Page 31 of Salute, To Bravery

Warren

“T win?” Jess shakes her head in confusion as I glance behind her and nod at the mirror, knowing Dare will get what I mean.

The door opens, and I clasp Jess’s shoulders and squeeze lightly before turning her.

“What the fuck.” She stumbles out of my hold and swivels her body between us, not believing her eyes.

“Easy, Jess,” Dare says, holding up his hands as he approaches her.

“You’re identical.” She points at our faces, and I stifle a chuckle.

“So we’ve been told.” I reach for her hand, missing the feeling of her skin against mine.

To my relief, she doesn’t reject my touch.

“But, how do people tell you apart?” She runs her eyes up and down before us, trying to find anything that will help with that task.

“Well, up until today, his uniform.” Dare grins at me.

“It was really difficult when we were younger. But if you look really closely, Dare has a scar through his left eyebrow.”

I nod at him, and he points at it. “That asshole threw me off our bunk beds. We were ten, and he wanted to be a wrestler.”

I roll my eyes. “You should have tucked and rolled.”

Jess watches us as we talk, chewing on her bottom lip.

“Jess?” I need to know what she’s thinking.

“So, it’s both your birthdays?”

I raise an eyebrow at Dare. “Technically, it’s only his. Until after midnight.” Dare’s always been bitter that I’m a day older.

“You were born on different days?” She seems genuinely curious.

“We were born twenty minutes apart on separate days, but we’ve always celebrated it on my day.”

Dare crosses his arms and huffs.

“This is a lot to digest.” Jess rubs her temples but hasn’t dropped my hand.

“We understand,” Dare says, coming closer to stand in front of Jess.

She gasps when she’s practically pinned between us. I bring my free hand up and run my fingertips slowly down her exposed shoulder and arm as I lean in to whisper in her opposite ear.

“Is this not what you wanted? To be the center of attention between two men?” I drag my lips down her neck and nip her shoulder before looking up at Dare.

“Nothing will happen here that you don’t want. Remember the paperwork I gave you,” Dare says.

Ah, shit. I glare at him.

“That was you?”

Crap, I squeeze the hand I’m still holding and hold on to her tightly as she tries to step closer to Dare.

“Guilty.” He smirks down at her.

“Unbelievable. How often do you switch like this?” She glares over her shoulder at me.

“It’s been decades.” I hope she can see the honesty in my eyes.

“That makes you one lucky lady.” Dare reaches up, moving her blonde hair behind her ear, and gently cups her face.

“Lucky,” she whispers as she leans into his touch, closing her eyes with a little hum.

My eyes lift to my brother’s, and I nod.

“We have a proposition, Jess.” Dare’s voice is smooth and strong as he draws his thumb across her bottom lip.

“What is it?” Jess opens her eyes to meet his.

“Will you be our birthday present?”

She inhales sharply, drawing my eyes down to her chest.

I can see straight down her dress. Her round breasts are begging for my hands, and her nipples are stiff through the thin material of the dress she wears, hiding her body from us.

“What does that mean?” Her voice is breathy. She’s intrigued.

“The normal things you do with presents,” I whisper in her ear.

“Unwrap them, savor them, and play with them.” Dare runs his finger from her chin to the edge of her dress, pulling it away from her body slightly before letting it go.

“So you want me to be a toy for the night?”

I spin her around and get in her face. “You are not a toy.”

Her eyes widened at my tone.

“What my dear brother is trying to say is that we would never discard you or make you feel unwanted,” Dare tries to clarify, but Jess and I are locked in a staring contest.

I’m looking for the brave woman I know she is, and she’s searching for the man she once trusted with her life.

“Yes.” The word is so delicately spoken it makes me blink and break the intensity of the moment.

“Come again?” Dare must have the same hearing problems I do because we look at each other, wondering if we imagined her saying it.

“Yes. I want to…” She stops short and wrinkles her nose.

“You want to play with us?” Dare helps her out, and she nods.

“And these choices still stand?” I lift her arm, our hands still intertwined.

Her eyes track my black bracelet, then move to Dare’s.

“Unless you want something different? I am your present, after all.”

Fucking hell.

I swallow hard as Dare smiles at her.

“Oh Jess, this right here is perfect.” He closes the distance between them and kisses her possessively.

Suddenly, I need to have her behind a locked door, naked and at our mercy. I pull them apart and point toward the employee’s only door.

“Shall we take this to your suite?”

Dare nods and takes Jess’s other hand.

“Suite?”

We start walking to our destination.

“Perks of being the owners of this place.”