Van, Becca - Re-awaken Me (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

BECCA VAN

Copyright © 2011

Chapter One

Pip sat in her car in the driveway of her childhood home. She stared at the house, feeling a chill run up and down her spine. It had been ten years since she had left, and not once had she returned to visit until now. The house looked exactly as she remembered. She wondered who had kept the garden weeded and the lawns mowed. She took a deep breath, opened the door of her car, and climbed out. She walked up the wood steps leading to the deck and the front door. She placed the key in the lock and turned it. The door creaked open, a slight squeak making her jump as the unused hinges protested. She walked into the entryway, stood still, and felt the memories rushing through her brain.

There had been so much love in this house, and to have it all cruelly ripped away from her by someone’s random act of violence brought back all the grief she’d felt on that horrible day years before, piercing her heart with a pain so acute she doubled over with it. She felt tears rolling down her cheeks, her breath rasping in and out of her mouth, her sobs loud even to her own ears. Finally, when the storm was over, she stood upright, wiped the tears from her cheeks, pushed her shoulders back, and entered the living room. Everything was still the same. The only difference was the sheets draped over the furniture to keep the dust at bay.

Memories hit her from that summer long ago.

She had spent the day following the Sage brothers around like usual. That was the day her heart was broken irrevocably forever more. She had followed Mason, Randy, and Chip Sage to the local swimming spot, and there she had witnessed her three older neighbors kissing other girls. Her twelve-year-old heart had not been able to take such betrayal, and she had run home sobbing. Her parents were still working at the local newspaper, and she had spent the afternoon on her bed.

Pip must have cried herself to sleep, because when she woke, it was totally dark. She crawled from her bed and went in search of her parents. She turned the kitchen light on and saw it was already eight o’clock. Her parents should have been home hours ago. She was about to call her mom and dad at work but replaced the receiver before she could punch in the numbers, when she saw car lights sweep across the kitchen window. She bounded out of the house, ready to greet her parents, but stopped in her tracks. It wasn’t her parents’ car at all. It was the sheriff.

Pip heard Sheriff Jackson sigh as he got out of his car, leaving his hat behind, and then he was walking toward her. She knew something bad had happened by the serious look on the sheriff’s face and the sinking feeling in her gut. He took her by the hand and led her into the kitchen. She was aware of the tears flowing down her cheeks before he even spoke to her. He sat down on one of the kitchen chairs, pulled her onto his lap, and held her. She only caught a few of the words Sheriff Jackson spoke, but those words were to change her life forever.

“Bomb…Your mom and dad are dead.”

Pip didn’t remember much after that. Her eyes saw things, but she didn’t comprehend what she was seeing. Her body did things, but she had no idea what. The pain in her chest, her heart, throat, eyes, and head was unbearable. She lived in a catatonic stupor for months. She pushed those horrid memories to the back of her mind and thought of the tasks ahead.

She took another deep breath, wandering through the house she once shared with her parents.

She had so much work to do. She wondered if her parents’ clothes were still hanging in their closet. She didn’t think she was ready to dispose of them just yet, so she avoided going into the master bedroom. She flicked a light switch on in her old bedroom, relieved to find the electricity company had actually turned the power back on. She had no intention of sleeping in her old room. She didn’t think she could without the memories bombarding her.

She went through the house, brought her things into the guest room and unpacked her groceries in the kitchen. It was late Thursday afternoon, and Pip didn’t have to start her new job as a journalist for the
Shelby News
newspaper until Monday. Little did anyone know, Pip had actually bought the paper but had decided to keep that a secret until she investigated her parents’ murders. She had worked the last two years as an investigative reporter, behind the scenes for a television network, and had earned enough money to buy the small paper, only having to use a portion of the money from her parents’ life insurance policies.

She needed to pull the sheets from the furniture and also take the time to go through her parents’ things. She wasn’t looking forward to the task but knew she was going to have to face it eventually. She went to her new room, changed into her favorite pair of old jeans and a large T-shirt, pulled her long hair back into a ponytail, and set to work.

Pip removed the sheets from the furniture and cleaned the house from top to bottom. When she finally finished, she went to the kitchen, rinsed then filled the kettle, and plugged it in to boil. The spring light was beginning to wane, making the sky light up with purples, pinks, and blues. She could see white, fluffy clouds drifting across the sky in the distance. She stood, flicked the light on, and made her coffee, sighing with delight after the first sip. She made herself an omelet and cleaned up. She had a shower and was just about to crawl into bed naked, when she heard someone pounding on her front door. She froze, wondering who the hell would be visiting at this time of night, and then she became scared, because no one knew she had come back home.

Pip pulled her jeans on again, as well as her large shirt, and headed for the door. She could see a tall, large silhouette through the glass panels and debated on whether to admit them entry. The shadow moved again, making her jump as his fist connected with the door once more.

“Who is it?” Pip called.

“It’s the sheriff. Open up.”

Pip sighed with exasperation. The sheriff had obviously seen her car in the front and was checking to make sure she hadn’t broken in, since the house had been empty for so long.

“Show me your badge, Sheriff,” Pip demanded through the door.

“You’re going to have to open the door to see it,” the sheriff’s deep voice came through the door.

Pip bit down on her bottom lip nervously, wondering if she was safe opening up to the man outside. There was something familiar with that voice, but she couldn’t quite pinpoint why she knew it.

“I’ll only be a moment. I need to get the keys for the dead bolt,” Pip stated, then headed to the kitchen. She flicked lights on as she went. When she got back to the front door, she turned the hall and outside lights on and unlocked the door.

The man standing on the other side of the screen door was breathtaking. He was tall, dark, and handsome from what she could see. She knew even though he was leaning against the doorjamb with a lazy nonchalance that he was coiled, ready to pounce. He was wearing a sheriff’s uniform and hat, which sat low on his head, shielding half of his face. She unlocked the screen door, keeping her eyes on him. The muscles in his biceps rippled beneath his skin as he stood up to his full height. He had to be well over six feet tall, and since Pip was so small, she felt totally intimidated. She pushed the screen door open, studied the badge he held out to her, and wished she had asked for some other ID with the man’s name and photo on it. She could feel his eyes on her, making her skin ripple and rise into goose bumps. The sound of his voice breaking the silence made her flinch, as she was startled by the deep cadence.

“Pippa, is that you?”

Pip looked up and studied the face of the handsome man in front of her. It took her a while, but then she knew without a doubt she was looking at Mason Sage.

“Mason,” she croaked.

Mason moved into the doorway and scooped her up into his arms, her feet dangling in the air. He hugged her to him tight, squeezing her ribs, making it hard for her to get a breath. She didn’t realize she was crying into his chest until she felt moisture on her cheeks. Her arms were around his neck, just as fierce as his were around her ribs.

“My God. I can’t believe it’s you, squirt. You’ve changed so much, but I’ll never forget your little pixie face. Where have you been? What have you been doing? Why didn’t you come to our place? Mom would have loved to have you stay with us,” Mason said. Pip held on to Mason’s arms as he slowly released her, making sure she was steady on her feet before removing his arms from around her body. She felt so tiny next to him. Her head only came to his chest.

“I can’t believe you’re here, baby. God, I’ve missed you so much. How about a cup of coffee and we talk over old times? Randy and Chip are not going to believe me when I tell them you’re back. How long are you staying?”

“I’m living here now. I have a job at the newspaper that I start on Monday,” Pip replied over her shoulder as she walked toward the kitchen. She filled the kettle with water and set it to boil then got down two mugs. She turned to see Mason studying her, perusing her from head to toe and back again, bringing a flush to her cheeks.

“I have to call Randy and Chip to come over. They’ll kill me if I don’t,” Mason stated as he unclipped his cell phone from his belt. “You don’t mind, do you, Pip?”

“No. I can’t believe you all still live here. The last I remember you were heading off to the Navy, Randy not far behind you. I thought you would spend the rest of your life serving our country.”

Mason held up a finger to halt her speech, and then he was speaking into the phone. “Randy, you and Chip need to come over to Pip’s place…Yeah, she’s finally come home…Okay, see ya soon.” Mason ended the call and turned to her. “They should be here in a couple of minutes. Now, tell me all about what’s been going on with you, baby.”

“Well, after mom and dad’s funeral, I was sent to live with my dad’s aunt. She took me in. I went to school and college then worked as a journalist for a couple of years, and here I am,” Pip summarized. “What have you been doing?”

“Well, I served six years in the Navy and decided I’d had enough traveling, so when my time of service was up, I decided to come back home. Sheriff Jackson had just retired, so I thought about becoming Sheriff and I haven’t looked back since. Randy followed a year later, then a year after that, so did Chip.”

“So all three of you were in the Navy?” Pip asked as she made the coffee.

“Yeah, and now all three of us are in law. I’m Sheriff and the other two are deputies.”

“How’re your mom and dad?”

“They’re great. They decided they wanted to travel, sold the house to me, Randy, and Chip, and are having the time of their lives. They come back home every now and then, just to catch up, but they don’t stay long. Oh, oh, here’s trouble. Brace yourself, baby, you’re about to be swept off your feet.”

Pip listened as the screen door slammed shut then two sets of feet ran the length of the house and came to a standstill in the doorway of her kitchen.

“Pippa. My God, you’re a sight for sore eyes, sugar,” Randy rasped out.

He moved before she could say anything, and then she was in his arms. She threw her arms around his neck, laughing as he lifted her up to his height, spinning around in a circle. He stopped spinning and gazed deeply into her eyes, and then to her surprise, his mouth was on hers.

Pip couldn’t believe Randy was kissing her, and the kiss wasn’t just a friendly greeting. He ravished her mouth with his own, his tongue thrusting between her lips to tangle with hers, nibbling at her lips then tilting his head to the side as he slanted over her lips and mouth again and again. She was too surprised to push him away at first, and then she remembered his brothers were there in her kitchen watching. She placed her hands on his muscular shoulders, feeling his hard muscles rippling beneath her palms as she tried to push him away. She knew her cheeks were red, but she wasn’t sure if it was with arousal or embarrassment, or a combination of both. Randy finally eased his mouth away from hers as she pushed against him persistently.

“Damn, sugar. You’re hot,” Randy stated, sliding her down the length of his tall, muscular body.

Pip didn’t respond, just swiped her tongue over her tingling bottom lip, moving her eyes from Randy to Mason, then landing on Chip. She grinned as she saw the familiar, cocky half smile tilting the corners of Chip’s mouth. She watched as he leaned against the doorjamb to the kitchen, his eyes wandering over her body. He pinned her in place with his baby blues, stood up straight, and literally stalked toward her.

Pippa couldn’t believe how tall they all were. The last time she had seen them they had been tall, but not this tall. Chip was taller than his older brothers by a couple of inches. He had to be at least six foot five. His hair was a dark chocolate color and his eyes a deep navy blue. She remembered how fascinated she had been by his eyes, even when she had been a young kid.

Pip squeaked as Chip placed his hands on her waist, picking her straight up off the floor with little effort until her eyes were level with his, her feet once again dangling in midair.

“What—” Pip began. Her words were muffled as Chip kissed her, too.

His kisses were so different from Randy’s. Randy had demanded a response from her, where Chip’s lips and tongue coaxed her into responding. Pip knew she was in trouble. She had loved these three men unequivocally when she was a kid and knew she had not stopped loving them. She didn’t even know them anymore, but her heart and body didn’t seem to care. She felt cream dripping out of her pussy, dampening her panties as Chip kissed her. She had to put a halt to things now, before they got out of hand. She had too much to do and didn’t want to involve her friends in her investigation. She needed to concentrate on finding who had murdered her parents. Nothing and no one was going to get in her way. Pippa pushed on his hard shoulders, feeling his muscles bunch as he removed his mouth from hers and gently placed her back on the floor. She cleared her throat, making sure she wouldn’t squeak when she opened her mouth to talk.