Unexpected Pleasures [Pleasure, Montana 11] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Melody Snow Monroe

  She leaned back down, but she wasn’t going to go back to sleep no matter what. Common sense told her to wake the men, but they’d think she was crazy, and she didn’t need that. Shit. Maybe she had dreamed it.

  When she didn’t hear the creepy words again, Sarah finally dozed until the noise in the kitchen woke her. She opened her eyes and immediately squinted at the light streaming in the room. Ugh. Morning had come too early.

  As much as she would have liked to sleep in, she really wanted to see her men, even if it was only for a short period of time. It would be too good to be true if they’d finished their surveillance.

  She pulled back the covers and padded down the hallway. Sometime between waking up and getting out of bed, she decided not to mention her new nightmare. She didn’t need to give them any more fuel for thinking she might be crazy.

  “Hey.” God, but the men looked hot. Both were dressed in jeans and crisp shirts. Mason’s was black and Liam’s a pretty leafy green color that accentuated his eyes.

  Liam smiled, put down the spatula, and came toward her. He gave her a big hug. “We missed you last night.”

  She wasn’t sure what that meant. “Because I was asleep when you came in?”

  “Yeah. Mase and I had a little party. We stopped in to see you, but you were snoring away.”

  She slapped his chest. “I don’t snore.”

  “Oh, no? How do you know?”

  No one had ever complained—them included. “It doesn’t matter. How were the brownies?”

  Mason moved behind her and slipped his hands around her waist. “They would have been better if you’d been here, but we drizzled chocolate sauce on the top and they were fine.”

  Liam nodded to Mason. “He wanted to bring the whipped cream into the bedroom and pour it on your tits and pussy, but you looked so peaceful, we didn’t want to wake you.”

  Relief washed through her. The calling of her name must have been the men asking if she was awake. The “help me” part was probably one of the men asking the other to help undress her, which the other obviously nixed. Thank God that mystery was solved.

  “Maybe I can get a rain check.”

  Mason nuzzled her neck. “I think that can be arranged. We have to go into the Bozeman office, but I’m thinking we should be home by six or seven. How about we have a date night tonight?”

  She had said she might meet the girls, but since she’d seen them yesterday, she didn’t mind putting that off. “What do you say if I pick up a few things at the store and make you both dinner?”

  Liam leaned in and kissed her. “I am totally in favor of that.” Then his eyes widened. “Shit. The eggs are burning.”

  He jerked away and rushed to the stove, causing her to laugh. “Let me wash up and I’ll be right back.”

  Mason held her tight then slipped his hands up to her breasts. “I miss these.”

  “They’ll still be there when I come back. I need to brush my teeth and wash my face.”

  He let go. “Hurry. It looks like breakfast is almost ready.”

  “I’ll be fast.” She rushed down the hallway, excited about the day. They’d have a fabulous dinner, followed by amazing sex. Since that would be on her mind all day, she imagined she’d have a hard time getting through the food part of the night.

  As quickly as she could, Sarah washed up and changed. Just as she rushed into the kitchen, Liam was serving the meal.

  “I could get used to this luxury,” she said without giving thought to the implication. The moment she said it, she wished she hadn’t blurted it out. The men were doing their job. That was all. “Any news on the Kaplan front?”

  “His trial is coming up. We’re going to nail him good,” Liam said with a smile.

  If he received a longer sentence than anticipated, he might be more determined to seek his revenge. It didn’t matter if it was totally unjustified. “Have you located any of his henchmen?”

  Mason shook his head. “Don’t worry. As long as you’re with us, you’ll be safe.”

  That wasn’t really true. When she started school, was walking to a doctor’s appointment, or just meeting with her friends at the Mountain View, someone could kidnap her like he did before. She’d never really be safe no matter what the men promised. Damn. That thought depressed her anew.

  “We’ll get him, angel. You have to have faith,” Mason said.

  She did have faith, but sometimes that wasn’t enough.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Once Mason and Liam left, Sarah made her shopping list. She had thought about cheating and buying an amazing meal from Mountain View, but where would the fun be in that? Ceci’s mom was a great cook. Maybe she’d be willing to lend a few recipes. Sarah hadn’t been to visit but once or twice since the kidnapping and it would be nice to see her. Of course that meant she’d be drilled about the men in her life, but that was okay.

  Ceci’s mom made the best filet minion, and her cherry cheesecake was to die for. Liam, in particularly, would be impressed if she could pull off something like that. To her surprise, she was actually excited about visiting her and catching up. She dialed Mrs. Armstrong.

  “Sarah? Is something wrong?” Ceci’s mother asked.

  She hated that Mrs. Armstrong jumped to that conclusion. After what had happened to Brooke and then her, Sarah couldn’t blame her. “Everything’s great. I wanted to see if you were free this morning. I wanted to stop over for a few recipes.”

  “Of course, dear. I’d love to see you. Tom will be happy, too.” Tom was Ceci’s dad. “Are you making something special for a special someone or someones?”

  Mrs. Armstrong knew that Mason and Liam had been her bodyguards. “Yes. We’ll catch up when I get there.”

  “Okay, dear.”

  The Armstrong ranch had been the central location throughout high school. Sarah bet that with Brooke and Ceci out of the home, Mrs. Armstrong’s life was a lot less hectic and probably lonelier.

  The drive over was wonderful. Sarah had the windows down and the music blaring. Getting back to her old routine was helping bring her much-needed peace. Having the men care for her had made such a big difference in her quality of life. That was, until Mason reminded her that Mr. Dunwoody’s killer was out there still. Then there was the question of why Kaplan’s man hadn’t made his move.

  Don’t think about that.

  The Armstrong ranch was southeast of town. When she drove under the swinging sign of the Double Bar ranch, the tension left her body. A herd of cattle was grazing in the distance and ranch hands were riding around. The air smelled sweeter here. If she’d grown up on a place like this, she might have ended up a rancher.

  She parked and went inside. “Mrs. A?”

  Trisha Armstrong came out from the kitchen wearing an apron and smiled. “There you are. Come join me. I’m baking some cookies. You know how Mr. A loves his sweets.”

  “I do.”

  Sarah sat in her usual spot at the counter and she felt sixteen all over again. What she wouldn’t give for those days again.

  No, you wouldn’t. You wouldn’t be having mind-blowing sex with two hot men.

  “First of all, I’m dying for some good gossip,” Mrs. A said. “Tell me about the men.”

  Sarah launched into the whole lost key event followed by the slashed tires thing and how she was now staying with the men.

  “I’m glad they’re taking care of you.”

  “Me, too. They’ve been working extra hard on a case with Gabe and Dylan, so tonight I wanted to make them an awesome meal.”

  Mrs. A smiled. “But you don’t have a good recipe?”

  “No.”

  “You want a meal that will seduce the men?”

  That made Sarah laugh and blush at the same time. “You got it.”

  “I have just the thing.”

  * * * *

  After a wonderful time catching up with Ceci and Brooke’s mom, Sarah hurried to the store. On the way, she called Ceci to tell her she wouldn’t be coming
to happy hour. She’d be making her mom’s roast, the vegetable medley dish, and pineapple sweet potatoes.

  “You are hooked, girlfriend. I hope the men appreciate the meal.”

  “Me, too.”

  “I’ll let the girls know why you’re AWOL.”

  That made her laugh. “Please do.”

  Sarah pulled into the Pack & Save parking lot with her list in hand. If Debbie was on duty, she’d let her know about the change in plans, too. Since only she and Debbie had connected again, she might not want to go to happy hour if Sarah wouldn’t be there.

  The store wasn’t very busy and she was able to pick up the ingredients rather quickly. Debbie wasn’t one of the checkers, so she chose the shortest line, and thankfully, the card reader was working this time. She’d left her checkbook back at the house.

  Once at the men’s house, she began organizing the food and creating a timeline for when the food needed to go into the oven. They only had one oven, so timing was important. She could make the Hawaiian sweet potato casserole ahead of time, as well as the chocolate pudding cake, but the vegetable medley and the roast needed to wait.

  With recipe in hand, Sarah set about making the meal. Finding the proper dishes to mix things in and cook on was the biggest challenge. Since she’d eaten all of these meals before, she knew what they should look like. After ninety minutes of work, she was done for the time being.

  She made some coffee and decided some mindless television would be perfect. The remote sat on the coffee table and was the same kind she had at her house. She turned on an HGTV home show. She loved seeing what one could buy in the different towns.

  Halfway through the show, the timer beeped and she went into the kitchen, checked the beans and decided they needed a few more minutes. When she returned to the sofa, a different show was on. She glanced at the clock to see if it was on the hour or half hour. It wasn’t. That was strange. She changed it back to the show she was watching.

  When the beans finished cooking, she drained them, set them aside and peeled the zucchini. The sound on the television suddenly blared. Sarah jumped. “What the fuck?”

  This was ridiculous. Their television was just plain crazy. She didn’t need the aggravation and turned off the tube. After she sautéed the zucchini and placed the vegetables, along with tomatoes into a casserole dish, the television came back on.

  She had turned off the set. She was positive. There was only one thing to do. Unplug the damned thing. There was no doubt that the men would have an explanation, but it was creepy, plain and simple.

  While she had a little more time before she had to prepare the roast, she went into shower and change. Too often the men had seen her at her worst. Tonight, she wanted to put forth her best effort. She’d saved a bra and thong set she’d purchased a while back and was excited to see how the men would react.

  * * * *

  “Drive faster.” All day, Mason had been thinking about tonight and how much he hoped Sarah would love the butt plug he had planned for her.

  “I’m already breaking the law. You do know you can’t just waltz in and drag her to the bedroom? She prepared a meal.”

  “I know.” Mason grinned. “What?”

  “I’m happy that you’re finally coming out of your shell.”

  His partner was being ridiculous. “What shell? I’m open. Carefree. Fun loving.”

  Liam lifted a hand from the wheel and coughed. The word “bullshit” floated out. “All I’m saying is that I’ve never seen you so excited about a woman before.”

  “There’s something about Sarah that is so pure and good.”

  “I agree.” Liam turned off the main highway onto River Rock Road that led to their place. “So who gets to tell her the good news?”

  He shrugged. “I say we tell her together, but you can start. Dylan told you first.”

  “Then what?”

  Trying to figure out how to convince Sarah they wanted her in their lives would be hard. “She’ll never go for moving in permanently.”

  Liam drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. “When she learns Riley and Gavin caught the henchman, she’ll want to get her life back.”

  “Then we need to convince her that even though she no longer needs protection, we still want to be part of her life.”

  Liam turned into their complex. “Do you think she’ll believe the threat no longer exists?”

  “I hope so, but I’m not sure it will help with her nightmares. I’m really concerned about those. Maybe we could speak with her therapist. See what we can do to help.”

  As Liam pulled into the drive and cut the engine, he shook his head. “What planet are you on? The therapist can’t break confidentiality.”

  He knew that. His cock had robbed him of the blood to his brain. “Let’s convince her she belongs with us in the best way we know how.”

  “I’m right there with you.”

  They walked inside and Mason’s cock twitched at the sight of her. She’d curled her hair, but it had looked fantastic even when she didn’t do stuff to it. The makeup was subtle but smoldering, and her top hugged her curves in all the right places. The jeans had more holes in them than material, tantalizing him all the more.

  He inhaled. The house had never smelled so divine. It was a combination of some erotic perfume, sweet potatoes, and meat. “Angel, you outdid yourself.”

  Liam strolled up next to her where she was stirring something on the stove. He stepped behind her and kissed her neck. “You smell real good, too, honey.”

  She giggled. “I need to finish with this or it might burn.”

  Liam lifted the wooden spoon from her hand and set it on the counter then spun her around and kissed her.

  Mason wanted in on the action and moved in. “Why don’t you take over cooking while Sarah and I can get reacquainted?”

  She laughed and held up her hands. “Go wash up. Dinner will be on the table shortly. No interruptions until the food is done. I spent all day preparing this meal so don’t ruin it.”

  Neither he nor Liam would consider denying her request. “We’ll by right back, angel.”

  The faster they washed and ate, the sooner they could take a ride to heaven. When they returned from washing their hands and changing into something nicer, Sarah was holding two bottles of beer.

  “You’re spoiling us.” Mason took the offered drink and kissed her.

  “Hey, Mase. You heard her. Eat food first then, well, you know.” They all laughed. “This looks amazing, but you didn’t have to go to all the trouble for a bunch of lunkheads like us.”

  “Sit and stop fishing for compliments.”

  Mason loved it. “She so has your number.” He pulled out the chair for Sarah. “Milady.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  He slid next to her and Liam sat across from them. “I don’t know where to begin,” Liam said. “This is better than anything I could have made. I thought you said you didn’t really cook.”

  “Not when it’s just me. I stopped over at Ceci’s mom’s house and she gave me the recipes.”

  Mason picked up her hand. “You went to all that trouble for us?”

  Her eyes widened. “Aren’t you worth it?”

  “After dinner we plan on showing you just how much.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Sarah couldn’t have been happier. The food tasted wonderful, and if she judged the men’s enjoyment by the speed with which they ate, they liked it, too.

  Once she ate all she could, she leaned back and patted her stomach. “Would you mind if we had dessert later? I’m really full.”

  “Sure, angel. Before we sojourn—that means to go into—the bedroom there’s some good news we want to share.” He winked either because he was proud of his new word or because he was pulling her leg.

  He glanced over at Liam.

  “The good news is that Riley and Gavin intercepted Kaplan’s man.”

  Her heart skipped a beat. “The one who was supposed to take me o
ut?”

  “Yeah, but that rumor we told you about? It was only partially true.”

  “I don’t get it.”

  “Putting it mildly, Kaplan is quite upset that Riley and Gavin basically ruined his operation. Kaplan did send someone to deal with his nemesis, but the nemesis was never you. It was Riley and Gavin.”

  She sucked in a breath. “I don’t know if that’s much better.” Then their words registered. “But you said they caught the guy. Won’t Kaplan send someone else?”

  “Once the guy confessed for a lighter sentence, the Bozeman PD had a little talk with Kaplan and said when he was put away, if he sends anyone else, he’ll be put in solitary confinement for life.”

  Holy shit. “Can the cops do that?”

  Liam shrugged. “Doesn’t matter as long as Kaplan thinks they can.”

  She glanced at the walls, the ceiling, and then her hands. “Does that mean this whole drug lord nightmare is over?”

  “Sure does, honey.”

  Adrenaline flooded her system. She pushed back her chair and both men jumped up. “I can’t believe it. I’m free!” She lifted her hands over her head and spun around.

  Liam pulled her into his arms and kissed her. Once more reality intruded. “That means you don’t have to watch over me anymore?”

  Liam nuzzled her neck. “We’ll always watch over you. We want you.”

  His words warmed her insides. “You want to show me?”

  Liam swept her up in his arms. “Boy, do we ever.”

  She dropped back her head and laughed. With the threat gone and her men right where she wanted them, life couldn’t get much better. Or could it? Hopefully, she’d find out soon.

  “Take her to my room, Liam.”

  That sounded intriguing. When Liam walked her into Mason’s room, the sheets were rumpled, but he’d picked up his clothes from yesterday. One plus to his room over Liam’s was that he had a king-sized bed and an attached bath, though she wouldn’t turn down Liam’s queen bed if they’d asked.