Linger
Page 6
Taggert stepped in front of her, blocking her view of her father’s departure. He touched her cheek with gentle fingers, his eyes soft as he looked down at her.
“Don’t torture yourself, sweet pea.”
She nodded her agreement and turned to toss her clothing onto the counter.
“Glad you’re back home, Emily,” Will Ludlow said with a smile as he rang up the items.
“Thank you, Will.”
At least the townspeople didn’t seem to blame her for bringing violence into their small, tight-knit community. In her more paranoid musings, she’d wondered if they’d welcome her back or want her to stay away. Nothing ever happened in Creed’s Pass. Until the day a crazy fan took his obsession too far.
Greer collected her bags for her, and the three of them walked outside.
“I need to drop our grocery order off and then we’ll have some time to kill before it’s ready. Want to go eat at the café?” Taggert asked.
Emily froze. Her fingers were icicles against her arms, and she gripped tight, trying to infuse them with warmth.
She shook her head. No, she didn’t want to go back there. It was the last place she and Sean had been together.
“Can we just go?” she whispered.
“I can send one of the hands back for the supplies,” Greer murmured.
Taggert put an arm around Emily’s shoulders and directed her toward the truck.
She sat staring out the window on the drive home. The scenery passed in a blur, not really registering in her consciousness.
“Why does he hate me so much? He’s always hated me.”
“Forget him,” Taggert growled.
She shivered as she remembered the sting of her father’s belt. Never would she forget the helpless rage he invoked in her. She hated that trapped-animal feeling. He’d treated her no better than an animal to be kicked when its master was displeased.
“What are you thinking about, Emmy?” Greer asked softly from the backseat.
“His belt,” she said honestly before she could think better of it.
“His what?” Taggert demanded.
She shook her head and turned away to look out the window once more.
Greer scooted forward, draping his arms across the backs of the two front seats. “Talk to me, Emily. What the hell did you mean?”
She closed her eyes and curled her fingers into tight fists. Maybe it was time they knew the truth. Maybe then they wouldn’t think she’d recklessly run off with Sean because she was in a pique over their rejection.
“The day I came over…” She swallowed. She hadn’t realized how painful it would be to revisit this part of her past. “My father had beaten me because Sean took me to talent night over at the honkeytonk. It was the night I met Frank.”
“He beat you?” Greer asked in a horrified voice.
“What are we talking about here, Emily?” Taggert demanded.
“Please, just let me finish,” she begged.
They fell silent but their faces were masks of anger, their lips drawn into tight lines.
“I just wanted to get away so I worked up the courage to tell you how I felt. I was young and stupid. I didn’t really think through it all. And then when you sent me away I went home to another beating. This time he didn’t just use a belt.”
“Son of a bitch!” Greer spit out.
“Sean came over to see me. I didn’t want him to know, but my father had gone into town and Sean came in anyway. He was so angry. I’ve never seen him so angry. He told me he’d never let me stay another night in that house. He wanted to take me back to the ranch so I told him what happened and that I couldn’t go back there.”
She closed her eyes, tears slipping silently down her cheeks as she remembered the events of that night.
“He packed me a bag and then told me he loved me, that he’d always love me and take care of me and that we were going to Vegas to get married and that I was going to call Frank and tell him I wanted to talk about my career.”
She turned in her seat so she could see both Taggert and Greer and they could see her. “I didn’t marry Sean to get back at you. I didn’t do it to punish you, and I didn’t do it in some fit of childish temper. I loved him just like I loved you. I’d always loved him. I couldn’t stay there with my father anymore, and when you told me we couldn’t be together there was no reason for me to stay in Creed’s Pass any longer.”
“Goddamn it!” Taggert exploded, his hands pounding the steering wheel. He braked hard and pulled the truck to the side of the road, and then he sat there, hands locked on the column, his jaw clenching and unclenching spasmodically.
To her shock, when he finally turned to her, tears burned bright in his eyes.
“Why didn’t you tell us, Emmy? Why would you keep something like that from us? Why?”
“I didn’t want anyone to know,” she said painfully. “I didn’t want Sean to know.”
“We could have helped you. We would have taken you out of there,” Greer rasped. “We would have never let you stay there if we’d known. Yes, he’s an uptight asshole. Everyone knows that. We knew he made your life hell with his narrow-minded bullshit, but goddamn it, Emily, we would have never let you stay there if we knew his abuse was physical.”
“He was my legal guardian,” she said in a shaky voice. “What could you have done? He was my father.”
“Bullshit,” Taggert swore. “I would have killed the bastard for ever touching you.”
“How many times?” Greer gritted out.
She didn’t pretend to misunderstand the question. “Whenever I displeased him,” she said dully.
Taggert turned away, his face ravaged by grief. “I’m going to kill him. So help me, I’m going to hunt him down and kill him.”
Emily put her hand on his arm. “No, please, Taggert. He can’t hurt me anymore. Just leave it be. I wouldn’t have told you at all, but I wanted you to understand why I married Sean. I wasn’t trying to punish you and Greer. I loved Sean with all my heart, and I’ll never be able to forgive myself for all the sacrifices he made. I was the reason he died, Tagg. Not you.”
The interior of the truck closed in on her. Hot and suffocating. She needed air. She needed to breathe. She needed to get away from the horror etched into Greer’s and Taggert’s faces.
Fumbling with the door, she yanked the handle and nearly fell out in her haste to get away. Ignoring Greer’s shout, she stumbled into the ditch, crossed it and leaned on an old wooden post that was barely holding up the barbed wire fence.
She bent over as her stomach rolled and clenched violently. She gagged once and went to her knees, breathing heavily through her nose to control the overwhelming nausea.
Enough. It was enough. She was so tired of pain. Tired of never feeling like she was going to live again. Happiness seemed like a once-upon-a-time story that never made it to the end.
“Emmy, Emmy, please baby, don’t cry.”
Greer wrapped his arms around her as he knelt beside her on the hard ground.
“I just want it all to go away,” she said. “I can’t do this anymore, Greer. I can’t.”
Taggert dropped down on her other side, his hand tangling in her hair as he pulled her head to his shoulder.
“Come home with us, Emily. It’ll be okay, I swear it. We’ll get through this. Together. We’re never leaving you.”
She raised her head to look at him at the same time he lowered his lips. They met in a heated rush, and she tasted tears—his or hers?
His hands moved clumsily over her cheeks until he cupped her face. He deepened the kiss, his tongue sliding like warm velvet over hers.
It was urgent, it was calm. It was anguished and loving. Salt lingered on their lips, and she knew it was a mixture of both their tears.
“I love you,” Taggert whispered in an aching voice. “I love you so damn much, Emily. I need you. Please let us take you home.”
Greer’s hands ran over her shoulders, and he squeezed reassur
She dared not breathe. She didn’t dare hope. So much had been taken from her she refused to believe that what she wanted most was within her grasp. And then she remembered the price she’d had to pay to have it.
“Don’t think, Emmy. Don’t analyze. Let us take you home. We need to talk,” Greer said quietly against her ear. He kissed her hair and stood, urging her to her feet.
Taggert rose and reached for her hand. For a moment he stood rubbing his thumb in a pattern over her knuckles. The slight calluses on his fingers rasped over her skin, and she trembled in his hold.
Her mouth quivered, and she resisted the urge to rub her hand across her swollen lips. She could still feel his mouth on hers. Tender. So much intensity just waiting to burst free.
Did she have the courage to face them again? Trust them with her heart? As she stared into Taggert’s eyes, she was filled with so many conflicting emotions. Fear. Joy. Sadness. Hope. Love… So much love. It hurt every bit as much as her grief. She wanted to be able to express her love, but she was terrified, and it felt like a betrayal of Sean.
Taggert lowered his head again and touched his lips to hers in a simple, heartfelt gesture she felt to her core.
“Come home, Emmy. That’s the first step.”
CHAPTER NINE
Emily got out of the truck and hurried toward the house. Her instinct was to hide, just as she’d been hiding for the last year. The back door swung shut behind her, the sound cracking through the silent house. She hesitated for a moment, not knowing where to go, and then she headed up the stairs to her room.
She was inside, her door safely closed. She let out a long breath, one she’d held because it hurt to breathe. And then the door swung open behind her.
She whirled around to see Greer and Taggert standing there, determination and fire in their eyes.
“No more running, Emmy,” Taggert said.
He crossed the distance between them, grasped her shoulders in his big hands and crushed his mouth to hers. Even as his lips devoured hers, his hands dug underneath her shirt, pulling, his movements jerky and desperate.
His palms covered her breasts, and she went still against him. The sweetest of pleasures surged through her veins. His touch. How she’d longed for his touch. It was everything comforting and beautiful. Strong. Masculine.
She leaned into him, wanting him closer, seeking his warmth. Cold. She’d been cold for so long, and now it was like walking into the sun after a long winter without any heat.
Her shirt came off and then Greer’s lips pressed gently against her shoulder. She flinched in shock and turned, seeking confirmation that he was there too. She glanced between the brothers, unbelieving of their acceptance. There was no anger, no disgust.
Heat and arousal made their eyes glow. There was an almost drugged, drowsy satisfaction in their depths as if they’d waited as long as she had for the simple pleasure of their touch.
Her lips parted, and she swallowed rapidly. Then she tried again.
“Please,” she whispered. “Don’t do this if you’ll hate me afterwards.”
“Ahh Emmy,” Greer said, his voice breaking. He turned her to face him, his fingers caressing the line of her jaw. “I’ll never hate you.”
He lowered his head and brushed his lips across hers. Just one simple gesture. Then he returned, kissing her lightly again as if judging her reaction.
When she teetered toward him, he slid his hand around her neck, cupped her nape and pulled her to him.
He kissed her like a man starving. He wasn’t gentle, and yet he was. She couldn’t explain it if she wanted. There was such an urgency. He devoured her lips, but there was such love and caring that tears burned her eyelids.
His tongue delved deep, licking gently over hers then going deeper, wrapping around hers, exploring every part of her mouth. She sucked air wildly through her nostrils because he stole every puff that she tried to drag past their lips.
When he finally tore himself away, he was breathing just as harshly as she was. His gaze fell to her breasts, and then she was pulled backwards into Taggert’s embrace. Her back met his chest and his heat scorched her skin. His arms wrapped around her waist, and his palms skimmed up her belly to her cup her small breasts in his hands.
She swallowed nervously and chanced another look at Greer. What she saw incited a flutter deep in her belly.
He reached out and put his fingertips under her chin.
“Sweet Emmy,” he murmured. “I think you know what’s about to happen.”
Her pulse ramped up, and she could actually feel the blood pounding at her temples and at her neck. Her breaths came out all jittery now, and she felt curiously lightheaded.
“Are you afraid?” Greer asked gently.
Taggert’s fingers brushed over her nipples, coaxing them into painfully hard points. It was hard to focus when her entire world was blurred.
“No,” she said hoarsely. “I’m not afraid. Never of you and Tagg.”
Taggert kissed the curve of her neck as his hands covered her breasts, gently squeezing.
“Do you want us, Emmy?” Taggert whispered close to her ear. “If this isn’t what you want, if you aren’t ready, then tell us now. We’ll back off even though it’s the last thing we want.”
Were they going to take her together? She’d entertained some vivid fantasies involving the Donovan brothers in the past, but she’d never been sure of them. In her dreams all three had loved her, kissed her, made sweet love to her, separately, at the same time. Now that it was a startling reality, she was a little bewildered by how fast and normal it all seemed.
Then she saw the same uncertainty in their eyes. The slight awkwardness. Hesitation. But so determined. Her heart softened and the ache grew stronger. This was as new to them as it was to her, but they were determined to show her their love.
She curled one arm up and over her head to wrap around Taggert’s neck. Then she simply extended her other arm to Greer. He moved closer, and she pulled him to her, raising her lips to meet his again.
He kissed her back as his fingers fumbled with her pants. For several long seconds the only sounds that could be heard was the rasp of jeans, rapid breathing and the rustle of clothing.
Seeing the two of them naked was a shock. Her gaze wandered appreciatively over hard, muscled bodies. Taggert was whipcord lean with narrow hips and broad shoulders. His chest was smooth with a faint line of hair that ran down his midsection and circled his navel.
She blushed, unable to control the heat that washed up her neck when her gaze lowered to the juncture of his legs. His cock jutted upward from a dark nest of hair. Long and thick, the head stretched tight.
Greer was the shorter of the two, thicker and built stockier, if you could call his muscular build stocky. A light smattering of hair covered his chest, lending the dips and lines a more rugged appearance.
He stood, legs apart, his erection heavy and distended. He watched her as she watched him, his gaze intense.
She wanted to touch them both. She wanted to melt into their arms, feel their heat against her skin. She wanted them to never let her go again.
“Emmy.”
She turned her head at Taggert’s softly spoken request.
“Come here,” he said as he extended his hand.
She went willingly, curling her fingers trustingly into his. As he pulled her to him, she skimmed her palm over his taut belly and up the hard wall of his chest. The roll of his muscles told her he wasn’t unaffected. He trembled against her and sucked in his breath.
“Do you have any idea how long I’ve waited for you?” Taggert whispered as he ducked again to take her mouth.
There was more urgency this time, as if he no longer had the patience for gentle wooing. He feasted on her. There was no other word for it.
Unable to resist the temptation, she lowered her hand, reaching down to cup him intimately. He flinched and let out a moan when her fingers curled around his rigid length.
She stroked carefully, enjoying the different textures, the roughness and the softness, the plump vein on the underside and then the supple roll of his sac as she massaged.
He thrust against her hand, his body pressing against hers. And then Greer’s palm stroked lazily over her behind, his finger teasing her cleft and the sensitive region just below the small of her back.
She turned, her other hand going out to cup him just as intimately as she held Taggert. It was a shock, the sensation of steel in both her hands. So much power, and yet they were as vulnerable to her as she was to them.
Each caress brought her pleasure but gave them more. She explored their lengths, marveling at their differences and similarities. She would take both of them into her body. She’d have it no other way, for they both occupied her heart, her soul. Now she needed a physical bond.
“Love me,” she begged.
With a groan, Greer pulled her to face him. His hand stuttered clumsily over her face, but she didn’t care. His movements were jerky, but he was so tender, so cognizant of just how big a turning point this was.
He lowered his mouth, taking her lips in the softest of kisses.
Behind her, Taggert framed her shoulders then trailed his lips up the curve of her neck, nibbling a path to her ear.
It was as if a drug invaded her blood. The dual sensations of hungry mouths feasting on her skin sent her pulse soaring. Lightheaded. She was perilously close to falling. Her legs went weak then buckled.
Two pairs of hands caught her, held her, even as Taggert’s and Greer’s lips never left her body. She sighed, little breathy sounds of contentment she hadn’t uttered in so long.
She’d missed this. Having such an erotic connection with a man. It had been so long since desire had warmed her veins, simmered in her depths just waiting to be called to the surface.
Lonely. She’d spent the last year being so lonely she ached. It still hurt to think of all the nights she’d spent in numb silence, her only memories of Sean and his love.
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