All the happiness Adam had ever known in his life had been experienced with Killian. As kids they’d been best buddies, giving Adam entrance into Killian’s privileged family life. The bastard had it all. The father who played catch, the mother who baked the most amazing pies, even the kid sister who drove him nuts with her pushy, nosey, ratting-him-out ways.
It had been Killian’s family that had seeded Adam’s desperate need for one of his own. Sure as shit, he hadn’t been born into one, so he had little choice but to build one. He’d always sworn he’d do whatever it took, and looking down into Rachel’s angelic features, Adam renewed that promise.
She really was too cute while she slept, looking all vulnerable and defenseless. Maybe a decent man would suffer alone, but Adam had never claimed to have much decency. He’d make some changes, but if this relationship was going to work out, she’d have to make a few allowances for his randy nature.
His hands had already started to shift when the shrill ring of his cell phone saved the wench from her morning duties. Later.
With that promise to his cock, Adam rolled over and forced himself to sit up. Kicking over the clothes littering the floor, he waded through the homage they’d left to their frenzied fucking. It had been a long and glorious night, and, hopefully, tonight would be, too. That is, if the sheriff let them have any time off.
Glancing at the clock, he could guess who was calling. On the phone, Alex wasn’t very happy with either Adam or Killian right then, but Adam bore more of Alex’s displeasure than Killian. It didn’t matter if it had been his partner’s idea to seduce Sweetness out from under the sheriff. Everybody at the club knew when it came to Killian and Adam, Adam was the brains of the operation.
Apparently, that sin earned him a surprise double shift. With a glance back, he glared at Killian. The lucky bastard got to sleep later with Rachel. His friend would definitely owe him.
* * * *
Killian blinked, taking in the strange ceiling and trying to understand how it fit with the strangely sweet scent tickling his nose. This was not his bedroom and sure as shit not his bed. He didn’t need his eyes or nose to tell him that truth.
The warm woman draped over him with her plump breast smashed against his chest told him all he needed to know because he did not allow for any sleepovers in his bed, no exceptions. That was the rule.
Then again, he had a rule about spending a whole night in a woman’s bed. Waking up next to a man tended to make a woman think she had a right to cling. His slip up would have worried Killian but for the fact that he felt too damn good to be bothered.
No more dirty dreams for him. He’d finally gotten to fulfill a few now that he’d caught Rachel. Of course, he had more. Actually, Killian had a very long and sordid list. Good for him, he also had a very naked and totally vulnerable Rachel tucked against his chest. The little wench might be asleep, but she was also wet.
The sultry kiss of her cunt against his thigh was all the permission he needed to bury his wood inside her right then. He’d wake her up with a good and proper morning fucking. Hell, given Rachel’s appetites, he could probably make her beg for an improper one.
Who would have thought the woman he’d been dreaming of perverting had such a sweet naughty streak? Not that he’d been following her around or giving her any longing looks, but maybe he had positioned himself to stare at her. Who could blame him when he had a naked, horny version of her running wild in his dreams every night?
At least he’d had the sense to know that had just been a fantasy. No woman had ever lived up to his imagination. All it should have taken to put his itches to rest was a good dose of reality, but Rachel had to go and mess everything up by taking him beyond his pitiful definition of a release.
That wasn’t the morning wood thumping against her rounded belly but an itch that actually surpassed the one he’d started with last night. That’s sure as shit the wrong direction to be going in.
That strange warmth curling around his heart wasn’t lust. It was something deeper and more insidious. Something that said holding her close while she slept would be just as satisfying as sex. The very concept froze Killian’s good mood until it dripped with icicles.
This was comfort, which led a man down a very dangerous road. Killian didn’t have time to take the trip. He had a shift he had to go work but first he’d have to go home and get cleaned up and dressed for patrol. If he was late, the sheriff might curse him with a double shift, and no bit of snuggling would be worth that.
As Killian shoved the blanket back and rolled quickly from the tempting press of Rachel’s body, he told himself that it wasn’t fear driving him from her bed. No, it was outright panic that had him rushing through getting dressed.
More like terror, Killian corrected as his breath started to leave him. No amount of heaving and panting would draw it back in. Definitely afraid now, Killian fumbled with his buckle as he rushed for the front door. Slamming through it with shoes in hand, he collapsed against the smooth wood surface as the fresh air filled him.
He could breathe now, think now, and he felt kind of like a fool standing barefoot on Rachel’s stoop with his shirt half-buttoned. Probably not the image she wanted to present to her neighbors as they went about their cheery Saturday afternoon. Shaking off his weird moment, Killian he fixed his clothes.
Dressed and with his cool returned, Killian could admit to a few things. He really did have a soft spot for Rachel Adams, and he really didn’t want to know where that led. She was cute and sweet and beyond hot to fuck but that alone told him how all of this ended. Things that burned brightly burned out.
There is nothing to fear here. With that solemn swear echoing in his head, he shut the door on Rachel’s house and fled. This time, he really did haul ass for worry over being late. Speeding home and rushing through his shower didn’t save Killian. He still showed up nearly a half hour late for his shift.
A fact clearly being felt by the whole station house. That was evident by the sour looks Killian received from the other deputies as he pushed in through the lobby door. It took him no more than one step to run into the tension and the dark looks turning his way. Adam caught his eye as Killian swept through the little wood gate. With a pointed look at the clock hanging on the wall and a raised eyebrow, Killian glowered darkly at Adam.
The son of a bitch could have woken him up and saved him from—
“Deputy Kregor, in my office now.”
That.
Dropping his hat on his desk, Killian ignored the looks from the other deputies as he sauntered into the sheriff’s office. They all knew Killian was about to get an ass chewing, but he earned it.
“Shut the door, Deputy,” Alex commanded as Killian stepped into Alex’s little cinderblock-cell of an office. With no windows and the paint peeling back, it really was an oppressive little room. The sheriff had his chair, though. Big and leather, it made Alex appear more like a Mafia don than a small town sheriff as he settled into it.
Killian preferred to stand. Presenting himself right in front of Alex’s desk, Killian stood at attention.
“Oh, for God’s sake, Killian. This isn’t the military. Sit the fuck down.”
“I’d rather stand if I’m going to be fired, Sheriff.” Killian knew every single one of Alex’s buttons and delighted in pushing them.
“I’m not going to fire you, Deputy.” Alex smirked with a twist of the lips that conveyed the very hard soul lingering behind the made-for-campaign poster face. It kind of irked Killian the way everybody always seemed to think Alex was the “good guy.” They didn’t know about the beast lurking beneath all those pretty boy looks.
Killian did, and that’s why he kind of delighted in taunting Alex. “You sure about the firing? Because we could just make this painless and simple.”
“But I don’t want it to be painless.” Alex shifted forward over his desk, his smile starting to glow with predatory intent. “You see, Deputy, if I fire you, then that makes you a civilian, and then I�
��d have to be nice to you.”
“You should still be nice to me.” Killian grunted, finally settling into one of the stiff metal chairs Alex’s guests were stuck with. “You know I did you a favor, Alex.”
“By what?” Alex blinked. “By sleeping with my slave?”
“She wasn’t wearing your collar.” No way in hell would Killian let that one slide. Sleeping with another man’s slave could get a man kicked out of the club. At the very least, it could earn him privilege suspensions. Killian had worked hard for his rank, and he wouldn’t let the sheriff knock him down.
“But you knew she was mine.”
“I know you fixated on her to an unnatural degree,” Killian corrected. “But that doesn’t change her status from fair game. Nothing changes that but the woman herself, and you know that, Alex. Sweetness wanted to stray. I was just her convenient solution.”
“I’m going to enjoy making this one hurt, Killian.”
Killian didn’t doubt him. “What are you going to do?”
The range of possible answers stretched long and wide. Killian would like a little preparation. Not that the sheriff would give it to him. Settling back in his seat, Alex shrugged.
“We’ll see what I think of. Now, you want to tell me why you were late this afternoon?”
“Overslept.” Killian matched the sheriff’s shrug, though he couldn’t duplicate the relaxed assurance of the man in power. “Guess I had too much fun last night.”
It dawned on him a second later when the sheriff’s smile widened into a toothy grin that he probably shouldn’t have said that. “Fun? I thought you had patrol duty last night.”
This time, the lift of Killian’s shoulders felt stiff. “Went to an after party.”
“Private one?”
“Very private,” Killian retorted, using the words like a warning because he could already sense the direction of Alex’s retribution. A woman for a woman, Rachel for Sweetness, and that was nowhere near an even trade.
“Am I to assume, then, you’d prefer not to be working a double shift tonight?”
“Who wouldn’t?”
“You know, Killian, I’m a Christian man, raised to believe in mercy and forgiveness.”
More like slaughter and mayhem, but Killian wouldn’t argue with the sheriff. “Uh-huh.”
“So, you work your half hour over, and then you can have a good night.”
It took a second for Killian to follow that, and then he still had to think about it. No matter how he tried to figure it out, he couldn’t understand what the hell the sheriff was up to. All these mind games really were Adam’s territory. All Killian could think to do was blink and say, “Thanks, I guess.”
Not about to give the sheriff a moment to change his mind, Killian rose up out of his seat. He silently accepted Alex’s offer with a taut nod before heading for the door.
“And, Deputy?” Killian paused with his hand on the knob at Alex’s call, but he didn’t look back. “Her name was Gwen. Not Sweetness.”
Breathing out deep, Killian opened the door and fled Alex’s office. Adam waited outside, tapping his pencil against the file spread out on his desk and glaring at the door. Killian caught his look and gave him one back as he curved around the corner of the sheriff’s office to sulk down the hall toward the locker room.
It didn’t surprise Killian in the least when Adam barged into the room not seconds after him. Before Adam could see him around the row of lockers, he already started demanding answers. “Well?”
“It’s Gwen, not Sweetness,” Killian repeated in a high-pitched girly voice as he threw open the thin metal door to his locker. He caught the motion of Adam turning into the alley and looked up to pin his best friend with a hard look. “It’s a sickness.”
“What?”
Snapping the keys from his belt, Killian grabbed the lock box key and shoved it into its hole, muttering to himself the whole time. “I knew it. That son of a bitch was in love with her, and I don’t care what you say.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Alex.” Killian pulled his service piece from his safety box, looking up to catch Adam’s confused scowl at he tucked the gun into its holster. “Alex is in love with Gwen.”
“Who’s Gwen?”
“Sweetness.”
“Well, la-di-da for him.” Adam rolled his eyes. “I really don’t give a shit right now because I’d rather be hearing about Rachel.”
“Rachel?”
Killian cleared his throat on her name. There was a subject he wanted to avoid, but somehow it kept coming up. Now he’d have to deal with what he knew would be Adam’s pissed-off reaction to how Killian had left her. He barely spared Adam a glance as he snapped closed his locker door, trying to make it sound like nothing.
“Rachel is asleep. That’s how Rachel is.”
“You tired her out again?”
“No.” Killian shook his head, trying to play it nice and easy before his best friend hit him. Adam wanted to. Killian could feel the tension building in him. “I was a gentleman and let the lady get her rest.”
“But you gave her a kiss on the cheek and told her you’d call, right?”
Killian didn’t want to answer that one. Simply walking away wouldn’t work when Adam could—and did—easily follow him toward the sinks.
“Right?”
“I didn’t want to disturb her.” That was half of the truth, which was not nearly enough to cork Adam’s relentless interrogation.
“So then you left a note.”
It would hurt more in the long run to go this slow. Sighing, Killian gave up making Adam pull his teeth out one by one. Shaking the water from his hands, Killian met Adam’s gaze even as he moved out of hitting range and toward the paper towels.
“No, I didn’t leave a note, and if you’d wanted a note left, you should have written it.”
Never one to let Killian get away with any bullshit, Adam held firm, keeping Killian trapped by the sink as he ripped right through Killian’s lie. “You ran, didn’t you? You woke up feeling too damn good and then ran out the door all afraid that you might actually like Rachel.”
That was too close to home for Killian to do anything more than bristle and bluff his way through the moment. “Okay, look, man. First, I do not run for any woman, and second, as far as all this feeling shit goes, yeah, it was a hot night, and sure, I wouldn’t be against going for another round, but it’s just sex, Adam.
“That’s all it will ever be because women like Rachel don’t do ménage relationships. They just dabble.” It was harsh, but it had to be said. “Trying to think that there will ever be anything more than a good fuck between you and Rachel is just not healthy.”
“Not healthy?” Adam repeated tightly. “Kind of like having a fist smashed in your face?”
“Now, see.” This time, Killian didn’t back away as Adam paced forward but stepped up to meet his friend face-to-face. “You’re acting as crazy as Alex, and yet, less than twenty-four hours ago, you were going on about how idiotic he was behaving. Like a man who thinks he’s in love.”
Adam didn’t even try to deny it. “I don’t care.”
“But you haven’t known her a whole day.”
“And you screwed up the possibility of getting to know her for more.”
“It’s nothing more than lust.” Killian felt desperate to get Adam to understand because he sure didn’t want to have to be the one holding his friend up when he figured it out the hard way.
“Lust is what had you running out the front door?”
Adam had Killian pausing on that one. There would be no getting through to Adam if he didn’t cough up some honesty himself. “I’m not saying I don’t feel it. I’m just saying a little bit of rational caution is—”
“Rachel Allen belongs to me,” Adam interrupted, obviously unimpressed with Killian’s confession. “Whatever it takes, I’m going to make sure she knows that.”
* * * *
Rachel Allen. Alex rep
eated the name to himself as he slowly settled the locker room door back into its frame. He’d known it. Killian had the twitch. Alex knew it well. He’d felt it the second he’d met Gwen. Like a lightning bolt shooting up his spine, pure excitement had vibrated through every part of Alex at just the sight of Gwen.
That was finished business now. Alex wouldn’t be seeing anymore of Sweetness. Killian, that bastard, had it right on one level. Now Alex knew he couldn’t trust Gwen. It was a shitty-ass feeling. One he wanted to share.
Rachel Allen.
“Sheriff,” Dale came rushing down the hall, looking like he’d just got a call that Satan had arrived in town, “the Davis’s old barn is on fire.”
Chapter 10
Rachel wasn’t surprised to find herself sore or alone when she woke up. What really disconcerted her was waking up when the sun was setting. Sleeping past eight in the morning was a rarity for her, but sleeping until almost eight in the evening had to be a sign of a mental breakdown.
She was sore in some strange places and, as much as she tried to fight it, a little embarrassed. Instead of wallowing in the memories of the previous night, she tried to focus on going through the normal motions of what should have been her day.
Shower, dress, food, and then maybe she’d be fortified enough to confront what had happened last night—what she’d let happen. Stepping into the tub to take her shower instantly broke her plan as all sorts of pleasurable details floated through her mind.
As her hands moved the washrag over her body, Rachel couldn’t help but remember how gentle both men had been when bathing her. For as hotly as they’d made her burn, it was that sweet memory that twisted around her heart and made her ache for them to materialize and hold her again.
That’s what she really longed for, to wake up in their arms, surrounded by their warm scent and protected by their hard bodies. It would never happen, and she’d known that last night. That’s why she’d run. The truth was Rachel did have to feel something to let a man touch her, but only a fool would think either Killian or Adam would ever care for a woman like her.
Penn, Jenny - Rachel's Seduction [Cattleman's Club] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 11