by Marla Monroe
Allen began gripping her scalp with his nails, letting her know he was close as if she couldn’t tell. His cock was already leaking small amounts of his cum, its taste exploding on her tongue. She lowered her head around him and swallowed hard. It was all it took to send him over the edge, filling her mouth with his essence. She swallowed his cum as fast as she could. Before she had even managed to lick him clean, Allen stood up and pulled her into his arms. When he had finished ravaging her mouth, he laid her back against the bed and took her place kneeling on the floor between her legs.
“I’m going to make you scream my name, baby.”
Parker smiled. She had no doubt he would. When he lowered his mouth to her dripping pussy, she prayed she could hold out long enough to appreciate his expertise. Right now she was so close to coming that she was afraid one lick from his wicked tongue would set her off. Now that would be such a waste.
When she felt him clasp her hips in a tight grip, Parker knew she was in trouble. He wasn’t going to allow her to slow things down. He was going to make her scream his name so fast she wouldn’t know what hit her. She did the only thing she could think to do in the situation, she reached down and grabbed his hair in her hands and pulled him closer to her core so that he couldn’t just tease her with his tongue. Now he had to give her a heavy lick that she hoped she could control.
“Might as well give up, Parker. I’m going to make you come so hard you see stars. Give me all of that sweet honey, baby.”
She heard him, but she was too busy trying to hold on to her sanity to listen to him. It wasn’t until he sucked her clit into his mouth between his teeth that a soft keening noise rose from her throat. Before long it had turned into a full-fledged scream of ecstasy with Allen’s name on her lips.
Chapter Nine
Carly rushed home from work on Wednesday, so upset she almost ran a red light. They had known it was probably going to happen before long, but she hadn’t expected it to be so personal. Anger warred with pain as she struggled to gain better control of herself before she got home and had to face her men. Ranger and Drew would be furious if they saw her so upset. They took making her happy seriously.
She slowed down as she entered their neighborhood and hoped she could keep her heart from beating out of her chest. Pulling into the drive, she was surprised when both men walked out the door to meet her at the car. Drew opened the door and helped her out.
“Are you okay, babe?” Ranger’s gruff voice let her know he was already upset.
“How did you find out?” Carly let Drew draw her into the circle of his arms.
“Lisa called to give us a heads-up that you were headed home,” Ranger said.
“Don’t let it upset you so much, babe. It’s what they want.” Drew squeezed her tightly before releasing her so they could walk back inside.
“I’m trying not to, but they came to where I work and told everyone in the waiting room that I was a slut and a whore and they shouldn’t want someone dirty like me to clean their teeth. My bosses are furious. They’re going to fire me. I know they are.” She sniffed, trying to keep the tears from falling.
“Shhh, baby. I’m sorry, but it doesn’t matter if they do fire you. You don’t have to work. You can do anything you want to do.” Ranger smoothed his hand over her hair.
“I want to work, Ranger.” She accepted the glass of water that Drew handed her.
“So, you’ll find something else that suits you. Don’t let them hurt you like this. They’re narrow-minded bitches who need to have their asses spanked.” Ranger kissed her cheek. “Now tell us exactly what happened. We’ll need to call Cole and Zack about this.”
Carly sighed and set down her glass. Then she climbed up on a barstool and turned to look at her men. They were her rocks and she knew they would support her no matter what. Damn it. She liked her job as a dental hygienist. She didn’t want to do anything else.
“Caro and two other women from her group showed up and asked to see me. The secretary told them I was busy with a patient. The next thing I know, someone is yelling in the waiting room about sluts and whores. I walked in to find them telling the people there that we were living in sin by living with two men. She even talked about how some of us had children and they should be taken from us and raised by God-fearing families instead of being subjected to our depravity.”
“So did they just run out of steam and leave on their own or did someone make them leave?” Drew asked.
“Lisa and I grabbed Caro by the arm on either side of her and forced her out the door. The others with her followed. Then as soon as they left, I told the secretary to cancel the rest of my patients and I came home. I was too upset to try and clean someone’s teeth. I would have ended up hurting them.”
“Well it’s over for now. Why don’t you go take a nice hot bath and relax? I’ll call Cole and give him a heads-up. There’s bound to be more where that came from.” Ranger helped her off the stool and gave her a slight push toward the den and the stairs.
Carly couldn’t fully shake the anxiety of what had happened. They were tearing apart her entire world. She loved her men and didn’t want to lose them, but how could she live like this? Her work meant everything to her. They’d had this discussion before she had accepted them. She thought it was over, but here it was again.
While Drew ran her a warm bath, she peeled off her scrubs and followed him into the bathroom. He smiled at her and wrapped his arms around her.
“I know what you’re thinking, love. You can’t let them take away your happiness like that. They want to see you down and crushed. Don’t give it to them.”
“They’re taking away my work. How am I supposed to feel?” She knew she was being a baby about it, but right then she could only think about the pain of losing something that meant so much to her.
“You have a right to be upset and feel hurt. I’m not saying you don’t, but remember that you have two men who love and cherish you more than anything in this world. Nothing will ever take that away from you.” Drew cupped her cheek in his hand.
“I love you, Drew.” She felt ashamed of how she was letting this outweigh how lucky she was for having them.
“I love you, too, babe. Now get in the tub and relax. We’ll have dinner ready for you by the time you get back down.”
“I hope you aren’t letting Ranger near the kitchen.” Carly grinned up at him.
“I’m not that stupid. He’ll set the table.”
She let the water soothe her as she slipped down into the tub. He’d added some of her favorite bath salts and set out her towel on the heated towel bar. She was blessed to have Drew and Ranger. She could live without her job, but she couldn’t live without her men. They were her everything. Not the job.
She wouldn’t let those bitches take her happiness from her. She could be happy with her men without her damn job. She would figure out something else to do. Maybe she could do something from home like Briana. For the next twenty minutes, she soaked and let her mind wander. All sorts of ideas floated through her mind as she lay there. Maybe she could learn how to do medical coding. She’d helped some in the office part of the business with dental forms. Surely it couldn’t be that difficult to learn.
The water grew cold, so she climbed out of the tub and grabbed the warmed towel to dry off. She felt much better after having calmed down and thought through everything. The guys were right. She’d been allowing them to take away her happiness. They couldn’t do that if she didn’t let them.
When she made it downstairs, she found Ranger setting the table and Drew in the kitchen cooking. Ranger pulled her into his arms and looked down into her eyes. He didn’t say anything, just stared. Then as if he was satisfied with what he saw, he kissed her and let her go. As she walked off, he popped her on the ass, eliciting a quick squeal from her.
“What was that for?”
“Because I wanted to.” Ranger never gave a reason for anything.
She rolled her eyes at him and walked into
the kitchen to find out what Drew was cooking. The tantalizing smell of lasagna met her as soon as she stepped in the doorway. He turned to smile at her when she hummed her approval of dinner.
“How long ’til it’s ready?” Carly wrapped her arms around Drew’s waist from behind.
“About twenty minutes. The bread is about ready to go in the oven.” His hands rested on her hands. “Are you feeling better?”
“Yeah. I let them get the best of me and I shouldn’t have. Like you said, they can’t take anything away from me unless I let them. I’m not going to let them.”
“That’s my girl.”
Carly felt Ranger step up behind her. He nuzzled her neck before kissing her cheek.
She was right where she wanted to be, between her men. There was nothing she would choose, even her job, over them. If those women wanted to fight, well Carly was ready.
* * * *
Tina waited while Cole and Zack talked to someone on the phone. From what they were saying, she knew it was about them, the women and the charity drive. She itched to pick up one of the other phones so she could hear for herself what was going on. Instead, she waited somewhat impatiently for them to hang up and fill her in.
Finally they finished the call and put down their phones. When Cole turned to her, she knew he was furious. Zack’s face was closed down. She dreaded finding out now because she knew it would be bad.
“Cole?”
“It seems like Caro and some of her bitches have been busy today. First they went to the dentist office where Carly works and announced to the waiting room that she was living in sin with two men and that some of us had children and were raising them to be heathens.”
“Damn.”
“On top of that, they showed up at the lawyer’s office where Alexis works part time and did the same thing. Fortunately her bosses were smart and threatened to sue them for harassment and a few other things. They left with their tales tucked after that.”
“Poor Carly. She was already having trouble with her job. She’s going to be devastated if they fire her over this. Alexis will probably be okay. I better go see about Carly.” Tina turned to gather her purse and keys.
“Drew said she was doing fine. She’s more angry now than anything.” Cole dropped a hand on her shoulder.
“I need to call Parker and find out what we can do to stop this before it gets worse.”
Cole and Zack exchanged glances before he nodded and kissed her cheek. “Everything will be okay.”
“I know. I’m going to make sure it is.” She pulled out her phone and walked toward the den so she could sit while she talked. She had been feeling tired lately.
Parker picked up on the second ring. “Hello?”
“Hey, Parker.
“I’m sure you’re calling about Caro and her herd of cows.”
“Yeah. So you’ve already heard. What can we do about them?”
“Carly called me, and then Alexis called after that. I’m at my wits’ end about what to do about them. I never would have believed that they would go that far. I could see them whispering to some key folks but not this.”
Tina could hear the tiredness in her friend’s voice. She was sure Parker was taking all of it personally. She would feel like since they had come from her old life it was all on her.
“Parker, you know this isn’t your fault. You know that don’t you?”
“If it wasn’t for me, none of this would be happening.”
“Nonsense. You’re not responsible for their actions. I don’t want to hear any more of that kind of talk. Right now all we need to concentrate on is how to beat them at their own game.”
She heard Parker’s sigh across the phone. She could imagine how she was feeling right now.
“I’m not sure what we can do, but I’m not going to give up. There has to be something we can do.”
Tina ran a hand through her hair and yanked at it in aggravation. “Well Saturday we are going shopping for the kids, so it’s almost all over anyway. We’ll go early and then have lunch together before we wrap it up that afternoon. Then we can spend Sunday wrapping the gifts.”
“That’s going to be so much fun. I refuse to let them take that away from us.” Parker’s voice dripped with determination.
“They won’t. We’re too strong for them.”
“I’m not giving up on figuring out something to put them in their place though. They shouldn’t even be allowed to contribute to anything charitable the way they try to backstab everyone.”
“Don’t worry about it, Parker. Let it go and let’s just enjoy what we’re doing.” Tina could tell that Parker was going to keep pushing herself until she made herself sick about it.
They talked a few more minutes before they said good-bye. Tina stood up and went in search of Cole. She wanted him to call Shane or Allen and get them to watch Parker closely. They needed to distract her so she wasn’t worrying so much.
She found both him and Zack in the office. They both looked up when she knocked on the door and walked in. She loved how their faces lit up when she walked in. They made her feel special no matter what was going on.
“Cole, I’m worried about Parker. She’s really taking this personally. Can you call and talk to Shane and Allen? Maybe they could spend a little more time distracting her so she isn’t moping about it.”
“I’ll do that, but I’m almost certain they are doing everything they can already. They know she’s worried.”
“How are you holding up, baby?” Zack walked around the desk and pulled her into his arms.
“I’m okay. Just worried about everyone.”
“You look tired, baby.” Cole reached out and ran a finger down her cheek. “There are circles under your eyes.”
“I’m just stressed I guess. I’m sleeping okay.”
“Once Christmas is over with, you’re going to take it easy for a few days. I’m glad you’re not working any the rest of this month.” Zack kissed the top of her head.
“We’ll all take it easy after this is over with. You know, if it wasn’t for those kids, I’d almost be willing to call it all off. With it being kids though, I can’t do it.”
“We know, baby. We don’t expect you to handle it all yourself. Let the others help and share the responsibility, Tina. I don’t like seeing you worn out like this.” Cole tapped her on the nose with his index finger.
She grinned at him and left them in the office while she headed to the kitchen. A glass of tea sounded good to her right then. Maybe an idea on how to handle those bitches would come to her while she relaxed with tea and cookies. After pouring a tall glass of iced tea and grabbing a couple of cookies, Tina walked into the den and relaxed on the couch. Propping her feet up, she sipped her tea before taking a bite out of a cookie. Dinner hadn’t been that long ago, but she was still hungry. She wasn’t sure what was going on, but the last few days had really drained her.
When she finished her cookies and the glass of tea, she set the empty cup on the end table and lay back against the arm of the couch. She yawned and wondered if maybe she should call the others and find out if anything was going on with them. Maybe in a little while. She closed her eyes, and the last thing she remembered was thinking that digging up some dirt on Caro and her witch hunters sounded like a good idea to her.
Chapter Ten
Brandy and Alexis hovered over Alexis’s computer as they searched the information Alexis had been able to dig up on Caro and the others.
“You’re a genius, Brandy. Everyone has dirt, and sometimes the ones who scream the loudest have the most dirt to hide.” Alexis grinned at her accomplice.
“I figured as much. I’ve been poor white trash my entire life, so no one really thought much of talking in front of me or around me. I knew all the best secrets on everyone in my town.”
“Well, finding out their little secrets is proving to be entertaining, especially your suggestion on finding out what happened with the women’s shelter. They really fucked that
up.” Alexis laughed. “I bet they don’t think anyone would find out about that little screwup.”
“Well, I don’t want to do anything that will lead to problems for the shelter. Those women need all the help they can get,” Brandy said.
“We’ll make sure nothing blows back on them.” Alexis grinned as she continued working on the computer.
Neal walked into the office carrying a pitcher of lemonade. “Thought you might be getting thirsty with all the devious planning you two are doing there.”
“Thanks, hon.” Alexis pulled him down for a kiss after he set the tray on the desk.
“How’s it going?”
“We’ve got about all we need to put a stop to their meddling. We’re just tidying it all up right now.” Alexis poured a glass of lemonade for Brandy then one for herself.
“Mark and I are ready to look it over whenever you finish.” Neal saluted them before walking out of the office.
“What do you think Parker will think about this?” Brandy asked her.
“I think she’ll be relieved that we were able to come up with something to burst their bubble.” Alexis could tell that Brandy was a little uncomfortable around everyone for some reason.
At first, she thought it was that she was just shy, but the more she had gotten to know her, the more Alexis felt that Brandy didn’t feel as if she fit in with them for some reason. It was almost like she thought she wasn’t good enough to be a part of them. Now, after listening to her explain about being privy to all sorts of secrets because people didn’t think she was of any importance to worry about, she thought that may be the case. They talked around her as if she wasn’t even there. She said they didn’t worry that she would spread their secrets because no one would ever believe anything she said anyway. She was from the wrong side of the tracks.
As soon as all of this was over with, Alexis was going to make sure that Brandy knew better than to think that she wasn’t a part of their group as much as anyone else. The woman had a good head on her shoulders and had come up with what they needed to do to put those bitches of Caro in their place.