Where You Can Find Me (17 page)

Once Grayson finished, he asked Jack to bring him a cup of ice water. He set it on the nightstand and climbed over top of me. He gave me that searching look again that seemed almost distant and in another place before leaning down to press his lips to mine. The kiss felt a little wrong because his lips were so different from Jack’s, but I fell into the kiss and enjoyed his full lips moving over mine; his tongue pushing into my mouth and tasting me. He moved down my neck and eventually settled at my breasts. His tongue circled my nipple before he latched on with strong pulls that made my back arch off the bed and a moan start in my throat. He reached in the glass as he bit his way down my abdomen. He started at my ribs and gave little nips and drags of his teeth to below my belly button.

Grayson leaned back, sitting on his heels, and stared down at my exposed core. My legs were held back by the rope and left nothing hidden. He dragged a finger through my folds. “Let’s warm you up, beautiful.”

I didn’t know what that meant until he brought the flat of his fingers down hard, slapping my clit. I didn’t have much time to process the feeling until it happened again and again. As soon as the sting processed in my shocked mind, a warm pleasure settled low in my abdomen and radiated out through my limbs spreading to my nipples. I turned to look at Jack and saw him stroking his dick through his pants. His heavy lidded eyes completely focused on where Grayson spanked my cunt.

Seeing his hand wrapped around himself made me hotter. I felt like I could combust from the amount of heat coming off of me. Sweat formed in my hair as I gasped for breath.

“Oh shit!” My back arched off the bed as a cold settled over my clit, sending a whole new sensation over my body. “Oh shit.” Grayson rubbed the coldness all over my exposed folds and up my thighs. When he reached my knee I saw a melted ice cube.

“I didn’t want you to get too hot. I need to cool you down before we really get started.”

Jesus. We hadn’t really gotten started yet? I wasn’t sure if I would survive the night. But I was dying to try. I looked to Jack again while Grayson got another ice cube. He held it between his teeth this time and looked to Jack, also. Jack had his cock out of his unfastened pants and leisurely stroked up and down.

“Eat her out. Make her come on your tongue.” My core clenched at his words. He looked right at me to make sure I was still okay with everything. “Then fuck her.”

“Jack.” I don’t know what I wanted from him. I just needed to reassure myself with his name. He resituated himself, pulling his pants down further to make more room for his up and down movements. I turned to look at Grayson. He gave me a quick wink and dropped between my thighs.

My body jerked when he pushed the melting ice cube into my pussy and shoved it deeper with his tongue. He moved up to my clit and circled it, torturing me.

“Don’t take too long. I want to fuck her when you’re done.”

Oh, God. Yes, please.

Grayson did as Jack requested and licked me all over, using his fingers and tongue to bring me close to climax and coax me back down before I actually came.

“You taste so good. I could eat you all day.” He sucked one of my lips into his mouth and moved back up to my clit. “He says I’m the dominant one, but look at him over there stroking that impressive cock, giving all the orders.”

“Please…” I gasped when he hummed on my clit. “Please let me come.”

After flicking his tongue across my nub a few more times he agreed. “Fine. But only because you said please. I love it when they beg. Makes me even harder.”

He latched onto me and pushed two fingers deep, curling them up and dragging them back out. I lasted less than a thirty seconds before a silent scream ripped from me. My back arched off the bed and I spasmed as he removed his fingers, making me panic that he was stopping. But he grabbed a condom and put it on before shoving inside of me with one thrust, prolonging my orgasm.

All three of us moaned. My eyes closed. There was too much to take in. I needed to take away one of my senses so I could focus on the way my body stretched to accommodate him. I didn’t see him before he began fucking me, but he must have been thicker than Jack, because he stretched me to the max.

He placed his hands on my stretched thighs and fucked me like a freight train. A loud groan came from deep in his throat as he came with his head thrown back in release. When he came down from his orgasm Jack stood by the bed and untied the ropes.

He took off his pants while I rubbed feeling back in my hands and legs. The bed dipped behind me when he climbed on and placed his legs on each side of my hips. “Climb on and ride me reverse cowgirl.”

I didn’t know how well my limbs would work after being tied for so long but I did as I was told. He easily slid inside my wet opening and held my hips as he pushed in and out.

“Grayson. Lick her pussy while I fuck her. Suck on her clit.”

I didn’t know how Grayson would feel about having his mouth so close to Jack’s dick, but couldn’t bring myself to care as he pushed me to lean back and settled between our thighs. The sensation of having a tongue on my clit while Jack fucked me set my body on fire. I didn’t know how long I could take it. My body raced to the finish.

All of sudden, Jack grunted and lost his rhythm. “Fuck. Grayson. Unggh.”

“What? Jack.” I could barely get the words out as Jack’s pace increased and he fucked me harder. I tried to focus through my confusion and Grayson’s fingers playing on my nubbin. Grayson ended up answering for Jack.

“He’d never admit it but he loves when I roll his balls in my hand while he fucks you. Or when I drop my mouth a little lower than your sweet clit and lick his dick as it moves in and out of you. Isn’t that right, Jack?”

Jack’s chest rumbled and growled in response. “Shut the fuck up, Grayson.”

Shit. Shit. I couldn’t help but be turned on by the image of Grayson’s lips on both of us. His hand on Jack’s balls as they moved against my ass. Oh, God. I didn’t know what to think about it and I couldn’t right now. I just felt. I just closed my eyes and felt it all.

“She loves it. Look at how wet she’s getting. It doesn’t mean anything, just enjoy it.”

Jack pushed in harder and shorter bursts and Grayson licked me faster with forceful flicks. When he pinched my clit between his fingers, I exploded and took Jack with me. We both moaned out our release and it felt like it picked me up and tossed me around forever. My scalp tingled as a heat spread throughout my whole body.

When I came back down and could feel my chest moving again, I tried to control my breathing. Jack pulled out, leaving me empty, and rolled me to the side. I could do nothing but lie there and try to remain awake. It didn’t last long. A washcloth wiped between my legs, soothing the delicious ache. I heard a door close then felt arms wrap around me.

“Let’s sleep a little bit and then go from there. I love you, my sweet Luella. You are so beautiful and I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but I plan to love you forever.”

Jack placed a gentle kiss behind my ear and I fell asleep with the word “forever” ringing in my ear.

G
rayson must have slept
on the couch because he didn’t come back to the room that night. Jack kissed me awake the next morning and the aroma of coffee permeated the air, begging me to come get a cup. The morning proceeded to be uneventful as we sat at the table having breakfast and the guys talked about nothing important. I stared off trying to process that I had been between these two men last night. And I had enjoyed it.

When Grayson got up to go to the sink I noticed scratches on his back and blushed at the fact that I must have done that. I turned to see if Jack had seen and he just smirked his perverted smile at me before lifting his mug to his lips. I raised my eyebrow challenging him to judge me instead of shriveling up in embarrassment like I wanted to. He only winked at my show of no shame.

We left soon after, but not before Grayson had ordered me to suck his dick while Jack fucked me from behind. I thought the command was a joke until I saw both of them silently waiting for me to obey. And so I did. Without a second thought I enjoyed my morning with the two gorgeous men. I knew it would be a one and only time. As much fun as it had been I didn’t want to push the boundaries of my relationship with Jack too far.

L
ater that night
Jack and I made dinner together and talked about everything that happened. I think we both needed confirmation that last night was something we both wanted and didn’t regret. I knew I had questions about some of the things that occurred.

“Are you sure you don’t regret it?” Jack asked me.

“No. Of course not. I’m glad I shared this with you and it was sexy and something I will only have with you.”

“Is it … Is it something you want to do again?” He hesitated over the question and I wasn’t sure if it was because he
wanted
to again, or because he didn’t and thought I did.

I paused. “No. As much as I loved it. I think once was enough. I have you and that’s really all I need. You keep me plenty satisfied.”

He seemed relieved by my response. “Good. I’m glad I’m enough man for you.”

“Oh baby, you’re
more
than enough man for me.” I jokingly reached down and cupped his package bringing us back to a relaxed conversation. But before we pulled too far away from the serious questions I had one more I
needed
to ask. Nerves settled in my chest moving throughout my body causing my fingers to tingle because I didn’t know what kind of reaction my question would get. I took a deep breath before I opened my mouth hoping my voice came out calm and steady. “Jack.” I saw him look at me out of the corner of my eye while I cowardly stared into the pasta sauce I stirred. “Last night. When… when Grayson…” I stopped unsure of how I wanted to ask this. I lifted my eyes to his. I wanted to see his initial reaction. “Am I enough for
you
?”

“Shit.” He dropped his head and rubbed his hand over the back of his neck. His blue eyes locked on mine and showed his sincerity. “Luella, you are more than I ever thought I deserved. You are more than I could ever want. I love you. You’re more than enough for me.”

“I love you, too. I just … I just needed to ask. I wanted to be honest about my thoughts with you.”

“You have every right to. The thing last night with Grayson was his way of asserting himself. He likes to play games. And that’s what last night was. He likes to push the boundaries and rile people up. It’s not that he is attracted to me, or that I am to him, as much as just doing it because he can. The game is something we’ve always done and somehow Grayson took it to the bedroom on the few occasions we had a threesome. I don’t reciprocate and he has never done anything that pushed me to a point of no return. I’ve always just ignored him. I’m sorry last night happened like that.”

I felt bad when he dropped his head as though he felt I judged him. I never wanted him to feel that way and quickly reassured him. “Jack. Stop. Don’t ever apologize for any part of last night. That doesn’t surprise me at all about Grayson. He’s … he’s something else.” We both stopped to laugh at the thought of Grayson’s personality. “Besides, it was actually pretty hot.”

His lips quirked up on one side as he wrapped his arm around my waist. “Yeah?”

“Oh yeah.” Just as he leaned in for a kiss his phone rang. He looked at the screen and saw Shane’s number. He landed a quick peck and pulled away to answer it.

“MacCabe.”

I returned to making dinner as I listened to the one-sided conversation.

“Yeah, I can make it in on Monday. I’ll bring Grayson with me.” A pause. “No, I haven’t told him the news yet. It just hasn’t come up.” He paced across the kitchen. “Does Bennet know?” He growled with anger. “He’s been on vacation for two weeks? Hell of a time for vacation. When does he get back?” Jack’s brows lowered in irritation from whatever he heard on the other end of the line. “Yeah, that seems a little odd. Do we know his whereabouts? What he’s been doing?” He nodded to whatever was being said on the other line. Yeah. I guess we’ll see him Monday and ask him then.” He nodded again. ”I know, I know. But you know how I feel about him. You know a lot of people are keeping their eyes on him too.” Jack held a finger up to me, signally his conversation was ending shortly. “Okay. I’ll see you Monday. Later, man.”

Jack dropped his phone with a heavy sigh.

“Everything all right?”

“Yeah. Everything is fine. That was Shane asking me to come in Monday to discuss some things. Apparently Aimes has been on vacation for the past two weeks and whenever Shane has tried to call him in to work the case he hasn’t been able to get a hold of him. He said he was visiting his family, but when Shane called the number supplied, his mom said she hadn’t seen him since Christmas. It just doesn’t sit right. I may be wrong, but I … I don’t know.”

I rubbed my hand up and down his back trying to soothe him. “I’m sorry, Jack. I wish you had more answers. And hopefully you will soon. When do the DNA results come back?”

“They should be in by Friday.”

“Good. Just one more week and hopefully this will all be over. Now come on and have some dinner with me.” He followed me to the dining room where we pushed the upcoming week aside and decided to enjoy our dinner together.

O
n Monday morning
I drove Jack to the station. We waited for Grayson to show up since I’d decided to stay until Jack had to go in. When Grayson joined us, Jack explained to him the news he received on Friday about possibly having DNA of the killer found under Whitney’s nails.

The only way to describe the look that crossed Grayson’s face was surprise and heavy relief. I saw day to day what this case did to Jack, but it seemed to weigh just as heavy on Grayson. He seemed tired and defeated but ready for it to end. “Good. It will all be over soon then.”

Jack clapped him on the back. “Yeah, man. This one has been hard. I think we are all relieved.”

Grayson just nodded. A white older Nissan pulled up with none other than Aimes Bennet driving. Jack and Grayson both watched the car move into the parking lot and continued to stare as he found a spot. It stretched into this surreal moment that could have been played out on a movie screen. Some thug stare-down in slow motion as both people held eye contact while he drove by and got out of the car. I almost wanted to laugh at how cliche it seemed. Also, at how uncomfortable I felt standing in the middle of their western standoff.

Bennet got out of the car and gave a wave to the guys. I could feel the sarcasm of the wave like a hit to the chest. Apparently so could Jack if the ticking muscle in his jaw was any indication. Obviously, Bennet held no fear of Jack’s anger because he compounded the situation by speaking. “Miss me?” He winked at Jack and then turned his head to me giving me a quick look up and down. Lowering his tone of voice to what I assumed was meant to be seductive, he spoke to me next. “It’s good to see you again, sweetheart.”

Jack took a step forward but Grayson slapped his hand against Jack’s chest to hold him back. “It’s not worth it man. He’ll get what’s coming to him.”

Jack took a deep breath and opened and closed his fists, trying to regain some of his composure. We all watched as Aimes turned to walk up the stairs into the station. And what I saw on his neck made my heart freeze. When I turned to see if Jack or Grayson had seen it, Jack’s wide eyes and frantic looks between Aimes and Grayson let me know he saw it too and thought the same thing.

Down the right side of Aimes’s neck, toward the back and down into the collar of his shirt were three scabbed over scratches that looked an awful lot like they could have been made with fingernails. It could be anything. We could be jumping to conclusions. But all I could hear in my head was how Whitney had the murderer’s DNA under her fingernails. All I could hear was Aimes going on excitedly about the murderer and how smart he was. The answers seemed to be wrapped in layers of cloth and as they were removed, the picture became unveiled and glaringly obvious. Impossible to ignore.

“Did you fucking see that?” Jack burst out to Grayson as soon as Aimes cleared the station doors.

Grayson stared off to where the doors had closed. He licked his full lips and bit down on the bottom one. His eyebrows scrunched together as though in deep thought. Trying to figure out the next piece to fall into place. His only response came as a noncommittal, “Yeah.”

“Alright, man. We need to get in there and figure this shit out. Lu, I’ll call you when I can. I’ll try to be by later.”

As he spoke the words, I could feel the panic rising up to choke me. I shook my head frantically stuttering out my words. “No. Please, Jack. I don’t want you to go in there with him. Please.” I gripped his hand, holding him to me. I could feel the irrationality of my actions, but all I could think was that a murderer was in there and I didn’t want Jack in there with him.

Jack pulled me to him and wrapped his arms around me. “Shh. Luella, it’s okay. That’s one of the safest places I can be. Grayson’s right here and he isn’t going to let some pipsqueak killer get to us. And all the manpower inside will keep everything under control. Trust me, baby. It will be fine.”

I took a deep breath, inhaling the scent unique to him. It soothed me along with the hand rubbing up and down my back. I took it all in and regained my calm. I took a step back and gave him my firmest stare. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to freak out on you like that. I just… I just don’t want anything to happen to you. I love you and I just can’t lose another person I love. I tend to lose my marbles at the possibility.” I chuckled trying to lighten the mood and turned to Grayson. “Make sure you take care of my guy, okay?”

Grayson still looked off, lost in his own head, but my question pulled him away from his thoughts and he gave me a serious nod with a flirtatious wink. Having Grayson act so casual and be his flirty self made me feel a little bit better. I tried to not feel like a dark cloud hung over my head as I kissed Jack goodbye and headed home.

I
had cleaned
my whole house by the time evening rolled around. Evie had called me earlier, asking if I wanted to have dinner, but I declined because I wanted to be home for whenever Jack got there. I would have been a horrible dinner companion, checking my phone every five minutes to see if Jack had sent anything. By eleven at night I was a hot mess, staring at the TV without taking anything in. My mind raced with possibilities of why I still hadn’t heard from Jack. I began to fall back on the same saying I had when Asher was in the Army.
No news is good news
.

It only made me feel slightly better. I’m not sure how long I sat there but a knock at the door made me jerk my hands out of my lap and my heart stop beating for a few seconds. My breathing stuttered before I finally jumped up from the couch and ran to the door. After checking the peephole I flung the door open and leapt into Jack’s arms.

I must have surprised him because he staggered back a couple steps and gave an “oomph” as I wrapped my legs around his waist clinging to him. Only a moment later his hands landed on my butt to support me and walked into the house, closing the door behind us.

“Well, it’s good to see you too.” I could hear the laughter in his voice but I didn’t care.

“Let’s sit down on the couch; tell me what happened. I don’t care if you can’t. You have to because I need to know and I’m your girlfriend and I’m curious and you have to tell me.” It all came out in a rush and I finished with a lingering kiss. I didn’t want to admit my fear but seeing him now and having him in my arms felt better than good.

He returned my kiss and laughed at my ramblings. “I love you, too.”

I pulled myself off his lap getting comfortable on the couch next to him while he took off his brown leather jacket. He leaned his head back with a heavy sigh that sounded heavy with the relief of the day being over.

His eyes shone with the same relief when he lifted his head back up and looked at me. “We got him.” My eyes widened and a tightness settled in my chest. I took a deep breath to relieve it. Tears pricked the back of my eyes and a smile stretched my lips.

“Really?”

“Yeah. Really.” The sexy wrinkles at his eyes and laugh lines around his mouth appeared. We both sat there for a moment relishing that the past few months were over. His hand reached out and squeezed mine, the silence between us filled with the best feeling ever. We didn’t need words to express the solace we felt in that moment. I lifted his hand to my mouth and my impatience for the story and demand answers began to seep into the quiet.

“Okay. Now tell me what the hell happened.”

“So we—Grayson and I—had a meeting with Shane, and in came Bennet, asking what he missed, all excited about the killer’s next move. When Shane told him about the murder and the evidence they’d found, that asshole’s hand went straight for his neck as though he had just realized such incriminating evidence was out in the open. The color drained from his face. The fucker knew he had been caught. Shane began to ask him questions about where he was the past week and he started out by saying he was visiting family. Which is a lie. Shane already called his family and he wasn’t there. It all went downhill from there. He stuttered through some more lies before saying he was with a woman for the week and she left the scratches on his neck during sex. He challenged us to search his stuff and Shane didn’t officially take him into custody until we searched his car and found a wiped-down knife. At least almost wiped down. We found some blood splatter on the handle.”

“Oh my God.” My eyes widened at how real it all became. They actually had more proof. I couldn’t believe he was right in front of us the whole time.

“Yeah. He claims it isn’t his and that he doesn’t know how it got there. But when we get the DNA results back there will be no denying he’s the killer.” Jack rubbed his hands over his face and scrunched his eyebrows, the happy relief replaced with a frown.

“What’s wrong?”

“I just … I just wish I would have been able to prove it sooner. My gut said it was someone a part of this, someone close, and I just feel like I should have been able to see it sooner.”

I placed my hand on his leg trying to offer comfort. “Don’t think that way. No one saw it. No one could do anything without proof. This isn’t on you. Hell, Jack, you’re not even a cop. This is all extra for you. So, just be happy it’s over and that you helped solve the case. You listened to your gut about Aimes and didn’t back down. You did great! I’m so proud of how hard you work.”

My words seemed to bring a smile back to his face. A spark lit up his blue eyes. “I don’t know how lucky I am to have you but I’m not letting you go.”

Warmth settled in my chest as it filled with happiness. “Good. I don’t plan on going anywhere.” I leaned down into his side, resting my head on his shoulder as he moved to wrap his arm around me. “I forgot to ask, how is Grayson doing? Is he happy it’s over?”

Jack remained quiet and his hand tightened on my arm. “Grayson is … Grayson is fine.”

I lifted my head and tilted it to the side, curious about what that meant. “What do you mean?”

Jack took another deep breath, as he looked off searching for his words. “I think Grayson misunderstood the other night. That is was a one-time thing. He asked to come over and celebrate and when I said probably not he asked about tomorrow. I had to explain to him that it wasn’t something we wanted to repeat and he got a little pissed at me.”

“Shit. Jack, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to cause any problems. Shit. We never should have done that. It’s all my fault and now your best friend is pissed at you. I’m so, so sor—”

Jack’s finger landed on my lips stopping the stream of blabber pouring from my mouth. “Stop. This isn’t your fault. It’s mine. I didn’t explain myself well enough to Grayson. What I have with you is different so it’s new territory for Grayson to understand. After a few days it will all be fine. This is what we do. We’re brothers and just because I won’t share my girl with him doesn’t stop that from being true.”

My lips pursed as I considered his words. “As long as you’re sure.”

“I’m sure.”

“Should I talk to him? I can give him a call.”

Jack chuckled at my need to fix it. “No, baby. There’s nothing to fix. Just take me to bed and let’s get some sleep.”

And so we did. Jack made love to me slowly before we both fell asleep without the weight of a murderer hanging over our heads. When the sun barely shone bright enough to light the room, Jack’s phone began to ring. He flung his arm over to grab it from the nightstand. He looked at the screen and groaned before answering it.

“Shane. What the hell do you want? Don’t we get to rest once the bad guy is caught? At least that’s how it works for me. I don’t know about you guys at the stat—”

Jack’s whole body tightened and I heard his breathing stop as Shane interrupted him to tell him whatever he called for. Jack pulled his arm out from under me and sat up, running a hand through his hair tightening it to a fist in frustration.

“How? How can there be another one? We got him. He’s in the goddamn cell right now. What the fuck, Shane?” He stopped to take a deep breath and listen to the other line. “That’s not what I want to hear. If it wasn’t him, then who was it? What about everything pointing to him?”

Another long pause. I didn’t hear anything through the phone either. Whatever Shane said had left both men speechless. Jack lifted his head and stared at the wall opposite the bed with a defeated look. His shoulders slouched as his whole body lost its fight. “I’ll be in as soon as I can.” The words fell from his lips dull and lifeless, like heavy stones weighing him down.

He hung up the phone and I waited for him to explain but he continued to stare at the wall. The only emotion I could see was his hand squeezing the phone so tight I worried he would break it.

After another moment, I couldn’t wait anymore. “Jack. What’s going on?”

He didn’t turn to look at me. I didn’t think he would answer after another long pause. Just when I was about to say his name again he spoke low, his voice hollow. “Another murder happened. They found a note at the scene directed to me.”

The words wouldn’t process in my head. It was the only excuse I could come up with for the complete numb feeling that settled over me. I should be panicking. I should be crying. All that I could do was whisper my questions. “What? How?”

The note said, “Wrong man, MacCabe.”