Everything Nice Page 2

  Griffin had died six months earlier of a massive heart attack and, while it appeared that she was at last ready to put down some roots, Charlie wondered what her return would mean for him. His feelings for the woman were such a jumble in his head and heart, he didn’t know which way was up. When her sister had mentioned Allie was returning home, he’d decided that hell would freeze over before he’d let her escape him again.

  Unfortunately his work commitments and Allie’s busy schedule—moving back home and settling Griffin’s vast estate—had interfered with any plans he might have had in terms of taking the next step. Seeing her tonight, looking so beautiful, had solidified his determination to cast off their “just friends” relationship and attempt to build something more.

  “So what’s the plan, Allie? Got your future all figured out yet?” Taylor asked before Charlie could formulate the question. He glanced up at his friend and wondered for the millionth time if Taylor could actually read his mind.

  “I guess I decided it was time to settle down and…” She paused, shrugging lightly.

  “Stop running.” Taylor finished her comment, and Charlie wondered what his friend thought Allie was running from. Him? The thought made his blood run cold.

  “I wasn’t running,” she replied hotly.

  “You could have fooled me,” Taylor answered with a cocky grin.

  “Am I missing something here?” Charlie asked.

  Allie grinned at him and shook her head. “Nope, Taylor is just being his typical know-it-all self. Apparently he thinks every decision I make in my life is directly influenced by him.”

  Taylor laughed at her insult. She and Taylor had returned to their “put-downs as means of communication” the day Allie returned home, although Charlie noticed these new insults had taken on a decidedly racy tone. “Face it, hellion, you just couldn’t stay away from my hot body any longer.”

  Allie rolled her eyes. “Thank God I had a light dinner. I feel fairly certain that inane comment would have brought it right back up.”

  As seemed to be the case any time he was alone with them, Charlie felt his patience slipping away at the thought that he was an outsider to some secret these two shared.

  They damn well better not have any secrets, he thought.

  “Allie, get your purse. I’m taking you home. This is no place for you,” he announced when yet another man looked as if he wanted to approach her. The Doms were circling like fucking sharks and he had no intention of letting them sink their teeth into this prey.

  Allie turned to look at him and once again he was blown away by how beautiful she looked tonight. She’d always been pretty, but there was a maturity in her lovely face that hadn’t been there when she’d left. She’d shed her young woman cuteness and drifted into grown woman knock-out. Her long, dark hair was naturally wavy and her deep green eyes were alluring, stunning. Charlie was used to her appearance drawing the gaze of every man in her vicinity. It had certainly captured and held his attention for years.

  She shook her head. “I don’t want to leave yet. I want to stay here. With you…and Taylor.” Her voice was husky, sexy, and the look she gave him left no doubt in his mind that the fact they were in a sex club wasn’t lost on her.

  He fought the ingrained instinct that screamed at him to grab her hand and pull her to the nearest bedroom. He wanted her with a desire that bordered on primal, but he found himself fighting his attraction tonight because—despite their constant jibing—he suspected that Taylor was interested in her as well. He and his best friend had never fought over a woman and Charlie didn’t want to now.

  Nevertheless, he was fairly certain a war for Allie’s affections was looming on the horizon and he knew there was no way in hell he could walk away from her, even if Taylor was attracted to her.

  Taylor leaned closer to Allie, and Charlie struggled to take a breath. Allie’s chair was backed into a corner with the two of them flanking her, partially hiding her from the room as a whole. The table was covered with a long cloth that Charlie noticed was shielding Taylor’s roving hand from the view of every occupant in the bar, except for him.

  “Taylor,” he muttered quickly, intending his word to be a protest, a warning, but well aware his tone fell short of that mark.

  Taylor grinned at him as his hand drifted over Allie’s skirt and he gave him a look that couldn’t be misconstrued as anything less than a dare. What did his friend expect? That he’d cuss him out? Start a fight? Walk away?

  Charlie glanced down and Taylor gripped Allie’s bare knee with his right hand, while his eyes never left Charlie’s face. The short skirt she was wearing only covered her to mid-thigh. As Taylor’s hand crept up her leg, Charlie looked up at her face, expecting to see and hear her refusal at being touched so intimately in a public place.

  He was shocked by the look of desire in her eyes. She wanted Taylor to touch her. Charlie was blown away by the realization and again he felt like an outsider, but he couldn’t move from the table, couldn’t leave them alone, even if it was the proper, polite thing to do.

  “Get your hand off her, Taylor.” His voice was quiet, but only a fool wouldn’t hear the anger.

  Taylor’s fingers traveled along the hem of her skirt before disappearing beneath the lacy garment.

  “It doesn’t have to be either-or,” Taylor whispered, still looking at him.

  Charlie watched as a lovely flush colored her porcelain cheeks and he heard her soft intake of breath.

  “Allie,” Charlie said, determined to save her if that’s what she wanted. One look at her proved she wasn’t opposed to Taylor’s touch.

  “You’re so soft and warm,” Taylor murmured, turning to look at her with a gentle smile. Then, to Charlie’s shock, his friend spoke to him. “Touch her, Charlie.”

  Charlie shook his head as too many things came crashing down on him at once. For one, he and Taylor hadn’t used each other’s first names since the sixth grade. Secondly, it sounded as if his best friend was suggesting they both stick their hands up Allie Brooks’ skirt.

  Charlie looked back at Allie. Her breathing was labored and Charlie could tell Taylor was definitely hitting the right buttons below her waist. Just how far had his hand traveled?

  “Do it,” Taylor repeated and, as he spoke, Allie’s gaze traveled to him. Rather than panic or fear, she offered him a sweet, inviting smile.

  “Please,” she whispered.

  “God dammit, Allie,” Charlie muttered, but before he could say more, she interrupted him.

  “I want you to touch me, Charlie. I want you and Alex to touch me,” she stated simply.

  He tried to understand where the hell he’d lost control of this evening’s events, but his confusion was overpowered by his own needs and desires. He’d wanted Allie for too long and with too much passion to continue to deny it. His left hand wandered to her thigh as if on autopilot. Her legs parted at his stroke and he slowly caressed the soft skin on her inner leg, his fingers itching to find the heat that had kept him awake too many nights these past few years. The heat that had him jerking off in the dark, her name on his lips.

  When he grazed her panties—hallelujah, a thong—he discovered that Taylor had already pulled aside the thin strap and had one finger buried in her pussy.

  “You’re perfect,” Alex whispered to Allie, whose eyes were glazed with longing.

  “Oh God,” she breathed. “Touch me, Charlie. Please.”

  Charlie felt the bonds of his worry fall away at her words. He dragged his finger over her clit, relishing her soft whimpers, but he knew in an instant that one small bit of contact wasn’t enough. He had to be inside her. He needed to touch, to feel, to appreciate the wet, glorious heat Taylor was experiencing.

  His friend looked up at him, compassion in his gaze. They were in this together. Charlie could see it in Alex’s face, the two of them able to communicate without words. An understanding born from years of friendship.

  God, when had he started to think of his friend as
“Alex” rather than “Taylor”?

  Charlie reached down to her opening and drove a single finger inside her, alongside Alex’s. Their knuckles rubbed together as they slowly moved in and out of her in unison.

  The moment should have felt strange, wrong—anything other than this perfect melding of three.

  Allie’s inner muscles clenched against their gently moving fingers, announcing her imminent climax. Her response reminded Charlie that they were in a very public setting. Despite the fact they were in a sex club, the bar area was typically off-limits for what they were doing. There were other rooms where this behavior was permissible.

  He felt Alex’s hand retreat and he heard Allie’s outraged hiss at his departure.

  A strong, reassuring hand landed on his shoulder. “Charlie.”

  He looked up, surprised to see Alex had risen. As always, he felt as though his thoughts, his concerns had been laid bare before his friend and he saw empathy in Alex’s gaze.

  “You were right,” his friend said. “We should take her home.”

  “What?” Allie cried out indignantly, but Charlie heard the inflection in his friend’s words and he slowly pulled his finger out of her heavenly body. He knew they wouldn’t be taking Allie to her home but to theirs.

  They’d bought property on the lake several years ago once the engineering firm was established and making money, and they’d built a large duplex. Somehow the idea made sense as they’d been roommates since college, sharing first a dorm and then an apartment.

  The idea that they would take Allie there together left him uncertain, uneasy. This wasn’t his plan. Fuck, he’d never in his wildest dreams imagined sharing this woman, any woman, with his best friend. Where the hell was Alex leading them? Where would this leave his plans for a future with Allie?

  “It’s time,” Alex said. “Hell, I’d say it’s past time.”

  The conviction in Alex’s voice and in his face had Charlie rising from the table, grinning. Charlie would never have considered sharing a woman with anyone but Alex. Now that he thought about it, he wouldn’t consider it with any woman but Allie.

  “Alex,” he said, feeling as though they should say more to each other. This certainly wasn’t the kind of decision one made based on impulse.

  “Trust me.” Alex’s quietly spoken request resonated inside him as Charlie considered his words. He trusted Alex implicitly, maybe more than he’d ever trusted anyone in his life.

  “Okay,” he said, looking down at Allie.

  “Are you two trying to kill me?” Allie asked breathlessly. “You can’t get me that close to coming and then drop me at my house!”

  Alex grabbed one of her hands while Charlie reached for the other.

  “I don’t recall saying anything about taking you to your house,” Alex said as they pulled her up.

  “But I—”

  “Come home with us,” Charlie whispered in her ear. The idea of what Alex was proposing—what they were both proposing to her—appealed to him more then he could say, despite the slight feeling of unease nipping at his conscience.

  “It’s time to stop running,” Alex added, and Allie’s eyes widened at his repeated taunt.

  Is this what Allie had left town to escape? Had Alex made this same proposal to her that night by the bonfire? Charlie’s heart raced as he recalled the kiss he’d witnessed. The thought that his friend had perhaps wanted this for so many years staggered him.

  “Okay,” she answered simply, and Charlie struggled to suck in a deep breath at her assent. She wanted to be with them. Both of them. Silently he offered up a prayer that he wasn’t screwing up. He wanted a lifetime with Allie—white picket fence, two kids, a dog, the whole damn thing. A ménage with his best friend suddenly didn’t seem to be the best way to achieve that goal.

  “Dammit, man,” Alex said, interrupting his distressing thoughts. “Stop thinking so hard.”

  Allie giggled and kissed first Alex then Charlie. Both kisses were quick but deep and passionate and full of unspoken promises. Charlie marveled at how the image of Allie kissing Alex was as seductive as the kiss she’d given him. Throwing up his hands in defeat, he laughed.

  “You two win. Let’s go home, Allie,” he said as he wrapped an arm around her waist and led her out of the bar.

  Chapter Two

  Alex knew that Allie realized the enormity of what he was expecting, what he was hoping would evolve from this night. He’d frightened her six years earlier with his proposition and she’d left town. At the time, he’d thought she had run away from him, from the knowledge that he wanted to share her with Charlie. That he wanted her to share Anderson with him. But now that she was back, he wondered if that had been the case at all. Unlike Ginny, Allie had never been content to remain at home when her mother’s health and the family’s financial woes made attending college an impossibility.

  Alex realized that over the past six years she’d accomplished at least some of her goals—seeing the world, experiencing a multitude of amazing adventures, flexing her wings and finding herself. He prayed her return home meant she was ready to explore the next horizon with them—sharing her deepest, darkest sexual desires.

  They retrieved Charlie’s keys from the valet but waved the man off when he offered to pull the vehicle around, opting instead to get it themselves. When they reached the passenger door of Charlie’s truck, Alex gripped Allie’s arm, spinning her around and pressing her against the cool metal.

  “Panties,” he said, holding out his hand.

  Her face flushed at his demand but he knew better than to believe she was embarrassed. He knew her, knew all about her taste for adventure, the steamy passion that drove her. She was perfect for them, and Alex had suspected it for years.

  He’d made a miscalculation, a terrible mistake in approaching her that night by the bonfire. She’d been too young, too inexperienced. But finally he’d have a chance to make up for lost time.

  Charlie came to stand beside him and he knew his friend’s move was premeditated. They were shielding her from anyone who might be in the parking lot. She reached down and slowly peeled the poorest excuse for panties he’d ever seen down her long, luscious legs. She handed him the damp material and Alex grinned. Oh yeah, she was ready to roll.

  He glanced over at Charlie and felt a deep sense of unease. He’d always thought Allie would be the easy one to convince to participate in this unusual triangle, so when she’d left town, he’d shied away from pursuing Charlie the way he’d wanted to. He simply couldn’t run the risk of pushing away another person he cared about.

  Now he knew his feelings for Charlie were as strong as they’d ever been and, with Allie’s return, it felt as if the pieces were falling into place. Unfortunately Charlie had no idea how far Alex wanted to push this ménage. It wasn’t just a bit of sexual experimenting in Alex’s mind but something much, much more.

  He looked back at Allie and smiled. There was time to explore all of that later. Tonight he was determined to prove to the wild woman in front of him that he loved her and wanted her. While he suspected Charlie was only just realizing the depths of his own feelings for Allie, Alex had known all along how much he cared for her.

  He bent down and lightly brushed her lips with a soft kiss. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders and she pulled him closer, attempting to deepen the kiss. She’d never be fully dominated in the bedroom and Alex had no doubt she’d attempt to direct their lovemaking every bit as much as he or Charlie. Hell, probably more.

  Christ, three alphas should make for some interesting foreplay. She was no wallflower, no shrinking violet. She was a hot-blooded temptress and Alex was starving for her.

  “Save some of that for me.” Charlie’s voice drifted over them from behind and Alex released her and watched as she offered his friend the same heated, passionate kiss. As the kiss deepened and Charlie’s hands began kneading her breasts, Alex realized they were walking a fine line and they’d be hard-pressed to get the woman home if they didn’t
leave now.

  “Get in the car,” Alex said when Charlie and Allie broke apart for a moment. Charlie nodded, realizing the urgency, and quickly walked around to the driver’s side. Alex opened the passenger door and helped Allie into the truck before climbing in after her. Once they were all inside, Alex turned to her.

  “Lift up your skirt, Allie. Let us see that hot pussy of yours.”

  “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours,” she challenged.

  Charlie laughed. “You’re a wild one, Allie-cat. Seems like you might need a bit of taming.”

  Allie shrugged playfully at his threat. “Oh you boys are welcome to try, but I have to warn you, I’m a helluva lot more fun when I’m being bad.”

  “I’ll bet you are,” Alex said. “Fine, you’re on.” As he spoke, he unbuttoned his jeans and jerked down his zipper, pulling out his painfully hard erection. Allie’s tongue darted out to moisten her lower lip as she watched and Alex was overwhelmed with the impulse to pull her head down and beg her to lick his cock.

  “Your turn.” At Charlie’s words, Alex glanced over. His friend had taken out his own hard-on and was working the turgid flesh with his fist. Alex had to fight back a groan of desire at the image of his friend pleasuring himself, afraid of how Charlie would respond to it.

  “Mmmm,” Allie hummed. “Yummy.”

  “You have no idea. Now be a good naughty girl and pull up that skirt,” Charlie demanded. The rough tone of his voice combined with the dominant streak Alex knew his friend possessed had his own cock rising and reaching critical mass in an instant. Shit, he’d never last until they got home.

  Allie lifted her hips and slowly dragged the lacy material up to her waist. Without her panties, there was just enough light provided by a streetlamp to expose Alex to heaven on earth.