Awakening Her Racy Passion [Racy Nights 9] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)
Page 9
“Great idea,” said Wyatt, giving her hand a squeeze. “I love it. What do you say? You up for that? Can you handle the challenge?”
She swallowed hard. “What happens if I blow it?”
The look Wyatt gave her, filled with humor and lust, took her breath away. “If you gossip at all in the next three days, we totally direct the scene instead of you. Keeping your limits in mind, of course. You’ll have no say-so in it at all. You’ll have one safeword to stop it for a true emergency, but that’s it.”
“That doesn’t exactly sound terrible, so help me understand why I won’t be tempted to blow this on purpose.”
“Well, trust, for one thing. We’re issuing you a challenge. You want to change, right? So prove it with this short test. Three little days. Don’t gossip.”
She nodded slowly. “I hadn’t thought about it that way.”
“And as for us directing the scene, um…we’re sadists. You don’t want us to have that much control your first time. Trust me on this one.”
Desire raced up and down her spine as they both chuckled softly. She didn’t tell them this, but the thought of them having complete control of her body sent a thrill through her that was beyond any she’d experienced in her wildest fantasies. She could do this. She would do this, for them. She would show them that she could be trusted, and that she could change. “All right. Challenge accepted.”
“Excellent.” Wyatt stood. “Now we have to work on getting you off Friday night. Leave that to me and Trent.” He glanced at the clock on the mantle. “And, as much as I’d rather not do so, I’d better get you home. I have to work in the morning.”
She stood. “It’s all right. I understand. And now that I have something to look forward to on Friday, I can handle going home all hot and bothered tonight.”
Trent groaned softly. “You had to say that, didn’t you?” When he stood, Ria’s gaze went straight to his crotch. She wasn’t the only one hot and bothered.
“It’s the truth.”
“Friday,” said Wyatt, gazing at his twin. “She’ll be worth the wait.”
She grinned at each of them in turn. “But if I win the bet, I get to decide if there will be sex on Friday, right?”
Without giving her any clue he was about to do so, Wyatt pulled her close and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around him and parted her lips, letting his tongue inside to move over hers in ways she’d only dreamed about. He was as good a kisser as Trent. A bit less urgent, but just as skilled, and the same overwhelming desire coursed through her body as it had when Trent had kissed her. The hell with everything, including the damn bet. All she wanted to do at that moment was shed her clothes and beg them both to fuck her silly, until none of them could move.
But he released the kiss and cupped her face, grinning at her like he’d just been told he’d won the lottery. “You were saying something about no sex on Friday?”
Trent groaned again, and Ria opened her mouth but nothing came out. Wyatt’s eyes challenged her, and she couldn’t seem to look away from them. “You are a sadist.”
“Told you. Now let’s get you home, and you can think about what you’d like us to do to you on Friday when you win the bet.”
“You mean if she wins it,” muttered Trent.
“I will win it. You’ll see. I can do this.”
He gave her a quick kiss on the mouth, but it was more than enough to make her horny all over again. “I hope you do,” he said quietly, holding her gaze. “Because I want to spend Friday night making you so hot for us that you can’t think of anything else for at least a month.”
Ria gazed into his eyes, more excited now than she’d been in years. Hell…in her entire life. “I’m already there.” This was really going to happen, because she was going to prove to both of them that she could stop gossiping. She’d prove it to herself, and she’d earn their trust in return. And then she’d make a bunch of fantasies that had been running around in her mind for years come true with the two sexiest men in Racy.
Nothing could ruin the rest of this week for her. Not Luke’s bad mood, or her parents’ reaction to what she’d told them earlier, or the looks that Gina, Kari, and the others had given her at dinner tonight. Life was perfect right now.
Chapter Twelve
Wyatt felt the change in energy Wednesday morning, as soon as he walked into the tiny cluster of offices he shared with Bonnie, Marilyn, and Anthony. Anthony perched on the edge of his desk before Wyatt had a chance to place his briefcase on top of it. “Ned pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter.”
“What?”
“He pled out. He got three years in exchange for info on the people who took Pearl Goodman’s knives.”
Wyatt took a seat. “You mean it wasn’t him?”
“Oh, it was, but he was working for an outfit out of Louisville. Bad dudes he got involved with a few years ago. Seems Ned was down in Kentucky playing poker with them last year and bragged about the knives. They were blackmailing him when he stole them, but then the people who were supposed to buy them from this band of organized thieves backed out of the deal, and they’ve been trying to unload them ever since.”
“Holy shit.”
“It gets worse, I’m afraid.”
Marilyn and Bonnie were there as well now, and all three gave their boss their undivided attention. “Gerry was mixed up in it. That’s why Ria Rodriguez heard Ned tell Gerry he knew he had the money. But Ned won’t say anymore because it goes deeper than the group from Louisville, and he’s afraid for his life. We had to agree to keep his name out of it when we called the Kentucky state cops.”
“The FBI needs to be involved,” said Marilyn. “This crosses state lines.”
Anthony frowned at her. “And, as we discussed last night when Ned took the plea bargain, I agree with you, but that’s not our call. The DA is looking into it now. Ned’s pretty freaked out about these guys, whoever they are.”
“Wow,” said Bonnie. “For Ned to be afraid of them, they must be badass.”
Anthony stood, “Well, at least it’s over for now.”
“So they did find the other knives at Ned’s place?” asked Bonnie.
Wyatt nodded. “They did, along with other stolen property from all over the state.”
“So why is Ned only facing three years?”
“Vicky got several other communities to drop the charges in exchange for giving them the names in the outfit from Louisville,” said Anthony.”
“Our DA made a deal like that?”
Anthony grinned, but the emotion didn’t reach his eyes. “Yeah, but I wouldn’t spread that around town. You know how she hates it when people think she’s getting soft.”
“Putting Ned away for longer won’t bring back Gerry,” said Wyatt. “Something else has been bugging me. Has anyone figured out yet why Gerry wasn’t wearing a coat that night? It was barely twenty degrees out.”
Anthony shook his head. “I don’t believe Sean or Harrison were focused on that point, but I do agree with you that it’s odd. Even for a guy who was homeless most of the time, I never saw Gerry without a coat and gloves in cold weather. My guess is he had to leave someplace in a hurry, or was chased out of a building and didn’t have it on.”
“So the case is closed.”
“As far as the police and Vicky are concerned it is. The Louisville bunch aren’t our problem.”
“Until one of them comes looking for Ned,” said Bonnie.
“Or until whoever is backing them comes poking around,” said Marilyn. “That’s why I still feel this is a job for the FBI.”
“I don’t disagree,” said Anthony, “but that’s Vicky’s call. Feel free to discuss it with her, but since you don’t know her as well as we do, let me give you some advice first. Wear armor.”
The others chuckled, but Marilyn didn’t. Wyatt respected Marilyn as an attorney, but she’d never lived in a town this small before. She’d soon find out they did things differently here.
Wyatt spent the res
t of the morning catching up on paperwork because he had no pending court appearances for once. He also spent a great deal of time daydreaming about Friday, and remembering what it felt like to kiss Ria.
Around noon, he called Luke and asked him to let Ria off on Friday. After pestering him for the reason, Wyatt finally told him that he and Trent wanted to make her dinner at their condo. It wasn’t a lie. Wyatt could tell from Luke’s tone he wasn’t entirely convinced, but he finally agreed to give her the night off.
“Don’t hurt her.”
“You know we won’t do that.”
“She’s not in the lifestyle.”
Wyatt debated. This wasn’t his confession to tell. “She knows we’re Doms.”
“But she doesn’t really know what that means.”
“We’ll answer any and all questions she has. Did you know she went to bat for you and Rafe with your parents last night? She told us about it at dinner.”
Wyatt counted ten seconds of dead silence and finally asked Luke if he was still there, because he was certain he’d lost the call.
“I’m still here. She did that? Really?”
“Yes, she really did.”
“What did she say to them?”
He gave Luke the short version of what Ria had told him about the conversation with her parents. “She wants to change. She wants to make things right with Marisol. And you know, since you’re her big brother and all, one well-placed word from you might help her with that.”
“You don’t know the history between me, Rafe, and Ria.”
“You’re right. I don’t. I only know what Ria has told us both, and what I’ve heard from each of you. But you know it. And you know whether or not she’s making an honest effort.”
“She hurt all of us, not just me and Rafe.”
“And yet you still let her work for you.”
“She’s my sister.”
“Exactly. And now that she’s trying so hard to make this right, she needs you and Rafe behind her more than ever.”
“All right. I’ll think about it.”
“Please do.” Wyatt ended the call, but he spent the next several minutes pacing the tiny office, punching the air with his fists. Damn, fucking stubborn Rodriguez men. They both were. He knew that about them, but he’d never had a personal stake in this before, so it had never really bothered him. Then again, Luke had known Ria her entire life, so of course his perspective would be different. He’d said his peace to Luke, and that was all he could do at this point. He had to back off and support Ria, not drive a wedge further between her and her brothers.
He picked up his phone again and texted her.
Good morning. How is the No Gossip challenge going today?
He had no idea if she was even awake yet. She had to work tonight, so maybe she slept later on those days? It took less than a minute for his answer to arrive.
Good morning yourself. My online class has a group discussion in a few minutes, so I’ve had no human interaction other than your text. So far, no gossip! LOL!
She’d added a few emoticons that made him laugh. Then he texted her back to tell her that he would be sending all her texts about this challenge to Trent as well, and that she should plan on texting them both during these next three days. She agreed, and then she told him she had to log in to the class discussion. He promised to text her later, and then he grinned like an idiot as he read the texts again, twice, before forwarding them to Trent. Friday couldn’t come soon enough.
* * * *
Trent smiled as he walked into the ambulance entrance of Memorial Hospital Wednesday night. Even Paul wouldn’t be able to rattle his cage tonight. He and Wyatt had texted Ria all day, and she was still texting them during her shift at Luke’s Bar. Earlier, just before she’d left for work, she’d sent them both a picture of her wearing a black lace bra and panties. Both men had texted each other, asking if the other had asked her to do that, but they hadn’t. She’d done it on her own.
Trent had to beat off before coming into work because the picture was so fucking hot. He’d texted her afterwards, telling her in graphic detail what he intended to do to her body on Friday night after they were finished introducing her to BDSM play.
Wyatt had sent similar texts, and while at first Trent had to admit it was awkward reading about how his twin intended to suck Ria’s nipples until she begged him to stop, and lick her pussy until she came so many times she didn’t know her own name, the images racing through his head of her naked, lush body, tied up and at their complete mercy while they touched her, licked her, sucked her, and fucked her silly were the most erotic ones he’d ever entertained. He’d have to deal with it in person soon, so he might as well get used to it now.
Friday night couldn’t come soon enough, and Trent and Wyatt both had agreed, via text to each other only, that her sending the picture was proof positive she intended to consent to sex as well on Friday. They also both agreed that even if she lost the challenge, they wouldn’t deny her that. No fucking way.
He and Paul answered a call about a structure fire on Lawnview Drive, which thankfully turned out to be nothing more than property damage. When they arrived, Chad Bristol, one of the Racy detectives, was already on the scene, and shortly afterwards Cameron Sinclair, the fire chief, and Storm Jamison, the fire investigator both showed up. Chad told him and Paul that he’d called Storm and Cameron because the structure that had caught fire was empty and still under construction.
Even though no one had been in the building and he and Paul weren’t needed, Trent hung around to catch up with Chad, Storm, and Cameron, who were all Doms as well. Trent approached Chad first. He stood away from the building, drinking coffee from a thermos as he watched Storm and Cameron poke through the northwest corner of the building where the fire had started. “How is Annalise?”
Chad smiled. “She’s great. Dustin and Hannah might have to hire another vet because Giolanna Design Solutions has done such a great job of marketing the Racy Animal Clinic to all the surrounding farms in three counties.”
“Who is Hannah? I didn’t realize Dustin had help there.”
“Oh yeah. You were gone when he hired her. Hannah Stiles. She’s a Purdue grad like Dustin. He hired her last summer. You heard about the company that Annalise, Gina, and Olivia formed, right?”
Trent nodded. Wyatt had told him about Giolanna Design Solutions, the online marketing, PR and web design company that Annalise Kerr, Gina, and Olivia Kelly, Storm and Cameron’s sub, had started last summer. “So, I guess it’s safe to say it’s doing well?”
“Very well. And, you may not have heard this either, but Olivia is pregnant. She’s due in March. Storm and Cameron practically pop the buttons on their shirts whenever they talk about it.”
“That’s wonderful.” Trent wondered whether he’d ever have what Chad, Cameron, and Storm did. He studied Chad’s profile, wondering how he’d handled sharing Annalise the first time with his best friend, Dustin. Chad and Dustin had always been close. In fact, a lot of Racy residents had teased them about being so close they seemed married, even though they were both straight. And, in fact, Dustin’s ex-wife had cheated on him. If Trent was looking for advice on how to get over a significant other cheating on you, Dustin would be the person to ask.
“This is odd,” said Storm, emerging from the building with Cameron. “I found traces of accelerant, but what I can’t figure out is why the building didn’t go up faster.” He glanced at Chad. “Who called it in?”
Chad shrugged. “It was anonymous. Pre-paid cell so we can’t trace it, and none of us at the station recognized the voice.”
Storm shook his head. “So, whoever set it wanted us to find it, but why? If this was meant to destroy the building, they didn’t do a very good job of it, and they wouldn’t have called it in.”
Chad frowned. “Or it was someone trying to send a message. Pissed-off construction worker, maybe?”
Storm shrugged. “Maybe. We’ll have to check and see if they fire
d anyone recently. These are all being built by local crews, right? But who hired them?”
“I’ll have Chase and Ellis check on that. They’re the ones who issued the permits.”
Chase Taylor had been Racy’s building commissioner for years, and Trent remembered Wyatt telling him that he’d been instrumental in allowing Kari and Alexa to buy the home they’d renovated and turned into their fetish shop. And Ellis was Racy’s building inspector.
“I just don’t know,” said Storm, shaking his head again. “Something is off about this whole thing. It doesn’t smell right.”
Chad laughed. “Nice pun. Really.”
“It’s not a pun,” said Cameron. “If the bloodhound here says something is off, then something is off.”
Chad took another sip of coffee. “Okay. What do you think it is?”
“I don’t know,” said Storm. “But I will. Give me a few days. In the meantime, we need to seal this. It’s now a crime scene.”
Chad got on his radio and then walked back toward the ambulance with Trent, where Paul was waiting with his arms folded, watching them. “I was sorry to hear about Gerry Homer.”
“Yeah, we all were. I heard that Ned Meyers pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter, right?”
Chad nodded. “Yes, he did, but there’s more to this story that I wish we knew. Gerry was mixed up somehow with heavy hitters.”
A shiver ran up and down Trent’s spine as he glanced over his shoulder at the smoldering building. “You think this is connected?”
Chad stopped walking and faced him. “Well, I don’t know for sure, but do you know what they were building here?”
Trent shook his head. This entire block was supposed to be reproductions of Victorian homes like the one that housed Tye Me Up. They wanted to make it an upscale collection of boutique shops and restaurants.
“Pearl Goodman was moving her antiques shop to this block.”
“Holy shit.”