Toby pinched her clit. Her passion, soft embers, burst into flame and shattered into climax.
They collapsed together, she and her two lovers. Mary treasured this moment, the heat, the sweat, the smell of sex, and the total exhaustion of satiation.
For long moments, she lost herself in this wonder, this pure sanctuary, which Anthony and Toby were for her. She wanted to stay here forever. This was what she hoped heaven turned out to be, this sense of completeness, of love so full it felt endless. She didn’t want words to pull her out of this euphoria, to interfere with this visit to nirvana. Her head on Anthony’s chest, Toby’s chest flush with her back, yes, this was perfect.
Toby caressed her rosebud. “Let me.”
No, now it was perfect. “Yes.”
He left her for just a moment. Then he was there, his heat covering hers, and his fingers, oh his fingers were clever and talented as they spread lube over her anus.
He inserted one digit, and the burn, a combination of pain and arousal, turned her nipples hard and her pussy wet. He added more lube and a second finger, and burn gave over to pain. But it was a pain unlike any other, a pain she’d ever known and that, in that moment, felt so damn good.
He used those fingers to fuck her, to ream her in such a way she knew he was doing his best to stretch her. In and out, around and around, he worked her tight flesh. She needed more and couldn’t have stopped her hips from returning his thrusts if she’d tried.
“You want me.”
She’d heard wonder in those three words and knew then that doubt had never been hers alone. She wanted him? She’d give him two words for his three.
“Fuck me.”
He moved back, and Anthony positioned her, lifting her right leg onto him even higher, helping Toby to open her.
Then Anthony tilted her face and met her gaze. The sound behind her painted such an erotic image in her mind she could see it. Toby donned a condom and then lubed his condom-covered cock. She felt herself become even wetter.
Toby came to her, kneeling, yes, but no supplicant, he. He leaned in, and his hot cock kissed her rosebud then slowly pushed forward. A sound emerged from her, a softly keening need, a sound of pain accepted and begged for, of longing oozing into desperation.
“Let go.” Anthony’s words, his command, found a route to her will she hadn’t known existed. She exhaled, and somehow, miraculously, she gave way. The moment she did, Toby’s cock slid deep into her ass.
“God.” His word was sufficient for them both. He moved in her, a slow, steady motion that lit so many fires in her she couldn’t even count them. And then faster, jerkier, his hands gripping and releasing her ass.
Nothing had ever felt like this! Lost in the thrill, in the heat and the pain and the sudden soul-deep desperation, Mary cried out, begging, begging for more.
“God.” Toby surged into her, over and over, and the pain and the heat melted together and then shattered into unimagined joy. Ecstasy showered down, as the cascading spasms of coitus drew her up and out and into a place so magical she could only cling and shiver and bliss.
The fireworks faded. Toby leaned over her, his forehead on her shoulder, his heaving breaths as ragged as her own. Their perspiration mingled. Mary felt Anthony’s rigid cock pressing against her stomach, but when she tried to reach for it, to serve him, he brought her hand to his lips.
“Later, love. Let’s rest in this moment, for now. You were so beautiful to me when you surrendered to Toby. So damn beautiful and so damn perfect.”
Anthony’s words covered her and seeped into her soul. They were the words of one who loved wholly and selflessly. They were the words of a man who knew what mattered in life.
“Rest now.” Toby kissed her shoulder and drew the blanket over them.
More than the cotton and the silk, their caring, their cuddling, and their honest fraternity formed the best blanket, ever.
She surrendered to their care and softly dropped into sleep.
Chapter Sixteen
Toby relaxed into his chair out on the deck. The heat was more than he was used to for this time of year, but the ceiling fan kept him cool…well, cooler. My Texan cousins are always saying it’s not hot. But who puts a ceiling fan outside on a covered deck except someone who knows damn well it’s too damn hot?
He’d decided this deck was the perfect place to place a Skype call to his former partner. Considering it had been a few months since they’d communicated, he guessed it was time. Past time, actually.
“So, you’re making out okay there?” Beck asked. “How’s your grandpa? Oh, and your brothers, Sean and Noah, they’re living there now, too, aren’t they?”
“They’re all fine, Beck. And I’m doing good. Better than good, actually. I’ve met a very distant cousin. Her name’s Mary. I’m hoping to convince her to marry me.” Toby wasn’t going to go over the finer points of his ménage marriage over Skype. That was a conversation best had face to face.
But he and Anthony knew that was where their relationship with Mary was headed. They just hadn’t quite decided the perfect time and place to pop the question.
“Hey, that’s great news!” He grunted. “So tell me, why the hell Texas, if I may ask? That’s a hell of a distance from home for your grandpa to have settled himself, isn’t it?”
Toby realized he’d never actually explained his family history to the man. They hadn’t had that kind of a personal relationship, despite the fact that Beck had trained him and then taken him on as partner. They’d socialized sometimes on holidays and special occasions, and before moving to Texas and joining the WPD, he would have said they were close.
It wasn’t until I met Anthony that I understood how close two men could be. Brother-close. That wasn’t altogether true either, because he felt closer to Anthony than he’d ever been with his own brothers.
I guess, like Anthony, I really was meant to share a woman. A wife.
“Well, back in time my great-great-grandfather, Isiah, came here to visit his brother, Adam, and then up and left his wife and kids for that good man and his kin to care for. Turns out, the family of Kendalls here took our side of the family in as their own. Isiah’s wife had apparently been ill when her husband deserted her and she passed within the year. His oldest, Thomas, stayed and worked, contributing to the family until his youngest sibling was old enough to fend for himself. Then he followed that one to Wyoming to settle. But he’d come back a few times to visit, considering Adam’s daughter-in-law, Chelsea, his stepmother. When Thomas passed, his youngest—my Grandpa Noah—took up the habit of visiting and keeping the ties close. He—my grandpa—always considered this place as much his home as the one he made in Wyoming.”
“So you’ve got a lot of family there, then?”
“The entire town of Lusty is practically all family. It is a small town, but still.”
Beck barked out a laugh. “Lusty, huh? Well, that’s a hell of a name. Maybe why you found your bride there, too.”
Toby shrugged but grinned. What could he really say to that?
Then Beck shook his head. “Families are damned complicated, aren’t they? Complicated and sometimes just a pain in the ass.”
Topy thought of his own—and the blessedly few cousins he had back in Wyoming that were total assholes.
“That’s the truth.” But his cop instincts sat up and took notice of Beck’s tone. “How’s your gang making out?”
Beck sighed. “Jason was having a hell of a time with his middle one, Joey. Kid got mixed up in the wrong crowd. You know how it goes?”
“I’ve heard from some about that kind of thing.”
Joey Conway was hardly a kid. Toby had never known Joey’s exact age, but he had to be in his mid-twenties at this point. When he and Beck had first become partners, he’d seen Joey around quite a bit. It had occurred to Toby in those early days that Beck had the teen around so much to be a stronger male influence in his life. Then over the last few months he’d been in Wyoming, Toby thought mayb
e Joey hung around so much because he was interested in a career in law enforcement. Something about Joey had always rubbed him wrong, though, especially those last few months. But he hadn’t dwelled on it, because he’d wondered if his feelings had in fact been a sign of jealousy.
“Anyway, the two of them had some kind of a blowup about the time you left, and Joey’s taken off for parts unknown. I’d say he ran away from home, but he’s too damn old to be considered a runaway.” Beck grunted again. “I guess none of the words that either of us ever said to that little bugger ever made a dent.”
Toby hadn’t thought Beck had known about the little man-to-man Toby had had with Beck’s grandson. Toby had been aware over those last months that most of the members of the Conway family had done their best to talk some sense into Joey, all to apparently no success.
So one night, after a Sunday supper when he’d seen how upset Beck’s daughter-in-law had been at Joey’s attitude and habits, he’d tried. Joey had come to him outside in the back yard, a giant chip on his shoulder, and Toby had let loose.
The scene formed in his memory like some mirage from the past. He remembered the occasion perfectly, could even recall the wind kicking up and the chill starting to eat through his coat.
“If you don’t fucking get a clue soon, you little prick, you’re going to rip the heart right out of your mother—and your grandfather.”
“You’re not my fucking big brother or my fucking uncle, asshole, even if you did push your way into our family. So just fuck off. Somebody needs to whoop your ass.”
“It’s not going to be you, Joey.”
“Maybe he’ll…what do they call it…find himself.” Beck sighed. “Jason said he found out Joey was running with a couple of members of that damn gang we’d been chasing. Frosted me some to learn that, let me tell you.”
Toby all but heard the puzzle pieces falling into place. His brain got it faster than he could make his mouth work.
“When did he go away, Beck?”
Just as he still could read his former partner, Beck could read him. The man sat up straighter. “Why? You got trouble down there? Joey never did like you, not one bit. He didn’t like anyone he thought was better than him. Son of a bitch, I’m right, aren’t I?” He closed his eyes and rubbed his face with his hands. After a moment, he looked at Toby straight-on.
“Tell me what’s going on, and why you think it’s…. oh hell. Yeah, Joey was in the background enough when we were talking things through on that last major case we were on, wasn’t he? When we were tossing ideas back and forth about how to go about taking the Rats down—and I know we talked about that warehouse when he was there.”
“I only just remembered that part myself, about Joey being there. And, yeah, he might have been our ‘leak.’ And, Beck, that’s not on you. We all talked some in front of him. Even the captain. None of us thought to toss him out.”
“You know it’s on me, partner. Everyone accepted his presence because of me. You think he might have headed in your direction? What’s been happening down there, Toby, that’s worrying you?”
Toby left nothing out, even including the fact that whoever their stalker had been, the guy had planted a tracking device on his partner’s car.
“Joey’s always loved gadgets. He’s also always had an inflated opinion of himself and his abilities. I’m going to make some inquiries and see if Jason or any of his cousins know where he went and who his contact for a tracker might be.”
“I’ll talk to Adam—my cousin Adam Kendall, who’s the sheriff here. Let him know what we’ve been kicking around. You think he might have flown here or driven out?”
“Well, he ditched his car in that storm we got about a week before you left, and he never replaced it.” Beck’s expression morphed from heartbroken grandfather to pure cop in a heartbeat. “My bet would be he would have flown. He knew the Waco PD had hired you, because, well, hell, I let the family know. I was pleased they snatched you up so fast.”
“That jives with what we surmised, that we picked up our stalker in Waco.”
“Son of a bitch. Damn it, Toby, I’m sorry.”
“Damn it, Beck, it’s not on you. You’re not responsible for what your grandson does. He’s a grown-ass man.”
“I know that. I’m just sorry none of us realized how much of a screw-up he was.” Beck ran a hand through his hair, something he did when he was feeling especially frustrated—or let down.
Toby was sorry for the pain his former partner felt. He wished his words to Joey during their confrontation weren’t going to come true, but he had a really bad feeling they were.
“You love him, partner. And that can make twenty-twenty vision nothing but hindsight.”
“Yeah. I’ll hold off on saying anything to Jason and Rhonda until we know for certain. Joey’s not especially clever, but he can be sneaky. Be careful.”
There really was nothing more to be said. Toby nodded. “We will be. I’ll keep you informed.”
* * * *
“What do you know about Joey Conway?” Adam sat back in the armchair in Mary’s living room. He’d crossed his legs, and rather than using a tablet or his smartphone, Lusty’s sheriff had an old-fashioned pad of yellow notepaper on his lap.
She had offered to take herself into the bedroom while Toby spoke to Adam, but of course, her lover would have none of that.
“I can describe him. He’s about six feet, blond hair, brown eyes. No distinguishing marks or features that I ever saw.” Because she was watching him, she noticed Toby’s eyes widen. “I actually might have a photo of him.” He pulled out his phone. It didn’t take him long to thumb through his photos.
Then he handed the phone to Adam. “He’s the one in the middle. The older man is Beck, my former partner. The other is Jason, Beck’s son and Joey’s dad.”
“He’s got attitude,” Adam said. “Smug is all over him.”
“That sums him up pretty well, except to say it’s smug for no reason whatsoever.”
“College?”
“No. I remember Beck was mad as hell about that. But Joey never could see any reason to go to school to learn something he was confident he could pick up and perform with expertise after maybe one day of on-the-job training.”
Adam snickered. “Bet he had trouble holding down a job.” Adam handed Toby his phone. He took a moment to show the photo to her and Anthony.
Mary agreed with Adam’s assessment of Joey Conway. The look on his face was easy for her feminine mind to identify. He thought he was God’s gift to the world.
“You’d win that bet,” Toby said to Adam. “I think his record was four months.”
“Any charges, even juvie?”
“No. Beck would have told me. Just, as you guessed, a lot of attitude.” Toby sighed and set his phone on the end table. “I can tell you, he hated my fucking guts. Whether he thought I took his grandpa away from him—stupid really—or whether I did something to piss him off, I don’t know. I sure as hell wasn’t Beck’s first partner, and hell, it was the job.” Toby shrugged.
“Oh, don’t go there, sweetheart.” Mary patted his hand. “When Beck trained you and then chose you as his partner, you likely looked young enough to be Joey’s older brother. That might have been all it took. Joey looked at you and—according to the personality sketch you just gave us—figured he could do a better job than you. You didn’t do anything. It was all in his mind.”
“I’m with Mary on that one,” Anthony said. “Now I have something to say to you, partner. You’re looking at a kid, one who people you respect, love and care about. We’re looking at a potential criminal. If it is him, if he’s gotten himself all the way here from Wyoming? It sure as hell isn’t to shake your hand and wish you well.”
Toby leaned his head back for a moment. He closed his eyes, and Mary knew he was hurting. Then he sat up. “I know that, damn it. Mostly, I’m hoping we can stop him from doing anything even more stupid than he’s already done.”
“That w
ill be our goal,” Adam said. “We need to verify that he’s at least in Texas. I’ve asked Joe Grant to give me a hand with that little thing. We have the day he was last seen in Casper, so Joe’s checking the flight manifests coming into DFW and Love Field. Those are the closest major airports to Waco. It’s unlikely, given his personality traits, that Joey would have chosen a regional airport or airline. He’d figure he deserved first class. Do we know how much money he’s got at his disposal?”
“No, but if he did funnel info to the Rats, he might have more than enough to keep him going for a while.”
“All right. Now, one more question. Do you think he’s devious enough—and maybe cowardly enough—to figure that rather than go for you, he’d hurt you more by going for someone he perceives as weaker? Figuring that it’ll hurt you more, if he hurts someone you care for?”
“Damn it to hell!”
“Weaker?”
She and Toby had spoken at the same time. Toby had jumped to his feet and was pacing the living room. She couldn’t say she’d known, exactly, that he had that kind of anger inside him.
“I said perceived as weaker, cousin,” Adam said.
Mary nodded to acknowledge Adam’s qualifier, but her main focus was on Toby. Judging her moment, she stood and blocked his way. She drilled her right index finger into his chest, to make sure she had his attention.
“I am not going away, you are not setting me with guards, and I sure as hell am not going to sit back and do nothing. That’s not how Kendalls do things. So deal with it.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw and appreciated Adam’s snicker. Then she felt Anthony behind her. “If he’s been watching us at all, he’ll know we’re both close to you. He might go after me, because I’m your partner, just like his grandpa was, and I’m not going anywhere, either.”
Toby sighed, and then he looked from her and Anthony to Adam. “Okay, you’re the one among us who has the most experience with these clusterfucks. What do we do next?”
Love Under Two Detectives Page 15
