Her eyes flared, pupils blown as she weighed my words as if she were contemplating agreeing with me or fighting me on it.
Then, with that dominant, cocky power she always wielded and used on everyone else but me, she nodded her chin at me in challenge. “Prove it.”
With anyone else, I’d think twice. I’d worry that I read the signs wrong. I’d worry that I was pushing someone into something they weren’t ready for, but not her. Not Rhea. Not with Tanner.
Iknewthem. I knew their wants and needs. That’s why they trusted me enough to try this.
Goldie’s lipstasted like heaven and sin as she pinned me to the floor atop her cozy carpet that felt like a cloud against my back. I had challenged her to prove I wanted Tanner.
Not because I thought she should.
But because I needed her to. I needed her to do it; I was too scared to admit it.
And she never blinked twice before taking over for me. Leading me. Controlling the situation for me.
Tanner stripped the rest of his clothes off as Goldie slid her thigh between mine and rocked her hips, making us both moan.
I was soaked; she was dripping, together we were a mess.
Together, we were perfect.
She knew I was scared, but she didn’t call it that. She knew me.
“Always cocky.” She moaned against my lips, pushing my thighs apart wider and using her fingers against my clit to distract me. “Always in control of everything. But not now. Not here.”
“Prove it.” I repeated, fighting her as she pushed my knee toward my chest and rubbed her pussy against mine, making us both curse in pleasure. “Careful, or you’re going to prove my point that I only need you, Goldie.”
She grinned, her pretty little sweetheart smile that held so much warmth. Tonight, it held more to it, though.
It held honesty.
It held power.
It held—everything.
She was everything. And she was right. I wanted more.
I wanted Tanner.
Thank God he was a good man, not one to boast or brag for his own selfish needs as he watched us on the floor. He was silent, standing over us with that perfect, gentlemanly restraint I both loved and hated about him.
The same restraint he had used for years when I tried to goad him into a verbal sparring match.
The same restraint that kept him from calling me out on my obvious desire for him.
Tanner was perfect, just like Goldie was.
Which was why I couldn’t tell him how much I wanted him. Because then he could deny me. Because then he could shift and hold it over me. Because then he could break me.
Break this fragile new connection between the three of us.
And I couldn’t stomach the idea of that, even if I doubted he would ever do something so cruel. My brain just wouldn’t let me give in.
Even if everything in my body wanted to beg Goldie and Tanner to take me.
To choose me.
To want me.
