by Becca Van
Dalton turned and headed for the door. May was standing on the verandah with a big welcoming smile on her face, but when she saw the precious bundle in his arms that smile fell away.
“Is she all right, Dalton? Who is she?” May asked in a near whisper.
“This is Sara-Jane Cantor. She was the victim of a kidnapping along with her friend Nicole Maynard. They are still in danger so we brought them back home with us to keep them safe.”
“You are such brave, good men,” May said and opened the door so Dalton could carry Sara inside. “Do you want her in the spare room?”
“For now,” he replied and then carried Sara to the guest bedroom. He gently placed her on the bed and then removed her shoes. May pulled the covers back on the bed on one side, and Dalton carefully picked her up again and placed her in the bed, and then May pulled the covers up. He didn’t want to leave Sara. Dalt could have spent hours just watching her sleep, but he and his brothers still had work to do. There were reports to fill out and also searches to be made. Hopefully the sheriff from Chadron had already e-mailed through the names of the dead men they had left behind them. If they could get a handle on who and what they were working against, for sure, then their work would be a lot easier.
Dalton leaned down and kissed Sara on the forehead. She murmured in her sleep and smiled before settling back down again. His heart filled with hope that maybe Sara-Jane Cantor was definitely the woman for him and his brothers. With a sigh of resignation he turned and headed toward the kitchen where he knew his brothers and teammates were waiting for him.
As he entered the room he grabbed a cup of coffee and sat down next to Whit. Nicole was sitting between Ty and Rand, and Bromley was seated across from her and just like him and his brothers, didn’t seem to be able to take his eyes away from her. Nicole was pretty, too, but for him she didn’t hold a candle to Sara.
“Nicole, can you tell us about any of your abductors?” Ty asked and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.
“Not really. They were Japanese, I think, but none of them ever spoke to us or near us. They brought us food twice a day and often checked in on us but we weren’t able to pick up on any of their names. Sara and I only ever saw two of them but we could hear them talking sometimes. We counted five different voices. We don’t even know why we were kidnapped?” Nicole’s voice hitched and tears filled her eyes, but she took a deep breath and blinked a few times, getting her emotions back under control. “I was only there for three days. Sara was there a lot longer than I was.”
“Did any of them hurt either of you?” Brom asked, and Dalton saw that his jaw was clenched tight as he waited for an answer. Then he realized that his hands were gripping his mug so hard it was a wonder he hadn’t broken it. He released his grip and expelled a breath as Nicole began to speak again.
“No. There were a few times when we thought one of them was going to.” Nicole’s hands were lying flat on the table, but then they clenched into little fists and her knuckles turned white. Ty took one of her hands in his and straightened her fingers out, and Rand did the same to the other. Each man threaded their fingers through hers offering comfort and support.
“What happened?” Hay asked.
“He would come into the room and stare at us like we were an alien or something. A couple of times he touched our hair like he was enthralled or something. Then he would grin at us and leave again.”
May placed two large plates of muffins on the table and brought over another cup of coffee. “Have something to eat, Nicole. You must be hungry.”
“Thank you, May.”
Dalton realized that one of the Bayhard brothers must have introduced the two women. May gave Nicole a pat on the shoulder and scurried back around the counter to the kitchen. “Don’t you fret any, Nicole. These men will keep you safe.”
“Ty, once you and your brothers have settled Nicole, I want you to contact the Japanese authorities and see what you can find out about our perps,” Whit said. “I should have the information from the Chadron sheriff by now and I’ll send you a copy.
“Cal, you and your brothers see if you can dig up any information on the Japanese criminal underground. Don’t discard anything. Thorpe, since you, Adam, and Hunt are more proficient with the electronics, computers, and gadgets than any of us I want you to maintain our alerts. Once we get names you can set up the software so that we’re forewarned of any activity.
“Dalt, Hay, and I need to file a report and fill Tony in. If you come up with anything let us know immediately. All right, let’s get a couple of hours’ work in and meet back here for dinner.”
Dalton followed his brothers out of the room after thanking May for the coffee and snack. He was having a hell of a time concentrating because all he wanted to do was go to the guest bedroom, crawl into bed with Sara, and hold her close. With a sigh he pushed his thoughts aside and sat down at his desk and got to work.
* * * *
Sara sat up on the side of the bed and stared about her. Her mind was still fuzzy from sleep and she had no idea where she was. Then it all came back to her. The kidnapping, the rescue, and the men she had been traveling with. I must be in their home.
She glanced toward the partially open bedroom door and could just make out a rumble of voices. When she inhaled, the smell of cooking food assailed her nostrils and her stomach growled with appreciation. There was a door on the far side of the room and Sara rose to her feet to investigate. Just as she opened the door to what turned out to be a walk-in wardrobe, the door to the bedroom was pushed open. Dalt came in and walked up to her.
“How are you feeling, Sara?”
“Much better, thank you,” she replied. “Can you tell me where the bathroom is?”
“I’ll do better than that. I’ll show you, honey.” Dalton held out his hand. Sara placed her hand in his and tried to ignore how her heartbeat sped up and the way her nipples hardened and also the way her pussy moistened and softened. She glanced up at him and saw him watching her intently. There was a flash of heat in his eyes and then it was gone. Sara lowered her head and followed him another couple of steps. He opened the door to a large bathroom and then pointed to a closed door across the room. “That’s the toilet. When you’ve finished cleaning up, come on into the kitchen. Dinner is ready.”
“Thanks.”
Dalton lifted his free hand and cupped her cheek. Sara didn’t realize that she had leaned into his touch and closed her eyes until she felt his lips on her head. She quickly pulled away and hurried into the bathroom as much as she could with a sprained ankle, closing the door behind her. After using the facilities she stared at herself in the mirror as she washed her hands. Her eyes looked brighter than usual, and her cheeks were flushed. She was embarrassed about the way she had reacted to Dalton’s touch, but there was nothing she could do about it now. Taking a few deep breaths she tried to shore up her defenses. She was going to be staying with three very attractive, ruggedly masculine men, and she was going to have to try and keep her desire for them under wraps. If she got too close to them it was going to break her heart when she had to leave and go back home. And that was one thing she didn’t know if she could deal with.
Sara dried her hands and pushed her thoughts aside. She was hungry, and the smell of food was getting to her, big-time. The last time she had eaten had been earlier that morning. She could have eaten at lunch when Whit had stopped in a drive-through but she hadn’t been hungry so she only ordered a drink. It seemed her hunger had returned with a vengeance.
Following the tantalizing smells, she found the kitchen with ease. The house was massive. There had been five doors down the end of the house she had just come from. She had passed through a very big living room with large comfortable sectional sofas and state-of-the-art entertainment equipment. The kitchen was almost as big as her apartment with the latest stainless steel appliances and backdrops and dark granite counters. Across the other side of the room was a huge dining room and massive wooden table.
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br /> Sitting around the table with Whit, Dalt, and Hay were the other men who had helped rescue her and Nicole. An elderly woman was just putting a jug of water on the table. Whit looked up and saw her standing in the doorway and rose to his feet. He took her elbow and guided her to the chair between him and Hay.
“May, this is Sara-Jane Cantor. Sara, May is the wonderful lady who does all the cooking.”
“Nice to meet you, May.”
“Likewise,” May said as she took her seat. “Now eat up, you must be hungry.”
While the platters of food were passed around Whit introduced her to the rest of his team. Sara listened to the conversation while she ate the delicious roast beef and vegetables. By the time she had finished eating all the men were going back for seconds. She didn’t know where they put it all considering how buff they looked. Not one of them had an ounce of fat on them.
“Sara, Nicole, I want to run some Japanese names by you and see if any of them ring a bell,” Ty said.
Sara looked at Nicole and then back to Ty, giving him a nod.
“Yumi Satou.”
Sara shook her head, as did Nicole.
“Nobu Tanaka.”
“No, that name’s not familiar,” Sara said, and Nicole agreed.
“Mika Takahashi.”
“That sounds familiar.”
“Yes, I heard that, too.” Nicole explained, “As neither of us speak Japanese, we weren’t sure what we were hearing, but I know we’ve heard that before.”
“Mika Takahashi,” Sara said the way she remembered it being spoken.
“That’s it,” Nicole exclaimed. “I think he was the one who used to come in and touch our hair. One of the others said his name and he left the room in a big hurry. But he was annoyed, too.”
“Shit,” Rand said and looked to Whit. “This operation is definitely a sex slave ring. Mika Takahashi is one of the main leaders in the Japanese criminal underground and has been involved in drugs, manufacturing, as well as trafficking, gambling, and prostitution for years. His offsider is Yumi Itou. The Japanese authorities know these two men and have been watching them for years but have never caught them or gathered any evidence to put them away. They provide women to rich businessmen for money, and even though the authorities have been trying to get some of the women to squeal on them, none have.”
Sara felt sick to her stomach at the thought of what could have happened to her and Nicole, but she was also grateful that these men weren’t hiding anything from them. Sara always thought it was better to know than not to know. Burying one’s head in the sand wouldn’t help any.
“Did they drug you at all?” Dalton asked.
“No,” Sara and Nicole answered simultaneously.
Sara reached over and took Whit’s hand. “Thank you for rescuing us and bringing us to your home. You saved our lives.”
“Are you okay, baby?” Whit squeezed her hand. “You’re as pale as a ghost.”
“I’m a little scared, but I’m fine.” Even though she was scared shitless about what she had just learned, Sara had never felt so safe in her life. She was surrounded by twelve tall, hunky, muscular military men and three of them were looking at her with heated concern.
Her breathing escalated, as did her pulse. She pulled her hand from Whit’s and grabbed her glass of water, downing half of it in two gulps. When she looked at Hay she found his hungry eyes looking over her body. Her nipples peaked into hard little nubs, and his eyes lingered there and then moved lower. She squeezed her thighs together, hoping to relieve the ache in her pussy and stem the flow of cream dripping onto her panties. His gaze lifted until he met hers, and she felt singed by the heat in his eyes.
“Shit,” Sara muttered and glanced away, then she reached for her water glass again, but because she wasn’t looking at it she knocked it over. She jumped up from her seat intending to get a cloth, but Whit grabbed her wrist and halted her. He used a paper napkin to mop up the spill, and she slowly sat back down.
Sara wanted to go and hide in her room and get control of her wayward libido, but that wasn’t to be, so she lowered her eyes and took a few deep breaths, exhaling them slowly until her heart rate began to slow.
She felt Whit’s breath on her ear just before he began to whisper to her. “Don’t think you are the only one affected, Sara. We feel it, too.”
Sara’s face heated, and she knew she was turning pink. But this time she wasn’t sure if it was with embarrassment or desire. She suspected it was both. When she realized that Whit was still holding her wrist and his thumb was smoothing over her inner wrist, she pulled away. May got up and began to gather the leftover food and dishes. Sara decided that was a good excuse as any. Besides, she wasn’t about to let May do all the work after providing such a delicious meal. Nicole must have had the same thought for she, too, began to gather dishes.
“Thank you, girls, but you both need to rest after such an ordeal and you need to rest that ankle.” May took the dishes from her and Nicole. “Cal and his brothers can help out tonight.”
“We’d do anything for our best girl.” Cal got up and danced May around the kitchen. “Since you cooked we’ll do the cleanup, May. Go and rest or visit with the babies if you want.”
“Now how did you know what I was thinking, Calbert Garton?”
“Because you love those babies like they were your own grandchildren.”
“True and I’ll see about borrowing some clothes for Sara and Nicole.”
“Thanks, May,” Whit called just before May went out the back door.
“We’re going to take Nicole home.” Ry placed an arm around Nicole’s waist. “We’ll see you in the morning.”
Whit waved as Ry and his brothers headed out and then steered Sara into the living room. He sat down on the sofa and pulled her down with him, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and drawing her into his side. Sara breathed in his yummy pine-and-natural-masculine scent and rested her head in the crook of his shoulder. Dalton sat on the other side of her while Hay selected a movie and put it on. Just as the movie started Dalt moved in until he was up against her and Hay sat down with his back against her lower legs but was careful not to touch her ankle.
The movie was familiar, but she was so aware of the men surrounding her she couldn’t concentrate. Her whole body was one big aching mass of need.
Chapter Six
Hay didn’t know how much more he could stand. Even though he had his mental shield up he could feel the desire rolling off of Sara in waves. His dick was so damn hard he was going to have permanent zipper-teeth marks embedded into it. The house was quiet once more. All the others had left for their own homes, and May had gone to her room. When Sara’s hand landed on his shoulder Hay snapped.
He spun around and rose up onto his knees, placed his hands on her thighs and leaned forward until his lips met hers. Hay started off slow, not wanting to startle or overwhelm her. His lips brushed back and forth over hers until she gave a little moan and opened her mouth. That was all the invitation he needed. He tilted his head and deepened the kiss.
Sara mewled when he swept his tongue into her mouth and tasted her, and Hay knew without a doubt that one taste would never be enough. He wanted to lick and kiss her all over until she was begging him to come, and when he made her climax he wanted to start all over again. A tap to his shoulder let him know that his brothers were getting impatient to taste their woman, too. He slowed the kiss until he was sipping at her lips and then lifted his mouth from hers.
She was so beautiful with her blue eyes hazy with passion, her lips red and swollen, and her cheeks flushed with arousal. He rose to his feet and then sat on the coffee table in front of her.
Whit cupped her cheek and looked deeply into her eyes, and then he kissed her. Seeing his brother making love to Sara’s mouth should have made Hay feel angry and jealous, but it didn’t. Instead it excited him even more and his cock wept with pre-cum. His balls were aching and his dick pulsed as he imagined all three of them making lov
e to Sara at the same time. He glanced over at Dalton and saw the feral sexual heat in his brother’s eyes. But that wasn’t all. There was something else there, too. Something a lot deeper than just physical attraction.
Hay wanted to pick Sara up and take her into the master bedroom, strip her down, and make love with her, but he knew she wasn’t ready for that yet. Even though they were moving a lot faster than they had planned to, he wanted to give Sara time to get used to having three men needing her before they made love to her.
Whit finally eased his mouth from Sara’s, and Hay was pleased to see they were both breathing heavily. Sara looked a little bemused as well as aroused. She looked over to him and then back to Whit and then turned to look at Dalton. Dalt grasped her waist, lifted her up, and placed her over his lap so that she was straddling his thighs facing him. He kissed her cheeks, eyes, and then nibbled along her jawline before laying his lips on hers. Sara moaned and gripped Dalt’s shoulders and kissed him back just as hungrily as he kissed her. By the time Sara lifted her head Hay could virtually see the heat rising from her body.
“You taste so good, darlin’,” Dalt rasped.
Sara pushed off of Dalton’s lap and wobbled on unsteady legs. “I can’t believe I let you do that.”
Hay clasped her thighs to steady her as much as to touch her again.
“Why not, Sara?” Whit asked. “You want us just as much as we want you.”
“But it’s wrong.” Sara stepped out of his hold and backed away.
Hay stood up and looked her in the eye. “Why is it wrong?”
“Because there are three of you. I can’t…be with three men.”
Hay reached out and took her hand in his and drew her back to the sofa. “Sara, who says you can’t be with all of us? There aren’t any laws saying you can’t be with people you care about.”