MenageaDare

by Frances Stockton

  Easing back down, he grinned when she sighed and snuggled in, practically climbing on top of him.

  “Before we get to love bites and scratches, let’s hold each other and talk,” he said.

  “What do you want to talk about?” she asked quietly, sounding content, satisfied.

  “Tell me why you chose to teach mini-semesters on the college level.”

  “I like the short, eight-week courses,” she said. “There’s the occasional student who simply wants to get their history credit done with quickly, but most are adults returning to college or attending for the first time.”

  “Do you ever think about teaching at the university level?”

  “Actually, I’ve been looking into earning my doctorate for that very reason.”

  “That’s great, tell me more.”

  She did exactly that, giving him details about her academic goals that he should have asked about by now. Crazily enough, he knew her favorite flavor of ice cream was vanilla fudge. Her favorite movie star was Hugh Jackman and her favorite color was the same as his, red.

  Hearing about her plans for the future was essential. She was proud of what she’d accomplished, admitted she’d like to have a tenured position on the university level. Maybe in New England, maybe elsewhere, depending upon what school hired her.

  The possibility that she might leave Massachusetts scared him a little. But he wouldn’t begrudge her for having career goals. He had more flexibility than she did as well. When it came to the NEPI, a schedule could be made to suit his travel needs.

  Gathering her closer, he kissed the top of her head and listened to her soft-spoken voice, feeling grateful to hold her and know he’d make love to her again as soon as he was able.

  Chapter Five

  “Red, if you look at your cell phone one more time, I’m confiscating it for the rest of the day,” Jaxon warned as he wiped down the bar where he’d served Avery Grant a cherry Coke.

  Though she wasn’t a redhead, he’d given her the nickname due to the sexy red dress she’d been wearing the night they first met. And he hadn’t been the only man to notice her walking across the room. She’d come in looking for trouble and was fortunate to find it in one of the most honorable men Jax knew, his best friend Trevor.

  “Sorry, Jax,” Avery said absently, her eyes on the screen. “They should be here any minute.”

  “They meaning your friends from Massachusetts,” he clarified.

  He knew who she’d meant. He simply wanted Avery to relax. Trevor, known to most as Hazard, linebacker for the Alexandria Griffins, had entrusted his girlfriend to Jax’s care while he worked on a surprise proposal for Avery with the Truth or Dare Club house band.

  After talking with Trevor at length the other day, Jax learned that Remington Sinclair and Evelyn Stratham were important to Avery and it would likely mean a lot to her to know her friends from Massachusetts witnessed his proposal.

  Jax thought it was great and there was no doubt Avery would say yes. She loved Hazard as much as Hazard loved her.

  Besides everyone deserved to have that special someone they wanted to be with forever, but he didn’t expect to have it happen to him again. Not after losing Niko and Gemma. For him, it was more than recovering from a broken heart. It was the belief that he’d never find two partners to replace them.

  “Dammit, Jax, if they don’t text or call or get here soon, I’m going to march down to Sawyer’s office and have him put a BOLO out on them,” Avery declared.

  “Maybe they stopped somewhere for lunch,” he suggested, refusing to admit his own curiosity about the pair of ghost hunters from New England.

  He’d yet to watch one of Remington Sinclair’s reality shows, even though Avery had pointed him toward a video stream of last season’s most successful haunts that’d apparently catapulted Sinclair into regional stardom.

  For reasons he hadn’t figured out yet, he didn’t need to see a video of Remington Sinclair. In his mind’s eye, he already had a clear picture of what he’d look like. He blamed his dreams for that, those treacherous things didn’t let go at times, causing him to stay up late and stare at walls instead of getting rest.

  When he did sleep, yeah, he was there, haunting him, tempting him as no man, not even Niko, had done. Ditto when it came to Evelyn Stratham. Maybe he’d start taking sleep aids or something the next time unwanted images flashed in his mind in the middle of the night.

  “You don’t understand,” Avery said, looking up from her phone. “I’m anxious to see them together. Know what I mean?”

  “I’d guess you mean they’re a couple? Trevor gave me the impression they were strictly friends-coworkers.”

  “They’re a couple as of this past weekend. Eve’s been waiting a long time for it to happen.”

  “What’s that about? The other day you said Eve’s an attractive woman. Is he gay?”

  “Umm, I’m pretty sure he dates both.”

  “Nothing wrong with that, I’m bisexual.”

  “I agree. But I think Remy kept his distance because he didn’t want to hurt her if he became attracted to a man.”

  “Interesting, has he dated many men since you’ve known him?”

  “Not really. He flirted with my brother and his husband Ryan Hathaway a time or two when they first met. He’s also recently joined their club.”

  “Ah, yes, Taran Maddox mentioned Druid Creek Castle when he visited Dare last week because he recognized a fellow Dom.”

  “Yes, that’s the one.”

  “You and Hazard join yet?”

  “Nope, we have our games, sure, but hardcore BDSM isn’t for us. Is that okay?”

  “Of course, Red, I’m simply trying to learn about what you and Trev do when you’re in Massachusetts. Whenever I visit, I’d like the chance to get to know your family and friends.”

  “Are you planning to visit soon?”

  “Possibly, it’ll depend on my work schedule and my mama’s health,” he said.

  “Your work schedule consists of running this bar and overseeing the town along with the council,” Avery said. “I’m sure your friends would understand if you wanted to take a vacation.”

  “They would,” he agreed, unwilling to clue her into his secret project or his pseudonym, Ransom Hunter.

  So far, his attempts to turn his Vampire-For-Hire series into screenplays had proven unsuccessful. His agent had worked out an extended deadline, but his writer’s block was so strong at the moment he started to wonder if his love of writing died when his partners had.

  “You want to grab some lunch?” Jaxon offered.

  “Sure. No reason to wait for the phone to ring with my tummy rumbling as it is.”

  “You’ll have your phone. They’ll call when they get here. Relax, they are fine. I can’t wait to meet them too.”

  “You know, I think the three of you will have a lot in common, what with your likeness of paranormal phenomena and vampires. Eve’s more into vamps than Remy though. You should see how her book collection, especially a series called Vampire-For-Hire. Ever hear of them?”

  “Yeah, sure,” Jaxon said, rushing to think of something else to talk about. “Ghost hunting reality TV is the rage. I can see why it’s interesting to watch, but much of what I’ve seen is campy.”

  “I thought you believe in ghosts.”

  “I do. My house is haunted. Many of the buildings we rebuilt and refurbished from their original counterparts here in town have unexplained activity. Sawyer says there are weird things happening at his ranch.”

  “The truth is I’m worried after the accident they had that stranded them in a campground in Colorado.”

  “Understandable, but I take it the camping trip was beneficial for Evelyn. They’re a couple now. She texted you and Hazard last night and said they’d made it to Carson City and would be here today. What’s the worry?”

  Red’s phone played Bloodletting by Concrete Blonde. Avery did a little jig in her chair and answered.

  “E
ve, it’s great to hear your voice,” she said. “Are you and Remy checked into the hotel I told you about? Great, you’ll love it.”

  Ah, so the caller was Evelyn Stratham, the historian. He wasn’t surprised to hear the vampire song was her ringtone. Hazard had clued him into Eve’s preference for vampires and Ransom Hunter novels a couple of times.

  “Jax?” Avery called out, touching his hand.

  “Umm?”

  “Do you mind if I ask Remy and Eve to join us for lunch?”

  Unbidden, Jax got a sudden, sharp kick to the gut. The kind of kick that went from his gut to his groin, warning something significant was about to happen.

  “Not at all, the more the merrier,” Jax agreed. Why that sounded like a double entendre, he had no idea.

  “Awesome,” Red said, putting her cell phone to her ear. “Eve? Listen, Hazard’s rehearsing with his band right now and I’m hanging out with Jaxon Wynter. Would you and Remy care to join us for lunch? No need to wear anything special. You always look fabulous.”

  Turning away from the conversation for the laptop stored safely behind the bar, Jax fired it up. A Google search later, he found New England Paranormal Investigator’s website and bios for Remington Sinclair and his crew.

  Jax clicked Remington’s link. A picture came up. Fuck no, no! Dream images flashed in Jax’s mind. A gorgeous half Native American man with long black hair streaked with red and a yin and yang tattoo on his chest was about to fuck a pretty, trim long-haired brunette.

  Jax hadn’t been able to see her face, but he hadn’t needed to. Remington had stared at her in awe, in utter worship and for a moment Jax wished he were the one climbing onto his lover’s big, uncircumcised cock.

  That was when he’d gotten angry. The pair fucked without him. It made little sense at the time, especially as he’d forced himself to retreat from the dream and give them privacy. It’d been their time and he had no right to get angry, even if he hadn’t known their names.

  Jaxon wasn’t clairvoyant, but the last time he’d had such a dream concerned Niko and Gemma, a couple he’d never met. Days later, Niko approached him about training his submissive wife.

  And now that he knew Remington was the single most gorgeous man he’d seen in a long, long time, he couldn’t deny the erection nudging his zipper was a direct salute to the ghost hunter.

  Curious about what Evelyn looked like too, he tried to search out her photo on the website. There were plenty of others, equipment techs, a cameraman and Evelyn’s bio but no actual photo. He wondered why.

  “See you soon,” Avery said, lowering the smartphone to the bar.

  “Are your friends okay?” Jax asked and closed his laptop before she could see what he was looking at.

  “They’re fine. They, ah, were late getting started this morning.”

  “Morning sex must’ve been good,” he said, venturing into territory he had no business meddling in.

  “Based on Eve’s giggles, I’d say it was epic. She said her knees were still weak.”

  “Good to hear,” Jax said, though his mind was racing.

  How did Remington Sinclair treat Evelyn in bed? Did she scream, moan or mew with her pleasure? Yeah, that was so not helping his erection. Nonchalantly reaching into a freezer of ice chips, he grabbed the bone-chilling scoop and made a show of adding ice to Avery’s Coke.

  The ice trick worked, helping to distract him from thoughts of sex with Avery’s friends. For how long, he’d no idea, and he wasn’t completely flaccid, just soft enough to not be as noticeable.

  “How long has she waited for Remington?” he heard himself ask.

  “A year,” Avery answered. “I didn’t meet them until October when I moved to Danvers but Eve and I hit it off right away.”

  “Why was that?”

  “In a lot of ways, we’re alike. Our fathers are powerful, wealthy men with a deeply guarded protective streak for their daughters.”

  “You’re both lucky to have fathers who care enough to worry. I’m sure they mean well.”

  “They do. But it also wasn’t uncommon for men to date us in order to gain our fathers’ approval.”

  “Translation, father’s approval equals a job title with clout.”

  “On the nose,” Red said, tapping the tip of her nose. “We should head over to the hotel. We can wait in the lobby until they finish washing up. Remind me to tell Eve all about the spa.”

  “That’s a good idea. The two of you should spend girl time together.” Tomorrow, he thought.

  Today, he didn’t want Evelyn to disappear into a spa. He wanted to meet her. In a way, it felt as if he’d already met Remington.

  “Jax, are you okay?” Red asked, suddenly taking interest in him.

  “Sure. Why do you ask?”

  “You’ve plunged your hand into the ice chest.”

  “Sorry, daydreaming,” he admitted, quickly pulling his hand out and drying it with the bar towel. “Let’s go, Red.”

  “Too bad Hazard’s tied up with the band. I’m sure he’d want to be there when I fill Remy and Eve in on what happened last week.”

  “Spontaneous weddings are exciting,” he agreed, leaving the protection of the bar. Thankfully, his hard-on was nonexistent now.

  “Sam and Taran are good friends of ours. Eve’s going to be disappointed she missed it.”

  “Not Remington?”

  “Remy, he prefers Remy,” Avery corrected swiftly. “He’ll be happy for them too. At one time, he went out to dinner with Taran’s brother’s wife, Morgan. There were some problems between Ethan and Remy because of it.”

  “I’m assuming she wasn’t his wife at the time?”

  “No, it was a while back, but the Maddox brothers are all very possessive of their women. Fortunately it’s all resolved between them and Remy, given he’s part of my brother’s club. The only way that could happen was if Phalen Maddox vetted him.”

  “If Phalen is anything like his younger brother, I’d say he’s the right man for the job.”

  “He is,” Avery said. “They’re all great guys. You’d enjoy being around them, I’d think, considering your mountain house and it’s plethora of playrooms. Who knows, maybe when you do come to visit us in New England, you’ll find someone special.”

  “My love life will work itself out, Red. No worries there.”

  “I hope so.” Avery looked up at him and smiled, warming his heart. “You’ve been nothing but a good friend to me since we met, Jaxon. But I’m not sure I’ve ever seen you truly happy.”

  “As I said, it’ll work itself out,” Jax assured, somehow thinking of the couple he was about to meet. He didn’t really know them, yet he had the feeling that his life was about to change because of them.

  Whether it was the crazy sex dream that sparked his interest, he couldn’t say. He only hoped he didn’t make a fool of himself and he didn’t dishonor Niko and Gemma’s memory.

  “Shall we go?” Avery asked, breaking into Jax’s thoughts.

  “Beauty first,” he replied, sweeping his hand out for her to precede him out of the club. Trevor had himself an amazing woman. She’d make his best friend the very best wife a man could hope for.

  As for himself, Jax didn’t know if love was in the cards for him again. What were the chances of lightning striking twice?

  Chapter Six

  Dare Hotel and Spa

  After leaving Colorado on Monday, Eve and Remy had made stops in Utah and Carson City. It’d been a blast. They slowed down a little. Remy let her drive his truck more often and a few times she’d read aloud from her Kindle during particularly long treks.

  At night they’d climb into the camper, bunk down, make love and talk for hours. It was heaven. Remy was sweet and kind, confident and strong, all at the same time. He was the kind of man her father would approve of if he ever gave him a chance.

  To her dad, Remington Sinclair was just a ghost hunter, a man who couldn’t possibly offer a woman such as herself a long-term commitment or a stable
home. That was ridiculous. The New England Paranormal Investigators were successful and this trip to Dare was meant to expand their horizons to the national level.

  Miraculously, during the conversations she’d had with her father whenever she and Remy stopped somewhere on their journey to Nevada, she’d started convincing him that the research was legitimate. She didn’t know if her dad would ever believe in ghosts outright, but he didn’t scoff about it or call it trivial.

  Finally, late this morning they’d packed the truck for the next stop in their itinerary, Dare, Nevada. Fortunately, they wouldn’t have to move for a little while, mainly because Remy hoped the town’s investors, who also served as the town council, would permit him to do some preliminary investigations.

  If Remy’s quest was approved, Eve would begin her own research into the town’s past. Even though she’d done some preliminary homework, she really wanted to interview those who knew the town best, the town’s original investors who’d reportedly rescued it from demolition.

  But as anxious as Eve was to meet the men who’d brought Dare into the twenty-first century, she was a little sad. Feminine intuition told her that the relationship she’d finally had with Remy was about to change again.

  As Remy took his turn in the hotel shower, Eve stood at the sink, eyeing her reflection in the vanity mirror. She was still the same person she’d been when she left her apartment in Salem, except she didn’t feel the need to bind her hair or wear prim business clothes to work every day.

  It wasn’t that she minded wearing dresses. In fact, she preferred them to jeans, but today she wore a pretty violet dress that flowed around her knees. She had cute sandals on her feet. The straps wrapped up around her ankles in a crisscross pattern and gave her an added two inches of height.

  Having taken a quick shower when she and Remy first unpacked their bags, she felt a gazillion times better and was glad she’d asked Avery for a little time getting ready for lunch.

  Drawn back to her reflection, she was once again taken by the notion that she and Remy were on the cusp of something momentous. If it were a matter of hoping to meet her favorite author, she could explain the hum of anticipation zipping under her skin.