“You’ve got a lot of nerve,” she began before one look at the concern etched on his face sent need slamming into her with the force of a freight train. She thought she wanted solitude to brood, but as he came around the Jeep and pulled her gently into his embrace, her body came up with a better way to cope with the emotions threatening her composure.

  As she leaned against that tall, hard body, he rubbed his hands over her shoulders and back in soothing caresses that set her body aflame with desperate longing for oblivion. Arousal grew into hot need that soon drove her into a frenzy of lust almost excruciating in its intensity. Pulling back, she cupped her hands around his head, pulling him down to her with one low-voiced demand. “Fuck me, Nash. Now.”

  She slammed her mouth onto his before Nash could form a reply, her mouth angry as she ground her lips against his, her tongue desperate as she forced her way past his startled resistance. Gathering his senses, he kissed her back, giving her just a taste of what she thought she wanted but knew she didn’t. Not really. She sought escape from the real possibility the outcome of Ashley’s disappearance won’t be a good one. He gave her a few minutes to lean on him, take from him, then gently gripped her shoulders and pushed her back. They were standing at the foot of the porch steps and he couldn’t see her clear enough to read her face, but he felt her anger in her tense body, her need to shove aside the truth for just a little longer in her slight trembling. And it broke his heart to turn her down because he knew she wouldn’t understand, at least not right now.

  “Come on, I’ll pour you a stiff drink and you can take a long hot shower. You’ll feel better afterwards. It’s been a distressing day.”

  Gripping his shirt in her fists, she went up on her toes and got in his face. “No, damn you. I don’t want a drink or a shower. I want you, I need…” She broke, biting back the rest of that plea. Growing fury and disheartenment drove her on, refusing to allow her to give in. “Now, English. You wanted me out here, insisted on bringing me here.” Releasing his shirt, she made quick work of undoing his belt. “Now you can just fucking deal with the consequences, and me.”

  She had his zipper down and his cock freed before his brain could overrule his body’s acceptance of her demands. Her tight grip almost sent his eyes rolling to the back of his head. Making a last-ditch effort to do the right thing, he gripped her hand and pulled her away from him, the cool night air stirring his heated flesh even further.

  “Alena, luv, you don’t…”

  “Don’t tell me what I want, what I need.”

  When she started to go to her knees, his own control and patience snapped like a twig. Jerking her up and against him, he growled, “Stop it,” and gave her a small shake that did nothing. She latched onto him again, wrapped one leg around his hips and ground her pelvis against his throbbing erection, her low, taunting laugh his undoing.

  “You want me. Fuck me. I promise, if you give it to me hard and fast, I won’t regret it. I’ll love it.” I need it, I need you, so much I know I’ll fall apart completely without this. It was only by sheer grit she kept from uttering that out loud.

  This time it was his turn to slam his mouth down on hers, kiss her with hard possession as he loosened her shorts and shoved them down, no longer able to stand the torment in her voice or the real need vibrating in her body. Releasing her mouth, he spun her around and bent her over the steps. “Brace your hands on the second step,” he ordered, swatting her ass, hard.

  “Yes!” Alena almost wept from the now familiar pleasure burn of his hard hand connecting with her butt. “More, don’t stop, please.” Dropping her head between her braced arms, she relished each fiery smack, loved the sound of flesh slapping flesh resounding in the dark, still night. She could hear cars driving on the road, but knew they were far enough back no one could see them. Not that she would’ve minded. Right now, at this moment, in this place, she didn’t care about anything but wallowing in that place of euphoric bliss she knew he could take her.

  A soft cry escaped her compressed mouth when he belabored her buttocks with a fast volley of sharp slaps, covering every inch of her globes before tormenting her sit spots then her thighs. Shifting her hips under the painful, heated onslaught, she soon found herself questioning whether she wanted him to stop or needed him to continue. Leaving it up to him, she lifted for the next smacks as he returned to her cheeks, pleading, “Nash, please.”

  Latching onto her hips, he leaned over her back as he slid into the slick, hot furnace of her pussy. “Had enough, or do you want more?” He pulled back then rammed balls deep back inside her. “This is what you said you wanted, right? To be fucked? Hard and fast, I believe is what you insisted on.”

  He didn’t wait for an answer before lifting up and giving her what she had pushed him into. With deep, jackhammer thrusts, he fucked her just like she wanted him to. The tight clutches of her slick vaginal walls pulled at his cock, her damp release tempting him to let go with his own climax, but he forced back the urge to work her into one more first.

  “Again. Come on, luv, you can do better than that.”

  His words penetrated the fog of pleasure ripping through her, his womb-nudging plunges driving her to the brink within seconds of her first climax abating. If it hadn’t been for his tight grip on her hips holding her immobile, his hard fucking would have pushed her forward, flat on her face most likely. Tiny mewls of ecstasy escaped her lips and the pleasure erupted and washed over her again, this time with the feel of his cock jerking in release egging her on.

  “What the hell are you thinking?”

  Randy’s furious voice penetrated the lingering pleasure clouding her senses, and Alena shuddered as Nash withdrew from her still spasming sheath with excruciating slowness. But with his withdrawal and standing to face the blistering anger Randy leveled on Nash, that gripping need took hold of her again. God help her, she didn’t know which one she hungered for more, and it had been that way since she first set eyes on them.

  “Don’t blame him, Sheriff, I forced myself on him. But he petered out on me, so I guess you have to pick up the slack.”

  “Damn it, Alena.” Randy grabbed her hand as she kicked aside her shorts and led her inside. From the glimpse he got of her ass as he drove in, Nash had tried calming her the old-fashioned way. He should’ve remembered how she responded to spanking and saved his time. As soon as they entered his cabin, she turned on him, jumping into his arms, her legs going around his waist in a tight ankle-lock hold as she latched onto his mouth and sucked the breath from him with her voracious kiss.

  With a few steps, he had her pinned against the wall, one hand ripping her halter top down, the other inching under her to clasp one warm buttock and squeeze. Her low moan filled his mouth as he kissed her with as much pent-up frustration and misery over not finding Ashley or a clue to her whereabouts with her car as she expressed. Like Nash, taking her while in such a vulnerable state poked at his conscience, but he succumbed to the constant desire to give her whatever she needed to get through this ordeal. Knowing their girl, he had no doubt by morning she would bounce back to her independent, determined nature that had kept her together thus far.

  With a deep breath, he released her mouth and filled his hand with her soft breast as he kneaded the under curve of the buttock he cupped. “You want this, then figure out a way to release my cock without killing me.”

  Alena wanted this so much she had no trouble finding the patience to wedge her hand between them and lower his zipper over his thick erection, her arousal dripping onto his cock head as he rubbed the smooth crown of his mushroom cap over her gaping slit.

  “Now, Sheriff, oh, good Lord,” she ended on a gasp when he thrust up, filling her with one brutal stroke.

  She heard them both chuckle then heard nothing but the roaring of pleasure as he pounded into her over and over, his vigorous fucking abrading her back against the wall as he took her with all the finesse of a rutting bull. Exactly what she’d wanted, needed to get her over this last hurdle. A tight pinch of her nipple along with a light graze over her anus set her off, the explosion coming fast and hard, the wet suction of their mating revealing how aroused she still was. Like his partner, he gifted her with another climax before his cock jerked inside her, his groan of pleasure buried in her neck sending shivers down her arms.

  Her wince when he gripped her butt with both hands, lifted her off his erection, and let her slide down him and the wall drew a wicked smile from him.

  “Nash really walloped on you, didn’t he?”

  “Hey, I at least tried to hold off,” Nash defended.

  “Why?” Randy questioned.

  Alena laughed weakly at Nash’s disgruntled tone coming from where he lounged against a stool at the kitchen counter and Randy’s succinct reply. God, these two could disarm her in so many different ways it boggled her mind and offered her something else to worry about along with her sister. As the haze of grief finally lifted, embarrassment over her nudity and her actions unfolded.

  Needing to get away, she shuffled out of Randy’s reach, keeping her face averted from both of them. “I’m tired. Mind if I turn in?”

  “After a warm shower,” Randy insisted.

  Before she could protest, and she really wanted to, Randy had her scooped up in his arms, Nash following them upstairs. Because she knew it would be futile to argue, and because fatigue wouldn’t allow her to do anything else, she let them pamper her through a steaming shower then tuck her into bed with them. Telling herself exhaustion forced her to accept their solicitous care, not need, she fell asleep sandwiched between their naked bodies.

  * * *

  Once again she woke to the bright glare of sunshine cutting a swath across the loft bedroom and an empty bed, which was just as well as she recalled her meltdown last night. Rolling over with a groan, she buried her head under the pillow, wondering what the heck had come over her. At the ravine, she had agreed with Randy that Ash could still be alive, maybe just lost or, as usual, being inconsiderate and not thinking to let someone know she was all right. But Nash’s refusal to return her to her boat, to give her the space she wanted to assimilate all the facts, and options, had lit a fuse inside her she couldn’t extinguish.

  Even though she screwed up at the bar and last week at the party, for the past few weeks she had given in to their demands over and over, tried to be an asset, not a hindrance. Was it too much to ask that they give in to her just that once? Apparently so because she was here, wasn’t she? The past few days afforded her a glimpse into the overprotective, caring side of both men, as well as the fun-loving side she saw yesterday during the town’s activities. She had no problem admitting she got off on their strict, sexually dominant nature, but throw in the other facets and they became a duo that would make forgetting them difficult to do.

  Not liking that thought or the memory of how badly she’d ended up needing both of them last night regardless of her desire to be alone, she dragged her achy body out of the comfortable, warm bed. She spotted her shorts and top sitting on a chair, a little dirt-stained but welcome nonetheless. The soreness between her legs and the lingering puffy ache encompassing her butt reminded her they both gave her what she demanded, a vigorous, hard fucking that aided in helping her fall into a deep and dreamless sleep. So, slipping into her clothes, she guessed she did have to be grateful, somewhat, for Nash forcing her to stay here last night.

  But that was then and this was now, and she needed to return to the boat and start preparing for her return home on Sunday. Bryan’s big bash tomorrow would be the last opportunity, at least for her, to learn anything new about her sister’s whereabouts. If they couldn’t unearth any new clues, something to go on, she’d have to return home empty-handed with no other option but to hope the police eventually found her.

  One way or another. That thought had her stumbling to a stop on her way to the stairs. For the first time, she forced herself to admit she may never see Ashley again, at least not alive. Her heart twisted in painful agony at just the thought. For all their differences, all the trouble she had been over the years, Alena still cared about her. All along, she’d vowed to wash her hands of her self-centered, irresponsible sibling once and for all after this, but right now, she couldn’t imagine her life without Ashley in it, so she didn’t.

  “Positive thinking never hurt,” she muttered as she jogged downstairs. Then again, she’d tried thinking positive about Ashley someday taking responsibility for her actions and shaping up to no avail as of yet.

  I could get used to this, she envisioned when she spotted the donuts and coffee waiting for her again, a thought that increased the need to get back home where she belonged. Randy swiveled on his stool to eye her with those penetrating black eyes as Nash gave her the same intent, probing look from where he sat on the sofa with the paper in hand. Her heart did that uncomfortable roll in her chest, adding to the desperate urge to run as far and as fast away from Blue Springs and these two as she could. It was definitely time to go home.

  Waving her hand toward the plate of donuts, she inquired with a nonchalance she was far from feeling, “I take it you’re not too pissed over my meltdown last night.”

  Randy lowered his black brows in a perplexed frown. “Why would we be mad? You had every right to be upset.”

  “And I should’ve seen what you needed. But I did enjoy your eager persistence, luv.”

  The small smile playing around Nash’s mouth almost drew a return grin from her. Almost. Ignoring both men’s replies that weren’t what she expected and that gave her another warm rush, she snatched a cream-filled, powdered sugar-covered donut. “Mind if I eat this on the run? I have a lot to do if we’re going to be at the lake house most of the day tomorrow as I plan on leaving early Sunday. I need to get back home.”

  From their exchange of knowing looks, they caught the determined strength she forced into her tone. Let them think what they wanted, she knew where she belonged, and it wasn’t here despite what her body continued to crave.

  Randy pointed to a cabinet above the coffeemaker. “There’s a lidded travel mug up there. You’ll need something to wash that down.”

  Surprised but grateful they didn’t argue with her, she retrieved the mug and filled it before asking, “Would one of you run me back to the marina?”

  Folding the paper and setting it aside, Nash rose and picked up his keys off the small table next to the front door. “I will. Randy needs to get to work. Ready?”

  Nodding her head, she remained perplexed and a bit miffed by their easy dismissal of her this morning on the silent ride back to the marina. She felt marginally better when Nash turned to her after pulling to a stop in the marina’s lot and asked, “Do you want to drive to Randy’s later or have us pick you up?”

  “I thought I’d spend the night at the B & B tonight, give you two a break from me.” Actually, that idea had just come to her. It would give her the space she needed from them to get her mind back on track with her priorities and the safety she needed since her attacker was still unidentified.

  “That’s a good idea.” Leaning over, he pulled her close for a deep kiss, trying to hide his reluctance to let her go, and his need to insist she stay the night with him and Randy again. He knew she’d be safe at the B & B, but he wouldn’t get to watch over her himself, something he found he enjoyed doing.

  “Okay then,” Alena said when he released her. The confused irritation reflected in her expressive green eyes made him feel better about the decision they agreed on early this morning to not stress her out any more by going along with whatever she wanted to do today, including giving her some space.

  “We’ll join you for breakfast in the morning. Get some rest today.”

  She nodded and got out of the Jeep without another word. Nash watched her walk to her boat, waited until she jumped aboard and waved him off before turning and heading back to town knowing she wouldn’t relax any more than he or Randy would today.

  * * *

  Cloudy skies rolled in by late afternoon the next day, the threat of rain noticeable in the sultry air as Alena, Nash, and Randy parked in the circular drive at Bryan’s lake house. Alena noticed twice as many cars lined the drive as last week and dozens of people mingled around the yard and in and out of the house. Bryan manned the grill again, but because of the weather potential, she assumed, she could see the rest of the food and tables were lined up in the garage at the back of the lot.

  With her heart beating a rapid tattoo of excitement, she slid out of the cruiser with Nash’s help, determined to get as much out of tonight, and the guys, as possible. If this was going to be the last time she saw them, was with them, she wouldn’t let insecurities, embarrassment, or worry hold her back from enjoying whatever they had planned.

  “I do like that top.”

  Nash reached out and ran one finger over her distended nipple, clearly visible along with every small bump of her areola through the thin camisole top she wore with a very short white skirt. After breakfast, the three of them had strolled around town and when they came to the quaint boutique and she saw the camisole on the window mannequin, she knew she had to have it, especially after seeing the guys’ eyes light up.

  “You’re not blushing tonight, Alena. Like what you see?”

  Randy picked up her other hand as they strode forward and she didn’t look away from the naked woman kneeling between a man’s spread legs, sucking his cock or the one lying through a tire swing on her stomach as her lover swung her back and forth on his cock. The position looked uncomfortable, but as a voyeur, she found the scene hot.

  “I know what to expect tonight.” Her body, never slow to arouse when near the guys, grew warm and tingly in all her happy places.