by Lori King
She flinched, and he stopped talking to watch her. “Is that a problem?” he asked, cocking his head and narrowing his gaze.
“No.” Her response frustrated him, but he bit his tongue. It wasn’t like he had any right to the information as her potential boss. He wondered if there was a man in her life that he would have to compete with in order to land her and decided that it didn’t matter because whoever he was he didn’t stand a chance. Noah wanted her, and he wanted her bad.
“Okay, well, then let’s go find my brother Tyce, and introduce you. He will get you a uniform, and you can get started tonight. If all goes well, then you can stay on permanently. Sound good?”
“Sure. And thank you, Mr. Dawson, for giving me a chance.” The smile she gave him was electrifying, and he wondered if his hair was standing on end. Holy hell, what wouldn’t a man do just to be blessed with that smile every day for the rest of his life, he thought to himself.
Noah was startled out of his daydreaming by the sound of a car door. They had arrived at home, and Tyce was opening the door next to Sidney and pulling her away from him. A shard of jealousy stabbed at his heart, and he almost tightened his grip, but the soft concern on his brothers’ faces as they stared down at Sidney made him relax.
It was obvious that she wasn’t going to be a quick fling for any of them. Xavier shut the door as Tyce lifted her from the vehicle and headed for the house with his bundle. Noah watched as his oldest brother hurried past to unlock the front door and usher Tyce inside quickly. They were all in trouble if she meant this much to them already, and they didn’t even know her yet. He followed them into the house at a slower pace as his mind struggled to grasp the fact that he was falling in love with a woman that he really didn’t know, and what information he had learned about her was muddy and gray.
Tyce laid Sidney on the sofa, and Xavier pulled her black boots from her feet. After settling a blanket over the top of her, they all three just stood there for a moment, watching her sleep. She shifted deeper into the soft cushions and moaned quietly. All three men groaned their discomfort and adjusted their stance. At Xavier’s nod they all headed to the kitchen for beers before trudging out the sliding glass doors onto the back deck to talk and drink.
Chapter 5
Sidney woke with a start, struggling to get her bearings and remember where she was. It all rolled back through her brain like a movie. The last twenty-four hours had left her emotionally and physically drained, and now she was in the Dawson brothers’ home, forced to rely on their generosity. The room she was in was dark, but her eyes were quickly adjusting, and she could just make out a clock on the wall that said it was still very early morning. She could hear birds outside the window across the room, and the slight lightening of the sky indicated sunrise was close. She pushed the blanket from her chest and tried to sit up to look around her. A gasp escaped her chest when she realized that she had been lying with her head resting in Xavier’s lap, and her legs were tangled with Noah’s, who slept at the other end of the couch.
Tyce was sound asleep, too, with his back propped against the sofa next to her. Her fingers were laced tightly through his, and their interlocked hands rested over his shoulder against his chest. She gently tugged her hand free of Tyce’s intimate hold.
“You okay?” Xavier’s voice was sleepy and sexy, a low rumble that made her heart pound. Looking up, she met his drowsy gaze and felt the lust build in her belly. He was clad in only a pair of faded blue jeans, and her mouth went dry as she followed the ridges of his chest down his chiseled abs to the dark hair of his happy trail. God, he was delicious looking. She wondered if he could sense how horny she was when he frowned. “Sid? Are you okay?”
“Yes. I just…I mean…ummm…” she stuttered as she pulled her legs away from Noah’s while fighting desperately to get control of her thoughts and desires so that she could come up with a plan to extricate herself from this situation. “What are we doing?”
“Well, I was sleeping until someone woke me up.” Noah’s voice was soft and sensual, but there was laughter in it. “Come back here, honey, and snuggle with me this time. Xavier won Rock Paper Scissors last night, but I think he cheated.” His arms wrapped around her, pulling her snugly against his chest. She could feel his heartbeat under her cheek, and she noticed that he was shirtless as well. Surprised, she jerked backward only to tumble over the side of the couch directly into Tyce’s lap.
“Well, that’s a great way to wake up,” Tyce said with a chuckle. “Morning, love.” He didn’t hesitate to grip her tightly against him and brush a gentle kiss against her forehead. She shivered at the touch and wondered how it would be to wake up to his kisses every day. “How do you feel?”
Pushing gently against his naked chest, she had to firm her fingers into fists to keep from sinking them into the sinewy muscle there. She managed to right herself and move off of his lap. Sitting next to him, she pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her forehead on top of them. Her mouth was watering at the sight of three bare chests and three sets of bedroom eyes. She itched to pull her own clothes off and beg them to make love to her. Would they agree? Would they consider her a slut for wanting them all?
“Sidney?” Xavier was fully awake now, and the concern in his voice lifted her eyes back up to his.
“I’m okay. My head hurts, and last night is a little fuzzy, but I’m okay. You know I could have slept on the couch alone, right?” She paused, but the scowl on Xavier’s face forced her to drop her eyes from his. “I’m sorry. Thank you for letting me stay here last night. I will figure out something else for tonight.” She forced herself to keep her voice steady and emotionless. She didn’t want to do anything to upset them. If there was a fight, she wouldn’t be able to handle all three of them at once. A shudder of fear went through her at the thought of three strong fists coming at her, and her breath caught in her throat.
“Stop apologizing, and I know we told you that you don’t need to thank us. We want you here, love.” Tyce rested one hand on her foot and gently stroked his fingers across her anklebone in soothing circles. The muscles of her leg trembled under his callused fingertips. All three men were watching her closely, but they weren’t smiling.
She scrambled to her feet, looking around her for her shoes. “Yeah, ummm…well, I better call a cab and get going—”
“Where?” Xavier asked as he crossed his arms across his chest. Sidney got the strangest urge to just smack him when he had that arrogant look on his face. He knew she didn’t have anywhere to go, but he wanted her to say it out loud. “Tell me, Sidney. Where are you going to go?”
“The sheriff’s office first, I guess. I need to know what happened to my car. I have insurance, but I’m not sure how I will file a claim from Texas. I can’t figure out how it caught fire. I had the keys with me, and I had it serviced a couple of weeks before I left…It just doesn’t make sense. I need to get some answers, and then I will just get a room at a motel for now or something.” Her own sob caught her off guard because she hadn’t expected to feel so emotional.
She shoved her hands into her pockets and turned to gaze out the window. She couldn’t look at them because they made her ache for more than she could have. She had never felt so much for anyone, and that combined with her fear of pissing them off had her emotions rolling. The men were silent behind her for a moment, and then they surrounded her.
Heart racing, she tensed as multiple strong arms wrapped around her. They weren’t restraining her or forcing her. They were just offering her comfort. She wasn’t sure how they managed it, but all three men had their arms around her, encompassing her in their rock-solid support. Her muscles gradually relaxed, and she let herself melt into their warmth. Absorbing their silent strength as it soaked into her soul, she let herself go. She let all of the pain and fear from the previous night and the last seven weeks come tumbling out, and she cried. Her hands clung to the waist of the man in front of her, and her head fell back onto a broad shoulder. Her skin gr
ew hot and tingly as she felt their hands stroking her. In her head she chided her physical reactions, because their soft touches were more like a parent stroking a child after a nightmare. Her body betrayed her with her physical need for them. She cried for several minutes. She just couldn’t stop the tears. They ran in a river of pain down her cheeks, and she gasped for air as the weight of running for the last several weeks lifted off of her for a brief moment.
For that moment she let herself imagine that she could stay with them like this forever. Part of her wished that she could open herself up to them and let them be there for her, supporting and protecting her as their woman. She imagined that they wouldn’t belittle or intimidate her to receive her faith and affection. It was pure fantasy, she knew, but she had never had that in her relationship with Robert, and she desperately craved it. Just thinking his name caused a flutter of panic in her breast that she fought to tamp down.
Her eyes were clenched shut, because she was afraid of seeing pity in their return gazes. She could hear the men whispering softly to her and shushing her, but she couldn’t respond, so they just continued to be there holding her. It was the most heavenly embrace she had ever had. Growing up in foster care, she couldn’t remember anyone holding her just to soothe her sorrow. She could feel some of the layers of ice that protected her heart from pain melting away and letting these three men in. Her tears dwindled to quiet hiccups while she marveled at how quickly she found herself with a genuine attachment to all three brothers.
The rational part of her brain knew that even if her libido wanted them, they were men, and eventually they would want to take over her life. They would want to have control over everything that she did. There was no way she was letting herself become someone’s punching bag again. She gently pushed at the bodies surrounding her and opened her eyes. They were waiting for her to react, but she didn’t know how.
She wanted to beg them for their protection and affection, and she also wanted to run as far and as fast as her legs would take her. She did neither. Instead she let Noah take her hand and lead her into the kitchen, where he sat her at the breakfast bar and began to fix her a cup of coffee. Tyce took the seat next to her and rested his hand on the back of her barstool as Xavier stood across the bar from her.
“Feel better now?” Tyce’s voice was soft, and his eyes held genuine concern.
“I’m sorry I don’t know what happened there. I don’t usually go to pieces like that, but I think I needed it. You guys surprised me by not running for the hills at the first sign of tears.” She laughed and was relieved when they all chuckled, too. The panicked feeling in her chest eased slightly.
“Honey, we aren’t running away from you, period, even if you cry.” Noah’s smile was genuine, and Sidney returned it, but when he placed his hand over hers, she pulled away.
“Do you guys do this for all of your employees?” she asked, rubbing her sweaty palms against her jeans and slumping a little bit so that they wouldn’t see her reaction in her hardening nipples. Every time they touched her, there was a pull deep inside of her, and her body hummed. She needed to get away from them soon before she got any more attached. Sex only led to a relationship, and relationships meant giving up control to another person. She couldn’t do that again.
“No, Sidney, but you aren’t just an employee to us.” Her eyes must have widened enough to give away her shock, because Xavier grinned. Then he leaned across the counter and tweaked her softly on the nose. “At least we hope not.”
“No,” she said, firmly shaking her head, “I’m just an employee. Maybe a friend, but that’s all. That’s all I’m going to be.”
“Well, then we’re making progress if you’re willing to accept us as friends, but trust me, love, we won’t settle for just friends for long.” Tyce’s words were playful, but she felt herself pale. She couldn’t help the tremor of fear that went through her body as she interpreted his words as a threat.
“Honey, we know that you are running from something, and we want to know what. Please let us help you.” Noah’s eyes were pleading with her and something in her chest ached.
“I can’t. I don’t want to get you involved. If something happened to you guys—” She looked away, unwilling to finish that thought. “The best thing for me to do is to just leave now, but I can’t without a car. I’m stuck here until I can make enough money to get a bus ticket, but when I do I will leave. I have to.”
“I don’t understand why you have to leave at all, but if you’re dead set on it, we can’t stop you. Until then will you stay here? Please?” Xavier asked her quietly. All three men held their breath as they waited for her response. Tension filled the room as she considered his request.
“I…I…I can’t.” Her voice shook. Xavier put his finger under her chin to tip her eyes up to meet his.
“Why are you scared of us?” he asked. She could see him searching her eyes for answers. There was no judgment or condemnation in his eyes. She took a raspy breath as she drank in the sight of someone who truly seemed to care about her.
They were offering her a safe haven, but could she really trust them? Robert had been kind and affectionate in the beginning, too. Once she had allowed him to move her into his apartment, though, his whole personality changed. The first few weeks he just did small things, like looking through her cell phone while she was in another room and then demanding to know who phone numbers belonged to, but it quickly progressed to nasty words and demeaning name-calling. She had felt her strength fading as she heard him belittle and berate her daily, but she didn’t know what to do about it. She didn’t have many friends, and she had no family to turn to.
She still couldn’t figure out exactly when it got to the point of physical abuse. She remembered that Robert apologized after the first time he hit her and made promises to never do it again. But after a few such incidents, his tone changed, and he began blaming her for aggravating him. He said that if she didn’t act so stupidly then he wouldn’t get so angry and end up taking it out on her. He was disciplining her for her childish behavior.
Discipline in his mind included stripping her naked and locking her in the garage for a few hours. Sometimes it was tying her down and refusing to let her get up, even to relieve herself. She was then forced to clean up the mess and usually cook dinner for him before she was forgiven. He loved to humiliate her. That was almost worse than the beatings. She preferred it when he just backhanded her or tripped her. Usually she could escape him and find a place to hide until he was over his mood. She didn’t know what to do to stop it, so she didn’t do anything for almost a year.
Now she was faced with not one man, but three, and they were all huge and muscular. They could easily inflict damage on her, but something about the kind way they approached her made her want to trust them. She could see it in their eyes, how much they wanted her physically, but she didn’t think that they would force it. For some reason the pressured feeling that she had felt in her last encounter with Xavier and Tyce had completely disappeared. They seemed to genuinely care about her and want her to feel comfortable. She wondered at the sudden change in her own feelings. Taking a chance, she closed her eyes and spoke.
“Look, I appreciate everything you guys have done for me, and I hope that you will let me stay on at the bar for a few more weeks, but I can’t just live here with three men. What would the other employee’s say if they found out?” She tried to keep her voice nonchalant, but the goose bumps on her arms gave her away.
“I hope they will say that we’re lucky men.” Noah’s words were so quiet she wasn’t sure she heard him. She turned her startled gaze his direction and blinked when she saw the hot intensity there. She had only seen that look on a man twice before, and both times it was with his brothers.
“I’m not staying in Apache Crossing,” she said firmly.
“This isn’t getting us anywhere, love. You are going to have to trust us a little bit, or we can’t help you,” Tyce said.
“I don’t
need help, thank you. I will be fine.” She stood and started to move away from them into the living room, but Xavier’s hand gripped her wrist and pulled her back. He didn’t hurt her. He didn’t even force her to move closer to him, but he wouldn’t let her run away either.
“Like you didn’t need help last night? Sidney, stop being a fool. Someone set that fire intentionally. They broke out a window and threw a can of gasoline inside. Someone was trying to stop you from running, and scare you in the process.” Xavier’s grip was strong, but gentle, and she stared at him blankly.
“What?” she whispered. Her body began to tremble violently, and her knees grew weak.
“Who are you running from, Sidney? We really need to know, because I think they might have found you.” As Xavier’s words settled into her brain, she started to sway, and she could feel her palms sweating as panic hit her.
“Oh my God! Robert! No, he can’t have found me. Are they sure it couldn’t have been an accident?” She was in flight mode, and she jerked hard to get her arm away from Xavier. Shoving her hands into her blonde hair, she ducked her head and clenched her eyes shut. She tried to slow her breathing and her heart rate before she passed out. This was her worst nightmare. She had brought Robert into Apache Crossing, and if he found out that she was here with these three men it wouldn’t just be her ass getting kicked.
Just when she felt the room start to spin, Xavier scooped her into his arms and walked her back to the couch. He held her tightly against his chest as he settled onto the seat. She pressed her face into his collarbone and took deep, gasping breaths. Robert won’t have to kill me personally, because I’m going to die of fright before he even gets to me, she thought.
“Robert Wicks? Is that who you’re running from? Your boyfriend?” He spoke against her temple as he stroked her hair. She could sense that Noah and Tyce had followed and were standing nearby, watching them.