Rough Fantasy

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For the fourth time in less than ten minutes, Maura Dillon found her mind wandering. She looked out over the late afternoon Miami traffic and tried to concentrate on her brother’s voice in her ear, and just spaced out. A second later, she realized that her brother had stopped talking.

“What did you just say?” She asked, leaning back in her desk chair closing her eyes. She felt herself drifting again, as if she were floating in the Pacific, enjoying the warm sun on her skin. She could almost smell the salt of the ocean and feel the breeze shift over her. It did nothing to help the pounding in her head. She felt as if she hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in three weeks. Probably because she hadn’t.

“You sound distracted,” Conner said.

Inwardly, she sighed. Her brother could always sniff out her mood, even five thousand miles away. It was one of his most irritating traits—and he had a lot of them.

“I’m not distracted. I’m just a little tired.”

There was a beat of silence. With most men, it didn’t mean anything. With Conner, it was a lethal situation. She turned her chair back so she faced her desk waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“No, this is distracted, not tired. When you’re tired, you’re bitchy.”

She ignored that comment, mostly because it was true. “I got the preliminary report on that group you want us to work with.”

“You’re going to ignore my question then?” her brother asked.

“Yes. When did you get all loving and want to talk feelings?”

“I didn’t say it was about feelings. You just did. So you are distracted.”

She was, but how did she tell her brother she was testy because she needed sex. She didn’t. She shared a lot with her brother, much to his irritation, but this, she could not. It was hard enough dealing with the dream team of Zeke O’Brian and Rory McAllister.

“I’m distracted by this job. It doesn’t help that I’m now a blonde.” She shoved her hand through her now chin length hair. It had been a whim a few days ago and she had loved it. But, now she wasn’t so sure.

Another beat of silence. “You only mess with your hair color when you’re depressed.”

She held the phone out from her ear and looked at it, then put it back. “This is Conner Dillon, right? Or has Jillian been giving you inside information?”

“Jillian hasn’t and I know you better than you think I do.”

That was probably true. Conner was devious that way. He seemed like the ultimate Alpha in any group, but one thing that had made him an excellent FBI agent was his observation skills. It was the bane of her existence when she was growing up—especially when he was left to raise her on his own. Nothing like having a criminal profiler watching your every move. Not that her teenage years had been that exciting.

“How do you know about the hair color thing, then?” she asked.

Maura recognized the aggravated sigh. She had first heard it when she was fifteen and asked her brother about lubricant. “The first boyfriend breakup you dyed it that disturbing bright red shade.”

Of course he would bring up her breakup with Tommy Foster—otherwise known as the Scumbag from Boca Raton. “There was nothing disturbing about it.”

“It glowed in the dark.”

She remembered the look on Conner’s face when she stepped out of the bathroom and chuckled. “Okay, I will give you that. It was pretty bad.”

“If you aren’t going to tell me, talk to Jillian when you get over here.”

“I can talk to Jillian some other time, but there’s nothing to talk about.” Then she realized what he had just said. “Get over there? What are you talking about?”

“I want you to come over to Hawaii for a week.”

Stranger and stranger. It was never a good idea to underestimate Conner, especially when he was scheming. And she definitely defined this as scheming. He was devious and most people wouldn’t pick up on it. They would see him as being efficient. She knew better. Conner was born creating plots.

She cleared her throat and readied herself for battle. “I wasn’t planning on coming over anytime soon. I was just there six weeks ago for your wedding.”

No matter how much she wanted to run away from the office and her personal infatuation with Rory and Zeke, she would not use a trip to Hawaii to get away. Which, even as she thought it, made her crazy. Insane. Bonkers. Any sane woman would do it without much thought. She had gone over the edge.

And that is what those two had done to her. They had pushed her to the point that she was turning down vacations from her brother.

“I need someone who is good at being a nerd and it comes to you naturally.”

Most people would be upset with that comment, but not Maura. She was a nerd and proud of it. It was one of the many things Conner had taught her. On top of it, she knew he was lying.

“First, you’re lying. Big lying, but I love you for it so okay, I’ll come see you and Jillian.”

“And I want Rory and Zeke with you.”

That made her to pause. Going to Hawaii would be a great escape. She could forget her problems; spend some time recharging her brain. Bringing the source of her problem with her wouldn’t give her a break. Her concentration was already shot and now she had to deal with them dressed in trunks and all oiled up? She shivered.

“But who will run the office?” she asked.

“Jennifer is well trained and former FBI. I’m sending a few of the new hires from here to be trained in the office with her.”

Which made sense, but it didn’t explain why she needed to be in Hawaii. Maura knew she could definitely help with that and keeping the office running while Jennifer was training. Maura could also help with part of the training.

“The Petersen case is going to trial next week. Don’t you think one of us should be here?”

“No. The federal prosecutor said he didn’t need you. Which is for the best.”

She frowned. She didn’t think so. They did all the legwork and found out that Petersen had been funneling millions of dollars through the company he was CFO for. The owner had thought there was something hinky, so he brought Dillon Securities in to look it over.

They just didn’t know Petersen had been working for the Columbians.

“Are you trying to get me out of the country?”

“Hawaii is part of the country. And when you get here, you would be smart to remember that.”

She rolled her eyes. Conner had become more Kama’aina than Jillian who had lived there for a several years. Heck, he even took off early every Friday to celebrate Aloha Fridays. That was so not like Conner—and she was glad for it. Jillian had definitely loosened her brother up. Before falling for her best friend, Conner had been uptight—and he still was to a point. But now he had someone to tell him to take a break when he got too intense.

“Sure, sure. But, why do Rory and Zeke need to come with me?” she asked and then cringed at the whiny tone in her voice. It was worse that she didn’t know what her brother’s motives were. There were times she knew him better than she knew herself, but lately, he’d been acting very un-Conner like. If he wanted to talk about feelings, there was something very wrong. The idea that she had to spend a week with them in Hawaii didn’t appeal. Okay, that was a lie. It did. But in the wrong way.

“Because they are associated with the case too. It would be best if you three are unreachable.”

“So, Hawaii isn’t connected to the rest of the world? I think the Hawaiians would be more pissed about your comments than some stupid haole tourist made.” she asked.

He ignored her question. “And, there’s that house I rented for us during the wedding crap—”

“Oh, how I love to hear my husband say our wedding was crap,” Jillian said in the background. The amusement in her voice had Maura smiling.

“Now you did it, Conner. And I’m not helping you with Jillian.”

He grunted and Maura imagined that Jillian had plopped down on his lap. It was something that she did on a regular basis.

“I don’t need help with Jillian. I can handle her all on my own.”

The tone in his voice left little to figure out just what he was talking about.

“Ugh, ew. I am going to bleach my brain after that image suggestion.”

He chuckled. “It’s your fault. You sent me over here.”

“Okay, moving onto other things, you said you had the house that you rented?”

“Yes. I found out someone backed out of the week’s rent for it, and I jumped on it. Use the jet.”

She wanted to argue with him, just for the fact that she didn’t want to be with the two men while they were together. Zeke and she had mutually decided he could not give her what she needed, so they had split. It was hard enough working together, but seeing him with his old lover Rory, knowing the two of them were living together now, was a little too much to take. Worse, she was attracted to both of the men. Having them in the same house, day in and day out, might just be the death of any sanity she had left.

Before she could talk to Conner about not inviting the guys, Zeke walked through her office door, and of course, Rory followed behind him.

“Has Conner talked to you about this trip?” she asked.

“No I haven’t,” Conner said on the phone.

“Trip?” Zeke asked, his brow furrowing.

“Let me talk to him,” Conner said.

“No. I’ll tell him.”

She didn’t need her brother sniffing out her mood with Zeke. Both men were relentless and they would badger her. At least in Hawaii, she could ignore them and enjoy the sunshine. Not to mention, a trip to Rough ‘n Ready would help.

“Maura—”

“Love you,” she said and hung up.

She took a second to gather her composure. Maura had found it best when confronted by the dual assault of having both Rory and Zeke in the room to be prepared. If she didn’t, her tongue stuck to the top of her mouth. When she felt she was ready to address them and not drool on herself, she looked at them.

“He wants us to be in Hawaii when the trial starts.”

The men shared a glance. It irritated her on some level she didn’t completely understand. What was she thinking? Of course she understood. It made her feel small and petty but she seemed unable to move past it. She hated they knew each other so well a glance was all they needed to communicate. Worse, she hated being jealous of it. She was envious of their intimacy and their secrets. It would be bad enough if she was just hot for one of them, but both of them had her hot.

Both of them—and that was the problem.

She was definitely mental. What sane woman would be envious of two men who obviously have the hots for each other?

What made it even crappier were the dreams she had started having about both of them. It was disturbing her sleep and now disrupting her work. That was not good. Going to Hawaii was going to make it worse—unless she could find herself a Dom to play with while she was there. It might help her work out the demons that seemed to be chasing her for the last few months.

She glanced at Zeke and tried to keep her mind on the conversation. It was hard to do because the man was beyond gorgeous. What made him even more tempting was the fact that he didn’t see himself as attractive. His mother was Haitian and his father had been Irish, and both of them were easy to see in his character and his looks—not to mention his voice. His skin was dark brown, his eyes the color of milk chocolate and he had the body of a tough Irish fighter. All sculpted muscles and that stiff upper lip. Now that he had shaved his head and grown a goatee, he was even sexier. He was often times too serious, but maybe that is what appealed to her. He was hot and smart, two things that weren’t always easy to find.

“Maura?” he asked, those dangerous lips turning down.

She pushed those thoughts aside. Thinking about his lips wasn’t something she should do. Especially since Rory was now in the picture.

“As I said, he wants us there. It is kind of odd, but then, I can work on computer stuff there with no problem.”

“And you agree with it?” Zeke asked.

She didn’t really pay attention to the question. He had a baritone voice with that Irish lilt to it that just made her melt. She could remember hearing it first thing in the morning after their first night together.

“Uh, no. I would rather stay here because I have a load of work to do, but he wants us there. I will adjust. He’s using the lame excuse that he needs us there and he’s sending new hires for the upcoming Honolulu office here to be trained.”

“That’s actually a good idea,” Rory said.

She forced herself to look away from Zeke to Rory. An Irishman himself, Rory was what most people would call black Irish. Dark hair, blue eyes, and a lanky muscular build made him a treat for the eyes, and she had been dying for a bite. He was unconventional in every way. He had dyed some of his hair blond, probably just because he wanted to. The tats made him stand out even today when everyone seemed to be getting one. She had only seen glimpses of them because apparently, Rory liked to have his tats in naughty places.

He had a quick temper and she had often wondered if that is why he got into BDSM. Zeke had said when they were younger that Rory had learned to control it.

They were opposites in a lot of ways. Zeke thought through everything. And, that is one of the reasons she had been sure he was a Dom. When she had found out he wasn’t, even after he tried to play a bit, she had been disappointed. But, apparently, that was Rory in some capacity—from the rumors she heard.

Zeke was good at looking at the positive things and making the best. Rory had a jaundiced view of life that she truly appreciated. The few times he had been around her without Zeke, his sarcastic comments had gotten a chuckle from her.

And sadly, she wanted them both. But they were apparently interested only in each other.

“So, he thinks we can’t protect you?” Rory asked with a sarcastic tone.

“I can protect myself, thank you very much,” she said watching him settle in the chair in front of her desk and then lift his feet to the edge. “Feet off, McAllister.”

Rory gave her a sweet smile, although there was nothing sweet behind it, and did as she ordered. She had a feeling he wasn’t accustomed to women telling him what to do.

Zeke ignored the byplay. He crossed his arms and looked down at her. “Did he hear something about the Alvarez family?” he asked. Of course, Zeke would think of the case first.

“No. But he just thinks it would be best if we were gone. And you know Conner. If he has decided we need to be gone, that’s the end of the discussion. He rented that house he had for the wedding.”

“That sounds like a brilliant plan,” Rory said. “Are we taking the jet?”

“Yes.”

Zeke opened his mouth to ask another question but she had too much to worry about. And she needed them out of her office right now. The combination of sexy men was starting to give her the vapors.

“Call Conner and ask him anything. I am assuming we are leaving tomorrow morning. Can you boys be ready by then?”

“I’ve been ready for months, love,” Rory said with one of those cute lopsided smiles that made her insides quiver. But she ignored it. Or pretended to. He had been saying things like that the last few weeks and completely confusing her. It was as if he was flirting with her and she didn’t get it. She didn’t have the time to even think about it.

Zeke did not like it from the look on his face. He gave Rory a warning glance, and said, “What else do you have on your agenda today? It’s almost five.”

“I’m going to meet with Jennifer. She needs to take over my meetings if I am going to be gone next week.”

Rory nodded. “Right-o. I have a few calls to make too. Your brother doesn’t like to plan ahead.”

She laughed. “If you knew Conner before Jillian, you would never say that. But this was planned. He checked out the house, probably offered an obscene amount for it, and then worked it out with Margerie. He plans, but he likes to pretend he doesn’t.”

“And you let him do this?” Rory asked.

“I don’t let Conner do anything. But, when all you have is each other, you learn to allow for your eccentricities.”

She started to pull up some files on her computer. After a few moments, they were still there, both staring at her. She sighed.

“Go away.”

Zeke opened his mouth but Rory chuckled. “Let’s go, Zee. The lady has work to do. Let us know if you need anything.”

Rory stood and headed to the door. With a worried glance in her direction, Zeke followed Rory out the door. When it clicked shut, she leaned back in her seat and growled. She couldn’t stop herself. It was impossible. Every single day she had to deal with them and every single day she felt as itchy from the inside out. Worse, she had an idea that neither of them had any idea what they did to her. Zeke knew she loved him. They were going to drive her crazy. She needed to find herself a man in Hawaii and ignore the two men who had been driving her crazy.

She closed her eyes. If only she could listen to her common sense, she would be able to do it. Unfortunately, her common sense seemed to be on a holiday. The only thing that she could think was how much fun it would be to play with both Rory and Zeke.

She was doomed.

***

“You want to tell me what that was about in there, Rory?” Zeke asked as they walked down the hall to where their offices were located.

“What do you mean?” Rory asked. His attempt to sound innocent failed, at least with Zeke. Most people would never guess just how devious the man truly was.

“You questioning Maura about her brother like that.” He didn’t like it. He knew that Rory was planning something and it wasn’t going to be good. Whenever Rory got crazy plans in his head, Zeke was always left cleaning up the mess and dealing with heartache.

“Nothing. Just wondered why she would do it for him. She’s a workaholic.”

That much was true, but it didn’t sound like a reason Rory would be curious about something like that. He hated to admit it but Rory could be superficial with people in his life. Not the ones that mattered, but when it came to acquaintances, he kept everything on the surface. “But she loves Hawaii and a chance to see him, she will do anything.”

They reached Zeke’s office first and he stepped in his mind on the plans for the flight. He would have to make sure to get ahold of Michaels and tell him of the switch of staff on the job, although Conner probably already did, cheeky bastard.

“I get that. It’s unnatural.”

Zeke shook his head. Of course Rory would think that. With his fucked up family, Zeke understood why he never wanted to see them…or talk to them.

“To you and me, maybe. To them, no. They have always had each other’s back. It’s kind of heartwarming to see the way they look out for each other.”

Rory said nothing as he leaned against the doorjamb.

“What?” Zeke asked.

“You have that tone in your voice when you talk about her. It’s the same one I heard last year when you were involved with her.”

Zeke bit back a sigh. He settled in the chair and looked at his oldest friend and lover. They had known each other for so long, it was hard to remember a time when they hadn’t been together…or on each other’s mind. Zeke had known that Rory hadn’t been really happy about his relationship with Maura. It was hard to make someone understand his position.

“She wanted things I couldn’t give her.”

He hated to admit it, but that was the truth of the matter. He had never felt like such a loser as when he realized that he could not be the man she wanted in the bedroom. They might not be together anymore, but just being near her made him feel better. It was pathetic to even admit that to himself, but it was the truth. He might have allowed her freedom from their relationship, but he couldn’t get her out of his head…or his heart.

Zeke could tell his honesty did not sit well with Rory. But they had promised each other that this time they would be honest. He loved Maura, maybe as much as he loved Rory. And, his heart still hurt when he thought about the night Maura and he realized it would never work.

“What kind of things?”

Zeke glanced over Rory’s shoulder and saw Denise the office manager standing there. Six feet tall and plastic surgery perfect, she smiled at Rory. He smiled back, but Zeke felt no jealousy. She wasn’t his type.

Maura was.

“Hey, Denise, did you need something?”

“No, I just wanted to leave these with you. They need to be signed by the end of the month.” She slinked in and handed him the forms. She gave him a smile that he knew was an invitation. It was no secret he and Rory were involved. Worse, people had heard the rumors that they sometimes brought a woman into their bed. When that had made its way around the office, he had to deal with women who wanted to experiment.

One hard and fast rule that he and Conner both believed in was not fucking the help.

“Thanks. I have to make a few calls before six tonight.”

“Oh,” She said. “Have fun in Hawaii.”

With that she left them alone. Rory stepped into the room and closed the door.

“What was it Maura wanted?”

He should have known Rory wouldn’t let it go. “She’s a sub. You know I don’t do that.”

He was busy looking over the papers Denise just gave to him, but when the silence extended, he looked up. The interest on Rory’s face was enough to make him want to curse. Dammit.

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because you don’t like her. Admit it, you never spend time with her alone.”

He shrugged. “I got the vibe that she didn’t want to have much to do with me once I moved here. I figured she was jealous of me.”

He had known she was hurt when Rory had come back into his life, but it had been almost a year that they had called off their relationship. Still every now and then he would catch her looking at him with something akin to longing in her gaze. It made working with her very hard because he couldn’t help wanting her.

Zeke walked to his desk. Rory hadn’t liked her because Zeke had told him about their relationship. But, now, he might be changing his mind.

“A week in Hawaii just the three of us could be a lot of fun.”

He stepped behind Zeke’s chair and started to rub his shoulders. Zeke tried to resist the temptation. It was futile, he knew that, but he put up the fight for a few seconds.

“Think about it, Zee. You, me, a woman who likes to be tied down…”

Rory’s voice trailed off then he turned Zeke’s chair around. He leaned closer, bracing his hands on the armrests. The soap they had shared that morning in the shower permeated the air and brought back the memories. Zeke closed his eyes and shuddered.

Rory nuzzled Zeke’s neck then he felt his teeth nip at the sensitive skin. He was a weak man. When it came to temptation there were only two people in the world who could get him to forget about the consequences. One of them had just dyed her hair blonde. The other was Rory.

“You know you like the idea, doncha, love? You’re picturing it right now.”

Of course he was. His cock twitched as he tried to keep his cool but he had never had control when it came to Rory. It was one of the things that both he and Maura had over Zeke. He couldn’t resist either of them and right now, he wanted Rory. Needed him so much his hands were already shaking.

Rory kissed a path up to his mouth and then attacked his mouth. His tongue thrust into Zeke’s mouth, over and over. How could it be that this man could make him come undone so fast?

When he pulled back, Rory smiled. “Come on, Zee. It’ll be fun. Just think of everything that we could do. She’s hot for it too, you know she is.”

Zeke knew Rory was right. Knowing that he could watch her submit, one of his ultimate fantasies…Damn.

“Need a little relief, love?” Rory asked, his voice teasing Zeke as his fingers slipped down his chest.

His cock hardened further and his body yearned. He wanted that, wanted to feel Rory’s talented mouth on his flesh. But…they were at the office and at the moment, the door was unlocked. They didn’t hide their relationship, but having sex at the office was something else. As co owner he couldn’t do something like that—no matter how much he wanted to.

“No. Not at that office.”

Rory rolled his eyes but backed off. He liked to push Zeke’s buttons and he had a lot of experience doing just that.

“There was a time when that wouldn’t have stopped you,” Rory said.

“I wasn’t a boss then. Plus, we are about to leave for an entire week, or more. I don’t want anyone walking in on us starting our vacation early.”

Rory gave him a smirk then walked away to the windows that overlooked Miami. There was something else bugging him, something that Zeke knew he was trying to work out in his head.

“You have to let it go with Maura. While she might be up for a little play, Conner would not be happy.”

Rory rolled his shoulders. It was a sure sign that he wasn’t happy with what Zeke had said. One of the best things and one of the worst things about Rory was that once he got an idea, he would never let it go. It was something that made him good at his job, but it also made him a pain in the ass lover.

“You think she would go for it?”

Zeke sighed. Rory wasn’t going to let it go. “I think she might. It wouldn’t be good.”

Rory glanced over his shoulder and smiled. Those damned blue eyes twinkling at him. “I thought you said she was good. I thought what you said was she particularly liked…”

“I know what I said. It would cause problems here though.”

“Problems? How?”

“Not everyone is like you. Especially women. The complications at work would be tough. It was hard enough last time when Maura and I decided to split ways. Besides, you know what happened last time we brought a woman into the bedroom.”

“It was one hot fucking night, that’s what I remember.”

Zeke shook his head. Rory was right and with Maura, well, it would go beyond most of his fantasies. But their last experience had been very bad.

“So, you forget when she started to stalk you? How she threatened me? You always did have a selective memory.”

“And you remember too. You remember watching me tie Sherry down, don’t you? The way she happily would do anything I told her. You liked to watch when she sucked me off.”

Rory’s voice deepened over every word and Zeke had to take a bracing breath to control his need. His body was throbbing and his cock was so hard he probably wouldn’t be able to walk straight. Rory was one of the best at talking sex.

Rory walked toward him. Anticipation skated along his nerves. Zeke licked his lips. Instead of approaching him, though, Rory veered off toward the door.

“You think of that when you tell me you don’t want to share her.”

And with that he left Zeke, the door silently clicking behind him.

Even with the A/C on full blast, Zeke felt a small dribble of sweat slink down his back. He closed his eyes trying to calm the heat dancing over his nerve endings. Damn. The man could always control him.

It had always been like that from the beginning and Zeke had allowed it. Rory had his control issues because of his childhood and Zeke could handle it. They weren’t Dom and sub. Zeke was truthful about that when he told Maura. And weirdly for Rory, he only liked to Dominate women. Of course, it fed into Zeke’s need to watch. There was something about watching Rory work over a sub. With the right sub, Rory could send Zeke over the edge. And Maura would be perfect.

She was the right combination of sexy, smarts and submissive. He remembered the first day he met her. Never in his life did he have a reaction like that to a woman. She had smiled at him, her eyes sparkling from behind her glasses and his tongue had stuck to the top of his mouth. He actually stuttered. The only other person who had made him lose the ability to speak had been Rory.

It was inevitable that they get involved. Their arguing had only been foreplay to the bedroom. The sex had been wonderful, stellar. Still, he knew Maura had wanted—needed more. Something he couldn’t give her.

But Rory could.

The naughty thought whispered through Zeke and he shivered. He wanted it more than he wanted his next breath. He wished life was easier, and he could have both of them. The need he had for both of them scared the shit out of Zeke. It almost overwhelmed him at times. He could give into the suggestion, but he wasn’t too sure he would come out unscathed. He also had to think of Maura. He and Rory would still be together, and she would be left alone.

He just didn’t think he could do that, no matter how much he wanted her. Needed her. He loved her too much to take advantage of her. And wasn’t that just a bitch.

With a sigh, he turned his attention back to work. Zeke had learned a long time ago that life didn’t always work out the way you wanted it to.

End of Excerpt