Burnin' Love [Men for Hire: Firemen 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Jane Jamison

  Daisy wanted to warn him. Charlie wasn’t going to put her gun down. Did he really believe that she would?

  “On the count of three. Okay, Charlie?”

  Yet Charlie seemed to loosen her hold on Melissa. “I’ll do it if you guys go back downstairs and leave us alone to talk.”

  “We can’t do that, but we can do the next best thing.” Paul raised his free hand. “We put down our guns, then we all just take a seat where we are. We’ll be sitting on the floor and you two can sit on the bed. There’s no way we could jump you from a sitting position on the floor. Will that do it for you, Charlie?”

  She’s considering it.

  And yet, even though she appeared to be thinking it over, Daisy couldn’t bring herself to believe that Charlie would give up so easily. Not unless she was forced to.

  “Come on. On the count of three.”

  Paul held his gun so that it was parallel with the floor. All he had to do was to bend down and rest it on the area rug at the tip of his feet. “We talk. That’s it. No calling the cops.”

  “That’s right, Charlie. Are we good?”

  Charlie turned her gun the same way Paul had done. “Okay.”

  “Great. One. Two.” Paul knelt down, almost going into a squat.

  Charlie released the chokehold on Melissa, but clutched her by the arm as she bent forward.

  “Three.”

  Paul put his gun on the carpet in the same moment that Charlie did. But Charlie’s hand never left the weapon. Instead, as soon as Paul’s gun was out of his hand, she gripped her gun and jumped back up to a standing position.

  “Keep your hand off it, asshole.”

  Daisy could tell that Paul thought about going for his gun. He stayed in a half-crouch far longer than he should have.

  “Go on. I’m itching to pull the trigger.” Charlie’s eyes gleamed with joy. She’d like nothing better than to shoot Paul.

  Paul stood up slowly, lifting his hands into the air. “Charlie, we had an agreement.”

  “No, man. You only thought we did. Now we do it my way.”

  “Let her go, Charlie.”

  Charlie smiled, but there was no warmth, no humanity in it. “Not a chance.” She turned Melissa’s arm loose, then shoved her fingers into her hair and grabbed hold. “Leave now or I’ll shoot.”

  Wade took a quick step forward. “No way. We’re not leaving without—”

  The shot rang out, stunning Daisy. In the next moment, Wade was on the floor, groaning with pain. Troy dropped to his side, then took him under the arms and dragged him over to the other side of the bed. A trail of blood marked their path.

  Paul reached for his gun, but Charlie was too quick for him. She leveled the muzzle at him. “Uh-uh-uh. Don’t even try it.”

  He straightened up, then froze, obviously realizing the futility of going for his weapon. But that didn’t mean he was giving up. She knew he wouldn’t. “This isn’t helping you or anyone else. I need to get my friend to a doctor. Don’t make this worse than it is.”

  Charlie cackled, and Daisy thought it sounded like a mad person’s laugh. “Give it up, big man. Even if you had your gun, you couldn’t shoot me. You’re not the type. Naw, you’re one of those ‘men don’t ever hurt a lady’ guys, aren’t you?”

  “You’re no lady.”

  The slash of her grin grew wider. “There’s the real man. No more Mister Polite Guy, huh? That’s good. I don’t like playing games. Now shove that gun back into the hall. Easy now. Don’t go trying to be the hero again.”

  Paul leaned over.

  “Uh-uh. Use two fingers. Yeah, that’s it. We wouldn’t want you making any mistakes.”

  Paul took two fingers and slid the gun out of the room. Daisy flattened her back against the wall as the gun came to a rest only inches from where she stood. When she thought it was safe, she leaned around the edge again.

  Charlie’s awful grin faded as she turned the gun and placed the muzzle against Melissa’s head. “I’m through.”

  “No, please. I–I’ll come with you. Please don’t hurt anyone else.”

  But Melissa’s pleas didn’t help. Charlie yanked her hair, causing Melissa to cry out. “Are you fucking this guy, too? How many of them have you fucked? You lousy, no-good cunt.”

  Charlie cursed at Melissa, pulling on her hair and bringing her to her knees. Still, Daisy couldn’t help but be relieved when she pointed the gun away from her head.

  “I loved you, you know that? I would’ve given you everything you wanted. Instead, you had to go and fuck my brother. My brother!”

  “I’m sorry. Please. Ow! Don’t hurt anyone else. I’ll go with you. I swear I will.”

  Charlie turned her attention away from Paul to bend over and sneer into Melissa’s face. “You’re fucking stupid, aren’t you? Do you think anyone’s leaving here now? He’s right. The cops will be hot on our trail for sure. You’ve ruined everything, you bitch.”

  She wouldn’t get another chance. Charlie was going to kill everyone. Steeling herself, Daisy lunged forward, grabbed the gun and stepped into the doorway. “Get down, Paul!”

  In the moment it took Charlie to realize what was going on, Daisy had enough time to lift the gun and aim it. Charlie’s eyes grew round as she forgot about Melissa, turning her loose. She straightened her body, bringing her gun up.

  Daisy squeezed the trigger.

  Chapter Ten

  Daisy watched, her mouth going dry as Charlie stood, her mouth twisted in pain, her eyes boring into her. She got ready. Her body was stiff, tense, and ready to fire again.

  Charlie let her gun fall, then crumpled to the floor. Daisy lowered her gun. All at once, the room wavered and dizziness made her lightheaded.

  “It’s okay, baby.”

  Suddenly, Paul was by her side. He took the gun from her and helped her over to the bed. He sat her down, then embraced her face between his hands.

  “Daisy, are you okay?”

  Sobs echoed around the room, and for a moment, Daisy wasn’t sure if they were coming from Melissa or from her. Unable to force out any words, she nodded and slumped against Paul. Her gaze drifted to Charlie lying in a pool of blood.

  “Is she dead?” She had to ask even though she already knew the answer. She’d shot her where she’d known it would kill her in an instant. Right between the eyes.

  “Yeah, she is.”

  She had to think. Something else was wrong. When it hit her, she pulled away from Paul and searched the room. “Wade?”

  Troy’s voice came from behind him. “He’ll be fine. It’s only a flesh wound. I’ve already got it stopped and I’ve called for help.”

  A tear coursed down her cheek. “I’ve never killed…” Her voice trailed off and she shook her head, her mind still trying to deny what she’d done. “It’s not like shooting a snake.”

  Paul’s arms around her, his voice soft and comforting were the only things that kept her from screaming. “You can’t think that way, baby. You did what you had to do. If you hadn’t, we’d all be dead.”

  Another tear tracked its way down then dropped off her chin. “Where’s Melissa?”

  Paul craned around to search behind him. “She’s okay. She’s crying, but physically she’s okay. Think about yourself right now. I’ll help her in a minute.”

  “Daisy? Where are you?”

  She almost smiled. She’d forgotten that Alex was stopping by today to talk with Melissa. And yet she had no energy to tell her friend to come to her.

  Paul called out. “We’re up here, Alex.”

  By the time Alex made it to the bedroom, her eyes going wide and her face going pale as she stepped into the room, Paul had coaxed Daisy to lie down on the bed. She stared up at the ceiling, listening to the sounds of voices around her.

  I killed her.

  Melissa’s sobs had gone to whimpers as Alex spoke to her, asking her about the baby, telling her that everything would be all right. Alex’s voice was tight, but she was holding it together.
Alex’s experience dealing with disasters was helping her and Daisy couldn’t help but admire her.

  Would Melissa hate her for shooting Charlie? She wasn’t sure she could handle knowing the answer to that question yet. A moan escaped her. She hadn’t wanted to kill Charlie, hadn’t even wanted to pick up the gun.

  But if she hadn’t… She closed her eyes, unable to finish the thought.

  She blinked her eyes open, vaguely aware of Alex leaning over her. Listening, she let Alex tell her that Melissa and Wade were being taken care of, that the authorities had been called. She nodded because she knew that’s what her friend expected her to do.

  “I killed her, Alex. I killed a person.”

  Alex shushed her and brushed her palm over her hair. “Don’t think about that. You didn’t have a choice. Just know that everything’s being handled.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Come on, baby.”

  “No. I don’t want to see.” But she had to stand to leave. She couldn’t stay in that room any longer. Not with the pool of blood on the floor. Not with Charlie lying there, cold and lifeless.

  Troy picked her up and she turned her face to his chest. “It’s going to be okay, baby. Wade’s getting patched up. It wasn’t much of a wound and Melissa’s doing okay. She’s upset, but she’s handling it. Don’t worry about anything. We’ve got this.”

  She closed her eyes as he moved her to one of the other bedrooms and set her down on the bed. When he tried to move away, she opened her eyes, sat up and gripped his shirt, clinging to him.

  “I didn’t want to do it.”

  “We know, baby. We know. Now rest. I’m going to make you a hot toddy.”

  She nodded, finally starting to feel as though she could make it through to another day.

  * * * *

  “Hey, I’m going to miss you.” Daisy held back the tears as she brought Melissa into a hug.

  “Me, too.” The young girl had matured in the past few days as though seeing Charlie die had aged her. She’d worked with Alex to set up a new life and now it was time to make that happen. “I don’t know how to thank you.” Her gaze slid to the men behind Daisy.

  Wade rested in one of the rocking chairs, his leg propped up on a turned-over bucket. Paul and Troy had complained daily that his wound wasn’t worth all the fuss, and Daisy suspected they were right, but she didn’t mind. She loved taking care of him.

  “Melissa, I’m sorry, but it’s time.” Alex pulled open her car door. “We need to go if you’re going to catch your flight.”

  Melissa gave Daisy another hug and turned to leave. Daisy took her arm, keeping her with her. The time to ask had come.

  “I have to know. Do you…I mean, I’m sorry that Charlie’s dead. I didn’t want to hurt her. It’s just—”

  Melissa took her hand and squeezed. “Stop it. You did what you had to do. I don’t blame you a bit.”

  She’d needed to hear her say the words. Relief washed through her. “Thank you for that.”

  And yet there were still another question that had to be asked. “What about John?”

  Melissa shook her head, her expression going hard. “I haven’t heard from him and I don’t want to. John and Charlie are in my past and that’s where they’re going to stay.”

  “Melissa, please, we’ve got to go,” called Alex.

  Daisy hugged her to her again. “I wish I could tell you to call or visit, but I know that’s impossible. Just the same, I wish I could.”

  “Me, too. But them’s the rules.”

  They shared a laugh, then Daisy let her go. Troy’s strong arms wrapped around her, giving her the strength she needed. As the car headed down the driveway, she lifted a hand, saying farewell to the young girl she’d grown to love.

  * * * *

  “Spread your legs, baby.”

  Daisy, her body trembling, did as Paul ordered her to. She’d grown used to becoming their submissive during sex. Hell, she’d grown to love it. And yet, in or out of sex, she was their equal. They’d taken time off from their jobs to stay with her and see her through the hard times. Charlie still haunted her dreams, but with the men’s love, those nightmares were coming fewer and farther between.

  Warm water coursed down her back and between her butt cheeks as Paul slipped his hand between her legs and found her pussy. His finger delved into her pussy then back out to tease her clit.

  Watching the water make rivulets down and around the muscles of each man’s hard body was almost as sexy as the feel of their bodies next to hers. Their cocks stood erect and ready to please her. As they had many times in the hard weeks since the shooting, she had no doubt that they’d give her more pleasure than they’d receive. They’d assured her that she was wrong about that, but she knew. Oh, how she knew.

  “Wade.”

  Wade, at her side in the shower that was just large enough for four people, fondled a breast and nibbled at her ear. “Easy, baby. We know what you want. Remember what we like.”

  She remembered all right. Paul loved taking her from behind while Troy and Wade enjoyed feasting on her pussy with both their mouths and their hands. Troy was on his knees in front of her and caressing her stomach, her legs, her thighs with his tongue.

  She laughed when Troy pushed Paul’s hand away, then took possession of her pussy. He sighed, a satisfied sound, as he lapped up every bit of her sweetness. Her body reacted to their touches, coming alive with their strokes.

  Wade bent and took a nipple in his mouth. “You’re clean enough. Let’s get you into bed.”

  She didn’t want to move. “No. I want to stay in the shower and use the shower head to make myself come.”

  Paul spanked her bottom. “Don’t argue. Although I do like the idea of watching you.”

  “Then let’s let her do that. Then we’ll take her to bed.” Wade took the shower head off its holder and handed it to her. He pushed a couple of buttons on the control panel, making the spray grow stronger. Paul and Troy stood up and moved back to watch her.

  She lifted her leg and placed it on the low shelf, then gave them a wicked smile. “Mmm. I like this. But this isn’t going to be all that’s going on, is it?”

  “Not a chance.” Paul thrust out his chin, indicating that she should start. “Get going before I change my mind.”

  Opening her legs wider, she held the stream of water between them and aimed it at her pussy. The warm water blasted against her, making her flinch. But that flinch soon turned into moans as she positioned the showerhead closer to her pussy.

  Paul knelt in front of her and pulled her lips apart. “Here, baby, let me give you a better shot.”

  As soon as he’d exposed more of her already pulsing bundle of nerves, the water hit her in just the right spot. She’d done it often enough to know exactly where to aim.

  The water couldn’t do the job the men could with their mouths, hands and tongues, but it was a good prelude for what was to come. The pressure struck her, sending her into an orgasm. She cried out, her knees buckling as the climax took over.

  Paul grabbed her legs and pressed his mouth to her, drinking up her cream. Wade and Troy kept her on her feet until Paul’s tongue and teeth ended her release with a bang. She cried out as shudders racked her body, and clung to the men for support.

  “Let’s take her to bed,” ordered Troy.

  Together, they helped her out of the shower and onto the bath mat. Each of them took a towel and dried her, luxuriously caressing her body until her flesh was tingling. Then she enjoyed them hurriedly drying their own bodies.

  Wade lifted her off her feet. She’d found that he liked carrying her around, often sweeping her into his arms for no other reason. He carried her to the bed.

  Troy had a surprise waiting for her. He held up a piece of black cloth.

  “You’re going to blindfold me again?” Not that she objected. Being unable to see had its advantages.

  “Nope.” He turned her around, then placed the cloth over her mouth. She opened up
so that the cloth was between her lips as he tied it behind her head.

  Troy cupped her face. “If you need to stop us at any time, just shake your head. But if we ask you a question and the answer is yes, then blink a lot. That’ll show us that you understand. Okay?”

  She blinked in rapid succession. It was all part of the lovemaking games that she enjoyed so much.

  “Bend over.”

  She shook her head, knowing what would come next.

  “Looks like our little pet is disobeying us.” A slight smile covered Paul’s face. He liked it when she ignored their commands. “I guess you’re going to have to be punished, baby.”

  She batted her eyelashes, blinking to let him know she understood. The room seemed to heat up with the sexual tension rippling between them. Her body hummed, ready for them to make it sing.

  “I said, bend over.” Paul spoke harshly, his word his demand, his mandate, an order that she dare not refuse again.

  She’d loved learning how to be their submissive. Now she wondered how she could have ever lived without it. If she hadn’t had the gag on her mouth, she might’ve dared to ask, “And if I don’t?” Who knew what delicious punishment he’d give her?

  Instead, she refused the only way she knew how. She straightened up to her fullest height. They studied her, looking for any sign that she meant she really wanted to stop. But she didn’t shake her head, letting them know she wanted to continue. The wicked sexual intent gleamed in their eyes. Even Wade’s playful twinkle was gone, replaced by a hard, lustful glint.

  They’d shown her how to be their submissive and she’d shown them how to share their love. Together, they’d grown to learn how wonderful being part of a foursome could be.

  Paul clutched a hunk of her hair and put his face close to his. “You’re our woman and as our woman, you’ll do as we say. We’re here to keep you safe and to make you happy. You’re ours to comfort, to love, to pleasure. Do you understand that?”

  She blinked several times. She knew how to be their woman and every day, they showed her that they knew what it meant to be her men.