by Tony Ramagos
Her quick intake of breath told him all he needed to know, all he’d already suspected, even before she repeated her previous statement.
“I can’t.”
“I’m going to kiss you, Tamara.” He didn’t know why he gave her the warning. Maybe he did it because, for the first time in his life, he was actually uncertain of what he should do with the woman in his arms. Maybe it was because, for the first time in his life, he was afraid she would push him away. Maybe it was because, for the first time in his life, he couldn’t imagine being with any other woman in the world except this one. He moved his hands from her hips, closed his fingers around her slender wrists, and pinned them to the wall on either side of her head. He held her that way, drawing out the moment, watching as anticipation filled her angelic face, washing away her uncertainty. “Just a kiss.”
She nodded.
It wasn’t enough. He needed to hear her acquiesce. “Tell me you want me to kiss you, Tamara.”
She licked her lips, and his gaze dropped to follow the path her tongue took, his cock so hard and his balls so tight he feared they might rupture with the need to be inside her pretty mouth. “I want you to kiss me, Colt.”
Oh God. He’d only suspected what her obedience to his commands would do to him. He’d been wrong. The reaction that washed through him was so much more intense, so much more animalistic, and so much more overwhelming than anything he could’ve ever speculated it to be. The sensations that swept through him next as he covered her mouth with hers and immediately assumed control of the kiss were even more soul altering. He recognized them for what they were. Love. He’d fallen in love with this woman damn near on first sight, and as he felt the excited shiver run through her, heard her moan into his mouth, and tasted her surrender, he knew he would never love another woman in his life except for her.
Chapter Three
Tamara needed time alone. In the city, when her mind started to reel, as it was now, she would go to the park and walk the length of the river that ran parallel to it. She didn’t know of such a place in Pleasure, but the Barlow house was situated on a sizable piece of property. It wasn’t a ranch, although she had spotted what appeared to be horse’s stables to the left and behind the house when she’d pulled into the driveway. Surely she could find the bit of solace she craved somewhere in the surrounding land.
She made her way quietly through the house, marveling at the obvious wealth that surrounded her. Paintings by world-renowned artists were strategically placed on the walls. Other walls held stylishly framed family photos. Antiques, both in furniture and knickknacks, peppered the rooms she passed. She heard voices when she began to make her way through the lower level of the house. Seth’s and Colt’s voices. She easily recognized them, despite them being muffled by a closed door to a room, which she couldn’t identify. She crept by it, not wanting them to hear her, and continued toward the back of the house in search of a door that would lead her outside.
She found one in the kitchen and stepped onto a long deck that spanned the full length of the back of the house. A barbeque grill sat in one corner and three patio tables with chairs were spaced at equal distance to take up the rest of the space. It was obviously where the Barlows entertained guests for a cookout. A set of steps led down to the backyard, and she took them, noting the solar lamps that lined them had become illuminated as the sun had begun to set. A brighter light on her left caught her attention. It was coming from the stables she’d spotted when she’d arrived. Knowing someone was inside, which would blow her desire for quiet time all to hell, but wanting to see what the stables held, she headed toward it.
Inside, she was met with the scents of hay, faint lingering manure, and the whinny of a horse in a stall to her right. She paused in front of that stall, cautiously poked a hand through the wooden slats, and allowed the horse to sniff her flesh. A second passed, and the horse nudged her hand with its snout, giving her permission to pet.
“That’s Roxy.”
The voice started her, and she jolted, jerking her hand back as she whirled toward the sound of it. Darryl stood several feet away, his booted feet crossed at the ankles, an elbow hooked over the top of another stall door as he leaned on it.
“Is she yours?” Tamara wasn’t a country girl, so to speak, but she knew enough about it to understand that just because a horse belonged to someone didn’t mean said horse took to that person.
Darryl followed the snort he gave her with a lopsided grin. “Believe it or not, she prefers Seth, but she’s docile enough to let just about anyone get close.”
Roxy bumped her head against the door to the stall, obviously wanting to reclaim Tamara’s attention. Tamara gave her half of it, reaching back through the slats to pet the horse but keeping her attention locked on Darryl.
“What did you find out today?”
Darryl dropped his gaze to the ground and shook his head. “Not a damn thing. The local department stores carry trashcans like the one you found in the Den, but apparently, whoever brought one recently paid in cash. The owners of the stores traced back the inventory and credit card transactions, and didn’t come up with anything.”
Tamara had been afraid of that. “You had to try. It’s what I would’ve done.” But she was willing to bet, by him doing it for her, if there had been any information to obtain, he’d had a better shot at getting it. “We didn’t find out much at Rescue Ranch either.”
“So that’s where the three of you disappeared to. I dropped back by the Den. Your car was there. Seth’s truck wasn’t, and neither were the three of you.”
“We went to the ranch so I could talk to the boys who have been working on the remodeling. None of them have seen anything suspicious, and all were accounted for last night at the ranch. The only one I didn’t get to talk to was Dillon.”
Darryl shook his head. “There’s no damn way that boy had anything to do with it. Hell, I’d stake my life on the fact that none of them did.”
“That’s an awful lot of confidence to put into boys with criminal pasts.”
“Yeah, I suppose it is, but it’s also warranted. Colt found Dillon. He and Seth contacted Horace Hoskins about the boy and pulled him from the trenches of hell, so to speak. Every boy living on that ranch has a past. The ones that grew up there before them did, too. Thing is every damn one of them so far has been rehabilitated into top-notch men. There’s no reason for any of us to believe the ones growing up there now aren’t following the same path.”
“Especially Dillon?”
Darryl nodded once. “Not especially but, yeah, him, too. After what Seth and Colt did for him, the life they gave him, there’s no reason Dillon would’ve wanted to hurt them by burning down their place of business. A place, might I add, that all the older men on that ranch went to for privacy when they were home on leave from whatever branch of the military they’ve chosen to serve.”
Tamara felt her brows etch together. “Branch of the military?”
Darryl unhooked his elbow from the stall door, uncrossed his feet, and started toward her. “That’s one of the three rules the Hoskinses put over every boy who came to live with them. They had to stop committing any kind of crime, they had to receive a high school diploma, and a GED wasn’t acceptable, and they had to serve at least one term in the military branch of their choice. The Hoskinses believed it would make them better men because of it, and quite frankly, I can’t argue with them.”
Tamara couldn’t say she could either. Still… “Arson is almost always a result of someone who has a beef with the owner of the property. Sometimes, it’s simply because you’ve got a pyro out there that merely feeds his jollies off watching places burn, but generally, there is a targeted reason.”
Darryl’s steps had brought him almost within arm’s reach of her. He stopped there and resumed his crossed-ankle pose with his elbow hooked on the stall door next to Roxy’s. “If I could give you the name of anyone in this town who would’ve wanted me and my brothers to suffer, believe me, I
would. The Den burning down hit all of us where it hurts most. The three of us built that place from the ground up. It was our pride and joy.” He hesitated and shook his head. “There’s not a soul in Pleasure I can think of, whether it be a former employee, member, ex-plaything, or anyone else, who I believe would’ve done this to us.”
“Someone did, Darryl.”
“Yeah, I get that. I also get why Seth insisted on calling McGregor and making sure you were assigned the case.”
“Really? Because, since I came to town, I’ve gotten the impression that all three of you have a different agenda on your minds.”
Darryl lowered his gaze to the floor again and shook his head. “I want you, Tamara.” With that announcement, he unhooked his arm from the stall door, uncrossed his feet, and closed the distance between them. “I’ve wanted you from the moment I saw you. Seth and Colt weren’t far behind, if they were at all, I know that, but the true reason Seth made that call to McGregor has nothing to do with any of that.”
“Seth and Colt have been laying on the big guns since they walked into the Den this morning.” She didn’t know why she was telling him this. Surely he realized they had been. Hell, he’d done it, too, before Seth and Colt had showed up. “All three of you are taking a different tactic than you have in the past.”
“That’s because we’re tired of waiting.”
Tamara’s heart was pounding so loudly it nearly drowned out his words and hers when she asked, “Waiting for me to make a choice between Seth and Colt or you?”
Darryl lifted a hand to cup her cheek, even as his eyes closed and his head fell back on his shoulders. “If you wanted me without them, this would’ve been resolved a long time ago. If you wanted them instead of me, same difference.” He righted his head and met her gaze. “You want all three of us. I know it. We know it. I’m the one creating the problem.”
“It’s not just—” She tried to tell him that wasn’t the only issue she was fighting. Seth’s overwhelming dominance was another problem. Darryl didn’t give her a chance to finish.
“Just once, Tamara,” he said as his hand moved from her face to her waist and he reeled her in against him. “Just once, let me have you without my brothers.”
The feel of his hard body against her much more pliant curves turned her thoughts to scrambled eggs. They fit so perfectly together, as if they were puzzle pieces that completed one glorious picture. She’d felt the same when Colt had drawn her into his arms back in the bedroom and, even earlier, when Seth and Colt had sandwiched her between them.
“And what will happen after that?” The sheer emotion that swam into his eyes as he gazed at her made her chest tight.
“You already have my heart, Tamara. If you give yourself to me, I won’t be able to walk away, even if it means I have to share you with Seth and Colt.”
Did he mean it? Could she really have all three of them without his objections or theirs? God, she wanted to believe it, but could that fantasy really come true? What would happen to her if it did? Could she battle Seth’s total dominance if all three bothers joined forces to pleasure her?
“Darryl—”
He kissed her, and she felt her choices evaporate. He kissed her, and she felt the last of her defensive walls crumble. He kissed her, and she knew, without a doubt, if she had any chance of having all three brothers, she had to grant his request.
It wasn’t a hardship by any means. Darryl’s mouth on hers was the sweetest of pleasures, and the way he instantly took control fed the needy, naughty girl inside her and left her helpless to stop him. She’d already been on the edge of submission after her encounter with him this morning, the advances of Seth and Colt, and the kiss she’d shared with Colt in the guestroom. She’d already been right there. Darryl’s kiss did her in. She wound her arms around his neck, lost herself in his taste, and knew she would give him whatever he wanted right here and now.
* * * *
Darryl tasted her surrender and fed on it. He tasted it and finally felt as if he was where he belonged. If he went through with this, he would have to give up a part of himself, the part that didn’t want to share the woman of his heart with anyone, even his brothers. But maybe, just maybe, if he went through with this, he would realize what he thought he felt from Tamara was little more than lust. Maybe, if he went through with this, he would get her out of his system.
Maybe.
He had to go through with it, no matter the outcome. How else would he know? How else would he finally find himself again? He’d been feeling lost, at whit’s end, since he’d first laid eyes on her. No other woman had managed to replace her in his mind. He’d tried, over and over again he’d tried, and he’d failed on every occasion.
He knew why. Tasting Tamara was like sampling God’s sweetest gift. She was fire in his arms, a flame hotter than any arsonist on the planet could achieve, offering herself to him. He would be a fool not to accept her submission, no matter the costs.
He kept on kissing her, consuming her, and feeding on her taste as he delved his hands beneath the hem of her blouse and skimmed the backs of his fingers up her torso. Christ! It was a wonder the heat of her flesh didn’t give him third-degree burns. Even if it had, he wouldn’t have cared. He had his hands on the woman he craved more than his next breath. He was going to have his mouth on more of her, too, just as soon as he could force himself to stop kissing her.
He wrenched his mouth from hers and reveled in the breathless cry that escaped her lips as her head fell back on her shoulders. He yanked her blouse up, pulled it over her head, and tossed it to the floor, his gaze locking on her satiny flesh. His mouth watered for more of her taste, and he indulged the craving, lowering his head to lick his way along the base of her throat, her collarbone, and to drag his tongue along the lace of her bra.
The samples of her sweet flesh weren’t enough. He needed more. He reached a hand behind her back, freed the clasp of her bra with a finger’s snap, and stripped it from her body. Then, oh yeah, her breasts were hanging free for the claiming, and he didn’t hesitate to stake possession. He dipped his head, licked one breast into his mouth, and closed his teeth around the already-taut nipple.
“Darryl,” she gasped. “Oh please. Yes!”
Wanting to hear more of those breathless pleas, he took another moment to pleasure that nipple with pressured bites before he shifted his attention to the other one. He bit and tugged on that nipple until she was writhing and pleading in his arms.
“Darryl! Oh my God! Please!”
Tasting her didn’t come close to feeding his hunger for this woman. He needed to touch her, to feel her, and feast on more of her. He made sure to steady her with one arm around her waist as he reached with the other hand to free the button and zipper of her jeans. All the while, he alternated licks and bites to both her nipples. He shimmied her pants down her legs, felt the thin strap of material on her hips snap when he attempted to do the same with her panties, and tossed that pesky garment away. Her scent, thick and hot and sweet, drifted up to greet his senses, and he couldn’t keep the growl from escaping any longer.
“Fuck! You smell delicious!”
“Darryl.”
His name was the only word he allowed her before he covered her mouth with his in a kiss that seared his balls in his sac. His dick throbbed with the need to be buried in the hot, wet recess of her pussy. If he waited much longer, he swore he’d blow his wad in his jeans before even getting inside her.
“I need you, Tamara.” His weakness didn’t surprise him, especially not when it came to her. He knew he was prone to wearing his heart on his sleeve, but she’d claimed that heart and hadn’t let it go for so long his chest ached. He’d tried to be as dominant as his brothers in the past, had been an acceptable Dom to the toys he’d played with at the club, but Tamara was so much more than that. She was his heart, his soul, his very reason for breathing, and he knew simply being inside her sultry body was the only thing that would make him feel complete…at least for a
s long as it lasted.
“Take me, Darryl. Please! I need you, too.”
With that breathless announcement, he whirled her in his arms. Her jeans were around her ankles now. He released her long enough to drop his, too. Then, he was pinning her to the door of Roxy’s stall, the heat of her bare flesh against his taking his mind to places he’d never been before. Enough sensible thought remained for him to bend and fish a condom from the wallet in his back pocket. He straightened behind her, rolled it on, and then, fuck yeah, he was sliding inside her.
“Hold on to the door,” he told her through gritted teeth as he framed her hips with his hands and pulled them back for a better angle.
He didn’t take it slow. Damn it! He’d really wanted his first time with her to last. It wasn’t going to. He knew it the second he thrust his dick into the wet confines of her pussy. She’d been hot in his arms, but she was even hotter around him, and he knew, if he didn’t find a way to gather his control, he’d be done before he ever gave her the satisfaction she deserved.
He stilled with his dick buried inside her to the hilt and let his forehead fall to rest on the back of her shoulder. “Fuck! You don’t have a clue what you do to me.”
She wriggled her hips in his embrace, grinding her pussy on his dick. “Neither do you.”
“Tamara.” Her name sounded wrenched from his throat as he covered her hands on the stall door with his and laced their fingers together.
“Fuck me, Darryl.”
It should’ve been him giving the orders, but damn if he couldn’t stop himself from complying with her wishes. He eased his dick out of her pussy until only the head remained inside her and then rammed it in again with a force that likely nearly spilt her in two.
