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Liam moved first. The chair creaked as he shifted his weight. Behind her, Hunter tensed. He withdrew his softening member and climbed to his feet. Kat shivered on the floor, the air cold against her back. She didn’t have the first clue what to do next.
Hunter broke their post-coital tableau. His zipper rasped in the silence, followed by the sound of the trash can opening and closing.
One of the kitchen chairs scraped loudly on the linoleum as Hunter knocked it out of the way. He strode from the room without a word.
Kat released a ragged breath. She looked up at Liam, whose mouth was bracketed by deep frown lines. “We shouldn’t have done this.”
“No,” Liam said. “This is exactly what we should have done. We’re just a decade too late.”
Cradling the ache Hunter had left in her body, Kat straightened and sat back on her heels. “Now what?”
The sound of the front closet opening galvanized her into action. She leaped to her feet and took two steps toward the door before she looked back at Liam.
“Go ahead and go to him.”
She searched her husband’s eyes for a sign that he meant something other than the words he spoke, but she found no hint of double meaning. That was one of the many things she loved about Liam. He meant what he said and said what he meant. She never feared stepping into a verbal or emotional trap with him.
With Liam’s blessing, she whirled and chased after Hunter. He’d run once. She knew in her gut if she let him leave now he’d run again. He was just opening the door, and a frigid wind blew in, snaking around his big body and slicing across her bare skin. Reminded of how little she wore, Kat dove around Hunter and threw herself against the door, slamming it closed.
The forceful move jerked Hunter’s hand from the knob. He took half a step back.
“Don’t go. Liam doesn’t—please. I don’t want you to go.”
Hunter’s knuckles gleamed white as he clenched his fists. He didn’t look at her, fixing his gaze on the door over her head. “You’re married.”
“I still don’t want you to go. Please stay. I don’t want you to go. I never wanted you to go.”
“You are a married woman. You took vows.” He lowered his gaze a fraction to look at her. His hazel eyes were flat and cold. “Vows you broke in that kitchen with me.”
Kat flinched but held her ground. “You didn’t seem to mind a few minutes ago.”
He leaned down until his face eclipsed everything. “I minded.”
She lifted her chin, determined not to back down even though a flutter of fear stirred in her belly. “You didn’t act like it.”
“No?” He grabbed her chin and forced her head at such an angle that she couldn’t look away from him. Kat’s heart raced behind her ribs, sped up by a combination of anxiety and interest. Hunter’s lips thinned. “You think I don’t mind that Liam offered you up like something he owned? I fucking minded. And I fucking hate that I took you anyway.”
“Hunter,” she whispered. The pain and anger scraped over her, leaving her raw. What had they done?
He stiffened, every muscle locking down. Apprehension spiked through her at the sudden flare of emotion that turned his eyes stormy gray-green. She froze against the door, hardly daring to breathe.
He released her as if burned by her skin and braced his hands on either side of her head.
Only then did she see Liam. He’d moved up behind Hunter, close enough that any movement would press Hunter’s back into Liam’s chest.
After a minute of tense silence, Kat lifted her arms from the door and rested her hands against the lapels of his overcoat. “I missed you. You didn’t have to leave. You could have stayed with us.”
“And done what? Watched you climb into Liam’s bed over and over again?”
“You could have joined us. I—we—wanted you just as much as we wanted each other. I thought the three of us would be together for...” Her breath hitched and she stopped herself before saying “forever,” which she worried would only insult him now. “For a long time. Stay now. Please.”
“What do you want from me?” Hunter straightened, his back coming flush against Liam. “I thought I could do this, but I can’t.”
“Do what?” Liam slid his hands over Hunter’s shoulders, his fingers curling to rest an inch from Kat’s.
Hunter stared at her but spoke to Liam. “This. I always wanted more. I need more.”
Liam crowded against him, his lips a breath from Hunter’s ear. Hunter’s chest rose and fell in fast, uneven breaths. Suddenly Kat knew what Liam was trying to do. Oh, God. The risk was enormous. If Liam failed, Hunter would never forgive him. Them.
