“Hey, Eve, good to see you again,” Sawyer said, welcoming her in with a big smile.
Dammit, Jax wanted her back next to him, now. When did he become so possessive? Since he kissed Remy and tasted his man and smelled the distinct, lovely fragrance of a woman and a hint of citrus, Evelyn’s scent.
Sawyer and Eve continued talking privately, laughing. She had a nice laugh, especially after she greeted Travis Ross and realized she recognized him from the rodeo circuit.
“You know rodeo, Evelyn?” Jaxon interrupted, not caring if he was rude.
Evelyn looked back at him, frowning but then answered his question. “Sure, I loved horses growing up. I wasn’t fortunate to have one of my own but my dad took me to a stable where I was able to take lessons. I loved riding Western the most and watched rodeo on TV when I could find it.”
“It’s nice to be recognized,” Travis admitted. “I realize it’s not the norm in Dare, as many residents or visitors stay because they don’t have to worry about the gossip mill, but I don’t mind being remembered for my time as a bareback bronco champion.”
Sawyer stood nearby, staring at his ranch foreman as if thunderstruck. Jax understood that look, recognizing it as the one he was likely sending Remy and Evelyn’s way.
“Come here, Evelyn,” Jax said, signaling for her to disengage from the other men and sit back down.
After excusing herself, she settled back in her chair. Snagging her hand before she could relax, Jax dragged it over to his lap, placing it right over his erection.
“You feel that?” he whispered while Remy and Sawyer caught up.
“Mr. Wynter, what are you doing?” she murmured.
“Teaching you a lesson, Evelyn,” he answered. “Do you want it? If you do, stop with the formalities.”
“Okay.”
“Answer me, do you want it?”
“I do,” she answered in a rush.
“Then make sure you remember Sawyer and Travis are not yours to flirt with.”
“That wasn’t flirting, it was a conversation. Sawyer’s a nice guy,” she countered. “So is Travis. I’d love to talk to him about his time as a rodeo star. He was huge not long ago, you know that right?”
“Travis and Sawyer are single.”
“I’m not interested in either one, if that’s what you’re implying.”
“What about Remington?”
“I love Remy. I want him to be my lover for as long as he’ll have me,” she stated without missing a beat.
“And me?” Jax pressed.
“I’m intrigued with you.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because you’ve got my hand pressed against your cock. And God forgive me, I want it too.”
“Fantastic, I’ll pick the two of you up at seven tonight.”
She started, bringing her head around, her hazel eyes connecting with his. “Why would you do that?”
“For our date,” he explained, smiling.
“The party,” she whispered to be sure Avery didn’t catch on.
“Will go on as scheduled,” he assured her. “Only difference is I’ll have you and Remington with me.”
“This is crazy,” she maintained, inclining her head.
“Don’t you want to see how good we can all be together?” he coaxed.
Eve didn’t answer because table became crowded as Sawyer and Travis took their seats, food arrived and Remy placed his arm around her shoulders, shielding her with his big, strong body. A body Jax now craved with a vengeance.
Picking up a slider from his plate, Jax bit into it, watching as those around him ate and talked. More and more, his attention gravitated to Remy and Eve, distracting him from food.
Granted, Remington was strong as an ox. He’d given him a run for his money and Jax let himself get plowed over. The result had been the sexiest kiss he’d had in a long time.
He wanted to taste Evelyn too. Sooner the better as far as he was concerned.
“Jax, be really careful with how you treat Eve,” Remy warned, promising retribution should Jax dare do anything with Eve that Remy hadn’t approved of.
“I’m fine, Remy,” she argued.
“It’s my right to keep you safe. I don’t give a damn who Jaxon thinks he is. I won’t let him pressure you into something you aren’t ready for.”
“I don’t feel pressured and I’m not afraid.”
“Then it’s a date?” Jax asked.
“What’s he talking about?” Remy demanded.
“Keep your voice down. I’m taking you and Evelyn to the party.”
“Like hell you are,” Remy objected emphatically but quietly.
Jax loved it. He didn’t like docile men. He liked muscle and power. He was so going to enjoy taking Remy’s ass for a ride. Afterward, he’d kiss all the lingering soreness away.
“Seven, be ready,” Jax insisted.
“Don’t be surprised if we lock the door,” Remy warned.
“Try,” Jax offered. “I’ll find my way in.”
“Trespassing is illegal, even in Dare,” Eve quietly pointed out.
“Are you going to put up a fuss if I break the door down, baby girl?” Daring her to tell the truth, he caught her eyes, refusing to let her look away.
“I won’t. Hotel staff might.”
“Then open the door for me. Remy, we on for tonight or am I going to have to wrestle you for the right to kiss you again?”
Eve gasped, squirming as she placed her hand over her midriff. Her eyes went wide as hazel saucers, her tongue slipping out to wet her lips.
“Sonofabitch, you’ve upset her,” Remy stated. “Date’s off, my man.”
“Say yes, Remy, say yes,” he urged, this time looking into Remy’s dark eyes, seeing his own reflection there.
“Eve and I will talk about it, alone,” Remy answered.
“Fair enough,” Jax granted. “I’ll knock at seven. We’ll go from there.”
Conversation settled into a sense of normalcy. Eve settled back close to Remy, looking pretty next to the big man who kept watch over her. Jax did like big, protective men and adorable women.
Eve fit Remy just right. He bet she was a little firecracker when riled. In bed, she’d be warm, giving and willing but she’d take charge when she wanted to.
Not wanting to be left out of the pair, Jax used the subterfuge of the table to hide the fact that he still possessed Evelyn’s hand, still had it nestled up against his heavy cock. Testing her, he placed his hand on top of hers, moving her fingers for her.
Well what do you know? Little imp shifted enough to touch him on her own. She had a nice, firm grip, one she may have practiced on Remy. That was fine. As long as she confined her touches to him and Remy, he wouldn’t object.
“Avery, did you tell Remy and Eve about the wedding?” Hazard asked.
Eve unknowingly tightened her grip. Shifting to give her greater access, Jax stifled a growl. Oh yeah, that was good. She had a clever, curious touch, though she didn’t breach his fly or attempt anything further.
Remy cast his eyes down. His nostrils flared, his hips flexed. Jaxon looked closer. Yep, Remy was getting an erection and from the look of things, he had an enormous cock!
“What wedding?” Remy asked absently.
“Taran and Samantha were here last weekend,” Avery answered. “They got married in the town chapel. It was so romantic and such a surprise to Hazard and me, especially as we were their maid of honor and best man.”
“Oh man, I bet Phalen was pissed his little brother eloped,” Remy commented, sounding distracted. Jax didn’t blame him. He barely cared about anything but Eve’s hand on his cock.
“Knowing Phalen as well as I do, I’m sure he’ll support them unconditionally,” Avery pointed out. “Apparently, Sam and Taran had been in Arizona for a few days but decided to book a quick trip to Nevada before returning to Phoenix for their honeymoon.”
“Why’d they go to Arizona?” Remy asked, having a better time with communi
cation right now. Jax was more concerned with the state of his erection.
Where was that ice pack he’d gotten for Remy a little while ago anyway? Still in the men’s room, he guessed. To protect his pants from getting damp from pre-cum, he laid his hand over Eve’s.
“Baby girl, I love what you’re doing,” he whispered to her. “But you need to stop or we’re going to have a mess on our hands. Hear me?”
“Not sure what’s come over me,” she murmured back, sending him a shy smile.
“I do. We’ll explore it later.” Squeezing her soft hand, he moved it away from his cock, deliberately placing their joined hands on Remy’s knee. Thank fuck for a big round table that hid everything that was going on.
“Sam met her biological daughter, Abigail,” Avery was saying. “She and Taran went to the University of Arizona and spent time with her.”
“Oh my god, that’s wonderful news,” Eve exclaimed. “Sam’s so lucky to have Taran. He’s great and a lot of fun to be around. Sometimes Phalen makes me nervous, but not Taran.”
“The Maddox brothers are all great,” Avery added. “I’ve never been intimidated by Phalen. Maybe because he went to college with my brother Alex and I’ve known him for years. Fact is if anyone in Dare ever needed a place to stay in New England, my brother’s castle or one of the Maddox houses would be open to you if you visit.”
“Phalen’s the one who vets those who seek to join your brother’s club, right Red?” Jax asked her.
“That’s correct. No one gets into Druid Creek Castle’s club without his say.”
“I take it we’re talking about a BDSM club?” Sawyer questioned. Next to him, Travis was looking a little uncomfortable. His blue eyes continuously lingered on the man to his right, but if Sawyer noticed, he wasn’t letting on.
“Yes,” Eve answered. “Normally the castle doubles as a B&B and a restaurant.”
Jax knew a lot about men. He knew a lot about women. Most of the time, he knew if they were straight, bi, gay or lesbian. Travis Ross was gay. He’d seen him at the gay bar, Silver Studs, over on Fifth Street, shared a couple of drinks too but nothing beyond that.
As for Sawyer, Jax had only ever seen him date women. But for some reason, Sawyer never settled dated anyone in particularly longer than a couple of weeks. Since Travis came to Dare, Sawyer spent more and more time with his foreman and less time dating.
“How does Phalen vet people for membership?” Jax asked Evelyn.
“He’s a private investigator,” she answered, sounding awestruck by Phalen Maddox. “If someone wants to join the club, he does an extensive background check. Along with Ryan and Alex, Phalen also leads munches held at the castle.”
“And how do you know all this about Phalen?” Jax questioned.
“His wife is a good friend of mine. Cassie’s confided things, nothing that would violate their privacy, of course, but girl talk, if that makes sense. I’ve never gone to the castle for any other reason than to hang out with friends or help out my dad during business conferences, but I know.”
“I see,” Jax said. “Just make sure you don’t go to any munches without Remington or me. Understand?”
“Why the third degree, Jax?” Remington asked. “Eve and I live in Massachusetts. The people we’re talking about are important to us. Are you jealous, by chance?”
“Maybe I am.”
“I have a say in this, you know?” Eve uttered.
“You do, baby girl. I’m sure Phalen’s a Grade A kind of guy. But until I meet him, I won’t trust your education in the lifestyle to anyone but myself or Remington.”
“You forget Remy and I haven’t said yes to a single date yet. You’re taking a lot for granted.”
“The cock you were just playing with begs to differ,” he challenged. “Let’s not get lost in semantics. You, baby girl, need to eat.”
“I tend to lose weight on long road trips,” she admitted, withdrawing as if he’d hit her. “I read and research instead of snacking. Sorry.”
Sitting up to push her partly eaten cheeseburger toward her, he watched her bow her head and pick up the burger.
“You don’t need to apologize,” Jax assured gently. “You’re a beautiful woman, Evelyn. You need your strength for later, okay?”
“Okay,” she said, digging in with more gusto.
Jax checked in with Remy. At some point he couldn’t recall Remy had scarfed down a pulled pork sandwich and most of his iced tea.
Jax had ordered barbeque chicken sliders. He’d eaten. He couldn’t remember when or what it tasted like. His almost empty plate proved he had. A look around the table showed that everyone had eaten most of their meals.
It’d been a good idea to put in extra orders with the waitress on the chance others would join them for lunch. He’d gotten a text from Trevor when Avery had left the hotel to make reservations and knew his friend was almost finished with band rehearsal.
“Avery, by chance, did Sam send you a picture of Abigail?” Eve asked her friend. “I’d love to see one.”
“She did. She’d have sent one to you too, but she knew you and Remy were tied up with research and they didn’t want to interfere in case, you know, things heated up for you two.”
“Things definitely heated up,” Remy boasted proudly, tightening his arm around Evelyn’s shoulders.
“Yes, they did,” she said, grinning so wide, Jax’s heart sped up. Her love for Remy was as genuine as she was. “Can I see the picture, Avery?”
“Hazard, you have my phone,” Avery said. “Can you scroll through the pictures until you find the one Sam sent us?”
Hazard took his phone off his hip, searched, and handed it across the table. Eve scooped up the smartphone, looked and did a cute little jig in her seat.
“Wow, Remy, they look so good together, don’t they? Jaxon would you like to see?”
“Yes, thank you,” Jax said, leaning in to look at the screen.
Taran and Samantha Maddox had taken a selfie with a pretty college girl. All three were smiling. The girl had brown hair but the likeness to Samantha was uncanny.
“That’s great. I’m happy for them,” Remy said. “If it weren’t for Sam, her partner would’ve booked my ass back in October.”
“She’s a detective. Why would she arrest you?” Jax questioned.
“My friend Morgan was being targeted by a psycho bitch with a likeness for fire-setting. She torched Morgan’s business and my Corvette in an attempt to make me appear to be the one who’d attacked Morgan in Druid Creek Castle’s women’s room.”
“That’s complicated,” Sawyer said. “Charges were cleared?”
“Yeah, I had an alibi. Eve and I were on our way here.”
“Why didn’t you make it?” Travis asked, shifting toward Sawyer who sat on his right.
Sawyer had longish wavy auburn hair. He was tall and lanky. Travis had short blond hair he was growing out of a buzz cut. He wore old, tattered blue jeans, a pale-blue Western shirt and his cowboy hat was hung on a rack along the wall behind him.
“Plane trouble,” Eve answered. “One of the reasons we drove was to avoid a repeat of being stranded on a runway for two hours. While we were trying to get home, Ethan Maddox got shot and nearly died.”
“Jesus, what’s up with folks in New England, Red? Not long ago you had trouble with the bastard who’d followed you here from Reno. Still pisses me off that he hurt you,” Jax commented. “Thankfully, Sawyer was suspicious and dug way down into the guy’s past.”
“You got that right,” Avery stated. “Sawyer worked with both Phalen and my brother on that case. It turned out I was targeted because I happen to resemble Alex.”
“You’re way prettier than your brother, honey,” Trevor stated.
“You have to think that. You live with me.”
“That I do,” Trevor boasted.
The waitress returned to see if anyone needed anything else. Eve asked for ice cream, vanilla fudge. Remy ordered coffee and a piece of chocolate
cake. Jax got the same, with a scoop of ice cream on the side.
After lunch, it was time to scatter. Jax told the waitress to place the bill for the whole table on his tab, leaving a generous tip for her and the kitchen staff for being patient with the lot of them.
They all stood up, intending to leave when Remy turned to Jax. “Hey, I’ve a question since you seem to be the man to ask.”
It took everything in Jax not to turn that request into innuendo. “What do you need?”
“My camper is small, but I feel bad clogging up the hotel’s parking lot. Any clue as to where I could leave it while Eve and I are here?”
“I can help,” Sawyer offered, moving up to Remy. “Travis and I have a truck capable of towing horse trailers. No reason we can’t tow your camper to my ranch.”
Remy smiled. “That’d be great unless it’s an imposition.”
“It’s not,” Sawyer assured. “You okay with that, Jax?”
“Yeah, tow it, but not to your ranch. Take it to my house,” Jax said.
“I don’t want the camper to be in the way,” Remy argued.
“It won’t be, Remington.”
“All right then, Sawyer, how about we meet at the hotel in a few and I’ll help hook the camper to your truck?” Remy offered.
“Sounds good to me,” Sawyer agreed, following Travis on their way out of the restaurant, with Gabriel, Avery and Hazard close behind them.
Almost at once, Evelyn and Remy stood up, both about to turn away. But Jax wasn’t ready to let them go just yet.
“Are we on for our date tonight?” he asked. “I’ve got to go talk to Taylor to make sure she doesn’t back out of attending the party.”
“Would it help if I talk to her?” Eve offered.
“Not necessary,” Jax answered. “Don’t avoid my question. Are we on for later or are the two of you going to deny what’s going on between us?”
“It depends,” Remy chimed in.
“On?” Jax didn’t like being questioned, but figured it was fair of Remy to do so.
“On whether Eve and I are a one-night stand or something more? I’ve not been immune to ménages in the past and know they can be addictive or heartbreaking. It’d kill me if I let you hurt Eve. Hear what I’m saying?”
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