Pleasing Her Racy Doms [Racy Nights 6] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (2 page)

His expression softened a bit as he watched her face. “I mean he looks like a damn buckskin horse. Tan hat and black tux.”

This time Cherilyn had to place the glass down on the bar because she was laughing so hard that she was afraid she’d drop it. Tears leaked out of the corners of her eyes. “I’m sorry, Evan. But now that Thayer has said that, I can’t get the image out of my mind.”

He tipped his hat. “Don’t apologize, ma’am. But if I’m a horse, maybe you’d like to ride me?”

Holy shit
. Now she was convinced she was hallucinating. There was no way he’d just said that to her.

“Oh, come on,” said Thayer. “Cherilyn isn’t vapid enough to fall for a line like that. Are you?”

Well, so much for her theory that she was hallucinating. “Um, no, I guess not, but thank you anyway for saying it, Evan. And um, thank you, Thayer, for believing I’m not vapid.” She sounded like a babbling idiot. It was time to walk away while she still had part of her dignity intact. She picked up her glass. “I think I’ll go mingle.”

As she walked toward her friend Melinda Troy and Melinda’s husband Michael, the high school football coach, she had the distinct impression that Evan and Thayer were watching her ass. She turned around and caught them both doing just that. Evan winked again, but Thayer merely held her gaze, his own challenging and full of what could only be called lust. It was the first and only time she’d ever noticed either man looking at her like that, and she didn’t know what to think about it.

She stopped and locked eyes with Thayer for a moment then shifted her gaze to Evan’s face, debating. For a brief second of time, conversation in the room seemed to dim and nothing else existed but Evan and Thayer. Cherilyn was about to return to where they stood when Melinda’s voice called to her, breaking the spell.

* * * *

“What do you think?” asked Thayer, glancing sideways at Evan.

“About Cherilyn? I think what I’ve always thought. She’s sexy as hell.” Evan narrowed his eyes slightly. “But why are you suddenly looking at her as if you could gobble her up? Are things really over with Cassie this time?”

Thayer turned to face him. “Yes. This time it’s really over.”

“Then why has she called you three times tonight?”

Thayer snorted. “Why are you counting my phone calls?” He wasn’t really upset. He and Evan had been watching each other’s back since they were kids.

Evan didn’t say anything, but the expression on his face told Thayer that Evan was more concerned than annoyed that Thayer had even bothered to answer his ex-sub’s calls, especially tonight.

“She still has a box or two of crap at my place. I’m dropping them off tomorrow.”

“She no longer has a key then?” The first time Cassie had walked out on him, Thayer hadn’t asked for her key back, despite Evan’s urging that he do that. Evan had never liked Cassie, and as usual, Evan’s perception of someone’s character had been spot-on.

Thayer shook his head. “She hasn’t had one for a month, Evan. This is the first day I’ve heard from her in three weeks.” Thayer sighed, glancing around for one of the members they’d asked to play bartender tonight. He needed a drink. “I just want her out of my life, and I want her shit out of my house.”

“I’m sorry.”

Thayer finally flagged someone down and asked him for a double shot of Jack Daniel’s. This was going to be a long night. “Don’t be. It’s been over for a long time. You know that. It just took me a while to get my head out of my ass and realize it.” He glanced at Evan. “And you know that, too.”

Evan asked for a glass of wine, and as the two sipped their drinks they eyed the dwindling crowd. “Things are winding down,” he said.

“Yeah.” Thayer drained half the drink, not caring that it would play havoc with his carb percentages. A drink once in a while wasn’t going to do any harm. “So I guess that means if you want a chance with Cherilyn tonight, you’d better go steer her away from Melinda and Michael Troy.”

Evan gave him a droll look. “Right. Cause she’s always acted so interested in me before.”

“She looked more than interested a minute ago. In both of us.”

“She’s been sipping champagne for over an hour, which probably means she’s a little bit drunk. I’m not so desperate that I’m going to start seducing drunk gym members, Thayer.”

Thayer bit his tongue to keep from laughing. What a pair they’d turned out to be. Evan’s ex-sub, Jessica, had finally left him two months ago, and as far as Thayer knew, Evan hadn’t had sex since. He’d been to Maddox’s club but hadn’t done anything more than help the others keep an eye on things. And his own situation wasn’t shaping up to be much better. What the hell had happened to both of them lately? “Well, all I’m saying is that was the longest conversation we’ve had with her that is non-workout related.”

“Yeah, and you can see where my stupid comments got us. She walked away.”

This time Thayer did laugh. “Only because she didn’t know what to say. You shocked her. It’s only been what…a year and a half since her husband was killed? From what I hear, she only recently started going out with her friends again.”

“All the more reason I shouldn’t have said them, but damn, Thayer. She looks so incredibly sexy tonight. That dress is perfect on her, although I’d like to see a bit more leg. I’ve always loved dark-haired women. They’re so exotic looking.”

“She’s a looker all right. And a sweet girl who’s not in the lifestyle. Remember that, okay?”

“What about you? No interest whatsoever in her?”

“Of course I’m interested. But are you suggesting we share her, Evan?” Both men laughed. It was a long-standing running joke between them. For all the adventurous things they’d done together, sharing a woman in bed wasn’t one of them. But they’d always wanted to try, if only for the experience. None of their subs had ever agreed, however.

“Oh, sure,” said Evan. “She’d agree to that in a heartbeat. Not.”

Thayer had no idea if Cherilyn would agree to something like that or not, but he sure wished he could find out. His damn dick was rock hard. And the fact that he’d be taking care of that himself yet again once he was back home tonight didn’t do shit for his mood right now. Why were things always so fucking complicated? All he wanted was a woman who would care about him. He was more than happy to take care of her every need, in and out of the bedroom. But was it too much to ask that she give a shit about his needs in return?

He drained his drink and asked for another one, carb percentages be damned. He was happy as hell that they’d raised so much money tonight for the city, but he also wished someone would hold a benefit to fix his broken sex life. It was in the toilet, and had been for longer than he cared to admit.

Evan caught Mayor Bernie Crumb’s eye, and walked over to shake his hand yet again, and thank him yet again, for showing up. He hated the man, and was convinced he paid people every four years to get him reelected. Nothing else would explain why such a douche bag kept his job, time after time.

The photographer who had followed Bernie around all evening, and whose name Evan couldn’t seem to remember to save his life, snapped a ridiculous amount of pictures when Bernie smiled his fake smile and shook Evan’s hand. He thanked Evan profusely for his and Thayer’s contribution to the city, all the while glancing around to make sure everyone who was still in the gym heard him and was watching. Evan kept a smile plastered on his face until his cheeks ached, and tried not to puke.

This man had publicly denounced not only Maddox’s club but also every Racy resident who was in the lifestyle so many times now that Evan had lost count. And in Racy, there were a surprising number of residents who were into BDSM, so Bernie was kept pretty busy with his condemnation speeches. He’d recently tried to block Maddox and his cousin, Ellis, from opening their large homes to the residents whose houses and apartments had been demolished by the tornado, but since Ellis McCree was the building inspector, and his good friend Chase Taylor, also a Dom, was the building commissioner, Bernie had been effectively voted down.

Now, he was just sucking up for future votes, and everyone knew it. When he finally finished his speech, he received a few seconds of polite applause, but for the most part everyone ignored him. By the time Evan was finally able to join Thayer again, his stomach felt queasy. He also had a strong urge to wash his right hand. He could still feel Bernie’s damp sweat on it.

“Brown nose.” Thayer was on his second drink, which was very unusual for him.

“Would you rather have done it?”

“Hell no. I saw him eyeing us and I ignored him.”

“Cherilyn is coming this way again.” Evan’s pulse raced, and his dick jumped to attention. She was probably just coming over to say good night, but it was still more attention than she’d ever paid either of them outside of seeking training advice in the gym. She looked a bit unsure, and that made Evan want to protect her. From what, he didn’t know. Maybe from himself.

“You two need any help cleaning up?”

Wow
. That was more than anyone else had offered. Most of the attendees were gone now, and the other gym members who had volunteered to do everything from take tickets, as Cherilyn had done, to tend bar were packing up to leave. He’d assumed that he and Thayer would be stuck doing all the cleanup. Not that he minded. It’s not like he had anyone waiting for him at home.

“I’m sure you’re tired,” he said.

She shook her head and glanced around. “Not a bit. This has been so much fun. You guys did a good thing tonight. Any idea how much money was raised?”

Thayer didn’t skip a beat. “Between the price of the tickets, the cash bar, and the private donations we received, somewhere in the neighborhood of sixty thousand dollars.”

Evan grinned at Cherilyn and cocked a thumb toward Thayer. “He sleeps with his calculator.”

Cherilyn laughed loudly, but the sound wasn’t abrasive or embarrassing. Instead, it washed over him like warm summer rain, filling his head with erotic images of her dancing dark eyes, and that thick dark hair spread out on a pillow. He was in deep trouble here.

“Is that true, Thayer?”

Thayer grinned, and Evan narrowed his eyes as he waited for Thayer to speak. He knew that look in Thayer’s eyes. He wasn’t immune to Cherilyn after all. In fact, things were about to get very interesting.

“That’s Doctor Thayer to you, missy.”

“Oh, excuse me. I forgot you have a PhD. No wonder your math skills are legendary. Can you ever forgive me?”

“I don’t know. I may have to make you work it off.”

“Well, I did volunteer to help you clean up.”

“We’ll take you up on that. Right, Evan?”

“Sure. It’s appreciated, Cherilyn.” His gaze roved over her dress. “Only, do you have workout clothes here in your locker? I’d hate to see you ruin that dress.”

A flush crept up her neck. “Yes…yes I do. I’ll go and change, and then you can tell me what to do.”

Oh, why had she said that? As Evan watched her walk toward the locker rooms, all sorts of things he’d love to order her to do ran through his mind, and they had nothing to do with cleaning.

* * * *

Cherilyn drank an entire bottle of water in the locker room before she peeled off the dress and changed into workout clothes and a pair of athletic shoes. While it felt good to be in comfortable clothing again, she’d felt sexy and bold in the dress. Bold enough to have an actual conversation with Evan and Thayer, at last. But she’d drunk way too much booze tonight and not only did she feel woozy and thirsty, she seemed to have lost control of her hormones.

When Evan had teased Thayer about sleeping with his calculator, all she could picture was her own body next to Thayer in bed. And when Evan’s gaze had roamed over her dress, her pussy had contracted in tiny spasms and her nipples had begun to tingle. She’d better get a grip on herself and fast. Then again, maybe she should have simply gone home instead of offering to stay and help them? She’d orchestrated the perfect chance to be alone with them tonight.

Cherilyn groaned out loud and leaned against the row of lockers. What was she doing? Maybe others would stay, too? She was sure they would. They’d recruited over a dozen volunteers from the regular gym members. She couldn’t be the only one who wanted to help them clean up. As long as she was with others she’d be safe from her own fantasies. At least for tonight, that is.

When she emerged from the locker room, Evan and Thayer had shed their jackets and bowties, and loosened their dress shirts from their cummerbunds. No one else was in the gym. “Are you kidding me?” She hadn’t meant to say it out loud, but both men turned toward her. “Everyone else left?”

“Afraid so,” said Evan. His hat was still on, and apparently she hadn’t yet drunk enough water to dilute the booze because she found the sight hysterical.

Choking back a laugh, she walked over to where he was gathering up half-empty bottles of liquor. “What can I do to help?”

“Would you mind putting these in here?” He pointed to a crate on top of the makeshift bar. “And help yourself to anything that’s left.” He gave her another wink, and she had to avert her gaze.

As Cherilyn worked, she glanced at Evan and Thayer from under her lashes. They were seriously gorgeous men, and of course she’d always known that, but what she’d often noticed before during her workouts was how comfortable they were with each other. She had been several grades ahead of them, but in this town most people had at least a passing knowledge of who hung out with whom, especially when you were a kid. She’d heard through the grapevine they’d both attended Ball State and had roomed together, but it still amazed her that they’d stayed such good friends all these years.

They co-owned the gym, and it was difficult enough to be in business with anyone, let alone someone you’d already spent so much time with over the years. It spoke to the kind of men they were. Why were they both unattached? Or were they? Who was Cassie to Thayer?

She’d finished stacking up the bottles in the crate. “Okay. Now what?”