by Jess Dee
Jenna shot her. And Jackson.
“Jenna, for God sake,” Jackson muttered. “Quit that.”
She shot him again. “You were supposed to protect me. Not kidnap me.”
Jackson’s voice was very soft as he answered. “I did protect you. For twelve years. And it made us both miserable.”
Jenna hit him with a steady stream of water. “And abduction made me happy?”
Jack snorted through the drops splashing down his face. “Rachel’s right. If the glint in your eye is anything to go by, it made you real happy.”
Jenna glared at him. “One more word, just one, and I’m telling mum you broke her green platter.”
Jackson froze, his smile dying. “You wouldn’t.”
The glint in Jenna’s eyes brightened. “Try me.”
“Now, now, kids,” Rachel said soothingly.
Jenna shot her. “Not one word from you. You slept with the man I love.”
Rachel nodded, completely ignoring her warning. “If you’d told me you loved him, I’d never have slept with him.”
Jenna gave her an assessing look. Finally she gave a sharp nod. “You realize that’s the only reason I’m not firing my gun right now?”
“Don’t you mean my gun?” Rachel asked.
Jenna shrugged. “Possession is nine tenths of the law.”
“The law says theft is illegal.”
“I didn’t steal the gun. I simply picked it up from the table.”
“Exactly. Theft.”
“If you’re getting technical, you may as well add assault with an armed weapon to the charges.” Jenna shot her.
Rachel dissolved into laughter. “You’re just jealous because I got to see your man naked,” she taunted.
She shouldn’t have. Jenna shot her again. Then she shot Garreth.
“What was that for?” he asked, aghast, as water slid down his neck and slithered under his collar.
“For sleeping with my best friend.”
“Good one, sis,” Jackson encouraged. “Shoot him again.”
Jenna pulled the trigger, then looked disappointed as water dribbled from the gun and landed on her foot. “It’s empty.”
Garreth reached her in two steps. He wrapped his arms around her from behind and removed the gun from her hands. “I did it for them. And for us. You know that, Jenn.”
“Doesn’t stop me from being jealous.” She sniffed and gave up the gun easily enough.
“You’re the one, Jenn,” Garreth whispered. “Always have been. There’s no need to be jealous.”
“You slept with my friend,” she complained.
“Yeah, and look who she’s sleeping with now.” He held up his hand to gesture to Jackson.
“And loving it,” Rachel said. Her eyes glowed. So did her skin for that matter. The woman looked radiant.
“You better be.” Jackson turned to face Rachel.
“I am,” Rachel reassured him. She scooted into his arms. “Loving it even more than sleeping with you and Garreth at the same time.”
Jenna stilled in his arms.
The bottom dropped out of his stomach. He hadn’t told Jenna. Had forgotten all about it, in fact.
Oh, fuck.
“What did you say?” Jenna asked Rachel. Though she didn’t move a muscle, her body fairly vibrated with tension.
Rachel’s gaze was on Jackson’s face. She seemed oblivious to Jenna’s shock. “That sleeping with Jackson is the best experience. Second only to loving him.”
“Jenn,” Garreth whispered urgently.
She turned to look at him. “You slept with Rachel and Jackson?” Her voice was calm. Way too calm. It sounded exactly the way it had all those times she’d rejected him, when she’d reined in her control and kept her emotions on a tight leash. Only her eyes gave her away. Shock, hurt and pain lurked in their blue depths.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
“Jack and I slept with Rachel,” he corrected softly.
“At the same time?”
Garreth nodded.
“Ah,” Jenna said. “I see.”
No, she didn’t. Not if the shock and disbelief on her face were anything to go by.
Garreth’s heart sunk. How the hell could he have forgotten to talk to her about it? She needed to know. He should have been the one to tell her.
Jenna smiled then. An empty, hollow smile. “Anyway, it’s time for me to get going. I’ll just grab my things and be on my way.” And with that, she turned her back on Garreth and walked into his room.
Jenna wished to God she couldn’t comprehend his words. Wished they made no sense. But they hit her with the impact of a cyclone, slamming into her consciousness, blindsiding her. They caught her emotions, lifted them, tumbled them, shook them and then dropped them, so they plummeted back down, leaving them battered and broken.
Garreth. In bed with Rachel. And Jackson.
Twelve years ago she’d been accused of incest. Accused of an act darker and more unforgivable than almost any other. For twelve years she’d seen herself as a sexual pariah. Not because she’d slept with her own brother—she hadn’t. But because others had perceived her as doing just that.
And now, when she’d finally found love and knew she was loved in return, when she’d finally learned how to acknowledge the real woman she was, and not the statue she’d made herself into, now the reality of incest struck true.
She’d fucked a man who had slept with her brother. Jackson and Garreth had been naked, sexually active and in bed, together.
It didn’t get more incestuous than that, did it?
The bedroom door closed behind her.
Garreth.
He must have followed her. Her hands began to shake uncontrollably.
“Jenna,” he said evenly. “You can’t go anywhere. You can’t leave until we’ve spoken.”
“Wrong,” Jenna said, her voice just as shaky as her hands. “I can leave, and I’m going to.” It was oh so easy for her to just step away now and pretend she felt nothing. Just hide her feelings behind a carefully controlled veneer of nothingness. She’d pretended for twelve years. She was used to it.
“Just like you left me in the Blue Mountains, before we had a chance to speak? Before I could explain to you my reasons for sleeping with Rachel?”
Shit, he had a point. She’d run from him then. Sprinted actually. If she’d just stayed, just heard him out, she’d have known from the beginning why he’d done what he’d done. They could have avoided all the pain and hurt, could have been together for the last week if she hadn’t reeled in her emotions and used her rigid control to hide her thoughts from him.
She couldn’t repeat her mistakes. Not after everything she and Garreth had been through.
“This isn’t about sleeping with Rachel,” she said to him. “It’s about sleeping with Jackson and Rachel. It’s about incest.” The very thing she never wanted to think about ever again. Oh God. What if this got out? What if people heard about it and started speaking, pointing fingers…?
“You’re jumping to conclusions,” Garreth said. “The wrong conclusions. Whatever happened between Jackson, Rachel and I had nothing to do with incest whatsoever.”
“You slept with my brother. And with me. That’s incestuous.”
Garreth shook his head. “No. I didn’t. And no it’s not.”
“Rachel said—”
“Rachel said she slept with me and Jackson. At the same time. That’s a whole hell of a lot different from me sleeping with Jackson.”
Jenna shook her head. “No difference. You and Jackson were still naked in bed together.”
Run, her defenses screamed.
Stay, her heart insisted. Tell him what has you so freaked out. Don’t pretend it isn’t there.
“I slept with Rachel,” Garreth said. “I fucked Rachel. Jackson was there. He fucked her at the same time I did. But at no point did I sleep with your brother. I have no sexual interest in him whatsoever. The only Brooks twin I’m interested in is you, Jenn
. You should know that by now.”
Jenna stared at him. Hesitated, and then laid her cards on the table. “You were naked with him. You did things with him.” Her insides squirmed, at the thought of what he and her brother had done together, at the fact that she was openly voicing her thoughts, and with fear that someone else might find out about it all. “You were naked with me. Did things with me.”
“I made love to you. Not Jackson. Never Jackson. And even if I had fucked him, it wouldn’t have been incest. You have to see that.”
She stared at him, gnawed on her lower lip. Okay, maybe incest wasn’t the right word. Even if Garreth had slept with her and Jackson, she hadn’t slept with her brother. “You’re right, I guess. It just all feels so…incestuous.”
Garreth crossed the room and took her hands in his. His touch burned her skin. His scent made her instantly hot. “I’d say more soap opera-ish than incestuous,” he said lightly.
God, that’s exactly what it was like. A soap opera.
Jenna titled her head to the side. Thought about that. Frowned. Even without the whole incest concern, the idea of Jackson and Garreth involved in a threesome still bothered her. “A soap opera doesn’t sit well with me when it includes you and my brother getting naked together. W-what if someone hears about it?”
It was Garreth’s turn to frown. “Uh, the soap opera doesn’t stop there. There’s something else you need to know.”
“There’s more?” What else could there be?
He twisted his lips, then relaxed them. Then twisted them again. “Rachel wasn’t the first,” he said quietly.
“What?” Jenna recoiled instantly, tried pulling her hands away, but Garreth wouldn’t let them go.
“Jack and I have shared other women.”
She stared at him, aghast. “Why are you telling me this?”
“Because I don’t want any more secrets between us. Don’t want you to think I’m hiding my past from you. You’ve been dead honest with me. You deserve my honesty in return.”
“M-maybe honesty isn’t such a good thing when it comes to revealing secrets about past lovers.”
Garreth looked at her, bemused. “You’re jealous.”
“Of the women involved in the threesomes with you and my brother?”
“Of the fact that I had lovers that weren’t you.”
Jenna harrumphed.
Shit. She was jealous.
He linked his fingers through hers, making the very gesture of holding her hands a hundred times more intimate. “Don’t be jealous, sweetheart. You were the reason I indulged in the threesomes in the first place.”
“I was?” Sure. Blame her.
“You wouldn’t have me, Jenn, remember? No matter how many times I came begging, you turned me away. You kept me in a state of perpetual sexual frustration. Kept me hard and aching and empty.”
He held her gaze, didn’t look away. She couldn’t look away either.
“I needed relief. Needed an outlet for my frustration. Needed to fuck someone without worrying about the psychological complexities of it all. I needed a warm body to make me forget the cold loneliness of your rejections.” His eyes were bleak, a reflection of the emptiness he described.
“Jack was the perfect foil. He let me get close to the women physically yet never have to worry about the emotional side of things. Never have to worry that one of us would feel something.” He laughed a hollow laugh. “At least one Brooks sibling gave me some latitude emotionally, coz you had me tied in fucking knots.” He grimaced. “And you’re tying me in knots all over again. Believing the worst of me.”
Jenna dropped her head, ashamed. “I don’t believe the worst of you,” she whispered. “Not anymore, anyway.”
He snorted. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”
“I jumped to conclusions,” she admitted. “Way too quickly. When I heard Rachel say that about sleeping with you and Jackson… I panicked. I just connected the dots and it all came down to feeling like a horribly incestuous situation. I couldn’t deal with it. Didn’t want to deal with it. I’ve been there before. Been accused of incest. It ruined my life. Made me into the defensive, scared person I am today.” Jenna gnawed on her lower lip.
“And?” Garreth prompted.
“And what?”
“And there’s something else you’re not saying.”
Had he always been this perceptive, this aware of her emotions, her moods? “And I can’t help but fear this will get out. Other people will hear about it. And judge us. Again.”
He squeezed her hands. “They won’t hear about it, Jenn. None of us, not you, not me, not Jackson and not Rachel would ever speak freely about such intimate events. You have to know that. What happened stays between us.”
“But what if doesn’t? What if it somehow gets out? Or worse, gets all twisted up?”
Garreth shrugged. “Then let them judge. They’ll be wrong. Not us. You have nothing to be ashamed of. None of us has anything to be ashamed of. As I said, whatever Jack and I did was not incestuous. The threesomes were merely a means for me to find relief after you broke my heart. Besides…” He grinned then and flexed his biceps, deliberately showing off his strength. “If anyone should ever dare accuse you of anything sordid again, they’d have me to deal with.”
He might have been making light of the issue, but Jenna was immeasurably reassured. If push came to shove, Garreth would make good on his word. “You’d do that?” she asked. “You’d stand up for me? Defend me?”
“I’ll never let anyone hurt you again. Not if it’s in my power to stop it.”
Her heart melted, along with every one of the defenses she’d thrown up again. “I love you, Garreth Halt.”
“Good. Now remember that the next time you attempt to run out on me.”
She bit her lip. “I didn’t run this time,” she reminded him. She’d wanted to, so damn much, but she hadn’t.
“No, you didn’t.” He smiled.
“That’s because my defenses were down.” She smiled back shyly. “You kind of flattened them last night.”
“You flattened them, sweetheart. I just helped.”
Jenna reconsidered. “Maybe flattened is the wrong word. If they were gone altogether, I’d never have jumped to conclusions about you and Jackson. I’m sorry about that.”
“I’m just glad you stayed.”
“I’m glad too.” She got lost in his green eyes. “Can you forgive me? For thinking such awful things?”
He pondered her answer. “You have to promise me one thing first.”
Her heart drummed in her chest. “Anything.”
His gaze was solemn, his response grave. “You have to swear that if we do go through another rocky patch, no matter how bad things get, you will never, ever shoot me with a water pistol again.”
Jenna gave a bark of laughter.
Garreth stroked her cheek, ever so gently. She relished the heat of his fingers on her face.
“I love you, Jenn. I want us to work. More than anything. I just need your promise that if we do argue, or something I do does upset you—and it will happen, without a doubt—you won’t shut me out. You won’t hide behind your controlled emotions. I need to know you’ll hang around and talk it through. Openly and honestly.”
She took a shuddery breath. “You got it, mate. I promise, from now on, I’ll always stay and talk. More than that, I’ll let you in. Always show you what I really think and feel. I promise not to hide from you anymore, and not to think the worst of you. I just… I just…” She peaked at him from beneath lowered lashes. “I just love you so much, you know?”
“Actually, no.” He shook his head. “I don’t know. You may have to show me.”
“I’d be happy to.” Jenna grinned. “In fact, I’d be happy to spend the rest of my life doing just that.” And then she stood on her tiptoes, reached her hand up high to Garreth’s neck and pulled his face down to hers. “I love you, Gaz,” she whispered before she pressed her mouth to his and
kissed him.
As their lips met and Jenna’s heart fairly exploded with happiness, she heard a muted thud in the distance. She couldn’t contain her smile as he deepened the kiss, knowing the carefully cemented wall of her defenses had just been toppled—forever.
About the Author
Apart from her family and friends, Jess Dee loves two things: romance and food. Is it any wonder she specializes in dee-liciously sexy romance? Jess loves hearing from readers. You can email her at [email protected] or find her at www.jessdee.com.
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Circle of Friends
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A Question of Trust
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Raising the Stakes
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Bandicoot Cove Anthology
Exotic Indulgence
Island Idyll
Speed
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Risking it All
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Red Hot Winter
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Guilty pleasures can heat the coldest winter night…
Winter Fire
© 2011 Jess Dee
A Red Hot Winter Story
There’s never been any question in Rachel Ashberg’s mind. Jackson Brooks is the one, and they both know it. The problem? Thanks to his unbreakable rule—never date his twin sister’s friends—he’s completely off-limits. Even if they can’t imagine being with anyone else.
It’s been over two years since their last encounter, when they gave in—just once—to their passion. Now, as the Brooks twins’ milestone birthday approaches, Rachel and Jackson are about to meet again at a gorgeously mountain resort. Needing something to take the edge off the desire that has never faded, she indulges in a fling with sexy stranger Garreth Halt. He even makes her forget Jackson for a while. Or…maybe not.
