Page 20

Mila

Mila wasn’t prepared to go from hurt to excited so quickly. When Gio announced she was fired, it destroyed her. She’d never thought he or Carter would do that to her before the two-week trial period was over. Then he’d casually said he wanted to go into business with her.

It was all too much.

“You can’t be serious,” she snapped, then gasped and covered her mouth with both hands. She was never that rude!

Gio didn’t look offended. “I’m very serious. Your baking is exceptional, all you need is a chance, and I think you could be successful. I have a kitchen, contacts, and the money for ingredients or whatever else you might need.”

“Would we have a contract?” she asked.

“No,” Carter said. “That’s not—”

“Absolutely,” Gio said, interrupting the bigger man. “We should make it so no matter what happens between the three of us personally, the business is safe. That means there’s no conflict.”

“Oh, yeah, we can do that,” Carter agreed, nodding his head. “Totally separate the cooking stuff from the us stuff .”

It all sounded so good. She could have a career and the men. She couldn’t possibly be that lucky. “I don’t think it’s that easy.”

“Nothing is ever easy,” Gio agreed. “I’m only giving you a foundation. Creating a successful business will be up to your hard work.”

Mila felt tears sting her eyes. “And you’re willing to put this all in a contract? Even if we break up, you’ll still keep supporting the business?”

“I’ll always support you,” Gio promised. Why did those words feel like they carried weight to them? As if he meant more than helping her open a bakery?

“Wait,” Carter said, pointing his fork at Gio. “Does this mean no more meals? Now that I’ve had this, I don’t think I can go back to takeout.”

“I can still cook for you!” Mila rushed to assure him, but Gio shook his head.

“No Mila,” Gio said, then looked at Carter. “We can’t expect Mila to spend all day baking and also cook elaborate meals.”

Carter hung his head like a scolded dog. “I guess not.”

She resisted the urge to insist she could do it all. That was the old Mila. The new Mila didn’t make herself take on every burden around her.

“Maybe we could come up with a schedule,” she offered. “I could cook a few times a week. I’d do that for myself anyway. It’s no trouble to make enough for all three of us.”

She could swear she saw Gio grimace even as Carter looked up at her with an eager expression.

“That would be great,” Carter said. “We could do some meals here at home and go out for others.” He looked at Gio. “We could take her to all the fun places in San Diego.”

Gio gave Carter a fond look. “Of course. I’d enjoy that.”

Mila was astonished. Not only had Gio stood up for her and kept her workload reasonable, but he also generously wanted to reward her with dates!

She dropped her gaze to stare at the table. “This is all too good to be true.” She was half afraid she’d wake up tomorrow to find herself back in the van and that this had all been a dream.

“It’s not too good to be true,” Gio said, reaching across the table to put his hand over hers. “It means you’re exactly where you’re meant to be.”

Carter tried to reach across to add his hand to theirs but accidentally sent his fork flying. A blob of cheesecake hit her cheek, making her jerk back and pull her hand away from Gio.

“Really, Carter?” Gio grumbled.

“I’ll fix it,” Carter said. When he stood up, he pushed his chair back with too much force, sending it crashing to the floor.

Gio met her gaze, trying to hide a smile. “Big puppy,” he mouthed, making her laugh.

Carter used the table to keep himself steady as he made his way around to her. She thought he was going to use a napkin to wipe off the dessert, but instead, he knelt next to her chair.

To her utter shock, he licked the cheesecake off her face.

“Oh,” Gio said, getting up from his chair as Mila froze in place. “That’s a much better idea than using a napkin.”

“I know, right!” Carter said and licked her cheek again. “I think I got some on her other side. Could you get that?”

Gio was quick to get up and kneel at her left and put his mouth close to her ear. “I’m going to lick your skin and kiss your lips,” he whispered. “We stop if you say no, bellezza .”

Say no? She couldn’t even remember how to form words at the moment. Her entire consciousness was focused on the chaotic sensations these two men were creating. When Gio licked her cheek, she moaned.

How had she gone from making desserts to becoming one?

Carter

He knew Gio thought of him as an over-exuberant puppy sometimes, but in all honesty, Carter leaned into the idea for the vampire's amusement. Launching a bit of dessert at Mila was an honest accident he’d immediately known could be turned into an opportunity.

He was going to Bob Ross the hell out of this moment—there were no mistakes, only happy little accidents!

His first lick cleaned off the small bit of food he’d gotten on her face. She tasted better than any dessert ever could.

He could feel Gio’s excitement through their soul bond, even though they weren’t touching. It was as if being near Mila made their bond stronger.

Mila made a light whimpering sound, her eyes half closed.

Carter tugged at the button to her blouse.

He got the first one undone and kissed the exposed skin at the base of her throat.

She sucked in a breath and let her head drop back.

Carter tugged at the next button, but Gio put a hand on his, stopping him.

“Mila has to agree,” Gio insisted, his amber eyes bright with need.

Carter grumbled. “She isn’t saying no.”

“She has to say yes,” Gio insisted.

“Mila?” Carter said, reaching up to cup her cheek. She lifted her head slowly, as if it weighed a thousand pounds. It took her a moment to focus on him. He was gratified to see that her pupils were blown.

“Carter,” she whispered. “Please!”

He looked at Gio, silently asking the vampire if that counted as a yes. Gio nodded, and Carter went back to the buttons.

“I’m going to kiss you,” Gio murmured, standing up so he could lean his face in front of hers. Mila made a needy sound before pressing her lips to his.

Carter could feel sexual magic growing stronger around them. It pricked at his skin, making him hyperaware of the clothing he was still wearing. He wanted them all naked so the magic could flow over and around them without hindrance.

Giving up on being delicate, Carter grabbed the edges of the blouse and tugged them apart, sending the remaining buttons flying.

She was still kissing Gio but reached up blindly to touch Carter. He guided one of her hands to the back of his head as he pressed his face between the swells of her breasts. Her fingers tightened on the back of his head, and she urged him to the right, over her breasts.

The damn bra was in his way. He shifted one of his fingers to a claw and slipped the claw under the front of the bra. It didn’t take much pressure to cut it and let her glorious breasts bob free.

“Yes,” he exclaimed, before sucking a nipple into his mouth. Mila’s entire body jerked, and her hand spasmed on the back of his head. He played with her nipple, teasing, sucking, and using his teeth a little while she kept her hand pressing his head to her chest, keeping him in place.

He couldn’t blame her, he liked his nipples fucked with too!

“This is nice,” Gio said. Carter made a humming sound in agreement, but then Gio put a hand under his chin and pulled his mouth away from Mila’s breast.

“No,” Carter protested with a whine.

He looked up to find that Gio was holding both him and Mila in the same way. He looked so elegant and powerful standing over them and cradling their jaws.

Carter was struck by how lucky he was to have two such beautiful people as his mates.

“I think we should move to the bedroom,” Gio suggested, his voice deep, and his amber eyes glowing with need. “Our first time together should be in the comfort of a bed. We can play in the kitchen later.”

The thought of having Mila naked and under him made Carter surge to his feet. “Yes!”

No sooner was the word out of his mouth, then he was dizzy and swaying. He still wasn’t completely healed and moving this fast might put him on his ass if he wasn’t careful.

“Carter!” Mila cried, standing up with surprising speed for a human and grabbing him. Gio moved with his normal vampire speed and supported him from the other side.

“Easy, amore mio ,” Gio murmured.

“Sorry,” Carter mumbled, feeling bad for breaking the sensual spell.

“Why are you sorry?” Gio asked as he pressed his fingers into Mila’s shoulder, silently asking her to move away. “If you’re not steady, that means I get to do this!”

The moment Mila stepped back, Gio bent over, put his shoulder into Carter’s belly, and stood back up. The world turned upside down as he went limp over Gio’s shoulder.

“Really?” Carter said wryly.

“Can you think of a faster way to get you to the bedroom?” Gio asked, turning and marching out of the kitchen. Mila followed right behind them. When Carter craned his neck up, he could see her trying hard not to laugh.

“You could have carried me a different way,” Carter grumbled.

“Sure,” Gio agreed. “But then I couldn’t do this.” He slapped a hand down hard on Carter’s ass. The sting of the blow only made Carter’s cock throb more.

“I could do the same to you!” he warned, making Mila give up her fight with her laughter.

“You guys are bad!” she exclaimed, climbing the stairs right behind him.

He was so much taller than Gio that it was easy to cup the vampire's ass. Gio didn’t even hesitate as Carter groped him. The vampire climbed the stairs as easily as if he wasn’t carrying Carter’s weight.

“I want to help,” Mila said with a giggle. She got close and added her hands next to Carter’s on Gio’s butt. “Oh, nice!”

“It’s even better naked!” Carter assured her.

“So is yours,” she said, then blushed beet red. Carter loved that.

“Your breasts blush too,” he murmured, eyeing her generous breasts swaying with each step.

She gasped and let go of Gio’s tight ass to pull her blouse together.

“Hey, no! Don’t do that,” Carter protested. “I was enjoying that view!”

She looked pleased at his words but didn’t let go of her blouse. Thankfully they were at the top of the stairs and soon in the bedroom.

Gio carefully set him down, letting go slowly so Carter had plenty of time to regain his equilibrium. Being carried upside down could be hard on anyone, even a shifter as powerful as Carter.

Carter wanted to rip Gio’s clothes off, but one little push had him tumbling into the bed behind him.

“That wasn’t nice,” Carter grumbled as he wiggled fully onto the bed.

Mila rushed up to him, putting a knee on the bed. “Are you okay? Maybe you should rest. Sex probably isn't a good idea yet.”

Carter supported his upper body on one elbow and covered her mouth with his other hand. “I will not allow you to speak such blasphemy in this sacred room. Passion cannot be denied here!”

Mila laughed behind his hand even as Gio rolled his eyes and stripped out of his clothes. “Only Carter could turn sex into worship. It’s such a wol—,uh, him thing to do.”

Carter raised an eyebrow at Gio almost saying wolf. The vampire ignored him and grabbed Mila. She let out a little shriek of surprise when Gio lifted her. He placed her further on the bed with her knees on either side of Carter’s hips.

“There,” Gio announced. “That’s much better. You should kiss Carter while I take care of all these annoying clothes we’re wearing.”

“Perfect plan!” Carter said, tugging a lock of her hair to guide her face to his. “I bet you taste like sugar.”