Night Is Darkest (14 page)

She cried out as the intrusion stretched the walls of her pussy, inspiring delicious sensations tinged with pain. Beneath her, Mason groaned when the motions of Ty’s chin tortured him in turn. Though she felt his muscles quivering beneath her, he caved in to instinct and thrust his hips just as her grip relaxed slightly, burying himself to the hilt.

All three of them froze.

Lacey panted into Mason’s mouth. Unable to tell him how close she hovered to orgasm, she searched blindly for his hand, his leg, anything to signal her impending ecstasy. He broke their kiss and instructed, “Hold on, doll. I want us all to come together. Ty, get up here. Tits or mouth, your choice.”

Lost in sensation, she didn’t have time to consider his meaning until Tyler stood in front of her once more. “I want to come on your chest, little one. Will you let me?”

Mason began to thrust inside her, stroking all the right places when Tyler’s intent sank in. She cupped her breasts in her hands, squashing them together until they created a luscious pillow for his cock.

“Holy shit. Mason, I’m not going to last.” Ty called out his warning as he fit the dripping head of his hard-on into her cleavage. All the while, Mason held her hips still as he thrust into her faster and harder from below. The motion of his strokes pressed on a sweet spot with every entry.

Though passion threatened to close her eyelids, she fought to keep them open and watch as the purple head of Ty’s cock poked from between her breasts. She couldn’t draw breath into her lungs fast enough. Every muscle in her body went taut as it prepared for release.

“Mason! Ty! Please, make me come. Please.”

Her begging alone threw Tyler over the edge. She observed another pump of precum squirt from his cock and drape on her breast, accompanied by a roar that signaled his imminent orgasm.

“Yes. Yes, Lacey. Come for us. Come on me,” Mason shouted as his fingers tightened around her hips. He drove inside her once, twice more and then the world tipped into slow motion. Ty pulled from her cleavage to pump strands of pearly liquid from his cock. They dangled off her nipples like lewd jewelry.

The sight caused her muscles to cramp around Mason’s rock-hard shaft, initiating both of their explosive reactions. Together, they came apart. Pulse after pulse of ecstasy squeezed her pussy around Mason, milking the come from his cock. He overflowed her until they collapsed in a tangle of arms and legs, replete.

She made no pretense of moving. Any attempt would be futile. Instead, she allowed the men to adjust themselves to keep from crushing someone or being crushed in return. Then they lay breathing hard as the rest of the world came back into existence by gradual measures.

Content to wallow in utter relaxation for the first time, maybe ever, she nuzzled into Tyler’s hairless chest while drawing lazy circles on the back of Mason’s hand where it cupped her hip. Although she knew they’d claimed her, an odd possessiveness stole over her. Without questioning the impulse, she nipped Ty’s pectoral hard enough to leave a mark.

He yelped then asked, in a groggy voice, “Did you just
bite
me?”

“Uh huh.” She made it up to him by licking the small hurt with a few soothing laps.

Mason chuckled into her hair, not caring enough to lift his head. “Feisty. I like it. You’re more than I ever could have imagined, doll. And, believe me, I’ve thought about it a lot.”

Remembering how he’d filled her, she shot, “Right back at you. You’re downright…hefty.”

Now it was Ty’s turn to laugh. “Isn’t that the truth?”

Mason propped one elbow under him then laid his head in his hand while he took stock of the various signs of their loving. When he saw the bright red marks on her hips, he frowned. With one finger, he traced the outline of his hands where they’d clenched her with bruising force.

He tensed along her flank. “Did I hurt you, Lacey?”

“Not enough to dissuade me from coming back for more.” She rolled over and met his worried gaze head on before giving him a quick, smacking kiss. She knew the time hadn’t yet come to confess how she truly felt so she kept things light. “I loved every second. Now, will you please hold me so I can sleep for a few hours? I talked Dr. Joy into taking me back at the hospital right away as long as I stay put, manning the nurse’s station, for the remainder of the hiatus.”

“I’ve got you, doll.” Mason tucked her against his side.

Ty patted her ass. “Sweet dreams, little one.”

Chapter Ten

By the time Lacey parked her hand-me-down Civic in the hospital’s employee parking lot late the next afternoon she could have yanked her hair out. Between Mason and Tyler they’d almost managed to drive her insane in less than twenty-four hours. If she’d thought they acted overprotective before, they’d redefined the concept for her this morning.

Before she could get up and make a pot of coffee, they’d snuck down the stairs like Rambo or maybe a pair of overgrown ninjas on the prowl. When—as she’d assured them prior to the theatrics—they’d discovered nothing had gone awry while they slept, they then started in on making her eat a healthy breakfast.

They’d outright refused to listen to how much she despised having eggs at lunchtime on her skewed, late night schedule and proceeded to make her fork an omelet past her gag reflex before they cleared her to take a shower.

In her own damn house.

She’d had to put her foot down when they tried to insist on chauffeuring her to St. Ann’s. Enough was enough, already. At least they’d listened to reason when she admitted she’d rather they spend their time figuring out who had jacked up her computer.

Lacey grabbed her oversized, quilted bag containing her scrubs off the passenger seat. She began the hike, through the crisp afternoon air, to the massive concrete building she spent a good portion of her time in. The bustling line of cars and ambulances pulling under the portico brought some semblance of normalcy back to her life as she faced the truth.

The rest of the world continued on as it always had, no matter how much had changed in her microcosm this week. Somehow, that made it all a tiny bit easier to bear.

Though glad to be back to work, she also dreaded the sympathetic looks and infinite retellings she’d have to endure from well-meaning friends and coworkers. At least she could spend some of the forced downtime helping people at the notoriously short-staffed nurse’s station.

Taking one last deep breath, she stepped into the automatic revolving door that swept her into the hospital each day. She darted through the little used stairwell, up the three flights to the general ward she’d be assisting.

The route took her past a row of administration offices. She paused by one to read the brass nameplate, Dr. Joy Roach. Before she could change her mind, she knocked three times in quick succession on the cherry finish.

“Come in!” The distinctive melody of the Caribbean sang through the occupant’s accent.

“Hey, Dr. Joy.” She didn’t have to fake the smile that crossed her face when she saw the attractive woman behind the desk. Dr. Joy treated all the nurses like her own children.

“Lacey.” The standard mega-watt grin she sported dimmed a notch or two as she rounded the sitting area and put out her arms. “I’m so sorry, sweetie. You don’t have to say anything, just let me hug you for a second.”

“Thanks.” Lacey blinked back the tears she’d tried to convince herself she wouldn’t shed today.

“Are you sure you’re ready to come back, even on the desk?”

“Yeah, I’m going crazy at home.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to turn you away. Theresa is on vacation, Angel’s got the flu and Sandie has a new grandbaby she wants to take off to play with for a few days.” Dr. Joy tucked a strand of hair behind Lacey’s ear before patting her cheek. “Go ahead, get to it. If you need anything or decide to make it a short day you just let someone know before you skip out. No need to overdo it.”

“Really, thank you.” With nothing left to say, she accepted the other woman’s gracious nod and slipped out of the office.

When she got to the station, no one else seemed to be around. A nurse shortage made non-essential coverage sparse. She flipped open the schedule, glad to see she’d be sharing shift with Jambrea and Valerie. Though she now worked in the ER, she’d started out at the general desk while earning her specialty degrees. The women had taught her most of what she knew about how to handle ornery patients.

Lacey thumbed through the case files to familiarize herself with the individual needs of the patients then organized her planned check-in times for rounds. She also dug out the giant binder of useful info the ladies stashed in the bottom drawer of the filing cabinet for newbies or temp help. Within minutes, status calls from family members, instructions from doctors, patient demands and the usual chaos of the ward cleared her mind of anything other than the routine of the job.

An hour or so later, Valerie flew down the hall pushing a cart of empty medicine dosing containers. “Lacey Daughtry! What in the world are you doing in this hellhole?”

“Nice to see you, too, Val.” She set down the receiver of the multi-line phone before the florist—whose delivery couldn’t be completed since the intended recipient had already been released—picked up.

“Oh, honey, don’t pout. You know I love you. I just wish you’d taken some more time to recover.” The woman, who always had a spring in her step, and the cutest damn patterns on her custom-made scrubs, bounced over to Lacey’s hiding spot behind the counter then smothered her in a violent embrace. “I’m so damn sorry about Robbie.”

“You were the only person he let get away with that.” Lacey bit the inside of her cheek to fend off memories of the feigned offense her brother had affected at the nickname. She’d always suspected he had a crush on the chipper nurse but the other woman had been happily married to her high school sweetheart for years. “So how have things been around here?”

“Meh.” Valerie shrugged. The gesture drew Lacey’s gaze to the woman’s freshly dyed hair.

“Why did you cover the silver? You know I loved it on you.”

“Silver? It was grey!” Valerie shook her head and laughed.

Before they could reminisce any further, the call buzzer lit up like a Christmas tree. “Damn. I have to get that, Lace. I don’t like the way Mr. Hupple’s cough has been sounding.”

“Go ahead, I’ve got things under control out here.”

“You’re the best.” Valerie waved as she charged down the linoleum corridor.

Several hours later, Lacey admitted she might not be functioning at one hundred percent yet. Usually, she spent the whole day on her feet making trips here, there and yonder under high stress. The commotion of the station shouldn’t have fazed her but lack of sleep, grief and stress had taken a toll.

The yawns started around midnight. Unfortunate, since her shift didn’t end until three in the morning. A little while later, Jambrea urged her to throw in the towel and head home. “It’s quiet tonight, Lacey. Val and I can handle this with one hand behind our backs. Why don’t you get out of here and catch some sleep?”

“I’d rather stay and chat with you.” She started to panic thinking of the dark, empty house waiting for her. “Tell me about that book you’re writing?”

“Not tonight. You’ve had enough, Lacey.”

She blinked as her friend hugged her then walked away.

“What’s this I hear? Are you wimping out there, Lacemeister?” Jerome, one of the orderlies assigned to the floor, loved to tease her. Since he also covered the ER, he often stopped in to the break room to shoot the shit about their mutual appreciation for the hot doctors roaming the hallways. He always had the best deets on the hospital drama since people tended to overlook him as he attended to the tedious but critical tasks that fell under his responsibility. She beamed when he refused to handle her with kid gloves.

“Nah, just need to grab a coffee or something. It’s sitting at this desk that’s throwing me off. I’m used to being up and about.” She reached for the ringing phone. “See you next time around.”

“If you’re really nice, maybe I’ll snag you something resembling a caramel latte from the crapeteria.” The moniker was their loving tribute to the less-than-stellar fare they were forced to suffer through night after night.

Laughing, she waved in acknowledgement as the confused woman on the line insisted her son-in-law was at St. Ann’s not St. Steven’s even though Lacey had personally checked with the city’s other hospital a few minutes earlier.

By one thirty, Lacey battled exhaustion. She decided to take a quick break and laid her head down on her crossed arms. It figured Mason and Tyler chose that instant to amble into the ward.

“Son of a bitch, Mason. You were right.”

Her head snapped up at the familiar tone. “Right about what? I’m just resting my eyes a second. All these flowers are bugging my allergies.”

“My ass!” Mason’s glare cut straight through her bullshit. He stood, hands on hips, in his patrol uniform.

“And what a lovely ass it is, Officer Clark.” Dr. Joy bestowed a loving pat on it as she passed by to complete her final checkup of the night. She nodded at each of the partners in turn. They popped in enough to drop off suspects, take reports on injuries or accidents and to say hello to Lacey while on patrol that everyone on staff knew the notorious bachelors.