Rough Stock (21 page)

His home.
That idea made Mason smile.

Christening the barn.
That concept wasn’t too bad either. Mason ran to catch up with Clay and April just as he heard Clay ask, “How do you feel about rope, darlin’?”

Epilogue

Mason tore into the envelope as he walked, shuffling to one side at the last minute to avoid a head-on collision with another soldier heading toward him. He apologized and kept reading, devouring every word. Pushing through the door of his room, he almost crashed again, this time into his roommate, Jenkins.

“Whoa there, Cowboy.”

“Sorry.”

“What’s got you grinning so wide?”

He realized he was indeed grinning from ear to ear. “Mail call.”

Throwing himself onto his bed, Mason finished the letter and went back to the beginning to read it again.

“I seem to remember not too long ago when we all steered a wide path around a certain pissed-off soldier after every mail call. Now I have to steer clear to not get run over.”

Mason glanced up to find his roomy smiling at him. He shrugged. “Things have changed.”

The other man laughed. “Obviously. Whoever she is, does she have a sister for me?”

“Nope. God only made one of her.” And she was all his. His and Clay’s that was, but even that fact didn’t bother him anymore. Nor did it change how strongly he cared about April. She made his heart speed each and every time he heard from her in the months they’d been apart.

“I better go and leave you alone for a while.”

Mason frowned. “Why?”

Jenkins laughed again. “Because usually a letter that causes a grin that wide leads to you wanting some private time after you read it.”

Those were the letters where April wrote about all the tantalizing things they’d do together when he got home, but now that the day drew nearer to his actual homecoming, she wrote mostly about how excited she was. Today’s letter was a recap of all the preparations she and Clay were making to celebrate his return.

Mason smirked. “You don’t have to leave. It’s not that kind of letter.”

“Yeah, I do. You’re too damn happy for me to be around right now. Don’t forget, I’ve got two more years left on my new contract, not two more days like you.”

He knew he was beaming about that too, but he couldn’t help it. Two days then he’d be heading home. “I’m sorry, man.”

“Not your fault. Don’t worry about me. I’ve got my reenlistment bonus to keep me warm while you’ll be home snuggling in front of a fire stateside with that girl of yours.”

Visions of their first autumn together in the farmhouse warmed Mason’s insides. The rug in front of that big old fireplace in the living room would make a real nice place to get reacquainted. He hoped it would be cold enough for them to build a fire the night he got home.

An idea struck him just as his roommate was about to leave. “You can stay. I’m going to go use the phone.”

“Whatever makes you happy.”

Mason thought about that. He was happy. Very happy. He made his way to the MWR and the phones they all shared. Hopefully, there wouldn’t be a wait.

He felt in his pocket. The piece of paper with the information for his flight home was there. He’d call his mother quick to say hi, then call Clay and April and let them know his arrival details and his plans for the fireplace. Shit, he was getting hard just thinking about it. Maybe he would need that privacy after all.

***

Clay paused in the kitchen doorway and watched April. She hummed while rolling some sort of dough out on the counter. When had they gotten a rolling pin? The oddest things had unexpectedly appeared over the past three months that she’d been living in his house. She still surprised him, but that was April, feathering their little nest. He didn’t mind one bit. Hell, she could paint the kitchen hot pink if she wanted. As long as she was in it, he wouldn’t care.

Smiling, he snuck up behind her, wrapping his hands around her waist.

She jumped. “Clay. Jeez, you scared me.”

Nuzzling the hair lying on her neck, he pulled her back against him. “Sorry, darlin’. What are you doing?”

“I’m making butter cookies for Mason for when he gets home. Look what I found.” She held up something for him to see. “It’s a cutter in the shape of an American flag. I’m going to decorate the cookies with red, white and blue sprinkles.”

She was so enthusiastic he had to smile.

In a few days, after having her all to himself for months while Mason finished up his stint in the Army, he’d have to share her again. He didn’t mind that, but still Clay intended to take full advantage of the time they had left alone.

Turning her to face him, he dipped his head lower and hovered near her lips. “You’re adorable. I’m sure he’ll love them. Is there a batch in the oven yet?”

“No, I just started rolling the dough. Why?” The expression on her face, as well as the way she pressed harder against his obvious erection, told him she already knew that answer.

Lifting her, he carried April across the room and sat her on the kitchen table. “I’m feeling amorous.”

“When aren’t you?” She laughed, then, eyes closed, she tilted her head to one side and gave him better access as he trailed kisses down her neck.

“Sorry. I can’t help myself around you.” He took a step closer in between her legs.

“Good. I like that.” She groaned softly when he nibbled on her ear. “We have a perfectly nice, comfortable bed. Why are we on the kitchen table?”

“Why not?” Clay grinned and leaned in for a kiss.

She pulled back slightly. “You know, I have a ton of things to do before Mason gets home. Baking, cooking, cleaning for the welcome home party…”

A frown creased his brow, until he saw the smirk on her face. “You’re teasing me, you bad girl.”

“Am not.” She smiled.

“You are too.” His hand snuck beneath her sundress and slid between her legs. “Because there is no way you’d rather cook and clean than have me doing this to you.”

Slipping a finger inside, he watched April’s eyes drift shut and felt her, warm, wet and ready for him. She lay all the way back on what was thankfully a very solid wooden table.

She’d never need to know this exact scene had flashed through his mind the day he’d moved this table into the kitchen. Then again, maybe he’d tell her all about it, in vivid detail, just to see her blush.

Undoing his zipper, Clay pulled himself out of his jeans. He slid into April with a shudder, feeling everything up close and personal.

“Damn, I love that you’re on the pill now.” It didn’t surprise him one bit when his next thought was that Mason was going to love it too.

He’d long gotten used to Mason’s constant presence in their life together. It was like he was there with them even while he was away in Germany. Accepting that this is how it would always be, Clay was set on making this thing work between the three of them when Mason finally got home for good.

A soft moan was her only response to his previous comment about their new method of birth control, and that was good enough. Lifting her legs so they wrapped around him, Clay sunk deeper inside her.

Then the phone rang.

April braced her hands against his chest. “You better check. It could be Mason.”

He glanced at the phone hanging on the wall near the table. She was right. The caller ID told him that. Leaning over, Clay grabbed the receiver off the wall while still sliding slowly in and out of April.

Her eyes opened wide as she mouthed, “Stop.”

Shaking his head, he grinned and kept going. He added one hand on her clit as the other held the phone. “Hey, man. What’s up?”

Mason’s voice filled his ear. “I’ve got my flight information for you.”

“Great.” He nearly laughed at the look on April’s face as she was torn between the pleasure Clay was inflicting upon her and her horror that Mason was on the phone during it.

“You got a pen?”

“Not right now, I don’t.”

“Um, well can you get one?”

Clay could practically hear the frown he knew was on Mason’s face. “Um, not right now.”

There was a moment of silence then the voice on the phone lowered to a whisper. “You two are doing it right now, aren’t you? I can hear you breathing heavy and you’re acting weird.”

“Um, yeah. We kinda are.” Okay, there was no “kinda” about it. He drove into her one more time.

Just about then, April reached up and grabbed the phone out of his hand.

“Give me that. Hey, Mason. I’m so sorry.” She covered the receiver with one hand. “Clay, stop that.”

He didn’t stop. Now that he had two hands, he grabbed April’s hips, pulled her forward on the table and started loving her in earnest.

After a second’s pause, Clay heard Mason’s voice, muffled by April’s ear but still audible. “No, keep going. I wanna hear you.”

That had Clay growing harder, if possible, inside April. With a smile, he leaned forward and hit the button for speakerphone. To think, he’d thought that was a useless feature when he’d bought the phone.

“How much time do you have before you have to hang up?” Clay asked loudly so Mason could hear though the mic on the wall phone.

“Enough.” He could hear the strain in Mason’s voice. He hadn’t been gone from them an incredibly long time, but long enough to really miss this, Clay was sure.

“You alone there, man?”

He was sure Mason knew what he was really asking. If he could participate on his end.

“No, but I can listen. You two go ahead.”

April’s eyes opened wide at that answer and her cheeks grew rosy. He had to wonder why they’d never thought to do this before. It would have made Mason’s last few months in the service a hell of a lot more fun.

Circling her clit with his finger, Clay picked up the pace of his strokes at the same time. April bit her lip and he knew she was enjoying this as much as he was. “Don’t be so quiet, darlin’. Germany’s a long way away.”

At that, her mouth opened and she drew in a big, shaky breath. Opening those blue eyes to stare at him, April accused, “You like that he can hear us, don’t you?”

“Yes. Tell him what I’m doing to you.”

She blushed deeper. An expression of shock crossed her face. “I can’t.”

Through the speaker on the phone, Clay could hear Mason breathing faster.

“Yes, you can. Go on, darlin’.”

“Okay.” Her breath caught in her throat as she watched him wet his thumb in his mouth. She definitely knew what was coming next. “Oh my God.”

“What?” Mason asked through the phone. “Tell me, April.”

Popping his saliva-covered finger out of his mouth, Clay slipped it beneath her.

“He’s…he’s inside me with his…you know and he’s…” She stopped, red-faced from both his loving and her talking about it.

Clay laughed, thinking she was pretty horrible at phone sex and loving her even more because of her shyness.

She drew in another sharp breath as he pressed his thumb inside her. “He just put his finger in me.”

Mason let out a small groan on the other end of the line. He didn’t need any more description than that. They both knew April’s responses equally well.

Her muscles began to clamp down on Clay’s cock. “She’s close. I can feel it. She’s tightening down on me like a rider on a bronc. Come for him, April. Good and loud so he can hear you.”

She shook her head. “I don’t know if I can.”

“Sure you can. You’re almost there.” He pushed his finger deeper as he thrust into her faster. Her body started to pulse around him. “God, yes. She’s coming.”

A cry tore from April’s throat.

“Yeah.” Mason’s voice sounded full of tension. “I hear.”

Clay clenched his teeth and followed right behind her with a long, loud groan. Panting, he was still throbbing inside her when he realized there was now silence on the phone line. “Mason. You still there?”

“Yeah. I’m here.”

“April and I have a surprise for you. You want to know what it is now or wait until you get home?”

“Tell me now.”

Beneath him, April’s breath was still coming fast. “April’s on the pill. No more condoms.”

“Oh, God. I have to go.”

“Wait. I didn’t get your flight info.” Clay looked around for the nearest pen and paper.

“My mother has it. Call her. I’ll call you later.”

“Love ya,” April called.

“Love ya too.”

There was a click as Mason hung up and April slapped at Clay’s chest. “Get off me. Now he’s upset.”

Clay stayed right where he was. He wasn’t near done yet. That was the hottest thing he’d experienced in recent memory, and it had simply whet his appetite for more. “No he’s not, silly. He’s going to jerk off.”

“What? Really? You think so?” Her cheeks pinked up again.

“Yeah. I know so. Now stay right here. Don’t move.”

“Why, what are you going to do?”