by LAURA HARNER
As soon as she released Grant’s cock, Patti crawled closer to RJ’s head and began to stroke his hair with one hand while the other played almost absently with her breast. He wanted to beg her to let him taste, but he couldn’t focus on anything but the pressure from Grant’s cock.
“So fucking tight, RJ. Jesus.”
“Not a lot of practice.” RJ gasped as Grant kept up his slow penetration until he was seated balls deep.
Grant leaned down, pressing RJ’s thighs flat against his chest, and captured his mouth. Their tongues dueled as his channel rippled around the invasion. Grant pulled back from the kiss with a hard nip on RJ’s lower lip. He pushed up, gripped RJ’s hips, preventing him from moving, then Grant began an agonizingly slow in and out slide.
“Did I ruin you for anyone else?” he teased. The smile on his face said Grant knew exactly the effect his deliberate pace was having on RJ.
“Must have…” RJ grunted a little as he pushed upwards, trying to get the infuriating man to move. He watched Grant’s face closely as he revealed his secret. “Never been anyone else, there. Only you, Grant.” If RJ thought his words would inspire Grant to move faster, he couldn’t have been more wrong.
Grant froze and looked down at him, his brows raised, mouth slightly open.
“Oh, RJ,” Patti whispered. She stroked her hand over his cheek and leaned in to take a gentle kiss. Then Grant’s mouth was there too, and his lovers rained kisses over his face. The noise he made was half moan of pleasure, half hungry demand.
“Need you to move, Grant. Please…”
The words seemed to shatter the last threads of Grant’s control, and he plunged deeper, holding RJ’s hips as he moved forward then back, thrusting hard and fast. Patti gripped RJ’s cock with one hand while her other hand worked at her own clit, her soft, sensuous cries filling the room.
This was everything RJ remembered and so much more. RJ’s legs fell open, his feet finding purchase on the mattress, and driving his hips up, he squeezed. His balls drew up tight and his ass muscles spasmed around Grant’s cock as his orgasm ripped through him. Cum roped across his chest, spilling over Patti’s hand as she milked him through his second release of the night.
“Fuck,” Grant shouted. His hips stuttered to a stop as the first wave of his orgasm hit and he pulsed inside RJ’s ass. He shuddered, pushed deeper, then had another full-body spasm.
Patti released RJ’s cock and used her cum-drenched fingers to spread open her folds. Rubbing his spunk over her swollen nub, Patti’s hips rocked, her thighs tightened and she gave a quick series of gasps. “Oh, now. I’m coming now.” God, her whispered moan made his exhausted dick twitch, but there wasn’t anything doing there. He reached between her spread thighs, slid a finger alongside hers, and together they finger-fucked her through her clenching orgasm.
When Patti finally stopped shuddering, she collapsed on the mattress next to RJ and Grant withdrew from his ass. Without a word, Grant left the two of them and headed to the bathroom, returning a minute later without the condom, but with a warm washcloth. With slow, tender strokes, he cleaned each of them, before returning to the bathroom. This time Grant emerged wearing a pair of boxers and headed for the door.
“Hey, where are you going?” RJ asked, a pit of rejection already opening in his gut.
“Shh, no worries, lover. I’ll be right back. I just want to look in on Annie.”
The effect of the words was like plunging RJ’s heart into a bucket of ice water. Fuck. How could he have forgotten Annie?
RJ closed his eyes, forcing his breathing into a steady, calm pattern. When Patti scooted closer, he relaxed his muscles and worked hard at imitating sleep. By the time Grant returned to cuddle on the other side of Patti, she was snoring softly, a gentle purr he remembered so well. RJ matched her breathing and prayed Grant believed they were both asleep.
Chapter Fifteen
The next morning, RJ pulled their rental into the diagonal parking space on the main drag of Sedona, amazed at all the changes since they’d last been here, ten years previously. For years, Sedona had been a poorly kept secret hideaway for Phoenicians looking to escape the heat of the valley. Locals brought their friends, who told their friends, then magazines like Arizona Highways and National Geographic published photos of the breathtaking red rock formations. Eventually, more people began to come, bringing the tourism industry along with them. Not a lot, but enough to change the original little cluster of shops with polished rocks and Native American crafted jewelry into a mile long warren of shops, restaurants, and galleries. From the signs and displays, it looked like you could buy anything from a nickel-sized piece of rose quartz to a ten-foot tall bronze sculpture of a bucking bronco.
Other parts of Sedona had grown as well, changing from a quiet retirement destination to a thriving community with schools, churches, grocery stores, and restaurants. Before hitting the more touristy shops, they’d stopped for breakfast at Denny’s, because Annie had her heart set on some bear face pancakes. After she’d finished her breakfast, she’d gone to work on RJ’s, sharing his hash browns and toast while Grant and Patti huddled over a shopping list.
“RJ?” Annie asked, looking up with her big hazel eyes. The color seemed to change with her moods, just like her daddy’s. This morning they were more green than anything, and seemed to sparkle with curiosity.
“Yeah, baby girl?” He saw a motion from the other two, and realized what he’d said. He’d called Annie baby girl—like she was his or something. He knew he’d flushed, but resisted looking over at Patti or Grant, just kept his attention focused on the beautiful little girl.
“Can we go to the sliding rock you showed me on your computer?”
“It’s okay with me, but it looks like your daddy and Patti have some shopping for us to do, first. Although I can’t imagine what else we need with all those groceries in the house.”
“Sure we can, sweetie,” Patti answered. “But first, we need to get a few things to take with us, okay? Like a swimsuit…”
“Yay! What else do we need?” Without waiting for Patti’s answer, she tugged at RJ’s hand. “Can we go now?”
“Hmm…apparently RJ has stolen my daughter’s heart.” Grant sighed theatrically.
Annie giggled and climbed from her booster seat before crawling across RJ’s lap to get out of the booth. “Oh, Daddy,” she scolded. Throwing her arms around Grant’s neck, she giggled some more as he scooped her up.
RJ stood abruptly and tossed some bills on the table to cover the cost of breakfast. “I’ll meet you at the car,” he said, hoping others would attribute his hoarse voice to the early morning. He just needed a few minutes alone to come to terms with the realization he was in love with all of them. In that moment, he wondered if he was strong enough to risk everything for that love.
****
Grant sat in the back seat with Annie, chatting softly, doing anything he could think of in order to keep the girl awake. It was late enough in the afternoon, that if she slept now, he’d never get her to sleep at her regular bedtime. Since everything in her life had gone haywire the last few days, regular sleep and meals were about all he could promise right now—so having exhausted his admittedly small repertoire of car games, he tried to entertain her with a mucked up version of Jack and the Beanstalk. She laughed at his wild gestures and the variety of animal noises, but suddenly he lost the thread of the story and couldn’t remember why he’d been clucking. Was there supposed to be a chicken in Jack and the Beanstalk? When he tried to get back on track, somehow the story morphed into Jack losing his glass slipper on the way to dance on the rooftop with the chimney sweeps, while the wolf tried to blow down the house. He glanced forward and caught RJ’s gaze in the rearview mirror, just before the other man burst into laughter so loud and long Grant thought they might have to pull over so he could catch his breath.
“Okay, smart ass, you tell it then,” Grant said when his own laughter subsided enough that he could speak.
; “Ahhhmmm…Daddy said a bad word,” Annie reported, sending RJ back into fits of laughter.
“Okay, there is no way I’m equipped to handle kid’s stories,” RJ admitted when he could speak, his laughter still hovering in his voice. “Grant, didn’t you go to school to learn those things?”
“Hmm…no story time for high school government teachers.” The words settled around them like a dark cloud, reminding him of why they were here. Damn, Grant had hoped to keep things light but there just was no getting around the facts, and this was one of the memories that would always touch all of their lives.
The silence seemed to drag Patti’s attention back from whatever she’d been thinking about as she’d stared out the side window. “Looks like there’s only a couple of miles until we get to our turn off. How about we sing? I bet everyone knows this one…”
Her low, rich contralto voice started them on a chorus of Row, Row, Row Your Boat, and soon they were attempting to sing in a round, harmonize, and make up their own words.
As quickly as the earlier memory had threatened—it was gone for now. Suddenly, Grant couldn’t contain the happy that seemed to be pouring out of him, and he wanted this moment to last forever. It wasn’t about yesterday or the day before—life was about today. Today had been like a one-day family vacation. He looked over at Annie’s laughing face, then forward to where RJ drove, his strong baritone singing the silly lyrics, and sweet, beautiful Patti who was looking back as she sang with Annie.
This. This is what families did. Together. Today was the first of many of the four of them making memories that would last a lifetime.
Annie was safe, the man and woman he loved were with him and seemed willing to make an effort at remaining together. As horrible as the last few days had been, he finally believed they were going to emerge stronger than before. Tonight, Grant planned to ask them if they’d move in with him. Not at his current house, but someplace new. Someplace they could call their own. Thank God they could put this whole incident behind them
****
Frank sat behind the wheel of his car, staring at the vacant Sedona vacation home. His fingers tapped on the wheel in time with the refrain pounding in his head. What to do? What to do? First things first…
He glanced at the glove compartment but forced himself to leave the gun where it was for now. One great thing about living in Arizona—as long as you weren’t a felon, you could walk into your neighborhood survivalist shop and walk out with anything you needed. In his case, it had been a semi automatic, two boxes of ammunition, a nanny cam, two GPS tracking devices and receivers, and a detailed map of Arizona. No license required, no waiting period necessary, no questions asked.
In the three days since he’d made his purchases, the devices had more than paid for themselves. Now that he was outside the house where Annie was staying, he could activate the nanny cam, but there was no sense in it until after they returned from wherever they’d gone.
The girl and her sperm donor had evidently come up here to get away while the police finished their investigation of the case. Which made sense…and honestly, after his near panic the other night, this morning had brought some clarity to his situation. The papers and news reports all indicated the investigation was confirming the boys had kidnapped a teacher’s child in order to interfere with their failing grades in his mandatory class. No one was coming to interview administrators…why had he panicked?
Yesterday’s plan had worked as smooth as anything. Dressed for work in a business suit and tie, Frank had simply pulled his car up behind one of the patrol cars parked in a lose perimeter around the Anderson house and walked to the young policewoman standing there. Holding out his ID, a stuffed bear, and some flowers, he waited for her to acknowledge him before he approached.
“Hello. I’m Dr. Kendrick, from the Scottsdale Unified School District. Sorry, I didn’t realize the house would still be cordoned off today.”
She examined his identification—which was quite genuine—and nodded. “Yes, sir. I’m afraid no one is allowed at the house right now. Can I help you?”
“Oh, of course, stupid of me. I have some gifts from the teachers at Mr. Anderson’s school. We at the District just want to assure him that he is being placed on paid administrative leave for the remainder of the school year. Uhm…” He’d looked around, as if assessing his options. “I don’t suppose I could leave these with you?”
The policewoman’s annoyance flashed across her face for just a moment, then she looked down at the bear and smiled slightly. “Let me clear it with the sergeant first, Dr. Kendrick. If he says yes, then you can put them in the back of my patrol car, and I’ll take them up once we have the all clear.”
Just like that, he’d managed to get the stuffed bear containing the camera and GPS tracker into the house. Between the information he’s gotten from the District office, the muffled conversation he’d overheard from the bear, and the tracker, he’d managed to find this place.
Of course, there’d been no guarantee she’d get the bear, but she had—and obviously, based on the tracking signal, they’d taken the bear with them when they’d left. Wasn’t that proof enough he was doing the right thing? Obviously he was operating on the side of the angels. Maybe Michelle regretted her last earthly action and was even now guiding his hand to make things right.
With a little shake of his head, Franklin tried to push the memories where they belonged. In his past. He could never go back to his old life, now. Not because he’d used his real identification—that had been a lucky stroke of genius. No…he could never go back, because once he had Annie, the two of them would need to disappear forever.
It was time to find a safe place to wait. He put the car in gear and rolled away, thinking just how fortunate he was. When he’d placed the bear in the back seat of the police car, he’d known it was a gamble, but he’d guessed if they checked for anything, it would have been explosives. Really, they should have known better. He would never hurt his darling Annie.
Chapter Sixteen
Patti stood at the kitchen counter, her gaze drifted from the onion she was chopping to the Candyland game spread out on the coffee table. Annie chattered happily with the two men, the three of them smiling, the laughter easy. It was clear that the little girl had completely wrapped RJ around her little finger. She’d asked for him first thing this morning and he’d focused his attention on her ever since. He’d patiently answered endless questions, shared his breakfast, and carried her on his shoulders when she’d been too tired to walk. He even had scrapes and bruises on his back and elbows from holding the girl in his lap as they rode the icy water at Slide Rock State Park.
Attributing the stinging behind her lids to the onions, Patti returned to slicing vegetables while ground beef sizzled in the pan on the stove behind her. Spaghetti, garlic bread and a salad. Easy enough. After a quick but intense debate, it had been decided that she and Grant would cook dinner on alternating nights. RJ, with his complete lack of culinary skills volunteered for permanent KP duty, cleaning up after each meal while Patti and Grant would share bath time with Annie. It was a very domestic arrangement considering how few days they had left to spend together. Without knowing how the weekend would work out, she’d combined her regular lieu days with some annual leave so she could spend the whole week in Phoenix. Just in case… Now she only had three days left before her rotation started again.
For the first time, she was seriously contemplating working someplace other than the National Park Service. The thought caused an ache low in her belly. She’d wanted to be a ranger her whole life, and although she’d gone from the law enforcement side of the house to her current position as a supervisory ranger, she’d always played a role in preserving America’s special treasures. There just weren’t very many NPS positions in the Phoenix area. Not that anyone had asked her to stay.
As if he heard her thoughts, RJ raised his head and met her gaze. “Hey, doing okay over there?”
Not trusting herself to
speak, Patti forced her lips into a semblance of a smile and nodded her head.
RJ’s dark brows came together, a little frown touching his mouth. Then he looked at Grant and then back to her. “I’ve been waiting to tell you both…well, it’s been a little crazy, so maybe I wasn’t waiting so much as avoiding the discussion.” He paused to roll the dice, then move forward two spaces.
Grant grabbed the dice and closed them in a fist. “I think it’s safe to say we’ve all been a little distracted. What is it, RJ?”
“I…uhm…actually…” He swallowed, looked back and forth from Patti to Grant then back to Patti, as if he couldn’t decide which of them would give him the better response. “Remember I said I had a couple of interviews and moving back to Phoenix would depend on how those went?
Patti nodded and wondered what had RJ so flustered.
“I actually won’t be returning to Boston. I quit my job before I left, and I’m working with a realtor to find a place here once I know where I’m going to be working.”
“But that’s brilliant!” Grant said. “You can stay with us.”
Patti saw Annie’s eyes go wide as her dad whooped out a war cry then launched himself at RJ. The force knocked RJ over and the two men rolled over onto the floor, laughing and thumping each other on the back, as if the winning touchdown had been scored. Quickly getting into the spirit, Annie climbed on top, only to be pulled into the pile, giggling and squealing with delight.
A genuine smile formed as Patti watched the three of them celebrate, despite the small lump in her throat. She wasn’t going to pretend there wasn’t a tiny bit of hurt, but deep in her heart, she’d always known. RJ belonged with Grant. Now the men she loved could finally be together.
Patti picked up her cutting board and turned away from the scene in the other room. Scooping the rest of the onions and peppers into the pot, she adjusted the flame, then turned up the heat under the pot of water. She jumped when arms reached around her waist, pulling her back against a hard chest. Grant. She closed her eyes, savoring the momentary closeness.