Destined to Be Three (11 page)

The five men crowded around in a huddle, bent their heads, and discussed plans for taking down one pint-size blonde beauty.

* * * *

The pint-size blonde beauty was about to spontaneously combust.

Her brothers and her men were huddled up. She didn’t think that boded well for her. Obviously, Gray and Cade had won over her brothers. Damn men always stuck together.

Well, fine. If they wanted to play five against one, Jaycee needed to get her ass over there and protect herself. The odds weren’t in her favor, but when had that ever stopped her?

Jaycee got out of the truck, not shutting the door. If she could be quiet enough, she might be able to sneak up on them.

She breathed and moved as stealthily as possible, making it more than halfway to the men without incident. She only had a few more steps, and she would have them.

“Hey, Jaycee! Don’t forget your rent is due today,” Mrs. Ellis, her bitchy landlady, called out shrilly at the top of her lungs.

Jaycee cringed. The obnoxious lady’s high-pitched reminder for the stupid rent money she had forgotten about was bad enough, but the five men who were now giving her their undivided attention was icing on the cake.
Kill me now.

Oh, yeah, karma is a bitch, and she had it out for Jaycee.

“Thanks, Mrs. Ellis. I’ll get it to you tonight,” Jaycee said as calmly as she could. With three brothers and two male best friends, she’d learned long ago the only way to survive testosterone overload was to appear uncaring and unaffected. If they’d taught her anything, they’d taught her how to defend herself even when the odds were stacked against her.

She waved at Mrs. Ellis and prayed the old biddy went back inside her apartment. When Mrs. Ellis did that very thing, Jaycee sighed. One down, five to go.

Chapter 10

Jaycee approached the cluster of men next to the pickup truck with as much poise as she could summon considering her heart hammered heavily inside her chest cavity at a pace that made breathing strenuous. They didn’t need to know she was scared.

The next few minutes would forever alter the course of Jaycee’s life. She was going to make a decision she wasn’t ready to make, guided by her heart and a cheesy-named pseudo-psychic’s prediction.

If Jaycee went with Gray and Cade right now, she would seal her fate. She could tell herself a million times it would be temporary, but it wouldn’t be. She would never give them her body and turn away again.

“Well, hi there, boys,” Jaycee greeted disrespectfully. “You look like you’re thinking awfully hard about something. I would hate for your tiny brains to go
kaboom
. It would be dreadfully messy to clean up, and I’m not in the mood to clean.”

Five pairs of eyes narrowed on her. Three blue sets in irritation, one green set in suspicion, and a brown set in disapproval.

Playing the innocent-girl card, she asked, “What? Was it something I said?”

Cade snorted in patent disbelief then shook his head with a knowing chuckle. Jaycee wanted to stomp her feet. The damn man read her better than an open book.

“Jaycee Elizabeth,” Gray said warningly as he crossed his arms.

The triplets laughed—at her expense.

Jaycee huffed and pushed her hair back out of her face so she could see the men without visual obstructions. As she watched, her brothers lazily sauntered over to her men, clapped each of them on the back, and spoke in hushed tones she couldn’t quite make out.

“Hello! I am standing right here,” Jaycee spat with her hands fisted on her hips so that she could coldcock the one closest to her at a moment’s notice, if warranted.

Her brothers treated her to another round of unrestrained laughter.

“She’s all yours, my friends,” Jared told Gray and Cade as if she were some object her oldest brother handed down to them. “We wish you lots of luck. A word of advice…hide your ammunition.”

Cade grinned with a cockiness reserved for the rich, the famous, and the fuckable. He had the look down pat. Of course, he did meet the rich and fuckable criteria. “Already done. We know our girl.”

Gray glared at her, his eyes never straying. He managed a mumbled thanks to her brothers, who moved away and headed toward their truck.

“Hey,” Jaycee hollered, “where do you think you’re going? I don’t really want to be left alone with Dumb and Dumber.”

“I hope that I’m Dumber, because that will make me the pretty one,” Cade teased, his open face filled with merriment.

Randy called out over his shoulder, “You’re in good hands, little sister. Call us in a few days. After—” He stopped talking when Drew smacked him on the back of the head.

Drew scolded Randy, “You dumb bastard. There are some things a brother doesn’t need to know about his baby sister. I think her bedroom activities fall into that category.”

“Double-crossing bastards!” Jaycee’s voice carried across the tiny parking lot, but her brothers gave no indication they’d heard her insult. They climbed into their truck and pulled out of the parking lot.

And then there were two.

Equal parts panic and outrage surged through her body. Her blood pounded in her temples and a wave of dizziness hit her, making her head swim.

Gray spoke. “If I were you, I would get in the truck without another word. We all know you will go with us. Now, stop fighting us, damn it.”

Looking down at the ground, Jaycee replied in a small voice, “I don’t know if I can.” The blood surged back into her cheeks, filling them with warmth. She imagined her cheeks were a rosy red.

Gray’s voice softened audibly. “Sweetheart, all we want is to have some time with you. I promise we won’t do anything you don’t want us to. We would never hurt you.”

“Yeah, darlin’, we love you,” Cade agreed. “The only time we will hurt you is when you beg us to. Then all bets are off.”

Jaycee gasped and lifted her head in a flash. Cade hadn’t ever said he loved her before. She’d suspected he might have some feelings for her, but with no confirmation or denial, she’d assumed he wanted her body, but not her heart.

Looking into his green eyes, Jaycee saw the truth. He loved her with his whole heart, just as he loved Gray. She’d watched Cade as he watched Gray for a very long time, witnessing the love that glowed eternally in his forest-colored eyes. He hadn’t ever looked at her like that, but now, she saw it. She couldn’t help but wonder if it had been there all along.

Her eyes bounced from Cade’s to Gray’s. His eyes glowed with love. There was no jealousy or outrage, only devotion and acceptance.

Could it be possible? Could she have them both? The only way to find out would be to hop in the truck and go back to Serenity with them.

Could she take the risk? Being alone, unhappy, and reclusive wasn’t working. She hated the half-life she led, but it was easier than taking a chance on future heartbreak. Gray and Cade had the power to destroy her heart once again. Or, they had the ability to make her happier than she’d ever been before.

Making a choice, Jaycee traipsed over to the truck without speaking, got inside, and buckled up. On the other side of the windshield, the two men had stunned expressions on their faces. Evidently, her arrogant men hadn’t been convinced they could take her down without a scuffle, tussle, and an all-out war. They had probably planned for some wrestling, wrangling, and kidnapping after their earlier encounter.

Both recovered quickly, jogging toward her and the truck.

Within minutes, they were on the highway that led back to the only place she’d ever belonged—Serenity.

She struggled to not bounce in her seat, but it was no picnic. She loved her hometown, and she hadn’t been back there since leaving. It was going to be an agonizingly long ride.

Cade broke the silence surrounding them, causing her to jump in her seat. “So, darlin’, what have you been up to for the past three years, two months, and twenty-three days?”

Gray’s hands flexed on the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white as his skin stretched against the bones in his hands.

Jaycee masked her shock that the men had kept up with the length of time she’d been gone, down to the day, as she had, and responded evasively. “Oh, you know. A little bit of this and a little bit of that.”

“A little of this and that, huh?” Cade inquired in disbelief with a snicker. “That’s not what I’ve heard.”

Jaycee shrugged negligently.

“I’ve heard that you’ve been pining for me and Gray over there.”

“Then why the hell did you ask me?” Jaycee demanded to know with no small amount of belligerence in her tone. Clearly, she was going to rise to the bait after all. This was going downhill, fast.

Now Cade was the one to shrug indifferently. “I wanted to see if you would lie to us. The more trouble you get into, darlin’, the more fun we’re going to have with you and that mouthwatering body of yours.”

“You wish,” Jaycee retorted tartly, pressing her legs together in response to Cade’s words.

Both men chuckled darkly.

“We know, sweetheart. There’s no point in wasting wishes on a safe bet,” Gray stated smugly.

She wanted to smack Gray for the second time today, but that was no surprise. She wanted to punch him at least half the time she was around him. Man, she loved that about him. Ask her pussy.

With Gray, it was his way or the highway. That is what had disturbed her so much about the fact he wouldn’t go all alpha on her. She’d known it wasn’t him. A man who was as in control as Gray couldn’t shut it off. It was too deeply ingrained.

“What he said, darlin’,” Cade concurred as he slid as close as the seat belt would allow, draping his long arm around her shoulders. “I always did like a sure bet.”

Jaycee rolled her eyes, but it was a farce. Her insides were melting like ice cream on a sweltering summer day.

“Fuck it,” Cade said as he tore his seat belt out of the buckle. “I can’t take another minute.” And his lips claimed Jaycee’s for the first time.

The kiss wasn’t what she had envisioned. She’d had this mental image of him playfully kissing her, teasing her. This was the kind of kiss she’d seen between the two of them. Only this time, Cade devoured her, not Gray.

Jaycee’s body came alive, leaving her vibrating in need. She could feel her cunt softening, preparing to be filled with a huge, hard cock. More moisture flooded her until she was slippery and desperate for something to slide through the sensitive folds of skin.

Without breaking their ravenous kiss, Jaycee unbuckled and moved closer to Cade. He pulled away, but it was only long enough to grab her leg and haul it over his lap so she could straddle him. Then, his lips attacked hers all over again, no holds barred.

The wildness of his kiss set her ablaze, and she lost it. Her body took control of her. She had no more coherent thoughts, just instincts.

Gray groaned from the driver’s side when she haphazardly unbuttoned her shirt with fumbling fingers.

Pushing her hands aside, Cade used his long, nimble fingers to unfasten the remaining buttons. That was a major feat since he never ceased the seductive assault on her mouth. Her shirt was discarded along with the torn one.

She grumbled a complaint when Cade pulled back, his eyes dropping to her naked chest. “My God, J, your breasts are the prettiest things I’ve ever seen.” His words had barely left his mouth before he latched onto one of her nipples, sucking so greedily that half of her breast disappeared into his mouth. His hands cupped her swollen breasts, one hand held her to his mouth, and the other tormented her bare, beaded nipple.