Belonging to Them

by Brynn Paulin

  “Severe doesn’t begin to cover it. Welcome to Daly. Population one-fifty-nine. Women, seven.”

  “Holy Pete,” Rayna whispered.

  Leena sat in the booth across from her and set down her order pad. “You look a little shell shocked, and I did hear you scream a little bit ago. You okay?”

  “Well, I’m lost. My car’s dead. Really dead. My ex-fiancé has managed to get my cell phone turned off and freeze my bank account. And…” Rayna wasn’t sure if she should say, this being a small town and all, but since Leena obviously was involved with more than one man, Rayna supposed it wouldn’t appall her. “And Patrick just proposed something to me that I’m not sure I should entertain.”

  “The O’Keefes are as good as men get,” Leena told her. “And don’t tell my guys I think so, but geez, they have that rough around the edges vibe that’s just hot.”

  Rayna smiled. “I noticed that. I’m Rayna Halliday by the way. It’s the big and rough around the edged that caught my attention. And well…” She paused, again wondering if it was okay to speak the truth then decided it was entirely possible she’d never see anyone from this town again after this episode. “Well, I’ve always kinda wondered. What it would be like. You know?”

  “I know, sweetie. I’m not going to try to influence you, because it has to be your decision, but I do hope to see you around again. I get a little lonely for girl talk—company in general.” She grinned and slid from the booth. “So…can I get you anything. Another coffee and pie?”

  Rayna pressed a hand to her stomach. “Gosh, no. It was great, but I’m good for now. Do you have Diet Coke?”

  “Sure thing, sweetie. I’ll bring it right over.” She looked up as three men came into the diner and slid into seats at the counter. They immediately zeroed in on Rayna and made no pretense about staring.

  “New around here?” one asked.

  “Please, God, say yes,” the youngest of the group, who looked in his early twenties, pleaded. “Say yes and unattached.”

  Leena, who was now behind the counter, swatted the young man’s head with a handful of napkins. “Back off, junior. The O’Keefes’.”

  “Dang,” he muttered then tilted his head at Rayna. “Welcome to Daly, ma’am.”

  “Thank you,” she replied as the others echoed him.

  “You even sound pretty,” he said. “You sure you want those O’Keefes?”

  Rayna smiled and looked down at her table as Leena smacked him. So far, Daly was proving to be a nice place. Even discounting “The O’Keefes” and their proposition, the whole place gave her a sense of welcome she wasn’t sure she’d ever felt anywhere. Could she belong here? Patrick said just for fun and pleasure, but… If she wasn’t with them, was there something else for her here? Not a job. She’d have to find something in the city, but—

  God Lord, what was she thinking. Three hours in town and she was considering making it home? Seriously. The place must have some sort of weird hoodoo magic entrancing visitors to stay.

  Or maybe it was the lust inducing men.

  She bit her lip and glanced out the window at the service station. Sean and David had rolled her car to a carport beside the building and now were cleaning something in one of the bays. Patrick was sweeping the front porch, his hands looking as if they could easily crack the handle of the broom.

  What he didn’t understand was that he’d made up her mind with a single word. A word that echoed in the emptiness inside her. It was the one thing she’d always wanted. She hadn’t felt with her fiancé who’d made her feel inconsequential until she’d left or her family who’d treated her as insignificant and frankly somewhat stupid or at her job where she’d been considered highly competent but replaceable.

  Belonging.

  With the way Patrick, David and Sean looked at her… Could she chance that feeling then give it up? A hot prickly sensation crawled up her back and her stomach knotted as she considered saying no and heading into the city.

  Leena brought her soft drink and Rayna sipped at it, still watching the men go about their business. A few cars came through and one or more of the O’Keefes would come out, pump gas, check the cars’ fluids and air levels—full service station, she noted, adding it to her list of the town’s features. As she observed, the sky started to cloud over, threatening rain. To her surprise, she saw a man leave the back room of the garage. It wasn’t any of the three men she’d been staring at. They were still tending various tasks.

  This fourth man was as large as the other three, but she couldn’t tell more. He was huddled in a black hoodie, his face shrouded in shadows and his hands shoved into the pockets. He headed briskly toward the big Victorian, his gate marred by a pronounced limp.

  My cousins, my brother and I are here most days. There’s four of us O’Keefes.

  Chapter Two

  Holy Pete, there were four of them, not three. How had she missed that when Patrick had clearly said it? Rayna stared after the man. Something about him with his hobble and hunched shoulders drew her. Her heart jarred in her chest as if it had flipped right over at the sight of him.

  “It’s going to start pouring. Coming?”

  She jumped at the voice near her ear. She’d been so consumed in watching the fourth O’Keefe walking down the street that she hadn’t realized Patrick had entered the diner. A glance across the street showed the service station completely closed down.

  “I need to pay for my drink,” she said as she stood, aware everyone was looking at them, including David and Sean who were now outside the window.

  “On me,” Leena said. “See ya tomorrow, sweetie?”

  Rayna looked up at Patrick. “Yeah, I think so.”

  He closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he swallowed. A shiver ran through her as he leaned to her ear again. “I promise you won’t regret it.”

  Cupping her head, he whispered his mouth across hers. He smelled of the garage—oil, rubber, cars—but his underlying scent of woods and pure man, tantalized her. The whole mixture set her senses afire, drawing her into a miasma of desire she’d never experienced. On a moan, she parted her lips and allowed him to enter. Mint. Oh Lord… Her arms circled his shoulders as he deepened the kiss, drawing her onto her toes and tight to his body.

  “Fuck Trick,” one of the men groaned. “Do you hafta flaunt what the rest of us can’t have.”

  “Get a room or something,” another heckled. “Leena, you get in that shipment of lube.”

  She felt Patrick chuckle as he pulled from the kiss, still holding her in his iron embrace. “They’re all gonna have wet dreams about you tonight, sweetheart. But not me ‘cause I’m gonna have you wet and moaning on my cock.”

  “Oh God…” she whispered.

  “Too much?”

  “No. Just nervous. I’ve never…”

  Never what? Fucked three or four men in a session? Heck, two was beyond her experience, though truth be told, she’d often closed her eyes when her ex had used a vibrator on her and pretended there was a second guy there—one fucking her while the other sucked at her breasts. It had always turned her on and brought her to orgasm. She’d needed the fantasy. Frankly, he hadn’t been that good.

  And now, she’d see her illicit thoughts turn to reality.

  “It’ll be okay.” Patrick laced his fingers through hers and pulled her outside. Sean and David each kissed her quickly, deeply, and she was again assailed by the scents of the garage as well as their individual male odors. Overall, intoxicating and seductive mixes.

  Sean rushed on ahead of them, to open the house he said, while David’s strong fingers enclosed hers. Her belly fluttered at the feel of his calluses against her smooth palms. She wanted to feel them running over her thighs, her belly, most of all her breasts.

  Still, with each step, trepidation tightened her stomach and warred with her arousal. She wanted this, she really did, but she was terrified beyond belief. More terrified than when she’d left home for the first time. Even more terrified than sh
e’d been when she’d snuck out of town in the dead of night to escape her ex, Antonio Martinez Smith, who she’d broken off with eight months ago after he’d thrown her into a wall, punched her, then knocked her to the ground and kicked her. She didn’t buy “I’m sorry”. One time, that was it, and she’d been out of there. But he’d continued to stalk and threaten her.

  This was a different terror. This was fear that she was doing something stupid. That she’d get attached and they wouldn’t feel the same. That she’d disappoint them. That she’d get hurt emotionally, even if they tried their best to just make this fun.

  Sean held the door open when they reached the house. “Welcome to your temporary castle, milady.” He stepped aside, letting her in, and she suddenly felt a bit like Snow White entering the Seven Dwarves home—except these men weren’t even close to dwarves. The house was just as disastrous, and she smiled, knowing how she’d repay them for fixing her car. Apparently, despite the architecture, the proverbial bachelor pad wasn’t a myth.

  “We have to go take showers. Um, make yourself at home,” Patrick said, his tone chagrined as he looked around and apparently saw the room as she did. “Be right back.”

  The other two men had disappeared further into the house, and he followed.

  Even through the clutter and junk, the design of the house shone through. The front door opened into an enormous entryway with double-width, arching doorways on either side. A large, open staircase curved upward into a balconied second floor where she saw numerous doorways and a second set of stairs, enclosed, leading to the third floor.

  To her right lay a spacious sitting room. Its far wall curved outward with a turret-like effect and was entirely brick and glass—mostly glass. It appeared that the men used the space for recreation. Three large couches were grouped in an arc to face a big-screen television and a bank of electronics that spoke of the bachelors’ disposable income. The setup of seating and entertainment center in no way dwarfed the room, leaving the area with room to spare.

  Distractedly, picked up a few magazines and stacked them neatly on the coffee table centered in front of the couches.

  “Excuse the mess,” a deep, Irish-tinged voice said from the shadows of the opposite room, startling her since she’d thought she was alone. She spun toward the speaker and saw him leaning against a doorway to one side of what appeared to be a dining room with an oval table large enough to seat at least ten. A faint light behind the man, revealed a kitchen that matched the front areas in size. A dream…

  Unfortunately, being illuminated from behind, left the man’s face in even deeper shadows than it would have been without. He took a sip from a soft drink can as he regarded her from the darkness of his hoodie.

  “You must be the fourth O’Keefe,” she said.

  “Jamie O’Keefe at your service—except in bed. I won’t be joining the four of you.”

  She almost blurted “why not” but stopped herself before she sounded more wanton than he probably already thought her. “Oh…o-okay.”

  Brilliant, Rayna.

  “I’ll try to stay out of your way,” she told him.

  “Sweetness, you’re not in my way. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a more beautiful woman than you. I don’t mind that you’re here. I’m just not sleeping with you.”

  Disappointment kicked her hard. He was the one she wanted most. She’d felt it since she’d seen him walk down the street. Was it possible to feel such an urgent connection without speaking to a person, without seeing his face? Yet she had, and it was pulsing through her now, telling her she needed him badly.

  Her tongue darted across her bottom lip as she tried to force back her desire. Jamie groaned. She looked at him curiously. But he didn’t want her, right?

  “Are you all right?” she asked.

  “Fine,” he replied, sounding a bit choked. He took a chug of his drink. Outside, lightning speared across the sky brightening the room, but not enough for her to see him clearly.

  Silence fell between them as rain pummeled the ground outside and pinged against the panes of glass in the large, solarium-like windows of the east wall. “The ground’s so hard right now, this stuff’s gonna be slick as slime.”

  Rayna nodded.

  “I’m gonna go upstairs and make sure you’ve got clean linens on your bed.”

  “Thank you.” She wanted to go to him, to push back the hoodie and see his face. Her hands fisted as he set his drink on the table and moved past her toward the stairs. When he was even with her, he paused. She heard a tortured sigh and watched his fingers flex.

  “Close your eyes,” he murmured.

  “What?”

  “Close your eyes. I’d…I’d like to kiss you. Just once.”

  She did as he asked, and he traced her bottom lip with his finger.

  “Keep them closed,” he murmured. His hands splayed over her cheeks then into her hair. His breath feathered across her lips a moment before his mouth covered hers. Electricity zinged through her, and she moaned, pressing into him.

  “Jamie,” she murmured. She reached for him, but he grabbed her wrists and held them clamped at the small of her back.

  “Just let me kiss you,” he whispered. He nipped at her bottom lip, pulling it between his teeth then laving it. His mouth pressed over hers again, and his tongue thrust inside. Her entire body trembled for him, and she felt her cream flooding her folds. The other men aroused her, but Jamie enflamed her.

  Crazy. Purely crazy. Surely, it was the mystery of him.

  Her breathing grew choppy as he kissed her over and over, his mouth completely possessing hers, his hunger evident in the sweeps of his tongue. She groaned, pressing closer even if she couldn’t touch him. Her fingers flexed up into his hands where he held her, the excitement of being held captive making her pussy clench. Her breasts were tight and her bra chafed her nipples as she flattened against his chest.

  Suddenly, he let go of her hands and she reached for him, but he was gone, already out of her reach.

  “I’ll see to your bed,” he said roughly.

  What the…

  Confused by his abrupt behavior, she sank onto the couch. Her fingers traced her tingling lips as she listened to his odd gait marching up the stairs. Jamie O’Keefe.

  She closed her eyes and leaned back. What a day. Not for the first time, she considered that she probably should have gotten a GPS for this trip. But if she had, she wouldn’t have ended up here, about to have the adventure of her life. Besides a GPS couldn’t have prevented her car issues or her money issues with her freaking ex. Jerk. Jerk, jerk, jerk!

  She was well rid of the underhanded snake. Besides, his kisses had never come close to Patrick or Jamie’s. She sighed, her body still buzzing from Jamie’s attention. The couch depressed on either side of her legs as someone straddled her, kneeling over her. Hands cupped her face, but she didn’t bother opening her eyes as firm lips took hers. She felt others sit and their hands start touching her lightly. Stroking along her arms, her thighs. Taking up her hands and massaging her palms and fingers.

  She fought back her immediate impulse to tense. No, this was what she’d agreed to and what she eagerly anticipated. There was no reason to be afraid or show false modesty. They knew she hadn’t indulged in this before. On the way over, Patrick had mentioned to Sean and David that they should all go easy. That didn’t mean, it seemed, that they’d delay in what they all wanted. She opened her mouth to the man kissing her, envisioning herself the offering to a band of hungry men—and that wasn’t so far from true.

  Anticipation fogged her mind, drawing her senses to sharp edges. Even the lightest touch made her shiver with need. The callused fingers continued to caress her, and goose bumps raised on her arms. The man kissing her grasped the edge of her T-shirt, pulling it from her jeans. His hands moved beneath and slid across her belly and sides, his scratchy, oh-so-male skin lightly abrading her. Lord, how she trembled to feel that same abrasion rasping over her folds and clit then possessing her ch
annel.

  She knew without opening her eyes that Patrick had been the one kissing her, and when he lifted his head and spoke, he confirmed it. “Let’s go upstairs. Your room’s been freshened. We’ll have more space, too. Okay?” he added.

  “Yes,” she whispered. Her breathing came in soft huffs as she thought of what was to come.

  Her room was the first at the top of the steps and had a queen-sized brass bed parallel to the entry. The blankets had been turned down to the foot. A lamp on the bedside table lent a soft, dreamlike glow to the area.

  All three of the men had damp hair from their showers and had only tossed on jeans, leaving their wide chests bare. Their muscled perfection was remarkable in its simplicity. They were built from their daily, hard work not from hours at the gym.

  Sean moved in front of her. His brown eyes, darkened with desire, watched her closely as his hands went to the hem of her shirt. Her teeth sank into her bottom lip. This was it. Slowly, she lifted her arms. Fire laced through her. Touch me, her body screamed. Touch me, touch me. Please touch me.

  “Baby, you’re so beautiful,” Patrick whispered behind her. His palms followed the path of the lifting shirt until he reached the edge of her bra. She groaned as he pushed his hands into the cups of her bra from beneath and curved his fingers around her breasts. “Mmm… So firm,” he commented, giving a soft squeeze to the mounds. He pinched her nipples, his breath brushing across her ear. “I can’t wait to taste these.”

  “Me either,” Sean said. Hooking his fingers in her bra straps, he guided them toward the bed where David waited. Patrick released her, and climbed onto the mattress to half lean-half lay against the headboard. The other two men moved her to recline between his splayed legs, her back to his chest. Immediately, Patrick’s hands returned to her breasts. Sean and David both removed their jeans, revealing thick thighs and mouth-watering cocks that jutted from thatches of dark hair. Sean sat beside her, leaning in to suck one nipple into his mouth through the lacy fabric while David climbed between her legs.