by Lacey Thorn
“You look better.”
She smiled, then glanced around. “Where’s your car?”
“Caught a ride here. Thought I’d see if I could persuade you to come back to my house for tonight.”
“I’d love to. I think I’m dead on my feet.”
“Want me to drive?”
“Would you?” She held her keys out to him and felt the spark when their fingers met. “I’d appreciate it.”
He took her hand and led her around to the passenger side, opening her door for her once he beeped the key fob to unlock it. She watched him as he strode around the hood toward the driver’s door. Good. He looked so good. She wasn’t sure where he’d been shot, but he still moved with the same grace he always had.
He clicked the door shut behind him but didn’t reach for his seat belt or even do more than just put the keys in the ignition. Instead, with both hands free, he turned toward her and leaned over the console. His lips brushed hers. One hand slid to her hip, the other cupped the back of her head, urging her closer to him. Another brush of lips on lips, the slow glide of his tongue over her bottom lip, then it was dipping inside to rub along hers.
They were both breathless when they parted. She felt rejuvenated, as if his kiss was equivalent to an energy drink.
“I missed you,” he whispered.
“I missed you, too.”
He reached over and engaged her seat belt for her, then sat back in his seat and snapped his in place. He started the engine, reached over to link his fingers with hers and eased the car out of the parking lot.
“I was surprised when you called.”
“I… God, Rance. I’ve been such an idiot.”
“How so?”
“I let you leave.”
“My job made me leave. There wasn’t much either of us could have done.”
“I could have offered to come with you.”
He flicked a glance toward her, and she saw the grin tug at his lips. “And leave Deja and Melda? I’d have never asked that of you.”
“Sawyer did.”
Rance nodded. “I know.”
“He told you?”
“We talk.”
Well, didn’t that just make her wiggle in her seat? What did they talk about where she was concerned? Did they compare… And she wasn’t even going to let her mind go there?
“It’s all good stuff where you’re concerned,” he assured her as if she’d spoken out loud.
“Were you able to get in touch with them? I know they were working on some big case. I never know if it’s okay to call you guys when you’re on a case, so I just don’t call.”
He gave her a curious glance as he turned down the street that would take them to his house. “They were on the same case I was working on. They stuck around, keeping an eye on me while I was recovering. Then followed me back here. We’re all on some much needed vacation time right now. This case really wiped us out.”
She didn’t ask, knew he couldn’t discuss cases normally. “Were either of them hurt?”
“Sawyer took a graze to the arm, but it just pissed him off. Jeff wasn’t there when we did the infiltration and takedown. He was busy hacking into their system to access the information we needed.”
“Did they say anything to pass along to me?”
“Nope,” Rance answered as he pulled into his driveway and parked.
She felt her heart sink a little then caught a flash of light as his front door pushed open and both Sawyer and Jeff stepped out on the porch.
“They’re here.”
“We’re all here,” Rance replied, shutting off the car and turning toward her. “And we’re not going anywhere until things are settled.”
“Settled? What do you mean?” Had they come back just to end things with her in person?
“Before we were all pulled in for the same case, we each told you something, and you never responded to any of us. It’s past time you did. It’s past time we either took things to the next step, or said our good-byes for good.”
“I…” She broke off and swallowed as he shook his head.
“Not yet. Inside. Where we can all sit down and talk together. We love you, Skye. We want the chance to show you there’s more than a great sex life between us. I think you might just be ready to listen.”
She nodded and almost jumped as her door opened. Sawyer leaned in and took her lips as he reached around her and unlatched her safety belt. Her heart raced when he finally eased back and helped her from the car. Jeff was there to hug her tight and kiss her breathless all over again.
This was it. The moment she’d both wanted and feared for a long time. Time to either take the final step forward or shut the door forever. Her three lovers closed ranks around her as they headed toward the front door. Moving forward. Forward. It was the right direction to go. If she took it to the next step, then it meant no more hiding anything from her sisters. They shared with her; it wasn’t right or fair for her to keep holding back.
These were big choices, huge decisions that would impact every facet of her life. She stepped through the door into Rance’s house and held her breath as the door shut behind her. Turning, she faced all three of them. They’d lined up across from her. Rance watched her with those bedroom eyes of his. Sawyer had his arms crossed over his chest as if waiting for her to say or do something. Jeff grinned at her. Her heart ached. She loved them. She really did. So why was she so afraid to admit it?
“Let’s move into the living room,” Rance said, motioning for her to precede them. “Something to drink?”
She shook her head as she entered and immediately headed toward the sofa. “I’m good, thanks.”
Sawyer sat on one side of her, Jeff on the other. Rance took a seat in one of the recliners facing the couch. They all just sat there for what felt like a long moment. It seemed they were waiting on her to say something, but she wasn’t sure what.
“We all told you we loved you.” Sawyer leaned forward as he spoke, arms relaxed on his legs, hands dangling between his knees. “Those words carry meaning, for all of us. They weren’t said lightly or in the heat of the moment. They were said because they were felt.”
She nodded her head.
“We’re not asking you to repeat the words,” Rance added. “In fact, none of us want you to say them right now.”
“Okay…” Skye knew she must look as uncertain as she felt. They didn’t want her to love them? Did that mean they no longer loved her?
“We only want you to say them if it’s what you feel,” Jeff stated, answering her unvoiced question. “Love, real love, doesn’t come with expectations. You don’t have to do or say anything to win it or keep it. Love just is, and we love you, all of you.”
“Even the parts you hold back,” Rance said.
“What we’d like to do…” Sawyer took up the conversation. “Is show you what it could be like if you let us all in, accepted us into your life instead of just your bedroom.”
“The…things we do in the bedroom…” She shook her head as she searched for the words to convey what she wanted to say.
“Are simply that,” Rance offered. “They’re things we do in the bedroom.”
“That doesn’t mean those things will spill over into other facets of our lives,” Sawyer said.
“If you think about it, you’ll realize you’ve always known that,” Jeff told her. “We’ve done things outside the bedroom, and never once have any of us tried to take any control from you.”
“But we’ve never really had a defined relationship.”
“Bullshit,” Rance said. “We’ve had what you defined as our relationship. But that’s not enough anymore. We need more.”
“We want and deserve more,” Sawyer grunted. “And so do you.”
“And what if it does spill over? I’d rather have what we’ve been doing than nothing at all.”
“Why take satisfaction in so little when you can have so much more?” Jeff asked. “We could have it all.”
/> “And what about when it comes time for you to leave? To head back to whatever field office you’ll be at now? How do I handle watching you leave over and over again?”
They all shared a look then Rance spoke.
“I’ve been assigned as the new special agent in charge of the local field office. I requested it while I was in the hospital and was lucky enough to have it granted. Sawyer will be my assistant director in charge, again at my request. And Jeff is being reassigned here as well. I plan to make sure he stays.”
“So… You’ll all be here?”
“We’ll all be here,” Sawyer confirmed.
“None of us wants to be away from you any longer,” Jeff said. “We want a relationship with you, and we know that won’t happen unless we’re all here to work on it. Together.”
“Sounds like you’ve given this a lot of thought.”
“We have,” Rance confirmed. “I was hoping in light of your sisters’ recent relationship changes, you might be more open to hearing us out.”
“You know about Deja and Melda?”
Rance laughed. “Please, you know how the gossip is around here. I heard about it as soon as Mom did.”
“And what does she think of it?”
“I’ll just say she’s been teasing my dad she might start looking for a few helpers.”
Skye grinned. “I bet your dad liked that!”
“He told her if she could find two others to put up with her, he’d welcome the company.”
She laughed as she was sure Rance had intended her to. “So you all know about my sisters then?”
“Yes,” Sawyer confirmed while Jeff nodded. “Rance told us. That’s when I presented the idea to them about the three of us and you.”
“This was your idea?”
“I think it was all of our idea. I was just the first one to voice it out loud,” Sawyer confided.
“We all want this,” Rance agreed.
“Or at least the three of us do,” Jeff amended. “We hope you want it, too.”
“I work long hours, sometimes not getting in from the club until three or four in the morning,” Skye reminded them.
“So we’ll have a lot of early morning sex,” Sawyer said.
“And there will always be your days off, just like we had before,” Jeff said.
“Schedules can be worked around,” Rance said. “It’s not like FBI agents have normal office hours all the time. We compromise, work it out, whatever we need to do to make it work.”
“Why now?” Skye demanded. “What made you all decide you wanted more than what we’ve been doing?”
Rance stood up and walked over to kneel in front of her and take her hands. Sawyer put his hand on her thigh, Jeff on her shoulder.
“I think Sawyer and I getting shot opened our eyes up to just how quickly opportunity can be snatched away,” Rance said. “There are no promises of tomorrow, no guarantees of second chances.”
“I could have lost you and never known,” Skye admitted, and tears filled her eyes. “Any of you.”
“It doesn’t have to be like that,” Sawyer urged her. “We can make this work. We can be more than lovers you keep as secrets. We can all be a part of your life, openly.”
There was no missing the plea in his voice, or the hurt. She’d done that, made him feel like a dirty little secret she had to hide from others. In her need to guard her privacy, she’d made them feel as if they were less. How could she have been so heartless, so careless? She’d already decided to move forward. It was time to suit action to words. She’d just been feeling sorry for herself earlier, about how she was alone and lonely. She had the power to change that. They were giving her that power. Right here. Right now. All she had to do was say yes.
“I want that…this. I want to see where this could lead. I want to be with you, all of you, in and out of the bedroom. I want it all, with all of you.” She took Rance’s face in her hands. “I think I’ve loved you since I was a teenager. First with the butterfly-inducing love of a young girl in the throes of first love. Then with the love of a young woman giving her body to a man for the first time. Now as a woman, fully grown, and more aware of who she is and what she wants.” She turned to Sawyer. “I remember the first time I realized I was falling for you. You stepped out of the kitchen with a towel wrapped around your waist, a cup of coffee in your hands. You were running late for work and still took the time to make me coffee. You always put me first. How could I not fall in love with a man like you?” Finally, she turned to Jeff. “And you, the man who always knows how to make me laugh, how to bring a smile to my lips. I didn’t want to let you in. I didn’t need or want another agent to slip in my bed then slip out my door and leave me. I swore it would just be sex between us. But you worked your way into my heart anyway, and I found myself falling more and more for you every time we were together.”
She eased off the couch, sliding past Rance and pacing across the room before turning to face them. Rance had taken her place on the couch, and she let her gaze skim over them. How did she get so lucky to have these three men fall in love with her?
“You’re right that I wasn’t ready for this before. I knew I was in love with all three of you, and it killed me. It was wrong. I was a bad person, a sinful person, because I was greedy and wanted all three of you to be mine forever. I told myself I deserved for you to walk in and out of my life, that it was all I deserved because of what I did with you.”
“There’s nothing dirty or shameful about what we have,” Sawyer grunted.
“I know that now. Rance was right. Seeing Deja fall in love with her three doctors, move in with them and start having a real relationship opened my eyes to the possibilities. Then Melda found her three Marines. I’ve never seen either of my sisters happier. They took what I was afraid of, what I felt shameful for wishing and turned it into something beautiful, something to be proud of. I thought of calling you, all of you, at least a million times. But I knew you were working on some big case, I just didn’t realize it was the same one. I didn’t want to risk calling at a bad time.”
“You can call anytime,” Rance reminded her.
“If we can’t answer, we won’t,” Sawyer added.
“But we’ll always call back as soon as we can,” Jeff finished.
She nodded her head. “I get that now. I’ve just… I’ve always been afraid.”
“Of what?” Jeff asked.
“Of letting myself love you and then losing you,” she admitted. “Which was funny, since I love you all anyway. I wasn’t protecting any of us by trying to act otherwise. It hurt just as badly every time you came into my life and then left again.”
“I think I can speak for all of us when I say it hurt us, too,” Rance said while the other two nodded. “Leaving you was like leaving a part of myself, the best part.”
“I thought about saying yes when Sawyer asked me to leave,” she admitted.
Sawyer perked up. “What stopped you?”
“Remember the first time you offered and you told me to just think about it?”
He nodded his head.
“I know you expected me to say no. Hell, I’d never even told my family about you. How could I leave with you?”
“That’s exactly what I was thinking at the time,” he admitted.
“The day you came to say good-bye and told me I loved my sisters more than I loved myself…”
Sawyer nodded. “I’d just returned from a week at the new office. Had to grab the rest of my things.”
She nodded. “The week you were gone was the week we lost Mrs. Potts.”
“Fuck,” Sawyer swore, dropping his head into his hands and shaking it. “And I was a self-righteous bastard. Just what you needed.”
“You had no idea,” Skye reminded him. “And that was nobody’s fault but mine. I didn’t share you with them or them with you. That’s on no one but me. You were right, anyway. I wouldn’t have left my sisters either way. For most of my life, they’re all I’ve had.”<
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“You’ve got us now, too,” Jeff stated.
She smiled and nodded. “I do. This time I’m going to do things right.” She fished her phone out of her jacket pocket and held a finger up to silence anything Rance, Sawyer or Jeff might have said as she dialed her sister. She knew the time, knew it was early morning. But she needed to do this now.
Deja answered on the fourth ring. “What’s wrong? Did that douche bag bouncer try something else?”
“No, as far as I know, he’s in jail. I haven’t seen him since the cops took him away.”
“What’s up then? Do you need me to come over? I can call Melda, and we can be there in twenty minutes.”
“No, I’m not even home.”
“You are not still at the club!” Deja practically wailed. “You’ve got to get a life and stop letting that club consume you, or I should say clubs now.”
“I’m at Rance’s.”
Deja was quiet for a long moment. “Is he okay?”
She flicked her glance over and met his. “He’s great. I just… I wanted to tell you something.”
“Okay.”
“I’ve been having sex on and off with Rance for a long time now.”
“Oh, honey, we’ve always known that.”
“What?”
“Hell, we knew the night you gave your virginity to him. It was written all over the dreamy look on your face.”
“I…I didn’t realize.”
“That you had a dreamy look or that we knew?”
“I should have told you.”
“Yes. I wanted details, damn it!” Deja’s laugh came over the phone. “We both know how I like details. Giving them and hearing them. But that’s not you, honey. It never has been. You’re entitled to keep your secrets if you want. Doesn’t mean I won’t give you hell if and when you finally do confess them.”
“In that case, I’ve also been sleeping on and off with two other agents, Sawyer and Jeff. Rance introduced me to Sawyer. When Rance left, Sawyer brought Jeff over.”
“You ho-bag! You’ve been having kinky ménage sex for that long and never once told me! I just might have to revoke your sister card!”
“I’m sorry.”
“For God’s sake, Skye. I’m only kidding! Honey, I’m glad you’ve had some awesome sex. I wish you were still getting it. Trust me, there’s nothing better to help put a woman in a great mood. Except shopping maybe. And cheesecake. But why are you calling to tell me all this now? Are you sure you’re okay?”