Kidnapped at the Gun Show [Ransomed Hearts] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Lavender Daye

  It was time to take control of her baser instincts. Having sex all day and all night wasn’t going to solve any of her problems. As much as she wanted a life with Kale, there were too many things he didn’t know about her. Once he knew, he’d run like hell.

  Sara extricated herself from the bed as carefully as possible, picked up the bag her friends had packed, and tiptoed out the door and into the bathroom. The hot shower felt great, easing tenderness in a handful of muscles she hadn’t used in years. And Paige had been thoughtful enough to make sure she had her makeup and toiletries, even her shampoo. How long did they think she’d be gone? She was expected at work Monday afternoon, and she had an appointment with the district attorney on Tuesday.

  Foregoing makeup, Sara pulled on some soft slacks and a loose top. The floor was warm, but she picked up a pair of thick socks to put on in the living room. Sex would be on the back burner until she talked to Kale about her old job and the ramifications of her employment there. No doubt he’d be chomping at the bit to get her home and out of his hands when he heard the whole story.

  The scent of bacon cooking reached out and grabbed her the minute she opened the bathroom door. Thank heavens Kale was up and cooking. She was starved. Last night was probably the equivalent of several days at the gym. But when Sara turned the corner into the kitchen, she skidded to a stop. The butt standing at the stove in those jeans was not Kale’s.

  And the broad, bare shoulders with a Celtic cross tattoo on one side weren’t Kale’s, either.

  Sure, he was about the same height as Kale, but this man’s dimensions were different. Where Kale was thick bodied and muscular, this man was slimmer, but not thin. What she could see of his shoulders and arms gave the impression of a muscular, but not well-defined, body, which meant he wasn’t a gym rat but liked to stay in shape. Or maybe his job required physical strength.

  Well, hell. Did it matter what he did for a living? He was standing here half-naked, she didn’t know who he was or what he was doing here, and for all she knew, he could be here to kidnap her and take her back to those idiots she used to work for.

  Before she could back out of the room, he spoke.

  “Morning, Sara. Hope you’re hungry. Kale won’t be up for a while, yet. Guess you wore him out last night.”

  She froze, spellbound as he turned to face her, a long fork in his hand.

  Holy shmoly. He was one hell of a heartbreaker.

  Dark curls lay along his skull, cut close enough that they wouldn’t touch a shirt collar but long enough to give him a California surfer look if he was standing on a breezy beach. Dark eyes edged with even darker thick lashes. A smile that oozed sex appeal. The human equivalent of a shark.

  He turned back to the stove, and Sara moved closer to one of the kitchen chairs and sat, trying to re-engage her brain. She rubbed her feet together, realizing she still held the socks in her hand and she’d been sitting, dazed and confused, for too long. She flinched when two sock-clad feet appeared in front of her. He dropped into a crouch, and a smooth finger lifted her chin.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  Even his eyes smiled at her. She only hoped he wasn’t one of the bad guys, because she’d most likely go willingly to her death if he was taking her there.

  He took the socks out of her hand. “Here, let me help you. Damn, Sara, your feet are frozen.”

  Hot hands wrapped around her foot. He rubbed. Pressed. Massaged.

  Heaven had arrived.

  “I’m Riley, a good friend of Kale’s.” He slipped the sock onto her foot and went to work on the other, grinning and chatting as he warmed her feet. “How about some coffee?”

  Finally, Sara found her voice. “Coffee sounds good. Is there any creamer?”

  “Sure is. I can’t live without the stuff, so I brought some with me last night.”

  Sara sipped the hot brew with appreciation, the sleepy synapses in her brain waking and beginning to function normally. Well, at least as normal as possible, considering where she was and who she was with. Life as she knew it kept switching channels on her.

  “How are the roads?” she asked. Getting home needed to be a priority, even though staying in the cabin, snug as a bug with Kale beside her, sounded good. But having sex with this guy just down the hall might be a little embarrassing.

  Riley was back at the stove, moving crisp pieces of bacon to a plate and adding more to the skillet. Watching the muscles in his back move as he worked was captivating. But she had to stop. It wasn’t fair to Kale. She shouldn’t be this appreciative of his friend’s physique.

  “Bad. I barely got here last night. All the bridges are iced over, and the surface roads aren’t much better.” He returned to the table and pulled out the chair next to her, straddling it. “Don’t worry. I brought extra supplies. We should be fine here until the weather clears. Media is predicting about two days of icy roads before the thaw.”

  “Not good. I have to be back in Dallas on Monday.”

  “As much as I’d like to help you, it’s not possible.”

  Sara leaned back in her chair, attempting to put a little physical distance between them. The man—Riley?—oozed testosterone, and she was a little light headed. Or maybe the coffee was stronger than her usual mix.

  “I’m screwed,” she muttered under her breath. The district attorney was going to have her arrested if she didn’t show. Jail wasn’t a place she wanted to be.

  “Not yet, sweetheart. But we’ve got plenty of time,” Riley replied.

  Sara sucked in some air, processing his comment. Before she could ask, he stood.

  “Pancakes or waffles?”

  “Umm, waffles.” Thank God he changed the subject. Surely he didn’t plan to have sex with her while Kale was still in bed down the hall. Not much of a friend. He must be joking.

  Must be. He was grinning again.

  Riley was putting a plate of waffles and bacon in front of her when Kale wandered through the door. Relief swept over her, easing the sexual tension in the room. Sara cut into the waffle and added a little syrup, watching Kale greet his friend. They had an unrestrained, brotherly relationship, slapping hands together, bumping into each other.

  A swell of happiness for Kale formed in her chest. He needed this friend. He didn’t have much family, just a mom that drank too much and partied, even when her son was old enough to frequent the same clubs. He’d been embarrassed as a teen and disgusted by her as an adult. Getting in the way of this friendship was something Sara did not want to do, and she didn’t understand why Riley was such a flirt when he had to know she was with Kale.

  She put another bite into her mouth and chewed, watching them together. Kale filled his plate and came to the table. He leaned over and kissed her on the mouth, licking a drop of syrup from her bottom lip, then sat next to her.

  Riley sat on the other side of her, his plate full and his smile radiant. “Not fair. I didn’t get a kiss.”

  “What do you think, Sara?” Kale rubbed his palm up and down her arm. “Do you think Riley deserves a kiss? He did make breakfast for us.”

  Surprised, she turned to face him, expecting a playful smile. But he was serious. Heat radiated from his body, and his expression was one she’d only seen in the bedroom. He wanted her to kiss his friend. Her breath stuttered, air trapped in her chest compressing while her heart thundered in her ears.

  “One little kiss won’t hurt, will it?” he whispered, his roughened voice reaching into her body and tweaking her core.

  Sara turned to see Riley squatting by her chair and her breath caught in her chest. He reached up and stroked her hair back from her face, tipped her head to accommodate his height, and placed his mouth on hers.

  What she’d expected was nothing like what he gave her.

  Soft, tentative pressure on her lips, and gentle movements that eased her lips apart were a shocking surprise. He nipped her lower lip, sucked it into his mouth. Licked her upper lip. She trembled, seduced as he coaxed her to open for him. Hi
s tongue flicked inside her mouth, explored for a moment, and retreated. Explored again. Retreated. When the pressure of his mouth left hers, Sara was trembling, feeling for the entire world like she’d just fallen off a skyscraper and landed in a huge pile of marshmallow fluff. Or maybe into the twilight zone.

  She jerked her head around to face Kale, unsure of his reaction.

  He was visibly aroused.

  A small smile formed on his lips, his eyes hot and ready for sex.

  “Beautiful, Sara,” he whispered, cupping her head, stroking her hair down to her shoulder. “Now, eat your breakfast. You need your strength.” The dark croon of his voice stroked her erogenous zones in a way his hands couldn’t manage.

  When she continued to stare at him, Kale reached for her fork, stabbed a piece of waffle, and placed it in her open mouth.

  “Chew, sweetheart.”

  That was Riley. Damn it. She blinked and, tried to reset her head while she ate the waffle, her head turning to look from one to the other, wondering what kind of game they were playing. When her mouth finally cleared, she said, “What the hell is going on here?”

  Chapter 6

  “Sweetheart, Kale—”

  “Stop. My name is Sara Brennan. I’m not your sweetheart.”

  Riley regrouped. “Sara. Better?”

  She nodded, and he continued, “Sara, Kale was going to discuss this with you before I arrived, but the weather changed unexpectedly. I was afraid I wouldn’t get here if I waited.”

  Kale’s hand clasped hers where it lay on the table, and Riley nodded. They needed to provide a united front so she’d understand their plans.

  “Kale and I have been friends for a while now. We’ve discovered that relationships can be, well, enhanced is a good word for it, when he and I combine forces.”

  Sara’s shocked face was priceless, but he couldn’t laugh, not right now. She needed to understand that they were serious.

  “Are you gay?” she asked, turning from one to the other with her question.

  “No, Sara,” Kale said. “This has nothing to do with sexual orientation. But it is emotional.”

  She turned to Riley, and he smiled at her raised brow. “He’s right. Neither of us is gay. But we both enjoy working together to give pleasure to a lover.”

  “Are we talking tag-team sex?” She rubbed her face, her eyes, scrubbed at her hair until it was a mess. “Sorry. I’ve lived in Dallas all my life, but I’m basically a small-town kind of girl. This conversation is a little out of my league.”

  Riley stood, hoping to comfort her with a hug, but when she shrank away from him, he moved across the room. If she needed space, he’d give her all he could. He tipped his head at Kale, giving him a chance to convince her.

  “Not tag-team, Sara. Although there may be times when one of us would want to watch while you made love with the other.”

  “Made love?” she groaned. “Sounds more like irresponsible group sex. Not love.”

  “Honestly, Sara, Riley and I have shared women for the last few years, but there was always something missing in the relationship.”

  Riley jumped in. “Kale is still in love with you. He hasn’t been able to give his heart to any of the women we’ve been with. They felt the distance he placed in the relationship, and it hurt them. It’s one of the reasons he wanted to reconnect with you.”

  “Is that true? Or are you using our past to play sex games?”

  “I wouldn’t intentionally hurt you, Sara. Never again. I’d hoped for resolution. Either to discover that we were different people now and I could separate my feelings for you in the past with how I felt now, or, if we still felt the connection, we could be together again.”

  “Together with him, you mean.”

  She was beginning to look pissed, and Riley stepped between Sara and Kale. “I’m hoping you might be willing to try what we’re suggesting, with no strings attached, for a little while. If we meet your needs, and you meet ours, we could make it a more permanent relationship.”

  “I think you’ve both lost your freaking minds.” Sara stood, almost knocking the table over, and stomped out of the room.

  “That went well,” Kale said.

  “To be expected. She has no knowledge of our past relationships, no expectations of the same, like the women we met in Austin.”

  “True. I’m just worried.”

  “Second thoughts about sharing her?” Riley asked.

  “No. Worried that we’ll hurt her in some way.”

  Riley stacked his arms on the table between them and leaned toward his best friend. “We won’t let that happen, no matter what.”

  Kale smiled and nodded.

  “She’s beautiful, Kale. Smart, sexy, and strong willed. She’s going to drive us both crazy, and we’re going to spoil her silly.”

  “If she agrees.”

  “We’ve got a few days to convince her. The weather won’t clear until Tuesday at the earliest.” Riley moved back to the sink and turned on the waffle maker. “She didn’t eat much. Go convince her to come back for more food. Turn on the charm.”

  * * * *

  Sara shut the bedroom door and leaned on it, wishing it had a lock, a deadbolt, and a burglar bar. Two men in a bed. With her. Not something she’d ever considered. One man in bed with her was a rarity. The logistics of two at a time were frightening.

  And a little, teeny-tiny bit tantalizing.

  To be wedged between two hunky men like Kale and Riley would quickly lead to sensory overload. That much testosterone in one place could be devastating to her senses. Just the thought made her knees weak.

  Her body was already tingling with all sorts of strange sensations caused by their conversation. The urge to wiggle was gnawing at her, like she’d had too much coffee or one of those stupid energy drinks her friend Emma used sometimes. Lifting her butt off the door, Sara straightened the bed, picked up the clothes they’d haphazardly discarded the night before, and proceeded to pace.

  There were decisions to make. Whether she agreed to be with them or not, she had to come clean about her need to be in Dallas Tuesday morning. Afterwards, they might not want to see her again. Honestly, she couldn’t blame them. No one wanted trouble dumped on their doorstep.

  Someone knocked on the door and, blessedly, whichever one it was had the integrity to wait for her to answer. Sara considered refusing to talk, but they were snowed in, so what was the point? She had nowhere to go.

  “Come in.”

  The door opened an inch and stopped. Sara had the funniest feeling the man on the other side was expecting her to throw something at him.

  The door opened enough for Kale to stick his head inside. “You ready to talk?”

  “What are my choices?” she asked. “Never mind. Come in.”

  Kale left the door open and sat on the bed. “I’m hoping you’ll give us a chance.”

  Sara waited. She didn’t want to argue, but he needed to convince her before she agreed to anything.

  “My job often requires travel, and if it were just the two of us, there would be times you’d be alone. With Riley as part of our relationship, I’ll always know you’re taken care of, protected.”

  “We never got around to talking about your career. What exactly do you do these days?”

  “I work for the Justice Department, in their cyber-crimes unit.”

  She stared, waiting for him to realize his statement was as clear as mud. After a few minutes, he sighed.

  “FBI. I travel around, doing forensic investigations on seized computers.”

  “You’re an FBI agent? I thought you were looking for a job within state government.”

  “I did, but a recruiter suggested I also apply at the Bureau, and after what happened with us, it seemed like a good way to start fresh. But I couldn’t forget you.”

  “How did you meet Riley?” she asked. He was finally talking, and she didn’t want to give him time to close up on her. She needed information.

  “I ende
d up in the Austin office, and I met Riley at a club, a private club that caters to men like us.”

  “Sexual deviants?”

  He actually laughed, a pleasant sound that eased her tension. If he could laugh about his sexuality, it couldn’t be too bad.

  “We’re not deviants. I just feel more in control of my emotions when I know the woman I love is taken care of when I’m not around. I wouldn’t want you to feel cheated or lonely when I’m away.”

  “Is that the only reason you have for this thing you want from me?” she asked.

  “No. There are lots of other reasons, too many to cover in one sitting.” Kale stretched his arms, settled them across his knees and leaned over, hiding his face from her. “You know how I grew up.”

  Sara hadn’t given it much thought, considering the conversation, but she knew what he meant. Her hand crept over to rest on his shoulder.

  “She wasn’t happy, Sara, and it was because Dad left. She kept trying to find her happy place but always looked in the wrong place—wrong man, wrong bottle, whatever.”

  “I remember.”

  “Yeah, well. This way, I won’t worry about you not having what you need. One or both of us will always be there for you.”

  Crying in front of him was out of the question. He wouldn’t appreciate the sentiment or the tears. But it was hard to keep dry eyes at the moment. Understanding seeped in, even if it wasn’t what she’d expected. Love and fear do strange things to some people.

  “I’ll think about it, okay?” she sighed. “No pressure.”

  “Can’t ask for more right now. I know we sprang this on you. I’m sorry.”

  Kale reached out to hug her, and she let him.

  “Riley’s warming up breakfast. You didn’t eat much.”

  He stood and pulled her to her feet.

  Sara laughed. “Maybe if I stuff myself, I’ll get so fat you won’t want me.”

  “Woman, you are out of your mind. Chubby or skinny, it doesn’t matter. I love you.”

  “Riley might disagree,” she said as they started down the hall.

  “Honey, you have no idea how quickly you can wrap that man around your little finger.”