Sage's Story [The Town of Pearl 5] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read online

  He looked her over, a gleam in his eye that made her instantly nervous. She started to turn away and busy herself in the kitchen when he took her hand, to stop her.

  “This means I’ll have you all to myself. What’s not to like about that?” He held her gaze as he brought her hand up to his lips and kissed it.

  She lowered her eyes, feeling so out of her league. She knew nothing about dating, never mind an older man like Dale.

  “Smells good. You made all that?” he asked, releasing her hand and taking a closer look at the chicken.

  “It’s a recipe my aunt taught me. You’ve probably tried it at Francine’s. They call it New York gourmet chicken salad?”

  “I can’t say I have. Virgo and I enjoy cooking. We don’t like to eat out much.”

  “Where is Virgo?” She lifted the tray with the pitcher of ice tea and two glasses.

  “A phone call away, darling,” he replied. She felt her nipples harden and her belly tighten from his reply.

  He winked at her as she started walking from the kitchen.

  “I can carry that.”

  “I got it, but thank you.”

  He followed her toward the small back door that led to her tiny backyard she was so very proud of. She smiled, as the smell of all the roses filled the air, and she could see that her garden needed some weeding, too.

  “This is really pretty out here,” Dale told her as she set the tray down and then handed him a glass.

  “Thank you. It looks like I need to do some weeding later or tomorrow.”

  * * * *

  Dale never felt so high strung and nervous before with a woman. Sage looked gorgeous, youthful, and damn it, edible. He took a sip of the sweet tea after he sat down on one of the chairs by a small buffet table.

  Sage took the seat next to him where they could both look at the garden, and the fields of land on the Jones’s property.

  He watched her cross her legs. Her sexy, tan thighs looked toned and smooth. He followed the curves of her body with his eyes over the pale green tank dress she wore. A flat belly and abundant breasts pressed snug beneath the soft cotton garment. His mouth practically watered. He swallowed hard and urged himself to think of something to say other than, I want you so badly it hurts inside my chest.

  “Your fathers’ family owns a lot of land. It’s a really nice ranch.”

  She looked toward him and turned slightly in her chair. Her knee was inches from his thigh. He placed the glass of ice tea back down onto the table and leaned forward.

  “It’s really nice. I’ve loved living here the past five or so years.”

  “You didn’t live here all your life?” he asked, even though he knew part of her story.

  She smiled softly and then tilted her head sideways at him. “Come on, Dale. I don’t like playing games and sure don’t like being taken for a fool.”

  She stood up and headed into the house.

  The woman had a short fuse, and he wondered what the hell he said to piss her off like that.

  He followed her up the steps and into the kitchen.

  “What the hell did I say wrong?”

  She leaned against the counter with her hands holding on to the edges. Her knuckles were white she was gripping it so hard.

  “Talk to me.”

  “I think you should just leave. This isn’t going to work anyway.”

  “I’m not leaving. What in God’s name did I say that pissed you off like this?”

  “I know that you know.”

  “Know what?”

  “About my past. About my life back in Detroit and how Lena rescued me, and then Kenny, Blake, Bryant, and Quinn adopted me because I was sixteen and homeless. I don’t need the bullshit questions.”

  He stared at her. His heart heavy knowing that she was homeless, on the run, hiding from a murderer. He knew that Lena saved her life, and almost lost her own. Such an overwhelming feeling of protectiveness consumed him.

  “I don’t know that much. Just the basics of what Matt and Quaid explained. Honey, I’m not the bad guy here. I want to get to know you.”

  She shook her head. “Just leave, Dale.”

  “I’m not leaving.”

  “Why not? I asked you to leave,” she stated, teeth clenched. She released her hold on the counter and stepped toward him aggressively. “I’m not like other women.”

  “No, you’re not. You’re special.” He snagged her around the waist and pulled her against his chest. She grabbed onto his forearms, and the feel of her feminine, delicate body within his massive hold was too much to resist.

  “Goddamn, woman, you’re sexy when you’re all fired up.”

  He reached under her hair to cup her head as he brought his lips down to hers and kissed her.

  She only resisted a moment, and then he felt her hand run through his hair as he walked her backward until her ass hit the counter.

  He pressed his tongue deeper, exploring her mouth as he used his right hand to press under her dress and against her thigh. She lifted it against his waist with his assistance and he felt his cock press hard against his jeans. She moaned into his mouth.

  When he smoothed his hand higher up her thigh to the thin strap of some tiny bikini panties she wore, she tore her mouth from his. Gasping for breath, she shoved against his shoulders.

  “Slow down. Oh God, this is crazy. What the hell are we doing?” Her lips were swollen red, her breasts exposed in this position. She looked like a sex symbol.

  “It’s crazy, Sage. I feel it, too. I fucking feel it every time you’re next to me. The desire, the need to explore this sexy body of yours.” He moved his fingers higher, gripped her hip, and squeezed then moved them back over to her ass cheek.

  She gasped as she looked up into his eyes, so innocent, yet sinful.

  “We have to stop.”

  “I don’t want to.”

  She looked sad.

  He squinted his eyes at her and she lowered them.

  “We have to,” she whispered.

  Something was wrong. She was scared.

  “Baby, talk to me.” He lowered her thigh, and fixed her dress. But she didn’t look up at him.

  “Sage, look at me, right now.”

  She lifted her head, and he could see the blush along her cheeks and neck, her wet, full lips and that sparkle in her eyes, but also that fear. He recognized it, and it didn’t sit well. He lifted her up by her hips and set her down on the counter. As he pressed between her thighs making them open. She gasped and held his shoulders.

  “I know you’re not as experienced as I am, or as the others are, but I’m not going to lie. It turns me on. Makes me feel that whatever we share is special.”

  She reached up and pressed her palm against his cheek. He closed his eyes, her touch so powerful it weakened him.

  “Talk to me.” He turned his head and kissed her palm.

  “I never felt anything like this before. It’s too much. It scares me,” she admitted and pulled her hand from his cheek.

  He pressed closer against her body, pulled her thighs around his waist, and then placed her arms around his waist. He cupped her cheeks and stared down into her gorgeous, emerald green eyes.

  “Don’t ever be scared of me. Not of Virgo, Matt, or Quaid. They would never hurt you, or push you into doing something you’re not ready for.”

  “You don’t understand.”

  “Make me understand. Tell me what you’re feeling, what ideas are going through your head.”

  She swallowed hard. “I don’t know how to.”

  He squinted his eyes at her, and then lowered his hands to her shoulders. “What do you mean you don’t know how to? How to explain how you feel?”

  She shook her head. “I can’t give you what you want. What I know you and Virgo, Matt, and Quaid want. I’m not capable of it.”

  “We want you.”

  She shook her head. “Let me down. Please just let me down.”

  “No. Tell me what you mean. Tell me wh
at you can’t give me, us. Tell me.”

  “My heart, my body, my trust,” she said as the tear rolled down her cheek.

  He didn’t know what to say or what to do, so he pulled her into his arms and hugged her to him. He caressed her back, and whispered to her as he let his heart and his emotions guide him.

  “I wish I knew who hurt you so badly, to make you block off your emotions, and to close up your heart and condition yourself to not want to feel anything. If I knew who he was, I’d kill him.”

  “He’s already dead,” she whispered, and he squeezed her tighter.

  * * * *

  Sage felt embarrassed, but also somewhat relieved at telling Dale how she felt. His kisses were so very powerful. His touch, the way his hand felt inching closer to her pussy but then against her ass cheek. It was wild, and brought on a surge of images in her head. Erotic, wild images of her with Dale, Matt, Virgo, and Quaid. But then those lust-filled, exciting thoughts turned to flashes of bad images. Scary ones, of Ariel, and other women, older than her, who let the gang bangers have their way with them. Sex was dirty, exploited, used as power and control. Triumph threated her with it, touched her, said things to her that still haunted her dreams. She shivered.

  “Sage, what is it?” he asked, pulling back and looking her in the eyes.

  “I’ll never forget.”

  Not the cries of pain, the orders, the demands they made on Ariel and the other women. I was too young, too flat chested at the time and unappealing next to the others. It’s what saved me.

  “Sage?”

  “Let’s have lunch and forget about this. All of it,” she said, wiggling down off the counter. He stepped aside as she fixed her dress and reached for the platter of food.

  “I don’t want to forget about it. I want to talk about it and work through this with you.”

  She took a deep breath. The words in her head broke her heart before they even reached her lips.

  “Then you’ll have to leave now. This conversation is over.”

  Chapter 4

  Sage revved the engine on the dirt bike. One, two, three turns and the sound of the motor getting louder hurt her ears despite the helmet she wore. She needed this. She needed to be free, feel free, and escape the thoughts running rampant in her head. Ever since yesterday and lunch with Dale, she couldn’t get the bad memories out of her past out of her head. She started wanting things. Things, a woman like her could never have, like peacefulness, honest affection, tenderness, and love. God, why the hell am I thinking about love?

  She sped off, doing a wheelie in the process before heading straight toward the rough terrain. She didn’t know why she chose the dangerous path, or what lead her so far off the regular route a lot of the other guys took, but the more dangerous the stronger the rush. She clenched her teeth and tried going faster, dangerously faster without thinking of consequences, or allowing fear to hold her back. It all wiped out the pain, the emptiness she felt inside and the longing she started to have. She didn’t know how long she was gone. But her arms were shaking, her legs and ass ached, and she knew she had to head back down. As she made her way, avoiding down branches, jagged rocks with little room to maneuver the thick wheels of the dirt bike, she thought about them. The way Dale’s lips felt against hers, the way his large, hard body pressed against her body. She liked him, just like she like Virgo, Quaid and Matt. God, what would they do if they saw her now?

  The thought pissed her off and made her feel like fighting the attraction even more. She revved the engine, sped up too quickly on the turn as the tire spun and she slid. Thank god she wore the gloves, as her hands landed on the dirt, the sound of the roaring engine a reminder of the powerful machine that was lying on its side, and against her leg.

  She looked out through the woods after turning the engine off. It was so silent and peaceful out here. No one was around, and she was lost in her thoughts. She wasn’t afraid of silence, of emptiness. In fact, she was an expert at feeling empty. Her somber thoughts brought on images of Dale, Virgo, Matt and Quaid, and their gorgeous faces, their maturity, experienced personalities, and all those muscles. She felt the tenderness in her breasts, and that ache in her pussy, even deeper in her core. She could get lost in their eyes, their touch, and their kisses.

  “No, you can’t. Weakness is their power. I can’t give in, no matter how much I want to have them, be touched by them, and I can’t take the chance of it turning bad. I just don’t know how to trust.”

  The defeated, empty feeling consumed her again, and she did what she did best, and blocked it out, and focused on the adrenaline rush. Who cares if I crash or get hurt? It’s temporary pain. Pain is something I’m used to.

  She growled in annoyance and anger, knowing that weakness was unacceptable. She pulled the bike back up, hoped back into position and started the engine. The deep rumbling sound echoed in the quiet woods, and vibrated in her chest. Speed and danger always take away the emptiness, even if it’s only temporary.

  Somehow she made it back through the woods and into the clearing, as she sped up and began to loop back around toward the road that led to where her friends were hanging out she saw the truck and nearly hit it. The person honked their horn and she sped up ahead, glancing over her shoulder only a second but long enough to see that the driver was pissed. She could hear the truck’s engine and knew he was chasing her. She smiled to herself as she slowed down, letting him think he was making leeway when she realized who it was.

  Dale? Oh shit!

  Sage tightened her grip, popped a wheelie, and sped way ahead of the truck. He attempted to seed up, but she took off to the right and the dirt road that led to another wooded area the truck couldn’t possibly follow. As she backtracked to the right she could see him in the distance, truck stopped and getting out with his cell phone to his ear. It was time to hide before the Calvary showed up and busted her.

  * * * *

  “She’s avoided us all week. Tonight, I made reservations with Abigail to have Sage be our server, and instead Meredith shows up at the table and says that Sage can’t wait on us tonight,” Matt stated as he stared at Dale from across the kitchen island at home.

  “She wouldn’t even come over. She gave a wave, and half a smile but ignored us the entire time,” Quaid added.

  “I told you all about what happened at her cottage, about her reaction to us fooling around. She felt the attraction. She freaked when things got a little too hot and heavy.” Dale ran his fingers through his hair. They were all at their wits’ end. They thought they were making progress but she was cutting them off before they could let her get to know them.

  “Do you think she was sexually assaulted back in Detroit, and Lena and the guys don’t know it?” Virgo asked. They all stared at him. Matt felt his chest tighten instantly as if he had a knife in his gut.

  “You think that’s a possibility?” Matt asked.

  “Listen, back in Delight, the women, our friends, all came from troubled pasts. There was abuse, neglect, and assault in various ways. They were strong-armed by powerful, hurtful men who not only manipulated their minds, but also hurt them so deeply, it was like their souls were scarred forever. It’s hard to explain. But the fear, the distrust is so deep, their only defense is to resist feeling at all. Sage shows the signs. She’s scared, and I’m certain it’s from her past.”

  “What do we do to help her, Virgo? How do we make her understand that she’s safe with us?” Quaid asked.

  “We have to gain her trust and we can’t give up the fight for her. I think she’ll come around. After all, it’s been years of conditioning and hardening her heart that we need to break through. The four of us together should be able to.”

  “I’m in. Her kisses and the feel of her body in my arms are things I want all the time,” Dale stated.

  “Yeah well, the rest of us haven’t experienced what you did, so if you don’t mind, keep the erotic thoughts to yourself,” Matt said, and they mumbled in agreement.

  “
Back to business. We need to finish redoing those surveillance cameras on the edge of town and then on Main Street. The video line that connects to the sheriff’s department needs to be upgraded. The picture has been coming in fuzzy. Some kind of interference,” Dale told them.

  “Okay, you and Virgo handle it. Whatever is necessary and needed, we’ll get it. The safety of this town is top priority,” Matt said. They all agreed.

  * * * *

  Sage got dressed at home, and then headed to Lena’s and her fathers’ place to see the kids. Davie, Lenny, Bill and Corey were picking her up there, along with Sissy, Mary, and Amanda.

  “You look pretty,” Laya told Sage, as Sage sat on the couch in the living room along with Lena. Kenny was working tonight, Blake and Quinn were sitting across the room on the other couch, and Bryant was helping Frankie and William with a puzzle.

  “That skirt is kind of short, isn’t it?” Blake asked her as she crossed her legs and texted the girls. She gave him a look and Lena chuckled.

  “She’s got a great figure and long legs, that’s what makes the skirt seem short, but it’s not.” Lena stated.

  “Who’s driving?” Quinn asked from across the room.

  “You know who’s driving. You guys are acting funny. What’s wrong with you?”

  “What’s going on with you, Dale, Virgo, Matt, and Quaid? Why aren’t you going out with them tonight, instead of the dance hall in Turbank?” Blake asked.

  “Blake,” Lena reprimanded.

  Sage stood up. “I don’t date. You all know that.”

  “Because you like them, and they like you,” Bryant added.

  “I like a lot of people,” she replied to them as her phone buzzed again.

  “She likes Davie, Lenny, Bill, Corey, Bobby, and Clay, too, plus Sissy, Mary, and Amanda.” Laya said as she counted on her fingers.

  They chuckled and Sage knelt down on the floor where Laya was playing with her doll changing her dress and putting pajamas on her.