Panther's Pride [Black Panthers 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 3
Joe stiffened, clearly not any happier with Glenna’s easy camaraderie with Graham than he was. “I wouldn’t have hit you!”
Glenna laughed, a tinkling sound that nearly took Leland to his knees.
To Leland’s frustration, Joe looked equally enthralled with her, something he’d have to deal with as soon as the two of them were alone.
He wanted Glenna.
Want was too tame a word for the chaos reigning inside him.
Obsession.
He’d do whatever it took to possess her.
And soon.
Chapter Two
Sitting between Joe and Leland, and with the feel of their hard bodies pressing against hers on either side, Glenna struggled to breathe evenly and hide the fact that she trembled.
Joe had turned the air-conditioner on high, but no amount of air-conditioning would be enough to combat the kind of heat Joe and Leland generated.
Every brush of their bodies against hers sent another rush of heat through her to layer over the others.
The sensations kept building, growing stronger and expanding until they encompassed every inch of her body.
She’d never realized sexual awareness could be so all-consuming.
Both men, several inches taller than six feet, towered over her, making her feel small and incredibly feminine, their wide shoulders taking up most of the room and brushing against her with every bump and turn in the road.
Even with their size and the aura of danger surrounding them, she no longer feared them—at least she didn’t fear they’d harm her.
The danger had become sexual in nature—a bombardment to her senses that made her dizzy.
She couldn’t stop looking at their hands—strong capable hands that would be equally adept at changing a tire, or pleasuring a woman.
Watching Joe’s hands on the steering wheel, she shivered at the mental image of them moving over her naked flesh. A glance at the hand Leland rested on his thigh made her skin tingle with anticipation, knowing that being touched by him would be an experience she’d never forget.
He’d partially turned in his seat to give her more room, the heat from the hand he rested right behind her shoulder travelling to her nipples. “Are you cold?”
She glanced at Leland, disconcerted by the concern in his eyes. Taking in his frown, she forced a smile, looking away. “I’m fine. Thank you.”
“You shivered.”
“No, I didn’t.”
Gripping her chin, he turned her face to his, studying her features. “Yes, you did.” He smiled faintly, lifting a dark brow. “You’re not a very good liar, are you?”
Swallowing heavily, she wiped her palms on her dress again, desperate to change the subject. “Graham said that all of you live on a farm.”
Joe smiled, reaching over to pat her hand. “Yes. We grew up there.” Releasing her hand, he put both on the wheel again. “It’s dinnertime. You said that you only had time for coffee and toast this morning before you took your sister to the airport. What do you feel like eating?”
Her stomach fluttered at the thought of spending more time with them. “I’ll grab something at home later.”
Leland lifted his hand to the back of her seat, touching her shoulder. “We’ll take you out for something. That way, I can be sure that you actually eat.” Although he kept his voice low, the command in it couldn’t be mistaken.
Bristling, Glenna fisted her hands on her lap. “I’ll get something at home. I appreciate all you’ve done to help me.” Smiling to ease the refusal, she glanced at Joe. “No offense, but it’s been an eventful day, and you two are a little too intimidating for me to deal with right now. I want to go home, have a light dinner, relax, and wait for my sister to call to tell me she got there safely.”
Leland gripped her chin, turning her to face him. “I can understand that. If you don’t want to eat with us, that’s fine, but I’ll be calling you later to check up on you. You took quite a jolt, and although Joe doesn’t think you need to go to get checked out, I’ll feel better if I know you’re okay.”
His eyes narrowed, his gaze moving over her features. “You intrigue me.”
Pushing his hand away, she looked straight ahead again, her stomach fluttering and knotting so hard that it hurt. “I wouldn’t think a man like you would find me very intriguing.”
“You’d be wrong.” Leland shifted in his seat, eyeing her thoughtfully. “How long have you lived here?”
“All my life.” Sitting straighter, she pointed down the block. “Make a right here.”
His fingertips danced over her shoulder. “Why haven’t I ever seen you before? I know I damned well would have remembered you.”
Amused, and more than a little flattered, Glenna turned slightly to face him, letting her gaze linger on his overlong hair before looking meaningfully at his tattooed biceps. “Something tells me that you and I don’t move in the same circles.”
His eyes narrowed and sharpened. “Something tells me that’s about to change.”
Turning to face forward again, she finished giving Joe directions to her house. “I doubt that. After today, we’ll probably never see each other again.” The thought of that depressed her, but she reminded herself that being attracted to two men would bring nothing but trouble anyway.
Following her directions, Joe pulled up in her driveway. “Oh, you’ll definitely see me again.” Throwing the truck into park, he leaned forward, looking at the house through the windshield while turning off the engine. “You live here alone?”
Frowning at the reminder, and touched by the concern in his voice, Glenna shrugged. “I do now. It belongs to my parents, and when they moved to Florida, they kept it so we’d have a place to live.”
Joe turned to her, his lips thinning. “Tonight will be your first night alone here, won’t it?”
She didn’t want to think about it. Smiling, she hooked her purse over her shoulder, silently hinting for him to move. “I’ll be fine. Thank you so much for—”
“I’ll check the house out first. You’ve been gone all day, and I don’t like you walking into an empty house.” Sliding out of the seat, Joe held a hand out for her. “Come on, honey.”
Glenna reached for his hand, yelping when Leland wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her from the other side. “Leland!”
“I love the way you say my name.” To her surprise, he set her on her feet, wrapping both arms around her waist from behind and bending to touch his lips to her neck. “You’re driving me out of my mind.”
A shiver of delight raced through her, the heat of his body wrapped around hers wrapping her in warmth and strong muscle. Sucking in a breath, she gripped his forearm, trembling and slightly unsteady on her feet. “I’m not doing anything.” Her voice came out low and breathless, the riot of sensation racing through her making it difficult to catch her breath. Biting back a moan at the feel of Leland’s warm lips moving on her neck, Glenna met Joe’s narrowed gaze, stiffening as he came around the front of the truck and moved closer.
“That’s the problem.” Leland breathed deeply, another deep groan rumbling from his chest. “You’re not doing a damned thing to attract my attention, but you do. Worst of all, you’re trying to ignore this chemistry between us, and pull away from me every chance you get, and it’s not only pissing me off, it’s making me crazy to have you.”
Glenna whirled to face him, her heart in her throat as she hastily stepped back. “Have me?”
Trying to ignore the rush of heat, she jolted when Joe moved to her side and slid a hand to her waist. “Look, I don’t know what kind of woman you think I am—”
“A clearly shaken one.” Sliding his hand to her lower back, Joe turned her and led her up the sidewalk to the front door. “You said that you work tomorrow. Where do you work?”
Distracted by the hot hand at her back, and the low intimacy in his deep voice, she fumbled with her keys, unable to get her hands to work properly. “I, um, work for a realtor.”
Taking the key back from him, Glenna stepped into the hallway, aware that they followed. “No. I work in the office. I type contracts and do a lot of paperwork. Hell, you sound like my sister.”
The air-conditioning felt good on her skin, and with a sigh, she kicked her shoes off and made her way to the kitchen.
Setting her purse on the counter, she dropped into the chair at the table—the chair she’d used all of her life. Sitting back, she waved a hand, trying not to think about eating her meals alone from now on. “As you can see, I’m fine. There’s no one here.”
“No there isn’t.”
She glanced up, frowning to see Joe sniffing the air. “Are you sniffing my house?”
He appeared momentarily disconcerted, something she would bet happened so rarely that the incidents could be counted on one hand.
Inordinately pleased to see a chink in his armor, Glenna sat back and propped her feet on another chair, intrigued.
He quickly recovered, glancing at Leland. “Why would I sniff your house? I want to check the house anyway, and make sure all the doors and windows are locked.”
He looked so formidable and serious that Glenna couldn’t help it.
She laughed.
“It’s five o’clock in the afternoon! I don’t need to be locked in for the night.”
Leland turned from inspecting the contents of the refrigerator. “You planning to go out? There isn’t much to eat in here.”
Glenna sighed as she remembered that she had to make a trip to the store soon. “There’s enough, and no, I’m not planning to go anywhere.” She could eat cereal or make herself a salad for tonight.
Disconcerted by the way they both stared at her, Glenna got to her feet. “I told you that my sister would be calling, and I don’t want to miss it. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d really like to be alone.”
* * * *
Joe fisted his hands at his sides to keep from reaching out to touch her. His cock throbbed with the need to sink into her. His fingers itched to slide his hands through hair that gleamed like silk. He wanted to stroke skin that he’d already discovered to be softer than velvet, and to learn—to memorize every delicious inch of her.
Drunk on the scent of her, he’d gotten careless around her, lifting his nose to the air to catch the scent of any intruder.
He couldn’t afford to be careless—ever but his fascination with her had caught him off-guard.
He wanted her so badly he ached—every muscle in his body tense with a hunger unlike anything he’d ever experienced. It had a primitive quality to it that made him uneasy, but there didn’t seem to be a damned thing he could do about it.
Not giving her a chance to react, he closed the distance between them, the need to stake his claim overriding everything else. Tensing even more at the alarm in her eyes, he bent to scoop her into his arms, and dropped into the chair she’d occupied, settling her on his lap.
He had to appease her—to make her unafraid of him, while at the same time making sure she knew how badly he wanted her.
He smiled at her soft cry of surprise, the way she grabbed his neck to hold on, satisfying something inside him that he didn’t fully understand.
“Joe!”
Her breathy cry sent a thrill through him, a punch to his senses that made him dizzy.
Sliding a hand into her thick, silky hair, he settled the other on her hip, wishing he touched naked flesh instead of soft cotton. “I agree with Leland. When you say my name, it’s like a stroke to my cock.”
Reminding himself that this was too important to mess up, he lowered his head slowly so as not to startle her. Savoring the moment, he closed his eyes, breathing in the intoxicating scent of her. “I love the way you feel in my arms—as if you were made for me.”
Sucked in by the hesitant desire in her eyes, he pressed his advantage and lowered his head a little more, getting closer and closer to the most delectable woman he’d ever met. “I’m sure you think that’s just a line, and that I treat every woman I meet this way. I don’t. There’s something about you that I just can’t resist. Don’t be scared. I just want a little taste.”
God, he wanted her.
The hitch in her breath only made him want her more.
“Joe, I don’t even know you.”
Clenching his hand on her hip, he lifted her closer, a low growl escaping when Leland took the seat on the other side of her. “That’s what I’ve been telling myself ever since I first laid eyes on you. It doesn’t seem to matter.” Running his thumb over her hip, he smiled in pure pleasure as her scent wrapped around him. The feel of her breath against his lips stirred something savage inside him—swirling both the possessiveness and hunger into something much stronger than each.
It made his head spin, and his heart pound faster.
His chest swelled with a combination of pride, excitement, and anticipation, and he couldn’t wait to taste her. “Don’t get alarmed. I won’t hurt your lip. I just can’t resist having a taste.”
With a gentleness he hadn’t known himself capable of, he brushed her lips with his, his hands clenching at the shock to his system.
Stunned at the jolt of heat, a jolt that went all the way through him, he lifted his head to stare down at her.
Her eyes, dark with need, widened in shock—proof that she felt it, too.
The small response from her hit him hard, filling him with a sense of purpose and protectiveness that no other woman had ever inspired in him.
It was basic. Primal.
At that moment, he realized that he’d kill to have her.
Careful not to hurt her lip, he bent his head again, taking her mouth with his.
He savored the taste of her.
The feel of her.
The low sounds of pleasure that poured from her.
The scent of her wrapped around him and pulled him in even deeper.
Not wanting to startle or scare her, he inched the hand at her hip higher to her waist, the need to go slowly nearly killing him.
Deepening his kiss, he forced her lips wider with a gentle brush of his and used his tongue to explore the dark, sweet recesses of her mouth.
Tangling his tongue with hers, he led her on a slow, erotic dance, one that tightened his body and made his cock swell even more. Sliding his hand higher, he teased the underside of her full breast with his thumb, her pleasure-filled cry forcing a sound from him—a sound he’d never made before.
A sound closely resembling a purr.
He slid his thumb lightly over her nipple, swallowing her cry of pleasure and enticing her to give him more.
He didn’t want her to think.
He didn’t want to think.
She gripped his hair, pulling him closer, even as she arched, pressing her breast more firmly into his hand.
He swallowed her moan of surrender—the taste of it sweet against his tongue.
The beast in him roared.
Lifting his head slightly, he nuzzled her jaw, and slowly began to unbutton the buttons at the front of her dress, his palm itching to feel her beaded nipple against it. “You’re so beautiful. So sweet.”
Surprised that his hand trembled, he lifted his head again and looked down her body, stunned to find Leland moving his hand higher and higher on her thigh.
He was even more stunned to see his friend’s eyes.
Leland met Joe’s warning look with a growl, one that quickly lowered to a soothing hum that sounded almost identical to the purring sound that he’d made. “So sweet. So soft.”
The slight change in Glenna’s breathing had him shifting his attention back to her again as he unbuttoned another button and slid his hand inside. Searching her eyes for hesitancy or any sign of discomfort, he caressed her and smiled, humbled by the need and trust shining in them.
“I want you more than I’ve ever wanted an
ything in my life.”
Covering her mouth with his, he poured himself into his kiss, letting himself go in a way he’d never done before.
No pretense.
No practiced moves.
Just the need to lose himself in Glenna’s softness.
Her firm breast felt like velvet against his palm, and urged on by the catch in her breath, he ran it back and forth over her beaded nipple. Feasting on her soft cries of pleasure, he pulled her closer, aching with need.
More than need.
Stronger than hunger.
A primitive desperation that wouldn’t be denied.
Swallowing a growl, he kept his caress light and nonthreatening, forcing himself to move slowly.
Nothing had ever been as important as winning Glenna’s trust.
Focusing his attention on her nipple, he stiffened at the unmistakable sound of ripping material.
Sliding one hand up and down her thigh, Leland tossed her ripped panties aside, the look on his face as he stared down at her that of a starving man with a feast laid out before him.
His features appeared to be carved in stone, his eyes glittering with hunger. His voice, though, remained as soft and low.
“I know, little one. Let me put my mouth on you and I’ll make it all better. Nothing else. Just your pleasure. I promise.”
“Oh, God. It feels so good. Amazing.”
Joe smiled at the breathlessness in her voice, and at the way she parted her thighs and pushed her breast more firmly against his hand.
Delighted at the pleasure in her eyes—eyes that shimmered and had darkened to a deep turquoise—Joe brushed his lips over hers, marveling at their sweetness. “You’re like a delicious piece of candy, one we want to gobble up, but we’ve promised ourselves—and you—that we’ll just have a taste.”