Absentminded Angel [Divine Creek Ranch 20] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Heather Rainier

  Jared looked down at his boots, remorse hopping onto his back along with the rest of the chaotic emotions warring for control. Kendry was right. Presley Ann loved them.

  He watched as the baby was transferred to True’s arms. Presley Ann tilted her head down and he could see her lips moving before she brought her hand up to her cheek. Was she crying? The way her shoulders jerked told him that she was.

  They talked for what seemed like an eternity. An emotion verging on panic made his chest feel like it was cracking open as the singer leaned forward, reaching out to her with his free hand and tilted her forehead against his as he cupped the back of her head. Her arm went around his shoulder.

  “Shit,” Kendry whispered as he stood next to Jared watching, but showing no other sign of the pain his words held. “Kitten, what are you doing?”

  A few minutes later, they both rose and he lost sight of them as the sunset had faded. His gut churned as he worried about what they were doing but relief flooded him as the tour bus’s door opened with a soft swish.

  Presley Ann was smiling when she looked at them as she came down the steps, but her eyes were bloodshot and her cheeks were damp, her hand clasped firmly in True’s as he guided her down. Whit was nestled in the crook of his arm, sound asleep. Jared warred with the urge to approach him and take the baby from him. Whit was True’s son and he did have a right, but that didn’t mean Jared had to like it.

  * * * *

  Presley Ann felt as though she might float up off the ground, not because a great burden had been lifted from her shoulders, but because she’d received an answer to prayer. Whit’s father knew of his existence. Better still, he was happy to know of his existence.

  But looking in Jared and Kendry’s eyes, she understood the weight of the burden she still felt. At one point, she’d looked out through the darkly tinted window and even though the setting sun had made it difficult to see their expressions, she’d known from their stiff, sentinel-like body language that they suffered. She’d looked down at her watch and had been surprised that nearly an hour had gone by since they’d arrived at O’Reilley’s. Not nearly long enough for True, she was certain, because he wanted to know everything about her, about the baby, and about how the last ten months had gone, but definitely too long to allow her men to stand outside waiting and wondering in the cold.

  Kendry’s blue-gray eyes searched hers as he closed the distance between them in a couple of long strides, taking her hand in his and pressing it against his chest. “You okay?” The concern in his eyes testified that he wasn’t looking for a rhetorical answer.

  “Yes,” she whispered, squeezing his hand, but she said nothing else. True stood behind her, still holding Whit. She knew his feelings were too raw, too painful, for her to say more, and she prayed that her men could wait a few minutes longer for the answers to the questions in their eyes.

  Jared’s hand trembled as he reached out to her, gathering a handful of her hair in his hand as he cupped the back of her head and nuzzled her cheek. “You’ve been crying, angel.”

  She gulped around her tear-clogged throat and nodded. She tried to speak the words she needed to say but she just couldn’t, not with True standing there. It wasn’t fair or right to hurt someone like that with witnesses.

  Somehow, she managed to turn to her baby’s father, the image of his dark gaze from ten months before flashing in her mind again. Sadness burgeoned at the way he tried to smile for her and then looked down at his son.

  In all her imaginings of how this encounter might go, she hadn’t considered the manner in which Whit’s father might bond with him, if at all, and whether it would be a slow process or if it would be instantaneous.

  His Adam’s apple bobbed as he gazed at Whit, and she saw the hint of a tremble in his full lips as he leaned down and kissed Whit’s chubby cheek.

  Gathering himself, he took a deep breath, let it out, and looked at her, and then at Kendry and Jared. “I’ll see you in a week, then. That’ll give Noble time to come around to the idea he’s an uncle.”

  Presley Ann nodded as he passed Whit back to her. He cleared his throat and rested a hand lightly on her shoulder for just a second as he kissed the top of her head. She watched him walk back to the bus. He looked back at her from the bottom step before disappearing inside. Moments later the engine started on the bus. He was on the bus alone, dealing with the shock of finding out he was a father.

  “Guys, I’m not in the mood to go in the restaurant any more. Could we just grab something to go and head home? I’m not really even sure I can eat.”

  The men bookended her as they walked back to the truck. “Of course, angel,” Jared said. “Whatever you need.”

  For the first time, she noticed the small group that lingered in the parking lot close to the restaurant. It was too much to hope that her aunt and cousin weren’t in their midst, and she pressed a protective hand to the back of Whit’s head as she made eye contact with Willie and saw the glee in her eyes and the speculation in Dorothy’s as she held her phone to her ear. No doubt making calls and spreading gossip.

  Fatigue washed through her and she was so relieved that she hadn’t been alone for this experience, it made her eyes sting. Whit was sound asleep when she buckled him into his car seat.

  As if sensing that she was still processing the experience, Jared and Kendry were quiet in the truck. She sat in the back with the baby and nodded when they suggested calling in an order to Rudy’s and swinging by to pick it up. Food didn’t matter to her in the least. Her stomach was in knots. Whit breathed in deep and let out a sigh, drawing her eyes. His little face was relaxed in slumber, his little brows, lashes, and lips were little replicas of his father. He smiled in his sleep. A lazy little half-smile that made her heart ache because it was so much like his father’s.

  She nodded as she stroked his soft little brow. Life was full of choices…and consequences. And life’s struggle was accepting the consequences for those choices, along with the blessings.

  They walked her around back to her little home and coaxed her to eat a little of her food after she’d bathed Whit and put him to bed. She didn’t taste any of it and set it aside barely touched. As if he understood, Kendry made her a cup of chamomile tea with honey and brought it to the living room.

  He held out his hand to her and sat down next to Jared on the love seat and drew her into his lap. All the thoughts swirling in her head and in her heart coalesced into a knot in her chest. Evidently feeling her tension, Kendry gently squeezed her but remained quiet.

  “My chest hurts,” she whispered, the ache in her heart intensifying as she rubbed her breast bone.

  “That’s scary for a heart transplant recipient to hear, kitten. I shared with Jared some of what you told me the other night.”

  Jared reached out to her hands as she looked up at him and she said, “I’m sorry for the way all of this came about. I should’ve told you both sooner.”

  Jared intertwined his fingers with hers and said, “You’re human, angel, and you couldn’t control what happened tonight. I’m still reeling from it, myself.”

  “O’Reilley’s was where we originally met. He talked his brother and his manager into taking a detour through Divine on their way to Houston, just on the slim possibility that he might cross paths with me again.” Unsure how much Jared knew, she told him the full story, her cheeks grew hot as she related moments of intimacy with another man. She hoped that was the last time she had to explain herself, and her idiocy, to anyone ever again.

  “That’s who you were, Presley Ann. We love the woman you are today,” Jared said. “You aren’t an idiot. If you had the past to do over, would you do any of it differently?”

  She thought of the conversation on the bus, the pain and loneliness she’d felt as she’d made a life for herself and her unborn child, the pain of telling her father and her sister, and the regret of not telling True her name up front.

  But then she thought of the first time Jared smiled at her, t
he night she’d met him. The way he’d tilted his head and really listened to her as she’d told him about herself. She thought of the laughter she’d shared with Kendry on the Pony’s dance floor that same night. Her heart had cracked a little when she’d explained to them that she was expecting. She hadn’t said she was single but it’d been obvious. No wedding ring, no man meeting her that night, and no idea if Leah had shared the news that she was a single mom or not. She’d let it go unsaid, and they hadn’t pressed her. And they hadn’t judged her either. They’d asked her what kind of music she liked and if she liked living in a small town. No pity…and no judgment, either.

  “No.”

  Jared stroked her knuckles and said, “No?”

  “I regret the shock we all suffered tonight. I regret not being able to tell True sooner. He asked me to go with him tonight. He invited us to join him on the road. He wanted to spend time with Whit…and with me. He said he regretted leaving me behind that morning, and with each passing mile he regretted it even more.”

  It was obvious her words were making the men uncomfortable but she needed to get it all out so they’d understand.

  “All of their big hits right now were written by True and inspired by the night we spent together.”

  “Angel,” Jared murmured, his words sounding like he was crawling over broken glass. Kendry drew a shaky breath as he scrubbed at his forehead.

  She drew Kendry’s hand down and waited until she had their undivided attention. “I looked into his eyes, the same eyes I see when I look at Whit, the same gaze that I remembered from that night, and…all I could feel was gratitude toward him for having Whit in my life, for knowing that kind of deep, encompassing love. Whit changed my life and I’m grateful to True for him. But in my heart, all I could see were two pairs of eyes, in differing shades of blue-gray. I knew where I was meant to be…if you still want me.”

  Her tears finally overflowed as their jaws dropped and their relief was palpable. Jared let out a deep breath and rubbed the heels of his hands against his forehead while Kendry shook and the deep rumble of laughter vibrated in his chest.

  “Fuck,” Jared said, his voice rasping as he gently grasped the back of her neck and met her halfway with a kiss.

  “What?” she asked as she swiped her tears and looked back and forth between them. “I know a good thing when I see it. There’s all kinds of emotions mixed up in all of this, but I love you guys. I love you!”

  Jared chuckled and said, “I was ready to beg.”

  Kendry nodded as he caressed her cheek. “I was set to grovel, too. You’re sure? He can provide a lot for you and Whit. They’re both probably set for life and then some.”

  Presley Ann knew that matter would come up eventually. “He told me as much. But that’s not what I need. Right now, I deal with a little bit of small town gossip but can you imagine how that would balloon to a global scale? I don’t want that for Whit…or for myself.”

  She’d grown up believing that all she needed to do was find a man to love her and provide for her—basically a sugar daddy. She didn’t even know who that girl was anymore, but she knew she was dead and gone. Her life, despite its struggles, was just what she’d needed.

  “I told him I was doing just fine. He insisted that he wanted to help, that it was more than a duty to him. He’s setting up an account for Whit, for his expenses and for college, or anything else he might need. He wanted to take care of me, too. He seems to think he owes me for the success they’ve had with all those songs I ‘inspired,’” she said, using air quotes. “I told him that his success was from his God-given talent. I have what I want from that night. My son. No, I wouldn’t change a thing.”

  Jared and Kendry exchanged a look and Kendry said, “Well, we’d change one thing.”

  “What’s that?” she asked as she rested her head against his chest, listening to the way his heart began to pound as he fiddled around with his jacket pocket.

  Jared took her hand in both of his and said, “We’d change your last name, if you’d have us.”

  “Marry us?” Kendry said as he held the white velvet box and opened it so she could see the contents.

  Jared slipped down to one knee in front of her and kissed her knuckles. “Marry us, angel. We want you. We’ll always want you.”

  She gasped at the beauty of the sparkling, square cut diamond in the platinum setting. She’d dreamed about this moment since she was a little girl, but it wasn’t the carats in the diamond that made her react. It was the love in their eyes.

  “You’re sure? It’s only been a few weeks.”

  Kendry shook his head. “Kitten, we’ve been falling for you since the night we met you.”

  Jared pressed his fingers to her lips. “Before you ask us how we can be sure that we love you, or if we’re sure we can handle you and all your many various ‘faults,’ you need to understand that we accept the whole, beautiful, imperfect woman.”

  Kendry said, “We’re not perfect either but we think making a life loving you would be perfect. You and Whit. Please say yes.”

  She bit her lip, and clapped her hands giddily. “Yes!” Her men chuckled at her excitement and Jared slid the ring onto her finger. Unable to contain herself, she slipped from Kendry’s lap and did a jiggling happy dance until all three of them were laughing and risked waking up the baby.

  “Awesome,” Kendry said. “I’m glad we saved all those boxes.”

  * * * *

  Jared woke to a hot tingle rippling through his body, a sensation so strong his hips rolled, seeking more of that same warmth. A gasp was torn from him when the pleasure peaked as the suction on his cock increased before releasing with a pop.

  In the dim morning light of their bedroom, Presley Ann threw back the sheet and blanket covering her head as she hovered at his groin. He chuckled as the static electricity created by the covers made her blonde hair stand on end before floating down again.

  “Good mornin’, lover,” she murmured, kissing the head of his wet cock and stroking it while leaning over to Kendry and angling her head to take his cock in her mouth. Kendry, who was still out cold, moaned and quickly came to, swiveling his hips as she made a yummy sound and sucked most of his length to the back of her throat. “Holy fuck.” He chuckled and reached down to stroke her head. “Brownie points for you, kitten. That’s a damned nice way to wake up.”

  She released him with a wet suctioning sound, dragging out releasing him until he bucked, and then she murmured, “Merry Christmas.”

  “Mmm-hmm, and Santa Claus is comin’, all right,” Kendry muttered as he rolled to his side and watched as she returned to Jared’s cock.

  Jared chuckled and lifted his right knee out of the way as she got on all fours and crawled between his legs to pay attention to his cock, which was already throbbing for release just from watching her play with them.

  Not one to miss an opportunity, Kendry rose to his knees and crawled behind her. Her cheeks were flushed prettily and she let out a soft moan as Kendry bent way down behind her and began licking her pussy. Kendry lifted his head and chuckled. “Don’t let me stop you from taking care of Jared. I’m just getting some early mornin’ sugar here.”

  She caught her breath and smiled up at Jared, showing how much she was enjoying herself as she bit her lip and then licked it and went back to sucking at his cock, making yummy sounds all the while. She started panting and her cheeks turned rosy as Kendry continued teasing her from behind. The vibrations of her sounds travelled down his cock and made him ache for release.

  Kendry rose from behind her on his knees and grinned evilly as he winked at Jared, moving his hand back and forth as if he was finger fucking her.

  She said something unintelligible around Jared’s cock.

  Kendry chuckled and said, “What’s that, kitten? You want me to fuck you?”

  She knit her brows and made an urgent pleading sound and wiggled her tush at him.

  “Aw, that’s cute. Do that again?”

&nb
sp; She giggled over Jared’s cock while winking up at him and then her eyes went wide and she squeaked, which made Jared’s cock jerk a little.

  Kendry growled and said, “Been goin’ easy on you, pussy cat, but this sweet little ass is ours, very soon.”

  She arched her back and moaned, her eyelids sliding shut as she sucked and bobbed up and down on Jared’s shaft, never leaving him hanging while Kendry teased her. She opened her eyes and kept eye contact with him as she panted, her eyes glazing as Kendry worked his fingers in and out faster and faster, until she finally released his cock, murmuring, “Sorry, baby, oh my God don’t stop. Yes! Fuck me, please!” she cried out as she panted and pushed back against Kendry’s hand as her orgasm crested. Jared circled the base of his shaft to keep from coming at the sounds she made, and then she drew a deep breath and sucked him right back between her hot lips.

  Kendry grabbed her hips, before tracing a hand down in front between her legs to play with her clit, his face tense as he looked down between them. “Fuck, yeah. I love making you come.”

  She made soft little mewling sounds as Kendry slowly slid home. He smiled as he looked down to where their bodies were joined, before grinning at his brother. “She’s one of a kind, isn’t she?”

  Jared just groaned and stroked the back of her head. “She is.”

  “I recall our little kitty-cat giggling with her sister last night about spankings, don’t you?”

  “Yup. Looked to me like she enjoyed the idea.”

  She gulped around his cock, making his shaft throb and tingle in her mouth and she moaned, focusing her attention on Jared, but he saw the smile in her eyes when she looked up at him. They’d caught her and her sister at the sink, rinsing dishes after their Christmas Eve dinner while talking about spankings and the twinkle in Presley Ann’s eyes had told them both she was open to the idea.

  “Got me hard just thinking about it,” Kendry said as he pulled her slowly back on his cock and picked up the pace of his thrusting just a little. They were being gentle with her despite her having told them she wouldn’t mind if they wanted to play harder or take her together. Sometimes she ignored her limitations and neither of them wanted to hurt her.