by Zoey Marcel
“Excuse me?” Emmett growled.
“Emmett, calm yourself,” Diego advised. “The gentleman is setting you up.”
Darryl smiled and raised his hands up in the air innocently. “Just saying. This is the twenty-first century. The lady ought to be able to chat with a fella without her boyfriends turning psycho.”
“I’m sorry,” Mellie apologized to the poor guy.
Darryl gave her a warm smile. “No harm done, darlin’.”
“Call her darling one more time,” Emmett warned.
Darryl smirked and then turned and walked away.
Mellie’s cheeks burned with humiliation. “Honestly, you two, you overreacted.”
“He had his hands on you.” Emmett moved in, standing so close he was practically in her face. “You want to explain that?”
“We bumped into each other and he grabbed on to me to keep me from falling.”
“You are too naive to realize he was hitting on you,” Diego said. “You should not have been lagging behind. You could get lost.”
“Well, if you wouldn’t take giraffe strides,” she grumbled.
“Don’t sass me,” Emmett scolded. “Stay with us.”
Both men flanked her, making her feel small and safe.
* * * *
Melanie nearly crumbled from the barrage of flashbacks that seeing Danny’s lookalike triggered. The insecurity, the emotional abuse, and chronic sense of unworthiness brought her down.
What was she doing with unattainable studs like the O’Neils and Diego?
But there were other memories—darker, violent memories that her men knew nothing about. She’d consented to participate in the bone-chilling terror of them, but regardless, the acts had felt coerced and depraved. In her attempt to save a tortured soul, she’d tasted the darkness of his suffering and it had frightened her.
Emmett had mentioned something about Greyson having sadistic tendencies. Just how sadistic were they talking? Did Greyson know how to temper pain and fear with self-control? Did he know when to stop? Or would he be satisfied with nothing less than scarring someone until she understood the hell he’d gone through?
When they were back safely at the ranch, Mellie’s knees nearly gave out from under her as they walked up toward the large log and stone house. She stopped walking and both men turned to face her with questioning looks.
“Not Greyson.” She waited for their protests, but none were offered. The men exchanged looks and her hands started shaking. “I’ll be with any of you and all of you except him. I won’t change my mind, and if that means I lose all of you in the process, then so be it.”
She waited for “Hit the road, woman” or “There’s the door, babe” replies, but none came.
Emmett stalked toward her. “Diego and I will prepare you for him.”
She shook her head frantically, scared and aroused by the dark possibilities Greyson posed. “I meant what I said. Tortured soul or not, I can’t be the one to fix him.”
A haunted soul could very well mean that his needs were darker, more violent, and horrifying. Maybe not, but she couldn’t take that chance again.
Emmett looked disappointed. “It’s understandable. As I told you before, let’s take this slow and see where it leads. None of us has to make any kind of commitment until we’re certain of anything.”
“Not Greyson.”
Diego gave her a sympathetic gaze, but she could tell that he was let down by her sudden bout of fear. “If you aren’t willing to give him a chance, then perhaps someone else can save him.”
She looked at Emmett again, who put his hand on her back and led her toward the house.
Jake O’Neil’s head peeked through a window and he got a big grin on his face before disappearing.
Hunter O’Neil unlocked the front door and let them in. “Welcome back.”
He caught Mellie in his arms and held her tight.
“I missed you, angel.”
“I missed you, too, so much.”
Jake rushed toward her and threw his arms around her when Hunter was done with her. “Baby, I’m so glad you’re back! I’ve been going crazy without you. You’re not mad, are you?”
The question puzzled her. “Why would I be mad? Oh, because of the marriage designs you all made on me without telling me?”
Jake cocked a sheepish half grin. “Yeah, that.”
“She was upset at first, but she’s over it,” Emmett answered for her.
“I think you will find that she has warmed up to Emmett and me,” Diego said with a twinkle in his dark eyes.
Jake grinned. “Naughty Mellie, fucking my brother and my friend while my back is turned. How hot is that?”
She blushed through her smile. “It was only because you gave me permission.”
“Melanie, you liar, that wasn’t the only reason you went to bed with us,” Emmett teased.
Her face got warmer and her body heated with erotic impulses.
Hunter smiled and rubbed her back gently. “It’s good to have you home, sweetness. The place isn’t the same without you.”
“It’s good to be back. I missed you guys and this place.”
“Good. We want you to feel at home here,” Hunter told her.
Jake looked excited. “So, when do we tell the crotchety one about our plans?”
Mellie’s spirit plummeted and her confidence snapped in two. “About that…”
“She wants nothing to do with Greyson,” Emmett replied. “She’s afraid of him.”
“I never said that.”
“Yes, you did,” he argued. “You said it with your eyes and your trembling lip.”
“I’ll just be nice to him and try to heal him that way.”
“It won’t work. He needs sex and submission from you,” Emmett informed her.
Her belly tightened when she got a picture in her head and recalled how rugged and handsome Greyson was. He was dominant, dangerous, and completely virile.
“He can get that from someone else.”
It shouldn’t annoy her that Greyson might take another woman to bed with him and dominate her, but for some reason it did.
“Where is Greyson?” Diego asked.
“He went to race around somewhere with a few of the Huntingtons,” Hunter replied.
Diego seemed uneasy. “What do you mean by race around?”
“He didn’t say.”
“I see. I’ll let him know we’re back.” Diego headed out the door.
Emmett smirked and rolled his eyes.
“Is your sister all right?” Hunter asked.
Melanie nodded. “She’s fine. The man who broke into her house just wanted a number from her cell phone.”
Jake scoffed. “What? That doesn’t make any sense. What the hell?”
“I know. It confused her, too, but he didn’t hurt her. He got away, though.”
“I’m glad she’s safe,” Hunter said. His smile faded and he became concerned. “Greyson said you have a stalker after you.”
She nodded. “Yeah.”
“Any idea who it might be?”
“Well, no.” She hesitated.
“Spit it out, angel,” Hunter encouraged.
“My ex-boyfriend, Danny is out of his coma. He was pretty upset with me for breaking up with him five years ago.”
Emmett stomped toward her and grabbed her arm. “You didn’t tell me he awoke from his coma.”
“I didn’t think it was that big of a deal. I highly doubt he’s the stalker. Besides, it was personal information.”
“It was absolutely our business. We need you to be personal with us, Melanie,” Emmett told her seriously. “Don’t withhold information from us again.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it was so important to you.”
“Of course it’s important to us, honey,” Jake added. “You’re our woman and we want to take care of you.”
Hunter gave her a tender smile. “We can’t keep you safe if you hold back with us, Mellie.”
She felt completely loved and at home when they spoke to her so amorously and looked at her so tenderly.
“You guys are so sweet to me. I’m sorry. I won’t hold back with you anymore.”
Except for with Greyson. She couldn’t ever go all the way with him. He was mysterious and untamed. He would probably mess her up good like her exes had.
* * * *
Well, well, McKenna fucking Downs. He hadn’t been here in years. Now he was here…with an idiot. The man next to him fidgeted anxiously, pretty much asking to be put in the ground. They were brothers, so allowances for idiocy had to be made…he supposed.
He disregarded the imbecile’s twitching and continued to look through his binoculars. In the distance he saw two men on motorcycles while a couple of other men watched them and cheered like fucking pussies on the prairie.
The blond prick on the motorcycle that was farther away he didn’t recognize.
But he knew the shaggy-haired, bearded man on the other motorcycle. He knew the rancher very well. Those sea-like eyes of his that were two different colors like a wolf were burned in his memory. That raspy voice that sounded like a cross between sandpaper and crunching gravel echoed in his mind. It got him hard just remembering the sandy-haired, smoky-voiced cowboy.
And that pecker of Greyson’s was like a fucking stallion on wang enhancements. Oh yes, he recalled the fuckable beauty of that dick well.
Did the cowboy remember him? He’d bet his motherfucking life the sexy son of a bitch remembered him. Who the hell wouldn’t?
His thoughts were interrupted by his own brother. The first-place moron standing a few feet behind him whined like a bratty child that needed an ass whooping. “Why do we gotta stand around here for? I want what we came for.”
“In a minute,” he growled at the whiny little man-bitch.
“I want to get my dick wet,” the pussy complained. “You think they got any of the good stuff in this dinky-ass town?”
He tuned the sucker out and zoomed the lenses on the binoculars, taking in the tight ass of the cowboy in the distance as Greyson revved up his motorcycle. They were probably playing chicken. Greyson O’Neil did like his games.
He discreetly reached down to grab his own crotch. The fucker stiffened and burned for the tough-as-nails rancher. He could see it now. Both of them buck naked, hard, sweating, and aroused. He would move in and play upon Greyson’s paraphilia to the hilt. The cowboy was a psycho’s dream come true.
Again his thoughts were interrupted when brother numb nuts behind him had to open his mouth. “Are you listening to me? I’ve got to make up for lost time. Now let’s go find the good stuff and some pussy.”
The pitiful excuse of a man could make any male go flaccid. His sibling had been a decent human being at one time, but illicit substances had rendered him a blithering idiot.
“Don’t get your balls in a knot.” Like the prissy fucker had any balls.
He licked his lips and watched the motorcycles race toward each other. The other man with blond hair looked brave, but if there was one thing he knew about Greyson O’Neil it was that he needed this. The blond stranger on the other motorcycle was probably just having fun. For Greyson this was a drug. The cowboy couldn’t fight it.
He wouldn’t let Greyson fight it.
He watched with heightening arousal as the dirt bikes drew closer to each other, squeezing his cock through his pants when he saw that the blond man swerved at the last minute to avoid collision.
Not Greyson. The crazy bastard kept going and skidded a little, grinning like the hot piece of ass he was when he turned the bike off and taunted the other man with his victory.
Then from behind him, brother dipshit encroached on his lusty show with that annoying, bitchy voice. “Motorcycle racing—big fucking deal. I’m gonna go get some tail.”
Through the binoculars he saw a Mexican man walking quickly toward Greyson with a worried expression on his face. He looked pretty fucking familiar.
“Well, look at that,” he said aloud, knowing brother bitty brains behind him wouldn’t hear him or give a damn even if he did.
Puny balls opened his mouth. “You coming?”
He lowered the binoculars. “Yeah, I’m coming.”
* * * *
Diego Sanchez hurried over to Greyson, not liking that he almost fell off his motorcycle and wasn’t wearing one damned bit of protection on him. No helmet, no leathers, nothing except for his clothes.
“Tough luck, Charlie,” Greyson taunted.
Charlie Huntington shook his head. “You got lucky, you crazy bastard. I’m brave. You’re clinically insane.”
Greyson chuckled and then the wild thrill of adrenaline in his eyes got softer when he saw Diego coming toward him. “You’re back.”
Diego shook his head. “I can’t turn my back on you, can I, amigo?”
Greyson looked annoyed. When he brushed past Diego, Greyson’s eyes turned wanton and his voice came out scorching. “You could.”
The breathy rasp of suggestion that sizzled against his ear made Diego’s balls tighten with painful yearning. The damned tease.
“I’m next!” Justin Huntington yelled happily.
Greyson raised a brow and gave the kid a skeptical smile.
“Not without a helmet.” Diego placed his hand on Greyson’s arm, immediately pulling back when Greyson gave him a sharp warning look.
“Not you, sport,” Charlie objected.
“He’s right, Justin,” Quentin Adeniji agreed. “You could get hurt.”
Justin scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Just ’cause I’m the youngest…”
Greyson started to walk his motorcycle back toward his truck. “Show’s over, bitches. Go home to your mama.”
The two Huntingtons and Quentin laughed.
* * * *
Diego drove in his own truck behind Greyson down a back road for a bit before pulling over. In less than a minute Greyson parked his truck, too, and joined him outside.
“Is this the part where you rebuke me for giving into my darker nature?” Greyson quipped in that sexy voice of his.
Unable to resist the uncomfortable strain of his cock against his zipper, Diego strode toward him. “No. This is the part where I give you what you need.”
“What is it you think I need?” He knew damned well what it was.
Diego knew he did. He kept going toward Greyson and backed him up against the side of his big truck, capturing his mouth in a kiss that conveyed how starved he was for contact with his best friend.
Greyson put his hands on Diego as if in acceptance before pushing him away. “Out in the open like this you’re asking to get seen.”
“I do not care if anyone sees us together.”
“Well, I do.”
Diego ignored the dull pain in his chest and looked around in a half-assed scan. “We’re alone, Greyson.”
This time Greyson didn’t shove him away when Diego put his mouth on him. Their lips ravaged one another like hungry beasts and their tongues dueled in a wet, heated combat. Their hands roamed one another’s bodies like a spreading fire that burned slow and unthreatening at first before becoming a raging inferno.
Diego panted when their groins met and he moaned deeply when Greyson grabbed his ass and pulled Diego’s body closer against his own. Diego’s hand went up Greyson’s shirt to explore his warm flesh and well-developed muscle. He turned completely frantic with lust when Greyson gave his testes a firm squeeze through his pants.
Diego clawed at Greyson’s fly and then practically tore the jeans and underwear down his secret lover’s strong thighs just as Greyson shoved him to his knees. The hot, scruffy cowboy crammed his rigid dick in Diego’s face just as he grabbed Greyson’s erection and helped spear it into his own mouth.
Greyson grunted and gripped Diego by the hair while being sucked on. The slit in his cockhead drizzled hot, salty pre-cum onto Diego’s tongue. He sucked his best friend hard and fast, determined to drain the cum fr
om his testicles.
“Fuck,” Greyson breathed and pistoned lightly into his mouth.
Diego fingered his boss’s scrotum, smiling at the muttered swear words that came from Greyson. He groped and rolled Greyson’s balls and tilted his head back a little to take the man’s cock in deeper.
“God, not that,” Greyson ground out as his throbbing dick sank deeper into Diego’s mouth and down his throat.
Diego knew he wanted it. Greyson loved to be overwhelmed and take risks. Being deep throated out on the open grasslands where anyone happening by could see them probably made the rancher crazy.
Diego kept one hand on Greyson’s ball sac and sent his other hand venturing around Greyson to trace erotic circles on his taint. The cowboy’s breathing deepened and his legs tensed.
He couldn’t breathe with Greyson’s bloated cock burrowing down his esophagus, but even in the vulnerable position Diego had power. He moaned on the man’s swollen shaft, knowing what the warm vibrations would do to him.
Greyson gasped and threw his head back from what Diego could see. His wicked finger slithered higher to tickle his partner’s anus. Greyson’s face distorted with pain or pleasure, possibly both.
Diego slid Greyson’s erection back up his throat carefully and let the man fuck his mouth for a bit.
Would Greyson let him stick his finger up his ass this time? He hadn’t in a long time. Maybe today would be different.
Greyson’s breaths came out in strained pants as he inched his pulsing cock back down Diego’s throat. Diego kept swallowing to keep from gagging, and it was hard not to grin at the ballistic sounds of want that his boss made.
Diego stretched and squeezed Greyson’s nuts in his hand in a crushing hold he knew the tough bastard could take. Greyson choked out a ragged groan and then swore again when Diego started to hum on his penis, no doubt sending scorching palpitations through the organ.
Greyson dug his nails into Diego’s scalp and thrust his cock deeper until his scrotum touched Diego’s chin and he had to let go of the man’s balls. He took a risk and pushed his finger into Greyson’s asshole. The snug, scalding heat inflamed him.
