They were close, huddled together outside the tent, but I couldn’t see exactly how close.
“Okay, yeah man, take her home. You’re armed, right?”
Rex spoke again, his strong arm over Nate’s shoulders. “Keep our girl safe until I get back. We’ll unfuck this somehow, together. I have to finish this course with these guys…yeah, Joe’s back again. At least you’re not. I’ll see you and Penny in two days.”
Footsteps shuffled until there was a hand on the edge of the tent. “Nate—have fun, but that luscious backside is mine.”
Nate’s rich voice answered with a comedic, “Yes, sir!”
His hand pulled back the flap to the little tent, and the tall Nate ducked to climb in, with Rex directly behind him. “Morning babycakes,” he teased as my smile lit up. I didn’t realize how much I’d missed him, or how attached to him I was becoming. “I’m sorry I ran, I got confused—misunderstood things. I won’t—” The tears fought their way to my puffy eyes.
Nate crawled over next to me. He looked like perfection—and smelled even better. After two days in the same clothes and no bathing, Rex and I weren’t exactly our freshest, and the scent of Nate’s expensive, spicy cologne was heavenly. Rex sat across from us on the ground. “Penelope,” he said directly to me, his thick index finger pointing inches from my face, “I need you to obey Nate. I know submission isn’t your strong suit, but this is important. He may look like some GQ model, and smell like a salon in Paris, but he’s tough and knows what he’s doing. There are some dangerous and pissed off people here in Colombia far scarier than the ones in Vegas. Get back to our place as quickly as you can and stay there.”
He turned to Nate.
“Make her listen. Believe me, it’s not easy. If she doesn’t, toss her to the snakes,” he said with a grin, his wide hand reaching over to fluff up my hair.
Rex started to pack up camp as Nate and I stood to leave. Rex pulled me into his arms, his large frame leaning in to kiss me. At first I pulled back—kissing the man I was screwing in front of the other man I was also screwing was awkward. Even worse, I was developing strong feelings for both of them—for the first time I could remember, my feelings were far beyond sexual.
Rex’s fingers tightened their grip on my chin. His midnight blue eyes locked onto mine—he was angry. “Pull away from my kiss like that again and it’ll be the last.” I nodded. This man was intense.
Still preoccupied by Nate watching, I wrapped my arms around Rex’s muscled torso and tiptoed up to kiss him. His lips were hard on mine, forceful, possessive—I wasn’t sure if the show of power was for my benefit or Nate’s. His tongue explored my mouth as he pulled me closer, his fingertips digging into my ass and his bulging hardness pressing into my yielding body. “Better,” he snorted when his lips finally slid from mine.
Rex’s kiss left me wobbly, and it took me a second to realize that Nate was behind me, his own erect cock pressing into me. Nate’s arms were around my waist as he held me close—his own lips only inches from ours. Rex didn’t let go of me, but nodded toward Nate. “Nathaniel may have a kiss,” he said as if giving us a gift. I twisted my face toward Nate’s and, still cradled between the two strong men, my lips brushed against Nate’s—his gentle, loving kiss in beautiful contrast to Rex’s primal one seconds before.
I pouted as they both pulled their bodies from mine. Being sandwiched in between those two glorious men was the single most erotic experience of my life up until then, and we were all fully dressed.
“Almost home, Penny,” Nate chirped as he cut through some oppressive vines blocking our path. Despite the jungle heat and the difficulty of our hike, he barely broke a sweat. “I smell so bad,” I whined as he pulled me along the path. “You do smell bad,” he joked, holding his nose in mockery, “but I’d tap that anyway.” I smacked at him as he made some joke about hosing me down in the yard before letting me in the house.
“How much further?” I grumbled. I was exhausted, hungry, and very thirsty. “Not far, around this corner to the guard gate—”
“That’s far enough, gringo.”
An ominous looking man stood in front of us, his legs spread in a wide V, his hands on his hips.
Nate put his hand out to stop me from moving closer to the man.
“José, what’s this about, now?” His voice was calm, almost cordial.
The man pointed a dark finger at Nate. “We have business, you owe me money.”
“Ah,” Nate answered, running his left hand through his hair, then casually letting it rest behind his back—where the gun stuck into his waistband. “This doesn’t involve the lady—why don’t we send her inside so we can chat.” He gave me a quick pat on the back as if to urge me to head into the compound.
“I think I might like to keep this bitch as collateral.”
“I’d be careful calling Rex’s lady names, José. He can be brutal—do you remember what happened to your cousin?”
The man, José, flinched at the mention of his cousin. “I’ve got no problem with Rex or his girl—but we sent a shipment for you that you never paid for.”
Nate maintained his calm demeanor, but the tension was palpable—the situation was dangerous.
“I didn’t pay because I didn’t accept it—I’m not doing that shit anymore. Besides, Rex has all my money; you know that. If I owe you, you have to take it up with him.”
The man sighed, his mouth sinking into a grimace. “This is bullshit, and I’ll be back.” He turned and left, Nate’s hand never leaving the loaded gun until the man was out of sight.
“Let’s go get you a nice bath,” he said as if nothing had happened.
“Nate, what did he mean? What was he—?”
“Let’s talk in the suds, you smell like Rex’s armpit right now.”
“How often do you sniff Rex’s armpits, loverboy?”
He laughed out loud. “Not as often as I’d like,” he said pulling me inside.
Chapter Four
“What was it like?” I was leaned back against Nate’s strong chest in his luxurious bathtub, his long legs wrapped around mine, as he dripped soapsuds down my chest.
“What was what like?” I asked languidly, ready to sleep.
“Being with him…touching him…making love to him?” His tone was dreamy, as if he were imagining the experience.
“Are you pissed off?” I still wasn’t convinced what happened between Rex and me was okay. I felt guilty, like I’d betrayed Nate.
“Mad? No! I’m thrilled. I mean…there’s no one else in the world I’d share you with, Penelope Sedgewick, but Rex? You have no idea how much you’ve helped him. Since his wife…” He went silent, as if he’d revealed too much.
“I overheard you outside the tent. You said he’d been celibate two years—was that because of her?”
“Yeah,” he dripped more soapsuds down me, focusing on a nipple.
“Did she die?” Rex’s level of intensity, the pervasive coldness about him—all of that made me sense that something dark and morbid hung over him.
“Die? No! That bitch left him for…” He went silent again.
“Why so many secrets?”
“I-I’m sorry. It’s just there’s been so much sadness, betrayal, ugliness. We need to make sure we can trust you, Penny. But we both agree there’s something about you…you just fit with us.”
“Sex with Rex was…mind-blowing. He’s intense…but sensual, erotic. With you, there’s this natural chemistry between the two of us. We just fall into each other,” I said, stroking his thigh. “It’s so good, but very natural, as if meant to be. With Rex…it’s like a pagan ritual or something—you just feel…engrossed. And you’ve seen the size of his—”
“I haven’t,” he cut me off sharply.
I sensed I’d gone too far. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be crude, I…”
“Nah, you weren’t, Penny. I just…I wish I could see it, I mean…I can’t really put it into words.”
“Are you bisexual? No reason to be embarrassed about that.”
“No! I’m not bi, I’m not gay—I’m straight, always have been. I’m very attracted to women, only women,” he said, dropping the sponge and cupping my breasts with both hands. “But,” he said quietly, “yeah, I’m physically attracted to Rex, but it’s because he’s Rex—not because of any gender. It doesn’t make sense.”
“It doesn’t have to make sense,” I said with finality, turning around to snuggle into his chest. His arms wrapped around my back, pulling me close. “I knew I needed you,” he whispered into my ear.
“Nate, I love being here, I feel like I’m home. But…why did you take me?”
He paused, rubbing slow circles over my shoulder blades. “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to freak out. But—Rex was hired to kill you.”