Guarded for Pleasure by Lacey Thorn Page A

was wearing it now. It fit perfectly, and she loved it. It was a fitted corset held together by little buckles in the front. It started under her breasts, plumping and lifting them. Skimmed down her waist to her hips. There were two more buckles, one on each hip and she grew wet knowing what they were for. Her wrists. She’d be secured and at their mercy when her hands were buckled in.
    The corset was black, so she wore a pair of spiked black stilettos with it. She loved the shoes, couldn’t wait to see the guys reactions to her in this get up. Her hair was perfectly tussled to give it that just rolled out of bed look. Her eyes were made up to look deeper, darker, more sultry. Her lips wore a red pout that was smudge proof. She hoped to really put it to the test.
    She heard the key in the door and jumped up, practically running to get behind the bar counter in the kitchen, so only her head would be visible to them, as long as she leaned forward and hid her naked shoulders.
    Phil walked in first, followed closely by Rick and Luke.
    “What a week,” Phil groaned, sinking onto the couch.
    “I’m exhausted,” Luke admitted.
    “Thank God we have the weekend off,” Rick moaned.
    “Rough day?” River asked, and three sets of eyes found her. She could see the hunger, see the same need she felt. But none of them moved to act on it.
    “How’s Kat?” Phil asked.
    “On a private plane heading home with Charlie and Tara.”
    “Are you going to be heading there, too?” Rick asked the question, but she could see it was on all their minds. Was that the hold up? Were they unsure if she was going to stay while she was unsure if they wanted her to?
    “I’m not planning on it,” she admitted. “I thought maybe I’d stay here.”
    “Here?” Luke asked quietly.
    She nodded her head. “Unless you’re tired of me already.”
    “Not possible,” Rick said, coming to his feet. She could see the bulge behind his zipper.
    “We don’t want you to go,” Luke agreed.
    “We know how much you’ve missed your friends though. With everything that went on this week, we didn’t want you to feel any pressure from us,” Phil admitted with a shrug of his sexy shoulders.
    She smiled. Somehow, it made things easier knowing they were as unsure and nervous as she was. “I don’t want to leave.” Taking a deep breath, she put it out there. “I want to stay. With you,” she tacked on, so there would be no chance of misunderstanding. “I’m not sure how all this will work. The four of us. But I know I’ve never had anything like this before. I’ve never felt like this before. And I want to stick around. Explore the possibilities. If you guys want to.”
    “Fuck yeah, we want to,” Rick grunted. “Do you know how hard it’s been to keep my hands off you this week, when all I wanted to do was strip you naked and reassure myself you’re okay?”
    She caught her breath.
    “We didn’t want to rush you, overwhelm you,” Luke explained.
    “We wanted to give you time to decide what was right for you,” Phil said.
    “You would have let me walk away?”
    “Only until we could come up with a game plan to get you back,” Rick stated with no remorse.
    “We’re not like Raymond,” Phil swore. “We won’t smother you, or try to control you.”
    “Can’t promise we won’t be jealous if other men look at you,” Luke admitted. “But we won’t go crazy.”
    “If I even thought that was possible, I’d be on a plane headed to Texas.”
    “You’re here,” Rick stated the obvious.
    “I’m here,” she agreed. “For as long as you’ll have me.”
    “Forever sounds good,” Phil said.
    Luke and Rick both nodded in agreement. River felt her heart tumble. It shouldn’t be possible. Not this soon. Not all three of them. But she couldn’t deny she was falling head over heels for all of them. Love. Such a simple word with a world of meaning.
    She stood up, walked around the counter, and watched their eyes widen and darken