She moved to walk past Nash toward the refrigerator, but before she took more than a step past him, he yanked her onto his lap. She tried to push him away, placing her hands on his chest and shoving. She didn’t easily fit on a man’s lap. She was far too big. She’d probably break his legs. But he held her too close for her to fight him off, refusing to move an inch.
The longer she sat on his lap, the more she liked it. Being cradled against his chest, tucked in his arms, felt good. Better than she ever could have guessed. If she only had one night with them, why not take advantage of every perk available to her?
“We’re here to serve you, princess.” Cassidy grabbed three glasses from the cabinet—he must have inspected the shelves when she was gone—and filled them all with water, passing them out to the group like he’d been doing it for years. “Not the other way around.”
They might be the first men she’d ever met who didn’t want a woman to serve them. It was hard to believe. Grace took her glass and sipped at the liquid, while Cassidy and Nash did the same. The three of them together were such a normal domestic scene. She took a deep sip of the water, hoping to ease the tightness in her throat. This was exactly what she dreamed of.
More than ever, she realized she needed to make this come true for herself. If this was what she wanted, she needed to do something, or her whole life would pass her by. It wouldn’t be any easier after tonight, but more than ever she realized she had to try, or she’d spend the rest of her life regretting it.
But the thought of inviting someone else into her life after these two left constricted her chest. Thinking of someone else in her home had her mind shifting to another woman in their bed. And she hated the idea more than she should. Far more than would be healthy for her heart. She had no right to be possessive of them, but she was.
Swallowing down the water, she placed the glass on the table on top of the manila envelope holding her manuscript. Sometime while she was in the bathroom they must have retrieved it and deposited it on the kitchen counter. “I can’t believe I forgot about this.” She fingered the tattered edge of the envelope. It had been so important a few hours ago, and she’d almost forgotten about it. Her attention had been focused somewhere else.
“It’s been a busy evening.” Cassidy wiggled his eyebrows at her.
“That it has been.” Far more than she’d ever thought possible. Not that she was upset about it. Not for one second. Not even after they walked out of her life. She’d always cherish their time together. The way they touched her, looked at her, treated her.
“Best piece of mail I’ve ever gotten.” Cassidy smiled at her over his glass, the devious look in his eyes rocking through her. How could he look so sexy drinking water? She was in trouble if she thought everything he did turned her on. It would difficult to handle herself if simple tasks were enough to set her off from now on. Brushing his teeth, picking chips out of his shirt, farting. Well, maybe even Cassidy had a sexiness limit.
“You didn’t get this mail. I sent it to myself.”
“True.” Cassidy raised his half-full glass up in defeat.
“I was curious about that.” Nash pushed a lock of hair behind her ear, his fingers lingering on her cheek. “Why did you send the book to yourself?”
“Have you ever heard of a poor man’s copyright?”
Nash shook their heads. She glanced over at Cassidy who did the same, staring at her with equal interest. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had anyone’s undivided attention, let alone two hunks like them. It was a heady feeling. If this was the result of people reading her book, maybe she should let more people give it a spin.
“The premise is, if you send your work to yourself through the mail, you can prove when you wrote the book. Kind of like a copyright. Then if anyone tries to steal your work, you have proof of your ownership. At least, that’s the idea.”
“Does it work?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. I’ve heard conflicting opinions. But with technology, you can already prove when you wrote something with the date stamp on your files.”
“So why did you send it, if it doesn’t matter anymore?” Nash’s fingers continued their path down her throat, almost distracting her from their questions.
“My pappy was a writer, too. Though he wrote very different stories.”
“I should hope so.” Cassidy waggled his eyebrows, eliciting a little giggle from her.
“He wrote westerns.” She motioned toward the living room where her pappy’s works lined the shelves in perfect precision. “He published a little over twenty stories. He always sent a copy of his work to himself before mailing it to his publisher. I remember walking to the post office with him when I was little to drop off the big package. Waiting to get it in the mail the next day.”
Those trips were some of the best memories of her childhood. Before either of her grandparents got sick, and she’d been left alone. Back when anything seemed possible. “It’s silly, but I thought it would be good luck to do the same thing for my story.”
Nash pressed a kiss to her temple, tightening his arm around her waist. The gesture was so impossibly sweet she almost couldn’t believe it came from the same man who’d fucked her senseless a few hours ago. “It doesn’t sound silly to me, sweetheart. It sounds special.”
“Your grandpa sounds like a wonderful man.”
She nodded. “He was. The best I’ve ever known.” The man she compared every man, too. And they normally came up wanting. But something about the way Nash and Cassidy looked at her, the way they smiled at her story had Grace thinking her pappy would have liked them. Which was crazy. Her pappy never could have liked two men sleeping with his granddaughter. Could he? Yet she got the distinct impression if any two men would change his mind, it would be Nash and Cassidy.
* * * *
Nash hadn’t realized until her story that Grace was a lot like them. Sure, the town loved her, when they were scorned. She was good and sweet, when they were bad and dangerous. But they were alone in this world. No family, no support, no connection. And so was she.
He hugged her closer, wanting to protect and comfort her. He knew how much it hurt to be alone, though he’d never been really alone. At least he had Cassidy. She had no one who understood. They could do that for her. They could be there, as long as she’d let them.
She shook her head, as if shaking off the thoughts, and her pretty brown eyes looked over at Cassidy no longer clouded with grief. “You never told me what was in your envelope.”
Cassidy gulped down the last of his water. Just like Grace, Nash had forgotten about Cassidy’s envelope. The letter that would determine if their lives changed forever or would devastate his best friend. Nash never had a problem with their life as it was. They had everything they needed. They made enough to pay the rent, electric bill, and bar tab. He didn’t need much beyond that.
But with Grace on his lap, he wanted a hell of a lot more. He wanted to buy a pretty house for her, to have enough to take care of her and maybe someday some kids, too. He’d never thought he’d want kids before. After the way he grew up, he figured it was better to remove himself from the breeding population. But with Grace, everything felt different. The world was full of new possibilities, ones he’d written off before.
But Cassidy had always wanted more. He wanted to be someone important. To put the horrible voices in his head to bed. The ones that said he wasn’t worth anything, that had started way before he’d been thrown into the foster system and still echoed in his mind today.
“It was the response to my application for the University of Colorado at Denver.”
“That’s great.”
“Really?” The easy way she said it, like it was obvious he’d want to go to school, pulled Cassidy up short. Though Nash wasn’t sure why. He’d said the same more times than he could count. But Cassidy never heard him over his demons.
“Sure.” She shifted a little on his lap to turn toward Cassidy. Nash dre
w in a deep breath as her movement rubbed against his very hard cock. God, he wanted to throw her on the table and have his way with her.
But he controlled his raging libido, burning beneath the surface. Right now, Cassidy needed to hear what she had to say. Maybe if he heard it from Grace, he’d finally believe it.
“You’re definitely smart enough to do more. You spend more time in the library than anyone else in town, besides me of course.” She nibbled on her bottom lip, and Nash wanted to lick it so much he could almost taste her. “You are more than capable of any curriculum you want to pursue. What department did you apply to?”
“Landscape architecture.” Cassidy’s voice wobbled, and Nash couldn’t help smiling. It wasn’t often his friend was thrown off guard. It was refreshing to see. Of course, it was Grace that put him on the ropes. Nash liked this girl more every minute. So much that like wasn’t the correct word anymore.
“That’s perfect.” Her excitement had Nash’s gut twisting with envy, but only until he saw the elation on his best friend’s face. There’d be time for Nash to find ways to make Grace squeal like that. This was Cassidy’s moment. “You have such a way with plants. Even for a skimpy government contract, you make the library one of the most beautiful spots in town. I can only imagine what you’d do with a full budget and all the resources you wanted.”
Cassidy beamed with pride beneath her compliments. He grabbed her cup and filled it again, ducking his head slightly as he did so. Though both he and Nash knew the work he put into the library landscaping had nothing to do with the contract price and everything to do with the person who would spend all her time looking upon it.
Grace picked up the glass and sipped the water, before looking up at him over the top of her cup. “You definitely got in.”
“How can you be so sure?” Cassidy tried to act reserved but Nash could see his nervousness at the edges. With a GED and an arrest record Cassidy had been sweating bullets over the application for months. Her confidence surprised and rattled him.
“It was a thick envelope. Thick envelopes always mean acceptance. They need to send you pamphlets, new student information forms, and loan applications. All that good stuff to get you started.”
Nash fought back the urge to laugh at his best friend. Cassidy’s eyes widened, and his mouth hung open. “How do you know that?”
“When I was in school, I worked in the admissions office. I know what an acceptance letter looks like. You definitely got in.”
Happiness bubbled up in Nash. Cassidy had done it. All his hard work had paid off, He was going to change his life. Both their lives. And it wasn’t the first time today. He tightened his arm around the girl on his lap. And Nash had Cassidy to thank for her being there. Him and Grace’s grandfather. But that thought was a little too weird while his hard cock was pressed into her soft rump.
“What about you? Do you want to go to school, too?” She turned on Nash’s lap, blinking those pretty brown eyes up at him. Those eyes that made him want to agree to anything she said just to make her happy.
Nash shook his head. “No way. I don’t want to spend my days in a classroom. I’d rather make things that are useful, like furniture or something.”
“Really?” The excited way she jumped in his lap had his chest contracting. But not just his chest. “Could you make me something?”
“What were you thinking, sweetheart?” The bright flash of life in her eyes threatened to do him in completely. Not that it mattered what she asked for. He couldn’t think of anything he’d deny her.
“Could you make me a bookcase?”
Nash laughed. “Really? A bookcase? That’s what you want? From the way you were jumping around, I thought you’d ask for a diamond or something.”
Her lip curved up in a saucy turn that had his whole body standing at attention. God, she was so fucking gorgeous. That she was completely unaware of it only made her hotter. “Diamonds might be a girl’s best friend, but a bookcase is worth something. It can hold books.”
He and Cassidy laughed together. Her cuteness cut through the most cynical parts of his heart. How could a woman this pure really exist? And she wanted them. It was amazing, no matter how improbable it felt, and he wasn’t about to fight it.
Nash might not have learned a lot of good instruction from his hard life, but not going against his own self-interest was one of his better lessons. As long as she wanted him, he wasn’t about to walk away. No matter what anyone said. Even Cassidy.
“I’d be happy to build you whatever you want.” He threaded his fingers in her hair, tugging her closer. “Later.”
He sealed her lips with his. The sweet taste of her exploded across his tongue, like cotton candy and lust. Just like Grace. He moaned at the flavor, deepening his kiss to brush his tongue into her mouth. Her soft tongue extended, brushing the length of his lips. She wrapped her arms around his neck. Her fingers tangled in his hair, holding him close.
God, he loved how she clung to him, like he was her whole world. And he almost felt like he could be. Like they could be. His body surged, and he hauled her closer, shifting his hips until his cock rubbed against her thigh. It wasn’t dignified, but at the moment he didn’t care. Dignity was overrated.
There was no other place he’d rather be than here with her soft body between them. It had only been a night, but that wasn’t enough for him. She was theirs now. For good. Only she could tell him otherwise. He didn’t even care what Cassidy said. Nothing would make him turn away now.
When she leaned back, it took everything in him not to roar in dissatisfaction. He wasn’t anywhere near done with her. He wanted a lot more. He wanted everything she could offer him and a few more things he planned to take.
“Take me back to bed.” Her brown eyes blinked up at him with such earnest need his heart skipped a beat. He knew it wasn’t easy for her to ask for what she wanted. Especially in the bedroom. But slowly they were bringing out the bad girl in their sweet little Grace. And he loved every second of it.
He groaned and shook his head. God, that sounded good, but too far away. Way too far away. “I don’t think I can make it that long.” He winked at her, grabbing her close as he dragged his chair back from the table. “I’ve got a better idea.”
With one quick motion, he pushed her up onto the table, spreading her out like a Thanksgiving dinner he couldn’t wait to devour. A cute squeal echoed from her throat as he ripped the shirt from her body, buttons flinging around the room. It was his shirt, he could destroy it if he wanted to. He couldn’t think of a better reason to destroy any clothing than to expose all her creamy skin for his touch.
She blinked up at him, but she didn’t try to tug the shirt back in place to cover herself or drop her hands down to cover her pussy. One time tied up and she was ready to spread her legs and be eaten alive.
He was more than willing to show her how much he appreciated her new confidence.
Nash spread her legs wide and took a long lick. Her shirt ripped open, her luscious body was opened and exposed to him. Her gorgeous breasts, with her pretty pink nipples, shook with her deep breaths.
“You’re so fucking gorgeous.” Cassidy walked around the opposite side of the table. With a hand twisted around her neck, he jerked her head back. He slammed his mouth on hers. From this angle, Nash could see their tongues slide together. The sight thickened his cock further. Watching the two of them together made him hotter than hell.
Her soft feminine musk tempted him, calling him like a ship to the shore. He slid his tongue across her flesh in one long lick. She moaned, the sound a hollow whine beneath Cassidy’s mouth. He licked deeper, pushing his tongue into her cunt. Her body jerked beneath his mouth. Each little gasp and moan sent him striving for more.
Like an explorer questing for new lands, once he’d conquered one piece, he only wanted more. He wanted everything she had to offer him. And more. He may not deserve it. He wasn’t sure a man alive deserved a prize as sweet as Grace, but he wasn’t stupid en
ough to walk away for that reason alone.
Two small hands tangled in his hair, jerking just enough to set his heart pounding. He groaned against her pussy. Her thigh muscles quivered beneath the vibration of his mouth, before he offered her a deep suck on her clit. She squirmed beneath his mouth. Latching on to her hips, he held her still as he sucked at her through each moan and whimper.
“If you don’t stay still, we might have to do something about it.” Cassidy’s words were meant to be a threat, but why either of them thought that would work, he wasn’t sure. They’d released a monster the minute Cassidy wrapped those ties around her wrist. One they couldn’t control. And he didn’t want to. He loved the wild and crazy Grace as much as the shy and sweet one. They were both part of her. Amazing parts.
Grace could be the proper sweet girl for the rest of the town. She could smile at Mr. Herbert or help Mrs. Cooper carry her bags home. Only they would see the wanton harlot inside that thrilled at every dirty naughty thing they did to her. It was a secret only the three of them would share. The best secret he’d ever kept.
She glanced up at Cassidy. “What do you plan to do?” The saucy tilt of her mouth said she knew she was playing with fire, and she got off on it.
Nash chuckled. She really was the one for them. If she could play with Cassidy while Nash licked her pussy, she had enough spunk to handle the two of them.
Cassidy tightened his fingers in her hair, tugging enough to have her eyes glow with interest. “Maybe we’ll tie you up like I did in the bedroom. What do you think of that, princess?”
The challenge in his voice vibrated from the air. Her teeth nibbled her lip, the war on her face evident. She didn’t want to give in, but she wanted what Cassidy offered. She wanted to be bound and tied up by them. For them. Only ever for them.
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