“I’m not a little girl,” she snapped when Braden approached her. She was hanging upside down from the split rail fence.
“Funny, right now, you look like one.”
“I’m not one.” She pulled her arms back above her head and continued to do sit-ups, her shirt flying up and down with her body.
He reached out to hold it for her as she continued to work on her abs but instead of gripping the shirt, he touched her stomach with his open palm. The sensation sent chills up and down her spine.
She continued to sit up and fall down, her hair flowing over her back as she taunted him. His hand caressed her stomach, his palm stayed on her abs as she pulled herself up and over the old rickety boards.
His cheeks stained blood red when she twisted her body over the plank and landed at his feet. He grunted.
“I like working out over here. No one bothers me.”
“Your friends are up at the house, waiting on you.”
“I don’t care. Vicky got them into some chick flick before I got home and they had another hour or so before it’s over. She covered for me and told them I had to do some chores before I could party with them. Besides, they’re like four hours early.”
Braden scratched his chin. “I wondered about that.”
She cracked a smile. “Sorry, I guess I should’ve sent them home and told them to come back.”
“It’s fine, Peyton.” He brushed her cheek with the back of his hand and shocked them both when he leaned in and kissed her.
It wasn’t a kiss like any other she remembered. It was soft, tender, and so sweet, she almost cried when his lips touched hers. She didn’t latch her arms around his neck but instead, she let him lead. He didn’t take them far. It was a simple kiss, and it was only a kiss, she told herself. It didn’t mean anything. It didn’t promise anything.
Only, it did.
“Did he hurt you, Peyton?” Braden asked as he pulled her into his arms. “Tell me the truth.”
Peyton wrapped her arms around his waist, and he stroked her head and back. “Did he?”
“No, Braden. He’d never hurt me.”
“Are you sure?”
“Braden, he wouldn’t hurt me.” She pressed her palms to his belly and looked up at him. “He just loved me.”
Braden swallowed tightly and then released her. He ran his hand through his wavy hair. “What do you mean by ‘loved’ you?”
“Exactly what I want you to think I mean.”
“Peyton just because he…” Braden shifted his weight and then tried again. “Peyton just because he…”
“Fucked me?”
“Oh hell.” He took a deep breath and then choked on it. Coughing, he doubled over from the impact of a soft blow she dealt with a man’s word and a woman’s delicate explanation.
“He did, Braden. I did, he did, and we did. I think it’s called consensual sex and it was like-”
Braden’s mouth covered hers. Kissing her proved effective. It kept her quiet, and since Kane used the same tactic on her before, she imagined it must have been a man thing, either that or it was a Cartwell-thing.
This time his kiss was ravenous. He devoured her lips with a devastating kiss, one meant to change things, one meant to destroy the rules he put in place to save them from this. Her hands fisted in his shirt, bunched the material and clawed at the skin underneath. And just as soon as it started, he stopped it.
“I can’t do this to you, Peyton. I’m sorry I…”
“No need to apologize. I wanted it. I still want it.” She wanted it bad. She’d heard stories about Kane and Evan but evidently Braden didn’t fuck around a lot. She’d never heard anything about him or his skills in the bedroom. Kane and Evan, as much as they might hate it, were open encyclopedia volumes.
Kane and Evan held quite the reputation. After one night with Kane, she realized why. The man’s cock was on steroids or something. Braden must’ve kept his on valium because even now, with a hard cock, and she saw the imprint of it, he wasn’t aggressive. Kane and Evan pursued a woman, and when they did, they stalked her. Braden took his time and worked his way into an intimate situation.
He kept a tight upper lip but she saw the lust there in his eyes. He wanted her, needed her all the more since she’d revealed her dirty little secret.
“Let me love you too, Braden.” She brushed his hair away from his face and framed his cheeks. “Please let me love you.”
He picked her up and cradled her in his arms, and before she knew what she’d truly started, she held onto him with her kisses matching his. He carried her up the hill, and she was so lost in his mouth, his tongue, and his lips, she never paid attention. Her left hand ran over his chest while her right gripped the nape of his neck.
And he kissed her all the way up to the barn. Then, he released her.
“Braden, don’t walk away.” She was dying for more now.
“I have to walk away, at least for tonight, Peyton.”
“Why?” she whined.
He ran his hand through his hair again. “Because if I don’t, God help me, if I don’t, there may be hell to pay here. I have a lot of things to sort out, and if you’re smart, you’ll take some time to decide what it is you want.”
Her eyes widened in acknowledgement as the memory of their mother’s story, the way Braden once told it, replayed over and over again in her mind. She saw the fear in his eyes too. The harrowing anxiety existed there.
“Kane knows, Braden. He’s not stupid. Just because something happened between us first doesn’t mean-”
“Nothing will happen between you and me or you and Evan until I talk to him.”
She wanted to argue. She needed to convince him to change his mind but when she made the first move, one step in his direction, he quickly stopped her with the words intended for someone behind her.
“Vicky, how long have you been standing there?” He painted on a crooked smile.
“Long enough to know I interrupted something you both need to reconsider.”
It was after midnight, and the girls ruled the Cartwell house. Vicky sat down beside Peyton and flipped through a magazine. “You’re going to have to think about what you’re doing here, Peyton.”
”It’s all I think about.”
“You don’t understand. You don’t know what they’ve been through or the impact their mother had on the men around here. Now, you’re doing the same thing.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Do you even know what happened to their fathers?”
“Of course, I know.”
“Do you realize they all have Cartwell blood running through their veins because they’re not only half-brothers but cousins too?”
She swallowed tightly. “No, I didn’t know about…I never thought to ask. How did you know?”
Vicky tossed the magazine on the bed. “Wanna know why my father is an alcoholic?” The question, while it appeared randomly selected, had a purpose.
Peyton studied her friend. Vicky seldom talked about her father or his drinking problem. She also never mentioned that on occasion he beat her and her mother. She just didn’t talk about it or him, at all.
“Sometimes, I think Braden is kinder to me because of what he knows his mother did to wreck my father’s life,” Vicky continued.
“What are you saying, Vicky?”
“My father and their mother had some kind of fling too. Peyton, just like you, she could have any man she wanted. Many of them were married, my father, for instance. She didn’t care. She taunted them with short skirts, low tops, promises of passion. From what I understand, she dressed up the part and played it out well. Women around here hated her.”
“She destroyed lives, though. I don’t plan on-”
“Peyton, stop it. You are doing the exact same thing she did. You aren’t making a choice so what you’re doing is giving three men hope. Three men are staying bound to you, hoping you’ll choose one over the other.”
“It’s not like that,” she said. “All of the Cartwell men were married to other women and sneaking around. It was a mess from the very beginning. I’m not anything like their mother.”
Vicky’s voice dropped when she heard five or six girls chatting it up before they ran into the room. “You’re asking for a lot of trouble here, Peyton. You have to make a choice.”
One of the girls dropped to the floor with her hand over her chest. “So help me God, if I can sneak out of your room tonight, I’m going to crawl into Kane Cartwell’s bed and do him dirty.”
Peyton glared at her friend. Everyone else giggled, and someone else popped up with more promises.
“You can have Kane. Mr. Personality doesn’t do a lot for me. I’m taking on Evan, and so help me, I’m going to find out if what they say is true!”
Peyton stared at the petite brunette. “What have you heard?” She cleared her throat. She only dared imagine.
The giggling stopped abruptly. Peyton twisted around on the bed so she was sprawled across the comforter with her stomach flat against the mattress. She bent her knees and crossed her ankles high above her bottom.
“What do you care?” Sarcasm oozed with her friend’s saucy rebuttal, and Vicky raised her eyebrows.
Peyton shrugged, “I don’t. I just like to know anything and everything I can on them. A girl never knows when she might have some use for great ammunition to fire their way. Sometimes, I’m telling you, I need an arsenal of come-backs and a whole lot of private knowledge.”
The girl lowered her voice and scooted across the carpet. Using her palms she pushed herself up from the floor. “I’ve heard he does the threesome thing.”
Peyton damn near choked on the soda she barely swallowed before her friend revealed what she knew. “Threesome?”
Vicky’s eyes were wide too, and wild with understanding. “I’m sure it’s nothing but a tall tale.”
Peyton probed for more. “As in a threesome with one girl and two guys or as in three guys or two girls and…?”
“Shoot, Peyton, I don’t know. What difference does it make?”
As if he’d been standing there the whole time, Evan stuck his head inside her door and grinned from ear to ear. “Yeah, Peyton, if it’s true-what difference does it make?”
All heads turned toward Peyton, and she refused to answer him in front of her friends. They all knew she had a silly school-girl crush on him when he was in high school. Now, it was more, far more. She slid off the bed and glanced down at her friends. “Come on. Let’s get into to some trouble.”
As she passed by Evan, she smiled, patted his cheek and then leaned in with a few words to keep him up late at night. “It makes a big difference, Evan. Ask Kane.”
She wiggled her butt, laughed out loud and chased her friends downstairs. She never looked back but she wouldn’t forget the look in his eyes, the twinkle she saw in them when he leaned in her room. Evan Cartwell wanted to know what she thought about a threesome.
Now, she only had to convince him adding one more would surely sweeten the pie then she’d talk to Braden again. She wanted her cake and wanted to put the icing on it too. Braden was the frosting. Evan, while challenging, was already waiting by the bed.
“Truth or dare?” It was Peyton’s turn. She hated these silly games. Every slumber party she attended, someone mentioned this game. She decided it was a way for one girl to hold something over another girl’s head. Yeah, she’d take the dare. After one night with Kane, she damn sure didn’t want to tell her new truths.
“Dare.” She held her breath. Vicky shook her head.
“Dare or double dare?” Freda, one of Vicky’s friends, added a new twist to an old game.
If Peyton chose the dare, then it would be a ridiculous one, no doubt. If she chose a double dare then someone else had to participate and if the dare was humiliating then she didn’t have to go down in history as the only one with flushed cheeks.
Freda wrote down the dare and passed it off to Vicky. “Dare or double dare, Peyton?” Freda asked smugly. Vicky opened the folded paper. She immediately shook her head and groaned.
“Double dare.” Peyton grabbed the bowl of popcorn and tossed a handful at Vicky.
“Great.” Freda turned around and pointed at Vicky. “Since you wanted to warn her about the dare, then you can read it, and you can join her.”
Vicky tossed the paper on the floor. “Look, I’m not doing it. Braden will have a fit.”
Peyton giggled. “Here, let me see it.” She took the paper from another girl’s hand and read it. “Give Evan a blowjob while someone watches.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
Freda shook her head. “Everyone knows he’s got it bad for you. Might as well break the ice while you have moral support!” She opened her arms wide and moved from side to side demonstrating where she’d find her support system.
“You’re funny, Freda. I bet you had this dare in mind before you were dropped off here tonight.”
Peyton and Vicky took games far too serious and everyone there realized it. The girls seldom backed away from a challenging prank.
Vicky had a reputation for giving head, and since Peyton was even considering it, she must’ve lost her mind somewhere back at the docks. Yeah, she lost it all right, and she needed someone to help her find it. By the looks of the dare in front of them, they had a worthy candidate-Evan.
Vicky smirked. She probably understood this wasn’t a dare Peyton wanted to refuse. If she declined, then she’d face three truths to tell and Vicky would still have the dare, along with someone else, any one of them who might give Evan a nice blowjob.
After all, they were all over eighteen.
Braden made the stipulation clear whenever Peyton mentioned a party now. Since all three Cartwells were walking stiff ones, he at least protected himself in the event he didn’t turn down an eager woman’s advancements. Peyton shuddered. She’d almost kill if one of these girls moved in on her territory.
Only minutes after reading the dare, Peyton and Vicky crawled up the stairs. Peyton started giggling as they scooted by Kane’s room. Braden told him to sleep with his door open because his room was the closest one to the party. She watched him shift in his bed and realized he was awake.
“Hang on a minute,” she whispered over her shoulder.
Vicky shook her head. “Wrong Cartwell, Peyton.”
“Just give me one second,” she whispered.
Vicky reluctantly nodded and leaned her head back against the wall. Peyton crawled across the floor and then slid into Kane’s bed.
“Peyton…” He smelled like beer. He slurred like a drunk.
“Kane…” Her hand went to his dick.
“Baby, you can’t be in here. Not right now with your friends here.” He kissed her lips. It wasn’t impressive. Peyton saw very little appeal in a drunk’s tongue. He also looked sad. She saw it in his eyes as the moonlight skid across his bedroom. Braden really beat him up with words, and dealt him a strong hand completely full of guilt.
She fingered his waistband. Once she slipped her hand in his shorts, she slowly pumped his cock into her hand. “Can’t I give you something to think about?”
“Yeah, baby, give me something to think about.” He closed his eyes, and his hand covered hers.
“Damn it,” she said, “Are you drunk?”
“I’m hard.” He grinned.
“And drunk.”
“Yep. Go play with your friends.” He rolled over her and reached under his bed. He pulled out a dildo. It was still in its box. “Tomorrow night…” He tapped her chin with the boxed gift and grinned. “Tomorrow night, you’re going to love me all over again, Peyton Storm.”
“Promise?” She wrapped her hand tighter and gave him another few tugs.
“I promise.” He heard something at the door, grabbed Peyton’s wrist and growled, “Damn Vicky, you’re always popping up at the wrong time.”
“I don’t know, Kane. I think maybe I need to stick around and protect you boys or something. Peyton seems to have lost a good sense of direction. I wonder who might have led her astray.”
“I don’t know. Say you think she’s lost her way?” He cleared his throat, pushed Peyton away and rolled over on his side. With his arm crooked behind his head and the cotton sheet at his waist, he waited for her reply.
“Yeah, I do. Come on, Peyton, we have a dare to perform.”
“A dare?” Kane narrowed his eyes on Peyton.
“It’s nothing,” she whispered. “Now go back to sleep.”
“Stay out of the barn, Peyton.”
“I will.”
“Don’t go near Braden’s horse tonight. He might come unglued.”
“No dares with the horses, I promise.”
“Okay, ‘night Peyton.”
“Goodnight, Kane.” She slipped out of his room and shut the door.
In a matter of minutes, they slid inside Evan’s room, and for some reason, Peyton believed he fully anticipated their arrival.
Evan held her pinned to the wall the second she slipped inside of his masculine domain. His body was hard, the ridge of his cock pleading for some kind of relief.
“Evan! What are you doing?” Peyton demanded an answer.
He held Peyton tighter as he snarled at Vicky. “Go tell your friends if I get a blowjob from Peyton, I want it one-on-one and without an audience.”
“What are you talking about?” Vicky turned the light on and her eyes were large with the recognition.
“Holy shit, he’s naked.” Her eyes dropped to the proof.
“No fucking doubt. What man wouldn’t wait with his cock in hand after hearing what you two had in store for me?”
Peyton swallowed tightly and only glanced at Vicky. Her friend wasn’t paying her any mind. Instead, she continued to glare at Evan’s dick. “Damn I’ve seen a lot of-”
“Vicky, leave.” Evan growled, pressed his body against Peyton’s and confined her to the wall.
“Stop it, Evan. Let me go.” Peyton pushed him back, or tried, anyway.
Vicky grabbed the empty bottle of vodka from the floor. “For men who seldom drink now that they have you to raise, this brother must have tied one on tonight.”
“Get the hell out of here, Vicky.” Evan’s teeth clenched as he held Peyton’s wrists to his chest.
“Not without Peyton,” she said. “And you will let her go or I’ll go wake up Kane. He won’t like this.”
Peyton looked at Evan’s hooded eyes, felt his breath against her skin, inches away from her mouth. A second or two more and he wouldn’t care what he did to her in front of an audience.
“Vicky, I’ll be right there.”
“Good choice, Peyton,” Evan congratulated her. “I think you know what’s in store for you, don’t ‘cha?”
“No, you’ll come with me now,” Vicky retorted.
“What if I want her to come with me?” Evan’s thighs bunched, and he pressed into Peyton with a suggestive move, a confirmation of what he meant.
“You two can do whatever the hell you want,” Vicky said, “When she doesn’t have a houseful of gossips downstairs to tell it.”
Vicky glared at his nightstand and saw the monitor. “Oh Lord Evan, this is so low. You keep a baby monitor next to your bed? Good grief!” She threw up her hands and grabbed Peyton by the arm. “Let’s go. Lord knows Evan heard enough tonight. He shouldn’t have any trouble jacking off if we give him a little privacy.”
The contempt in Vicky’s voice surprised Evan, if Peyton guessed correctly. He dropped her arm and let the girls get away but Peyton didn’t leave his room without looking back one last time.
“Damn, if you wouldn’t scare a gal.” She licked her upper lip and started to close his door.
Before she made a clean break, she heard him on the other side, swearing and promising all sorts of things. “I’m going to do more than spook with this cock, sugar. I’m going to wear you out with it.”
Vicky snickered, grabbed Peyton’s hand, and they rushed back down the stairs. “All of these years and I’ve never once been jealous of you.”
“Oh stop it!” Peyton teased.
“I’m not kidding. I’m green with envy. Did you see the way he looked at you?”
“Knock it off, Vicky.”
”I’m serious here, Peyton. He has it bad for you. His eyes glaze over when he looks at you as if he really sees only you. He looks at you with that icky kind-of-awareness like you’re an unusual somebody, a rare and precious existence. I’m telling you, he’s hot after you, girlfriend.”
“I hope you’re right,” Peyton said.
“I’m right, and he’s hard. If I were you, I’d race right back up those stairs and make him carry through on his last promise.”
“No way. He’s drunk.”
“He’s not drunk on anything but lust, my friend.”
“Well after having his cock against my leg, I’m drowning in it.”
Vicky snickered. “With a cock he sports, I guess so!”
“I can’t do it tonight.”
“I know why,” Vicky said, her voice softer this time. “It’s Kane, isn’t it?”
Peyton shrugged. “Not really.”
“Don’t give me that shit. You two are like watching a romance movie bound to end in a sad song.”
“Why do you say that?”
“When you two are in the room together now, it’s ridiculous. I noticed it when the guys brought in the pizzas. There’s all this love flowing back and forth from one pair of eyes to the next, but Peyton you need to understand something about Kane.”
“What?” Peyton stopped in the hallway right outside the media room.
“Honey, he’s too selfish to notice what’s really going on with you two. You may think you feel something really special for him, and while I see a lot of sexual energy and sparks flying everywhere, in the end, he’s the one Cartwell who can and will hurt you.”
“He might not,” Peyton bit out. “Maybe not, anyway.”
“Honey, he will. Even if he thinks he loves you now, this isn’t going anywhere. Listen to me. I know the guy’s reputation. I’m telling you-”
“I think he does love me now,” Peyton hummed. “He just doesn’t know how much yet.”
“Maybe he does.” She pointed behind her. “Speak of the stud himself, go see what he wants. I’m going to entertain the gals with tall tales about Freda. I owe her one or two. Hell, with the hard cock we saw in Evan’s room, I’d say we’re both forever indebted to her.”
Peyton and Vicky broke out into giggles, hugged and parted ways. Kane waited at the top of the stairs. He watched her as she walked toward him. By the time Peyton reached him, he yanked her by the wrist and pulled her into the spare bedroom right across the hall from her own room.
“Kane, this is-”
“Shh, don’t make a sound,” he said as he placed her hand over his cock.
“No, you don’t understand.” She said one thing but reached behind his ass and locked the door.
“Then help me make out here.”
“Kane, Braden will kill us if he finds us and did you fail to notice I have company?”
“I don’t care if Jimmy Buffet is down there. You’re not going anywhere.” With a closed fist, he tilted her chin, and she shut her eyes as his lips came down on hers in a bruising kiss.
Seconds clicked away as his tongue demanded her time. Hot and saucy, he kissed her like he meant to lose total control.
“Kane, please…”
“Don’t move,” he said. “You want me as much as I want you, Peyton. I don’t give a damn who hears us.”
“But-”
“You’re fucked hard if you protest and licked if you don’t make me work for it, how’s that? Feel better? You have options. Choose door number one or door number two.”
Evan stepped out of the bathroom then. “How about closing them both and running right over here to me?”
She gulped. “Oh God, this is my worst nightmare.”
“Thanks.” Kane kissed down her neck and nibbled on her ear.
“No, you don’t understand. Kane, stop that.” Surely she didn’t decline his advances.
“I understand, baby. Tell me about it.” Evan stepped in behind her and rubbed his cock over her ass. “This isn’t a nightmare, and you know it. This is what you want. Your wettest of sweet dreams.” His lips cascaded across her shoulders as Kane’s cock rubbed against her leg.
They proved their point. They were right. This was heaven. For a brief moment, she saw stars and then, hell’s fury brought her straight back down to earth.
A loud knock on the door proved Braden felt confident of who occupied the spare room. “You three have less than ten seconds to open up or I’m going to send these gals out here home.”
“Shit!” Evan pursed his lips and glared at Kane.
“Don’t look at me. I liked the idea. I sure as hell didn’t want him to interrupt this now.” He pointed at his dancing dick and did it ever get her attention. The purple tint to the mushroom head called for distractions.
She dropped to her knees as Braden knocked again. “Damn it. I’m counting.”
“And I’m sucking.” She smiled as she tormented both men. Evan was behind her massaging her shoulders, and Kane allowed her to pull his cock from his silk shorts.
“Ten…”
Her head lowered, and she kissed the tip before she licked her lips. Just a peck and a swipe across the slit, drew a heated growl from Kane.
“Sweet hell.” Evan yanked her from the floor, grabbed her around the hips and simulated the sex act by pressing into her backside over and over again. “You like giving head, don’t you Peyton?”
“Nine…”
“She likes it a lot,” Kane said.
“Eight…” Braden knocked again. “Seven…”
“Then here, sugar, sip this.” He tugged his cock from his pajama pants.
“Six…”
Peyton winked at Kane and dropped back down to her knees. With her legs wobbling against the floor, her awareness kicked in and a pool of desire dampened her panties. This was better than a wet dream. Better than sex itself. She licked around Evan’s grip, kissed his knuckles and took control.
“Five…Damn you, I said open this blasted door!” He kicked it this time.
With a wicked grin, she kissed Evan’s cock from the top to the base and back up again. “Hmmm. Evan, you’re going to love me for this.” Her mouth covered the shapely head, and she sucked him deep inside of her mouth.
“Good God.” He almost lost his balance but steadied himself with her shoulders before his hips moved with the suction.
“Four…Three… Two…”
With a pop, she released Evan and pushed up from her palms. “That’s it, boys. You heard the man. This party is over.” She didn’t look back, and didn’t particularly care if Evan still had his cock hanging out for Braden to see. She flung open the door, pinched his cheek, and let out a sigh of relief.
She slipped into the bathroom and leaned against the door. Nervously, she locked it and then stared at it like the door was her biggest enemy. It separated her from right and wrong. The panels she glared at now were the only thing preventing her from rushing right back out there and stripping off for all three of them. She didn’t care about her guests or care if everyone there knew it. She wanted to fuck them all right then and there. She opened the door and stared back at one lone barrier-Vicky.
“We’ve decided to play a game. It’s called, ‘Place your bets on which Cartwell Peyton bangs first.’ Wanna play?”
Peyton giggled, grabbed her friend’s arm and tugged her into the bathroom with her. Slamming the door, she put her finger over her own lips as if she wanted to hush her for some reason. “What if I told you that’s a game we’re guaranteed to win?”
“You didn’t?”
“I did.”
“When?” Vicky asked.
“You have to ask?”
“So you and Kane?” Vicky’s jaw dropped, “Oh honey, you picked the wrong Cartwell.”
“Who says I only get to choose one?”