In the Line of Fire [Love on the Rocks 6] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Dixie Lynn Dwyer

  “Sabbatical?” Curran asked, and Berlin nodded, unable to speak right now with the thoughts running through her head.

  “I’m going to head to the truck,” Thelma said and winked at her. She found this amusing, but Berlin didn’t. She was in shock, confused, and a thousand thoughts ran through her mind. As they walked outside, Curran stopped her.

  “I really would like to get together with you, Berlin. If it’s too strange or intimidating for my brothers to join us this first time, then I’ll take you out alone,” he said to her.

  She went to decline again when she saw Grady approach. He looked downright pissed off.

  “Let me grab those. Are you okay?” Grady asked her.

  “Yes, of course I am.”

  He took the bags from her and then Curran handed the third one to Grady. As Grady placed it into the truck, Curran took her hand and pulled her to the side, glancing at Grady.

  “I hope you aren’t seeing him or his brothers. I would be so upset,” he said and stared down into her eyes.

  “Curran, I’m not seeing anyone or interested in dating anyone. I appreciate the kind gesture, truly I do.” She looked toward Grady who stood there with his eyes narrowed and his fists by his side. She swallowed hard.

  Curran reached up and stroked her cheek.

  “So this is why you wore those big sunglasses a few weeks ago. You were hiding this. Someone hurt you?”

  “She needs to go, Curran,” Grady snapped at him and Curran gave Grady a mean expression.

  “I’m talking to her, Grady, and making plans.”

  “She isn’t interested. Take a hike.”

  “Grady,” Berlin said, and one look into those dark brown eyes and she knew instinctually not to push.

  “It was nice seeing you again, Curran. I’m not interested in dating anyone, but I appreciate the compliment,” she told him and walked toward the truck. Grady held the door open for her and she got inside. Curran put his hands in his pockets and stared at her as the door slammed closed.

  “Keep away from her. Understand me?” he told Curran and Curran’s eyes widened.

  “Officially?” Curran asked. Berlin didn’t know what that meant.

  “Soon enough,” Grady stated firmly, and whatever that meant it put a huge smile on Thelma’s face as she slapped her hands together and exhaled. “Praise God,” she said and they headed out of town with Berlin not knowing what the hell just happened.

  * * * *

  Grady was fuming mad, jealous as all hell, and he didn’t know how to relieve his upset. With a pissed off attitude he helped bring Berlin’s groceries into the cabin and watched her unpack. She was gorgeous and sexy. Platinum blonde hair, big blue eyes that stood out and a great ass in those painted on jeans she wore. No wonder Curran came sniffing around.

  His temper flared.

  “I don’t want you talking to Curran or any other men around town. You understand me?” he said, voice raised.

  She widened her eyes. “Excuse me? What do you mean? I can talk to whomever I damn well please.” She slammed the refrigerator door closed. As she walked around the counter, he grabbed her arm, pulled her in front of the island, and caged her in. He stared down into her eyes. The scent of her shampoo slammed against nostrils and he immediately thought about Curran and how the man wanted her. Wanted to share her with his three brothers. Fuck that shit.

  “He can’t have you, and neither can his brothers,” he stated firmly.

  “First of all, I had no idea about the whole ménage thing. Secondly, I wasn’t flirting with him. I met him the day I arrived at the bus station. He was just being friendly.”

  “He wants you in his bed.”

  “Just because he asked me out doesn’t mean he wants me in his bed,” she said.

  His eyes widened. Was she stupid or something? “Are you kidding me? He wants your body, to possess you, own you, and share you with his brothers.”

  “That’s ludicrous.”

  He was losing control, especially standing there with her pinned against the counter, her cleavage showing in the shirt she wore and her in those tight jeans.

  “I know what I’m talking about.”

  “Because you’re older or because you know Curran?” she asked.

  He glanced over her body, her lips, her eyes, and then reached up and cupped her cheek and neck.

  “Because they can’t have you when we want you and you’re going to be ours.” He covered her mouth and kissed her.

  She moaned into his mouth and grabbed onto his waist as he explored her. He pressed his body against hers and rocked his hips, letting her feel his hard erection and know what she did to him. The thought of Curran, his brothers, or any men other than his brothers and cousin claiming her really fired him up. He gripped her hips and lifted her up, pulled her close so she straddled his hips. He ravished her mouth. He ran his hands up her shirt and cupped a breast. She moaned deeper and then pulled back. He sucked on her neck and pulled her nipple hard over her bra.

  “Grady. Oh God, Grady, we have to stop.”

  He heard her voice crack and he pulled back and cupped her cheeks. She had tears in her eyes. He squinted at her and realized that he was so aggressive he might have scared her, reminded her of the attack.

  “Fuck, I’m sorry if I was abrupt. If I reminded you of the attack.”

  She shook her head. Her lips were wet, swollen. “I’m confused. Why did you kiss me? Why are you so angry with me? Why did you say I would belong to you, your brothers, and Corporal?”

  He felt like an asshole.

  He was so jealous, so irate at the thought of another man having her, he’d lost his control.

  “I’m going to be a hundred percent honest with you here. I was pissed off and jealous. I don’t want another man touching you unless it’s Corporal, Drover, or Damon.”

  Her eyes widened.

  “You’ve shared women before? This is the kind of relationship you want? One where you take from a woman and then when you’re all done you toss her to the side and she’s left used like that? By four men like that?” she asked sounding flabbergasted.

  He stroked her jaw. Held her gaze.

  “It isn’t like that at all. It’s damn special. It’s a true commitment when all parties are a hundred percent on board and a hundred percent honest.”

  She stared at him as if processing his words.

  “You’ve engaged in this type of relationship before?” she asked him.

  He looked away, the memory still painful.

  She reached up and cupped his cheek, shocking him. “Grady?”

  He exhaled. “Yes.” He turned his head to kiss her palm and then leaned closer and kissed her lips softly, tenderly. She kept her hands on his shoulders and he gripped her hips and pulled her thighs against his waist so she straddled his hips. He ran his hand along her back, under her shirt. He released her lips and spoke against her cheek and neck. He inhaled her scent and found comfort in it.

  “It was perfect. We all gave Mel a hundred percent of us.”

  “Mel?”

  “Yes, we all shared her, loved her, provided for her, and would have moved heaven and earth for her.”

  “Corporal, too?” she asked and he heard her voice crack. He pulled back and cupped her cheeks.

  “Corporal, too. We were all super close, Berlin. We shared everything, we served together, took care of one another. When we found out Mel was cheating on us, doing drugs, and sleeping with other men, we lost it, and were so hurt.”

  “That’s terrible.”

  “It was terrible, and Damon suffered a lot because he was dealing with his PTSD and trying to hide it. He closed up and isolated himself and lives out in the barn in a makeshift apartment.”

  “What?”

  “Yeah, and to top it off, it was Corporal who found Mel’s body when she overdosed after a night of sex with multiple men and drugs. She had been gone for weeks and we couldn’t find her. He was a detective in the state police. Went out with
his partner to respond to a homicide and found her.”

  “Oh my God, that’s terrible.”

  “He didn’t take it well at all, and the next thing we know, we’re all drifting apart. He leaves town and heads to New York taking a job with the NYPD, and we’re all mourning a loss, mending our hearts. She fucked us all up, Berlin.”

  She swallowed hard and caressed his chest.

  “I’m sorry that you all went through that. This is all so much to take in.”

  He exhaled and placed his hands on her hips and rubbed his palms along her thighs. He stared at her lips and big blue eyes.

  “We’re all attracted to you. Do you feel it, too?”

  “There’s so much happening right now.”

  He gave her thighs a gentle squeeze. “It’s simple. Do you feel it?”

  She stared at him. “I feel something, for each of you, for Corporal, too, even though he hadn’t made a move during the months I knew him. He only kissed me before I got on the bus to come here.”

  “You were in serious danger. Still are, and I’m sure that’s why he didn’t make a move sooner, plus his fears of being hurt again, but he sent you here to us. I think that means a lot.”

  “It might, but I’m…”

  “What?” he asked when she went silent and didn’t complete her sentence.

  “Scared.”

  He saw her eyes well up with tears and his narrowed at her.

  “Scared because of the danger?”

  “A lot of reasons.”

  “Tell me.”

  She stared up into his eyes. “Life was never easy for me, Grady. My family was poor. We lived in a trailer, barely making ends meet or getting to eat three meals a day. I would pretend I was full so my parents could eat because they had to work and needed the energy. Since I could remember, I’ve always put others first. Worried about others, and not about me.

  “I had some bad things happen. Witnessed terrible things, and it all led to me becoming a social worker. I wanted to help other kids and teens. In these last five years, I wouldn’t allow the past, the evil I saw and witnessed firsthand to make me cold-hearted, or desensitized, but instead, used those experiences and anger as motivation. Then all this stuff happens. I meet Vaile, try to help her, fall for her lies, and then meet Corporal. I was nearly raped and killed, Grady,” she said and the tear escaped her eye. She quickly wiped it away

  “I had to fight back, not talk it out, not mediate and console as I did in social work. I was becoming a victim. I was going to die there, Grady. Do you understand me?”

  “You fought for your life. Plenty of times people who aren’t used to physically fighting but are faced with a do-or-die situation fight back.”

  “I had to run for my life. They were hunting me through the woods. It was dark, I was beaten badly, out of energy, and sat there covering my mouth to hide my sobs as they spoke to me in the darkness, promising to make me their woman.”

  “Jesus,” he said and stroked her hair from her cheeks. “You got away though. You were so brave and so strong.”

  “It all affected me, Grady. I can’t sleep at night. I wake up in a cold sweat fighting for breath, feeling them surrounding me and taking from my body. Then I pull the trigger and kill Terrance. I killed a man, took his life.”

  “You saved our cousin. A good guy, not a criminal, killer, and rapist. Terrence was a thug who killed cops.”

  “That’s you justifying it and processing it as a soldier, a man familiar, I assume, with death and killing. I’m a damn social worker. Twenty-five years old and I’ve seen enough to last me multiple lifetimes. I saw a man shoot three police officers. I saw those men who tried to rape me rape and kill Vaile and shoot and kill a detective.”

  “A detective who was bad and working against Corporal and the feds, and a woman who used you, sold you out to those thugs and paid the price.”

  “I’m processing it all. Trying to get through it all. I feel like I’m living on egg shells. Like I can’t make any decisions big or small because this isn’t over. Corporal is out there somewhere and could get killed. Forte has men looking for me and we don’t know who to trust and who not to trust.”

  “That’s where we come in. We’re your lifeline, your protectors, and men you can count on. That’s why Corporal sent you here to us. He has feelings for you, too. I believe he sent you here so we could meet you, see if the same attraction was there, and perhaps felt you had the ability to bring us all together.”

  “I don’t know about that,” she said and he smiled softly.

  “I know the only way to find out is by letting down our guard when it comes to this attraction and get to know one another. All while keeping you safe.”

  She stared at him and he saw the uncertainty and fear in her eyes. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close to hug her. They remained that way for a few minutes. Then he couldn’t resist. He pressed his lips to her neck. Then he trailed them to her lips and began to kiss her once again. He slid his hands along her thighs and she ran her hands through his hair kissing him back.

  He deepened the kiss and explored her body, cupped her breast, stroked her nipple with the pad of his thumb and she rocked her hips. He reached around her back and unclipped her bra. She pulled from his lips and he held her gaze.

  “I need more,” he said and lowered her down over the island, then pressed her bra and shirt up, exposing two very large mounds, deep pink areolas, and two hardened nipples. He licked the first one and she moaned softly.

  “Grady, we should slow down.”

  “In a minute,” he said and suckled her nipple and part of her breast into his mouth. She grabbed his head, lifted her thighs and he rocked his hips against her crotch as he ravished her breasts. He heard the door open, but didn’t worry. He had a feeling it was one of his brothers.

  She gasped. “Damon,” she said and Grady’s cock grew even harder.

  Grady lifted up, held her hips, and looked at Damon. “Isn’t she incredible?” he asked him.

  Damon stared at her in anticipation—or maybe confirmation that Damon found her just as sexy and attractive as Grady had seemed to.

  “Are you okay?” Damon asked her.

  “I may have finally lost my mind,” she said.

  Damon licked his lips. “You’re beautiful and perfect.”

  “Not perfect.”

  Damon stared at her as Grady cupped her breasts and then leaned down to feast on her other breast.

  Damon leaned closer and cupped her cheek. Grady released her breast just as Damon kissed Berlin on the mouth. Instantly, Grady wanted more. He wanted everything. He wanted Drover and Corporal to be here and the fear hit him that Corporal may not have intended for this to happen, but it did. Corporal had to have wanted this to happen. He was a planner.

  Grady heard Berlin moan and he stepped back and let Damon take his place between her legs. Grady pulled out his cell phone and texted Drover to get his ass down here fast. Then he watched as Berlin held Damon’s head as he ravished her mouth, then her breasts.

  * * * *

  Damon couldn’t believe what he’d walked into. He only came down here to Berlin’s cabin because he actually missed her and was concerned for her. It struck him hard and he tried to ignore the sensation and attraction, but it was no use. She seemed to accept his limited words and hard demeanor, and that made her attractive in more ways than he was used to. To come down here and see her kissing Grady, letting Grady explore her body… He was instantly hard and wanted to participate. The feel of her fingers running through his hair right now as he ravished her large breasts made his cock super hard. He suckled and pulled and she moaned aloud.

  “Holy shit.” He heard Drover’s voice and then lifted up and stared down into her eyes.

  “You’re delicious, woman. I could explore you, taste you for hours.” He said to her then pressed his lips to hers. They both looked to the right to where Drover stood, looking intense with his eyes narrowed, his breathing hitc
hed.

  “What the hell happened?” he asked. Damn, he couldn’t help but to run his hands along her hips and thighs, then back up, cupping her breasts.

  “Cullen asked her out several times in town and wanted to share her with his brothers.”

  “What?” both Damon and Drover asked.

  “Grady,” she said to him and Damon felt that insecurity and tightness in his chest. “I told him I wasn’t interested.”

  “You should have told him that you’re with us,” Damon ordered. Her eyes widened.

  “Well, how could I do that when there isn’t an us? Well, wasn’t an us. I mean, is there an us?” she asked, face scrunched up.

  Grady chuckled.

  “As soon as you let Drover kiss you and feast on those sexy breasts of yours, there’s an us and we’re going to set some goddamn rules about men flirting with you in town,” Grady stated.

  Damon stroked her cheek and then stepped to the side for his brother to take his place. He watched as Berlin’s expression of intimidation made her look incredibly beautiful. He had his insecurities about this relationship and risking their heart again, but his gut clenched and indicated this was real, so he watched and got more aroused as Drover’s mouth descended onto Berlin’s.

  * * * *

  Drover couldn’t believe the series of events. He also wanted details on Curran hitting on Berlin and how things happened. Right now, though, pressing his lips to hers and feeling her fingers run through his hair made all uncertainty vanish, replaced with desire.

  She moaned into his mouth and he kissed her deeply while he cupped her breast, tugged on her nipple, and then slid his hand to her jeans. He unbuttoned the clasp and she grabbed onto his wrist. Her hands and fingers were so dainty and sexy. He pulled from her lips.

  “Not ready for that.”

  He licked his lips. “You want us though? Want to get to know us, explore this attraction, even though Corporal isn’t here?” he asked her and she looked shocked.

  “How do you know Corporal wants me like this?”