Risk Is a Four-Letter Word (8 page)

She'd told her sister about them after the
museum incident. In direct contradiction to her remarks at the beach, Olivia thought
she was crazy. "You're going to date two guys at once?
Seriously?
Do you know how much work it is dealing with just one man? Clearly you don't or
you'd never even consider taking on two." In her opinion, what had been an
amusing incident at the beach did not in any way prepare Carrie for the reality
of trying to going out with two men at the same time.

Carrie didn't think her sister quite understood
the situation. She wasn't going to try to date each of them separately at the
same time. She was going to try to date them both.
Literally
at the same time.
"Double the farts," Olivia had declared
during their conversation, making Carrie laugh. She'd eventually come around
when Carrie reminded her she was the one who told her to take a risk.

"I told you to take a chance, not jump
from the frying pan into the fire," Olivia had argued.

"Olivia, two hot guys.
At the
same
time
.
Kissing each other."

Olivia had taken one look at the leer on
Carrie's face and burst out laughing. "Yeah, okay.
That
sounds like it could be fun, as long as they have their priorities
straight."

Carrie smiled at the memory of her sister's
tart voice. They'd spent the next fifteen minutes coming up with increasingly
more absurd puns and non-sequiturs. Carrie's sister was awesome. Carrie sighed,
wishing she were back in Olivia's house, warm and safe. She smoothed out the
creased paper. Didn't Eric and Zeke live around here somewhere? She'd only been
there the one time, but she remembered taking a turn off

Ignoring the stab of lust she felt at the
thought of them, she pulled out her rapidly dying phone and loaded a map. Five
minutes later she had a rough idea of where she was and where she had to go.
She wanted to call first, let them know she was coming, but her phone blinked
the low-battery icon at her and went dead. She thought it was about one mile to
the turnoff then another half mile to their house. She cursed her cell and its
pathetic battery, wishing she could've zoomed in on the map while the device
still had some juice left, but the signal had been spotty and the map only
partially loaded.

I
remember boots and my hat, but God forbid I remember my phone charger
, Carrie snarled to herself. She tucked her scarf around her mouth
and took a deep breath. She'd have to trust her memory and luck.
Stupid snow
.

She shoved open the car door, shuddering at the
cold. She had to dig a path away from the car just so she could open up the
door enough to clamber out. She grabbed her bag and started walking. Even
though it was the middle of the night, there was so much snow everything was
lit an eerie white. The trees looked like ghosts. She was totally going to get
snow in her boots. She hated wet socks.
Hated them.

****

An hour later Carrie
staggered down Zeke and Eric's driveway.
Both
house and barn were dark, not surprising at two a.m. She headed for the old
stone house where a small light burned in the window.
Quaint
.
She stomped up the
stairs, trying to knock the snow off her boots. It didn't do much good. The
stairs were covered with two feet of the stuff. Carrie's fingers were clumsy.
She couldn't tell if her feet were missing or just numb. She staggered onto the
porch and leaned on the doorbell.
At
least there's a roof in front of the door
. She brushed off her pants and
almost fell over, banging her elbow against the wood. The pain woke her up a
little. She pressed the doorbell again.
And again.

"Okay, okay, coming!" a masculine
voice called from inside a few minutes later. Eric.

Carrie slumped down, listening to the lock
turn. The relief she felt when she heard his voice made her lightheaded. When
the door opened she fell over the threshold but strong hands caught her,
nudging her hat aside. She didn't have the energy to respond as her hair fell
over her face, obscuring her vision.

"Carrie? Oh my God, Zeke, give me a
hand."

Carrie felt herself being lifted and carried
into the house. God, he was strong. She struggled a bit so he put her down
while he kicked the door closed, but her knees kept falling out from under her.
Eric caught her before she hit the floor and propped her against him as Zeke
frantically tore open her coat.

"I knew you'd help," she mumbled. She
couldn't feel her lips. She lifted a hand, trying to see if she'd frozen her
face, but hit herself in the eye with her snow-crusted glove.

"Carrie, relax and let us handle it."
She felt Zeke pull off her coat. "Eric, get her gloves off. We've got to
get her out of these wet clothes."

"Thank you," Carrie whispered. She
forced her eyes open. Zeke stood there with nothing on but a pair of flannel
pajama pants. She couldn't see Eric because he was holding her up.

"We've got you, just hang in there,"
Zeke said, kneeling down to strip off her boots. She tried to help him, lifting
up her legs as he pulled. She would've crashed to the floor if not for Eric's
strong arms around her midsection.

"I was heading home, but the storm was so
much worse here than in the city." She had a feeling the words came out
garbled when Zeke glanced up at her, worried.

"It's okay. You're safe now," Eric
murmured against her cheek.

Carrie shivered.

"That's good. You body needs to warm up.
Shivering is good," Zeke said as he pulled off her socks. He started on
her pants, pulling them down unceremoniously with her panties. Eric helped him
get her sweater and bra off then swung her into his arms. Carrie was too cold
to feel embarrassed. She huddled as close to Eric's warmth as she could as he
carefully walked upstairs.
He's not
wearing a shirt either
, she thought, confused.

"Put her in the bed, between us,"
Zeke said.

She was lowered into something soft and warm.
Heat, oh my God
. She curled in on
herself.

"No, Carrie, honey, we need to warm you
up." Carrie let Zeke stretch out her legs then he slid in and pressed his
body against her front. When Eric slid in behind her she shuddered. They were
completely naked. Their skin was hot.
Silky.
Amazing.
She moaned, squirming, needing to get closer to
their warmth. She rubbed her legs over Zeke's, enjoying the roughness of his
hair. Eric tucked his up behind her, his cock rapidly hardening against her
ass.
Whoa
. When did they take off
their pants?

"Shit, I'm getting a fucking
hard-on," Zeke hissed, angling his hips away. Carrie snuggled closer.

"Join the club," Eric muttered. His
cock was tucked up against her butt. She didn't mind at all. He seemed
resigned, letting her rub herself against him.

"
Dammit
,"
Zeke muttered when she succeeded in slipping her leg between his. His erection
prodded her hip. Carrie was quickly losing her cold-induced befuddlement.

"Zeke, just man up and deal," Eric
said. He wrapped an arm around her waist. "God, she's freezing. Even her
boobs are chilly." Zeke laughed then sucked in a breath when Eric shifted
again.

Carrie felt Eric grin against her shoulder
before he deliberately moved his hand, bumping it into Zeke's cock. Zeke
growled and Carrie couldn't help it. She snickered. Despite the numbing cold
still penetrating her bones, her brain was almost thawed out.

"Don't mind me," she mumbled, shoving
her nose into Zeke's neck.
So warm.

Eric chuckled then relaxed into silence. The
feel of their skin against hers was rapidly making Carrie's trembling change
from shivering to lust. They stayed like that for a few minutes, maybe even
half an hour. Carrie's toes began to tingle. So did her pussy. She guessed she
must have escaped frostbite if everything was heating up this fast. Her hands
were warm and she finally felt her spine unknot.

"Carrie? Are you
back
with us?" Zeke asked after another minute. He gently tipped her head up so
he could look into her face.

She smiled at him. His eyes were a warm
chocolate in the low lighting. His expression was concerned, but a hint of his
arousal peeked through his firm control. She wished he would kiss her.
"I'm better. The two of you saved my life. Thank you."

"Thank God, she's sounding lucid,"
Eric said into her skin. He pressed a kiss to her shoulder then shifted her onto
her back. He ran his thumb over her cheek. His hazel eyes positively glowed.
Carrie couldn't look away. "We were worried about you. What
happened?"

"I'm so sorry I showed up like that. I had
dinner with a client in the city and I had no idea the weather was so much
worse here." She looked at their concerned faces and wondered once again
why she felt so connected to these men. The three of them barely knew each
other. Was it fate? Carrie didn't believe in destiny. Except-- she bit her lip.
They kept running into each other. Why did that keep happening? When she
finally agreed to a date, she ended up here a day early. And she felt so
comfortable with them that she hadn't even blinked when they stripped her down.
Of course, she'd been freezing at the time and not thinking clearly. She shook
a mental finger at herself. Talk about making too much out of a handful of
random coincidences.
Don't look a gift
horse in the mouth
, she told herself.
Just
enjoy it while it lasts
.

Eric sighed. "No one had any clue it was
going to snow so much. They were predicting a couple inches this morning, not a
couple feet."

Zeke laughed. His hair was tousled and evening
stubble decorated the strong planes of his jaw.
Jesus he's gorgeous
,
She
wanted to run her
hands through his hair. Cup his
stubbled
jaw and kiss
him.

"Yeah, we closed up shop early. Didn't
even shovel the driveway," he said.

Carrie snorted. "I noticed." She
remembered trudging her way through their yard.

"How did you get here anyway? There was no
car."

Zeke's smooth, low voice was incredibly sexy.
Carrie trembled. She bet he had no idea how he sounded. He pulled the covers up
further, probably thinking she was cold. She stared at the hummingbird on his
wrist. The brilliant green and ruby ink looked almost real. "My car is out
on

"Where were you going?" Eric asked.
He shifted again and Carrie suddenly realized he was still aroused. Every time
he moved, the covers brushed up against his cock.

She twitched the sheet and he sucked in a
breath. She did it again, pretending to slide it more firmly over her shoulders
just to watch him fidget.
God
.
Moisture slid down her thigh at the thought of his erection just inches away
from her body. She remembered how it felt tucked against her ass. She stared at
him, eyes dancing from his hair to his lips then to the gold studs in his
nipples.
Oh, wait
. He'd asked her a
question, hadn't he? She swallowed and forced her lust-dazed brain to function.

"I live in
West
Milford
, so I was on my way home."

Eric lifted his eyebrows. "That's only a
few minutes drive from here. Well, in normal weather."

Carrie stifled the urge to run her hands
through his hair. "I know."

Eric must have seen the rising lust in her
face. His eyes darkened and he leaned closer. Her breath hitched and she
couldn't help pulling at the sheet again to make him squirm.

"Carrie, I want to kiss you so badly.
You're beautiful." His voice deepened to a low rumble.

He was asking permission? Another drop of
moisture slipped from her core and rolled down her thigh. At this rate she was
going to make a mess of the bed before anything even happened.

"Yeah, okay," she said thickly. Like
she was going to protest? Sensing her need, Eric lowered his head slowly.
Too slowly.
Carrie slid her fingers into his hair and pulled
him down. She licked over his lips. He opened up and let her dip into his
mouth. He tasted like mint. She lost herself in the sensuality of the kiss, not
even pausing when Zeke's hand slid from her waist down to her pussy.
What a clever, clever man
. Carrie opened
her legs, knowing he'd immediately realize how aroused she was.

"Carrie, my God, you are so wet,"
Zeke murmured, rubbing his fingers over her labia. She let her thighs fall open
further and he slid a finger inside, teasing, before slipping out to play with
the hood of her clit. She tore her face away from Eric, panting. Zeke chuckled
and continued to torment her, sliding down the bed until his mouth was on her
mound, blowing air over her sensitized flesh. He shoved the covers away as she
writhed, wanting more, but he continued to gently roll the hood around with his
fingers, never enough pressure to do more than drive her insane.