The Naughty List (15 page)

Shrugging, he gestured for Lacey and Ry to head out to the truck without him. Once they were gone, Jana got right to the point. One that he hadn’t been expecting. Certainly not from his hell-on-wheels sister. “I hope you know what you’re doing, playing these sex games with Lacey.”

“What do you mean?”

She folded her arms over her Betty Boop T-shirt. “You and I both know how vulnerable she is to getting hurt.”

Anger sliced through him. “You think that’s what Ry and I want to do? Hurt her? That’s the most fucking stupid thing I’ve ever heard.”

“I know you wouldn’t
mean
to. But it’s almost inevitable, don’t you think? For God’s sake, she’s in love with you guys.”

He stared at her, and Jana clamped a hand over her mouth, only to drop it a second later with an, “Oh shit.”

His heart began beating in triple time. “Did she tell you that?”

“No, but I always figured. She’s in major denial over it though.” She winced. “Why can’t I shut up? It’s like I have Tourette’s.” She sent him a pleading look. “Let’s pretend we never had this conversation, okay?”

Yeah, not fucking likely. “No problem.” He shoved his wallet into his rear pocket. “You gonna be at Ma and Pop’s Christmas Eve?”

“Of course.”

He started to back away from the register, but Jana’s pointed cough stalled him short. Her expression was more worried than ever. “Be careful with her heart.”

He didn’t bother to answer. Like there was any need. He’d sooner saw off his own leg than hurt Lacey. Zipping his jacket, he pivoted and exited the store. As he strode to the truck his chaotic thoughts spun like an endless reel.

Could it be true? Was Lacey in love with them? The possibility made his heart soar. Until he remembered Jana’s claim about Lacey being in denial over it. If so, that hinted at the possibility that Lacey was deliberately ignoring what her heart was telling her.

Why?

Everything inside him hungered to corner Lacey and demand if Jana’s suspicions were true, after which he’d reassure Lacey that she didn’t have to worry about him loving her back. The exact opposite. He loved her so damn much he was ready to explode from the force of his feelings.

But he was also petrified of moving too fast with Lacey. Or worse, scaring her off completely. Dragging his hands down his face, he tugged open the truck’s rear passenger door and climbed onto the backseat. Other than Lacey’s labored breaths, the front of the vehicle was quiet. He opened his mouth, intending to ask what was going on, but then he noticed the way she was squirming in place, her nails digging into her seat’s leather armrests. A gasp broke from her lips, and she squeezed her legs together.

Holy fuck.
Ry must be using the remote on her. Bram glanced toward Ry and noticed his ghost of a smile. Ry’s hand came out of his pocket, and Lacey let out a relieved breath, her posture immediately relaxing.

Ry shifted out of park. “Who’s ready to go tree hunting?”

Bram smothered a groan. Something told him this was going to be a long afternoon.

But damn if it wasn’t gonna be fun.

Chapter Thirteen

“What about this one?” Trying to keep her balance, Lacey hiked through the ankle-deep fresh powder dusting the thicker crust of old snow. She reached the good-sized evergreen just as a flurry of vibrations kicked through the silver bullet lodged in her pussy. Gritting her teeth, she rode out the tantalizing waves, hoping against hope that they’d last long enough this time to do something more than add to the already-soaked conditions of her crotch.

She panted, swaying. Despite the cold, a trickle of sweat slid toward her cleavage. The vibrations stopped.
Damn them.

Her two tormenters came into view, and she glared them down. “Which one of you bastards did that?”

They both offered her innocent smiles. Bram’s attention drifted to the tree she’d called them over to see. “That’s a Fraser fir.”

She tossed her arms out. “What freaking difference does it make?”

“I always get a blue spruce.”

It was tempting to weep. Honest to God. Instead she resorted to more crankiness. “You suck.”

“Not yet. But we’re going to, baby.” Ry’s gaze smoldered. “I bet your clit’s swollen and juicy for us, isn’t it?”

Just him asking sent another series of throbbing pulses through the aching bundle of nerves. Who needed a vibrator when she had Ry’s smoky voice talking dirty sweet nothings to her?

She stalked forward and wrenched the handsaw from Bram’s grasp. “You’re getting a fucking Fraser fir.” She swiveled toward the tree but managed no more than one step before the bullet went off again. “
Ahhh.
” Her legs wobbling, she dropped the saw. Bram retrieved it and the vibrations stopped. She glared at his broad back. “Sneaky, Colton. You do realize I’m going to make you suffer unbearably for this.”

“Trust me, darlin’. I already am.”

They spent another fifteen minutes searching for Bram’s nonexistent perfect tree. By the time he settled on a six-foot spruce with a mostly asymmetrical shape, she was ready to rip her clothes off and beg them to fuck her. In the snow. Yeah, she’d probably freeze her ass off—literally—but at this rate she wasn’t going to quibble. While Bram and Ry took turns sawing through the evergreen’s thick trunk, she jogged in place, both out of patience and in the pathetic hope that maybe she’d somehow accidentally trigger the bullet into going off again and giving her the orgasm she so desperately needed.

Finally the tree toppled over, and Ry and Bram each grabbed an end with their gloved hands and carried it toward the path where the tractor-powered wagon would pick them up and take them back to the main lot. The second they dropped the heavy spruce onto the ground, Bram grimaced. “I’ve got to take a leak.”

While Bram tromped back in the direction they just came from, she hurried in front of Ry, her hands clasped together in supplication. “Give me ten seconds with the remote. That’s all I’m asking.”

He chuckled. “Only ten seconds, huh?”

“I probably don’t even need that long.”

He seemed to mull it over for a moment. “I’ve got a counteroffer for you. I’ll keep the remote, but I promise I’ll leave it on long enough that you’ll come.”

She was past the point of caring who pushed the button that would ultimately get her off. “Deal.”

Ry leaned down until his warm breath puffed a scant inch away from her lips. “Shall we seal it with a kiss?”

She flung her arms around his neck and crushed her mouth over his. Their tongues collided before dancing together in a seductive glide. She wiggled against him, trying to devour him whole, her entire body primed for the lusty, uninhibited loving she so desperately craved. Her teeth scraped his bottom lip as he pulled back with a ragged exhale. He stared at her with a somebody’s-gonna-get-fucked-hard glint in his eyes.

Oh
God
, she hoped so.

Bram rejoined them, his insulated boots crunching through the snow. “Any sign of the wagon yet?”

Ry shook his head. She eyed him, waiting for the vibrations that should hit.

Any.

Moment.

Now.

The seconds continued to tick by, and she cleared her throat. Ry glanced her way. All traces of his previous carnal hunger had been wiped clean, replaced instead by the phoniest innocent expression she’d ever witnessed on a human being.

If she’d had a blunt object handy, she would have clubbed him with it. “What are you waiting for?”

He cocked his head, seemingly listening for something. Bram stepped around the trunk of the spruce, his attention fused to the rutted path. “Hey, I think the wagon’s coming.”

Ry’s gaze returned to her. “So it is.” And just like that, his angelic demeanor shifted. The smile that stretched his mouth prompted endless goose bumps along her skin.

The big John Deere tractor rumbled into view, the attached canopied wagon bouncing behind it. Sexual frustration welling inside her, she lasered a hot glare at Ry. “You are such a liar.”

“No, baby. I fully intend to keep my word. I just never said when I’d do it.”

“How convenient.”

The tractor’s puttering engine grew louder as the vehicle approached. The wickedness riding Ry’s features kicked up several notches, making her nervous. Why did it feel like she’d possibly made a deal with the devil? “Ryan Hollister, what do you have up your sleeve, damn it?”

With a grinding of brakes, the tractor jolted to a halt and its coverall-wearing operator swung down from the top seat. “Howdy.”

The bullet began buzzing in her pussy. Biting the inside of her cheek to keep from gasping, she jerked her gaze to Ry and noticed the sparkle in his eyes.

Getting tossed into a pit of alligators would be too merciful for the rotten son of a bitch. No, the death she had planned for him would be slow and excruciating.

“Wow, looks like you folks found yourselves a beauty.” Planting his hands on his thighs, the wagon operator stooped to get a better look at the spruce.

The vibrations intensified a fraction.

Oh shit. The damn remote came with different settings? She was so fucked.

God, if only.

Trying to hide her whimpers with a tuneless hum, she shuffled in place. That action only resulted in the crotch of the teddy rubbing between her labia, adding an extra layer onto her torment.

“Let me get you all a tag.” The worker fumbled in the pocket stitched to the front of his bib. His bushy mustache drooped low as he frowned. “Well shoot. Musta left them in the cab.” His motions slow and lumbering as a polar bear, he waddled toward his tractor. The pulsations in her pussy lessened. She wanted to scream. Cry. Rip off her pants and demand Ry and Bram fuck her.

“What’s the matter, baby? You look a little flushed.” His lips twitching, Ry kneaded her shoulder.

She lowered her voice to a fierce whisper that she prayed the tractor driver couldn’t hear. “You better be prepared to fuck my brains out when we get home.”

The fire in his eyes threatened to burn her alive. “Believe me, that’s a given.”

She shivered, as much from the sinful promise in his tone as the bullet jiggling in her pussy.

“Here we go.” The worker returned with the tag and hunkered to his knees in order to affix it to the spruce. “You boys need a hand hauling this into the wagon?”

“No, we’ve got it covered.” Bram crouched and grabbed the trunk. The vibrations blessedly ceased as Ry stepped around her and wrestled with the front end of the tree. After some grunting and cursing, they situated the evergreen near the back of the wagon. She clambered up the wooden plank steps and plunked her fanny onto one of the prickly bales of hay used for seating. The strong, bracing scent of pine surrounded her, making her feel like she was in the middle of a forest. Oh right, she was. Duh. Being deprived of orgasm was apparently slowly killing off her brain cells. Feeling suitably grouchy, she sent Ry and Bram a peeved look while they sat down on either side of her.

The worker popped his head through the opening. “Everyone ready back here?”

Ry squeezed her knee as the bullet started up again. “More than ready.”

Giving the thumbs-up sign, the driver moseyed to the John Deere. Lacey let out a frustrated gasp and swatted at Ry’s hand. “You are
such
a bastard.”

“No, baby. I’m marking off your wish list. You said you wanted public sex, well I’m giving you a small taste of it.” Ry’s fingers swept small, distracting figure eights over the denim covering her leg. “Be glad it’s as cold as it is. Otherwise I’d be tempted to ruck these jeans down right now and bury my mouth between your legs while that vibe is doing its thing.”

Bram leaned forward, his stare moving to her lap. “Holy shit. Don’t tell me the bullet’s been buzzing this whole time.”

“Mostly.” Ry’s palm smoothed along her clenched thigh. “Just enough to keep her busy wondering if she’d come apart in front of our friend up there.” He nodded his chin toward the driver, who was whistling off key in the cab of the tractor. The vehicle lurched forward, jostling them slightly on the bales of hay.

Ry’s gloved fingers continued wandering along the inner seam of her jeans until they rested against her crotch. The vibrations increased in tempo. “It’s exactly two minutes until we reach the parking lot. I timed it earlier. Think you can come before that, baby? Because I’m warning you right now, we’re not going to let up on you until you do.”

She was too dazed to completely comprehend Ry’s meaning. Even when he used his teeth to yank off his glove she didn’t really get it. It wasn’t until he unzipped her jeans and slid his hand inside the narrow opening in the denim that his intention pierced the sensual fog clouding her brain. She barely had time to register the blissful stroking of Ry’s calloused fingers on her clit before Bram’s hand snuck inside her coat and beneath her sweater. His warm palm infinitely arousing, Bram massaged her breast through her bra, his thumb rolling over her nipple. She gasped, her hips jerking. Her pussy clenched around the throbbing bullet, but the climax still hovered out of reach.

The wagon’s wheels seemed to hit every rut in the path, bouncing her in a way that did nothing to help her situation. Her desperate moan leaked free before she could stop it. Pulse thundering, she shot a look toward the driver, uncertain if he’d heard.

“One minute, baby, and he’ll stop this wagon and walk back here. Know what he’ll see?” Ry’s mouth pressed against her ear, his beard scruff an erotic scrape along her cheek. “You, coming all over my hand.”

Her breath snagged in her throat, excitement and panic jockeying for the foremost sensation in her body. Bram eased down the cup of her bra and plucked her nipple lightly as his teeth grazed the side of her neck. “I wish I was buried inside you right now. Then he’d see you coming all over my cock instead.”

She whimpered. Ry’s fingers moved in tighter and tighter little circles on her clit. “Does that excite you, naughty girl? Maybe we should give you what you really want.”

A tremble began low in her belly.

“What is it that you really want, Lace?” Bram’s lips traversed her jaw.

The tractor crossed the metal grate marking the south entrance to the lot. In the not-too-far distance, she could hear the roar of the chainsaws putting cleaner cuts on the customers’ trees. The bullet buzzed at maximum speed and velocity. Ry tugged her clit between his thumb and index finger, mimicking the pattern of the vibrations in her pussy. She gasped her answer. “B-both of you.”