Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

A soft, hot tongue lapped over Alyssa’s breast, bringing her awake. Well, that and the smell of coffee.

"That’s nice," she murmured around a yawn.

"Did you just say, that was nice? Nice? "

Jake.

She kind of shimmied. But only Jake. No other bodies pressed in on her. She frowned and opened one eye, then the other. Where were Jonah and Josh?

"They’re starting breakfast."

She lowered her gaze, meeting his staring up at her from where he lingered at her breast, and shivered. That look had become very familiar throughout the night.

"Hmm?"

"Josh and Jonah." He crawled over her—his forearms bracketing her head—whispering where his lips barely met hers, "That was what you were wondering, wasn’t it."

"Um, yeah." Her legs naturally parted, allowing him to settle his weight fully into her. His soft, searching kiss grew more intense, her heartbeat rioting when Jake’s hips pressed into hers—his hard cock finding her core. Now if he would he do more than barely breach her over and over, that would be great.

"Mmm…" She managed to pull back from the kiss. And from Jake’s grimace, it wasn’t what he’d anticipated. "But, um… Mmm… Ohh…" She lifted into his shallow thrusts, stammering out, "How…how did…did you know?"

"Powers of discernment." His gaze remained fixed on hers as he slipped into her body completely. "Let’s talk about that later. I have to do better than just nice ."

She gave a jerky nod, but then worry set in.

"Is this okay?" she blurted out.

Jake’s hips abruptly stilled and mouth stopped its descent, just hovering over her lips, where he blew a hot breath over them. What if they shouldn’t be doing this? He remained silent, while her eyes almost crossed trying to stare into his. They might be physically connected at the moment, but she had to know what his brothers would think before they went any further.

"I thought you, well, only shared women together ."

"Oh, Alyssa," he finally murmured, running a finger down her cheek, before rubbing his forehead against hers. "We do. But you’re not just any woman."

"I’m not?" The implications of that quietly-spoken nugget of information gave her heart a little jolt. If she was different, then?—

"No. With you, we want..." He let out another low breath. "We need time alone. You need time alone with us. We want you to really get to know each of us." A light press of his lips on hers didn’t last but a split-second. "Individually."

"So…" She squirmed, needing him to move. Which was kind of funny, since a person would think after all the, well, dick she’d had, she wouldn’t be craving it like she…

Oh, god, they’ve turned me into a nymphomaniac.

"So," he repeated, finally rolling into her, then out, the drag of his cock through her channel sending a sigh of relief from her.

??Who knew? ?Maybe being a nymphomaniac wasn't such a bad thing.

"This is more than okay. In fact," he whispered against her lips, "be ready for more."

Before she could ask how much more , she found her mouth being devoured by his and her body luxuriating in the slow, even loving being given to it by Jake. Alright, if this was okay, and since she was now officially a sex addict, all she could think about when it came to Jonah and Josh was…

Bring it on .

But not yet.

This was her time with Jake, and she was wanted to enjoy this man. So, she let her hands roam over the plains of his back, then down to his bunching and releasing ass where he fucked her and grabbed hold, pulling him in tighter with each thrust.

"Hmm…" Jake’s slight chuckle tickled against her lips, and she grinned, reveling in him just as much as he seemed to be reveling in her.

But soon there were no grins, no chuckles.

Only loving touches, eating kisses, soft moans, low groans, and bodies finding a timeless rhythm. A sense of wellbeing filled her as a warm tingle spread throughout her body and Jake came apart in her embrace. It wasn’t close to that final, earth-shattering orgasm she’d experienced the previous night, but one that left her feeling content. Jake’s shoulders finally went lax where she’d held onto him, while the rest of his tensed-up body melted into hers and his face burrowed into her neck.

"Alyssa," he panted out. Those little puffs of hot air brought their own kind of pleasure, as did the light brushes of his lips. "You’re amazing."

She’d never considered herself an amazing lover. Mainly because in all her previous sexual encounters—not saying there were huge numbers, probably three or four partners over the years—she’d never been given that particular compliment.

"If you say so," she whispered.

"I do say so." Jake insisted, while rolling from atop her, then immediately pulling her into his side and banding his arms around her. "We’ve known you were for a while. We just didn’t know how to approach you."

Jake’s wet cock pressed against one of her ass cheeks—not hard, but not completely soft either. On the tail-end of that observation, was the whole, yet another round of sex with no condom conundrum. They had to assume she was on some form of birth control. And while now might be the right time to ask, she didn’t want to break the quiet spell around the two of them.

There was nothing sexual about it.

What it was, though, was tender, comfortable, almost, familiar. Like they’d lain together like this many times.

"Can I tell you something?"

"Anything," he said, while running his nose through her hair.

"I’ve wished now for a while that I could have had the courage to approach you ." She let out a little laugh. "You all seemed so unattainable."

"Oh, my sweet Alyssa…" His arms tightened. "If we’d known that, you’d have been home months ago."

Home .

That’s how Jonah had put her coming here earlier. Going home. Was that…

Stop it, Alyssa. You’re reading way too much into semantics.

This was their home, and that’s how she should take their meanings.

Even if she didn’t want to.

"Now," he murmured. "Can I ask you something?"

"Anything," she said, repeating his earlier response to her question.

"Has all this been too much for you?" Nothing about his question was joking or suggestive. If it had been, she could have laughed it off. But his very sincere question, deserved a sincere answer.

So, had it been too much?

She hadn’t really had time to completely consider it one way or another. Everything had happened in such quick succession after she’d left the bar. First, she’d been about to die, then saved, kissed, felt up, and kind of kidnapped by the three men who were probably the fantasy of every woman in Parson’s Ridge, then tied up and given the most intense, thorough, unbelievable sex of her life in their bed. A bed she hadn’t left in over 12 hours except to go pee and de-tackify herself.

Sticky was a mild term for what they’d left on her skin and other places after they’d collapsed into an exhausted heap.

But had any of it been too much? There was only one answer.

"No, Jake." She hadn’t realized he’d tensed up until she felt him relax. "Nothing has been too much. At least not physically." A rush of heat raced over her at how much it hadn’t been too much. "You all are…are…are?—"

"Ah," he murmured, his nose rubbing in her hair. "We’ve left you speechless." An almost heavy silence followed, broken only when he asked, "Could it also be said we’ve ruined you for other men?"

If she hadn’t heard the deadly serious intent in his voice, she might have thought he was being facetious. Whatever her answer, it was going to be important to him. Which meant it would be important to his brothers as well.

"If I said you had," she said, her tone light, "would it give you the big head?"

He huffed, then chuckled into her hair and splayed his hands over her belly.

"My head’s always big where you’re concerned."

"I noticed." She pressed back against the aforementioned big head tipping his hard cock.

"God," he groaned low. "Don’t tempt me."

"Why not?"

"Because," he said, turning her onto her back, then staring into her eyes. "I have a feeling you’d like to take a shower…"

She really did.

"And I promised I wouldn’t take all of your time."

"What’s—"

"See you downstairs," he interrupted, followed by a light kiss before he rolled out of the bed, leaving her to frown after his naked ass as he left the room.

"Well, okay, then."

"Mmm…"

Steam billowed all around Alyssa while she kept her head bowed at just the right angle so the pulsating jets could beat against her back and neck. She could live in this shower the rest of her life and be a happy woman.

And, like the bed, it was big enough for four, with multiple shower heads that unhooked from their places, ensuring some good, clean fun could be had for everyone. If she had paid more attention when she’d gone to the bathroom in the middle of the night, instead of being in a hurry to get back to her men, she might have…

My men .

Were they? It felt like?—

"Lyssa?" Josh’s voice came at her from just outside the shower’s beveled double-door. "How do you take your eggs?"

Eggs?

That was not the first thing she’d thought Josh would say to her once he’d found her alone.

"Scrambled with cheese, over hard, poached, omelet," she said loud enough he’d be sure to hear her over the spray and through the door. "So, basically just about any way you want to fix them. As long as the white’s not runny."

No reply came from Josh. Had he left?

"Josh?" She peered out through the glass as best she could. Was he moving around out there or?—

The shower door slid open and she kind of stumbled back, blinking hard through the water flowing over her head.

Josh.

Naked.

He stepped inside, water sluicing over his body as he closed the door behind him.

Now he was a wet and naked.

"Mind if I share?" he asked, reaching around her—all that wet nakedness brushing against her breasts—his brows raised and grin sly as he held her gaze. She remained dumbfounded as he poured a liberal amount of soap in one hand, then set the body wash behind him on another ledge and stepped out of the spray.

"Lyssa?"

That same sly grin stayed on his face as he rubbed his hands together, then ran his soapy hands over his chest and down his abdomen. It was hypnotic. Just the motion of his hands rubbing circles and going down…down…

" Lyssa. "

Her eyes flashed from the sight of him stroking his cock to his head back and eyes closed. And it wasn’t any kind of conscious decision on her part, but she found her hands on his chest, spreading over his slick skin, before moving around to his back. The sight of her own soapy hands touching him—after not being able to touch him as she’d wanted to the previous night—was wondrous. As was his reaction when she pressed her front to his back, reached around his body, and let her hands join his at his cock.

His low hiss completed with the water now barely misting over them.

"I don’t want to come in the shower again," he grumbled, his hand under hers stilling and squeezing his cock.

"Again?"

"Mmm-hmm. A year’s worth. God… "

His groan as he took her hands in one of his and pulled her around, then urged her back against the shower wall, the water pounding over them matching her rocketing pulse.

"Josh," she whispered, lifting a hand to his face, seeing the kind of wonder in his searching gaze that she felt in her own heart. "A year?"

"Maybe longer," he murmured, bringing his lips to hers—the kiss just as searching as his gaze—his next words broken with eating kisses, while his hands went to her thighs and lifted her, and she grabbed hold of his shoulders. "We’ve been waiting… I’ve been waiting… For you."

"I don’t know what to say," she finally managed when their lips fully parted. And she didn’t, but only for a second. What he needed to hear was also so very clear in those expressive eyes, as his cock pressed against her opening. "I’ve waited too."

"Lyssa," he growled, joining his body with hers in one powerful surge—filling her needy core. His mouth took hers again, his hips rolling into hers, while his whole body moved with his thrusts where he’d pinned her against the wall.

This captive sensation they wielded over her so effortlessly—the need they’d elicited to be possessed only by these men—probably had ruined her. When would another man be able to give her so much, while taking from her at the same time?

She whimpered at the thought and Josh stilled, his lips parting from hers.

"I’ve hurt you."

She raised her gaze at his devastated voice, finding concern in his eyes that hadn’t been there before.

"No," she whispered, holding his frowning stare. "You haven’t hurt me." She wrapped her legs around his waist and pulling them tight, then encouraged him to move by twisting her hips into his. His eyelids fluttered and another groan sounded from him. "All I feel is pleasure. But taking a shower alone from now one is going to be very disappointing."

Her intention to lighten his expression through her grinning reply didn’t work. Instead, his features hardened and eyes narrowed. "You’ll never be disappointed again."

Those quiet words were spoken with a roll of Josh’s hips into hers, taking—giving—his eyes on her loving. At least in her mind that’s what she thought love might look like if it was ever cast her way.

But the look slowly vanished as she closed her eyes and let herself be transported by Josh to someplace else, while his mouth took hers in a kiss full of promise.

It wasn’t a hard or fast loving. It was slow—gentle—while his hands took their own journey over her body, then between them, his fingers working her clit as he kept his steady rhythm.

Her fingers could do nothing else but dig her blunt fingernails into his shoulders, gripping him tighter and tighter. She had no fear of slipping from his hold. Josh held her that easily. But she needed the leverage to move how she need to in order to ease the throb centered at her clit.

She was close.

Again. But she needed…

"Fuck me harder," she heaved out.

With a harsh grunt, Josh did.

Fucking into her as she ground against him. Seconds later, heat raced from her core, through her belly, spreading until the welcome, familiar feeling started—one she wished could wait at some level. Strange, she knew, after working so hard for it. But this time with Josh had been so wonderful.

But soon she was coming apart, her head nearly slamming back against the shower wall when she let loose the scream she was unable to hold in.

The low groan sounding from Josh accompanied him pounding up into her until he, too, tensed. His cock pulsed inside her, filling her again.

She didn’t care. The need to question it had faded little by little until she’d realized why she hadn’t protested. She wanted that part of them filling her, saturating her with their essence.

Their heavy breaths blended in with the water that had gotten colder, and she shivered.

"Let’s get you out of here," he breathed out, while shutting the water off, then stared down at her with a slow grin. "So, eggs?"

Snake eyes!

"Oh, come on," Alyssa groused as she held her thimble game piece over Boardwalk. Why couldn’t she have rolled a three? One more space and she would have hit Go and been home free, well, at least until her turn came up again. The tycoon sitting at the table—AKA Jonah Laverty—owned Boardwalk and Park Place with hotels on each. Not to mention most of the other properties on the board.

"Let it drop," said tycoon chuckled out from his place across from her at their square kitchen table.

"Every…single…time," Josh said, shaking his head.

"Does he cheat?" Of course, he hadn’t, but it felt like it. Paying rent on Boardwalk with that little red hotel sitting on it would completely wipe her out, after just paying rent on Park Place after she’d landed on it .

"No," Jake said, grimacing. "But it sure as hell feels like he does."

"Exactly," she said, laughing, then let out a sigh and cut her eyes toward Jonah. "You wouldn’t let me roll again, would you?"

"Nope, because that would be cheating."

She narrowed her eyes on his little smirk, then went ahead and landed her piece on the board.

"That’ll be…" His smirk turned into a full-blown grin. Devastating . "Two thousand dollars, please."

Alyssa glanced down at the measly amount of funds she had remaining, then her properties. She’d already sold her houses and hotels to cover her Park Place debts , and now all she had left on the board were two sets of properties and Reading Railroad.

"Would you accept something in trade?"

"Now there’s a loaded question if I ever heard one," Jake chuckled out.

"Oh," she said, grinning and giving him a side-eye. "You know what I meant."

Although...

Come to think of it, it wasn’t a bad idea.

Maybe that would encourage Jonah to initiate their alone time. Though, at this point, she was beginning to wonder if it would ever happen. It had been hours since she’d been with Josh. All day, in fact.

She’d thought, surely after breakfast he’d find a way to get her alone. But he hadn’t. The same for lunch and dinner. Worst yet, he’d barely touched her, which had kind of had her worried, until he’d snuck a kiss in after they’d had their final meal for the day.

That’s when Jonah had suggested they play some games. So far, they’d played Scrabble, Uno, and a rousing game of charades.

Two guesses who won each time, and the first guess didn’t count.

And now it was a given he’d win at Monopoly too. The man was seriously competitive.

Losing at games aside, it had been a good day filled with laughing over humorous stories about family, talking about anything and everything, learning about each other’s likes and dislikes. It kind of reminded her of a single, intensive, protracted first date.

The kind of date that when it’s done you tell your mom you’ve met the man you’re going to marry. And there was her dilemma. They had all touched her heart in different ways.

Josh, she’d discovered, had a surprisingly wicked sense of humor, while Jake had a serious side she’d never suspected. And Jonah? Well, he definitely had a hard edge to him, but he also had a lot of his brothers’ personality mixed in. It was that softer side—the humor—she’d spy occasionally that made her think he wasn’t as stern as he made himself out to be.

Separately, the men could keep a woman’s panties wet and pussy purring indefinitely.

Together?

Ovaries throughout the county had to be fluttering.

She knew hers were. And speaking of ovaries…

It had been hard not to keep touching her lower belly through the oversized black dress shirt she’d donned that morning after drying her hair. They guys had insisted she wear it.

Too bad they really didn’t have any underwear. Although she would have had to tie them at the waist to keep them up if they had had any. She’d kind of suspected for a while they were the commando kind of men. She’d found out they definitely were.

"No." He eyed the board, while she pulled her hand away from the temptation of rubbing her belly and tried to hide her disappointment at his focus on the game and not where she’d hoped it would be. "But you can give up some properties."

"Here we go," Josh grumbled, sitting back in his seat across from her at the kitchen table and crossing his arms.

"Let’s see." He gave a good impression of someone trying to make a hard decision as he tapped a finger against his lips, when they all knew he’d already made up his mind on what he was going to do. "I’ll take your railroad, and Baltic and Mediterranean Avenues."

"You take the whole monopoly aspect of this game seriously, don’t you?" she groused, while grudgingly pulling the cards he’d requested—although requested could be considered a relative term, when a more apt one would have been extorted—from where she’d placed them under the coinciding places on the board.

"It’s damned irritating, isn’t it," Jake said with a frown that soon turned into a sly grin. "But at least it’s not just me and Josh he’s cleaning out this time."

"Thanks," she said, giving him another side-eye. "That makes me feel so much better."

"I see where this is going," Jake grumbled.

"Me too," Josh said, just as irritated, then handed his properties over to Jonah. "I bow to the master of Monopoly."

And there went another one of those small smiles from Jonah.

Yep, ovaries fluttering, panties wet—well, if she were wearing any they would be—and legs crossing to silence her wayward pussy.

"I do too, I guess." Jake gathered up all his land and the few pieces of money he had left and handed them over to Jonah as well.

"Admit it…" Jonah picked up his money and fanned it out in front of his face. "You can’t beat me."

"I’d like to tell you what you can beat," Jake said, giving his brother what she supposed was the evil eye. "But I’m too tired."

"Me too." Josh got up from the table and stretched. "I’m heading to bed."

"Same here."

Jake gave her a quick kiss on the forehead, while Josh planted one on the top of her head. Then both men were gone, going up the stairs, and…

Two sets of doors shut.

They went to their own rooms?

Maybe now.

She cast a hesitant glance at Jonah—his smile all self-satisfied—putting the game away.

And there she was, with no idea what to say.

Jonah didn’t have the same problem as he got up and put the game in one of their kitchen cabinets.

"Want to sit by the fireplace?"

She nodded, letting him pull her from the chair, before being led by the hand through to their family room where he sat in a corner of the big sectional, dragging her down beside him, then draping an arm over her shoulder.

The house was really quiet without Jake and Josh. After sitting there several minutes, she finally glanced at the corner near the front window.

"You know," she said, then cleared her throat. "That space over there would have been perfect for a Christmas tree."

Jonah turned his head, then tilted it as he contemplated the space. Was he imagining how it would be with children running around on Christmas morning, tearing open packages while she and he and his brothers watched?

It was what was running through her mind.

"I suppose it would." Still kind of looking in the same direction, he took her hand. "I guess I should say I’m sorry you’re stuck here for Christmas," he murmured, turning back toward her and lifting her hand to his lips. "I’m sure you have a tree…" He kissed several fingers. "And presents." Then took her hand and placed it on his cheek, while giving her the longest of looks. "But I can’t say I’m sorry. It would be a lie if I did. Having you here has been a…" He scrubbed his rough cheek against her palm. "A gift."

"Speaking of gifts…" Had she been left with one? Or more. Did multiple births run in their family? That thought made it damned hard holding her free hand back when it wanted to creep over her stomach. So, she clenched her fist for what had to be the hundredth time to keep it in place. "I think we need to talk about something."

"Okay." He kept her hand in his and lowered it to his lap, his eyes on where he played with her fingers.

"We haven’t used protection."

His fingers stilled, before entwining them with hers as he let out a long sigh. They sat there like that as she waited, her throat dry and cheeks heated. Then he cast his eyes up at her, and his feeling were right there.

He wasn’t worried about it.

"Does that bother you?"

"Well…" It should. It absolutely should. But she couldn’t honestly say it did. "I?—"

"We’ve never gone without before," he murmured, squeezing her fingers.

"Oh." That possibility hadn’t even entered her mind. But now that it had… "Of course."

"Of course, what ?" His fingers tightened on hers even more.

"At my age, you probably figured I was on some kind of birth control." She’d said that in a rush, and didn’t slow down with, "But I’m not. I haven’t had sex in a while and?—"

"Baby," Jonah broke in on her rambling, shaking his head and used the hand he held to tug her into his lap. "You do know I have no problem turning you over my knees again." He grinned and her core flooded. "No more talk about age." He held her stare, his serious intent in no question. "Promise me."

"But it?—"

"No," he cut in, while lifting his free hand and running his fingers through her hair before cupping the back of her head. "No buts." Then he was pulling her head toward his, his eyes on her lips for a split-second before snagging her gaze again. "Never again. Promise me."

It was hard making a promise she wasn’t sure she could keep. But if he meant what his words—but more importantly, his eyes—were telling her, then he believed it. And she would just have to trust and believe it was true too. So…

"I promise."

"Now, some truths."

His hands left where they’d been on her as he held her stare. But that was okay. Because buttons came undone on her shirt.

"You, Alyssa Stockton, aren’t just any woman." He cocked his head. That was exactly what Jake had said. "You realize that, right?" His question accompanied the shirt parting completely.

She swallowed and shrugged. How was she supposed to know something like that? Just because they’d both said it didn’t mean she knew how to accept it.

"Ah, baby, you’re really begging for another spanking." The way he said that in that deep, growly seductive voice was almost enough to make her agree to anything. But also while cupping her breast and brushing his thumb over her nipple? A woman of lesser fortitude might have already flipped over with her ass in the air and begged for his hand.

Oh, who was she kidding. Fortitude or not, she was that close to doing it.

But he wanted truths.

"To be honest, this whole thing with you and your brothers, it’s surreal. I…" She didn’t want to be cliché and say it was like a dream. But it was. In fact, like several of her dreams where they had played a starring role. "It’s just hard for me to believe it’s real."

"Oh, it’s real," he said, urging her to lay back onto the couch and spreading the shirt wide. His eyes turned heated where they’d focused on her breasts. "Very real."

She bit at her lip, staring up at him as his eyes traced over her body.

"Then show me." His searing eyes flashed to hers. "Please."