Branding Gemma [Grizzly Pines 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (22 page)

“I’m afraid you’re a little messy now,” he said.

“So are you.”

He grinned. “Yeah, but I can clean up in a sink. You don’t have the right equipment for that.”

“Do you have any paper towels?”

“Yeah, there’s a roll on the bathroom counter. Help yourself.”

Gemma got up and sauntered into the bathroom, wet a paper towel, and cleaned herself up. When she was finished, she went back into Ryan’s office and pulled on her clothes.

“Leaving already?” he asked.

“I need to go and give Synclair the good news.”

Ryan zipped up his pants and leaned over to kiss her. “I’m sure he’ll be thrilled with his surprise. Maybe you should tie a bow around yourself and tell him you have a gift for him.”

She laughed. “If I had a ribbon that big, I might be tempted.”

Ryan swatted her on the ass. “Get going before I decide to change your mind and keep you tied up in here all day.”

With a smile, Gemma headed out the door. She unlocked the front door, flipped his sign back to
Open
, and left with a bounce in her step. She got in her car and drove the five blocks to Synclair’s shop. Parking in front, she noticed the neon sign said he was open. Gemma locked her car and strolled through the front door of Skin to Skin. She didn’t see any clients, or her hunky tattoo artist. Turning off the sign, she locked the door and decided to mosey on into the back and surprise him.

He sat at a drafting table, sketching out a design. Gemma crept up behind him and peered over his shoulder. It never ceased to amaze her just how talented he was. She didn’t want to startle him and ruin his work, but she needed to let him know she was there. Reaching over, she rapped her knuckles against the wall.

Synclair looked up and smiled when he saw her. “Hey there, beautiful. What are you doing here?”

“I came to distract you.”

His eyebrows lifted.

“The doctor said I could resume my normal activities,” she told him, then waited a minute for it to sink in.

He rose swiftly, knocking his stool to the floor. Synclair swept her into his arms and gave her a bruising kiss. Gemma sank her fingers into his hair and wrapped a leg around his thigh. This is what she’d been waiting for
.
The reckless abandon that was Synclair. He never took her gently or slowly, everything was always fast and hard and oh, so amazing. He was like a force of nature.

“You have no idea how badly I want you,” he said, gripping her hair to tilt her head back. “I’ve dreamed of you every night.”

“I’ve dreamed of you, too. Both of you.”

“Does Ryan know?”

She felt her cheeks warm.

“Ah, so you went to visit baby brother first. I may have to punish you for that.” He smiled. “Or maybe I’ll just give you something to remember for a while.”

“I need you. Please tell me you’re prepared.”

“Ever since that day in the pasture, I’ve made sure I keep a condom in my wallet. I didn’t want to pass up an opportunity to make love to you just because I didn’t have a condom with me.”

Gemma reached for his pants and began unfastening his jeans. Parting the material, she shoved them down his thighs. She smiled when she saw that he hadn’t worn underwear and his cock was hard and ready for her. She wrapped her hand around his shaft and stroked him slowly.

Synclair groaned. “That feels so damn good.”

Releasing him, she began stripping out of her clothes. She ran her hands under the edge of his tee and began pulling it over his head. She wanted to run her hands over that powerful chest and get a look at his incredible ink. If anyone had told her she’d find tattoos sexy, she’d have laughed. But that was before Synclair. Her mouth damn near watered every time she looked at him.

He pulled off his boots and removed his jeans before pulling her into his arms again. As he kissed her, the passion that had been simmering ever since she’d left Ryan’s office flared bright and hot. Her hands skimmed his chest, slid up to grip his shoulders, and then found purchase in his hair, holding him to her. The taste of coffee and chocolate filled her mouth as his tongue stroked hers, teasing and tasting, tormenting with the promise of what was yet to come.

Synclair’s hands cupped her ass, pulling her tight against his erection. The feel of his long, hard cock pressing into her belly had her pussy weeping from anticipation. She wanted to feel him inside of her more than she wanted her next breath. It had been too long since they’d been together, and she was eager to have his hands on her body, caressing her everywhere. The harsh, demanding kisses told her he wouldn’t last long. She could tell he was too far gone to be thinking of much else except getting inside of her. And that’s what she wanted, too.

He nipped her jaw, placed a kiss against her neck, then pulled away long enough to roll on the condom. With a firm hand on each hip, he lifted her. Gemma eagerly wrapped her legs around his waist. As she felt his cock brush against her pussy, a shudder ran through her. Her nipples tightened to the point of pain.

Synclair teased her, using short, shallow thrusts. She knew he was getting her pussy to stretch slowly to accommodate him but, damn it, she wanted him now! He was only halfway in when her nails bit into his shoulders and she growled at him.

“Fuck me already!”

His eyes were intense as he stared at her. “Are you sure that’s what you want? I have very little control as it is. I want to make this good for you.”

“Syn, it’s always good for me. Just the fact that you’re inside of me makes it damn near perfect.”

He kissed her again, ravaging her mouth, as he began thrusting into her harder and faster, her hips bumping against the wall behind her. Gemma raked her nails down his back and felt him shudder in response. He shifted and entered her from a different angle, rubbing against her G-spot with every stroke. Gemma moaned and dropped her head back against the wall.

Synclair powered into her with a driving force, making every nerve in her body sing. This was what she’d needed. To be completely owned by him. With a scream, she came, her pussy clenching and unclenching around his cock. It seemed to be all Synclair had been waiting for, as he thrust three more times then stilled inside of her. She felt his cock jerking as he came.

Another hungry kiss and he set her down on her feet. “Next time it will last longer.”

“I don’t think I would have survived if you’d kept going.”

He smiled and disposed of the condom. Wrapping her in his arms, he kissed again, a little slower this time. Her lips throbbed and felt swollen when he pulled away.

“What are you doing the rest of the day?” he asked.

“I thought I’d go home and work on my novel.”

He frowned. “I thought you’d already submitted it.”

“That was the first one. I already started another one. I want to be prepared in case the first one is accepted. It’s a series.”

He smiled. “It will be accepted. Because you’re an amazing woman and I’m sure you’re an amazing writer.”

The fact that he had such faith in her warmed her heart and brought a smile to her face. Her men didn’t just make her feel special in the bedroom, or in this case the back room of a tattoo shop. They made her feel special all the time, like she could be anything, do anything she wanted. She could tell them she wanted to become a professional singer, and even if she couldn’t carry a tune, they would stand by her side and cheer her on. She’d won the lottery when it came to having the best boyfriends ever. They’d not only saved her life, they’d shown her that love was possible, even when you weren’t looking for it.

The next night, Gemma stood in the kitchen at the Black house, fixing the meatloaf and mashed potatoes Elodie had taught her to make. She’d picked up a few recipes from her friend, but she still wasn’t the greatest cook in the world. But even if she burned the rolls, the guys always complimented her on her cooking. She knew they were full of shit, but it was nice that they appreciated the effort she put into making a meal for them.

Gemma set the table and placed the food in the center on trivets, something she’d had to purchase for the house. She’d actually added quite a few things. Some throw pillows and pictures in the living room. A small table by the front door, where she usually dropped her purse and keys. The guys didn’t seem to mind her making herself at home in their house. Synclair had even gone shopping with her on a few of those trips and dropped his credit card on the counter when they checked out. She’d drawn the line at him buying her a new pair of tennis shoes and some shorts though.

“Dinner’s ready,” she called out.

Ryan, Synclair, and Isaac all traipsed into the kitchen and claimed a seat. As the oldest, Synclair always sat at the head of the table, but Gemma had noticed that lately, the other end had been left vacant for her. She tried not to read too much into it, but she wondered if maybe they were thinking of a more long-term relationship than she’d first thought. Several times they’d had discussions about the future, and they always included her, but she’d still been waiting for the day they tired of her. Other than Trevor, she hadn’t had a boyfriend last longer than a month or two. As the two month mark drew near, she wondered if this relationship would survive or die out.

She had to admit, in the bedroom, things were still explosive between them. Not that they had been together very many times since Isaac had come into their lives. Really, yesterday was the first time. Her kidnapping and recovery time had made sure she couldn’t be intimate with her men for a while. Gemma wondered if she could talk Elodie into babysitting again, so she could have some time with Synclair and Ryan together. Not that she hadn’t enjoyed herself yesterday, locking herself away with them separately, but she still wanted them to take her at the same time.

Synclair took a bite of his dinner. “The meatloaf is really good, Gemma.”

“Thank you. It’s Elodie’s recipe.”

“What did you do today?” Ryan asked.

“Worked on my book and took a ride around the south pasture. Then Elodie talked me into going to the salon and getting my nails done.”

Ryan lifted her hand and studied the pink nails with airbrushed flowers. “Pretty.”

“I hope my cousins think so, since they paid for it.” She smiled. “Elodie insisted.”

“I wanna see,” Isaac said.

Gemma showed him and he gently ran his finger over one of her nails. “Girls have pretty nails. The girl down the street has bright pink ones.”

Gemma lifted her eyebrows and looked at Ryan. “Girl down the street?”

“A new family moved in a few houses down. They have a five-year-old little girl who has been coming down to play with Isaac. I bought him a sandbox two weeks ago so they’ve been playing in that. I thought about getting a pool, but decided to wait. We’ve seriously been looking at small ranches around here and I think we’re about ready to buy one.”

“Don’t you need to put this house up for sale first?” she asked.

“It will sell quickly in this neighborhood,” Synclair said. “It’s a good starter home for a new family or a newly married couple thinking about having kids. The elementary school is just a few blocks away.”

“Then why move?” Gemma asked.

“We want more room. A bigger house,” Ryan said. “We both want more kids and that just isn’t possible with this house. It’s only a four bedroom.”

“Only?”

Ryan laughed. “Okay, so that’s a good amount of space, but the house we’re thinking about buying has six bedrooms and there’s a large office in the barn.”

“Six?” Her eyes widened. “Just how many kids are you thinking of having?”

“Two or three more.”

Gemma wasn’t sure how she felt about that. Of course, they hadn’t said they wanted those children with her, or how soon they planned to have them. She was so lost in thought that she didn’t hear the question Synclair had asked her.

“What?”

He smiled. “I asked when you were going to let me ink you. When we met, you told me you had an idea of what you wanted, but you haven’t mentioned it since then. You know I’ll do it for free.”

She knew what she wanted. A phoenix rising that would take up just about her whole back. But if Synclair was going to be a more permanent part of her life, she wanted his signature tattooed on her back, too, at the bottom of the image, that way she’d always have a part of him with her, his brand forever etched on her skin.

“I know what I want, but I don’t think the timing is right just yet.”

He nodded. “You just let me know when you’re ready. I’ll clear my schedule for you.”

She smiled. “I’ll be sure to tell you.”

The doorbell rang and Ryan rose from the table, having already finished his dinner. “I’ll get it.”

A moment later, Elodie came into the kitchen, a big smile on her face. Gemma had no idea what she was doing there, but Synclair and Ryan didn’t seem the least bit surprised by her presence. If anything, Synclair had a calculating look in his eyes.

“I came for Isaac,” Elodie said. She smiled at the little boy. “Would you like to come spend the night at my house and maybe ride one of the horses? Cody said he’d lead you around on Golden Lady.”