Forrest, Dawn - Sweet Water Wedding: Sharing Shannon (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (48 page)

“Ah, this must be Shannon.” The young waitress grinned. “I’m Tracey. There’ll be a trail of broken hearts, shattered dreams, and, more to the point, frustrated women in Meadow Ridge County now that these two are off the market.” Then she seemed to realize how that could be taken and her hand flew up to her mouth. “Oh, I’m sorry, that didn’t sound good.”

She blushed as red as a beetroot and Shannon took pity on her. “Don’t worry, I know about their reputation, but their player days are over. Isn’t that right, my stud muffins?”

Tracey laughed and Luke and James blanched at her nickname for them.

“Stud muffins?” James said in disbelief.

“I think it fits.” Shannon smirked.

“Oh I think you may be just what they need.” Tracey grinned. “I’ll get y’all a menu.”

Luke quickly explained that Tracey was at college but sometimes helped out waitressing at her mom’s diner in the holidays, especially if they were short staffed like today.

“I’d like to point out in my favor that I have never slept with Tracey.” Luke said, obviously looking for brownie points.

“No, but you did her mom when you were eighteen,” James replied quickly.

“God damn it, James, why d’ya have to say that? It’s not like it sounds, Shannon, Dana wasn’t married at the time and well, I was young and she was a good-looking older woman.”

“Save it, it doesn’t matter.” She laughed.

“So how’d it go?” Luke asked, still frowning at James.

They explained what happened and Luke listened and agreed with what they’d decided.

“The most important thing is getting that visa and marrying Shannon. Tonight we’ll decide which one of us has to put his name on the application form.”

* * * *

That night they sat cozied up on the big sofa in the living room of the Sweet Water ranch. Luke must have sensed that Shannon was upset about something.

“Shannon, what’s the matter?” Luke asked, placing his arm around her.

To his horror James saw a fat single tear rolled down her cheek. Concern and worry were etched on Luke’s face as he held her.

“I love you both. I can’t, I won’t choose who will be my legal husband.”

Phew, he’d thought that it was something serious.

“To us the binding ceremony is more important,” he explained as he hugged her.

It was true, but even so he realized that it was going to be a hard decision to make. He’d always quietly assumed that he would not be the one to marry the woman in their polyandry relationship because he was the youngest, but they had both agreed that was hardly fair. He hadn’t factored into account how much he’d love their future wife and it somehow was a little different sharing with a friend rather than a blood brother. He and Luke had talked about it and they had reminded themselves that it was only a piece of paper. They had agreed that if Shannon didn’t have a preference, they would let chance decide.

“Do you honestly have no preference or comment to make about whom you’ll legally marry?” he queried.

Shannon shook her head and asked, “Do you?”

“Look, we wish it could be both of us but it can’t. We can see a lot of good reasons why either of us should be the legal husband, but it is only a piece of paper. We’ll make other contracts that make us equal partners and give all us power of attorney.”

Luke appeared to consider things. “I guess we’ll just have to make the choice in the best, logical way we know.”

He grinned.

Shannon groaned. “Rock, paper, scissors?”

“See now, darlin’, you know us well already.”

“I can’t watch,” Shannon said. “You do it and call me back when you’ve decided. I love you both.”

She kissed them each on the cheek then moved quickly through the thick door that led to James’s wing of the house.

He turned to Luke. “You sure this is the way to do it?” he asked suddenly feeling the same as when he’d opened his exam results or before he’d got on an unbroken horse for the first time. The nervous, gut-clenching apprehension almost made him sick.

“Seems the best way, that or toss a coin. Look, whoever loses is gonna be disappointed.”

“Yep, let’s just do it,” he said, taking a deep breath.

Each man held out his closed fist.

“Rock.” They hammered the air, once. “Paper.” They repeated the move. “Scissors.” They brought their fists down and… For a moment no one said anything. James’s hand was stretched flat to represent the paper symbol. Luke’s hand remained in a tight fist—a rock.

“Paper covers rock.” Luke croaked.

James felt tears prick his eyes. He’d won, but it wasn’t a victory.

“Hey, man,” Luke said. “It’s okay.”

Luke took James’s still stretched hand and placed his clenched fist up against it. James wrapped his fingers around it holding tight.

“Partners,” Luke said with a nod, as they looked into each other’s eyes, gauging the strength of their friendship.

“Partners,” he said in a strong voice.

* * * *

Shannon waited, pacing the room, wondering what was taking so long. She didn’t care who would marry her, but she did care about any hurt or disappointment that one of her men may feel. She couldn’t wait any longer. Taking a deep breath she headed back into the main house.

James and Luke were in the middle of a sort of man hug, which they broke once they realized she was there. Luke smiled but James had unshed tears in his eyes and her heart fractured.

“I love you both so much. James, I’m sorry that you can’t be my legal husband, but I promise that you’ll always be my husband in my heart and soul.”

“I lost,” Luke said softly. “James will be your legal husband.”

James didn’t look too happy and Luke’s smile had a forced air.

“Shannon, I know that Luke wants to marry you as much as I do. I’m sorry for him; he’s my best friend and my partner. I love you so much that although I know he feels disappointed I’m not prepared to give way. So you see it’s a bit difficult to celebrate.”

She looked at them and thought that it was such bullshit that she couldn’t marry them both in the eyes of the law. Despite what they had said, it was still emotionally difficult for them.

“I understand. You are absolutely right, James. Luke, what I just said to James also applies to you. Now, I have given this some thought and I would like to change my name once everything is sorted out. So what do you think of Shannon Mary McKay Ryden?”

Luke smiled. “It has a certain ring to it.”

Chapter 27

Shannon was soaking in the big tub in James’s bathroom, thinking how time really does fly by when you’re having fun. The past week had gone way too quickly and she only had three more full days until she had to fly back to Ireland. With the help of Travis Whyte and an immigration lawyer in Houston, James had filed a petition for a K-1 visa for her. They had been advised that complete applications, with no errors, were currently taking about two months to process. Once granted, she would have to apply at the US embassy in Dublin and no one could give them a clear answer on how long that would take. The worst thing was that once the process was underway it was possible that she may not get a visa to visit the US in the meantime because she could be considered to have intent to stay. It would depend on the official doing the visa. One thing was certain; they would have to visit her and that would be interesting.

She had decided that she would tell her family. Loving James and Luke as she did would give her the courage and strength that she needed to face her mother and father. She simply couldn’t imagine lying about Luke and denying that he was just as much her husband as James. She would live her own life, and if they wanted to be a part of it, then they’d have to accept her choices. She wanted to wear her love on her sleeve, not tucked away in a deep back pocket as if in shame. She decided that the best strategy would be to tell her family about Meadow Ridge County and the unusual relationships and slowly drip feed them information, so that it didn’t come as too much of a shock when she told them… she hoped.

She decided that she’d better get out of the bath before she turned into a prune. The long soak was supposed to be relaxing, but she was still excited about the prospect of bare-naked sex, without condoms. They didn’t know and it was her little surprise and going away gift.

The past week she’d been surfing the crimson tide and at the beginning had wondered how it would affect sex. The answer was it didn’t. Her comfort zone had definitely expanded with them.

As she dried off, she heard the door to the bedroom open and the sound of deep male voices.

“Mmm, Shannon must be in the bath, smells nice. Oh darn it she’s out,” James complained when she stood in the doorway with a big, fluffy towel wrapped around her like a cotton cocoon.

“We timed that wrong.” Luke chuckled.

Luke and James had showered as soon as they’d finished work for the day. They’d all eaten a meal with Mitch and Janet who were also staying at Sweet Water. It wasn’t a problem, the house was big enough and Shannon enjoyed the warm family atmosphere. Her guys had been having a late evening beer on the pool patio, discussing their day and relaxing while she took a long bath. She realized that it was a new experience for them to be living like this, but one they seemed to enjoy. When she left, Luke would go back to his house, but they had agreed to build a new home for when they were married.

“Come here, gorgeous,” Luke said with his arms open and a gleam in his eye.

She walked into his embrace and he lifted her up off the floor to kiss her lips. She sighed and buried her nose in his neck.

“I love the way you smell, all manly and woodsy—it turns me on.”

She felt a tug on her towel as James pulled it away from her warm, fragrant skin, leaving her naked. He kissed the nape of her neck and sparked delightful, tingling, little signals along her nerves, causing her to tremble and moan.

As she was kissing Luke she was aware that James was undressing fast. Once he was naked, he took hold of her and pulled her away from Luke into his own embrace. She wrapped her legs around his waist and passionately kissed him, feeding her love to him and devouring his. James turned to carry her to the bed, and when she peeked over his shoulder she saw Luke shedding his clothes faster than Clark Kent in a phone booth, and goodness, was he ever a superman.

James sat on the bed with her straddling his lap. His aggressive-looking, long, thick, erection was trapped between their bodies. The foreskin was pulled back tight, revealing his deep red, shiny cockhead. As he sucked on a nipple she pushed her hand between her legs and smeared her slick juices onto her open palm. She firmly gripped his hot shaft and gently moved her well-lubricated hand up and down its length, squeezing and pulling.

“Shannon, you’d better ease up, honey or I’ll disappoint you.” James groaned.

“You’ll never disappoint me,” she breathed close to his ear. “You never cease to amaze me.”

Luke stood next to the bed and swooped in for a long, languorous kiss.

“C’mon, honey, take pity on my cock and ride your cowboy,” James pleaded.

She hoisted herself up and slowly slid down on his cock, inch by inch, flexing her soft internal muscles as if feeding on him.

“Oh, fuck yeah. She’s swallowing my cock with her tight, wet cunt.”

It felt wonderful, the heat of his flesh sliding inside and the friction of his velvet soft skin against her warm, slick walls.