Hard to Hold

by Nicole Edwards

  Rhys set his beer on the side table and got to his feet.

  Amy’s fingers dipped into the waistband of his jeans as she smiled up at him. “First, we have to get you naked.”

  His cock jerked behind his zipper.

  This was one hell of a way to come home after work. Never in his life would he have expected it.

  While Wolfe watched and Rhys tried to remember to breathe, Amy unhooked his belt buckle, then unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans. When Rhys went to toe off his boots, Amy stopped him. She knelt on the floor in front of him and his stomach muscles tightened in anticipation.

  He watched as she tugged and pulled on his boots until they gave way, then she dumped them on the floor beside the chair. Once those were out of the way, she yanked his jeans and boxers down his hips, over his thighs, then to the floor. Before he knew what she was going to do, Amy pushed him and he fell back into the chair with a grunt.

  She laughed. “Wolfe’s a little dominant,” Amy noted. “In case you haven’t noticed.”

  Rhys chuckled, his gaze straying to Wolfe. The man was sitting on the couch, his eyes focused on the two of them, heat making the dark green glitter.

  With his dick hanging out, Amy pushed Rhys’s shirt up and instructed him to remove it.

  He did.

  Then she leaned in and kissed his stomach, trailing her lips down, down…

  “Holy Jesus,” he rasped when she took him in her mouth. “Such a sweet mouth.”

  Amy teased him for long minutes, licking him like a lollipop then sucking him as deep as she could. She was still hesitant, but there was significantly more confidence in her movements. She’d obviously paid attention to what he liked and she was implementing her new skills.

  “Lower,” he urged, reaching down and pressing his cock to his belly.

  Amy looked at him, uncertainty in her eyes.

  “Lick my balls,” he told her.

  When she leaned down, her tongue gliding over his ball sac, Rhys hissed.

  “Suck them into your mouth. Easy though.”

  She did as he instructed, her hand curling around his cock while she slurped and laved his balls.

  “Fuck, baby,” he groaned, leaning farther into the chair as she continued to torture him with her sweet fucking mouth.

  If she kept that up, he was going to come.

  As though reading his mind, Amy stopped. She lifted her head and crawled up his body until she was straddling him. Her mouth covered his and Rhys cupped the back of her head, his other hand grabbing her ass as he pulled her closer, his cock pressing against the denim between her thighs. He swiveled his hips, intensifying the friction on his dick. Amy realized what he was doing and helped him along by mirroring his movements.

  He liked this feisty woman. He liked her innocence and the sassy woman beneath that sweet exterior. She was a perfect blend of both.

  When she pulled back, both of them breathing hard, Rhys had to rein in the urge to take control.

  “What did Wolfe do next?” he questioned, watching her.

  Without a word, Amy crawled off of him, toed off her boots, then stripped off her jeans before turning to Wolfe. Rhys glanced over to see Wolfe watching them intently. The heat burning in those emerald-green eyes could be felt from across the room.

  “Naked,” Wolfe instructed.

  “You kept your clothes on,” she countered, her voice raspy.

  “Yeah. But you look a hell of a lot better naked than I do.”

  In Rhys’s opinion, they both looked damn fine naked.

  Amy quickly disposed of her shirt, panties, and bra while they both watched her raptly. As though she’d expected him to have it, Amy held out her hand and Wolfe tossed her a condom, then she turned her attention back to Rhys.

  She repositioned herself on his lap, straddling his thighs while she rolled the condom down over his aching dick. Before he could ask her to hurry, Amy lifted up and settled herself right on his cock, guiding him inside her.

  “Pretend this is a desk,” she whispered, grinning.

  He sucked in air as though it was becoming extinct.

  When she started riding him, her hips lifting and lowering, he gripped the arms of the chair and groaned.

  “God, baby … so fucking hot.” He could hardly breathe, but he managed to encourage her with words. “That’s it. Ride me … fuck me … oh, gawd, baby.”

  Her internal muscles clamped down on him, squeezing intimately, making his breath catch.

  When her movements slowed, Rhys helped her out, gripping her ass and lifting and lowering her on him, driving his hips up every time her thighs hit his. Her short nails dug into his shoulders, her eyes closed, and those sexy little moans continued to escape her.

  Knowing Wolfe was watching, combined with the velvet friction of her pussy against his cock, Rhys was racing to the finish line. Using his thumb, he rubbed her clit, circling over the hard nub until Amy was panting. He didn’t stop until she cried out his name over and over as she came.

  Only then did he let himself go.

  21

  __________

  One week later

  “So,” Lynx prompted, hip propped against one of the seven-foot dining tables Wolfe had been working on for the past two days with very little progress. “I stopped by your place last night.”

  Wolfe glanced over at his cousin. The guy was smirking, clearly planning to bust Wolfe’s balls about something. Pretending he didn’t notice, Wolfe swiped the sandpaper over a rough spot.

  “Wanted to check on you. Haven’t seen you out and about in town, thought maybe you were becomin’ a hermit. So, I hopped my happy ass in my truck, drove all the way out to your place, and what did I see?”

  Lynx wasn’t usually prone to dramatics, and Wolfe wasn’t prone to tolerating them, so he offered his cousin a glare, urging him to get to the fucking point.

  “When I got there, I chose not to stay. Figured since Rhys’s truck was outside and you and Amy were inside, y’all were probably doin’ fine, so I took off.”

  Shit.

  Lynx uncrossed his arms and held his hands up. “You ain’t gonna get no judgment from me, hoss.”

  Sighing, Wolfe went back to work on the cedar chest he’d been restoring for an older couple who were having their house remodeled. Wolfe’s family didn’t just create new things at the shop, they also restored the old.

  “Am I right?”

  Wolfe flipped him off.

  His cousin chuckled.

  Lynx sipped from a cup of coffee as he watched Wolfe work. “You talk to your old man lately?”

  “Not in a coupla days, no. Why?”

  “No reason. I went by there this mornin’. All’s good.”

  “How’s Cooter?” Wolfe asked, referring to Lynx’s father.

  “Same. I think that damn garden’s gonna overtake the house one of these days.”

  “Yeah? It doin’ well?” Wolfe wasn’t sure how it could be considering the temperatures had been hovering at the one-hundred-degree mark for the last week.

  “No. More weeds than garden, but that doesn’t stop the old man from tryin’.”

  No, Wolfe didn’t figure it would. Cooter might’ve been a shut-in—although maybe not in the extreme technical sense because he did venture outside of his house, but no farther than the garden in the backyard—but he also enjoyed spending time in the sun. Most days when Wolfe went by there, the man was sitting in a rocking chair on his front porch, reading a book. They still worried about him, but Cooter Caine was a tough old bird.

  “Any news about…?” Lynx tilted his chin toward the offices upstairs.

  Wolfe shook his head. “Not yet.”

  “Sheriff doin’ somethin’ to find that asshole?”

  “It’s slowgoin’,” Wolfe admitted. “He doesn’t want to draw attention to her if the guy hasn’t yet figured out where she is.”

  “The old man said he heard gunshots out there last night. Y’all teachin’ her to shoot?”

&n
bsp; “Yep.” As much and as often as they could. Amy seemed to truly enjoy it, and Wolfe couldn’t deny it made him feel a hell of a lot better knowing she could handle a firearm.

  “Good. At least she’ll be ready for the fucker if he does come ’round.”

  They would all be ready for him. And if Wolfe had anything to say about it, the bastard wouldn’t get within five miles of her before he met the business end of Wolfe’s shotgun.

  “I hear Reagan’s still stayin’ at Amy’s place.”

  Wolfe straightened, cocked an eyebrow at the interesting change in subject. “Yeah? Where’d you hear that from?”

  Lynx shrugged.

  Wolfe knew Lynx had a thing for Reagan Trevino. It wasn’t public knowledge and the guy made damn sure most people thought otherwise, but Wolfe could tell he was sweet on her. It seemed that every time Reagan and that dumb ass Billy Watson broke up, Lynx’s mood improved. Then, of course, it would go downhill once she took his sorry ass back.

  If they were lucky, she was done with him for good this time. Nearly two weeks apart was a record for the two of them, so anything was possible, but Wolfe wasn’t going to hold his breath.

  “So—” Lynx began, but Wolfe cut him off this time.

  “Don’t you have somewhere to be besides in here yakkin’ my damn ear off?”

  Lynx chuckled. “All right, cry baby man.”

  Wolfe laughed. He should’ve known that was coming after his breakdown the day Amy shared her horror story. Granted, Lynx wouldn’t dare call him that when anyone else was around to hear it, and because of that, Wolfe wouldn’t kick his ass.

  “I’ll check ya later. Tell Amy to holler if she needs somethin’.” Lynx grinned. “Not that she will since it seems she’s got you and the sheriff at her beck and call.”

  “Shut the hell up,” Wolfe said, grimacing.

  He didn’t want people up in his business, even his cousin. Right now, this thing with him and Amy and Rhys was new. He didn’t need any outside forces interfering. Shit never worked out when that happened.

  Hell, Wolfe liked his uncomplicated life. And with Amy and Rhys, he felt as though things were going exactly the way they were meant to.

  “Talk at ya later,” Lynx called out as he sauntered toward the door, clicking his tongue twice to get Copenhagen at his side.

  “Later,” Wolfe grumbled, then grabbed the sandpaper and got to work.

  It seemed he’d been dealing with one interruption after another all damn day. Between the leak he’d found after last night’s storm, then his power sander blowing a breaker, him fixing that, and Calvin calling to tell him he’d be taking the day off so the store would be closed until one of them could get over there, plus Lynx’s need to dish like a fucking girl, Wolfe hadn’t gotten shit done.

  His gaze strayed to the offices above him. He was tempted to check on Amy, see if she needed anything, but he knew she was fine. Probably glad to put a little space between her and the rest of the world for a little while.

  For the past few days, she’d spent most of her time with Wolfe or Rhys, or both. They’d alternated between staying at Wolfe’s and Rhys’s. Twice he’d taken Amy home and she still froze outside, despite the fact that Reagan was staying at her place. Her reaction only pissed Wolfe off. Not at her, at the bastard who’d put that fear in her eyes.

  Last night, after her insistence that she could spend a night alone in her own bed, despite what Rhys or Wolfe wanted, Wolfe had driven her out to her place. The second Wolfe had pulled up to her house, Amy had shifted from the easygoing woman she’d been for the past few days to one who hesitated to get out of the truck.

  While she’d gone inside to grab more clothes after his insistence for her to stay with him again, Wolfe had walked the perimeter of the house, checking it out. Nothing looked tampered with. Didn’t stop him from shooting a text to Rhys, asking the man to quit dicking around and find out who this bastard was. Wolfe wasn’t going to tolerate Amy having to walk around fearing for her life indefinitely. He fully intended to put a stop to it, but he wanted to give Rhys a chance to check it out first. If that didn’t work, Wolfe would take matters into his own hands. He knew people who would be more than happy to help him out, namely his cousins who lived not far away in Coyote Ridge.

  If push came to shove, Wolfe wouldn’t hesitate to reach out to his cousin Travis for help. He’d caught up with him at a family reunion a while back and they’d kept in touch. But Wolfe wanted that to be a last resort.

  With a sigh, Wolfe decided to leave it all alone for a bit.

  After all, he did have a job to do.

  More importantly, he needed to stay busy. That way, the day would go by quickly. It wasn’t usual for him, but these days, he had something else to look forward to. Something that would put a smile on his face after they locked up the shop.

  Didn’t mean they would leave.

  Amy welcomed the opportunity to go to work at Reagan’s. After spending all day tucked in her office, staring at a computer screen, she was grateful to be able to move around. Didn’t even matter that Wolfe was watching her from the far corner of the bar like he did on nearly every night she worked. He claimed he just wanted to be close. She wasn’t sure that was the case, but since she felt safer with him, Amy didn’t argue.

  It was Thursday but, oddly enough, the place was relatively busy. Most of the tables were occupied, along with several seats at the bar. Nothing seemed to be happening, but the conversation was going nonstop. And as would be expected in a small town, there was a lot of gossip taking place.

  “Ol’ Billy’s got him a new girl. Did you see that?”

  “Sure did. Not sure what to think about that one though. Her eyes are shifty.”

  Amy had to fight the urge to laugh.

  She wasn’t sure who Billy had hooked up with, or whether the woman had shifty eyes, but she knew for a fact that these people were protective of Reagan. By the end of the night, this new mystery woman would likely end up having a third boob and maybe a sexually transmitted disease. The first would be made up, of course. The second … well, it could go either way.

  Not that Amy cared.

  Nor did it seem that Reagan gave a shit, either.

  Amy hadn’t seen the woman smile as much as she had these past couple of weeks. She seemed less stressed, more relaxed. Genuinely happier.

  Well, that was usually the case until Lynx Caine showed up. As soon as he stepped into the bar, Reagan always tensed up.

  There had to be something going on there that Amy didn’t know about. From what she could remember, she’d never heard any rumors about Lynx and Reagan, but the way the two acted around each other said enough. She wasn’t sure whether they secretly liked each other or if they hated each other. Maybe a little of both. Whatever it was, Amy hoped they worked it out. She liked them both too much to see them at odds.

  “Hey, sweet thang. How ’bout a beer over here?”

  Amy stopped wiping the bar and nodded to a group of men sitting at a table against the wall. They’d been there for about an hour and so far hadn’t gotten too rowdy, despite the fact their voices continued to rise as the minutes ticked by.

  At the bar, Amy requested three Bud Lights from Reagan, then stood waiting for her to deliver. While she was standing there, Wolfe came over, his eyes hard.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked, concerned.

  Leaning down so that his mouth was close to her ear, Wolfe whispered, “You know how hard it is not to beat a man for calling you sweet thang?”

  Amy chuckled, her eyes dropping to the bar. “He didn’t mean anything by it.”

  “Maybe not, but I bet if I kissed you right here, he wouldn’t dream about sayin’ it again.”

  Lifting her face to his, Amy’s lips twitched with the urge to smile. “Feel the need to mark your territory?”

  As soon as the words were out of her mouth, a strange feeling stirred inside her. One she didn’t like all that much. She hadn’t given much thought to how much tim
e she was spending with Wolfe and Rhys, but the idea of being their possession was something she hadn’t considered. She’d endured being someone’s property for so long she had no desire to ever go back to that.

  Then again, when she was with Rhys and Wolfe, she felt whole for the first time in her life. She felt … well, protected. They allowed her to be who she really was, and they made sure she knew how much they wanted her. It was a good feeling.

  Which meant it was nothing like her previous experience. In fact, it was the opposite, and perhaps that was why she liked that Wolfe got all dominant and possessive.

  “Damn straight, darlin’.”

  She had spent the better part of five years “belonging” to someone. However, she’d been a prisoner, unable to make decisions for herself. That wasn’t the case with Wolfe and Rhys, she knew. They didn’t make her feel smothered, trapped. Plus, she actually liked people knowing that she was with Wolfe. They’d kept things on the down low mostly because she wasn’t just with Wolfe. She didn’t think Wolfe or Rhys cared what people thought, but Amy still worried what people would think if they knew she was with both men. More so because she didn’t want it to cause problems for Rhys. If it were up to her, she would shout it from the rooftops.

  It wasn’t up to her though.

  And she understood where Rhys was coming from. When she really thought about it, she realized how unnatural the three of them together was. But when she was with them, she realized how right it felt. She was conflicted.

  Her biggest issue was that Amy did not want to rush into something because they offered her a sense of purpose, of belonging. Of security. Most importantly, she didn’t want to be dependent on them. She wanted to live her life, be who she wanted to be. And it was true, they hadn’t tried to change her, but Amy knew they wanted to wrap her in cotton and protect her from the world.

  “Here you go,” Reagan said, passing over the beers. “Give the girl some breathin’ room, Wolfe.”

  Amy took the three beers over to the men, leaning in and setting them on the table.

  When a firm hand landed on her backside, Amy straightened suddenly.