ChapterFourteen
Revelations and confessions
Lilly was breathing harder than normal by the time she got to Riley’s study. The door was closed, and she stopped in front of it, just staring at the smooth wood. Grabbing the cold brass handle and turning, she pushed it open and stood there staring at Riley.
“Come here, Lilly,” he said in a deep voice.
She stepped inside and closed the door behind her, looking at him as he sat in an oversized chair by the window. He was bracing his elbows on his knees, his glasses off and sitting on his desk, and his expression stormy. He didn’t fully face her, just continued to watch as the snow fell.
“We need to talk, love.”
Her heart ached at his gentle words, making her emotions that much more heightened. She walked over to him and knelt. A surprised expression crossed his features
“We do,” she stated. It was time to get all of this out there, to really know what he wanted, and if being a triad was their future. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes briefly as she decided where to start. “You know how much I love you right?” She waited a heartbeat before she continued. He nodded. “You know how much I love Tallin, right?”
He stood and faced her fully, nodding again.
“I love you both so much … I want both of you in my life as more than what we’ve ever shared.” She looked into his face, thankful he gave her the time to say this, and that he wasn’t trying to speak right now. “I just love you so much, Riley.” The words were barely out before Riley was moving toward her. “I’m so in love with both of you, and Tallin said—”
He had his hand behind her head, his fingers tunneled in her hair, and was kissing her before she could get the rest of the words out.
He moved them backward so her ass bumped into his desk, and she was forced to reach behind her and brace her hands on the wood.
He took possession of her mouth, his tongue spearing in and teasing her, tasting her. She gasped when he pulled away and trailed his tongue down her neck, his teeth gently nipping at the base of her throat.
“Riley?” She was surprised by this intensity from him, especially after what she’d just told him. He still hadn’t said anything yet, and she knew sex wasn’t the answer. They needed to talk, and she needed to make sure he was okay with this.
He nipped and licked at her throat, groaning and pressing his rock hard erection into her belly. Riley had always been the gentler and sweeter among the boys, but this dominating and controlling emotion coming from him was startling as well as arousing.
Already her pussy was soaking wet, her clit swelling with her desire as he continued to torment her skin.
“God, Lilly.” His voice was low and heavy, thick with his own arousal. He tightened his hands on her waist, flexing and relaxing his fingers on her flesh.
Then he slipped the digits under the hem of her shirt and slowly moved them up.
“Wait,” she managed to breathe out, and he instantly stopped. Riley pulled back and looked into her face, his amber colored eyes stormy and filled with arousal. “I need to know how you feel about what I just said.”
He swallowed, the column of his throat working from the act. Riley took a step back and looked at her. He was sporting a huge erection, the front of his slacks tented.
Lifting his hand and running a hand over his short blond hair, the silence stretched out between them.
“Tallin and I got drunk one time, awhile back. It was shortly after you left. I was feeling like shit because I was already in love with you but never had the balls to actually admit my feelings to you or anyone else.”
He kept his focus on her, and she made sure to stay silent. What Riley was saying, she knew was what she’d want to hear.
“Christian was out of town, so it was just Tallin and I. One thing led to another and we were both trashed, and saying a bunch of shit we’d never told anyone.” He ran a hand over his hair again, an act she knew was due to nerves. “I admitted how much I was in love with you, and how I never told you because I was too weak, and also because I knew you were leaving and I didn’t want to screw up the plans you had.”
She felt her heart jump at the fact Riley was sharing this, and that he’d never told her his feelings because he didn’t want to get in the way of her plans with her career.
“Tallin, even piss ass drunk, seemed like he was sober. He admitted how he felt, too, but we both thought it best to just let it go because of where you were at in your life, and the fact we were all friends.”
“Oh, Riley.” She wished that they’d been able to take about this stuff back then, but the truth was she hadn’t appreciated how precious life was until Christian had been taken away.
The truth was she knew she’d always been in love with them, but she’d never fully accepted it, never allowed herself to bring those feelings up from her soul.
She’d focused on school, on starting her career. Now that Christian was gone and the truth of their emotions was coming to the surface, she was tired of hiding, of not doing and experiencing what was important in life.
“We are in love with you, and during that drunken talk, and even more recently, after you came back to Burkett and have been staying here, we decided that if there was ever a chance we were able to be with you, we’d take it, no matter what.” He smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “And we knew that if you wanted one of us but not the other, we’d step away, let you be happy.”