Page 48 of Wicked Fantasies

She stood for a moment trying to understand the unfamiliar tension she felt in the air, but before she could sort out her thoughts, she felt Colt’s strong arm encircle her waist. He pulled her back against his chest and his breath tickled the hair on the back on her neck.

“Colt?”

“You hungry, darlin’? We were about to throw some steaks on the grill.” At his words, he moved her into the kitchen with his arm wrapped tightly around her.

She glanced over her shoulder, uneasy with his casual closeness. Heath smiled at them as they walked in and acted like there wasn’t a thing in the world wrong with the way Colt was holding her.

“I picked up some T-bones on my way home from work. Hope you’re hungry.”

She was completely flummoxed. “Are we celebrating something?”

“The weekend.” Colt released her with a quick kiss on her cheek. He crossed over to the refrigerator to pull out a bottle of her favorite wine. When he reached for three wine glasses, instead of one, she narrowed her eyes. Colt and Heath never drank wine—ever. They were strictly hard liquor or beer men.

“Okay, that’s it. What the hell is going on here?” She placed her hands on her hips and tapped her toe in annoyance. Her mother was an angry toe-tapper and Kylie had, much to her chagrin, picked up the habit.

To add to her aggravation, both men merely laughed at her pose and continued about their duties as if she hadn’t spoken at all.

Once Colt had the wine poured, he carried a glass over to her.

“Watch your mouth, darlin’. Ladies shouldn’t cuss.”

“Lucky for me I’m not a fucking lady. Now what the hell are you all up to?”

Colt shook his head at her response, putting her wine glass down on the kitchen table. Then he even had the nerve to tsk at her. “I’m afraid that filthy mouth of yours is going to get you in a whole heap of trouble. What do you think, Heath?”

Heath’s expression flickered between amusement and anger before he turned his smoldering gaze toward her. “I think it’s a shame that ass of hers is too sore for what I’ve got in mind. You’re looking to get punished, Sunshine, but after that stunt you pulled the other night, you no doubt need more time to heal. Best not push us too far.”

Her face flushed with embarrassment and fury. She whirled on Colt. “You told him?”

“’Course I did, darlin’.”

“It was none of his business. Shit, it wasn’t any of yours. This is unbelievable.” She felt betrayed and mortified and completely out of her element.

“None of my business?” She flinched at Colt’s heated reply. “Is that what you just said? Let me tell you something, Kylie Halston, you made it my business when you brought that son of a bitch into our house and let him abuse you. You listen to me now and you listen good. Your willful, impulsive, reckless days are at an end.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” She was taken aback by the anger in Colt’s face.

Never in all their years of friendship had he lost his temper with her and she didn’t doubt she’d tested him plenty. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Heath coming toward her and was shocked to see the same intense look in his gaze.

“It means,” Colt said, stepping closer, “that from this point on, you answer to us.”

She burst into laughter at his haughty reply. “Ha!” she yelled before common sense kicked in. Neither man seemed pleased by her dismissal.

Heath reached out and ran the back of his knuckles down her cheek. She gasped at how much the simple touch affected her. “Ah, Kylie. It would seem you need a bit of convincing.”

“Can you two please stop talking in code? I haven’t understood a word you’ve said since I got home. It’s like I’ve dropped into theTwilight Zone.”

Heath’s hand stopped caressing her face and ventured around the nape of her neck where his grip tightened and he pulled her closer. “You want plain-speaking? Fine. The terms of our friendship are on hold. For the rest of this weekend, you aren’t simply our roommate or our buddy. You’re going to become our lover as well. From this moment on, you’re ours.”

Speech deserted her. One word kept resonating in her brain. The only word she was able to process amidst the rest.

“Ours?”

Heath grinned as he repeated the word. “Ours.”

Then he bent down and kissed her.

Chapter Four

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