Twin Tempt_An MFM Menage Military Romance Page 6

  “You know what? I think I’m really good!”

  I almost want to laugh at that. “You think you are really good?” I repeat. “Are you usually really good?”

  She shrugs, taking a moment to widen her stance. Her hips sway slowly with music, not in a theatrical way, but in a way that shows me she is really living in her body right now. She is in the moment.

  The skinny bouncer appears right next to us, causing her to stiffen suspiciously.

  “You boys military?” he says with a knowing grin. “I knew you would appreciate what we got. Isn’t she something?”

  Cass swivels on his barstool and gives the guy an appraising glance. His eyes meet mine. The message is clear: this guy is trouble.

  “Just passing through,” I answer noncommittally.

  I sent her discomfort, her wariness now that the bouncer is here. She seems ready to move, depending on which way he goes. She is ready to make some kind of defensive maneuver.

  “How do you like our Tammy?” he continues, grinning shamelessly with a mouth that is only half full of teeth. “She is new. Think I should keep her?”

  Tammy. That’s her name? That doesn’t seem right.

  Tammy stretches a thin, unconvincing smile across her pretty mouth. If she was an animal, that would not be an inviting look.

  “Well, come on, girl!” the skinny man continues, his voice grating. “Why don’t you do something? Show them something! These guys came here for entertainment, am I right, boys?”

  He reaches out audaciously with both arms and claps each of us on our shoulders. He’s lucky Cass doesn’t turn around and tie him in a knot like a Red Vine just on principle.

  Cass unfolds a twenty-dollar bill on the table and slides it toward her, deliberately not looking the guy in the face. The woman squints at it, apparently not quite sure what to do with it.

  “What the hell is that for, just standing there looking pretty?” the skinny man cackles. “Well, take it, girl! You got a couple of generous gentlemen, here. Why don’t you give them a little something to invest in!”

  I see a flash of frustration cross her features. Impatience. Annoyance. The look of pleasure she had just moments ago seems to be fading quickly. I wish this guy would find someone else to annoy.

  But she is a trouper. She leans toward me slowly, her eyes eager and determined. I am frozen in my chair, wondering what will happen next. How close is she going to get? What is the rule for this kind of performance?

  To my utter surprise, she keeps coming. Slowly… Far too slowly... She reaches out and balances her hand on my thigh and leans in, her lips parting, her eyes closing. For a second there is only a few millimeters between us, her breath dancing over my lower lip, her eyes locked with mine.

  Then, suddenly, she kisses me. Her sweetness is an explosion in my mouth. Her lips are impossibly soft, practically vibrating over mine as the tiny triangle of her kitten tongue pokes sweetly against mine. It takes everything I have not to wrap my arms around her and crush her against me. She’s like food. She is like a meal I have hungered for. She is honey to a starving man.

  I force myself not to move. I force myself not to pull her onto my lap, though everything in my body wants me to do exactly that. The last shreds of caution and thoughtfulness somehow work together to keep me from doing what I want. But only barely.

  Too soon, she releases me from the kiss. I see her nostrils flare as she breathes in, smiling incredulously. Then to my utter shock, she leans across the other side of the table and kisses my brother. Just before she does, he glances at me in shock and amazement.

  But he does what I could not. As soon as her lips touch his, his arm circles her back, drawing her waist toward his, pulling her into the space between his open knees. Her hands skate over his shoulders and lock behind his neck as he kisses her back the way I wanted to kiss her back.

  For a moment, I forget where we are, surrounded by people... in this shitty bar. I forget, but then the skinny man makes me remember.

  “Yyyyyeaaaaahhhhhhh!” he brays, smacking me with his open palm.

  It is everything I can do to keep from pounding him into the floor. That is not what my training was for, I know, but right now I am working on animal instinct.

  “That is what I am talking about!” he yells out as the crowd begins to take notice.

  People begin to clap, to yell out encouragement. Cass and the woman don’t seem to hear anything. I fight the urge to join them.

  Finally she pulls back, staring deep into Cass’s eyes as she carefully separates from him. They have an instant connection. I can tell. A connection that is magnetic, that I should be part of. If there weren’t a table between us…

  Suddenly there is a crack at the far end of the room, the sound of wood on wood like a pool stick hitting the wall. The skinny man startles and rushes off, leaving the woman alone with us.

  For a few seconds we all look at each other, silently acknowledging that we have come to a fork in the road. We can separate here and go our individual ways. Or…

  “Tammy? That’s your name?” I hear myself say.

  I need to hear more. If not this, then something else. Anything. I just want to hear her voice again and know she is real. Curiosity opens up a void inside me. I want her to fall in.

  After another moment’s consideration she looks at me directly. I can see she has asked herself some kind of silent question, and also given herself some kind of answer.

  “Tammy,” she repeats. “Yes, that’s fine.”

  “Tammy is not your real name,” Cass adds.

  We all know it, but the question is so what? Does it matter? She can say she is anyone. It’s her prerogative.

  Another song starts, this one a grinding, sweaty shuffle, the kind of song you would hear way out in the country in a roadhouse shanty, under string lights on a night with a full moon. Tammy lets her head fall back and sways from side to side gently as if in a dream. Cass and I watch her, rapt, unable to turn away from this mysterious creature.

  Her hands float out from her sides, rising as her dance turns more sinuous, more determined. I’m not surprised when she wraps her fingers around the back of my neck, but I am surprised when she pulls me closer—and my brother along with me.

  As soon as I get a whiff of her I’m turned on. Her scent is overwhelming, snaking into my lizard brain, switching every circuit to go. Again, her lips are impossibly sweet. Her fingers dig at the back of my neck, pulling me forward, practically to falling. Her tongue flutters against my teeth, pushing my mouth open, dragging me past my last shreds of self-control.

  I want her. I’m going to have her. It may not make any sense at all, but she will be mine.

  Chapter 8

  Libby

  Once I got the movie going in my head, everything else came together. Yolanda and Terry pulled me off the floor to the ladies’ room, giggling and rolling their eyes.

  “Okay. Let’s see those undies,” Yolanda commanded me, pointing at my ripped jeans and T-shirt halter. “Mona said we’re supposed to get you to do the show, right? So let’s see what you’re working with.”

  “Yeah,” Terry giggled as she wiggled out of her striped dress, leaving only a sparkling catsuit underneath. “She said you are going to be great. We are definitely supposed to tell you that.”

  I admit, I was pissed at first. I felt like this whole set up had been a trick. She probably knew about Carson and had the whole thing arranged in advance. I felt like this was the kind of bait and switch my dad would find a million “I told you so’s” to tell me for the rest of my life.

  If he ever found out. Which absolutely could not happen.

  But then I remembered Mona’s last lines… This is a fantasy, right? Even if she tricked me into it, the whole situation was like a movie. Practically a dream come true. And every situation is based on the attitude you bring to it. That’s another thing my dad tells me. Attitude makes a difference.

  So I got down to my underwear and held my arms
out for inspection, pleased that Yolanda clucked her tongue in approval right before she pushed me out the door.

  “Just watch what we do,” she muttered as we reentered the dark bar through a cloud of artificial fog. “Don’t crowd me. Find your own table, but just look for some friendly faces and then strut your stuff until they give you money. Then move on. That’s all you gotta do.”

  It took a second. There was a hard fist of terror where my heart was supposed to be. I just stood there like a deer in headlights.

  Then I remembered the movie.

  Not the best video I ever watched… Kind of confusing, really. Definitely an amateur attempt. But the girl was like me: college age, blonde, nervously exposed around a bunch of strangers. It was a swim meet. Some kind of intramural competition. She was an alternate, found herself surrounded by the opposing team. As in all those movies, she took that nervous first step and then let nature take over. Nature always takes over, I guess.

  Yolanda and Terry moved out into the crowd, quickly becoming half invisible in the low light, though I could tell they were doing just as they said: looking for friendly faces. Trying to find someone to say hello, maybe give them a couple bucks, then move on.

  Just do it, I told myself. Attitude. Get some.

  Though my heart was pounding, I forced myself to stop, close my eyes, and listen to the music. Listen to anything, let it happen. Open my mind and find a way for nature to work its way through me.

  Okay, I talked myself into it. Now I think I’m ready. I open my eyes and look around the room with a new attitude.

  Yes, I am in my bra and panties. Yes, you may look at me. Yes, I am fabulous.

  My name is Tammy.

  Sweeping the room like a searchlight, I can see a path through the darkness. A few of these guys are definitely looking at me with interest, but then I see one in particular. One face, one steady and piercing gaze.

  Oh no, make that two.

  Just ahead, I sense something so perfect it is like I invented it. Two men staring at me who are so alike, they must be brothers. They might be twins. And yet, I feel something between us so strong it is like a tractor beam. The rest of the room disappears, and there is just a tunnel between us.

  Slowly I walk forward, measuring my success by the way their expressions change. Their eyes cover me in a shameless pattern of inspection. My belly. My breasts. My thighs. With each step, I feel it stronger.

  Nature takes over. Like a typhoon, like a tidal wave, I am swept along. I barely need to think in words. Everything is sensation and urge, a primal collection of directions that exist without language. I feel taller, stronger, curvier than before.

  I can feel the attraction between us, especially in the way they take in every move I make. Their animalistic stares seem practiced, but not predatory. Aware, intelligent, and profoundly real, they both gaze at me with a naked intensity that thrills me to my core.

  As I reach the first one, I dare to reach out and drag my fingers across his arm, then over his broad, thick shoulders. He skin reacts to me, with all the little hairs standing on end at my lightest touch. Electricity sizzles between us, sending bolts of energy up my arm.

  His brother is just the same, responding under my touch, frozen to his spot though I am very small, and he is enormous. It’s amazing. I have both of them, 100 percent of their attention, all of it for me. There has to be four hundred pounds of throbbing male flesh in front of me, and all I need to do is drag my pinky finger across it to get it to respond.

  The first one speaks to me, something like hello. He has a low, grumbly voice that seems to erupt from somewhere deep within his chest. It takes my breath away, and I almost can’t believe that I have to find words to communicate. We don’t need that. We don’t have to do that. This is something better. Something profound. Something ancient.

  It’s happening, really happening, but then…

  Ty.

  Dammit.

  I feel like I’ve been shot out of the air like a drone. Ty comes over and starts smacking these big guys on the arm with his yellowed, creepy hands. I just freeze, hoping that he will lose interest or something pretty quickly.

  But you know what, I do not even care.

  All I care about is the taste of this one’s mouth, the way he trembles as he holds back like a dam that’s just about to break. I can feel the surge of power behind his control as my lips find his, feel how close he is to breaking through. It’s all up to me. I can do what I like.

  Everything is a blur. I want this. I want the other one too. I reach forward and let my fingers slide over his shoulder, curling behind his neck and I feel the mirror image motion from him. He takes me by my waist, graceful and strong, and pulls me to him. He’s salty and hungry. I can taste it on his strong, thick tongue.

  My breath is gone. I have to hang on to him like an animal clinging to a tree trunk during a flood. He pulls me off my feet and I am helpless, caged in his massive arms, drawing breath from between his lips.

  It’s just like the movie. Back and forth I go between them, tugging them into position. I want one in front of me, and one behind. I want it so much that the thought blows away anything else that might be in my brain. No talking, no music, no bar, no lights… Just this mouth on mine, then the other mouth on mine. Just this dizzying flood of sweet and salt, with their hulking bodies getting closer.

  Now one is behind me, biting my shoulder while the other is kissing me breathless. We move all together like dancers, twisting, rocking in unison as we edge closer and closer to our inevitable union.

  Oh my God, it’s so perfect.

  It’s so…

  Yes…

  “What the fuck is this!”

  The bang startles me and I stumble, practically falling like I am falling out of a tree. The man whose arms are around me holds me firmly but sets me back on the ground. I didn’t really know I was off the ground, but now I am definitely back on it.

  The other man edges in front of me protectively, cutting Ty off from having a direct path.

  “You need to back up,” my protector informs him.

  Ty squares up, dragging the back of his hand underneath his nose in a vicious swipe. He sucks his teeth and bares his gums.

  “This!” he barks, pointing at the table. “You want to explain this?”

  Confused, trying to return to normal human function, I follow his finger to see what he is pointing at. It’s my ID, right there on the table. How did it get there? Then I realize he’s also holding my handbag in his other fist, shaking it vengefully.

  “Why do you have my purse?” I mumble, shaking my head.

  “Don’t you even start that with me, little lady!” Ty growls back. “This is you? This is yours?”

  I just shrug and move back a millimeter, grateful for the hulking military guard that I seem to have magically acquired. Happily, they seemed to have picked a side, and it is mine.

  “You can’t be going through my stuff,” I huff, but my voice isn’t 100 percent convincing.

  “You can’t be giving me a fake ID!” he snarls back. “You know how much trouble you could get in? Big trouble, that’s how much! Arrested! Maybe even jail!”

  I shrug one shoulder to buy some time. Can he be right? I don’t think so. I really wish Mona were here.

  Ty backs up and holds out his hands. “All right, show’s over, guys. Step away from the little lady.”

  My protectors don’t even glance at me. They just square up and make a wall, but I step around them. Ty offers them a smug nod as I hobble past obediently, suddenly embarrassed and feeling quite naked again.

  As soon as I am within reach, Ty circles his thumb and forefinger just over my elbow, pulling me back toward the kitchen. I follow, shocked and clumsy on these high heels. Everybody in the bar turns to watch as he drags me out of the bar and into the kitchen.

  “What are you doing!” I yell at him as we enter the kitchen.

  I don’t even feel it coming. And when it lands, it takes me a
full ten seconds to figure out what just happened. But I hear the sound—crack. I see the motion of his swinging arm. I watch the palm of his hand right before it hits me with a kind of distant curiosity.

  But I am suddenly half doubled over, my own hands cupping my cheek. I realize he just hit me. He just slapped me.

  My cheek burns, my eyes stinging with humiliating tears that I can’t control.

  “I knew you was trouble!” he hisses at me, bent over so he can yell right in my ear. “You’re gonna lie to me? Who the fuck do you think you are?”

  “Jesus, I’m sorry. It’s not a big deal…” I hear myself muttering, but the words sound blubbery and strange.

  “It’s a big deal if I say it’s a big deal!” he yells back and I feel his hands on my shoulders, his fingers digging in. It hurts for real this time. It feels like he’s trying to dislocate my shoulder with just his hands.

  “You’re gonna pay me back for this! You hear me? You owe me a debt now, little girl, and you are gonna do some real work for me, you hear me?”

  Shaking my head frantically, I try to pull away, try to get back to the door. But the moment I feel like I have some distance, I’m yanked back, hard, and realize he has a handful of my hair.

  The kitchen door swings open with a bang, and Ty jerks my head back hard. Through bleary eyes I see the two figures of my protectors burst through the doorway.

  “The fuck you doing here? Employees only!”

  “You’ll make an exception,” the first one says with a decisive, furious note in his voice.

  “The hell I will,” Ty announces. “This is a boss / employee situation. You guys need to get out of here.”

  “Not going to happen,” the other one informs him. He meets my eyes, searching my face. “Let’s go, Tammy.”

  “Ha!” Ty barks triumphantly, twisting his hand in my hair so that I wince and arch back into him even though I don’t want to. “You guys don’t even know who this is. Her name isn’t Tammy. She is nobody to you, okay? But to me… oh yeah. I can definitely make use of this one. So fuck off!”