Madison's Quest

by Jory Strong

  Shane returned, handing off a beer to Tyler, and she knew it wasn’t her imagination. He and Tyler were being careful not to actually touch one another.

  She flipped the page, a long-haired guy’s body covered the woman’s, his buttocks flexed like he’d been frozen in a powerful thrust.

  “Fuck,” Shane said, his voice sounding strangled.

  She had to agree. She was wet, achy, needy—worse, vulnerable.

  Taken separately, Shane and Tyler weren’t men to sleep with and walk away from, not if it wasn’t casual on their part. Taken together, being with them at the same time, was too close to what her personal happy-ever-after looked like, only she wasn’t entitled to that yet.

  She needed to get to the end of Bio-dad’s quest and get home to help her parents. She owed it to Elijah to see the other part of their dream out—to play the music he wasn’t there to play.

  She closed the sketch pad, transferred the dachshund curled on her lap to Tyler’s—doing a Shane and being very careful not to make physical contact. “How about if I grab my guitar?”

  That’d keep her hands busy. That’d help her remember why she’d come to California and why she needed to leave.

  “I’ll get mine,” Tyler said, surprising her, pleasing her, making the warning bells peal harder and louder.

  A minute later they were in chairs rather than on the couch, discussing tunes, discussing approach, integrating their sounds until anyone listening would think they’d always played together.

  And Shane thought, I’m dying here, and kept thinking it.

  Tyler and Madison were incredible. The longer they played, the more he wanted them both. Together they were like a freaking siren and he was the boat they were trying to lure to the rocks.

  It was too easy to imagine going to them. Kissing one and then the other, the three of them ending in a tangle of bodies, images that’d probably end up in one of Tyler’s sketchpads.

  Shane choked on the thought of Lyric or Braden snooping and finding the pictures. Beer erupted in a burning rush through his nose and onto the front of his T-shirt.

  “That was classy,” Tyler said, guitars going silent.

  Madison laughed. “I think we need a more appreciative audience.”

  “You’re not going to get one more appreciative than me.”

  Tomorrow he’d prove it by kissing and stroking every inch of her skin. He’d done the right thing, holding off until after she’d gotten to know Tyler, but tomorrow he’d take her any way she wanted and make her hit a high note as she came.

  Her eyes had already said yes.

  Her body had softened and hummed with yes.

  When the right moment arrived, it’d be her lips saying yes.

  And he sure as fuck wasn’t going to say no.

  He lifted Daisy off his lap and set her next to him on the couch, then did the same with Kiki. Standing, he said, “I better head home. Let’s look at Bio-dad’s clue again in the morning.”

  Madison followed him to the front door.

  “Thanks for everything today,” she said.

  And fuck if he was going to leave without a kiss, without one last thought of him before she was alone with Tyler.

  He pulled her against him, turned her and pressed her against the back of Tyler’s door. Slammed his mouth against hers.

  Her body softened. Her lips parted. Her tongue met his thrust for thrust. And it was like mainlining lust. Madison’s. His. Tyler’s.

  It was freaking addictive.

  He couldn’t take his mouth off Madison’s. Couldn’t even begin to determine where one kiss ended and the next began. Probably wouldn’t have stopped at all if he could have lived without air.

  His breath heaved in and out. He didn’t dare turn and look at Tyler for fear of the truth spilling out with a glance to the front of Tyler’s jeans or a hand dropping to his own dick. He didn’t dare stay longer because he’d only end up suggesting a game of poker that’d lead to the removal of clothes.

  “See you first thing tomorrow,” he said, stepping back, somehow managing to get out of the house without going at it again with Madison.

  He left the Jeep parked in front of Tyler’s place and walked home, Tyler’s artwork coming to life in his mind, Madison spread-eagled on the bed. Him on top of her. Then Tyler, muscles flexing in his arms and back and ass.

  Chapter Four

  Tyler felt buffeted by a fire storm. He needed to get out of the house, away from the temptation to do something insane, like plaster himself against the front of Madison’s body while ravaging lips that were still wet from Shane’s kisses.

  He and Shane had never even dated the same woman. Doing it with Madison would be disastrous.

  She’d looked at his drawings and asked about the good part, the place where the guys showed up.

  Guys.

  He’d nailed that one. She wanted them both. Separately. Together.

  Heat shuddered through him.

  Her eyes met his.

  Desire shimmered between them but neither of them stepped forward.

  She took a shallow breath.

  He matched it.

  She rubbed her palms against her jeans.

  He nearly did the same.

  Thinking escape, he said, “I usually take the girls for a w-a-l-k after dinner, but we were working.”

  “I’d love to come.”

  His cock spasmed. It’d love to make her come, though he didn’t think she’d meant it that way.

  “Fair warning, the minute I touch their l-e-a-s-h-e-s they’re going to become rocket-powered.”

  She laughed and the tension eased. Whatever her reason for not stepping into him, not making an offer he wouldn’t be able to refuse, he was grateful—and at the same time, disappointed.

  He told himself it was better to live with disappointment than disaster. Tried not to think about how it’d felt like magic when they’d played music together, how in ways it’d reminded him of what he’d experienced as a kid when he’d started hanging out with the Maguires and Montgomerys, how it’d seemed like a homecoming.

  He grabbed a couple of small blue plastic bags from the dispenser and shoved them in his pocket. That was enough to get Kiki and Daisy off the couch, their tales wagging furiously.

  The retractable leashes, already attached to soft harnesses, were on hooks next to the front door. He reached for them and the girls turned into whirling dervishes.

  He tossed a leash to Madison.

  She caught it and crouched, snagging Kiki as she spun past.

  He did the same with Daisy, getting a dark blue harness with pink pigs on her while Madison got a dark blue harness with red chickens on Kiki.

  They left the house. He saw Shane’s Rubicon, but thankfully Shane had already made it to the end of the block and around the corner—either that or he’d stopped at Grace’s place because Lyric’s Wrangler was in front of it.

  No use looking for trouble.

  At the end of the walkway he steered Madison in the opposite direction and the conversation to music. That was safe enough.

  The girls sniffed, the leashes lengthening and shortening depending on how interesting the scents they encountered were.

  By the time they’d traveled around the block, Lyric and a woman he didn’t know were halfway to her Jeep.

  “Interesting,” Tyler murmured.

  Madison bumped his shoulder with hers. “Because?”

  “Because the lights are off at Grace’s place and her Beetle is missing.”

  “By which I’m supposed to intuit that neither of those women are Grace.”

  “As Shane would say, that would be true.”

  She laughed. “Quoting Shane now? Not sure that’s a good thing.”

  He grinned. “Me either.”

  They reached Lyric’s Jeep.

  He introduced Madison.

  Lyric introduced the woman as Taryn Erickson and he stifled a laugh. He didn’t need Lyric to mouth the words intervention time t
o know what she was up to, though it didn’t explain why they were at Grace’s place when Grace wasn’t.

  “Grace okay?” he asked.

  “Oh yeah. She’s moving in with Cade and Mace.”

  His jaw dropped, literally. For a moment he was speechless.

  “Cade and Mace Benson?”

  “The very same. Who knew that they had a thing for her, and she apparently had a thing for them?”

  He shook his head, clearing the surprise. “Does Michael know?”

  Lyric grinned. “He does now. Interesting thing, right before Bulldog gave Grace her first case, he sent big brother to Atlantic City. Want to bet whether or not Grandma Maguire had something to do with that?”

  “No way.”

  Lyric glanced at Madison, then back at him, her smile subtly changing and making him suddenly feel like a mouse on the receiving end of a cat’s attention. “Wonder what else Grandma M has been up to lately.”

  His heart started banging. His eyes bored into Lyric’s, half of him wanting to question her, half of him afraid of what she might reveal.

  Self-preservation, and a knowledge of how Lyric operated, had him saying, “If Grace is moving out, does that mean Taryn is moving in?”

  Lyric laughed, eyes shining with the prospect of creating mayhem—a mayhem meant to change lives for the better. “You got it. Grace is clearing out her personal stuff but leaving the furniture and some other things so Taryn can stay in the house while she helps with a case.”

  Tyler shot a smile Taryn’s way. Did she have any clue what she was in for?

  He almost felt sorry for Cash. He also wondered if Kieran had any idea that his wife was about to turn his partner’s life upside down.

  Lyric turned toward Taryn. “Ready to head out?”

  “You’re the boss.”

  “I like the sound of that.”

  To Tyler, Lyric said, “Call you soon with a chance to get into another betting pool.”

  Please let me avoid being the subject of one.

  As if she’d heard his silent prayer, Lyric gave him another cat-like smile, sending his pulse skittering before she got into the Jeep and drove away.

  “What’d Lyric mean by intervention time?” Madison asked as they began walking.

  “I ended up with Daisy and Kiki because of a case Lyric had. It’s the same case that led her to meeting Kieran, who she’s married to now, and to his partner, Cash, meeting Taryn. According to Lyric, Cash has been running from his fate ever since.”

  Madison shook her head. “Should I feel sorry for Cash, or Taryn?”

  He laughed. “Good question since Lyric’s involved. But too early to say.”

  “And Grace? How’s she related to Lyric and Shane?”

  “She’s a Montgomery cousin.”

  They reached his house and went inside, both of them crouching to remove the girls’ harnesses.

  A shiver of heat went through Tyler. There was only one way to interpret Lyric’s glance between him and Madison when taken with the smile and the mention of Grandma Maguire—especially coming after the reveal about Grace being involved with Cade and Mace. She’d been implying that this case might also be a romantic intervention.

  Looking at Madison, he wanted it to be true badly enough that ache spread with each heartbeat. It’d be so easy to stand, to pull her against his body and kiss her the way he’d wanted to all night, to strip her out of her clothing and make love to her, knowing that doing it might lead to Shane in bed with them.

  Lyric was all about going for it. He was more cautious.

  Lyric’s knowing about his thing for Shane fed the hope that somehow Madison’s entering his life and Shane’s had changed something. But in all the years of Lyric being the only one to know his secret, of her actually having a touch of sight, how many times had they talked about him wanting Shane, only to end up at the same place—that the only way to determine if Shane might have leanings in a bi direction was for Tyler to make a move.

  He swallowed, pulse speeding, his chest tightening as fear returned with thoughts of taking that risk.

  “Want to play some more music?” he asked.

  “Sure.”

  He wasn’t as passionate about the guitar as he was his art, but it didn’t leave anything incriminating behind for snooping Maguires and Montgomerys to find.

  It was a good way to escape temptation—except the feelings he’d had earlier returned, deepening with each song he and Madison did. It felt right, natural, as if they’d always played together, as if they always would.

  It was almost two in the morning when they finally stopped, setting their guitars aside, standing, exchanging a glance, her obvious exhaustion helping to maintain his self-discipline while allowing him to rationalize stepping forward, touching his lips to hers, giving her a kiss that flooded him with longing but at the same time was brief enough not to allow the desire for her to consume his caution.

  “See you in the morning,” he said.

  Her palm settled on his chest. His heart pounded against it.

  For a long moment, their eyes met and want shimmered between them. It was like standing at the edge of a precipice, both of them aware of how risky and dangerous that drop was.

  Her hand fell away from his chest. She leaned in, brushed her mouth against his. “It’s already morning. See you in a little while.”

  She disappeared into the guest room. He went to his own, imagining her slowly peeling off her clothing, allowing himself to slide into a fantasy where he joined her in bed. That fantasy morphing into a dream where Shane was also there.

  * * * * *

  “Are we still going to do this?” Madison asked, heart thundering, her arms tightening around Elijah’s waist.

  She wanted to. They both did. But they were going to end up in trouble.

  Probably. Maybe.

  Eli had a better chance of getting away with it than she did. For one thing, his parents didn’t care so much about what he did, as long as they didn’t have to miss work.

  Guilt crept in at the prospect of causing her parents worry and at disappointing them.

  They don’t have to find out, she told herself. They weren’t good about checking the message machine. All she had to do was get to it first, erase the call from the office saying she’d been reported absent from school…

  She rubbed her cheek against Eli’s and inhaled the scent of his shampoo. She loved him so much, couldn’t imagine not being with him. They were perfect together and had been since he’d shown up at school after his dad got a promotion and transfer to Richmond from Jacksonville, Florida.

  “We’ve wanted to hear Smash forever,” she said. “They probably won’t be anywhere close for a while. And besides, what’s better than a beach concert?”

  “You sure you want to skip?”

  “Positive.”

  He kind of huff-sighed, making her hair fly. “I hate it when you get grounded.”

  “Me too.”

  It seemed like it happened a lot more often lately. Jam sessions got going and no one wanted to quit. The guys would get excited about one of her songs and they’d start tinkering with it. Then sometimes one of the other band members or some of their friends passed around a joint, and that led to a private make-out session. Not that just being with Elijah wasn’t enough to make her want to get naked and do it.

  Elijah nuzzled his way to her mouth.

  She melted against him.

  They could kiss forever, but this one had to be short.

  The school bell rang.

  Other couples broke apart in the parking lot.

  “Let’s go,” he said, and they slid into the black MINI Cooper his parents had given him.

  The guilt returned as they sped toward Virginia Beach.

  She wished her parents would chill. She wished they’d stop bugging her about her grades. Music was her future. Music and Elijah.

  They’d see. It’d turn out okay.

  One day the band they were in—not
the current one—was going to pack stadiums. They were going to top the Billboard charts with songs that went gold. Her songs.

  The songs were her ticket. She didn’t have the mad guitar skills that Elijah did, but she was good enough to play in whatever band he was in so they could be together.

  She knew it in her heart. She believed it totally.

  Which was why going to hear Smash and watch them perform was so important.

  It was a different kind of learning. More useful than struggling to stay awake while Ms. Takakura scribbled numbers on the blackboard or Mr. Collins droned on and on about people who’d died hundreds of years ago and were totally irrelevant.

  She closed her eyes, let the tunes filling the car fill her head and chase the guilt away. Excitement built the closer they got to Virginia Beach. And when they reached it… They weren’t the only ones who’d skipped school for an outdoor concert.

  See, it’ll be okay, she told herself, silently sending the message to her parents.

  She was so so glad she and Eli were there, listening to the warm-up bands. Singing every song when Smash was on stage. Elijah phantom playing the guitar. Her doing the same, leaning in and singing into an imaginary mic.

  She hated for it to end.

  Hung onto the natural high of it as they drove toward home, Smash playing in the MINI as they relived the concert.

  Only the closer they got to Richmond, the louder her heart beat.

  It thundered in her ears. Became the screech of brakes and her own scream.

  Madison bolted from the nightmare, not that she’d ever be able to escape what came next.

  Lying trapped in the twisted remains of the MINI. Elijah—

  Tyler appeared in the doorway, shirtless, his hair sleep-mussed, his bare feet visible below his jeans, a gun in his hand.

  “You okay?”

  “Nightmare. I take it I screamed?”

  “Yeah.”

  He rubbed his chest and the desire she’d felt earlier returned with a vengeance, this time tangled in a need for comfort, for escape.

  She leaned forward, hugging her knees.

  It brought Tyler deeper into the room.

  He put the gun on the nightstand then sat on the bed, his side touched to her forearm. “Want to talk about it?”