Chapter Five
“These are beautiful,” Rayna said, considering a set of pictures that hung on the living room wall. She and Jamie were alone. To her surprise, the other three men had retired shortly after dinner. Jamie had laughed at her. They’re not sex fiends, he’d said. You’re enough to wipe out any man.
The two of them had settled on the couch to watch a chick flick, though they’d kissed more than watched. As he’d put away the DVD, she’d wandered to the pictures on the back wall. Though he was across the room and didn’t look, Jamie knew which ones she spoke of. Candid family photos back dropped by the Rocky Mountains.
“I took those a few years ago,” he told her. “A family vacation.”
“I recognize the four of you. Who are the other three men?”
“Declan, Miles and Conor, my brothers.”
“Good lord, there are five of you?” she murmured, taking in the resemblance no one could deny.
“Yeah. They’ve moved to the city though. More opportunities. More women.”
“With a population of nearly one hundred percent men, I can believe it. You know with a little PR this place could attract single women. Daly, the Mecca of Men.”
He snorted. “How would you do that?”
“It’s what I do. I’m a tourism researcher. I build plans for businesses and towns to attract people.”
Jamie nodded. “Could work in Daly, I guess. If you were here.”
He almost kicked himself when the words slipped out. The last thing he wanted to do was to push her. It was way too soon to know what either of them was feeling even if it had been instant and strong.
“Ready for bed?” he asked. She nodded and headed for the stairs. Jamie followed, enjoying the feminine sway of her rear as she moved. Watching her today with the other men had been exquisite torture. So hot. Yet he yearned to put his claim on her. To know he shared but in the end this woman was his.
At her doorway, she paused and turned to him. The others had gone to bed and wouldn’t be coming to her room tonight. Would she send him away?
“You’re coming in?” she asked.
“I’d like to. To hold you,” he added quickly. “I’m not sure your poor p-ssy could take any more today.”
“I think I can take a lot more than you suspect,” she laughed, pulling him into the room. She shut the door.
“Can I ask you something?” she asked. She walked toward the bed, getting undressed as she moved. He wanted to photograph the smooth line of her back. Earlier he’d been struck by fine movement of muscle in her abdomen. Would she let him capture her on film before she left here?
“Jamie?” she prompted.
“Huh? Oh. Yeah, sure. Ask.”
“You were a million miles away,” she commented.
“Not so far. Just admiring you.”
A faint veil of rose crawled up her neck to her cheeks. She shook her head. “The golden tongue of the Irish.”
He raised a brow. “My tongue can do far more than that. Wanna see?”
“I could be convinced. So…I was wondering…does it bother you when I’m with your cousins and Patrick?”
“No,” he laughed. “It’s…stunning. So hot. And we seem…”
“Connected,” she offered.
Jamie nodded. “Connected. Knowing that’s there, knowing you’ll come to me after, that your mouth is mine, just makes it hotter. Someday, hopefully, I’ll marry. Sean and David won’t ever have a third. They’re content as they are, though they like the occasional woman. I’d always share with them. Knowing my wife was mine, but that they enjoyed her and she’d always be in bed with me afterward would just arouse me more.”
She sat on the bed. “So why don’t you join in?”
He settled beside her. “Three perfect men then me. Would I even have a shot?”
“They’re not perfect. And for the record…” She kissed his chin then his mouth. Her tongue slipped over his lips. “First shot.”
She straddled him, taking his mouth fully and pushing him backward onto the mattress. She flattened over him. “I’m not a nympho, by the way. I didn’t have sex for eight months before coming here, and before that, it was pretty infrequent even though I was engaged. And before Antonio, it was a few years.”
“I didn’t think you were. You’re eager but not all over us all the time. And you blush too prettily.” On cue, the flush in her cheeks grew deeper. He nipped at her bottom lip. “Antonio…that’s the a*shole? The guy who hit you?”
“Yeah.”
He turned her so they were on their sides and he could cuddle her against his chest. He closed his eyes and rested his chin on the top of her head, surprised by the strength of the anger that surged through him. Antonio had better not show up in Daly.
“No one will hurt you here,” Jamie promised.
He had a feeling the one most in danger of being hurt here was him. He was falling. Hard and fast.
* * * *
The sun streamed through the window with insidious force as Rayna tried to stay deep in the fuzzy folds of sleep. Waking slowly, she stretched. Jamie’s strong arms curled around her and his powerful body pressed to her back. She smiled at the feel of his naked thighs against hers as she stretched. Finally… Finally, he had enough confidence in her to take off his pants.
Turning in his embrace, she kissed his chest and twined her leg through his—
Wait…
She froze then cautiously moved her foot where his left foot should be. So that was it. Would he be horrified that she’d woken before him and discovered what he’d kept secret. Tilting her head, she looked into his face. Jamie stared down at her. Wide awake. Waiting.
“You didn’t want to show me?” she asked.
“Freaks some people out.”
“Oh Jamie…” she sighed, pained by what he’d gone through and the demons he must still fight. “Not me. It doesn’t freak me out. Not that, not the scars.” Truth be told, the only thing that freaked her out was the realization she was starting to fall in love with this man. She’d never believed in love at first sight—and she didn’t want it either. She couldn’t stay here. She had plans in Oregon. What plans, Ray? Sitting on your grandmother’s couch looking at want ads? And now, sitting on your grandmother’s couch and thinking of Jamie?
She shushed her inner voice and pressed to him again, running her foot along his good leg. The best way to show him this wouldn’t stop her affections seemed to be showing him she still wanted him.
“The prosthetic gets uncomfortable. I must have taken it off in the middle of the night while I was still mostly asleep. I wouldn’t have if I’d been awake. Not here—”
“Were you intending to hide this the entire time?”
He met her question with silence, and she knew that must have been his plan. She let out an irritated breath.
“I know we haven’t known each other long,” she told him, “but everything… everything seems to be in fast forward with us. I guess unbridled sex will do that. And, well, after the intimacies we’ve shared, the connection we both feel, it hurts that you don’t trust me.”
“Rayna…”
“Haven’t I proved over and over that your scars don’t change my attraction to you? I can’t say it doesn’t matter. Of course, it matters! That bomb hurt you. It’s something you have to live with. But it doesn’t make you less of a man. And it doesn’t make me want you less. In fact,” she said, kissing his shoulder, “my need for you just seems to be growing.”
He pushed her onto her back and rolled over her. His knees worked between hers. “Where have you been all my life?”
“Until about a year ago…leading a somewhat boring existence a thousand miles away.” Her fingers outlined his face, tracing his strong lips and cheekbones. Even with the scars partially marring the left side of his countenance, he was a stunning man. Drool-worthy her friend, Kelsey, would say. The injury just managed to make him appear dangerous. A man with a dark history. “Tell me what you’re not showing me,” she said.
“My leg was more badly damaged than the rest of me. I lost part below the knee.”
She nodded. “And now I’m supposed to go running in fear? Revulsion?”
His thighs tightened against hers. “Lord, I hope not. But I don’t want pity.”
“Hmm…well, pity’s a tough thing, isn’t it? Would I be a decent human if I didn’t feel bad that this has happened to you? Not really. Just be satisfied that it doesn’t change how I react to you. If you were as whole as everyone else or any more gorgeous, I’d treat you the same.”
“Any more gorgeous?” he laughed.
“Oh shush. You’re a good looking man and you know it. Haven’t you heard? Women find scars dashing.” She shifted, rubbing her pelvis against his. His position had pressed his rigid arousal against her vagina and she wanted him now. Geez, she was slick enough he certainly couldn’t miss it as she undulated. Could he? “And…” she breathed. “I, um, think I’ve adequately recovered from yesterday, Dr. Jamie. Do you think maybe you could make love to me…make me scream?”
He regarded her for a long moment, and she wondered if he was trying to see inside her head. “Scream?” he finally replied. “We might wake up the others.”
“They can watch if they’d like.” She shrugged, her folds immediately wetter at the prospect. Where had this part of her been hiding all her life? She’d never imagined being with more than one man or having sex with anyone she barely knew or letting someone watch her.
“Mmm, but I want you all to myself this morning.”
“Then have me. Just please, please f*ck me.” Heat rushed into her face and she looked away. Where had this woman come from?
Jamie kissed along her jaw to her ear as she trembled beneath him. “You blush so nicely,” he teased. “Don’t be embarrassed. I like that you want me. I like that you want me more than anyone else.”
“You can tell?”
“I can tell. So can they. Patrick’s rather pleased. Fancies himself quite the matchmaker.” He nipped at her shoulder then his mouth travelled over her collarbone and down to her breast. His tongue lashed across her nipple, drawing a long moan. Heat flooded through her, and she arched into his mouth, wanting more pressure, wanting him to draw her deep. Sweet tension knotted inside her as her nipples drew tight, the areolas crinkling from the warmth of his tongue and the cool of the room.
She ran her hands over his back as she shifted restlessly beneath him. He was having nothing of it. His mouth worked over her breast, nipping and pulling at the tip until she was crying out mindlessly.
“You’re so sensitive,” he murmured, moving to the other nipple. “I bet I could make you come just by doing this to your breasts.”
His tongue traced the tan circle of skin and occasionally flicked out to swipe over the tip. He twisted the bud he’d just left, drawing out a needy gasp. Lava seemed to burn through her. It pooled in her cunt, waiting to incinerate them both. His teeth caught the peak he worked, and she shattered, screaming his name.
Then he was there, driving forcefully into her, parting the folds that clenched from the cataclysm he’d wrought on her. He didn’t allow a moment’s reprieve as he pistoned in and out of her. Her body clutched at him, and she tumbled headlong into a second more powerful orgasm.
“Jamie!” she screamed. Her p-ssy turned to liquid around him. She clung to him, her head thrown back on the pillow, and her eyes squeezed shut. One leg curled over his hip as the other locked around his leg. His hand grabbed her thigh while he propped himself up with the other, his cock ever driving. He pressed his face to her neck.
Clinging together, they rocketed up another precipice.
“God, Rayna, you’re so tight around me.”
“F*ck me harder, Jamie. I want to feel you in me all day.”
He moved fast and hard. She met him shove for shove. A strange desperation propelled her. A need for him. A need to show him how special, how arousing, how perfect she found him.
With a deep groan, Jamie stiffened over her and his groin thrust forward one last time, pushing deep as he empty himself.
“Sweetness,” he gasped, panting unevenly.
“Mmm…” she mumbled, still caught in the overwhelming sensations of his loving. She hugged him, her cheek to his. Nothing—no one—was like this. Jamie could plug into her soul and give her everything she needed. This was supposed to be one week with no strings. Even with the talk of connection to Jamie, she was still supposed to leave in a few days. How would she be able to do it?
These last days, belonging to the O’Keefes… She’d never fit in so easily. She’d never felt so needed. Or desired. Even by Antonio, but he didn’t desire her. He wanted to own and subjugate her. She was a thing to him.
“You okay, love?” Jamie murmured, kissing a path along her neck. He slid over to lay beside her then cuddled her close.
There was a big difference between belonging and being owned, she decided as the warm glow of his caring blanketed her. She liked belonging to the O’Keefes—especially to Jamie. Staying here had been the right decision, but it was a decision that would alter the rest of her life. Nothing else would come close. She’d never forget Daly, Wyoming or the special men she’d met here.
* * * *
“Look at this.”
Sandwiched between David and Jamie in a booth at Leena’s, Rayna looked at the ad Patrick indicated while they waited for their lunches. Jamie’s arm lay behind her shoulders, a casual sign of possession. Still, David played his fingers along her thigh, rousing her rarely dormant desire for these men. She might spend most of her time with Jamie and be emotionally connected to him, but the other three men continued to send her pulse racing—something Jamie didn’t seem to mind.
“Mail order brides? Seriously?” she asked Patrick.
“Might be a way to get women out here,” he said.
Beside him, Sean snorted. “Right and how are you going to introduce the ménage and sharing ideas to the lucky girl?”
Patrick pulled the paper back in front of him and lifted it to peruse the page again. “This isn’t one of those pay for a bride from Romania kind of things. It’s like a dating service. American girls. They come here, check you out, decide if they want to stay—”
“Rayna has a better idea,” Jamie interrupted. “How did you put it, sweetness? Daly, the Mecca of Men?”
“How would that work?” David asked.
She shrugged. “We build a tourism plan. Make Daly desirable to outsiders—especially women who might be looking for a change from the rat races and dead-end dating of the big city. You’d need to implement changes here, but mostly you just need good advertising to the rest of the country. Personally, I’d suggest treating it a lot like a trip to a dude ranch or Club Med. Visitors come in and they stay at O’Keefe’s Bed and Breakfast, but in addition to that, they have an itinerary planned out for them—with free time built in of course.”
Patrick took her hand and kissed her knuckles, shooting a ribbon of arousal through her. “Lady, where have you been all my life? Can I be your first customer?”
The other men laughed.
“This is what she does,” Jamie supplied. “She’s a tourism researcher in North Carolina.”
“And developer by the sound of it,” David added.
“All part of the job,” Rayna murmured.
Patrick set aside his paper. “Do you think it could work?”
“Well, yeah,” she said. “The faster the pace gets in cities, the more people are drawn to Smalltown, USA. A certain sector of the population anyway, and that’s who you’d key into. Certainly, by the time a good tourism professional finished with Daly, there wouldn’t be any place more small town than here. The ultimate secluded destination. And by ‘good’, I mean someone who’d tweak, not give the place a huge facelift.”
“Sounds good to me,” Leena replied as she came to the table with their meals. “But where would you start?”
“Usually it has to be presented to a town council.”
“That’ll be a tough sell,” Jamie laughed. “All you’ll need to say is ‘I have an idea for getting women to come to Daly’ and they’d okay the proposal.”
“We’re not that easy,” David retorted, reaching around Rayna to smack Jamie.
“You said O’Keefe’s Bed and Breakfast,” Sean said.
“Just an example,” Rayna replied. “It’s a big place, but you guys live there and you’d need someone to run it.”
“We couldn’t live there?” Sean asked.
“Well sure you could. You have plenty of space. What are there? Ten bedrooms?”
“Yeah, five on the second floor and five on the third,” Jamie told her. “Plus we own much of the land surrounding the house and the garage. We can build.”
Excited by the prospect, they chatted about the idea for the rest of lunch. Rayna got a glimpse of how friendly—and nosy— people of Daly could be, too. Saturday seemed to be the day for visiting Leena’s, and cowboys galore stopped past the table, many of them listening in to the conversations for a spell and giving their opinions. Before he and Sean left to get supplies from the city, David nudged her and laughed that they wouldn’t need that meeting after all. The whole of Daly would know about the idea before nightfall and he didn’t doubt he’d start getting phone calls to see when the project would start.
“You are a big hit,” Jamie chuckled as they walked back to the house with Patrick.
“Me?” Rayna asked. “I was just talking. Besides, I have a shoe in. I have a vagina.”
“And there wasn’t a flaccid cock in the place,” Patrick added.
“Geez, Trick,” Jamie exclaimed in amusement, giving his brother a shove.
“Just sayin’, Jay. Just sayin’.”
Rayna shook her head. “You two…”
“But you want us,” Patrick teased.
“Mmm…of course. What woman wouldn’t want two green eyed, black haired, drool-worthy Irishmen whispering sweet nothings to her in their tantalizing brogues?”
“So we’re just sex objects?” Jamie laughed.
“Especially you, Jamie. I respect Patrick.”
Patrick hooted. “Yer a cheeky lass, ye are. I like it.” He swatted her on the rear with his magazine then gave her a peck on the temple. “Bring some of that cheek to bed tonight, and think about that plan of yours. I want a woman just as special as Jamie’s.”
Leaving her speechless, he sauntered off to his truck to head out to one of the ranches for his Saturday poker game.
Just as special as Jamie’s? She turned to the man in question, and he gave her a small smile. “Ignore, Trick,” he said. “He’s an ass.”
“He’s sweet, and very cool about your possession of mouth privileges.”
“Speaking of…” Jamie said. He leaned in and kissed her lightly. “Yeah, I’m a lucky guy.”
“What he said…” she trailed off, shifting uncomfortably.
“About having a special woman. Just ignore him. He was speaking out of turn. Hopefully someday, there will be a woman in my life—someone who’s adventurous and will occasionally include the other men in our sex but who’s committed to me.” He paused, shook his head then sighed. “That’s all bullshit.”
That startled her, and she stared at him.
“About someday and all that,” he said. “I can’t deny what’s going on between us is special. Neither can you. And I know as soon as you get your car and the bank problems ironed out that you’re on your way out of here. But I want you to stay. I know it’s fast—”
“Really fast,” she murmured. It was true. This was all so fast, and she couldn’t deny her attraction either.
“Couldn’t you consider it? Try us out. Try me out.” His hand shoved through his hair, and he let out a frustrated sound. “Hell, I don’t even know what you’re thinking, if I’m totally out of line or even what’s your ideal?”
“I thought I knew. But after this week, I’m completely rethinking things.” She looked down the street. The mid-afternoon sun shone brightly and a slight breeze sent a burst of dust swirling down the quiet road. Two older gentlemen had come into town, and Leena had set up a table for them on the wide sidewalk outside her place. Rayna almost laughed when she saw they were playing checkers. The local sheriff was in front of the police station washing the building’s windows. Leena’s guys, as she called them, were setting up chairs outside the bar, getting ready for Saturday night—and it would be ‘hopping’ according to Sean.
The police cruiser was parked in front of the police station, but otherwise there were no vehicles and no traffic noises. It was just a lazy day on Main street. So quiet and still and unbelievably peaceful.
And Jamie wanted her to stay here. Could she do that? She’d left everything behind, and she wasn’t going to anything in Oregon. But…could she stay and live in this town in the middle of nowhere, an hour from anything? Even more, could she live in the sort of relationship he wanted?
There wasn’t a doubt in her mind that he wanted her as that woman he described—the one who was his but that he shared. That certainly wasn’t the fairytale partnering she’d been raised on. It was different, and despite her tenderness for Jamie, it made her hot. She couldn’t help her attraction for the other three.
Lord, she wanted to say yes. Wasn’t this what she’d agonized over earlier? The thought that dogged her with every step as her desire grew stronger—that she wanted to stay here with them? And wasn’t that a sign? That her need was growing rather than waning. Jamie had wormed his way inside her heart when she hadn’t even been looking. Geez, a relationship had been the absolute last thing on her mind.
“And what are you thinking?” Jamie asked quietly. It struck her how strong he was. She’d known—he had to be to deal with what had happened to him—but he had a deeper strength that appeared when he faced possibly unfavorable responses.
“I’m thinking…I’m very tempted.” She smiled. “Let’s go inside and you can tempt me some more. I like when you wander around the house and work in your office without your shirt on.”
“Um, sweetness, I don’t wander with my shirt off.”
“You should.”
The phone was ringing when they entered the house. Jamie grabbed it from the table near the door. “Hello… Yeah, just a sec,” he said, holding the phone out to her. “For you.”
“Hello?”
“Rayna?” Kelsey’s frantic voice came over the phone.
Rayna’s stomach lurched at the panic in her friend’s voice, afraid she already knew. Antonio trouble. “What’s wrong, Kels?”
“I got your account straightened out. Management fired him, Ray. This morning. You’re not the only one he’s done this to. As soon as they heard… They just fired him on the spot. On a Saturday! Security escorted him to his desk and then to the door. He doesn’t know I told them. He thinks it’s you, and he’s furious. Scary angry, Ray. Like he could kill someone.”
Rayna sank into the wall, icy terror dripping through her despite her resolve to stay calm. “He doesn’t know where I am.”
“He knows. At least, I think he does. He must have been watching your account. Went in and flagged it again right before the bosses called him into a meeting. I think that’s what tipped them off. They were watching, too.”
She started to shake, and Jamie pulled her into his arms.
“Watch your back,” Kelsey warned before they hung up.
“He knows where I’m at,” Rayna whispered as she hung up the phone. She pulled from his embrace. “I’ve gotta get out of here.” She was halfway to the stairs before she stopped. “I can’t. My car—”
Jamie was beside her immediately and enfolded her in his arms once more. “It’s okay. Remember? I promised no one would hurt you here. No one’s going to touch you.”
She nodded her head, but he obviously realized she didn’t believe him. Antonio was good at hurting people and not getting caught. Even when cornered, his slick lies got him out of trouble.
“Rayna, listen to me. First, this might be Smalltown USA, but it’s also home to a bunch of the most macho, tough guys you might meet. Nothing your ex can toss this way is more than they can and have handled. Second, this is Smalltown USA. Antonio’s not getting into town without a lot of people noticing—especially if they’re on the lookout. You couldn’t be safer.”
“Great. The nymphomaniac with the psycho ex-fiancé. I sure make an impression.”
“Hey,” Jamie lifted her chin to look at him, and she blinked back the tears that threatened. “No one thinks that,” he said. “I heard several guys today talking about how lucky the O’Keefes are, and how they wish a sweet, pretty girl like you had landed on their doorstep instead of ours.”
“That’s nice,” she replied, still shaking as she held onto him. She wasn’t so sure everything would be fine. If she hadn’t been terrified of Antonio, she wouldn’t have run from town. She wouldn’t have been crossing the country to get as far from him as she could. She wouldn’t be here.
“Rayna,” Jamie pleaded. “You’ve made me trust you. Now you trust me.”
He kissed her nose as her guilt settled in. It wasn’t fair of her to refuse the same thing she’d made him give her.
“I’ll try,” she promised. Nonetheless, she knew she’d do anything she needed in order to keep him safe.