A Force of Three [Elite Dragons 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (5 page)

“It was. We only moved in this afternoon.”

“Huh.”

“How do you have your coffee, darlin’?” Bryden called from the kitchen.

“White with no sugar, please.”

“What made you pick Butte?” Codi asked, drawing her attention again.

“I drove through here with my mom once. We stopped and had coffee to break up our trip and, I don’t know, it just seemed to call to me. The people were nice and friendly.”

Nyssa shrugged, but he’d heard the hitch in her voice. Was her mother still alive? What she’d said so far and her body language all told him that she probably wasn’t. Was Nyssa all alone?

“Do you live with your mom, honey?” Linton asked as he entered the living room carrying two coffee mugs.

“No, my mom died two years ago.”

Codi saw the sheen of tears in her eyes and glared at Linton. The last thing they wanted to do was upset her.

“I’m sorry.” Linton handed Nyssa a cup. “I didn’t mean to make you sad.”

“It’s okay.” She shrugged, but Codi knew she was anything but okay.

“What about your dad?” Bryden handed Codi his coffee.

“I have no clue, and to be honest I don’t give a shit,” she snapped and then took a deep, calming breath. “Sorry, I’ve never met my father. He took off as soon as he found out my mom was pregnant.”

“What a bastard. I’m sorry, Nyssa.”

“Why are you sorry, Bryden? You had nothing to do with it.”

“What I meant was that I’m sorry for getting you upset. Again!”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s not your fault.” She finished the last of her coffee, rose to her feet, and headed for the kitchen. Codi heard her sigh again and wondered if she really was all right. None of them had meant to make her sad. They just wanted to find out everything they could about her, and not because Codi suspected her of anything. He feared that Linton was right and Nyssa was the woman they had been waiting for. Their mission had to be their first priority. The lives of the kidnapped women depended on it. And what if they were wrong about Nyssa? What if she turned on them in the future?

She came back into the living room and looked at each of them.

“I need to get going. I have to work tomorrow.” She turned toward the front door.

Codi was on his feet and at her side moments later, taking her arm. “Let me walk you home.”

“That’s totally unnecessary. It’s just around a couple of corners.”

“Oh, it certainly is necessary. There is no way I’m letting you walk home alone. It’s dark and you never know who is lurking on the streets.” Codi felt her shudder.

“Okay, thanks. I would feel a lot better having some company. Especially after those two women went missing.”

“What women?” Linton asked.

Codi figured he wanted to know how she knew about the missing women since the news wasn’t supposed to have been released to the media yet.

Nyssa told them about the phone call from the reporter and then the visit from the sheriff and his deputy.

“I feel so sorry for them, but mostly for their families. It would be hell not knowing what’s happened to a member of your family.”

“Do you remember them at all, Nyssa?” Bryden asked.

“Yes. That’s the worst part. Knowing that I was one of the last people to see them before they disappeared kind of makes me feel sick to my stomach.”

“Don’t worry too much, honey.” Linton rose and walked toward her. He placed a hand on her back and rubbed in a soothing manner. “I’m sure everything is being done to find those women.”

“I hope so. The sheriff and his deputy came to see me today, but the women have been missing for three days. Thank you for dinner and the coffee.” Nyssa gave a small wave to Bryden and Linton.

“You’re welcome, honey. See you soon.”

“Bye, Nyssa, sleep well.” Bryden smiled.

Codi led Nyssa out the door and down the drive. He cursed the fact it wouldn’t take him long to walk her home. Although he was glad she lived behind them, he would have liked to have spent more time with her. But there was always tomorrow. He didn’t want to like her, but he did. He was fighting an inner battle which could go either way. She got to him on an emotional level as well as a physical one. His cock had been hard since the first moment he had set eyes on her, but after the Katlynn incident he didn’t really want to feel such an attraction. Plus he and his brothers had a job to do.

The first one was breaking into the clinic tonight to set up surveillance equipment and the next was to run a check on the local sheriff and deputy. They also needed to travel the streets of Butte to see if they could get a reading on the missing women. The longer they were gone, the more likely they would die, and that was something he didn’t think he could live with.

“Why did you and your brothers take me out?” Nyssa asked out of the blue and caught him off guard with her blunt question.

“Um, well, Linton told us that he was attracted to you as soon as he saw you.”

“Okay.” Nyssa drew out that word and then looked up at him as they walked. “If he’s attracted to me, then why did you and Bryden come on our date?”

“We have a very close relationship.” Codi stopped walking and turned to face her. “We are always attracted to the same women and Linton wanted us to meet you, too.”

Nyssa just stared up at him and blinked a few times, her mouth straightening into a tight line. Then she turned and began to walk again.

Codi knew he had screwed up when she stomped off. He wanted to elaborate on how he and his brothers wanted to share a woman between them, but it was too early for him to tell her that. He could feel the anger emanating from her, but until they all decided to pursue her he didn’t want to reveal too much about him and his brothers.

He stood on her front porch as she rifled in her purse for her keys and then unlocked her door. She turned back to face him, and although he could still feel anger radiating off of her, he could also feel sexual attraction.

Codi wanted to wrap her in his arms and kiss her until they were both senseless, and by the way her eyes had dilated, she wouldn’t be averse to him making a move on her, but he was too uncertain of his instincts since Katlynn and wasn’t sure he wanted to start something with her. They had a job to do, and being distracted by her wasn’t necessarily a good thing as far as he was concerned. He swayed toward her, and when he realized what he was doing he took a step back.

“Go inside and lock up,” Codi ordered. “I want to be certain you’re safe before I leave.”

Nyssa sighed and then entered her house and slammed the door closed behind her. When he heard the lock click into place he headed back to their temporary home, trying to push Nyssa from his mind.

They had a job to do.

* * * *

As the door closed behind Nyssa and Codi, Bryden let out a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding.

“I told you so,” Linton said smugly from the couch.

Bryden put his hands on his hips and began to pace. “You didn’t say she was beautiful.”

“Do you think she’s interested?”

“I don’t know.” Bryden knew he was, though. He felt a connection to her that he hadn’t felt with another woman, Katlynn included. “I could feel that she was attracted to us, but we don’t know how she is going to react once she knows all three of us want her. She may not want to have anything to do with us once she finds out we want to share her.”

He stopped pacing. “What about Codi?”

The smirk faded from Linton’s face. “You think he’s still hung up on Katlynn?”

“It may take him time.” He and Linton had been worried about Codi since the Katlynn episode. Although when working he was full of confidence and a real badass, ever since they had found out that bitch had been a criminal, his brother seemed to doubt his instincts where women were concerned.

But Bryden didn’t think his dominant brother would be able to resist such a sexy, sweet woman for long.

“Whatever Codi decides,” Linton said, “I’m going to do everything I can to get closer to her.”

“And get her into your bed,” Bryden added skeptically.

“Into
our
bed. She’s perfect for us.”

Bryden agreed. He had privately resigned himself to returning to the stud and settling down without a woman in their lives. All three of them wanted to return to the stud farm, their teammates, and the other women, but doing so with the woman they loved would make it a perfect homecoming.

They’d have to wait and see, though. Knowing this wasn’t Linton’s strong suit, Bryden warned, “Don’t pressure Codi.”

Linton held up his hands. “Don’t look at me, bro. He’s the one who volunteered to take her home.”

“Good point.” Still, he and Linton would have to somehow convince Nyssa and Codi that this could work. Keeping Nyssa safe from Marcus Keaton seemed more important than ever, too. His determination bolstered, Bryden prepared for the night’s mission. By the time Codi returned, he had all their equipment prepared.

“We’re ready to go,” Bryden said as soon as Codi walked in the front door.

“Good. Did either of you get any strong emotions of fear while walking through town?”

Linton began to pace. “I felt fear close to the back of the clinic. I wanted to check it out, but the window in the doctor’s office faced that way and there was no way in hell I was going to blow our cover by looking around in broad daylight.”

“That doesn’t make sense, Lint. The women were seen leaving the doctor’s office.”

“Who’s to say they weren’t abducted and taken back there after hours?” Bryden hypothesized.

“Then that means they may still be close. We’ll have to look around.” Codi loaded up with weapons and pulled on his Kevlar vest. “Okay, let’s head on out.”

At the clinic, Codi parked the truck on a side street away from prying eyes, and they easily jumped the fence into the backyard.

There was what looked like a small garden shed in the rear corner of the yard, but the door was gaping open. Bryden headed straight for it and swung his flashlight around the interior, but there was nothing to indicate the women had been there. He headed toward the clinic building.

It took Linton all of three seconds to pick the lock on the back door, and then they were inside. After they searched the building to make sure it was empty, Bryden got to work. He placed the smallest cameras in the doctor’s rooms and tapped the phones while Codi booted up the computer and began to search its contents.

They worked with their shields down so they could pick up any emotions close by, and by the time Bryden had finished placing all his devices he was beginning to feel the effects. Although it had only been three days since they had left home, walking around town with his shields down throughout the day was taking its toll. He wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and sleep. He just hoped that “Dr. Jones” said or did something to lead them to the missing women, because at the moment he and his brothers didn’t know where to start looking.

“Anything?” Bryden asked Codi in a near whisper when his brother leaned back in the office chair.

Codi shook his head.

“Shit. Okay, get out of the way and let me at the computer. I’m going to run a program that will let me see whatever he does on this machine.”

“What about the one in reception?” Linton questioned.

“That’s Nyssa’s computer. You don’t honestly think she’s involved, do you?”

“No but ‘Jones’ may be using her machine after hours.”

Bryden ran his hand over his face in frustration. Glancing at his watch, he saw that it was already after two a.m. It took time to set up the computer program. They would be lucky to get out of there before four. Biting back a curse, he headed out to the reception area and got to work.

After he grabbed a couple of hours’ sleep he and his brothers would be back out on the streets. It had been over seventy-two hours since the two women had gone missing. For all he knew, they weren’t even in the area anymore. And if he and his brothers failed, if they couldn’t keep these women safe, maybe they didn’t deserve a woman of their own.

As Nyssa worked she thought about the date she’d had last night. All three of the brothers had been attentive, helping her in and out of the truck and guiding her into the restaurant, and Linton had held her hand the whole way home.
Are they all interested in me? Or are they playing some sort of game?

She didn’t like the fact that they could be playing with her emotions. That was another reason why she never dated anymore. Her last boyfriend had only gone out with her until she’d put out. Once they’d had sex, he had dumped her. Never again, she vowed. Been there, done that, and she had the T-shirt. Nyssa had thought she was in love with Tony when she’d been intimate with him. Looking back, she realized that she had been in love with the idea of being in love. She’d liked feeling infatuated.

She had decided since then that she wasn’t going to date unless she was sure of her feelings, and if she did then she would have to be very sure of the man’s feelings, too. Well, if Linton or one of the other Wade brothers asked her out, she would refuse.