by Layle Black
“The only girl we’re worried about is you, petit oiseau.” Selene looked down into Remy St Clair’s deeply tanned smiling face and had the incredible urge to slap it. Little bird. He had started calling her the pet name in Creole French since she was nine years old and being that she was the ripe old age of eighteen, the pet name had lost its cute factor years ago. Every girl within a hundred mile radius would give their left leg to be the center of attention of these two males. Not just because they were drop dead gorgeous and considered dangerous to boot. They were Clay Parish men. “Cray Clay” is what the so-called good people of Sparks called the neighboring town. The Parish’s reputation had been the subject of many a sermon at church and was a warning to all the wholesome women of Sparks. Men from Clay never did anything single handedly, but always in twos, at least that was the age old scintillating tales about the place.
The rumor mill in Sparks Parish cranked out all sorts of unseemly tales. Stories like wives with two husbands and epic orgies of Sodom/Gomorrhic proportions. Even her own stepfather had warned Selene off the two boys when they’d first started coming around. Saying they were nothing but trouble and as soon as they had their way she’d be left holding the baby, literally. Selene would have listened if she didn’t hate Denny so much. Remy and Jac were two of the few people who were ever nice to her, besides Aunt Felicity that is.
Selene remembered when she first met them. One day she had been walking along the banks of a stream near the motor park lost in her own grief. Her mother had passed only two months prior and her young heart was still struggling to accept it. Her Aunt Felicity had tried to be there for her but Selene had taken to withdrawing inward, preferring her own company to anyone else’s. While she was sitting there on the bank the thump of something soft hitting the back of her head snapped her out of her solitude. She looked over and saw a red small ball lying in the weeds. The visual shock of the bright vibrant color against the greenish brown bracken of the tall grasses held her mesmerized. She turned around in time to get almost bowled over by a huge soaking wet dog that smelled like it had been playing in the dirtiest swamp water it could find.
“Jubee! Get off!” Selene looked up to see two teen boys running her way. Their tall gangly forms ran toward her on long muscled legs barely covered by worn ripped jeans ending at bare feet.
“Sorry about that. She thinks everybody wants to play with her.” Before long Selene knew both the boys’ names and they spent the next hour talking and playing fetch with the dog. For Selene it had been the best she’d felt in a long time and a welcome distraction.
Jac and Remy had become permanent fixtures in her life from that point on. At first they had been a comfort to a lonely child and eventually an irritation to an older Selene. They became the overbearing older siblings that always seem to be around when she least expected it. Her Aunt Felicity seemed a little reticent when she saw the young men keeping Selene company, merely saying, “I wondered when they’d start come sniffing around you.” Suspicion had clouded the older woman’s eyes but she said nothing more about it. Selene had tried to glean what the older woman had meant but she’d clammed up tighter than a crawfish trap.
Suddenly the ladder Selene was on started to shimmy and she lost her hold on the roof. She barely had time to gasp in horror as she felt herself start to fall through the air. Strangely enough the only thought going through her mind was how the hell was she going to manage a hospital bill. Air left her lungs in a rush when she found herself caught and held again a broad chest. She looked up into a pair of laughing clear green eyes surrounded by a wealth of thick lashes.
“Looks like we finally shook our little bird out of her tree, Jac.” A broad smile spread across Remy’s deeply tanned face, revealing perfect white teeth. The lush thickness of his Cajun accent brushed every word he spoke, becoming stronger with changes in his temperament.
“Check and see if her wing is broken.” This coming from Jac as he playfully tugged on her arm. Shock at the sudden fall was giving way to a full-on fit as Selene started to furiously wiggle her body until Remy finally let her slide to the ground.
“You two chien better clear out of here before Denny gets home. He’ll have a true blue shit fit if he sees you on the property.” Remy chuckled as he reached up and tugged a little stuck twig from Selene’s riot of curls that had escaped from her waist length braid.
“There is nothing Denny would do to us, petit oiseau. He wouldn’t dare. Besides, we’re two dogs he would never mess with.” The gentle Cajun French inflection in his voice sounded almost endearing if not for the derision beneath the surface. For a moment the vivid green of Remy’s eyes turned ice cold. Something vicious and ugly moved behind the verdant pools and for a heartbeat Selene actually felt truly wary of him but the feeling faded with the return of his gentle smile.
“Yes…please let him try.” Jac’s voice had lost its humor as well. His eyes, an azure blue, were completely without warmth at the mention of her stepfather. Jac was the easier going of the two men but at times like this he looked and sounded just as dangerous as Remy. If they had been any other boys from town Selene would have brushed off their dislike of her stepfather as a lot of bluster but with these two…something told her to take them at their word. Cajun blood ran hot in both of them and something told her the steel behind their eyes was forged from something other than bluster.
Shrugging her shoulders dismissively, Selene stepped away from Remy. Tension thickened the air and suddenly it was too hot, her clothes felt too tight and they were standing too close. She’d known them since she had been nine years old and had treated them more like pesky old brothers than anything but suddenly she became self-conscious of her ratty jeans and the hand-me-down t-shirt she wore. She’d never cared what they thought of her before.
As usual her feet were encased in the beat up sneakers she’d picked up from the town thrift store. Unable to stop herself, she reached up and tried smooth back the wild curls of her mahogany hair. Her ears felt hot with shame for looking such a mess and the feeling made her angry. The silent litany played over in her head, “One day I’ll never feel this way and I’ll never come back here.” A slow curious smile spread across Jac’s mouth, a raven eyebrow lifting in that knowing way that made her want to scream…or cry.
“Never mind that wild thatch on your head, baby girl. It’s glorious.” He slowly approached her until he was within a breath’s distance. He seemed to bring all the wild smells of the bayou with him, wafting around her, enfolding her. It struck her how tall he was, taller than Denny by a head and a half but she didn’t feel bullied standing next to him. Remy and Jac’s bodies had both filled out to be tall and muscular. Although she knew they were both twenty-two, they carried themselves with the carriages of men who were much older.
“How about you come for a swim with us? It’s hot as hell and the river is looking damn inviting.”
“There is an idea, petit oiseau. A lazy swim would go a long way on a hot summer day like this.” Remy had moved closer as well, his body standing just to the other side of her. A new kind of tension filled the air, something hot and expectant. Selene licked her lips nervously, suddenly understanding what a deer would feel like, prey.
“I…I should finish clearing that roof. Denny will have a fit if I don’t.” She felt her face flush anew with the nervous words tripping across her lips. Pull it together, girl. It’s just Remy and Jac, the two boys who had gone out of their way to torment her childhood. She kept rolling those words through her mind but somehow she knew they were a lie. Something had changed, all right.
For the first time Selene found herself looking at them, really looking at them. They were… beautiful. Remy St. Clair had the kind of looks that would look perfect on the covers of the romance novels Aunt Felicity liked to read. He was taller than Jac by scant inches and not an ounce of fat on him. He always wore jeans, his shirts always fitting snuggly but suddenly she…noticed. His hair marked him as a true Cajun, dark, thick and curling
madly at the nape of his neck. Her fingers tingled with the urge to slide her fingers through them. She imagined the inky, silk strands would wrap around her fingers all soft and thick. . She knew looking at Jac that she would find the same compelling beauty. Where Remy was taller, Jac’s shoulders were slightly broader but his hair was deep mahogany with startling streaks of red that caught the sunlight, reminding her of a fiery sunset over the bayou. Altogether stunning but blinding if you looked at it for too long.
“We’ll help you clean the roof. Sound fair? Denny will have nothing to complain about.” Jac smiled in his carefree way, already moving toward the ladder. In a moment he was up on the roof of the motor home throwing off the larger chunks of debris.
“You see? All taken care of. Now why don’t you find a swimming suit and we can get ourselves down to that cool river bend.” Remy smiled in a devilish way that made her heart flutter. The last people she should be in a river with were these two. Only just yesterday an old high school friend, Madeleine Trudeau, told Selene about Remy and Jac’s tendencies toward older married ladies. The other girl had snickered and blushed like a school girl, envy shining in her eyes. Unreasonable jealousy had piqued Selene’s temper, not because Madeleine had been gossiping but because there had been something knowing in her eyes, like she’d already experienced Jac and Remy for herself. Madeleine had accompanied her tidbit of gossip with a sly little warning. “You’d be wise to stay clear of those Clay men, Selene. Their ideas about love aren’t the permanent kind. Besides you wouldn’t want to get a reputation like your mamma, now would you?” Luckily for Madeleine they had been standing on the main street of town or Selene would have laid the bitch out flat for that comment. One thing was for certain, she’d figured then and there. The stigma of being a half way there orphan and a couple of boys from Clay Parish shared one thing in common. The bullshit judgment of others. Selene felt a light touch on her arm and looked up into the hypnotic green of Remy’s eyes. The challenge there dared everything and demanded nothing.
“You coming, petit oiseau?”
Selene watched Jac climb down from the trailer’s roof, an expectant look on his face as if he knew what her answer was going to be before she said anything. Damn, she hated when he did that. She cast a look between them before walking back to the home, her answering care free look of “fuck it” on her face.
“Yes, I am coming.” She hoped she sounded confident, daring and real grown up but as she reached out to for the door handle the tremor of her fingers was obvious. She felt like she was already standing in water and it was way over her head.
Chapter 2
“We should be landing soon, Selene.” A gentle nudge to Selene’s shoulder brought her to full wakefulness and the stark reality of the present. For a terrifying moment she didn’t remember where she was but one look at Rafael’s dark somber gaze was all the reminder she needed. She’d been so lost in memory she hadn’t even realized the plane had begun to bank toward the New Orleans airport. The sudden drop in altitude made her insides lurch sickeningly and she quickly grabbed for a glass of cool water to settle her stomach.
“As soon as we land we’ll head straight for the hotel and get you settled.” Selene tried to muster a smile of thanks but a slight acknowledging nod was all she could manage. Within hours she would be back in Sparks Parish. Her stomach did another nauseating roll that had nothing to do with the altitude of the plane. The anxious feeling remained with her even when she and Rafael disembarked from the plane onto the tarmac. The sultry thick air enveloped her as soon as she stepped out of the hatch and instantly her body felt stickily uncomfortable. Luckily a long black gleaming limousine already awaited her at the bottom of the stairs and she breathed a grateful sigh of relief when she slid into the cool interior.
“First thing is food and bed, young lady.” Rafael smiled in his trademark rakish way that set many hearts aflutter, but his attempt at keeping things light failed. Of course Rafael would have had everything waiting for them upon their arrival. She was thankful it was night as they sped through the darkened streets of New Orleans to the hotel. She didn’t think she would have been able to handle the reality of coming back under the sweltering summer sun.
The hotel was all Selene expected, elegant, tasteful and pricey as hell. Rafael never got anything less than the best money could offer. She would have expected nothing less because Rafael expected nothing less. All that chicness was lost on her as she was shown to her suite with bags in tow. Rafael had walked her to the door and stood by quietly as she stepped inside but he did not follow her.
“I am in the suite right next door, Selene. I’ve already arranged for room service to bring you a light dinner. If you need anything else…anything at all. Call me or come to me.” This should have been the part where she wanted, needed him to take her into his arms but there was nothing but exhaustion on her mind. Judging from the measuring look in his dark gaze, the lack of interest was wholly on her part. How she wished she wanted him that way. The comforting heat of another human body against hers would have been a welcome distraction from the dark thoughts circling her brain.
She pasted a smile on her face even though she knew damn well Rafael saw right through it. He nodded silently and turned to walk further down the hall toward his own room. Closing the door, Selene leaned against it with a sigh of pure exhaustion. She needed a shower but couldn’t seem to muster up the energy to strip down and walk the short distance to the bathroom. The bed was so much more inviting and far closer. She peeled off her jacket and kicked off her shoes as she walked to the four poster bed at the center of the room. Not even bothering to pull back the thick down cover as she collapsed onto the thick softness. The deafening silence of the room lulled her into a twilight sleep.
A discreet knock on the door roused her and she stumbled to answer it. Opening the door she saw a young man dressed in a neat uniform with the hotel logo emblazoned across the shoulder. With neat economical moves he placed her dinner dishes and left the room quietly with a politely vacant smile. Lifting one of several metal domes she saw soup, sandwiches and a slice of sweet potato pie. Selene smiled tremulously at the sight of the dessert. Rafael knew she had a weakness for the sweet custard pie. Aunt Felicity had made the best sweet potato pie in Sparks Parish.
Just that quickly Selene was in tears. Her vision blurred as she stumbled to the bed and fell on the mattress, her body rocked with sobs. Selene let out the grief that had been building for the last few days. She wrapped her arms around herself as if to keep herself from flying apart.
When the storm finally subsided her gaze flickered to the telephone beside the bed. All it would take was picking up the receiver, dialing Rafael’s room and three simple words. I need you. He would be here in moments and she would be in his arms in seconds. Then their friendship would be forever changed and she’d regret forcing something that never should have happened. Closing her eyes, Selene fell back against the bed, memories of other arms, other regrets so many years ago.
* * * *
Selene lay on the wooden dock watching Remy and Jac swim laps back and forth across the lazy river. As much as she hated to admit it, coming to the river had been a great idea. No doubt Denny was home and wondering where she was but right now she just didn’t care. The days of living in fear of her stepfather’s moods had stopped when she’d finally lost her cool and pulled a knife on him when she was fifteen. Ironically enough it had been a knife that Remy had given her on her thirteenth birthday. Denny had backed her against a wall, looking as if he was going to hit her for real this time instead of his usual threats. Before she knew it, the blade was in her hand and pointed directly at the front of Denny’s pants. She didn’t have to say a word. Understanding dawned between them like a sunrise. If he came at her again that knife was going into Denny. He’d sneered and gone back to drinking his beer and cursing the day she was born but he’d never tried to lay a hand on her again. Now he just used threats to vent his anger. Selene grimaced. She supposed s
he could live with that but not for much longer. What Denny didn’t know was that she got a scholarship from a college on the west coast and as soon as the summer was over she was leaving and not looking back. She’d spent enough nights curled up on her aunt’s porch to realize that her life was never going to change unless she changed it. Leaving was the key to a safe secure life that did not require second hand furniture and food stamps.
A loud guffaw of laughter brought her attention back to the two men in the river bend. Serious swimming had given way to playful attempts to drown each other. Smiling, she watched them, a sudden startling thought occurred to her. She would miss Remy and Jac. Truly miss them. Like Aunt Felicity, they had looked out for her and for a lonely motherless girl that had meant the world. Even though she’d hated it most of the time and was irritated with them all of the time. She’d always thought of them as older brothers but something had changed and she still wasn’t sure what to make of it. The faint tingle of awareness still resonated across her skin, making her feel over heated and achy between her thighs. That moment at the trailer she had been surrounded by them, the heat from their bodies radiating into hers. She could smell them, like warmed sandalwood and fresh air all at once. She imagined she could taste them on her tongue with each inhalation, leaving her hungry for more.
Strange how she’d always associated men with stale beer and sweat stained shirts. Jac and Remy were so different. The spark of awareness that had assailed her was like nothing she’d ever experienced before. She’d never been so wary…of them or herself. No more than two nights ago she’d lain in her bed, her mind wandering aimlessly until thoughts of them filtered through her consciousness. Then she began to wonder. Wonder how it felt to kiss them, have them kiss her. Touch her. Lurid thoughts cascaded through her mind with a speed that made her blink until her thighs squeezed together to quell the growing ache. Her hands slid down over her belly and her thighs, stopping just short of touching herself. It’s not like she could help herself, Selene thought grumpily. Thoughts like those crept into her mind unbidden.
