Zane stared at Callie Sheppard several hours later. She looked slightly out of place in the big, elegant suite. Not that he felt comfortable here. It was comfortable. Like no one in their right mind wouldn’t be comfortable here, but he was more used to motels.

Callie, though, would be much more at home in the woods. After all, that was where nymphs lived. The pretty ones, not the maniac kind. He’d known a couple of those, and some had been pretty but not the same way. There was something otherworldly about her. Ethereal. That was the word he was looking for. Callie was a fairy nymph. Right? He let his mind drift back to some old college classes and decided that she was definitely a nymph. A superhot, curvy, sweet-as-sin nymph.

“So, where are you from?” Callie asked.

Why had Nate left them alone? After they’d left the club portion of The Club—who named their club that?—they’d come up here and Nate had said he was grabbing some food for them and left them alone.

He swallowed nervously. He wasn’t used to talking to women about anything serious. He searched his thoughts to come up with the last actual date he’d been on. Was it a date if you paid for the beers and then screwed the chick in the back room of the bar? There hadn’t been a lot of talking with that one.

“Fort Worth.” It was simple enough. He could answer her questions. He’d just be really brief. “But I was born in Austin. My dad moved us to Fort Worth when I was eight, and then he was gone by the time I was ten. I think my mom always missed Austin, though.”

Where the hell had that come from? She didn’t care that his mom had been left alone. She had been a crappy mom, but at least he understood that much about her. But Callie was only making small talk. She couldn’t really be interested in him.

“I bet you missed it, too. It must have been hard leaving home like that. I can’t imagine living anywhere but Bliss.” She leaned forward on the couch, the edges of her terry cloth robe gaping open. Her bags had arrived earlier, and she’d slipped into the comfy thing after her shower. He’d wanted to hop into the shower with her but held back. She was probably sore. He could be overwhelming.

God, he didn’t want to hurt her.

“It was hard to leave. I didn’t fit in real well up here.” That was an understatement. “After my dad left, I didn’t even feel like I fit in at home. My mom was on edge. I think she kind of wished she didn’t have me.”

“I’m sure that’s not true.”

“Nah, I was a hard kid to deal with.” He didn’t seem capable of stopping. “I got in trouble a lot. I wasn’t very smart. She’d gotten pregnant real young and I screwed things up for her.”

“That wasn’t your fault.” Her voice had dropped to a sympathetic tone. “You were a kid. You were her responsibility. And your father’s. Was he not around after the divorce?”

“I actually don’t remember much about my dad. Even when he lived with us, he worked most of the time. He spent a lot of time with his friends. He wasn’t much of a family guy. After he left, Mom dated a lot. She partied. And then she started dating this guy who was an administrator at a private school. They got serious. He found out I was a pretty good offensive lineman. They had a great quarterback, but no one to defend him so he got me a scholarship.”

“Is that where you met Nate?”

He nodded. “Nate was a pretty good quarterback. He was way better after I started knocking down everyone who came after him. He was my roommate. We’ve been close ever since.”

Callie scratched at the robe and readjusted it. She seemed uncomfortable. He couldn’t help but think about what he’d been told about her. Had Stefan been telling them the truth about Callie?

“You can take that off if you want.” He wouldn’t mind her sitting around naked. It might be nice.

Her face bunched up sweetly. “Are you sure? I know the naked thing freaks some people out.”

He was damn sure. The idea of being naked with her didn’t bug him at all. As a matter of fact, it might be easier to talk if he could see her boobs. He pulled his T-shirt over his head. “If it makes you feel more comfortable, I can take off my clothes, too.”

She shrugged out of the robe. “It’s okay. I know I’m weird, but I like being like this. It feels natural. It’s not like I don’t wear clothes in public or anything. I’m actually quite prim.”

He bet she would look like a cute librarian, if the khaki skirt and button-up blouse he’d seen her unpack earlier were any indication. It did nothing to lessen her appeal. Callie sat back, completely naked, and Zane realized Stefan had been right about his “almost” sister.

Damn but she was beautiful. She relaxed back against the mocha-colored sofa. She was sitting on top of her robe, her whole body on display, but there was oddly nothing particularly sexual about it. She was simply comfortable in her skin. There was a lovely air of innocence around her. It brought out his protective instincts. Zane knew that he’d beat the crap out of anyone who tried to break her of it.

“That was a fierce look. What were you thinking?” Her eyes were wide and curious.

He took a deep breath. He didn’t want to scare her off. That was the last thing he wanted to do. She didn’t need to meet his inner caveman yet. “Nothing, babe. I was just thinking I’ve told you an awful lot about me. Why don’t you tell me something? Tell me something you’ve never told anyone else.”

He wanted to know her. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but she was important. Even if he wasn’t sure he wanted her to be.

She gnawed on her bottom lip. “I don’t think I have any secrets. Not anything big. I’m pretty boring.”

She was anything but boring, and suddenly he wanted her to know something about him. Something he hadn’t even told Nate. “I’m starting a job in a couple of days, and I don’t really want it.”

“Why are you doing it, then?”

That was the million-dollar question. Why was he going into a job that scared the crap out of him? “I won’t let Nate go alone.”

He looked down, unable to stare into her eyes.

She nudged his head up. “That is the sweetest thing I ever heard.”

He felt himself flush and quickly changed the subject. “Now, there has to be something you can tell me.”

He let his hand sink into her hair.

“I’ve lived a pretty sheltered life,” she said. “I grew up in a small town, but it’s also the most tolerant place on earth. That bubble people talk about? We popped it a long time ago. You come to Bliss, people will accept you if you try even a little. But I was the only girl. That made things hard.”

He wasn’t sure why. If she’d been the only girl, things should have been super easy. She should have had every boy in her town panting after her. He would have been. He would have been her slave from the time he’d figured out what his dick was for. “I don’t understand.”

Her skin flushed the sweetest pink. “Uhm, the boys I hung out with, they thought of me as a sister.”

“They weren’t interested in you?” Did they not have eyes?

“Not in any way that wasn’t friendly.” She moved closer as a sly smile crossed her face. “So you can see I haven’t had the same experiences most of my peers had. There are a lot of things that I haven’t done that most twenty-five-year-olds take for granted.”

His cock responded immediately to that sexy stare. He got the distinct feeling she wasn’t talking about taking tequila shots. “What haven’t you done, baby?”

She took a deep breath, her shoulders tensed, and she looked down. “Before today, I never had sex at all. Like in any way. I kissed a couple of boys, but that was the extent of my experience. I liked the way you kissed me down there. Oral, I mean. I am now a big fan of oral sex, but I’ve never given a guy a blow job. I think I would enjoy returning the favor, if you know what I mean.”

Now it was his turn to force himself to breathe. It was hard to speak when all of the blood in his body had suddenly rushed to his cock. Like quickly. Head-spinningly fast. “You should definitely do that. Yeah.”

Boy, that sounded smart. Dumbass. Why didn’t he pull his cock out and shove it at her face? Damn, but he kind of wanted to do that.

Callie was licking those gorgeous lips and repositioning herself between his legs. Her dark hair curled around her soft shoulders. Her nipples were pointed. She had lovely breasts, soft and round and real. When her hands touched his stomach, it took everything he had not to come then and there. He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. Control. That was the key. It was the key to his pleasure, and definitely the key to hers.

“Not until I tell you to, sweetheart.” He was aware his voice was deeper than before, his manner more formal. “This is my time with you, and I like to do things a certain way. I promise I won’t hurt you, Callie. I won’t force you to do anything you don’t want to. I need you to trust me and give it a chance. Can you do that?”

“Yes.”

He took a firm hold of his desire. “Good, then carefully get my cock out of my pants.”

Her hands were trembling as she worked the fly of his jeans. He felt his cock jump and twitch, impatient to get out of its cage and into that soft, untutored mouth. No other cock had delved in between those plump lips or had that pert tongue on it. She’d never tasted another man. His balls drew up almost painfully. He sighed as she managed to pull his dick free from his boxers.

“What should I do now?”

So many things went through his brain. He picked the simplest command. “Suck the head, babe. Run your tongue all over it.”

Her tongue came out tentatively. He hissed and fought the urge to force her head down and fuck her mouth. This time was for her. He wanted to let her explore.

“Lick it, babe. That’s right.” Her tongue was a butterfly running across his cock. She was killing him. Her tongue darted around the engorged head. She instinctively ran around the sensitive ridge. She licked her way up and down with a breathtaking precision, as though she was determined not to miss a thing.

“That is very good.” Praise. He should praise her. “It feels perfect, babe. Now cup my balls and play with them while you suck the head into your mouth.”

She was so obedient, never questioning him. It gave him an enormous sense of control, making him calm and content. He relaxed and let his hands find her hair. She was so fucking gorgeous.

“Holy shit.”

Zane looked up to see Nate staring. He was holding a six-pack of beer and a large pizza. He let the beer drop and tossed the box aside. When Callie started to look up, Zane tightened his hold on her hair. “No, babe. You focus on me. If you don’t like him watching, tell me now.”

Her eyes were on him. “I don’t mind, Zane.”

Her tongue came out and swept up the arousal seeping out of his slit. Zane groaned. Callie set back to her task, tasting him, sucking him, driving him completely crazy.

Zane’s eyes met Nate’s. It wasn’t the first time they had shared a woman, but Zane could see the difference. He definitely felt the difference. Callie was special. Nate’s mouth hung open, but there was more than simple lust in his gaze. Zane’s instinct was to tell Nate to get the fuck out. There was a part of him that wanted Callie all to himself. It was surprisingly easy to push the instinct down. Callie enjoyed this. She enjoyed being watched, being shared. She wanted this. And he wanted to please her.

“Pretty, isn’t she?” Zane felt her smile against his hardness. Her tongue explored the base of his cock. If she ever got around to deep throating him, he’d come in a heartbeat.

“She’s gorgeous.” Nate stood to the side. He seemed more tentative than Zane could ever remember. Nate was confident. Nate was the one who plowed through problems. Now he stood watching, looking almost afraid to be on the outside. Zane didn’t like it.

“You want to watch or join in?”

A smile lit his friend’s face. His easy confidence was back just like that. “I’ll watch. It’s a stimulating scene, but I have to admit, if I were directing the action, I’d love to see how much of that monster of yours she can take.”

That sounded like a fine idea.

“Come up here, babe.” He pulled her up and into his lap. Her mouth was red and swollen. He couldn’t resist cupping the back of her head and bringing her in for a long, slow kiss. He let his mouth slant over hers again and again, enjoying how she let him take control. She gave as good as she got, but she was so soft in his arms. His cock was throbbing, and he hoped he didn’t go off the minute he got inside her. He reluctantly let go of her neck and fished a condom out of his pocket. With less finesse than usual, he managed to get it on. Foreplay. She probably needed more foreplay.

But she was already straddling his hips. He thought about correcting her, but he wanted it too badly. She was testing the limits of his control, and damn if he didn’t mind. The fact that Nate was watching did nothing but make him harder.

“You take what you can,” he whispered against her chest as she started to lower herself onto his waiting cock. He licked at a nipple, happy to have something to focus on other than the tight vise he was being forced into. Fuck, she felt good.

And she was so wet. He let his hand drift around to toy with her clit. The nub was soaked with her cream. Callie shook slightly as she worked her way down.

“Okay, babe?” He didn’t want to hurt her. She was so small, so tight. His hands clutched her hips.

“I’m so full.” Her voice was dreamy and her chocolate eyes slightly glazed. She managed to take him all the way to his balls.

She held herself there. If she didn’t move soon, he was going to take over. He was going to flip her on to her back and pound into her. He would fuck her so long and so deep she wouldn’t remember a time when he wasn’t inside her. Of course, if he kept her like this, he could spread her cheeks and offer her ass to Nate. They could fuck her together.

“Oh, god.” Callie pushed against his shoulders and lowered down again. She fucked up and down so sweetly he knew he was going to give her this. He let his hands drift to the curve of her ass, helping to direct her. His balls brushed that ass and they drew up, ready to go off any minute.

She leaned forward, grinding down on him. He could feel her clit coming into contact with his pelvis with every twist of her body. Her mouth opened, and she moaned as she came, thrashing her hips around, seeking every sensation to be had.

Then there was only one sensation Zane gave a damn about. Her pussy clamped down on him, and he shot off. He forced her down on him, holding her tight to his body as he emptied what felt like an endless supply.

Callie fell forward into his arms. He hugged her, not minding when he felt Nate’s hand on her back. Callie was happy. She snuggled close. She didn’t seem to mind that he was still tucked inside her body.

Zane looked at Nate over her shoulder and wondered if he sported the same look of slightly afraid wonder on his own face. They were all in trouble.

 

* * * *

 

 Nate looked down at the girl sleeping in the big bed they had shared for the last two nights. He had never really thought about the whole marriage thing. He was twenty-five years old, and settling down seemed worlds away, but he wondered how his parents would handle meeting Callie. Probably as well as they took Zane. They had never thought Zane was a proper friend. He was forever doomed to care about people who didn’t fit into his world.

Callie Sheppard wouldn’t be comfortable in his father’s high society any more than Zane was. Any more than Nate was in the end, or he would be starting a job in his father’s company rather than what he was about to do.

The feelings he was starting to have for her scared the crap out of him. Simply looking at her sleeping made him feel like crawling back in with her and wrapping his body around hers. He wouldn’t wake her. She needed the rest, but holding her made him feel good. Callie Sheppard was the funniest, sexiest, sweetest bundle of femininity he’d ever met. There was only one problem with it. Zane.

Nate shook his head and walked out of the bedroom. It had been the best weekend of his life, but it was hours away from ending. He hadn’t thought about it for the whole weekend, but he had a job to do.

Zane stood in the sitting room of the suite, staring out over the Dallas cityscape. In the early morning light, he looked younger than usual. “I need to know something. Why are you doing this? I know why I’m going in, but you have money, man. You don’t need a job. Why would you deliberately risk your life?”

How did he make Zane understand? All of his life he’d been on a path. He’d been bred to wealth. In his parents’ world, a man’s worth was marked by how much money he had and his potential to make more. His parents never saw him, merely the potential to carry on the family name and company.

“I need to make a difference.” Nate wanted to prove he could be more than a rich kid, to his parents, to Zane. He was going to make a name for himself. “I need to find something that has nothing to do with my parents’ wealth and conquer it. Does that make sense?”

“Honestly, it doesn’t.” Zane sighed as though the conversation made him weary. “But I know it means something to you.”

Nate wasn’t sure what to say. He definitely wasn’t sure what he would do if Zane decided this wasn’t the job for him. Zane had been his best friend for years. Zane had been the one constant in his life. His parents drifted in and out, paying attention to him only when they needed something, but Zane was always there when he needed him.

He’d never seen Zane so thoughtful, but it wasn’t hard to figure out what had his best friend thinking.

Callie.

Callie could change everything if he let her.

Zane was quiet for a moment. “I don’t want to leave her.”

Damn it. That wasn’t what Nate wanted to hear. He wanted Zane to smile and slap him on the back and tease him about sharing the woman Nate thought he might be able to love. Instead, Zane looked haunted.

They had shared women before but only as fun, wild nights. No one lived that way. He wasn’t going to hop into bed with his friend and their shared lover on a nightly basis. “What are we going to do?”

Zane shrugged. His misery was evident in the slump of his shoulders. Nate felt a kinship. His own heart was heavier than he could ever remember it feeling.

“Leave,” Zane said. “This was a weekend thing. I guess we could both date her, but damn it, I don’t see how this works. Are we supposed to tell everyone we share a girlfriend?”

He said nothing but felt the involuntary tightening of his jaw. He didn’t like it, but the thought of Zane escorting Callie around without him made him want to beat his friend’s head in. The idea of sharing her hummed through his brain. He liked it. He also knew it wouldn’t work. No one would accept it. Society didn’t work that way. Callie would be called all sorts of names. And he’d seen firsthand how being on the outside of society hurt Zane. He wouldn’t willingly put either of them there.

Besides, there was the unavoidable matter of their upcoming job to consider. It wasn’t like they could simply walk away. There was too much at stake. They’d been training and working toward this for over a year. If either one of them walked away, the operation would have to be trashed and begun over again. All that work and time put in would be wasted.

Their careers would be over.

Zane sighed. “She deserves better than either of us can give her. For god’s sake, Nate, do you remember what we’re doing in a couple of days?”

Until this weekend, it had been all he’d thought about for months. This was the most important mission of their careers. It would make them powerhouses in the DEA.

In a few short weeks, they would be in deep cover. Their identities would be gone. Their lives would be put on hold. It wasn’t fair to start something with Callie only to leave her. And they would have to leave her. One of the reasons they were perfect for the job was the fact that they lacked close ties to family or others. Their loyalty had to be to each other and the mission. Callie would be in danger if she was close to them. What was he thinking?

“I’ll go wake her up.” It wasn’t a conversation Nate was looking forward to. Either they broke Callie’s heart or she wouldn’t care, and that might break his.

Zane’s eyes flared, his jaw a stubborn line. “And tell her what? ‘Hey, we had a good time but it’s time to go?’ No, we head out. It’s better for her. She wasn’t expecting anything. It was a wild weekend. I’ll write her a note. She’s better off without us.”

“I don’t know, man,” he said, hating the idea. “It seems cold.”

Zane’s eyes were stark as he stared at him. “If she cries, if she asks me to stay, I don’t know that I’ll be able to walk out, and you know what that means. I think if she asks me to, I’ll wreck everything we’ve built to stay with her, so I’m going to write her a note and leave before I fuck everything up.”

He turned and stalked away.

A vision of Callie reaching out and asking for something none of them could make work floated across his brain. Tears in her eyes. He would be the reason she cried.

 

 

Thirty minutes later, Nate felt something break inside as he closed the bedroom door. She lay asleep on her side, her arm reaching out. Her palm was up and open. For two nights she’d slept between them. She’d moved from one to the other, always cuddling. For two nights, he’d been warm and happy.

He knew he would miss her for the rest of his life.

“Are you ready?” Zane’s eyes were rimmed with red. He looked toward the door as though he wanted to bust it down.

He grabbed his bag. “Yeah.”

The sun was coming up as they drove off. He rolled down the window and stared back at the elegant building where he’d learned his capacity to care about a woman was far greater than he’d ever dreamed. Callie had gotten to him, but he couldn’t drag her into the new life he was about to start.

Zane was right. She deserved better.

 

* * * *

 

Callie called out for them. She sat up in bed and stretched. Throwing back the covers, she walked through the suite looking for her men. She thought of them as hers now after two days in bed with them.

Nate and Zane.

It was heaven to snuggle down in between their big bodies. She had never felt as safe and cared for as she did when she slept between them. Her body was sore, but it was a good thing. She would snag whichever one she found first and have her way with him in the shower. They would take their time and soap each other’s bodies. If she found them both, well, she would get extremely clean. After they got dirty.

She was well aware there was probably the dumbest smile on her face. Stef was going to make such fun of her.

And she would let him as long as she got to keep feeling like this.

She strode into the living room, the air cool on her skin. It seemed silly to bother with clothes. The drapes had been pulled open, sun shining in, but the place was filled with a heavy silence. In the days she’d spent with them, she’d gotten used to their habits. Zane usually had the television on ESPN if they weren’t doing something, as though he couldn’t stand the quiet. Nate was the reserved one. Nate could sit and be still for long periods of time, his mind lost in thought. Zane was the one who needed something to do.

Had they gone to grab breakfast? One of them usually stayed with her, but maybe they needed some guy time.

She was about to sink down onto the sofa when she saw a small envelope on the coffee table. She recognized it as the stationary from the desk, her name in clean, masculine writing on the front.

She stared at it for a moment, her heart sinking because that wasn’t some “we’ll be back soon” note. That envelope on the table could only mean good-bye.

With trembling hands, she opened it.

Thanks for the weekend. Have a good life.

No names. No phone numbers. They were gone and those eight words were all she had left. She should have known. For them, it had been nothing more than a good time. They hadn’t said a word about the future. Of course they hadn’t. It was just sex.

And she was in love with two men who didn’t want her anymore.

She sank down to the sofa, tears blurring her eyes. It was over. This sweet respite from reality was done and she had to face the world. She let out her worry and all of her fears, holding back nothing. When the sobs subsided, she lay there, the sun on her skin, and for a moment she imagined they were still here with her, the moment trapped and time stopping so she never had to leave this place, this feeling.

After long minutes, she dried her tears, took a shower, and packed her things. Stef would be by to take her home, where she was needed so desperately.

She dressed, the clothes a reminder that she had work to do. She sat down to wait, the weekend playing out in her head like a movie she wanted to watch again and again. In the end, she couldn’t blame Nate and Zane for not loving her. That hadn’t been part of the deal. Who, besides someone with her lack of experience, fell in love in a weekend? They couldn’t force themselves to feel something that wasn’t there. They had been kind, and that was all she’d asked for.

They wouldn’t know that she would dream about them forever.

When Stefan knocked, she put on a brave face and got on with her life.