The tight suction and the greedy swirl of Sloan’s tongue was enough to shut down Rylan’s brain altogether. His eyes snapped closed as he lost himself in the wicked sensations, rocking his hips to push deeper into Sloan’s mouth. When he came, it was with a weak croak, because his throat was too sore from all the groaning he’d done last night.
Sloan swallowed up his release, then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and sat up. He winked at Rylan before hopping off the bed, naked as the day he was born. Another surprise—Sloan was cheerful in the morning. Rylan never would’ve guessed.
“You just gonna lie there all day, you lazy asshole?” Sloan taunted as he slipped on a pair of jeans.
Rylan could barely find the energy to sit up. “You kidding me, brother? You think I can actually move after that blow job?”
“I suck a mean cock, huh?” Sloan was chuckling as he disappeared into the bathroom.
As the sound of running water wafted out of the open doorway, Rylan forced himself to climb out of bed and search for his clothes. Where . . . ? Right, they were on the bathroom floor, tangled up with Reese and Sloan’s clothing.
Reese and Sloan. Jesus. How had those two gotten to him like this? They were in his blood, the mere thought of them making his entire body feel warm and achy and tight with anticipation. Rylan had run into a few triads over the years, committed relationships with two men and one woman, or two women and one man. Hell, there was even a trio of females living in Garrett’s camp who’d decided they didn’t want or need any dicks to complete them.
But he’d never envisioned himself involved in that kind of relationship. He’d never envisioned himself in a relationship, period. He didn’t do commitment, and he didn’t believe in love. Whenever anyone got too close, he walked away.
So why did the idea of walking away from Reese and Sloan fill him with such crushing anxiety?
“You have time to check in on Bethy and the baby today?” Sloan asked, meeting Rylan’s gaze in the small mirror over the sink. “I’m planning on tackling that goddamn pipe in the restaurant this morning. Swear to God, I’m fixing this motherfucker once and for all.”
Rylan managed a chuckle, but inside he was still worrying about the repercussions of last night. Sloan had completely lowered his guard around him. These past few weeks had cemented not just a friendship between them, but something deeper. Something that made Rylan’s pulse speed up every time he thought about it.
And Reese . . . Christ, he couldn’t get enough of the woman. Everything about her excited him—her strength, her stubbornness, her fire.
He’d told them about his past, damn it. He’d confessed to hunting down the bandits that had brutally murdered his parents. He’d revealed that his mother hadn’t been the only whore in their household, that his father had expected the same of him. He’d never told anyone about that before, and he ought to be running hard and fast after placing himself in such a vulnerable position.
Instead, he’d let Sloan suck him off and now they were standing around planning their day.
The back of his neck suddenly began to itch.
“Yeah, I can drop in on Bethany,” he answered. “And if you need help with that broken pipe, I might be able to—” He stopped when footsteps sounded in the hall.
When Reese appeared in the doorway, Rylan instantly knew something was up. The soft, rosy-cheeked woman who’d been in bed with them last night was gone. Her hair was no longer sex-tousled, but pulled back in a tight, low ponytail. Her brown eyes were no longer blazing with passion, but damn near vacant.
Sloan noticed the difference too, because his expression flickered with unease. “Morning,” he said carefully.
“Morning.” Even her voice was different. Cooler, more reserved. “I need both of you downstairs.”
Rylan and Sloan exchanged a wary look. “What for?” Sloan asked.
“Got something important to discuss,” was all she supplied. “I’ll wait for you guys down there.”
With that, she turned on her heel and stalked off, leaving them alone in the bathroom to wonder what the hell was going on.
They dressed in silence and then went downstairs to the small meeting room. Reese had her maps out and was placing a painted bullet on one section, a sight that made Sloan stiffen. Rylan didn’t know what that represented, but it was clear that Sloan didn’t like it.
“What’s going on?” the man asked brusquely.
Gone was the hazy-eyed seductress of last night. A steely-eyed military leader looked back at them. “There’s one outpost in the southwest that still needs to be taken out. Here.” She jabbed her finger on the map.
“Reese . . .” Sloan warned.
She was having none of it. “We strike now and we strike fast.”
“We have no good intel on this outpost. All we know is that it doesn’t contain any supplies and it’s supposedly lightly guarded, but they could’ve made changes to it since the last time we took a look. Which was . . . six, seven months ago? Plus, we haven’t heard back from any of the other leaders,” Sloan argued.