STORY EXCERPT

After disconnecting, he tossed his phone aside and gathered her closer. “There. Your car will be taken care of. Nothing’s going to happen to it, or anything inside. Ryder will make sure it’s locked up good and tight. Hell, it’ll probably even run better by the time you get back to it.”

She leaned heavily against him, no longer possessing the energy to lift her head. Opening her eyes, she looked straight into the hard, cold eyes of the other man, who kept glancing at her as he drove. “Thank you for helping me.”

The man driving nodded once, reaching out to her, but pulled her hand back at the last second. “You’re welcome. What’s your name?”

“Emma.” She gasped at another stab of pain, curling into a tighter ball against the man holding her. Surprised at the firmness of muscle surrounding her, she shifted carefully, struggling to get into the most comfortable position she could manage.

A muscle worked in his jaw, his eyes gentling. “Hold on, Emma. We’re almost there. I’m Remington Ross, and my brother, Hunter, is holding you.”

She whimpered again, the pain unbearable. “It hurts. I never knew anything could hurt this much. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

“Easy, honey.” Hunter pushed her damp hair back from her face, his touch gentle. “Just a few minutes more. We’re almost there. Hang on, honey. How long have you been in pain?”

“On and off a little since this morning, but the real pain started a little over an hour ago. Thought it was just a stomach ache. Thought I could make it to Desire.”

Hunter stiffened, sharing a look with his brother before staring down at her again. “Do you know someone in Desire, someone we should call?”

She didn’t know why he seemed so tense and was in too much pain to care. “No. I liked the name of the town and decided to make it my next stop. Oh God!”

Hunter rubbed her back, helping her into a more comfortable position.

He’d never felt so helpless. “Is there someone you need me to call? Any family you need me to contact?”

The possibility of a man in Desire waiting for her tightened his gut.

Shaking her head, she moaned again and gripped him tighter. “No. I’m on my own. I’m sorry to be such a burden to you. I can’t tell you how happy I am that you stopped.”

“You’re no trouble at all. I’m just glad we went by when we did.”

“Oh God.” She paled even more, something he hadn’t thought possible. “How much farther?”

“Easy, honey.” Remington made a sharp turn, pushing her deeper into Hunter’s embrace. “We’re here.” He slammed on the brakes, bringing the car to a squealing stop outside the emergency room doors. “Take her inside. I’ll park the truck and be right there.”

Holding her tightly against him, Hunter leapt from the truck and rushed through the hospital doors, his expression fierce. “I’ve got you. Hang in there, Emma. You’re doing so good.”

Through the whirlwind of activity that followed, she was constantly aware of their presence.

Focusing on them—strangers she’d met only moments earlier—helped her deal with the fear and the pain that just kept growing.

Although neither man raised their voice, the steel in their tone was unmistakable.

Holding her in his arms, Hunter glared at the nurse. “Does she look like she can fill out forms? I told you everything I know. Get the rest of it later.”

Despite their obvious impatience, at least one of them was constantly by her side, talking to her in low, soothing tones.

Half the time she didn’t know what they said, but just their strong presence gave her a sense of security she desperately appreciated.

Their no-nonsense attitudes as they barked out orders and demands to see Dr. Hansen distracted her and eased some of her anxiety.

Secure in the knowledge that they would take care of everything, she blocked out everything except them.

 Through the fog of pain surrounding her, she focused on Remington, who kept her hand in his as she rode on a gurney down a long hallway.

When she was pushed into a room, a brief battle ensued between Hunter and the nurses.

The relief of having someone on her side brought tears to her eyes.

Finally, the Dr. Hansen they’d been asking for arrived and said something to them under his breath, somehow convincing them to leave the room.

The kindly older doctor poked and prodded her while a nurse gave her sympathetic smiles and asked what seemed liked hundreds of questions.

She found herself wheeled down another hallway for tests, had blood drawn, and before she knew it, was being told that she had to have immediate surgery.

Her hand shook as she signed the consent form on the clipboard the nurse held for her, and scared and in pain, she gripped the nurse’s hand before she could move away.

“Are those two men who brought me in still here?”

The nurse smiled. “Honey, it’s taking everything we can do to keep them from beating down the door. They haven’t been more than twenty feet away from you since they brought you in. Only Dr. Hansen’s able to keep them at bay because he’s keeping them informed. They know you’re going to have an emergency appendectomy.”

“Okay.” She wished she could see them before she went into surgery.

Reminding herself they were strangers, she nodded. “In case I don’t see them again, would you please thank them for bringing me here and staying with me?”

Patting her hand, the nurse grinned. “Oh, honey, something tells me you haven’t seen the last of those two.”

ADULT EXCERPT

Hunter surprised her by leaning over her and taking her mouth in a deep kiss filled with possession and a tenderness she hadn’t expected. Lifting his head, he cupped her jaw, his cock hard against her belly. “No. You’re not, but I can’t blame you. You’re giving me more than I deserve—or expected.”

Surprising her further, he slid down her body, touching his lips to her scar. “Just be still. I’ll give you what you need.”

“I need you.” The need to have him and Remington in her life grew stronger every day, their masculinity and strength an intoxicating combination.

After a long pause, Hunter stiffened and straightened. “I know what you need better than you do. Be still so I can inspect your pussy.”

She heard a groan coming from her left and felt Remington’s fingertips on the underside of her breast, carefully avoiding her nipple. Imagining him watching what Hunter did to her, she turned toward him, crying out at the feel of Hunter’s firm finger thrusting into her pussy. “Oh God!”

“Nice and wet. Remington and I are going to keep you this way all the time. Wet and needy.”

“I’ll die!”

“No you won’t.” Pressing his finger against her inner walls, he used the fingers of his other hand to hold her folds open. “She’s clenching hard. Exploring her is going to have to be done in small doses. She gets too aroused.”

Emma rocked her hips, her breath coming out in harsh gasps. “Of course I’m aroused. Your finger’s inside me!”

“Inside you where?”

Emma had never been one to talk dirty, even in the bedroom, but the strength of her need wiped away all embarrassment. “My pussy. Please. Move faster!” She tried to rock her hips harder, stunned when he slid his finger free. “No! Put it back, damn you!”

A slap on her inner thigh shocked her into immobility, the feel of her folds being parted wider sending the heat from Hunter’s slap straight to her clit. “Touch me, damn it!”

Her clit throbbed, aching so badly that she’d do anything for attention there. Trying to twist to rub her clit on Hunter’s leg, she groaned when he slapped her other thigh.

“Behave. You’re not getting attention there until you do what you’re told.”

“Please! What do I have to do?” Pumping her hips in the air, she thrashed her head from side to side.

“I already told you. Be still. Rem, hand me a condom.”

“I can’t stay still. I need to come.” Digging her heels into the bedding, she pumped her hips.

Remington chuckled from beside her. “It’s gonna be a hell of a lot of fun to tame her.”

Insulted, Emma stiffened, panicking when Hunter rose. “Tame me? Tame me?” Turning toward where she knew both of them stood, she kicked her legs, pleased when she managed to connect with a naked leg. “I’ll show you tame!”

The bed shifted again as Hunter moved between her thighs. “A hell of a lot of fun, but I’m afraid she’s too damned tempting.” Lifting her thighs to rest on his, he spread her folds again. “Look at how pretty she is. We’ll be able to see her better once she’s waxed.”

Emma cried out at the friction of a firm fingertip stroking her clit, jolting so hard that she knocked his finger free.

She was so close to coming she could taste it. “Please. Please. I need—”

“I know what you need, Emma. You’ve already been told that you’ll get it, but you have to behave.”

Hunter’s deep voice had lowered even more, the thread of satisfaction in it making her even more determined to please him.

A shiver of delight went through her when the head of his cock pressed against her pussy opening. “Yes!”

She moaned as his cock pressed deeper, the thick head like steel, forcing her inner walls to stretch to accommodate it. “Oh God! So good.”

“Yes. It is.” Holding her hips, he groaned, and with one smooth stroke, thrust into her, filling her completely. “Come for me.”

Her body responded immediately, obeying him without hesitation.

With Hunter’s cock held deep inside her, Emma sucked in a breath, her pussy clenching on him in hard spasms.

Every muscle in her body tightened, the slide of his thumb over her clit like liquid fire, sending her over in a hard rush of the most sublime pleasure she’d ever known.

Crying out her release, she gripped the scarf binding her wrists, every inch of her body alive with pinpricks of pleasure.

Just as her orgasm crested, Hunter began to move, fucking her in slow, smooth strokes, dragging out the pleasure until she thought she would die of it.

“You like that, do you?” His voice had taken on a jagged edge that rippled through her, his hands tightening on her hips as he began to thrust faster. “Keep coming. More. Yeah, that’s it.”

She couldn’t seem to stop, her cries accompanying each new wave of pleasure.

Rising to his knees, he released her hip and slid the scarf blindfolding her from her face.

Bracing an elbow on the mattress next to her, he bent to scrape his teeth over her nipple, his strokes slowing as if knowing just when her orgasm began to subside. “Now that we’ve taken the edge off, I can take some time to explore you.”