Brooke, Leah - Raw Desire [Desire, Oklahoma 6] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read online

  Hugging her small purse in front of her, she nodded once, licking her tingling lips and inadvertently touching her tongue to his thumb. With a shiver, she leaned closer without meaning to. “I’d like that, but just dinner.”

  Realizing what she’d done, she hurriedly straightened. “And it’ll have to be a little later. I have some things to do first.”

  If she didn’t get to bed soon, she would fall asleep at the dinner table. She smiled to herself imagining what they would think of that.

  His smile grew as he settled back in his seat. “Just dinner then. We’ll stop at the hotel first and get you checked in before we take your truck to the garage.”

  Trying to ignore how it felt to be wedged in between two such good-looking and masculine men, Alison looked from side to side as they drove into the small town, hoping she could stay awake long enough to get checked into the hotel.

  The brush of their thighs against hers sent little tingles of awareness up her legs to gather at her center, dampening her panties and making her clit swell.

  Damn, the effects of those pills would get her into big trouble if she didn’t get somewhere soon to sleep it off.

  If she hadn’t been so tired, she probably would have offered herself to Dillon right then and there.

  Sobering, she bit back a smile as they drove through town.

  Fighting to keep her eyes open, she twisted in her seat, trying to see everything. Every place she passed appeared to be well maintained, and several people walked up and down the sidewalks, apparently shopping in all of the little stores lining the streets.

  They stopped at another stop sign, and to her surprise, both Ryder and Dillon smiled and waved at the woman crossing the street pushing a baby carriage.

  Two men flanked her, both with the physiques of men who did a great deal of physical activity. One of them would be considered gorgeous by anyone’s standards, while the other looked too serious, his hard masculine features appearing almost cold.

  Until he smiled at the woman.

  The love in his smile as he helped the woman to cross the street could be seen even from this distance, and he didn’t appear to care at all that it showed.

  Danny would never have let anyone see what he called a “weakness” for a woman, and certainly wouldn’t have demonstrated any softening toward a woman in public.

  Alison watched, fascinated, as the woman cuddled against him, lifting her face for a kiss he readily provided.

  Dillon waved to the threesome, turning to snap at Ryder. “Don’t sound the horn, for God’s sake. You’ll scare Theresa.”

  He turned back, watching them with the strangest look on his face. Almost…yearning.

  Ryder glared back before leaning out the window, his broad smile stealing her breath. “Hey! How’s the angel?”

  The handsome man laughed. “She’s colicky. We’re hoping a walk will help her sleep tonight. Plus, we also love showing our girls off. Who’s that with you?”

  Ryder didn’t even glance her way. “Alison Bennett. Her truck broke down. We’re going to check her into the hotel.”

  “You looking after her?”

  Ryder shrugged. “Dillon is. She doesn’t like me much.”

  The harder-looking man lifted the baby carriage over the curb, smiling wryly over his shoulder. “I have no doubt you’ll change her mind.”

  Ryder waved, his smile falling as soon as the others looked away.

  Alison watched in amazed shock as the other man joined the man and the woman on the sidewalk, running a hand over her the woman’s hip as he bent to kiss her cheek.

  Hardly believing what she saw, she looked toward Dillon. “Wait a minute. Which one of those men is that woman’s husband?”

  Dillon smiled, but his eyes hardened and cooled slightly. “Both of them. That’s Boone and Chase Jackson with their wife Rachel and their new baby girl, Theresa.”

  Stunned, Alison looked back to the trio being stopped by another couple who bent and appeared to be making a fuss over the baby. “Are you telling me that a woman has more than one husband? Isn’t that against the law? Does the sheriff know about them? How does she know which one is the baby’s father?”

  She knew her brain was fuzzy, but still, the idea of a woman having two men as husbands had her mind racing.

  Had she fallen asleep?

  Surreptitiously pinching herself to make sure she hadn’t, she stared after the trio with the baby.

  Ryder’s brow went up, his own expression considerably cooler. “Ace is the one who rode to the hospital in front of them with the siren blaring when Rachel went into labor at the women’s club. And they’re both Theresa’s father. Anyone who says otherwise would be in a heap of trouble.”

  Alison looked from Ryder to Dillon, too tired to make sense of any of it. “I’ve never heard of such a thing before, well, I’ve heard of it, but never seen it in real life.”

  Ryder turned a corner and shot her a cold look. “Well, now you have, and if you don’t want any trouble, you’ll keep your opinions to yourself.”

  Stung by the reprimand, Alison shifted uneasily in her seat and stared straight ahead. “I wasn’t criticizing. I’ve just never seen a woman with two men before. You can’t blame me for being curious.”

  When Ryder said nothing, Dillon obviously took pity on her.

  “In Desire, several people live that way. It’s why they live here in the first place. We watch out for each other and especially for the women. Rachel’s one of ours now, and so is little Theresa. We won’t take kindly to any negative comments about them, and no one who lives in Desire will either. This town survives because of our support of each other. We don’t take kindly to outsiders who bad-mouth our residents or the way we choose to live.”

  Bristling with outrage, Alison whipped around in her seat, her breath catching when her breast brushed his arm. Feeling clumsy and having more and more trouble with her coordination, she sighed tiredly and slumped back in the seat. “What kind of person do you think I am? I’m not about to say anything bad about them. I’ve never seen a woman married to two men before. Why would she do that? How does it work? Why would two men want to share a woman? Don’t other people in town say anything to them? It’s against the law, isn’t it?”

  Dillon’s brows went up at her barrage of questions, and he smiled faintly as he glanced out the window. “We can talk about it over dinner. But suffice it to say that ménage relationships are accepted here. There are several others besides the Jacksons. There are all kinds of relationships here, and as long as the women are treated right, and are happy, no one interferes.”

  Intrigued, Alison tilted her head. “And if they’re not?”

  Ryder spoke from her other side. “Then we all interfere. The women of Desire are protected and cherished. We don’t like strangers here, especially opinionated ones. They can come here and shop or, like you, visit our businesses, but once they cause trouble of any kind, they’re tossed out of town on their asses.”

  Turning back to stare out the windshield, Alison shrugged, not believing a word of it. She knew that it didn’t matter what kind of person you were, or if you were male or female, if the popular people in town didn’t like you, you were through. “I have no desire to start trouble. I’m here to attend some of the workshops at Lady Desire. I’ll stay for a week or so, and then I’m leaving. Well, as soon as my truck’s fixed. If you want me out of town, get my truck fixed.”

  Ryder shot a look at Dillon before making another turn. “So you’re going to take classes learning how to please a man in bed, and then you’re going back to a man in Muskogee to use all your newfound knowledge on some poor unsuspecting sap?”

  Alison laughed bitterly. “Isn’t that what men do to women all the time? But to answer your question, no. And how do you know what classes Lady Desire is holding this weekend? On the website, I saw all sorts of classes. How did you know I wasn’t taking belly-dancing classes, or self-defense classes?”

  A sudden thought hit
her, and she burst out laughing, so tired, her head lolled to the side. “Oh, God. Tell me you’re not the men they use for the demonstration! That would be priceless.”

  This time both of Ryder’s brows went up, his tone sardonic over Dillon’s laughter. “No, we’re not even allowed inside. We go to the men’s club across the street and play with the submissives there looking for a good time. But I told you, for you, I’d volunteer my services. I can come over to the hotel after your class, and you can show me everything you learned.”

  His wicked grin didn’t match the coolness in his tone at all.

  “Consider it homework.”

  Alison knew she should have been offended, but the promise of pleasure shining in his eyes and his seductive tone made it impossible. When her head spun dizzily, she knew she couldn’t have worked up the energy to be offended if she wanted to.

  Ryder’s quick glance down her body was as potent as a caress, making her wish she had the courage to take him up on his offer. Already she burned for him and clenched her thighs tighter together against the empty ache that settled there.

  Vowing to become the kind of woman men like Ryder would fall all over themselves to be with, she took a shuddering breath, flinching when Dillon snapped at Ryder.

  “That’s enough, Ryder. Can’t you see she’s tired?”

  Dillon sighed, his frustration apparent. “Alison, we all keep track of what’s going on at the women’s club. We have women to protect, and there’s been a little trouble there recently. There it is.” He pointed out his window as Ryder slowed the truck.

  Alison sat forward, blinking to bring what he showed her into focus, her gaze following where he gestured. A petite, dark-haired woman hurried toward the front door of the brick building Dillon pointed to, carrying what appeared to be takeout food. She turned her head, smiled broadly, and waved to them before starting up the steps.

  Uneasy now, Alison sat back. “What kind of trouble? I’m not going to get into any kind of trouble with your sheriff for going there, am I?”

  Both men lifted a hand in greeting to the petite woman before Ryder started off again.

  Dillon chuckled. “No, you’re not going to get into trouble with the sheriff for going there. Did you see that woman?”

  “Yes. Why?”

  “That’s Hope, she and her sister, Charity, own Lady Desire. She’s married to Ace Tyler, the sheriff you met a little while ago.”

  Alison’s jaw dropped. “I can’t picture those two together. Lord, he’s huge, and she looks so tiny and defenseless.”

  Ryder stopped at another stop sign and turned to her. “Hope might look small, but she’s hardly defenseless. Especially when she opens that mouth. She was born here, and every man in town has watched out for her since the day she was born. Not about to stop now. She’s one of us.”

  The emptiness she’d experienced ever since her fight with Danny and subsequent rejection of her from the town she’d grown up in grew even larger, filling her with a loneliness that brought a lump to her throat.

  Swallowing heavily, she blinked back tears, thankful that neither one of them looked her way, and tried to focus on what Dillon was saying.

  “Some asshole’s been causing trouble around town, mostly at the two clubs.” He pointed out his window. “There’s Club Desire, the men’s club. Since they’re having another seminar, we’re on the lookout for trouble there.” He pointed to the building next door to it. “And here’s the hotel. We’ll get you settled before we take your truck back to the shop. We’ll talk about your truck over dinner and give you an estimate tomorrow. Alison?”

  Lulled by his tone, she’d been staring at his shoulder, imagining what a great pillow it would make. Mentally shaking herself, she cleared her throat and blinked. “You still want to take me to dinner?”

  Dillon turned toward her again and frowned, his eyes narrowing on hers. “I thought we already cleared that up. Are you sure you’re all right?”

  Alison shrugged again. “Just tired. I’ve been driving all day. I just need to get some sleep.” She could tell she slurred her words but couldn’t do anything about it and smiled as some of the emptiness inside her filled with a warm, fuzzy feeling that she couldn’t resist.

  “I figured you thought I was a troublemaker and wouldn’t want to take me to dinner anymore.”

  Ryder parked on the side, away from the other cars, and shut off the engine, his movements rough and jerky, nothing at all like the smooth gracefulness he’d displayed driving here. “We’re responsible for you now. You won’t cause trouble.” He leaned toward her, his grin ominous. “We won’t let you.”

  Not knowing how to respond to that, and too tired to argue with him, Alison followed Dillon out of the truck, pausing in surprise when he offered his hand. She stared at it blankly, surprised at the gesture. No man had ever shown her that kind of consideration before. What stunned her the most was that the move seemed as natural to him as breathing. He didn’t appear to think about it. He just did it.

  Careful not to move too fast, she slid across the seat and placed her hand in his outstretched one.

  Even in her drowsy state, or perhaps because of it, she found herself unable to move as hot sizzles of awareness raced up her arm and through her body with a strength and speed unlike anything she’d ever experienced. Dumbfounded, she stared at her hand in his, her breath catching when he closed his hand around hers in the gentle way that men who are conscious of their own strength do.

  The calluses against her skin should have felt rough and irritating, but instead comforted her, making her feel soft and feminine against his bold masculinity.

  The strong hand of a strong man.

  Dillon would be a steady man, one with patience, one who worked hard.

  One who would be breathtakingly tender with a woman he cared for.

  What would it be like to be that woman?

  Lifting her gaze, she met his searching one, blinking to escape the erotic trance she found herself in. Fatigue had muddled her brain, and if she didn’t get to a bed soon, she feared she’d fall flat on her ass.

  Looking away to hide her burning face, she got out of the truck and attempted to pull her hand out of his, but he held on.

  Ryder reached into her truck to retrieve her bag and moved to walk on the other side of her.

  She reached for her bag, but Ryder merely shifted it to his other hand out of her reach as they started toward the entrance to the small hotel.

  “I can carry that.” She had to admit, being around men who knew their manners was nice, but not something she was used to.

  Ryder ignored her and kept walking, flustering her with the speculative glances he kept sending her way.

  As their eyes met, she stumbled, staggered by the predatory gleam in his eyes. She gasped as Dillon hurriedly released her hand and caught her with an arm around her waist, the shock of feeling his hard body against hers hitting her with a blast of sexual awareness that nearly did knock her on her ass.

  It probably would have if Dillon hadn’t been holding her up.

  Dillon steadied her, staring down at her with eyes laced with concern. “Easy, honey. Are you sure you’re all right?”

  Determined not to give Ryder the satisfaction of looking his way again, she stared straight ahead and struggled to convince her rubbery legs to support her.

  She needn’t have worried.

  Dillon held her steady, his arms strong and solid around her. Warm. Safe. Seductive.

  She wanted it. She wanted to satisfy this burning need inside her, the need for reassurance that she was still a desirable woman.

  She wanted to satisfy the hunger, the excitement of being well loved by a man, to be taken by a man who would make her feel.

  She believed with everything inside her that Dillon would be the perfect man to accomplish both.

  Turning in Dillon’s arms, she smiled her best flirtatious smile, hoping it didn’t look as stupid as it felt as she stifled an inconvenient yawn. “How c
ould I not be all right with you here?”

  Inhaling his scent, she snuggled closer. “Hmm, you smell good.”

  After a long pause, Dillon chuckled. “So do you. I’ll bet you taste just as good.”

  Alison snuggled closer and closed her eyes, letting him guide her across the parking lot. “You don’t have to bother with the lines. We can have sex after dinner. Oh!” Surprised at the yank on her arm that pulled her to a stop, she blinked her eyes open and stared up at him, wincing at the pull to her back.

  Dillon’s brow went up, his scowl making him look even sexier. “Excuse me?”

  Ignoring Ryder’s look of surprise, Alison looked around, belatedly hoping no one had overheard her.

  Shaking off her stupor, and grasping for all the courage she could muster, Alison tried to adopt a seductive pose, stopping short when her back protested the movement. “You heard me. You want sex, and I want to practice what I learn at the club to make sure I get it right. I’ll be gone in less than two weeks. In the meantime there’s no reason we can’t have a little fun.”

  Oh, God! Had she really said that out loud?

  Dillon stared over her head at Ryder. “It appears she wants to use us to further her education after all.”

  To her surprise, Ryder grabbed her arm and yanked her around to face him, the action sending a sharp pain through her back, and she bit her lip to keep from crying out.

  With his hands wrapped around her upper arms, Ryder lifted her to her toes. “So now you want to use us to practice on, huh? You don’t think that’s going to get you out of paying for the repairs to your truck, do you, because, honey, I don’t pay for sex. Never have. Never will.”

  Embarrassed, insulted, and in pain, Alison clenched her fist at her side, wanting to slap that arrogant look off his face, but she didn’t trust the look in his eyes daring her to do just that. “It had nothing to do with money or repairs to my truck, you asshole. I’m not a fucking whore. Just get away from me.”

  She reached for her bag, but he wouldn’t release it, his brow going up in surprise when she fought for it as he held it just out of her reach.

  She lunged after it, but found herself stopped short by the pain in her back even before the hard band of Dillon’s hand wrapped around her upper arm.