“We’ll head over and keep an eye on them in a little while. I’m going to grab a nap. Teresa kept me up all night.”

“Hey.” She laughed. Pax drew her into his arms and brushed his lips over hers as he walked by. There went that slow warmth spreading over her. She laid her hand on his chest. “Sleep well.”

“I won’t sleep at all because you won’t be with me. But I’ll try.”

He shut the door behind him and AJ said, “He’s lying. He’ll be dead as soon as his head hits the pillow.”

She smiled. “He deserves to. Long night. For you, too.”

“I got some sleep,” AJ said, coming up and putting his arms around her. “Wrapped around a beautiful woman.”

She snorted. “Yeah, a comatose woman.”

“That’s okay. I’m patient.”

She arched a brow and slid her hand between them to palm his cock. “How patient?”

His c**k began to harden as she rubbed back and forth across the denim.

“You keep doing that and you’ll see my patience disappear.”

“Let’s see how fast.” She pressed in deeper, his c**k harder now, and AJ pushed her backward until the back of her knees hit the sofa.

“So, not patient at all, are you?”

“Neither are you.” He slid his finger down the front of her shirt, let it linger between her breasts. “You want me to f**k you?”

Quivers of anticipation hardened her ni**les and made her pu**y wet, driven higher by the hard c**k pushing against her hand. She dropped to her knees and reached for the button on his jeans. “Oh, I think we’ll definitely get there. But first I want your c**k in my mouth.”

He hissed out a curse as she drew his zipper down and jerked his jeans over his hips, freeing his cock. She slid her cool fingers over his hot flesh and brought it to her lips, tilting her head back to stare up at him as she slid her tongue over the crest.

“Teresa.” He leaned over to grab her hair and wind it around his hand, holding it while she took his shaft in her mouth, her tongue riding the ridged length of him as she brought him inside.

She reached underneath to cradle his ball sac in her hands, squeezing gently as she popped his c**k out of her mouth to lick around the tip and down the shaft.

“You make me crazy when you do that.”

She smiled up at him and stroked him with both hands, then rolled her tongue around the crest. He groaned and pushed his c**k over her tongue and into her mouth. She pressed her lips over his shaft, giving him suction, taking him deeper, watching his face contort with grimaces of pleasure.

His pleasure heightened hers. His hard c**k in her mouth made her ache to have him inside her.

He pulled out and drew her up, putting his mouth on hers in a kiss that seared her senses. He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her, pushing her onto the sofa.

“I need to f**k you, now,” he said, reaching into the pocket of his jeans for a condom. He put it on and pulled her pants and panties off, stopping only long enough to slide his fingers over her sex.

She shuddered at the contact, held her arms out for him and he came to her, kissing her again. She loved the way his lips fit to hers, the softness in them, the way he took his time in kissing her. She found gentleness in AJ’s kisses, always had, could float away to senselessness in the way his mouth moved over hers, his tongue lazily playing with her tongue, as if he had an entire day to do nothing but kiss her. Even in the heat of passion as they were now, he waited to f**k her, took his time to tease her lips, lick at her tongue, and brush his mouth against hers until her entire body swelled with heat and need and she whimpered, hungry to feel him inside her.

Finally, he moved up against her and fit his c**k at the entrance to her pussy, rubbing his shaft against her clit. Tension and desire sparked. She reached for his arms, gripped him and lifted against him.

His gaze met hers as he slid inside her—so intimate, so perfect as he pushed in and buried himself all the way. She reached up to slide her palm against his cheek as he began to move within her, hot passion and soaring tenderness combining to make her ache with emotions she didn’t dare name.

Not now, not when this should be all about sex and fun and fulfilling a physical need. AJ couldn’t give her what she wanted anywhere else, but here, in this moment, with his body connected to hers, he was everything she needed.

She lifted against him, asking him without words to give her more. He cupped a hand under her and brought her closer, rolling his h*ps to drive his flesh across her clit. Sensation flowed outward, bundling into a tight knot of pleasure. She rode it with intent, grasping his shoulders and arching again, needing to come with him inside her, needing to splinter around his shaft, to feel as if they were part of each other, forever connected at least here.

“AJ,” she whispered, cupping the back of his neck and pulling him down to press her lips to his as he lifted his h*ps and plunged into her with more fervor. She felt him thicken inside her, growing impossibly hard as he withdrew and thrust deeper. It was a languorous ride to heaven, one that made her toes curl and her skin break out in chills because he was taking her right to that point where reason fled and pleasurable insanity awaited. And when she was right there, she broke the kiss to look into his eyes—and came, her lips parting to let out her cries. Now she couldn’t hold back, trembling as the intensity of her cl**ax took over.

AJ tightened his grip on her, his gaze still focused on her as he came, too, the lines around his eyes crinkling as he grimaced and dug his fingers into her hips. He shuddered with her as they rode out this wild storm together, then fell together in a heap against the sofa.

Panting, sweaty, Teresa stroked AJ’s back, her limbs utterly limp, her heart utterly content.

He kissed her neck and murmured her name, and she sighed, her heart swelling and bursting with love for him.

Damn. She still loved him. She’d tried so hard to keep it from happening, but she couldn’t hold it back; she knew it was pointless, but what could she do? She was still in love with AJ, and knew he eventually would leave her.

Again.

THE TREK THROUGH THE WOODS WAS MUCH EASIER IN THE daylight. After Pax got up, the three of them headed back to the Fists’ camp. It was nearly noon and yet no one had stirred. Their bikes were all still parked there, so no one had taken off yet. But Teresa had learned one thing.

Surveillance was boring, full of bugs and made her legs cramp. After two hours the guys sent her back to the RV and told her they’d call her as soon as the group started to pour out of their RV. She agreed that was a great idea, because crouching down in the woods while mosquitoes and God only knew what else bit her was definitely not her cup of tea.

Not that she was all girly. She didn’t mind getting dirty and would gladly stay out there to watch—when there was actually something to look at.

She had no idea how Pax and AJ did that for a living. It was mind numbing. Maybe the exciting parts of the job made up for the surveillance part.

She yawned. And maybe if she’d gotten more sleep last night she wouldn’t have been falling asleep in the woods. Back sitting alone in the RV she was even more sleepy, and she didn’t want to be napping and groggy in case AJ and Pax needed her in a hurry. She needed to get outside. Fresh air would wake her up.

She’d washed a few things, so she went out to hang them on the line they’d put up for her. She liked the woodsy outdoors, the smell of trees and earth—as long as she didn’t have to kneel in it for hours. The sun was high overhead and it was a warm day, so she grabbed a lawn chair and took a seat, letting the sun heat her body and the breeze slide over her.

She closed her eyes and thought about everything that had changed in the space of a few days. Her life had undergone an epic change, and she had AJ and Pax to thank for that. With the help of their infinite patience she’d taken the phenomenal step into sex again.

But she had to be honest with herself. It had gone far beyond sex.

And that she didn’t want to delve too deeply into, because she didn’t want to put any kind of damper on the fun and closeness she shared with them right now. It was best to keep things light.

So far she hadn’t done a very good job of keeping things light. She’d already realized she had never stopped loving AJ. And Pax did things to her heart that made it clench. She was toppling right on the edge with him and could fall so easily. But she also knew trying to think of anything remotely permanent with these two men was going to go nowhere but down a road of misery and heart-break, so she had to tuck these feelings she had for both of them deep inside and remember that once this trip was over, they had their jobs to go back to and they’d both be leaving. She was only a pit stop for them. She was only fun and sex. And temporary.

And what was so wrong about having some light, temporary sex? She sure as hell wasn’t ready to step into some kind of long-term commitment, and AJ and Pax were the wrong men for that anyway.

At least she felt normal again, and that was a huge step in the right direction. She was going to have to be satisfied with that for now. She played over in her mind what she’d done with AJ and Pax, smiling at how far she’d come. And, oh, she was so grateful to them for their patience with her in getting her back to some semblance of normalcy again. And maybe she was confusing gratitude with love. That’s probably what it was. They’d been the first men she’d had sex with since the rape, and she was grateful they’d held her hands and walked her through it. And when they left her, there’d be other men down the road, until someday she found the man of her dreams.

If such a man existed.

But right now she was having a great time with Pax and AJ, and that was damn good enough.

So maybe it was time to stop overthinking the hell out of everything and stop thinking about love.

The heat from the sun relaxed her and she let her eyes drift closed, that familiar tiredness washing over her. She had almost fallen asleep when the sound of a cracking twig shot her straight up in the chair. Alert, she looked toward the woods where AJ and Pax were, expecting to see one or both of them returning. She waited almost five minutes and didn’t see them, then decided it was probably a woodland creature or a bird or something that had made the noise. Or maybe just her imagination.

But then she heard it again, and realized it hadn’t come from the direction where AJ and Pax were. It was on the other side of the woods.

Her pulse kicked up and she inhaled deeply through her nose.

Stay calm. It was probably nothing.

She rose from her chair and looked around, using her hand to shield her eyes from the sun. Their RV was at the bottom of the hill, completely cut off from the other campers. No one had any business down this way. There were no showers or facilities down here. And besides, there was nothing on the other side of those woods as far as she knew—except more woods.

Maybe it was a wolf. No, wolves were nocturnal and it was broad daylight.

Okay, Teresa. Don’t panic. Time to go inside and lock the door and wait for Pax and AJ. It’s probably just an animal.

The back of her neck prickling with unease, she took a leisurely walk toward the RV, hoping to avoid alerting anyone to the fact that she was scared out of her mind.

And that’s when something hit. No explosion of noise, but something slammed into the ground in front of her and sprayed dirt up against her legs. She wasn’t stupid. That was a bullet, coming from a gun with a silencer or something because she hadn’t heard the telltale pop.

Now it was time to panic. She ran like hell for the RV, which fortunately was only a few feet away and blocked whoever was shooting at her. She threw open the door, jumped in, jerked it closed and locked it, her knees weak and her body shaking.

Her phone. Where was her goddamn phone? She had to call AJ or Pax. She was breathing so fast she made herself dizzy. Okay, time to force her breathing into a normal rhythm or she was going to hyperventilate and pass out. But then the door handle rattled and she whipped around and stared at it, deciding to screw finding the phone. Where the hell was her gun?

She ran to her bag and threw all the clothes out of it, fumbling for her gun. Clip was in and she cocked it, her body drenched in sweat now as she made her way back to the front of the RV. Another shot pinged through the window and she hit the floor as glass shattered around her.

Stupid. Windows, idiot. He can see you.

Her phone! She spotted it on the counter and shimmied over on her belly, taking the chance to inch up and grab for it. Another shot, another shattered window. With fumbling, shaky, sweaty fingers, she dialed AJ. He picked up and whispered a quick, “What?”

“Someone’s shooting at me!”

That was all she had time to say because the door handle rattled again, this time harder. Another shot, this time at the door handle. She crawled toward the door and braced her back on the front of one sofa, her feet on the other, and took aim at the door.

As soon as whoever it was got through that door, she was going to shoot him.

Or die trying. Because she was never going to be a victim again.

NINETEEN

AJ HAD NEVER RUN SO HARD IN HIS GODDAMN LIFE. BY THE time they breached the clearing, dread had hit his stomach. Shattered glass littered the ground, bullet holes tattooed the RV, and the door handle hung lopsided. His gun was already out and so was Pax’s, pointed as they approached with caution. They’d torn through the woods not caring what kind of noise they made in their effort to reach Teresa.

AJ got to the door first and pulled it open, then held up his hand as he saw Teresa on the floor just inside with a gun aimed at the entrance.

“Teresa, it’s us. Don’t shoot!”

She dropped the weapon as he flew through the door and grabbed her up into his arms.