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  God, she hoped so.

  * * * *

  He'd expected a rush of memories, a dagger to the gut and heart. What he got instead was a truly painful hard-on and the almost giddy knowledge that he'd found her. They'd found her.

  Not that Ford had been looking for a replacement for Paula. In truth, there was no replacement. Paula had been special, one of a kind. But Rayne, he was quickly discovering, was special in her own right, one of a completely different kind. A very amazing, fun, wickedly sexy, hidden innocence kind. Hey, boy.

  Ford sat across from her, watching her carry on an animated conversation with Cory about the SSFD calendar. Cory actually agreed to pose for a hunks calendar! Ford had nearly busted a rib at that news. He listened, or tried to at least. Trouble was his mind kept drifting to the dinner he and Rayne had shared earlier in the week, to the discovery he'd made shortly after in the front seat of her car. Did she have panties on beneath her dress tonight? God, he hoped not.

  Remembering that encounter, as well as the other dick pleasing, passion stirring moments of that night had been driving him to the point of near malicious offences all week. The sex…Had what they shared really only been sex? He couldn't think of another word for those malevolent, hormone rocking, heart slamming, mind altering minutes in the front seat of her car. Yet, sex simply didn't seem strong enough a word.

  They hadn't made love. No, that description held too strong a definition. It had been something in-between, something more potent and meaningful than a quick fuck in the mall parking lot, but not heart debilitating and emotionally wrenching as making love.

  Still, whatever it had been, he'd never experienced anything quite like it. Not even with Paula. It had been different, it had been fantastic, and he wanted it again. Boy howdy, did he want it again!

  Rayne glanced at him and an echoing heat moved through her lovely face. Her smile faltered and her gaze dropped to his mouth. Reflex or intentional, he wasn't sure, but he knew in that instant she definitely knew what he'd been thinking. She was now thinking about it, too. He saw the proof of that dance through her eyes. He felt it all but jump out and lick his balls as her tongue slid between her luscious lips.

  He looked away first because, damn, the vixen made his cock scream in agony. He looked at Cory, found the other man smiling and shook his head, letting a small laugh escape.

  "Aren't you going to be two people short on this calendar deal?" Ford asked, purposely striking up the conversation again as he reached for his wine glass. It tasted like chilled, melted candy, way too tart and snazzy for his taste. Was there another beer in the back of the fridge? Another minute or two and he would go find out. For now, he took another sip of the wine and tried not to wince. "There's twelve months in the year but only nine men on B shift. Or am I wrong about that?"

  "Actually, she’ll be three short. There are only eleven of us total and Terri and Bailey don’t exactly fit with the whole men of the SSFD idea."

  "I've been thinking about that." Rayne dangled her fork over her nearly empty plate. "I suppose it doesn't necessarily have to be all men. I mean, the women do as much to help save lives as the men."

  "That's definitely true. I'm actually surprised Bailey hasn't busted your chops for excluding her and Terri. She's always been the first on shift to demand to be treated as one of the guys. I guess she isn't saying anything this time because it's for such a good cause."

  "As far as Terri goes, from what I know of her, she'll be the first to buy a dozen or twenty just to drool over the guys," Ford commented and had to laugh. He liked Terri Vega, even slept with her once. He found her no-nonsense, direct approach to sex immensely refreshing. Rayne had been that way the other night in the mall parking lot, he remembered, and his cock gave an involuntary spasm. Ah, yes, he'd enjoyed her approach to sex very well indeed.

  "You mean one guy," Rayne corrected dryly and speared the last bit of her chicken breast with her fork. "No doubt she already spends plenty of time drooling over this guy."

  This guy. Ford glanced at Cory and lifted a brow. Was it just his ears attempting to substitute a my for this in that possessive sounding statement? He hid a smile. "Jealous, Rayne?"

  Her head shot up, eyes wide and cheeks flaming. Now he had to laugh. He hadn't seen her face that color since Sunshine snagged the lacy bra.

  "I, well, oh God, I guess that did sound pretty jealous, huh?" She visibly cringed and put down her fork, the bite of chicken uneaten. She stared down at her plate. "I'm sorry."

  Cory leaned over, hooked a finger under her chin and lifted her face so that she looked at him. "Don't apologize. I like that the thought of another woman drooling over me makes you a little jealous."

  Would she get jealous if another woman was looking at Ford? As he watched the byplay between Rayne and Cory, Ford had to wonder. He hoped she would. He knew if the situation were reversed, it would make him ape shit. Not if the other man were Cory. Even now, watching them, Ford didn't feel an ounce of envy. Because it was Cory. But if any other man looked at her that way, if she looked at any other man that way, he knew without a doubt he would be a man possessed.

  She pulled away from Cory, confusion overriding every other emotion in her expression. "Why?"

  "Why what?"

  Cory didn't understand her question, but Ford did. He waited, watching for her response, listening to the conversation unfold. If he and Cory were on the same page, and he truly thought they were, then Cory needed to handle this one alone. Ford's time for explanation would come soon enough.

  "Why do you like that I'm jealous?"

  Cory chuckled which was a mistake. He realized almost immediately that it was the wrong thing to do at that moment and turned real serious real fast. Rayne was in no mood to be kidded with or laughed at. "Because it lets me know how much you like me. That sounds pretty high school of me, I guess, but I've wondered about that. You're pretty good at giving out mixed signals and, well, I like knowing exactly where I stand with you."

  “But you aren't jealous of Ford." Her voice rang with disbelief. It rose too, not quite to the point of shouting but definitely a few octaves higher than her normal conversational tone. "You invited him to join us tonight, to crash our date. I told you I wanted him to stay. I slept with him and you're okay with all of it."

  "I am." Cory nodded, his own voice still calm, still low, and still reasonable.

  Ford couldn't remember the last time he'd heard Cory shout or lose his temper in any way. Next to Michael Cosmos, Cory was the calmest, coolest person he'd ever known. Unlike himself who had no qualms about voicing whatever he was feeling quite loudly when he felt like it. Or Stewie, he'd been the one to fly off the handle without reason or warning whenever the mood struck.

  "I'm okay with it because it's Ford."

  "Because it's Ford," Rayne repeated, incredulous. "Because he's your friend." She pushed away from the table and stood. Walking around to the living room, she whirled on them and started to pace. "This doesn't make any sense. Let me guess, you're okay with all of this too because Cory is your friend."

  Ford turned in his chair to face her, nodding. Damn, she looked incredibly beautiful when she was angry. There was color in her cheeks and fire in her eyes and, in that moment, he felt his heart open, felt it take her inside.

  "I am." Ford saw even more surprise move through her eyes. He hooked an arm over the back of his chair. "What do you want us to say here, Rayne? Do you want us to be angry, jealous, tell you that you have to choose between us?"

  "No." She said the word so quietly, he read her lips more than heard her. "I, well, I'm attracted to both of you. I enjoy spending time with both of you and…"

  And she'd enjoyed the sex, at least with him. She didn't have to say it. Ford saw that too in her eyes. Oh, yeah, he'd enjoyed the sex, too. "Then what's the problem, baby?"

  "You're, what, going to share me?" Her gaze danced from his to Cory's. "I date you on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and Cory on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday?"
/>   Ford started to stand, to walk to her, but then he realized Cory had gotten to his feet. Mr. Calm and Gentle. Let him give it another shot.

  "We could play it that way if that's what you want." Cory stopped in front of her, blocking Ford's view of her face. "But we had something else in mind. We don't want to ask you to choose or set aside certain days to be with one of us. We would rather simply share all our time with you."

  Ford stood, figuring she would be more easily convinced of their sincerity in this if he were with her, too. He moved toward her, around her, stopping close at her back and he felt the heat radiating from her body, smelled her sweet faintly musky, faintly floral, scent. He took a deep breath and touched her, lightly curling his hands around her slim waist. "What we want is a ménage, Rayne. How do you feel about being in a ménage a trios with us?"

  Chapter Six

  How did she feel about being in a ménage a trios?

  Positively dizzy!

  So dizzy that she let her arms find purchase on Cory's broad shoulders even as she leaned against Ford behind her. For a long moment, she simply stood that way, closing her eyes and allowing her mind to process all they were saying. They wanted to share her. She could have both of them, a real ménage a trios. Holy cow!

  Rayne's body hummed. She felt Ford solid and warm behind her, felt his cock impossibly hard and long pressing against the small of her back. In front of her, Cory's body molded to hers, his rigid muscles an inflexible contrast to the soft way he held her hips, his hands just below where Ford held her waist. She felt Cory's cock, too, stiff and bulging against her stomach. God, she wanted to feel both of those cocks in other places, wanted their hands on more of her body than her waist and hips.

  How did she feel about being in a ménage a trios with these men?

  She felt mindless with longing, burning with desire, and strong in the determination and knowledge that she would be a bona fide idiot not to take these men up on their offer!

  Rayne opened her eyes, met Cory's patient gaze, locked her fingers behind his neck to hold him still, and kissed him. She tasted his surprise for all of a half a second before he was kissing her back. He licked her lips, softly coaxing them to part as his tongue swept inside her mouth. One of them groaned. She wasn't really sure if it was her or him. She couldn't really tell over the pounding of her pulse in her ears.

  Not that it mattered. Her sense of hearing wasn't really necessary for this particular activity. She only needed her senses of touch and taste. Oh, yeah, those were definitely on line. He felt incredible, magnificent, good. So good, she let her hands roam, one lacing fingers in his hair while the other glided over his shoulder and down his bicep. Her tongue licked the inside of his mouth, tasting. Yes, he tasted absolutely divine, a little sweet from the remnants of the wine they'd had at dinner mixed with the subtle indescribable flavor that was all male.

  He angled his head, taking the kiss deeper still as his hands started to move, too. He gripped her ass, squeezed and pulled her harder, firmer against him. His thigh pushed between her legs, lifting and grinding against her pussy. Her dress rode up, high on her thighs, an easy give to allow his leg the room it needed to tease her, to drive her mad with desire.

  This was how they'd ended up the first night they'd met, against the wall out in the hall. Then Sunshine dashed, Cory stumbled and she'd returned to Max's apartment, to find the only release available to her with her vibrator she'd named Mr. Big and fantasies of the hot as hell EMT.

  Rayne would be damned if she let that happen again. Tonight, she would go for broke. Tonight, she would go for the hard cock nudged at her center and the fantasy man come to life.

  Hands moved beneath the material of her dress now securely bunched at her waist and warm breath tickled the side of her neck. She amended that last thought. Fantasy men come to life. Glory be to horny women everywhere!

  "Should we take this as your answer?" Ford asked, licking the side of her neck just below her earlobe in a slow and tantalizing glide that had her moaning into Cory's mouth.

  Yes, her sense of hearing had returned. She clearly heard his question followed by her own low, throaty moan. Now, however, her sense of speech was impaired by Cory's amazingly skilled mouth, his delectable tongue. She reached up and behind her instead, blindly finding the nape of Ford's neck and tugging his velvety wicked lips to her neck. She felt him smile, heard his soft chuckle, and then lost herself in the truly devious things he started to do with her neck, her ear. She might be damned later for doing this but what a way to go.

  Between her legs, Cory's thigh slowly lowered and inched away. The absence of that pressure to her aching pussy was intense and immediate. She wanted to slide down, to slither and chase after it, but doing so would mean breaking the kiss.

  He broke it anyway, pulling away just far enough to gaze down at her. His eyes had turned a darker green than she'd ever seen them and heavy lidded with desire. He was breathing fast. She felt the brisk rise and fall of his body beneath her hand that had once again wound itself around the wide expanse of his shoulders during that mind altering kiss.

  "Have you ever been with two men before?"

  Though her sense of hearing was back full force, it took a moment for her passion-fogged brain to wrap around his huskily asked question. Before she could find her no doubt ragged voice to answer, her sense of feel overrode, drawing her attention to their hands.

  Cory's hand moved from her buttocks to her waist, taking the place of Ford's hands as one of his dipped to cover her throbbing mound through the thin satin of her thong panties, the other sliding between hers and Cory's bodies up her front to the base of her throat.

  "Have you ever shared your body with two men at once, Rayne?" Ford whispered in her ear, the same question Cory asked but worded in such a way that flames ignited in every erogenous zone in her body.

  Still unable to find her voice, her gaze locked with Cory's heated, melting candy eyes and she shook her head.

  "Will you?" Cory nipped her bottom lip, her chin. "Will you give your body to us?"

  Could this really be happening? Rayne let her eyes drift closed as Cory nipped at her jaw, as his fingers kneaded her waist, as Ford held her still with his large hands splayed at her throat and pussy. She was almost afraid to open her eyes again, afraid she would discover it all to be a dream. She was being given the chance to live a fantasy nearly every woman possessed but few ever got the opportunity to entertain. If this were a dream, she prayed she would die having it.

  "Yes." The word left her mouth barely more audible than a whisper. Their heat consumed her. Their scents both musky and faintly salty were a treat far greater than any exotic plant or fruit on the island paradise in her wildest fantasy. They both looked at her. She didn't need to open her eyes to know it. She felt the intensity of their gazes in every ounce of her body.

  Lips cruised over her eyebrows, her closed lids, the tip of her nose, her mouth. Cory's lips as they trailed down her chin and neck. Could he feel the rapid beat of her heart? Could they hear it beating so fast between them? How could they not? It slammed in her chest so fast it was deafening.

  "Relax against me," Ford instructed softly, his face nuzzling the side of her neck, his teeth lightly biting her lobe, gently tugging.

  Rayne moaned and opened her eyes. Cory stood straight before her, his gaze once more transfixed on her. She saw him glance over her shoulder and knew he looked at Ford. She could almost feel the unspoken communication between the two men. Their understanding was that palpable. Then Cory gave an infinitesimal nod, a smile, and a feather soft kiss to her lips, before he returned to his cruising exploration of her flesh. His fingers joined his mouth on her body, working to free the buttons of her dress, licking and kissing each inch of skin he exposed as he trailed his way down.

  She wanted him to move faster. Grip the fabric in both hands and rip the blasted buttons free. Feast on me, damn it! The nibble and swipe he did with his tongue was excruciating. To add oil to the fire, or
maybe to simply send her on a direct trip to the nut house, he kept his kisses and licks on a straight, snail's paced path down, not even deviating to suckle a nipple or kiss a breast as he freed the buttons all the way to her waist.

  "Please," she begged, her head rolling involuntarily on Ford's chest behind her. "God, Cory, I can't stand this." Her pussy throbbed. Juices pooled between her feminine lips, collecting in a thick, slick stream. She tried to wiggle, to gyrate her lower body against Ford's solid one at her back, but his hand had moved from her mound to her hip. He held her still, a gentle but firm pressure.

  "Patience, sweetheart." Ford's whisper held a hint of pure amusement. "You gave your body to us, remember?"

  Oh, she remembered all right, and she had no intentions of being an Indian giver. What she wanted was to give more, to give completely, and to take. Dear Goddess of Hormones, she wanted to take!

  But she could be patient for another second or ten at least. She focused her mind on those tender kisses now peppering her abs, her stomach. She sucked in a breath when Cory dipped his tongue into her belly button and felt him grin against her skin at her response.

  "He hasn't gotten the chance to enjoy you yet, has he?" Ford's fingers caressed the base of her throat in light massages. His other hand remained on her hip, the pressure with which he held her still unyielding. She felt his stiff cock at her back, a throbbing presence that teased her, tempted her, tormented her. Her mouth watered. She'd never experienced such a strong desire to suck a cock in her life. She wanted Cory's mouth on her pussy and her lips around Ford's cock now. Right freaking now! She started to tell them as much, forget how embarrassed the blunt demand might make her, when Cory's kisses finally reached where she wanted them most.

  Her intended demand morphed into a very breathy, "Oh, yeah," and she turned to jelly in Ford's grasp.