The minute the appetizers were on the table, Raine heard words that tied her belly into a knot. So much for her appet.i.te.

"Why don't you tell us all about Raine Avery? We'd like to know more." It was Tryphon who'd spoken those words, the same man who made her uneasy anyway. He had this vibe. It made her feel small and vulnerable. Uneasy and unsure. That was so unlike her.

Normally, if she'd been in a more private setting, she would have turned the conversation to safer topics, like s.e.x. Men's brains short-circuited when a girl traced her fingertip between her b.o.o.bs and gave them a look. Or when a woman gave a little s.e.xy sigh and pout and said she needed a neck rub because she was tight all over.

But since they were in one of the area's most upscale restaurants, she wasn't about to go there. "I'm boring, really. Not much to know. You, on the other hand, are so much more interesting."

Most of the men she knew liked to talk about themselves or at least enjoyed the sight of a woman fawning over their brilliant masculine wonderfulness. She hoped Tryphon was like them.

He slid his flattened hand over the crisp white tablecloth and curled his fingers around hers. "Why are you so afraid, Raine?"

Not again!

Uncomfortable, Raine forced herself to hold Tryphon's gaze. "I'm not scared of anything. I'm just...private."

"I can understand that." Tryphon's thumb grazed over the pads of her fingertips. "We've all been hurt before."

"Not me. I've never been hurt. And that's because I'm very careful about who I get close to." Raine slipped a stuffed mushroom into her mouth, chewed. Mmm, delicious. "My roommate Liz is like a sister, but there are some things about me that even she doesn't know."

Tryphon released her hand, the fingers that had been stroking her skin wrapping around a fork instead. "I've never met a person who's that protective for no reason."

"I didn't say I had no reason. Just that I hadn't been hurt."

He smiled. "Touche."

They enjoyed their appetizers in a semi-tense silence. Raine decided some wine would help her get through dinner, and consumed a full gla.s.s before the salads had been set before them.

The wine did wonders for her frame of mind. Especially the second gla.s.s, consumed before she'd polished off the last of her salad...and the third, emptied before half her entree was gone. She wasn't drunk, but she was definitely feeling a lot more relaxed.

And daring.

Sitting at a table with floor-length tablecloths meant one thing-no one could see what was happening underneath. Borrowing from some movie she couldn't remember at the moment, she kicked off one of her shoes and skimmed her bare foot up Tryphon's leg.

His gaze locked to hers the second her foot found the warm bulge in his pants, and slowly one side of his mouth lifted into that wicked smile she'd come to appreciate so much.

She licked her lips, sliding a baby carrot between them. "This meal is delicious."

"Mmmm. Very good," Tryphon agreed.

Bale glanced at each of them then smiled too. A second later, a certain man's hand found its way into Raine's lap. While she used her foot to rub Tryphon's crotch and Bale tormented hers with his hand, Raine felt her face tightening, a whole different kind of expression pulling at her features. She wanted to try to keep a straight face, to play the part of the refined, mysterious woman dining with a couple of men, but it was so difficult once Bale's fingers dipped under her skirt.

She applied more pressure to Tryphon's groin.

Bale teased her p.u.s.s.y through her panties.

Finally, she waved her hand in front of her face. "Whew, it's warm in here. I think I need to take a little walk outside. You know, to cool off." She started to pull her foot away, but Tryphon caught her ankle in his fist.

He shook his head. "No. Not before dessert."

Was he kidding? What was his thing with dessert?

As the waiter removed their entree plates, Bale stroked her folds, the tips of his fingers tracing the side of the crotch panel. It was a decadent thrill, hiding the secret pleasure he was giving her while the waiter recited the dessert menu. By the time he had finished up the description of the sumptuous Black Forest cake, she was ready to scream. Or tear off her panties and beg for Tryphon and Bale to take her right then and there.

Why had she put on underwear? She should've known the guys were going to make what would normally be a very pleasant meal a naughty one.

Once the waiter was sent off to fetch their desserts, Tryphon gently set her foot on the floor, stood, and dragged his chair closer to hers. Seconds later, a second hand was in her lap. And she knew she was in trouble.

Both Tryphon's and Bale's hands worked together, lifting her skirt up high then tugging her panties down over her hips. Tryphon bent over, pretending to retrieve a fallen napkin. A few seconds later, her balled-up panties were in her lap.

The guys each pulled at a knee, forcing them apart. And the moment the waiter set her plate of chocolate sin in front of her, one of them speared her pa.s.sage with a fingertip.

She jolted but didn't scream, thank G.o.d.

The waiter either didn't notice her strange reaction or he was pretending he didn't. Either way, his lack of a reaction made her feel a little less mortified. After asking if there was anything else, he headed off to tend to his other customers.

She reached for her fork, but before she could slice off a piece of what promised to be an o.r.g.a.s.m on a plate, Tryphon delivered a piece to her mouth on his fork. As the decadent dessert slipped onto her tongue, bathing her mouth in rich flavor, a thick finger drove into her tight p.u.s.s.y.

Overcome, she shuddered.

Her eyelids fell over her eyes, cutting off Bale's and Tryphon's glorious faces and the distracting images of the other diners, huddled around tables.

More chocolate. Another thrust. Again. And again.

Heat simmered through her torso. Tension pulled at her limbs. Desire burned in her belly.

The clatter of silverware against dishes and the hushed whispers of the other people in the room didn't detract at all from the eroticism of the moment. In fact, knowing that she was in a public place and had to disguise the heat welling in her body only made her that much hotter.

The rich flavor of the dessert blended with the carnal sensations igniting her nerves on fire.

Tight.

Trembling.

Desperate.

She tried to fight the momentum, desperately clinging to what little control she had left, but she felt herself losing the battle, felt her body surrendering to Bale and Tryphon's control.

She whimpered softly, hoping only Tryphon and Bale would hear.

She felt Tryphon draw closer. His breath tormented the skin of her neck, her ear. "Let yourself go, Raine."

Easy for him to say.

She dragged her eyelids up and gave him an exasperated look. She couldn't come here. Now. With people all around them. My G.o.d, just over there, at that table...the elderly man with the silver hair couldn't be more than five feet away.

"Can't," she whispered. Her head was swimming, her vision hazy. Body aching. She tried to push his hand away, but he wouldn't let her.

He added a second finger, a third. "This is what you've been waiting for, Raine. Don't be afraid now."

Oh G.o.d, she was so close. A telltale tingle was gathering deep inside. She needed him to stop. She needed to get up right now-a.s.suming she could stand-and leave.

"Please," she whispered.

"Raine." Bale delivered the final bite of dessert to her mouth. Her spine tightened, arching, as her lips closed over the fork. "This is it. Last bite."

Absolute bliss.

Tryphon's fingers drove home with one final stroke as Bale's danced over her aching c.l.i.t. The tingles charged through every cell of her body, exploding out from her center. An erotic fever blazed through her, and her p.u.s.s.y spasmed around Tryphon's fingers. Tightening, then relaxing.

She felt herself losing all control as her pleasure washed over her body. For just the briefest of moments she didn't care about anything. Didn't mind if people were watching. Wasn't worried that she was at Tryphon and Bale's total mercy. Didn't care about anything but the wet heat pounding through her veins.

The inferno in her body was almost unbearable, and yet at the same time it was also absolute heaven. She didn't want it to end. She didn't want the spasms to stop or those amazing pulses of pleasure to ease.

Now, instead of fighting them, she wallowed in them, enjoying every fraction of a second, drawing her pleasure out as long as it would last. But with every breath the pounding slowed. The heat cooled. The pleasure eased. Until she was twitchy and sated, and much more aware of her surroundings. She realized suddenly that she had both her hands smashed over Tryphon's, grinding his palm against her sodden tissues and forcing those fingers deep inside.

She peeled her hands away from Tryphon's and opened her eyes, expecting to see at least a dozen people's shocked and horrified expressions all trained on her.

No one was staring.

"Did you enjoy your dessert?" Tryphon's fingers slipped out of her, and her inner walls clamped tightly around the painful emptiness.

"It was...delicious." Her face burning, she s.n.a.t.c.hed her purse from the floor, and flipped it open. "Thank you." She crammed her underwear into it and closed it.

"Our pleasure." Bale helped smooth her skirt down her legs, so that when she pushed her chair back and stood, there was no evidence of the erotic experience she'd just enjoyed.

No evidence but the warm juices coating the insides of her thighs as she walked.

Feeling like she must reek of s.e.x, she smiled and held her head high as she walked out of the restaurant. The minute she was in the limousine, safe from prying eyes, she gave Bale and Tryphon a squinty glare. "That was so wrong on so many levels."

Both of them grinned.

She pretended those grins didn't just melt her kneecaps, and instead shrank away from their studly bodies, sitting on the long bench seat lining the opposite side of the vehicle.

"But you said you enjoyed your dessert. Were you lying?" Tryphon teased.

Her face was on fire. She was extremely grateful she wouldn't be stepping out in public again anytime soon. "No, I didn't lie. But that's not the point. The cake was delicious. I think. I hardly tasted it, thanks to everything else..."

"Else?" Bale asked, eyebrows lifted.

"Yes, else." She eyed the limo's windows, wondering if there was any way to open them. It was getting mighty steamy in there.

"I'm hungry," Tryphon murmured.

She ran her fingers along the inside edge of the window. "We just ate." Windows. Open. Now. How?

"Not that kind of hungry." He slid off the seat, falling to his knees. His bulk filled the narrow aisle between the seat he had inhabited and hers. "You smell so good."

"Thanks." Her knees locked together, she twisted at the waist, s.h.i.+fting them to the side.

He stared down at her feet. His fingers slowly curled around her ankles, tightening like steel bands. "My body burns for you."

s.e.x in a car. Was that where this was headed? She shot a glance at Bale. He looked as if he was about to do something equally naughty. These guys were insatiable. But, hey, who was she to complain?

Her body decided it was quite happy with the heated looks her evil hosts were sending her way. Smiling, she slid down in her seat until her bottom was perched on the very edge. "Is this your way of apologizing?"

Tryphon shrugged. "If it makes you happy."

What made her happy was having two men cater to her every desire, like these two did. She could definitely get used to all the attention they were lavis.h.i.+ng on her. In one respect, that was not so comforting.

"Yes. Happy," she said.

Tryphon pulled on her ankles, dragging her feet apart. Meanwhile, Bale plopped down on the seat beside her and began working her out of her clothes. The first piece to go was her knit pullover top.

Bale slid his hands around her ribcage while he sprinkled soft kisses down her neck and over her chest. "We want to make you happy, Raine. In all ways."

Her heart lurched.

"I know," she lied. It's just s.e.x, she reminded herself as she let her head fall back against the window. I'm here to sow some wild oats for a short time, have fun and explore a little, let loose and forget all about the worries of jobs and bills and all that normal day-to-day c.r.a.p.

This was her ideal situation. Two men who were in love with each other, not looking for anything permanent, just wanting to share a temporary fling with a woman who was also open to a temporary arrangement. They were both stunning men. Physically as perfect as she'd ever seen. Intelligent. s.e.xy as h.e.l.l. Playful...

Oh h.e.l.l! Who was she fooling? Not herself, that was for sure.

Just focus on the s.e.x.

G.o.d, she hoped she could do that. Now, as she sat in the car, Tryphon's face buried between her thighs and Bale's hands caressing her, tormenting her, making her tremble and sweat, it was easy to hide behind the s.e.x.

But later, once it was over, and the urgent pounding eased inside, she'd go soft. Become vulnerable again.

She rocked her head from side to side and shoved away the questions burning in her mind. She'd had plenty of affairs in the past. She was all about the casual fling. And that's what this was. One week of fun. They'd made that perfectly clear.

Why was she having such a hard time believing their words?

Tryphon's tongue started dancing over her c.l.i.t. He f.u.c.ked her with his fingers, and Bale drew one of her nipples into his mouth. Bale suckled just hard enough to send little blades of pleasure-pain shooting through her body. The sensations-sharp pain and simmering pleasure-churned in her belly, like a turbulent river, tumbling over her nerves, sc.r.a.ping them raw like raging rapids over stones.

And then, just before she was swallowed up by that thras.h.i.+ng water, a sharp pain seared down her leg.

She screamed and thrust her hips up, throwing her hands down to catch Tryphon's hair in her fists. Before she'd managed to yank him away, the pain morphed into an o.r.g.a.s.m so powerful, it was almost agonizing. In her mind's eye, she toppled head over feet, down a cliff and into a raging sea. She landed with a splash into a glorious, warm place where her heartbeat echoed like thunder.

Safe. Content.

Ahhhh, now this was heaven.

Chapter Ten.