"Me, too. I'm ready for a few weeks of doing absof.u.c.kinglutely nothing." Neal settled his helmet on the seat of his bike and began to pull his things out of the saddlebags.

"You know there won't be jack s.h.i.t in the house to eat. I say we order a pizza. I don't want to go back out." Mark grabbed his things and headed for the door to the kitchen.

"Ditto on that."

They dropped their dirty clothes by the washing machine and continued on toward the stairs. Once upstairs, they split up to go to their individual rooms. If Mark hesitated at the door to the master suite, he refused to acknowledge it.

He peeled off his clothes and climbed into the shower before the water had completely heated up. He shivered, then started bathing. He realized that while they had been away from the house working, it had been fairly easy to control his thoughts about Alexis, but being back home was going to make it much harder.

He missed her more than he had let on to Neal. Neal was already having a h.e.l.l of a time adjusting to her not being with them. Four months had barely made a dent in their misery of being without her.

130.

There wasn't a day that went by that he didn't stop and wonder what she was doing right then.

The other guys had known things were screwed up with them and had kept the ribbing and questions to a minimum. The first two months, Neal had been a total a.s.shole to live with and had d.a.m.n near drunk himself into a stupor when they were off work each night. He was doing a lot better now and Mark didn't want anything to set him back, so coming home was going to be tough.

As soon as he dried off, Mark pulled on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. He found Neal standing at the bar looking out over the living room with a beer in his hand. f.u.c.k. Not good.

"So, large pizza with everything?" he asked.

"Yeah, that will work." He turned up the beer and drained it.

Mark struggled not to say anything. He was ent.i.tled to get drunk if he wanted to. He wouldn't say anything on their first night back.

After that, he'd tear him a new one.

Mark called in the pizza and grabbed a beer for himself. He noticed there were only six left, so Neal wouldn't get sloshed after all.

He followed his friend into the living room and waited as he turned on the TV.

"I hope Cole doesn't look at us working anytime soon. I'm washed out," Neal said.

"Me, too. I could use some downtime. I don't even want to go anywhere for a while." Mark settled into his recliner and watched as Neal surfed through the channels.

"There isn't f.u.c.k on tonight. Want to watch a movie?" Neal asked.

"Fine with me. Let's wait till after the pizza gets here, though." Neal nodded and continued pushing the remote absently. "Do you miss her still, Mark?"

"Yeah," he said with a sigh.

131.

"Some nights I wake up thinking she's still in the bed with us.

Then I roll over and realize I'm alone." Neal tossed the remote over on the couch.

"I do the same thing. I find myself reaching for her and then realize she's not there."

"How long is it going to be this way?" Neal asked.

"I don't know. Right now, it's still as fresh as if it were yesterday."

"f.u.c.k." Neal leaned back in the recliner and crossed his arms over his eyes.

The doorbell rang.

"d.a.m.n, that was quick. I don't think we've ever gotten pizza that fast before." Mark poured out of the recliner and reached for his wallet.

"Could be some of the guys wanting to go out."

"Naw, they usually call first." Mark reached the front door and unlocked it. When he opened it, he just stood there with his mouth open.

"Um, hi." Alexis stood in the doorway wearing jeans and a thick coat.

"f.u.c.k, what are you doing here?" he asked before he thought about it.

"II'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. I should have called first." She turned to walk away.

Mark came to himself and grabbed her arm. "Wait. I didn't mean it like that. I just couldn't believe it was you. Come in." He dragged her in the house.

"Neal!"

Neal didn't budge. "What? Don't you have enough to pay for it?"

"It's not the f.u.c.king pizza, Neal. Come here." Alexis stood in the entranceway with tears in her eyes. He ran his hands up and down her arms through the thick coat. He couldn't take his eyes off her in case she disappeared.

132.

He heard Neal get out of the recliner then his f.u.c.k before he walked into the entrance hall and grabbed Alexis from Mark.

"You're here. You're really here." Then he pushed her back and ran his hands into his pockets. "How long are you planning to stay this time?"

"Neal," Mark said.

"It's okay. He has the right. I left before." Alexis swallowed and looked from one of them to the other. "I was, I mean, I wanted to stay if you still want me."

Mark could tell she was on the verge of crying. He didn't want her to cry. But Neal had to be the one to tell her she could stay. G.o.d, if he didn't, Mark wasn't sure what he would do.

"You want to stay with us? Forever?"

"If you'll have me," she whispered.

Neal's carefully neutral face slowly transformed into a huge grin.

"h.e.l.l, yes, we want you to stay." He pulled his hands out of his pockets and grabbed her and swung her around.

"f.u.c.k! Have you been sick? You've lost weight." He grabbed at her coat and started peeling it off of her.

"h.e.l.l, Alexis. He's right. You've lost weight, a lot of weight.

Have you been sick?" Mark touched her cheek with his hand.

"I had some trouble with my ulcers. I'm fine now, though." She smiled and reached out a hand to touch his chest.

"I'm so glad you're here, baby." Neal tossed her coat over a hook.

He pulled her into his arms and kissed her.

Mark waited his turn but lost patience when Neal didn't let her up for a breath.

"Hey, quit hogging her," he said, and turned her around for his kiss.

Her mouth tasted like heaven. He licked all around the inside then settled his tongue alongside hers. He rubbed it with his before sucking hers back into his mouth. When he came up for air, she smiled at him.

It brightened his world considerably.

133.

The doorbell rang again.

Neal pulled Alexis away from him. "You get the pizza." Mark made a face and flashed him the bird before opening the door to the pizza guy.

"Hey, did you know there are a couple of suitcases out here?" the pizza guy asked.

"Yeah, got to get them in. What do I owe you?" Mark paid the guy. After setting the pizza on the bar in the kitchen, he went outside and retrieved Alexis's suitcases. He took them directly up to the master suite and found Neal with Alexis pinned to the wall beside the door.

Alexis couldn't believe it. She was not only finally here, but she was pinned by Neal to the bedroom wall. He was devouring her mouth and she couldn't get enough of him. She moaned as he pulled back and nipped at her jaw before sucking on her earlobe.

"I want you so badly right now, I could pound nails with my d.i.c.k," Neal confessed.

"I'd rather you pounded me instead," she quipped.

"Before anyone does any pounding, we need to talk," Mark said, being the voice of reason.

"Talk's cheap," Neal said, and redoubled his efforts to strip her clothes from her.

"Neal. Slow down. She's been sick. We need to talk." Mark laid a hand on Neal's shoulder.

The other man stilled and hung his head. Then he backed off and nodded. "You're right."

"Alexis, have a seat." Mark led her over to a chair. "Not on the bed, or neither one of us will be able to keep our hands off of you."

"What did you want to talk about?" she asked, a little afraid they were going to give her ultimatums.

134.

"So tell us about your ulcers. How bad are they?" Mark asked.

"I'm fine now," she quickly said.

"But you weren't at some point, or you wouldn't have lost so much weight," Neal interrupted her.

"I was in the hospital for a week. I had lost weight and started hurting. They put me on some medicine, and now I'm fine. I just have to take my medicine and eat right." She smiled, hoping that would put their minds at ease.

"Was the stress of work getting to you again?" Mark asked.

"No, I wasn't really stressing at work. I was over all that." She shrugged.

"Then why were you stressed out enough to lose weight and stir up your ulcers?" Neal asked.

"I missed you two," she confessed.

They stared at her with open mouths. Then Mark shook his head.

"Then why did you stay away for four freaking months?"

"I had to get it through my head that it was all right to love you both at the same time. I just couldn't get around that at first. It was wrong."

"Wait. Back up. Did you say you love us?" Neal asked.

"Yes. I love you both. More than I can even say."

"Hot d.a.m.n!" Neal pulled her out of the chair and swung her around.

"Easy, Neal. Don't hurt her." Mark eased her from Neal's arms.

"I'm okay, Mark. You don't have to be careful with me. I'm not going to break." She didn't want them to treat her any differently.

"You feel brittle as a piece of gla.s.s, baby. I'm scared to touch you," Mark confessed.

"Please don't feel that way. I want to feel you inside of me. I miss you two so much."

Neal wrapped his arms around her from behind and slowly bared her belly by rolling her shirt upward. She watched Mark's eyes as her 135.

skin began to show. The more Neal raised her shirt, the darker Mark's eyes got.

"f.u.c.k, I want you, Alexis," he finally said. "Please say it's all right."

"I want you, too. It's all right," she said as Neal lifted her shirt over her head.

He dropped it to the floor and pulled her hair to one side, and began to suck and lick her neck. Then he ran his hands around her b.r.e.a.s.t.s to the front closure and unhooked it. He peeled back the cups, exposing her aching b.r.e.a.s.t.s to Mark. Neal pulled the straps back, causing her to thrust her chest forward and into Mark's eager hands.

He held them as if weighing them, then tugged on the nipples.

When he leaned in and licked first one, then the other nipple, Alexis sighed. She finally had what she wanted. She had their attention on her. Surely they would f.u.c.k her soon. She ached to be filled by them, both of them.