Shannon's Fairy-Tale Foursome (39 page)

Landon cupped the underside of Katie-Anne’s chin, forcing her to meet his agonized gaze. “Are you telling me that you knew she would fucking
hurt
you when you went in?”

“It was a possibility,” Katie-Anne replied with another negligent shrug.

Shane knelt down before clasping her shoulder in his hands and shaking her lightly. “What about you? What about us? Do you have a goddamn clue what it would have done to us if—” He seemed to choke on the words, unable to even finish his sentence.

“Since when did you give a
fuck
about me,” Katie-Anne demanded to know. Her clipped words should have been fiery and fury-filled but came off with cool acceptance and a twinge of disdain. She stood up regally, brushing off Shane and nearly knocking him over, then walked away.

Shane quickly caught his balance and got to his feet. He grabbed onto Katie-Anne’s elbow before she had made it halfway to the door and refused to let go. Whirling her around, he caught the object she’d been playing with as it followed her circular motion. He looked at it pointedly and snapped, “Since always.”

“Could have fooled me, Shane.” Katie-Anne jerked her arm out of his grip then walked away, her cold demeanor warning anyone in her path to stay away.

“I need a
word
with you,” Landon said as Katie-Anne disappeared from their sides, pushing his friend toward the door. “Outside.”

Surprisingly, Shane stepped out of the room of his own free will.

Katie-Ann gave them a few minute head start before she picked up her cell phone and dialed a number. “Sarah, do you have a minute? I need to talk to you,” she murmured into the phone as she stood and disappeared out the door, taking off in the opposite direction than the two men had.

Shannon must have dozed off because when she became aware of her surroundings again, the sun had completely risen. A sharp voice at her side caught her attention, dragging her focus to the people standing there.

“Jaycee Elizabeth Blakemore, you are so spanked,” Gray declared in
The Voice
, as his wife called it.

“Yeah, well, you are so fucked,” Jaycee smarted right back off, obviously not the least bit intimidated by him.

Gray caressed her face, his demeanor and voice softening substantially. “You read my mind, sweetheart.”

“More like your fantasies,” Cade retorted then slapped his husband on the ass. “And mine.”

Shannon’s lips twitched, against her will.
Damn, they’re going to know I’m awake.
And she was right.

Immediately, Jaycee squealed, and Shannon’s eyes snapped open reflexively. “You woke up just in time for my dirty story, Shan.” Jaycee paused, looking at her brothers pointedly. “Well, maybe I should tell you later, when
they
are not present.”

Shannon whispered with enough volume that everyone in the vicinity could hear her, “You can tell me later, my friend. I imagine I won’t be getting any for a long time to come.” She giggled at her own pun, and Jaycee joined in. It took a minute, but eventually their laughter died down, and Shannon told Jaycee, “That is the best punishment for a girl like me.”

Jaycee snorted. “Oh, no. They will enjoy punishing you too much to withhold for long.”

“She’s right,” Drew said as he leaned over to take her lips with his own in a long, lingering kiss. When he finally released her, he patted her head condescendingly, which earned a grunt from her. “We’ll make sure you never make this mistake again, munchkin.”

Shannon winked then retorted sarcastically, “Right, Studley. If you punish me, I will just get into more trouble, and I’ll have a hell of a lot fun doing it.”

“Oooh. I will be more than happy to help you,” Jaycee offered with a maniacal grin, rubbing her hands together ominously. “Punishment is fun, but what to do? What to do?”

“We’ll show you fun,” Gray said darkly with a wicked grin of his own.
Uh-oh. That look is fucking scary. Jaycee is in for it tonight.

Gray swept Jaycee off the floor before waving at Shannon and taking off with his giggling wife cuddled in his arms.

“Hey! Don’t forget me,” Cade called out, chasing after his spouses.

Shannon sighed.
Alone at last.

Jared and Randy joined her on the bed, trapping her between their two strong bodies while Drew stood over her, his sudden anger so fiery she felt as if he would burn her alive.
I have a feeling that I should have invited everyone to stay the night…or the week…or the month.

“You’re looking mighty hot, Studley,” Shannon said saucily in a desperate attempt to divert him. “If you want to burn me, I can think of
several
pleasurable ways.”

“You will not distract me, Shannon,” Drew told her in a clipped tone that brooked for no argument. “We need to
talk.
”

“Ruh-roh.” Shannon dropped her gaze to her fingernails, picking at them nervously. “That doesn’t sound like much fun to me.”

Randy wrapped his long fingers around her wrists before pulling her hands apart. “Stop that, Shannon,” he commanded frostily. “This is serious.”

Oh, shit. They both said Shannon, not munchkin or baby doll. I’m dead meat.

She perked up as she realized that Jared had yet to speak. Turning to face him, she silently prayed he would step in between her, Mr. Hot Head, and The Ice Man.
Um, no.
Jared looked as upset as his both of brothers, if not more.

“Jared?” Shannon croaked.

Jared shook his head emphatically. “Your safety is the most important thing in the world to me, to all of us. Sorry, Shannon.”

Three strikes you’re out, babe!

Jared didn’t
sound
sorry, which irritated her to no end, and she went on the defensive. “Fine. What did you expect me to do? I
thought
he was going to hurt two of the men I love
after
he put the other one in the fucking hospital.”

“I
expected
you to come to us,” Drew said in a way too reasonable voice considering he’d been volatile enough to spontaneously combust seconds before. He moved to the end of the bed, sinking down with a sigh. “That is what
I
expected.”

“Bite me,” she snapped angrily, shoving at the two statues on each side of her. “Go away. I’m not in the mood to deal with you guys right now.”

“Tough,” Jared snapped back at her. “We are not going anywhere, Shannon. Not now and not ever.”

She huffed petulantly on the outside, just to give them hell, but sappy love songs played in her mind. “Well, if I’m stuck with you three and the three of you are stuck with me, we need to finish our discussion on rules.”

Drew nodded in agreement, evidently aware of her previous discussion with his two brothers. “You can have
your
rules.”

Riigghhht.
Shannon had a snowball’s chance in hell of that happening. Narrowing her eyes in skepticism, she urged him to continue. “Dot, dot, dot…”

Instead of Drew answering her, Jared finished for his brother, “If we can have
ours.
”

Well, hell, Shannon. You didn’t see that one coming, now did you?

Shannon paused, letting her mind catch up with her mouth before she responded to their compromise. It probably wasn’t the appropriate time to open her mouth and insert her foot.

Randy chimed in with a warning, “Keep in mind, while you decide, that we have only one non-negotiable rule.”

It didn’t take a genius to know what Randy meant, so she stated the obvious, “My safety?”

“Yes,” Randy gruffly agreed. “We want your mama bear to have three papa bears.”

Shannon laughed softly. “A twisted, X-rated version of
Goldilocks and the Three Bears?
”

Randy scowled and ignored her. “It’s your nature to protect us, and we understand that. All we’re asking for is the chance to take care of you, too. Protect us by letting us protect you.”

“Share your fears with us,” Drew said, his eyes darkening, pleading with hers, “and we will work through whatever it is together. Trust us to take care of you and ourselves.”

Could she do it?
Really?
She’d spent her entire life being whoever, and doing whatever, everybody else wanted. Her men had been right about that, even though she’d never seen it. She’d put everyone needs and wants ahead of herself, and she’d protected those she loved without thinking of what the hell she was doing to herself. Maybe it was selfish, but she was exhausted. She was tired of being the one who took care of everyone but herself, who protected everyone but herself.

She wasn’t an idiot. There was no way she could
not
protect them, but they weren’t asking her to fight her protective instincts. They were offering her their help and support. They could protect her, just as she could protect them. If she just said, “Yes,” to their request.

Jared took her cold hand in his, bringing it to his warm lips and kissing it lightly. “I wish I could tell you nothing will ever happen to us, but I don’t know the future. I can, however, swear that we will fight like hell to get back to you, no matter what.”

Jared gently laid her hand on the bedspread but didn’t let go. He held on securely, making her smile despite the tension. “We want
our
happily ever after with you, too.”

Following her gut instinct, Shannon found herself saying something that shocked everyone in the room, including her. “Let’s make a deal.”

The following Saturday night…

Shannon climbed the stairs to Jaycee’s house then mounted the front porch, her steps slow and soft against the wooden boards. With a sigh, she crossed over to one of the old-fashioned rockers and dropped into the cold, hard seat.

After the week she had, Shannon wasn’t in the mood for the
surprise
party waiting for her on the other side of the door. She preferred to be alone, even for just a minute or two. She needed to think and breathe without someone hovering over her and bombarding her with questions that she did not want or know how to answer.

Man, I sound like an ungrateful wench.
Shannon felt horrible that she didn’t want to be here with the people she loved most and half the townspeople she was quickly getting to know. But she couldn’t help it. Pretending to be surprised when she wasn’t did not appeal to her.
Yeah, well. I shouldn’t have snooped and spied. Now should I have?
Mentally, Shannon gave a self-deprecating snort.
Like I would have kept my nose out of my own birthday plans.

Closing her eyes, Shannon leaned her head against the rigid slats across the back of the rocker. The last couple of days had been filled with cops and paperwork. Since the moment she’d been able to be questioned by Belle until an hour ago, Shannon hadn’t been given a second of solitude. If it weren’t for the party, she wouldn’t be allowed now.

At first, she’d liked having everyone surrounding her all the time. However, after a while, she’d started to want to run screaming from the room when people entered it. Even her three closest friends and men had been suffocating her—if only a little.

Jared, Drew, and Randy didn’t seem to comprehend that she’d never been taken care of. As much as it pained her to admit it, other than her two best friends and Sarah, she’d had no one since she’d been a teen. Even then, she’d been more alone than she’d ever realized.

Now Shannon felt overwhelmed with all the attention and the tender care from three men. Frankly, it was a hell of a lot harder than she’d thought it would be when she’d agreed in the hospital to be with them. She wasn’t willing to give them up by any means, but she needed to adjust to the new status quo in her life.

Her men and friends were not the only ones smothering her with their constant presence. Not one single person had spent more time with her than the town sheriff. Belle had worked her ass off to get Mary where she belonged—behind bars.

Thinking back to her talk with Belle this afternoon, Shannon couldn’t help the vindictive glee that flooded her. Belle had told her that Mary’s arraignment had occurred earlier in the day. Ever the hard-ass, Judge Caldwell had denied her bail. So Mary was in the county jail, awaiting a preliminary hearing scheduled for next week. With her multiple felony charges, it didn’t look like she would get out of jail anytime soon.
Thank God.

The front door opening and closing quietly alerted Shannon to a person’s presence on the porch with her. When she popped open her eyes, she noticed that it wasn’t one person. It was three. Jared, Drew, and Randy stood by the door, making no move toward her.

Seeing the men did what it always had—took her breath away. She wanted to jump from her seat and launch herself at them. She wanted to run straight into their arms and hold them close. But, more than anything, she wanted to go home with them so she could lie in their arms and silently enjoy the feeling of warmth they provided her. Not talking or thinking, just feeling their love surrounding her.