Unbridled and Untethered [The Double Rider Men's Club 10] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (10 page)

It wasn’t long before Clay found them sprawled together in the waiting room. His only reaction was one eyebrow lifting in question. But he didn’t wake her or disturb her, for which Luke was very grateful. She fit perfectly against him. He wanted her to stay nestled in his arms as long as possible.

“Any news?” Clay whispered in deference to Emma Rae’s slumbering position.

“He’s in the ICU room down the hall. One nurse let us in for a moment, but then another nurse immediately kicked us out the minute we were discovered in there. Zeke opened his eyes for a second before we got kicked out, so I feel a little better.”

Clay nodded once in Emma Rae’s direction. “How’d you get so lucky as to be attached to Em?”

Luke lifted his free shoulder and responded, “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Want me to wake her for you?”

“No,” Luke responded far too quickly.

Clay’s amused and devious rare smile shaped his lips. “Well, she looks good on your arm. But keep in mind that she has a tragic past. Just don’t rush her, okay?”

“I never rush,” Luke responded in a very matter-of-fact tone. That was true. He made it a point not to be in any sort of hurry when it came to beautiful women.

“Good, because I’d hate to step in and have to kick your ass if you move too fast and make her uncomfortable.”

He huffed. “You of all people know that I’d never do that. It’s like you don’t even know who I am.”

“Trust me, if I had any doubts, you’d already be sitting alone.”

She stirred a bit, and Luke held his breath, not moving a muscle until she settled against his chest once more.

“Shush,” he cautioned Clay very quietly. He wasn’t ready to relinquish his comfortable hold on her. Until Clay had arrived, Luke had been contemplating the best way to get her to go out with him.

Knowing
this
was the woman Zeke has his eye on didn’t hurt at all. Luke had several lines of dialogue prepped in his head to convince her to give their ménage lifestyle a try at least once.

The prepubescent doctor they’d spoken to earlier came into the room to give a fairly uninformative update. A sleepy and confused Emma Rae woke slowly but remained against Luke at first. She then dislodged from his side and practically vaulted away from him as she stood and listened to the doctor speaking. The moment her eyes took in exactly where she’d been lounging against him, a pink tinge blushed her cheeks before she turned away. She was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen in his life. And he wanted her.

The concern from the doctor seemed to be that Zeke hadn’t fully regained consciousness since his surgery. They mentioned Zeke’s eyes opening while they were in the room. The doctor frowned at first as if to admonish them for the prohibited visit but said it didn’t count since he hadn’t spoken. And further, until he regained consciousness, visiting hours were suspended until at least tomorrow afternoon, when he’d be reassessed.

Emma Rae turned to Luke the moment the doctor finished speaking. The pink came instantly back to her cheeks. Her embarrassment at sleeping on him only made her more attractive to Luke.

In fact, even within the short time of their acquaintance, he already wanted her with a ferociousness he’d never felt with a woman before. Sensing his time with her was at an end for the day, he moved closer as the doctor was saying Zeke was in pretty good shape as far as the bullet wound but needed to wake up to receive a clean bill of health and a promising prognosis.

“Come back tomorrow afternoon. Once he wakes up, he’ll be able to have a few visitors.”

“Thanks, doc.” Luke shook his hand to be friendly, wishing Emma Rae would touch him again.

After the doctor left, Emma Rae put her focus on Clay and asked, “Could you drop me off at the bank on your way home, Clay? I still need to pick up my car.”

“Sure,” Clay said at the exact time Luke said, “The bank is on my way home. I can take you.”

She turned and stared deeply into his eyes. Her gaze locked there until he felt like they were the only two souls left in the room.

“Okay, thanks,” she finally responded in a tone so low it was practically a whisper. She then turned to Clay and said, “I’ll talk to you soon.”

Luke crowded her personal space. “Great.” He pointed to the hall leading to the elevator before Clay could utter a word that might change her mind.

They’d taken a couple steps away before Clay said loudly, “Call me if you need anything, Em.”

She smiled over one shoulder and kept walking with Luke. “I will. Thanks.”

Luke secured an arm around her shoulder and whisked her down the hall toward the elevator before she could change her mind about her choice of chaperone to the bank for her car.

Clay followed them all the way to the elevator and rode down with them. He didn’t say anything, but Luke could tell by his final look that he’d better not do anything to make Emma Rae
uncomfortable
. They parted ways with Clay in the garage parking lot.

Afraid she would bolt if he didn’t get her in his vehicle as fast as possible, Luke led her quickly to his truck. He opened the passenger door for her and helped her climb inside the tall vehicle. He rushed to his side and had them out of the parking structure and on the road in less than two minutes.

He drove to their bank as slowly as traffic would allow. The night sky was littered with millions of brilliant stars and a moon so big he felt like he might be able to reach out and touch it if he stretched a bit. His whimsical mood was alien to his normal attitude. Chiding himself a bit for his silence when he had Emma Rae all to himself, he tried to think of something clever to say. Nothing came to mind.

“How long have you and Zeke been friends?” she asked graciously, breaking his quiet misery.

“Since we were little kids. Our parents were good friends. He and I have been causing trouble together since about the time we both started walking.”

“I see. And how long have you been members of the Double Rider Men’s Club?” she asked in an even quieter voice than the first question. “If you don’t mind my asking?”

“No. I don’t mind. We’ve been at the DRMC since its inception. Several years now.”

She rode in silence for several more minutes. Luke couldn’t take the quiet any longer. “What do you know about our club?”

Her head twisted quickly to look at him. The blush came, too. He forced himself not to grin like a fool at the color in her cheeks. “Not much,” she said. “Just rumors mostly.”

“What would you
like
to know about our club?”

She shrugged and turned away again. He didn’t want to lose her attention so quickly, especially on this particular issue.

“I’ll tell you anything you want to know. No question is exempt.”

She turned toward him slightly. “So this club is primarily about two men sharing one woman, is that right?”

“That’s one important aspect, yes.”

She considered his statement for a long while before turning to stare out of the front windshield. “What if I’m uncertain about sharing myself with two men?” His heart stopped in his chest.
She’s considering our lifestyle?

“I’d love to alleviate your uncertainty.”

“Well, I have quite a lot of doubts about my ability to allow
two
men in my life. Up to now, I’ve only been with one at a time. And even then…well, let’s just say that I don’t have a particularly great track record where the opposite sex is concerned.”

“Maybe you were just with the wrong men.”

“Obviously, since many of the pricks from my past used fear to keep me in line.”

He took his focus off the road momentarily to gaze directly in her eyes when he said, “I promise. You don’t ever need to be afraid of either Zeke or me. We only want to give you pleasure. Lots of it.”

“Really?” She kept staring at him after he turned away. “And what do you get out of the deal?”

He grinned. “Pleasure. Lots of it.” He chanced a glance her way.

The color radiating on her face was so attractive he could hardly contain himself.

“Is that so? Lots of pleasure for you in giving pleasure to me. How does
that
work exactly?”

“Another feature of our club involves both voyeurism and exhibitionism. Very simply, we like to watch others giving and getting pleasure. For me, it’s a huge rush.”

“I see.” She seemed to ponder his words a bit more then added, “So very interesting.”

“Interesting enough to try it out?”

She turned away and shrugged. “Maybe.”

“Would you like to meet somewhere or, better yet, come to our house? I can answer many more questions for you. Plus, I’d love to talk to you when I don’t have to divide my attention with the road.”

“Tonight?”

“Sure. Why not? Unless you’re too tired.” Luke was a fool to expect her to want to spend time alone with him so soon, but he so wanted some together time with her. They certainly didn’t have to have sex for his immediate happiness. Mostly, he was loathe to let her get too far away before she’d agreed to a future date with one or both of them.

She glanced at her watch. It was later in the evening but not too late. “I should probably get on home. It’s been a long day.”

“Understandable.” He hid his disappointment. She’d had a horrendous day, but he hated to part company with her.

They’d arrived at the bank. He parked his truck next to the car she pointed out and said quickly before she got away, “Have I answered all your questions about our lifestyle? Is there any way I can convince you to spend some time with me and Zeke later on? Pick a day, any day, and we can get together to chat.”

Remaining in her seat, she turned her pink-cheeked face his way, and asked, “Chat, huh? Can I really trust you to just
chat
?”

Luke kept his hands on the steering wheel. “Yes. Absolutely.”

“Clay said you were not threatening.”

“He’s right. And he’d know. Plus, he’d also kick my ass to the moon if you suffered as much as a hangnail in my care.”

“Okay, we can go to your house. For a little bit. Then I have to get on home.”

“No problem.”

Luke gave her a business card with their address and phone numbers before she opened the vehicle door. “Follow me. I’ll make sure I go slow enough so that you can keep up.” The unintentional double entendre wasn’t lost on him. He felt the same way about sex. He’d go slow at first in order to allow her to keep up.

She nodded and slipped into her vehicle. He waited for her, and together they slowly made their way to the ranch a few miles out of town. The DRMC property was also down the road a ways.

Luke was a little surprised she’d agreed to follow him home. He simply wanted to chat with her and determine whether she would possibly be a candidate for their shared future. He planned to be on his best behavior and not come on too strong or scare her away.

Otherwise, Clay would kill him painfully. And Zeke would help.

* * * *

Emma Rae followed Luke’s taillights and wondered what on earth she was doing. The attraction she had to Luke after lusting after Zeke was a little disconcerting. Both of them were just so delicious. She’d never felt so comfortable around anyone like she did around both Zeke and now Luke. At least not any men she was so attracted to.

Her primary goal was to see if even being in the same room with someone she found so striking would allow her to give of herself without fear. She hadn’t been with a man in such a long time, her libido had been the one doing all the talking tonight.

Kissing Zeke had been so overwhelmingly sexy even though the intimate moment had ended so abruptly. Her secondary goal tonight was to kiss Luke and discover how it made her feel. Not to compare so much as to see if she had duplicate feelings for him. Perhaps his kiss wouldn’t rock her world as Zeke’s had, but so far she doubted that. Some part of her wanted to know if a life with them was even a possibility. She’d certainly thought enough about that very subject this past week. And that was before even meeting both of them in person.

Having fallen asleep on Luke earlier at the hospital was telling. She’d slept so hard she dreamed as she snuggled against him, too. Sexy dreams. Ones that wouldn’t fade once she woke.

The blazingly seductive thoughts as she’d napped in the hospital waiting room had put her off her game. She hadn’t been so physically close to a man in ages. She woke with Luke’s scent filling her being. She’d almost nuzzled his cheek before fully waking when the doctor came to tell them about Zeke’s status.

Embarrassed at having been flung all over him while slumbering in the waiting room was bad enough. Keeping sex-filled visions of Luke out of her head during the doctor’s talk had been impossible. Not to mention that Clay had witnessed her infatuation.

Being the understanding, good friend that he was, Clay had offered to drive her to her car, but she’d wanted to spend more time with Luke. Clay’s ease in leaving her with Zeke’s best friend was the cue she paid attention to. He hadn’t been the least concerned about it. So she decided not to be worried either. She planned to find out a few answers to her week-long questions over the DRMC lifestyle.