by Helena Ray
Once she donned the garment, along with the matching strappy stilettos, she studied herself in the large mirror. As she had feared, her breasts bulged from the dress, giving her some ample cleavage. Even to her particularly harsh judgment, she looked damn sexy. She reached up to the bun still tucked tightly atop her head and pulled it out. Her long, wavy blonde hair spilled in ripples onto her shoulders, completing her look. Time to get down to business.
* * * *
A golf cart driven by a tuxedoed man returned Alexis to the gala in the garden. The string section had been replaced with a jazz trio, and several of the guests were dancing, inhibitions erased by the champagne fountain bubbling by the bar behind the tables. Jeremiah and Tristan were sitting at a table by the dance floor, and their attention focused on Alexis as soon as she crossed into the light of the party. She saw the lust in their eyes, but all of them knew they could do nothing about it. She had to look completely available in order for this to work.
Joey Johnston stood leaning against the bar. Alexis started in his direction with the sexiest walk she could muster. She approached the bar where the serial womanizer was standing uncomfortably close to a couple of other girls, regaling them with stories of life on the campaign trail.
Alexis cleared her throat, and Johnston turned his attention to her. His eyes widened as he took her in. She felt violated by the look in his eyes, but continued anyway.
“Representative Johnston? Hi, I’m Alexis. I’m a really big supporter.” She batted her eyelashes at him for good measure.
“Well, hello, Alexis,” he drawled as he took one of her hands in both of his. “I am always happy to meet supporters, especially when they’re beautiful young ladies such as yourself.”
His eyebrows waggled, and Alexis had to tamp down the bile rising up the back of her throat. She forced a smile.
“I’ve been following the Burke Pierce case very carefully. Can you believe that they want us to think they’re taking care of that poor man? I mean, he’s just a hardworking Texan trying to make a decent living.” The words came pouring from her mouth in a rush, and she hoped she had recited the line properly.
“Well, I am so glad that young people such as you are taking an interest in this case. I’m workin’ as hard as I can to make sure that those yellow-belly pansy-boys at Burke Pierce don’t get away with this.”
It appeared that he was buying Alexis’s act.
“Oh, you’re so brave, standing up for the everyman.” She giggled and placed a hand on his arm and left it there. Touching him contributed to the nausea building in her stomach.
“You know Tristan Burke and Jeremiah Pierce are at this function.” He bent over, now uncomfortably close, put a hand on the small of her back, and whispered in her ear. “I’d love to talk about this some more with you in a more…private setting.”
Alexis forced a giggle over the gag that built at the back of her throat. “I’d like that. Sure you wanna talk about this with a little old dancer like me?”
His eyes focused on her cleavage, intensifying her disgust. “I’d talk to you about anything, sweetheart.” His use of a pet name only enraged her. She was ready to back him into this corner.
“Then let’s go, State Representative Joey Johnston.” Her playful use of his full name and title was meant for the microphone. She was establishing the identity of the speaker.
“By all means.”
As they crossed the boundary of the party’s lights and out of earshot of the other guests, Alexis went in for the kill.
“I know this will make me sound just horrible, but that accident was a blessing from God. It just showed everyone how poorly Burke Pierce treats their employees. And if I understood what I read on your website, Representative, it’s stopping them from building that new energy plant and getting rid of all those jobs.”
“It is, indeed. And you seem to see things my way, so I can be totally frank with you.” The slur in his voice betrayed just how much the evening’s alcohol had affected him. “I think it’s a great thing that it happened.”
Here was Alexis’s opportunity. She had to seize it, even if that meant saying things that she found utterly repulsive.
“You know.” She stopped and moved closer to Johnston, rubbing her barely covered breast against his arm. “The idea of taking scum like them down gets me so hot. It sort of makes me want to fuck Tristan Burke just for being such a lazy foreman and letting the accident happen.”
“If you wanna fuck someone responsible, don’t fuck Burke.” The hand on the small of her back moved over her ass, and Alexis had to fight every impulse inside of her screaming at her to whack it away and knee him in the balls. Hard.
“Why not? You said it was his incompetence that—”
“That’s just an act. I’ve had to tell a little white lie to keep the press satisfied. You see, I’m responsible for the accident.”
“I knew you were sexy.” The bile was threatening to project from her throat at any second. “What’d you do, handsome?”
He was silent for a moment, and she worried she had pushed too hard. She was about to tap her mic in a signal for help when he finally spoke.
“I bought Burke Pierce’s equipment supplier about six months ago, you know, as a wise investment. They called us up right before the accident to take a look at some of their cable systems, so it was easy as pie to slip in a faulty blast preventer.” He grabbed Alexis’s ass and squeezed her pelvis to his side. “And a few days later, boom. We got Burke Pierce good.” His mouth lowered, and she squirmed desperately to stop his lips before they arrived at their final destination.
“This is the Dallas County Police Department. Hands in the air, Representative.” Flood lights flashed on, temporarily blinding Alexis.
“I swear, I thought she was eighteen!” Johnston’s hands flew from where they groped Alexis, and he looked around with a very confused expression.
Before she could figure out what was happening, a man dressed in all black with a helmet and vest pulled her backward and away from the representative. When her eyes adjusted to the sudden change, she saw the Dallas County SWAT team surrounding Johnston. His eyes darted side to side, and Alexis guessed that he was still wondering if this was the usual treatment given to statutory rapists.
Footsteps came running from behind her, and she saw Tristan and Jeremiah hurtling toward her. The SWAT team member released her into Tristan’s arms, and she wrapped her hands around his neck.
“We got him, baby. We got him.” Tristan held Alexis close to his chest and kissed her hair while Jeremiah gave his heartfelt thanks to the SWAT officer.
“Is it all going to be okay?” Alexis finally squeaked with her head buried against Tristan’s chest. “Are you guys going to be okay?”
“We have to hear from the district attorney about the criminal charges against Johnston, and the judge has to make a ruling.” Jeremiah joined Tristan in holding a trembling Alexis. “But with this new evidence you procured, the insurance company is going to find it damn difficult to call what Burke Pierce did negligence.”
Alexis’s ears started ringing, and suddenly she felt dizzy. She tried to walk away from the two men holding her, but her legs wouldn’t obey her brain’s commands. Tristan caught her before she hit the ground. He carried her, and she could faintly hear him shouting at someone. Her vision blurred, but she thought she saw Jeremiah take off at a run toward the mansion. A cold chill overtook her, and she couldn’t fight to stay conscious too much longer.
The only thing she could hear was a buzzing and the insistent beating of her own heart, and then the world went black.
Chapter 12
“Alexis? Alexis, are you awake?”
Her eyes blinked open to see concern plastered across Jeremiah’s perfect face. “Jeremiah,” she sighed and tried to reach up to touch his face, but a mound of blankets seemed to be inhibiting any movement on her part.
“She’s okay!” Jeremiah’s face relaxed, and he pressed his lips against
her forehead. “You’re okay, baby. It’s all okay. It’s over.”
“What’s…” The night flashed through Alexis’s mind. Her performance. The dress. Johnston’s hands all over her. The SWAT team. A numbing cold broke over her, and sweat began running down the back of her neck.
“Does no one around here have a heating pad?” Tristan’s insistent voice sounded somewhere to her right. She blinked and looked around. She didn’t recognize her surroundings. Everything was dark wood and leather with portraits adorning the walls.
Robin Abrams-Clare appeared behind Jeremiah, and Alexis remembered the location of the night’s events.
“Oh my god, is she okay, Jer? She still looks really pale. Did the EMTs—”
“I’m fine, really.” Shaking, Alexis attempted to sit up but was met with several hands pushing her back to the couch.
“Oh no you don’t. Not until you’ve been awake for a few minutes.” Jeremiah gave her a harsh look, and she decided it was best to obey.
Alexis crooked her neck upward and saw two aging men enter the room. They waved in her direction, and Jeremiah and Tristan approached them. Both the men were very handsome with a dignified air about them. Alexis realized that they must be Tristan and Jeremiah’s fathers, the elder Burke Pierce duo.
All four men talked in hushed tones while Robin flitted around Alexis, making sure she was comfortable. The men finished their conversation, and the four of them turned toward Alexis. Tristan ran forward and dropped to his knees beside the couch. He ran a hand through her hair and smiled.
“We just heard from the DA, and the judge filed an injunction against our case. The insurance company is suing Johnston’s company for malfeasance, which isn’t gonna look so great for his campaign, either. And we’ve already got our accountants cutting the first of many large checks for George.”
“Really? So our plan worked?”
“Like a charm.” Tristan looked to where the group of men stood behind him. “Alexis, there are some people that Jer and I want you to meet.” He indicated the shorter of the two men, and the glint of the man’s blue eyes told Alexis he must be Tristan’s father. “This is my dad, Harrison Burke.” He gestured to the tall, thin man beside him. “And this is Jeremiah’s dad, Isaac Pierce.”
“It’s great meeting you, Alexis,” Isaac said as he bowed toward her. “Thank you for saving our company.”
“It was my pleasure.” The older man was so handsome, like an aged carbon copy of his son. He had the same open, easy expression that could soothe anyone who talked to him.
“Our boys won’t shut up about you.” The shorter man stepped forward. “Can’t get through a damn conversation without ‘Alexis this,’ or ‘Alexis that.’ Ike and I were starting to think you were a figment of their imaginations.”
“Told you she was real,” Tristan grumbled under his breath.
Alexis couldn’t help but laugh at their situation. Despite the anxiety and trauma of the day, everything was turning out just fine. The case had taken a turn for the better. Burke Pierce could keep working on opening their clean energy facilities, and Tristan could go back to his…
Shit. A tightening sensation pulled at Alexis’s stomach. Was Tristan going back to his job now? Alexis didn’t want to begin to think about what that would mean.
Tristan threaded his fingers through her hair and turned her to face him. “Hey, what’s going on? Everything’s fine. No reason to worry.”
“But what now?”
“Well, as soon as we’re sure you’re stable, we’ll head back to either Jeremiah’s or the Lasso—”
“Don’t do that!” Robin interrupted. “We never have guests, and we literally have fifteen guest rooms. Please stay.”
“Or, we’ll stay here with the Abrams-Clare clan, and we’ll go to sleep and put all this behind us,” Tristan said, pure affection shining from his eyes.
“That’s not what I meant.” Alexis’s voice was soft, and she knew her pain must be audible. “I meant what now? Now that the case is settled. Will Jeremiah go back to his crazy CEO work schedule, and will you go back out into the field?” Please say no, please say no, please say no. Alexis repeated the words in her head like a mantra.
Tristan hesitated and turned to look back at Jeremiah.
“I think we have business to attend to. It’s been absolutely lovely meeting you, Alexis.” Isaac Burke stepped forward and tapped Harrison Burke on the shoulder. “Hopefully, we can meet under less hectic circumstances in future.” The two of them smiled warmly at Alexis then took their leave. Robin must have understood the look Tristan and Jeremiah shared since she hurried to follow Harrison and Isaac out the door.
“I’ll just show them out. You guys can stay in the guest rooms on the top level. I’ll just give you guys some privacy for right now.” She carefully shut the door behind her, and Alexis heard the lock click into place. She was finally alone again with Tristan and Jeremiah.
“Alexis, we need to talk.” Jeremiah came to kneel next to Tristan. The two of them carefully peeled the blankets from Alexis and helped her to sit up. She didn’t want to sit up anymore, though. Those five little words Jeremiah uttered had been a dagger to her side.
“Yes, we do,” she said in defense. If they wanted this to end, then she would be the one doing the ending. There was no way in hell she would walk out of this with her tail between her legs. “I–I don’t know about staying in Male Order. Maybe i–it’s time for me to go.”
Tristan and Jeremiah visibly wilted at her words. Clearly, that hadn’t been what they had anticipated her saying. Shit. Had she just fucked this up even more?
“If that’s what you want, honey,” Tristan said, breaking the silence. “But I’ll tell you for sure, that’s the last thing Jer and I want.”
“Tristan is right. We won’t stop you from going out and living your dream, finishing your road trip, or living out the California dream. But we would like you to consider staying in Male Order before you go.”
“If this trial has taught me one thing, it’s that I’ve had enough of the oilfields. With the rigs closing and the shift to the clean energy model, they don’t really need me, anyway. It’s time for me to man up and do my duty back here at the offices. Jer’s been bugging me to take over as Chief Operations Officer, too.”
“What we’re saying is, please, Alexis, stay.” Jeremiah’s bright blue gaze melted any desire to leave lingering in the corner of Alexis’s brain. She trailed a finger down his chiseled jaw and held it against the cleft of his chin. He took her hand and pressed a kiss against the back of it. Alexis turned to Tristan and brushed aside that pesky lock of hair that had fallen in front of his gorgeous face yet again. Tristan tangled his fingers in her hair.
“Stay, Alexis.”
She looked back and forth between the two of them, their plaintive expressions causing her heart to race with excitement, with anticipation. With love.
“Okay.”
“Okay?” Jeremiah’s eyes lit up as he held her hand against his chest.
“I’ll stay in Male Order.” Tears stung at the corners of her eyes, and she felt a giddy grin spread across her face. A giggle escaped from her throat, and she couldn’t keep her voice down. “Of course I’ll stay! That’s all I’ve wanted since I met the two of you.”
“Really?” Tristan’s eyes lit up, and the lock of hair fell in front of his face again.
Alexis couldn’t help but lean forward and kiss him. He curled his hands deeper in her hair as he turned their kiss passionate, the heat of his mouth igniting heat in Alexis’s pussy. Tristan stood and moved to sit next to her on the couch. Before he could sit, though, Jeremiah also claimed Alexis’s mouth in a deliberate kiss of painful desire. Jeremiah roamed his hands her body, and he massaged one breast, moving his hand toward the cleavage.
“You know,” he said as he broke the kiss, “I can see why Johnston confessed everything. You could get a man to say damn near anything by wearing that dress.”
Tristan slowly
began undoing the strings that held up her halter dress. “He’s right. You are the sexiest creature I’ve ever laid eyes on.”
“You’re gonna have to wear that little number. Only around the house, though.” Jeremiah followed his words with kisses against her neck. Alexis moaned and leaned into the sensation, but something he said caused her to stop. With great pain, she put a hand on Jeremiah’s chest and pushed him back.
“Wait a minute. House?”
“Of course,” Tristan whispered in his ear. “We wouldn’t ask you to stay in Male Order without making sure you had a place to live.”
Alexis turned to put a hand on his cheek and draw his lips to hers for a brief, romantic kiss.
“I love you.” Alexis searched Tristan’s eyes for any hint of insincerity but found none.
“And I love you.” Jeremiah put his arm around her and planted a soft kiss on her neck.
Alexis couldn’t believe her life. Here she was in a gigantic mansion, having just found the key piece of evidence in a major trial, and now the two men that had opened her eyes to the joys of being a woman were confessing their love to her.
“I love you, too.” She beamed as she looked back and forth between her two men.
“You get that we’re planning on living in that house with you, right?” Tristan’s words made her heart beat quicker again. Living with these two! Alexis could only imagine that she would have a very sore ass.
“Tristan, you don’t have to explain that to her. Of course we’ll live together when we’re married.”
“Married?” Alexis hadn’t thought she could get any luckier, but it turned out she was wrong.
“Marry us, Alexis.” Jeremiah sealed his request with a kiss.
Alexis pulled back just an inch and whispered her answer.
“Yes.”
Tristan didn’t speak to convey his happiness. He just dragged Alexis into a tight embrace and smothered her with the force of his kiss. His hands finally unwound the string holding up her dress and the top fell down, revealing her breasts. Jeremiah’s hands went straight to her breasts, pinching and pulling at her nipples. Alexis could feel the thong she wore dampening with the extent of her arousal. Tristan kept kissing her, but put both hands on her thighs and inched his way upward. Every inch upward he traveled made Alexis’s inner muscles clench in anticipation of the feeling of his wide cock stretching her to the limit.
