A J. S. Cooper Box Set: Three Standalone Romances

by J. S. Cooper

  “Then how does it go?” I asked softly. “How does it go?”

  “It’s the journal, the journal is the sign.” Her eyes glazed over. “He reads them. He wants to know everything. He needs to know everything.”

  “Who?”

  “You like one more than the other, don’t you?” Suddenly she appeared to be lucid again. “I’ve never seen that before. You like Tyler. Normally they like Grant. He’s the most charismatic one. But that’s because they don’t know. They just don’t know.” She nodded and appeared pleased. “You’re not dumb, are you? You like Tyler and he likes you.”

  “I don’t like Tyler.” I shook my head.

  “He never slept with any of the others.” She mouthed to me. “Not even me.”

  “What do you mean?” My heart started racing. “I thought this was something they both did together.”

  “Grant’s the cruel one. He gets off on it all.” She held my hands. “He’s sadistic, he likes the pain and the pleasure. They’ll take you to a club.”

  “What club? The club I’m going to tonight? Is that what you’re talking about?” My brain was working furiously. “So Tyler is the good one?”

  “I think you’ll be my salvation.” She said suddenly, her eyes blazing as she stared at me.

  “So Grant is the bad one?” I asked her desperately.

  “Go now. They’ll wonder where you are.” She looked upset all of a sudden. “Tick tock goes the clock.”

  “What does that mean?” I frowned.

  “You know you’re caught in the game when you hear the tick tock.” She whispered softly. “Tick Tock goes the clock.” She pushed me towards the door. “Now leave.”

  I left the room, feeling disoriented and shaky. How had Eugenie known I liked Tyler more than Grant? And what had she meant by saying I was to be her salvation? Was she counting on me to help her get away? If so, who was keeping her here? And why? If Grant was Cain and Tyler was Abel, did that mean Grant was the evil one and he was doing things behind Tyler’s back? How could they both believe Eugenie was dead? Obviously one of them knew the truth, but then why lie? Why pretend she was dead? It didn’t make any sense to me. And even more importantly, I wanted to know what was going to happen at the club. What was the test and what had I gotten myself into?

  “There you are.” Tyler’s voice boomed from behind me and made me jump.

  “Hey.” I turned around and smiled weakly, scared my face would give away my secret. “I was just going to shower.” I looked away from him, my mind still on what Eugenie had said.

  “Is that an invitation?” He grinned as his arms slid around my waist.

  “Not really.” I shook my head.

  “Let me show you something.”

  “What?”

  “The best way to get clean.” He grinned and grabbed my hand. “I’m going to show you the best way to shower.”

  “But you just showered.” I touched the top of his head. “Your hair is still wet.”

  “That’s not the only thing I want to be wet.”

  “You want your legs to be wet as well?” I joked, and he laughed.

  “Yeah, I want my legs to be wet with your cum.”

  “Tyler!”

  “What? You asked.” He grinned and opened the door to a room I hadn’t been in before. “This is my room.”

  “Wow.” I looked around the room in surprise. It looked nothing like the rest of the house. There was a giant king sized bed in the middle of the room with a white duvet. The windows had large bamboo drapes, and there was a huge vase of flowers on a large vanity. “I like your room.”

  “It’s not all black and grey.” He nodded and closed the door behind him. “That surprises you, doesn’t it?”

  “Well, I was thinking it would be navy blue.” I laughed. “Or deep purple.”

  “I don’t do purple.” He laughed and I watched his face transform into a boyish look. “My sister loved purple though. Purple and pink were her colors. I remember when I had to paint her room half pink and half purple. It looked awful, but she loved it.”

  “It’s great you did that for her.”

  “I’d do anything for her.” The smile left his face. “Come, let’s shower.”

  “You were being serious?” I followed him into his all-white bathroom.

  “I never joke about showers.” He lifted his t-shirt off and leaned into the shower stall and turned it on.

  “I’m glad you take cleanliness so seriously.”

  “Cleanliness is next to Godliness.” He pulled his boxers off and winked at me.

  “I don’t think God approves of you having threesomes with strange women.”

  “Then say some Hail Mary’s for me.” He grinned. “Please.”

  “Well, now you said please.” I laughed, and my breath caught as he stepped forward and pulled my top off.

  “I missed you last night.”

  “You’re the one who left me.”

  “I wanted to give you time to think.”

  “Think about what?” I held my breath as he pulled my panties down.

  “How bad you want me inside you.”

  “You’re full of yourself.”

  “I’d rather you be full of me.” He pulled me towards him and crushed my breasts against his chest.

  “What do you have planned for tonight at the club?”

  “A lap dance.” He kissed me softly as his hands squeezed my ass.

  “That’s it?”

  “Is that ever it?” He grinned.

  “What else?”

  “I want what Grant never got.” He bit down on my lower lip, and I cried out as he lifted me into the shower with him.

  “What’s that?”

  “I want a full lap dance.”

  “A full lap dance?” I asked him in confusion as the water scalded down on my skin.

  “Think back to the night you met Grant.”

  “Yeah, so?” I thought back and it hit me. “Oh.” I’d stopped the lap dance when Grant had taken his cock out and asked me to rub up and down on him naked.

  “Oh, indeed.” He grabbed a bar of soap and rubbed it across my breasts. “I want him to see what he missed.”

  “Why?” I whispered.

  “So he knows you’re mine.” He pushed me back against the wall. “So he knows there’s no chance for him. You give me what you deny him.”

  “Tyler,” I groaned as he lifted me up.

  “Wrap your legs around my waist,” he said roughly, and I felt him guiding his cock inside me.

  “Oh!” I screamed as his cock entered me hard and fast. I held onto his shoulders tightly, my body slipping down the wall. “Tyler!” I screamed again, as he lifted me up slightly and adjusted my body again. “Oh, oh, oh,” I cried out as the water ran down our bodies. My breasts were bouncing against his chest as he entered me fast, his cock sliding in and out easily as I felt my pussy trembling. “Oh!” I screamed again as I bit down into his shoulder, my body convulsing on him as I came, hard and fast.

  “Oh, Evie.” He groaned and stilled as he came inside me. We stood there for a few seconds before he placed me back on the floor and we continued washing off silently.

  “It’s never been like this before,” he said softly as he got out of the shower and opened a towel for me.

  “I’m sure that’s what you say all the time,” I said awkwardly, but then remembered what Eugenie had said. She’d said he hadn’t slept with any of the other girls before. How had they had threesomes if he hadn’t slept with them?

  “You were stupid to come here you know,” he sighed as he wrapped me in the towel.

  “Why?”

  “You didn’t know what would happen.”

  “I still don’t know,” I said honestly. “But you’ll protect me from Grant, won’t you?”

  “Of course I will.” He kissed the top of my head and held me close to him, but a voice entered my head and shouted at me. Who will protect you from Tyler, Evie? Who will protect you from Tyler?r />
  “I want to know more about you, Evie. What did you go to school for? What do you want to do? What are your goals?” He asked as we walked down the hallway to the study, freshly showered and clothed.

  “I studied journalism and business in school.” I shrugged. “I wanted to be an investigative reporter, but all I have is the debt, not the job.” I sighed.

  “You took out loans for school?”

  “Yeah, about ten.” I sighed and looked away from him. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “There are three things I can do to you.” He grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards him. “And there are three things you can do for me.”

  “What do you want me to do?” I took a deep breath, my eyes never leaving his.

  “The question is what do you want to do?” He smirked, his fingers digging into my skin.

  “It’s not really up to me though, is it?” I swallowed hard as his lips pressed down on my neck and he kissed me softly. Then I felt his teeth grazing my skin and biting down and sucking hard. It wasn’t the shock of his bite that made my legs crumple though, it was the sudden thrust of manhood that pressed into my ass as he held me. “What’s going on?” I whispered as I looked into his eyes. He was standing in front of me, and that meant there was someone else behind me. Someone else was touching me.

  “What do you want to be going on?” He stepped back and let go of my hand. I spun around to face Grant, but there was no one there. “Looking for someone, Evie?” Tyler said softly. “Or should I say hoping to see someone?”

  “No.” I shook my head, my face red. Was I finally losing it? He grabbed my shoulders and pulled me towards him and whispered in my ear.

  “You have to be very careful, Evie. The games have just begun, and whatever you think you know is all wrong.” He paused and then whispered again. “I know I’m not the only one with secrets here. I know your secrets, too.”

  “What are you talking about? What games? What secrets? And who was just touching me?”

  “No one was touching you, Evie. No one but me.” He stared at me, and I stared back at him, my mind racing. I could have sworn I felt someone touching me, just like I could have sworn I heard a noise the day before. What was going on? “Did you wish someone else was touching you?”

  “No, of course not.” I shook my head.

  “Good.” He smiled and kissed my nose. “Let’s grab something to eat.”

  “I’m just going to go to the restroom, okay?” I stopped and turned around. “I’ll be right back.” I ran to the room I’d been staying in and walked into the bathroom, closed the door, and splashed water on my face. I sat on the toilet for a few seconds and then stood back up and looked in the mirror and studied my face. I looked the same as I remembered. I held fingers up and counted them. I was pretty sure I was counting them correctly. I took a deep breath and opened the door.

  “Argh!” I jumped as I came face to face with Tyler. “What are you doing?”

  “I just wanted to make sure you were okay,” he said innocently while studying my face. “You hurried off rather quickly then. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t being sick.”

  “I’m fine.” I nodded and walked ahead of him out of the room. I saw Grant standing at the end of the hallway with two long chains. He grinned at me and moved the chains along his chest before disappearing as Tyler came out behind me.

  “I’m going to cook something for you.” Tyler grabbed my hand. “Do you like omelets?”

  “Sure.” I nodded at him as we walked back down the corridor. Then I heard the door close behind us. I turned around quickly, but there was no one there. Tyler didn’t seem to notice, but I couldn’t stop the wild beating of my heart or the voice in my head telling me to go back into the room. “Hold on one second, I forgot to flush the toilet,” I said softly and ran back to the room and looked around. I heard the water running from the toilet bowl and ran into the bathroom quickly. There was no one there, and I looked around frantically to see if I’d missed anything. It was then I saw the photo taped to the back of the door. I pulled it off the back of the door and gasped as I stared at an image of Hailey and I sitting at a coffee shop. It had to have been taken at least a couple of weeks before.

  Who had put the photo in the room? And who had taken it? It seemed to me there was a lot more going on here. Maybe Eugenie wasn’t crazy after all. Maybe Grant really had been focused on me before he met me that night. And maybe Tyler really did know secrets about me? What could he know? He couldn’t know everything, could he? I felt my face heating up as I walked back through the bedroom. This changed everything. There was only one secret I wanted to keep hidden. There was only one thing I’d ever done in my life that was bad. They couldn’t possibly know what I’d done though? Could they? I walked out of the room with bells ringing in my ears.

  “Everything okay, Evie?” Tyler waited at the end of the hallway for me with a worried expression, and I nodded, my eyes focusing on his handsome face, his blond hair seeming to glow like the sun.

  “Everything okay, Sleeping Beauty?” Grant’s voice came from the other end of the hallway, and I turned around to face him, his face dark and devilish as he stared at me. I gazed into his blue eyes, and I shivered at his expression. All of a sudden, I understood his comment. He knew. He knew what I’d done. He was the Cain. He was the bad one, only he was a lot worse than I’d thought.

  “I’m fine.” I nodded, my face white as a ghost.

  “Good,” he said softly. “I’d hate for anything to happen while you were staying with us.” He walked towards me. “I’d hate for you to make any wrong decisions. I’d absolutely hate it.”

  “What are you doing?” I whispered as he grabbed my wrist.

  “Think carefully about who you choose, Evie.” He kissed my cheek and then whispered in my ear. “You don’t want to end up like Eugenie: alive, but dead inside.”

  “You know?” My eyes widened, and he laughed.

  “There’s only one wolf running this house, Evie.” He stepped back as Tyler walked towards us. I could hear the anger in his quick steps as he thundered towards us. “Tyler.” He said softly, taking another step back. “Come to save the Princess?” He laughed and looked at me with deadly eyes. “I told you, Evie, there are no fairytale endings here.”

  “You lost, Grant.” I said loudly and firmly. “Leave me alone. I don’t want you.”

  “Have you ever had two men before, Evie?” He licked his lips. “You might find you quite like it.”

  “That’s enough.” Tyler’s voice was cold.

  “It’ll never be enough.” Grant shook his head and turned away. “Until tonight, you two. Enjoy yourselves until tonight.” And then he walked away.

  “Why is he still here?” I turned to Tyler. “Why do we have to do this whole thing tonight?”

  “You wouldn’t understand,” Tyler said softly and grabbed my hands. “This is the only way I can protect you, Evie. You must play this game through with me. It’s the only way.”

  “It’s the only way we can win?” I asked softly, searching his face. He stared at me for a few seconds and answered softly. “It’s just the only way,” he said, leading me to the kitchen.

  Chapter 47

  “Evie, do you know there are two things I absolutely love about you?” Tyler sat in his big red leather chair and stared at me.

  “No.” I shook my head and looked around the sparse room. Aside from the chair, the room was vacant. We’d eaten in silence and then Tyler had brought me to this room. I had no idea why, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to know, either.

  “I love that you’re open with your sexuality.” He grinned. “And I love that you’re fearless.”

  “I’m neither of those things.” I shook my head and looked down.

  “You’re not the first girl who’s been here.” He frowned. “You know that, right?”

  “I could have guessed.” I rolled my eyes. “You and Grant have been intimating that for a long time.”

>   “You are the only one who’s not playing the game, though.” He smiled and cocked his head back.

  “What is this game you both keep talking about?” I walked towards him.

  “Stop.” He held his hand up. “Don’t move until I say you can move.”

  “Okay.” I stood there awkwardly.

  “I don’t want you to sleep with Grant again.”

  “I wasn’t planning on it.”

  “He won’t accept you turning him down.” He stood up. “He has plans for you.”

  “Who’s in charge here?” My voice rose. “You or him?”

  “Excuse me?” His eyes narrowed at the sharpness in my tone.

  “What does Grant want? What normally happens next in these games you play?”

  “Next?” He shrugged. “Do you really want to know?”

  “Yes.”

  “We fuck ‘em. And leave ‘em.”

  “Leave ‘em where?” I swallowed hard. Was he admitting they did something bad to the women they picked up? And when he said, we fuck ‘em, did he really mean they both fucked them? Hadn’t Eugenie said Tyler had never slept with anyone but me?

  “We take them back to town.”

  “I want to go back to town now.” I stood straight as he stood up and walked towards me, his eyes never leaving mine.

  “But I’m not done with you.” He reached over and grabbed my wrist, pulling me towards him.

  “I don’t want to be here anymore, Tyler. I don’t want to play this game.” I shook my head. “Please let me go.” Especially not if Grant knew my secret. It was something I’d been running from my whole life. I was so ashamed of myself and now, knowing he knew, well it made me feel cheap. I no longer felt like the girl experimenting. I felt like the cheap slut who had been exposed to the world.

  “I can’t.” He shook his head.

  “Why not?” I bit my lower lip.

  “You’re the first one I’ve ever cared about,” he said softly as he stopped in front of me. “You’re the first one I’ve wanted to touch more than once.”

  “Yet, you want me to have a threesome with you and Grant.” I shook my head.