Independence: #4 Hayley (16 page)

“My pleasure,” Jack replied, shifting just enough to open his jeans and shove them out of the way. Hayley lifted her head enough to see the throbbing cock. He didn’t need to urge her to play. Balanced on her elbows, she used her hands and freed the heavy sacs below his cock before her mouth slipped like molten silk down the length of his shaft. He groaned and let his head fall back.

Dane couldn’t imagine anything more erotic as he quickly sheathed himself in a condom and probed her opening. He slid on the moisture coating her and thrust hard and fast, burying himself in one long move.

Hayley screamed around the cock in her mouth. Her fist closed tightly and her tongue went into overdrive at the same time she thrust back against Dane.

“Fuck…” Dane groaned.

“No kidding,” Jack muttered, his hand pulling the long hair to one side. He watched the erotic sight of his cock disappearing into her mouth and felt his body reacting. The images before him were enough to send his control skittering over the flooring. When he felt the tiny sharp edges of her teeth and her fingers toyed with the area behind his balls, he lost it in a loud, savage shout.

His knuckles whitened in a tense grip tangled in her hair. When she screamed against, he knew Dane was tumbling over the edge, too. His guttural growl told him just how good it felt to be lost in their little sub.

Where did worn out Dom’s get aftercare, he thought briefly. When Dane withdrew and was dealing with the condom, Jack eased Hayley onto the sofa and snatched up the blanket from the floor. He had her wrapped up and on his lap when Dane joined them. He pulled her long legs over his thighs and both men let their heads fall to the back of the sofa.

“When we decided to end a celibate season, we damn well do it in style,” Dane remarked after a few quiet minutes. Their hearts had all returned to normal and he was pretty sure Hayley was drifting contentedly somewhere in subspace.

“Yeah…and you want to think about giving her up?” Jack snorted softly, his hand stroking gently over the side of her head.

“I think we need to feed her,” Dane said without moving a muscle.

“Yeah…I feel like moving just yet…”

“Did someone say food?” Hayley asked a few minutes later, pale lashes opening languidly to find herself snuggled against Jack. He hadn’t put his shirt on and she licked over his skin with a satisfied little mewl. “I like touching. You’re both so warm and…sexy.”

Both men laughed and Jack eased her to sit upright. He lifted her to the sofa when he stood up and found his t-shirt. He tossed Dane his shirt before pulling his over his head. He reached into the bag and pulled out the dress she’d begun the evening in.

“Get dressed and we’ll buy you dinner, Hayley.”

She sighed. “Dressed…I need a restroom…be right back…” she said, one hand taking the dress and letting it trail at her side as she walked toward the large sign on the far wall.

Both men stood watching the twitch in her ass cheeks and sighed in appreciation.

“Damn,” Dane shook his head and opened the mis-buttoned shirt and started again.

“I keep wondering how we got so fucking lucky,” Jack said with a crooked grin. “But then I don’t want to know. I just want to enjoy. If it’s a month or a year or fifteen. I want them all.”

Dane didn’t respond, he lifted the toy bag and tossed the blanket they’d used into the bin against the wall. His gaze drifted around them. So many scenes and so many people. In so many configurations.

Then he looked up at the long bare legs and the brilliant smile she gave them. And he didn’t care what the world thought of them.

Chapter Fourteen

It was after midnight when they walked her to her truck. She had the keys out and was ready to bid them good night when Jack lifted her into the seat. While she was still taking a surprised breath, he kissed her.

It wasn’t like the other kisses. It wasn’t demanding. It wasn’t packed with hunger. It was soft and sweet and she felt herself melting into the seat with a contented sigh. Before that could happen, though, Dane took his place.

They were so different, she thought as his mouth captured hers. His tongue speared between her lips and danced gently with hers. They’d spent almost two hours sharing a large meal in the restaurant and she learned so much about them. And the more she learned, the more she felt herself tumbling into a place she never thought she’d be.

Love. They were different and yet, bits were alike enough that the three of them formed a pleasant circle. Each giving to the other and having that giving magnified as it traveled around the circle. And it felt never ending.

Her head was swimming when Dane backed up, his hand beneath her chin.

“You have both our numbers. We’re mostly off this week…and most of next week until after the New Year,” he told her. “We’ll be in touch, Hayley.”

“If you need anything, call us,” Jack said with a grin and a wink before closing the door and stepping back.

Hayley nodded and started the truck. Her hands absently adjusted the heater and fixed the seat belt. She could still see them in the mirror as she pulled into the almost empty streets at one in the morning.

****

It was shortly after two before the lights went out in the house. Two long steamy showers and very little chatter led to silence until Jack’s cell phone rang.

His hand slapped over the side of the bed and onto the nightstand. He lifted it and read the name across the front. His thumb tapped over the surface and the phone was instantly at his ear.

“Hayley? What’s wrong?” He came immediately awake when he’d seen her name. At this time of the morning, instinct told him this wasn’t a pleasure call. “Hayley!”

His shout echoed through the silence of the house and the invisible lines that connected them through the cell phones.

“Well…I’m guessing from the readout that this is Jack Bennett?”

Jack’s tone was less than friendly. “Who the hell is this? Where’s Hayley? She wouldn’t have called unless it was important…not at this time of night.”

“I think she had good intentions of asking for help,” said the feminine voice on the other end of the line. “My name is Mariah Peyton. I work with the hospital on the resort? The Narrows…”

“Yeah, yeah, I know the place…hospital? What the…what’s wrong with her?”

“She was conscious…but she’s passed out and I think you might want to come to the emergency room. She’s alright. Don’t get in an accident getting here,” she said sternly. “She’s got a few scrapes and…wounds…that I’m cleaning up now.”

“We’ll be right there,” Jack said flatly, the phone in his hand as the other threw the blankets to the side at the same time Dane appeared in the doorway. “Hayley’s in the hospital. She tried calling me…the doctor…hell, I’m guessing it was the doctor…said she’s unconscious.”

“Then we get dressed and go to find out what the hell happened to her,” Dane said simply, turning and returning quickly to his room to dress.

Both wore dark jeans and thick shirts beneath their jackets when they walked almost in perfect step through the sliding glass doors of the emergency room. The hospital had been erected on the far northern tip of the WindSwept Narrows property and was designed to serve employees of the businesses that joined the reclamation.

Dane took the lead and was glad to see the place was quiet for the most part. No one was in the waiting room and a woman with a high riding ponytail of dark brown came down the long, silent corridor. The lab coat was open and she wore jeans and a bright Christmas striped t-shirt with bells on the loops of her jeans.

“Gentlemen…Doctor Mariah Peyton…” she shook each hand firmly. “Jack and Dane? Hayley’s awake and very sorry to have bothered you. That…you work out. As soon as she speaks to the lieutenant, she can go. If you’ll come with me…”

“What happened?”

“My assessment?” Mariah took in a slow, deep breath. “Someone took a couple shots at her just outside the turn to the ranch.”

“Fucking…shots? Gun shots?” Jack’s fists clenched until his knuckles were white.

“I’ve cleaned and stitched more than my share of gunshot wounds,” she said simply. “She has a few bruises and a slight concussion from her head striking the side window. I suspect that happened with the first shot, which is probably why she’s still alive. She moved and the second shot hit her shoulder. The rest…flying glass and bits of metal…but not from the car. The bullet sent out slivers that caused a lot of the scratches and dings she’s sporting.”

“Doc…you’re taking over my job here,” Natalie Templeton tsked mildly, her feet swinging slightly as they dangled off the end of the gurney.

“Occupational hazard,” Mariah said with a shrug. “Both shots came at her from behind. Bits of glass from the window behind her, a four inch graze where the first bullet went across the top of her arm joint. I think the second bullet was a quick follow and grazed the side of her head. She jerked the truck to a stop, but slid on the rain slicked roads. She hit her head on the side window at the same time the second shot caught her temple, instead of…” Mariah winced.

“In my head,” Hayley finished with a long sigh. “I’m okay, guys, and I’m really sorry I dragged you out in the middle of the night. There wasn’t…I was messed up…controlling the truck, but there was a few seconds between the shots.”

“She didn’t just say that, did she?” Dane said with a shake of his head at Jack.

“She did,” Jack walked around the gurney to the other side, his gaze taking in the bruises, stitches and stark white gauze. “But she won’t make that mistake again.”

Natalie looked from one to the other and then at Hayley. One brow went up. She was about to speak when another male joined the group.

“I checked on the blood work and it’s completely clean,” Tre Thorne came through the drapes, his grin crooked. “Hey, Jack! Dane! I heard you guys had moved out west finally.”

The women watched the male exchange of handshakes and half hugs of long-time friends.

“Now why doesn’t this surprise me?” Natalie said, her lips pursed. “You’re friends with them…and she’s friends with them…”

“I said I hadn’t taken a single drink. I don’t drink,” Hayley told them.

“We had to conduct the blood work for the file. I believed you. Can’t smell a thing to tell me otherwise. Tell me how the evening went,” Natalie tapped the recorder on her jacket and waited.

Hayley exhaled deeply and closed her eyes. “I went to the club, Independence, at six. I was there until almost one…I think…maybe closer to one-fifteen. I got in my truck and drove home. Next thing I know, I’m bouncing around, getting shot at and I wake up here.”

“And I’m going to make a wild guess that Jack and Dane can verify your evening?” Natalie looked over at them.

“We were with Hayley from approximately six until we walked her to the truck and sent her home at one-fifteen. There was no alcohol involved in the evening whatsoever,” Dane said very clearly.

“We had dinner and drank soda with that,” Jack added, his hand taking up Hayley’s and squeezing. “You’re okay?”

She shrugged. “A headache. A bunch of dings and little cuts. Where’s my truck?”

“Taken into impound. I’m having some pieces removed and photos taken. You can claim it in the morning,” Natalie answered. “Any idea who might be shooting at you?”

“The ranch is butted against the foothills. Crazy people with guns…hunters, maybe…” Hayley shook her head. “We don’t usually have problems around the ranch, though. It’s very clearly posted that firearms are not permitted near it. It’s all fenced and the livestock are quite valuable. But none of them are anywhere near the roads leading through the ranch.”

“My sister’s supposed to be here,” the deep voice echoed through the corridor.

Chapter Fifteen

“Dell, will you slow down? Let’s find someone…”

“Oh, lord,” Hayley pulled the sheet up over her head. “Who called him?”

“I think one of the Officers on the scene might have,” Natalie winced.

“So as mediator…” Tre stepped toward the drape and pulled it aside. “Dell Russell?” He took another step into the corridor, his hand extended. “Dr. Tre Thorne. This is Dr. Mariah Peyton, the attending physician. I don’t know if you know the Lieutenant, Natalie Templeton? She’s the liaison between the resort and the crimes that occur in the vicinity and with the businesses that are part of the reclamation.”

“Hi, Natalie,” Tasha exhaled slowly, one hand up and rubbing over her eyes. “You okay in there, Hayley?”

“I’d be better if you took my brother and went home.” Came the muffled response.

“I tried talking to him…I’m sorry. He’s a bit hard-headed.”

“The hell if that’s going to happen,” Dell told her, striding to the table and coming up short when Dane stepped in front of him. “And you are?”

“Oh, god…” Hayley groaned, reluctantly lowering the sheet. “Dell, I’m alright.”

“There are cop cars on the road leading from the ranch and your truck was attached to a police tow truck. How is that all right?” He demanded flatly. “At almost three in the morning.”

“It’s not my fault. Someone took shots at me when I was on my way home,” she threw back, her spine stiffening and shin up.

“At one-forty-five in the morning?”