Kansas Heat

by Kansas Heat (lit)

  Knox forgot to breathe, to blink as he watched his brother lift Amanda once again. He moved her only slightly, nudging his cock into the divide separating her ass cheeks, and then he split her wide.

  Amanda screamed. It was a sound of rapture, not of pain, and she jerked backward, fucking herself into each savage thrust his brother made. They rutted like animals, in a mindless, senseless race toward the pleasure that could only be found in a lover’s embrace.

  It didn’t last long. When Amanda’s back arched and her whole body went up in spasms, Jace followed her right over the edge, collapsing into a sweaty, panting heap on top of the disheveled sheets. Finally Knox remembered to take a breath.

  Make Amanda feel welcome…I think I know how to do that.

  * * * *

  Jace didn’t know how long it took him to regain any semblance of reality. All he knew was Amanda had gone limp. Her sweat-slickened body collapsed in a sticky mess on top of him. Cracking open an eye, he couldn’t help but smile at the sight of her.

  As awkward as the position seemed, she still looked like she’d already passed out. Gently as he could, he pulled himself free, eliciting a groan from Amanda. In a movie he might have been smoother, but as a real man his muscles were tired and sore from their exertion. They left him no strength and no choice but to drag Amanda back rather clumsily into his embrace.

  She sighed, offering no objection. “That was fun.”

  “Did that qualify as tender and sweet lovemaking?” Jace couldn’t help but smile at the thought. He felt her lips following suit against his chest.

  “Who cares? I had more than one orgasm, and that’s all that really matters.”

  He had to laugh. “I take it then you are feeling better?”

  “Much. And very tired.”

  “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

  Jace let the conversation die off for several minutes as he stroked Amanda’s back. He should just let her fall asleep, happy and content, but his conscience wouldn’t let him find such an end to their encounter.

  I shouldn’t say anything. It’ll just piss her off. Avoiding the argument, though, would be the wrong thing to do. She had a right to the truth, and if he had any hope of making this relationship work, he needed to be honest.

  “Amanda?”

  “Hmm.”

  “You know Knox watched, don’t you?”

  She tensed beneath his touch. Jace followed suit, expecting the explosion of a lifetime. What he got instead was a hesitantly murmured, “Yes.”

  “You want me to go kick his ass?”

  Where she found the strength, he didn’t know, but she lifted her head to gaze solemnly down at him. “I don’t want you to fight with your brothers over me.”

  “And I don’t want you to be upset or uncomfortable.”

  “I wasn’t.” Her lashes lowered. “Besides, he’s watched before…only Cody didn’t have the balls to admit to it.”

  “You liked it, didn’t you?”

  Amanda looked toward the door and then back at him before nodding. Jace knew what the admission cost her, and it pleased Jace that she trusted him enough to be honest. Don’t push her any further.

  He’d gotten a little of what he wanted out of Amanda. To ask for any more would be greedy, and Jace knew the old saying. Pigs got fat and hogs got slaughtered.

  With his arm around her back, he pulled her downward to settle her back against his chest. He’d expected she would gratefully accept his offer to let the conversation die, but she didn’t. After several long minutes, she whispered his name.

  “Yes?”

  “If I tell you a secret, will you keep it just between us?”

  Ah, shit. “I…I shouldn’t promise to do that.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because there can’t be secrets here, between us. There are too many people involved. If you and I share a secret and you and Cody share one, then Knox and Cody share one, it leads to a place where paranoia and jealousy can easily get the better of all of us. In this kind of relationship, honesty is necessary. Otherwise there will come a time when everything implodes.”

  “I understand,” she said hesitantly and with doubt in her voice. Jace gave her a quick squeeze.

  “It’s hard for me to say no to hearing your secret,” he whispered into her hair. “I’d love nothing more than to share something special, just you and me.”

  The minutes slipped past, marked only by the slow creep of shadows across the room. As her body relaxed and her breathing evened out, Jace was certain Amanda had finally passed out.

  “Jace?”

  “Hmm?” He responded to her sleepy whisper with his own, though he felt anything but tired. He just didn’t want to disturb her.

  “Will you tell me again?”

  It took him a moment to understand her question. When he did, he smiled and kissed the top of her head.

  “I love you, Amanda Johnson.”

  Chapter 30

  “Shut up!”

  Davey didn’t really have a choice but to obey, given that the sheriff’s hand cut off all air flow through his throat. Tony’s hand tightened around Davey’s neck and he could see it in the other man. He couldn’t kill him.

  “If another foul accusation about your daughter comes out that mouth, I will rip your tongue out and shove it up your ass.”

  The sheriff sealed his hollow threat with a heavy fist. Pain shot out through Davey’s face as he found himself fumbling backward. The sheriff released him to crash onto the floor, spitting blood across the linoleum surface.

  “You know, sheriff, I believe this is called police brutality,” Davey groaned, feeling his teeth with his tongue to make sure no new ones were lost.

  “Yeah?”

  Davey grunted, folding over the kick Tony punted into his gut.

  “That’s called ‘for my puppies’.”

  Despite all the pain, Davey laughed. The sheriff might be all grown up and tough now, but he still held a little kids’ grudge over those damn puppies. As if Tony couldn’t see the unreasonableness of his position. Heck, if Davey offered him fifty grand to kill six puppies, the bastard would do it.

  “As much as I enjoy this walk down memory lane,” Davey sighed as he rolled to a sit. “Can I stand up now or you just going to knock me back down?”

  Tony didn’t respond, just glared down at Davey. He took Tony’s silence to mean ‘yes’ and lumbered back to his feet. Davey barely managed to get himself right when Tony’s hands shot out. Two palms smacked into Davey’s chest and he went wheeling backward, crashing into the ground. This time he caught the corner of the half-sized bookcase tucked in along the wall.

  This shit is getting old. Davey shook his head, feeling the burn in his muscles to give the boy what he deserved. If only he could tempt Tony into letting him have the opportunity.

  “This ain’t exactly fair.” Davey straightened along the bookcase’s shelves, using it as a backrest as he smirked up at Tony. “I mean, not only do you have youth on your side, you have that shiny little badge. Not exactly a man-to-man thing, is it?”

  “No, it ain’t,” Tony grunted. Instead of going for honor, which Davey actually thought Tony might care about, Tony’s hand just went to rest on the butt of his gun. “I’d really love it, though, if you took a swing. Then I could shoot ya. Wanna do me the favor, Davey?”

  “Yeah and I’m sure the coroner would have a lot to say about these bruises,” Davey grunted.

  Tony laughed, a harsh, cruel sound. “Don’t sweat it. I played high school ball with Danny.” Squatting down to meet Davey’s gaze, Tony assured him, “And the judge was my boy scout leader…he helped deliver those puppies. Trust me, nobody’s forgotten them.

  “Then there is the DA, we go hunting together and he gets his dogs from Jerry Spindal who breeds them.” Tony grinned, going to still. “Jerry also happens to be the only public defender in this town, so I can hit you as much as I want. Isn’t that right, Deputy?”

  The large, bored m
an leaning against the office door just shrugged. “I didn’t see you hit nobody, Sheriff. Hell, looking at the body, I’d say Davey Johnson lived a hard enough life that any number of people could have put a hurt on him. No reason to bother with an investigation, much less an autopsy. Why even wait until he’s dead? We could just go bury him in potter’s field right now.”

  Staring up into that one’s eyes, Davey knew he could do it, too. Tony didn’t have the hardness in him to take a life so coldly, but the deputy did. For a second, Davey actually felt a little concerned.

  “Murder’s a little extreme given I ain’t the one who tore up Mandy’s place.” Davey tilted his chin up to lie straight to the sheriff’s face. “And you know it, so you’re just wasting your time while somebody else out there is trying to hurt my daughter. Don’t make you much of a good cop does it?”

  “Let’s get one thing straight, Davey.” Tony leaned in, his voice going soft with threat. “You’re guilty of whatever the hell I say as long as you’re in my town.”

  “Is that your way of suggesting I leave?” Davey asked. The kid had never grown up. Tony had always been the big talker. Hell, it was his damn fault those puppies had died, not Davey’s. Tony had been the one to convince Amanda not to sign over her mother’s life insurance.

  Bratty little bitch had been all puckered up with borrowed strength thanks to Anthony Black. He’d thought he was the shit back then, threatening Davey not unlike he did now. He thought he’d taught Tony a lesson then. When he’d strung those damn puppies up from Tony’s porch, Davey had thought the kid had gotten the message.

  Apparently not. Not according to the fist clip to Davey’s chin. That one hurt, and Davey let his head hang there as he absorbed the pain.

  “I don’t know, Davey.” Toney straightened up. “I’m kind of enjoying hitting you. If you leave, there goes my fun.”

  Before Davey could respond a tap echoed on the office door. A second later the big deputy got shoved as the door pushed in.

  “Sheriff Black.”

  Davey rolled his head toward the sight of a new deputy walking in. Two men in suits trailed behind him and Davey had a lifetime of experiences to identify them. Feds.

  “I’m sorry to interrupt, but—”

  “I’m Agent Tagger, and I need a word with you, Sheriff Black,” the fed cut off the deputy with expected arrogance.

  Tony appeared unimpressed by the aura of authority coming from the scrawny agent. He grunted his welcome without much sincerity. Nodding at the deputy, Tony suggested he help. No newborn twat would help him to his feet. Davey shoved up just in time for the deputy to latch onto his arm.

  The deputy didn’t hesitate, dragging Davey toward the door even as he asked the sheriff, “You want me to start booking him?”

  “For what?” Davey asked, highly insulted.

  “Just sit him outside the door. I’m not done talking to him.”

  Davey let the deputy drag him through the doorway and shove him into a metal folding chair without any resistance. With a look that didn’t intimidate Davey in the slightest, the deputy barked at him to stay and sauntered off. He watched the rookie’s swagger with a cynical eye. Big and muscular, one day the deputy would learn those two things didn’t count for much against a vicious and determined opponents.

  If he’d been about ten years younger, Davey might have considered teaching the kid a lesson. He wasn’t, and despite the fact his daughter hated him, he might actually have to come back to Humble. For something like a funeral…I wonder if Amanda has insurance. After all, it might be easier to cash out all at once.

  “Son of a bitch!”

  Davey’s head turned in the direction the cussing came from. Sheriff Black had his hands flattened on his desk again. As much as Davey would have loved to see the sheriff lift the little fed up by the neck, he felt certain Tony would manage to control himself. Shame, love to see a fed get walloped.

  Letting his head roll down his shoulder as if to take a nap, Davey let his cheek hit the window dividing the sheriff’s office from the lobby. With an ear pressed to the glass, Davey had no difficult hearing Tony, even if he did have to strain to hear Agent Tagger.

  “You’re interfering in my case.” The agent had some heat in him after all.

  Not that Sheriff Black was impressed. “You’re interfering in my ability to keep my town safe.”

  “Your town won’t be safe until I solve my case.” Tagger shot back. “This is a sensitive case, everything you need to know, you know. Your cooperation could mean saving people’s lives, Sheriff.”

  “Yeah and what does the lack of yours cost?” Tony shot back. “Or don’t you think I need to know a cartel money man was killed and twenty-five million dollars was stolen in my jurisdiction?”

  Davey sucked in a deep breath. Damn. Maybe he should leave town before one of the cartels blew it up. Of course, it wouldn’t be so bad to get his hands on some money first. Straining to hear more, Davey’s mind already swirled with ideas. After all, a drug war could mean a lot of innocent would die, innocent like Amanda.

  Chapter 31

  Amanda yawned, stretching wide in the oversize bed. Lazily, with the veil of sleep still about her, she took in her surroundings as the past day slowly played out in her mind. Her life had gone from sugar to spice to shit and then back to spice, all in twenty-four hours. Jace said he loved me.

  Amanda frowned into the darkness. Love, what good was that emotion anyway? It was a temporary condition. More than half the time it faded. Like a shadow on the wall, it shrank and shifted with the movement of life around it.

  Love didn’t guarantee anything to anybody, except pain. As if she actually needed to be taught that lesson again, fate had sent Davey to town as a sour reminder. Davey could change everything. Despite Cody’s blind loyalty to machismo, he didn’t know what he was signing onto. It wouldn’t be long before Knox would say she was trouble, Cody’s pride would end up crippled and Jace…well, he loved her, so he would probably end up bitter.

  The only obvious solution would be to kill her dad. Amanda grinned into the darkness at the very idea. Tony would cover it up for her. Sure, it would destroy their friendship, but Tony wouldn’t send her to jail over Davey.

  Nope, she’d just have to live with being a murderer. Slumping her shoulders, Amanda knew her limits. She’d reached them with her mother and brother. Another death on her hands would break her.

  Tired of those thoughts, Amanda lifted her chin. It would be much more practical to start handling life in the little moments and stop worrying so much about the long run.

  This particular moment found her naked in Jace’s bed all alone. Obviously, the next moment began with finding some clothes. It quickly became apparent Jace didn’t want her to find any. Not only had he disappeared, but everything she’d been wearing had vanished from the bathroom floor and the bag Cindy had handed off to Cody was nowhere to be seen.

  Perverted bastard. Amanda didn’t think for a minute this attempt to keep her naked was an accident. Without clothes as armor, her one major defense had been stripped away. It didn’t take a bright woman to figure out what their plans were. They probably began with Knox.

  Insulted, enraged, ready to rip some arrogant asses to shreds, that’s what she should have been feeling instead of the excited butterflies fluttering around in her stomach. Remembering the feel of Knox’s hands on her body brought tension to the arousal warming through her.

  What he’d done to her under the carport still had the power to make her pussy cream with need. This time, though, his brothers would watch, participate. There would be no stopping them because he didn’t want to. I am easy.

  No, she just had a weakness for the Reese brothers, and if she’d learned anything so far, it was that they all took immediate advantage of any weakness. I need to take control of the process. Just because she couldn’t win didn’t mean Amanda couldn’t write the terms of her surrender.

  All she had to do was figure out how to seduce them. T
hey’d never expect it, particularly not Knox. Just the idea of startling that arrogant jerk made Amanda smile. Not particularly skilled in the art of seduction, Amanda went with what she considered a classic—a naked woman in a man’s shirt.

  She tried on seven of Jace’s shirts, checking for her best look in his closet mirror. Settling on a button down one, she didn’t bother to do all the buttons, hoping it encouraged a little less conversation. But perhaps a little too slutty.

  Dallying for a good ten more minutes, Amanda finally admitted she was a little too chicken shit to strut around the Reese brothers’ house in nothing but a shirt. The problem was she didn’t have anything but a shirt to wear.

  Amanda couldn’t stay there in the bedroom. She wouldn’t be reduced to a pet waiting on its master. Better to be the timid coward peeking out into the hall to see if the coast was clear. Silent and dark.

  The only sound came from behind what she knew to be the den door. Light cut across the floor from beneath its edge. They’re probably all in there watching some game. All three brothers gathered together like a pack. A pack better left undisturbed.

  As quietly as Amada could, she tiptoed down the hall, past the den and into the open living room. To the right was the doorway to the kitchen and hopefully a laundry room.

  Bright light flooded the room as she clicked on the light. For a moment it blinded Amanda, making her blink the details into focus. The very first thing she noticed was a gigantic black lab lying right in front of the back door. The dog’s head lifted, pinning her with it’s unblinking chocolate gaze and sending shivers down her spine.

  Amanda had never been much of a dog person. They were messy, smelly, required too much attention, and if they bit you, it hurt. Chewing her lower lip, she looked back down the hall toward the open door of the bedroom she’d come from. Maybe I should have stayed in bed.

  Before she could decide whether to go back there or not, a frantic scratching sound had her head snapping back around. A second too late, she saw the dog charging. The world tipped and spun beneath Amanda as she went down screaming under the lab’s powerful claws.