Chapter 18
Parker
Gage picked me up in his strong arms, cradling me to his chest. He carried me away from the chair I had been sitting in and sat back down on his own. We sat down with my legs across his lap as his arms held me securely. Ry knelt at his feet, looking up at the both of us.
My heart raced as I took in both of the men. The quiet, stoic Gage that I had always seen was gone, replaced by someone with blazing blue eyes who looked as if he wanted to devour me. Ry’s smile was wicked as he leaned forward. I felt his hand gently take my face and turn it towards his.
He’d kissed my forehead and cheek before, but now, those perfectly shaped lips weren’t headed for anywhere other than my own. My breath caught as we met for the first time. It was just a soft press of lips, gentle, delicate even, and I sighed in wonder at my first kiss.
Ry lifted his head with a smile. “How are you doing?” he asked quietly.
I cleared my throat and looked between the two men. “I’m scared,” I admitted. “I’ve never done this before. I don’t know what you want from me.”
Gage’s deep voice brought my attention to his face.
“We don’t expect anything you don’t want to give,” he said.
His expression was serious, an attempt at making me see their sincerity.
“We want you. We want to worship every inch of your body.” He took his right hand and trailed it over my collarbone slowly.
It moved down, over my pebbled flesh, and began tracing a line over the swells of my breasts.
“I want to kiss these.” His large hand cupped my breast, covering it completely, and I was certain he could feel my hardened nipple pressing against his palm as he gave a gentle squeeze.
Disappointment flashed through me as his hand left, but it soon began moving downward again.
The brief disappointment quickly fled for anticipation as his fingers glided over my belly, then even lower.
I watched his face as he stared down at his hand, moving closer to my aching center.
Just the expression of desire he wore was enough to have wetness seeping into my already drenched borrowed shorts.
My breaths became noticeably shallower as the suspense built. When he stopped at the waistband of my shorts, I actually let out an embarrassing whimper. At the sound, Gage turned his head from where he’d been following the progress he made and met my pleading gaze.
A slow smile curved up the corners of his lips as he took in the state I was in. Seeing the man wearing the most sinfully wicked grin I’d ever seen made me shift on his lap restlessly. That wickedness ratched up his already incredible sex appeal to an impossible degree.
“Gage!” I gasped when I felt the steel rod under my ass.
“Can you smell her?” Gage asked Ry without taking his eyes from mine.
Ry hummed his agreement, but still, he buried his face in the juncture of my thighs and took a deep inhale, making my cheeks flame with a mixture of embarrassment and wanton lust. That movement was hot, I couldn’t deny it.
“I want to taste her,” Ry groaned, his voice muffled as he spoke into the fabric of my damp shorts.
I had the feeling he was asking for permission and wouldn’t do anything without Gage’s explicit command.
I knew from the beginning that the man had a dominant nature, and it seemed to extend to all aspects of his life.
“You will,” Gage assured Ry and me both, “but first,” he took his gaze away from me and looked out into the darkness. “There’s someone who needs that push.”
I followed the direction he was looking, squinting into the dark.
Beyond the pool fence, there was a treeline that served as a barrier for the backyard.
I could just barely make out a figure who stood leaning against one of the trees, a small red dot blazing in the night where Dante held a cigar to his lips.
Gage spoke into my ear, his voice low and husky. “He wants you, too, beautiful.” I swallowed at his words and thought of the gorgeous, troubled man. “What do you want to do?”
I knew it was my choice. Just like joining with these two men was completely my choice.
Dante needed a push, Gage had already told me.
I didn’t know his story, but I did know that he’d been hurt by someone close to him.
It wasn’t difficult to guess what had happened based on his injuries, and just the thought of someone that he had loved and needed turning their back on him had my heart aching.
“I want to help him,” I whispered, surprised at the conviction I felt in my heart at my words.
“Then help him,” he replied, his arms loosening from around me. “But first…”
Before I could take another breath, my jaw was firmly gripped in a strong, calloused hand. Gage’s lips descended onto my own in a firm press that demanded immediate compliance. With a gasp, I opened for him, not even considering resistance.
Gage’s tongue swept over my own, tasting, devouring, claiming every inch of my mouth with a hunger I hadn’t expected. It left me breathless and aching for more. It was hard, fast, and brief, but I was panting as he lifted his head, breaking our connection.
“Give him the push he needs, Parker. If anyone can do it, I believe you can.” His eyes studied me for a moment as if reading me for any signs that he might have been mistaken.
Seemingly satisfied that he was right about me, he gave me a gentle nudge, helping me to stand, and Ry, still kneeling on the ground at our feet, gripped my knees to help my unsteady legs find balance.
“He doesn’t think anyone will want him, pretty girl. Just know that it goes beyond the scars,” Ry said solemnly. I nodded and gave a sad smile. I understood.
“Tomorrow night, you’re in our bed.” Gage’s words were a promise and threat rolled into one, and I shivered as I walked away, heading toward the pool gate and toward the other man they wanted me to become involved with. Life was strange.
I knew Dante was too proud to run away. Once he realized that I was heading in his direction, his entire body stiffened, though. In the absence of flight, his fight response was kicking in.
I watched as he tossed the rest of his cigar to the ground and stubbed it out with his titanium prosthetic foot.
By the time I reached him, his entire posture was closed off, and he was radiating fuck-off vibes that would have a lesser woman crawling away with her tail between her legs.
Dante didn’t need yet another woman to turn away from him, though.
He needed one who would fight him and fight for him.
“Hey,” I called out softly, ignoring the death glare he was shooting at me. “It’s a beautiful night.”
“What the fuck do you want?”
I smiled up at him. “Do you want to go for a walk? I haven’t seen much of the ranch other than the cabin and the main house.”
He waved a hand behind him. “Fields. Animals. Shit everywhere. That’s the ranch.”
I nodded. “Yeah, animals tend to do that, I hear. So,” I stepped closer and leaned against the closest tree, betting that his pride would keep him from stepping away even though I was so close that I could feel his body heat radiating off him.
“What’s your favorite animal? I saw you playing with the goats the other morning.
Is that your favorite? Do you name them? ”
I had thought he looked angry before, but by the time I was done talking, Dante’s face was so enraged, it looked as if he could have easily wrapped a palm around my throat and squeezed until there wasn’t a breath of air left in my lungs.
I just smiled bigger, even as my heart thudded like mad inside my chest.
He leaned in so close our noses were practically touching as he snarled in my face. “I don’t know what the fuck you think you are trying to do, but let me make myself clear… Fuck. Off. Bitch.”
I tried to hold back the wince at the vehemence behind his words, but I knew I failed. “I just wanted to make you see that not all women-” It was the absolute wrong thing to say.
He cut me off abruptly. I hadn’t actually expected violence from him, but I supposed everyone had their breaking point, and I had obviously pushed him past his. I’d known going into this that women were his hot button.
His hand was around my throat in an instant, and my back was shoved hard against the tree, the thick bark rough against my skin where the thin tank top didn’t protect me.
I didn’t attempt to remove his hand or defend myself, though I had the training to do so.
I needed him to get out the pain and anger he was feeling.
“You don’t know anything,” he growled into my face. “The only thing women see is perfection and dollar signs. When either of those things disappear, so do they.”
“That’s not true,” I rasped out.
He laughed harshly as his fingers flexed, squeezing a little harder until black spots danced in the corners of my vision. “You’re lying. I saw you just now. With them. You would jump on their dicks in a heartbeat.”
I nodded as well as I could. “I would, because they are good men who have treated me well and talked to me like they want me, too.” He snorted. “But I like you, too.”
His eyes narrowed dangerously. “Bullshit.”
“Not bullshit,” I gasped. “I think you’re gorgeous. Not damaged like you think. I also think you’re a good man, Dante. One who has been hurt by a shitty person. I want to show you that not all people are shitty. Not all women.”
He dropped his hand from my neck like he was burned and stepped back. I doubled over and sucked in lungfuls of air.
“Why are you really doing this?” he demanded. “Did they put you up to this?”
I shook my head. “No, Dante. Ever since I saw you playing with those goats, I knew you were a good person. I am a profiler, remember? I read people. I know you were hurt. I also know that I am attracted to you.” I straightened back up, and even though I was embarrassed, I looked him in the eye.
“After I saw you naked, I played with myself in the shower. I had never orgasmed so hard before in my life.”
He stared at me for a long moment, then he snorted again before turning away from me and started walking, his titanium prosthetic causing a limp in his gait. “You’re fucked in the head,” he called over his shoulder.
I immediately began to follow him. “Why?” I asked, as I hurried to keep stride with him. He could walk fast even with his disability.
“You have a fetish for scars?” He asked derisively.
“Is there something wrong with scars?” I shot back. “Would you have a problem with someone who had scars?”
“Please,” he scoffed. “A woman like you? What? You have a little scar from a scratch somewhere on your perfect body?”
“First of all, thank you,” I said. “No one has ever told me I have a perfect body before.”
He snorted. “It’s a figure of speech. Don’t read into it.”
“Ouch,” I mumbled, then cleared my throat. “Secondly, I have more scars than you realize. I almost died giving them to myself.”
He stopped so suddenly that I ran into his back and would have fallen on my ass if he hadn’t spun around and caught me by the arms before I could.
“What did you say?” he asked, his tone deadly quiet as he searched my face, then his gaze moved down, searching my arms until he held them out to get a better look at my wrists.
“Lower,” I said quietly.
He paused, then his eyes dropped lower. I tugged my arms free, then pulled the flesh of one thigh over so he could see the rows of scars there. Some were thin, barely noticeable. But some were thick, ugly, raised, obvious scars that told the story of what I had done in my darkest hours.
“I used to cut myself,” I said quietly. “After my sister was murdered. I was hurting. There was so much pain that I couldn’t deal with.
” I closed my eyes as I went back in time.
“My parents were in their own bubble of darkness and forgot I existed. It became a way to let the pain out. When I cut myself, I felt something other than just numb. One time, I cut too deep and couldn’t stop the bleeding. I had to tell my parents.”
I looked away as I wiped a tear that had escaped at the memory. “Anyway, so, yeah. I know what scars are. I have them. I know what pain is. I’ve lived with it. And, yes, Dante, I fucking find you attractive. Fucking deal with it!”
I turned and stomped away, too overcome with the emotions the past always brought back. I was done throwing myself at the man. Perhaps another time I would be able to try to convince him I wasn’t a heartless bitch, but right then, I was done.
Before I could make it more than a few steps, my arm was jerked back, and I was spun around. I started to yell in protest, but Dante caught me in his arms. He took advantage of my open mouth, any sound I was going to make ending on a moan as he plunged his tongue inside and stole my breath.
The man kissed me as if he were dying of hunger, tangling our tongues wildly as his groan rumbled against my chest. His mouth was firm and strong, and it felt as if he were somehow marking my soul. I pressed myself against him, wanting more, wanting him to take more from me.
He pulled away from me, just as breathless as I was. “Damn you, woman,” he rasped, as he pressed our foreheads together. “Fucking, damn you.”
Just as suddenly as it began, it was over, and I was left standing alone, chest heaving as I watched Dante’s back retreating quickly into the darkness. I pressed my fingertips to my swollen lips, unsure of what had happened tonight.
I had gone from having never been kissed at all to being kissed by two different men, all in the space of an hour. My emotions were all over the place, and I was left with my head spinning. I let out a shaky breath and groaned.
Lifting my head to the sky, I stared up at the stars and wondered, not for the first time, what Mariposa would be doing with her life if she were still alive. If I could call her and tell her what had happened tonight, what would she say to me?
I smiled as I thought about my sister. I had a feeling that Mariposa would be my biggest cheerleader.
She would be urging me on and telling me to jump all three men.
I shook my head ruefully. Instead of heading back to the main house, I began a slow walk back toward my cabin, suddenly feeling drained and emotionally wrung out.
I needed to get some sleep. Tomorrow was soon enough to step forward into the new relationship we were apparently building, temporary though it was.