Chapter Twenty-Three #2
As she passed him he swore the air was shifting, charged with electricity. He risked a glance over his shoulder, just in time to see an interesting smirk pass between Axel and Jenna. The shared smirk sent a jolt through him. It was teasing, knowing, almost inviting. It made his pulse stumble.
He watched her sit on one of the chairs at the table, facing him. Saw her thighs parting as she settled in. Axel’s shirt rode up, offering him a flash of bare skin, the shadow between her legs.
Oh come on! She wasn’t wearing any underwear. Heat surged through him. It was unwanted, overwhelming and he had to grip the counter to steady himself.
Nick’s cock jerked, pressing even more painfully against his pants.
He bit back a groan, forcing his attention to the coffee machine.
“Smells good,” Jenna complimented.
“Nick’s a damned fine cook, isn’t he? Try some bacon and eggs if your tummy can handle it,” Axel replied.
“I think I will. I think the morning sickness is gone. Replaced by a ravenous hunger. The toast looks good too. You’re a keeper, Nick. Thank you.”
“You’re more than welcome, Jenna,” Nick replied.
Yeah, his voice was way too thick. He cleared his throat and moved to the coffee pot, pouring steaming coffee into three mugs.
Had she just said she had a ravenous hunger? And the toast looked good? Ravenous hunger meaning sex?
“Did you sleep well, baby doll?” Axel asked as Nick approached with two mugs and set them down. One in front of Axel and one in front of Jenna.
“The best night ever,” she replied, her smoky gaze drifting to Nick.
He blew out a tense breath, turned away, and went to retrieve his mug of coffee.
When he turned around, Jenna was stretching, her arms lifting above her head. The movement caused the flannel shirt to ride up even higher.
Nick’s gaze snapped to her thighs, to the way her muscles flexed there, the way the fabric barely clung to her hips.
His mouth watered as he remembered finding Axel going down on Jenna yesterday morning.
Twenty-four hours later and the dynamics had seriously changed here.
Suddenly Axel chuckled. It was a low and dark sound, and Nick wondered if maybe they were both teasing him on purpose.
His thoughts meandered to when Jenna had pretended Daisy was some sort of big vicious dog. She’d said it with such a straight face. She had to be teasing him now.
He was reading way too much into this.
Unless she wasn’t teasing?
The way his cellmate had described her being a sexual woman made Nick wonder maybe he wasn’t reading too much into this.
Axel’s stories about Jenna, and them fantasizing about her in prison, had made Nick obsessed with a woman he’d never even met.
And now here she was, practically naked in front of him, her scent filling the kitchen, her gaze burning into him like a brand.
Nick sat down beside Axel with his mug and forced himself to sip the scalding black liquid. He stared everywhere but at Jenna or Axel. Every muscle felt too tight, every breath too shallow. He was trying to be casual, but his body was betraying him.
“Hello, Nick. Plate.” Axel’s voice cut through his thoughts, and Nick jumped, nearly spilling his coffee from his mug.
“Here’s a plate. Unless you want to eat off the table itself,” Axel said, shaking his head as he held out a plate, an amused expression on his face. Nick hadn’t even realized he had no plate in front of him.
He felt heat flush into his face again as he grabbed the plate and began to scoop a generous portion of the scrambled eggs and then bacon onto it.
He noted his hands were shaking. Fucking shaking.
He could feel Jenna’s eyes on him as he began to eat, trying like hell to act normal.
Man, the entire time they ate, Axel and her were talking about what chores were going to be done today, he could feel her attention like a physical touch.
“Hey, what’s the matter with you this morning? Why so quiet, Nick? You look like you’re about to have a stroke or something. Breathe, man,” Axel said with a soft chuckle.
Nick shot him a glare. Axel knew damn well why he was quiet, and the bastard was enjoying every second of it. He shoved a forkful of eggs into his mouth, chewing mechanically.
Axel was definitely playing with him.
“He does look a little pale. Are you okay, Nick? Any residual effects from the knock to your head?” Jenna asked.
Nick’s fork stopped halfway to his mouth, as Jenna leaned forward. Her face was suddenly too close, her breath warm on his cheek. His pulse kicked like he’d been jolted with a live wire.
She was staring right into his eyes and his gaze snapped downward to the exposed skin between the valley of her breasts before he could even stop himself.
He hadn’t meant to look, but his eyes betrayed him before he could blink.
The curve of her lips hit him harder than it should have.
They looked so soft, warm, and were aimed right at him.
“Pupils are even. So that’s a good sign,” she said, her voice steady. Then she smiled at him and his breath halted.
What the hell was the matter with him this morning? Why was he reacting so intensely to her?
“I’m thinking the barn roof might need some work. Nick and I can go up and see what we can do. Saw some sheet metal in the barn we could use,” Axel said.
And just like that the spell snapped, as Jenna’s magnetic pull disintegrated and her focus was back on Axel, and the conversation became business like. The reality rushed back over him like a bucket of cold water. It left him feeling foolish and off-balance.
She wasn’t coming onto him. He had to have been fantasizing.
Man, he needed to keep his pecker under control, or he wouldn’t be able to concentrate on the plans for the day.
He clenched his jaw. If he didn’t get a grip, he’d embarrass himself in front of both of them.
Nick shook his head and focused on buttering his toast.
He’d lived on fantasies for years, and now they were bleeding into real life.
* * * * *
The steam curled thick and heavy in the bathroom, clinging to the shower glass door as Jenna stood under the spray, enjoying the hot beads of water that traced the curves of her body. Ever since leaving the kitchen and letting the guys clean up, she’d been laughing to herself.
Poor Nick. She’d had so much fun teasing him with her may I join you?
comments. From his shocked expression and Axel’s heated looks they’d known what she’d meant.
The memory sent a warm flutter through her.
The way Nick had frozen, the way Axel had grinned, and the way the air had practically crackled around them.
Axel had played right along with her, keeping quiet and she’d seen that naughty smirk on his face as she’d teased Nick. Axel had enjoyed her show and so had Nick if the giant erection she’d spied pressing against his pants was an indication.
She tilted her head back, letting the water cascade over her face, as she exhaled slow, satisfied breaths. The heat soothed her muscles, loosening the tension coiled deep inside her. But it also awakened something restless, something hungry.
Oh dear, should she masturbate? Again?
Before she could come to a decision the bathroom door creaked. Her breath hitched. That tiny sound sliced through the steam like a spark on dry tinder.
Jenna’s eyes snapped open, her breath catching as two shapes, blurred behind the fogged glass shower door, stepped inside the bathroom. They were familiar, powerful, and impossibly intimate.
The steam parted just enough for her to make out the broad, tattooed shoulders of Axel, his short brown hair and his muscular frame already stripped bare. Her heart gave a little leap. The sight of him, solid and sure, always hit her like coming home.
Oh have mercy!
Beside him, Nick loomed, his light-medium skin was marked with the same prison ink of tattoos as Axel. A jolt shot through her. She hadn’t expected Nick to join them. It was unexpected, electric, a possibility she hadn’t dared imagine becoming real today.
It appeared Axel was okay with sharing her.
She smiled as Axel’s calloused finger traced the steamy glass door, leaving a clear shape of a heart in the condensation. The simple gesture softened her. It was a reminder that beneath all the heat and hunger, there was love.
He slid the door open a few inches and peered in at her. Cool air rushed in, but the heat between them only intensified. It was thick, charged, impossible to ignore.
His brown eyes burned with that familiar desire, the one that had always made her weak in the knees. The one that she could never refuse when he wanted sex. And he wanted sex and so did she.
He pulled the door open some more giving her a view of Nick. Jenna could see his cock. It was thick, veiny, hard. It hung heavy between his thighs.
Oh boy.
Her pulse spiked at the sight.
“Hey, baby doll. You didn’t think we’d let you have all the hot water to yourself, did you? Mind if we join you?” Axel asked in a rough voice which vibrated straight down to between her thighs.
Beside him, Nick shifted, his broad chest rising and falling with nervous breaths. His striking blue eyes flicked over her body, lingering on the swell of her breasts, then downward to the dip of her waist and then his gaze followed the water as it sluiced over the curls between her thighs.
Jenna remembered to breath as intense excitement shivered through her. These two men had been without a woman in many years. Her fingers tightened around the bar of soap she’d been using as an idea suddenly swung into play.
She dragged the soap slowly over her collarbone, then lower, between her breasts, watching as both men tracked the movement.
“I don’t mind at all. Please join me,” she murmured.
Her voice came out low and steady. A choice, a challenge, a door she was opening for all three of them. Her entire body tensed as she awaited their next move.
The air between them was suddenly thick and electric, charged with the promise of what was to come.