She loved her job so far, and all of the customers had been friendly even if a bit more familiar than she expected. And everyone seemed to know she was staying with James and Chad.
She had finally started to relax some, too.
Nobody had contacted her from Taos, and Larson hadn’t appeared to retrieve her.
The tests that she and Chad took also came back clean. She had another appointment for the retest in a few months. Dr. Jacoby said something about taking a pregnancy test just in case. He pointed out that she was taking antibiotics, and those apparently negated any birth control pill she was taking.
No matter how hard she looked, she hadn’t been able to find much in the way of a place to rent except for a few trailers that seemed to be infested. Chad and James had both been trying to convince her to stay with them, pointing out how clean their house was and how warm their bed was and how fun their company was. She found it all rather endearing.
They were still keeping a close eye on her after the incident with Chad after the cookout. Chad was the one who explained it to James after he got home less than an hour later. They stroked her body tenderly after that short talk, and James added his reassurances to Chad’s earlier promises.
“Hey, Mindy,” she greeted the baker.
Mindy had a couple of inches in height on her, with blonde hair and blue eyes. They had quickly developed a rapport, and that budding relationship bridged a developing one between Alyson Rose, the owner and Mindy’s mother, and herself.
Alyson seemed to want to mother Treasure, and Treasure found herself loving it after she adjusted to it.
“Hey! I’m about to find some good music to play for today. I’m feeling some sixties and seventies,” she said conversationally while loading a CD into the player just inside the kitchen. Setting up the counter and logging into the register were the first couple of tasks she had to get out of the way, and she was almost finished when the door had opened and a familiar face filled her vision.
“Buddy?” she asked. This could not be good. He was one of Larson’s friends, but she hadn’t spent a lot of time around him.
“Whatcha doin’ here, doll?” he asked in the slow drawl that he always had. He never seemed to be in much of a hurry for anything, and his words always ran together as they were so stretched in a Southern drawl.
“Working?” She stated it as if it were a question before clearing her throat and finally asking him what she wanted to know. “What’re you doing here?”
“Well, I have a few reasons. I have family in Mississippi that I am visitin’, and I have some friends that moved to Louisiana from Mississippi that I was fairly close ta when I was younger. I am stoppin’ to see them and some of the other friends that I made here. I also have this friend from back home that is missin’ someone that he loves dearly. I figgerred I would keep an eye out for her and let him know if I spotted her,” he replied while glancing around before looking over her body as if assessing her. She wasn’t sure what he was trying to determine.
Buddy had always been fairly nice, but he had never tried to save her from Larson. She hated to do it now after loving Chad and James like she had, but she had to leave. The word “love” stuck with her as she had been bouncing that idea around lately. She knew that she had been falling, and they would always hold a special spot within her heart and mind. It clawed at her, burning a hole in her gut, that she would have to leave them, but they had lives that had been grown and rooted here. It was a sacrifice that she couldn’t ask from them and wouldn’t accept even if offered. Roots were something that she didn’t have in an actual place, due to the nature of her dad’s work, but she knew that attachment. Her attachment was to people and not a place. That left her with no place to go to reminisce specifically. Once someone was gone, that person would always be gone except in memory.
“Well, I have things to get done,” she hedged while trying to think of a place to run. It was obvious that she should have headed east then north rather than to the South. Maybe she should start looking around the Northwest. She didn’t know Larson’s friends that well, so she wasn’t sure if any of them would appear wherever she settled.
Buddy studied her a bit more before nodding. “I will see ya ’round before I light outta here since I know where to find ya.” His voice was steady, and he got closer to her before slipping an arm around her shoulders and squeezing gently in a familiar gesture.
That act threw Treasure for a loop. None of Larson’s friends ever touched her like that, but then, he had always been around. She was a little surprised to find herself returning the quick embrace.
It was clear that she had to leave, but she wasn’t sure how.
Chapter 15
Chad picked her up from work that day on his way home from the hospital. He was grinning when he wrapped her in a hug that pulled her body into his and tasted her lips as if he had been deprived for quite some time rather than just most of a day. She pressed even closer and took in his taste, matching his hunger.
“Let’s get home. Maybe we can continue this before heading over to Jackson’s. James called earlier after we were invited. In fact, we have got to pick up a pack of beer for the game,” Chad said, his eyes twinkling mischievously. James had been spending some extra time at Jackson’s home to work on the deck and help on those projects Selena had decided she wanted done.
Her panties dampened at the thought of what would happen when they got home.
She slipped in the passenger seat of his car, letting him shut her door. He ran across the street to a store and returned with a brown bag and a case of beer, storing both in the trunk before jumping in the driver’s seat and speeding home.
They raced inside the house. She giggled excitedly, and he laughed in delight.
He lifted her, wrapping her legs around his hips as soon as they cleared the doorway, kissing her roughly. He pulled her shirt off as he mounted the stairs. Her bra came off next. When he stepped inside the bathroom, he had to stop feasting on her nipples as she squirmed out of his grasp. She shimmied down his body, kneeling in front of him and staring into his eyes as she lowered the zipper of his pants. She stripped him quickly when he groaned and tried, unsuccessfully, to pull her level with him to jerk the rest of her clothes off.
He cursed colorfully when she teased the sensitive underside of the flared crown. She dipped the tip of her tongue into the slit before sucking not quite half of the length down her throat. The flavor of his pre-cum exploded in her mouth, urging her to suck him as far down her throat as she could.
His thrusts were erratic in the frantic need that she pulled from him so quickly. She played with his balls as they swayed and jerked from his movements, teasing them and earning a growling sound from his throat. Seconds later, she gulped down his release, moaning her approval.
“Fuck, baby. That was…” He trailed off as he pulled her to her feet and yanked off her clothes fiercely.
He picked her up again and got into the shower, starting the water and getting it warm. She was pressed into the wall as steam started to rise around them, making her hair stick to her face and neck. The spray of water plastered his hair to his head, darkening it. He worked his hips between her thighs before running a hand up and down the slit there. His fingers lightly grazed her clit, making her squirm to gain a little pressure. His fingers continued to tease her, barely touching her as they ghosted over her dripping skin. She was ready to scream for him to touch her when he roughly thrust a finger inside her, dragging a moan from her.
That finger didn’t move for a moment. Then it withdrew so slowly that she nearly screamed, only to move back in just as slowly as he could manage. Treasure’s desperation escalated another notch, and she found herself begging him for more and faster and harder.
He finally obliged just as she felt tears well in her eyes.
Another finger joined the first, and they worked furiously to yank her release from her in a violent storm. He coaxed her orgasm from her with words spoken in a grav
elly voice that gave away his desire to be inside of her.
She sagged against him as her body turned to Jell-O after the intense orgasm it had just released. She scrubbed his chest with a soft cloth and her shaking hands, still using his body to remain upright.
He allowed her to finish the sensual exploration that she was indulging in, disguised as a lingering cleansing. The rag did little to muffle the feel of her touch, and his body began to respond once again. As soon as she finished her mission, he used his weight to pin her to the wall once again and stroke soap suds along her skin, teasing her nipples to screaming peaks. He finished, her body shuddering from the light, loving touches that were muffled by the piece of terry cloth.
She used her hips and legs, hoping to tempt him into slipping inside of her and ending the ache he had started.
Chad kissed her thoroughly, gently, as he seemed to be trying to gain a semblance of control. His body still quaked against her shuddering one. “Baby, we have to go to Jackson’s. James is waiting for us there, and he’s expecting us to show soon. We can always finish this later,” he pleaded as he tried to get them out of the shower and toward his bedroom.
They only made it to the hallway when her grinding finally manipulated his hard shaft into her pulsing, needy, wet pussy. She moaned at the incredibly full feeling she experienced. That sound broke Chad’s resolve as he slammed her against the wall, shoving himself into her to the hilt. Her nails dug into his shoulders, leaving marks in their wake as the tempo was set with brutal intensity. Her release was hot and intense, making her scream his name as she felt everything she had poured into this one moment with Chad.
Chad held her tenderly as they both came down, their hearts thudding together. He stumbled into his bedroom with her still clasped in his arms, needing to clean his release from her belly because he had withdrawn.
He grinned as he nipped her shoulder. “Now, we really have to get ready to go.” He smirked as he left her on the bed. His release still glistened wetly on her body. He looked directly at her as he slipped his boxers on then his jeans before leaving to retrieve a wet cloth to clean her. She finally stood and found a pair of jeans of her own.
They finished dressing as they sent each other teasing looks.
Finally, Chad and Treasure got in his car and headed for Jackson’s, along with the beer that should have been over there a good half hour or so ago.
Chapter 16
Treasure moved closer to Chad as they walked into the Barns’ house. She could hear the raucous noise of Monday Night Football before the door even opened.
Guys were milling about the living area, all trying to fit into the room.
She stepped into the kitchen and spotted Selena.
“Hey, sweetie. We’ve got a group tonight. Wanna grab some of the food over there and help me get it into the living room?” The older woman began to hand Treasure a bowl of chips and another holding some salsa.
“Sure. Y’all’ve got a houseful tonight. How’s things at the clinic?” she asked as she took the two containers.
Selena turned and grabbed a platter to carry in behind her.
“Everything’s been great. We’ve been busy lately.”
Treasure stepped into the living room to put the chips and dip on the coffee table when she noticed a very familiar face amongst the crowd.
“Buddy?”
He responded immediately by smiling and standing then approaching her. Treasure backed toward the kitchen, bumping into Selena, who had been right behind her with another bowl of something.
“Excuse me. Sorry, Selena,” she murmured.
She tried to evade Buddy, but he had gotten up and had started to talk to her. He seemed so excited to see her. She tried to dispel the bitter thoughts as they flooded through her.
“Hey! I didn’t know ya knew Jackson and Selena, Treasure. Who are you here with? Why don’t ya come sit with me awhile?” he asked excitedly, approaching her again. He kept visually skimming the people around him to place her with a particular person. Treasure looked over to Chad and James as they talked with friends. They were relaxed and seemed unaware of her impending doom. Her nightmares were about to come true, and it was all because of some weird sense of humor that fate had.
“Well, I met Jackson and Selena not long after I got here. Jackson’s the friend you were talking about earlier?” she asked nervously. She just knew this was going to get back to Larson, and her safety was no longer possible here. James worked with Jackson, and both he and Chad were close to the Barns family.
“Oh yeah. I try to drop by anytime I’m in da area. Ya know what it’s like livin’ away from everyone,” he replied, trying to get close once more and slip his arm around her shoulders again.
She squirmed a bit. Fear evoked her fight-or-flight instinct.
She felt him squeeze her shoulders another time, and she stumbled when he released her, causing her to back into Selena as she walked into the room after extracting herself. The woman seemed to notice something as it was the second time the younger woman had nearly backed into her in just a matter of minutes. She seemed to merely watch the pair, though.
“Whoops! Excuse me. I’m back here,” Selena teased good-naturedly. “Are you trying to stomp me to death today, Treasure?” She tickled Treasure’s side and continued moving around her.
Treasure laughed nervously and excused herself, stepping around the other woman to go back into the kitchen. Being in the kitchen helped calm her. She wanted to avoid going back into the other room.
She began to wash the dirty dishes by hand to keep busy as she eyed the back door. Her car was still not fixed, as she waited for a part that had been back-ordered. She hadn’t seen a bus station, but she knew she could find one. She had to leave soon, but she didn’t want Buddy to know she was leaving yet. She looked up at the person who walked in, expecting Selena. It surprised her some when Buddy stepped next to her and began to rinse the clean, sudsy dishes and place them in the rack to drip-dry.
“Why are ya runnin’ away from me?” he asked abruptly after a few moments.
“You’re Larson’s friend, and I know you’re going to tell him where I am,” she said flatly. The answer seemed obvious to her. Of course she would fear him. He could hurt her. He’d already upset her life here with her men.
Buddy had never seemed to be the kind of guy who would beat around the bush. When he wanted to know something, he just came out and asked. If he had something to say, he generally said it. Otherwise, he didn’t really go out of his way to get into anybody else’s business.
He looked almost thoughtful for a moment before he chose to respond. “I don’t know what happened with Larson. I know he liked ya when he met ya and was excited ’bout you movin’ in with him. He always was a bit on the possessive side. He never talked about y’alls’ relationship or anything like that. He loved ya as his girl, and he wants ya to come back to him, but I stay outta matters like that. Do ya want me to forget that I saw ya?” he asked curiously.
Treasure could only nod. It seemed as though he was under the impression that she and Larson had been dating. Of course, he had believed his friend when he kept insisting that they were, despite every time that she had corrected him on that. She tried to swallow past the lump that had formed in her throat to tell him that she had never belonged to Larson, but it just didn’t seem possible.
“Give me one good reason not to shoot this text off to Larson, tellin’ him exactly where ya’ve been all this time.” Buddy looked squarely at her, waiting for her to explain her disappearance. He rinsed the last dish and stepped back, crossing his arms and trying to seem stern.
She dried her hands on the dark green hand towel near her and grabbed a glass from the cabinet and filled it with ice and water before gulping a third of the contents.
“I never dated Larson,” she said simply. She wanted to tell him about his friend hitting her, but she felt reluctant, for an inexplicable reason. She looked him in the eye and tried to figure out how
to tell him what should have been obvious from the start. He looked puzzled.
“He said that you’re his girlfriend. He kept sayin’ it. I know you were just supposed to be roommates at first, but I thought ya two’d fallen for each other,” he stated, obviously confounded.
“He never actually asked me on a date. He invited me to a couple of places by saying that he wanted to introduce me to other people since I didn’t really know anybody,” she explained. “He started referring to me as his, and he started making demands of me. He became jealous and possessive even though we’d never dated.”
Buddy’s eyes betrayed his incredulity. He merely nodded at this information, seeming to accept what she was telling him. He finally found his voice and said his last tidbit. “I hope ya consider going back to him and giving the relationship a chance. He seemed awfully torn up when ya left without a note or nothin’. Ya had to know he had to really think you’re really somethin’ to start staking a claim on ya.”
That sentiment left Treasure madder than a hornet. She didn’t want to be around Larson again—period. She was actually happy where she was, although she had to leave for both guys’ and her safety. She didn’t want to be around once Larson found out where she was, and she didn’t want either Chad or James to get hurt because he found her with them. She would give herself this evening and leave tonight.
She crossed her arms in front of her, trying to keep her voice firm.
Before Treasure could respond to Buddy’s request, James stepped into the room and slipped next to her, slipping his arm around her waist possessively.
“How was your day, baby?” he asked sweetly, shooting a pointed look at Buddy. It seemed that James knew something was happening between the two even if he couldn’t quite determine with any sort of certainty what it was.
Saving Treasure (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 8