STORY EXCERPT

Maverick finished putting away his knives and covered the piece he was working on with a towel. Then he grabbed his empty bottle to toss in the glass recycle bin in the house after locking up his shop. He needed a shower before he went anywhere. Normally he wouldn’t give a damn if he’d had one or not, but he felt grimy and didn’t want to feel that way all night. More than likely it would be hot in the bar with lots of people.

He grunted at that thought. People. He could do without all the people, but other than going to the pizza place you couldn’t get a good draft beer anywhere else. He didn’t want to go to the pizza place, so the bar it was. He could deal with the people as long as they left him alone. One snarl and most of the women got the message.

Gage didn’t mind the women so much. He’d even been known to bed a few, but mostly he kept to himself much like Maverick did. Gage was self-conscious about his bum leg, and since he couldn’t dance, he didn’t have much to offer a woman in a bar. They were two miserable excuses of mankind.

As soon as they arrived at the bar Maverick saw her and instantly got hard. What the hell? She had long curly black hair pulled back in a ponytail that reached just below her shoulders. She was about five foot seven or eight inches tall and had a curvy body that accented her tight round ass perfectly. He’d never seen a woman who looked as perfect as she did. He knew Gage had seen her because he stopped just inside the door and Maverick ran into him.

“What the fuck, man? Signal when you’re going to stop like that,” Maverick said.

“Do you see her?” Gage asked.

“Yeah. Can’t help but see her. She sticks out like a black cat in a room full of white mice,” he said.

“Fuck me, she’s perfect,” Gage said.

“We aren’t,” Maverick reminded him.

Gage huffed out a breath and stomped off toward an empty table. Well, it was empty now. It might have belonged to someone dancing, since it had two half-consumed beers on it, but hey, no one was guarding it. Maverick moved the two beers to one side and waited to see if they were in their dream woman’s area. It wasn’t lost on him that she was a new waitress there. She wore the bar’s logo apron and had a tray.

To his delight, she made her way over to them and cleared off the two bottles and asked what they’d have.

Gage smiled. “Besides you, draft Bud.”

Maverick snickered. “I’ll have the same. You included.”

She just shook her head and rolled her eyes. “I swear, do all of you get your lines from the same person? You really need to shake it up some. That’s two Bud drafts. Be right back.”

“Well, that went well,” Gage said, scowling.

“Stands to reason every single and not-so-single guy in the bar has already hit on her,” Maverick said. “Look at her. She’s a wet dream.”

“Half the men here would come on to a female nanny goat if it walked on two legs,” Gage said.

“Walking on two legs may be optional to some of them.”

“Ew. You’re sick.”

“Your point is?”

Gage sighed. “I like her. She’s got sass.”

“That’s not all she’s got. Her ass is just about perfect,” Maverick said.

“Here you go. Two Bud draft beers. That’s four fifty each,” she said.

Maverick handed her a twenty. “Keep the change.”

“Thanks. I’ll check back in a little while. Otherwise, wave me down,” she said.

“Wait,” Gage said. “What’s your name?”

“Shay. But all you have to do is wave at me and I’ll get to you as soon as I can.” She threaded her way between the patrons to the next table holding up their glasses to take their order.

“Shay. I like the name,” Gage said.

“She’s got a wicked voice,” Maverick said. “Kind of smoky and rich.”

“What’s the chance we could get her to let us take her out?” Gage asked.

“I’d say next to zero. She wasn’t the least bit interested in us,” Maverick pointed out.

“She’s new and is getting hit on by every guy in the joint. Maybe after the newness wears off we’ll have a chance,” Gage said.

“Don’t hold your breath. She’s out of our league.”

“Why do you say that? There’s nothing wrong with us. Hell, we don’t even have to work. We’re ex-army. We made some good investments and have good benefits. We could give her a nice life.” Gage took a healthy drink of his beer.

“Yeah, and we’re a couple of medically discharged veterans with baggage that most women couldn’t deal with. What makes you think she could?” Maverick asked.

“You’re pretty much dealing with yours. I do okay with mine,” Gage said.

“Still.”

Gage sighed and slammed his mug back on the table. Maverick knew he hated to be reminded that they weren’t normal civilian people anymore. They were ex-military with ex-military issues. It took a special kind of woman to deal with their kind of issues. He looked over at Shay where she was reminding someone that touching her ass wasn’t permitted. She had his finger pulled back until he was saying he was sorry.

Maverick liked her a lot. As much as he wanted to stomp on the asshole for touching her, he liked that she could defend herself. Yeah, he was with Gage—she was perfect, but was she for them? He didn’t know. Was he willing to take a chance and find out? Maybe. Maybe he would.

ADULT EXCERPT

This is fucking delicious,” Maverick said. “Can’t believe I helped make it.”

“I can’t believe it either. It’s still damn good despite it,” Gage teased.

“Fuck you, man.” Maverick shot him the bird.

“Shay, you can come cook for us anytime, woman. Hell, we’ll pay you to cook for us,” Gage said.

“I’ve already got a job, guys,” she said, not taking them the least bit seriously.

“Quit it and come to work for us,” Maverick said.

“Stop it,” she said, laughing.

“She made another smaller dish and put it in the freezer for us to warm up next week if we want it,” Maverick told Gage.

“I’m in love,” Gage said.

“You guys are crazy,” Shay said, shaking her head.

They finished eating, teasing and laughing. She couldn’t believe how much more open Maverick had become. Evidently Gage noticed it too as he seemed to tease Maverick more and more to hear the man laugh. Gage helped her rinse the dishes and put them in the dishwasher, then they settled in the living room to watch Animal Planet.

The guys talked over the announcer to give their commentary of what was going on with the animals on the screen to the point that she was hurting from laughing. Finally, they talked her into watching a movie with them. They picked an action adventure, and the three of them settled down on the couch.

Shay noticed halfway through the movie that Gage had his arm around her shoulders while Maverick had a hand on her thigh. When it had happened she didn’t know, but now that she noticed it she was hyper-aware of them resting there. Heat from their bodies seeped into hers, and she began to feel that heat travel through her bloodstream to her pussy. She was sure she was wet from just those innocent touches. Okay, maybe they weren’t so innocent.

Once the movie was over, Gage hit the remote to turn the TV off then pulled her around and kissed her so that her body reacted with a need that defied her common sense. She wanted him. Her pussy was wet and needy. Her breasts ached to be touched. He released her and looked into her eyes.

“Can we take this upstairs?” he asked.

“To the bedroom?” she asked.

“To the bedroom,” he said.

“Definitely.”

“I’ve got her,” Maverick said.

Before she knew what he meant, Maverick had swung her up into his arms and was carrying her across the room to the stairs. Gage followed behind them. While Maverick must worry about his hands with dropping things, he obviously didn’t have that same worry about his arms.

He carried her into a bedroom that, while a nice size, wasn’t huge. It had a king-sized bed with deep orange and brown colors on the comforter, and hardwood floors. He gently settled her on the bed then began to undress her.

Gage removed her shoes while Maverick worked on her blouse. By the time she knew what was going on, they had her completely nude. She couldn’t help but feel a little self-conscious since they were still completely dressed.

“Um, you guys are still dressed,” she pointed out.

“We’re going to remedy that in a minute. Right now, we want to look at you. You’re beautiful, Shay,” Maverick said.

“You’re making me uncomfortable,” she finally said.

Two men staring at her was a bit disconcerting to say the least. She wanted to cover herself and fought to keep from doing so. Finally Maverick caught the back of his shirt and pulled it over his head in one movement, tossing it to one side, then got to work on his boots and jeans.

Gage followed suit, and soon both men were gloriously naked. She couldn’t help but stare at their well-toned bodies. Both men had defined abdomens and muscular arms and legs. They weren’t bodybuilders by any means, but they had great bodies that were nothing to laugh at. Then there were their cocks. Long and hard and yummy. While Gage’s was a bit longer than Maverick’s, his was a bit thicker than Gage’s.

She wanted to touch them but wasn’t sure how they’d react if she reached out and squeezed, so she crumpled up the covers in her hands instead, licking her lips.

“Fuck me, Shay. I want to feel those lips around my cock,” Maverick said.

“I want to lick it,” she said.

“I’m going to eat your pussy until you scream,” Gage said. “Spread your legs for me, Shay.

Shay spread her legs and watched as Gage climbed on the bed and stretched out to shove his broad shoulders between her legs. The sight of him settling there had her pussy gushing and her pulse racing. The first lick of his tongue had her curling her toes and digging her nails in the comforter.

“Damn, you taste good. Like sweet cherry wine,” Gage said.

He licked her from bottom to top then stiffened his tongue and fucked her before lapping at her slit once more. She was struggling to keep from grabbing his head and pulling him to her clit. She needed him there. Needed him desperately to lick her clit. That was where her body wanted him. But he was going to prolong her torture.