Becoming Three (19 page)

Jace went back to his desk and took a seat, but he couldn't take his eyes off the vulnerable line of Sarah's slender back or the downward tilt of her head. She looked a little like Beth had in the interview room as the realization hit her that she wouldn't be able to protect the secrets of the woman she loved.
Sitting in his chair, his hands essentially tied to help Sarah, Jace growled under his breath as a feeling of failure pressed on his shoulders. Hunter had given him one job when he went away: take care of Sarah. Jace had done nothing but royally screw that up lately. He didn't know which offense was the worst: Sarah becoming sexually involved with Jasper right under his nose without him realizing, his drinking to excess around her, kissing her, kissing her
boyfriend
, instigating a three-way, or bending her over the table and fucking her himself.
“Christ.” When lined up, he saw a laundry list of his greatest fuckups. How had he let his life slip so far out of his strict set of rules?
Releasing another dissatisfied rumble, Jace dragged his keyboard in front of him, logged online, and typed another terse note to his best friend.
Send me an e-mail, you jackass jerk. I want to take a drink half the time I'm conscious these days, and a good part of that is because of you. Your sister misses you and is scared for you, and it wouldn't kill you to send her a note or make a phone call and talk for five minutes so she can hear your voice. Do it, damn it. I'm not kidding.
We love you. We can help you, if you'll let us.
—Jace
After sending the missive, Jace let his gaze stray Sarah's way again. Guilt, lust, and tenderness did battle inside him, battering him up one side and down the other until he grabbed his stomach to force the sensation to stop. Impotence boiled anger and impatience inside him to the point where he knew if he sat still for one more minute, he would explode right out of his skin.
Jace got up and went to Sarah's desk, paused just long enough to tell her he would see her at home later, and then hightailed it out of the station.
He moved down the sidewalk at a fast clip, barely noticing the displays in the storefronts as he absorbed the sunlight and warmish breeze. Fresh air was good. The sheriff sometimes excused himself at work and took a walk to clear his mind, and he was one of the strongest men Jace knew. Occasionally emotion got the better of a person and swirled too close to the surface, leaving him vulnerable and prone to mistakes.
Like what I let happen with Samuel Simmons. And it just had to happen right after getting a nod and a good job from the boss too. Fuck.
Snarling at himself, picturing how that aggression toward a potential suspect must have looked to the sheriff, Jace paid no attention to where he was going and slammed right into a solid line of man.
“Whoa.” He automatically grabbed the body he collided with, steadying it and himself. The ropes of arm muscles under chambray immediately made Jace's palms tingle, signaling recognition of a person he had touched before.
Jasper
. He made eye contact, searched Jasper's hazel gaze, and noted shock and embarrassment there. His attention dipped lower and registered the catch of breath that parted his lips too.
Jesus, what a mouth
. Jace could see those lips wrapped around a breast, suckling…or a cock. His cock.
“Sorry.” Jasper's cheeks filled with pink. He tucked his hands in the front pockets of his jeans and took a step back. “Caleb and Jake are settin' up a class for some of the older kids to learn to ride bulls.” Jasper glanced toward the entrance to the youth center. “I'm gonna be one of the guys helpin' out when the kids come for the lessons. I came to talk to some of them about it.”
“Sounds rewarding,” Jace answered. “I hope it's successful for you all.”
“Yeah.” Jasper tapped his black Stetson against his thigh. “I kinda got to know some of the kids when I came to the center with Sarah—” He froze in place, as if he'd broken a cardinal rule by speaking her name aloud. Clouds filled his eyes, and his lips thinned to a pale line before he next spoke. “You know, for her art classes. While she was teachin' her kids, Ty had me—How'd he say it?—interactin' with the kids. He wanted me to play pool or air hockey or basketball with them because he says it's good for some of them with rough lives to see adults they can trust.”
Jace lifted his mouth in an attempt at a smile. “Ty's a smart kid. Young man now, actually. He speaks from experience, and what he says makes good sense. Most everybody connected to the station donates some time, and it's nice to hear other people are getting involved too. That you're involved.” Yet another reason on the ever-growing list of why Sarah would fall for this man.
“Thanks.” Jasper glanced down the road. “Anyway, I gotta go. Bye.” He moved at a brisk pace across the street and headed up the sidewalk, probably for the small parking lot a few storefronts down.
Almost to where he would turn, Jasper looked over his shoulder, right into Jace's eyes, and held for a prolonged moment.
Goddamn
. The muted heat in that hazel stare went right to Jace's cock. No amount of distance could hide that kind of wanting. Right then, Jasper jerked his gaze away and disappeared around a corner.
Oh no, you are not bolting from what you just showed me.
Half-hard, Jace took off at a full sprint run, a panther after his prey.

After crossing the street, Jace rounded the building and paused. He assessed the quarterfull parking lot and the backside of one lanky cowboy nearing his beat-up blue truck.
All alone. Perfect.
What Jace had to say didn't need an audience.
“Hey!” Jace shouted, and Jasper looked over his shoulder. “Hold up!”
Jasper picked up the pace in the direction of his vehicle, his keys dangling in his left hand.
Goddamn it
. Jace ate up the distance between them with fast strides. He grabbed Jasper's hand and ripped the key away from the lock. “I know you heard me and saw me.” A fist formed under Jace's hand, and visible tension ran all up and down the other man's body. “Why did you run?”
Tugging his hand out of Jace's, Jasper answered, “I already know what you're gonna say.”
Metaphorical hairs on Jace's spine rose on end. “Oh you do, do you?” He dropped his focus to the ground, started at Jasper's cowboy-boot-covered feet, and worked his way up long, fine legs encased in jeans, swallowing hard when he reached the bulge behind the zipper. He remembered this man's cock well, all long and hard and slick with saliva as it pushed into Sarah's mouth. Damn, Jace hadn't sucked dick in a long time but figured he could come to appreciate it again with Jasper. As he stared, his balls swelled with the beginnings of arousal, and Jasper twitched visibly behind his denim too.
Sucking in air, Jasper shifted and slid his hand over his crotch.
“Oh, cowboy, uh-uh.” Jace looked up and made eye contact, held it, but also wrapped his fingers around Jasper's wrist and tugged his arm back to his side. “Don't hide it from me.”
“Please.” Jasper's voice rose unnaturally with emotion. “We can't be doin' this.”
The scuffle of shoes on concrete drew Jace's attention, and over his shoulder, he saw two women pass on the sidewalk. They didn't look into the parking area, but it knocked enough sense into Jace that he kept hold of Jasper's wrist and pulled him behind a building, out of sight.
Shading from the rooftop overhang cast Jasper into partial shadow, but the wariness in his eyes shone clear as in full daylight.
“Don't—” Jace started.
Don't what?
Now that he had Jasper's back riding a brick wall, he suddenly went mute.
What the hell am I doing? If I say what I want and push this threesome, I risk everything and certainly lose my friendship with Hunter forever. If I convince Jasper to come back, I won't be able to stay away. I'll lose any chance of numbing myself back into full control.
Jasper grabbed Jace's shirt. “Sarah… She… You need…” Heartbreak washed over Jasper like water streaming down an ice sculpture on a blistering summer day, and it moved Jace to action like only Sarah's equal sadness could. There was simply no way he could walk away from these two people, no matter the potential carnage in the end.
Moving in close, Jace removed Jasper's hat and brushed his knuckles across the younger man's chiseled cheek. “Sarah needs you.”
“She…she likes you.” Jasper's breath quickened as Jace continued to stroke his face. “She always liked you as more than a friend; I could always tell, even back in the beginning. Like I told you both, you should be with her.”
“Sarah doesn't want me,” Jace shared. He slid his hand over Jasper's corded shoulder, down his arm, and covered the back of his hand. “At least, not without you too.” He threaded his fingers in between Jasper's and held, linking them together.
“You could convince her. With some time, I know she would come to you.” Perhaps without even realizing he did it, Jasper knocked his hat out of Jace's other hand and linked their fingers there too. “She cares about you a lot. She don't do a good job of hidin' it.”
Suppressing the need for another taste, and to drag one of Jasper's hands to his cock for a good hard rub, Jace silently ordered himself to focus. “I have news for you, cowboy. She loves you and doesn't try to hide it one bit either. Now let me tell you something else I believe is equally true.” He dragged his focus from Jasper's mouth to his eyes, pinning him to the wall with just a look. “I know you love her as much she does you, but I think you liked it when I kissed you too.”
His pupils widening like a sun flare, Jasper jutted his chin up a hair. “Felt different. Strong.”
“I think it was part of what made you so hard in that moment.” Moving in closer, Jace didn't stop until his crotch rocked against something decidedly firm. Jasper gasped, but Jace didn't back off. “What has you half-hard again thinking about it right now.”
“Maybe. So what?” The tip of Jasper's tongue edged out, flicking his bottom lip, and Jace just managed to keep from grabbing it with his teeth.
Not yet.
Dipping down, Jace brushed his lips against Jasper's ear, keeping his voice low as he talked. “What if I'd done more, Jasper? What if I'd dropped to my knees and sucked your cock right alongside Sarah? What if you'd done mine with her? What if I'd gone another step?” Pausing for a moment, he let go of Jasper, slid his hand around the man's slim hip, kept going, and settled his palm low on Jasper's backside.
Shit, he has a firm ass
. Swallowing saliva, Jace took a moment before going on. “When you closed your eyes that night, did you think about another man fucking you?” He pressed his fingers into Jasper's crease through his jeans, working the seam against his pucker. “Do you think I could make you come with my dick up your ass?”
Jasper ground into the touch, crushing Jace's hand against the wall. He whimpered and clutched Jace's shoulder with a digging hold. A quick peek from Jace showed Jasper's lids at half-mast and his mouth slightly parted, his body taut.
So fucking responsive, just like Sarah
. Jace released his last bit of worry, letting his private desires free. “Maybe you want me reaming you while you're fucking Sarah?” Fingers bore deeper into Jace's shoulder at that, and Jace continued to work Jasper's hole through his clothes. “Or maybe we're both fucking Sarah at the same time? You buried in her snug pussy, and me feeling it with my cock tucked in her ass. Because I have to tell you, the image of that makes me harder than anything else. Hard like this.” Shoving Jasper's free hand between their bodies, Jace forced it over his raging erection, demanding Jasper
feel
him. He scraped his lips over Jasper's cheek and jaw, stopping when he hovered over his mouth. His prick jammed against his zipper, wanting the layer of fabric between his length and Jasper's hand gone. “Hard in a way I only get for the two of you.”
In response, Jasper made a strangled noise, closed the scant distance between them, and savaged Jace with a rough kiss. He snaked his arms around Jace's waist and fused their fronts into one entity, straining from top to bottom as he forced Jace's jaw apart with the power of his own and thrust his tongue inside to mate.
Jace groaned under the all-out attack, loving the differences between male and female, the hardness of another male body, and enthusiasm that became complete aggression. He had never taken a man inside him before, but with each stab and lick Jasper delivered to his mouth, Jace's passage throbbed in response, wanting some of that invasion too. He bit at Jasper, reaching for dominance once again, and swept past his parted lips, swiping deep into the moisture in his mouth. Jace kissed Jasper with all the pent-up need for another man he had denied himself since his arrangement with Davis and Alanna had ended. He growled and nipped at Jasper's swollen mouth as Jasper's heat took him over. “I want you.” He tugged at the back of Jasper's shirt, aching to feel some skin.
Jasper reached back and covered Jace's hand. “Wait.” Breaking the kiss, Jasper heaved as he regained his breath. “Jace…” He removed Jace's hand from the waistband of his jeans, but rather than shove him away, Jasper curled Jace's palm over his prick and then between his legs, guiding Jace to his balls. They burned hot through his jeans, and Jasper shook when Jace squeezed. Jasper held Jace's wrist in place, his face a map of confusion and desire. “Jace…”
Jesus Christ, he's incredible
. “I know.” Jace could feel the strange connection too, as if he'd cared about and wanted Jasper as long as Sarah had. He swooped in for another pillaging of the other man's mouth when the deafening revving of an engine—dangerously close by—jerked them apart.
Jace closed his eyes, letting the sound of that car starting splash over him like icy water.
What in the hell am I doing?
He didn't seduce men behind buildings, and he certainly didn't fuck them without their wives or girlfriends consenting and close by. Same with the reverse.
Except you did that with Sarah already. Took her without her partner's participation
. Fuck. Becoming a third had rules so things remained fun but not messy and to keep insecurities and jealousies to a minimum.
Jasper cleared his throat and edged out from against the wall. The noise from the car obviously had the same fast sobering effect on him. After tucking his shirt back in, he picked up his Stetson and walked backward in the direction of the parking lot. “I-I need to go.”
“You should come to the house later on tonight.” Jace stopped the other man in his tracks. “We need to talk about what just happened as well as what happened the other day. The three of us. Together.”
A hard glint sparked copper and gold in Jasper's eyes, bright enough for Jace to see it from ten feet away. “No.” He snapped the refusal out like a bullet. “Nothin' has changed. I still need to stay away from Sarah.”
“Actually”—Jace needed to get his priorities in order and keep his dick in his pants—“I'm sorry I didn't tell you right away, but the sheriff is having a chat with Samuel down at the station right now. We want to know where he was when those women were killed.”
“Do you think he did it?” Jasper's face lost most of its color. “Will he get out?”
“Honestly? I don't think he's smart enough to have killed Ginger, at the very least,” Jace conceded. “But everyone at the station knows he's in town now. He's on our radar.”
Jasper looked like someone stole Christmas from him. “Then he ain't gonna be locked up. I still have to stay away from Sarah.”
“I understand your fear and worry, Jasper; I think you know I do.” Jace moved a couple of steps closer but left Jasper plenty of breathing room this time. “But did you ever stop to consider you could do a better job protecting Sarah by plastering yourself to her side rather than putting distance between you? Particularly since nobody believes you've stopped loving her. That means your brother can see it too. Between the two of us, we could make sure Samuel never gets a chance to be alone with her.” Shit, steam would shoot out of Sarah's ears if she heard him saying stuff like this. Just this once, though, if it got Jasper back to her, she would probably forgive him his caveman tendencies. “You could have your girlfriend back.” Jace let his attention drop briefly to the outline of Jasper's erection still pressing into his jeans. “And maybe something new, if the two of you decide it's something you want.”
“I can't—” Jasper hung suspended for the longest moment, looking torn. He finally said, “I gotta go. Bye,” and ran to his truck, climbed inside, and drove away without looking back.
“Great.” Jace rubbed his face and pushed his hands through his hair. “You handled that just fantastically.” He would have to give Sarah a report about what had transpired; he had made a promise to keep her in the loop about Jasper, and he would honor it. He would tell her tonight and hope she didn't hate him for hitting on her man without her.
First, he needed a few more minutes in hiding to talk down his erection.