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The Strength of Three Page 11


  Andreas’s eyes narrowed. He flicked a glance at Dave. “What are you doing?”

  Courage, Cat. She swallowed the lump of anxiety in her throat. “Kiss me.”

  “Hell, no!” Andreas jumped to his feet into the pool in front of her. Water splashed, wetting her shorts.

  Andreas’s head swung from Dave to her, and back again. “What the fuck is this? Is this some kind of test?”

  Cat took two shaky steps backward. “I’m sorry, I— No, it’s not a test.”

  Andreas turned to leave, but Dave captured his forearm. “Stay. We have a proposition for you.”

  Andreas stopped, breathing heavily, staring at Dave. The muscles in his torso were so tense, they rippled with every breath. “What?”

  Dave’s Adam’s apple bobbed, the only hint that he was nervous. He didn’t beat around the bush. “I want you to sleep with Cat.”

  Goose bumps rippled over Cat’s skin.

  “What?”

  Dave’s voice lowered. “Come on, man. It’s stupid for you to jack off in the corner while we’re having a good time.”

  Cat didn’t think skin as dark as Andreas’s could flush, but he proved her wrong. His cheeks reddened. He pressed his lips together and didn’t speak.

  Dave held out his hand. “Come here, Cat.”

  Shakily, she took her husband’s hand and moved to stand between his legs. He turned her to face Andreas. “Look at her. She wants this.” Dave stroked her hair. “I want it. You want it. Why deny it?”

  Cat’s nipples ached. She didn’t dare cast a glance at them, but feared they must be poking out like marbles against the shiny material of her bikini top. Resisting the urge to cover herself, she raised her gaze from the rippling water at Andreas’s shins, up his strong legs, his gray surf shorts, his rippled abs and muscular torso, his strong chin and nose, sculpted cheekbones. She stopped when she saw the fear shining in his eyes. He looked more fearful now than he had sounded in the moments before the crash. He shook his head minutely.

  Dave flicked the clasps at her neck and behind her back. She stood very still as the bikini top slithered down her body and slid into the water. Still as a statue, Andreas watched her. She gazed into his eyes, saw his pupils dilate.

  “Dave,” he groaned.

  She was on display. Her husband was the one putting her on display, showing off her body like a trophy. His trophy.

  God, it made her hot. Her pussy was on fire. She wanted Dave’s mouth on it. She wanted both their mouths on it.

  Dave pulled her close into his body and licked up the curved side of her breast. “She tastes good, my friend.”

  She stared at Andreas. He didn’t move.

  Dave stroked down her shoulder blade, resting his palm on the small of her back.

  A muscle in Andreas’s arm quivered.

  Cat licked her lips. Now or never.

  She moved out of Dave’s embrace and took two long steps through the knee-deep water. She felt Dave’s presence just behind her as he jumped into the water and stepped forward with her.

  “Please kiss me.” She pressed her breasts against Andreas’s chest, wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his head down to hers.

  He froze, but he didn’t jerk away. She’d never kissed such an unresponsive mouth. His lips felt like velvet against hers, so soft. She kissed the corners of his mouth, then a little higher at that place that dimpled when he smiled. She returned to his lips, brushing them over and over with hers. Dave held her from behind, running his hands up and down the sides of her waist.

  Andreas’s cock pressed against her belly. Dave’s rubbed against her lower back.

  Cat’s knees buckled. It didn’t matter. Dave held her up.

  She nipped at Andreas’s lower lip. She could feel his tension, streams of electricity buzzing beneath his skin. She willed him to relax, to set himself free, to open to her. She traced his lips with her tongue, and then tried to nudge them apart. Suddenly, she was no longer in control.

  Andreas was.

  The Strength of Three

  Annmarie McKenna

  Never let it be said that ex-soldiers don’t know what to do with their hands…

  When it comes to men, Christina isn’t just gun shy, she’s downright terrified. Her abusive drunk of a father, plus bad experiences in high school and college, have cemented her belief that all men are the same—ruthless and violent at the slightest provocation.

  She tells herself she couldn’t care less about her lack of a love life. Yet lately she’s been having seriously erotic dreams about two of her bosses. And oddly, those dreams make her body tingle, not seize up in a panic attack.

  TJ and Jon have shared women since their military days. Somehow it makes them feel whole. From the first glance, Christina has been the object of their desire, but getting close to the prickly female hasn’t been easy—not when she holds men off with a psychological pitchfork. They’ve waited a long time to ease their way into her life.

  Time’s up.

  Unleashing her libido is magic made in the dark. But by the light of day, a face from her past threatens to destroy everything.

  Warning: This title contains the following: Blindfolds and bondage and sex—oh my. Ooh, and let’s not forget about the m/f/m ménage and the graphic language.

  eBooks are not transferable.

  They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an infringement on the copyright of this work.

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  Samhain Publishing, Ltd.

  11821 Mason Montgomery Road Suite 4B

  Cincinnati OH 45249

  The Strength of Three

  Copyright © 2007 by Annmarie McKenna

  ISBN: 978-1-59998-553-4

  Edited by Sasha Knight

  Cover by Angela Waters

  All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: August 2007

  www.samhainpublishing.com