Sidney’s Triple Shot [Apache Crossing] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (25 page)

“Tyce, the customers…” she started to say, but he cut her off by turning her around to face him and kissing her until she was breathless.

There was passion and possession in this kiss. He was claiming her with his public display, and the self-conscious woman inside of her head reveled in it. As they broke apart she heard applause and a sharp wolf whistle. She blushed when she looked over her shoulder and found Kara and Austin had just arrived for their shift.

“Damn, that was hot,” Austin said, and Kara smacked him in the gut.

“Don’t be rude,” Kara said, smiling broadly at Sidney’s fluster.

“Shit, I wasn’t the one whistling!” Austin whined, and Sidney and Tyce both laughed as Kara came over to hug Sidney.

“I’m so glad to see you, girlfriend! I was afraid you were serious about leaving the other day,” Kara said as she released Sidney and tied her apron around her thin waist.

“I was serious, but then somebody decided to turn my car into the bonfire of the century,” Sidney explained.

“I heard about it. Are you okay?” Kara asked, looking at Sidney with concern on her face.

Sidney nodded. “Yep, but the car is a total loss, toasted like a marshmallow. I didn’t have anywhere to go, so I called Tyce. He, Xavier, and Noah are helping me get back on my feet, and thankfully they let me have my job back.”

Austin snorted. “Yeah, we saw what they are getting in return.”

Before Sidney could react to the implication in his rude statement, Tyce had slammed his fist into Austin’s face and knocked him to the floor. Sidney screamed, and Kara gasped in horror. Austin jumped to his feet and swung wildly at Tyce’s head, just as Tyce threw an uppercut into his chin. Sidney could feel her body start to shake as she watched Tyce and Austin fight. The bar was strangely silent, because all she could hear was her own screaming.

Tyce was doing major damage to Austin’s body, and Austin was nearly the same size and build as Tyce. What would it be like if Tyce took exception to something Sidney said? There was no way she could withstand even one punch from Tyce’s well-honed muscles.

Her knees gave out underneath her, and Sidney slumped to the floor, covering her head with her arms. She could sense movement near her, but her ears were deaf to it as she cried into her knees. This was all her fault. Austin was just saying out loud what everyone in the bar was probably thinking.

Hands gripped Sidney’s biceps and tried to pull her arms away from her cowering head, but she tightened up.

“Sidney!” She could hear her name being called, but the anxiety attack was too strong for her to respond. Her breathing was coming out in gasps, and her knees and chest were now soaked with her tears. She couldn’t stop her body from shaking violently as terror overwhelmed her. “Sidney! Damn it, Sidney, look at me!”

Xavier’s voice was angry and harsh and did nothing to ease her fears. He began running his hand up and down her back until her breathing slowed, and she focused every bit of her attention on its motion. Up and down, back and forth, side to side, then up and down again. His hand never stopped, and before she knew it, her breathing was coming out in soft hiccups, and she could hear the voices around her rumbling with tension and frustration.

“She’s having a panic attack, I think.”

“Should we call 911?”

“Is she okay?”

“Sidney? Love, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“Shut up, Tyce. You’ll make it worse!”

“Enough!” Xavier’s authoritative tone stopped the buzzing chatter for a moment as everyone focused on him. His hands went to Sidney’s arms again, and he tugged them away from her head. She lifted her chin to look up at him, still shivering hard. He grimaced. “Sid, baby, it’s all right. Everything’s all right now.”

Her eyes darted around nervously, and she struggled to keep breathing at a normal pace. Kara stood with her hand over her mouth and concern in her eyes with Austin at her side. His eye was already swollen, and Tyce’s blue button-down shirt was ripped, and blood dripped from his split bottom lip. Noah knelt at her side while Xavier knelt in front of her, looking nearly as frazzled as her nerves felt.

“Honey, let’s go to the back, and get you cleaned up. Can you stand up for me?” Noah murmured softly to her, and she felt her eyes narrow.

“Don’t treat me like a child,” she whispered.

Noah blanched and shook his head. “No honey, never. I’m just worried about you. I’m not sure what happened that caused you to freak out.”

Sidney’s eyes slammed back into Tyce’s, and anger hit her. “You told me I would be safe with you,” she snapped accusingly, and his face went white.

“What?” he said in astonishment.

“How can I feel safe with you, when you could attack me if I say the wrong thing? Austin didn’t say anything that wasn’t true, and you tried to kill him,” she snarled, letting anger take the place of the terror that had overwhelmed her. Noah’s hand froze on her arm, and Xavier looked pissed. Before she could say any more, Xavier’s hands gripped her under her armpits and jerked her up to her feet.

“Not here, and not now. Let’s go.” With that, he scooped her up into his arms and took off for the manager’s office with Tyce and Noah following behind. She could hear Noah give instructions to Austin to go put some ice on his face and to the other employees to clean up the mess and get back to business.

Once they were all privately ensconced in the office, Xavier sat her down on top of the desk and trapped her between his arms that he braced on the desk. “Now, do you want to explain to us what the hell you’re talking about?”

Sidney’s body trembled under his anger, and he eased back, giving her some space, but still stood close enough to keep her from running. “He tried to kill Austin.”

“That prick deserved it for what he said,” Tyce said, clenching his jaw in frustration.

“No, he told the truth. I’m basically sleeping with all three of you in trade for a place to live and clothes to wear. He’s just calling a whore a whore,” she said sadly, staring down at her hands, because she was afraid if she looked into their eyes she would see the acknowledgment that she was right.

“Don’t you ever call yourself a whore again!” Xavier yelled, and she jumped. Tears began falling down her cheeks uncontrollably, and he cursed.

“Honey, why do you feel that way? We told you that we want you to be in our lives permanently, not as our play toy,” Noah said softly from near the door.

“I don’t know if I can do this. I should have just left,” she said, more to herself than in response to them, but they heard every word.

“So now you’re going to run? Because you’re afraid of me?” Tyce’s voice cracked with emotion, and it drew Sidney’s eyes up to meet his tumultuous blue gaze.

The truth was there on the table for all of them to see. She was scared. How could she explain it, when she didn’t understand it.

“I can’t help it. What if I say the wrong thing and upset you?” she whispered, and Tyce shook his head in astonishment. He dropped onto the couch and ran his hands through his hair.

“Sidney, I would never hurt you!” he responded, and she just watched him. He seemed genuinely upset, and her anger eased a little.

“You hurt Austin!” she said roughly, and Xavier held up a hand to stop Tyce from responding.

“Stop. Sidney, Tyce was defending you, not attacking Austin. I understand you had a moment of panic, but you have to stop and look at this from Tyce’s point of view. If some woman said something like that about one of us, how would you react?” Xavier said. The anger was gone from his voice, and now it had that hard edge that made her body tingle.

She dropped her eyes from his and stared at her lap again. “I don’t know. I guess I would be pissed, too.”

Xavier sighed heavily. “You can’t run away from us or push us away every time we do something to upset you.”

Tears were still falling down Sidney’s cheeks, but she nodded her understanding.

“Sidney, I’m sorry I scared you, and I’ll go out there and apologize in public if that will make you believe me. But please understand that I would do it again, and I will do it again if anyone dares to talk about you that way,” Tyce said sternly, and she took a chance and locked her gaze with his. She didn’t see any anger or frustration, just rock-hard determination.

“Why?” The word slipped off of her tongue before she could stop it, and she was shocked when all three men chuckled.

This time it was Tyce who sighed heavily. “Because I love you.”

Sidney could feel all of the blood leech from her face, and her body went cold. She shook her head slowly in the negative, and Tyce nodded back silently. She turned to Noah and then Xavier, and though no one said a word, she could see it in their eyes. All three men thought they were in love with her.

“No. You can’t do this to me,” she snapped and jumped to her feet. “I have spent my whole life craving it, needing it, wishing for it, and now…now that I’ve finally decided that I can live without it…you taunt me with it. No one loves me. I’m unlovable. Sure, I’m fuckable, but I’m not the type of woman you take home to your mama or that you stand at the altar waiting to see walking down the aisle toward you.”

“You don’t really believe that?” Noah asked in shock. All three men froze as they watched her. She spun on him and glared into his beautiful blue eyes.

“I’ve never believed anything more. It’s been the running theme of my life,” she responded. Her tears were gone, as was her fear and anger. Now all she felt was resignation that her fate was decided. She would enjoy the time she had with them, in their bed and their lives, but then she would leave. Before she got hurt, she would end it.

“It’s not anymore, baby. You are loved more than you will ever know, and I hope you will give us a chance to prove it,” Xavier said tenderly, and he reached out to pull her into his arms before she could protest.

His mouth covered hers, and he kissed her like a man desperate for a taste of her. She opened to him easily enough, but she didn’t give him anything back. She remained passive under him. He growled in frustration against her mouth a moment later.

“Tyce, Noah, apparently Sidney has decided that she can hold herself back from us, and not feel anything,” Xavier said.

“Well, then we will just have to show her how responsive she is, brother,” Tyce said with a snicker, and Sidney frowned.

A moment later she was on her back on the desk, and Tyce was tugging her short shorts over her hips while Xavier pulled her halter top up to release her breasts to his mouth, and Noah bent to take her mouth in a mind-blowing kiss. She moaned into Noah’s open mouth as Xavier bit down gently on her hard nipple.

“Wait, stop. There are people in the bar!” she gasped, breaking free of Noah’s mouth for a moment.

“There sure are, and if you don’t keep quiet, they will all hear your moans of pleasure,” Xavier said against the curve of her breast, making her squirm.

Tyce forced her knees apart and then bent to lick her now soaking-wet slit. At the first touch of his tongue to her throbbing clit, she cried out and felt her stomach clench. Moisture flooded her pussy as Tyce’s laugh vibrated against her inner thigh, and he slid his hands under her ass to cup her cheeks. His tongue slid from her clit down through her creamy folds and all the way back to her winking asshole. He twirled his tongue around that sensitive bud and then dragged it back up again to tease her clit. She whimpered and twitched under his ministrations, and Xavier let out a sharp laugh.

“Yes, baby, that’s what we want. Don’t think so much about what could happen in the future. Just enjoy how we make you feel right now.” His husky voice was full of heat.

It was like they stole her ability to think when they all touched her like this. She writhed under their hands, unable to hold still. Her orgasm was within reach when Xavier pinched her nipples hard, causing her to cry out. Both Tyce and Noah stopped what they were doing and backed away from her instantly. She was left untouched and cold, hanging on the edge of an orgasm. What the hell were they doing?

“Hey!” she gasped, unfulfilled need spiraling like hot iron in her body.

“No,” Noah said with a sad shake of his head. Tyce wouldn’t even meet her gaze.

“No more, Sidney. You get no more until you accept that we love you and you can promise us that you won’t run again,” Xavier said, and anger grayed out Sidney’s brain. Any conversation they might have had was shut down by her frustration at his ultimatum.

“You’re all assholes, let me up!” she snapped viciously, and she stood, grabbing her clothes and holding them to her naked body like a suit of armor. “Fuck you, Xavier.”

She turned and pushed her way into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her and sagging back against it, trembling with her desire and anger. She heard him through the door. “I mean it, Sidney. This isn’t a game. You won’t get a single orgasm out of any of us until you can make that promise. We love you, but we won’t be toyed with either.”

She was in shock. It wasn’t so much that she was angry, but she was hurt. How could he push her like this? It wasn’t fair. He shouldn’t tease her with fantasies of what life could be when he knew damn well that it wasn’t going to be that way.

Sidney stared at her reflection in the mirror over the sink. Fear was evident as well as the horniness she was now subjected to. Who would have thought that after hating men for so long, she would now crave three of them with equal fervor? Angrily, she pulled her clothes on and ran a cold, wet cloth over her face and neck. She could see her still hard nipples poking through her halter top, but she couldn’t change it, so instead she straightened her spine and stormed out of the bathroom.