Quality Assurance (5 page)

Jackson shook his head. “We’re not breaking up the group or anything. It’ll work. It has to.”

“I think you’re a little in love with her already.” Xavier’s hands wandered to Jackson’s fly.

“I want it to work. We’re not solid. We need that last piece, and I’ll do what it takes.”

Jackson tried to back away, but Xavier’s firm grip had his cock hard in no time. Neither of them were fully satisfied by the table antics. They’d gotten the dose of female to hold them over, but there was no doubt in Jackson’s mind that Fred and Eli were screwing in the QC right now. The group was important, but so were the individual relationships. Could Ash juggle four relationships with men? Only she could answer that and build the relationships properly with the two men she didn’t know. It all hinged on Ash and Eli repairing their history, otherwise Jackson knew it would crash and burn.

They slid behind the rack of spare equipment, and Jackson leaned on the wall as Xavier knelt down. Jackson let Xavier take over and suck his cock all the way to the base. Being gentle with Ash had been an arousing contrast, but Jackson loved how Xavier jerked his cock without hesitation.

“Harder,” Jackson whispered.

Xavier smiled and let his teeth lightly score along the hard cock until he was balls’ deep. Taking the hint, Jackson fucked Xavier’s face as hard as he wanted. The release hit him, and Jackson pulled back just enough not to choke his lover with cum.

Catching his breath, Jackson knew that Xavier would be hard as hell. Jackson pulled Xavier to his feet and kissed him. “You’re turn.”

Both men froze when they heard a noise. Jackson zipped up.

Xavier looked around. “Probably just a feral cat chasing mice.”

Ash stepped out of the shadows. “Fred said I could find you here.”

“You came back for more?” Jackson asked.

She shrugged. “More like I wanted to see you guys in action. I meant working, but this was good, too.”

“Fred and Eli weren’t fooling around?” Xavier asked.

“A little. Do you guys do stuff all together?” She walked closer to them.

“Oh yeah. Group means group, but private time is okay, too.” Jackson kissed her gently. “We really don’t screw around this much at work, but you got things going.”

She kissed Xavier and smiled as if she didn’t quite believe them. “I never realized how hot two men together are.”

“Neither did I until I met Xavier. The factory expanding was the best thing that ever happened.” Jackson hugged his man and rubbed Xavier’s erection back to full hardness.

“You grew up by the gulf,” Ash said to Xavier. “My friend Lizzie is from bayou country.”

“I grew up in New Orleans. I worked off-shore drilling at times. Katrina was bad enough then the spill. I took the first job away from the ocean I was offered. Inland feels a little safer.” Xavier smiled uneasily.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories. Lizzie wanted out of the bayou, too.” Ash twisted her blonde hair and looked at Jackson. “You’re not going to leave him like that?”

If Ash hadn’t been there, Jackson knew he’d be bent over and getting fucked right then, but the idea of easing her into the group thing was smart. Plus, if they got caught, one zipper down was better than two.

“Of course not, but we don’t want to ignore you.” Jackson pressed her between him and Xavier.

“I don’t feel ignored. I can help.” Her hips shifted between the men naturally, and Jackson saw Xavier close his eyes.

“You don’t want to kneel on this floor with bare knees,” Xavier warned. “Actually, you should always be really careful in the warehouse. Metal pieces, etcetera.”

She shifted to one side and kissed Xavier. Jackson now had access and freed Xavier’s long cock. Jackson knelt and licked up his curved member. At the tip, he met Ash who sucked the pre-cum from the head before Jackson got there. Ash was bent at the waist, and her ass stuck out like a sexy beacon.

Jackson slid back down the cock and sucked Xavier’s balls while she worked the head. Xavier’s hand slid over her tight skirt, and Jackson gave in, letting a hand roam her round ass as well. She moaned, and Xavier lifted into her mouth.

“We gotta get back.” Xavier slid a hand in her hair and guided Ash up to kiss his mouth.

Jackson smiled at Xavier’s ethics and care for others. He could intimidate people with his quiet brooding demeanor, but he cared about people more than most. Sucking Xavier’s cock fully, Jackson worked it expertly as his hand slid under Ash’s skirt to tease her. He watched her kiss Xavier and moan into his mouth. Xavier had one hand firmly on her ass, and the other tugging on Jackson’s hair.

Working Xavier’s erection with his hand, Jackson focused suction on the tip. Then a perfectly manicured hand slid in to help him. Her feminine touch set off Xavier, and Jackson made sure to catch every drop. Standing up, he took a turn kissing Ash as Xavier zipped up. Ash nudged Jackson to kiss his guy, and the men shared a rough kiss that turned tender.

“I really am going to like working here.” She kissed them each on their cheek. “Now, can I get a tour?”

“You can get anything you want.” Xavier wrapped an arm around her shoulder and led her to main areas. “You do need to watch for snakes around here. They like to hide along the walls where it cool and damp. Yellow jackets will nest in pipes so be careful not to bump any pieces until you check them.”

Ash looked around carefully. “Critter warnings. I am back in Louisiana for sure.”

Jackson flanked her other side so she’d feel safer. “We get a lot of wild cats here, too, going after mice. This building is usually pretty quiet. Spare parts and returns are kept here because it’s a good old building. They added on a lot of stuff but didn’t want to knock this down.”

“I like it.” Ash seemed very relaxed between them.

Xavier stopped and put an arm out to stop the others. “Snake. That’s the problem with this building not getting a lot of traffic. When the doors open, they sneak in and get nasty because they can’t get back out. The doors are tight and always kept closed.”

“So we’re leaving, right?” Her hands curled around an arm of each of the guys.

“Yep, and we’ll report it to safety. They’ll get an exterminator in.” Jackson guided her back toward the door, and Xavier kept an eye out for other critters.

Chapter Four

Ash picked a bottle of wine from her grandmother’s collection. It was a decent assembly of good labels, but her grandmother never drank, so it seemed pointless.

Lizzie’s jaw was still on the kitchen table after Ash’s tale. “You really did that? At work? You’re just telling us now? That deserved a text!”

“I couldn’t tell you guys at work. Someone might have overheard us. Or seen the text by accident. I still can’t believe it happened.” Ash had told her friends everything, but it’d taken her a little while to process the whole situation and feel truly a part of it.

“Guess Eli is over the high school thing.” Crystal checked on the girls’ dinner.

“No, I don’t think so. The other guys are nice, but I think he’s trying to be mature for the work situation. It’s tense but hot.” Ash dusted off the bottle and wondered again why she was actually doing this. The sex. The heat. The men. She knew why, but it had Titanic written all over it.

Zoe smiled. “Men’ll do anything for sex. If they go both ways, they want both. The odds are in our favor, ladies. Ash was grabbed first because they know her. Stops them from looking as predatory and she doesn’t look quite as slutty.”

Glaring at Zoe, Ash felt her face burn. “I wish they’d picked one of your three and I didn’t have to be in this awkwardness. At least, Jackson is a sweetie. He’ll never let anything get weird or out of line.”

“Text us if you need help. Jackson might be the freakiest of them all. You never know.” Lizzie busied herself setting the table.

Ash rolled her eyes. “If I’m not home for breakfast, come over with shotguns blazing.”

She checked herself in the full-length mirror in the bathroom one last time. Not bad. Her light-blue summer dress showed off her curves without revealing too much cleavage.

“Shotguns?” Zoe shook her head.

“I don’t have one.” Crystal shrugged.

Lizzie laughed. “Don’t worry. I’ll get you out. Shotgun’s under my bed, but I’ll toss a gator or cottonmouth in their bedrooms to be sure.”

“See, she knows how to handle unruly men. Unlike you two city girls. Have a nice night.” Ash headed out the door, forcing herself not to turn around and drag the girls along for support. As much as she loved her friends, they didn’t share men or sexual encounters. Ash tried not to think about the greedy feeling she had toward the four men. No, sharing them wasn’t going to happen.

The men lived in a house that had been in Jackson’s family and was located not five minutes from Ash’s. She’d tried to put her hometown history behind her, but it flooded back. One side of town was the ranches and farms. Ash’s family was from this side, by the factory where her grandpa had worked all his life. Jackson’s family was from the factory side, too. Eli’s was a ranching family, but he’d clearly not followed in their footsteps.

Most kids who went off to college left Lucky Springs for better job prospects and only came back for funerals, weddings and various reunions. But Ash had to admit, now it seemed like a lot of people were back in Lucky Springs. The town was growing and didn’t seem as dinky anymore.

After parking her thankfully paid-off Honda CR-V in the driveway, she walked slowly up the path to the door. The cottage-style home had been spruced up big time. The men clearly intended to stay. That idea made Ash excited and nervous at the same time.

She knocked, and Fred met her at the door with a smile. “You look great!”

“Thanks. You, too.”

He looked casual in jeans and polo shirt. No work clothes meant freedom.

He kissed her cheek and took the wine. “Lovely. I’ll get this opened. Jackson and Xavier are in the kitchen and Eli is around somewhere.”

She walked into the living room and found Eli surveying the dining room just beyond. The table was set. There was no fancy china, but the table was good old oak that no doubt came with the house.

“Hi,” she said.

“Hi, glad you made it.” Eli nodded.

“Can we talk?” she asked.

He stiffened. “There’s nothing to talk about. Teenagers do stupid things. I had no hope of actually going out with you, but I got brave. I’m glad I did it. Maybe wrong time and place, but it didn’t kill me.”

Ash cringed inwardly. She’d gotten so good at hiding her emotions. “I was the only girl, Eli. My dad refused to let me date until I was sixteen and then one of my brothers had to okay the guy. My mom, trust me, you didn’t want to be in her target sights.”

“So you did me a favor? No harm done. We both went off to college and got away. Now here we are.” Eli kept a friendly but respectable distance.

“I thought you wanted to come back?” she asked.

He smiled. “I did, but I had to get away to understand where I belonged. I had to move away to appreciate Lucky Springs again. You aren’t there yet.”

She frowned and tried to come up with the right question to glean actual information from this man. “If you don’t want me to be part of this, just say so.”

Eli moved in closer. “I never said that. I love those guys, all of them. You can’t say that, not yet. I don’t want to see them hurt.”

“I’d never hurt them.” The words were out before Ash could stop them. She never wanted to hurt anyone, but Eli had a different experience. Sharing her family’s craziness with him now would seem like the poor little popular girl whining he didn’t want to hear. “I’d never intentionally hurt anyone, but I am honest.”

For once, he smiled at her. “That’s very true.”

Fred entered with the wine as Jackson and Xavier came out to greet her. The kisses and hugs made her feel more at home. The hunky men in tight jeans helped change her mood. Even Eli seemed to relax with his guys around. They ushered her to the table, and everyone dug into a wonderful dinner.

A bottle of wine and half hour later, Ash insisted on helping Fred with the dishes. Maybe, he’d level with her about Eli and if he’d really let go of the high school drama.

“You and Eli are really close?” she asked.

He shrugged. “I came up with Xavier—an old friend who had the benefits thing. I met Eli and fell for him while Xavier seduced Jackson to the male side of things. We’re all in it together. I know it’s weird.”

“The more I’m around, the less odd it seems. Is Eli really okay with me?” She dried a wine glass carefully.

“He’s tough on the outside and soft in the middle. You’re still on the outer layers. If he didn’t want you here, you wouldn’t be. Just any girl won’t do for us in the long run. He’s protective. I know Xavier seems like the tough, quiet type, but he’s more observational. Eli is the guard dog.” Fred took the towel from her. “Just be yourself, and it’ll all work out the way it should.”

“I don’t jump into sex stuff like this,” she whispered.

“We don’t, either. You’re the first woman we’ve actually done this with. We’ve talked about it a lot, but doing it is new. We all want you but don’t want to overwhelm you. Nice guys don’t gang up on the girl. So maybe that tension is making sure all the guys are into you as well as each other. I think today proved we all are. Some might need male more than female and vice versa, but that’s okay.” Fred kissed her.