by Lexi Blake
Adam thrust in and pulled out, setting a rhythm that had her breathless. They were right about the plug. It tightened her and made her aware of every inch of his cock as he thrust in.
Jake’s hand snaked down between them. “Let go, baby. Let go. We’ll be right here to catch you.”
His fingers found her clit, and he pressed down, making circles in time to Adam’s thrusts. All the while he whispered how beautiful she was. He kissed her cheeks and her hair, telling her he couldn’t wait to be the man fucking her.
The whole world melted away. Nothing else mattered but this. Her trouble seemed so far from her now. There was only this moment and these men.
Adam thrust up, hitting that magic place deep inside her just as Jake pinched her clit, and it sent her over the edge. Serena went wild, pressing up, trying to milk every minute she could. She pushed up and then back, pretending it was Jake inside her, that they were both balls-deep within her body.
Adam stiffened above her, grinding down and giving her his orgasm.
They all fell together in a delicious heap of arms and legs and sweet sweat that bound them together.
“I’m right where I want to be,” Adam whispered, his cock still inside her. “Finally.”
Jake buried his face in her neck, inhaling her scent. “He’s right where I want to be. And he better vacate my spot because it’s my turn, baby. You wanted a ménage? Oh, we can give you one. We can give it to you all night long.”
Serena let her fears go for a little while and settled in for a long night.
Chapter Twenty
Adam thought about killing the man in the doorway. He could do it remotely. The asshole was just standing there, ringing the doorbell. It would be a simple thing to grab a rifle and snipe the fucker from the second floor.
Unfortunately, Liam was there with Grace and Sean, and Sean would throw a fit if Liam managed to bleed on Grace.
Tranquilizer dart. He might have some somewhere. Liam wouldn’t bleed, but he would die if Adam got three or four of the suckers in him. Yeah. That was a plan.
“You going to let them in?” Jake asked, looking at the security screen.
“I was thinking about killing Li.” Jake would probably help.
Jake huffed out a laugh and hit the button that opened the door. “Kill him inside, please. And don’t let Grace see you.” Jake slapped him on the back before starting down the hall. “You know we probably wouldn’t have ended up in bed with Serena without Liam’s help.”
A fat lot of good that had done them. Serena was sleeping with them, but they weren’t any closer to getting a commitment out of her. Any time he would ask, she got that blank look on her face and would mumble something about staying in the now. The now was precarious and kind of sucky. He wanted a goddamn future. He was starting to worry that Serena didn’t share his plans.
“She’ll come around.” Jake was suddenly the optimistic one.
He could hear Liam talking to Sean as they gathered in the front room. Adam kept his voice low. The last thing he wanted was Liam to hear they were still at odds with their woman. The Irish fucker might decide to help out again, and then Adam would be forced to cut off his so-called friend’s junk. “How can you be sure?”
“Because she stopped asking about a contract.” Jake gave him a little nod. “I made the mistake of being impatient the other night. I’m still on the edge. I’m deeply aware that she could walk out any minute and we might never see her again, but she’s still here, and as long as we’re in her bed, we have a shot. And something else hit me. She’s writing again.”
She was still in front of her computer for eight to ten hours a day, but at least she was typing something now. She’d rewritten one of the love scenes of her latest ménage romance. She’d included the word sore at least ten times.
“And she’s complaining again,” Adam admitted. He couldn’t stop his grin. “She was mad about the plug, man.”
They had spent the last week settling into a quiet routine. Serena worked. Adam did research on his computer, and Jake punched stuff. Mostly the bag in the workout room. Jake also forced Serena to go on daily walks with Mojo, both he and Adam at her side. Jake had also started training Serena, though not in the way Adam knew he would have preferred. Jake was training her in self-defense, teaching her how to take care of herself. At night, they would eat dinner together and watch a movie or some television, and then they would go to bed, spending hours on filthy, nasty, beautiful sex.
Adam had watched Jake and Serena going over basic self-defense moves the day before. It had struck him that Jake was teaching her so she could defend herself in case they weren’t around. He hated the thought, but he had to face the possibility because even with the sex, no one talked about the future except one small event. Serena had been taking a bigger plug every day, stretching her ass to accept anal sex. And she was complaining mightily.
“She said it was an elephant plug. I had to spank her to get her to take it,” Adam said.
A broad smile crossed Jake’s face. “She likes the spanking. She mouthed off to me three times yesterday so I would spank her. And the fact that she’s making jokes again gives me a little hope. The old Serena is in there. We just have to pray we’re still close when she comes roaring back to life.”
That was the problem. Adam wasn’t sure they could keep the relationship going once Serena didn’t need their services any longer. And sooner or later they would catch this guy and have to deal with a world where they weren’t on top of her twenty-four seven.
“Are we getting ready to go?” Serena asked, coming up behind them. She was wearing the dress he’d picked for her, a lovely blue and green wrap dress that hugged her curves and showed off her breasts. It was beautiful, but professional. And her legs looked amazing in the four-and-a-half-inch Louboutin heels. He’d seen her last night in those fuck-me heels and nothing else.
“Shouldn’t you wear a sweater or something?” Jake asked. The caveman didn’t seem to appreciate Adam’s eye for dressing their gorgeous girl. Jake’s eyes fastened on her chest. “Maybe a turtleneck?”
A slow smile spread across Serena’s face. “You like?”
“He’s worried everyone will like, love.” Adam winked down at her. There was no way he would put her in a turtleneck. “But what he forgets is we have guns. You can look as beautiful as you like. Let everyone look. We’ll just shoot the first guy who touches. And the second. And so on.” He took her hand and led her into the living room where Liam, Sean, and Grace had gathered. “And there’s the first one I’ll kill.”
Liam rolled his eyes. “Are we still on that mess, now?”
Sean grinned. “Ah, karma. I love karma.”
“I didn’t kiss Grace.” Adam grimaced. “Well, not much anyway.”
Serena sent him a dirty look. Jake put an arm around her waist.
“I never kissed Grace.” Yep, Jake seemed proud of himself.
Luckily, they had a job to do. “Serena, if you don’t mind keeping Grace and Sean company, we need to talk to Liam before we head out.”
Suspicious eyes stared back at him. “Don’t you mean you need to decide if we’re going at all?”
Jake kissed her forehead and backed away. “Yep. That’s what we mean.”
He walked into the kitchen without another word. Adam followed. He rather hoped Liam’s report on the security details for the event would cause them to call the whole thing off. He knew Serena wanted to do the signing. He’d helped plan the event, but now that he was actually facing the fact that she would be out in public, he was a little nervous.
Sean followed right behind Liam. “You guys are not leaving me out there. They’re going to talk books and sex. And the books are about sex. Who knew women were so damn chatty about sex? Men don’t do that. We just look at a girl, announce we did her, and everyone moves on.”
Yeah, it was simpler that way.
Liam shook his head. “You’re all full of bullshit. In the last couple of months, I’v
Sean didn’t seem to take offense. “Nope. We’re all pussy whipped. I like being pussy whipped. It means that pussy belongs to me. You’ve just spent too much time around college girls in hot pants looking for tips.”
“I like hot pants. No one used to wear hot pants back in Ireland.” He sighed as though thinking of something lovely, probably whatever nineteen-year-old he’d done the previous night. “More women should wear them.”
“Dude, if you’re thinking about Eve in short shorts right now, stop it. You cannot go there. Alex will kill you. He won’t do it fair. He’ll wait until you’ve forgotten all about him and then stab your ass in a back alley one night,” Jake said.
“I’ll have to stay out of alleys then, won’t I?” Liam asked, his back coming up. And then he sighed. “I’m not sleeping with Eve. I’m just spending time with her. It’s innocent.”
But almost nothing was innocent when it came to Liam and women. “You’re playing a dangerous game, man.”
“I’m not playing at all. And fuck you, you’re trying to pull me into vagina talk. I won’t do it. I don’t have feelings. None at all. And I’m keeping it that way.” He frowned and sat on one of the barstools. “Now, on to actual business. I checked out the security for the toy store. First off, have I mentioned how much I fucking love America? That place is amazing. It’s like a grocery store except with porn. You can get anything there. I was eyeing a very nice flogger. I met this sub the other night at Hooters…”
“You’re talking about feelings again,” Adam pointed out, deeply wanting to avoid listening in on Liam’s sex life.
“No, I’m talking about being horny. That ain’t a feeling. It’s a simple state of being.”
“It’s his usual state of being,” Sean supplied helpfully.
“Like I was saying, it’s not so bad. There’s two points of entry, both guarded with alarms and cameras. No windows. It really is a box, though a nicely decorated one. The main floor has fairly clean lines of sight. I advised the owner to place the table where she’ll be signing those books in the back, so she’s got a wall behind her. As for the cocktail party, as long as we’re in the same room, we should be fine. We can use metal detectors. The owner sells impact toys. No knives. I’ve already talked to the police, and they’re sending the two detectives and a female plainclothes who’ll join the party. I think your girl’s little party is a go.”
Not what he’d wanted to hear, but at least Liam was thorough. Adam slid a look Sean’s way. “And you’re letting Grace come?”
“She wouldn’t miss it. She loves Amber Rose. She thinks those books brought us together. I would say they probably helped.” Sean sighed and opened his coat, showing off a shiny SIG Sauer. “I’m coming out of retirement for the day. This woman means a lot to my wife. I won’t let some shitbag hurt her. And I think she means something to my friends.”
Jake nodded somberly. “She does. She means the world to us. We just have to convince her of it.”
“I think Grace might be helping out with that even as we speak,” Sean replied.
Liam let his head hit the bar. “You’re back on feelings again. Can someone shoot me?”
Adam laughed. This was way better than shooting Liam. Torture. The Irishman deserved it. Well, just a little. He looked at Sean Taggart, his commanding officer in the Army, his friend and mentor, the man who seemed to be forgiving him. “Thanks for coming along, Sean. We would love to have the help.”
“Feelings make me vomit.” Liam’s head came up. “Do we have time for a beer?”
“No drinking before work,” Jake announced.
Liam frowned. “But I’m on e-mail duty. I get to sit here and read four hundred and fifty of Doyle Brooks’ boring rants against undergrads and all the people who don’t appreciate his genius. God, just let me kill the pretentious fucker.”
They had been going through every bit of information Adam had managed to hack from Professor Brooks’ computers and the computers from the Anderson Agency. They had all been taking turns going through them and all the information they had been able to find out on the two detectives.
Jake shook his head. “No beer. No killing Brooks until we get some shit on him. Now, let’s get ready. We leave in twenty minutes.”
Adam was going to count the minutes until they could snuggle down beside Serena, and she would be safe and sound again.
* * * *
“Are you sure you don’t mind?” Grace Taggart asked.
Serena had to smile as she took the books from Grace. She might be a little jealous of the lovely woman since it seemed Adam had previously had a thing for her, but she was so sweet it was impossible to hate Grace. And she was a fan. That made up for a lot of ill will in Serena’s mind. They were all there. All the Texas Sweetheart books and Three Riders, One Love and the rest of that series. Yes, Grace Taggart was definitely a fan.
“Most people just buy the e-books,” Serena said, sitting down on the couch as Grace handed her a pen. She opened the first book. Small Town Sweetheart. She’d labored over that book. She’d put so much of herself into it.
“I got through many lonely nights because of those books. I guess I would really like to thank you for that.”
Tears pricked at Serena’s eyes, and she had to fight to maintain a modicum of professionalism. She hadn’t started writing thinking she would find people like Grace. She’d started writing because it filled a void in her life. It was one of the universe’s great miracles that her work had managed to fill the void in someone else’s life. “Thanks. That means a lot to me.”
“So you can’t let some jerk scare you out of writing.”
She signed her name with a flourish. Well, she signed her fake name with a flourish. Sometimes she wondered who was more real—Serena Brooks or Amber Rose? Last night, Serena had been the real one. Serena had been the one locked in Jake’s and Adam’s arms. “I won’t. I’m not even going to let him scare me out of going to the signing.”
Grace smiled and then took a long breath. “And you also shouldn’t let some jerk scare you out of having a great life with two amazing men.”
The conversation had taken a turn for the deeply personal. It seemed her men liked to talk. “Well, I guess you know Adam, Jake, and I have been having a little fun.”
“No. I know Adam and Jake are falling in love with you.”
What the hell was she supposed to say to that? “I wouldn’t say it’s that serious. We haven’t talked anything long term. It’s just a little fling.”
The sympathy that hit Grace Taggart’s hazel eyes made Serena want to flinch. “Oh, sweetie, some man did a number on you, didn’t he? You’re divorced?”
“Happily,” she forced herself to say. She hadn’t really loved Doyle. She’d thought she was in love, but she’d been too young.
“Honey, no one is happy to get divorced. Not really. The marriage might have been hell, but almost everyone mourns at least the loss of the possibility it represented.”
She’d been barely nineteen and the possibilities had been a whole wide future. “Well, I only know that the reality was a man who threatened to walk out on me any time something went wrong. The whole marriage was one long fight where I had to give in to him or lose the relationship. I finally found something I wanted more than that marriage. I found writing. I don’t think I’ll ever get married again.”
It was easier this way. She could just live for the moment and know that it could all end tomorrow. It was the truth. Nothing was certain, so why should she pretend it was?
“My husband died. I was pretty sure I wouldn’t marry again.”
“But you had a happy marriage?” There was a huge difference there. Grace’s husband hadn’t meant to leave her.
“For the most part. There were whole parts of myself I shut off because I didn’t think my husband could handle it. And then I found Sean. I’m too old to start over. I told myself that like a hundred times. But it doesn’t work that way, at least it doesn’t have to. I’m forty-one. I should be a grandmother, but here I am having another baby, and I think this one is going to keep me young, like Sean does. I thought that loving Sean would be the stupidest thing I could possibly do, but it turns out to be the joy of my life.”
“That’s wonderful, Grace.” It was a lovely story. It just didn’t have anything to do with her.
“Why won’t you give them a chance?” Grace sat back, her hand on her round belly. “Tell me if I’m intruding.”
“You’re intruding.”
A slow smile slid across her face. “I might be now, but if you let yourself, we would be such good friends. So I’m going to claim pregnant-lady rights and plow through anyway. I’m going to say a few things because I love Adam and Jake and because I love you, too.”
Serena shook her head. “You don’t know me.”
“Oh, but I do. You’ve been a voice in my head for the last few years. It’s like that with some authors. When I was really lonely, I had your characters. And I learned a lot from them and the woman who wrote them.” Grace put her hand on the stack of books that represented Serena’s life work. “This woman is strong. This woman doesn’t let the past rob her of a future. This woman reaches out with both hands and grabs what she deserves. This woman knows how to love and how to fight. I pray for my friends that this woman isn’t a work of fiction.”
Serena stared at her books, her life’s passion. But what did her life mean if all her passion was spent on words? Her marriage had been a failure. Did that mean she should be alone for the rest of her life or simply exist in the moment because future hurts were too much to contemplate?
“Serena? Are you ready?” Jake stood in the doorway looking handsome in a dark suit and tie, the jacket of the suit in his hand. He had a leather shoulder holster on, his gun in plain sight, reminding her that she needed a bodyguard.
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