Shannon's Fairy-Tale Foursome (32 page)

His cock pulsated in her ass, and he knew he should release her so they could return to the table. But he couldn’t find the willpower to pull away from her, not now and maybe not ever. His body knew its other half, and it clung to her, refusing to let go.

Her body went slack, and he had to hold her up. It was the most wonderful feeling he’d ever experienced. His stubborn woman relied on him. She needed him. It was as if they were the only people in the world—even if only for a moment.

Damn, life’s good.

Shannon strolled back into the dining room of Dolce Serenità on Drew’s arm with her head held high and a satisfied smile plastered on her face. She knew she looked silly, and she knew that everyone had heard them. But she didn’t give a damn. Any woman who’d been fucked up against a bathroom wall by the man she loved had the right to look and act however she wanted to. And, at this very moment, she wanted the world to know how proud she was to be the Dalton brothers’ woman.

As they neared their table, Drew leaned down and spoke into her ear, his hot breath momentarily distracting her from his question. “Still want dessert, munchkin?”

“Um, yes,” she admitted breathlessly as she licked her still-tingling lips. “I really am famished now. Do you mind if we stay?”

“No, but you better hurry it up. Jared and Randy are going to want something to eat, and I guarantee they don’t have potato chips on the dessert menu.”

She snorted and teased, “You just had to go there, didn’t you, Studley?”

Her inside voice came off louder than intended, and she caught the undivided attention of several restaurant patrons. Instead of feeling embarrassed, as she normally would, she grinned at each person, and of course, everyone smiled right back at her. She got several winks, a couple of wiggled eyebrows, and one thumbs-up sign. Hell, Ella even held up a napkin with a number ten on it.

Damn, I love this town.
She couldn’t seem to remember why she had tried so damn hard to not fit in, why she’d avoided becoming friends with the people who lived here.
It doesn’t matter anymore because that is going to end now. He’s dead, and I will be damned if he will haunt me from the grave. I’m safe and so is everyone else.

When they got within earshot of their table, Randy asked optimistically, “Go where? Home?”

Abruptly, Jared pushed his chair back, the legs scraping across the marble mosaic tiles, and stood up. “We’ve already paid the bill, so we’re ready to go,” he announced.

“No,” Drew objected then pulled her chair out for her and helped her situate herself into it. “Shannon wants dessert, and she’s going to get it.”

“Oh, I’ll give her dessert all right,” Randy declared with a wicked grin that had her squirming in her seat. “But if she wants to eat something sweet here first, I’m game.”

“Randy,” Shannon admonished with a wink. “Behave.”

“Behave?” Randy inquired with false innocence. “I don’t believe that word is in my dictionary.”

“Why don’t you just bite me, ass—”

“Shannon. Don’t fan the flames right now unless you want another round in the bathroom,” Drew warned her.

“Oh, could we?” Shannon asked, excited, hopeful, and horny all rolled into one.
I’m ready if you guys are.

Jared whistled.

“Shit,” Randy cursed with a broad, and very naughty, grin. “We’ve created a monster.”

I’ll show him
“
monster.
”
She shimmied off her heels, abandoning them under the table, and lifted her feet to Randy’s lap. She rubbed his stiff cock through his pants, murmuring to him in her sultriest voice, “You say that like it’s a bad thing, Romeo.”

Randy’s eyes lowered, and he groaned as she turned up the heat, grinding her foot into his crotch. “Not a bad thing,” he half said, half panted.

“Glad you like it.”

With a growl, Jared snatched her hand from her lap and placed it on his. “I want some of that, princess.”

“I think that can be arranged,” she murmured, cupping Jared’s thick cock through the fabric of his jeans and squeezing his shaft gently.

Jared’s hips jerked, and he hissed, “Shannon.”

“That’s my name,” she reminded Jared playfully as she massaged him with the palm of her hand. Two sexy, masculine groans filled her ears, and she felt her juices gathering in response.

Their lust empowered her, and she permitted her hand and foot to descend further, journeying between their legs until she came to a standstill next to both of their balls. She palmed Jared while caressing Randy with her foot. “I’m feeling cold. Anyone feel up to a trip to the coat closet to get my jacket?”

Jared reached out and grabbed her, hauling her out of her chair and onto his lap. “I can warm you up right here,” he promised her as he nuzzled her neck.

“Not the way I want you to,” Shannon retorted, angling her head to the side so he had better access to her neck.

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” Randy disagreed.

Drew grunted, turning a deaf ear to her sensual byplay with his brothers, and waved at the waitress. Mel quickly made her way over to their table, and he gave her a welcoming smile when she walked up to them.

Mel smiled back at him shyly. “Hi, Drew. It’s so nice to see you.”

Jealousy surged to the forefront of her mind. Reasonably, she knew there was nothing going on between these two, but she couldn’t help it, and it pissed her off. She couldn’t bear to be jealous when she had no basis for the pain-in-the-ass emotion. She squashed her irrational feelings down and asked with a forced smile, “How have you been, Mel? How’s Holly?”

Mel’s face lit up. “Oh! She’s doing amazing here, Shannon. She loves living in a new place.”

Her five-year-old daughter, Holly, was an absolute doll, and the whole town adored her. Shannon couldn’t hold back a genuine smile this time, and she wouldn’t have anyway. If she had a child that was as sweet and adorable as Holly, she would be blessed.

“That makes me so happy,” Shannon responded earnestly. “She’s such an amazing little girl. Everyone loves having her here.”

Mel’s eyes fell to the floor, her face coloring even deeper. “Thank you. Um, can I take your order? I, ugh, have to get back to work.”

“Sure, we would like one of everything on the dessert menu,” Jared told Mel with an easy smile while pulling Shannon tighter against him.
I could get used to this.
Mel scribbled down their order and vanished as fast as her feet would carry her.

When she was gone, Jared turned his smile on her. He went from easygoing to indulgent as he looked at her. “I’ve heard that you always wanted to order the whole menu but wouldn’t do it.”

Her heart pitter-pattered in her chest, and she found herself grinning from ear to ear. “You’ve been talking to Jaycee.”

“Of course, princess,” Jared responded, tipping her chin up and kissing her tenderly. “We wanted tonight to be perfect for you.”

Tears filled her eyes, making her visions swim until she couldn’t see his handsome face anymore. No one had ever cared enough for her to do something so small yet so special. No one had cared enough about her—period. “Thank you,” she said simply as she wiped the moisture from her eyes with her fingertips.

“You’re welcome,” all three of them said at once.

“How do you guys do
that
all the time?” she asked amusedly. “It’s like you all have one brain.”

Before any of them could respond, Stellina strolled up to the table. “Hello, my friends. Have you enjoyed your dining here this fine evening?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Randy replied politely. “You always have the best food in town.”

Blushing, Stellina murmured, “You are good for an old woman’s soul.”

“You are not old, Stellina,” Randy countered. “In fact, if it weren’t for this pretty lady, I would chase after you.”

Stellina laughed, apparently amused by Randy’s flirtatious antics. “You only want me for my food,” she declared knowingly.

Randy pursed his lips and blew Stellina an air kiss. “I love cougars, you know.”

“Don’t pay any attention to him, Stellina,” Jared said. “He would do or say anything to get you to move in with us. He wants you
and
Shannon to cook for him twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.”

“You say this like I don’t already know what he is up to,” Stellina quipped with a cheeky grin. “Maybe I want to be this cougar woman your brother speaks of.”

None of the men seemed to know what to say. The woman who everyone treated as an honorary grandmother had rendered her men speechless. Loving the priceless moment, Shannon grinned at Stellina. “I think you won.”

Stellina winked. “I think I did, too. However, I did not come out here to play games with your men. I needed to talk with you.”

Oh, crap. Did I do something wrong?
Shannon ran through a hundred scenarios in her mind, but she couldn’t figure out what she’d done to Stellina. When she came up completely empty, she decided to bite the bullet and ask. “You do? Have I done something to offend you?”

“No, no, no. You did nothing, child,” Stellina said emphatically. “It is quite the opposite. I wish you
had
done something for me.”

“Um, okay? What can I do for you?” Shannon asked in a tone that sounded more like a string of mutters than a couple of question.

“I have heard that you are quite the cook,” Stellina declared with a serious expression. “I wish that you would have shared this with me.”

“Um, okay,” Shannon repeated. Only this time she wasn’t phrasing her words as a question. It was a confused statement.

“I’m in need of a cook,” Stellina told Shannon. Of course Shannon already knew that, but she wasn’t about to interrupt quite possibly the most important words of her cooking career.

“Um, okay.”

Chuckling, Stellina asked, “You are going to make me say the words, aren’t you?”

Shannon glanced around the table at her smiling men then turned her attention back to Stellina. With a nod, Shannon said, “Yes, I believe I am.”

“Good for you,” Stellina replied. “I’m saying that I am willing to risk Lou’s wrath for stealing his favorite waitress, if you are half as good as they say.”

Holy guacamole! Stellina offered me a job. Wait, she did offer me a job. Didn’t she? Maybe I should clarify.

Seemingly reading her thoughts, Stellina added, “I would like for you to cook dinner for me, and we can talk about getting you a job.”

“Yes,” Shannon squealed. Then, realizing her faux pas, she blushed furiously and slapped her hand over her mouth. “Oops,” she muttered against her skin.

Everyone around her chuckled without complaining, even people at the surrounding tables. Obviously,
some
people had been listening in on her private conversation—again. The old Shannon would be affronted by the nosiness around her, but the new one didn’t mind a bit. In fact, she found it amusing.

Fighting back her own laughter, Shannon started over with her response to Stellina. “Yes, ma’am,” she choked out. “I would love that.”

“Good,” Stellina replied. “I will call you and set up a time. Now you must return your attention to your lovely dates.”

“Thank you, Stellina. I will do that,” Shannon told her.

With a wave and murmured good-byes, Stellina left them. As soon as she was gone, Shannon smiled at her men. “You three did that, didn’t you?”

Each man shrugged, and none of them answered her.

That is what I thought.
Opening her mouth to respond to their adorable meddling, another guest interrupted her. This one was
not
a welcome one.

Mary appeared at the table with an evil gleam in her eyes, and Shannon saw red. She was not going to allow a mentally deranged shrew to ruin one of the best nights of her life.

Glaring at Mary, Shannon pretended not to notice that they were wearing the exact same dress. The psycho bitch had even styled her hair, applied her makeup, and painted her fingernails identical to Shannon.
How do you know these things? I wasn’t even sure what I was going to wear a couple of hours ago!

“What are you doing here with
her
,” Mary demanded to know, pointing at Shannon with an irate finger. “You’re mine, not that, that, that whore’s.”

Yeah, I really should buy her a thesaurus instead of just telling her about it. If she is going to insult me, I want her to come up with something better than
“
whore.
”
Idiot.

Randy snorted. “I’m not yours. Never was.”

“Yeah, well, I didn’t want
you
anyway,” Mary snapped venomously, spittle flying from her malodorous mouth and landing on the table.

Can we say ew?
“You need to watch where you spray that, Mary. I don’t want whatever it is you have.”

“You have
my
men, bitch.”

Impressive. She came up with a new word, and I’ve been upgraded from whore to bitch.