by Cameron Dane
With the utmost difficulty, Jace let his wounds remain open and kept his focus on the goal. “Where is the other body?”
“Gone now, I imagine.” He pursed his lips. “I'd much rather talk about the pretty cowboy. Is he here? Is he outside waiting for you?”
“He's at my desk.” Jace lied through his teeth for the second time in an hour and gave the leech some blood to suck. “Where did you put the man who helped you put Ginger on that tree?”
“Farther up the mountain from where you found her.” Peter cocked his head to the side, so very casually, and Jace shivered. “I know you talked to Beth, right here in this building. I followed her here from work, but of course, there was no way I could do more than say hello to the sheriff so that I could see where you took her. She was crying when she left, and I can only assume you got the truth out of her while you had her in this very room. I wanted to get close enough to smell and taste her when she left, but I didn't have an in.”
Another level of intensity burned through Peter and onto Jace, and Jace started to feel insanity touch him deeper than he would be able to wash away.
“Tell me what it was like,” Peter asked. “Tell me how it felt to sit so close to someone who couldn't share her loss with anyone until you broke through.”
“Did you think you were going to pin Ginger's murder on Beth?” Jace asked. Rage about that innocent woman suffering all alone ignited a fuse inside him. “We wouldn't have believed you. Not after you set Ginger up in such an elaborate death scene.”
“Remember, Deputy,” Peter responded with a little smile. “I told you I'm not always able to help solve the crimes I see in my visions. There was no need for you to ever find Ginger's killer; the joy came in slowly sharing more and more about Ginger's secret life with her family. I could have lived for a month on their devastation as I slowly revealed the many cowboys she'd slept with, her love for another woman, and then the delicious prostitution.” Peter's eyes glazed with lust. He squirmed in his chair, and Jace thought the crazy bastard might come on himself again.
I can't do this anymore.
For the first time since entering this room, Jace looked at his boss. “Is that enough?” The feeling of gravel in his throat stripped his words.
Duke nodded. “I'll have the DA from Billings here by the morning.”
Nearly free now, Jace strode across the room and planted his hand on the table right in front of Peter. He leaned in, and menace coated his tone. “Understand something, you son of a bitch. You will not see me again until I am forced to look at you in a courtroom. And trust me, when you do, there will not be a trace of pain on my face. I will not give you so much as a sliver of satisfaction again.” His cell phone rang right then, and he ripped it off his belt, shoving the name in Peter's face. “That will be Jasper calling to tell me that he's going in to see our woman right now.” He took the cell away and slammed the flat of his hand against the table surface, making Peter jump. “I hope it pains you like hell to know that she is just fine and will be home with us tomorrow.” Without another word, Jace left the interview room.
Not until the door closed firmly behind him did Jace start shaking so badly, he had to slide down the wall to keep from falling to the floor.
* * * *
Jasper touched Sarah's scratched cheek for the hundredth time since the doctor had allowed him into her room. He couldn't help it. God, she'd given him a scare. “You guys can't sit here all night; I won't let you.” Sarah shifted her focus back and forth between Jasper and Jace, who flanked her hospital bed. “I know I was a mess at the youth center, but I'm fine now.”
“You got a concussion and stitches.” Jasper brushed his fingers over the dozens of little nicks the glass left on her cheek. The only deep gash was a result of the corner of the frame gouging her right under the temple. “We're allowed to fuss.”
Sarah rolled her eyes at him and then quickly grabbed her head with a moan. “Ouch. I have five little stitches, a ginormous headache, and an evening of looking forward to a nurse waking me up every hour. Seriously.” She twined her fingers in one hand from each man and held them to her breast. “I know you're both beat.” Pulling their hands to her lips, she kissed across the knuckles of each man. “I saw the toll today took on each of you. I want you both to get some sleep and put it out of your heads for a couple of hours. Do it for me, since I know the warden here”—she glared at her door—“isn't going to give me the pleasure.”
Jace chuckled, and it was the first sign of life Jasper had seen in the man since entering Sarah's hospital room some two hours ago. “You used to call me your warden,” he said.
Jasper detected the thickness in his voice.
Sarah's gaze softened as she looked up at Jace, and Jasper knew she had heard it too and held back tears. “Only with love,” she told him.
Wetness brightened Jace's eyes. He leaned down and clung to Sarah with a kiss it hurt Jasper's heart to witness. “I love you so much,” the man confessed, holding his mouth to her lips. He scraped his lips to her ear, but Jasper could still hear him say, “I was so scared today.”
“I know, Jace.” Sarah held his jaw and rained gentle kisses all over his face. “I know. I've loved you forever too.”
Jasper watched Jace settle like a frightened animal under its master's loving touch, and it floored him that no jealousy reared in him at her feelings and tenderness for this man. The sex was fun, and with physical passion flaring in the throes of touching and fucking, Jasper understood how he could enjoy his woman receiving pleasure at the hands of a man he found equally attractive. Observing them like this, though, and not feeling a bit intrusive for being here with them, Jasper felt his chest loosen as the last little bit of fear about this threesome faded away. It could withstand both good times and hardship. They were together now. All of them. Jasper ached for Jace to have peace, happiness, and security just as much as he wanted it for Sarah and himself. They were real.
In every way.
As quickly as he had let his guard down, Jace pecked a kiss to Sarah's hair and pulled away. “Okay. Enough of that.” Wiping his eyes with the heels of his hands, he took another dozen steps back. “If you want us to go, we'll go.” He paused with his hand on the door's handle and pointed at her, completely his old self again. “But we'll be back to get you tomorrow.”
She lit up with that smile of hers that had first captured Jasper's interest and later his heart. “I can't wait.”
Jasper dipped down to Sarah's mouth with the intention of a fast, soft kiss, but the second his lips touched hers, he needed more. He pushed her mouth open and sank in for something deeper. He stole his Sarah's taste, reminded himself of it, and savored the blessing that everything had worked out okay, and he still had her here to kiss and hold. Sarah held his shoulder and licked into him with forays of her own. She drew Jasper's arousal quickly to the surface, but with steel will, he reminded himself that she was in no condition to have him crawl into bed and strip her naked right now.
God, though, how he wanted to do just that.
With a gentle bite at her mouth, Jasper ended the kiss. He rubbed the sting with his thumb and smiled. “Love you.” After dropping one more kiss on her upturned lips, he looked into her eyes. “Don't fight with the nurses,” he mock scolded her. “I know how stubborn you are.”
Sarah straightened her mouth to a narrow line but couldn't cover the twinkle in her gaze. “Scout's honor.” She lifted the three-finger salute. “Whatever it takes to get me back in our bed the quickest, I will do.”
“Now you're talkin'.” He winked at her as he joined Jace at the door. “You try to get some rest.”
Jasper followed Jace into the hallway to the sounds of their woman grumbling about hospital procedure that would keep her awake all night.
* * * *
Jasper drove them home, and Jace let them inside the house. During the ride, Jasper spared multiple glances at his silent passenger, and worry set in as he sensed the man was retreating into h
imself again. Jace had stared out the window the entire time, and upon letting himself into the house, paused only long enough to remove his utility belt and store it in its proper drawer, then walked to his bedroom without a word.
Not Sarah's bedroom, which in Jasper's mind had become their bedroom, but to his own. He didn't close the door, and that was the only reason Jasper gave him some space rather than charge in after him. The guy was destroyed after the events of the day. Jasper knew that; in this instance, he was the one man who entirely understood the fallout of emotions Jace dealt with right now. Out of control and terrified were right at the top of Jasper's list, and he couldn't see how they wouldn't be front and center on Jace's too.
Jasper sat down at the edge of the bed and drew off his boots and socks, and all the while, he watched the shaft of light in the hallway for shadows. After removing his belt, he pulled the hem of his shirt out of his jeans, undid the snaps, and took it off, leaving it on the floor with his socks that he would take to the hamper in the morning. As he stood and worked open the button and zipper on his jeans, the long shadow he'd been hoping to see finally cut across the swath of light in the hall.
Yes. Thank you.
Getting up to meet Jace halfway, Jasper walked to the door and saw Jace enter the bathroom rather than come find him for bed. He didn't close that door, nor did the light go on. Jasper stood in place for a dozen heartbeats and heard neither the sound of Jace taking a piss nor the water in the shower or sink running.
What are you doing, baby?
Suddenly as scared for Jace as he had been for Sarah earlier, Jasper moved the short distance to the bathroom door and looked inside. His heart stopped…then cracked. Standing at the sink in the darkness, looking at himself in the mirror, then down at his hand, Jace held a bottle of Scope, the top off, and he clearly did battle with himself not to down it as if it were a bottle of liquor.
They didn't have any other alcohol in the house. Sarah had told Jasper about the night she and Jace had sex in the kitchen, and she also told him how the next day he threw the rest of the booze away.
Silently, Jasper walked into the bathroom and touched Jace's hand. Jace jerked, obviously realizing for the first time Jasper was here, and shame filled his eyes. “I…”
Jasper put his finger to Jace's lips. “It's all right.” After that, he took the bottle of mouthwash out of Jace's hand, put the cap back on, and placed it in the medicine cabinet.
He looked into the pain consuming this man before him and knew there was only one thing to do. “If you need somethin' to get you through this night”—Jasper pushed his underwear and jeans down his legs and stepped out of them, leaving him naked and vulnerable. He looked into Jace's eyes again and didn't cower—“use me.”
Chapter Twenty-six
Jace closed his eyes against the sight of Jasper and fought the wash of need and selfishness that would have him fuck this man right into the floor this very minute. After the situation at the youth center and the twisted interrogation and his confession of love to Sarah for the first time while she was in a fucking hospital, Jace felt like there was nothing but raw places inside him right now.
It's not right to take him, not in the state you're in.
“Jace.”
Upon hearing his name, Jace opened his eyes, and the picture of Jasper and his stunning
naked body rushed blood straight to Jace's cock. “I don't know how to be gentle with you,” he said, his voice fractured. Jasper stepped in close and rode Jace's front like a coat of paint. “I won't break.” He slipped his hands inside Jace's boxer-briefs and slid them down to the bathroom floor. His eyes never left Jace's as he put their dicks in full contact. “I promise.”
Groaning as he succumbed, Jace tunneled his hand in Jasper's golden hair and jerked his head back to accept the crush of his lips. He forced his way into Jasper's mouth almost violently, clinking their teeth together with the rough move. The coppery taste of blood stained his tongue, but it didn't slow Jace down one bit; he kept his mouth fused to Jasper's, wrapped his arm around his waist, and started walking him backward out of the bathroom.
They hit the hallway and stumbled into the wall; Jace pushed Jasper into it and ground himself against him from chest, belly, cock, to thighs, needing the solid heat of his hot, alive body. He shoved his tongue into Jasper's mouth with repeated thrusts and held his hips in place for a mirror spearing from his already painful erection. His prick leaked early cum, and his balls grew heavy with every bit of raw contact between them, but as he knew would happen, it already wasn't enough.
Jace moaned, frustrated that he couldn't get inside Jasper right now. In this moment, he needed to consume another person, and Jasper's proximity made him the vessel for everything Jace had living inside him that screamed for release.
He tore his lips from Jasper's and spun him around to face the wall. Jace pushed the side of Jasper's head into the plaster and held him there. Wasting no time, he slicked his fingers with his own saliva and spread Jasper open, revealing his rosy pucker. With no preparation, Jace forced his middle finger past the other man's ring and buried it in his ass.
Jasper grunted, clenched his jaw, and squeezed his eyes shut, but didn't jerk away or cry out. His hot, damp passage throbbed all around Jace's digit, and Jace couldn't help himself; he pushed a second, then a third finger into Jasper's rectum and started to fuck his tight hole. Jasper sucked in a big breath and curled his hands into fists against the wall, but again, he didn't retreat from the taking.
Guilt rotted holes into Jace's conscience, but not enough to make him stop plugging his fingers in and out of Jasper's chute. His cock burned hotter than Jasper's scorching channel, and he didn't know how many strokes he would last once he got his dick where he needed it to go.
Jace worked his fingers in a deep corkscrew. Each quiver around his digits drew out an answering jump from his prick, but he bit down on his desire and managed to say, “Sure you can take this?”
As he nodded his head against the wall, Jasper took Jace's free hand in one of his, dragged it to his cock, and curled his fingers around the thickness. “I'm already startin' to get a little bit hard.”
Jace tugged on the growing length with a tight fist, and Jasper released an uneven, sensual noise. After doing it a second time, Jasper pumped into the handjob and said in a rough voice, “Gettin' harder every time you touch me.”
The rage to fuck took over completely; Jace let go of Jasper's dick and wrapped his arm around his chest, holding them tied together. With his fingers still embedded in Jasper's ass, Jace guided them into Sarah's bedroom, folded Jasper, knees down, to the floor, and positioned his upper body over the side of the bed. He hated to give up possession of Jasper's ass, even for a second, but he needed both hands to prepare Jasper with lube and to roll a condom on himself. Jace withdrew his fingers and watched Jasper's entrance pulse as it quickly closed back up.
The long line of Jasper's strong back invited Jace to spend hours licking and kissing every inch of it, but with one half of Jasper's face dug into the bed, and the other half partially concealed by his hair, Jace was left with an emptiness of anonymity he couldn't tolerate right now.
“Get on the bed and lie on your back,” he ordered, angry with himself for his weakness. He rolled the condom on his prick and drew a knee up to the bed, hanging for a moment at the edge. “Get in the middle and spread your legs.” He squirted a dollop of lube on his cock near the base and tossed the tube aside. Without making eye contact, Jace grabbed the other man's ankles and raised them in the air, effectively splitting his crack for a fucking. “Hold yourself open for me.”
Jasper grasped himself around the thighs, took an ass cheek in each hand, and the trust nearly undid Jace's last sliver of control.
Still, without meeting Jasper's gaze, Jace scooped the lubricant off his dick and quickly worked it past Jasper's entrance into his chute. His dick responded powerfully to that snug hold around his fingers, and to the little moan that escaped Ja
sper.
Shit shit shit. Jace shook his head, fighting his reaction. He's taking to an ass fucking like a duck to water.
Needing oblivion, Jace pulled out his fingers, yanked Jasper to him with a bruising grip around his hips, and drove his cock deep into the other man's ass, taking his burning-tight passage until he could not push in a millimeter more.
Jasper shouted hoarsely and twisted his hips, but Jace stayed with him and began thrusting, unable to stop. He held his new lover's lower body half off the bed and hooked one of Jasper's legs over his shoulder, opening the man for a deep plunge. Jace looked away from what he needed the most—Jasper's face—and pounded his cock in and out of his channel instead, losing himself in the dark heat of passion.
Jace steeled himself not to react to anything other than his agonizingly sensitive dick thrusting within the burn of a tight-as-hell ass, but then Jasper wrapped his hands around Jace's forearms, anchoring them together in another way, and started pushing his tail up to meet every downward spearing of Jace's cock. Unable to maintain distance, Jace looked down into Jasper's eyes, and lost the last bit of self-preservation he had with Jasper as quickly as he'd done with Sarah so long ago.
Function over his body and voice abandoned him, and Jace picked up the pace with a relentless pounding in Jasper's ass. He pushed Jasper down onto the bed, held his thighs wide apart and up, leaving the other man vulnerable to an aggressive, full mating. Jace whipped his hips back and pulled all the way out, left himself hanging in agony, then pierced his cock all the way back in deep, taking until he could not steal a measure more. Jasper met each penetration with a sharp intake of breath and a fierce clutch from his fingers, which nearly dug down to the bone in Jace's forearms. Jace hated how rough he was being, but he couldn't stop. Instead, he let go of one of Jasper's legs, spit in his palm, reached down to make it better for Jasper…and found his partner already hard as a rock.
