Chapter 24
WILLOW
Adinner date at Cole’s penthouse isn’t just any dinner, it’s an event, and it was clearly treated as such. I recognize the food as made to order by Ernesto’s Steakhouse, Asher’s favorite place in all of New York—renowned for their exquisite Angus beef and to-die-for parmesan and rosemary potatoes.
The wine is from some remote but insanely expensive Moldavian cellar. A ruby red that I only admired in its glass while taking sips of water, blaming medication for a minor cold to justify my inability to drink wine.
“This place hasn’t been the same without you,” Cole admits.
We’ve just wrapped up dessert, and the New York–style cheesecake left me with a broad smile on my face and a yearning for another slice. Something tells me there’s another kind of dessert coming later, though.
The mere thought makes my core tighten. I knew what I was getting myself into when I agreed to this date.
“I haven’t been the same without you either,” I confess. “But I’m glad I’m here now. I really am.”
Asher gives me a soft smile, warmth exuding from his deep, brown eyes, his mother’s eyes. That is one woman I would’ve loved to meet. “You look beautiful, by the way.”
“Thank you.”
“How’s work going?” Toby asks.
“Really well, actually. We’re already fielding new clients.”
“That’s great,” Asher says. His cologne meets my senses first: sea salt and the finest musk. It shatters my defenses as heat pools between my legs.
“What about you?” I ask. “Any new leads on that Brett/Perry dude?”
I may have struck them with a mood killer because the brothers simultaneously lean back in their chairs and take deep breaths.
“That bad, huh?” I murmur, lowering my gaze.
“No, not bad, just nothing yet,” Cole says. “I wish we had better news. Some people slip through the system’s cracks, and some learn to take advantage of that, staying off the grid, flying under the radar. This guy is clearly one of them.”
“New York is a big city,” I say. “Honestly, I wasn’t expecting a miracle. I’m just trying to understand why he came after me in the first place.”
“We’ll figure it out,” Toby replies. “No one is going to rest until we do.”
I believe him. It’s not just his assuredness that comforts me, but the fact that Toby, along with his brothers, always match their actions with their words, and it makes them insanely attractive on top of everything else.
“We owe you an apology,” Cole says after a long and heavy silence.
“Oh?”
“For the whole Christmas lunch thing. Well, I owe you the biggest apology,” he says. “My brothers were just falling in line with me. I’m sorry, Willow, for not telling you about Sheila. I just didn’t want to lose you.”
“It’s okay,” I tell him. “I may have overreacted, as well.”
“No, you didn’t,” he says. “You were right. There shouldn’t be any secrets between us. There will never be any secrets between us ever again, that, I promise.”
I give him a soft smile. “I believe you.”
“And speaking of secrets, I need to get something off my chest,” Toby says.
Every eye focuses on him in muted anticipation.
“When I was eight years old, I stayed home sick one day. Asher and Cole were at school. Mom made me some soup and put me to bed.” He pauses for Asher’s chuckle.
“Hey, it counts as a secret. Even you don’t know what I’m about to say. ”
“By all means, go on, brother,” Asher replies.
Toby frowns slightly, scratching his salt-and-pepper beard. “I snuck out of my room that afternoon and went into Dad’s home office. I knew where he kept his cigars. S, I got one out and tried to smoke it.”
“Holy crap,” Cole gasps, his eyes widening with the realization. “The house fire.”
“What?” I ask, my gaze bouncing between them.
“That was you?” Asher doubles over in heavy laughter, and I absolutely love the sound of it. I have never seen them so at ease, so relaxed, and so vibrant.
Toby nods once. “I got sick from the first few puffs, and I tossed that thing in the trash can. I didn’t even think to double-check if it was out. Then I went to the bathroom to puke my guts out, and next thing I know, Mom’s screaming around the whole mansion that there’s a fire.”
“By the time we got home, the fire trucks were pulling out of the driveway,” Cole remembers. “Dad was fuming. They traced the source to his home office, and Mom chewed him out for smoking in there. He swore he only smoked on the patio, but that he did, in fact, keep the cigars in his office.”
“How much of the house did you actually burn down?” I ask Toby.
“Three rooms and the foyer,” he says, prompting another wave of laughter from his brothers. “But there you have it: One more secret out in the open.”
“On that note...” Asher interjects.
Cole rolls his eyes. “Buckle up, Willow, we’re not done yet, apparently.”
We laugh as Asher reveals another childhood secret from his past, surprising even Toby—which is rare, considering they’re twins and know everything about each other down to the tiniest detail.
“Mrs. Aycox? Really?” Toby gasps, one hand on his chest in dramatic shock.
“And now you know,” Asher replies with a cool grin.
Cole turns to me. “Anything you want to share with the class since we’re doing this?”
All eyes switch to my face with laser-point precision.
I feel the heat climbing up my throat. My baby is still a tiny little thing, but I’m pretty sure it stirred just now, feeling unconsciously targeted.
I should tell them, I should. We just picked this up again, though.
We’re having fun. We’re focused on the present.
I don’t want to ruin tonight. It’s the best time I’ve had since Christmas Eve.
“I do have a secret to share,” I say, then slowly get up from my seat.
“Oh?” Cole replies, looking a bit worried.
Smiling softly, I unzip my dress and let the layer of black velvet fall to the floor, revealing a full slip wrapped in black and gold-threaded lace. The straps are made of fine satin, and its deep cleavage turns the Morgan brothers’ gaze into something dark and hungry, and downright devastating.
“While I love this gift you sent me, along with an office full of flowers, I’m afraid you got the size wrong. I didn’t say anything because I felt bad for looking a gift horse in the mouth,” I say, then slowly turn around. “See? The back lace doesn’t go tighter than that.”
“Well, that is a shame,” Asher replies. His voice low and dripping with desire.
Cole is the first to get up and approach me. I don’t move. I just listen to his steps as he moves closer, his presence wrapping me in a pleasant sensation long before I feel his fingers running down my back.
“Then there’s no point in you struggling to wear this,” he says, his lips brushing my ear lobe. “Might as well get it out of the way.”
“I’ll say one thing, though,” Toby adds as he joins us. “Even tight, it looks sublime on you, Willow.”
“It does?” I whisper, closing my eyes for a moment as I rest my head on Cole’s shoulder, drunk on his cologne.
His hard cock pokes my buttock while his fingers aptly untie the satin laces at the back. Toby comes around to the front with a hungry look in his eyes as he gently removes the shoulder straps. His lips stretch as he reveals my breasts, which have grown tender since the pregnancy.
My nipples respond to his attention, perked and stiff and begging for his tongue. He obliges with a growing appetite while Cole rolls the lingerie down until it slips off my legs and falls to the floor.
Before long, I’m surrounded by my men. I help them out of their clothes while our mouths clash and our tongues wrestle.
I taste faint hints of wine and whiskey on their lips.
I’m drunk with arousal as their hands roam all over my body.
Their ragged breaths make me smile as they knead and squeeze and pinch until I’m soaking wet and begging for more.
Toby and Asher lead me to the couch.
“I’ve missed this,” I breathe as Asher sits down and pulls me on top of him.
“And I’ve missed this, all of this,” Asher replies and squeezes my breasts, his cock stirring under my gaze. Toby climbs up on the sofa as his brother lowers himself slightly, allowing him to sit on the backrest.
In an instant, my mind makes the connection, and I understand what’s about to happen. I turn my head to see Cole settle behind me. He caresses my buttocks with a loving gaze, biting his lower lip as I feel the tip of his erection probing my entrance.
“I want you all,” I say the words out loud, then look up at Toby.
His cock is in his hand, and he’s stroking it slowly as he waits for me. I wrap my lips around the head, tasting him. He’s hot and slightly salty in my mouth. At the same time, I slide onto Asher’s monstrous member as he squeezes my breasts tighter and tighter.
When Cole joins him inside me, my pussy stretches in the best way, slick beyond my wildest dreams.
“I told you, Willow, you were made for us,” Cole grunts and pulls back, ever so slowly. I moan, my mouth full of Toby as I fondle his rock-hard balls with one hand and grip the base of his cock tightly before I let him go all the way in.
A rhythm begins to build. They ease me into it at first. My hips sway, our hearts beating faster with every movement.
“You are perfection,” Cole grunts and digs his fingers into my hips. “Every curve, every inch of you is perfection.”
“Your heart, your mind, your strength,” Asher says.
I lock eyes with Toby as he deep-throats me into oblivion, his brow furrowed as he unleashes his inner beast. I ride Asher while Cole fucks me from behind. I’m filled to the brim, and my cries of raw pleasure are muffled as the heat rises and the rhythm intensifies.
My clit presses against Asher’s groin, and it triggers a mind-blowing orgasm. I shudder and writhe in their grip. I come, gushing, as they take me harder and deeper and further than I’ve ever been.
And when they come, I welcome every drop.
I drink Toby whole, unraveling at the core as Asher stiffens and fills me with his seed.
Cole holds out for last, pounding into me like there’s no tomorrow.
I love the sound of skin slapping skin, and when his hand comes down to smack my ass, I come again, screaming in sweet ecstasy, until he joins me.
“Oh, yes!” I cry out, and Cole wraps his arm around my neck.
Colors explode before my eyes as I soften, and I collapse on top of Asher for the longest minute. Soon, they carry me off to bed, where more lovemaking awaits. I surrender over and over until the sunrise finds us spent and sleeping.