Deception [The Masters Series 1] (Siren Publishing LoveEdge)

by Rebecca Joyce

  He never hid the fact that he was a selfish bastard. Hell, he prided himself on the fact that he could do things his other brothers couldn’t, that he got better grades, had the prettier girls, and managed to be the first to get out of Simple. Though he grew up sharing most of his things, there was one thing he absolutely refused to share and that was her, his Pandora.

  She belonged to him. What he couldn’t get over was the fact that she loved Zac just as much as him, and that nothing he did could erase him from her heart. God knew he tried, and even then, she still held a spot for his brother.

  “Zac never said he didn’t want you anymore. I made that up.”

  “What?” she gasped. “Why would you do that?”

  “Because I wanted you all to myself. I never liked sharing,” he simply said.

  “But you and Zac have shared everything. Ever since you arrived. You two did everything together. Why would you lie to me about him? You know I love him as much as I love you.”

  “Because you don’t love me enough to just stay with me. You have always wanted him, too. Am I not enough for you?”

  “Oh, Garret!” She howled. “It was never like that between us. I love you both equally. You know that. Why would you lie to him and to me? My God, he must think…Oh God, what else did you tell him?”

  Looking away from her, he couldn’t stand the thought of hurting her anymore than he already had. It was bad enough he had finally gotten her complete submission, and now it was all for nothing. All those weeks of training and planning were now going up in smoke, because the second he finished telling her the truth, she was going to leave him forever. Steeling himself for the inevitable, he cleared his throat and said, “I told him that you chose me. That you never loved him and used him to get what you wanted.”

  “Oh my God.”

  * * * *

  Zac stood in the hallway listening as Garret confessed his lies to Mary Jane. His brother’s deception hit hard with him. Listening, he tried to figure out why he’d done what he had, trying to make some sense of it all, but he was so cryptic, Zac couldn’t figure out where all his selfishness stemmed from. They had literally grown up and done everything together. He loved his brother, and just wanted to be around him. However, what he was hearing wasn’t good. It appeared that his feelings were only one-sided. What bothered him the most was that Garret had not only lied to him, but had also manipulated Mary Jane.

  He couldn’t believe he had been so rude and callous to her. She did not deserve his anger. She was just as much the victim as he was. The only issue he now had with Mary Jane was her disappearing act, which she seemed to have perfected over the years. Being with Mary Jane was hazardous. Every time he brought down his walls, she would crush him by disappearing. After the last time in Celestial, he refused to be suckered into her web again, and had hardened his heart. He couldn’t stop Garret from doing what he wanted, but he could sure as hell make it difficult for him to acquire his wayward love. The sad part of this whole situation was that he still loved her. Zac loved her like no other and though he couldn’t admit it, he wanted her with him, even if he couldn’t trust her to stay. At one point, he actually thought of marrying her, but how could he marry the wind?

  Then there was his brother Garret. Standing there hearing him confess his sins and hurt the woman he loved unleashed something so feral deep within him, he felt like roaring out his rage.

  The moment Garret had come to live at Momma Love’s Tennessee Walking Horses and Boys Farm, Zac knew that all Garret could think about was getting back to the home of his birth. He didn’t want to make friends, and he sure as hell didn’t want to acquire a brother. However, somehow, over the years he and Zac had become just that. As much as Garret wanted to deny it in the past, he could no longer refuse the fact that they were as much brothers as if Garret’s own biological mother had given birth to him.

  Unable to listen to any more of Mary Jane’s cries, Zac pushed off the wall and reentered the living room just in time to hear Garret say, “You see, my dear, I wanted you and I have made sure that you would only want me. So regardless of the pain you are feeling now, it will only be my body you crave.”

  “You motherfucker!” Zac roared. “Who the hell do you think you are? You can’t play with people’s emotions as if we were part of some sick twisted game you control. We’re human beings, Garret. We bleed red, just like you.”

  “Oh, look who’s all philosophical all of a sudden. Tell me, Zac, have you just been dippin’ into the moonshine, or have you and Luther been smoking that illegal grass he’s been growing out in his greenhouse?” Garret asked.

  “Fuck you, Garret. You know damn well that Luther grows that shit for medicinal purposes only.”

  “I never could tell what bothered you or not. I guess it doesn’t matter anyway. In the morning I will be leaving and Pandora is leaving with me.”

  “No, I’m not,” she whispered, moving closer toward Zac.

  “You forget, my dear. That’s my collar around your neck. You’re mine. I own you,” Garret said furiously.

  “You cut your collar off my neck yesterday. I put this one on me, and nobody owns me. I am not a piece of property that you can buy at your whim,” she clearly said, holding her ground. Zac was surprised to see her standing up for herself. Generally, she would just go along with whatever they wanted, rarely disagreeing with them. However, there was something different about her now. She looked more alive, more sure, just more.

  “And where will you stay, my dear? Surely you must understand by now, that you are not welcome here.”

  “She can stay with me, since it seems we were both deceived by the one person we thought would never hurt us. Go home, Garret. We don’t need you anymore,” Zac said, coming to stand behind Mary Jane, wrapping his arms around her.

  “She’s my submissive, Zachary. Go find your own. I’ve trained her and made her to fit and accept me, no one else,” Garret seethed, and Mary Jane gasped. It was at that moment that Zac realized that something was off about Garret. He was hard, more controlled than normal. Garret was deliberately goading him into a fight. Deciding enough had been said for the night, Zac took Mary Jane’s hand and quietly led her from the room, leaving Garret standing there alone and furious.

  Garret made his way toward his bedroom and silently closed the door behind him. Sitting down on his bed, he tried not to think of the massive mess he had created, or the fact that the woman he loved was in the same room with his brother and soon the real truth would come out.

  “God, I really fucked everything up,” he said to himself, lying on his back looking at the ceiling. In the last twenty-four hours, he had been suspended from his job, broke Mary Jane and manipulated her into what he wanted, and then if that wasn’t bad enough, the lie he had told them both months ago was now out in the open, and they hated him.

  The way the both of them had looked at him downstairs was eating him alive. Mary Jane with her hurt and sad eyes and Zac with contempt and retribution written all over him, Garret knew it would be best to just leave, but for some reason he couldn’t. He felt compelled to stay, as if some unforeseen force was holding him against his will, making him face the firing squad that awaited him.

  Garret chuckled, thinking of the irony of it all. He had punished Mary Jane for her runaway habits and Zac for his indiscretions, and yet, he was willing to stay and face whatever punishment she and his brother dished out, just so they wouldn’t abandon him. Irony was a nasty bitch when she wanted to be.

  “Psst!”

  Garret groaned. “What?”

  “Psst! Psst!”

  “What?”

  “Psst! Psst! Psst!”

  “Oh for fuck’s sake, Chip, what!”

  “No need to curse, brother. I was just tryin’ to get yer attention,” said the youngest of Momma Love’s boys, as he walked out of the closet.

  “I thought Momma told you to stay out of the closet.”

  “She did, but when yer playin’ hide and seek
with Tic, it’s the best place to hide.”

  “It’s after midnight and you’re supposed to be an adult.”

  “I am, but Tic is mad at me, so I hid.”

  Sighing, Garret rubbed the back of his neck trying to relieve the tension. Chip Patterson was a sweet kid. At the age of fifteen, he’d arrived at Momma Love’s wearing a baggy T-shirt and socks and nothing else. Children Services found him living out of a Dumpster and severely malnourished. Garret could remember watching Chip eat like a ravenous animal after the first few days he arrived, even going as far as to sneak food into his room. It took a lot of patience and love on Momma’s part to break his youngest brother from that habit. Once Chip realized that he would always have a home and that Momma was never going to send him back, he adjusted to having a big family of brothers as any kid would, and he quickly learned how to defend himself. Looking at him now, Garret wasn’t surprised to see a strong man before him. “Okay, Chip, I’ll play along. Why are you hiding from Tic?”

  “Because I slept with Krystal Ann Workman.”

  “Who is Krystal Ann Workman?”

  “Tic’s girlfriend.”

  Laughing, Garret replied, “Not anymore, I bet.” Garret knew damn well that Tic would dump the poor girl. “Chip, can I ask you a question?”

  “Load ’em up and shoot,” he replied, smiling. “You know I’ll tell you anything.”

  “Am I a bad person?”

  “No. You’re a little scared sometimes and maybe a bit selfish, but then I figure, what person isn’t at one point in time or another? Why are you asking?”

  “I lied to Mary Jane and Zac,” Garret said.

  “Why did you lie?” Chip asked, leaning against the bedroom door.

  “Honestly, I don’t know. For so long Zac and I planned to fall in love with the same woman, marry her, have babies, and ride off into the sunset together. And when I had the opportunity to make that dream happen, I told them both an awful lie and did something I’m not proud of. Now that the truth is out, I can’t seem to stop. I went and said some things I shouldn’t have tonight, and now neither one is talking to me. I know I should leave, but I can’t.”

  “That’s because your conscience won’t let you. Deep down, you know you need to fix what you broke, but your abandonment issues interfere with what is right and wrong. You won’t be able to move on until you face your past.”

  “What abandonment issues? I ain’t some kid who’s afraid of losing their best friend.”

  “Oh, I wouldn’t say that. Look at it this way. The first part of your life, you had two parents that loved you, and then they were gone. You were taken from the only home you knew, and put in a strange place with a new mom and a bunch of rowdy boys. You were alone, and afraid. Zac was the first friend you made, and you latched onto him. You never really gave the other boys a chance. We all know you love us in your own way, but Zac is different. You and him have some kind of special bond, and no one comes close. Then you both met Mary Jane. She completed your trio. She made you a family, the family you once had but lost. So I get why you would feel the need to lie to hang onto either one, but Garret, you can’t lie to yourself. If you don’t let your family see the real you, your family will disappear just like before, only this time, you will know they are alive walking this earth somewhere, and that will eat at you until you die,” Chip said.

  “When did you get so smart?” Garret asked.

  “Oh that’s easy…I’ve been hanging out with Marvin. He’s learnin’ me the moonshining business. We’re gonna be rich.” Chip grinned.

  “You’re both gonna be in jail,” Garret muttered.

  “Not if they can’t see us,” Chip replied laughing as he left the room, closing the door behind him.

  Chapter Six

  The early morning rooster crowed, waking Zac. Stretching, he moaned as his body ached and the beating drum in his head wouldn’t shut off. Oh yeah, he had definitely drunk too much this time. Sighing, he reached over on his nightstand for his ready to-go bottle of aspirin, only to find it missing. Grumbling, he flopped back on his back and rubbed up against a soft warm body. He smiled. If he couldn’t have aspirin, then sex was the next best thing to get him going.

  Rolling over, he spooned the tiny blonde woman, kissing her neck. “Ssmornin’, Mary Jane.”

  “Good morning, Zac.” She yawned, scooting closer to him.

  “Did you sleep well?” he asked, nibbling her ear.

  She sighed. “About as well as to be expected. Are you still mad at me?”

  “I was never really mad at you, Mary Jane. It was more like disappointed that you kept skipping out on us…I mean me. I still don’t understand, and when you’re ready, I would like to hear why, but no, baby, I’m not mad at you. Just out of curiosity, you’re not gonna skedaddle anytime soon, are you?”

  Chuckling, she replied, “No. I’m not going anywhere. I think I am finally ready to hang up my running shoes. But I’m worried about where we begin, and then there is Garret. What are we going to do about him?”

  “Garret made his bed. Let him lay in it.”

  “I can’t do that, and I know deep down, you can’t either. Garret may be gruff and stubborn, and we may never know why he did what he did, but we can’t just forget about him. He is a part of us. He is one third of our soul, Zac. How can we live with a part of our soul missing? I just don’t understand why he did it,” she said. “And then there is the fact that I did agree to be his submissive.”

  “Having a dominant-submissive relationship is based on trust. If one person breaks that cardinal rule then the trust is gone. He lied to you and to me. I don’t trust him and it’s going to take a lot of groveling on his part to get that back.”

  “Then I guess I’m gonna have to grovel, too?”

  “Huh?” he said, turning to look at her.

  “You just said that trust is earned. What have I done to earn your trust? Nothing. I kept running away. How can you trust that I will stay?”

  “Oh, that’s easy.” He grinned and scurried overtop of her, pinning her to the bed. “I’m gonna make you pinkie swear.” Her laughter instantly filled the room and for the first time in months, Zac felt whole. There was just something about Mary Jane that made him feel all good and gooey inside. She brought out the best in him, and that made him feel like he could do anything.

  “Please be serious, Zac.” She smiled. “If you can give me your trust after what I’ve done to you, then you can give Garret a chance to explain why he did what he did. Judge him after he explains, then make your decision. In the meantime, I think I need some reassurement that you really do still want me.”

  “Oh yeah?” He grinned wickedly. “And what kind of reassurement are you needin’, darlin’?”

  “Oh, I think you know.” She smiled, rolling her hips toward him.

  “Ah, I think you might want to explain it in great detail. I wasn’t the best learner in school,” he said seductively, his voice lowering to almost a purr as he spread himself over her.

  “Well, if I have to explain it, we’re gonna be here a long time,” she replied, raking her nails up and down his back, as she placed her left leg over his hips.

  “A very long time,” he finished, taking her mouth in a searing kiss. God, he loved this woman, especially the way she responded to him and his brother. Mary Jane Delany was a real woman with a real figure. Her bountiful breasts barely fit in his hands, and her narrow waist gave way to curvy hips and slender legs. But it was what was in her heart that he loved the most. Mary Jane was the sweetest, kindest, most loving woman on the planet next to Momma Love, and he adored every inch of her.

  Mary Jane gasped as he pushed her down onto her bed. He had stripped off his pajama pants and pressed his naked body against hers quickly, before she could stop him. He needed her content and happy, because the next day or so was going to be tense. He only hoped that when it was all said and done, she forgave him, and that Garret didn’t kill him.

  Pinning her hands above h
er head, he pressed openmouthed kisses against her quivering flesh. Reaching down beside the bed, he yanked her little shorts off and threw them on the floor. Wrapping her hands around the spokes of the headboard, he ordered, “If you know what’s good for you, I wouldn’t let go.” Mary Jane nodded and tightened her grip. Zac kissed the tip of her nose and rose from the bed. Walking over to the dresser, he pulled a pair of stockings out of the drawer they shared. Turning back around, he headed back to the bed.

  His little Mary Jane loved being tied up. She seemed to relax more, and besides, it was some awesome hot sex when she was restrained. She would become a wild thing under him every time. After securing her legs, he stepped back to look at the picture she made. Smiling at her spread-eagle form, he turned, grabbed his robe, and left the room, smiling when she called after him.

  Zac wasn’t gone long, and when he returned, he felt like laughing when her eyes widened at the sight of what he held in his hands.

  He brought a tray of ice cubes with him. He set them down on the stand next to the bed for easy access. Leaning down, he kissed her hotly before pulling back.

  “Damn, sweetheart, you’re so smokin’ hot, I think you need something to cool down,” he stated before pulling one of the ice cubes out of the tray. “Don’t worry, sweetheart, I can fix that.”

  Placing an ice cube in his mouth, she groaned as he pulled one of her hard nipples into his mouth. Zac knew the sharp contrast of heat and ice was enough to drive anyone crazy, and he chuckled when a deeper groan fell from her lips. He was going to drive her absolutely crazy before giving her what she wanted, and he was going to enjoy every minute of it.

  “Damn, you’re still smokin’ hot, baby.” Zac grinned devilishly. “Let’s see if I can make you combust.”

  Placing a soft kiss on her navel, he took his time exploring every inch of her as he slid further down the bed. When his head was level with her spread legs, he looked up at her, grinned, and then lowered his head.