Jessie's Jewels [Submissive Sirens 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (24 page)

In that instant, Jessie’s heart froze. She stared at Liam, willing him to move.

“Well, look who’s decided to join us.” The man standing beside Liam sneered at Jessie, and she did a double take. She knew that voice. It was the voice of the man who’d accosted her on her way home from Gabriel’s the night of the party.

Sensing movement beside her, Jessie reacted instinctively. She lashed out with her foot, catching another man who’d been approaching her stealthily just above his hip and spinning him around. He swore, and she pressed her advantage by delivering two quick, hard jabs to his kidneys. The man howled, and before Jessie could do more damage, she heard the unmistakable sound of a gun being cocked. She froze.

“I think that’s quite enough, Lady Cumberland.” The man beside Liam had produced a gun from somewhere. “Mick already owes you for hitting him with your car door. I wouldn’t piss him off any further.”

With a growl, the man Jessie had been pounding turned around, backhanding her across the face. Jessie gasped as she saw stars, reeling over to the table across from Liam.

The pain vanished, though, as Liam groaned.
Oh thank goodness. He’s alive.
Jessie stared at Liam, gratified beyond belief as his beloved blue eyes opened and focused on her. She smiled at him, a small smile that was the best she could manage under the circumstances. Her brain was working overtime trying to figure out what the hell was happening.
And where the hell is Gabriel?

“Ah, Mr. Douglas. Glad you’re awake. Lady Cumberland was just saying that she’d found something you’ll never believe.” Jessie’s skin crawled as the man’s attention turned once more to her. “Care to enlighten Mr. Douglas, Your Ladyship?”

Jessie swallowed. “Umm, I found the collar from Gabriel. It’s lovely.”

The man snorted. “You can do better than that, Your Ladyship. We both know what you found, and the only way you and Mr. Douglas are going to walk away from here is if you give it to me.”

Jessie bit her lip. It was a hell of gamble, giving them the countess’s jewels. She really didn’t think these bastards were going to let her and Liam live anyway, since they’d seen their faces and could identify them later. But perhaps if she acted like she was going to comply it would buy her enough time to think of something.

Jessie’s shoulders sagged. “I found Countess Creely’s jewels.”

The man with the gun laughed softly. “Excellent. They were in her jewelry case, weren’t they?”

Jessie stared at him as the pieces began to fall in to place. “That’s what you were after,” Jessie whispered. “The night of the party...then you ransacked my room. You knew the diamonds were in the case.”

The second man, Mick, picked up the narrative. “We had a good idea they were inside somewhere. Where else could they have been so well hidden for such a long time? Cam and I have been searching for the bloody things for years.”

Jessie frowned at him. “You want the reward money?” She recalled that the earl was offering a substantial reward for the return of his mother’s jewels.

Cam laughed, but it was without humor. “Of course not. The reward is only half the jewels’ worth. We’re going to take them apart, sell them stone by stone.”

Jessie was horrified. The jewels were a Creely family heirloom, and once the stones were out of their settings they’d never be recoverable. She was jolted out of her thoughts as Cam raised his gun, pointing it at Liam. Jessie felt her heart in her throat.

“Now, Your Ladyship, Mick is going to escort you to the case, where you will be so kind as to give him the jewels. If you attempt anything he will shoot you. If you take longer than ten minutes I will shoot Mr. Douglas. If you try anything funny, you and Mr. Douglas will both die. Am I clear?”

Jessie bit her lip and nodded. She had to find a way to get them out of this mess. Once again she wondered where Gabriel was. She refused to think that these bastards had hurt him.

Mick withdrew a gun of his own from his pocket and pointed it at Jessie. “All right Your Ladyship, here we go.”

Cam’s parting comment made Jessie’s blood run cold. “Mick, shoot anyone who gets in your way.”

Jessie trudged her way toward the bedroom where the case was located. She admitted to herself that she was terrified. Terrified of what Cam was going to do to Liam, terrified of what had happened to Gabriel, terrified that she wouldn’t live long enough for Gabriel to see her wearing his collar. Her dark thoughts kept her silent, and she made a supreme effort to focus on what she was going to do to get out of the mess rather than all the awful things that could happen.

Before she knew it, they’d reached the upper floor that contained Gabriel’s suite. As Jessie made her way down the hallway, she wondered if Gabriel could have a gun in his bedside table. It would be exactly the kind of thing he’d do, and she debated if she could find a way to get to it, perhaps while Mick was busy inspecting the jewels. Resolving to try, Jessie had almost reached the door to the bedroom when a shot rang out behind her. Instinctively, she dove to the floor, rolling before getting up in a protective position. Bile rose in her throat as she struggled to comprehend what had happened. If that asshole, Mick, had shot one of her beloved household staff she’d make sure he suffered.

Jessie’s arms fell to her sides, her jaw dropping open as she took in the scene before her. Mrs. Mills stood, an expression of grim determination on her motherly face. A handgun rested in her outstretched hands. Mick sprawled on the floor in front of her, blood soaking the hardwood around him.

Maggie Mills sighed, tucking the gun into a pocket of her apron. “Fiddlesticks. That’s going to take ages to clean properly.”

Jessie couldn’t help it. She started to giggle. She ran to the housekeeper and threw her arms around her. “Maggie, you saved my life. Where on earth did you learn how to shoot?”

Maggie smiled smugly at Jessie. “We lived with your brother, dear. All the servants know how to protect themselves from pretty well anything.”

Jessie laughed again, hugging Maggie close. Her jubilation was short lived, however, as another shot sounded from downstairs.

Jessie gasped, the blood draining from her face. “Oh no, Liam!” She spun around to run to the kitchen, but Maggie stopped her with a strong hand gripping Jessie’s own.

“Not to worry, Lady Jessamy. That’ll be Mr. Graves.”

Jessie frowned. “Mr. Graves, the gardener?”

“Yes, Your Ladyship. He alerted me to the presence of these...men. He saw them sneaking up to the house. He was going to take care of both of them when you ran into the kitchen, and he had to wait so that neither you nor Liam was at risk.”

Jessie sagged again, this time in relief. “Then can we go downstairs now? And Mrs. Mills, where is the duke?”

Maggie snorted, the most indelicate sound Jessie had ever heard her utter. “His Grace is saddling the horses. He thought he’d take you and Liam riding today, but he wanted it to be a surprise.”

Jessie grinned at Maggie. “I suspect he’ll want to stay home after all.”

Maggie grinned back. “I suspect he’ll be the one surprised. Come. We’d better get downstairs before he tears the house apart.”

* * * *

The scene in the kitchen was one that would stay with Jessie for ages. When she and Maggie arrived, the whole house was in an uproar. Mr. Graves had shot and killed Cam and was in the process of untying Liam when Gabriel had barreled through the door, wild haired and savage.

“What the fuck is going on? Was that a gunshot?”

Mr. Graves had calmly turned to Gabriel after he’d released Liam, smiling at the aggravated duke. “Yes, Your Grace, it was indeed a gunshot. I’m afraid the kitchen will need extensive cleaning before it’s usable again. I don’t think that man was particularly clean.”

Gabriel had been standing, staring at Mr. Graves, his mouth opening and closing like that of a fish. He’d looked positively insane when Jessie and Mrs. Mills arrived.

“Liam!” Jessie had immediately thrown herself at Liam, covering his face with kisses, being careful to avoid his swollen lip.

“Jessamy,” Gabriel had barked. “Why is your face bruised? And why are there servants running around with bleach and brushes? And why is there a body in my kitchen?” The last question was posed in a deceptively mild tone, and Jessie noticed that a vein in Gabriel’s forehead had started to pulse. She’d looked at Mrs. Mills, who had smiled and nodded at her, and she walked over to Gabriel, wrapping her arms around his waist.

“Let’s go for a surprise ride and I’ll tell you all about it. Liam, can you sit a horse?”

Liam smiled through puffy lips. He nodded.

“Good.” And with that, Jessie tugged a bewildered Gabriel out of the kitchen toward the stable, clutching Liam’s beloved hand in her own.

Jessie sprawled in the tub. It had been a week since the attempted robbery, and the week had been heaven. Jessie had filled Liam and Gabriel in on what had happened, from her discovery of the Creely diamonds to Mrs. Mills shooting Mick.

The biggest shock for Jessie had come from returning the diamonds to the earl. He’d been so overwhelmed he’d wept, and he had drawn Jessie into a hug. He’d immediately drawn up the paperwork to give Jessie the promised reward, being even more generous than he should have been when he found out about the attempted robbery. He’d told Jessie that he would have understood if she’d tried to sell them, gently reminding her that he knew about her family’s misfortunes. Jessie had been overwhelmed, assuring the earl that she understood that the sentimental value of the diamonds far outshone their monetary worth. As a result of the transaction, Lady Jessamy Cumberland was a million and a half pounds richer than she’d ever been in her life.

Unsurprisingly, Gabriel had not taken it well that he’d been absent when Jessie and Liam were attacked. He’d been furious with everyone, himself included, and it had taken the better part of the week for Jessie to persuade him that she didn’t need constant supervision. Wryly, she thought that if she’d let him come with her to pee, he would have.

A few nights spent in the playroom had taken care of most of Gabriel’s rage, and both Jessie and Liam had been walking around with pink bottoms, totally blissed out. More secure than ever in their love for one another, none of them were holding back when it came to sex, and Jessie blushed when she thought of some of the nasty, kinky things they’d done.

Hearing the door to the bedroom open, Jessie smiled to herself when she recognized Gabriel’s step. “Help!” she hollered, making splashing sounds.

Gabriel came running into the bathroom, where Jessie had ducked under the water in the tub, holding her breath. Gabriel hauled her up above the surface.

“Jessamy? Love, say something.”

“Ooh, Gabriel, you saved me.” Jessie pretended to cough, looking up at him with what she hoped were big doe eyes. “Thank you.”

Gabriel frowned at her. “That’s not funny, Jessamy.”

Jessie grinned. “I think it is, Your Grace. Honestly, get over it Gabriel. Liam and I are fine. Although…” She pretended to think, tapping a finger against her lips. “If you’d like to take it out on my ass one more time, I’d be more than happy to oblige.”

“Me, too!” Liam’s enthusiasm knew no bounds as he sauntered into the bathroom.

Gabriel groaned, setting Jessie back down in the tub. “I’ve created a monster. Two monsters, in fact.” He mock glowered at them both, but his lips were twitching. “Liam, what news from town?” Liam had developed a habit of listening to the gossip from servants in other households, and he never failed to deliver a juicy tidbit to His Grace when he’d come back from the market.

Liam’s eyes sparkled. “Well…” He strove to make his tone casual as he examined Jessie’s breasts where they bobbed above the water. “Edward’s getting a divorce.”

Jessie gasped as Gabriel’s face split into an evil grin. “What?” She couldn’t imagine prissy, perfect Edward subjecting himself to the humiliation of a divorce, since the gossips would have a field day.

Liam’s eyes danced with mirth. “Indeed. It seems Philippa was playing naughty games with one of the servants.” Jessie’s mouth fell open. She couldn’t imagine how horrified Edward must have been. When she would have spoken, Liam held up a hand to silence her. “The servant’s name is Emma.”

Gabriel started to snicker, and Jessie felt her face split by a wide grin.
Good. Serves the poncy fucker right, and I hope Philippa is happier with Emma.

Jessie squealed as Gabriel hauled her once more out of the tub, setting her down and beginning to strip off his soaked clothes.

“I think this calls for a celebration.”

Jessie found herself breathless. “Why, Your Grace, what kind of celebration did you have in mind?” Her naked body streamed water onto the floor and she didn’t care. Now she was getting wet and it had nothing to do with her bath.

Liam was shedding his clothes as well. “Who cares? His Grace wants to celebrate!”

Jessie’s eyes drew back to Gabriel as he walked toward her, her collar clasped in his hands.

“I want to play, little sub,” he murmured as he fastened the collar around her neck.

Jessie tucked her hand into Gabriel’s and the three of them walked silently to the bedroom, where Gabriel stripped off the blankets and tossed them to the floor. Only the sheet was left, and Jessie knew he loved to play like this, uninhibited by duvets and pillows. Gabriel gestured for Jessie to lie down on her side, and when she’d complied, he lay down beside her, snuggling up to her back and making her writhe against his erection where it brushed her bottom cheeks. Liam followed suit, lying down in front of Jessie at Gabriel’s bidding.

Jessie had no idea what they had in store for her, but she trusted these men with her body and soul, and she knew that no matter what Gabriel was planning it would lead them all to heaven.

With no preamble, Gabriel bent Jessie’s leg and tucked it high on Liam’s hip, effectively opening her to both of them. He nuzzled her ear as he spoke, his works dark and seductive in the afternoon light. “Liam, kiss her.”