What Her Heart Desires [Loving in Silver 9] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Lynn Stark

  “I will. Now, come downstairs. Chance and Chase will take care of you while I’m gone.”

  With an arm encircling Ellen’s waist, Kane guided her out of the bedroom and into the hallway. He needed to get going. If the boys made it to the house, they wouldn’t be able to get in. Although Derek and Dirk had new clothes, heavy coats and boots included, exposure to the frigid temperatures at night was a definite risk, if they were out too long. The last time they had hitchhiked to get from the motel where they were abandoned, and into Silver. Derek was clever, but he was also upset. That could lead to even worse decisions than running away, but Kane couldn’t quite think of what those could be.

  Ellen was right on his heels as Kane went to the closet for his coat. “You’ll call me as soon as you get there?”

  Kane pulled on his coat as he turned to look down at her. Her brown eyes were huge in her face. She was pale and her lips were tight. Taking her by the shoulders, Kane brought her close to him. “I’ll call as soon as I get there,” he promised. Leaning down, he kissed her softly on the mouth. “Don’t worry. I have no doubt they will be found very soon.”

  “Grayson has called all off-duty deputies in to help with the search.” Ellen took a deep breath and forced a smile to her lips. She was agitated and it showed, making a move toward the closet. “Maybe I should—”

  “Stay right here,” Kane told her firmly. “Those boys might be headed here. If they are, then you have to be waiting for them.”

  “Come on. Let’s go see if we have everything to make hot chocolate,” Chance said. “Chase will go out and look around.”

  “Okay,” Ellen said weakly.

  “I’ll call in a little while. As soon as I get to the house and look around,” Kane promised. He bent to kiss her again before glancing at Chance and Chase. Their expressions were grim. They knew as well as he did that two boys out in the cold, miles from shelter, were at risk of succumbing to the harshness of the elements.

  With the tension of the situation pulling at him, Kane left. He wasn’t happy to see that it was snowing again. The roads were cleared, but slick. It took longer than usual to reach the house. When Kane saw the lights on in the house, relief washed over him. As it did so, he wondered how Derek and Dirk had gotten into the house.

  Henry greeted Kane at the door. Kane scratched the dog behind the ears and followed the excited animal as he ran up the steps and toward the living room. A few seconds later he found the brothers wrapped in blankets and huddled together in front of the fire, discarded clothing on the floor around them. Huge eyes were turned in his direction. There was fear and pain and Kane wished Ellen was with him.

  Taking a deep breath, Kane put off calling Ellen for a few minutes while he reassured the two boys that he wasn’t angry. “Hey, guys. How did you get in?”

  Derek’s lower lip quivered and he leaned against Dirk. “The doggie doors.”

  Kane nodded as he took off his coat and tossed it over the back of a chair. “I’m glad you were able to get in. It’s d—darn cold out there.” He had almost said damn. Hmm, he would have to watch that. He couldn’t be swearing around kids. They probably knew more swear words than he did, but that was beside the point. He had to set a good example. “Why don’t you guys come with me? I’ll find something for you to wear.”

  After he found a couple of pairs of sweat pants and shirts he took them to the guest bedroom. “I hope those fit well enough. How are your toes and fingers? Numb? Do they hurt? Let me look at them.”

  Both boys shook their heads. Their hair was still shaggy. He doubted anything less than a vigorous brushing would tame it. They held out their hands so he could examine them for any signs of frostbite. “Mine are okay,” Derek told him, giving Kane an enchanting smile.

  “Mine, too. Miss Emily got us real good boots. My feet never got cold.”

  “That’s good. But speaking of Miss Emily, you two definitely have to apologize to her. Now, go ahead and change. I have a few phone calls to make while you are doing so. Come downstairs when you’re done.”

  As soon as he was alone downstairs, Kane called Ellen. It took a few minutes to reassure her that both boys were safe. She told him they were on their way and hung up. A call to the sheriff was next. Grayson was clearly relieved and told Kane he would let the foster parents know Dirk and Derek were safe. He would then come out to talk to the boys.

  Kane sighed as he picked up the damp clothes on the living room floor. He didn’t envy Derek and Dirk. Grayson Evans was a tough man. Tough but fair. Kane wondered if he would try to put the fear of God into them. It was what Kane’s parents would have done. Then there was Ellen. Kane knew she would love on them when she arrived, but would she also give them a scolding? Nope, he wouldn’t want to be in their shoes.

  “Are we in trouble?” Derek asked as he shuffled up to Kane.

  Kane looked down and saw they had found pairs of socks to wear, but they were far too big. Pant legs and shirt cuffs were rolled. The corner of his mouth was tempted to pull into a smile, but he held it back. “Yes, I suppose you are. You shouldn’t have run off like that. Why did you?”

  “We didn’t run off,” Dirk denied firmly. “We wanted to think. It’s not every day you find out your dad’s dead. Then there was the armed robbery part. No, they didn’t tell us. We heard someone talking about it when we were in town.”

  “You never said anything to your foster parents or Ellen.”

  Slender shoulders shrugged. “No. There didn’t seem to be any point. But we were walking and it started getting dark, and it was snowing.” Dirk shrugged again. “We were closer to here than home, so we headed here. We were going to call, but there’s no phone here.”

  “That’s something that will change.” Having a landline hadn’t seemed important when they had first moved into the house. Now Kane saw that it was needed. What if one of the boys had been hurt? The thought sent a chill through Kane. “Are you guys warm enough now?”

  “Yeah. Can we have something to eat?”

  Kane smiled and turned toward the kitchen. “That was going to be my next question. Ellen, Chance, and Chase should be here soon. Why don’t we make enough soup and sandwiches for everyone?”

  Derek gave Kane a brilliant smile. “That’s a good idea.”

  “Just stick around. I get them from time to time.”

  Dirk laughed outright at that. Derek hid his snickering behind his hand, his blue eyes sparkling with amusement.

  The brothers helped Kane get everything out to make sandwiches. Then they went to wash their hands. They were almost finished when Henry began to bark and ran from the kitchen to the stairs. It was only then Kane remembered he had left the truck parked so that no one would be able to pull into the garage and come in through the kitchen.

  “Now we’re gonna get it,” Derek whispered to his brother.

  If Derek had meant they were going to be hugged to within an inch of their life, they were. Ellen hurried into the kitchen and pulled the boys to her, hugging them tightly. Kane bit back a laugh when they began to struggle. It was only then Ellen reluctantly released them. Her fingers, however, continued to stroke shaggy locks and touch faces.

  “I was so worried,” she told them in a strained voice, her face pinched with the worry she felt. “Are you okay? You didn’t get too cold?”

  Dirk shook his head. “We’re okay. We just walked too long. We weren’t paying attention. We didn’t run away.”

  “No, we didn’t run away. Are we in trouble?”

  “That’s not for me to decide. Emily and James will be here at any moment, as will the sheriff.”

  Derek’s small face screwed up. “We’re going to need more sandwiches and soup.”

  Ellen smiled and ruffled his hair. “I guess we are. Sheriff Evan’s is much happier on a full stomach.”

  After that statement, it was no surprise when Derek carried a plate piled high with sandwiches to the sheriff, as soon as the man walked into the house. Grayson stared in surprise, b
ut took a sandwich, thanking Derek as he did so. Derek didn’t leave the man’s side until Grayson had finished two sandwiches and took a third.

  “Are you happy now?” Derek asked carefully.

  Grayson stared at the boy, nodding after a moment. “Yeah, I’m happy. Thanks for the sandwiches.”

  “We have soup, too. And hot chocolate with marshmallows.”

  “It sounds like I came to the right place. Why don’t we go into the kitchen so we can enjoy the food and have a talk?”

  Once everyone was seated at the large table, they ate and chatted. After the adults were reassured the two boys weren’t any worse off for their impromptu adventure, they relaxed. Derek and Dirk apologized for leaving and explained why they had done so, and how they had ended up at Sky House.

  As Kane sat there, watching and listening, he couldn’t help but see what he had already suspected. Ellen had completely lost her heart to Dirk and Derek. He only hoped that something positive could be worked out, so the boys could become their sons. The pair had already suffered enough. They deserved to have a home and family, where they would know nothing more than love and security.

  Kane was determined to see that it happened.

  * * * *

  Chase was relieved that Emily and James had decided to allow Derek and Dirk to stay overnight with them. At the moment they were all sitting in the living room. With the exception of the fireplace, there were no lights on as the boys stood at the window and looked out over the moonlit landscape.

  “Wow, there are lights on over at that big old hotel!” Derek exclaimed, excited. “I can’t believe we can see it from all the way over here. It’s like being up in one of those mountain castles.” He turned to look back at the adults. “Is someone living there now?”

  “There are a few people living there. There are also crews working,” Chase told him. He didn’t add that two of the people were in hiding and that the men with them were bodyguards. Those four men were some of the scariest dudes Chase had ever seen. He would rather be hobbled in an arena with a bull, than spend any time in the company of them. “The place needs a lot of work.”

  “We want to have it open for guests by the end of the summer,” Kane inserted. “Maybe you can go with us some weekend, to check it out. The previous owner still lives there. You’ll like him. His name is Bart Noolly and he’s over a hundred years old. He has a lot of stories to tell, things you’ve probably never heard of before.”

  Chase had to agree with that. He had grown up around a lot of old-timers, but none of them compared to Bart. Chase just hoped Bart still had enough sense not to relate everything he remembered from the past. Telling the boys about brothels and the women working in them, might not be the best thing for him to do.

  “That is so cool!” Dirk said, turning away from the window. “Do you think we can go see him soon?”

  “I’ll ask. There shouldn’t be a problem,” Chase told them.

  “Do you think I could get a job there?” Dirk asked. “I’ll be fifteen by then.”

  Chase saw Kane’s face light up with pleasure. “We’ll have to look into that, see what the laws are. If it allows you to work certain jobs a few hours a week, I don’t see why not.”

  “I want to be a cowboy,” Derek announced. “I can be a cowboy, can’t I?”

  “You can be anything you want,” Chance assured him, smiling.

  “Are you guys going to marry Ellen pretty soon? Then you could adopt us.”

  The innocence of youth, Chase thought, his heart aching at Derek’s question. He made it sound so simple, but it was likely far from the truth.

  Ellen responded to this. “They did ask me to marry them. I said yes.”

  “Then you can be our mom and dads?” Evidently he had noticed the unusual relationships to be found in Silver. No one hid that they might have three wives, two husbands, or any one of a variety of combinations as they lived, worked, and shopped in Silver. Chase suspected the boys’ classmates probably talked about their families, which would explain why Derek made the suggestion. He didn’t seem shocked or puzzled, just accepting. “Being your kid would be way cooler than being a cowboy. But I still want to be a cowboy,” he added quickly, grinning broadly.

  “Yes, it would be way cooler,” Ellen agreed as she gave him a smile.

  It didn’t surprise Chase when Derek hurried across the living room to sit on Ellen’s lap. She hugged him close and kissed his cheek. He was almost too big to be held, but neither seemed to mind.

  “Do you have to hire a lawyer?”

  That question led to a dozen others. They answered the boys’ questions as honestly as they could, tempering it with a warning that the process wouldn’t happen quickly. Chase knew the boys’ aunt had been located. Well, Grayson had discovered the woman was deceased. As the last relative, the boys were officially in the system.

  “Dirk, I think we should get a lawyer and see if we can adopt Ellen, Chase, Kane, and Chance as our parents.” He slid off Ellen’s lap to hurry across the room to his brother.

  Dirk hugged his little brother. “I think that’s a pretty good idea, buddy.”

  The smile that lit up Derek’s face as he looked up at his brother was something Chase would never forget. There was so much love and happiness in it, despite the devastating things they had learned about their father. He wasn’t quite sure the boys were dealing with their father’s death yet and would likely need help with doing so.

  “There’s a lot we have to learn about all of this,” Ellen warned them. “But we will call on Monday to find out what we have to do. You have to remember things don’t always work out as we want them to.”

  Chase saw some of the happiness dim slightly. The brothers, however, appeared even more determined than before.

  Dirk’s chin came up. “It’ll work out. You’ll see.”

  Derek nodded vigorously. “Yep, you will be our mom and dads before you know it, and we’ll be your kids.”

  With that proclamation hanging in the air, Henry appeared with a large rope toy in his mouth, obviously looking for a game of tug-of-war. It turned into a towing game, as the boys’ socks couldn’t get any traction on the floor, Henry energetically pulling them around the room.

  After a half hour of play, the boys and dog appeared to be ready to go to sleep. Henry flopped down in front of the fire while Ellen and Kane took Derek and Dirk upstairs to the guest room they would share for the night.

  Chase remained downstairs with Chance. They went to the kitchen to finish cleaning it up, putting away the dishes from the dishwasher, and wiping down counters.

  “I really hope we can be Dirk’s and Derek’s parents. I don’t want to see them disappointed,” Chance said as he put away the pan they had heated the soup in. “Hell, I don’t want us to be disappointed. I want to help teach Derek to be a cowboy,” he added with a laugh.

  Chase put his arms around Chance, pulling him close. “You and me both.” A large hand squeezed his butt. “Cut that out. There are kids in the house.”

  Laughing, Chance gave his butt another playful squeeze. “I haven’t heard that since I had a boyfriend over and my mother yelled at me.” He frowned. “Or was that when I had my girlfriend over and we were making out on the couch in the basement?”

  Shaking his head, Chase went in for a kiss. “I’m glad I wasn’t your mother. She always said you were the one to give her gray hair. Now I believe it.” Taking Chance by the hand, he led him from the kitchen. “Let’s go to bed. It doesn’t look like Kane and Ellen are coming back downstairs.”

  They checked the dying fire before securing the glass doors. Henry was still sprawled in front of it. He would move to one of several beds scattered around the house. They laughed when Henry whined and his legs began to move, as if he was chasing something in his dreams.

  Kane and Ellen were in the master bedroom in a passionate embrace. Although above average in height for a woman, Kane’s height made her appear much smaller. It was a very sexy sight, one Chase
hated to interrupt.

  It was a night to be together, however. They were experiencing the emotions parents would, at having their children safe and at home. Their lives were about to undergo huge changes. Good ones, Chase hoped. They had found the perfect woman to love and share. Now there was the possibility they would have two boys to raise together.

  After securing the lock on the door they had not closed since moving into the house, they left Kane and Ellen alone in the bedroom. Chase led Chance into the bathroom, where they undressed and began a leisurely shower. It never took much to get them aroused and this time was no different. Soap, water, and desire were enough to bring them to full arousal within moments.

  Tipping his head, Chase closed his eyes and moaned as Chance began to nip and lick the side of his neck, stroking Chase’s cock as he did so. Chance’s cock was pressed into the cleft of his ass. Water pelted their bodies as they luxuriated in their closeness, the headiness of their mutual arousal.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Chance said against his ear. “I want to make love to you.”

  It sounded like a good idea to Chase. He nodded and reached to turn the water off. They left the shower and lifted heated towels from the rack. Once they were rubbed dry, they went into the bedroom. The lights were off, but the clear night sky allowed moonlight to bathe the bed in silver. Kane and Ellen were in the center of the bed, wrapped in each other’s arms and sound asleep. Chase was about to head back into the bathroom, so they wouldn’t disturb the sleeping pair, when Chance took his hand, leading him to the bed.

  “We’ll be really, really quiet,” Chance chuckled.

  Chase rolled his eyes. Yeah, like that was going to happen. Strong hands stroked his body once more as they stretched out facing each other on the bed. Their cocks bumped together, pre-cum leaking from the tips and onto their skin.

  The couple beside them didn’t stir as Chase and Chance kissed and stoked the fires of their growing passion. Chase’s hunger grew by leaps and bounds. He forgot about Kane and Ellen as Chance caressed his balls and the sensitive area behind them, his skillful fingers finally reaching the prize they sought.