll lose it.” Lance tensed, ready to fight.

  “Stop!” Carly pushed herself up. Lance’s hand slid from her body and, as she stumbled back a step, she forced them apart. Preston caught her around the waist. Lance’s hands curled into fists. She was so fucking sexy with her hair mussed, breasts spilling out, panties around her thighs, showing off the trim line of hair on her sex.

  Preston released her and Carly ran from the room after shooting an angry glare Lance’s direction.

  Preston retrieved her dress from the floor. For a moment, Lance braced himself, expecting the other man to throw a punch. Hell,
he almost hoped he would. Lance deserved the pain.

  Instead, Preston simply followed Carly.

  Lance ran his hand through his hair. Well, he’d fucked that up royally.

  The worst part was she was right. It was a mistake for two of them to enjoy each other without the third present. But that seemed complicated and messy. He didn’t like either of those things, spent a majority of his life cleaning up shit like that.

  However, he did like sex, and he knew he and Carly would be so hot together they’d probably set the bed on fire.

  Preston Kim. He was the unknown, a complication. Lance didn’t have a choice about letting Preston into his life, but he still didn’t know if the other man was a friend or a threat.

  Grabbing the bottle of whiskey off the bar, he took it back to his room. The day was already fucked up beyond repair; he might as well end it drunk as fuck.

  ~~~~

  Chapter Three

  “Carly, are you all right?”

  Carly lifted her head and nodded. Her blood was humming with anger, embarrassment and unsatisfied desire. The way Lance had held and touched her had been terrifyingly arousing. It had taken all the strength in her body to walk away from him.

  Preston followed her into her room, her dress in his hand. Her breasts were back in her bra, her wet underwear in place, but she still took the dress, holding it on her lap.

  “Thank you.”

  “Why don’t we go get some dinner? I think we need to get out for a few minutes, see some normal people.”

  Carly laughed. “That’s a good idea. Give me a moment to change.”

  Preston nodded, and then touched her cheek with one finger before leaving.

  Carly let out a breath and flopped back on the bed. Her skin was alive and tingling. She’d never been aroused so quickly before. Lance had handled her with a skill and complete assurance she’d never encountered, but which she certainly found exciting.

  If Preston hadn’t followed her and invited her to dinner, she would be lying on her bed with her hand between her legs finishing what Lance had started. However, with Preston waiting she didn’t have time, so she slipped into the bathroom and cleaned up, then swapped out her lingerie for a much less complicated matching bra and panty set. She pulled on a gray, wool fifties-style dress with a full skirt and fitted bodice. She hadn’t brought many of her regular, far more casual, clothes, so this would have to do. Adding her boots, she pulled her hair back in a simple bun and headed out the door.

  *****

  Preston tasted the wine and nodded to the server, who poured two glasses. It was early, and the restaurant down the street from the hotel had just opened for dinner. They were the only diners, which was fine with Preston as he hoped this would be a private conversation. They were at a prime corner table, seated so they could look out the windows on either side, watching as the city wrapped up work for the day.

  When the server left, Carly raised her glass to take a sip. He was both surprised and pleased by who she was. Because of his family, he understood that being partnered to someone with so much power and potential was a sign that the Grand Master thought highly of him and what he could do. Carly’s company had developed a console and game that was a living, changing thing. No cheat codes or walk-throughs worked in the world she’d created. The game watched how people played and learned from it, adapting to their skills. That meant the game was thinking, not just randomizing. It was a brilliant bit of computer science, the brainchild of a beautiful woman.

  Preston would be lying if he said the sight of her with Lance hadn’t excited him. He’d been standing there longer than they knew, watching them, his own cock hard in his pants. He’d been thrilled and aroused to hear his name on Carly’s lips as she rode the wave of passion. He’d only stepped in when he thought Lance was in danger of doing something that might ruin their ménage before it even got started, and potentially damaging Lance’s relationship with Carly. The other man might not know it, but Preston’s interference benefited all of them.

  He and Lance would have to make their peace, but right now his main focus was Carly.

  “Tell me about yourself,” Carly said. “We talked about me, but not you. What do you do?” She gestured to his hand. “How did you get involved with the Trinity Masters?”

  Preston looked at the signet ring he wore, stamped with the Trinity Masters’ emblem. “Like you, I officially joined in college. I went to Boston College for my undergrad, Harvard for my PhD, and then did my post doc at Cal, which is how I ended up in San Francisco.”

  The server came again and there was a pause while they ordered.

  “I’m a partner in a small nano-tech firm. I started it with several friends from my PhD program.”

  “I thought you were a chemist.”

  “I am. Nanotechnology is chemistry.”

  “I thought it was tiny machines.”

  Preston laughed, and then used breadsticks to diagram what he was talking about. Carly was smart, almost scarily so, and within minutes she was asking questions that could qualify as chemistry dissertation topics.

  It reminded him that what was between them, all of them, was about far more than just sex or attraction. They were the building blocks of the future.

  “I wonder what Lance does,” Preston said, as much to himself as to her.

  “That’s a good question.” Carly turned to look out the window. “My money is on military.”

  Preston thought that was a fair guess. “Carly, are you really okay, after what happened, after what he did?”

  “Are you?” Her gaze searched his face.

  He nodded, then smiled to show he was sincere. She seemed relieved, her shoulders relaxing.

  “I shouldn’t have let it get that far. I didn’t mean to. It just happened.”

  “It’s fine. If you want to be alone with Lance you’re welcome to do so, as long as you’re not hiding it from me.”

  “You’re really okay with this?”

  “I am.” He’d been raised by a trinity. To him, the idea of Carly and Lance together was both arousing and comforting because it felt right. He knew it wouldn’t always be possible, or practical, for all three of them to be together, and he wanted his partners to have a strong, solid relationship.

  Her gaze narrowed. “You never answered my question about how you got involved in…this.” She kept her voice down. Around them, the restaurant was filling with early diners.

  “I’m a legacy.”

  “A what?”

  “My parents, and by parents I mean both mothers and my father, were members of the Trinity Masters.”

  Carly’s mouth dropped open in shock. “You…have two mothers.”

  “Yes.”

  She licked her lips, frowning. “That’s why you were upset when I wasn’t excited. You understand this, and I’m guessing you’ve been looking forward to it your whole life.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Wow.” She sat back, wineglass in hand. “So people do have children?”

  “Of course. You assumed they didn’t?”

  “Actually, I did. I mean, isn’t it hard to work out? One person is always going to be left out. It’s biology.”

  “My other mother, who I call Imo, was always a part of our lives. We lived next door to each other, and when I was young my father and Imo started a company together. My parents have done more to improve science education in the U.S. in the past ten years than in the fifty proceeding.”

  “Wait, do they own Eduvation?”

  “Yes.”

  “I went to an Eduvation magnet high school. That’s how I got interested in computer science.”

  “Two of my parents had the knowledge to make the company, to create the product, and my mother, my biological mother, who is civilly married to my father for legal reasons, made sure their dream could become a reality.”

  “What does she do?”

  “She’s a lobbyist.”

  “So when they say the Trinity Masters create
relationships that build the future…they’re not kidding.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Still,” Carly picked up one of his nano-breadsticks and toyed with it, “that’s an awful lot riding on a very tricky relationship. The three of us didn’t even get through the ceremony without trouble.”

  “We’ll work it out, but that brings up something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about. Since you had some time with Lance, I think it’s only fair that I get the same time with you.”

  *****

  “What do you mean?” Carly asked, suddenly on alert.

  “I mean that we should even the playing field.”

  “This isn’t a race to the finish.”

  “You’re right, it’s not, and life isn’t fair, but I’d like to start out on some semblance of equal footing.”

  “What happened between Lance and me doesn’t affect the two of us. If anything, we’re on better terms because we’ve talked. I don’t even know what Lance does for a living or where he lives.”

  “And that’s something we need to rectify. I’d like to have a conversation with him, but you’re underestimating the power of physical attraction and connection. You and I are starting to form a relationship, a bond, but what we’re doing right now is no different than getting to know a new friend. What you did with Lance formalized in your mind the idea that he and you are now connected on an intimate level.”

  Carly pushed a piece of fish around her plate, no longer hungry. “I understand, but I won’t be a pawn in some competition between you and Lance, both of you trying to see whose dick is bigger. That’s a precedent I’m not willing to set.”

  “Fair enough.” Preston took a sip of wine and she watched his throat as he swallowed. He looked trim and dapper in his navy suit, blue-and-white striped shirt and narrow pale blue tie. His hair, parted at the side, was just long enough so one lock fell out of place, lying on his forehead. Without that, he would have been too polished, too put together.

  “But—” He set his glass down. “Will you accept that I want to touch you, want to know, and want you to know, that we’re not new friends, not business acquaintances?”