steadying breaths.
To her surprise the bathroom door opened. Her eyes flew open to see Noah standing in the doorway, worry reflected in his gaze.
Before she could speak, he moved in, carefully lowering her wrists so that her fingers no longer dug into her temples.
“Head hurt?” he asked.
She was still trying to find words. His sudden appearance had taken her completely off guard.
“Sorry to barge in on you like that, but you had me worried. I called your name three times and I couldn’t hear a damn thing going on behind the door. I was worried you’d fallen or passed out.”
She grimaced. “Sorry. I was just lost in thoughts. So much going on and it’s still kind of hard to take in.”
He gently pulled her into his arms, pressing his lips to her forehead.
“Come to bed. Want me to get you something for the headache?”
“No. I’ll be fine. Really.”
He laced his fingers with hers and pulled her into the bedroom. His bedroll was carefully made on the floor, but he directed her to the bed.
To her surprise, he crawled onto the mattress, positioned himself so his back rested against the rail at the head of the bed, and then he spread his legs and patted the space between them.
“Come here and I’ll rub your head and neck.”
Relieved that she didn’t have to tackle the issue of whether she should invite him to the bed or not, she put her knee up on the bed and scooted toward him.
When she turned, he immediately wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back against him so she was flush against his chest.
For a moment she let her head fall back against his shoulder and turned her face into his neck, savoring the intimacy of the position.
His hands glided up her bare arms and then over the thin spaghetti straps of her cami pajama top. Then he slid his fingers into her hair from her nape, traveling upward to the top of her head. He was careful not to pull her hair, and he worked his fingers gently over her scalp, exerting subtle pressure at various intervals.
“That’s nice,” she breathed.
He let one hand fall briefly and leaned down to press his lips against the side of her neck just below her ear. It sent a cascade of chills over her bare arms until she shivered in reaction.
Her breasts tingled and swelled, her nipples tightening against the thin material. It was instinctive to raise her arms to shield the obvious reaction her body had to the simple kiss.
“Don’t hide from me, sweetheart,” Noah whispered.
He reached around and took her arms, lowering them back to her lap.
“I like seeing how you react to me, that you want me. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
He kissed her again, grazing his teeth lightly over her skin, and then he let his mouth wander lower to the curve of her neck.
Then he went back to rubbing her head, massaging her temples and then down to her shoulders, those big hands working their magic. Tension leaked from her, leaving her limp in his arms.
“Can I ask you something?” she said in a low voice.
“Of course.”
She shifted and attempted to turn around so she could face him. After awkwardly maneuvering her legs and body, she knelt between his legs, sitting back on her heels so she was at eye level with him.
Maybe it would have been better to ask him when she was facing away, because now as he stared intently back at her, courage fled and her tongue felt tied in a dozen knots.
He reached up, tracing her mouth with his thumb. “What’s on your mind, sweetheart?”
“This is kind of awkward,” she mumbled.
He didn’t say anything. He simply waited, patient, as she gathered her thoughts.
“Will you and Liam want . . .”
Heat suffused her cheeks and she couldn’t get the words past her lips. She felt like a complete moron. How on earth were they going to be able to have an honest and open relationship between the three of them if she couldn’t even broach the subject of sex without breaking out into hives?
“Will Liam and I want what?” he prompted.
“To have sex with me . . . at the same time,” she finally blurted out. “You know, like a threesome.”
Noah blinked in surprise, but then his eyes went dark, smoldering with enough heat to cause an odd flutter deep in her chest.
He leaned forward, wrapping his arms around her, crushing her to his chest until their noses touched and she could feel the warmth of his breath on her chin.
“To be perfectly honest, it’s not something we’ve discussed. You’re what’s important to us. Not sex. Don’t get me wrong, honey. I want you in my bed, you wrapped around me so tight and me deep inside you. But I want to give you the time you need to adjust to the idea. As for a threesome, I’ve never had one, but the idea is hot as hell and I’d love to try it. But first? I want you. Just you. Not an audience. Not someone else in the picture. Just your mouth wrapped around my dick. My tongue between your legs. I want to taste you so badly that I ache. I want to touch you, learn you. I want to discover what excites you and how to please you. But yeah, a threesome would be pretty damn cool.”
“Oh,” she breathed out, her entire body tingling and hyperaware as he whispered the blunt words.
“Does that excite you?” he murmured. “The idea of me and Liam taking you at the same time? Do you like the idea of us both touching you and filling you, kissing you, making you mindless with pleasure?”
She nodded, not trusting herself to speak.
Then she swallowed and asked the other question burning a hole in her brain.
“Will you make love to me? Tonight?”
His entire body tightened against her. His breathing changed and his eyes darkened, making him so damn dangerous looking. And sexy as hell.
“Are you ready for that?” he asked, his tone wary. “I don’t want to rush this, Lauren. The very last thing I want to do is to hurry into something that we’ll regret. I’m willing to wait for as long as it takes for you to trust that I’m never going to hurt you.”
She slid her fingers over his jaw until her palms cradled his face so very close to hers.
“I want to try,” she said honestly. And she did. She wanted it more than she could explain. “I do trust you. My heart trusts you. My mind is a little more cautious, but my heart tells me that I want this.”
He let out a groan and briefly closed his eyes.
“Noah?”
The hesitancy in Lauren’s voice made Noah open his eyes. It was obvious she was nervous about something. Her teeth were dug into her full bottom lip, and her eyes were shadowed where just moments ago, they’d been alight with desire.
“What is it, honey?”
She glanced over her shoulder to where the bedroom door was closed, a barrier between them and Liam. He knew what her worry was before she even voiced it.
“If I make love with you tonight . . . What about Liam? Will it hurt him that we had sex first? He slept here with me last night. He held me. But we didn’t make love. And it’s not that I trust you more than him. It’s just that I was still too nervous.”
He kissed her to stop the flow of anxious chatter. So sweet and soft. He hated the worry and anxiety in her voice. He wanted to sweep her away, take her in his arms and make her forget everything but this moment.
This was a huge step in their newly forming relationship, one he hadn’t anticipated taking so soon. He’d been fully prepared to wait weeks, if not months, if that was what it took for her to give him such a precious gift.
“Baby, listen to me,” he said when he pulled away so he could look her in the eye. “Don’t make yourself crazy keeping score. I swear to you that Liam and I aren’t keeping up and don’t expect you to divide your time fifty-fifty with us. If Liam had made love to you last night, it would have been okay with me because I know that
