Page 20 of Dangerous Men (Fortune City Mafia #1)

SYDNEY

“I’ve got you, darling. You’re okay.”

I don’t feel okay as Alec tries to soothe me, carrying me back inside. I feel like an idiot. How embarrassing , tripping all over myself like that in the middle of a party. I almost wish I’d gone home with Jade. I almost wish I hadn’t come at all.

At least that doctor had been there to catch me. Even if he had been a bit abrasive. Abrasive, cold, and… positively gorgeous.

My thighs clench at the memory of him, of those elegant hands touching me. God, was every man at this party pulled right out of my dirtiest fantasies? What kind of party was this?

I need to get home and have a cold shower. Or some alone time with a spicy book.

“I think I’m okay, now,” I tell Alec. The pain in my ankle is nearly gone. I give it a twist to be sure, drawing a little circle with my foot. Guess the snarky doctor was right after all. Definitely not broken. “You could put me down if I’m too heavy.”

“You aren’t heavy in the slightest,” Alec assures me. “And Doc said to stay off of it.”

I can’t exactly argue with that. It’s just… extra embarrassing to be carried through a party. Though Alec is doing a great job of keeping to the wall, where there aren’t many people. Barely anyone seems to notice us at all as we pass through the celebrations.

“I have a room here,” Alec tells me, ushering past the crowds and down a quiet hallway, well away from the sounds of the party.

It’s cooler back here, the air-conditioning pebbling my skin.

For a moment, I let myself just feel. I let myself enjoy the sensation of his suit against my cheek, the smell of his cologne.

“Would it be all right if I take you there to rest?”

“Oh… you don’t need to do that. I can just grab a cab and head home.” I don’t want to go, though. But I feel oddly ashamed. I feel like I should apologize for the inconvenience I’m causing.

Why is that, I wonder? Why do I feel the need to apologize for something I had no control over? Something my body did? Why do so many women feel the need to apologize for simply living?

“I don’t want you to go,” Alec protests. His voice is firm, and it warms something in my chest to hear him say it. “Please, Sydney. Just take a minute to rest, and then we can decide what you want to do from there.”

Burying my face against this chest to hide my smile, I nod.

“Okay, yeah, I’d like that,” I say. It would be nice to go somewhere quiet for a minute. To get away from all the chaos of the party. To… maybe spend some time with him. “Thank you.”

“Of course,” Alec tells me. He carries me toward a set of elevators, and—to my surprise—there’s a familiar figure in a tux leaning against the wall, waiting for us.

“Whoa, what happened? Is she all right?” Ashton asks, looking between Alec and me, brow furrowed with concern .

“She sprained her ankle. Doc says she needs to go somewhere quiet and keep off it,” Alec grunts. “Can you get the doors?”

Nodding, Ashton pulls a card from his pocket and touches it to a sensor near the elevators. They chime a moment later—a cheerful electronic tone—and when the doors open, Alec carries me inside.

Ashton steps in behind us.

I don’t have time to consider the implications of that until the doors shut and Ashton presses the button for the penthouse floor.

Right. Of course. When he said he had a room here, I should have assumed… he meant a hotel room.

And now I’m alone. In this tiny elevator. With both of them. Going to his hotel room. My cheeks heat, a nervous flutter of excitement rolling through my stomach.

I shift a little, wriggling in Alec’s arms, my thoughts preoccupied by the two of them. Ash is leaning against the wall of the elevator, looking impossibly relaxed and almost offensively handsome. And Alec…

Alec’s arms feel so good wrapped around me like this. Almost as good as his mouth had felt before, when we…

I gulp nervously.

“I love this dress,” Ash says suddenly. He straightens and steps toward us, running a finger up the slit of my dress and sliding it under the fabric. It’s so reminiscent of the way Alec had touched me earlier. A small noise escapes me—half gasp, and half whimper.

Alec’s hands tighten on me.

“Do that again,” he demands.

“Do… what again?” I ask.

Ash’s fingers creep below my dress, inching high enough to brush against the hem of my panties, almost deliberately. I bite my lip and whimper.

“ That .” Alec turns his face to stare down at me. There’s a naked hunger in his eyes as he meets my gaze. “Make that sound for us again, darling. That beautiful fucking sound.”

He’s going to kiss me again, isn’t he? Alec shifts his face a little lower, and my eyes flutter shut in anticipation.

The elevator stops too suddenly, the cheerful ding alerting us all that we’ve reached the penthouse. A warm flush creeps up my neck.

I swear Ash is smirking, and there’s a smug look on his face when Alec carries me inside…and into a penthouse unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.

“Wow.” I lift my head from Alec’s chest to look around the room we’ve entered, completely stunned.

“Do you like it?” Alec asks, sounding genuinely interested in my reaction.

Like it? I love it. The penthouse suite is massive, a kitchen bar to the left of us, a California king bed tucked away in an open bedroom to the right, and floor-to-ceiling windows directly in front of us.

The city lights sparkle like stars below us, stretching as far as I can see.

My eyes linger for a moment on the bedroom, caught by the giant wall-sized mirror by the bed, and when the implications of that mirror’s placement hit me, I glance away quickly.

I don’t want to think too much about why Alec would want a mirror reflecting his bed.

Alec carries me to the kitchen bar and sets me on the counter, letting my legs dangle. The ice pack the doctor gave me is dripping, condensation soaking the towel, wetting my dress. I give my ankle another experimental twist and then set the melting bag of ice on the counter next to me.

“I’m so sorry we had to leave you alone like that, Babygirl,” Ash says, coming up to stand next to me, leaning against the counter. He wraps his arms around my hips, turning my upper body toward him and pulling me into a hug.

“Oh!” I gasp, surprised. I’ve never been much of a hugger. But his arms are so warm and gentle around me. I let myself relax against him, craning my neck to look at him. “It’s fine, really. Did you take care of what you needed to do?”

“We did, yeah,” Ash says. “But you don’t need to worry about any of that.”

He smiles at me, such a warm and honest smile, and then lowers his head to kiss me. Ash’s lips are so soft and sweet against mine. Soft, and… completely unexpected.

Alec is right there, standing just inside the room, watching us, and I’m a little shocked at the suddenness of it all. Too shocked to really kiss him back.

Sensing my hesitation, Ash pulls away. He frowns at me, looking worried.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asks, stroking my arm. “What’s wrong? Is it your ankle?”

“No, no, I… I’m fine,” I stutter, my body tense in his arms.

Alec moves forward just as Ash drops his arms from me and steps back, rubbing the back of his neck and looking self-conscious. The mood in the room has shifted, and panic brews in my chest.

I’ve screwed it up. Whatever this is, whatever it could have been, I’ve screwed it up before it even started.

It shouldn’t surprise me. I can barely remember the last time I was with anyone but Chase in…

that way. I dated a bit before him, but nothing worth remembering, and certainly nothing like this .

And even though I’ve started to come alive again these last few months, I’ve never been very confident sexually.

It’s no surprise I’m making a fool of myself.

Of course I’m here, in a hotel room with two of the most beautiful men I’ve ever encountered, and so stuck in my head that I’m completely frozen.

I don’t even know how to behave in a situation with one guy, and I definitely don’t know how to manage this . Whatever this is. I’ve ruined it, haven’t I? Before I can open my mouth and even start to explain the mess going on inside my head, Alec breaks the silence.

“Sydney, look at me. Did Ashton kissing you upset you?” His hand reaches out to caress my shoulder.

I glance over in time to see Ash’s face crumble.

“No!” I rush to assure him. “No, not at all, it’s just… earlier it was you who was kissing me, and…” I stumble with how to word it, feeling like an idiot. “I just want to understand what the dynamic here is. I don’t… I don’t understand what’s happening.”

I’m still not sure why it’s me here with them. Me. When they could have anyone. Either of them.

Alec’s other hand grips my arm, and he steps between my legs, pulling me forward until I’m sitting on the very edge of the counter.

“Did you like me kissing you, Sydney?” he asks. His voice has such a sexual purr to it I can’t help but wriggle, hearing it.

I nod slowly.

“Use your words,” he orders, fingers gripping my arm a little tighter. “I want to hear you say it.”

“I loved it,” I answer quickly.

The raw hunger in Alec’s eyes grows, a slow smile spreading on his face.

“I loved it too,” he admits. “And did you like it when Ash was touching you?”

I turn my head slightly to look over at Ash, but Alec captures my face in his hand, forcing my attention back on him .

“Ashton is a big boy,” Alec tells me, voice stern. “He can handle rejection. If you didn’t like it, you can tell me. But you need to be honest with us.”

I swallow.

“I liked it a lot,” I admit.

Alec nods, like that’s the answer he expected.

“Would you like it if he kissed you again? And this time I could be the one to touch you…” He lowers his voice, every word a dark delight. “You have no idea how much I want to touch you.”

“Yes,” I whisper. “Yes, I want that. Please.”

Ash steps forward, and there’s another hand on my face as he tilts me away from Alec and leans down to capture my mouth again.

This time I relax into the kiss, letting myself enjoy it.

I moan softly, wanting so much more, but Ash takes his time with me, kissing me slowly, his lips a soft promise against mine for ages before his tongue slides into my mouth.

“You taste like scotch,” Ash teases, pulling away a fraction of an inch, his breath soft on my lips. “Did you finish our drinks, naughty girl?”

I gasp as Alec’s hand moves under the slit in my dress.

“Answer him, Sydney,” Alec orders, fingers teasing the skin of my thigh.

“Yes.” My voice comes out as a soft whimper.

“‘Yes,’ you finished our drinks?” Ash asks, hand drifting up to rub my nipple through the fabric of my dress. “Or ‘yes,’ you’re our naughty girl?”

Oh, God.

I can’t answer. I moan, writhing on the edge of the counter, wanting more.

“You like that?” Alec asks, as his hand curls over my bare thigh and squeezes tightly. “Because tonight you’re all ours, darling. Our naughty girl. ”

His hand slips further up my dress, and he nudges my legs further apart to press against me, stealing my attention away from Ash to kiss me.

This time, it’s so completely natural to feel Ash’s hands roll over my body as Alec kisses me.

I moan into Alec’s mouth, pressing against him.

Absently, I hear the slow pull of a zipper coming undone and realize it’s my dress.

Cool air touches my back as Ash eases the dress off my shoulders.

Without missing a beat, his tongue still dancing with mine, Alec lifts me, pulling my dress down past my hips and letting it fall to the floor.

“Spread your legs for me, darling,” Alec murmurs against my lips. Then he’s trailing hot kisses down my neck and even further. Down my chest and stomach…

And dropping gracefully to his knees before me, hands on my thighs, spreading me open.

There are no words to describe it. No words to explain the thrill I feel seeing Mason Alexander Sterling kneel before me, his dark eyes gazing up into mine.

“Fuck, you’re so gorgeous,” Ash says, almost in awe, watching me. His hands make quick work of his bow tie and buttoned shirt, and when he tosses them aside, revealing a perfectly sculpted chest and stomach, my mouth waters.

No, I hadn’t misremembered how perfectly toned he was from the brief glances I got when he was shirtless in my shop. I bite my lip, taking in the sight of him. His body looks like someone carved it from stone.

Between my legs, Alec kisses the inside of my thigh, before dragging his tongue higher.

And higher.

“Wait.” Ash is staring into the bedroom, a distant look on his face. His eyes are locked on the mirror.

“I don’t want to wait ,” Alec snaps. His hands are already reaching for my panties, the last item of clothing I have on. And his tongue is so, so close to where I need it, his breath a warm tease against my skin. “I’ve waited long enough for this.”

“I want her on the bed,” Ash says with a boyish smirk. “For the view.”

Alec narrows his eyes, shooting Ash a glare from between my thighs. But after a moment, he nods.