by Marla Monroe
For the first time in a very long time, Aden was glad he’d joined up and learned everything he had. He had the abilities and means to protect his home and his woman, his and Roy’s. All of it will have been worth it if they could convince Cynthia to give them a chance. He had a feeling it was going to be tough, but nothing worth having was ever easy. First they would make sure she was safe, and then they would regroup and form a plan. All important battles were won through strategic planning. He was good at that. Roy was good at execution. If they combined their attack, Cynthia wouldn’t know what hit her. He smiled for the first time since he’d seen the bruises.
Chapter Nine
“Now, why don’t you tell us what really happened Saturday night after you drove home?” Roy asked.
“I told you.” She frowned after wiping her mouth.
“No, you skirted around the truth with some well-placed half-truths. Not good enough, baby girl.” Roy stared hard at her.
She sighed and looked down at her nearly empty plate. This was much harder than she had expected. Honestly, she hadn’t thought they’d ever even find out in the first place. Why hadn’t she kept her damn sweater on?
Cynthia bit her bottom lip and gave them a brief, watered down version of what had happened. She wasn’t sure, but she thought they accepted it. She hadn’t out and out lied, but she had glossed over some of the details in hopes they wouldn’t get as worked up over it. While it felt nice to have someone worry about her and want to come to her defenses, it was a pain in the ass, too.
“We’re going to check out your place and see if you need to beef up your security. I don’t like that you live alone. How far out do you live?” Roy asked.
“Look. I’m perfectly safe. I have solid doors and locks on all my windows,” she tried to assure him.
“Not good enough until we look at them,” Aden said. “Now, where do you live?”
She reluctantly told them where her house was, noting that Aden’s expression changed from guarded to downright angry. She had known when she told them that he wouldn’t like it.
“How close are your neighbors?” he asked.
“Um, about a mile away. I’ve never had any sort of trouble, Aden. It’s a nice place.”
“One time is all it takes, Cynthia. Living that far out by yourself is dangerous. I’m surprised your parents allow it,” he said.
Roy cleared his throat and Aden winced. Yep, he’d stepped into it with that statement, Cynthia thought.
“Excuse me? No one lets me do anything. I make my own decisions, and no one is about to start telling me what I can and can’t do.” Cynthia crossed her arms and glared from one man to the other.
“I didn’t mean it quite like that,” Aden began.
“Yes, you did. You just didn’t mean to say it out loud.” She gave him her best haughty expression.
“Yeah, well, you’re right, but it was said out of concern, Cynthia.” Aden had the puppy-dog look down pat.
She shook her head and dropped her hands to her lap. She never had been able to resist that sort of look. She had a soft spot that gave her more trouble when it came to men. Now she had two men to deal with. For some reason, that didn’t seem to bother her as much as it had earlier. What was up with that?
The waitress returned to ask if they had saved room for dessert. She declined, as did both Aden and Roy. Aden settled their bill while Roy led her back out to the truck and unlocked the door for her to climb inside. Once Aden had them heading back toward town and her SUV, Cynthia’s nerves began to act up again. If they followed her out to her place, would they want to come inside?
Well, how else could they check my locks if they don’t come inside?
As soon as they pulled up behind her SUV, Roy climbed out of the truck and held out his hand to help her down. Then he walked her over to the passenger side of her Pathfinder and tapped the window.
“Unlock it, Cynthia. I’m driving you home. Aden will follow us.” Roy waited while she huffed and growled before she finally dug in her purse and slapped the heavy keychain into the palm of his hand. She hoped it stung.
To his credit, he didn’t say anything, just opened the door for her slide inside, then hurried around to the driver’s side and adjusted the seat to fit his long legs and accommodate is added height. Cynthia couldn’t help but pout even though she knew it was childish and useless. She crossed her arms and stared straight out the windshield, only answering his questions on directions with the barest amount of words she could manage. By the time they arrived at her house, she was miffed, stiff, and just plain worn out from the entire situation.
Before she could open her door, Roy stopped her with a hand on her arm. “Wait and let Aden look around before you get out. We want to make sure no one is here or has been here since you left this morning.”
“How would you know that?” she asked. They weren’t super humans.
“Experience. People leave tracks even when they try not to.”
Aden walked back into sight and nodded at them. Then he walked around to open Cynthia’s door as Roy climbed out of the other side. She walked between them up the steps of her porch and waited as Roy unlocked the door. Once again, she and Roy stood outside while Aden looked around inside before they let her go into her own home. She was pushing past miffed into totally pissed territory now. They did not own her or have the right to boss her around. She planned to make that clear just as soon as they settled down and stopped rooting around in her things.
She stood inside the kitchen with her hands on her hips and tapped her foot as they combed every door and window. She didn’t say anything, just waited and watched. Once they appeared satisfied, she lifted an eyebrow at Aden and waited for him to pass judgment on her home.
Aden and Roy exchanged glances, and then Roy took a step closer to her. It looked like he’d been chosen to smooth things over. Nope, wasn’t going to work. They’d crossed a line in her book that few ever recovered from.
“Cynthia. Someone’s been watching your house,” Roy said quietly.
“W–what? How do you know?” She hadn’t been expecting that.
“There are footprints all around the outside of the windows that are too large to belong to you. They look like work boots of some type, not cowboy boots,” Aden told her.
“And there’s evidence that someone’s been tampering with a few of the locks on your windows. I can’t tell about the doors, but it stands to reason whoever it is would try all avenues,” Roy added.
“Are you sure? I mean, how can you tell?” She couldn’t believe her sanctuary, her tiny piece of heaven, had been violated like this.
“There are indentions around the wood on the windows, and where I saw that, I also saw the deepest boot prints beneath the window suggesting they’d been pressing on something, causing them to sink deeper into the ground.” Aden moved up next to Roy.
“Who would be watching me? I don’t have any enemies.”
“It doesn’t have to be an enemy, Cyn. It could be a random burglar looking for a place to rob, or it could even be Nick just watching you because he’s hooked on you, hon.” Aden reached up and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear.
“It can’t be Nick. He wouldn’t do something like that. Besides, he wears cowboy boots. He likes fancy ones, and he always shows them off when he gets a new pair.” Cynthia shook her head in disbelief.
Should she believe them? Why would they lie to her about something this serious, though? She just couldn’t believe they would make this up just to scare her into trusting them over Nick. They really didn’t seem like that type of man. Of course, she’d obviously been wrong about Nick. How could she trust her instincts now?
“Easy, Cynthia. You’ve gone pale. Why don’t you sit down and relax a minute,” Roy said, leading her over to the little kitchen table.
“Is it possible someone would think you might take the deposit home with you at night? Have you ever done that before?” Aden asked, crouching down in front of her.
“I—I have, but I don’t do it often. Not enough that they would think I might do it. Just if the weather is real bad or something.” Cynthia felt as if her life was being ripped apart.
She’d always felt safe before, and now, between Nick’s crazy personality change and whoever this was watching outside her house, Cynthia felt almost violated. Her trust had been broken, and it scared her. She’d never been one to obsess or worry about living alone or how far away she lived from others. Nothing had ever threatened her world before. Now, everything seemed to be going wrong.
“Have you had anyone new hanging around here or the shop? Anyone strange dropping in?” Roy asked.
“No. I mean, there are always strange people around Gatlinburg. You know that, but nothing stands out to me. Maybe this was just someone looking around, and they’ve moved on now.” God she hoped that was true.
Aden pulled her hands into his. “It will be okay, Cyn. We won’t let anything happen to you. Tomorrow, either Roy or I will come install some deadbolts for your doors and some additional latches for your windows. I think you need to have a security system installed as well.”
“This is ridiculous. I’m going to feel like a prisoner in my own home. I don’t want to have to live like this.” Cynthia pulled her hands from Aden’s hold and rubbed her face.
“You’re tired. Let’s get you into a hot shower and then bed. Things will look better in the morning,” Roy said.
Aden stood up and pulled her to her feet. “Up you go, sweet Cyn. Time for bed.”
“Thanks for checking on things for me. I’ll walk you to the door.” She started to turn toward the front door, but Aden stopped her.
“We’re not leaving you alone tonight. We’ll stay here tonight then work on the locks tomorrow while you’re at work. I don’t want you spending one night alone until we get the locks in,” Aden said.
“Stay here? Tonight?” Cynthia swallowed hard at the sudden lump in her throat.
“One of us will sleep on the couch. The other will sleep in the spare room,” Roy told her.
She had to slam the door on her immediate thoughts of them in bed with her, one on either side. The heady vision of that wouldn’t be shut away though. It took up residence in her head and made itself at home. Her mouth watered as her nipples budded hard. She felt her face grow hot as a kaleidoscope of sensual pictures played out in her head.
“Cynthia? Are you okay?” Aden asked, a frown pulled at his mouth.
“Yes. I’m fine. I really don’t think it’s necessary for you to stay here tonight. I’ll be fine, and you don’t have a change of clothes with you.”
“Actually, we do. We never go anywhere without go bags with us,” Roy told her with a lopsided grin.
“Go bags?”
“Yeah. Something we picked up while we were in the army. We never knew when we were going to have to up and go somewhere, so we kept bags packed and always ready. About once every two or three weeks, we exchange clothes so they will always be fairly fresh. Never got out of the habit,” Roy explained.
“Oh.”
Cynthia couldn’t think of anything else to say to that. They’d buried that thought for her. Now what was she going to do? Leave it to them to always be prepared like a freaking boy scout. She couldn’t help but wonder if they had been boy scouts.
“Were you boy scouts as kids?” she asked before she could stop herself.
Aden chuckled while Roy looked confused.
“Nope. Didn’t have time for that working on the farm all the time,” Aden said.
“Didn’t even know about them until I was in high school. Too late then even if I’d had the time or money to put into it.” Roy continued to frown.
“You didn’t know about boy scouts?” Cynthia couldn’t imagine not knowing about them. She’d always known about them and girl scouts, for that matter.
“Enough stalling. Let’s get you ready for bed, baby girl.” Roy urged her toward the bedrooms.
“I can take care of myself, you guys.”
“We know, Cyn. Humor us, and let us take care of you instead,” Aden whispered next to her ear.
Before she realized it, they were in her bedroom, and Roy was slowly unbuttoning her shift dress, exposing the pale yellow lace bra as he did. He slid it down her arms to her waist, and then Aden took over and had her stepping out of the dress. She stood between them, wearing nothing but the matching bra, panty, and garter set, a pair of silk stockings, and her modest heels. A cool shiver settled along her shoulders, and goose bumps popped out along her arms.
“Roy, go run the water while I help her finish undressing.” Aden turned her around to face Roy and unsnapped her bra.
She watched Roy hurry to her bathroom as she grabbed for her bra before it slipped from her shoulders. Spinning around, she kept her breasts covered and opened her mouth to protest, but anything she would have said was cut off when Aden wrapped one hand around the nape of her neck and lowered his mouth to hers. All thoughts of protest, or even why she should protest, were washed away in the thunderous flood of sensations that registered all over her body.
The press of Aden’s lips, soft but insistent against hers, fed the heat that began to build between her legs. It drew strength from the firm grip of work roughened hands that held her upper arms, his thumbs moving lightly across her skin, back and forth, back and forth. His hard cock pressed against her lower belly, teasing her with just enough pressure to hint at what she could have. The taste of him as he slipped his tongue between her lips exploded in her mouth, instantly addicting her to him.
She never even felt it when her bra slipped from her hands but knew that it had when her hands curled over his shoulders, gripping his shirt with her nails. The roughened texture of the button-down shirt he wore rasped her hard nipples. The hard metal of his belt buckle was at first cool against her abdomen, but it warmed quickly from her overheated skin.
Aden slowly swept through her mouth, exploring it by touch as if hungry for everything it could tell him. He stroked her tongue with his, running the tip of his down the center of hers. The way he rubbed lightly along the roof of her mouth then tickled and teased beneath her tongue had her moaning before she realized it was her making those sounds. He coaxed her into doing a little of her own exploring, discovering how much more intense his mouth was under her timid teasing.
Warm, wet hands encircled her waist from behind as the feel of cloth and cold buttons pressed against her back. Roy’s hot breath blew across her shoulder, followed by warm lips and the drag of his stubbly chin along naked skin. His callused fingers slipped beneath the waist of her lace panties and urged them down off her hips to pool at her feet. He didn’t touch her garter. Instead, the now slightly damp palms of his hands rubbed lightly up and down her hips.
“So smooth and soft,” Roy said with a slight rasp to his voice. “I bet you taste good, don’t you, baby girl?”
Aden pulled away from their kiss. “She tastes like pure sin, Roy. Our Cyn, hot and spicy.”
“What are you doing to me?” she finally managed to ask in a hoarse voice.
“Nothing that you’re not doing to us, sweet Cyn.” Aden nibbled along her jaw until he reached ear. There he sucked on the lobe so that she felt it all the way in her clit.
Chapter Ten
Roy wasn’t sure what Aden was planning, but he hoped it wasn’t too soon, whatever it was. As much as he wanted to hold her and feel her body against his, he didn’t want to risk losing their chance with her by going too fast. He tried to catch Aden’s eye, but the other man was too far gone to pay any attention to him.
The sound of her groan tightened his dick to the point of pain. He suppressed an answering moan and unhooked the garter belt from her waist. If he tried to remove her stockings one by one, he’d go insane. The sooner they got her naked and in the tub, the better he would be able to control himself, he hoped.
The scrap of material dropped around her as far as her thighs, where the stockings contin
ued to remain where they were.
So much for good intentions. I’m so screwed.
He sank to his knees behind her and slowly rolled first one stocking then the other down her legs and urged her to step out of the silky hosiery. He couldn’t stop himself from kissing the backs of her thighs as he pushed the material out of the way. He could smell her arousal, its tantalizing fragrance heating his blood to the point he thought he would explode if he didn’t do something about it soon.
“Aden,” he murmured from his position on his knees, desperate for the other man to hear him.
“Bath,” Aden finally agreed as he pulled back from kissing their woman.
Cynthia’s soft whimper echoed his cock’s painful throb. He didn’t want to stop either, but it was for the best. If they didn’t slow things down now, she would resent them later. He didn’t want to give her any reason to back away from them.
Roy slowly got to his feet and drew in a deep breath to try and calm his raging libido. It threatened to take control, which would be a bad thing, a very bad thing.
Cynthia swayed between them, her breathing breathy and fast. Roy took her by the shoulders and slowly turned her away from Aden, who didn’t seem able to step away from her. He wasn’t used to being the one to put a hold or stop on anything. Normally, Aden had the head of reason. This was a first for him.
He kissed her cheek and led her to the bathroom. Roy could hear Aden’s indrawn breath from behind. He had no doubt that the other man would follow them. The pull from Cynthia was too great for either of them to completely walk away now.
“Here we go, baby girl. Let’s get you settled in the water so you can relax. I added some of that bath stuff you smell like.” Roy helped her step into the tub, holding on to her until she’d settled back on her bath pillow he’d found and set up for her.
“Mmm. So nice. Thanks,” she said in a soft voice.
“Just soak for a while. We’ll come back and check on you. Don’t drown while we’re gone." He ran a finger down her nose then stood up and shoved Aden out of the room.