Leaf, Erin M. - Tango Trio [Dream Marked 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (5 page)

* * * *

When she came to, Tessa was lying down. “What happened?” she croaked, trying to sit up. She looked around, frowning as she tried to figure out where she was. Someone’s living room. She sat on a dark leather sofa, facing a wall of bookcases. There was a door on the left. Was that the door to the ballroom? She must be in Jared’s living space. She glanced around again, spotting a kitchen decorated in dark woods behind a heavy granite island. She closed her eyes. Her limbs felt heavy, and she sensed the arousal still lurking in her body. “God, my head hurts.” She let strong hands push her back down.

“Relax, sweetheart. Just stay down,” Jared said.

“Where the hell am I?” she asked, disoriented. She relaxed when Parker’s face swam into view.

“You’re on Jared’s couch,” Parker said, his voice soothing. “It’s okay.”

Tessa snorted. “It’s okay? Yeah right. I feel like a fucking truck just ran me over.” She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. “My head is still killing me.”

Jared smiled sympathetically. “If it’s any consolation, so is mine.” Tessa knew he was telling the truth. If she
reached
, somehow using her mind to touch theirs, she could feel his discomfort as if it was her own. She wasn’t sure quite what she was doing, and since it made her head throb even more, she pulled back. The two men relaxed minutely when she did so.
Interesting
.

“Yeah, exactly so,” Jared said in response to her mental grimace. “Like I said before, we’re bonding.”

“How is that possible?” Tessa asked, feeling all the fears she had about abandonment rush back. Her heart sped up. “There’s three of us!” She sat up, ignoring the way her head spun. No way was she going to take this lying down.

“Tessa, easy.” Parker cupped her shoulders, helping her sit. “You know I would never leave you.” He settled down on the sofa with her and cradled one of her hands. Just feeling him touching her skin soothed her, though she noticed that Jared looked pained until he sat on Parker’s other side, clasping her friend’s free hand. Tessa immediately felt better, her headache subsiding, though the feel of their mental signature increased. They felt strong and masculine in a way she couldn’t have predicted. She closed her eyes and forced herself to relax, concentrating on the way they smelled, the musk of their bodies rising up around her. Then the arousal flared again, and both men stiffened. Tessa’s eyes flew open to see Parker staring at her breasts. Her nipples were peaked and clearly visible through the thin cotton of her tank top.

Guess I should’ve worn a bra today.
She
pursed
her lips in annoyance as she felt Jared grin. She glanced at him to find his pale green eyes were crinkled at the corners, showing his amusement, though he remained silent. She frowned at him.

“Ah, Tessa, I like you feisty,” he said, looking meaningfully at her boobs. She resisted the urge to cross her arms and rolled her eyes instead.

“How can three people bond?” she asked again.

“Didn’t you hear about Duncan Green? He bonded with his best friend and manager, Jake Mackenzie, when they met a woman they both liked. It was the first three-way bond documented. From what I’ve read about them, they’re very happy. It seems to work.”

Tessa blinked. “Duncan, the gorgeous singer?”

Jared nodded as Parker huffed then cleared his throat. She could tell he was slightly irritated by her description of Duncan.

“So you think that we’re bonding like them?” Parker asked.

Jared nodded again. Parker frowned. “I don’t know how this is possible. I’m not gay.”

Tessa wondered about this herself but noticed that Parker made no effort to extract his hand from Jared’s.

“I don’t think it matters,” Jared said.

“Doesn’t it bother you?” Parker asked, more insistently.

Jared shook his head. “I’ve always been bi.”

Parker stared at Jared’s face, his eyes lingering on the other man’s lips, then his gaze dropped to their clasped hands. “I always considered myself straight.” He looked up. “Yeah, I’ve sometimes had stray thoughts here and there—oh that guy’s attractive or whatever—but I’ve never seriously considered that I might be sexually flexible.” He cleared his throat. “In that way.”

“Well, it’s not like I’m going to jump you, Parker,” Jared said, his voice low. Tessa wrinkled her brow as she caught a whiff of hurt from him.

Parker was shaking his head then he laughed. “Yeah, I’m not worried about you jumping me. I’m worried about me jumping
you
.” Jared stared at Parker, and Tessa felt the arousal among the three of them flare again.

“Shit,” Jared whispered, and then Parker swiveled his head to look at Tessa.

“And you, I won’t even try to describe how badly I want you, Tessa.”

Tessa’s mouth went dry, and Parker growled, the sound making the hair on the back of her neck rise. Suddenly she found herself in Parker’s lap. He leaned in and opened his mouth. Their tongues touched. Tessa shuddered and licked inside, teasing him until she felt Jared’s hand slip into the top of her dress. She froze, trying to decide whether to freak out. Jared’s desperation swept over her, and she caved. She pulled back, sucking on Parker’s lip and allowing Jared to cup one of her breasts. The tip of her nipple strained as he rubbed it, and she groaned, growing slick as her clit throbbed in time with his movements. Her panties were wet, for sure. Abruptly Jared pulled back, ignoring Parker’s grunt of protest.

“Shit. I’ve still got the class in the ballroom.” Jared glanced at the clock. “And it’s been at least fifteen minutes since I called a break.”

Tessa grimaced. “I don’t know if I can go back out there.” Her gaze dropped to her arms where the darkening patches of what would be her bonding tattoos throbbed. “My arms are sensitive, and my head hurts. And I’m afraid to let go of you.” She tightened her fingers around Parker’s bicep then did the same to Jared where she still hung onto his arm. She could hardly believe she’d managed to climb into Parker’s lap while still hanging on to Jared.
God, this is so weird
. She shifted her position, but all her embarrassment fled when her pussy suddenly made contact with Parker’s rock-hard erection. The only things keeping them apart were her thin panties and his jeans. She gasped, and Jared closed his eyes, swaying closer.

“Oh my God,” Parker breathed then bucked up, grinding his cock against her core. Tessa rode the movement, clenching her thighs around his.
Holy shit, I’m about to orgasm!
In shock, she ripped away from Parker and Jared. She made it to her feet then stumbled back, landing on Jared’s coffee table. She sat down, panting heavily through the pain. When it receded to a dull throb, she looked up to see Parker and Jared similarly incapacitated.

“I’ve gotta cancel the class,” Jared said, his voice hoarse. “There’s no way I can teach like this.” He gestured to himself. Tessa stared at the thick outline of his dick pressing against the placket of his pants.

“How are you going to go out there like that?” she asked.

Jared pinched his nose then breathed hard. “Just a sec.” Tessa watched as he straightened up, breathing deeply. He stood up, shoulders hunched. Tessa bit her lip as she watched him struggle, his back to her and Parker. Abruptly, he chuckled. “Yeah, okay, breathing exercises do
not
help. I can smell you both. I’m going to the bathroom where I will dunk my head under cold water for a minute. Then I’m going to dismiss the class.” He turned around and looked hard at Parker and Tessa. “Don’t either of you move.” Then Jared spun on his heel and strode out of the room.

Tessa gasped as the pain in her head grew worse the farther away he went. When Parker groaned under his breath, Tessa turned, knowing he felt as bad as she did. He sat on the couch with his arms crossed over his chest, shoulders tight. She made a move to touch him—
surely that would help
—but he shied away.

“Oh my God, no. Don’t touch me. I don’t know what will happen if you do.” His voice was strained, and Tessa nodded. “And think about Jared. He’s in this with us, too. If you touch me—” Parker broke off to look up at her. His eyes were wet, and she sucked in a breath. She hadn’t seen him cry since his brother and her husband were reported missing all those years ago.

“Parker—” Tessa reached out again. Everything in her screamed to touch him, stroke him, soothe his hurt. In her head she could feel Jared cursing them both, and she winced, pulling back. “Okay, okay, I get it.”

Parker nodded and sat back, flexing his fingers. Tessa wondered if it helped. She gazed at him, and then eyed Jared’s throw pillows. Nah. Instinctively she knew that clutching a few small pieces of stuffed fabric wasn’t going to do much to help the situation. Parker smiled as he caught the edge of her thoughts. She studied his arms. His tattoos were growing clearer. She lifted her hands and rested them on her knees, forearms up. The tattoos were almost clear enough to make out. She had a sudden urge to rub the marks all over her men and shivered.

Tessa!
Jared thought at her, and she jumped, startled. Did he send her a telepathic message?

“Yeah, and I caught it, too,” Parker said. “So get a grip on yourself. Think about, oh I don’t know, baby seals or something. Just make sure it’s unsexy.”

Tessa stuck her tongue out at him, disgruntled. Baby seals? When she looked up, his eyes were riveted on her mouth.

“Showing me your tongue did not help,” Parker said grimly. Tessa winced and looked away, trying to think neutral thoughts. She felt Jared out in the ballroom, making their excuses. She caught a few words—“sick…very sorry…free lessons”—before she realized that just concentrating that hard on Jared was making the attraction worse.
What the hell are we going to do? We can’t function like this.

“I think it’ll ease up a bit once we complete the bond.” Jared walked back into the room.

“We hardly know each other,” Parker said. He looked suddenly exhausted.

Tessa made an abortive movement towards him then let her hand fall.
Once I touch either of them again, that’s it. Time’s up. Fuck.
She knew in her bones that they wouldn’t be able to stop themselves.
Briefly
her thoughts flashed to her dreams. Visions of the men naked and aroused drifted across her mind. When she opened her eyes, Jared was palming his cock through his pants. He stared at her, pained.

“Tessa, seriously. If you don’t want me to rip your clothes off right the fuck now, you have got to stop that,” he said.

Parker snorted. “Trying to keep Tessa from doing what she wants is impossible.” He grinned at her, and Tessa could suddenly see the remnants of the good-natured friend peeking beneath the masculine aggressiveness.

“Okay,” Jared said, dropping down on the end of the couch, careful not to touch either of them. “Maybe we should get acquainted. We know we can’t stop what’s going to happen, but we can sure as hell go into it with our eyes open.”

Parker nodded. “I’m sorry I seem so uncomfortable, but I’m really freaked out that I’m attracted to you,” he said to Jared. The dance teacher just nodded understandingly. Parker then looked apologetically at Tessa. “You, I’m used to wanting. Another guy?” He cocked his head. “Not so much.”

Tessa blinked. “What do you mean, you’re used to wanting me?”

“Tessa, I’ve been attracted to you since I was fifteen.” Parker grinned at her astonishment. “You’re gorgeous.” She stared at him, shocked.

Jared laughed. “You had no idea?”

Tessa shook her head. “I guess I’ve always just looked at Parker as a friend. I mean, you were too young for me when we met, and that’s the box I put you in.” She reached out to him, forgetting, then let her hand drop as Jared shook his finger at her. She sighed in exasperation.

“Darling, that was over ten years ago. I’m kinda grown up now.” Parker rolled his eyes.

Tessa let her eyes roam over his muscled body. She couldn’t argue with him on that point.

“Well, I don’t really know either of you, let alone how you met. Would you mind filling in some of the details?” Jared asked.

Tessa settled herself farther back on the coffee table, leaning on her hands so she wouldn’t try and touch them again. “Parker was the younger brother of my husband’s best friend.”

Jared interrupted, looking appalled. “You’re married?”

“No, not anymore.” Tessa assured him. “My husband and his best friend, Billy, Parker’s brother, were killed on 9/11. They both worked as investment bankers in the World Trade Center.” She felt a pang of grief at the memory. “We’d only been married a few months.”

Jared looked sad. “I’m so sorry, for both of you.”

Parker shrugged but couldn’t hide the pain in his eyes. “It happened a long time ago.”

“Still, that was a horrible day.” Jared slumped in his corner of the couch.

“It’s okay,” Tessa said, hating to see him look so sad.

Jared smiled at her. “I want to touch you so bad, make you feel better. I can feel your sorrow, here.” He put a closed fist over his heart.

“The sooner you tell us a little about yourself, the sooner we can touch,” Tessa said.

Jared nodded. “As you can see, I’m a dancer.” He swept his hand out over the living space. He had bookshelves near the windows with some trophies. A number of dance plaques were on the wall leading to the studio. “Long story short, I started dancing, against my father’s wishes, when I was thirteen. Because I didn’t want to starve, I joined the military out of high school, then went to college. After that, I danced competitively until an injury forced me to stop six years ago. I became a teacher. That’s basically it.”