Blair, Samantha - Pioneers [Protectors 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Samantha Blair

  A waitress in a bar had made a call about the same man the day before. She said he’d assaulted her in the parking lot as she was leaving work. She was unhurt but a little shaken up. He drove off before anyone could stop him, but a couple of other officers had been out looking for him. They’d called the waitress, and she was on her way down to the station to make the identification and give a statement.

  “What feels unreal?” Ryder asked.

  “That we might leave this? That we might move in with Annie? I dunno. Everything.”

  “I’ve never felt anything like last night, and then to follow it today with watching a nutcase come after you with a knife?” Ryder said. “I’m done. I just don’t think I can do it anymore.”

  “You know it’s a part of the job. It would be part of the sheriff job, too.”

  “I know. But we’d be closer to home. No running all over the state when we get a big case. And as sheriff you’d have more say, get more control over the way things are run.”

  “Yeah. If I can get elected.”

  “Do you want it? I think that’s the first question. If not, maybe we don’t buy the campground. Maybe we let Annie pick a place for the restaurant, and we just move in together and keep this job.” Ryder said it sincerely and Andrew knew that he meant it. If he wanted to say no, then they would all say no and come up with something else.

  “I’m not sure. I like the idea of the sheriff job, but I don’t much like the idea of the campaign. Annie seems to be in love with it already, and while I never thought I’d see you running a campground, I actually think you’ll love it, too, despite a few major things to learn,” Andrew said. He took a deep breath and thought hard before continuing.

  “I guess we should sit and look at the finances. I know you said you had some money saved. So do I. And I don’t think Annie really does, but she’s paying rent on her place and the diner. I’m paying rent, and so are you. So all those rent payments together should cover a commercial mortgage, I would think. It’s the quitting the job that worries me more than anything. If we quit, sink our savings into this thing, and it goes belly up, then what?” Andrew asked.

  “Yeah. We should run the numbers and make sure, but Tyler offered to buy in if we need him to, and Sara thought she could get us a good interest rate on whatever we’d have to borrow. I don’t know. Something tells me it won’t go belly up. I think we’re going to get a lot of inquisitive people coming to check out this town. I’d worry more if it was just a summer thing, but the cabins are good for year round. I think it’ll work. I’ve got a pretty solid business plan. I know I’ve never done this before, but I did a lot of research. The place was profitable for the previous owners.”

  “What’s the timeline like?” Andrew asked. “How soon are you thinking about resigning?”

  “I’m not sure. I’m thinking maybe we’ll do Annie’s restaurant first, get that going while I’m still working, so there will be money coming in. Then when she’s up and running, you’ll start your campaign, and I’ll resign. After that, I can get the camp going and help you run for office while we still have your income. And then when you get elected, you’ll just have a new job.”

  Andrew nodded his head as he listened. It made sense. Sensible, but still scary as hell.

  A knock on the door alerted them that they had an assault victim to interview. Andrew mentally tabled the rest of the discussion for later, and went back to work.

  * * * *

  Several hours later, much closer to one in the morning than the end of their eleven o’clock shift, the two men finally walked out into the parking lot of the station.

  “Think it’s too late to go to Annie’s?” Ryder asked.

  “I think she’s expecting us. I feel bad that we didn’t text or call or something to let her know we’d be so late,” Andrew answered.

  “We didn’t have much choice.”

  “I know, but still. I guess we should go. I hope she went to bed, but I’ll feel terrible if she’s up worrying.”

  “Hop in. Might as well just take one car since we’re coming back tomorrow,” Ryder said, climbing behind the wheel.

  “I’m not used to having someone at home worrying about me.”

  “Neither am I.”

  The house was dark when they pulled up to Annie’s place, but the porch light was still on.

  “I think we should take that as a sign she’s expecting us.”

  “Yep.”

  Ryder put the key in the door, and it turned easily. They walked quietly into the kitchen, locking the door behind them.

  Andrew found Annie sound asleep on the couch in the living room with a book still open in her lap. Gingerly, he put his hand on her shoulder. He tried to be gentle but she jumped awake anyway, and he instantly felt terrible about it.

  “You’re home,” she sighed.

  Andrew hated waking her, but he liked the sound of being home. “Yeah. Sorry it’s so late. I didn’t want to wake you but you should come to bed.”

  “It’s okay. I don’t have to be in until the dinner rush tomorrow. Are you three to eleven again? Or rather three to almost two in the morning?” she asked, looking at the time on her phone.

  “We have some late night sometimes. Can’t be helped,” Andrew said apologetically. “But yeah, back at three tomorrow.”

  “Good. We’ll all sleep in.”

  Exhausted, Andrew stripped naked and crawled into what he was already thinking of as his side of the bed.

  Chapter 20

  Annie climbed up through the fog of sleep to a warm soothing sensation on the back of her neck. It took a few minutes to realize Ryder was kissing her. He had her body cradled in his, and he was touching her reverently as he pressed his lips over and over again to her neck and shoulders.

  “Feels good,” she mumbled, sleepily.

  Blinking her eyes open she saw Andrew lying on the pillow next to her, smiling at her. “Good morning, beautiful,” he whispered.

  “I’m so glad I asked Jack to open today.”

  Ryder laughed against her back. “Me, too, baby.”

  “What time is it?”

  “Who cares,” Ryder answered, biting down just a little bit on that sensitive spot where her shoulder met her neck. A soft sigh escaped her lips, and she arched back into him.

  “I want some of that,” Andrew said, moving closer so that he could press his lips to the front of her neck, just below her jaw.

  Ryder’s hands moved down to her ass, squeezing her and running the pads of his thumbs along the sensitive flesh. He dipped his fingers between her legs, finding her already wet and ready. Over and over again, he dragged his fingers up and down the length of her pussy, gently rubbing her clit before stroking her inside folds, and stopping maddeningly at her rear entrance.

  “Has anyone ever had you here?” he whispered, pressing just the tip of his finger into her ass.

  It felt better than she might have expected. Of course she was so fired up, anything would have felt good, just so long as he didn’t stop touching her. She shook her head no. Really she didn’t have a whole lot of experience with anything, but she was ready to change that.

  “I’m going to work on you, nice and slow. Not today, but soon, you’ll be able to take my cock here, and then Andrew and I can take you at the same time.”

  Andrew, who had since moved on to kissing her breasts, tugged on her nipple with his teeth, nodding his head in agreement with Ryder. These two would be the death of her.

  “I want to take you both today,” she said, surprising herself a little with her boldness.

  Ryder laughed. “You can have us another way, but anal can be painful the first couple of times. I don’t want to rush that. I wouldn’t hurt you for the world.”

  As if to make his point, he wiggled his finger a little further into her ass, and she began to feel the pinch. Painful wasn’t exactly the right word for it, but it wasn’t altogether pleasant either. She wasn’t sure how something could feel so wonderful and s
o forbidden at the same time.

  As if sensing her slight discomfort, Ryder went back to teasing her clit and working on her ass slowly. It was maddening in the best possible way. If she focused on it, she was likely to implode.

  Deciding that Ryder was right, and he could take as much time as he wanted stretching her and preparing her, so she turned her attention to Andrew. She’d had disappointingly little time over the last few days to explore either one of them. They were always kissing and touching her, but now it was her turn, and she was going to enjoy it.

  Starting at his collarbones, she traversed his body, running her fingers along his toned abs and her tongue over his nipples. When her men were naked, it was easy to see how good of shape they were really in. Three times a week at the gym, and sometimes more, kept them at peak performance in their work. It didn’t hurt in the bedroom either.

  Working her way down his chiseled chest she placed kisses on his ribs and stomach pausing only when Ryder’s continual caressing became too overwhelming to think about anything else.

  Andrew’s hand stroked her hair, and he occasionally made this sexy little humming noise that drove her wild. She discovered a little tickle spot right above his left hipbone, but Ryder put a stop to her fun with a quick swat to her ass when Andrew started to protest her tickling. It really wasn’t fair, two against one. She was just getting to the best parts.

  Scooting back, closer to Ryder so she could have better access, Annie took Andrew’s cock into her hands. He was long and graceful, with a thick thatch of dark curly hair at the base. She timidly ran the pad of her thumb over his purple head, coaxing a bead of moisture out of him. Unable to resist, she lapped at it with her tongue, getting her first taste of him. Andrew let out a groan that thrilled her to her toes, and so she licked him again, this time all the way from the base of his shaft to the head, enjoying the salt of his skin and the way his cock throbbed in her hands.

  Behind her, Ryder shifted into position and pressed the head of his cock into her drenched pussy. She couldn’t help but moan around Andrew’s dick as she took him fully into her mouth.

  “That’s right,” Ryder whispered in her ear, pressing his chest against her back, and sinking his cock in deep. “Suck him while I fuck you. Do you like having both of our cocks at once.”

  Annie nodded as best she could while moving up and down Andrew’s erection. Ryder picked up the pace, his balls slapping against her, as he pounded into her. She tried to keep up, sucking harder and faster as Andrew’s fingers gripped her hair tighter. She was a mass of sensation. She could feel them everywhere, completely filling her senses.

  Returning to his earlier mission, Ryder pressed the pad of his thumb into her ass as he fucked her, and Annie lost it. Completely overcome with bliss, she was hurled into a tornado of never-ending sensation.

  Her men came with her, Andrew pulling out of her mouth and spraying hot seed all over her hands and his belly. When she looked up at his face, he had this sexy little grin that made her want to climb on top of him and start all over. Ryder fucked her through the last tremors of her orgasm before throwing his head back and filling the condom inside her.

  They collapsed on the bed in a tangle of limbs, completely unable to speak. Annie had nearly drifted to sleep when Andrew finally broke the silence.

  “I want to do that every day for the rest of my life.”

  Annie giggled. “Me, too. And so much more.”

  Cupping her face in his palm, Andrew tilted her head and looked into her eyes. “I love you, Annie Cabane, and I want to spend the rest of my life proving it.”

  “I second that,” Ryder said, snuggling close behind her. “I love you, too, Annie, and I couldn’t be more excited about sharing my life with you, and my best friend.”

  Andrew laughed. “Yeah, I think you’re okay, too, man.”

  Annie smiled between her two men. She’d never been so happy. “I love you both, and I’m so glad you were brave enough to tell me. I didn’t want to spend another five or ten years loving you from a distance and never knowing what it would feel like to be with you.”

  “Right now it feels sticky,” Ryder teased. “I think we need a shower.”

  Annie agreed. She felt sweaty, but also incapable of moving. “Okay,” she groaned. “Let’s see how well three fit in my tiny shower.”

  Chapter 21

  “And sign here,” the closing agent said.

  Ryder scribbled Payton Ryder for what felt like the nine thousandth time, and passed the paper to Annie. She then passed it to Andrew. Three sets of signatures on about a million documents, but it was really happening. The three of them were two signatures away from owning their own property.

  It had taken more than six weeks and hours upon hours of planning and financial advising, but they’d done it. They’d started a company, and they were now partners legally and in their personal lives. The past two months had been the happiest of Ryder’s life, and he couldn’t wait for more.

  The timeline hadn’t gone quite as expected. Turned out that you had to start a campaign for sheriff a lot earlier than they’d realized, so Andrew had agreed to get his name on the list, and they’d gotten him the right permanent address just in time. Two more days and he would have been a write-in candidate, but as it was, he’d get on the ticket. Ryder couldn’t possibly have been more proud of him.

  Annie had put up signs in the diner yesterday announcing the move. With any luck she’d only be closed a few days. Most of her current employees were happy about the move, but a couple of her part-time high school students were unwilling to add the extra drive time, so she’d placed a “help wanted” sign in the window of the new restaurant.

  Already her customers were telling her that they were excited about the new place and sharing memories that they had of the campground restaurant. She’d bought new appliances, which were all scheduled for delivery this week, and she’d even picked the new paint color and new curtains. As soon as the papers were signed and the keys handed over, they’d be ready to move in.

  They even had a first tenant. Jack, the grill cook from Annie’s diner, has asked about living in one of the guest cabins for a while. He was renting month-to-month on a tiny apartment, and he agreed to help do some of the fixing up if they’d allow him to live in one of the cabins for the same rent he’d been paying at the other place. If they got busy enough and needed the cabin for guests, he’d move, but he had few personal belongings, and he wasn’t opposed to being shuffled around as needed.

  When Andrew finished signing the last paper he passed it back to the closing agent. Ryder stood and shook hands with the sellers, a lovely couple in their seventies who had run the place for years before deciding to retire and move to Arizona where they would be nearer to their son. They had been generous in sharing their knowledge about the place and offering bits of advice. Ryder and Annie had taken excellent notes for their respective businesses.

  Walking out of the real estate office, Ryder slipped his arm around Annie. “How’s it feel to own your own restaurant?” he asked.

  “Good. How’s it feel to own a camp?”

  “I’ll tell you in a couple of months when we really get it running. I can’t wait to move into the house though,” he replied.

  “Well you’re about to get your wish. We can take the truck over there now with the first load.”

  When they got back to Annie’s place, Ryder phoned Tyler and Gage who met them at the campground to help unload the moving truck. A couple of guys from the force had offered to help, too, but while it was common knowledge that the two men were buying the land together, and that Andrew was going to leave the force to take the sheriff position, should he get elected, it still wasn’t common knowledge that they were sharing a bed. So they had declined the help. They all thought it would be best to keep the details of their private lives private until after the election.

  Ryder stepped down out of the truck, surprised to see two men that he didn’t know, waiting with Tyler an
d Gage. They were both in their mid-fifties, maybe even early sixties, but appeared to be in great physical shape, one Caucasian and one African American.

  “Payton Ryder, meet Hayden Brooks and his partner Zeke Morrison,” Tyler said as Ryder approached the men. “These are the friends that I told you would be moving here from Washington. They are going to live in Sara’s old house while Gage is building their new house.”

  Ryder shook hands with the two men. Tyler had mentioned that the gay couple would be moving here, but he’d failed to mention that they were also an inter-racial couple. That should stir up the town. Ryder had a hard time hiding his smile at the thought. They were going to turn this old conservative neighborhood upside down with this new community.

  “How can we help?” Zeke asked, looking toward the truck.

  “Uh, Annie and Andrew should be here any minute. They were right behind me with the pickup. I think we’ll wait for Annie to tell us where to put everything,” Ryder answered.

  “Smart man,” Tyler said, laughing.

  They pulled in a moment later and started unloading three sets of possessions into one house. They had duplicates of nearly everything—four beds, two kitchen tables, three couches, two love seats—but some of it they could use in the house and some they could use to replace the older furniture in the guest cabins. They would need to rent a dumpster soon to help haul away the remodeling garbage and dirty old couches, but they were off to a good start.

  “Feels good to be home,” Andrew said, coming up beside the other two.