by Mia Ashlinn
“I hope that I’m Dumber, because that will make me the pretty one,” Cade teased, his open face filled with merriment.
Randy called out over his shoulder, “You’re in good hands, little sister. Call us in a few days. After—” He stopped talking when Drew smacked him on the back of the head.
Drew scolded Randy, “You dumb bastard. There are some things a brother doesn’t need to know about his baby sister. I think her bedroom activities fall into that category.”
“Double-crossing bastards!” Jaycee’s voice carried across the tiny parking lot, but her brothers gave no indication they’d heard her insult. They climbed into their truck and pulled out of the parking lot.
And then there were two.
Equal parts panic and outrage surged through her body. Her blood pounded in her temples and a wave of dizziness hit her, making her head swim.
Gray spoke. “If I were you, I would get in the truck without another word. We all know you will go with us. Now, stop fighting us, damn it.”
Looking down at the ground, Jaycee replied in a small voice, “I don’t know if I can.” The blood surged back into her cheeks, filling them with warmth. She imagined her cheeks were a rosy red.
Gray’s voice softened audibly. “Sweetheart, all we want is to have some time with you. I promise we won’t do anything you don’t want us to. We would never hurt you.”
“Yeah, darlin’, we love you,” Cade agreed. “The only time we will hurt you is when you beg us to. Then all bets are off.”
Jaycee gasped and lifted her head in a flash. Cade hadn’t ever said he loved her before. She’d suspected he might have some feelings for her, but with no confirmation or denial, she’d assumed he wanted her body, but not her heart.
Looking into his green eyes, Jaycee saw the truth. He loved her with his whole heart, just as he loved Gray. She’d watched Cade as he watched Gray for a very long time, witnessing the love that glowed eternally in his forest-colored eyes. He hadn’t ever looked at her like that, but now, she saw it. She couldn’t help but wonder if it had been there all along.
Her eyes bounced from Cade’s to Gray’s. His eyes glowed with love. There was no jealousy or outrage, only devotion and acceptance.
Could it be possible? Could she have them both? The only way to find out would be to hop in the truck and go back to Serenity with them.
Could she take the risk? Being alone, unhappy, and reclusive wasn’t working. She hated the half-life she led, but it was easier than taking a chance on future heartbreak. Gray and Cade had the power to destroy her heart once again. Or, they had the ability to make her happier than she’d ever been before.
Making a choice, Jaycee traipsed over to the truck without speaking, got inside, and buckled up. On the other side of the windshield, the two men had stunned expressions on their faces. Evidently, her arrogant men hadn’t been convinced they could take her down without a scuffle, tussle, and an all-out war. They had probably planned for some wrestling, wrangling, and kidnapping after their earlier encounter.
Both recovered quickly, jogging toward her and the truck.
Within minutes, they were on the highway that led back to the only place she’d ever belonged—Serenity.
She struggled to not bounce in her seat, but it was no picnic. She loved her hometown, and she hadn’t been back there since leaving. It was going to be an agonizingly long ride.
Cade broke the silence surrounding them, causing her to jump in her seat. “So, darlin’, what have you been up to for the past three years, two months, and twenty-three days?”
Gray’s hands flexed on the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white as his skin stretched against the bones in his hands.
Jaycee masked her shock that the men had kept up with the length of time she’d been gone, down to the day, as she had, and responded evasively. “Oh, you know. A little bit of this and a little bit of that.”
“A little of this and that, huh?” Cade inquired in disbelief with a snicker. “That’s not what I’ve heard.”
Jaycee shrugged negligently.
“I’ve heard that you’ve been pining for me and Gray over there.”
“Then why the hell did you ask me?” Jaycee demanded to know with no small amount of belligerence in her tone. Clearly, she was going to rise to the bait after all. This was going downhill, fast.
Now Cade was the one to shrug indifferently. “I wanted to see if you would lie to us. The more trouble you get into, darlin’, the more fun we’re going to have with you and that mouthwatering body of yours.”
“You wish,” Jaycee retorted tartly, pressing her legs together in response to Cade’s words.
Both men chuckled darkly.
“We know, sweetheart. There’s no point in wasting wishes on a safe bet,” Gray stated smugly.
She wanted to smack Gray for the second time today, but that was no surprise. She wanted to punch him at least half the time she was around him. Man, she loved that about him. Ask her pussy.
With Gray, it was his way or the highway. That is what had disturbed her so much about the fact he wouldn’t go all alpha on her. She’d known it wasn’t him. A man who was as in control as Gray couldn’t shut it off. It was too deeply ingrained.
“What he said, darlin’,” Cade concurred as he slid as close as the seat belt would allow, draping his long arm around her shoulders. “I always did like a sure bet.”
Jaycee rolled her eyes, but it was a farce. Her insides were melting like ice cream on a sweltering summer day.
“Fuck it,” Cade said as he tore his seat belt out of the buckle. “I can’t take another minute.” And his lips claimed Jaycee’s for the first time.
The kiss wasn’t what she had envisioned. She’d had this mental image of him playfully kissing her, teasing her. This was the kind of kiss she’d seen between the two of them. Only this time, Cade devoured her, not Gray.
Jaycee’s body came alive, leaving her vibrating in need. She could feel her cunt softening, preparing to be filled with a huge, hard cock. More moisture flooded her until she was slippery and desperate for something to slide through the sensitive folds of skin.
Without breaking their ravenous kiss, Jaycee unbuckled and moved closer to Cade. He pulled away, but it was only long enough to grab her leg and haul it over his lap so she could straddle him. Then, his lips attacked hers all over again, no holds barred.
The wildness of his kiss set her ablaze, and she lost it. Her body took control of her. She had no more coherent thoughts, just instincts.
Gray groaned from the driver’s side when she haphazardly unbuttoned her shirt with fumbling fingers.
Pushing her hands aside, Cade used his long, nimble fingers to unfasten the remaining buttons. That was a major feat since he never ceased the seductive assault on her mouth. Her shirt was discarded along with the torn one.
She grumbled a complaint when Cade pulled back, his eyes dropping to her naked chest. “My God, J, your breasts are the prettiest things I’ve ever seen.” His words had barely left his mouth before he latched onto one of her nipples, sucking so greedily that half of her breast disappeared into his mouth. His hands cupped her swollen breasts, one hand held her to his mouth, and the other tormented her bare, beaded nipple.
Jaycee arched her back with a whimper. Needing to ease some of the pressure between her legs, she ground her wet cunt against his cock, and cursed the two layers of clothing separating them.
“Damn, that’s hot,” Gray growled.
Jaycee opened her eyes and looked to the driver’s side, eating up Gray’s gorgeous face and the palm rubbing his jean-encased cock.
Cade switched to her other breast, sucking just as vigorously while she continued her erotic grind. The truck cab filled with the slurping sound of his mouth against her breast.
When she thought he was going to pull away, he bit down on her nipple.
“Bloody hell,” Jaycee cried out while her body bucked of its own free will. She wasn’t sure if it was fr
om the pain or the pleasure. The two had united, and she couldn’t distinguish one without the other.
“Fuck.” Gray hissed. “Are you trying to kill me over here? My dick is about to bust my goddamn zipper.”
Jaycee wasn’t capable of speech. She was too overwhelmed, too lost in the pleasure.
Cade grunted, but didn’t answer either. His mouth leaped from one breast to the other, biting down a second time. The maneuver reminded her of a lightning strike. It was ultrafast, came with no warning, and stopped her heart.
“Oh God,” she moaned, long and low, as her head fell back, leaving her neck vulnerable.
Cade wrenched his mouth away from her nipple. “Not God, darlin’, my name is Cade. You better not forget it, either. There are only two names you need to have on your mind when you’re fucking, and that is mine and Gray’s.” He leaned forward, nuzzling the base of her neck with his nose.
A giggle burst from her lips. She was ticklish, and she could tell Cade was going to use that weakness to his advantage.
Well, maybe not. The tickling ceased. His warm, slick tongue met the skin at the base of her neck, caressing and bathing the sensitive spot. Sensuously, his tongue drew a path from the base to the tip of her chin.
The sweeping motion of his tongue evoked an earthshaking shudder from her intensely aroused body. Only one other man had this kind of effect on her, and that man was in the driver’s seat, watching them.
Knowing he saw their every kiss, every caress, and every move propelled her higher. She wanted to give him a show that would drive him as insane with lust as Cade was driving her. The need to provoke action from Gray rode her hard. If she could push the right buttons, he might pull over and take matters into his own hands.
She was desperate. Who fucked who, when, and where wouldn’t matter after this night. They were equal partners. However, Jaycee needed to consummate that partnership this first time in a way that showed them she loved them equally.
“Cade, get her fucking jeans off. Make sure you remove the thong as well. Hell, rip it into shreds. She won’t need it any longer.”
Jaycee’s hackles rose. “Maybe I no longer wear thongs. Did you think of that, buster?”
Cade snickered.
Gray looked away from the road and arched his eyebrow. “Sweetheart, you’ve worn them for as long as I remember. Hell, I knew you wore them long before I fucked you the first time. You bought them because we liked them. No need to deny it.” He turned his attention back to the road.
“I don’t buy them for you or Cade.” Her indignation was crystal clear in her tone. “I like them, thank you very much. If I wore them for you two, I would highly doubt that I am wearing one at this very moment. I didn’t even know you were coming.” The lie rolled off her tongue with an ease that surprised her.
“Want to make a bet with me, sweetheart?” Gray asked.
Hesitantly, she nodded.
“If you are wearing a thong, then Cade and I each get to choose one sexual favor that you must complete. No ifs, ands, or buts. If you are not wearing a thong, you get to be the one who chooses the favor.”
Jaycee grinned hugely. She couldn’t lose. “I don’t know, Grayson Blakemore. Are you two going to make it worth my while?”
“Shit, darlin’,” Cade cursed. “Poking the fire is going to get you burned.” He paused, a mischievous smile spread across his handsome face. “Wait. Why am I warning you? Poke away.”
“I was hoping you and Gray would be the ones poking and prodding,” she audaciously replied with a wink.
“Enough.” Gray’s stern voice sliced through their playful exchange, his patience having obviously run out. “Do you accept the bet or not? Either way, your pants are coming off in the next thirty seconds, so speak fast.”
Jaycee shrugged, biting the inside of her cheek to hold back a giggle of delight. “Well, if you really want to take a gamble, I guess I’ll accept.”
Chapter 11
Grinning boyishly, Cade unsnapped Jaycee’s pants and lowered the zipper, revealing her favorite blue thong. He turned his head to the driver’s side of the truck and informed Gray, “Mmmmmm, we win.”
Jaycee mock pouted. “Oh. Poor, poor pitiful me. How will I ever survive?”
Gray growled. “We will make you eat those words, sweetheart. Get the damn pants off.”
She tsked Gray. “It’s awfully tight in here. Maybe I will wait until we get back to the ranch.”
“I’ll bet it’s tight, darlin’,” Cade teased.
The truck swerved to the right, propelling her and Cade sideways, before coming to a dead stop on the shoulder of the road.
Gray gave her no forewarning. He grabbed her and hauled her across the leather seat of the truck, placing her head and upper body over his lap. “There. No more excuses for you.”
Cade righted himself and swung her lower half across his lap in one smooth move. He reached for her pants and thong, tugging and shimmying them down her hips and legs until they were off her and in a heap on the floor of the truck with her shirts.
Jaycee heard both men suck in a rough breath at precisely the same time. Knowing they’d spotted her ink, she closed her eyes, afraid to see their reactions. Her eyes remained closed for endless moments, until fingers skimmed her hip bone as soft as a butterfly’s wings.
Opening her eyes reluctantly, she glanced first at Gray and then at Cade. To her surprise, neither of them looked at her face. Both gazes were focused intently on the heart she’d had permanently sketched onto her body.
The design was a replica of the heart with their initials inside it they’d etched onto a tree on Gray’s property when they were only kids, years before they really understood the concept of what that symbol stood for.
For the first time, she was sharing it with someone besides herself, and it unnerved her. They knew what the symbol was and understood the magnitude of what it meant.
“How long?” Gray asked.
The strain in his voice made her see the cocky, all-knowing man she had known and loved could be vulnerable, too. He could be uncertain and imperfect. If he could be that open, so could she.
“A week after I left.” The tremble in her voice would have been far more embarrassing with anyone besides them. She’d never been one to open up, always locking everything inside. With Gray and Cade, it had been a never-ending battle. She wondered if she’d made a big mistake by not opening herself up completely.
Laying the blame at Gray’s feet was beginning to seem unfair. She hadn’t confronted him with her feelings, hadn’t pushed him to see the truth with his own eyes. How could she fault him for things that she hadn’t been willing to do herself? This time she refused to make the same mistake.
“Son of a bitch.” Cade’s curse sounded far too loud in the still quietude of the truck. “You’ve known all along, haven’t you? We’ve wasted all this time for nothing.”
Jaycee looked Cade directly in the eyes without faltering and nodded.
“Goddamn it, J,” Cade roared, his hands scrubbing his face in frustration.
Gray still stared at her hip, his mouth opening and shutting occasionally. The fish look was adorable, making her smile even in the tense moment.
“Sweetheart, why didn’t you tell us? Why did you leave?” Gray’s gentle tone compelled her to stick to her total honesty policy. “Was it because you couldn’t handle sharing or the fact that Cade and I are involved?”
She wanted to explain, but she was stark-naked on top of two men whose cocks hadn’t abated by the gravity of their conversation. “Do we really have to go into this now? I have no clothes on, and both of you are horny. This can wait.”
“No, Jaycee, it can’t.” Gray opposed her with such certainty that she didn’t have a chance in hell of changing his mind. She glanced over at Cade for help, but he shook his head in denial, too.
“Fine,” she said with a huff. “Can I at least have something to cover with? I feel weird having a consequential conversation in the nude.
”
“No.” Gray refused adamantly.
“We like you naked, darlin’,” Cade said predictably.
“Whatever,” she said, rolling her eyes in aggravation. She took a couple of cleansing breaths before answering. “No, I have no problems with the sharing or the two of you together. When I walked into the house, I intended to seduce the two of you, knowing Gray was against it and Cade didn’t love me—”
Cade cut Jaycee off with a snarl. “What the fuck?”
“Cade,” Gray said with a tinge of warning, “give her a chance to explain it to us, and then we’ll have our say.”
“Thank you, Gray,” she said gratefully with an apprehensive smile. “When I walked in the house, I heard the two of you yelling. So, I followed your voices to the den and listened to you argue about sharing me. When it got ugly, I stepped into the room to break you up, but neither of you heard me because you grabbed Gray and kissed him. It was a soul-shattering kiss between two men in love, and I couldn’t stand in the way of that.” Restlessly, she shifted. “Since Gray hadn’t been willing to share, I figured the two of you could have your happily ever after, even if I wasn’t a part of it. You know the rest.”
No one spoke when she was done. They didn’t move. They didn’t even breathe.
At long last, Gray cupped her face. “Answer the other question, sweetheart. Why didn’t you tell us?”
Jaycee looked up at his confused face, making an effort to stare into his stunning brown eyes. “For the same reason you wouldn’t give me all of yourself—I was frightened. I couldn’t bear the thought of repeating our family’s mistakes. It was just better for everyone for me to remove myself from the equation.”
* * * *
A shocked silence filled the truck after Jaycee’s heart-wrenching revelation. It was as though no one knew what to say or do. Gray’s chest hurt as he watched tears well in her beautiful blue eyes before spilling over and running down her pale cheeks. He sucked in a long, agonizing breath and held himself back, giving Cade a chance to openly love Jaycee. He was no longer the only man who had a right to care for her.