Page 36 of Take Me Slowly, Part 1 (Aurora Hollow duet #1)

LEAH

The car barely stopped before I pushed the huge teddy bear at Riley and worked my way through the crowds. Heading in the direction I'd seen Brooks standing.

It was definitely him; he'd locked eyes with me before turning and disappearing into the throng.

"Leah!" Connor called out after me. "What the hell?"

I stood on my toes, trying to see where he might have gone. By the time the Ferris wheel slowly made it back down, after stopping to let off others, he could be almost anywhere.

I thought I caught a glimpse of blonde hair through the press of people and started off at a trot.

"Leah!" Connor called out again. "Leah, stop!"

A hand caught my wrist and Connor pulled me back to his body.

"I said stop ," he growled in my ear.

I looked back at him, ready to argue, but he was sinking to his knees. He gestured to Riley, who put the teddy bear aside and helped me to sit on Connor's shoulders. Holding my legs carefully, Connor rose, pushing me up with him.

"There, whoever you're looking for should be easier to find this way," he said gruffly. "Are you going to tell me who it is?"

"If you promise not to beat the snot out of him," I said. "I thought I saw my stepbrother." I scanned the crowds, my vantage point on his shoulders allowing me to see over the heads of everyone.

"Your stepbrother?" Riley scooped up the teddy bear and held it under his arm. "What's he doing here? I thought you didn't get along?"

"We don't. I don't know why he's here," I said. "Possibly for the same reason everyone else is."

What were the chances his presence was a complete coincidence? I could chalk it up to that, but I didn't believe it.

He didn't look surprised to see me.

"If he's come to win you a teddy bear, I don't promise not to beat the snot out of him," Riley said.

I gave him a sideways glance. "I can guarantee he's not here to win me a teddy bear."

Brooks wouldn't waste his time with games of chance. He also wouldn't waste his time doing anything nice for me. Honestly, I was surprised he didn't try to find a way to get us stuck, so we'd spend the night at the top of the Ferris wheel.

There was no love lost between me and him.

"If he's here to make trouble, I still don't promise," Riley said, stepping closer, like he'd appointed himself my bodyguard.

"Neither do I," Connor said. "I'm not letting him fuck with Leah." He looked up at me. "Any sign of this dickhead?"

I shook my head. "I can't see him anywhere. If he wants something, he'll come out of the woodwork at some point." At the worst possible moment, knowing him. It was like he had a sixth sense for pissing me off.

Connor grunted something before lowering himself back to his knees and letting me climb down from him.

"Thank you." I took his hand and pulled him back to his feet before grazing my lips across his.

"Yeah. Didn't want you running." He gave a half shrug.

"That's very sweet." I wound my arms around his neck and gave him a hug, and a firmer kiss.

"That's me, sweet." He smirked.

I batted his chest with the back of my hand. "Be nice to yourself. You're not a complete asshole."

He wrapped his arms around me, his hands on my ass. "Before I met you, I was an incomplete asshole." He pressed a light kiss to my forehead. "But if you tell anyone I said that, I'll deny it. Connor Ferguson doesn't do sweet."

"My lips are sealed." I mimed zipping them shut and throwing away the key.

"All this talk about sweetness makes me want ice cream," Riley said. He draped his spare arm around my shoulders and embraced us in a group hug, including the massive teddy bear.

"I can't believe I'm hugging a plushie," Connor muttered. The top of the bear was practically in his face.

"You say that like it's the first time ever," Riley teased.

"It's not the first time. The last time, I was five," Connor told him.

"I remember," Riley said. "You had that plush moose. You used to carry him everywhere."

"And you had a plush unicorn, for some reason." Connor smirked.

"Because some of us believed in magic," Riley said with a shrug.

"You don't anymore?" I couldn't remember the last time I believed in magic, so I was in no position to judge.

"I didn't think I did, but then I met you." He kissed my mouth before dropping his arm and handing me back the teddy bear.

"If you keep saying things like that, you won't need ice cream," Connor said.

"I still need ice cream," Riley said. "Let's go before they sell out." He took my hand and led me back toward the food trucks.

I followed behind, but kept an eye out for Brooks. Or someone who looked like him.

The guy I saw might have had a striking resemblance, nothing more. But I knew that wasn't true. I'd seen recognition on his face, even at a distance. It was definitely him. Why had he run like that? Why not stick around to find out why I was here too?

The sooner he turned up, the sooner I'd get those answers.

If he turned up.

"He'll turn up," Connor said, as if reading my mind. We stood close together, waiting in line for ice cream. "This place is too small to hide for long. If he tries, Riley and I know all the good hiding places."

"And the bad ones too," Riley said. "A couple of the huts further up the mountain are dangerous. As in, about to fall down, or in places where they'd be destroyed by rock slides or avalanches. Not the fun kind of dangerous."

"Sounds like the perfect place for him," Connor said darkly.

"I don't disagree, but I want to know why he's in Aurora Hollow before he meets some nasty, sticky end," I said.

In spite of our differences, I didn't want Brooks to die. We'd only known each other a handful of years. For a while there, I thought, perhaps na?vely, that we could be friends. That was before our parents started pitting him against me. Things soured all too quickly after that.

Once in a while, I wondered what would have happened if we hadn't let them do that to us.

"If you say sticky end again, we're going to skip the ice cream," Connor whispered.

"Oh yeah?" I asked over my shoulder.

"Mmmhmm." He pushed my hair aside and kissed the side of my neck.

A shiver of heat went through my body, down to my core. "You make a compelling argument."

"Of course I do," he murmured against my skin. Grabbing my hand and Riley's, he tugged us out of line. "Come on, I know a place."

He pulled us across the park, and down toward the lake. About halfway between them, he pushed us into a stand of trees. The space between the trunks was enveloped in darkness. A pocket of shadows in the middle of the light, noise and festivities.

I found myself pressed against a tree with a thick, wide trunk and the faint smell of sap.

Connor pressed his body to mine and claimed my mouth with his. His lips tasted mine while his tongue insisted on entry. I opened my mouth to him, my tongue teasing his.

"Save me some." Riley waited until we came up for air before turning my face and slamming his mouth down onto mine. He kissed me deep and hard before breaking away and snaking an arm around the back of Connor's neck pulling him in for a kiss.

The shadows allowed enough light to watch them, their tongues stroking each other's lips, breathing each other's air like they'd done this a million times before.

They were comfortable with each other and that was hot as hell.

Finally, they broke off and Riley kissed me while Connor worked his hands under my shirt and around to my back.

He unhooked my bra, letting my breasts fall free.

He slid his hands up and down my back before pushing my shirt up off over my head.

He grabbed a hold of my bra and pulled it away, letting both garments drop to the leafy ground.

Leaning down, he drew my nipple between his lips and started to suck.

"I fucking love that sound," Riley whispered. "Connor sucking."

"Yeah?" Connor glanced over at him.

"Yeah," Riley said, an edge of challenge creeping into his tone.

Apparently Connor was up to meeting the challenge, because he sank to his knees and pushed down the front of Riley's track pants and boxers.

I made out Riley's cock in Connor's hand before it was between his lips. The only nearby sounds were the wet sucking of his mouth and Riley's groans of pleasure.

"He always had the best fucking mouth," Riley whispered. "The only one just as good is yours." He grabbed a handful of my hair and pulled me over to kiss my mouth.

He tasted sweet and salty, his stubble rough against my face. I wanted, needed more.

Breathless, I broke off long enough to say, "Do you always share?"

"Always," Riley agreed. "We're not going to stop now. You're stuck with both of us."

I glanced down to Connor, to see him bob his head as he went on sucking.

"If you want other guys, we'll work on that," Riley added in a barely controlled whisper. "But you don't have to choose between us and neither are we."

"Good." I grabbed the front of Riley's shirt and kissed him again, while he palmed my breast, making my nipple hard. If my body was any hotter, I'd set the tree behind me on fire.

Connor pulled his mouth off Riley's cock and undid the front of my jeans. He pulled them down and my panties with them, pushing them off my feet until I was naked in the shadows. He pressed a hand between my thighs and grazed it over my pussy.

"So fucking wet," he whispered. "Riley, I need to see you fuck this pussy. Right now."

He shuffled back and pushed himself to his feet, giving Riley room to step in front of me and cup my ass.

He picked me up until my legs wrapped around his waist. Lining his cock up to my entrance, he swiped the tip through my wet heat a couple of times before pushing himself inside me, deep and hard.

"Fuck, yeah," Connor whispered.

I froze as a group of people walked past, talking and laughing, but Riley didn't stop or even slow.

He rolled his hips, thrusting into me as though they could see us and he was enjoying the audience.

He wouldn't have stopped if they turned the lights on their phones toward us, illuminating our every movement.

A small part of me wished they would, but they walked past, oblivious to what was going on amongst the trees.

"So close," Riley whispered with a laugh.

I responded with a low, husky laugh of my own. "You really want to be seen, don't you?"

"I like the risk," was his answer. No surprise there. These two lived for risk. What was life without it?

Riley pressed a hand between us, stroking my clit while he thrust slowly. "So fucking perfect," he whispered. "So fucking ours. You know what I'm picturing right now?""

"What?" I asked, my eyes half closed as I savoured his fingers and his cock.

"I'm picturing your stepbrother watching us," he whispered. "And Josiah, since you seemed curious about him. I'm picturing them with their cocks hard, waiting for their turn with you."

His words pushed me right over the edge. I couldn't have stopped myself from coming if I wanted to. Not even if Connor ordered me not to. I could see exactly what Riley was describing and it was hotter than hell. Josiah and Brooks, fisting their cocks, aching to slide them inside my body.

I have to admit, it wasn't the first time I had that fantasy about Brooks, but Josiah was something new. So fucking complicated but that didn't matter in the moment. All that mattered was the wave of bliss that washed over me, taking me and Riley with it, losing ourselves in each other.