Page 109

“Don’t beat it quite so hard. You’re folding oxygen into the mix, and if you smash it like that, you’ll destroy all those micro pockets of air you created,” Hawk said, peering over my shoulder at the bowl of whipped cream I was working on.

“I love it when the little woman gets all dominant,” Jack said, leaning over the stainless bench.

“Little woman?” Hawk’s eyes narrowed when he looked at his mate. “I bit you. If anyone’s the girl, it’s you.”

“Ooh, I like this new side to you,” Jack replied with a smile, but I think we both noticed the lazy catlike nature of it. What he said was only partly a joke.

“Yeah?” Hawk placed the bowl of cake mix down on the bench and walked around to Jack’s side.

I heard his gasp as Hawk took up position behind him, wrapping Jack’s hair around his hand and tugging until Jack’s neck was a tight bow.

He kicked Jack’s ankles wide, settling in between them and grinding. “Who’s the bitch now?”

Whoa, my cream beating came to a stop as I watched the two of them together.

“Fuck me,” Jack groaned. “We should have done this ages ago. Mating makes everything so much more intense. My cock is aching, and I can feel how much yours is. Pull my pants down. We’ll use some cooking oil for lube.”

“Dude!” The lustful fog cleared as the thought of butts and food together hit me. Hawk made a move to comply, but I put my bowl on the bench with a clatter. “No arse fucking in the kitchen. That’s gross!”

“Yeah? Spoilsport,” Jack said as he reached down and adjusted himself. “How about a blowjob then? Wanna see if you can fit two sausages in that hot little mouth, love?”

I spluttered, about to snap back at him, when the kitchen doors swung open. Aaron strode in, his combat boots making a sharp sound. Dressed in the khaki fatigues that hugged his broad body, he looked damn good.

“Make that three sausages?” Jack said, taking up position beside me. “Though go gentle on me. I never felt insecure about what I was packing until I saw these two hard in the same room.”

“How’s dinner going?” Aaron said, taking us all in and no doubt guessing what we’d been about to get up to, if the working of his nostrils was anything to go by. “I hope it’s on its way, as you’re about to get fifteen hungry men descending on you in about half an hour.”

Hawk nodded. “There’s two roasts in the oven, fresh bread, and a range of sides. I didn’t skimp, seeing as the miners just left it here.”

“Good. A celebration and a decent feed is a good way to boost morale. We’re driving out in the morning.” Aaron turned to me. “And how are you holding up, Jules?”

He indicated I should follow him with a nod, taking a few steps away from the kitchen.

“We’ll revisit this later, love,” Jack said, dropping a kiss on my temple.

That sounded half promise, half threat, but I felt a shiver of anticipation as I followed Aaron.

That didn’t stop the farther I got away from the kitchen.

I didn’t know Aaron well. We’d been fooling around when he was on leave and having a fun time, but it hadn’t left much time to get to know him.

So right now, I was looking up at a massive guy, clad in his military uniform, standing with the well-practised ease of someone who felt complete confidence in what they were doing, and I’ll admit, I felt a little fluttery.

It didn’t sit well with my self-image of being a strong, independent woman, but there was something about being around a really big solid guy rocking that casual confidence that drenched your knickers.

It was stupid—since becoming Tirian, I was pretty sure I could put him on his arse, but the realisation he could probably do the same to me was somehow a turn on.

His smile twisted as he looked down at me and tipped my chin up.

“Just what are you thinking about, love?”

“I think guys in uniform are hot.”

Fuck! Where did that come from?

“Yeah?” He shifted his stance, my eyes following every movement of that body, including the quite significant swing of something in his pants.

“Do you go commando? Is that some kind of military thing? Like a uniform requirement or something? Is that why they call it commando? Fuck, what is with the verbal diarrhoea today? You need to stop wearing…this. It sends my brain offline.”

Aaron chuckled, then herded me back until I hit the wall.

He placed a hand above my head, leaning in so I was surrounded by a wall of male flesh.

If I was feeling all quivery and girly a minute ago, now I was a molten mess of XX chromosomes.

He just watched my breath come in pants, his eyes dropping to my lips and staying there as they began to part.

“Fucking hell, Jules. I’ve got to go out there and finalise packing the vehicles so we’re ready to go at first light and you…

” His voice trailed away, and then he swooped in, his hand going to my jaw as he brushed his lips against mine.

“This is my first command. How am I going to keep everyone safe if I’m panting after you like this? ”

“Pretty sure there was mutual panting,” I gasped.

He shook his head and laughed, then pulled me to him, burying my head in his chest. “I’ll come to your tent tonight. Maybe if we can give in now, I’ll get a little reprieve.”

“I dunno about you, but having sex with any of you has never made me want to have less sex, or be around you less, or respond less intensely.”

“Jules, you’ve gotta humour a guy sometimes. This connection, it’s intense, but we aren’t in the kind of safe place that will allow for the kind of indulgences we’ve enjoyed so far. We’re all going to be sleep-deprived, doing night watches, and everything.”

“But you’ll come to our tent tonight?”

“Like I can stay away from you. I’ll be back, but behave with these two. No bodily fluids in the food, that’s all I ask.”

I missed his warmth, his bulk when Aaron pulled away, but I caught a snicker from the kitchen. Both Hawk and Jack had apparently been watching the whole thing.

“Someone’s gonna get monster dick tonight,” Jack said as I walked back to the bowl of cream.

I stuck my finger in, ready to smear it on his face, but he caught it too quickly, holding my hand and sucking the blob off my finger.

“Bring him along. A nice little foursome to celebrate our nuptials would hit the spot.”

“Maybe I don’t want to share.”

Both Jack and I stilled at that, turning to look at Hawk.

“Are you getting possessive? That is so fucking hot. Why is it so hot?”

“I have no idea,” I replied. “All I know is I feel it too.”

“You’re my mate. Mine. Maybe I want to celebrate that. We’ve never really made love, Jack. Maybe I want to try that.”

I saw the doubt in Hawk’s eyes, the tense way he gripped the spatula he’d been using to pour cake batter into a tin, but Jack sauntered over, removing the utensil and folding himself into Hawk’s chest. The other man’s arms went around him, holding him tight, stroking his hair with an intensity in his eyes that made me feel like I was almost intruding.