Silent Tears [Liberty, Wyoming 3]

by Lara Jones

  “What the hell do they want to talk about?”

  “How the hell should I know?” Isabel snorted.

  Mora’s eyes narrowed. She could hear the jovial tone of her friend’s voice and didn’t trust it at all. “And what about what I want?”

  Isabel’s grip on her phone tightened. “Answer a question for me.”

  “All right, what?”

  “Were you really up on the bridge crying?” Then she held her breath for her friend’s answer.

  Silence, then Mora cleared her throat. “Um, yeah. But what does that matter?”

  “Do you trust me?”

  “Isabel, of course, I do. You and Derrick are the only ones I really trust. Why?”

  “I want you to give them a chance. I know they are exactly what you need. You’ve been on your own a long time, sweetie. This is a chance for a different life.”

  “What about my life in Dallas?”

  “What life, Mora? The only person there that you care about is Derek. A job you hate. A city you hate even more.” Isabel let that sink in for a moment. “Do you really want to take the chance you have with these men by walking away, without even trying? Because I went through the same thing with my guys, and I can tell you this. If I knew then what I know now, I would have regretted it for the rest of my life, especially if I hadn’t at least tried.”

  The only sound Isabel could hear was Mora’s breathing. “Mora?”

  “I’m here,” she groused.

  “Well, what do you think?”

  “I think they’re probably really pissed. I let them have both barrels, the full Mora tantrum side of me.”

  Isabel winced. Oh shit. “Um, okay. Maybe you could apologiz—”

  Mora was shaking her head before Isabel was done. “Absolutely not gonna happen.”

  Isabel sighed. She knew it wasn’t going to happen, but she had to try. “Well, maybe they won’t punish you because you’ve had a hard day and you’re not theirs yet. You could just be nice to th—”

  Mora snorted. “Okay, we have a problem. Did I hear you say ‘punish’?”

  “Yes. The people in this town are unusual, but then you already knew that because I’m marrying two men. Anyway, each family has their own way of punishing their women. Mine like to spank me.”

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” Mora screeched.

  Isabel jerked the phone away from her ear and winced again at the elevated sound. “No. I’m not kidding.”

  “Wait a minute. Yesterday you kept poking at them. They didn’t look exactly mad, but they had a glint in their eyes that made me nervous. Did you get spanked last night?”

  Isabel laughed. “Ohhh yeah.”

  Mora paused, confused. “Are you saying you like being spanked?”

  “Ohhh yeah.”

  Mora rolled her eyes. “Stop saying that. I don’t understand. Isn’t it humiliating to be treated like a child?”

  “They don’t see it that way. In fact, I’d bet that most of the men here never spank a child, only their women. And I can definitely say it doesn’t humiliate me at all anymore.”

  “Okay, wait a minute. You almost sound like you’re happy about it or that it turns you on?” Mora wrinkled her nose.

  Isabel smile grew, and her eyebrows went up and down, even though Mora couldn’t see. “Ohhh yeah.”

  “Jesus Christ, Isabel. Stop saying ‘ohhh yeah’ and explain this to me.”

  Isabel laughed. “Okay, imagine yourself with your pants down or off completely, and you’re over Liam or Dylan’s lap,” she demanded when Mora started hissing. “Just shut it for a minute and listen. They have one hand on your back, and the other one slides over your ass. Yes, they smack it, but I have to tell you it makes me hot. During the punishment.” She stopped and giggled. “If they’re like my guys, they’ll play with your vajayjay.”

  Mora’s eyes widened, puzzled. “Your what?”

  Isabel rolled her eyes and made circles in the air with her hand even though Mora couldn’t see her. “You know, your vajayjay…hoo-ha…cha-cha?”

  Mora snorted out a laugh. “Can’t you just call it a vagina for God’s sake?”

  “What’s the fun in that? Now listen. As they are spanking you, they’re making sure you’re wet. They want you to enjoy it even if it’s a punishment. My punishments always end with being thoroughly loved.”

  Mora pressed her legs together. This was some fucked-up shit when she starts getting turned on by the thought of being over their laps. She cleared her throat. “So, you were trying to purposely make them angry at you?”

  “Hell, yes…”

  “Isabel. Language, baby.”

  Clay’s voice in the background made Isabel snicker and Mora laugh.

  “Yes, dear,” Isabel said innocently over her shoulder.

  The deep sigh in the background set Mora off. She could just see Clay shaking his head at her as if disappointed. But even Mora knew that would never happen. They enjoyed her feistiness too much.

  Eventually, both women wound down enough to understand what each other was saying through the laughter.

  Isabel cleared her throat. “So. What are you going to do?”

  Mora laid her head back against the bathroom wall and closed her eyes as her hand stroked the dog’s fur. “Shit.” They both knew the answer to that. They didn’t even need to say it out loud.

  Isabel bit back a laugh. She knew how to get her friend going. “I’ve never seen you run tail and hide from something, but if you want to be a chicken…”

  “Shut up. All right…” Mora took a deep breath. “All right. I’ll try it. I’ll be home later…”

  “Ohh yeah.” Isabel snickered.

  Mora rolled her eyes. “Bye.”

  “Bye-bye, sweetie.”

  Mora snorted at Isabel’s honeyed tone of voice and hung up the phone. She stood up and leaned across the counter to get an up-close look at her face. The redness and swelling from crying were gone, but then so was any makeup she’d put on that morning.

  Thankfully she didn’t wear a lot normally. Lately, she used it to hide the dark circles under her eyes. They were still there, but looked muted, either because of her good night’s sleep last night, like one night would make much of a difference, or the bathroom lighting, she didn’t know.

  Mora looked down at the dog that sat beside her, never taking its eyes off her. “Well, what do you think, Cupcake? Should we go deal with the assholes?” She chuckled when it barked once as if to answer.

  Chapter 7

  A knock sounded at the door, making her jump. Okay, how was she going to play this? She turned, leaned her ass against the counter, and eyed the door. Should she still put up a token fight or give in? She’d wait to decide how they let it play out.

  She cleared her throat. “What?” Good, that came out only slightly belligerent.

  Liam’s honeyed voice came through the wood. “Honey. You’ve been in there a long time. Won’t you come out and talk to us? We’ll take you home right after…”

  Mora put her ear to the door when she heard them arguing. She smiled when she made out that Dylan didn’t want her to leave, but Liam was cautioning him not to push.

  “Are you there?” she yelled through the door and slammed a hand over her mouth when their conversation abruptly ended.

  “Honey, like I was saying, will you come ou—” Liam stopped and took a step back when he heard the lock disengage.

  Mora wiped the smile off her face before she opened the door.

  Both men stood shocked that Liam actually got her to come out. Liam was the first to recover.

  “Um. Thank you. Will you come in the living room so we can talk?”

  Mora nodded solemnly and followed Liam down the hallway with the dog following her closely. She almost lost it when she passed Dylan, and he looked at her suspiciously.

  “Why don’t you sit in this chair, Mora?”

  Mora did as Liam asked, keeping her eyes lowered, and acted like she was flicking di
rt off her shirt. Her mouth twitched when Dylan moved to stand between her and the door, ready and alert for her to flee.

  “Mora.”

  She moved her gaze to Liam sitting across from her on the sofa. “Yes, Liam?”

  Liam threw a frown over his shoulder at Dylan when he grunted, then turned back to her. “We want to apologize for the way the day went. We had no intention to kidnap you…Dylan, shut the fuck up,” Liam whispered angrily through his gritted teeth at Dylan, when Dylan snorted out a laugh, before turning back to Mora.

  Mora had to dig her nails into her palms and bite the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing out loud.

  Liam missed the twitch to Mora’s lips, but Dylan caught every miniscule move she made, and his suspicions rose.

  “So, if you say ‘fuck,’ can I say ‘fuck’?” she tried to ask innocently, just to poke at them.

  Dylan rumbled out a curse and took a few steps forward, only to be blocked by Liam.

  “Liam, I’m telling you she’s playing us. Take a good look at her. She can’t keep her mouth from trembling as she tries to hold in her laughter.”

  Liam turned and looked intently at her before his eyes narrowed.

  She should really get an Oscar for this. “I don’t know what you mean,” she said, looking confused. “I’m still upset from before.”

  Although Liam was looking suspicious, he still tried to block Dylan from getting to her. “The hell you don’t.”

  “Why are you yelling at me, Dylan?” she asked sweetly and pushed her bottom lip out a bit.

  Ah oh. She might have gone a little far when both men froze and faced her, crossed their arms, and narrowed their eyes at her. She looked critically at them. Both were way above average in size. They each easily weighed twice what she did, and the fact the top of her head was level with their shoulders should have made her apprehensive or downright terrified. Instead, it made her feel safe and feminine, not that she’d ever tell them that.

  Both men looked at each other and seemed to come to some agreement because Liam nodded to Dylan, and Dylan immediately started toward her.

  Mora screamed and took off the other way around the sofa. Her objective was to get to the bathroom and lock herself in again. At the last possible second, a muscular arm slid around her and lifted her against an equally muscular chest.

  Whoever held her turned immediately and walked back toward the living room. A sigh of relief slid from her lips when she saw Dylan across the room. Good, she only had to deal with Liam. He was definitely the nicer of the two.

  She changed her mind when he sat on the sofa and put her over his lap. “Hey, wait a second.”

  “Honey, you need to learn now that you can’t play us, and what better way to teach you then to spank your sweet ass?” Although Liam spoke softly to her, there was an edge to his voice she couldn’t mistake or ignore.

  Dylan crouched next to her and turned her head his way. “You’re lucky. This time we’re leaving your pants on, but be warned the next time you’re going to be bare-assed naked, sugar, and I can tell you, there’s going to be a next time with you.”

  Mora pushed herself up from the floor by straightening her arms. “Listen, you son-of-a-bitch…hey,” she yelled as Liam’s hand came down on her ass. “Dammit, Liam. Shit.”

  Dylan chuckled. “We can do this all night, Mora. Do you think your ass, even covered by jeans, can last that long?”

  “Fuck you.”

  “Oh, sweetheart. We’ll get to that, eventually. But not until you’re claimed.”

  She froze for a quick moment. “What? What the hell is that?”

  “It means everyone involved, including my brother’s family, knows that you are ours. And for your information, we will not make you come until it’s done, but we are going to touch you as much as possible.”

  Mora snorted as she tossed her head, trying to dislodge Dylan’s hand in her hair only to have him tighten his grip. “Ha. The joke’s on you jerks.”

  Liam laid a hand on her ass after giving her eight smacks, which didn’t seem to affect her because she continued to argue with Dylan the whole time. Hopefully, she’d feel it when her pants are off. “Tell us the joke, honey.”

  She turned her face away, hissing when hair was pulled from Dylan’s grip on it. She raised a hand as she balanced on her other hand and tried to pull her hair from Dylan’s grasp. “I don’t have orgasms. Ever.”

  Dylan snorted, but Liam stayed silent.

  “Can I get up now?”

  Liam pressed harder on her ass when she tried to slide from his lap. “No.”

  Her anger spiked. “Oh, for God’s sake. Then get on with it and finish so I can go back to the Jacobsons’.”

  After a brief moment, she realized neither had made a move or made a sound. Oh shit. “Um, guys?” she asked, trying to get Dylan to release her hair so she could turn to see what they were doing. “Hey. What’s going on?” She started scissoring her legs and pushing off Liam’s lap, but they just tightened their grips. She gave up struggling after a minute and collapsed over Liam’s lap.

  Mora took a few deep breaths and just lay there like a damp washcloth, waiting for them to talk.

  Dylan rubbed her back. “See, Liam. She’s stubborn, but she can be trained…”

  Mora stiffened and started struggling again, pissed. “You jackass, me, trained, are you fucking kidding me? I’m not a damn dog.”

  Over her head, Liam was glowering at Dylan. “You’re just trying to get her going. Now knock it off,” he said as he held a squirming Mora on his lap, grunting a few times when her elbow connected with his side.

  Dylan covered his mouth with his fist to keep the chuckle in, but his body shook with the effort. He coughed and nodded his head, but he couldn’t wipe the smile off his face. She was fucking perfect. He had someone to fight with when he needed a good fight. Liam could train her to like the things he did. Thinking the word “train” got him fighting to not laugh. Very few women would be able to take on both of them. They would need a woman with backbone and an abundance of spunk or they’d bowl her over.

  “Ommmmph,” Dylan grunted when one of her elbows hit him in the gut.

  It satisfied Mora enough to stop fighting. “Ha, you deserved that, jerk.”

  “Mora, honey,” Liam cajoled. “Dylan’s going to stop being a jerk. We don’t train our women, w—”

  “I don’t want to hear about your women, for God sakes. Jesus,” she screeched and pushed herself up on her arms.

  Dylan smiled when Liam started getting frustrated. That didn’t happen very often. Dylan had always been the hothead of the two.

  Liam sighed. “You’re right. I’m sorry,” he said, rolling his eyes. “Anyway, don’t listen to Dylan right now, please, because he’s trying to pick a fight with you and you fall for it every time.”

  Mora twisted her head and looked through her cascading hair at Dylan crouched next to her, still trying to hold most of her hair back. She could only make out part of his face, and one look at his smug expression was enough to start pissing her off again. She bit back a growl. She wanted to wipe that conceited grin off his face, and she’d find a way to do it. Eventually. She figured the only way to get out of the situation was to try to be nice and do what they want. At least right now.

  “Liam, what do you want me to do? Because the blood is rushing to my brain, and it’s getting uncomfortable.”

  The look of surprise, and then suspicion, again, that crossed Dylan’s face made her bite her lip to keep from laughing. If this kept happening, she wouldn’t have a lip left.

  Liam cleared his throat. “Five more swats and then we can talk.”

  Mora rolled her eyes when the swats started but made sure to stiffen and say “ow” each time. They didn’t need to know she hardly felt it. For God’s sakes, she’d gotten harder massages than this before.

  Liam lifted her and sat her on his lap and against his chest, facing out. Both her legs were on either side of his, and one ar
m stayed around her middle to keep her in place.

  Mora started pulling the hair from her face so she could see. She could actually feel the blood drain from her head, but knew she still looked beet red and would for a bit. Her skin was very fair and very easily bruised, which ticked her off because she liked doing physical things.

  Liam held her back against his chest while he helped, or tried to help her, tame her hair, but ended up just getting in the way. Note to self, don’t ever have Liam help with her hair.

  Mora sighed and sat quietly in Liam’s lap, her eyes on Dylan. She would have laughed because the suspicion was still there, but it was mixed with concern now.

  Dylan moved the sofa table closer so he could reach her. He smoothed her hair a bit more before cupping her chin in his palm. “Are you all right, sweetheart?”

  Mora nodded but stayed silent.

  Dylan frowned and turned her face to the side. “Liam, look how red her face is. Her eyes are bloodshot also.”

  Liam leaned her back against his shoulder so he could get a better look. His brows snapped together. “Are you sure you’re all right, Mora?”

  Mora bit the inside of her cheek and nodded again. If their concern weren’t so sweet, it would be hilarious. Hopefully, they will never know the truth.

  “I really am okay. I’m tired and achy from Dylan’s and my wrestle on the hard ground, but other than that, I’m fine.” Mora tried to put the right amount of suffering in her tone.

  Liam kissed her temple. “Dylan will be more careful with you, Mora. He would never intentionally hurt you for the world.” He traced her cheek with the back of his fingers. “Well, now we know we can’t keep her upside down for too long. We might actually need to come up with another punishment.”

  Dylan watched and was fascinated by the spark of fight that hit her eyes suddenly at the word “punishment,” only to have her disguise it instantly and go back to the sweet persona she was playing at now. And she was definitely playing a part.

  Dylan smiled in anticipation. There was no fucking way he was going to stand for that shit. She thought she could play them? Didn’t she realize not only was she dealing with seasoned law enforcement men, but they were also Doms? He chuckled to himself. Hopefully, she’d start to care for them enough before she found this out, that it wouldn’t make her run as fast as she could back to Dallas. But if any woman needed a double dose of firm attention to keep her out of trouble, it was this one. And what better way than being with two law enforcement men?