Stone Temptation [Texas Stallions 3] (15 page)

Stone quickly formulated that Hunter was the third wheel in his marriage, but that didn’t seem like something Clay would allow. “You’re letting that kid nail your wife?”

“Hey,” James said. “I’m the same age.”

Stone arched his brow. “Exactly.”

Clay picked up his cowboy hat that must have fallen off while he was racing over to break up their fight. He dusted it off and placed it on his head. “Look, if you two can figure out how to play nice together, maybe you can figure out a way to put Gracie’s feelings and needs above your own. Stop cockfighting and start listening to her. She may very well need you both.” Lowering his voice, he added, “Dumbasses.”

“You’re letting him nail your wife?” Stone couldn’t wrap his head around it. The strong, mighty Clay Garrett was sharing a woman with a much younger man, and he seemed happy about it. How was that even possible?

Clay glared at him. “Would it make you feel better if I said yes?”

Stone shook his head hard. “No. How can you do that?”

Clay licked his lips. “It’s not hard if you take a moment to realize you can either be a part of the woman you love’s life or you lose everything.”

Stone ran a stiff hand over his bristly hair. In all his thirty-two years on Earth, he never pictured sharing the woman he cared about, loved, with another man. Now, studying Clay and knowing how happy he was with his wife, he wondered if a situation like that could truly work. A quick glance over at James, he wasn’t so sure.

“How do you get past the jealousy?” Stone asked, his heart in his throat.

Clay placed his hands on both their shoulders, a gesture that reminded Stone of the friendship they once shared. “You work through it together. Look, I’m not here to give you relationship classes, but I can give you a little advice. My suggestion to you both is to go to Gracie, talk with her, and find out what she wants. She might not want either of you two clowns. The girl has had a rough start to her life, and for all you know you both are smothering her. Let her tell you what she needs, then if you think you can handle her answer…deal with it.”

Nodding, Stone glanced toward James, his gut twisted at what he and James would discover once they confronted Gracie. He’d just met her several days ago and had feelings for her he’d never experienced before. The idea of losing that connection was nerve-racking. She had looked past his scars and into his soul. Now it was time he did that for her, too.

James kept kissing her, and it was starting to feel normal, as if it was something they’d always done together and without it she’d simply stop breathing. Her heart beat to a rhythm she didn’t recognize, fast and hard, but steady. As her thoughts raced to the repeated moments where she’d found herself lost in James’s kisses and Stone’s passions, her belly swirled with nervous energy.

Sex and intimacy had always required a monetary transaction, but with these two men her heart and mind agreed that it was nothing like that. With them, it was something so incredibly different. Each time she stared into Stone’s eyes she felt strong and secure, with James she felt adored and cherished, but with both she felt cared for, protected.

She smiled as thoughts of them sent tingling warmth throughout her body. An experience she was growing most accustomed to.

“You okay?” Delilah asked, stepping out of the shadows.

Gracie nodded slowly. “Yes, I think so.”

“I couldn’t help but notice how upset you were when you arrived.”

Gracie grimaced. “I’m sorry about that. I was having a bit of a temper tantrum.”

Delilah grinned and laughed softly. “That’s okay. I have them all the time.” She sat beside her on the cot in the back room where James had told her she could rest. “Just ask Clay or Hunter. I’m sure they’d give you all the details.”

“Clay or Hunter? I was under the impression you were married to Clay?”

“I am, but I’m also married to Hunter.” She propped her hands up, deflecting Gracie’s next question. “I know it sounds confusing, but technically I’m married to Clay, but my heart belongs to both men. I’m lucky enough to have them both as husbands in our own private way.”

Gracie’s brow rose up on her forehead, dipping underneath her hair. “Wow. I’m sitting here struggling with the idea of dating two men, and you’ve actually married two.”

Delilah giggled. “I know. It sounds like it might be challenging, and at times it is, but then there are times when I realize just how lucky I am to have two men who love me. We figured out a way for all of us to be a family.”

“I have to ask, but do they…you know,” Gracie asked squeamishly.

“No, they don’t have a physical relationship with each other, just me. I sort of like being the center of attention. It’s hot when you see two sexy men worshiping every ounce of your body, caring for your every need.”

Gracie’s belly rolled. This wouldn’t be her first time having sex with two men at once, but it would be the first time she was in love with them. Stunned by her realization, she broke out into a cool sweat. Her pulse thudded hard at her temples.

“You look like you’ve just seen a ghost,” Delilah pointed out.

In many ways Gracie had seen a ghost. A shadow of a life she’d never experienced confronted by one that was dark and violent. How would she ever be able to let go of her past to enjoy the moments of a future? If James and Stone did care for her and there was even a remote chance they wanted a relationship with her, could she even do it? Would her mind ever find clarity from chaos? She wasn’t sure, and that awareness sank to the pit of her stomach.

“Are you in love with them?”

“Who?”

“The men you are thinking about,” Delilah said, an infectious warmth radiating from her.

Swallowing hard, she hadn’t thought about the way she felt about Stone and James until now. Did she love them? She identified the feelings in her heart as desire and longing, but what exactly was she longing for? Was it the way they touched her, adored and cared for her? Was it the alarming affection that shined out at her each time Stone and James gazed into her eyes? Or was it the way her heart exploded in her chest each time she heard them speak to her, comforting her with a protectiveness that left her breathless?

Holy crap!
She was in love with them. How had that happened? Of all the things in her life, she never pictured herself happy in love. Was she worth it? Her life had been hard, sure, and she deserved a fresh start, but did that come with the love of two men? She couldn’t bring herself to believe so. She needed to get out of here. She needed to clear her head.

She hastily rose to her feet and stalked toward the front of the station, her eyes fixed on the door. She had to escape, had to find a way out of this town and back where she belonged.

The moment she stepped around the front counter she collided head on with James. Eyes wide, she froze in place, staring up at him as he narrowed his gaze on her.

“Going somewhere?” James asked, holding her by her shoulders.

She couldn’t breathe. Her heart and stomach flipped simultaneously, causing her knees to buckle out from under her. James caught her.

“Are you okay?” he blurted out, holding her up close against his chest. “Let’s go sit down in Clay’s office.”

He helped her into the chair and closed the door behind them, giving them plenty of privacy. She twisted her hands together in her lap and swallowed to moisten her dry throat. The loud scraping of a chair being pulled up alongside her turned her nerves to a jittery mess.

“What’s going on, Gracie? Where were you running off to?”

She shook her head. “I wasn’t running anywhere.”
Lie!
Why couldn’t she just be honest with him?

“Sure,” he said, seeing right through her avoidance. “Did you think you were just going to leave and no one would notice?”

“I wasn’t running away,” she said, locking onto his gaze. “I was leaving town.”

James glared at her, his jaw flexing as he pressed his lips tightly closed. Then he asked, “Why would you want to leave town? Whatever happened to your fresh start?”

She couldn’t look at him anymore. Her heart was causing her tongue to trip, making her want to tell him how she felt about him, but what good would that do. She needed an out, not another reason to stay.

“James, I don’t belong here, and as long as I hang around, Bullet and his crew are going to keep harassing this town.”

“You don’t know that,” James protested.

“I do. You didn’t live in my neighborhood. You don’t know these guys like I do.”

“Why would you want to put yourself in harm’s way? Do you want them to hurt you?”

Appalled by the notion, she gasped. “No, of course not, but I’m also not worth your time. If I leave, they’ll follow me, and your town will be peaceful once again.”

“That’s crap, Gracie, and you know it. What’s the real reason?”

She hung her head, her mind diving back to her childhood.
“The sweetest thing my mother ever said to me was, ‘Sweetheart, don’t forget to use a condom.’ I can still hear her concerning words of comfort, telling me to keep my pussy cleaned as good-paying men don’t want to fuck a nasty snatch.” She choked on her emotions, glancing away from James.

“I’m sorry, Gracie,” James muttered, his voice tight. The shock of her words was etched across his face.

His words were laced with sincerity, and she wished they weren’t. Being with someone who cared for her was a suffocating experience. If things between them had just been sex, like it had been with Stone, then she’d have no problem being with him. However, sex with James would be so much more than just a physical joining. She just couldn’t seem to handle what was happening between them. The connection they shared left her drenched in strange and unsettling emotions. Nothing in her life had ever prepared her to allow a man into her heart. She’d always kept her distance from anything that might show her vulnerability.

Shifting positions in her chair, she turned back to him. “Can you imagine what that was like? Do you have any idea how difficult an emotional relationship is for a hooker?”

“Damn it, Gracie. Stop calling yourself that.” He rose to his full height, turning away from her. He ran a stiff hand through his golden hair. “I can’t stand it when you talk about yourself like that.”

“Why should I? I’m only speaking the truth.”

He turned back to her and knelt at her side. “No, you’re not, and I’m tired of you not even bothering to try.” Placing his hand over top of hers, he confessed, “I want a life with you, Gracie. I want to explore the feelings I have for you, feelings that have always been there.”

She bit her bottom lip as her eyes filled with tears. “Are you out of your mind? I don’t believe in love, and I don’t deserve what you’re offering.”

“You don’t deserve my love?” he scoffed. “Why the hell would you think that?”

“I’m a whore, James. I’ve been fucking strange men since I was fourteen. Why would you want someone who’s been used by hundreds of men?”

He cupped her face in his hands, forcing her to look at him. “That doesn’t matter to me.”

“Well, it should,” she spat.

Why was he making this so hard on her? There was no way she could make him understand that her heart was simply dead inside. She didn’t know how to let him or anyone else in.

He kissed her forehead gently, pulling away as he told her, “That was your past. I want to be your future.”

Just as she was about to argue that James deserved better than her, Stone entered the room. His dark eyes drifted over her, and she suddenly knew exactly what she had to do. Pushing away from James, she stood and moved toward the door.

“Stone, I need a ride,” she quickly walked past him.

“Gracie, wait!” James called after her, but she ignored him. She needed an exit, and Stone was giving her one.

* * * *

As James returned home, he heard a loud disruption coming from the back of the house. Curious, he rounded the corner into the living room. Eyes wide, he swallowed the pure anger that quickly rose up from his gut.

Gracie clung to Stone, her legs placed at either side of Stone’s waist as she rode him. Her head kicked back, his hands massaging her breasts. Soft, fluttering pants of pleasure on her lips.

James’s chest tightened. Fire burned hot in his gut. “What are you doing?” he asked coldly.

Freezing, Gracie stared up at him. Her naked body lowered closer to Stone’s. “What does it look like?”

Her tone was confrontational, and instantly he knew she was trying to force his hand. The muscles in his jaw flexed. “It looks like you’re fucking Stone to piss me off, but you should know that fucking him will not drive me away. It won’t change what I told you earlier.”

Stone propped up on his elbows. “Wait a minute,” he gasped, as she rolled off of him, his cock still hard. He quickly pulled the blanket up over his waist and glanced at Gracie. “What did you two discuss before I arrived at the station?” His gaze bounced from Gracie to James and back again. “Are you using me to make him jealous?”

Her eyes widened. “What are you talking about? We’re just having sex,” she told him, tugging the blanket up under her arms.