Men Out of Uniform: Three Novellas of Erotic Surrender by Maya Banks, Sylvia Day, Karin Tabke Page A

coffee you need to drink.”
    At that her eyelids fluttered and her unfocused stare met Rick ’s. Then her nose wrinkled.
    “Don’t want coffee,” she muttered.
    Rick chuckled and his heart softened. Hell, he wanted to pull her onto his body and let her sleep there like a warm blanket.
    “What are you doing here?” she asked.
    Just then Truitt nibbled at her shoulder and she jerked her head back, her eyes flaring in surprise as her gaze settled on him.
    “We live here,” Truitt said.
    “Then what am I doing here?” she grumbled. “You were jerks. I don’t want to talk to you right now. I was celebrating and having fun. Now I’m not having fun.”
    “If you weren’t such a cute drunk kitten we’d show you how much fun you could be having,” Rick said.
    She gave him a disgruntled look but she didn’t argue further.
    “The room is spinning and I don’t feel so good,” she said.
    Sure enough she’d gone awfully pale and sweat beaded her forehead.
    “You need to puke?”
    “Dunno. Maybe I should just go take a shower.”
    Truitt raised a brow from behind her shoulder. Yeah, Rick wasn’t stupid. He wasn’t about to let her go take a nosedive in the shower and crack her skull.
    “You get a shower only if one of us goes in with you,” Rick said.
    She frowned again but then swallowed and licked her lips. “I don’t care. I just need to get up. My stomach’s queasy.”
    Rick scrambled up and reached down to pluck her off the bed. When he got to the bathroom he parked her by the toilet and after making sure she wasn’t going to fall face-first into the bowl, he reached over to turn the shower on.
    When he turned back, she was asleep again, her cheek pressed against the toilet seat. His chest shook with laughter and he reached down to hoist her up so he could get her clothes off.
    Quickly deciding this was a two man job, he called for Truitt who popped in a second later. Truitt lifted a brow and amusement twinkled in his eyes.
    “Having trouble?” Truitt asked with a grin.
    “You could say that. Help me get her clothes off.”
    Between the two of them, they managed to hold Jessie upright and get her clothes off.
    “I’ll take her while you get undressed and in the shower. Then I’ll hand her in to you,” Truitt said.
    Truitt lifted her to sit on the towel that covered a portion of the counter by the sink and he leaned her forward so her head rested against his neck and the rest of her body was pressed against his.
    Rick stripped down, reached a hand in to test the water temp, and grimaced at the lukewarm feel. Bracing himself, he ducked in and then motioned for Truitt to bring Jessie over.
    As soon as the water hit Jessie’s back, she let out a yelp and her eyes flew open.
    Rick pulled her into his arms and pressed his lips to her forehead as she trembled against him. After a moment she relaxed and went limp. At first he thought she’d passed out again but when he pulled her away he saw that she was very much awake.
    “I’m thinking maybe I should have choked down the coffee,” she said, her mouth quivering. “It was warm at least.”
    “We’ll warm you up in just a minute,” Rick promised.
    She leaned in against him again, resting her forehead just underneath his chin as the water poured down over them both.
    “I haven’t forgiven you yet,” she said.
    He smiled. “But you will.”
    He could positively feel her frowning over the arrogance in that statement but she didn’t refute it.
    “Want a full body scrub while we’re in here?” Rick asked.
    She shook her head. “If it’s all the same to you, I’d like to get out before I become an ice cube.”
    He reached behind her to shut off the water and her sigh of relief was audible in the sudden quiet. He pushed open the shower door to find Truitt waiting with a large towel that could probably be wrapped around Jessie twice.
    Jessie stepped out shivering from head to toe, her teeth clinking together like ice tinkling against glass.