Zurlo, Michele - Two Masters for Samantha [Awakenings 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (9 page)

Her apartment didn’t have the best light to support her pursuits, but she compensated by purchasing powerful lights.

Today, she missed the dawn by several hours. When her eyes flew open—she had never been one to wake slowly—Samantha knew she had missed her chance. It was something she expected. Even if she hadn’t spent a few pleasure-filled hours with Stefano and Alexei, yesterday had been a big day and last night had been a late night.

Truthfully, she had been tired when she knocked on their door.

Bodies pressed against hers on either side. One curved along her backside, a little underneath her. Half her body rested on top of him. A hand on her shoulder and a cheek pressed against the top of her head belonged to him. The other body faced hers. His hand rested on her thigh and his face was buried between her breasts.

She squelched the beginnings of possessiveness that started to unfurl in her chest. It felt good to wake up sandwiched between two handsome men who had both proven to be fantastic lovers, but this was a one-time thing. She had no right to feel anything other than sated.

The scant light glowing from behind the heavy curtains gave her barely enough light to see them. The small differences that helped her differentiate between Alexei and Stefano disappeared when they slept. However, a bit of intuition told her that Stefano’s head was the one in her breasts. She had no proof, but it didn’t really matter.

Gently, she lifted Stefano’s hand from her and eased his face back. He inhaled sharply, breathing deep before settling back into his slumber.

The sheet had slipped down in the night. She had no memory of getting under it, and her men had provided plenty of body heat to combat the coolness seeping from the air conditioner under the window.

Crawling from bed was simple.

She had a pressing need to use the bathroom, but she didn’t want to wake Lex or Stef. The awkwardness of the morning after wasn’t something she was eager to face.

Snatching her dress from where she had draped it over a chair, she pulled it on and zipped it up. She found her bra on the floor, but her panties were missing. Alexei had taken them on the small terrace when he had thanked her for saving him from a drunken guest.

She had no intention of looking through his pockets for them. If he wanted to keep her panties, he was welcome to them. Still, she glanced around the room, making sure they weren’t lying in plain sight.

With a shake of her head, she dismissed it all. It was over. She glanced back at the bed. Their sprawled bodies were two silhouettes in the semidarkness. The sigh of longing was impossible to quash.

Closing the door as quietly as possible, she fled to the safety of her own room. It was down the hall and around the corner from theirs, but they couldn’t know that.

A half hour later, she had showered, dressed, and packed. She might have dreams of being an artist, but it wasn’t the job that paid the bills. After graduating from design school, she had hopped from job to job, trying to find something that suited her. While she was good at most of them, they didn’t touch her soul the way photography and painting did.

Her current job was something many people would love to have. She had Sabrina’s mother to thank for it. In a casual conversation at Thanksgiving the year before, Melinda Breszewski had mentioned she knew the owner of a large luxury travel company. She traveled extensively, letting them plan all of her trips.

When Samantha expressed a desire to travel like that, Melinda arranged a meeting between Samantha and her friend. Elizabeth Keyes and Samantha hit it off. The next thing Samantha knew, she had a job that required her to travel to different places to evaluate whether they were of a high enough quality to be included in one of the Keyes Destinations travel packages.

Today she was headed to
Alaska
. If she was lucky, she wouldn’t miss her
ten fifty-five
flight. It was a long, long way to travel for a three night stay.

She slung her bag over her shoulder and rushed from the hotel. The blackened double doors swung open and swished closed behind her. Shoving her ticket and ten dollars at the nearest valet, she smiled sweetly. “I’m in a hurry.”

He scurried off, seemingly unimpressed with her bribe.

“I thought you would already be gone.”

Samantha whirled to face the amused voice.

Jonas smiled. His hands were thrust into the pockets of his jeans and he wore a rust-colored T-shirt with a blue, circular emblem on it. The writing was so worn she couldn’t make out what it might have once said.

He looked happy, which was saying a lot. After having gone through so much shit with his ex-wife, her big brother had pretty much given up on love. Samantha had become so used to seeing shadows of unhappiness behind his eyes that she forgot what he looked like without them.

 
Slept late,” she said, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. She met his eyes and grinned. “I hear congratulations are in order.”

The sparkle in his eyes brightened. “Thanks, though it might put a damper on our honeymoon. Sabrina’s inside right now puking her guts out.”

Samantha shook her head. “You look entirely too happy about that. Why aren’t you in there with her?”

He laughed and rocked on his heels. “The last time I tried, she cried and kicked me out. This way, she can maintain her dignity.”

Dropping her bags to the ground, she held out her arms. Jonas stepped closer and wrapped his arms around her. Because he was the same height, her head didn’t come to rest on his shoulder. She pressed her cheek to his.

“You deserve this, Joan.” Slipping in the nickname he hated was dangerous when she was this close to him. He squeezed her harder. He might be approaching thirty-seven, but his solid musculature hadn’t diminished.

She remembered when he started working out in high school, hoping to bulk up his lanky build. It hadn’t happened. Because she was seven years younger and she had worshipped the ground he walked on, she had tried her best to help. She started out spotting him and ended up with the ability to bench-press the same amount.

Jonas hadn’t said a word, though she knew it had been a blow to his ego.

She couldn’t lift a hundred pounds repeatedly anymore, having traded in the time spent weight lifting for art and dance lessons. Even then, Jonas had been a good big brother. Dancing hadn’t come easy to her and Jonas had taken the time to help her practice in the basement. Both of them had come out of the experience with some good skills.

Jonas was also one of the few people who knew how badly she wanted to pursue art full time.

He released her and stepped back. “Where are you off to?”

“
Alaska
.” She smiled. “I’m going to see big whales and fly in tiny planes.”

“Sounds like fun.” He inclined his head. “I bet you’ll see some good sunrises. Maybe catch the Northern Lights?”

That had been high on her wish list. She nodded. “Maybe.”

He gestured toward the baggage at her feet. “I hope your cameras aren’t in there.”

“No,” she said. There was no way she would have dropped them like that. “I have to run home and grab my stuff.”

“Sam!”

Sabrina’s voice seemed a little weak. Turning, Samantha saw she was right. Dark circles ringed Sabrina’s eyes. She had done her best to hide them under a layer of makeup, but she hadn’t been overly successful.

Samantha scooped the smaller woman up in a big hug. The first time she had met Sabrina, she had done something similar. Her new sister-in-law had stiffened before returning the hug. It wasn’t until later that Sabrina warmed up enough to let down her guard.

Now Sabrina returned her hug with warmth and affection, whispering a question in Sam’s ear. “Did you have fun last night?”

“Hell, yeah.”

She released Sabrina. Immediately, Jonas wrapped his arm around his wife’s waist and pulled her closer. He planted a kiss on the top of her head.

“Feeling better?”

Sabrina bristled. “Do I look better?”

That was a loaded question. Samantha winced before Jonas answered.

“You look like shit. We can put the trip off, Mrs. Spencer. The doctor said it should pass in another month or so.”

Sabrina shook her head. “I took a pill.”

“Great,” Jonas said. His voice dripped with sarcasm. “You’ll sleep through the flight and be up all night.”

Sabrina giggled. A blush bloomed in her cheeks. “Then you’d better get some sleep on the flight, too.”

A minivan pulled up to the curb. Though she lacked kids and the things most people associated with that kind of transportation, Sam found the storage space to be a bonus. Canvases fit inside very well, and she had negotiated a great deal on it.

She breathed a sigh of relief. She could escape before Sabrina and Jonas got too gooey with each other.

She bent to pick up her bags, but Jonas beat her to it. “I got these, Sammy.”

A BMW pulled up next, Sabrina’s wedding gift to Jonas. Though she had never complained about the piece of junk Jonas had driven for the past year, Sabrina had developed a habit of pursing her lips and studying the car as if trying to figure out what in the world it was doing in her driveway. Then she would sigh and turn away, shaking her head. The gift had surprised Jonas, but nobody else.

The slamming of a door jerked Sam’s attention back to her own battered vehicle. Jonas turned back, beaming a smile at both ladies.

Sabrina’s hand crept around Sam’s wrist, and a gentle pressure drew Sam down to Sabrina’s level. “I’ll see you in
Kentucky
in eleven days,” she said. “I want details, Sammy. Lots and lots of details.”

* * * *

Stefano woke with a hand resting on his chest. Alexei’s. Lifting his brother’s arm by the wrist, he shoved it back to the other side of the bed. With a groan, he sat up, stretched, and yawned. Then he opened his eyes.

Hotel room. Stef hadn’t drunk much the night before, but he was a solid sleeper and he almost always woke disoriented. Memories surfaced. Long, golden hair. Cornflower blue eyes. A light dusting of freckles across her nose that he hadn’t noticed until she passed out and he had the chance to stare at her all he wanted.

His attention went to the chair over which she had spread her dress. Bare upholstery. Shit. She was gone.

A glance at the clock showed that it was after ten. Sleeping this late was an unusual occurrence for Stefano. He was a morning person. The freshness of a new day never failed to get his ass out of bed. Lex was a different story. If Alexei was up before they sky turned pink, then something important was about to happen.

It meant no competition for the shower. The warm spray woke him up and the aroma wafting from the mug of coffee Alexei set on the counter in the kitchenette roused him the rest of the way. Stefano drained his mug, loving the way the temperature of the warm coffee nearly scalded his throat.

“She’s gone,” Lex said, unnecessarily.

From Lex’s tone, Stef knew his brother was upset. He turned, taking the half step necessary to lean his shoulder against the wall separating the kitchenette from the living area. Lex’s dark brows were drawn together, and he frowned into his mug.

“She didn’t leave a note or wake us up to say goodbye or anything.”

No, she hadn’t. Stefano might like to be up in the morning, but he wasn’t much of a talker. Luckily, words were frequently unnecessary when it was just the two of them.

Alexei scrubbed a hand down his face, pinching between his eyes like he was fighting a headache. “Maybe she didn’t like something about last night.”