Page 17 of Dangerous Men (Fortune City Mafia #1)

“But you… you don’t even own his company,” I protest weakly.

“Actually…” Ash chuckles. He’s so close I can feel his chest move when he talks. “I’m willing to bet he does. We own most of the businesses in Fortune City.”

Oh.

“You don’t have to do that for me,” I protest.

“Okay, then. What can he do?” Ash asks. “We want to make you feel better, Sydney. Will you … let us make you feel better?”

His hand slips around my waist as he says it, and the circuitry in my brain must be misfiring, because I swear Alec glances down, taking notice of Ash’s arm around me, and doesn’t object.

In fact, Alec slides closer, letting go of my hand to reach up and cup my face.

“Tell me what we can do,” Alec whispers, “to make you feel better.”

“I… ”

I glance around, because surely someone will notice what’s happening and break this spell. The city’s richest man is looking like he might kiss me, his thumb stroking my cheek, while his business partner’s fingers trail up my waist, drawing goosebumps over my skin.

But our table is out of the way, half hidden behind a sign for the Sterling Children’s Foundation, and I realize that unless someone were specifically looking for us, they wouldn’t notice at all.

“I’d like to kiss you, Sydney,” Alec says in a husky voice. He tilts my head back, thumb curving down my face and over my bottom lip. I feel his touch throughout my entire body, in every nerve. And I want more. “Will you let me kiss you?”

My heart is beating so fast. Too fast. Behind me, Ash takes a sip from his drink and then sets it back on the table, moving so he’s standing directly behind me, his hands on my hips. I squirm reflexively against him.

Alec is still waiting for my answer, a smile playing on his lips.

Not trusting my voice, I nod.

“Good girl,” Alec praises, lowering his mouth to mine.

The words send a jolt through me, startling enough to elicit a gasp, but Alec’s mouth is already swallowing it. He pushes me back, just a fraction, and Ash is right there, my back pressing hard against his chest, and his fingers gripping my hips.

I don’t have time to think about Ash, though. Don’t have time to appreciate how good the muscular plane of his stomach feels against me, or even think about what that hard bulge pressing against my back might be, because the moment I open my mouth for Alec, every thought disappears from my head.

Kissing Alec is like no kiss I’ve ever had.

He groans, his tongue playing with mine, fingers threading through my hair. I’m drowning in his kiss, body going liquid, and thank God Ash is there to hold me up.

I never want this kiss to end. I whimper, my hands sliding over the front of his tux, and Alec groans in response, his kiss turning ravenous. Just when I think it can’t get any better, Ash’s hand moves up my side, his fingers brushing lightly against the bottom curve of my breast.

“That’s it, Babygirl,” he purrs in my ear. “Just let us take care of you tonight. Let us make it all better.”

Alec breaks the kiss, licking and biting down my jaw and to my neck, and I arch back against Ash to give him more access, because this?

This is exactly what I’ve always wanted, sandwiched between them, Ash’s hands cupping my breast through the thin material of my dress, thumb stroking my nipple, Alec’s leg vibrating against my thigh, and?—

Hang on.

Vibrating?

“Fuck,” Alec snarls, stopping all that delicious teasing and biting on my neck and pulling away from me. He’s breathless as he pulls a phone out of his pocket.

Phone. Right. Well, that explains the vibration.

“I’m so sorry, Sydney, I have to take this,” he says.

I nod, a little short of breath, as he answers the call.

“What?” Alec snaps, and I flinch, pitying whoever is on the other end of that call. Someone responds, and Alec’s eye twitches.

“What do you mean, the deal didn’t go through? ” he snarls.

More explanation on the other end. Alec’s eyes flick up to Ash’s, and he gives a quick nod.

Still pressed against my back, Ash sighs, long and sad. His hands return to my waist.

“Give us five minutes,” Alec says to the person on the other end of the phone before ending the call .

“Viper?” Ash asks.

Alec shakes his head, lips tight.

“Just some contract issue in Seneca. They won’t clear the permits in time for us to break ground on the new building, and now it’s looking like the whole thing might be fucked. Sydney, I am so sorry to do this, but Ash and I need to make a quick phone call,” Alec says to me.

My heart drops.

Of course they do. I knew this was too good to be true.

“I understand,” I say. I reach for my champagne glass, forgetting it’s empty. I hesitate, suddenly holding a glass with nothing inside it.

“Babygirl.” Ash puts a finger beneath my chin, angling my face toward him. “We wouldn’t be doing this if it weren’t an emergency. Fifteen minutes, that’s all it will take. Promise me you won’t leave until we get back?”

He looks so damn sincere. Staring into his bright blue eyes, I can’t help but believe him.

“Okay,” I say, wetting my lips with my tongue. Hell, if there’s a chance of another kiss like that? I can wait a little.

“Fifteen minutes,” Ash promises.

“Ten,” Alec amends. He stoops down, pressing a warm kiss to my cheek. “And Ashton is right. Only an emergency would pull us away from you right now, and this… this is an emergency.”

“Enjoy the party,” Ash tells me as they walk away. “We’ll be right back, I swear.”

And then they’re gone.

And it’s just me…

And the throbbing ache they’ve left between my legs.

I hate whiskey. Always have.

And I’m pretty sure that’s what Alec was drinking, because sure enough, when I gulp down the contents of the drink he left behind, I absolutely hate it .

Ash’s drink is next, and I think it must have been a double, because it takes me a while to finish the whole thing. But I can’t just stand here at this table, all by myself, thinking about what just happened without drinking, so…

Bottoms up!

By the time there’s nothing but ice left in Ash’s glass, I start to wonder if I really do hate whiskey after all. The last two sips weren’t so bad. In fact, every sip went down easier than the last.

Went down.

I hiccup a giggle.

What am I even doing here?

What were they doing?

That kiss. It felt so natural to be between the two of them, with Ash’s hands and Alec’s mouth on me.

I’d wanted it.

I’d wanted them . Both of them.

But that sort of thing only happens in books, right? And sure, I love those scenes in my novels, absolutely devouring any romance between a heroine and more than one guy, but in real life?

In real life, I am much, much less adventurous.

I’d floated the idea of a threesome with Chase just once. He’d been excited and more than willing to try… until he realized I was talking about two men , not two women.

Then he’d soured on the idea completely.

“That’s not how real men work,” he’d told me, when I’d mentioned how common it was in some of my romance books. “No guy would ever be okay with sharing a woman he loved. We’re just not wired that way. ”

But you’d share me with a woman? I’d wanted to ask, confused by the hypocrisy of it. I’d kept my mouth shut, though. And I’d accepted his words as fact until now.

But Alec hadn’t seemed to mind at all that Ash’s hands were all over my body. And Ash?

Squirming, I let myself think more in depth about that delicious hard length I’d felt pressing against my back. Ash had seemed very excited by what Alec was doing to me.

But this can’t be real life. There’s just no chance that these two men—these hugely successful , gorgeous men — want a woman like me. I couldn’t even keep one man satisfied enough to not stray. Why would I think I could keep them interested? Of course they had a sudden emergency.

Oldest trick in the book, right?

With the whiskey and embarrassment running through my system, the room is feeling a little too hot. I scoop an ice cube out of Ash’s glass and run it along my neck to cool down, but it’s not enough.

I need some fresh air.

The room tilts when I go to move, and I reach out and grab the table to steady myself. Oh wow. Maybe I’m a bit drunker than I thought. Cold air, that’s the ticket. That will fix me right up.

I wobble my way forward, through the crowd. My cheeks feel warm and flushed, and I just know the fresh air is going to feel amazing.

I make it about halfway when I stupidly step into the path of a dancing couple. I jump out of their way just in time, but my heel catches the hem of my dress. I stumble, and my foot hits the ground wrong, my ankle twists, and?—

Sharp pain shoots up my leg, and suddenly I’m falling, my heart leaping into my throat as I prepare to hit the ground.

But I don’t .

Someone catches me.

A long-fingered hand grabs my elbow as an arm encircles my waist, steadying me. Instead of finding myself face to face with the floor, I’m pulled up against a muscular chest wrapped in a dark suit. Black jacket over a black dress shirt. He smells like citrus and cedarwood, subtle and clean.

“Are you all right?” a deep voice asks. He’s so tall I have to crane my neck up to see him, the words “yes” and “thank you” forming on the tip of my tongue.

When I see my rescuer, though, the words die before they make it past my lips. Black hair and a sharp, angular face, with icy blue eyes framed by thick, dark glasses...

He’s breathtaking.