“Rape is a strong word,” Cade said, standing well outside her range of fire. Chickenshit.
“Rape? Really?” The words dripped with sarcasm. “He was as hard as a rock.”
“But he wouldn’t have touched you because you weren’t ready, baby. Now, let’s go inside and we can do this right.”
Her body was brittle, her words even harder. “I tried to do it right. I’m not exactly a virgin, Jesse. It didn’t work out. No problem. Not everyone is sexually compatible. It’s no big deal. There are more men in this town.”
Cade groaned. “Gemma, don’t do this.”
“What the hell is this about, Gemma?” Jesse was starting to lose patience. “You watch what you say now. If you push me too far, you’ll likely find yourself over my knee.”
“I would love to see you try, McCann. Don’t you forget what I did to Max Harper.”
“Don’t try it. It won’t go well for you.”
She was pushing him. Her foot tapped against the wooden porch, making a rhythm for his blood to pound to. “We’ll see about that. Now why don’t we both go our separate ways? Cade doesn’t want me, and I know you can’t get it up unless your friend is around.”
A vision of stripping her and forcing her over his knee assaulted his brain. He would smack that sweet ass of hers until it was red and nothing but sweet words came out of her mouth. She would fight him at first, but he would keep going until she submitted. He would have her at his goddamn feet by the end of the night. She wanted to challenge him? She wanted to top him? Oh, she would find out just how dominant he could be.
And he would be right back in jail. No. He turned. His temper was frayed. He needed a break. He needed to think.
“That’s right. Walk away. Guess your little plan didn’t work out.”
He closed his eyes, the truth sliding into place. Gemma’s walls were so high and so thick that sometimes he forgot they were there. She used that sarcasm and bitter wit like armor against the whole damn world. She wanted to be in control because she didn’t trust anyone else to be.
He understood that. It had taken him years before he could open himself up to anyone. Cade still closed his own heart off. They were a fucking trio. Three people who were so damaged it seemed impossible they could work.
But Jesse decided long ago he wouldn’t let the damage of his past wreck his future. He could still remember Nancy Gibbs holding him. It was roughly a year after he’d come to live with them. He hadn’t talked much, just waited to do something dumb and get kicked back to the street. Night after night he woke up, those months in the detention center playing in his nightmares. Nancy had held him while he shook and cried. He’d been sixteen, but in that moment, he’d finally gotten to be a little boy holding on to his mother.
Nancy hadn’t backed away because he’d been bitter.
He was falling for Gemma Wells. It would be easier to walk away and find someone less difficult, but he had the very bad feeling that her face would haunt him for the rest of his life, that no other woman would move him the way she did. She was smart and funny and strong. The bitter brattiness went with it like a car whose engine purred perfectly but had been marred with a horrific paint job. He wouldn’t give it up. He would bring that car back to life.
Tenderness. Care. Gemma needed those. She needed his protection. Even from herself.
He turned back around and walked straight up to her. She backed away, her heels slipping. He caught her, hauling her close. “It’s all right, baby. It’s okay.”
“Stop it.” But she didn’t pull away.
“Tell me what’s wrong, Gemma. Tell me why you’re acting this way.” He kissed her temple. She was so small in his arms.
“He doesn’t want me,” Gemma insisted.
Cade was suddenly crowding her back, and Jesse felt something inside him ease. He’d half expected Cade to run, but he was here, giving her what she needed. “That’s bullshit, baby. I want you so bad, but I want you to want me.”
Her eyes tightened, a look of consternation crossing her face. “I was all over you.”
Cade slipped an arm around her. She was totally caught, and that was how Jesse wanted her. “But you didn’t want me. Baby, I can tell when a woman wants me.”
Jesse cuddled close. She seemed to be responding to the contact in a way she hadn’t when she’d taken the reins. “Tell me about your sex life.”
She tried to pull away, but they held her fast. “This is stupid.”
“How about this? I’ll tell you what I like and Cade will tell you what he likes and then you can talk about your fantasies.”
She sighed. “Why can’t we just do it?”
He chuckled. “You would like that, wouldn’t you? That would leave you in control because you wouldn’t have to put anything on the line. Well, I don’t think I want to play that way. Hush and listen. Cade, you go first. Touch her while you talk.”
“I like to go slow.” Cade’s voice proved his words true. He spoke in long syllables, drawing out each word as his hands cupped her breasts. “I don’t want to roll on and roll off. I want to play with you for a long time. You’ll be our plaything, a soft little doll we pass between us. I want to see every inch of you. I want to play with these nipples.”
Jesse had to move back slightly to make room for Cade’s hands. Gemma moaned a little as Cade’s fingers tightened over her shirt.
“I’m going to suck on them. I’m going to bite them just a little. You’ll squirm because it hurts but it also feels good. You’re going to go crazy. Your breasts will be so sensitive after I’m done.”
Jesse took over. “And the whole time he’s playing with your breasts, I’ll touch your pussy.” He let his hand slip under the waistband of her skirt, gliding over her taut belly and finding the valley of her sex. He could feel the heat coming from her pussy. She wasn’t dry now. Slick moisture coated her clit, making it easy for him to slide his fingers over her. She wasn’t where he wanted her yet, but she was getting there. And she seemed to like dirty talk. “I’m going to touch this little jewel with my fingers and my mouth. I like to eat pussy. It’s my favorite meal. I can eat this pussy for hours. Don’t you see what you’re denying us if you go too fast?”
“Yes.” Her voice was a breathless whisper, her hips moving against his hand. She was getting wetter by the moment.
“Good sex should start slow. We’ll get to the point where you trust us enough to toss your skirts up and fuck you senseless, but not yet. We’re going to fuck you so long and so hard that all you’ll have to do is look at one of us and this little pussy will get wet because you’ll know what we can do to you.”
Cade kissed her ear. “With our fingers and our mouths and our cocks. We can fill you up.”
Jesse sighed. She was finally responding. “Tell me what you want.”
She leaned into him, her voice almost too low to hear. “I want to submit.”
His cock jumped. “Darlin’, I can help you with that.”
Chapter Eight
Why the hell had she done that? She’d just said it, like she was commenting on the weather and not asking for kinky sex stuff. Gemma’s whole body stiffened.
She’d done it because they tricked her and they were still tricking her. Damn. Her whole body went limp again, their hands lulling her into a sensual haze. She’d tried to just get it over with, but no, they had to talk. She’d been ready to push through and get to the part she wanted to get to—that moment when they would cuddle her. Patrick had hated it, but she thought these two might like holding her.
Neither one was behaving the way he should. But then again, her body was misbehaving, too.
“You want to submit?” Jesse’s voice rumbled along her skin, causing her to shiver. His damn voice wasn’t the only thing making her quiver. His fingers skimmed her clitoris, parting the petals of her labia.