The Connaghers Series Boxed Set

by Joely Sue Burkhart

  Yes, yes, please, Jesse babbled in his mind. He was going to suffocate himself on this pillow, trying to keep from blurting out her name.

  “I have something in mind.”

  Jesse jolted like someone had dumped ice-cold water on him. What the hell did that mean?

  “If you don’t have anything handy to tie him up, I’ll offer my handcuffs.”

  This time Jesse whimpered and he didn’t care who heard.

  27

  Vicki checked the scarf from her dress around Jesse’s wrists one last time. He was breathing so fast she was afraid he’d hyperventilate. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  “Please, Vicki, hurry. I hurt so bad. I can’t stand it.”

  She stole a glance at Elias, still unsure of his motives. He lay on his side watching her. Yesterday, he’d walked out on her. Now he wanted her tie her cabana boy up and torment him. While Elias watched. After they’d just…

  Her face caught fire at the memory. When he held her down like that and went so deep he bumped her cervix, she always went nuts. Mama had told her to make him grovel, but she really had no idea how to bring Elias to his knees while she was playing with another man. She brushed damp hair off Jesse’s forehead and he lifted his face, twisting up to get her fingers into his mouth.

  He sucked her fingers, stroking frantically with his tongue, and she let her eyes flutter shut. This was all she needed to worry about. Pleasing him while pleasing herself, and indirectly, pleasing Elias too. She opened her eyes and checked his reaction. His eyes were dark, locked on her, but he wasn’t tense or angry. Instead, his lips were parted and she could hear his breathing. He might not be comfortable with their situation yet, but he was turned on.

  Let’s see how far he’ll let me go.

  She pulled her fingers out of Jesse’s mouth and bent down to kiss him. He raised his head off the pillow eagerly, inhaling her lips like a dying man. She threaded her fingers through his hair and pulled his head back down to the bed. He breathed hard, his eyes blazing.

  “What do you want?”

  “Anything. Everything. Just don’t touch me down south until you’re absolutely ready to lose me.”

  She stroked her palms in slow, gentle circles across his chest. He didn’t really react much until she let her fingernails rake lightly over his skin. Especially his nipples. He hissed beneath his breath and arched his back, pushing harder so she dug into his skin. “Yes, please, harder, Vicki. I saw what you did to his back. I’d love that.”

  Leaning over him, she pressed her fingernails harder, deliberately leaving furrows in his skin as he’d asked. “Of course, I should kiss the sting away.”

  He groaned in agreement.

  She didn’t kiss those scratches, though. She licked them with long swipes of her tongue. He shifted beneath her, silently asking for her mouth on his nipples. Teasingly, she drew wet circles around them, ignoring his pleading cries. He twisted his hands, tugging at the scarves, and his legs shifted restlessly against the sheets. When he managed to brush up against her, he groaned and lifted his leg higher, redoubling his efforts to get her closer.

  “Guess you should have tied his ankles up too, babe.” Elias said it like a joke, but the low, ragged timbre of his voice thrummed her spine. “Maybe you should sit on those legs to hold him still.”

  “Did you hear him, Jesse?” She purred against his chest, pausing to scrape her teeth across his left nipple. “If you promise to lie still, I’ll do it. I’ll sit on your knees. But you can’t move and make me touch you by accident before I’m ready.”

  “Okay.” He panted, dragging his legs together. “I’ll be good.”

  “Not his knees.” Elias moved closer too, his gaze intent. “You’ll need to be higher.”

  “Okay,” she said slowly, unsure what he wanted. She’d assumed he wouldn’t want to be involved at the same time.

  When she settled herself across Jesse’s thighs, he shuddered beneath her. “Oh, God, you’re so wet. I wish you would rub yourself all over me.”

  It was a mistake to close her eyes, because that made it easier for her to imagine sliding up his body, smearing him with her desire. Or she could make him lick her while he was tied and helpless. He’d love it.

  I’d love it, too, she admitted to herself. But would Elias?

  She felt him behind her. She froze, waiting to see what he’d do. He, too, straddled the other man’s legs, pressing close enough to her that she could feel his returned erection brushing the small of her back. He didn’t touch Jesse, exactly, but he was definitely closer to the danger zone than Vicki had ever thought he’d get.

  “Someday,” Jesse gasped out, “I’d love you to sit on my face while he takes you from behind again. I’d drown in you and die a happy man.”

  Her ears roared and she swayed slightly. Elias steadied her by cupping her shoulders, but the warm moist heat of his breath at her ear did little to calm the sudden flood of desire. “Would you like that, Vik?”

  Her body was on fire, crisped and burned beyond recognition, but she managed to nod. She rose on up on her knees instead of sitting on Jesse’s thighs and pressed back against Elias. His heat against her back brought her body back to the edge of a screaming, clawing climax.

  “Maybe some other night. Right now, I need to face my worst fear. I need to see you take him all the way. Take him inside your body and ride him to climax.” He smoothed his right hand down the curve of her buttock and dipped his fingers in the desire that slickened her folds. “Ah, babe, I’m a selfish bastard. I’m going to have to touch you while you do it. I can’t bear to know he’s inside you if I’m not touching you too.”

  He was trying so hard. If he’d made a snide remark about his jealousy, she would have wanted to punch him, but he was being too honest for her temper to even think about coming forward. Elias had made himself vulnerable. He was willingly accepting a blow to his pride to accommodate her wishes.

  He let out a husky laugh against her ear and his fingers roamed higher along the valley between her buttocks. He probed, ever so gently. She stiffened, but her entire body flooded with heat, a tell-tale trickle slipping down her thigh. They’d never played with anal before.

  But then again, she’d never had another man in her bed, either.

  “Trust me, babe. I won’t go all the way this time. I don’t want to hurt you. I just want you to think about it. Think about me coming inside you at the same time. Jesse, you’re going to have to make this good for her. Make it last.”

  Jesse’s breathing was labored. “I’ll try.”

  “Take him,” Elias growled in her ear. “But your ass is mine.”

  It was incredibly easy to rise up and slide over Jesse. It wasn’t easy to keep from throwing her head back and letting loose like a bucking bronco. So good. Elias hot against her back, Jesse moaning and shaking beneath her. Another dream come true.

  Elias’s breath came hot and heavy against her ear. His other hand gripped her breast, holding her close to him. He rocked his body with hers, guiding her in a slow rolling ride, pushing her down on the other man, even while he pushed his finger deeper into her.

  So full. She couldn’t stand it. Pressure built with each incremental thrust. She couldn’t stop thinking about his cock sliding into her. Surely he’d be too big. His finger alone was too much.

  She cried out, instinctively trying to withdraw, but pulling away from him only put her in harder contact with Jesse. She ground her hips against him, seeking relief, and suddenly he was the one bucking, his back rising off the mattress, his hips thrusting up, hard, driving Elias deeper, and she lost it. Stars detonated in her head. Elias held her, his body rock-hard and steady against her. Her protector. Always at her back.

  She was falling again, the world simply tumbling away, but he caught her. He tucked her tightly against him, drawing her into the shelter of his arms with his body curled against her back. Eventually, their breathing steadied, enough for her to realize that Jesse lay shivering beside her, his
hands still bound to the headboard.

  Guilt made her eyes burn. How long had she left him like that? She rose up and tugged on the scarf, struggling to get the tightened knots out. Not the smartest choice. She should have listened to Shiloh weeks ago. The scarf had bitten into his skin.

  “That was incredible,” he whispered, struggling to keep his eyes open. “You can tie me up any time you want, Vicki. Especially if that’s the outcome.”

  “I shouldn’t have used the silk. I’m sorry, Jesse. Can you still feel your fingers?”

  She finally got it loosened enough for him to pull his hands free. Shaking his hands, he grinned up at her. “I’m good, but I won’t be opposed to handcuffs next time.”

  Next time. She suddenly couldn’t meet either man’s gaze. Could Elias do it again? Or would he just walk out one day, never to return?

  “Why don’t you go take a shower,” Elias suggested to Jesse. Without a word, the younger man slid out of her bed. Even in the darkness with another man lying behind her, she couldn’t tear her gaze away from his ass. Her own backside burned, remembering the stretching pressure of Elias filling her up.

  “Your ass is prettier than his,” Elias whispered in her ear, drawing her back against him. “I don’t feel anything when I look at him, until I look at you and see the heat in your eyes.”

  “Does it bother you?”

  “I thought it would.” He admitted, dropping his chin to her shoulder. “I thought…” He swallowed hard. “I thought you might want him more than me. That it’d be different between us now.”

  “Elias—” Her voice broke.

  “Hear me out, babe. It is different now. I didn’t think it possible to improve on our sex life, but it’s better. Touching you like that… Damn, Vicki, it was so hot I came without even needing to be inside you. It’s going to get even better as we get more comfortable with each other. I see how much you want him, and it’s okay. It’s okay because you still look at me and want me too.”

  She rolled over in his arms so she could see his face. She stroked her fingers over his brow, the grim line of his jaw. “I’ll always want you.”

  His lips quirked, giving a nudge with his hips that showed her somebody was hard yet again. “Prove it.”

  She pushed him flat on his back. “It’ll be my pleasure.”

  28

  The kitchen was dark except for the light radiating out of the fridge as she scrounged for something to eat. After such a rousing night, she needed some protein after all those brownies.

  “I made something for you,” Jesse said in that shy way that made her want to push him up against a wall and sink her teeth into his full bottom lip. He offered a heavy, thick sheet of paper.

  “Turn on the light.”

  He did so, illuminating an ornate tree spreading across the page. Long, curling branches filled the sky, dotted with blue-green leaves and curls. The trunk was a deep, rich blood red, solid but gently curving in feminine hourglass. The base of the tree spread out into dark, thick roots reaching deep into the soil.

  The colors were bright and vivid, not his usual chalks. Turquoise, red, black. “My colors!”

  He grinned and reached across her shoulder to trail his finger along the tree’s trunk. “This is you.”

  She cocked her head and she could make out her name written in the swirling bark. Tiny, detailed, elegantly curved letters became part of the pattern. His name floated in the leaves that matched the color of his eyes. Elias was dark, earthy, his name written in the soil and the foundation of the tree.

  “You connect us. You’re the trunk holding everything together. Without you, the leaves will dry up and crumble away.”

  Her throat ached. “Yet without the roots, the tree can’t live either.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Thank you.” She pulled him into her arms and brushed her lips against his. “It’s perfect. I’m going to get it framed and hang it over the mantle.” Staring into his eyes, she whispered, “I’m going to ask Elias something very important tonight.”

  Jesse let his breath out in a long exhale, as though preparing for the worst. “Okay.”

  “You know how much you mean to me, don’t you?”

  He smiled but his bottom lip trembled. “I’m yours to take, if you want me.”

  “You know I do. In fact, I want to keep you forever. If you want to stay with me, that is.”

  He blinked at her and opened his mouth, but no words came out.

  “I love you, Jesse, and I want you to always be here, but I love Elias too. I don’t want you to feel like a hand-me-down, or like I might ever change my mind and kick you out some day. I’d never do that, okay? You’re part of my family now, so I want to give you something that is special, so that you know…”

  “That I’m home? I already know that, Vicki. Even if you marry Elias, there’s no place I’d rather be than with you.”

  She reached into her purse and pulled out the flat velvet box that Victor had helped her pick out. Her fingers trembled as much as her voice. “This isn’t something I ever imagined doing, let alone offering to anyone, before I met you.”

  Holding the box in front of her, she flipped it open to reveal the collar inside. On a heavy, masculine platinum chain, turquoise sapphires the same color as Jesse’s eyes formed the elaborate V of her label.

  He stared at the jewelry, his eyes going wider and wider, but he barely breathed. She couldn’t tell if he liked the idea or not. They’d never talked about the significance of a collar, her collar, because she’d never known herself. Maybe she’d guessed absolutely wrong. “If you don’t like it…”

  “Vicki,” he breathed out her name like a prayer. Finally, he raised his gaze to hers, and his eyes shone brighter than the stones. “You got this for me?”

  “Only for you. I want you to know that you belong with me, as long as you choose to stay.”

  He stepped closer so he could press his forehead to hers. “I never dared dream that you’d want me, let alone that you’d understand the rest. I’d love to wear your collar, Vicki. Whenever and however you want me, I’m yours.”

  She slipped the box back into her purse so she could hug him close. “I thought we could go somewhere, just you and me. Like a ceremony or something. Would you like that?”

  “Our park,” he whispered. “Where you first found me.”

  “You’ve got it.”

  “Hey, do you have anything to eat in here?” Elias strode in still wet from the shower and as naked as a jaybird. “I thought I smelled chocolate when I came in. I’m starving. Hey, that reminds me, Jesse. Are you free for another poker game this week? Colby’s not the new guy on the force anymore, and we’re breaking in the newest recruit. I swear no one will try to bust your face this time, unless you win too much.”

  “Sure thing.” Jesse grinned, his relief and happiness at being included twisting her heart in a very good way. “You know it’s a really good game when someone bleeds.”

  Elias saw the half-devoured pan of brownies still out on the stove and moved to dive right in, but she smacked the back of his hand.

  “Ouch! What the hell was that for?”

  “Those are my pity-party brownies. The ones I made because I was heartbroken and lonely. You can’t eat them.”

  “Aw, babe, come on. I already apologized.” He reached around her, sinking his fingers into the pan, but she shoved him aside before he could get more than a bite of the gooey batter. She hated dry, overcooked brownies. They’d eaten her brownies with a spoon. “We’ve had make-up sex, more sex, even shower sex. This man needs sustenance. He needs brownies!”

  “Not yet. I’ve got something to say to you.” She planted her hands on her hips and gave him her most determined courtroom glare. “I want a ring.”

  “Sure, babe.” He laughed and reached for the pan again, but she punched him hard enough in the solar plexus that he grunted and took a step back.

  “Not just any ring. An engagement ring. If you want me.”<
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  He narrowed his eyes and gave her his own belligerent, bad-cop glare. “I think I just proved pretty damn well that I want you, Vik.”

  “You did.” She kept her voice pleasant and she smiled, the wide, toothy one that always made him blanch. “But if you want to prove it ever again, Detective Reyes, then I want a ring. I want to be your wife. I want you to answer your phone every single time I call you. I want you to come home every single night and eat all my brownies without me wondering if you’re ever going to come home again.”

  He jerked his chin at the other man hovering off to the side. “What about him?”

  She glanced at Jesse and gave him the same formidable smile. The difference with him: his knees went weak and his eyes smoldered like molten jewels. “I’m going to buy him a ring as proof of my solemn promise and commitment that he will always have a place in my house, my heart and my bed.”

  Elias took a growling, threatening step closer. “So I get to give you my name and he gets everything else?”

  “No, babe,” she drawled, lifting a handful of gooey chocolate from the pan. “You get my name, my house, my bed and my heart. I’ll even give you my brownies.” She reached out and wrapped her chocolate-covered hand around his cock. “If you let me eat some off you at the same time.”

  With a wicked grin, Jesse headed for the shower, leaving Elias to suffer her brownie punishment alone.

  He groaned and leaned back against the counter. Reaching around him with her free hand, she scooped up more brownies, letting him eat off her fingers.

  “You make the best brownies in the world. Vicki Connagher, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

  “Yes,” she whispered, smearing his lips with chocolate. Then she went to her knees before him. She licked just the tip of him and he trembled, gripping the counter like it was the only thing holding him up.

  “Uh, babe? I think I’m the one who’s supposed to be on their knees for this question.”

  She smiled up at him. “You will be. Soon.” She licked him again and the counter creaked in sympathy. “I’m going to make you grovel.”