“Going up?” the Ferris wheel operator asked perfunctorily as he took Jackson’s tickets.
They were secured in the four-seat car, and Lily reached across to squeeze a tree-trunk thigh in each hand as they arced up into the night sky.
“Oh, my God. We’re up so high!” Lily looked down at the people milling about below them then looked up at Jackson and Ethan who sat opposite her. “What?”
Jackson regarded her with a haughty eyebrow. “Some of us have ridden the Ferris wheel more than once.”
“Hey! Neither of you is scared of heights.”
Ethan quirked his eyebrows at her and crossed his arms over his chest. “Wait, if you’re so scared of heights, what on earth are you doing getting on a damn Ferris wheel?”
Lily smiled. “Some people like to live on the edge. It’s not as fun if it isn’t at least a little scary.”
Jackson leaned back in his seat and splayed his legs. “Well, ain’t that funny. By the look of pure joy on your face when you’re riding me, I’d think you were terrified of my co—”
“I’d just like to remind you that we’re at a family-friendly event,” Lily cut in. “Summer LiebFest is crawling with innocent ears, and I don’t want to be responsible for any of them coming home knowing a few choice words for your happy bits.”
“Happy bits? Babe, you really know how to sweet-talk a man, don’t you?”
Lily braced her hands on his knees and hauled herself across the space separating them to plant a quick kiss on his lips. “I learned from the best.”
Ethan chuckled as Jackson pulled her closer. “Well, then you should know by now that that doesn’t qualify as a real kiss.”
She licked her lips, her arousal growing at the reckless look in his eyes. “Then I might need another lesson.”
Jackson grinned right before wrapping his hand around the base of her neck, his fingers tangling in her hair. He guided her face toward his without any preamble, his lips forcing hers into submission in the most delicious way. He kissed her with a combination of firmness and ease, teasing her, making her want more. So much more.
Her blood flowed like warm honey through her veins, making her limbs weak. Her knees and elbows buckled, and she would have fallen to the floor had Ethan not moved in behind her.
“Shh,” he crooned, “I’ve got you.”
He moved behind her and arranged her so that she sat in his lap, her legs bent and resting outside his knees. His quickly hardening cock rested between her ass cheeks, and her shorts were thin enough that she could feel the precise outline of his cockhead.
Desire, hot and sharp, shot through her, making her nipples bead in her bra. The way they brushed against the material drove her crazy, and she wished something else were touching them—their mouths, preferably.
Ethan’s hands drifted up and down her sides in a caressing motion that did nothing to calm her. Instead, his touch incited her lust for him—for them—and made her imagine his fingers on other parts of her body.
Jackson leaned forward, seducing her with just the power of his lips moving over hers and the way their breaths mingled in the humid afternoon air. There were times when Jackson surprised her, and this was one of them. The ease with which he kissed her—as if he had all day to kiss her—made her head spin, but his subtle command of her made her cunt start throbbing. She loved it when he got bossy.
Ethan’s fingers slipped underneath the hem of her shorts and found her thin cotton panties. They were already soaked through with her cream.
“Oh, Lily. You’re so wet.” Ethan groaned, his voice husky.
He fiddled with her underwear, the material blocking her from the full force of his fingertips dancing over her slit. She held her hand over his to still him. “Wait, what are you doing? Someone might see.”
“Don’t worry, sweetheart,” Jackson said mischievously as he nibbled her ear lobe. “I bribed the carny. The wheel stops when we reach to top. No one will see a thing.”
“Aren’t you a clever one?” Lily smiled as her arousal amped up even more.
“I have my moments.”
And then, just as Jackson had said, the wheel stopped when they reached the top. “How much time do we have up here?” Part of Lily hated she was acting like a nervous Nelly, but she wasn’t an exhibitionist or a slut. Her mother had raised her right, and the only people who needed to be privy to her most intimate moments were right there with her in the car.
“Twenty bucks bought me five minutes. But don’t worry, we’ll make it count.”
“Well, in that case, I want your fingers inside me.” She whimpered. “Now.”
Ethan kissed his way from her shoulder to the sensitive spot under her ear. “So impatient.”
He took her earlobe between his teeth. She sucked in a breath. “Ethan…”
“I love the way you say my name like that.”
The sound of a zipper made her look up at Jackson. “You know what I love? Your lips on my cock.”
She licked her lips. She liked that, too. She watched, transfixed, as he lifted his hips to slide his jeans down his thighs. His dick, thick and long and heavy, leaked with pre-cum, and she greedily lapped it up.
“Shit. Yes. Like that. Lick me, Lily. Damn, that’s good.” Jackson’s head fell back, making the cords in his neck stick out. He was so beautiful like this—a male in the throes of carnal ecstasy.
She pressed kisses along the underside of his cock as she cupped his balls, and he groaned above her, his fingers tangling into her hair. While he did not press her head down onto him, he thrust his hips up in little pulses, mimicking the motions he made when he fucked her good and deep.
Lily watched the play of his muscles under his skin as he moved, in awe of his male potency. His balls were a heavy weight in her hand, his cock filled her mouth to bursting, and his body was made to pleasure her.
Holding the base of his cock with her free hand, Lily slid her lips down the length of his dick until she could go no farther then started pumping her head up and down. She moved her hand in tandem with her mouth, and soon Jackson started moving along with her, fucking her mouth like he meant it.
“Damn, Lily, that’s good. Suck my cock—ah, yes. Shit.”
Behind her, Ethan lifted her shirt and ripped the cups of her bra away from her breasts, which tumbled into his awaiting hands. Without hesitating, Ethan pinched her hardened nipples with his fingers as he kneaded her tits with his palms, sending twinges of pure pleasure to her engorged clit and achingly empty pussy.
“I love the way you fill my hands.”
“And I love—” She felt the first drops of rain moments before the sky opened. Lily squeaked and covered her head with her hands—as if that would protect her from the deluge—and cowered under them.
Raindrops ran down her arms and thighs and soaked into her clothing, making it stick to her in soggy patches. Giggling, despite her current position, she looked up at Jackson. His lashes stuck together, and water dripped down his cheeks. His shirt clung to his well-defined chest and abs, and though his cock was still hot and thick in her grip, his lips quirked on what looked like the beginnings of a laugh. The Ferris wheel lurched back on and began its descent.
Ethan straightened her clothing, snickering behind her. “I guess that’s what we get.”
Jackson looked at him from over Lily’s shoulder. “For what?” He glowered, albeit falsely.
“For getting frisky on a kids’ ride.”
“Hey! I paid for five minutes up here. We’re practically hidden from plain sight. There are bars around the top of this thing, and we’re at the very top.”
“I’m not disagreeing with you,” Ethan said, “but you gotta admit it’s pretty funny.”
“I’m not agreeing to anything that cuts my blowjob short.”
“Aww, poor Jackson,” Lily teased as she tucked him back in his pants. “Maybe later if you quit your pouting.”
“Oh, I’ll show you later.” He reaching out, pulled her out of Eth
an’s lap, and tickled her.
She burst into hysterical laughter, kicking and squirming. “Stop it! Stop, stop, stop! Fine! You win. Later! I swear!” When her giggles subsided, she took a deep breath. “I have some news.”
They looked at her expectantly, and her heart started slamming in her chest.
“I, um.” She flicked her braid over her shoulder.
Lily blushed from the heat of his stare and was about to tell them she was staying when the door to their passenger car opened and the attendant rushed them out. Lily struggled to look presentable as Jackson pinned the man with a glare.
“Sorry, buddy,” the attendant shrugged, “lightning and rain trumps your five minutes in heaven.”
Lily’s face heated as she realized the man knew exactly what the rain had disrupted. She might have been mortified if she weren’t so damn happy. The three of them scrambled out, slipping and sliding and as giddy as if they were drunk. She was flying high on happiness even though her hair stuck to her face in fat clumps.
“You look beautiful.” Ethan tucked a wet strand behind her ear.
“My hair is wet, and my clothes are sticking to me,” Lily complained.
His smile widened. “Exactly. You look beautiful.”
“He’s right, you know,” Jackson said. “You look downright edible.”
The air smelled like water, asphalt, and freshly-cut grass, and steam rose up off the ground, coating her ankles. She breathed in deep. There was nothing like the scent of a sudden rainstorm in the middle of the sweltering Texas summer. Now that she had decided to stay, it would be one less thing she would have to miss.
The rain started coming down harder, and she ran toward the nearest building—the house of mirrors. Jackson and Ethan followed close on her heels, and once they were partially sheltered from the rain, Ethan started rooting through her purse.
“Where are your keys? I need to put the top up and bring the car around.”
“Oh, God. I had completely forgotten about the top,” she responded.
“Yeah, but that’s what I’m for.” Ethan grinned down at her then pressed a hard, hot kiss to her lips before he sprinted off in the rain, leaving her with alone with Jackson.
He wiggled his brows at her. “The house of mirrors, huh? I like the way your mind works.”
She rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. Like we didn’t do what we just did on that Ferris wheel.”
“But that was on the Ferris wheel. This is a whole other thing entirely.”
“You better calm that thing in your pants down before I have to discipline it.”
He crossed his arms over his chest, and the action made his muscles bulge. “Just how do you plan on doing that?”
“I’m the girl. I get to decide when and with whom I—”
“Are you threatening to hold out on me? That’s just wrong, babe. I knew you were pretty feisty, but this? That’s just plain cruel.”
“Then don’t get greedy.”
He stepped up to her, unfolded his arms, and wrapped them around her, drawing her close. His hands skimmed down her back and cupped her ass. “This is mine.”
“I don’t think so, mister.”
“Like hell it isn’t.”
“We’ll see,” she said, extricating herself from his embrace. “You need to be a good boy.”
She sidestepped him, and he followed close on her heels. “But I’m always a good boy, and good boys get treats.”
“Very true, but I think you’re still pouting.”
They walked up the steps leading to the house of mirrors, and Jackson looked around for the ticket taker, who was nowhere to be found. Maybe the attendant was on a break. Jackson shrugged and pulled the door open for her. “I thought we agreed to later.”
She stepped past him and shivered at the change in temperature. “You cheated.”
“But I still won.” He looked down at her, all male pride, but when he saw her rubbing her arms to get warm, he shooed her hands away and did it himself. “You okay? Damn, I wish I had a jacket to give you.”
She snuggled against him. “You seem a little cold, too.”
“Nah. I’m good. I’m a guy. We’re programmed to give our jackets to shivering women even if we’re freezing to death.”
She pressed a kiss to where his pulse beat in his neck. “Not all guys are like that, but I love that you are.”
“What can I say? You make me noble.”
“Right. Noble.” She pulled away and looked up at him. “Jackson Stone, you are plenty of things, but a knight in shining armor you are not.”
He looked wounded. “I offer to give you my jacket, and this is how you repay me?”
“It was an imaginary jacket, first off. And secondly, you might not be a knight in shining armor, but I don’t think I want that. I think I like you as the dark horse knight.”
“Dark horse, huh?” He mulled that over for a moment. “I’ll take it.” She disentangled herself from his embrace, and he looked around. “You want to play hide-and-seek?”
She grinned, and he started counting.
“One…two…three…”
Lily scurried off, passing blown-up, shrunk-down, and wavy reflections of herself.
“…seven…eight…”
Lily walked past a mirror that made her legs look great, and she did a double-take. Wow. I need this one in my house. She turned around when Jackson stopped counting, expecting to hear him rushing toward her.
“Jackson?”
Instead, all she heard was the rain on the roof of the trailer. Goose bumps broke out over her skin, and her ears tuned in to every minute sound. Something was wrong. Horribly wrong.
“Jackson?” she whispered into the stillness, her heart thudding against her ribs. “Where are you?”
Her breaths shivered out of her, and her knees wobbled. Someone approached, but she could not focus on where they’d come from, and the only movements she caught were her own reflections.
Oh, God. Echoes of another humid night slammed into her, making her panic. She knew those steps. Knew the scent of smoke, the wind, and body odor. She had already pushed the memory of that night back into the farthest reaches of her mind, and in an instant, every detail came back to her in full force. Sticky night air, the sting of gravel digging into her flesh.
“Hey, babe. Did you miss me?” It was the biker who had attacked her at Cedar Ridge earlier that summer. She might have gotten seriously injured, or worse, if Ethan and Jackson hadn’t come to her aid.
Lily gagged and clutched her belly. “Where is he? What did you do with him?”
He finally stepped in front of her where she could see him. He was taller than she cared to remember. “He’s fine. Just a little bump on the head. Didn’t even see me coming.”
She took a step back with his step forward. “You’re not going to get away with this. We’re in public. At a huge family event, if you haven’t noticed.”
“And if you haven’t noticed, it’s raining, babe. So everyone’s going home. But you know what I didn’t notice? That you have two men. The one in here with you wasn’t the one I had it out with that one time. You’re a naughty little girl, aren’t you?”
She took a step back. Then another. Her back hit a cold surface—the mirror behind her.
“I like it when girls know how to play a little dirty.”
His meaty hand shot out and knocked her off balance. She toppled to the floor and bounced, hard. Her breath left her in a wheeze, but she scrambled forward. She saw him everywhere—behind her, in front of her—then the real thing grabbed her by the hair and yanked.
“I’m done playing nice. You’re coming with me now. You’re going to be my woman, and there’s no way around that.”
“Fuck you!” She struggled against the terrifying grip. Her scalp felt like it would rip off her skull any moment.
“Yeah. We’ll do that, too. Don’t you worry.” He dragged her behind him with an ease that made her sick. Agony shot down her neck and shoulders
, and her legs fought for purchase on the floor, but the harder she fought, the harder he tugged at her hair.
She screamed for all she was worth, putting her terror and rage into it. Please, God, let someone hear her. Oh, please, God.
Then something slammed into the side of her head. Sparks flew in front of her eyes, then everything went black.
* * * *
Jackson cracked his eyes open then wished he had not opened them in the first place. Hot brands stabbed the back of his eyes, and a sledgehammer pounded away in his head. Jesus H. Christ, that hurt. Holy shit. How the hell had he ended up on the floor? Then his ears started ringing, a high-pitched sound that made him cringe. God, that was horrible.
A few years ago, he and Ethan had gone javelina hunting out on their family’s property a few hours’ drive from Liebling. He had shot one nice and clean. Right on target. Or so he thought until he heard it squeal. The sound made shivers crawl up his spine, and to this day, he had never heard anything so horrible. Until now.
As suddenly as the sound started, it ended, abruptly cut off with a heavy thunk a few yards away.
Then he remembered.
Lily.
He shot to his feet, pitching forward when his vision went blank from the pain. It overtook him, disorienting him. All he saw was himself stumbling, falling, dragging himself on the cold floor. Desperation like he had never known swamped him, driving him forward when he would not have been able to do so otherwise. There was nothing that would keep him from reaching her.
Chapter Eight
“Can’t you drive any faster? I knew I should’ve driven. You’re going to lose them.” Jackson searched frantically around the interior of Lily’s Mustang for anything that could help them as they chased down that biker bastard who dared lay a finger on their woman. The sound of rain pounding against the Mustang’s exterior barely registered.
“Shut up, Jackson. We won’t do Lily any good if we’re T-boned around a damn tree, and it’s slippery as hell out here. Besides, she said to never let you drive her car.”
Jackson would’ve rolled his eyes if he weren’t so busy trying to save his woman’s life.
Mitchell, Ava and Holiday, Sydney - Corralling the Stones, Part 2: The Taming [Liebling, Texas 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 10