The Last Detail Read online

  “Funny, you’re the one in the bed. The one who coded once on the way here.”

  That brought him to a stop. “What?”

  “Lou thought we lost you. We both thought you were gone.”

  “Shit.”

  Jared nodded. “Exactly.”

  “Goes to show you, both of you would be better off without me.”

  “You want to run scared again, be my guest. This time though, I at least have Lou.” With that, Jared slammed out of the room.

  Sam was irritated with the situation, with both of them, but mostly with himself. It was better off this way. Not having them around, not dealing with any of the emotions that pulled you down.

  But unlike the times before, the thought of being alone didn’t comfort him. It didn’t matter. He’d said exactly what he believed. Both of them would be better off without him.

  Lou blinked back the rush of tears as she readied her gear. Damn man. They were all the same, and Sam was the worst. She didn’t know what she was thinking getting involved with him or Jared. It was useless. She was sick and tired of people walking away from her. Well, fuck them. She would do the walking away.

  “Lou,” Jared’s calm voice sent a rush of need through her. She pushed that away and grabbed hold of her irritation.

  “What the fuck do you want?”

  He said nothing. Instead, he slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her back against him. She stiffened for a second, but then relaxed against him. She couldn’t hold back from him, couldn’t keep herself from accepting the comfort he offered her.

  “He’s being an ass.”

  She nodded and pulled her bottom lip between her teeth.

  “He’ll come around.”

  She didn’t say anything because she knew better. Sam had made his decision. That was the way both of them were. Jared was different. He could see the big picture. He could look ahead and see that starlight at the end of the universe and tell her it was all going to be better.

  When she didn’t respond, he sighed and turned her to face him. He cupped her face in his big capable hands.

  “Look at me, Lou.” She didn’t respond. “Louella.”

  She frowned up at him and he chuckled. “Even if he isn’t here, I am.”

  Her heart expanded at the thought. “Even if he never shows back up?”

  He shook his head and brushed his mouth over hers. “I don’t just love him, Lou. I love you too. I wasn’t lying. I’ve loved you for years. I want both of you, but I am more than satisfied to have you with me.”

  She sighed. “I thought that maybe with Sam being an ass, you’d rather not have me around.”

  He rested his forehead against hers. “No. In fact, I was panicking a bit when I realized you were going to have enough credits to get back to Earth.”

  She smiled and then all of the sudden it hit her. She felt her smile dissolve. “You said you knew who Sam was. It was more about finding your old lover.”

  From his expression, she knew he hadn’t missed that one.

  “Dammit.” She fought free of his hold and stomped away. “I can’t believe I was stupid enough to think that it was partially about me.”

  He hurried after her. “No, wait.” He grabbed her, spun her around and barely missed getting hit with her fist.

  “Dammit to Hades, Lou. I didn’t know at first. I didn’t have a hologram. I told you that before. Do we have to keep going over this?”

  She pulled away from him, took a step back and crossed her arms beneath her breasts.

  “I just had the name. Then when I found out it was him, I came looking for you two. Mostly for you. I knew that if Sam was involved it was going to be bad. I wanted to protect you.”

  She studied his expression, and the earnest light in his eyes made her realize that he was telling the truth.

  “Okay.” She sighed. “Back to work, I guess.”

  He pulled her against him. “Yeah. Don’t worry. Sam will pull his head out of his ass.”

  “And if he doesn’t?”

  She felt his lips brush against her temple. “We’ll go out and get him.”

  That absolutely certainty made her feel better.

  Chapter Ten

  Three months later.

  Sam’s head was pounding. It had been for the last week. Most of what he remembered was drinking too much liquor and most of it in his hotel room by himself. He had come to Gardium because the planet was the playground for the rich, a group he now belonged to. Family money had come to him. He had been pretty sure the family didn’t have any, but when the news hit he was still alive, he found out that he was his father’s beneficiary. So instead of being a total ass about it, he quit work and took up the family business. He spent two months trying to get everything straightened away, fixing the mess his brother had left. Then, when done, melancholy had toppled down and almost crushed him. He knew that most people would say he was depressed, but he wasn’t. Not really.

  He was lonely. The two people he loved the most in the world were no longer a part of his life. It was his own damn fault they were gone, but he couldn’t allow them to deal with the shit that always seemed to follow him around. His problem was that no matter how much he drank, he couldn’t seem to shake the damned melancholy that sat on his shoulders.

  It was because he hadn’t had sex in three months. He closed his eyes. He shouldn’t think of the act, because whenever he did, he thought of Jared and Lou. Just the thought of them would leave him harder than a damned Titanium steel pike, and more depressed than before. He’d had opportunities for fast, mindless sex, but he hadn’t even been that tempted. When he had left Jared last time, Sam had found it easy to lose himself in bed with other people. But this time, it was different.

  He drew in a deep breath and started down the street again. He was going to do it tonight. He needed to quit being a pussy and find someone—anyone—for the night. Then it would be easier.

  There was a scrape of metal against stone behind him. He looked back over his shoulder. In the next instant he was blinded by a bright light and then a sharp shard of pain filled his head and spread through his body. After that, everything went black.

  When he woke, Sam tried to move and found he was unable to do so. He didn’t open his eyes, instead listening to see if his captor or captors were close by. When he heard nothing, he tested his arms. He was happy to realize he wasn’t paralyzed, but he was tied down.

  He cracked an eye open and was stunned. A woman stood in front of him, dressed in black, all her honeyed hair down cascading over her shoulders. His heart jerked and his breathing stopping for a second. Lou.

  “You can’t get out of the bindings.”

  She wasn’t looking at him. She was fiddling with something on the table nearby. He looked around the room and realized it was some kind of bedroom. Hell, it was his bedroom. The one he had rented. The other thing he noticed was he was naked.

  “Lou.”

  “Don’t speak. Not in the mood.”

  Sam heard chuckling and he turned his head in the direction of the sound. Jared had joined them and was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed. Damn, for the second time in as many minutes, his heart jerked. Jared looked good, rested, his eyes dancing with some kind of inner amusement. The same as always.

  “I would listen to her, Sam. She’s kind of pissed at you.”

  “Unless you want to be tied up also, I would shut your trap,” their lover warned.

  Jared winked at Sam as he walked over to join Lou at the table. He slipped his hands around her waist and pulled her back against him. Sam could imagine how she would feel, her soft rounded ass against his hard cock. Jared sent him a knowing look over his shoulder. Sam couldn’t see much from his position, but he knew Jared had slid his hands up to Lou’s breasts. The need to feel them beneath his palms, the hardened nipples, to taste them… His cock twitched painfully.

  “I think we can take turns with the tying up, don’t you think, love?” Jared asked. “Q
uit being mad.”

  He knew the comment was directed toward Lou and not him. With ease, he turned both of them to face Sam. Her whiskey gaze moved over him and he felt it as if she’d touched him.

  “Now, while I don’t think we should keep being mean to him—”

  “He deserved it.”

  Jared chuckled as he glanced over at Sam. “She wanted to hog tie you for a week, but I convinced her to tie you to the bed just for tonight.”

  “This isn’t funny,” Sam said, pulling on the restraints again. He shifted his feet and discovered they were tied down. Not as tight as his hands, but he could only move so far.

  “I find it very funny,” Jared said, drawing Sam’s attention. As Jared stared at him as if daring him to look away, he slipped his hands up and over Lou’s breasts. “The idea that a control freak like you has no control is funny to me.”

  He couldn’t help but let his gaze fall to Jared’s clever hands. The tension in him rose and his balls ached. It had been three fucking long months. Every night he had been dreaming of these two people, waking up unfulfilled and alone. Hunger surged as he licked his lips.

  “Aw, look at that, Lou. Sam really, really wants us.”

  He glanced at Lou and expected her to be frowning. Instead, she had her head leaning back against Jared’s shoulder, her eyes half-closed as she moaned out loud. The sound shot straight to his dick.

  Jared moved his hands to her pants and started to pull them off. Lou didn’t protest as they slipped down her legs. She was bare beneath the fabric. Jared tugged her shirt up and over her head. Within a few seconds, she was completely naked.

  “As good as you remember, Sam?” Jared asked.

  In this he couldn’t lie. “Better.”

  Jared moved his mouth over her neck. Sam watched as his friend closed his eyes and lost himself in the taste of her. In the short time they had spent together, Sam had learned the way she tasted and felt. Her flesh was soft and sweet, such a strange combination with the hard-ass bounty hunter.

  Jared backed away from her as she started to approach the bed. God, she was beautiful. Golden skin, those delicious breasts, her nipples hard and waiting for his mouth. He licked his mouth again and he let his gaze travel down her body again. The curls at the juncture of her thighs were dewy, her arousal clear for him to see.

  “I’m not really happy with you,” she said.

  “I would have never been able to tell, Lou.”

  Jared joined them, this time completely nude. His cock was hard, turned up against his belly. Every bit of moisture dried up in Sam’s mouth.

  “We waited,” Lou said as she settled on the bed beside him. “I wanted to go after you a month ago.”

  “Really?” he said, as she skimmed her fingers along his inner thigh.

  “Yeah, she did,” Jared sat on the other side of the bed. “I convinced her to wait. I actually thought you might come to us.”

  “I didn’t know where you were.”

  “Too bad we aren’t into BDSM, because you would definitely deserve a really hard spanking for that lie,” Jared said. His dick twitched again.

  “Ah, I think that he likes that idea,” Lou said. He didn’t, not really, but the idea of having Jared’s hands on him was driving him mental.

  Before he could come up with the visualization, Lou slipped her hand up over his cock. He drew in a quick, deep breath. Everything in him tightened. Jared slipped his hands between Sam’s legs, first caressing his sac before sliding to his anus.

  He closed his eyes as he felt Jared’s finger slip into his ass. Jared eased it in and out a few times as Lou pumped his shaft. Before Sam was ready, they were moving away. Jared stood, moved to the other side of the bed and pulled Lou up to her knees. He continued to stroke her as Jared spread her legs wide.

  “Take that beautiful cock into your mouth, Lou. I want to see your mouth on him.”

  She said nothing, but obeyed, sliding his shaft between her lips. Her tongue flicked over Sam’s cock head before sucking the entire length in. He groaned and pulled on his restraints, wanting to touch, to slip his fingers through her hair. But he wasn’t going to get that. He knew they wouldn’t let it happen.

  He glanced at Jared and noticed him watching him. “You know how much she likes a cock up her ass? Almost as much as you do, Sam.”

  Without saying anything else, Jared positioned his cock at her back entrance. Slowly, Jared eased in, and she groaned, the vibrations moving over his cock. Damn, he felt them to the soles of his feet.

  Jared started to move, his fingers digging into her generous ass. His thrust were slow and easy, but not for long. Soon Jared was moving faster.

  “That’s it, Lou, take him. Make him lose control.” Jared’s guttural commands sent Sam over the edge. His orgasm slammed into him as he thrust up into her warm, wet mouth.

  Jared started moving faster, the sound of flesh smacking against flesh filled the room. Sam opened his eyes to watch Jared throw his head back and shout her name as he came. The sight of it did something to his heart. Seeing Jared lose himself in his orgasm was more than he expected. It wasn’t lust that filled him, but love, for Jared and for Lou.

  Jared pulled away from her and leaned over to untie Sam’s hands as Lou worked on his feet. He leaned down and set his forehead against Sam’s.

  “You understand why we did this?”

  He reached up to slip his hand behind Jared’s head and pull his mouth down to his. Sam dove in, enjoying the feel of Jared’s tongue against his. When they pulled back, he said, “Yes.”

  He glanced over and saw Lou watching them. He held out his hand. The tremulous smile she offered him had his heart turning over.

  “Come.”

  She did, placing her hand in his and slipping into bed with him. He let go of Jared and cupped her face. “I’m sorry. I should have never said those things.”

  She blinked, those huge whiskey eyes filling up with tears.

  “Being without you was horrible,” he said before he kissed her, letting her taste his apology. “I won’t ever be such a jackass again.”

  “If you are, I’ll be kicking your ass.”

  He chuckled as he rolled over and covered her body, caging her in. “I do believe one of us hasn’t been satisfied yet.”

  He looked over at Jared who was smiling. “I think someone needs to have a little payback. This was her idea.”

  “Ah,” Sam said, “and I believe in payback.”

  Lou could not believe how things had changed. She was now manacled to the bed. Anticipation threaded through her blood as Sam’s callused hands moved over her stomach. She tried to shift her weight to ease the pressure between her legs. Before they’d tied her down she had been ready for hard loving. Sam slipped down between her legs and pressed his mouth against her inner thigh. Jared smiled at her as he returned from cleaning up in the bathroom.

  “Sam is really good at getting even.”

  Her heart jerked at the warmth she saw in his expression and heard in his voice. The last three months had been hard on both of them, but once they’d found Sam and come up with a plan, everything had felt right. She had realized that while it was a relationship of three, that Jared loved her as equally as he loved Sam.

  Jared dipped his head and took her nipple into his mouth just as Sam set his mouth on her pussy. She throbbed from her head to her toes, her need for the two men beyond anything she could even imagine. Her life was now complete. But if they didn’t hurry up, she was pretty sure she would kill them both.

  Lifting his head, Jared gave her a knowing look and then blew on her nipple. She closed her eyes and moaned, she couldn’t help it. One of the things Jared had done in the last three months was figure out just what got to her. He knew just what button to push.

  Sam sunk his tongue into her pussy and then moved it up to tease her clit. It was as if he set a spark to kindling. Heat roared through her, set her lust aflame, but she couldn’t seem to find satisfaction. With each lick, he
pushed her closer, but not close enough to really find her release. As Sam continued to tease her, Jared started on her other breast while pinching her wet nipple. She was moving slowly closer, ready to fly off, when Sam moved away.

  “Jared,” Sam said. After one little more pinch, Jared moved away. She opened her eyes and watched as Jared moved between her legs. Sam had moved back, allowing him room, but he took Jared’s face in his hands again and kissed him. She watched, mesmerized as she was the first time she had seen them kiss. Her body warmed and her heart bubbled over with joy. She could see their tongues moving, could imagine the feel of each of their mouths.

  Jared turned to her, that knowing look still there. He knew she was turned on by watching them mainly because she had confessed it to him all those months ago. She looked at her men, allowing her gaze to travel down their bodies to their cocks. Both hard, both for her.

  Jared moved closer, lifted her hips and slowly entered her.

  “Damn, that feels good. You’re so wet, baby.”

  She nodded and enjoyed the feel of his cock sliding in and out of her, the way her muscles clung to him. Sam moved behind Jared. “She tastes even better than she feels.”

  Jared said something low beneath his breath as he thrust into her hard and then held. Sam moved behind him closer, and then entered Jared from behind.

  “Fuck,” Jared said, his voice filled with erotic tension.

  “Yeah,” Sam said, his mouth moving over Jared’s neck. He looked down at her. “Are you ready, honey?”

  She nodded. He pulled back, Jared followed. As they moved in concert, her lust revved to an all-time high. She could feel it spiraling out of control as they increased the speed of their thrusts.

  “Yes, like that,” Jared muttered. He thrust hard into her, sending her spiraling into her orgasm. But he wasn’t done. Even as she was trying to recover from her first orgasm, she felt herself thrown into another. It slammed into her with more power than the first. She exploded, her body bowing off the bed as she screamed their names. Jared followed her first, thrusting hard once more and then moaning as he poured himself into her.