Chapter 7: Chapter 7

The banging on her door was a rude awakening. As was the thorough scolding from Conner, William, and Oliver. Well, not Oliver exactly. He didn’t speak a word, but he didn’t have to in order to get his point across. Where his brothers were vocal about their concern when she neither showed up for work nor called in sick, Oliver stood a silent sentinel, a force filled with the same fear and worry and upset over the unknown as his brothers.

Sabrina’s head was whirling with their slew of words they took turns throwing at her, sleep deprivation preventing the majority of them from sinking in fully. Holding up a hand, she squeezed her eyes closed and shook her head, cutting them off. “Just shut up, okay? All of you.” She dashed a look of warning mixed with admonition at each of them, even Oliver. “You’re not my fathers, my husbands, or even my boyfriends. And even if you were, you still wouldn’t have any right to come in here talking to me like I’m a little kid. Last I checked, I’m your boss, and I don’t answer to you.”

“You’re a partner, actually, and we were worried about you. It was inconsiderate of you not to call in. You had everyone in the office upset. Shawna said it was completely out of character for you not to call in, and you haven’t missed a day in over a year. We had every right to be concerned.”

When put that way… Sabrina hated that Conner was right. She didn’t like his delivery or his macho-man attitude or that he was standing up to her in any way, and it ruffled her feathers that he—that any of them—stood in a position to express any feelings whatsoever to her, but a part of her understood.

She forced herself to calm down so she wouldn’t say anything she might regret later. “I appreciate where you’re coming from, but this is so out of line, I can’t even…” Running out of words and lacking the will to try to come up with any, Sabrina rose off the love seat she’d planted herself in when the guys barged into her apartment and walked away, Binx on her heels.

“Where are you going?” William called after her.

“Back to bed.” She would have considered getting ready to go into work late, but they’d thoroughly pissed her off, and she wasn’t in the mood to deal with them or look at their handsome faces anymore today.

Slamming the bedroom door shut behind her, Sabrina fell into the mattress and laid with her face buried in the blankets, listening for the front door to close, indicating the men had seen themselves out. She heard no such thing.

Fine, they could sit out there until the cows came home, waiting for her to reappear. She didn’t give a damn.

After a good fifteen minutes had passed, time in which Sabrina didn’t sleep so much as reviewed her schedule and everything she needed to do but wasn’t, she heard a faint knock on the bedroom door followed by its opening on a whisper that aggravated her to no end.

“Do you make a habit of invading people’s privacy?” she barked, rolling over and sitting up partially to glare at whichever of the men it happened to be. Binx, who’d been lying beside her, gave a mew of protest and jumped down, disappearing out of sight.

Oliver greeted her with wary but soft eyes that somehow managed to disarm her. How could she be mad at a face like his when he never spoke a cross word or raised his voice at her? Oliver just came across so sweet and gentle, she couldn’t bring herself to shout the words that were ready on her tongue and would have flowed easily for Conner or William.

“Typically, no. But this seemed like a special occasion,” he remarked as he approached her side of the bed and casually sat down on the edge of it, as if she’d offered him an invitation.

“I hope you’re not going to try to talk me into leaving this room,” she said, the warning in her voice clear. She would hurt someone if they tried.

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Or apologizing to any of you,” she added, because that wasn’t going to happen today either.

“Wouldn’t be much of an apology if I forced you.” He shrugged.

Sabrina was having trouble reading him. Oliver was a bit of a blank slate. She wasn’t used to that. Everyone had a tell, something they did to give away their thoughts and emotions. Oliver was like the best poker player she’d ever met, giving nothing away.

“Then what do you want?” she questioned, maintaining her edge.

“Just to make sure you’re okay. I’m sorry we upset you. Like my brothers said, we were just concerned. When you didn’t answer your phone, we came by to be sure everything is okay.”

“It is.”

He looked around her room, at all of her possessions in perfect order, and nodded. “So it appears.” When his gaze came back around to her, she noticed it catch briefly on the bottle of aspirin on the bedside table. “Are you sick?”

Sabrina dropped back on her pillow and sighed. “No, just a headache and I didn’t sleep well. I overslept my alarm.”

She flinched at his unexpected touch, his fingers gently moving a few strands of hair around her face, and then touching her skin lightly, tracing her cheekbone and jawline.

“You seemed fine last night. What kept you up?”

Sabrina’s mouth suddenly went dry. She wasn’t about to admit the real reason she’d been up all night. Not to him. Not to anyone. It was so inappropriate. So wrong. So…dirty.

Her gaze swept over him. He was every bit as handsome and sexy as his brothers. Broad shoulders, wide chest, strong arms, thick neck with a little Adam’s apple that moved with his speech and each time he swallowed. Her heart beat faster as her body quickened with the memory of the few dreams she’d had last night.

Physically, Oliver was so much like his brothers, they could be triplets. Their stature, their looks, the way they carried themselves. All three wore confidence like a second skin and as well as the tailored suits that covered it. It seemed a crime of nature to have such a potent gene pool produce three perfect specimens such as the Hargreaves.

She felt guilty wanting them all for herself. Well, almost guilty.

The light, sharp intake of breath was just loud enough for Sabrina to hear in the quiet room, and she looked up into his eyes, realizing that he’d noticed her preoccupation…and the reason behind it.

The little flash in those dark eyes reflected knowledge and awareness…and a sudden desire that matched her own.

Women’s intuition told Sabrina that Oliver wanted to kiss her just seconds before he began to lean in and act on it.

She watched as he brought his face toward hers, having only seconds to shove him away if she didn’t want it.

But she did want it.

Sabrina was already making excuses for herself about why she was going to allow this to happen: she was tired, not thinking right; her reflexes were too slow to react; they were too sexy for her to resist. All of them might be valid arguments had she not grabbed ahold of the front of his shirt and met him halfway.

Oliver all but fell on top of her, their combined weight and being on an odd angle to blame for their balance issues.

Sabrina didn’t mind. As their mouths crashed together and his tongue slipped past her lips, she decided she fairly enjoyed the weight of his body on top of hers. It was a familiar weight, like the night Conner had taken her on the couch, but his kiss was very different.

Oliver—quiet, soft, gentle demeanor Oliver—was a beast.

His mouth moved over hers with a surety and determination that shocked her. The way his hands explored her breasts, grabbing and massaging before slipping under the oversized cotton T-shirt to pinch her nipples and repeat the process was uncharacteristically bold, but more than welcome.

Sabrina gasped and moaned into his mouth as her back arched up and her breasts pressed into his palms. He shifted, then the full weight of him moved over her, pinning her beneath the blankets.

The more he kneaded and kissed her, the more Sabrina needed, until she was writhing beneath him, her body screaming for his touch. His erection was rock hard, pressing between her pinned-together thighs, causing her core to pulse and clench. She flexed her hips as her fingers found his hair and gripped it in fistfuls.

But just when things should have escalated, Oliver broke the kiss, carefully extricated her hands from his hair, and moved off her.

Sabrina lay panting in desperation and confusion as she stared up at the man who now stood beside the bed, looking strung out, as if he needed her as badly as she needed him.

“What’s wrong?” she asked. “Don’t tell me you don’t want me.” She looked down at the decidedly huge bulge in his pants, hanging heavy between his legs. It was at least as big as Conner’s, and if he could make her feel half as good as his brother had, then she wanted it inside of her—now.

Oliver raked a hand through his hair, his gaze shooting to the closed bedroom door and back, almost pained. “I do, but I…can’t.”

Sabrina frowned, that boiling heat reducing to a simmer. “Why?”

“I—we don’t…do things that way.”

Did he mean they didn’t have sex with single, available women? Or they didn’t have sex with their boss? Because she knew that wasn’t true. “Conner didn’t seem to have a problem ‘doing things’ that way,” she said almost mockingly.

His eyes narrowing, Oliver asked, “What do you mean?”

Shoot. She’d stuck her foot in her mouth, hadn’t she? What brother would want to enjoy his brother’s sloppy seconds? Not that anything about Sabrina was sloppy. She hit the gym several times a week, and she only allowed herself one cheat day that she tried never to go overboard on. She was in great physical shape, if she did say so herself. But that didn’t mean a man wanted to share in another man’s pleasures, especially if those men were related.

“Nothing,” she dismissed, wishing she hadn’t opened her big, fat mouth. Now she wouldn’t get to sample the rest of the brotherly trio. “Forget it.”

He moved closer, pegging her with his intense stare. “Did you fuck my brother?” he asked, and the way he said it, without any anger or hostility, but just simple curiosity, made Sabrina confess a breathy “yes.”

He watched her for a lingering moment before a small fraction of what could be called a smile appeared. “That asshole. I fucking knew it,” he murmured.

Sabrina frowned again, this time deeper. What was he going on about?

“Look, I don’t want to cause problems between you,” she said, trying to fix any problems that might arise out of this whole crazy situation. “It was a one-time thing, a mistake, and I take total responsibility for it. I’ll understand if you and your brothers want to leave the company, just please don’t allow this to come between you. A bond like you have shouldn’t be severed over something like sex with the wrong person.”

“Wrong person?” he asked, his head tilted.

“Me. I mean me,” Sabrina clarified. Okay, this was getting uncomfortable. Grabbing the corner of the duvet, she flipped it aside, prepared to get up and out of bed and issue that apology she swore she wouldn’t give, but Oliver stepped up and in her way.

“You got that all wrong,” he said softly, reaching out to touch a single finger to her lips, which parted as she looked up at him, unsure of what he meant or how to proceed.

Something was different. The energy in the air had changed. But rather than cooling off as one might expect in a situation like this, she felt the heat increase, stir…thicken. Even if her mind was confused about what was going on here, her body already seemed to know. She felt feverish, inflamed, and that burning, tingling feeling between her legs had returned, demanding relief. If she’d been alone, she would have taken care of it herself, but it would have been a poor substitution for the man in front of her.

“Tell me what you want,” Oliver requested, his gaze holding hers captive.

“You,” she said honestly.

“And Conner?”

Her words floundered for a moment, caught between telling the truth and lying in order to avoid the potential and probable fallout, but Sabrina was listening to that little voice inside of her that was saying it was okay to be honest, that it was what he wanted.

“Him too.”

That fraction of a smile grew, as if he was pleased with her answer. “And what about William?”

He was just as hot as Oliver and Conner, and she could see herself with him, riding him, if given the chance. “Him too,” she repeated.

Now, Oliver’s smile was full, brilliant, and inspired confidence. He…liked her answers. Again, Sabrina was filled with confusion. What did it all mean? What was going to happen next?

Bending down, Oliver hunched over her to kiss her lips. “What would you say if I told you we all want you too?”

A little laugh popped out of her. “I would say that I already know that.” It was obvious. The way they each looked at her, watched her, it couldn’t be denied.

“Good,” he said firmly, then rose up again and began walking toward the door.

Sabrina felt an immediate sense of loss, followed quickly by a flash of fear. What was he going to do?

With his eyes on her, Oliver opened the door and called out to the next room. “Conner? William? Could you come in here please?”

He left the door ajar and returned to Sabrina’s side, urging her to move over and allow him to sit on the bed beside her. Taking her hand in his, he laced his fingers with hers just as his brothers entered the room and took a wide stance at the foot of the bed.

“Did you two have a chance to talk?” Conner asked Oliver.

“Some. Not everything though.” His tone hardened, but not angrily—playfully. “Unlike you, brother. You’ve been keeping secrets.”

“You told him?” Conner asked Sabrina at the same time William asked, “What secrets? What am I missing?”

Sabrina stayed mute, unsure once again how to proceed.

“They had sex.” Oliver outted them to William, and William turned and socked Conner in the arm in response.

“You fucker. You were supposed to wait.”

“Wait for what?” Sabrina blurted out, her head whirling from jumping from one emotion to another.

All three men looked at her, but Oliver was the one who spoke, and when he did, Sabrina couldn’t believe her ears.

“For us.”