Mastered By The Mavericks(42)

"None." He snubbed Rhett's scoff-also fully justified-while pushing  upright. "Fine. Have I lied to you-either of you-about what I've done  and what beds I've done it in before this week? Even now, as shitty as  it is to admit, I won't hide the truth from you. I may be a slut, but  I'm not a liar. Ponder that when you hear this: I've never experienced  anything like the last hour of my life. I won't fry and sugar this like a  goddamn beignet. You two just devoured me, body and soul, like a couple  of rougarous from the Mancharac."

Rhett raised a wry brow. "Fun. I always did want to be a half-wolf zombie."

He ignored that as well. Simply hoping he could conjure the right mix of  strong and sympathetic, he looked back down at Brynn. "It's my clumsy  way of saying that I get it. If you need a good long cry, you go right  ahead."

She'd already beat him to the punch, more shiny streams cascading down  her cheeks. Now they were interrupted by a real laugh. He joined Rhett  in observing her with open bewilderment-and enchantment. "Clumsy," she  finally clarified, "and then you, in the same sentence. Doesn't add up,  Sergeant Stafford."

Rhett snorted. "You've never seen him in a blast suit when he has to take a leak."

Her eyes clouded as the image took hold. Then burst back to full  intensity, brilliant copper and gold, as she succumbed to a new laugh.

Rhett shot a stare dunked in deeper confusion. Rebel tried to urge  continued calm in return, but how did he explain a subbie's emotional  overload and endorphin drop in the space of a glance, especially when it  was only being half-heeded? Already Rhett attempted to fold Brynn  against him again, but she was a goner, consumed by her brain's new  chemical dump. And yeah, he was pretty damn certain about that-since it  was stamped across her face as she rolled over, seeking his embrace.

He sent his friend an apologetic look-not that it was noticed. As usual,  most of Rhett's "big head" was now officially tied into the urges of  his little one, slamming him into a world-class fume. Wasn't anything to  be done about that. She'd sought safe shelter as her catharsis  continued, galloping out of her in hiccupping sobs. No way was Reb going  to refuse her, not after all the passion she'd given them with such  heart-stopping openness. If Rhett wanted in on the comfort jamboree, he  could get his ass over here. Rebel would never refuse him on the giving  or taking.                       
       
           



       

They passed the next few minutes focused solely on the woman between  them. As she continued crying against Rebel, Rhett pushed past his shit  long enough to scoot close once more. Gently, he ran a hand through her  hair, running his fingers through the tresses that wrapped against her  back.

She finally huffed hard. Sniffed harder. Pulled away, shaking her head.  "I'm a horrible person." Punched the heels of her palms against her  swollen eyes. "And a hypocrite."

Rebel yanked up-and openly glowered. "Excuse the fuck out of me?"

"I-this-" Fresh tears brimmed. "This isn't me. None of this … is me."

"Not you?" He let her see his wry smile. "Hmmm. Not you. Which part  might you be referring to? The ‘not you' who dropped her whole life in  order to help two near-strangers search for her kidnapped friend? Or the  ‘not you' who's been rotating shifts in that office with same  strangers, who've been doing this kind of shit for years? Or the ‘not  you' who managed to tame those same imbeciles with an hour they won't  forget for the rest of their lives?"

She pierced him with a gaze that gleamed like morning sun. "And I won't forget it, either."

He kissed the tip of her nose. "Good."

Weirdly enough, Rhett appeared the somber one now. "But you refuse to feel good about any of it."

Rebel dipped his head, adding his silent support of the query. The insight couldn't have been more spot-on.

Brynna drew in air through her nose. Let it out on a long sigh. "Because  I'm right. You guys see that, yeah? Here I am, cup running over with  warm and gooey because of the best sex I've ever had in my life, while  my friend-my best friend-is still wondering if anyone will be coming for  her-"

"Whoa." Rhett tugged on her shoulder, urging her back around. "Right  there. Just whoa." As she scooted back up against the cushion, jabbing  the sheet into her armpits, he persisted, "Do you really think Zoe has  given up on us searching for her? Does that woman think, for even one  second, that her husband will let that happen?"

Her lips pursed. "That doesn't excuse what happened. What I allowed to happen."

Rebel propped an elbow up on a knee, narrowing his gaze again. "Right. And neither of us had anything to say about it."

Rhett jogged his head in open sarcasm. "I know I had plenty to say about it."

Rebel smirked. "You sure as hell did."

The guy chuffed. "You had some good shit to chime in, too."

Brynn tucked her arms in, staring at the tops of her own knees. Though  her gaze warmed a little, the rest of her face maintained resolute  lines. Humor was clearly not the key past her tension-once more, not a  surprise. Even without a missing friend in the mix, many submissives  threw themselves onto pyres of guilt, using it as a coping mechanism to  help deal with the freaky flag they'd just let fly. As a Dom, it was  often hard to combat, since no argument but the obvious made sense: that  sexual pleasure wasn't created for shame or guilt or remorse.

But this, at least, was an argument he could deal with. All it took was  getting pragmatic to the point of tough, and turning it into a resolute  stare at her adorable frown. "Listen to me. We're both just as desperate  to find Zoe as you, but in doing it with the best tools, with the right  timing. This morning's snag was just that: a snag. I'm sorry that this  didn't happen twelve hours from now, but at this moment, we've got no  choice. We'll formulate a new approach into the building then hang back  until nightfall for execution." He let darker emotions drag his head  down. "Nobody-nobody-wishes that wasn't the case, more than I do. As the  guy who fucked this all to hell in the first place-"

"You don't know that."

Rhett tacked on a significant glower-which weirdly warmed Reb's chest.  The sex hadn't affected the guy's views on the mission, thank  fuck-including his support about the mouse cam's failure. Nonetheless,  Reb muttered, "Well, you don't not know it."

Rhett glowered. "Really, shithead? Weren't we right here an hour ago?"

Nothing was the same as it was an hour ago.

Rhett illustrated the point by caressing a hand along Brynn's calf. The  move, given in lazy reassurance, pulled Reb right back into the  unnatural thrall the man had over him. Damn it. He could stare at those  powerful, graceful hands for an hour … or ten. In this instance, he wasn't  alone. Nobody in the battalion had escaped being captivated at some  point by Double-Oh's magic with a recon intel screen, a GPS box, or even  fixing kids' toys in third world villages across the globe.                       
       
           



       

But witnessing the reverence Double-Oh emanated over the skin of a woman …

Fuck.

Yeah. An hour. Or ten.

Brynna herself cut that dream short. She jerked up her head like the  world's sexiest CEO about to conduct a board meeting. "I just want to  focus on what we do now. Sitting here in a stupid funk isn't … going to … "  Her voice cracked on fresh tears. "Damn it! This is the most  ridiculous … why am I still doing this?"

As if moving with one mind-and maybe they were-Rebel swept up with  Rhett, surrounding her once more. Crisscrossing their arms over her  chest and tucking their heads against her shoulders, they each captured  the wet streams of her desperation with their lips. Rebel prepared for  her resistance, perhaps even for her total flight, but the woman only  tensed for half a heartbeat before urging them closer, then weeping even  harder.

They stayed like that, in a three-way cocoon, as Brynn's sobs mingled  with the morning songs of the birds outside. Minutes went by, as if he  even cared. Vaguely-maybe not so vaguely-Rebel considered the concept of  heaven on Earth. If there was one for everybody, his may just have just  been revealed.

Like every law-abiding heaven, it was over all too fast.

Brynn brought her hands in, swiping again at her puffy eye sockets.  "Thank you." She gazed from one to the other of them, though clearly  struggled for focus. "Thank you both … for … well … "

Rhett pressed a thumb across her lips. "We know. And you're welcome."