Unconventional

by Krista Wolf

  That’s when I realized… Julian was gone.

  But is he?

  I checked the window, but he wasn’t there. His shirt however, still lay crumpled in one corner of the floor.

  I wanted to crawl back into bed. To spoon up against Chase’s warm, naked form, and drape his arm back around me.

  Instead I pulled on some panties and a fresh T-shirt, then padded down the stone steps.

  It was possible Julian was checking on the castle grounds. We’d moved the trail camera to cover the rest of our supplies, but that meant leaving the field unwatched. Not that I cared, really. Whoever was still skulking around out there was wasting their time with an abandoned farm field.

  But they cared. My two lovers and protectors.

  I moved through the kitchen, which was undisturbed. I checked the front door, to find it still barred from the inside. My confusion grew. So much of the rest of the keep had been closed off, sealed up by my uncle until he could get around to it.

  I was halfway back to the steps when I heard it — a noise, floating in from the left of me. A cracking sound. Or maybe the sound of something being dropped or broken…

  The Great Hall.

  It was the single largest room in the keep. One filled with so much dust and dirt, my uncle had draped a big sheet of plastic over the hole where the door once was.

  I crept slowly up to the sheet. I could see it moving. Billowing outward, as if from motion or air currents, or—

  CRACK!

  My heart was pounding as I yanked the sheet aside. My eyes still hadn’t adjusted to the relative darkness when the beam of a flashlight swept over my eyes.

  “Madison!”

  The masculine but familiar voice sent a wave of relief crashing over me.

  “Holy shit, you scared the bejesus out of me.”

  Julian was standing along the opposite wall, ankle-deep in a pile of dirt and rubble. He held a long black Maglite in one hand. In the other, he clutched a piece of broken stone.

  “What are you doing?” I asked, still shielding my eyes with one arm. Gratefully he lowered the beam.

  “Investigating,” he said.

  The room was lit by temporary fluorescents, but the lighting was poor. I made my way over, moving carefully with my bare feet. Trying to step only on the smooth spots.

  “You’re doing work down here now?” I said to the stonemason. I blinked at the vast pile of stone and mortar. “What time is it, anyway?”

  “No idea,” he answered, turning back to the wall. “And I’m not doing work.”

  He shook another stone from the wall, shattering the mortar around it. It broke free, and he dropped it into the pile.

  “So you’re taking the place apart, then?” I chided him. “Brick by brick?”

  Julian dusted his hands off before placing them on his hips. “Someone was.”

  Standing there in nothing but his boxers, he was bare-chested and sweaty and beautiful. Still, my eyebrows knit together. If he was trying to make a joke, still I didn’t get it.

  “My uncle…” I started. “He was doing some restoration work in here, toward the end. Right about the time he got sick…”

  Julian looked at me skeptically. “Restoration, eh?”

  “Yes,” I confirmed. “I’d find him in here all hours of the day, even the night. I had to pull him out of here sometimes, he was working so hard on putting these walls back together.”

  The stonemason scratched at his chin. He looked around and shook his head.

  “No. Actually it’s just the opposite.”

  I was at a total loss. Still not understanding.

  “Madison, look around. These walls weren’t damaged by time. Someone intentionally chipped the mortar away. They took the stones out one by one and stacked them.”

  The more I looked, the more I saw he was right. There were some disjointed piles, like the one Julian was standing in. But also scattered throughout the chamber — next to the holes in the walls — were neat piles of stone, all stacked on top of each other.

  “Travis wasn’t fixing anything in here,” Julian said. “He was taking things apart.”

  He turned and stared back into one of the holes in the wall. Only darkness glared back.

  “Your uncle was looking for something.”

  Thirty-Seven

  NOAH

  “Did he ever tell you what he was working on?” I heard Chase say. “Maybe give you a hint?”

  They were sitting around the table, having breakfast when I arrived. The three of them drinking coffee and eating pancakes, talking like it was the most casual thing in the world.

  “No,” said Madison, throwing down her napkin. “He never said anything.”

  She rose to her feet as I entered the kitchen, and pulled out my usual chair. Smiling warmly, she slid her arms over my shoulders and stood on her toes to kiss me.

  “Good morning, handsome.”

  Her lips were soft and tasted like syrup. They lingered on mine just long enough to make my head spin, her mouth open just enough to make things more than a little friendly.

  “Your plate’s in the microwave. Just hit the ‘start’ button.”

  Julian pushed a carafe of coffee my way. Chase slid me the milk and sugar, and I shot him a dirty look in return.

  “What about his final wishes?” asked Julian. The way he spoke, he seemed to be treading carefully. “Did he… leave a will?”

  “Sort of,” Madison shrugged. “He put his whole life’s savings into this property, and he left Westgate Castle explicitly to me. He never had any children of his own, so…”

  “What are we talking about?” I asked abruptly.

  “Travis,” said Chase, through a mouthful of pancake. “He was tearing open the walls in here. Trying to find something.”

  “That’s just a theory,” said Madison coolly. “My uncle never talked to me about searching the property, or looking for anything specific.”

  I wasn’t sure what they were going on about, but I was still angry. Chase had done something stupid and reckless. Something that could’ve put us both at risk, and without even telling me.

  “You and I,” I said, grabbing my fork. I pointed it at Chase. “We’re having a talk later.”

  My friend and roommate smirked back at me. “Sounds fun.”

  It was one thing to be left out of an important loop. But quite another to stick your neck out for someone, and have them repay you with blind insolence. On one hand, Chase had been an asshole going to the bar on his own. Trying to see Killian without me, and not bringing him any money… well, it was as stupid as stupid could be.

  On the flip side of the coin though, I knew he did it to protect me. He was trying to figure out a way to stop future attacks from coming, but without putting me at risk. He still thought he could reason with Killian. Maybe appeal to his softer side, and buy some more time.

  But Chase was too naive. He didn’t know what type of a man Killian actually was.

  Being inside for a while, you got a sense for things like that. Who’s reasonable. Who’s not. How an American showing up in a local bar — without so much as a dime in his pocket — would make Killian look weak in front of his peers. How not bringing him anything would constitute an automatic asskicking.

  Chase was lucky that’s all he got. But if I had been there…

  You would’ve gotten your ass kicked too.

  “Hey,” I heard Chase say. “You gonna eat those, or what? We need to get back to work.”

  I looked up from my self-induced trance and noticed Julian had already gone. Madison was scraping plates. Chase’s was already empty.

  “Go on,” I said, grabbing my knife. “Get started on the measurements. I’ll meet you out there.”

  I squeezed out some syrup, and started cutting the pancakes into bite-sized squares. Now I felt left out of breakfast too. Among other things…

  “You need anything else?” Madison smiled. She slid into the seat next to me and propped herself up o
n one elbow.

  “I’m good,” I told her. “You look tired, though.”

  She yawned on cue. “We were up late.”

  “I’ll bet.”

  We shared the same secret smirk, curling up at the sides of our mouths.

  “We were, uh… celebrating the finishing of the curtain wall.”

  “Mmm-hmm,” I mumbled, chowing down.

  “Chase got here late last night. Said you had it out with him.”

  “I did. He took the truck, and took off.” I sipped at my coffee. “Pretty fucking annoying. I had to get a ride here, from one of the locals.”

  “Wanna tell me what it was about?”

  I made the mistake of glancing up, and she held me with those damned blue eyes. I was pretty much helpless. She could’ve gotten me to tell her anything.

  “Chase crossed someone,” I said carefully. “And he was trying to… uncross the situation.”

  Madison frowned, her expression changing to one of concern. “And why did that make you mad?”

  “Because he could’ve gotten hurt.”

  “He did get hurt.”

  I stuffed another three squares of pancake into my mouth. “Not the kind of hurt I’m talking about.”

  She waited patiently, until I’d swallowed. Until I was ready to go on.

  “He shouldn’t have gone alone,” I said. “That’s all I’m mad about. What he did was sort of necessary, but…”

  “But what?”

  “But I should’ve been there,” I shrugged. I let the words trail off, then used them as an opportunity to change the subject. “Just like I should’ve been here last night.”

  Madison’s face changed again. She looked demure now, but beneath that, also excited.

  “You should’ve been here last night,” she confirmed. “I missed you. We missed you.”

  “You sure about that?” I laughed, and drained more of my coffee. “I’m guessing you didn’t miss a single thing. And I’ll bet you had more than enough to handle.”

  Madison moved like a cat. She half-rose, leaned forward, and closed her lips sensuously over mine. All the breath left my lungs in an instant. Still in my chair, she gave me the hottest, most incredible, open-mouthed kiss of my life.

  At the same time, she closed one hand firmly over the crotch of my jeans… and squeezed.

  “You’d be surprised at what I can handle,” she winked, as she strutted out of the kitchen.

  Thirty-Eight

  MADISON

  I spent the first half of the day in town, running errands like I was on a mission. Of course, it helped that I was on a mission. On a mission and in a damned fine mood.

  For one, the weather was spectacular. It was one of those gorgeous summer days where it was warm, but not hot. Sunny but not humid. The perfect day to kick back and lounge around.

  Additionally, we were right on track to make everything on the inspector’s list. The guys and I had been working tirelessly, from the crack of dawn until sometimes after dusk. Projects that had once seemed insurmountable were finally coming together, especially as the guys began getting along.

  And I liked to think at least part of that had to do with me.

  Last but not least, I was in a good mood because I was finally getting laid. And not just laid, mind you, but spectacularly laid. I’d gone from nothing and nobody to three lovers so hot, so incredible, I couldn’t have conjured them up in my wildest, most far-flung dreams.

  By the time I pulled through the gates and into the bailey, I was still on cloud nine. I waved Noah and Chase back into the courtyard. Julian was already there, hunched over the cobbled walk. His broad, muscular back glistened enticingly in the sunlight.

  “Hey,” I said cheerily, as the three of them converged on me. “Let’s go. All of you.”

  Noah squinted down at me. Chase laughed.

  “Go? Where?”

  “Command decision,” I said, sliding a fully-packed cooler from the back of my vehicle. “We’re taking the rest of the afternoon off.”

  Julian crossed his arms. Noah ran a dirtier hand through his dirty blond hair.

  “We are?”

  “We sure are,” I declared. “Now grab this thing and follow me.”

  They took the cooler, as I slung a large fabric bag over my shoulder. Then I turned, walked straight through the gate, and headed out in the direction of the nearest hill.

  Noah spoke first. “We uhh… should probably clean up first, no?”

  “Nope.”

  “But we’re dripping wet,” said Chase. “And we’re filthy beyond filthy.”

  “Doesn’t matter,” I told him.

  Over the hill we went, skirting along a line of beautiful Caledonian pines. One good thing about the property is that it was huge. I’d explored so much of it, and yet I still hadn’t seen it all.

  But I definitely had my favorite spots.

  I led them east, through another abandoned farm field. The grass here was sparser than elsewhere. It was easy traveling.

  “Do we have a goal in mind?” asked Noah. “Or are we just…”

  He stopped as we crested another hill, and our destination finally came into view. It was a slow, shallow embankment, meandering downward to meet the shores of a cool, crystal blue lake.

  “Now we’re talking!” Chase cried out loud.

  He sprinted past me, dropping his end of the cooler. I watched him strip off his dusty clothes as he went. When he was down to his boxers, he splashed his way through the shallows and dove headfirst beneath the surface.

  “That’s not a bad idea,” Noah chuckled. He did the same thing, stripping himself down to his beautiful bronze skin. Wading his way into the water, as Chase laughingly splashed him from where he floated up to his neck.

  “A picnic, huh?”

  Julian lifted the cooler with two corded arms, carrying it all by himself. Together we made our way down toward a little clearing, not far from the water’s edge.

  “Can you think of a better way to spend the rest of the day?” I asked.

  He scanned me up and down before delivering a rare, sideways smile. “Probably,” he joked, his eyes still locked on my body. “But this works too.”

  Eventually we reached the clearing and dropped our things. Julian interlaced his fingers together and stretched his arms toward the sun.

  “Go,” I said, waving him away. “Get refreshed, and all cleaned up. I’ll set things up here.”

  He nodded and stomped away, and I enjoyed watching him go. Especially once his work clothes had dropped away, revealing everything but the two churning globes of his tight, boxer-covered ass.

  God I love that ass…

  He entered the water slowly, reminding me of the muscle-bound guys at Venice beach. The ones who were there to pump iron and flex for the girls, but couldn’t ever really swim.

  I turned back to my task at hand, setting up our little area. First I stretched out a picnic blanket and staked it down. Then I unloaded the sandwiches I’d picked up from the grocer, laying them out next to the crackers, cheese, and fruit. It wasn’t extravagant, considering my finances, and I wished it could’ve been more. But these were men that were helping me. They’d gone far above and beyond the normal call of duty, and deserved every bit of pampering I could give them.

  Even if it wasn’t all that much.

  They emerged dripping wet and thankfully clean, their hair all slicked back from the cool, clear water. I handed out towels. Seconds after getting dry they were devouring everything in sight, demolishing just about everything I’d brought with me down to the last couple of red grapes.

  “Sweet fuck this is good,” Chase grinned through a mouthful of cheese. “Awesome idea. Excellent decision.”

  “Totally,” agreed Noah. “This is… well…”

  I let his last phrase go unfinished, as the rest of us lay basking together in the sun. It was the perfect day, with perfect company. Laughing, talking, taking time for ourselves for once.

  Final
ly, I bumped hips with Noah.

  “Come with me,” I said, slipping my hand into his. I pulled him to his feet. Yanked my shirt over my head, and stepped out of the shorts I’d been wearing.

  His eyes crawled my bikini first. They found mine as I guided him, smiling, in the direction of the water.

  “I want to swim, too.”

  Thirty-Nine

  MADISON

  We floated together in the cool, crystal waters, as the sun glinted beautifully off the surface. Noah’s strong arms were secured snugly around my body. My bare legs, wrapped tightly around his waist.

  “Kiss me again and I might tell you.”

  He did, and this time the kiss lasted a full two minutes. Noah’s chest was hard and perfect and warm against mine. He squeezed me tightly as our tongues danced, my head spinning with such pleasure I could barely remember my own name.

  “Alright,” I said breathlessly, as our lips parted. “I wanted you out here to make sure you’re alright. That you weren’t…” I hesitated before saying the word, “jealous about last night.”

  “Jealous?”

  His hands were cupping my ass, supporting me while squeezing me gently.

  “I mean… I know you were mad at Chase. I just didn’t want you mad at me.”

  “And why in the world would I be mad at you?”

  His hair looked darker wet, like a whole different person. But it brought out his eyes. The streaks of light grey reflected the shimmering light from the sun, making his irises come alive as he stared through mine, into my soul.

  “I just figured you might feel left out,” I said shyly. “And I never want you to feel left out.”

  Noah’s hands began moving again. They slid upward, and I felt his thumbs hook into the waistband of my bikini bottoms.

  “Why, because you were with Julian and Chase last night?”

  He rolled my bottoms smoothly down my thighs. When they got to a certain point, he used his foot to take them the rest of the way.