Jaxie's Menage Read online

  Curiosity dared Royce to move closer to the open doorway.

  “Remember, I’m trusting you, Rach. I don’t want anyone to know. I’ll show you how to work the hat so I can make sure I get the guys I want.”

  Ahh, so that trick hat rumor was true, and Jaxie wanted a ménage without anyone knowing it was her.

  Excitement bubbled inside him.

  “I can’t wait until I can put it on. Can you put it in my office? I’ll try it on when I get a minute.”

  Royce backed away from the doorway as talk stayed on her dress.

  Suddenly, he had an idea that might help get Jaxie and Ewan back together again.

  * * * * *

  “There is no way anyone will recognize you in that sinfully seductive attire, woman,” Rachel giggled as she stared at Jaxie’s reflection in the full-length mirror that hung on the back of Jaxie’s office bathroom door.

  Jaxie had to admit the dress was drop-dead gorgeous. The silver silk hugged all her curves and the lights glistened off the sequins, making her look as if she’d been dipped in sparkling diamonds.

  “The mask covers almost your entire face too. There is no way anyone will know it is you, Jax. No way.”

  The mask matched her dress and glittered just as beautifully. Despite finally having the dress that she’d gone gaga over several days ago on her friend Jewel’s new online adult Toy Shoppe website, the excitement Jaxie expected just wasn’t grabbing ahold of her.

  “Okay, why so sad?” Rachel asked and frowned at her in the mirror.

  Darnit! How did Rachel know something was wrong? Her old friend could read her like a book, even with her face hidden behind a mask.

  “Do you want to back out?” Rachel prodded.

  “No,” Jaxie replied truthfully. She’d made up her mind that she was going to go through her bucket list. That no matter what, she was going to experience a ménage, just as a bunch of her friends had done. She’d just have to experience it with two guys who didn’t love her or want her for more than just sex.

  “You don’t like the dress?” Despite her question, Jaxie caught the tips of Rachel’s lips tilting upward in a teasing smile.

  “You know very well I love this dress. If I could, I would even sleep in it.”

  “Then what, girlfriend? What’s got you down so much?”

  She wished she could confide in Rachel about her run-in with Ewan earlier today. That he wanted nothing to do with her. Not that she’d expected him to wrap his arms around her and tell her that he was glad she’d survived that avalanche. She’d kind of expected maybe a little hug and for him to tell her he was glad things had turned out okay.

  But nope. He treated her as if she were a disease, which made her believe that warm kiss she’d thought she’d experienced when she’d semi-woken in the helicopter had just been a wishful fantasy or some hallucination from lack of oxygen.

  She returned her attention back to the glitzy dress. Her breath backed up just as it had when she’d first seen it. It was so perfect. No flaws. Just so not like her.

  “It’s too beautiful for me,” she mumbled.

  Disappointment and anger flared in Rachel’s eyes.

  “Do not ever let me hear you talk like that again. Nothing is too good for you. You are the dearest person I know. Your heart is bigger than anyone I know. You have so much to give—”

  “All right already. Stop. Please!” She didn’t like compliments. They made her self-conscious.

  Rachel’s frown deepened, and Jaxie’s stomach sunk for hurting her friend’s feelings.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to bite off your head. It’s just…my hair. You know how my hair frustrates me,” Jaxie lied. “I need a new hairdo to go with this dress. Something snappy, sexy and daring.”

  Thankfully, Rachel’s face lit up like sunshine.

  “I’m working the Saturday of the Masquerade Ball over at Sophie’s salon. I’ll book you in as the last customer and Sophie and I will whip up something really cool for you. We’ll make you look so beautiful that no two men can resist you.”

  Rachel giggled, her brown eyes flashing with excitement as she gazed at Jaxie as if she really were a princess bride.

  Jaxie stared at herself in the mirror and sighed. Princess bride? If only she could feel like a princess or a bride. She’d pushed away the only guy who’d treated her like a princess and who’d almost made her his bride. Not once. Twice he’d proposed and she’d said no. So why had she expected that he would give her a third chance to break his heart?

  Man, she was totally nuts.

  “Oh, oh. I’m losing you again, aren’t I? What is wrong?” Once again, Rachel caught her gaze in the mirror. Her stare was penetrating and soul-searching, as if she was reaching out, trying to read her mind, and hoping to fix her.

  That was Rachel. A nurturer. Rachel had tried to keep her father out of a long-term care facility by working herself to the bone with several jobs and paying for help to care for him. But his Alzheimer’s had finally been too much of a challenge for the caregivers, and she’d finally had to put her dad into the system.

  Jaxie didn’t want Rachel to start worrying about her too. She was doing too much of that already for her dad.

  “I’m thinking,” Jaxie said slowly.

  “About?”

  “What color should I get hair for the Masquerade Ménage Ball, of course? Red, brunette, black? What would go best with silver?”

  Rachel squinted in disbelief.

  “Is that all?”

  “Um, like yes. I’m alive. I was dead for a few minutes. I survived an avalanche. I’m wearing the most beautiful dress in the world and I am going to have a ménage. What’s there to be sad about? Now, come on, unzip me, and get me out of this contraption. We’ve got a club to run and ménage nights to plan.”

  Suddenly, running the Key Club just didn’t seem to be her top priority anymore and she didn’t have a clue what else she wanted in life. Well, that wasn’t true.

  She wanted Ewan. But that was never going to happen. Not in this lifetime. Their last meeting proved it.

  * * * * *

  The roar of the avalanche crashed over Jaxie, making her scream.

  No! Not again! This can’t be happening again!

  The snow swallowed her, punched her and squeezed her, until she could barely breathe. The icy material filled her nostrils and her mouth and…

  Jaxie awoke to a mind-numbing crash. Shivers rocked her. Her heart pounded wildly in her ears and cold perspiration dampened her forehead.

  I’m going to die! I’ll never see Ewan again!

  Lightning flashed at her windows. Thunder crashed. Wind rattled her bedroom windows and rain pelted the night-blackened panes.

  Shit! A storm. Just a freaking storm. She wasn’t buried under the snow. She was in bed. Safe and sound.

  It had been a nightmare. Just a nightmare.

  Relief poured through her and she whipped the clammy, damp sheets off her. She slept nude. Had since she’d moved out on her own. Ewan had liked that about her. Had liked that there was nothing separating them in bed.

  Ewan. Why was she obsessing over a guy who wanted nothing to do with her? He’d treated her like crap when she’d gone over to say thanks, and now she’d just dreamed she’d never see him again.

  Was she a glutton for punishment or what?

  Oh, but he sure did know how to make love to her. He could go for hours when he was in the mood. And he’d been in the mood during most of their relationship.

  Another ear-splitting crack of thunder directly overhead made her flinch.

  Man, that was loud. But storms didn’t bother her. She lived in a nice single-story bungalow on the outskirts of town. Rachel lived right across the street. Just thinking about her friend brought a shot of guilt through her.

  Poor Rachel. She’d been through a bad period in her life with her mother dying, then her dad falling ill and Rachel taking care of him. She admired her friend for being such a dutiful daughter. She’d put
her life on hold to care for him. She loved her dad so much — Jaxie could see it in the way she looked at him or whenever she spoke about him.

  Jaxie smiled as she remembered the day she’d taken Rachel skiing. Aside from the avalanche episode, it sure had been beautiful out there, with the fresh mountain air blasting against her as she’d skied down the side of the mountain. She knew within her heart that she’d go back out there again. Sometime. She wouldn’t let a little avalanche keep her down for long.

  More lightning flashed in the windows and thunder boomed. Her thoughts returned to Ewan.

  Damn! Why had she given up on him? They’d been so good together. Sure, they’d had arguments. Every couple argued. But Ewan had wanted a family and she hadn’t. Not then. But lately she’d been thinking that maybe…

  She refocused her attention to their nights together. He’d made her feel so sexy.

  The stirrings of arousal swept through her as she thought about that kiss she’d experienced in the helicopter. Or maybe the kiss had been CPR…Well, whatever it had been, she preferred to think of Ewan’s lusciously warm lips melting over her mouth as being a scorching kiss.

  Jaxie closed her eyes and slid her hands over her breasts, pretending it was Ewan touching her. If she breathed in deeply enough, she could smell his scent drifting through the air. His smell was probably on her clothing from the day of the avalanche. She’d stashed the clothes in her hamper in the nearby closet and hadn’t gotten around doing the laundry yet.

  Ewan always smelled so good. Of the outdoors, pine and soap. Royce too had a sexy scent about him. Before she’d been able to say her thanks to Ewan in the rescue lunchroom, Royce had spied her first.

  Something deep inside of her pussy had sizzled with need as Royce had stalked toward her. He’d looked as if he were a man on the prowl. He’d boxed her in at the doorway, his thick muscular arms flexing inches from her face. He’d been so close to her that she’d been able to see the gold flecks in his seductive brown eyes and her senses had swirled as she’d inhaled his unique mountain air scent.

  Silently, she’d cursed Royce for making her feel such unadulterated lust for him, especially with Ewan in the room. She’d spied Ewan watching them and she’d expected to see jealousy but had been surprised to discover a sexy, curious smile tilting his lips.

  What the heck had that look been?

  Royce had whispered to her that she looked very pretty and she’d giggled at his compliment, loving his attention. Then he’d left and Ewan had acted like an asshole…but still, if things had been different, she’d pick Ewan and Royce as her men for her ménage.

  She sighed. Ewan and Royce. Now those were two men she would love to have make love to her at the same time.

  She inhaled softly at that idea, and tweaked her nipples until they were hard and peaked. The guys would touch her gently at first, their hands running over her breasts, pinching her, just like she was doing now. Their mouths latching onto her quivering tips…

  Jaxie trembled as their warm lips sucked her nipples and their tongues laved her areolas, their faces pressed intimately into the pillow of her breasts, their hands smoothing over her belly.

  She moaned with frustration and opened her thighs. A finger slipped into her vagina and she gathered warm cream, then slid it out and rubbed back and forth over her sensitive clit. Breathing deeply, she massaged her clitoris faster, then thrust a couple of fingers into her pussy, and out again.

  Sensations quickly shimmered. She continued pinching, and pleasuring. With her other hand, she stroked her clit harder and harder until she was panting. A fiery tension mounted. She gyrated her hips in a dance of need. Her thrusts grew faster, deeper and then without warning, she exploded.

  She trembled, moaned, and lost control. She twisted, widened her legs, and gasped as the pleasure powered through her like electrical wires.

  Her body tightened and she arched her back, deepening her thrusts as she imagined Ewan plunging his cock in and out of her with no mercy. Royce sucking on her nipples, drawing her tender flesh between his teeth, biting and nipping until she was crazy from the sizzling pleasure-pain.

  Her mind reeled. She trembled and shook and smelled her musky scent sift through the bedroom. She rubbed furiously and loved how every nerve ending was on fire and how her body convulsed with wild abandon. Pleasure spiraled all around her, embraced her, loved her, made love to her.

  Too quickly, the spasms ebbed and Jaxie curled onto her side, then grabbed the covers tightly around her.

  If she couldn’t have Ewan and Royce in real life, at least she could use them actively in her imagination.

  She smiled sleepily and slept.

  Chapter Three

  Rachel shifted uneasily on her stool as she sipped her white wine and gazed out the truck-stop diner window. Forks of lightning stabbed through the dark sky and thunder boomed overhead. On nights like this, she would have preferred to be in bed soothing her skittish cat, who hated storms. But she still couldn’t believe who’d called her today out of the blue and asked her to meet him for drinks tonight here at the outskirts of town after one a.m. when he got off work.

  She’d served him a bunch of times while she waitressed at the Key Club for Jaxie, and she’d admired his good looks. But it hadn’t taken her long to realize he was interested in Jaxie.

  Maybe if Jaxie played her cards right…

  “Hey, Rach, glad you agreed to meet with me.”

  Her head snapped up at his deep gravelly voice and her breath halted as she caught his reflection in the bar mirror.

  Medium-length dark brown hair. A nice white smile. A deep cleft in his chin and a muscular body she would die to undress and ogle. But alas she had her secret fetishes, and she wasn’t about to reveal them to him.

  Or to anybody for that matter.

  “No problem. Come sit down,” she patted the empty stool beside her. “Tell me what’s got you calling and being so secretive.”

  Royce smiled and her heart skipped a beat as his black leather jacket creaked and he sat down, his shoulder brushing against hers.

  After he ordered a beer, he suddenly appeared shy and hesitant. When his silence lasted for more than a minute, her curiosity broke her down.

  “What?” she asked.

  He remained silent, staring at the frosted beer mug that the bartender placed in front of him.

  “Come on, spit it out. What’s up?” She wouldn’t be surprised if he asked her to put in a good word for him where Jaxie was concerned.

  “I need a favor. A big one.”

  Yep, just as she’d thought.

  “Regarding Jaxie.”

  His head snapped up and his eyebrows raised in wonder. The words “how did you know” were written all over his face.

  “Hey, when a guy comes into the Key Club as much as you do and you stare at Jaxie when you think no one is looking…”

  He grinned.

  Wow, he had a nice smile.

  “Am I that obvious?”

  “Well, you do a good job in covering it up, but I have a good vantage point while I watch on the security cameras. All I have to do is zero in on you and watch.”

  “Hmm, so you watch me? Why?”

  Heat whipped into her cheeks. Thankfully the lights were dim. Hopefully he’d just think her cheeks were red due to the wine.

  “Why not?” You’re hot eye candy.

  She took another sip of wine. Sweetness tingled against her tongue.

  “What favor do you need?” He’d had the balls to call her and get her here — she might as well hear him out.

  “Word has it The Key Club is throwing a Masquerade Ménage night.”

  It was her turn to be surprised.

  “What? How did you find that out? We haven’t told anyone.”

  “I have my sources,” he said softly, avoiding her stare.

  “I bet you do,” Rachel chuckled. How in the world had he found out? When it became obvious he wasn’t going to elaborate, she broke the silenc
e.

  She sighed in frustration.

  “Okay, so what do you need?”

  “The trick hat.”

  Rachel shook her head.

  “Ahh, just rumors, my dear. Just rumors.” Word sure did spread about Jaxie’s trick hat. She was famous for pairing partners for her ménage nights.

  “Rumor has it Jaxie is participating secretly in the Ball.”

  Rachel’s tummy clenched as if she were on a roller coaster. Quickly she shook her head again. How had he found that out? Who was his source?

  Damn, girl! Think fast!

  “No, sorry. You have the wrong information. Jaxie won’t even be in town that weekend. She’s going to an adult toy convention with Jewel.”

  Wow, she sure could lie well. Her voice did not as much as quiver.

  “Perfect,” he said slowly.

  Perfect? Shoot, how was she going to wiggle her way out of this lie? Jewel was not going to a convention that weekend, let alone Jaxie.

  He lowered his voice and leaned closer to her.

  “Now, about that trick hat.”

  “I told you—”

  To her surprise, he pressed a finger against her lip and winked.

  “Shh, this is what I need from you…”

  * * * * *

  Two days later…

  “Damn rain!”

  Ewan grumbled angrily as he sprinted beneath the chilly spring downpour across the Key Club parking lot and dashed to the back door of the club. He hadn’t been back here since breaking up with Jaxie. Quietly, he stuck the key that he still had into the slot and opened the door, then strolled down the hallway toward the front of the club to find Rachel.

  Memories came rushing back.

  Visions of meeting Jaxie here late at night. Her club business had rocketed since she’d circulated rumors of a trick hat that would allow people to get matched up with who they wanted. Back then, he’d been working quite a bit as well, due to a couple of the Search and Rescue team being injured and others off on leave. No replacements had been hired due to budget cuts.

  There had been times when he hadn’t seen Jaxie in days. It had become a frustrating pattern and toward the end of their relationship, he’d felt as if she’d just been keeping him around to service her. Hell, she’d even turned down his marriage proposal. Not once, but twice, stating her workload was too intense to plan a wedding, or to start a family of their own that he’d told her he wanted as fast as possible.