Everything's Better with Three (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Marla Monroe

  “I’m going to kill you. Who was that? Who was in the kitchen?” he screamed.

  She didn’t bother answering him. Kayley grabbed the doorknob, fumbling with the locks to get them turned. Just as she jerked the door open, he grabbed her by the hair and swung her around so that she hit the wall. Her body throbbed from the impact. Once again he had her pinned, but this time with her front against the wall, he was able to control her better. Fear clawed at her insides that he’d win before anyone showed up to rescue her.

  The sound of a siren growing closer gave her hope.

  Please don’t let it be going somewhere else.

  “That’s the sheriff coming to get you, Joe. You better run now before he gets here,” she said. Kayley hoped he would go.

  “You’re coming with me. They won’t hurt me as long as I’ve got myself a hostage. We’ll just take a little road trip and have some fun,” he said, pulling her toward the French doors across the room.

  Kayley realized that must have been how he got in. They wouldn’t have been visible from the street, so no one would see him as they drove by. She couldn’t let him get her out of the house. She screamed in hopes someone was close by. The siren sounded like it was almost there. She put all of her weight into dragging him down. When they neared the recliner on the other side of the doors, she grabbed hold of it so that he had to stop and try to pry her hands off of it.

  “Either let go, or I’m going to cut your fucking fingers off,” he yelled, pulling a knife from his boot. “Let it go!”

  Joe stabbed the chair right next to her hand causing her to jump and scream. She let go of the chair when he raised the knife again, but a gunshot splintered the air and the knife fell from Joe’s hand. He fell on top of her, carrying her to the floor. She struggled to get him off of her, but she was caught between the chair and the wall.

  “Kayley! Are you okay?” someone called through the roaring in her ears.

  Joe’s body was rolled off of her, and Deputy Vicker’s face came into view. She struggled to focus on him as he kicked the knife to the middle of the room. When he held out his hand to help her up, she took it. Relief poured through her, leaving her shaking as she leaned against the wall. She was covered in blood.

  “Is he dead?” she asked.

  “Not yet. An ambulance is on the way. Are you hurt anywhere?” he asked.

  “N–no. I’m just banged up. Oh, God. He said that he’s done this before but never got caught.” Kayley watched as the deputy grabbed a throw from the couch and pressed it on Joe’s chest where he’d shot the man.

  “Is there anyone else in the house, Kayley? Anyone else hurt?” he asked.

  “Bea! I left her in the pantry.” She ran for the kitchen, banging into the wall and then the door facing as she hurried to check on her friend.

  The pantry door was wide open, as was the back door. Bea had escaped and, more than likely, had gone to find Sam. Kayley returned to the living room and told the deputy that Bea had run.

  “I’m sure she went to their neighbor’s where Sam was watching the fights with his friends,” Kayley said.

  No sooner had she said that than Sam ran into the room. His face was pale as he took in her appearance.

  “Kayley! Are you okay?”

  “It’s not my blood, Sam. Is Bea okay?” she hurried to ask.

  “Yes. She’s fine. I’ll call the guys for you,” Sam said.

  “Don’t bother, they’re on their way. Cletus already called them,” the deputy told them.

  “Are you sure you’re okay, Kayley?” Sam asked again.

  “Yes. Go see about Bea. Don’t let her see this, Sam. She’ll just have nightmares, and that’s not good for her.” Kayley forced a smile for the other man’s benefit. He hurried back to the kitchen.

  The sound of an ambulance could be heard now. She leaned against the wall wishing her men would hurry up. Her men. God she wished that was true. But Kayley knew that once everything was over with they’d lose interest in her, and she wasn’t about to stick around for them to have to ask her to leave. No matter what they said, she knew it wasn’t really a forever type of relationship. A ménage would never work. It had all been the pipe dream of a teenager in love. Dreams didn’t come true. With that thought, it all finally hit her, and she broke down and started crying as she slid down the wall to sit on the floor.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Billy stared sightlessly at the TV, already having forgotten what they were watching. When he looked over to where Craig sat with his feet propped on the coffee table, his friend didn’t look any more into the movie than he was.

  “What time do you think we should call and check to see if she’s ready?” Billy asked.

  “Uh, I don’t know. It’s been almost two hours now. Surely they’ve talked about everything there is to talk about by now. I mean, they just saw each other on Monday,” Craig said.

  “I don’t like her being away from us. Some asshole is out there threatening her, and we don’t have a clue where those three bastards are that attacked her in the first place. We shouldn’t have let her go without one of us staying with her.” Billy stood up and pulled at his hair. “I mean, Sam is a nice guy and all, but he’s not us.”

  Craig nodded but didn’t say anything. He looked torn between wanting to go and get her and letting her have her fun. Billy didn’t have as much trouble with the thought of going and getting her now. Sometimes he was going to have to be the bad guy in their relationship. He’d already expected that. Well now was as good a time as any to introduce his baby girl to that fact of life.

  “Let’s go get her, Craig. By the time we get there, she will have had two and a half hours to visit. That’s long enough.”

  Craig was on his feet in a split second. He’d obviously been waiting on Billy to make the decision. Wimp. Their Kayley already had him wrapped around her finger. Truth be known, she had him all wrapped up, too. He was tired of missing her though and could afford to play the heavy.

  No sooner had they stood up than Billy’s phone rang. He smiled, figuring it was their girl ready to come home. When he checked the number though, it wasn’t her number. He frowned and answered it.

  “Hello?”

  “Billy? This is Cletus. Get your ass over to Bea’s house, now. Kayley’s in trouble. I’m on the other side of the county, but Vickers is on his way now. He’s not far from the house,” Cletus said.

  “Fuck! Craig, come on. Kay’s in trouble.” Billy ran for the door with Craig right behind him.

  Billy jumped off the back porch without bothering to take the steps. He had the door open and was putting the truck into gear when Craig slammed his door.

  “Cletus. What’s happening? How do you know she’s in trouble?” Billy demanded as he tore down the drive toward the road.

  “Evidently she managed to dial the sheriff’s department without whoever is with her knowing it. Dispatch is listening in to whatever is going on over there. They called me to see if I was close by, and when I said no, they contacted Vickers.”

  “Damn! I need to know what is going on. Can you talk to dispatch while you’re talking to me?” Billy asked.

  Blinding fear tore through his gut as he took a curve on two wheels. She had to be okay. He couldn’t stand it if anything happened to her. She meant everything to him.

  “They said she was talking to someone then screamed, but she’s talking again,” Cletus relayed. “She needs to keep him talking.”

  “She’ll do it. She can talk to a man ’til he’s blue in the face,” Craig said.

  Billy had to agree with him, but right then, all he could think about was that usually when she talked she made him mad. He didn’t want whoever this was getting mad at her. Mad would be a bad thing.

  “What’s going on now?” Billy demanded.

  “How far out are you guys?” Cletus asked.

  “About another ten minutes. Why? What’s going on?”

  “Hold on,” Cletus told him.

  �
�Don’t put me on hold, Cletus! You tell me what the fuck is going on.” Billy cursed a blue streak waiting on Cletus to get back on the phone with them.

  “She’s going to be fine. That Vickers guy will get there soon. He’ll make sure she’s okay,” Craig said.

  Billy wasn’t sure if his friend was talking to him or to himself. Either way, it wasn’t as reassuring as it should have been.

  “Ah, hell. Shots fired,” Cletus yelled. “Billy, get your ass over there!”

  For a second, Billy couldn’t hear, or see, or think. He thought he was having a heart attack from the pain exploding in his chest. The fear was incapacitating, as everything seemed to move in slow motion around him. At this rate, they’d never get to Bea’s house.

  Craig yelling and pounding on his shoulder snapped him back. He grabbed the steering wheel again and straightened them up on the road.

  “What the fuck?” Craig yelled.

  “I can’t take it if she’s gone, Craig. Fuck it. I love her. She has to be okay.” Billy pounded the steering wheel as he pulled up fast behind a slower moving car.

  “Calm down, man. You’re scaring me. She’s going to be fine.” Craig had one hand on the dashboard and the other holding the shoulder harness of the seatbelt.

  “Where’s the phone? Hand me the fucking phone,” Billy bellowed.

  “Hold on. When you pulled out on the highway it slid off the holder onto the floorboard.”

  Craig unbuckled the seatbelt and bent down into the floor to find the phone. When he came up with it, the call had either dropped or disconnected with the impact of hitting the floor.

  “Damn. It’s dead, Billy. Just get us there in one piece. We’re almost there now,” Craig said.

  Billy glanced over at his friend. The other man was going to rub a bald spot on his head if he kept it up. If he looked anything like Craig did, Billy worried they would scare Kayley to death when they got there. His buddy’s eyes were wild and wide. He was pale with deep lines around his mouth and at the corners of his eyes.

  He turned down the street Bea lived on, zeroing in on the SUV with flashing lights sitting sideways in their drive. As they approached, an ambulance drove up from the opposite direction, adding another jolt to Billy’s heart.

  Please, please let her be okay. I can’t imagine losing her.

  He threw the truck into park when they got to the beginning of the drive so as not to block the ambulance’s pathway. He and Craig jumped from the truck and ran to where the front door stood wide open, crowding in behind the paramedics as they carried their cases into the house.

  The first thing he saw was blood all over the wall in the living room. His heart stopped beating until he spotted Kayley sitting on the floor with her back against the wall next to the staircase. There was blood all over her, and she was sobbing. He circumvented everyone and climbed over the couch to get to her, kneeling in front of her. He cupped her face in both of his hands.

  “Kayley, God, please tell me you’re okay.”

  Craig joined him, kneeling by her side. His friend checked her all over, as if looking for where all the blood had come from. All he could do was look at her face. Knowing that as long as she cried and her eyes were open that she was alive. Thank you, Lord. She was alive.

  “Talk to me, baby girl. Where are you hurt?” Billy asked in a choked voice.

  “I’m okay. It’s not my blood.” She hiccupped as she tried to stop crying.

  Billy pulled her roughly into his arms and squeezed her to him now that he knew she wasn’t hurt. Relief poured over him. He looked around the room, seeing the deputy and the paramedics working on someone lying on the floor. He didn’t see Sam or Bea though. Where were they?

  “Kay, where are Sam and Bea?” he asked.

  “I–in the kitchen. I made Bea hide in the pantry when we heard someone in the house. S–Sam wasn’t here. He was watching the fights at David’s house,” she said choking on a sob.

  “Ah, hell. Sam’s not here?” Craig asked.

  “He is now, but he wasn’t earlier. I didn’t know it until it was too late. I promise, Billy. I didn’t know he wasn’t here.” She started sobbing again.

  “Easy, baby girl. It’s all right.” Billy held her close, but after a few minutes he let Craig have her. His friend needed to hold her close as well.

  He fought to calm down and regain some measure of control. Everything was okay. Their Kayley was fine. As soon as he could breathe without choking, he would find out what in the hell had happened. He wasn’t going to question his woman right now. She was too upset. Besides, she’d have to go over it all several times for the sheriff’s people before it was over with anyway.

  Nearly four hours later, Billy held an exhausted Kayley in his arms in their bed. Craig was curled up around her back, smoothing his hands over her hair. The bastard, Joe, hadn’t made it, so she wouldn’t have to testify in court. That meant they were free and clear to start a life with her. He couldn’t believe it was over with. Now they could go on with their lives and work on their relationship. He wasn’t waiting around. As soon as Kayley had enough time to recover from everything, he was marrying her.

  Craig looked over at him with a smile. “I know that look on your face, man. All I can say is the sooner the better.”

  “She’s ours, Craig. No sense pussyfooting around with it. We’ll take her to the courthouse as soon as she is recovered enough to say the words. I want our ring on her finger before she gets some crazy idea that she wants to move back to her place.”

  “There’s going to be a fight,” Craig warned him with a grin.

  “Bring it on.”

  * * * *

  “Hey there, sleepyhead. Are you planning on sleeping all morning?” Craig asked, nipping her nose.

  “Ouch. Stop that. What time is it?” she asked with a yawn.

  “Nearly nine. Are you hungry?” Billy asked, burying his face in her neck. “I sure am.”

  “Not really, but I need to get up and get moving,” she said.

  The realization that she was free of the worry about her court date was bittersweet on her tongue. Knowing that she didn’t have to worry about the three men who’d attacked her anymore and that there never was a friend out to get her was a relief. But it came at a price. Now there was no reason for her to remain at Billy and Craig’s place. With their vow to protect her no longer needed, she was just a friend who was about to outstay her welcome. She wanted to go home before that time came.

  Kayley thought she could handle walking away a lot easier than she could handle the old “we can still be friends” talk. She took a deep breath, allowing their scent to comfort her as she made plans in her head of what she needed to do once she got home. Number one on her list would be to clean out the refrigerator. She was sure there were probably some science experiments growing in there by now.

  “What are you thinking about, kitten?” Craig asked with a frown. “You have a seriously serious look on your face.”

  “Just trying to think what I need to do next,” she said, forcing a smile.

  “I know what you need to do next,” Billy said, rolling over on top of her. “You need to come around my cock.”

  The feel of him hot and hard pressing against her belly then sliding lower to poke between her legs caused her breath to seize in her lungs. Nothing felt better than either Billy or Craig’s dick probing her entrance, except maybe when they were deep inside of her. Need, overwhelming and tight, poured over her. She had to get out of here before she broke down and begged them not to send her away.

  Kayley tried to push Billy off of her, scooting her legs toward the side of the bed. The big oaf didn’t get it. He thought she was playing and growled as he scooped her up and tumbled with her back to the bed.

  “Let me up, Billy. I need to get ready to go.”

  “Go where, baby girl?” he asked, leaving wet sloppy kissed all down her neck.

  “I need to pack so I can go home.” Her voice broke on the word home. It no
longer felt like that to her.

  Billy stopped kissing her and leaned back to stare into her face. “What the fuck are you talking about? You are home.”

  “I think she means back to her house, Billy. I think our girl is running out on us.” Craig shook his head with a smile. “Told you she didn’t think we were serious.”

  “Oh, we’re serious all right.” Billy sat up, pulling Kayley onto his lap, wrapping an arm around her waist and a leg over her thighs.

  “Why would you run away from us, Kay-Kay? Have we hurt you or done something wrong?” he asked.

  “No! Nothing like that. I just figured my time is up. I mean we’ve never gotten along in the past, and now that the danger is over, there’s no reason for you to have to tolerate me around anymore.”

  “Tolerate you? Where in the hell did you get that idea? I know I’ve never said it.” Billy looked outraged.

  “No, but you’ve thought it. I could always see it in your eyes when I was around. Every time something happened, you glared at me.” She waved her hand and nodded. “Yeah, I know. Usually I had something to do with it, but I never did any of it on purpose, Billy.”

  “Baby girl. I know that. I’m sorry you thought I didn’t like being around you. I know I gave you that impression, but it wasn’t really the truth. I was scared to be around you because of how I felt about you. I didn’t think you could handle someone like me.”

  “You mean someone grouchy and irritable all the time who likes it rough?” she asked with a tiny smile on her face.

  “Yeah, that’s what I meant. Kayley, I love you. I’ve loved you for a long time, but I wouldn’t admit it to myself. I wouldn’t even allow myself to contemplate a life with you. I was too scared that you’d end up hating me.” Billy leaned his forehead against hers.

  “You’re not leaving me out of this,” Craig said, pushing his way next to her. “I’ve loved you since you pushed Billy over that wall in high school.”

  “Asshole,” Billy said, scowling at the other man.

  “It’s true. There was just something about the way your mouth made that little O of surprise when he fell over backward that made me wonder if it was from the kiss or from the shock that he’d fallen.” Craig ran a finger down her cheek with a soft sigh. “Not having you with us would be hell, kitten. Nothing would be the same without you to complete us.”