by Laina Kenney
The other men immediately started to plan.
Avelyn stared at her uncle, uncomprehending.
“What?” she tried to say, but no sound came out. She had run halfway around the world to get to Uncle Conn. If she wasn’t safe with him, then she wasn’t safe anywhere.
“She’ll be staying at the old ranch with us,” Locke said, and the other men fell silent. “Zane is still working the ranch, Michael and Roman are back from Afghanistan, and a couple of the hands were army men. My brothers and I will make sure she’s safe every minute, and no one would ever know to look for her there.”
Avelyn could feel her life spinning out of control. It was one thing for her to fantasize about spending some quality time with two sexy brothers, but it was quite another to have those men forced to be with her day and night. And to have them put their family members in danger so that she could be safe was altogether too much to ask.
“No,” she said, “I won’t have it.”
“Avelyn,” Locke began, but she talked over him.
“No. Helping me could put your family in danger. You have to think about that.”
The men looked startled.
“Uh, Avelyn, my brothers live for bar fights,” Sam said. “We’re all crack shots, and three of the five of us have been in the army long-term. Locke wasn’t in the army, but he’s plain crazy. If danger actually did follow you out to the ranch, my brothers might even get down on bended knee and thank you for bringing a little excitement to the old place.”
Avelyn was shaking her head, but the men in the room were nodding and seemed amused.
Even Uncle Conn laughed.
“Good plan,” Conn said, and Avelyn was shocked.
He seemed to read the look on her face, and his face sobered.
“Well, Pixie, you’ll have to admit, five young guards would be better than one broken old soldier.” Conn gestured to his leg, and she remembered that he had been limping in the hall. “And it would give my team a chance to concentrate on catching the bastard before he does any serious damage.”
Avelyn nodded slowly. It did make sense, and she needed help, but she still didn’t like being an obligation to Locke and Sam.
“But we’ll have to be watchful,” Conn continued in a harder tone. “Billy was a detonation artist for the IRA in his time. I’m sure he can still set a precision charge and take out whatever target he sets his eye on.”
That comment started Dash and Grange talking again, and Conn leaned across Avelyn to pin Locke with hard eyes.
“Take care of my girl, Locke. Make sure she’s safe and happy. If you do, I’ll owe you.” His voice turned cold, with a strong Irish brogue. “If you don’t, I’ll make your life a miserable hell until you wish you were dead.”
Avelyn was shocked, but Locke nodded once. He seemed to take the warning as a given.
“Yes, sir,” was all he said.
Conn clapped him on the shoulder and kissed Avelyn on the cheek. Then Grange spoke to him, and he turned away to join in the planning. He hardly seemed to notice when Avelyn got up and walked out of the room.
Sam and Locke followed right behind.
“We’ll leave now if that’s all right with you,” Locke said.
Avelyn shrugged. She hated it, but she didn’t see another choice at the moment. She was smart enough to know that she couldn’t escape a dedicated criminal for very long on her own, and Uncle Conn trusted these men to see to her protection.
The situation rankled because she was so attracted to them, and this would put her in the same category as any other duty they had no choice but to see through to the finish. She would never really know where she stood with them now because she had just become a new work assignment instead of a new lover.
Chapter 7
The old ranch house west of San Antonio was a two storey with white board siding and a wide front porch complete with chairs, a stack of stools in the corner, and a couple of overturned orange crates that were being used as tables. Two large oak trees shaded one side of the house and porch and supported a hammock between them.
Sam noticed where Avelyn was looking.
“My dad called those two oak trees the Old Ladies,” Sam said fondly. “He strung the hammock up for Mom, but she rarely used it except sometimes in the evening. With five of us, there was always at least one boy in it.”
“And it was mostly you,” Locke said as he passed them with Avelyn’s bag in his hand.
Avelyn smiled at Sam’s expression.
“Yeah, I guess it was,” he admitted with an endearing grin.
“Your poor mother.” Avelyn laughed.
“My dad said that all the time.”
Avelyn couldn’t restrain an answering smile even as she shook her head. Really, the man was too charming for his own good.
“Come in out of the heat and have some sweet tea,” Locke said from the porch, and Avelyn followed gratefully.
“We’ll fire up the barbeque and get some food into you before night falls,” Sam promised. “Nothing fancy, steak and baked potatoes, but it’s good and filling.”
Within moments, Avelyn was sitting at the kitchen table with a cold glass of tea while the two men worked at the grill just out back.
Avelyn rose and explored some of the drawers, looking for cutlery. At the very least, she could set the table.
When the men came in with their loaded trays, the table was set and there was a tray of sliced tomatoes and sweet peppers to accompany the meat and potatoes.
“I couldn’t find much in the refrigerator,” Avelyn said, “so I picked some veggies from your side garden.”
“Yeah, I keep Mom’s garden going, but grocery shopping is a priority,” Sam agreed.
“Hold up. You don’t leave the house without one of us beside you,” Locke said in a serious tone. “You’re being guarded for a reason, and you’re smart enough to know that. It’s time to act smart, too.”
“The table looks good. Thank you,” Sam said.
Avelyn smiled at his blatant attempt to ease the sudden tension.
“Sam, don’t do that. Don’t ignore the danger and don’t make light of it,” Locke said. He set the platters of food on the counter and turned to Avelyn.
“Avelyn, don’t let the peace of this old house fool you into relaxing. Fear is a very sensible reaction. You know there’s danger, and you need to act like it. Your knowledge of that threat gave you the adrenaline rush to help escape a bad situation. The danger was far away for a short time, but now he’s in the U.S., and we have to assume he’s getting closer to you every minute. We don’t even know why this guy is following you or what his intentions are.”
Sam stepped up until the brothers were almost nose to nose.
“You’re being hard on her. We want her to relax,” Sam said. “That’s the whole point of coming way out here.”
“No, it isn’t. The point is to keep her alive and safe,” Locke said between his teeth. His face was set, his jaw hard.
“She was cold and shaking when she got off that plane. She was scared out of her mind.”
“And it fucking kept her alive to get to us,” Locke thundered.
“I’m here in this room if you want to talk to me instead of about me,” Avelyn interrupted in a loud voice before one of the brothers lost it and they came to blows.
“And I am smart enough to listen to your rules, Locke. But you have to tell me up front what those rules are because I’ve never done this before. I’m a Theatre major, not a security expert.”
Avelyn rested one hand on Locke’s arm and took Sam’s hand with the other. The men were focused entirely on her, and though she didn’t like the circumstances, she liked their attention.
“Tell me in clear terms what you expect of me. And you need to understand that what seems normal to a trained security man might not even enter my mind if it hasn’t been mentioned. As long as it has to do with security issues and it makes sense, I’m content to let you take the lead.”
&nbs
p; She wanted to make it plain to him that she wasn’t going to deliberately disobey his safety rules. She had run through the darkness and the cold Dublin rain alone, trying not to sob in fear. She understood the risks she faced better than anyone.
Locke nodded once.
“No problem. I can be clear. You need to stay alert. Be with one of us at all times. No exceptions, no side trips. We’re here to protect you, and we can’t do that if we don’t know where the hell you are.”
“I was right outside the house gathering tomatoes,” Avelyn said, and Locke frowned. “But I’ll respect your rules now that I know them,” she finished quickly.
“Thank you for being so reasonable,” Sam said.
His pointed tone implied that he didn’t think his brother was being as reasonable, but Avelyn understood Locke’s position. She knew it was necessary. She just didn’t like it.
The men shared a hard glare but made no further comment.
She wanted to roll her eyes at how quickly Locke settled when he knew he would get his way this time. Maybe in some ways the men in Texas weren’t so different from the men in Ireland.
Sam held out her chair, Locke heaped the food on their plates, and they sat down to eat.
Despite the huge helping Locke had given her, Avelyn cleaned her plate in record time. Sam offered her a bowl of ice cream for dessert, but she waved him off. She loved chocolate ice cream, but her stomach was full.
After the simple meal, Avelyn started to clear the table, and Sam went out to clean the grill.
Locke caught her hand as she passed and brought it to his lips. The heat of his mouth lingered at her palm, and a tingling sensation rushed up her arm. She shivered. His tongue darted out to flicker on her skin. Her nipples hardened in a frantic rush and pressed against the silk of her new bra.
His eyes left hers and lowered to rest on her breasts. She could feel the warmth of his stare. Avelyn swayed, and he pulled her to him and slowly raised her T-shirt to reveal the peach bra he had purchased for her.
When their eyes met, she couldn’t get a breath of air.
Slowly, holding her with the power of his gaze, he opened his lips over her nipple, sucking it into his mouth within its covering of silk. He explored the soft contours with tongue and careful teeth. When he sucked strongly, the rhythmic surges of sensation weakened her knees, and she fell into his lap.
“Sweetest damn thing I ever tasted,” he said.
He removed her T-shirt and bra and played with her breasts. He spent time fondling them with his hands, pushing the nipples up to his busy mouth. He moved from one to the other and back again until her hips were rocking helplessly against his hard thighs.
“Well, what have we here?” Sam asked from the doorway.
“Dessert,” Locke rasped, and Avelyn moaned.
Locke rose to his feet with Avelyn clasped to him.
“Sam, the table,” he said.
Sam swore, and there was a clinking of plates and glasses.
Locke laid Avelyn down across the table and stripped her skinny jeans off with one sweep of his hands.
She tried to close her legs, but he wedged his big body between them and rested one hand on her feminine mound. The heat of him burned her through the thin silk. He pulled up a chair and sat, putting his face on a level with her creaming pussy.
Sam was standing by the side of the table, zipper open, stroking his hard cock with a slow hand. His face was rapt, his eyes fixed on her exposed flesh.
“Oh, no, Locke,” she said shakily.
“Oh, hell yes, darlin’.”
Locke held her trembling thighs apart and slid his tongue under the edge of the damp silk, tickling her soft folds until she gasped. He licked and nibbled with maddening tenderness, drawing her pussy lips into his mouth again and again until she was pushing her hips against his mouth. Finally, he pulled her tiny panties off and tossed them over his shoulder with a wicked grin.
He didn’t even look back to see where they landed.
She moaned, and her head fell back against the table.
Locke lowered his head and settled in to torture her in earnest. He flicked his tongue-tip over her swollen clit, setting a swift tempo. He ran his stiffened tongue down her slit, dipping and swirling, drawing her cream into his mouth.
“Mmm,” he hummed against her soaked flesh, and the vibrations drove her to an incredible, frantic high.
Two large fingers slipped inside her and pressed upward in long strokes until she was grinding against his face and hands.
“That’s it, honey. Ride me. Ride my face.” His voice was deep and slow. “Spread your honey all over my face.”
Avelyn groaned at the sparkling arousal his words provoked. Her hips lifted and fell. She couldn’t help but obey.
He kept up the relentless torment until the first orgasm boiled up from her core in strong spasms to pull a mindless, gasping cry from her.
Locke didn’t stop but nuzzled and licked her sensitive bud until she rose again higher and faster than before.
Avelyn didn’t recognize the sounds she made under his hands and mouth. She was no longer a thinking person but a creature of fire and hunger, demanding and receiving pleasure.
And all the while Sam watched them, pumping his cock until the wide red crown was weeping and wet.
When Locke finally pulled back from her after her second luscious climax, her moisture coated his lips and face. His grin was as wide as Texas.
Avelyn saw, but she didn’t have the strength left to be embarrassed. It was more than obvious that Locke had enjoyed himself as well.
She looked over at Sam. He was naked in the kitchen. The hard planes of his cheeks were flushed, his blue eyes glittered, and one hand was rubbing his stiff cock.
Locke’s fingers were still caressing her intimately as she beckoned Sam over. Sam’s eyes widened.
“Please, Sam,” was all she had time to say before he was at her side.
Sam’s cock jumped once when she reached out for it and again as her fingers closed around it in a firm but gentle hold. She used it like a leash to pull him closer until she could lick the bead of pre-cum from his swollen tip. Her mouth watered at the taste of him on her tongue.
Sam groaned, low and tormented, when she licked her lips, then cursed when she fitted her mouth around the crown and sucked him in.
Locke had his thick cock right up at her gate, pressing just enough to tantalize. She wriggled down further toward him, but he controlled her unruly movements and continued to press gently, refusing to allow her to lure him inside.
He rubbed the big head in circles around her saturated entry until she pulled Sam’s cock from her lips with a loud pop and demanded, “Locke, don’t tease.”
When she ran her tongue around the rim of Sam’s helmet and down the long shaft, Sam grimaced.
She mouthed the velvety head then licked him like a lollipop, glancing up at Locke out of the corner of her eye.
Locke’s muscles jerked. He grasped her hips and pressed the broad crest just inside her entrance. She gasped, and her body welcomed him with a gush of cream. Sweat popped out on his brow.
She bounced against him when he stopped there, a wordless request. She wanted more. Locke’s shoulders tensed, and he pushed in a little further, but it wasn’t enough.
“Now, now,” Avelyn said and pulled Sam’s cock back into her mouth.
Locke leaned forward, bracing one hand on the table by her head. His muscular stomach rippled, and he thrust his heavy shaft inside her to the hilt.
Avelyn screamed at the instantaneous burn, the fiery stretching of her tender tissues catching her off guard. Her legs spasmed, and her inner muscles twitched and quivered around his granite hardness, trying to accommodate his unexpected girth.
It wasn’t her first time. Locke was just a large man. His cock was so thick and solid inside her that the sensation was almost too much to bear. She could feel the thump of his pulse inside her body.
It wasn’t a pain, but
it wasn’t true pleasure yet either. It was balanced on some indefinable line between the two, and the tension was too much.
She let Sam slip from her mouth, but it still took a moment for her to get her breath. It was like being a virgin all over again.
Locke stroked her face and looked into her eyes.
“Are you okay, honey? Did I hurt you?”
Avelyn opened her mouth but couldn’t seem to find the words. Her mind was a blank.
“I’m sorry, honey. It ends here,” Locke said. He moved to pull out, and Avelyn clenched on him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.
“No, no, no,” she panted. “Don’t move.”
Sam stroked her hair while Locke held himself motionless inside her core. Locke just waited with eyes locked on her while beads of sweat rolled down his temples.
After a moment, Avelyn moved experimentally. The fit was so tight the smallest movement sent glittering tremors of sensation to every nerve ending. She arched her back and shuddered, and both men groaned.
Avelyn tightened her inner muscles around Locke’s hardness and held him in an intimate embrace for a moment.
She felt Locke’s penis twitch, and he cursed, but he didn’t move otherwise. She tried the movement again, and he answered with a tiny circular motion of his rigid organ. The minute caress sent a flash of heat straight through her.
“Oh, yes,” she breathed, and Locke’s tense face relaxed into a smile.
Locke repeated his action over and over in a subtle, tireless pattern until sweat shone on his muscular body.
Sam came closer again, presenting his cock to her mouth. Avelyn enveloped him. She kept her jaw wide and worked Sam up and down his length with slow strokes in time to the maddening rhythm Locke set. On each upward motion she swirled her tongue over the firm knob until Sam was groaning in tempo.
“Her mouth is so—Ah—Locke, damn, she’s getting to me. I can’t last,” Sam said. His voice was hoarse, and his bare chest gleamed with exertion.
Avelyn increased her speed, sucking loudly, bobbing her head and adding a swivel at the top with her hand on his stiff pole.
Locke pushed his thumb up on her swollen bud and pulled back the little hood. He nudged her in a gentle penetration, and his pubic bone slapped her slippery clit. The cushion of hair at his groin rasped the tender bud, wringing a desperate cry from her.
