by Tara Rose
“Sure do. I see her all the time when I bring things to you at Notus, remember?”
Wes rolled his eyes. Of course she did. His brain was mush this morning. “Oh, yeah. I guess you have seen her. Well, the clothes need to fit her. Go to the mall in Grand Junction. They have nice things there.”
“On my way, Wes. It’ll take me about four hours though, with driving time.”
“That’s fine. Thanks, Leila.”
As soon as Wes disconnected the call, Dalton came out of the bathroom and he was still on a phone call. He glanced at Wes, and Wes wondered what was going on because Dalton didn’t look happy. Wes went back into the bedroom and grabbed his pants and Dalton’s. By the time he returned to the sitting room, Dalton had ended his call. He handed Dalton his pants and then put his own on. He wasn’t uncomfortable being naked in front of another man, but it seemed awkward now that they weren’t playing or having sex with Summer.
Sex with Summer…had last night really happened? It didn’t seem possible. Erotic experiences like that didn’t happen to him.
“One of Nash’s staff is bringing up coffee and food,” said Dalton. “What do you want to do about Summer’s clothes?”
“Already taken care of.” He told Dalton that Leila was going to buy some and bring them over. “Is that who you were on the phone with? Nash’s staff?”
Dalton shook his head. “Tommy Farley. He was here for a get-together yesterday, with Nash, Ian, Angela, Van and Rowena. Nash wanted to show Tommy and Van what he’d found in his basement.”
“Does what he found have something to do with what Trace Coleman is looking for?”
Dalton ran a hand through his hair. “Worse than that. He found more proof that the stories I grew up listening to were true.”
“Care to elaborate?”
A soft knock on the door stopped Dalton. He answered it, and a man pushed a cart inside, just like the kind a fancy hotel would use to wheel in room service. After he left, Dalton glanced toward the bedroom door. “We should wake her up. She must be starving.”
“I know I am. I’ll go and get her. Is there something she can put on? Not that I mind having her naked, but she might be more comfortable eating in front of us if she has on clothes.”
Dalton grinned. “You like her a lot, don’t you, Wes?”
“Don’t you?” Wes didn’t want to talk about his feelings for Summer this morning. They were all mixed up. They had certainly gotten to know her better, just as they’d wanted to, but Wes had caught the looks she’d given each of them more than once. He’d eat the room service cart if Summer didn’t have strong feelings for both of them already. While he was glad she felt that way about him, he couldn’t yet deal with the fact that she obviously cared for Dalton as well.
“Sure, but I mean you like her, as in if I wasn’t in the picture, you’d be dating her and hoping things got serious between you two.”
“Dalton, we asked the girl to be our sub. You have way more experience in that department than I do, obviously, but I hope that means more to you than simply what we did with her last night, because it sure as hell does to me.”
To say Dalton looked rattled was an understatement. He held up a hand. “Okay, okay. It does, all right? I didn’t mean to trivialize it. I was just trying to find out how much you care about her.”
“Why?”
Dalton stared at Wes for long moments, and Wes could see the struggle on his face, but he didn’t say anything. Instead, he stomped toward an armoire and opened it. He took out a robe and walked toward the bedroom while Wes stared at his retreating back. He cared about Summer, too. It was so fucking obvious. Why the hell couldn’t he just say it? And where did that leave Wes?
More importantly, where did it leave Summer? Wes didn’t want to see her hurt. He’d back away and let Dalton take this as far as Summer wanted it to go before he’d hurt her. It would kill him to have to look at her every day at work and know she was with Dalton, but as long as she was happy, that’s all that would matter.
“Fuck it all.” Wes took the covered dishes off the cart, set them up on the coffee table, then pulled three chairs around it so that when Summer and Dalton came into the room, the three could eat breakfast.
Nothing in his imagination had prepared him for last night. He’d been totally consumed with powerful lust, but had been completely comfortable to go along with the scene he and Dalton had discussed once they were in this room and Summer was kneeling, waiting for them. It had sounded dangerous and erotic, and he wasn’t sure she could handle it, but when he saw how turned on she was by the idea, he was happy he’d gone along with it.
She had seemed to enjoy all of it, and Wes had to admit he’d never been so aroused in his life. Seeing her naked and blindfolded like that had sent his libido over the edge. The knife play had felt a bit weird at first, but it had been very sexy cutting off her clothes. And finally making love to her had been pure heaven. He’d fantasized about that often enough. The fact that Dalton had been there, too, hadn’t bothered Wes at the time.
But now, in the harsh light of day, it bothered him a lot. He wasn’t sure what he could do about that, if anything. This was a runaway train, and it’s not like he could undo anything the three had done together. Wes realized he only had two clear choices at this point. Share her with Dalton, or let her go entirely.
Chapter Sixteen
Dalton kissed Summer on the lips until she stirred in her sleep. She sat up, looking around wildly, clearly unsure where she was or what was going on. “Good morning, beautiful. Breakfast is waiting in the other room.” He held out the robe. “Nash keeps them stocked in the rooms. You can wear this one home.”
“What?” She glanced around, her gaze falling on her ruined panties. “Oh shit.”
Dalton laughed. “I hope that was meant for the panties and not because you regret last night.”
She smiled at him and his heart skipped a beat. Wes’s question came back to him. He’d asked why Dalton had been trying to find out how much Wes cared about Summer, and Dalton hadn’t been able to tell him why. He didn’t want to admit the truth to himself, so he sure as hell wasn’t going to tell it to Wes Danbury.
“Definitely for the clothes, Dalton.” The smile faded a bit. “Did Wes leave?”
Dalton forced his expression to remain neutral. He’d caught the looks she’d given Wes last night. Sure, she’d turned those big green eyes on him a time or two as well, but when she glanced at Wes there was a softness to her gaze that he didn’t notice when she looked at him. He’d tried to tell himself that it was because she and Wes had gone out a few times and she’d known him longer, but the envy monster reared its ugly head every time Dalton noticed that look on her face.
He wished he could stop feeling that way, but he knew this had gone too far now for that to happen. This woman had not only crawled under his skin more than any other woman ever had, but she’d broken a large chink in the armor he’d worked hard to build around his heart as well. Dalton wasn’t sure she knew that, but even if she didn’t now, how long would it take before she realized it? And then what would he do? “He’s in the sitting room. Come on. Let’s eat. I have some interesting things to tell you both.”
Once they were in the other room and eating, Dalton forced his attention back to the phone call from Tommy that had woken him. “Here’s an update on what we were talking about last night at dinner.” He took a bite of his eggs to collect his thoughts before continuing. He hoped they wouldn't judge him for what his family had done, and was still doing.
“I told you that Jeb Monroe has a grandson named Jason, and that Jason is currently on Van Whitney’s crew. Whitney Restorations did some remodeling work on Nash’s carriage house about three years ago, about the same time that Van and his crew were restoring the home he and Rowena now live in.”
The two nodded.
Dalton nodded. “So let me try and explain what Tommy found out, and how all this ties together with what we already know. I told you
that Jeb Monroe was in league with my grandfather, Carma’s great-uncle and Nash’s grandfather. When things got a bit hinky with the numbers racket, Nash’s grandfather, Colson, wanted out.”
“At least one of them had an honest streak,” said Wes.
“Yeah. But by then they were all in pretty deep, and rather than part enemies, they came up with a way to split up the money and items. But like I said last night, Jeb and my grandfather either got greedy or were legitimately cheated by Colson and Battista, because they accused the two of not splitting up everything fairly. Certain items conveniently disappeared, and legends about jewels, money, and stocks hidden away behind walls and in abandoned mineshafts were born. Men were shot or stabbed while trying to find these items, and the goons they sent to look for them were as well. Over time, there was no one left who knew about the hidden items or cared enough to keep looking.”
Wes nodded. “Except Trace and your father, right?”
Dalton nodded. “And now we know the reason why Trace Coleman has been looking. He and Jason Monroe are related by marriage. They’re third cousins. Tommy is now convinced that Trace is looking for Jeb Monroe’s share of the stolen loot, and that Jason and Trace intend to split it.”
“Holy shit,” said Wes. “Does Van know this?”
Dalton nodded. “He does now. And apparently last night Tommy convinced him not to fire Jason. Instead, Van is going to keep a close eye on Jason for Tommy.”
“How did Tommy find out that Trace and Jason are related?” asked Summer.
Dalton let his gaze wander over her pretty face. Even without makeup, she looked damn gorgeous. Did she know that? “He dug around in Trace’s background, using FBI and local police contacts around the country. The man has left a trail of allegations in his wake. Everything from manufacturing fake paranormal phenomena that he then uses to try and convince the homeowner to let him knock down walls and get into locked rooms, to targeting only expensive and historic homes for his investigations.”
“Like Rowena’s, Mateo’s, and Nash’s homes,” she said.
Dalton nodded. “That’s right. While he was digging, Tommy found a marriage certificate that showed Jeb Monroe’s sister married Trace’s grandfather. They were divorced some years later, but not before their son, Bill, was born. Bill is Trace’s father, and he found his distant family members quite by accident when Trace was a boy, growing up in Phoenix. After he found them, he brought his son here to visit his third cousin, Jason, when Bill Coleman realized the two boys shared a birthday.”
“How touching,” said Wes.
Dalton and Summer laughed. “Yeah, touching,” said Dalton. “Tommy said he wouldn’t have known that Trace had been in Passion Peak as a boy except that one of the things in Nash’s basement was a photo album. It contained a picture of my father standing in front of the totem pole downtown on Juniper Street with Jack Monroe, who is Jason’s father, Jason, Bill Coleman and Trace.”
Summer stopped in the act of bringing her coffee up to her mouth and stared at him. “How did Nash know who Trace and Bill were in the photo?”
“All their names were written on the back, along with the date. Tommy did more digging, and found the connection.”
Wes narrowed his eyes. “Why weren’t you there? I mean, in the picture? Don’t you remember that?”
Dalton shook his head. “I wasn’t here. Neither of us were. Bethany and I used to spend our summers in Boulder with my mother, her parents, and our cousins on that side of the family.”
Summer and Wes exchanged a dark glance, and Dalton braced himself. He knew what was coming next. He could almost see the lightbulbs go on over their heads, as if they were each cartoon characters who had made a startling discovery. He was only surprised they hadn’t put the pieces together last night at dinner.
“Ah, Dalton, you suspect you father is in on this as well, don’t you?” Wes’s voice held no note of condemnation, and Dalton breathed a sigh of relief. If they had felt he was part of this, he wouldn’t have been able to look either of them in the eye again.
“What would you think if you were in my place?” he asked softly.
“What are you going to do about it?” asked Summer gently.
The tenderness of her tone surprised him. What had she gone through in her life? He didn’t know what had happened to her parents, but when she’d briefly mentioned yesterday that they weren’t around and that her grandmother had raised her, something about the look on her face had tugged at Dalton’s heart. Were they dead, or just out of the picture? “Nothing. I’m going to watch and wait. Tommy knows now. What else can I do?”
“I know, but you must be so upset.”
Dalton took another bite of his toast so that he could choose his words, but it might as well have been cardboard. He only swallowed it because he wasn’t going to spit out food in front of Summer, but it stuck going down and he had to chase it with a large sip of coffee.
He couldn’t tell them everything. Not right now. Maybe one day, but not today. “I’m not thrilled, but my family secrets haven’t exactly been kept hidden.”
“I'm sorry, Dalton. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“Oh no, you didn’t, Summer. It’s just not a pleasant conversation to have, is it?”
She shook her head, and without understanding why he had a sudden urge to do so, Dalton leaned over and kissed her. It was just a quick peck, but his dick jumped to attention regardless. He had no clue why he’d done it, but at least it finally put a smile on her pretty face. “Let’s do something fun today. All three of us. Something where we don’t need to talk about fake ghost hunters or buried loot. What do you say?”
“Sounds good to me,” said Wes. “Any ideas?”
“I didn’t see Gran yesterday. I should stop by and see her for at least a while. I usually go every other day or so. But after that I’d love to spend the day with you two. But I need a shower before I go…”
Her voice trailed off and she almost sounded apologetic. Dalton hated that. Her grandmother was the only family she had here, and he understood how it felt to have someone in Shady Pines and feel as if they were all alone most of the time.
His mother didn’t even know him half the time when he went to see her, but it didn’t sound like that was the case with Summer’s grandmother. “Why don’t we all go and see her, and then we can do something else if you want to. What do you think?”
Her jaw dropped open—literally—and Dalton couldn’t help but laugh. “Are you serious? You’d do that?” She glanced at Wes and then back to him again. “Neither of you would mind that?”
“Of course not,” said Wes. “I’d love to do that.” He meant it, too. Dalton could see that in his eyes and hear it in his voice. Wes stood. “All right then. It’s settled. I’m going to give Leila a call and see how she’s coming along with the clothes.”
“What clothes?” asked Summer.
“One of our administrative assistants is out buying you something to wear.”
“Wes…”
He smiled. “Don’t worry about it, okay? You can’t go home in only that robe.”
“Thank you.” She glanced at Dalton again. “Both of you. For everything. I don’t even know what to say.”
He wished she’d stop looking so damn vulnerable and grateful. It tugged at his heart in a way that made him think of long walks at night under the stars and sending roses just because. He could not let himself fall for this girl. He simply couldn’t do it. That kind of sentimentality only got a person hurt in the end. “All you need to say right now is ‘Sir’ which, by the way, you have not called either of us this morning. And then you need to finish your breakfast.”
Her smile in response to his words was truly beautiful, but Dalton found himself wishing he didn’t think so. This girl was going to be his undoing.
Chapter Seventeen
Summer took her time in the shower because she wanted to replay everything from yesterday over in her mind again. It was all so overwhelming, star
ting with the fact that Dalton’s father might be in league with Trace Coleman, and that they were searching for stolen money and jewelry hidden in homes throughout the town. What kind of craziness was that? And where did that leave Dalton? Summer understood what it was like to have a scandal right in your own backyard. She’d lived with it hanging over her head all her life.
And then there was everything that had happened to her Friday night at Indulgence, and last night in one of the private rooms in Nash’s house. It was almost as if she’d dreamed the entire thing, only the sweet ache in her pussy, her asshole, her mouth, and on both ass cheeks told her how real it had all been.
She was a submissive to Dalton Metcalf and Wes Danbury. And Wes was a Dom. Or, at least, he was learning to be one, and she was in training to be a sub. Summer still didn’t feel as if she completely understood what all that meant, but she was happy. Happy wasn’t quite right, either. She was delirious with joy. Both men were handsome, charming, and sexy. She’d never had so much fun, and she hadn’t imagined that being tied up, spanked, flogged, or having her clothes cut off would be so arousing.
But it was so more than that. It filled a need in her she’d only given rise to in dark, decadent dreams. The sex was unlike anything she’d ever fantasized about. Submitting to them fulfilled a deeper need—one that she had trouble putting into words. It was as if she’d been searching for something for thirty-five years, and had finally found it Friday night.
And, when she’d found it, it hadn’t looked, tasted, or sounded like what she’d expected it to. Rather, it had a unique quality that made it unlike anything she’d ever seen, touched, or heard. It was special and exclusive. To hold it meant she’d been given a great secret. Like the way she felt whenever she stood in front of that totem pole that Dalton had mentioned. The pole was forty feet tall and stood in front of the courthouse, surrounded by flowers. It was impossible to miss it as you approached downtown.