For the Warmth (A Beyond Blood Short) (MFM Romance) Read online

  Behind me, Kite's hips ground into my lower back. Palms took hold of my ass, digging in fiercely—desperately. The heat of his breath burned on the nape of my neck almost as much as his words. “I've wanted to take you here, right here, since the first moment you walked through my door.”

  I remembered that night; I'd been boiling with so many things. Not one of them had been fear. How could I have been scared? I was finally on the path to getting what I'd chased for so very, incredibly long.

  But when I'd crossed the threshold into Kite's apartment... I hadn't expected this. He was a killer, and I had imagined filth or neutralness. Something that reflected a man who had to hide what he did—who he was.

  Kite was nothing like I had expected.

  So far, of the two men, Jacob had come the closest to playing the part of the silent hitman. He was cool, calm, precise. A man with so many plans and plots. But Kite was wild, a train without rails.

  I was ready for him to crash into me.

  Shuddering, I rocked my ass against him, felt him respond. Even through my jeans, his hard-on was obvious. “Can anyone see us up here?” I asked.

  “Why, feeling shy?” His fingers came around, popping my button and inching my zipper down.

  “Not shy,” I said. “Just... it seems risky. What if someone calls the cops on us, you'd get in trouble.”

  Freezing with his fingers in my empty belt loops, Kite chuckled. “Shit, you're looking out for me?”

  To change the topic, I yanked my shirt fully over my head. “Forget it, I'm sure I'm not the first girl you've done this with here. If you'd gotten busted for it, you'd have said so by now.”

  Kite was quiet, and that heaviness sank into my bones. I started to twist, to check his eyes for a hint of what he was thinking. He kissed my forehead, then mixed our lips together so neither of us could say a word. So neither of us could do what we were so good at; fucking up this fucked up situation even more.

  I had the sudden, most invigorating feeling that Kite didn't want to think about other girls. That was... encouraging.

  I'm the one always wondering how neither of them can be jealous, but here I am, fretting over girls who aren't even involved anymore.

  Anymore. I hoped that was true.

  “Ah!” I breathed in sharpy. Kite had crushed my breasts into the cold glass, his hands brushing down to the indents above my lower back. He licked the back of one ear, then nibbled his way across my shoulder blade.

  One hand ducked into the front of my pants, inching them down as he stroked just outside the edge of my panties. He knew what got me hot, lavished in driving me wild. That was fine; I knew he'd give in and take me all too soon.

  We were both terribly weak.

  Two fingers spread, curling over to cup my pussy through the damp cloth. My growl was very unlady-like, but who the hell could act like a “lady” in a situation like this?

  “You're drenched,” he said, voice thick. “God, I need to fuck you so badly right now.” He dipped further, slid right over my slit and across my swollen clit.

  I mewled, flushing with lust down my back as sweat began to form.

  Kite inhaled, smelling me in the air. He said, “I bet I'll slide into you without a hint of resistance. Bet your pussy will spread for me and put out the red carpet like I'm a god damn celebrity.”

  Then, he slipped under the elastic band of my panties and rolled right over my cunt, wetness coating us both.

  I just... broke. “Stop playing with me, Kite,” I hissed, arching into him and trying to grab his arm. I wanted to force him deeper or force him away so there'd be room for his cock. Just... something. “Fuck me already!”

  “Yes, ma'am,” he chuckled. “Guess I like seeing you squirm.”

  “Fuck you,” I breathed out.

  Kite ripping my jeans down, taking my panties with them. “I already said yes, no need to beg me twice.”

  I was spread across the glass, my panting turning the surface foggy. This time, I wasn't able to write a name on it. I could barely spell my own, if asked. Kite rocked his cloth-covered shaft across my ass cheek. In a second, he adjusted, and the next caress showed his cock was now free to the air.

  That sensation alone had me squeezing my thighs together. The heat was rising in me, demanding I do something about it. I'd grown used to the release Kite or Jacob—or both—could bring me. Now, my body was screaming for it; eager to be filled.

  In his bedroom, a phone rang.

  Both of us glanced that way, though Kite didn't stop his slow grind over my skin. He didn't need to say it; only one person would be calling him so early.

  Jacob.

  Kissing my neck, Kite kicked my ankles wide. “Ignore it,” he said, pushing the plump head of his cock along the softness of my inner thighs. “He'll leave us alone, trust me.”

  Dizzy with lust, I just nodded and tried to get him to slip inside of me. “Dear god, you said you'd stop teasing me!”

  “No, I said I'd fuck you.” Slapping me on the ass, the sound cracked the air; my gasp was louder. “And I will, just at my own pace.”

  Screw that, I thought, pushing off the window. Kite was stronger, he leaned into me and shoved my nipples back onto the hardness. “Come on,” I moaned, “You're killing me!”

  Kite clicked his tongue, and I pictured him rolling his eyes. I had another comment, but it liquified the instant he angled his cock so that it spread my lower lips. We both heard the sound of my wetness. “Okay okay, jeez. So greedy.” His chuckle was close to cruel, but he was fracturing. It was on the edge of his voice, the husky way he said “greedy” and the speed of his breathing.

  He was pushing into me, making me groan in delight, when the phone rang again. Both of us skipped a beat, thrown off by the interruption. But it didn't stop there. Before the ringing ended, the knocking came on the nearby door.

  “Is he actually outside?” I asked, straightening.

  Pushing my hair off of my neck, Kite stroked my throat. “The bastard is determined to get my attention.” Gripping my hips, he slid into me fully. Every inch of him stretched me, made me squeal; I hadn't been ready. “But you need it more.”

  It was silly of me to think Kite would stop just because someone was at the door.

  The ringing faded as my groans lifted high, cheek heating up the window. Below me, the streets moved as fast as the blood through my veins.

  Knuckles rapped sharply on the wood, demanding we hear them. It was no shock when Jacob's voice came. “I know you're both in there, let me inside.”

  I covered my mouth to muffle my sounds. Kite drew back, the tip of his cock just inside of me. Stroking my spine, he reached down and made a vigorous circle over my heated clit. His words turned me cold, though. “I'm a bit busy with Marina!” he shouted. “Come back later!”

  “Stop whatever you're doing for a minute and open the door, Kite.”

  “I don't think Marina would appreciate that!” Chuckling, he shivered and drove into me harder. I wondered if Jacob could hear us fucking, and wondered why I was blushing. He'd been there, involved, with the two of us before. Where was my shame coming from?

  Kite's fingers swirled quicker, toying expertly with my engorged clit. The pressure of my mounting orgasm was rocketing at me, tickling the back of my tongue.

  Metal clinked, and though I felt Kite hesitate, he didn't fully stop. I was confused by the sounds, but the combined jingles and crisp footsteps said it all.

  Jacob had used his own key to get inside. Of course he'd have a key. I'd assumed otherwise since he always knocked and waited, but that was clearly him being polite. He had that air to him, this crispness and perfection in his manners.

  I'd seen the other side, though.

  I knew what lay resting under his placid surface.

  Sighing, his steps brought him to our side. I turned my cheek, able to catch him from the corner of my eye. His reflection shined in the window. Jacob was dressed in his typical fashion; a silver vest, a rich, cobalt blue shir
t that matched his eyes and made his onyx hair that much more stark.

  He was as fit and handsome as Kite, and they looked similar in age—late twenties, at most—but Jacob seemed more mature, more refined. Wise beyond his years.

  These two men were so different in every way, and yet... somehow they were the closest friends, a bond I still didn't understand.

  “This is why you couldn't answer my call?” Jacob asked, sounding sufficiently put out.

  Red as a beet, I closed my eyes—but Kite didn't spare me. Holding my fiercely, he slammed his length into me with new gusto. I shouted, then chewed my tongue. He's doing it on purpose, I realized. Maybe there existed no jealousy, but good-natured, male-infused competition?

  Kite and Jacob had that in spades.

  “I'm busy,” Kite said, spanking me once more. I saw Jacob arch an eyebrow. “Come back in fifteen, okay?”

  “Fifteen?” he scoffed, linking his hands behind his back. “That's sloppy of you. But we're needed at the bar right now.”

  The Corner Velvet; a business the two of them owned. Had something happened?

  I didn't miss the irritation in Kite's voice, not even over my blood-filled ears. “Fine, just wait a bit, she won't hold out another five minutes at this rate.”

  Those hawk-like features fell on me. Jacob was hard, angular and lean and ever languid. I appreciated the contrast to Kite's more combustible side.

  Focusing was impossible, I was narrowed in on the building tingles of my release. I tasted my own sweat, my own need. Let them banter; if Kite could do that and get me off, fine. Whatever. I won either way.

  Jacob's words cut through me like a cold knife. “We don't have five minutes. Kite, you have to stop.”

  Stop? Was he insane?

  To my utmost shock, Kite started to slow down. Gritting my teeth, I tried to drive myself back onto him. “What the hell, Jacob?” I spat, desperation putting me close to screaming. “Kite, don't you even dare!”

  “I hate to do it, but there's an emergency,” Jacob said soothingly.

  I wasn't fucking soothed.

  “Shh,” Kite said, releasing me. He slid out, and the sound should have been humiliating, but I was too furious—too ratcheted up in my lust. I'd been so close! “This is serious, Jacob wouldn't interrupt otherwise... unless he wanted to get a bloody nose.”

  Shaking my head, I faced them both and bent to pull up my jeans. “I can't believe you two!”

  Jacob was black lightning. Bending over me, he didn't even need to touch me, I froze just because he was there. The intensity in his crystal eyes made me forget to breathe.

  Grabbing my pants, he actually zipped them up. I hadn't expected that. I also didn't expect him to take my hands, to graze the backs of them with his thumbs while he smiled. “Relax, Marina. We'll make it up to you.”

  Wrinkling my nose, I pulled away. “How do you figure?”

  Jacob swayed towards me. It was subtle, but I was too aware of him to not notice every inch of breathing room I lost. His aura was consuming me. He did it so easily, that magnetic pull that promised so much.

  He murmured, “After we go take care of the bar, I promise to spend as much time as you want on that sweet body of yours. Far more than fifteen minutes.”

  God, he spoke right into my core. I almost forgot what he'd just denied me—but the ache in my lower belly was a cruel reminder.

  I scooped up my shirt. Kite gave me an overtly sad expression as I hid away my chest, not caring I didn't have a bra any longer. “You assume I'll want anything to do with you—either of you—after this.”

  Jacob was rich cream; he poured into every crack of my brain, stealing a kiss that I hadn't predicted. When he started to speak—looked me in the eye with that wicked promise—I listened to what he was offering. “Come with us to the bar. You won't regret it.”

  He traced my jaw, the shell of my ear, and kissed me once more outside my temple.

  Okay. I admit it...

  Jacob knew how to make me dance like a puppet on strings.

  “Fine,” I said, quieter than I wanted to. “But if you ever stop me like that again?” I pointed a finger, and his genuine surprise was invigorating. “I'll do exactly like Kite said. I'll give you a god damn bloody nose.”

  With a smile too confident for my liking, Jacob bowed his head. “I'll make a note of that. Get changed, we need to go.”

  The remnants of my interlude with Kite were erased. We left the apartment while Kite was still stumbling into a pair of jeans and a shirt.

  All I could think, in my baffling ache, was that if there'd been time for us to change...

  There'd been enough time for me to get off.

  Yes, Jacob would answer for this, that much was certain.

  - Chapter Two -

  Jacob

  ––––––––

  It hadn't been an emergency—not exactly.

  Anabelle, my prime bartender, had phoned me with some grim news. “I'm sick,” she'd said, mumbling into the receiver. “Like, extremely sick. You don't want details, Mr. Fallow.”

  I hadn't. I also didn't want her infecting everyone. God, what a headline that would be in the papers. Corner Velvet Causes Plague. I'd asked her if she was contagious.

  “No no,” Anabelle laughed, hollow as a coconut. “But I'm a mess. If I feel better, I'll come in tonight, but I can't get the bar ready. You and Kite will have to.”

  It amused me how she treated me so formerly, but never bothered with Kite. It definitely bugged him, too, but then... I'd kept things business between me and my employees.

  Kite had never cared about such rules.

  Though, I'd been very aware that our dear Marina had been holding his attention. Kite had been losing himself nightly in booze and women. After Marina had swayed into our lives, things had changed. More changes than I'd ever thought possible.

  And yet, simultaneously, everything was so familiar. After all, she'd hired us to kill someone. Or to help her kill someone, to be exact.

  I preferred to be exact.

  “It's fine,” I'd told Anabelle, finishing belting my pants on with one hand. She hadn't woken me up, I'd stirred at the first hint of gold on the horizon. “Kite and I will handle it. You stay in bed and get better. Bye for now.”

  Preparing the bar wouldn't be terrible. However, I hadn't been planning to play bartender tonight. I'd have to call around for a replacement. There was so much to do, but first... I had to call Kite and let him know. He wasn't much of a boss, but he was the co-owner of our bar.

  And that was when I'd run into the first problem; Kite wasn't answering. I had a strong suspicion as to why.

  A quick trip downstairs through the stairwell of our highrise, a few knocks on the door and another call, and I was positive. I'd placed an ear to the door to confirm, heard the stomach tingling, heart pumping noises that only Marina could make.

  That woman, god. She turned my very bones into glass.

  It was almost a shame to use the spare key to Kite's place and interrupt their fun.

  Almost.

  Like I said, it wasn't exactly an emergency. I could have left them alone for a few minutes, perhaps even handled the bar myself for a few hours.

  So why hadn't I? The thought plagued me as I now drove my car down the busy streets towards the Corner Velvet. Kite and Marina followed in his orange Mercedes, tailing me and leaving me alone to my own buzzing mind.

  Seeing them both wrapped up like that, how red her lips had been in their desperate “o” shape... The memory made me shift in the seat, proving I could still steer the car and steer my abrupt erection into a comfortable place.

  I had told Marina, again and again; I'm not the jealous type. My major concern was and always would be my best friend's safety. Kite and I weren't related, but our connection went deeper than that.

  Our history, our mistakes, everything we'd endured together...

  We were blood brothers, and no one could make us question our loyalty.

&
nbsp; And then Marina entered our lives.

  Sighing, I smoothed my short, dark hair as I hovered at a red light. In the mirror, I saw something in my eyes I didn't like; stress. There was so much going on in my heart and head. I wasn't used to any of it.

  Marina had been a cannonball into our world—my world. She threatened everything Kite and I had spent our existence building. Hell, we'd been on the verge of retiring when she'd shown up and told us she knew we were hitmen.

  From that moment, the plan—the only way to solidify our future—was clear.

  We needed to get the letter she had that proved who we were, the one thing tying us to her and her health. After that?

  Marina had to die.

  My knuckles had gone milky-white on the steering wheel. Someone honked; I jerked forward on the road, baffled by my distraction. Imagining what had to be done to this lovely, amazing girl that I wanted to grab and taste and hear scream for me, it turned me sour.

  Kite was still convinced we could save her. He was too trusting. It balanced us.

  Marina had brought us all together in a way I'd never dreamed of, but she could also destroy us. One simple word or mistake...

  And she'd ruin everything.

  Then, knowing the risk, I do things like agree to give her a chance. I still tensed when recalling that day. Kite had demanded we give her what she deserved, that we help her get her revenge and then maybe... maybe she could be left alive.

  I'd agreed, but under one condition; she had to prove her trust.

  I hadn't yet decided how that would happen. That was unlike me, too. I was quick with plans and details. Surely, I'd come up with something. Instead, I'd been dragging my feet, delaying the process.

  It's because, if I make the decision, it makes it real. It gives her a chance to fail.

  I should have been stronger. Colder.

  To get through this, I had to be.

  Pushing out of the car after I parked it in the alley, I straightened my tie. Marina... how are you so firmly in my marrow and my veins? She'd grown like a tumor, I feared ejecting her from our lives would rupture something irreplaceable.