The Truth or Dare Club resembled an old-time saloon. The bar had barrel stools. There were booths, rectangular picnic tables, round tables and a couple of antique-looking tables with faded felt tops that looked like gambling tables in a real saloon.
“Remy, Gabriel’s invited us to see his magic show while we’re here,” Eve told him, squeezing his hand. “Would that be all right?”
“Would love it,” Remy said. “Assuming Jax will be with us.”
“I will,” Jax stated. “We’ll get VIP treatment.”
“Are you on the town council too, Gabriel?” Remy asked him.
“I am,” Gabriel answered. “The theater’s located on the backside of this place. It’s one of the original buildings.”
Eve sat up. “How many buildings are left from when Dare was a boomtown?”
“Most of them were temporary, including tents and ramshackle quarters. The Truth or Dare Club was the saloon. The hotel you’re staying in was once the brothel.”
“Tell us more,” Eve encouraged, clearly fascinated with the historical aspects of the town.
“A good bit of the boarding house remained,” Jax said. “Once it was rebuilt, it became the restaurant where we had lunch.”
“The police station is bigger now, but it was the jailhouse and sheriff’s office,” Sawyer shared. “It was so small that there was barely enough room for two prisoners at a time. At night, the sheriff slept in a utility room in the back.”
“Plumbing was crude, mostly outhouses,” Jax added. “The Hamilton family tried to save Dare by labeling it as a historical landmark but ended up selling it at auction.”
“The problem with the town was that while the silver mine was successful enough for my great-grandparents to open a jewelry store and eventually turn it into a franchise, there wasn’t enough here to make the history books,” Sawyer commented.
“No Wild Bill Hickok or Billy the Kid, you mean?” Eve clarified.
“There were a couple bad apples,” Sawyer answered. “But most were ordinary people of their day trying to establish themselves in the West. Once the silver mine closed, the town became irrelevant.”
“So that’s where you came in,” Eve said to Jax.
“If it hadn’t been for Sawyer, his grandfather and Gabriel, it’d have been impossible to save the town and fund the rebuilding. Now we draw a lot of attention from celebrities looking for a small-town getaway without the gossips tracking them down.”
“You’re good at turning a profit,” Eve pointed out. “Gabriel told me you used to own clubs in Reno, Vegas and California.”
“Exotic dance clubs catering to straight and gay communities,” Jax admitted, inclining his head. “I guess you could say I’m an unconventional entrepreneur. My Mama worked herself to the bone to put me through college so I could earn my MBA. The least I could do in return is take care of her.”
“You’ve a degree in business?” Remy asked, impressed.
“That and English literature,” Jax confirmed.
“Mind if I ask how old you are, Jaxon?” Eve inquired.
“I’m thirty-five.”
“You look so much younger,” she said, eyeing him closely.
“Thank you, baby girl,” he replied, picking up her hand and kissing the back of her knuckles. “I work hard to look this pretty.”
“Crazy question,” Taylor began, propping her elbows on the table and looking right at them. “Are the three of you on a date?”
“Yes, we are,” Jax replied.
Taylor flushed bright red, her freckles standing out. She was pretty. Judging the looks Gabriel was sending her, the illusionist was busy counting freckles.
“Whoa, that’s something I’ve never tried,” Taylor admitted. “Not that there’s anything wrong with it.”
“Nor will you,” Gabriel remarked sharply.
Taylor turned her head, baring white teeth. “For your information, if I choose to engage in orgies or have Jax train me up in his mountain house, I will.”
“You will not,” Gabriel said.
“Next thing you’ll do is claim you’ve never had sex with more than one person at a time,” she argued.
“Can’t claim sainthood, darlin’,” Gabriel replied smoothly, attempting to charm the redhead. “But as soon as you became my driver and mechanic, I’ve behaved.”
“Am I supposed to be impressed?” Taylor challenged.
“You don’t want to test drive my Ferrari or vintage Aston Martin, the Spyder?”
“If you had a stock car, maybe I’d be interested. The Ferrari, sure, someday I’ll give it a whirl.”
“Did I ever tell you that I adore Taylor, Gabriel?” Jax asked. “She’s not one of your groupies.”
“She’s beautiful when she’s angry, isn’t she?” Gabriel replied, buddy to buddy.
Taylor slapped the table. “Hey! Stop referring to me as if I don’t have ears.”
“Can I nibble on them?” Gabriel inquired.
“You do, I’ll kick you where the sun doesn’t shine.”
Remy automatically covered up his family jewels on the chance Taylor lashed out and kicked the wrong guy. Gabriel simply stretched out and looped his arm back behind Taylor’s chair, tightening his arm and kept her right where he wanted her to be.
“Try it, darlin’, see where you end up.”
“Not where you’d think, stud muffin,” she assured, turning her eyes to Eve. “Eve, don’t be offended by my questions about your relationship with Jax and Remy.”
“I’m not,” Eve told her. “This is a first for me.”
“Damn good thing,” Remy claimed, letting go of her hand and setting his arm around her shoulders. Jaxon copied him, resting his arm over Remy’s.
“Have to say I can see the appeal,” Taylor admitted. “I mean, come on, Jaxon’s the prettiest man I’ve ever seen. Remy, I’m still getting to know you, but your female ghost hunting fans must be nuts over you.”
“Thank you, Taylor,” Remy said, feeling himself flush because he knew his Twitter and social media following was extensive and a majority of his fans were female. “I’d like to think I reach an audience far and beyond Twitter though.”
“I’m sure you do,” Taylor insisted. “When Jaxon explained that you and Eve were in town to do paranormal research, I admit I looked at your website. Hope you’ll teach all of us here in Dare what ghost hunting entails.”
“I’ll be glad to do that,” he promised confidently. “Anything specifically you’d care to know?”
“On the site, you had descriptions of some of the equipment you use. What do you use most frequently?”
“The easiest and smallest to take into a hunt is a small digital voice recorder. During an investigation of say a cemetery, I’ll ask a series of questions, pausing between them. If I hear something in the background, even if it’s a car passing or a shout, I’ll mark it with a vocal clue.”
“Is that how you get EVPs?” Taylor asked curiously.
“Electronic voice phenomena, yes, exactly,” Remy told her, pleased to be able to share his knowledge with someone who seemed genuinely interested.
“Ha, Gabriel, Taylor thinks I’m prettier than you,” Jax pointed out when Taylor stayed quiet for a bit.
“She’s trying to make me jealous,” Gabriel said.
“Am not,” Taylor argued.
“Are too,” Gabriel replied.
“Can we not get into a sparring match before Avery and Trevor get here? The last thing we want to do is spoil their big night.”
“Sorry, Jax,” Taylor apologized.
“It’s okay. I’m hot, feel free to say so.”
Apparently Jax wasn’t the least bit shy about his physical appearance. Remy leaned across Eve’s back, intentionally vying for Jaxon’s attention.
“She’s right, Jax. You are beautiful,” he said.
Jax’s violet eyes slanted to the left, and the smile he offered made Remy’s heart swell with pride. Men shouldn’t necessarily be considere
d beautiful and still be masculine, but there was no doubt Jax was a balance of the two.
“Thanks, Remy, I’m glad you like what you see.”
“I do,” Remy whispered.
Eve turned her head, looking at Jax too. “You’re both extremely handsome, my own personal sex god and a vampire.”
“Be careful, baby girl,” Jax warned. “A sex god and a vampire can be very demanding of your time. Keep your strength up, and get rest when we let you.”
“I’m not afraid to get a little sore. Are you?” she challenged Jax.
“Not as sore as our god’s ass is going to be when I’m done.”
“If I don’t come, you get a bare-ass spanking,” Remy vowed.
“If you don’t come, none of us will. It’s all or none.”
“Three for all, all for three,” she joked.
“Mostly, yes,” Jax said.
Eve tensed, turning her head back and forth between them. “What does that mean?”
“There will be times when Remy will want you all to himself. Same as he’ll want me all to himself and vice versa.”
“Will you want me that way, Jaxon?” she asked, sounding a little uncertain about her standing with Jax.
Jax leaned in and brushed a kiss to her temple. “Oh yeah, we’ll have plenty of one-on-one time. Whatever you do, don’t agree to anything with me if your heart isn’t in it.”
“I’ve never wanted anything more.”
Jax kissed her cheek. “Remind me to order Remy pineapple juice chasers with whatever he drinks tonight.”
“Why’s that?” she whispered.
“Some say pineapple makes cum taste better, seems to work for me. Not that Remy needs it, he’s earthy, raw, sex, I’d say.”
“He is sex incarnate,” Eve confided, making Remy feel a whole lot better about the three of them.
The waitress returned, setting drinks around the table, another daiquiri for Eve, cherry noir vodka on the rocks for Jax and a rum and Coke for Remy. A waiter came up behind the young woman and laid out their food in the center of the table, along with extra plates, napkins and utensils.
Jaxon whispered to the waiter, who headed for the bar. A minute or two later, he returned with a big glass of pineapple juice. What the hell? Was he really going to worry about the taste of his semen? If he wanted his lovers to swallow, he would.
As the nachos were devoured, the clock struck nine. Almost on the button, the house band filed out from a red velvet curtain, followed by Hazard Osbourne and Avery Grant.
Avery wore a red dress. She looked hot, but Remy didn’t feel the gut-deep arousal he felt whenever he was near Eve.
Then again, Jax’s scent caught Remy’s attention. Shifting around to look at him, Remy’s heart sped out of control. Jax had moved closer, still touching Eve, including her.
“Something wrong, Jax?” Remy asked, speaking loud enough to be heard over the sudden bass riff up on stage.
“I want the two of you, badly. Come on, let’s go stand with Avery. Trevor’s going to propose soon,” Jax said. “We’ll dance, socialize for a bit then head over to our hotel room.”
“Okay,” Eve agreed. Remy inclined his head.
Together they helped Eve to her feet, escorting her to the dance floor. The rest of the guests at their table followed, keeping close.
Avery grasped Eve’s hand, squeezing in support, her eyes darting back and forth between Remy and Jaxon. Finally, her gaze landed on Remy, looking for an explanation. He nodded, hoping to give her a clue as to what was going on.
Avery mouthed a warning. He did the same, assuring her that he would take care of Eve. With that, Wild Thing morphed into a song called Bad Things, capturing Avery’s attention.
From there on out, Avery no longer worried about the three of them because Hazard came down off the stage, took her hand and led her to a chair that’d been brought out exclusively for her.
Things slowed down, the band went quiet and Hazard grabbed an acoustic guitar, singing a country version of Train’s Marry Me. Next thing Remy knew, the guitar was set aside and he went down on one knee, producing a gigantic ring from his pants pocket.
“Yes!” Avery shouted, watching in awe as Hazard slid the ring onto her finger and stood up, catching her in his arms as she leaped out of her seat in joy.
“That was the most romantic thing ever,” Eve declared. “I thought Ethan’s surprise wedding for Morgan was the best. This topped that.”
“It sure looks to me as if Avery’s happy,” Remy said, hugging her up close.
Looking down at her, he saw tears in her eyes. Jax moved in close, holding her around the middle, kissing her lips and bringing Eve and Remy into a slow dance of sorts.
It was crazy, dancing together felt natural as breathing. Hazard’s band picked up where his song ended with the classic-rock hit Wonderful Tonight. Cheers from the crowd went up. A bunch of balloons and confetti fell from the ceiling. Jax, Eve and Remy kept right on dancing.
It wasn’t until the music changed to a crossover country that they finally drew apart. That and balloons being knocked around on the floor. Eve ended up breaking away in order to engulf her best friend in a big hug. The two women started chatting, joined by Taylor.
“Let’s give the ladies some space to talk,” Jax invited Remy.
Remy looked down. His hand was in Jax’s. They were almost a perfect fit, yet something wasn’t quite right because a part of them was missing, Eve.
“Did you mean it when you told Eve you’d want her exclusively too?”
“I meant every word.” Jax stepped in nice and close, his cologne teasing his senses, tempting Remy as no other man had ever done. “We’ll take care of her together, okay?”
“Crazy thing is I’m afraid our hearts will be broken by the end of our stay in Dare.”
“There’s this miraculous invention, it’s called an airplane. If needed, I’ll get Gabriel to fly me to New England.”
“I’m just curious, is Gabriel a good pilot?”
“He’s excellent and one of the closest friends I could ask for. You don’t enjoy flying do you?”
“I’ve never minded it until Eve and I got stuck on a tarmac for hours. It was uncomfortable, hot and we were scared out of our minds about our friends back home.”
“I’m sorry that happened to you, but I’m happy you took care of Evelyn. That’s why her father agreed to her trip out here. He trusts you.”
“He shouldn’t. Look what I did to her, Jaxon!”
Jax’s hand came up to grasp the back of Remy’s neck. Not hurting, but asserting a measure of control over him. “What did you do, Remy?”
“Took her as my lover then held her spread wide open for another man to taste her cunt. It’s exactly what I wanted to protect her from. But, Eve, she wanted me regardless of sensing my fetishes.”
“She loves you. I’m glad she does and would be honored if she ever felt that way about me. She’s one of a kind, a keeper. Now let’s go get her and take her back to the hotel.”
That’s exactly what they did. Waiting long enough for Eve to hug Avery and Taylor goodbye, they drew her off the dance floor and through a side door.
In the hallway, Remy could hear the murmur of many voices and the occasional pings, clinks and clacks of a casino. Jax led them in the opposite direction.
A couple twists and turns later, they were outside and heading toward the hotel.
Chapter Eleven
Eve was so excited and so nervous about the coming night, she needed both of the men to hold her hands as they strolled across the street to the hotel.
“What were you talking to Avery and Taylor about before we left?” Jaxon asked as they approached the revolving door to the hotel.
There was a brief pause as they waited for the large doors to swing around with enough space for three to walk through and come out in the lobby. On the inside, the charm of the Dare Hotel was extraordinary, the décor emphasizing the red-oak walls and brass accents.
“Avery asked us to be in her bridesmaids,” Eve answered, realizing she’d gotten lost in thought. “Tomorrow at ten, we’re going to the spa for a dip in the mineral baths, facials and mani-pedis to discuss colors and wedding plans.”
“Sounds nice, sugar,” Remy said. “You’ll enjoy that.”
“I’m so happy for Avery. Hazard’s been devoted to her from the start. Or so it seems.”
“Believe me, Trev fell in love with her the second she walked into the Truth or Dare Club wearing that sexy red number she had on tonight,” Jaxon assured. “No other man in Dare stood a chance with her after that.”
“Did you make a play for Avery, Jaxon?” Eve asked.
“Yes, I flirted with her, but that’s as far as it went. She only had eyes for Trevor, as it should be.”
“Ever since I met him, he’s been devoted to her as well,” Eve said.
“To be honest, I wish he spent more time here in Dare, but I understand that he needs to spend most of his time with Avery now.”
“The two of you are business partners in the Truth or Dare Club, aren’t you?” Remy asked. “Before I mapped out the route from home to Dare, I’d asked Hazard his advice on the best way to go and he mentioned it.”
“Yes, and it seems only fitting that he’s the one to tell Avery that I’m Ransom Hunter.”
“It must have been difficult to keep such a secret, especially in this day and age when a Tweet or image can go viral within minutes,” Eve said. “I have to be honest, Jaxon, I was able to trace information about Ransom Hunter and knew that he, you, once lived in California and moved to Nevada. After that, information dropped off.”
“It wasn’t easy,” Jaxon admitted. “To go into the how’s and why’s would take all night, baby girl. Suffice it to say I’m no longer inclined to keep Ransom in the closet, so to speak.”
“That’s nice,” she said. “I hope that Remy and me coming here hasn’t pushed you to make that decision.”
Jaxon tucked her close to his side. He may not be as tall as Remy, but he was plenty tall enough for her. Despite the polished shoes and elegant attire, she could feel a steely strength in his grip.
MenageaDare Page 18
