I bit my lip, sure that wasn’t what I wanted, but trying to respect his boundaries and the fact Heath was in the room as well. Now wasn’t the time or place for any sort of dirty sexy fun, so I nodded and shifted onto my back. I entwined my fingers between his, though, and he mirrored my position. A quick glance at Heath showed he stared at the ceiling, too.
I closed my eyes and tried to sleep, but the minutes ticked by. Outside, the occasional car passed, the engine distracting me from the distant wail of the prison siren. When blue and red lights flashed on the street, I tensed, ready to leap out of bed and run, but each time they eventually passed, and I went back to staring at the ceiling, exhausted but unable to switch off. The longer I lay there, the worse it got. I twisted and turned, wrestling with my thoughts, and a growing anxiety that refused to ease up, no matter how much I told myself to just go to sleep.
Eventually, Liam got up on one elbow, peering at me in the darkness. “Are you okay?”
I forced a nod. “I’m fine.” But on the inside, I was hysterical. What the hell had we done? I glanced between the two men, eyes wide, and then clapped a hand over my mouth as the emotion tried to burst its way free. I didn’t want to let it, because I wasn’t sure if it was going to come out in tears or laughter.
“Fucking hell, Mae. No, you’re not!”
Heath instantly sat up, too, and switched on an old bedside lamp that was shaped like a baseball. It let off a dull white light, but it was enough to see each other by.
I knew what they were seeing when they looked at me. Eyes wide, chest heaving. The beginnings of a full-blown panic attack bearing down on me until my chest was so constricted I was convinced I couldn’t breathe. There were so many things I was scared of I could barely keep count anymore.
Liam pulled me into his arms, but it wasn’t enough to keep the shakes at bay. Heath watched the two of us for a long moment, then he swore softly beneath his breath and pushed to his feet. I had my back to him, but it was clear from the dragging and squeaking noises that he was rearranging the furniture, bringing his bed closer to the one I shared with Liam. When the two beds were lined up perfectly, he climbed beneath the sheets once more and fitted himself to my back. Sandwiched between the two big men, their skin warm against mine and their breaths regulating my own, I finally found the off button to my brain. Their touch shut me down hard, each muscle relaxing beneath nonsexual, featherlight strokes of their fingertips and mumbled nonsensical words from their lips.
I practically purred between them, more content than I’d felt all day, but the urge to sleep was still missing. I watched Liam in the dim light of the baseball lamp, and he watched me. It was a soul-deep connection that had gone missing for a little bit, only to be found once more. He lowered his head, brushing his lips over mine, and I returned the kiss, needing it more than he did.
His mouth opened, and I explored him with my tongue, meeting him stroke for stroke and refamiliarizing myself with his taste.
God, that taste was good. My lips fell off his, kissing my way along his jaw, darting my tongue out to take little licks of his skin. He moved his head slightly, giving me better access and letting me kiss a path to his ear. I bit softly at the lobe because I knew it turned him on.
He groaned quietly. “Mae…stop.”
It was the most lackluster stop I’d ever heard. But I paused anyway.
His eyelids fluttered open. “Yeah, okay. Don’t stop. That felt great.”
Heath chuckled from behind, the deep rumbling sound vibrating through me. I went back to kissing and sucking Liam’s ear and neck while Heath’s arm, banded around my middle, tightened in a possessive grip. His erection pressed to my ass, his knees tucked to the back of mine, spooning me.
I ghosted fingertips along the ridged bumps of Liam’s ab muscles, delighting in the goosebumps I elicited in their wake. The pure raw pain in his expression was still burned in my memory, and I was reminded of it again when I grazed the cuts on his knuckles and he quickly pulled away.
“Did I hurt you?” I whispered.
“No. Never.”
Liam’s pain was on the inside, in places I couldn’t see to heal. But I was going to try anyway. I kissed him over and over, each lick of my tongue, each press of my lips, reminding him I was here. “I love you. Today didn’t change that.”
He stilled and then let out a shuddering breath filled with relief. “I…I needed that.”
“I still love you, too, Liam,” Heath spoke up from behind me. “Even though you got me death row…”
I elbowed him sharply to the midsection, and he grunted.
But Liam let out a snigger, the mood lightening. “If you’re just saying that so I’ll give you a handy while Mae’s are otherwise occupied, you wasted your compliment.”
Heat burned behind my cheeks, but Heath laughed. “Duly noted. You’re not really my type either.”
“What’s Rowe got that I don’t?” Liam asked, mock insulted.
“A ten-inch cock?”
Liam laughed. “Fair call. I’ve seen that thing. It is stupidly sized.”
“Try having it in your mouth.”
Liam pushed up on one elbow to look over me at Heath. “You went there?”
Heath shrugged, and Liam lay back down, a small smile playing around his lips. It was Heath’s turn to push up to stare at him. “What’s the smug look for?”
I knew. “Liam’s a perv.” A smile played around my lips. “He likes to watch.”
“No shit?”
“No shit. Her more than you two. But in a pinch, I ain’t picky.” He winked at me.
Heath settled back in behind me, pressing his lips to the back of my neck once more. I sighed in contentment, wriggling back against him. His fingers splayed out across my belly, dancing dangerously close to the elastic of my panties. I wriggled a little more, trying to nudge his fingers in the right direction.
Heath nuzzled into my hair and whispered in my ear, his warm breath lifting the long blonde strands. “I want to give him something to watch.”
The heat from my cheeks rushed lower, beading my nipples and pooling at my core.