by Zoey Marcel
He knew they were his favorite. He knew most of the boy’s favorites, oddly enough.
“Thanks. Yum.” Justin popped some into his mouth. “I get what you’re saying, but I’m not picky.”
“That’s apparent.”
“Hey.” He gave him a playful glare and nudged him with his side.
Aiden smiled. “Well, you keep choosin’ bitches and long-distance relationships. What do you expect? You’re either a masochist, or you have no self-respect. Which is it?”
Justin’s head bobbed side to side while he chewed. “I’m definitely not a masochist. I don’t think it’s a lack of self-respect either.”
“That’s good you’re not a masochist.”
Aiden tilted his head back and dumped the handful of M&Ms into his mouth. He didn’t play with masochists. Not that he intended to fuck Justin, but it was good to know.
“I don’t get masochists, wanting someone to hurt you. Someone hurts me, I hurt them back worse. Then you’ve got those who get off on it.” His brows rose briefly in disdain. “People with a lack of self-respect, I understand. I’ve seen enough of it. Maybe masochism is just another branch of that.”
Justin looked at him curiously. “I don’t think it’s that they have low self-esteem. I think some people are just wired a certain way. They can’t help what they get off on any more than we can.”
Aiden locked eyes with him. “We?”
“People … in general.” Justin squirmed.
Aiden had to smile. “Does it bother you that Jasmine didn’t text you tonight to wish you a nice Valentine’s Day?”
“Oh crap.” Justin leaned into him to dig into his pocket.
Aiden sniffed his hair. He just barely refrained from groaning at the tantalizing scent and licking the boy’s neck.
Justin had his mobile phone out and flipped it open.
Jaysus, he still has an old flip phone.
“Holy smokes, she texted me a bunch. I had it on silent. Crap, she’s pissed. I missed like eight calls from her.” Justin answered his phone when the screen said he had an incoming call. “Hello? I had my phone on silent. I’m sorry about that. How do you know about that? What text? I never texted you. No I didn’t. Why would I tell you I was on a date?”
Aiden almost laughed when he heard Jasmine shriek, “What?” on the other end. Somebody was in trouble. He hoped Jasmine got Justin to commit. It was the only way to keep him abstinent. Then he didn’t have to spend sleepless nights agonizing over whether or not Justin was sleeping with anyone.
“I didn’t,” Justin insisted. “Well, then somebody must have sent you that text from my phone because I sure didn’t. No. It was just a dinner and movie date.”
“What?” Jasmine shrieked on the other end.
Aiden had a harder time fighting the smile when he heard that.
“No, I didn’t sleep with her. It was just a date,” Justin told her.
“Yeah, on Valentine’s Day. I’m hanging out with my friends, being true to someone I thought was my boyfriend, and you’re out there playing the field,” Jasmine gave out to him.
“No. No fields. No playing.”
Justin looked whipped. In truth, it was a massive turn-on.
“I’m all yours, baby. I just wanted to spend the evening with someone so I wouldn’t be alone.”
“I expect fidelity from you,” she said.
“Well, then you should have said that,” Justin said impatiently.
That so wasn’t flying. He could already tell.
“Excuse me?” Jasmine yelled.
“My bad.” Justin’s face turned repentant. “I just have needs.”
“I offered to have cybersex with you and you said no.”
“It’s not that I don’t want to. I just really want to wait until my muscles are bigger.”
“I don’t care if you’re skinny. I like you for you.”
“I’m not skinny. I’m lean. I just want to get macho for you.”
Aiden thought Justin was perfect just the way he was. It was obvious he had muscle even if his frame was slighter.
“Then let’s up the steam if you can’t control yourself,” Jasmine decided. “We’ll keep sexting, but we can also talk on the phone while we masturbate together. How does that sound?”
“Sounds like fun.”
Aiden tensed. He didn’t want Justin coming with anyone else.
“All right,” Jasmine said. “Take your pants off and pull your cock out.”
A surge of heat shot through Aiden’s dick.
Please do.
Justin squirmed and peeked at him before lowering his voice. “I’m kind of in public right now. Maybe later.”
“Are you with that slut? What’s her name?”
“No. She went home.”
“Was this after you made out?”
“No. We didn’t make out. It was a no-touching kind of date and then she drove herself home.”
“You didn’t offer to take her home?”
“What? No. Geez, was I supposed to?”
“Well, you could have offered to drive her home like a gentleman.”
Justin face-palmed himself. “What do you want from me, woman? I couldn’t take her home because my boss got injured so I thought I’d sit with him.”
“You ended your date early to help someone?” she asked softly.
“Yeah.”
“Aw! You’re such a sweetheart. I can’t stay mad at you.”
Justin grinned. “That’s right.”
“Hurry home so we can play.”
“Heck yes! I’ll talk to you then.”
They blew kisses into the phone before hanging up, like something out of a disgustingly sweet movie.
Justin put his phone away. “Man, that was close. I didn’t realize it would bother her so much.”
“Back to stayin’ chaste, eh?”
“Yeah, I guess so. God, this sucks. I don’t understand how she found out. She said I texted her. I never did. That means somebody sent her a text from my phone while it was in the break room during my shift. Whoever it was told her that I was out on a date with somebody else. They pretended to be me and asked if it was okay if I had sex with Cat.”
Aiden shook his head. “That Jasper.”
Justin’s head jerked. “It was Jasper?”
Aiden took a drink from his water bottle before answering. “Well, who else would it be? The two of you have never really gotten along.”
“That’s because Jasper,” Justin emphasized his name in contempt, “stole my ex-girlfriend. If anything, I’m the one who should be ruining his life. I bet you it was him. He knew about my date and wanted to fuck up my Valentine’s Day. It’s time to kick some ass.”
Smirking, Aiden pressed on his thigh when Justin started to get up. He sat again and gave him a questioning look.
“If you ask him he’s only gonna deny it. You’re more than fit enough to get anyone you want. Just be glad you still have Jasmine. She sounds like less of a pain than that other one.”
“Yeah, maybe you’re right. No. Jasper needs to pay. I’m gonna flirt with his girlfriend. Oh yeah. I’m gonna hit on Felicia and piss him off.” Justin nodded to himself with a scheming look on his face. He frowned with indecision. “I don’t know. She’s a sweetie and he’s a jerk. He gets stupid jealous whenever she even talks to a guy. I don’t want him to take it out on her.”
“Felicia belongs to him. He has a right to be jealous.”
“I know, but he goes overboard with it.”
“No such thing. Betrayal is ugly.”
“I think it’s just because she’s so good and sweet and he’s such an asshat that it makes his attitude seem worse.” Justin paused, then shook his head. “Nope, he’s a dick.”
“I’ll let you get on with your night.” Aiden handed him the bag of M&Ms. “You can have the rest of those.”
“Thanks.”
“Happy Valentine’s Day.”
Justin returned his smile. “Thanks. Hap
py Valentine’s Day to you, too.”
Aiden stood. “Thanks for sittin’ with me.”
“Yeah, sure.” Justin hopped up and stuck the bag in his pocket. “Do you need me to help you into your car?”
Aiden flashed him a wicked smile as he walked around the vehicle. “That won’t be necessary.”
Justin gawked at him. “You can walk?”
“I feel so much better now that I sat for a few minutes.” Aiden couldn’t say that with a straight face and he found it deeply satisfying to let Justin know that he was being punished. “It’s a shame your date left.”
“You bastard! You faked an injury just to ruin my date?”
“I did.”
“Asshole!”
“If you didn’t want me to mess with you, you shouldn’t have gone behind my back and asked Shane if you could get off early. It’s your fault you’re not in bed with Cat right now. Enjoy your night.”
“Get back here!” Justin stormed over to him. “I regret nothing.”
Aiden unlocked his car. “Neither do I.”
“That’s about to change.”
Sticking the keys back in his pocket, he shifted his stance and smirked at him. “Justin, look at me. I could knock you to the ground. You don’t wanna set me off.”
Justin stopped in front of him. “I’m not afraid of you.”
“That’s because you don’t know me,” Aiden purred.
He’d never fucked in the snow, but he was strongly tempted to right now.
“Were you the one who sent Jasmine that text from my phone?”
“Justin, would I do that to you?”
The younger man studied him with uncertainty. “Well, it was either you or Jasper. Nobody else has it in for me.”
“I like you, Justin. I told you that when I hired you. Doesn’t it make more sense for your enemy, Jasper, someone who hates your guts, someone you had a rivalry with over a woman, doesn’t it seem more likely that he would be the one to snitch on you?” Aiden gestured with his hand. “Now I amn’t sayin’ it was him. It’s just you did throw cow shite on him for parkin’ in your space, so I wouldn’t rule him out.”
“That was back in September.”
“Justin, sometimes the best revenge is the kind that waits. There’s no time limit on vengeance.”
“Was it you?”
“You could argue that I had a motive, but I already punished you by fuckin’ up your date. And really, isn’t that enough, knowing that I denied you, controlled your orgasm?” Aiden softened his tone. “Don’t you think leavin’ you hurting for defying me is enough to satisfy my need to punish you?”
Justin stood there fuming, hands balled by his sides. “You freakin’ cockblock!”
Aiden caught him when the boy lunged at him.
“I almost got some tonight!”
“No you didn’t. She wasn’t givin’ it up.”
“You don’t know that.” Justin struggled with his little fists.
Aiden held his wrists. “You misread the signals. If you were a quail you’d be dead right now.”
“What?” Justin’s features distorted in confusion.
Aiden let go of him when he stopped fighting. “Sometimes young quail call out to hawks when they hear them shrieking in the sky. They’re too inexperienced to know any better.”
“Are you saying I’m like a stupid baby bird?”
He grinned. “You said it, not me.”
“Oh yeah?” Justin lunged at him again and Aiden roughly pinned him up against the car.
“It’s no use fighting me, Justin. You can’t win.”
“I still kind of did.”
“You think so?”
“Yeah. When I get home, Jasmine and I are gonna have a steamy phone convo.”
Aiden was torn between beating his ass and kissing him. He let go of him before he acted on either.
Justin walked toward his car smugly.
Aiden rested his arms against the car. “I see where you’re comin’ from, Justin. You’ll get off while she does. You’ll share pleasure with a woman tonight, fair play. But it’s a downgrade from what you would have had.”
Justin stiffened. His countenance got testy. “You said Jasmine was a better choice than Cat.”
“Ah, for sure, she is. But even while you’re talkin’ with her on the phone tonight it’ll still be your hand gettin’ you off.” Aiden smiled. “You won’t be havin’ sex. When you look at it that way it’s more like I won.”
Justin glared at him and reached for the snow on his car.
Aiden quickly got into his car. Just before he drove away he sent Justin a text.
“I like the picture you have as a background on your phone.”
Chapter Eight
“Heller and Kale both left the Princes of Hell MC,” Danielle informed her brother impatiently. “You have no reason to disapprove.”
“They live in McKenna Downs,” Dominic reminded her. “I don’t want you stuck under that fucking curse.”
She knew the myth. Supposedly there were a few men who loved the same woman back in the nineteenth century. They founded McKenna Downs, but she couldn’t make up her mind between them. Someone cast a spell on the town. The men agreed to share the woman, but the drawback for her was that she had to submit to them in all things and she could never leave. No one knew for sure who cast the spell, but there were a few men in town with women they wanted to tame. The women agreed to it.
According to legend the women could only leave temporarily with their partners’ permission, but they had to come back or they would die. If they ever tried to leave without the men’s permission, an invisible wall would prevent the women from leaving town.
“I won’t be,” Danielle said. “I already told you I’ll be living out in the country with the McAlisters.”
“Are the Enos brothers moving in there, too?” Dominic asked.
“We haven’t talked about it yet since we’ve been too busy planning the wedding and honeymoon, but we’ll get around to that. They’ll either move in there, too, or they’ll stay in their house in McKenna Downs and sometimes Heath, Brighton, and I will spend the night with them. I’m guessing they’ll most likely sell the house and move into the McAlisters’ place with them when I do.”
“Well, they’d better, because if they don’t, you very well could be stuck under the curse.”
“There’s no curse. That’s not possible, Dominic. I don’t even know why you’re worried.”
He shook his head in aggravation. “Let’s go.”
“Where?”
“I want to show you something. You need to think about what you’re getting yourself into. If the Enos brothers stay in McKenna Downs, the curse will probably still affect you.”
She followed him outside and down the street.
He knocked on the door of one of his ex-girlfriend’s houses.
“Dominic?” Carrie looked confused when she opened the door and saw him standing there on her porch. “What brings you here?”
“I need you for a minute if you’re not busy. Danielle doesn’t believe in the town curse. I want you to prove it to her.”
She glanced over at Danielle before coming outside. “You’ve got it. We’ll have to be quick, though. Evan’s coming home soon. I’ve got dinner on the stove and I want to be there to have a nice meal with him when it’s done.”
“This will only take a sec.” Dominic walked with both of them toward the outskirts of town. “Watch her, Danielle. See how far she gets without her man’s permission to leave.”
Danielle folded her arms, fully skeptical as she watched Carrie keep walking. Then she stopped. It didn’t look like she could go any farther.
“Fake.”
He walked up to Carrie and pushed her over. She bumped right into something invisible and couldn’t fall forward. That spooked Danielle.
“You see?” He shifted so he was looking at her. “That’s gonna be you if those bikers stay here in town. It might even be Brighton
, too, since he’s submissive to Kale. Not sure if it applies to men or not, but I’ve heard rumors. It most definitely applies to women.”
Carrie gave her a smile. “If you’ve got a good man, it’s worth it. The right one will let you have your freedom and you’ll want to be stuck with him and keep coming back to him.”
“Carrie, you’re not helping.”
She smirked as she headed back home. “Sorry. It’s her choice, Dominic.”
Danielle stood there in stunned silence for a long moment.
“If you love them, then move the fuck out of town and make sure they do, too,” Dominic told her. “I want you to be happy.”
“I am.”
“I know you are, but you could end up just like other women in this town under some freaky-ass curse just because you chose certain men from McKenna Downs. Is that what you want?”
“Yes.”
He blinked at this. “What?”
“I don’t care.” She shook her head, licking her lips. “It doesn’t matter if there’s a curse or not, or whether we live in McKenna Downs or somewhere else. I’m in love with them and I want to spend my life with them, wherever that is. They love me enough not to hurt me or abuse the power they’ve been given over me. I trust them completely. I want your blessing, but I don’t need it. I’m marrying them, all of them.”
He studied her for a long, reflective moment. “As long as you’re sure that’s what you really want.”
She nodded. “I’ve been in love with half of them since I was a teenager. This is what I want. The curse doesn’t bother me. It most likely won’t apply to me since I’ll be living in the country, but even if it does, I don’t care. It’s my choice and I choose them.”
Letting out a deep sigh, he approached her. “Then I’m happy for you.”
He gave her a big hug.
“They’d better be good to you or I’ll arrest every last one of them.”
She grinned. “There you go again. You can’t arrest people for messing with your sister.”
“Watch me, Danny. I’ll get them for disturbing the peace.”
She smiled and hugged him again. “You’re a good big brother. You don’t ever have to worry about that, though. If anything, they’ve given me a tremendous amount of peace.”