“You will learn this, Josiah, one way or another,” he said in an implacable tone as he tore open his jeans with his free hand. “You are ours. It doesn’t matter how far or how fast you run, or how long you hide—you have bonds with all of us that you cannot escape. They’re real and they’re permanent, and running away will only serve to hurt you and us, so I will come after you. I don’t care if we’re both ninety—I will bring you back, put you on your knees and stuff my limp, elderly dick into your mouth until you learn this lesson. Now open up—and leave your hands on your thighs or I’ll have Brent hold them behind you.”
Every word out of Hake’s mouth made Joe feel as though he were being both pummeled and skewered by shafts of light. He became weightless, and the darkness stalking him seemed too far away to touch him.
Taking a shaky breath, he opened his mouth eagerly.
Chapter Ten
Had he ever really known Hake at all?
Brent watched with awe and a zipper-busting surge of arousal as his cousin held his lover’s head and fucked his face ruthlessly. Hake had said he was going to top Joe, but he’d left out the part where he was going to dominate the ever-loving fuck out of him—for the rest of their lives.
When he’d said those words, in that tone—and Jesus, who knew Hake could talk so much?—Brent felt the fear that had been dogging him for so long finally fall away. He really wasn’t solely responsible for keeping the man he loved where he belonged. Hake would be there to back him up.
It was an incredible rush, and suddenly Brent fervently hoped Hake would pull him into the scene.
He got his wish when Joe choked and tried to push Hake away for the third time.
“Since you can’t seem to control yourself, Brent’s going to do it for you,” Hake snapped, holding Joe in place. Then he looked at Brent, who’d already hopped down from the table in his eagerness. “He’ll hold your hands behind you while he fucks you.”
Yes!
Suppressing the urge to fist-pump, Brent mirrored Hake’s no-nonsense attitude as he nudged Joe’s ankles further apart with his boot and knelt between his muscular calves. He was reaching for his buckle when Hake raised a sardonic brow. “Lube?”
Damn.
He fetched the little bottle from Hake’s jacket and was back in place in seconds. He’d just unbuckled his belt and was unbuttoning his jeans when Hake cleared his throat.
He was giving Brent the hairy eyeball. “Hands?”
“Now how the hell am I supposed fuck him if I’m holding his hands before I even get my damn jeans open?”
“Did I say you had to hold his hands with yours?”
Brent narrowed his eyes at him as he pulled his belt out of its loops without comment and wound it around Joe’s thick wrists twice before buckling it. “Are we good now?”
Hake’s expression almost managed to not look like a smirk. “We’re golden.”
“Good.”
Brent hurried and got his dick out of his pants before Hake could dream up another way to fuck with him, then set about getting Joe ready with his fingers. It took a few minutes because Joe was still pretty damn tight, but that was all right because Hake was still making a damn fine show of fucking his mouth. He no longer went after the back of Joe’s throat quite as aggressively, but he was talking dirty to him like a pro, telling him how good his mouth felt, how hot it was to see Joe’s moustache framing his dick, how much it turned him on to make Joe choke and see his eyes water, how he couldn’t wait to fuck that magnificent ass after Brent was done with it…
Brent drew a tortured breath. Fuck it. Joe was ready enough.
Tossing the bottle of lube aside, he wiped his hand on his jeans and kneeled up to grip Joe’s shoulder. “Arch your back and stick your ass out a little more, Joe.”
When he complied with a groan, Brent fitted the head of his iron-hard cock to Joe’s asshole and pushed in, provoking a louder groan.
“Does that feel good, baby?” Hake asked Joe, stroking his thick salt-and-pepper hair. “’Cause it sure looks good from here. I know how tight that ass is, and Brent’s a lucky man.”
Too fucking turned on to live much longer without coming, Brent hooked his hands over Joe’s shoulders and began moving in shallow thrusts to open him up more without hurting him. But it wasn’t long before he was pounding him with long, hard strokes that had both of them panting and groaning in chorus. When Brent felt his balls tighten and his thighs begin to shake, he slid his hand around Joe and down to finish him first, jerking him roughly until he lurched forward with a sob. Hake held his head steady with both hands, crooning about how beautiful he was when he came…
That was all she wrote for Brent. He grabbed Joe’s hips and slammed into him with a roar, grinding his teeth as orgasm wrung the come from his nuts in almost painful spurts. Then he leaned forward and rested his forehead on Joe’s sweaty back, sucking in air in deep, hard breaths.
“On your back, Brent.”
Too blown away to do anything but obey blindly, Brent pulled out of Joe carefully and collapsed beside him, rolling to his back.
Hake maneuvered Joe around and eased him down by the shoulders until he lay on Brent’s heaving chest, their faces within kissing distance. Brent took immediate advantage, grabbing Joe’s face with both hands and kissing him desperately.
“Love you, Joe,” he whispered against his lips.
Joe lowered his forehead to Brent’s. “Love you, too.”
“Hold on to him, Brent.” Hake got on his knees behind Joe, hard-on in hand. “As I recall, Joe doesn’t much care for being fucked after he comes, but at the moment, I’ve got a pressing need for this ass.”
“Oh fuck,” Joe groaned, closing his eyes. Then he jerked and whimpered as Hake moved in.
Brent wrapped his arms around his lover and held him tight, wishing he could will the faith and hope and peace Joe needed into him. “Don’t worry, Joe,” he whispered. “I’ve got you.”
* * * * *
Finally getting to be the big spoon, AJ lay on the couch with her head propped on a throw pillow and stroked Mandy’s hair lightly enough to keep from waking her. Apart from the Christmas tree, there were no lights on in the living room, and as she watched the flames dance on the gas log and listened to the gritty snow blow against the windows, she got a sense of being very disconnected from the world—and very much alone. It certainly didn’t feel like Christmas, despite the stockings hanging from the mantel and the growing pile of presents under the tree.
When Brent and Hake left to hunt Joe down, she and Mandy had finished frosting the cookies and done the dishes in a much more companionable silence than the one they’d endured while they got supper ready. That had been mostly AJ’s fault and she knew it, but she’d just had too many emotional upheavals in a row and not enough information to be able to process any of them. There was so much she wanted to talk to Mandy about, so many questions she wanted to ask, and Hake’s caring and confidence had gone a long way toward making her believe things would work out happily for all of them, but she just couldn’t let her guard down too much yet. It would be all too easy to get her heart set on another baby—and then have to live with the heartbreak if Joe couldn’t bring himself to let it into his life.
So even though she’d recovered from the initial shock, there hadn’t been any of their usual heart-to-heart sharing while they worked—just occasional questions about where things went when they cleaned up, which AJ often didn’t know the answer to. It felt strange and sad to be in the same room with Mandy and still miss her, and judging by her expression most of the evening, Mandy felt the same way.
That was why AJ had brought her to the living room instead of her bedroom as Hake had suggested. She still wanted to be close to Mandy, snuggle with her and kiss her, but she’d have to be in a lot more secure place emotionally to jump into bed with her without Brent or Joe.
They hadn’t even gotten to the kissing before Mandy fell asleep. AJ felt terrible for letting her do all that work
in the kitchen when she’d had so much stress today—she might not have actually had a baby, but she remembered how taxing pregnancy could be. Even when she was past the morning sickness and into the radiant, energetic phase, she’d needed a nap nearly every day.
The distant thud of the outside garage door let her know at least one of the men had returned from the shop, where she assumed they’d all been for the last couple of hours. She heard the inside door open and close quietly, and then the telltale squeak of vinyl flooring under bootless feet, before three shadowed figures appeared just outside the open French doors. Somebody whispered and then two of the figures continued on toward the bedrooms.
Hake was smiling when he came in and hunkered down by the couch. “Now this is a pretty sight to come home to,” he whispered. “Everything all right?”
AJ nodded. “She was worn out, I think.”
His eyes softened when he looked at Mandy. “It was quite a day. She probably should have had a nap.”
“What do you think I just did?” Mandy whispered.
Hake chuckled quietly. “Funny girl. I’m gonna go shower, and if you’re up to it, maybe we’ll all talk for a while.”
Mandy craned her head to look at AJ and then nodded. “We’re up for it.”
He put a hand on the cushion to push himself up and then grimaced. “Maybe I’ll use that whirlpool tub instead.”
“Hip?”
“Yeah. I think I overdid it.”
“It?” Mandy drawled.
Hake narrowed his eyes at her. “Walking in the snow, brat.”
“Oh. My mistake,” Mandy said, her ribs shaking with silent laughter under AJ’s arm.
Heaving a long-suffering sigh, Hake laid a hand on the back of the couch and leaned down to give them both a smacking kiss, then walked out a little stiffly.
“God, I love him,” Mandy sighed.
AJ didn’t even bother to hold back. “Me too.”
Wiggling over onto her back, Mandy peered up at her. “There’s just something about farmers, isn’t there?”
“No,” AJ said flatly. “Trust me, I’ve worked with farmers all my life so I can speak to this with some authority. There’s just something about these three farmers.”
“Four, Ariel. There’s something about these four farmers.”
The way Mandy was looking at her made AJ’s heart thump irregularly and then start to race. “I love you, Mandy.”
“I love you too, Ariel.”
Hesitating only a second, AJ leaned down and pressed her lips to Mandy’s in a light kiss, and then another. When Mandy’s hand cupped her head and pulled her down for more, she nibbled her way across the edge of Mandy’s top lip and then back across the bottom before sliding the tip of her tongue along the seam between them. Mandy opened with a sigh, and their tongues reunited with tender curiosity, curling around each other and withdrawing until AJ thought she’d go up in flames right there on the couch.
Suddenly they couldn’t get each other’s shirts—or their own bras—off fast enough. The fullness of Mandy’s breasts was riveting, and AJ stared at them for a long moment, wondering how she could have lived so many years without realizing how mouthwatering women’s breasts were. Then she ran her palm over them, and the hardening nipples were more than she could resist. She licked at them delicately until Mandy begged and then sucked one into her mouth.
Mandy cried out as her hips came up off the couch. “Ariel please, please, go down on me! Oh God, I get so horny when I’m pregnant!”
“You’re always horny,” AJ said breathlessly as she moved to the other nipple, sliding her hand down Mandy’s belly at the same time.
“I know!” Mandy shoved her leggings and panties down to her thighs and thrust up again in search of relief. “But it’s even worse when I’m pregnant. I can’t get through the day without getting myself off four or five times, in addition to attacking Hake whenever he—oh God, yes!”
Still sucking at her nipple, AJ delved into her slick heat and rubbed two fingers around her clit with a firm, rhythmic touch, knowing it wouldn’t take long for the first one. Less than a minute later, Mandy arched off the couch with a shout, jerking with the spasms of her release.
AJ backed off her clit and ran her fingers over Mandy’s soft, smoothly waxed outer lips in a gentle caress, waiting for her to come down.
“Oh my God, that was fabulous,” she finally gasped.
“Still want me to go down on you?”
Mandy choked out a laugh. “Oh, I don’t know, let me think…. Yes, I want you to go down on me! All night. And possibly all day tomorrow.”
Grinning, AJ climbed over her and stood up to pull Mandy’s leggings off. Mandy promptly spread her legs wide, exposing every inch of her glistening pussy.
“Wow, I guess I’d better clear my schedule,” AJ said as she stripped out of her jeans and underwear. Kicking them aside, she knelt on the couch between Mandy’s legs and braced her hands on Mandy’s thighs. “But you’re going to owe me big-time.”
“I’ll repay you with interest,” Mandy swore.
Five minutes later, AJ was so lost in the flavors and textures of Mandy, and so freaking turned on, she didn’t even notice anyone else was in the room until hard hands grabbed her hips and a hot mouth opened on her pussy.
She pulled away with a gasp and looked behind her. “Joe!”
He was kneeling on the floor at the end of the couch, as naked as she was, but he wasn’t letting go long enough to return her greeting. She groaned brokenly at the feel of his moustache and beard stubble rubbing her outer lips as he lapped at her clit with his tongue.
“Your oral sex backup team is here, Ariel,” Brent informed her with a grin as he and Hake pulled Mandy off the couch and laid her on the nest of blankets in front of the fireplace.
“I didn’t realize I needed backup, but okay.”
Joe turned AJ and laid her back on the couch.
“I missed you,” she said as he lowered his big, hard body over hers, tugging his head down for a kiss.
He resisted long enough to stroke her cheek, his face too shadowed to see in the firelight. “I’m here now, Ariel.”
She accepted it with a sigh. There’d be time enough to worry about the rest of their lives tomorrow.
Chapter Eleven
Christmas Eve
Brent woke up before sunrise with a backache and grimaced as he rolled over carefully between Mandy and Ariel, trying to find a more comfortable position without waking either of them. Damn, but he was too old to sleep on the floor anymore. They all were, except maybe Ariel. What he wouldn’t give to be thirty-five again—looking back, he realized that was probably his physical prime. Too bad he hadn’t properly appreciated it at the time.
Still exhausted from all the activity yesterday, he dozed off again, but eventually the insistent rumble of heavy machinery penetrated his consciousness. He frowned. The sun wasn’t even up yet—surely the maintainer wasn’t out here already…
“Shit.” He sat up and winced when his back gave another twinge. There were only four of them sleeping in the living room, but that was no surprise—Joe often slunk off to his own room after they made love so that he didn’t keep anyone awake with his snoring. But Brent would bet the farm that the stubborn fool was outside right this minute, clearing his getaway route.
Hake lifted his arm and looked at his watch in the light from the Christmas tree. “Does your maintainer always go to work this early or is that Joe?”
Brent sighed. “It’s got to be Joe. What are we gonna do with him?”
“We’re gonna keep chiseling away at that hard head of his until we reach the soft brainy center.”
“That could take years,” AJ mumbled as she rolled over and curled up against his thigh.
Rubbing her bare shoulder, he said, “Then we’ll keep at it for years. He’ll catch on sooner or later.”
She sighed. “But I don’t have years.”
“Ariel, you can’t base your decision about
the baby on what Joe might or might not do.”
“Brent’s right,” Hake said, sitting up stiffly and rubbing his hip under his fleece blanket. “If you give up what you want out of fear, you’ll be doing exactly what Joe’s doing. That’s not living—it’s just giving up.”
Ariel pushed up on one elbow and looked over at Mandy, who hadn’t stirred yet. “How can she give up her own child for me?” And how could she think about giving up Joe for any reason?
“It’s not just for you, sweetheart. We both feel the baby would have a better life with you. You’re only thirty-five, you’re a natural caretaker, and you’ve got the time, the inclination and the good health it takes to be a fun mother to an energetic little kid. We’re in our mid-forties, I’ve got this bum hip, and Mandy’s writing career is a full-time commitment, so life with us won’t be as fun and easy as it was for Ryan. And for us? Those first few months with him were flat-out exhausting when we were barely twenty—I can’t imagine how we’ll handle it at this age.”
“We’ll be zombies, just like this,” Mandy said without opening her eyes. Then she yawned, showing Brent all her molars. “Why are we having this conversation before coffee, again?”
He snorted. “Because the bonehead’s out there scraping the obstacles off his escape route and we’re trying to convince Ariel to factor him out of her thinking. He’s gonna run no matter what she decides because he’s not scared of the baby—he’s scared of being happy.”
Hake nodded. “That’s it in a nutshell.”
Opening her eyes, Mandy sat up and focused a warning look on him. “Ariel’s got to make her own decision. She doesn’t need manipulation from our end, too.”
“I wasn’t trying to—”
“Why does everyone keep acting like this is my decision?” Ariel demanded, keeping the blanket tucked against her breasts as she sat up too. “Brent and Joe and I are a family, and in case anyone has forgotten, one of them is also the natural father of Mandy’s baby. We built this house together. We built this relationship together. We have to decide together what’s best for all of us.”
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