Don't Shoot the Messenger: Hazard Falls Book 2

by Samantha A. Cole

  She hurried from the room and up the stairs. Trevor was in his bedroom where, occasionally, he locked himself in whenever he needed a break from his siblings pestering him. Before Blair knocked on his door, though, she detoured into the master bedroom. Her body was flushed with arousal—arousal for a man who wasn’t her husband, whom she loved with all her heart. Guilt-filled tears poured from her eyes. Heaven help her, she was in love with two men. Thankfully, her friendship with Paige, and the one she’d had with Sarah, Shane and Tucker’s first wife, meant loving two men wasn’t a foreign idea, but it was one Blair had never had before.

  Neither Grant nor Drake had given any indication they’d spoken to Tucker and Shane. Maybe they didn’t want to share her. Maybe Drake wanted his brother to leave. Maybe Grant wanted to leave the moment the danger to her family no longer existed. Would she survive losing Grant again, knowing, this time, it would be his own choice?

  Chapter Sixteen

  Through the kitchen doorway, Drake regarded the stairs leading to the second-floor bedrooms. Blair had run up them about fifteen minutes ago and still hadn’t come back down yet. At first, a pang of jealousy had stabbed him when Grant had taken Blair into his arms to comfort her. But then his brother had pivoted slightly, and Drake had seen Blair’s shoulders relax as Grant had told her she and the kids were safe and he’d make sure they stayed that way.

  That’s when it’d hit Drake. Shane had been right. The two brothers combined could give Blair everything she needed, including their love and support. They could do this, Drake was sure of it now, as long as Blair was willing to give it a try. God, he wished she’d give him a sign—a glaring one—so he didn’t assume something she didn’t want.

  As Grant, Vic, and Manny discussed the new guard schedule, Drake stepped into the family room to check on Regan and Michael, who were coloring and playing with Legos, respectively. “How are you doing, kids?”

  Michael just shrugged, but Regan looked up at her dad. “I’m hungry; what’s for dinner?”

  “Uncle Shane is dropping off pizza in a little bit.” Drake had gathered that much from Blair’s conversation with Paige.

  “Yay! Is Ari coming too?”

  “I don’t know, pumpkin, but if she is, she’s not staying for dinner tonight. Maybe next time.” Any other time, he would’ve invited the young girl he considered a niece to dinner, but not with the possible danger to the Hadleys lurking out there.

  Regan sighed as if Drake had just crushed her dreams. “All right.” But then she smiled, hopefully. “Is Uncle Grant eating with us again tonight?”

  Taking a seat on the couch next to where his daughter was kneeling on the floor in front of the coffee table, Drake stroked her head. “Yeah, he is. Is that okay with you?”

  She nodded. “Uh-huh. I like Uncle Grant. I wish he could live with us all the time. He makes funny voices when he reads me stories, and he’s gonna teach me some tricks, like taking a quarter out of Michael’s ear. I think it would be fun to have two dads like Ari has.”

  Hmm—out of the mouths of babes. Drake’s kids had been around Shane, Tuck, and Paige so much that it didn’t seem odd to them that Ari and Ashley had two fathers. As far as Drake knew, Ari didn’t suffer any bullying at school because of her parents’ unconventional marriage. Although, that might change as she grew older and her peers noticed the Wilsons were out of the norm and started hearing the snide comments from some of their own parents who gossiped about the trio.

  Drake was saved from responding to Regan’s wish when the doorbell rang. She jumped up and ran for the front door before he could stop her. “I’ll get it!”

  He hurried after her. “Regan, no, I’ll get it.”

  Thankfully, Vic had come from the kitchen and beat her to the door. “Hang on, squirt. Let me see who it is first and then you can open the door.”

  “Okay, Mister Vic.” As far as the children knew, the man who stopped in every once in a while was Grant’s friend.

  As the little girl waited, somewhat impatiently, Vic peered out the small peephole, then unlocked the door and took a step back. “All right, you can open it.”

  Regan didn’t hesitate to do just that. “Hi, Uncle Shane! Hi, Ari!”

  The father and daughter duo stood on the porch, carrying four pizzas between them. Regan opened the screen door for them to enter. Drake reached out and accepted the two flat boxes Ari held out to him before taking the other three from Shane. “Thanks for grabbing us dinner.”

  Shane shrugged. “No problem. The phones still ringing like crazy?”

  “Don’t know. We shut off the landline and muted the cells.”

  “I don’t blame you one bit.” After glancing at the two girls, who were chatting away, and the retreating back of Vic heading back toward the kitchen, Shane leaned in and lowered his voice. “How are things going with you, Grant, and Blair?” He waggled his eyebrows.

  Drake couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face. “You’re nosier than half the old bats in town, ya know that?”

  “Of course I know that. But the difference between them and me is I can keep my mouth shut.”

  “After you tell Paige and Tucker.”

  “Right,” Shane responded with a snort. “After I tell them—and you still didn’t answer my question.”

  Drake peeked up the staircase to make sure Blair wasn’t standing there before facing his friend again. “Grant and I are on board, but we’re not sure how to approach Blair with the idea.”

  “That’s easy—seduce her in the kitchen, after the kids go to bed, and let Grant . . .” He made air quotes with his fingers. “. . . accidentally walk in and become a voyeur. I’ll bet you a hundred bucks Blair gets turned on even more when she realizes he’s watching.”

  “But what if she’s not?”

  Shane rolled his eyes. “Dude, why do you think Tuck and I talked to you and Grant about this? Jeez, you’re slow on the uptake here. She talked to Paige. Paige talked to me and Tuck. Blair loves you both, you dumb a—” He cut off the last word when his eyes shifted to the nearby girls, even though they didn’t seem to be paying attention to their fathers. “And she doesn’t want to lose either of you.”

  Drake’s eyes went wide. “Seriously? She said that?”

  “Not in those exact words, but yeah. I know she loves you, Drake, but she also never stopped loving Grant. Don’t make her choose, because, either way, she’ll have to give up a man she loves, and that’s going to hurt her more than anything. So, man up, and seduce the hell out of her. Trust me, it’ll be worth it.”

  Shane was nothing but straightforward, however, this was one of those times when Drake appreciated the fact. With only a moment’s hesitation, Drake nodded. “All right, we’ll give it a shot.”

  His friend clapped him on the shoulder. “Good. Now that that’s decided, do you need anything else?”

  Lifting the pizza boxes he was still holding, Drake shook his head. “No, this was more than enough. Thanks.”

  “No problem. Ari, let’s go, sweetheart. We’ve got to get home with our dinner before Papa starts growling like a hungry bear.”

  After making sure Regan locked the door once Shane and Ari left, Drake carried the pizzas into the kitchen and noticed Michael had joined the men there, showing them his favorite John Deere toy tractor. Drake set the boxes down on the table. “Hey, Regan, sweetie, run upstairs and tell Mommy and Trevor dinner’s here.”

  “Okay.” She skipped toward the stairs. “Mommy! Trevor! Dinner’s here!”

  “I think she missed the ‘run upstairs’ part,” Grant said with a chuckle as he grabbed plates from the cabinets and handed them to Vic.

  “My daughter’s the same way,” the retired SEAL responded. “Takes the shortcut any time she can.”

  Grant raised an eyebrow at him. “I didn’t know you had kids.”

  The man nodded. “Just one—she’s nine and lives with her mother in Texas. We got divorced four years ago. I only get to see Chrissy once a month and
a few weeks during the summer.”

  Drake felt sorry for Vic. He couldn’t imagine not seeing Trevor, Regan, and Michael every day, watching them grow and not missing a minute of their young lives. He glanced at his brother and vowed Grant wouldn’t have to miss a minute of Trevor’s life from now on. If anything ever happened to Drake, he wanted to know, without a doubt, his family would be taken care of by Grant, like Drake had taken over care of Grant’s family all those years ago.

  When Blair walked into the busy kitchen, looking as beautiful as always, Drake decided tonight was the night the Hadley brothers would start seducing the woman they loved.

  After pizza, Italian ices, and a Disney movie, Grant had volunteered to tuck the kids into bed, while Drake and Blair cleaned up the kitchen and family room. The guards had left to get some sleep before taking their respective watch details. Blair had enjoyed Vic and Manny’s company. She’d been surprised to hear that Manny had grown up in Baltimore while Vic had been raised in the suburbs of Los Angeles, because both men seemed very comfortable with small-town life. Vic explained that, while he’d spent a few summers on his aunt and uncle’s ranch in Montana, the military community also had a small-town feel to it. Everyone had their team members’ backs and vice versa. When they were home, near whichever base they were stationed at, backyard barbecues and other get-togethers were common. The beer, food, laughter, and gossip flowed, just like it did in Hazard Falls, Kansas, whenever there was something to celebrate or when someone had a party just for the hell of it. Blair hadn’t realized how alike the two communities were. She guessed it made sense after hearing stories about how the spouses of those in the military were always there for each other during long deployments.

  Blair handed Drake the last glass, then pulled the plugs in both sections of the sink to let the water drain out. As she ran the sponge along the rims of the basins and the faucets, Drake stepped behind her and clutched her hips. Blair stilled and almost moaned when he rubbed his thick erection against her ass. This was the first time since the night Grant had returned that Drake had touched her like this, and she sighed in relief. She hadn’t wanted to push him, knowing he’d have to come to terms with the presence of the man she’d once loved more than anyone else on Earth. The man she was still in love with, although she couldn’t admit that to either Hadley brother. Not until she was certain it wouldn’t hurt Drake and make him think she loved Grant more than him. She didn’t.

  God, she’d never understood how Paige had lost her heart to two men until now. Yeah, it happened all the time in the ménage books they read, but she’d always thought real life was far different. Thank goodness for Paige and her husbands—otherwise Blair would have thought there was something wrong with her, falling for the brothers and wanting them both. If only they’d give her a hint that they wanted the same thing she did. Neither had mentioned or had given any indication that Shane and Tucker had spoken to them about a threesome relationship, and she was terrified to bring up the subject on her own. But she was also terrified that when the danger to her and the children was gone, Grant would disappear from her life again. Blair didn’t think she’d survive that happening a second time.

  Drake’s hands slid up her sides then moved to cup her breasts. He nuzzled the bare column of her neck and bit down lightly, and Blair couldn’t suppress the moan that escaped her. She could feel her husband smile against her skin. “You like it when I nibble on you, don’t you?”

  “Yes.” That single word was said on a breathy exhale. She reached back and grasped his ass as he tucked one hand into the V-neck of her shirt and under her bra. Her eyes fluttered shut when he rolled her nipple between his thumb and forefinger. Desire flooded her core, and she tried to remember the last time they’d had sex outside the bedroom. As the kids had grown, it had become harder to have stolen moments and quickies that wouldn’t be interrupted by calls for Mommy and Daddy. It was one of the very few reasons she couldn’t wait until all three were in school.

  Drake’s pelvis moved and rocked against her buttocks, and memories assaulted Blair. Drake had never expressed interest in anal sex, so she’d always assumed it wasn’t his thing. But it had definitely been his brother’s thing. Grant had loved taking Blair anywhere he could—her mouth, pussy, and ass had all been filled with him at one time or another. Hell, if the man could’ve figured out a way to fuck her ear and belly button, she was sure he would’ve done it—and she would have let him.

  It wasn’t that sex with Drake was dull or not on par with Grant, it was just different. She’d never brought the things she’d done with Grant into the bedroom with her husband. Drake had known the only other man she’d ever slept with had been Grant, and she’d never wanted him to think she was comparing the two of them. But, right now, she kind of wished she’d let him know that she enjoyed anal sex. It wasn’t for all women, but Blair missed it. Whenever Grant had taken her ass, he’d filled her pussy with a vibrator and fucked her with it and his cock at the same time. What would it be like if Grant was in her ass while she rode Drake’s shaft? The thought had her racing toward an orgasm, and Drake was still only playing with her tits. He hadn’t touched her throbbing clit yet, but she was ready to go off like a rocket the moment he did.

  While she was totally into what Drake was doing to her, Blair suddenly got the feeling they weren’t alone. Her eyes opened and shifted to the left, and she gasped. Grant was leaning against the doorframe leading to the hall, staring at her and Drake. His eyes were heavy with lust, and there was no mistaking the bulge in the crotch of his jeans. The way his arms were crossed over his chest made the muscles of his shoulders and biceps more deliciously defined. The man was still sex on two legs. Both Hadley men were.

  Blair was shocked when, instead of backing away from her at the intrusion, Drake turned her until she was facing his brother. His hand remained down her shirt, and his cock still nestled against her ass. Drake’s mouth found her ear and licked it. His voice was raspy and sensual as he murmured, “He wants you, baby. Just as much as I do. If you want him too, ask him to join us.”

  Her mouth dropped open, and Grant’s chuckle was low and rumbling, as his gaze lifted from where Drake was teasing her nipple to her face. “Damn, she’s still the prettiest woman I’ve ever seen when she blushes.”

  Holy hell, she must be dreaming. She was standing in her kitchen with the two most alluring men she’d ever known, and they both wanted her—together! Right? Oh, please, let me be right.

  She squeaked when Drake nipped her ear. “If this isn’t what you want, tell us, baby. Grant and I talked. We’re both on board with giving you what we think you want and need. No jealousy. No regrets. We both just want to love you.”

  Oh, she definitely craved that too but needed to clarify a few things first. “I—are you . . .” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to calm her nerves. She eyed Grant. “I—I want this, but not if you’re going to leave after you find whomever sent those photos. This is all or nothing, Grant. I love Drake with all my heart, but I never stopped loving you. To—to be able to love you both at the same time—I never thought it was possible, but I was wrong. My love isn’t split between the two of you—each of you getting a share—it encompasses both of you and the children. You all belong to me, to my heart. I couldn’t take it if this . . . this threesome is only temporary. I know we’ll have a lot to work out, but if Shane, Tuck, and Paige can do it, I think we can too. But I need to know you’re staying.” Before he could answer, she turned in Drake’s arms to look at him. “And I need to hear you tell me again that you won’t regret this. I need to see your face when you say it. You’re not doing this because you’re afraid of losing me, are you? Because you won’t.”

  Drake cupped her jaw, then leaned down and kissed her sweetly on her mouth. When he lifted his head again, she saw the truth in his eyes. They were filled with love, trust, and understanding. “No, I’m not. I’m doing this because I love you, and I’m afraid of you losing me someday. If somethin
g happens to me, I know Grant will be here for you and the kids. I’m doing this because I can’t think of anyone else on this earth I’d even consider sharing you with other than my brother. I’m doing this so you don’t have to choose between the two men you love. I don’t know why I was fighting the idea at first, because I already knew you’d never stopped loving him—I’ve always known that—but it never made a difference in how much you loved me too. You were right when you said we’ll have a lot to figure out about being in a ménage relationship, since this is so new to all of us, but I have faith in you, and in Grant, that we’ll make this work. We’ll both need our alone time with you, but, most of the time, it’ll be like this when Grant and I will come to you together.”

  Her heart swelled with love for her husband. She’d been afraid of his response more than Grant’s, but he’d quickly and efficiently quelled her fears. She placed a kiss on his lips. “I love you, always.”

  The corners of his mouth pulled upward. “I know you do, sweetheart, and I’ll always know that.”

  Turning back to Grant, Blair met his gaze. “Well?”

  Pushing off the doorframe, he strode toward her—actually, stalked was a more appropriate word—and cupped her chin. “I’m an ass for staying away from you both for so long. It never occurred to me we could work this out where no one had to choose, and I didn’t want to hurt either of you. I won’t lie—I tried to banish you from my memories by sleeping with a few women in Florida—but it never worked and just frustrated me even more that I couldn’t have you. None of them meant a thing to me other than a few hours of sexual release. It was never in my bed, I never lied to any of them about it being more than a one-night-stand, I never stayed the night, and I always used a condom.”

  Blair tried not to let the thought of Grant with other women hurt her. She knew that wasn’t the reason he’d told her. They’d never had secrets between them—well, except what his job had entailed—and she would’ve been more upset if he hadn’t been up front about his short-lived affairs. She had to be understanding about it, considering she’d married his brother. Grant had thought his relationship with her was over, and she couldn’t expect him to be a monk for the rest of his life if he didn’t think he could be with her again. All that was in the past, and now was their time to start their future—together.