Desiree Holt - Caught in the Middle

“You’re certain you would be able tell if she was unwilling?” Stafford asked.

“Can’t you tell?” Hayden asked, tilting his head on the side as he studied him.

Not with blood lust making him lightheaded with need. Not with the damn wolf in the room clouding his thoughts and making it so much harder for him to focus in on the woman. He couldn’t speak softly to her and read her body language the way he normally would, not without showing weakness before the other man-and that wasn’t going to happen.

It was bad enough to have to ask the man once. He would cheerfully be damned before he gave him the satisfaction of repeating the question.

“I am sure,” Hayden finally said. “I can smell it in her scent.”

Stafford nodded that he had heard, then he stood very still, determined not to show any sign of uncertainty. “ If we are going to do this, we need to set some ground rules.”

“Why?”

“Because the only reason I’m resisting the temptation to kill you right now is because I don’t want your corpse hanging from my arm until the council stop playing these stupid bloody games and let us out of the room.”

Hayden seemed to consider the possibility that Stafford would mount an attack on him for several long seconds before he shrugged the idea aside. “Werewolves are not easily killed. Perhaps I am the one who will be left with a corpse attached to his wrist.”

“We need to set the rules,” Stafford repeated firmly.

“Werewolves do not follow rules.”

“Well, you’re going to have to learn pretty bloody quickly if you want this to happen,” Stafford snapped.

“There is a natural order,” Hayden said. “Rules are not necessary when everyone in the pack knows his place in the order.”

“Fine,” Stafford bit out. “Your natural place in the order is after me. I want the girl first.”

Hayden looked back at her over his shoulder. He seemed to consider the matter very carefully, putting more thought into the matter than Stafford would have believed a wolf capable of. Then he nodded. “Yes.”

Stafford waited, but the word seemed to be the beginning and the end of the answer. He tried to switch mental tracks. The long and difficult battle he’d expected to fight before finally gaining privilege of laying with Jasmine first wasn’t happening and for a full minute he couldn’t think of anything to say.

Finally he kicked his brain into action. “You have no objection?”

Hayden shook his head. “Why would I?” he asked.

Stafford cast a suspicious look at him. The werewolf returned it blankly.

“Very well,” Stafford said eventually. He looked at the cuffs around their wrists. There was only a certain amount of space he could put between them-at the very least, they would have to allow the pup onto the bed with them. There was no chance to obtain any privacy for Jasmine.

Privacy. Yes, Stafford told himself he wanted it, but he knew it was a lie. At least part of him wanted Hayden to see him with Jasmine. He wanted to make it quite clear to the wolf that the woman was his. There really was no better way to do so than let him watch and see the evidence for himself.

Pushing that aside as best he could, Stafford turned away from Hayden and walked back across the room to Jasmine.

As he reached her, he held out his hand. Jasmine hesitated, but rose to her feet, placing her hand delicately in his. With his one hand trapped alongside Hayden’s, it was practically useless. He had to let go of Jasmine’s hand before he could brush her hair back to reveal her throat.

“You know how vampires feed?” he asked her.

She nodded.

Stafford tucked her hair back behind her ear, completely exposing her neck. There was no mark where a vampire had fed from her before. Against all his expectations, she was truly fresh blood.

“The bite does not hurt,” he told her. “Most women find it very pleasurable.”

“Yes, sir,” she whispered.

Stafford leaned in and kissed her neck, very gently. An expectant shiver ran through her body. He smiled against her skin and trailed his lips over her neck. Hayden was right, she wanted this, and she wanted the bite too. He could always tell once he was close enough to feel the tremors of building desire running though a woman’s body. Her breaths sped up. Her muscles tensed. She was waiting for it now, waiting rather impatiently if he was any judge.

Stafford trailed his lips back to her mouth. The first kiss was important. A brief brush of lips to start with-just a little something to tell her what was to come, to make her crave a real kiss. By the time he allowed her the real kiss she was leaning eagerly into his touch. She whimpered as he finally slid his tongue between her lips and tasted her properly.

He opened his eyes as he broke the kiss, so he could guide her backwards onto the mattress. As she lowered herself onto the edge of the bed, he pushed his clothes off, dropping them onto the floor around his feet. There was nothing that could be done with his shirt except to rip the sleeve so it could be torn from the handcuffs. He tossed the ruined garment away as he joined Jasmine on the bed.

Hayden got onto the bed next to them, and settled himself comfortably, watching them both with obvious curiosity. The damn werewolf had no sense of decency. Stafford tried to turn his attention away from the man, but he was just there , just watching him.

“Do you have to stare like that?” he demanded.

The wolf rested his elbow on his knee. “Why shouldn’t I watch you?” Hayden asked. “Jasmine is very beautiful. I will enjoy watching her pleasure. Don’t vampires like to watch too?”

Stafford frowned across at him, but he was damned if he would waste any more of his time with him when Jasmine was so ready to offer him her body and her blood.

“Just try to ignore him,” he told her. Leaning close in to her, he whispered in her ear. “He is not important. Pretend it is just you and me.”

She nodded and he guided her to lie back on the bed. Leaning over her, he kissed her again, trailing his kisses over her neck once more. She relaxed back so easily for him. “So beautiful,” he whispered. “A vision of Aphrodite.”

“Who’s she?”

Stafford looked over his shoulder at Hayden. “What?”

“Aphrodite, who is she?”

“It’s not polite to interrupt people when they are having sex,” Stafford said through gritted teeth.

“It’s not polite to call one woman by another woman’s name during sex either. You’re going to end up getting slapped if you make a habit of it.”

“Aphrodite was the Greek goddess of beauty,” Stafford said and pointedly turned his back on the other man to look down at her. She didn’t lift her eyes and meet his gaze. If Hayden had upset her, he was going wring the wolf’s neck right then and be done with it.

Brushing his lips against hers, he whispered, “He’s an idiot, but he’s harmless.”

She nodded and leaned up for another kiss. At that moment he was sure there could have been an auditorium full of people watching them, and all she would have registered was their lips brushing together.

He moved his right hand to touch her, but the cuffs rattled-he wasn’t going to have Hayden’s hands anywhere near her if he could help it. It was far better to leave his own right hand out of the equation and make do with his left.

Shifting on the mattress to free his other hand, Stafford trailed his fingers down her neck and to her breast. Her nipple peaked eagerly under his touch, pleading for his attention. He allowed his attentions to linger there for several minutes as he manipulated the nerve endings with practised ease.

Jasmine whimpered her frustration, arching her back to push her breast into his hand. He studied each reaction before he trailed his fingers further down her body, caressing her skin every inch of the way. She spread her legs for him, quickly inviting him to slide his fingers down between her thighs and Stafford was not about to refuse such a generous invitation. She moaned her appreciation as he slid his fingers against her slit and up to her clit to tease the tiny swollen bud, his fingers slicked with her moisture so they slid perfectly against her.