by Leah Brooke
Desire, Oklahoma
Desire for Three: Winning Back Jesse
Living in Desire, Oklahoma, and married to two incredible men, Jesse Erickson felt her world was perfect, until she walks through the door of her home one day and has her world turned upside down.
Shocked to the core, and with her world crumbling around her, she runs, too shaken to cope.
Clay and Rio Erickson hate keeping secrets from Jesse, but didn’t have a choice
They certainly hadn’t expected their wife to assume the worst and run.
With the help of a friend, they find her, only to face the horror of almost losing her again.
Scared and shaken, they get her home, still reeling from the thought of losing her. Determined to show her the power of their love won’t be easy, but they know just how to get their wife’s undivided attention.
Allowing their dominant sides to rule, they will plow through her insecurities once and for all.
Genre: Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Western/Cowboys
Length: 15,457 words
DESIRE FOR THREE:
WINNING BACK JESSE
Desire, Oklahoma
A Siren App Exclusive
Leah Brooke
MENAGE EVERLASTING
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Ménage Everlasting
DESIRE FOR THREE: WINNING BACK JESSE
Copyright © 2012 by Leah Brooke
E-book ISBN: 978-1-62241-484-0
First E-book Publication: December 2012
Cover design by Les Byerley
All art and logo copyright © 2012 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.
All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
PUBLISHER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
DESIRE FOR THREE:
WINNING BACK JESSE
Desire, Oklahoma
LEAH BROOKE
Copyright © 2012
Chapter One
Humming a tune that had been in her head all day, Jesse Erickson opened the front door, juggling her purse and the bags of food in her hands. Her body also hummed with anticipation, a sensation she wondered if she’d ever get used to. Laughing to herself, she hurried her steps, eager to find her gorgeous husbands.
She wouldn’t have believed it possible to be this happy, or to feel this loved.
When she’d first arrived in Desire, Oklahoma, she’d been shocked at the lifestyles people lived here. Ménage marriages were prevalent in Desire, but after being in one bad marriage, she certainly didn’t want another, especially one in which she would be married to not one, but two men.
Just the thought of ever tying herself to another man again had given her chills.
Yet, here she stood, two years later, anxious to get to the men who’d consumed her thoughts all day, as they did every day.
Smiling to herself at the now-familiar flood of desire that warmed her from within each time she thought about them, she started toward the kitchen, anxious for the kisses and cuddles that would be waiting for her.
And the more erotic moments that would come later.
As always, she couldn’t wait.
Hearing the low rumble of her husbands’ voices, she grinned and hurried her steps, stopping abruptly at the strange timbre in Clay’s voice.
Although he spoke in low tones, his deep voice carried, the tenseness in it putting her on alert. “This is going to turn her world upside down. It’s important that she feels loved and secure. We’ve got to go meet again tonight. Thank God, Jesse doesn’t suspect a thing. She thinks we’re going to the club.”
What the hell?
Jesse paused, wondering if she’d heard him right.
Rio sighed, and Jesse could imagine his usually smiling face hard, his jaw clenching.
“I’m sure Jesse already suspects something. She’s going to be crazy when she finds out. I’m tired of having to hide this from her.”
What the hell could they possibly be hiding from her?
Clay cursed soundly. “What the hell are we supposed to do? She’s knee-deep in work at the store, especially since Kelly’s not there. We can’t just blurt something like this out to her, especially now.”
Her legs gave out, the deep stab of hurt more than she could bear. With her legs like rubber, Jesse dropped onto the arm of the chair where she’d sat on her husbands’ laps many times.
“She’s going to suspect we’re hiding something from her soon.”
Jesse’s stomach knotted. It couldn’t be. No. Another woman?
No, please no!
The words kept ringing in her head as her world crumbled around her.
She didn’t want to believe it, but what else could it be?
She’d been expecting something like this ever since the day she’d married them, finding it difficult to believe that two men like Clay and Rio could ever be happy with someone like her.
They’d disappeared often and had the days to themselves while she ran the store.
How could she have allowed herself to become so blind? Why hadn’t she suspected anything?
Although both men were closing in on fifty, they easily looked, and had the stamina of men ten years younger. Rich and gorgeous, both men stood almost six and a half feet tall and had the strength of men much younger.
She’d thought it would happen slowly. She wasn’t prepared for this!
They could marry someone much younger, and have the children she could no longer bear.
Her insides turned to jelly, her mind so numb she had to struggle to think. She only knew she had to get out of here until she could gather her thoughts again, and decide what to do.
“She’s going to be hurt. There’s nothing we can do about that. Jesse feels things deeply, sometimes too deeply.” Clay sounded even angrier than before, but she was too numb to care.
She loved them more than they were comfortable with.
“She’s already been so worried about her sister, Nat, and the problems she and Jake have been having. Let’s see if we can get her mind off of everything this weekend. The boys are out of town, and we’ll have Jesse to ourselves. She won’t even have time to think about anything else.”
Jesse had indeed been looking forward to this weekend, when her son and theirs would be on the camping trip they’d been planning for weeks. Now, she wished the boys were here as a buffer between her and her husbands. Having them here would have helped her settle.
It struck her that she’d never felt that way with Clay and Rio before. Memories of her first marriage came back to her in a rush, and the emotionally draining confrontations at the end.
Suddenly, she felt tired, and older than she’d felt in a long time. She couldn’t seem to find the energy to stand, but she knew she couldn’t let them find her like this.
It could be nothing. It could all be some sort of terrible mistake.
It had to be.
She didn’t want to believe it.
She could have misunderstood them the same way they’d misunderstood her one day long ago—a day they’d kicked her out amid angry words and harsh accusations.
She got clumsily to her feet, still gripping the bags from the diner in town. Her mouth had watered for the fried chicken she’d smelled all the way home, but now she felt like she’d throw up if she tried to eat it.
Drawing a deep breath, she tried unsuccessfully to force a smile and made her way into the kitchen, not quite ready for a confrontation.
Clay, leaning against the counter, came forward immediately, his welcoming smile so familiar and beloved she wanted to cry.
“Hey, baby. I didn’t hear you come in.” Frowning, he bent, brushing her hair back from her face, his eyes filled with concern. “What is it? What’s wrong? Are you hurt? You’re white as a sheet!”
Jesse released her hold on the bags, letting Rio take them from her. “I’m fine, just really tired.” She went willingly into Clay’s arms, needing his strength now more than ever.
When Rio cursed and closed in behind her, surrounding her with their strength and warmth, she found herself blinking back tears.
Rio’s lips touched her hair as his strong hands ran up and down over her arms as though he could give her his strength by doing so.
In the past, it had worked, but not today.
“I knew that store was too much for you to handle. You’re getting too busy and you’re short-handed. Jesse, honey, I know you love the store, but I hate seeing you this way.”
Clay, the older and more domineering of the two brothers she’d fallen in love with and married, lifted her against him, settling her legs around his waist.
“That’s it. The store’s closed. It’s taking way too much of your time and energy.”
Jesse pushed away from him and disentangled herself from Rio’s hold. “I’m not closing the store. Look, I just want to be alone for a little while. I think I’m going to go out for a while.”
She didn’t want to stay at home with them tonight until she could work some things out in her head. She hated this weakness, especially after having become accustomed to feeling so strong and secure.
Marriage to Clay and Rio had changed her life, both of them showering her with more love than she’d ever thought possible. They’d blanketed her in safety and happiness and taught her to trust again.
Now, it was over, and it hurt so much, she could hardly breathe. Her stomach hurt, the feeling of emptiness making her feel hollow inside. Empty.
It had to be a mistake, but she couldn’t confront them now. She wasn’t ready.
Would she ever be ready?
Eyeing her thoughtfully, Rio shared a look with Clay. “We have something to do tonight, but I was going to cancel and stay home here with you.”
Jesse swallowed heavily. “You didn’t tell me about having plans tonight. Where are you going?”
“Just to the club.”
Suddenly a lot of things made sense to her, things that she hadn’t given a second thought to before. Turning away, she nodded, her neck so stiff with tension that even that small movement proved difficult. “I see.”
Clay gripped her arm and yanked her around to face him. “What the hell’s wrong with you?”
His anger stripped away some of the numbness, the ensuing shock of emotion slamming into her stealing her breath.
With tears blurring her vision, she slapped his hand away, bracing herself against the confusion and hurt in his eyes.
“Nothing’s wrong with me except I was stupid enough to believe you. I was stupid enough to believe—never mind. Just leave me alone.”
“Never.”
Clay’s face, hard with frustration, tightened even more. “I don’t know what the hell’s wrong with you, Jesse Erickson, but we’re going to have this out right now.”
To her horror, Jesse began to cry, deep, heaving sobs that made it impossible to talk, and nearly impossible to breathe.
The shocked look on her husbands’ faces blurred, as tears filled her eyes. Holding a hand up, she shook her head, backing away. “I need a m–minute.”
Turning, she ran into the bathroom and slammed the door behind her, locking it with a dead bolt they would never be able to get through.
The master bedroom had been designed as a safe room for her when her life had been in danger. It had been her haven then, but the fact that Clay and Rio had been racing to her rescue made her feel safer than any lock ever could.
Rio’s insistent knock at the door made her jump. “Jesse, open this fucking door right now! Whatever’s bothering you, we’ll work it out together.”
Jesse struggled to brace herself emotionally, and rebuild the wall that she’d used to keep her emotions safe, the wall Clay and Rio had torn down with alarming ease two years earlier.
Drawing a shaky breath, she eyed the window. “I want you to answer a question.”
Clay answered, his voice low and coming from only an inch or two from the other side of the door.
“Of course, Jesse. You know you can ask us anything. We’ve always talked about everything, haven’t we?”
Jesse had to swallow the lump in her throat before speaking again.
“Have you been keeping something from me—something to do with all the times you’ve gone out, telling me you were going to the club, but going to meet someone instead?”
The stunned silence coming from the other side of the door was like a knife to her heart. Not bothering to wait around for whatever excuse they would come up with, one she knew they would make her believe, Jesse unlocked the window and made her escape, forcing herself to ignore their pleas to let them explain.
Tomorrow she would be back, but for tonight, she needed to be alone. She needed time to rebuild the wall that she hadn’t needed for over two years.
A wall she promised herself she would never be without again.
Chapter Two
Jesse ignored yet another ring of her cell phone, waiting until it stopped again to turn it off.
She’d already called her sister, Nat, and promised to call her again once she stopped for the night. The other calls all came from Clay and Rio, and she couldn’t handle talking to them while she drove.
She knew they’d expect her to head north to Tulsa, or that she would be contrary and head south. So, she went west.
She wouldn’t put it past them to have the police looking for her car, the new one they’d bought her after her old one kept breaking down.
To be safe, she stayed on back roads, not stopping until she found a large economy hotel, hoping she would blend in. The parking lot was crowded, probably due more to the bar connected to it than to the hotel itself.
Thankful that her mind started to clear and she remembered she still carried the money from the store register in her purse, she checked in without having to use her credit card. Clay and Rio probably had the town sheriff, Ace Tyler, monitoring her credit card, waiting for her to use it somewhere.
As soon as she put the do not disturb sign on the doorknob and locked the door behind her, she tossed her purse on the nightstand next to the bed and went straight to the thermostat, turning the heat on high.
Even though the night had turned cold, the chill she felt now had more to do with nerves and fear than it did with the outside temperature.
She couldn’t get over the fact that she’d probably lost the two men she loved more than her own life, men she’d expected to grow old with.
She threw back the bedspread, ripping the blanket from the bed to wrap around herself before rummaging through her purse for her cell phone, which as usual, had fallen to the bottom.
Sitting on the bed cross-legged, she pulled the blanket more tightly around herself and turned the phone on, unsurprised that it rang again before she even had a chance to make a call.
Despite her actions, she’d never been a coward, but mind-numbing fear had made her act like one. Fear made her stupid.
No more.
Seeing Clay’s cell number on the display, she pushed the button to answer and, with shaking hands, lifted the phone to her ear.
“I was just about to call you. Lo
ok, I’m sorry I ran out that way.”
“Jesse! Thank God.”
The fear and relief in Clay’s deep voice couldn’t be mistaken. Closing her eyes, she blinked back tears, the rip to her heart letting her know that she still had a lot more work to do on the wall she’d begun to rebuild before she could even think about facing them again.
“I just wanted to let you know that I’m okay.”
“You’re not okay, and I don’t have a fucking clue why.”
Jesse had to swallow the lump in her throat before speaking. “I just didn’t want you to worry.”
* * * *
Clay wanted nothing more than to hold his wife in his arms and comfort her, to feel her soft and warm against him so he knew she was safe. With a warning look at his brother, Rio, to keep his temper to himself, he put the phone on speaker.
“Of course we’re worried about you, baby. Please, just tell us where you are so we can come and get you.”
“No, Clay.” The trembling sob in her voice tore him up inside.
With his heart in his throat, he turned, meeting the cold, hard stare of Lucas Hart, one of the partners in Desire Security Systems—and more than that—a good friend.
Lucas had been giving him dirty looks since they’d arrived a little more than an hour ago, clearly blaming Clay and Rio for hurting Jesse.
Clay blamed himself even more.
He’d hoped, prayed, that Jesse would answer the phone and that Lucas could use some of his vast array of equipment to find her.
Clenching his jaw, Lucas motioned for Clay to keep Jesse talking.
Clay had no intention of letting Jesse hang up, especially after spending the last few hours out of his mind with worry.
“Jesse, what do you mean, no? What happened, honey? We don’t even know what’s wrong. It’s not like you not to talk to us. If you’re mad at us for something, I’d rather you just give us hell like you usually do. It’s not like you to run away.”
