by Leah Brooke
She slid the neckline of her sweater down. “Rio?” The smoke forced her to pull it back up again.
“Jesse? Clay! Lucas! Over here.”
A gust of wind blew enough of the smoke away for her to see his face.
His beloved face.
He looked frantic, his eyes wild with worry for her.
Pulling the neck of her sweater lower, Jesse gasped, and began coughing again. Through it, she tried to speak, her voice coming out as a croak.
“Rio! What are you doing here?”
“Are you crazy? What do you think I’m doing here? Jump, baby. I’ll catch you.”
The wind shifted and she could no longer see him. “Rio?”
“I’m here, baby. Jump.”
“I can’t see you!”
She had to pull the sweater back up as the smoke thickened again.
“The stairs are gone, Jesse. I’ll catch you. Jump, baby. Trust me.”
Before she even realized she meant to, she lifted one foot over the railing, cursing when her hand slipped on it and she almost toppled over. She pushed her purse out of the way and grabbed on tight, one leg on one side of the cold, wet metal and one on the other. “Rio, the railing’s all wet and slippery. Damn it, I’m gonna fall.”
“Would I let that happen? I’m right here, darlin’. I’ll catch you.”
She heard the tension in his voice, even though he tried to disguise it. She knew him too well to be fooled by it.
She knew him too well to be fooled.
She also trusted him with her life.
With one foot braced on the bottom of the outside of the railing, she lifted her other over the top, wincing at the feel of the hard metal pressing into her ribs.
“Rio, if you drop me, I swear I’m going to kick your ass.”
Another voice sounded from below her, one equally beloved and filled with anger, fear, and relief.
“So will I. Jump, Jesse. Right now.”
The sounds around her faded somewhat as she concentrated on the voices of her husbands, squinting to catch a glimpse of them in the heavy smoke.
Holding herself away from the railing with the toes of her sneakers pressed hard against the concrete, Jesse looked down over her shoulder.
“I’m letting go. Don’t you dare drop me.”
“Not a chance, darlin’. Let go.”
With a cry, Jesse closed her eyes tight and released her grip on the railing, her fall stopped abruptly when she landed in a pair of strong, muscular arms, arms she knew so well.
“Gotcha!”
Nestled against Rio’s wide chest, she opened her eyes and began to cough again, nearly crushed to death against him as he breathed her name. “Jesse. Thank God. You’re never leaving my sight again.”
He spun and started moving fast, but with her eyes closed, she didn’t see where they were going.
She didn’t care. She’d never found anyplace safer than Rio and Clay’s arms.
Clay moved in on her other side, taking a wet cloth from someone standing behind him and slapping it over her mouth and nose. “Thank God. Keep this over your face, baby.”
The familiar endearment both men used warmed her inside, and she found herself relaxing a little more.
Everything would be all right. It had to be.
Once they’d moved away from the smoke, Jesse took the damp cloth from her face and gripped Rio’s shoulder.
“I love you, Rio. I was leaving to come home. I don’t know what’s going on, but I need the truth from you and Clay. I can’t go on without it.”
Rio shook his head, his jaw tightening. “I hate keeping things from you, but you deserve to be put over my knee for thinking we’d ever cheat on you.”
More of the tension eased, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him close. “You try it and you’ll be sorry.”
Reaching the paramedics, Rio set her on her feet, holding her as Clay wrapped his arms around her from behind.
Clay buried his face against her neck, breathing deeply. “Peaches and Jesse. Christ, honey, you scared the hell out of me. Are you hurt anywhere?”
“No.” Waving away the paramedic’s attempts to tend to her, she blinked in surprise, pointing toward the bar where the fire appeared to be almost out. “Is that Lucas over there? Why the hell is Lucas here? What’s going on?”
Rio led her to the patient paramedic, holding her while the other man tended to the scratches on her hands she hadn’t even been aware of.
“He helped us find you. He’s over there probably getting the whole story of what happened here. Be still, honey. Lucas is going to drive your car home while you come home in the truck with us.”
Clay stood stone-faced, his arms crossed over his chest and his hooded eyes sharp as he watched the paramedic clean and bandage her scratches.
Rio kept rubbing her arm, his fingers closing around it each time she moved as if making sure she didn’t get away from him.
Jerking her arm from his hold, she glared at him. “Let go of me. If I want to go, I’ll go. I said I was going back to Desire to talk to you and I was. I’m not going anywhere until I hear some answers from both of you.”
She knew both of them well enough to know how possessive and angry they were, but she couldn’t let that sway her. Poking her finger into Clay’s massive chest, she let him see her own anger.
“Don’t you give me that look. You lied to me, remember?”
Clay ran his hand over her hair, pulling her close. “Yes, but you should know that we’d never look at another woman, and you sure as hell know better than to run away. Damn it, Jesse. You should have talked to us.”
She glanced at the paramedic, yanking her hand away as soon as he finished bandaging her. “I couldn’t.”
Lucas came rushing back. “Hey, honey.” He frowned when he saw the bandages on her hands. “She okay?”
Jesse gritted her teeth. “I can speak for myself, Lucas. I’m fine.”
Lucas nodded, not looking convinced, sharing one of those looks with Clay and Rio that the men in Desire were so famous for.
“Bar fight. It carried outside, bottles were thrown and people were smoking. I told them she was safe, and that we’re leaving. Jesse, where was your room?”
Jesse turned. “Above the bar. Right over there.” She pointed, her jaw dropping when she saw what had once been her room. “Oh, my God! It’s gone.”
Clay gripped her arm. “Give Lucas your car keys. Let’s get the hell out of here. I can’t take any more tonight.”
Chapter Four
Clay glanced at his wife, his body shaking with the need to take her, and with fear at how close he’d come to losing her.
He’d wanted her since the first time he’d laid eyes on her, and time had done nothing to diminish that.
Familiarity only made him want her more.
The desperation and the hunger for her now made him feel like a caged tiger. He wanted to sink so deep inside her that she never again forgot for one minute that she belonged to him. He needed to feel her all around him, to satisfy himself that she was all right.
He’d have nightmares about tonight for years.
Jesse shifted in her seat. “You wanted to talk. Talk.”
Clay forced a calm into his voice he didn’t feel. “No, Jesse. The conversation we’re going to have deserves my full attention, something I can’t give you while I’m driving. When we get home, we’ll talk.”
“But you can’t drive all the way home! It’s too far. Why don’t we stop and—”
Clay gritted his teeth, surprising himself by growling. “We’re going home. I’m wide awake, Jesse. Believe me. Didn’t you tell me just a few minutes ago that you were going to drive home tonight instead of calling us to come get you?”
Just the thought of it made his stomach clench. “You need to be spanked more often.” The thought of turning his sweet wife over his lap had his cock demanding attention. Blowing out a breath, he fought it. “You’re safe now. Why don’t you g
et some sleep?”
He sure as hell needed a few hours to settle.
“Look, Clay, I don’t need you or Rio to come get me when I’m perfectly—”
His stomach churned, rage at how close he’d come to losing her spewing. “Don’t even start, Jesse. You do not want to have this conversation with me right now. Just go to sleep before I give in to the urge to pull over and paddle your ass raw!”
Jesse whirled in her seat. “Listen, you son of a bitch, I—”
With a hand wrapped around her waist, Rio yanked her back against him, overcoming her struggles. “I wouldn’t, if I were you. Just settle down and go to sleep. We’re all on edge right now.”
To Clay’s relief, Jesse complied, but not before grumbling under her breath and giving both of them dirty looks. He knew he and Rio would pay for snapping at her later, but right now, he only wanted to concentrate on driving and getting his wife back home where she belonged.
He also needed to calm down before they talked. In his present mood, he didn’t know what the hell he would say.
No one spoke, the cab of the truck silent except for the monotonous sound of the engine, and before long, Jesse slumped against Rio. Without saying a word, Rio gathered her against him, the hand he placed on her shoulder holding her close.
Neither one of them had been able to keep their hands off of her since they’d found her, and Clay knew it would be a long time before he would be able to relax his guard again.
She’d scared him badly, given him the kind of scare he wouldn’t forget soon.
Glancing at his brother, he rubbed Jesse’s thigh, careful to keep his voice low. “We’ll work it out with her tomorrow. We can’t tell her everything, but we’ll tell her enough. She’s back with us, and right now, that’s all that matters.”
Rio nodded, burying his face in Jesse’s hair. “Yeah. She’s with us.” Staring down at her, he sighed. “We all smell like smoke, but I can still smell the peach lotion she wears.”
Clay glanced at him, clenching his jaw. “Seems like such a stupid thing, but some of the knots in my stomach loosened when I breathed it in. Ridiculous.”
Closing his eyes, Rio pulled the jacket he’d covered her with higher over her shoulder. “Stupid.” Sitting up slightly, he stared down at her again, playing with the ends of her hair.
“She’s been waiting for it, hasn’t she? She’s been waiting for us to tell her it’s over.”
With a sigh, Clay glanced at her again. “Yes, she has, and it pisses me off.”
Nodding again, Rio dropped his head back against the headrest and stared out the windshield, still playing with Jesse’s hair.
“I won’t lose her.”
Clay clenched his jaw, almost smiling at the determination in his brother’s voice. “That’s not an option. The boys are away and Nat’s taking care of the store. We’ll have Jesse all to ourselves this weekend, and we’ll get this settled once and for all.”
Rio curled his hand over Jesse’s small hand resting on his thigh. “I wonder sometimes if she really gets it—if she realizes what the word wife means to the men in Desire. What it means to us.”
Clay moved his hand up his wife’s leg, smiling for the first time in hours when Jesse moaned in her sleep and arched into his touch.
“She’ll know for sure before this weekend’s over.”
* * * *
Jesse woke slowly, not bothering to open her eyes. As she did every morning, she took the time to savor the warmth and feel of her husbands lying on either side of her.
It had become a precious time for her, this special closeness before the rush of the day started just to be with her men. It had become a ritual for them, and she wouldn’t have given this time up for anything.
Nothing else seemed as important as the intimacy in the early-morning quiet, and by unspoken agreement, they always kept their voices low, increasing the intimacy.
Smiling to herself, she shifted her position slightly, smiling again when the hands both Clay and Rio held her with moved, caressing her as if their need to comfort her extended into their sleep.
Wrinkling her nose against the smell of smoke, Jesse gasped, jolting upright as memories of the previous night came rushing back, the feeling of warmth dissipating in a heartbeat.
Rio tightened the arm around her waist, pulling her back down between them again.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
The steel in his otherwise drowsy tone set her teeth on edge. “Don’t take that tone with me, Rio. I’m still mad at you.”
Before she knew it, Jesse found herself flat on her back with Rio’s considerable weight pressing her into the mattress.
The feel of his big, hard body against hers never failed to both excite and comfort her, wrapping her in a protective cocoon that nothing could get past. A wall of solid muscle held her closely and moved erotically against her softer curves.
Her nipples burned against his chest, the need to have his attention there nearly unbearable.
It had been this way with both of them since she’d met them.
One touch and she melted.
She couldn’t ignore the huge cock pressing against her thigh, and as Clay rolled toward her, she moaned as another hard cock pressed insistently against her hip. She had to fight the urge to spread her thighs wider in invitation, an invitation she knew neither one of them would ignore.
They seemed to find her irresistible, and she’d never quite understood it—or gotten used to it.
No one had ever loved her the way Clay and Rio appeared to, and it left her feeling unsettled at times—something too good to be believed.
It left a small place empty inside her, a small corner of her heart that uncertainty wouldn’t allow to be filled.
She’d never minded, and hardly even thought about it anymore, but last night it had taken over, grown so large that she fell into the dark chasm and was unable to breathe until she found her way out.
Staring up at Rio, she lifted her hand, unable to resist pushing back the dark hair that fell rakishly over his forehead.
“I need a shower. Alone.”
Love shone in his dark eyes, something she’d come to rely on, but this time his gaze also held a cautious expectancy.
Meeting his eyes, she winced inwardly at the emotional distance between them now, a distance she’d never thought to experience.
Even the hand he used to push her hair back moved with a hesitancy that was so unlike him that she wanted to cry.
Clay leaned over her from the other side, his eyes sharper than usual at this time of the morning.
“Take your shower.” Nodding once, he glanced at Rio. “We’ll get ours in the other bathroom and meet you in the kitchen.” Reaching out, he ran a finger down her cheek, his eyes narrowing when she shivered.
“Don’t even think about leaving this house, though.”
Jesse sighed, feeling cold as Rio moved aside and slid from the bed in a graceful movement she couldn’t help but admire.
“I’m not going anywhere. Both of you owe me some answers.” She sat up and scooted toward the edge of the bed.
Hooking an arm around her waist from behind, Clay yanked her back, his breath warm on her ear. “And you owe us an explanation for that foolish stunt last night. Go get your shower. We’ll talk when you’re done.”
Reaching a hand around her to cover a breast, he ran his thumb over her nipple. “You respond so eagerly no matter how mad you are, don’t you, honey?”
The sensation, so erotic and familiar, sent a wave of longing through her that couldn’t be contained.
Arching into his caress, Jesse let her head fall back against his shoulder with a moan as erotic heat licked at her nipples.
Clay chuckled from behind her. “You think you can walk away from this, baby?”
Furious at her body’s betrayal, Jesse turned to glare at him over her shoulder.
“Sex isn’t everything.”
Clay’s brow went up as he incre
ased the pressure on her nipple, sending white-hot flames of need through her. “But, it’s never been just sex between us, has it, Jesse?”
Gripping his muscular forearm, Jesse rubbed her thighs together against the flash of heat to her slit.
“Damn it, Clay. We need to talk.”
A muscle worked in his jaw. “You’re damned right we do. Go get your shower.” Releasing her, he rolled to his feet. Reaching back for her, he gripped her upper arms and dragged her from the bed, setting her on her feet in front of him.
“I wouldn’t bother getting dressed. You won’t be going anywhere until we get this sorted out, and if I have my way, you’ll be naked and under me for a long time afterward.”
Chapter Five
Tightening the belt of her thick robe, Jesse made her way down the hall to the kitchen. Although she wore thick socks and knew she hadn’t made a sound, both men turned as soon as she crossed the threshold.
They’d always been attuned to her somehow, as she had to them.
Butterflies took flight in her stomach, and every erogenous zone came to life as soon as she saw them. Felt them.
The tension in the air this morning, however, made it worse.
Stopping at the doorway, she rubbed her hands up and down her arms and took a few moments to admire her gorgeous husbands, gauging their moods. She let her gaze wander over their muscular physiques, her body shimmering with awareness as their gazes ran over her.
Their bodies, hard from the physical labor, seemed even stiffer now, as though braced for anything.
Both men looked almost haggard from lack of sleep and tension.
“You both look terrible. Did you sleep at all?”
Clay’s hooded eyes stayed on hers as she stepped into the room, searching her features as though trying to read her mind. He leaned back against the counter, sipping his coffee as he did every morning, but unlike every other morning, she didn’t go to him. If she did, he would have set his coffee aside and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close for a few more precious moments before they started their day.
Rio would bring her a cup of coffee and yank her chair close to his, nuzzling her neck as she drank it.
