Cowboy Boots and Unadulterated Pleasures [Cowboy Boots 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (15 page)

After a few minutes, she sniffed and backed away, dabbing her eyes with the back of her hand. “Answer a question for me?”

“If I can,” he replied, already fearing the inquiry she’d make.

“Is it true about the Underground Unit?”

“Is what true?” He braced for the worst possible question a new operative could ask an existing operative.

“I’ve always heard death is the only way out. My mother once told me that Dad stayed in because he knew too much. She said the ruling operatives, the authority, wouldn’t allow him to leave for fear he’d tell too much.”

“Well, there you go,” Crue said, trying to think of a way to ease her mind. “We already know your father has told everything he could tell to buy himself some time with Lorenzo. Since he’s exposed our division of the Underground Unit, there’s no reason for anyone to dispose of him.”

“You don’t think they’ll seek revenge?”

He’d heard horror stories about how the operating authority had often sought and executed retribution. He shuddered to think about that now for fear he’d give away his concerns and cause Kelly more unnecessary angst.

“Don’t concern yourself with Daniel’s troubles, Kelly,” Crue said. “Colt has an inside connection to the authority, and whether you’re aware of it or not, you have several of your own. I don’t think we need to worry about what might happen. We’ll cross that bridge and wade in the water when we’re thrown overboard. Right now, we both need some sleep.”

“How could you do this to Kelly?” Colt demanded, pounding his fists against the dining room table.

Daniel kept his composure. Either he didn’t give a damn, or he was in denial. Maybe he didn’t have the capacity to understand what he’d done to himself, to his daughter, and to his men.

Brand frowned. “Daniel, don’t you care what we think anymore? When did you stop being a leader to this team?”

“I think we can all answer that question,” Colt said.

Daniel didn’t say a word.

“I think Daniel made his position pretty clear. He doesn’t give a damn about his daughter. Why the hell would he care about us?” Seated atop the dining room table, Kemper rested his foot on a nearby chair. He studied his fingernails. He acted as if his cuticles were far more interesting than the pending conversation.

“I have to call this in,” Colt said, wishing Daniel would say something—anything—to change his mind.

“You do what you have to do,” Daniel said. “No one can fault you for doing your job.”

Colt leapt across the table. He planted his palms firmly against the glass surface covering the walnut wood. “I don’t want your permission, damn you! I want you to give me one good excuse not to pick up the phone and call Brock Donovan! Just one!”

The rage and pain mixed with exhaustion were more than he could take. He felt as if he were teetering around the perimeters of a dangerously guarded territory. The handwriting was scribbled all over the walls. Colt just didn’t have the courage to read in between the lines.

“Answer me,” he grated out.

“You always want one reason. Always only one, huh? You and Kelly are just alike there,” Daniel accused, sitting taller, his head held higher. “I’ll give you one reason, because one is all you need this time. Make that call, Colt. Make that call and do it now. I dare you. And when you do, remember this—Kelly will never forgive you.”

* * * *

“Are you almost finished in here?”

Crue jolted to an upright position, not because she startled him, but because he prayed she hadn’t been standing there long. He really hoped she hadn’t stood witness to what her father had just said, how he’d used her as a power play against Colt.

“I’ll be there in a minute,” he said, shutting down the monitors. “I just need to send Colt a message.”

Kelly dragged her fingers across his shoulders. “It’s okay, you know.”

He stilled under her careful caress, longing to touch her but knowing he wouldn’t dare until he and Colt worked out an arrangement of sorts between them, between all of them. He didn’t want to—he wouldn’t—betray his brother.

Kelly rubbed his neck. “You’re so tight. Tense.”

“Kelly,” Crue muttered, trying his best to defy his body. His cock stiffened as he tried to think of a mental distraction. He considered his brother and what Colt might have said to Daniel after he used Kelly for leverage against him.

Crue’s hard-on stretched his denim as her fingers worked out the knots in his neck and shoulders. Damn if she didn’t make him horny as fuck. His balls throbbed. His cock ached. All he could think about was sinking between those soft pink lips and screwing her to the brink of exhaustion.

So much for using business as a distraction.

Kelly’s fingers raked across his nape. “Come to bed, Crue.”

She slipped her palms down the front of his shirt. The soft pads of her fingertips flattened against his nipples. Her fingers worked simultaneously in a pattern, taunting the flat discs until they tingled under her titillating touch.

“Enough,” he said, reaching over his head with both arms and grabbing her by the shoulders. Twirling around in his chair, he faced her. “I’m attracted to you. This is something you and I have discussed in the past and you know how I feel about you.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“I love my brother,” Crue said. “He loves you.”

Her eyes twinkled with knowledge. “If you think my pursuing you would hurt Colt, then I’m sorry. I’d never betray Colt intentionally and from what I remember of our previous relationships, we all had an understanding. Has that changed?”

“I don’t know. I need to talk to Colt first. I’d appreciate it very much if you didn’t tease me until I’ve had a chance to talk to him.”

She reluctantly nodded and backed away. Walking to the door separating the recreation area from the bedroom, she asked, “Crue, will you be honest with me?”

Crue stilled. He had just finished typing out a straightforward message to his brother, one which told him precisely how he felt about Kelly, a revealing note that could potentially harm their relationship if Colt had made up his mind he couldn’t share Kelly this time around. Then again, Colt understood Kelly well. He knew one man would never fully satisfy her because her heart wouldn’t allow her the freedom to make a choice between men. Even Crue realized that much.

“You can ask me anything you want.”

Her eyes showcased keen awareness. Her pale skin was perfectly flawless and she possessed a rare natural beauty, one which left him helpless in her presence. Her effect on him went way beyond lust. While he hadn’t acknowledged the fact before, he was certain now more than ever before. His feelings for her ran deep.

“Did you ever love me?”

Her question was like a punch in the chest. Swallowing, he tried to avoid eye contact and checked his phone again, praying Colt would return his message and give him something to go on. He wanted to know with absolute certainty which boundaries he could cross and what barriers to put in place.

The phone buzzed and his small device zipped across the counter as several text messages came through at one time. Without a doubt, Colt had a few opinions on the Kelly subject. The cell phone shimmied across the smooth surface again.

A blue glow lit up the room and Kelly narrowed her gaze. “Maybe you should get that. See what big brother has to say about the subject. That’s what you’re doing, isn’t it? Waiting to see if he green lights a reunion?”

“Kelly.” Crue reached for her, but she darted around him. Damn it, he was too tired for this shit and too old for games. He grabbed his phone and read the messages sent, never bothering to turn around and confirm or deny her accusation. Besides, he wouldn’t lie to her. He wouldn’t keep secrets. They’d all been here and done this before.

After reading texts from Colt and Gabe, he took a deep breath. “All right then.”

Thanks to a floor-to-ceiling mirror at the far end of the room, he noticed her rushing to the bedroom. “You can’t run from me down here, Kelly. Look around, sweet thing. There’s no place to go.”

“I never ran from you,” she whispered as he marched across the room. “How quickly you forget who pursued whom.”

“I’m not talking about now. At one time, you ran,” he said, clutching his phone in one hand as he stalked her. “You couldn’t stand the pressure. You couldn’t cope with what you were feeling for more than one man, and you couldn’t wrap your mind around the fact that five men—not one, but five—wanted to claim you for their own.” For a second he felt like a phony, since only moments before he had been awaiting his brother’s consent.

“I have no reason to run from any of you.”

“That’s right,” he said, sliding his arms around her. He drew her back against his chest. Pressing the phone against her stomach, he nuzzled her hair. Even after a long night, she smelled as fresh as a new summer day.

“Read it,” he rasped, his hands flattening against her stomach when she took the phone. “Read every word.”

A sensual whimper fell from her lips. He lifted her hair away from her neck, planting kisses on the soft contour of her nape. She trembled in his arms as he pressed the weight of his denim-clad cock against her bottom, dragging her body closer to his.

“Crue,” she crooned, tilting her chin to her shoulder. Curving her arm behind her head, she splayed her fingers and raked her nails across his scalp. “Tell me this isn’t a dream, Crue. Tell me this is all true.”

“Every last word,” he promised, relieved to know Colt was pleased when he discovered Crue had been the one to safely sweep Kelly out of the arms of danger.

She faced him. “Then why now? If all of this is true, why wait a year to tell me?”

“You know why, Kelly,” Crue said, studying those luscious lips. He wanted to taste her, thrust his tongue between her lips, and kiss away her doubts and troubles. “Men don’t follow any set time table. We’re different than women. We can’t be easily manipulated.”

“I never tried to manipulate you,” she said, frowning.

He thought about that for a second. “Maybe you’re right, but you wanted your cake and you wanted to eat it, too.”

“And you didn’t? Colt didn’t?” A sweet smile washed across her lips. “And don’t even get me started about Gabe, Kemper, and Brand. I recall a different time, a time when each one of you wanted me to choose between you.”

“I guess we each have our separate recollections about what transpired this time last year.”

“The memories are there, Crue. That’s what matters. The memories exist and there are plenty of them embedded in my head about me and you.”

* * * *

After showering alone, Kelly met Crue in the bedroom. She’d fully expected this distance between them at the start. Crue had his habits and his preferences. While Colt had been a greedy lover when they’d reunited, Crue had discipline. He’d always been such a controlled and dominant lover. Tonight wouldn’t be different than previous nights they’d shared.

While she’d showered, he’d been busy. A tripod and camera were set up next to the bed. On the nightstand, a Dom’s tools of the trade were scattered about—a dark blue blindfold, a flogger, headgear with a rubber ball gag attachment, a paddle, several multicolored scarves, a vibrator, and several condoms and lubricants. What captured and held her attention longer than anything else was the small gray stone, still boxed in a gold-colored case with a red ribbon around the top.

Her bottom clenched and her mind’s eye revisited the past. Before she thought about it, she said, “I still remember the first time I saw one of those.”

His lips and nose twitched. He’d already assumed his hardened persona, the one that would inevitably leave her body trembling in need. Bare-chested and wearing only his jeans and a rubber band around his wrist, he said, “The first time you saw the bottom popper wasn’t what you were thinking, sub.”

His voice was as rich and thick as velvet. His eyes were dark and hooded, weighted down with lust and trepidation. The angst rising inside him was outwardly noticeable, a rare casualty for a man like Crue.

“Tell me what you really thought when you saw your gift,” he said, picking up the tripod and moving the stand closer to the bed.

She rubbed her lips together.

“Sub?”

“Yes, Sir,” she said, her heart racing as her mind returned her to the best of yesteryear’s memories.

“What were you thinking?”

She dropped her towel at her feet, realizing her action would warrant punishment. “I remember how you kissed me for the first time—really kissed me—and brought me in your arms while Colt prepared me for you.”

“Prepared you how, sub?” he asked, his throaty voice an awkward—and much higher—pitch.

Moistening her lips, she said, “Sir, he used the lube and the stone.”

“What did he do with the lube and the stone?” Crue asked, staring at her breasts as he inched closer to where she stood.

His voice was intoxicating. His heated gaze could’ve melted an igloo.

To her surprise, he reached out and touched her breast, his firm fingers raking over her nipple as he looked on, watching as he roused her. This was so unlike Crue. Normally, he would’ve scolded her for removing her towel or clothing before he issued the request.

Her mouth dried as he caressed her, tweaking one nipple and then the other. “Colt spread my cheeks and put the tip of the lube inside me. Then, he squirted the rest on the stone and inserted the tip inside my ass.”

A low and masculine growl filled the room. “And how did you feel, sub?”

“I…” She stuttered, trying to find the right words.

“Answer me, sub,” he demanded, pinching her nipple.

Rather than cry out in pain, she moaned in pleasure as a piercing dose of arousal shot through her body. She closed her eyes and savored the delicious recollection. “The stone felt cold and impersonal, yet the act was intimate. I remember clenching around the plug as soon as the object was inside me. Then, you kissed me and gave me permission to come, but I couldn’t come, and then…” She paused and swallowed. The beautiful memory came rushing back. She squeezed her legs together as she recalled how Crue had demonstrated his control over her body.