Loving Selene [The Clay Parish Boys 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Layle Black

  Her mother had spoken very little of him, merely saying that she’d loved him very much. Denny demanded that her father’s name never be spoken in his earshot and her mother did one better and just didn’t speak it at all. If the words in the letter were anything to go by Selene’s mother had loved him to an adoring distraction. The barely contained passion seemed to be the complete opposite to the quiet bitter woman Selene had known in her childhood. Only the brief dreamy far away looks in her mother’s eyes from time to time when Selene suspected she thought no one was looking showed a glimpse of the woman she used to be.

  Now hungry to know more Selene reached in the box to pick out another letter at random. This one was written in different handwriting. Perhaps her father’s?

  My Sweet Mignon,

  Your letters drive me crazy and you know it, my wild girl. Thinking of you distracts me like you would not believe. I wish you would come visit me but I know it’s not possible right now. I count the days when I can get my leave to come home, if only just to hold you for one night. Every time I close my eyes I see your naked body with nothing but moonlight covering you. I lay in my bunk and fight not to touch…

  Selene stopped reading, her face flushed with heat. The intimacy of the letter was just as passionate as her mother’s. Raw desire was not something Selene was a complete stranger to, having had a couple of lovers in the course of her life but the depth of passion in the letter subscribed to something more visceral, more needful. The next few letters would be echoes of the first. Words scrawled in scarlet colored thwarted lust and loving endearments. After a while Selene began to feel like she was peeping through the keyhole of her parents’ bedroom but found herself unable to stop reading them.

  As she stood sipping her coffee in the kitchen she was hard pressed not to set everything aside and go pick up another letter. At least she knew without a doubt that her parents loved each other deeply. She also learned that her father was in the military and had been sent away from her mother. It must have been then when he was killed before Selene was born. Even with the few facts she managed to piece together she was still left with more questions about the fate of her parents’ relationship and how the fuck her mother ended up with Denny.

  The ringing of the doorbell interrupted her meandering thoughts on the mystery those letters evoked. Opening the door revealed Jac leaning nonchalantly against the frame. Everything beyond the recognition of him faded to the background when she laid eyes on his muscular formed decked out in a policeman’s uniform. Every inch of his six-foot-three frame was encased in sage green authority to include a gun holster and handcuffs. To top it all off he sported a pair of reflective aviator glasses that did strange things to her pulse rate. Selene had never been one to pant after men in uniform but that was changing quick, fast and in a hurry.

  “Hey there, baby girl.” Did he have to smile with that mouth when he said that? The shiny surface of the glasses forced her to focus on the sensual fullness of his lips as he spoke. The even white teeth sported ever so slightly longer incisors that made her think of nibbling and biting.

  “Um...Hello, Jac. What brings you here?” Great…she sounded like an idiot. Unfortunately playing it cool went right out the window the moment she opened the door.

  “I’d like to say I was in the neighborhood but I’d be lying. I actually wanted to drop these off to you.” Jac pulled a pair of keys out of his pocket.

  “Felicity gave us these when we were doing some work on the house. Remy and I sort of just kept them after she went into the nursing home. We got the house ready for you just in case you came to stay.” Surprise rippled through her. The house being left in a state of welcome had been a godsend and more comforting than she could express. There had even been food in the refrigerator and clean sheets on the bed in the spare room.

  “You two did that? That was…pretty great of you…thank you.” Selene reached forward to take the proffered keys from Jac’s hand. The moment their fingers touched, awareness arched through her like an electric shock. Before she pulled away his hand reached out to wrap around hers in a gentle but solid grasp.

  “Are you all right, Selene? I know Remy and I haven’t been around but we figured you might want a little space to get acclimated.” For a moment words escaped her. The clasp of his hand was both comforting and disconcerting at the same time. She watched as he reached up to pull the glasses from his face, revealing the bluer than blue of his eyes.

  “Damn, baby, don’t look at me like that.” His voice had thickened to a deep rumble that could melt every feminine bone in her body.

  “Look at you like what?” she said, knowing damn well how she must be looking at him. She couldn’t help herself if she tried.

  “Like you want to kiss me as bad as I want to taste that sweet mouth of yours.” Jac pulled her closer as he spoke. Soon she was pressed flush against him. A trembling began in her legs and moved upward to settle between her thighs. His scent wrapped around her and drew her in even closer. The warmth of his breath brushed her face and she had the urge to open her mouth and catch it, taste it even.

  “Fuck this,” he growled, wrapping his arms about her waist and pulling her fully into his arms. His mouth took hers in a savage kiss that left her boneless, just barely able to cling to the muscled hardness of his forearms. She practically purred at the first possessive sweep of his tongue into her mouth. He licked and teased until she whole hearted welcomed him and he wasted no time in tasting, teasing to his fill. She was with him the whole way, meeting his teasing licks with inciting nips of her own. Poking the bear no doubt but in that moment Selene didn’t care. It had been so long since she’d been touched like this, aroused like this. Those damn letters had her thinking about passion and thwarted desire.

  Jac cursed himself all sorts of over eager horny fool but he wasn’t about to let go of the woman in his arms. He hadn’t planned on coming over here for a booty call but the way she looked at him, like she was needing and wanting in a way that he was more than able to handle. He and Remy had purposely put some space between them and Selene, for their sanity more so than hers. He’d told her it was about giving her time to settle her aunt’s affairs but it was also about not acting on their desires when Selene was no doubt dealing with grief and the grim business of closing out what was her aunt’s life. By the fourth day Jac just couldn’t take it anymore. He had to see her despite Remy’s objections. Every good intention he had flew out the window the moment she opened the door. Selene wore a short flowery little sun dress that clung in all the right ways to every one of her beautiful curves.

  The sultry Louisiana air made the gauze of her summer dress act like the most delicate cellophane across the pert nipples of her breasts. How the hell was a man supposed to resist that? The next thing he knew she was in his arms and his tongue was in her mouth tasting heaven. The soft mewling moans emanating from her were like the sweetest aphrodisiac. He let his hands slide along her waist to pull her even closer. Jac wanted nothing more than to pull her to the ground and take this to its natural steamy conclusion. The only thing that could make it impossibly hotter would be the presence of Remy. Their combined desire would send them right up in flames. Just the thought of watching his closest friend give Selene pleasure as Jac watched made his cock strain hard against the zipper of his pants. His hips began to grind against Selene, a growling noise was a deep thrum in his chest as his lust ratcheted up.

  Selene wanted so badly to lift her leg and wind it about Jac’s hips. The urgent thrust of his hardened erection pressed against her belly made her body go liquid. Her own hips moved in tandem with the gentle grind of his and need settled between her thighs with a throbbing ache. Damn he was a good kisser! Jac was playful and teasing one moment, then demanding and possessive the next. Her hands slid along the wall of his hard chest to his waist until her fingers ran into the heavy leather of his gun belt.

  The sudden reminder of where she was jolted her from the sensual dream she was floating in. The mom
ent she started to pull away he released her but the intense gleam in his eyes told her he would gladly finish what they had begun. Selene was right with him on that score but making out with a policeman on the front door step of the house was not how she imagined spending her day. She took another step back, needing the space to process what just happened. Words seemed to escape her and an unfamiliar bout of shyness made it difficult to look him in the eyes.

  “Baby girl? Was that too fast for you?” Selene finally looked up into Jac’s eyes. The sensual lover of a moment ago was replaced by the caring friend she was more familiar with, less dangerous. A slow wicked smile spread across his lips.

  “I didn’t expect to come here and jump right into your pants. This thing between us seems to have a mind of its own.” He gave a husky laugh, his hands resting on his hips giving him a rakish air.

  “Yes…well. I certainly didn’t expect that either. Look…Jac…I…” Jac interrupted before she could finish her sentence.

  “Selene, before you give me the ‘no way in hell we should get involved’ speech, give me the chance to show you differently. I’d like to take you out to dinner tonight. Say I’ll pick you up at eight? “

  Refusal was on the tip of her tongue but a nagging voice in the back of her head asked “what if.” She had to admit to herself that exploring the desire that ignited between them was intensely seductive. If she knew what was good for her she’d say her goodbyes and go back into the house and shut the door. The thing was she should have done that before coming back to Sparks, before reading those damn letters.

  “Sure…I’ll go to dinner.” As soon as she said yes Selene had the feeling she just agreed to something more than dinner.

  Chapter 8

  Remy threw another punch at the exercise bag with such force that the chain it hung from rattled in protest.

  “A date, huh?” He threw another punch, the gratifying pull of the muscles in his arms straining with the excursion.

  “I hope that’s not my face you’re imagining on that punching bag, mon frère.” Jac asked the question with a lilt of soft humor but there was a serious underlay. He’d practically been floating on air when he left Selene, arousal still buzzing through his veins. It had been nearly impossible to concentrate for the rest of the day. Luckily the sleepy town of Clay Parish was not what one would call a hotbed of crime. Besides a few calls on alligators in backyards and a wayward cat in old Mrs. Batry’s tree, the rest of the day was undemanding. The only pall had been the impending conversation he knew was coming with Remy. Now here he stood in Remy’s well-appointed private gym watching the other man beat the shit out of a punching bag.

  “You sure that’s a good idea?” Remy stopped working the bag to grab up the bottle of water he had sitting on a nearby bench. “You know as well as I do this is Pandora’s Box. I want her just as much as you do and I am not going to be able to stay away.”

  “I can handle that, can you?”

  Remy finished the water and tossed the empty bottle in a waste basket. “Don’t try that shit with me, Jac. I want her and you want her too. Lest we forget we’re Clay men and love in threes. Believe it or not, I am more concerned about her than us. Is that being fair to her? Besides the fact Gaston will have a shit fit. I am sure this is not what he intended for her.” Remy grabbed a towel and walked to a nearby bench. Jac watched the slight hitch in his step which meant he’d probably overdone it with his workout.

  “We don’t know that, Remy. I am beginning to suspect he knew exactly what might have happened if Selene hadn’t left.”

  Remy looked at the man who’d been his closest friend through some pretty terrible times. When he’d come back from his stint in the military, Jac was the only one who’d dared approach the evil tempered bastard he’s become and pulled him back to full recovery. He trusted him more than any person in the world but Remy was human and right now he was jealous as hell. Not because he wanted to take Jac’s place with Selene but rather be with them, be a part of that intimacy. He’d long given up on the idea of maintaining a long term relationship one on one with a woman. He was a Clay Parish man through and through. He knew in his heart he would rather be a third in a stable happy relationship than one half of a dysfunctional one.

  “She doesn’t know anything about what you’re into, Jac. What do you think will happen when you tell her?” Remy wasn’t ready to admit the idea of rejection scared him beyond imagining any more than Jac was but this was the reality. Selene grew up in Sparks and if any of the rumors about Clay got around like he suspected they did, rejection would be the least of their concerns.

  “Remy, I am not going to live in fear with her. The attraction is soul deep and I am not going to ignore it. You know as well as I do that you can’t either.”

  “Jac, let’s just say she would enjoy a good ménage. You know I am down for that but forever? You really think she would like to live happily ever after with two husbands?” Jac smiled in his devil may way as he turned to walk toward the door.

  “Why not?”

  * * * *

  Selene sat across the table from Jac asking herself for the hundredth time what the hell she thought she was doing. The moment he’d left the house second thoughts had cycled through her mind. Everything seemed to happen so fast she felt like she was being swept up into a whirlwind where she had no control. Selene never thought of herself as a control freak but now she was beginning to think perhaps she was. All of those nagging voices of doubt seemed to quiet down the moment she opened the door to Jac when he arrived to pick her up. He had looked even sexier than she remembered and her body hummed right along in agreement. He’d traded out his uniform for a snowy white button down shirt and jeans with a dark blue blazer. The low slung snug fit of those jeans should have been illegal along with that wicked smile of his. Even the rakish fall of his short ebony hair that brushed his forehead was incitement to some real bad behavior on her part.

  “I hope this place is okay?” Jac’s question brought her out of her fixation on the silky quality of his hair. Looking into his eyes she smiled, trying not look as distracted as she felt.

  “It’s beautiful, Jac. Thank you for bringing me along. I hear this place is hard to get into at the last minute.” The restaurant was listed as the place to go to when visiting New Orleans in almost every travel mag there was. The place was a romantic’s dream with candlelight flickering at every table and dimmed lighting lending an atmosphere of intimacy. When he’d picked her up she’d been expecting a local eatery in Sparks but after a forty five minute drive they ended up in New Orleans. Soft jazz played in the background and the cool crisp taste of an expensive white wine still dazzled the tip of her tongue.

  “You must have some real connections with the owner.” She figured he must have because with just a flash of smile at the maître d at the front door had them seated at a lace terraced balcony table overlooking a garden courtyard. Jac chuckled, his fingers tracing along the fine weave of the white table cloth of their table. He had such capable looking hands, she mused, capable and nimble. The things he could do with his hands must be …delightful.

  “I actually worked a few years in New Orleans PD right after police academy. The owner of this place got robbed in the alley behind the building and that night I happen to be on patrol. Luckily I was nearby and heard the scuffle before he took a knife to the gut. He always makes room for me when I am in town.” Selene felt a spark of jealousy at the idea of Jac coming into a romantic place like this with another female on his arm. Considering how handsome he was she imagined it probably happened pretty often. She recalled the little tales about Jac and Remy and their “way with the ladies.”

  Suddenly Jac reached across the table to gentle grasp her hand, his fingers running along her sensitive wrist with the same attention to detail that he gave the table cloth.

  “I am not here often and certainly not with a string of dates.” Selene felt herself blush hotly at being busted for being so obvious.

  �
��I wasn’t…I mean…” she stuttered, feeling like a complete novice.

  “Hush, Selene,” he said huskily,” I am just letting you know I am not the player type. I’ve had my share of lovers but never more than one at a time.” The sexual lure of his voice was tinged heavily with that slow seductive Cajun drawl that had her thighs clenching..

  Jac watched Selene, fascinated by the play of emotions across her expressive face. She never could hide what she was feeling and he loved that about her. He was struck anew at how beautiful she was. The candlelight and soft music was the perfect foil to her type of Creole sexiness that made his gut hollow with the need to possess her, utterly.. He’d told her the truth when he talked about how he was able to get into such an exclusive place at a moment’s notice but what he didn’t mention is why he brought her to the restaurant so far from Sparks. The moment he took her into a place in that small town they’d be the talk of the town by the next day. He figured trying to convince her to be open to a relationship with both himself and Remy would never have a chance if the Sparks rumor mill started spreading its venom.

  He and Remy had been no saints when they were teenagers and had discovered the joys of sensual love at a fairly early age. One of their first ménage experiences had happened with a young widow from Sparks when they were seventeen. The woman in question had been amazingly experienced but also a terrible gossip. Their one night of sexual play had turned into an orgy of bacchanalian proportions by the time she was done spreading the word about. That of course did not help the rumors about them in particular and Clay Parish in general. The widow in question had not expected that rumor mill to turn on her but it had with such viciousness she’d ended up having to leave Sparks or be branded a whore. There was no way in hell Jac wanted that same mean spiritedness to touch Selene.

  “What have you been up to, Selene? I know you had your own reasons for staying away but I am curious if you were happy.” For a moment Selene looked surprised at the question, like it never occurred to her if she’d actually been happy.