“I just thought he was dark from being in the sun all day.”
“Oh, he’s dark all over.”
Autumn nipped at Noel’s earlobe. “Will I get to see him naked? He’s beautiful.”
“No.” Noel shook her by the shoulders again. “Never!”
Autumn was unfazed. “You’re going to have a hard time enforcing that one.”
Noel thought. He examined her eyes closely. “Are you…”
“Attracted to him? Yes, of course. And I don’t think it’s fair that you’re the only one who gets it from both ends. I think we should all share equally. But that’s just my opinion. I’m the slave, the—”
“Pet,” Noel filled in. “You’re my precious pet, Autumn, and I’d sooner be punched in the testicles than allow you two to touch each other.”
Autumn frowned. “Then it’s not very equitable. This isn’t a democracy, it’s a frigging monarchy, with you as supreme commander.”
“More like a dictatorship,” Ewan commented, halfway in the front door. In addition to carrying a box, he had a bag like a laptop case slung over his shoulder. Maybe he remembered which post he’d taken off the net. He deposited both on the kitchen table. “There are some more boxes from UPS at the bottom of the stairs, Noel, if you want to get them.”
“My files from Golden!” cried Autumn, and the pair went to retrieve them. She had ordered files on the Freestyle Killer case to be snailed to her. She wanted to go over them to see if anything made more sense to her now, if anything popped.
“This’ll give you an idea of what life with me is really like,” Autumn said as she took the lighter of the two boxes up the rickety stairs. “I hate to tell you but I’m going to be reading these files tonight.”
“That’s fine,” said Noel. “I know Ewan’s supposed to be calving or some such shit, and I should be listening to Clayton’s demos.”
“Just like the old days,” murmured Autumn, but her eyes were fixed on Ewan.
There was no laptop in the case—it was Ewan’s cow boss briefcase that he normally kept downstairs in his truck, stuffed with a wide range of shipping receipts, purchase orders, and muddy estimates. He pulled out one such treasure now, unfolding it eagerly. Autumn and Noel went to stand behind him, looking over his shoulder. It turned out to be an Amber Alert poster, with a photo of an adorable boy about three years old.
Ewan said, “I thought about what Freestyle said about me taking down a message. I think he meant it literally. When we were at Leafy Pines the other day with your dad, Autumn, I tore this off the wall. I wasn’t sure why at the time—”
“Your past history,” Noel murmured.
“—but now I think I know. I’ll bet Freestyle put this poster there. I wonder if he had anything to do with this boy’s abduction.”
“I doubt it,” Autumn said instantly. “It’s not his MO to take little boys. His thing is strictly combat veterans, homeless ones. I’ve seen no indication that he’s a pedophile.”
Noel suggested, “Could he have put that poster at Leafy Pines to lure Ewan, knowing Ewan’s particular weakness for abducted children?”
“Noel,” Ewan said warningly.
Noel barreled ahead. “I’m serious, Ewan. Let me see that. Aye. This boy is two and a half years old, the same age as your son—”
Ewan squeezed his eyes shut. “Noel.”
“—as your son when he vanished. We should find out if this is even a real kid. I mean, of course the photo is real, but is this particular kid really missing? This mentions a storage unit, as though he wants us to go down to this storage unit.”
Ewan stood at the window with his arms folded tightly in front of his abdomen, gritting his teeth. Noel expected as much. But Noel sometimes had to push some buttons in order to make any progress. Ewan had been so mired in his son’s death for so many years, it was nothing short of a miracle he had at last opened up emotionally to Noel. Noel knew to tread lightly on this subject, but the issue at hand sort of begged him to mention it.
Autumn, being a lawyer or maybe just being a sensitive woman in general, picked up on the tension. She put her hand on Ewan’s shoulder. “God, Ewan, I’m so sorry for your loss.” Quickly she moved ahead, so as not to put too much focus on Ewan’s son. Good for her. “But this Freestyle has been known to prey on people’s Achilles’ heels. During the original phase of the investigation, before we caught Tremaine in his grotesque hideaway, Freestyle led the main detective on a wild goose chase with clues involving his wife’s infidelity. She really was cheating on him, but the clues that Freestyle gave were bogus.”
Noel told Ewan gently, “In either case, it’s not going to harm anything to go and look at the storage unit, right? Bring your Glock. If he knows about your son, he knows you pack a Glock wherever you go.”
Ewan spun about to face Noel. “What gets to me is that he knew we were about to visit Leafy Pines. He knew to put this poster up on the wall.”
Autumn swiped the poster from Noel at the same time as she whipped out her smartphone. “Let’s find out. One call to this hotline number should give us the truth.”
Noel went to soothe Ewan while Autumn called. He stroked Ewan’s beautiful face with the back of his fingers. “Ewan. You’ve seen what a whackjob this Freestyle is. Right now Autumn is his target, and that means he’s targeting anyone close to her. If she’s right that he’s using anyone’s soft spot, then he used Leafy Pines because that’s Autumn’s soft spot, her dad.”
“Yes, but isn’t it creepy that he knows all of this shit? The poster uses the same name for the kid as my son. Not many people in Hell’s Delight even know that I had a son and wife. That was back in Albuquerque. And how did he know we’d be heading to Leafy Pines that day? Autumn didn’t even know it until a couple hours beforehand.”
Noel nodded. That was a frustration. “He could’ve somehow tapped into our cell lines? I don’t know how that shit works. Planted a bug somewhere?”
“You’ve been watching too much CSI.”
“I don’t watch any CSI. What are you looking at?”
“That van down there. See it driving away? It says ‘Helping Hand-Jobs’ on the side.”
“Does it? I can’t see from this angle, but I believe you.”
“Well, that van was near our house the night we found the body under the plant. It was there the whole time the medical examiner and those FBI guys were. I noticed it because it had a funny name. ‘Helping Hand-Jobs,” all hyphenated weird, like English was someone’s second language. I thought you’d hired someone for, well, a hand job. I think he meant to write ‘handy’ or something.”
“Well, shit, Ewan, don’t just stand—”
Noel dashed down the metal stairs that sounded like an approaching thunderstorm. But of course it was too late. Though traffic couldn’t move fast on the small-town Jack London Street, the van had already disappeared by the time Noel came to a stop in front of Positive Vibrations, the sex toy store.
“Bloody fucking hell! You fucking bogger!” He whipped his phone out and googled what Ewan had told him the van said. He didn’t know where to put the hyphen so he tried it in different spots. Nothing. There was no such thing as Helping Hand-Jobs, handy or otherwise.
He took his time going back, even grabbing a box of extra-large ribbed condoms from Positive Vibrations. He knew he was going to have to “allow” Ewan and Autumn to have their time alone together, too. It was bound to happen. He couldn’t place unrealistic restrictions on them. It was just that he loved them both so powerfully, and his jealousy knew no bounds. The idea of them touching each other drove him berserk.
They were touching, all right, when Noel came quietly up the thunderous metal staircase. But Autumn was sitting on a windowsill, the window open to let in the slightly warm early spring air. It looked as though Ewan had slumped to the floor at her feet, clutching one of her legs as though it were a tree in a typhoon. His eyes were open, but he had that distant look of the man who was mentally somewhere else.
Autumn shook her head. “No such kid. It’s kind of obvious that Freestyle just made that poster to get to Ewan.”
“It worked, I see,” Noel said gently. He went over to his partner and squatted, lightly brushing Ewan’s face. “Gaucho, gaucho. It’s not your Jeremy. It’s some sick twisted fucktard who is trying to get to you. Autumn, what about the alleged suspect? Is that guy real?”
“Well, the hotline had no way of knowing that, so I’m going to scan the poster and send it to Alex. He can have the FBI find this guy. Obviously it’s a photo of someone.”
Ewan limply flung himself against the wall. “They’re all photos of someone,” he seethed between clenched teeth.
Autumn suggested, “Maybe have Ewan stay here. Or go calf his…his calves.”
“Good idea,” agreed Noel. “Work always takes my mind off shit.”
“Not a chance,” said Ewan, more animated now. “I want to see each and every clue this crazy pants fruitcake decides to leave for us. I want to be part of catching him.”
Chapter Ten
“Nice big, juicy dick.”
While Ewan loved it when Noel took a handful of his prick and squeezed, tonight he had concerns. He turned his head so he could see Noel’s blissful face as he dry humped Ewan’s ass. The wooden spoon stilled in Ewan’s hand, the aromas of garlic and coriander intermingled steaming up into his face. He was making feijoada, the national dish of Brazil, maybe to prove his value to Noel and Autumn. “Are we allowed to be doing this?” Autumn had run to a downtown market to pick up another can of black beans. He hissed in air when Noel rubbed his thumb against his bulging cock head. He laid the spoon horizontal over the edges of the pot. It wasn’t easy to cook decently with the crappy utensils and pans available in Hannah’s apartment.
Noel nibbled on Ewan’s earlobe. “No one ‘allows’ me to do anything.”
“You like to be in control. So does Autumn. You’re going to have troubles with her.” At least Hannah had a gas stove, and Ewan clicked the burner to its lowest setting. Turning to face Noel, he gently held him at arm’s length. “Aren’t we all supposed to be in the same room while playing? That was my impression.”
“She’ll be back soon.” Noel swung Ewan wide so his butt smacked up against the counter where he’d been chopping the garlic, salt pork, and onions. He mashed Ewan’s hips to the counter with his own and brushed his mouth against Ewan’s. “Besides. She admitted she likes watching. Let’s give her something to watch.”
Ewan relaxed into the bruising kiss. Spearing his fingers through Noel’s brushy hair, he hungrily gobbled Noel’s tongue, slaking his thirst. As much as it turned Ewan on arousing Autumn with their antics, he doubted it could last for long. The attraction between him and Autumn was palpable and couldn’t be contained.
At least, Ewan’s attraction for Autumn had been overwhelming him—he could only speak for himself. Ewan couldn’t admit to Noel he was powerfully stimulated by his former fiancée. Noel had asked her to marry him back in the day, an event that seemed to trigger her to leave him. Ewan was going to have to bring it up to Noel. As much as he hated to admit it, Ewan wanted to do Autumn. Badly.
For now, it was good submissive training, and definitely exquisite torture, not to be allowed to touch Autumn, to please her. Ewan had been a player in his day and considered himself expert at satisfying women. He just hadn’t wanted to mess with them the past seven years, not since him and his ex-wife Leah had violently circled the drain over the loss of Jeremy. Not wishing to repeat that agony, Ewan had moved to California and thrown himself into the rough trade male-on-male scene, the most unlikely place he’d run up against any desirable woman.
Of course, it was inevitable that it would happen again. And of course he shared the same taste as Noel. It was intoxicating, the idea that Autumn would come in the door any second to see Noel eagerly palming his big hard-on. He knew that if Noel finally pleasured him to orgasm, it would impress Autumn. So he jumped onto the counter, probably mashing garlic cloves into his ass, and pulled Noel’s face down against his chest. Noel responded by yanking apart his shirt until buttons flew and licking a slimy trail down to his nipple. It was a good thing cowboys knew how to sew on buttons because Noel was forever doing this.
Here she comes. There was no mistaking the loud, echoing footsteps outside in the stairwell. Noel moaned as he swirled his tongue around Ewan’s taut nipple. More than likely he had heard Autumn, too.
Ewan murmured, “You want her to watch you suck me, don’t you?” He was really passive aggressively putting the idea into Noel’s head. He wondered if Noel ever noticed that he was doing that. Noel was smart—he had to have noticed. “She gets turned on when you top me.”
“I know she wants to see your well-hung dick,” mumbled Noel. He squeezed Ewan’s penis so lustfully a surge of semen shot through it, moistening the tip.
But Noel probably didn’t even predict Autumn’s reaction when she turned the corner into the kitchenette. Bam. At least one can of beans dropped directly to the floor with a bang, and both men swiveled their heads to look at her.
Her jaw literally hung open, her mouth a perfect oval. Automatically, Noel started to bend to pick the bag up from the floor, but he must’ve thought better of it. He stood straight and looked Autumn in the eye. “You like watching us, don’t you?”
As she slowly closed her mouth, a sly look came over Autumn’s face. “Even better, Noel. I bought you guys something.”
Ewan leaned forward on the counter with interest as Autumn picked up the dropped plastic bag. It wasn’t the beans—in a separate bag, she had managed to set those onto a counter first. No, the bag was pink and looked vaguely familiar to Ewan as Autumn reached in and withdrew a shiny fire engine red…vibe? The bag was from Positive Vibrations.
The men were dumbfounded as she smacked the long vibrator into Noel’s hand. But it was Ewan’s sleeve she tugged on. “Come on.” She led them into the living room. No one cared that the blinds were still open to the fading daylight as she fell back into the overstuffed black leather armchair, taking Ewan with her. He wound up basically sitting on her lap, and she spread her thighs to encircle him.
It was the first time in seven years that Ewan had felt the touch of a woman. Her torso was surprisingly soft and cushiony. That probably shouldn’t have been such a shocker since Ewan was accustomed to the bearish brawn of a man’s chest. But she felt insubstantial and skinny when she wrapped one arm around Ewan’s chest and held him fast to her. He was afraid that leaning back against her would break her. When she dared bring her hand around and fumble with his jeans buttons, Ewan jumped.
“It’s okay,” she murmured into his ear. “I won’t hurt you.”
Ewan felt defensive. “That’s not what I was afraid of. I just don’t want Noel to—”
“That’s all right.” Noel kneeled between Ewan’s outspread thighs. He took over the unbuttoning of the jeans. The metal discs came apart like butter in Noel’s expert fingers. Ewan had never felt fuller, longer, and more potent than when his cock sprang free, displayed by Noel’s greedy fist.
“You’re so beautiful,” Autumn whispered into Ewan’s ear. Her hot breath raised goose bumps on his flesh, stiffening his nipples. Autumn lifted the edge of the torn shirt, baring his chest even more. She was careful not to touch him with her fingertips, but she snuggled her pubic bone against the small of his back, making his cock twitch. “You are just one tall, cool drink of a cowboy.”
“You flatter me.” It had been so long since a woman had complimented him, Ewan didn’t know what to say. Men called him a smoking-hot cowboy all the time. It was just strange to feel a woman’s words feathering against his ear. He never used to go to clubs that had women patrons.
She tugged the shirt aside as far as she could. “It’s true, Ewan. You have a classy, haunting beauty. You’re virile and hot, but sensitive and artistic. I know you wouldn’t hesitate to plug that Frees
tyle Killer if you saw him, but you’re brilliant and creative, too.”
Ewan relaxed and even chuckled at her using “plug” like that. He dared turning his head so he could see the tip of her nose, her eyelashes. “No one’s ever cared how intelligent I am. It must be the sapiosexual part of you.”
It was her turn to laugh at his word choice. Ewan nearly came when she licked his earlobe. “That, and your thick, juicy penis.”
Ewan could barely talk, he was so horny. “My two best qualities. Smarts and my big dick—Agh!”
Noel chose that second to sink Ewan’s cock down his throat. Although Noel had been caressing his dick while he watched Ewan talk to his former fiancée, Ewan was still taken by surprise. His cock felt so long and full, he was surprised he didn’t immediately shoot in Noel’s mouth. Immediately he started panting almost to the point of hyperventilation. One hand lightly held Noel’s skull. His other hand, unbidden, snaked around the back of his neck until it captured Autumn’s neck, and Ewan held her tightly to him.
Noel wasn’t in a position to protest. He could have paused in his hoovering to yell “No!” or he could have jerked on Ewan’s arm. Anything. Something. But he didn’t.
Waves of exquisite lust raced through Ewan’s abdomen as Noel blew him. Ewan squirmed, rotating his hips, knowing his tailbone was rubbing against Autumn’s pubic mound. She was wonderfully soft, her large breasts squished against his shoulder blades, her cinnamon scent wafting to his nostrils. Her breath seemed to come hotter and steamier against his neck, too. Maybe hoping Noel was distracted, Autumn dared to make a sucking kiss against the side of Ewan’s throat. Inadvertently he moaned with the sheer bliss of it, rolling his head even farther back into the crook of Autumn’s shoulder.
“You like that,” she breathed. “You can’t say you dislike all women, Ewan. You’re responding to me.” Ewan hadn’t noticed her move her hand, but suddenly she was lightly pinching his taut nipple. Arrows of electric desire shot directly to his prick, and he jumped like a cat on a griddle. His reaction just backed up what she was accusing him of.
Three Times a Lady [Hell's Delight 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 10