The American Soldier Collection 3: Amazing Grace (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read online

  The door was open and the scent of her perfume lingered in the hallway. He saw the rumpled sheets and he was struck by the fact that there was a woman in their vacation home. Neither him, Big Jay, nor Duke ever brought any women up here. Thinking about it, they never brought any women to their home in town either. He could see himself with a woman like Grace. She had a lot of the characteristics he was attracted to in a woman, but she was out of his league in other ways.

  She had lived in Europe, photographed models, went to fancy parties, and had designer everything. She was style and class, and he was vintage.

  Shaking the thoughts from his head, he headed downstairs to help with breakfast. As he passed Grace’s room this morning, he heard the shower running.

  * * * *

  Grace thought about the house the guys owned. The inside of the house was immaculate. The family room had a beautiful stone fireplace and deep large comfortable couches scattered around it.

  She looked into her bag. Her brother packed practically everything she owned. She opted for a pair of jean shorts and a loose white T-shirt. She glanced around the room and saw a beautiful blue wooded armoire that contained a TV and some extra bed linens in the drawers.

  There were pictures of a spinning wheel sewing an American flag on one wall, and on another wall a long, brown, wooden rod contained an antique quality quilt of the Pledge of Allegiance.

  She liked the theme as she headed toward the bathroom.

  The bathroom was large and contained a Jacuzzi tub and a separate glass-enclosed, mosaic-tiled shower. It was a modern touch to the whole log home idea. She actually liked it, a lot. Living in Europe and doing photo shoots, she had gotten to stay in some really amazing hotels as well as some dives. But the idea of a Jacuzzi tub was definitely positive as far as she was concerned.

  She took her time and enjoyed the heat of the water. Her shoulders and neck ached and she still felt the cause was more from Sandman tackling her than the stress of the events. When she was finished, she got dressed and headed downstairs.

  * * * *

  The killer sat in his car as he watched Grace’s brothers’ house. Where had she gone? No one knew or they weren’t telling.

  He should have figured Sandstone would take Grace into hiding but he didn’t think Sandstone could pull it off without him knowing. After all he was like part of the family.

  Who was this guy Sandstone anyway? He came in out of the blue and was running the show. The killer wanted information on him and a way to get to Sandstone and get him out of this investigation. But how?

  Someone in the family knew where Grace was and would open their mouth and leak the information.

  Now he had to be patient. Patience was definitely not one of his strong points, especially when it came to picking a victim, relishing in the time he spent exploring them and then leaving their body to be found by the authorities. His desire, his obsession was too much to ignore. He craved another. He would have to be very cautious now that there were so many agents and police around but it actually excited him and made the thrill of killing even more pleasurable. As he put the car in drive, he headed out of town determined to satisfy his physical desires. He enjoyed the hunt almost as much as the actual acts and fantasies he envisioned in his mind. He looked at the clock on his car radio and knew he had plenty of time. He was a pro, a master at his game. He would never get caught. He would gratify his wants and needs. “Soon…Soon…”

  He breathed deeply, taking his time as he passed one young woman after the next.

  “Who will be the lucky one to play along today?”

  Chapter 7

  They finished eating breakfast and Sandman shook his head as he listened to Duke flirt with Grace. His brother was relentless but his persistence finally put a small smile on Grace’s face.

  “Honey, you should be the model, not the photographer,” Duke stated, and Grace shook her head at him. She popped a blueberry into her mouth as she looked out the doublewide windows toward the fields and garden.

  “I love being a photographer and I prefer to be behind the lens, not in front of it.”

  “Yeah, I know what you mean,” he replied.

  “Bullshit, you know what she means. You’re SWAT, a commander and instructor and love being in the spotlight. Don’t you get it? Grace likes to remain anonymous, and mysterious,” Big Jay said as he continued to tap on the keyboard.

  “All I’m saying is that she should be in the spotlight. She’s gorgeous,” Duke stated as he held her gaze.

  “Well I agree with you there, but she’s also an artist and probably likes to keep to herself as well,” Big Jay added and Sandman watched as she looked toward Duke and Sandman and smiled. Duke released a sigh.

  Just then, Sandman’s phone rang.

  “Sandstone here.”

  “It’s Jim. We found the location of the latest victim. The one whose pictures were sent to Grace? You’re not going to believe this but the murder took place only three houses down from the brother’s house. The young woman worked in the records department in city hall. She often jogged by the coffee hut, too, and knew one of the girls who worked behind the counter,” Jim explained.

  “Holy shit only three houses away from John’s place? Damn this guy is good. Grace was only at her brother’s house for three days while I was in New York. He was able to scope out the neighborhood, select the victim, learn her routine, and make his move so quickly. Any evidence left behind?” Sandman asked.

  “We found his usual stuff, handcuffs, whips, ropes, and of course no weapon. He did, however, leave a copy of a newspaper clipping of Grace from a few years ago.”

  “Did you find any prints on anything?” he asked.

  “The lab still has everything we collected but I’m sure he wore gloves. “

  “What about this woman who was killed? You said she worked for the records department in city hall? Could that be more than coincidence?”

  “Anything is possible at this point, Sandman. I mean, we can’t figure this out. We don’t have any leads and even the guy who was framed for Clara Thompson’s murder didn’t think he had any enemies.”

  “I’ll have Duke and Big Jay look into this a bit more,” Sandman replied as he watched Grace joke around with his brothers. She wasn’t going to take the latest news too well. She felt responsible even though she wasn’t. He decided he would talk to his brothers first and have them find out more about the woman who was killed and about the guy the real killer framed for Grace’s sister’s murder.

  “What was that about?” Big Jay asked as Grace began cleaning up from breakfast. Duke was bumping into her, flirting, and pretending to act nonchalant about it. They liked her. That thought hit his stomach like a ton of bricks.

  “Nothing. Jim is going to send me some stuff. I want you and Duke to look into a few things for me.”

  Grace turned toward him.

  “Is everything okay? Did something else happen?” she asked.

  He felt bad for lying to her, but he wanted a little time to gather some good news.

  “It’s fine. Just some new details. This is why I have my brothers helping me out. So, why don’t I show you the library we have and the awesome number of books. If there’s nothing you like, we have an e-reader in there, too. You can download whatever you’d like,” Sandman stated. Duke stared at him over Grace’s head. Duke knew that Sandman was keeping something hidden from Grace.

  “Hey, I’ll show her the library and you can go over the things you want Big Jay and I to look into.”

  He stared at his brother and felt the tinge of awareness as Duke placed a hand on Grace’s shoulder then ran his hand down her arm to her hand. It caught both Grace and Sandman off guard. But even more so was the way Grace immediately turned toward Sandman. “Go with Duke, honey. You’re in good hands,” he stated.

  His words suddenly felt as if they had more meaning than he could even comprehend right now. It was instant and Grace felt it, too. Her cheeks turned a shade of red, a
nd then to top it off Big Jay walked over to her. The sight of his brother Jay, standing over six and half feet, in front of a very gorgeous, petite woman like Grace as his other brother Duke remained holding her hand, stirred his entire body. His cock hardened, his eyes felt as if they zoned in on her face, her lips, her body, and instantly he could see them making love to her together. Holy fuck! This is what Jim and his brother feel for Deanna. This is exactly what Gunner, Garrett, and Wes felt for Gia.

  He and his brothers thought about getting involved in a ménage relationship because of their lack of trust issues and what they felt were hardened hearts. If there were three of them to love one woman, then she would never be at a loss for attention and love. So if one of them or even two out of the three were having a hard time facing their emotions or dealing with their military pasts, then the other brother or brothers could take over providing attention to their woman. It made sense. The three of them had lost a lot of their empathy, their connection to other human beings.

  “I’ll come check on you in a little while, okay?” Big Jay whispered as he gently rubbed his fingers under her chin, gripping it gently. She looked like an angel as she stared up into his brother’s eyes appearing timid and shy. When she licked her lower lip, Big Jay moaned then abruptly released her and stepped away. He walked over to his laptop computer and released a long sigh.

  Grace locked gazes with Sandman and he stared at her, unable to say a word. It seemed the attraction between the four of them was immediately intense.

  “Go ahead, darlin’,” Sandman whispered and Duke led her out of the kitchen and still remained holding her hand.

  * * * *

  Big jay was trying to calm himself down. He nearly kissed the poor woman. Holy shit I don’t know what came over me and then she licked her lip and fuck, I almost grabbed her and kissed her. What am I thinking?

  “Hey, are you okay?” Sandman asked him and he wondered if his brother and Duke felt what he was feeling.

  “No, I’m all fucked up.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You know damn well what I mean, Sandman. You see her, you feel it, don’t you?”

  Sandman ran his hands through his hair then turned his back toward Big Jay and looked out toward the sliding glass doors.

  “She’s a beautiful woman. It’s natural to be attracted to her, Big Jay. Don’t freak out.”

  “Fuck you, don’t freak out. I saw the desire in her eyes, in Duke’s eyes and yours, too,” Big Jay stated as he turned his brother around by his upper arm. They were nearly toe-to-toe and even though Big Jay had a few inches on Sandman, his brother was just as big and just as strong.

  “She’s in danger. Jim just called and said that they found the other body. The one of the missing woman whose picture was sent to Grace.”

  Big Jay felt his blood pressure rising. He saw the pictures through the e-mails Jim sent along. The woman was beautiful, with long brown hair and green eyes. He also knew what Grace found in the envelope. His brother had explained everything.

  “Why didn’t you tell Grace?”

  “And scare her, upset her even more?”

  “She has to be kept abreast of the situation, Sandman. There may be some information that she could recognize as a clue. She’s safe here with us. That was the point of you taking her out of the equation.”

  “I’ll tell her. I just wanted to give her one day of no bad news. It’s been nonstop for her since she returned from Europe.”

  “I know. I was looking up information on her last night. She came down this morning early for a drink. I think she couldn’t sleep.”

  “There’s something we all share in common,” Sandman remarked.

  Big Jay knew that he and his brothers had difficulty sleeping at night. The nightmares were less frequent, but now just the memories, the hint of danger on the mist of their dreams made the evening hours awful. That was why, when Sandman suggested that Big Jay remain on guard, he was more than happy to oblige.

  “Listen, I want you and Duke to look into this woman who was found. She worked for the records department in city hall. Then I’m going to see if there are any leads on that bomb that was sent to Donald’s office. I still think there was more to that.”

  “Okay, sounds like a plan. I’ll let you know if I find anything.”

  * * * *

  Grace was totally in tune to her body. Her mind, however, was hollering for her to stop acting like some inexperienced teenage girl. Yes, she was a professional woman who traveled and worked in Europe with supermodels, but she was not experienced. One lover sure didn’t constitute anything remotely close to experienced. However, throw her into a house under the protection of three, sexy, hot military men, and holy shit, she’d lost her mind. It didn’t matter which one of them touched her. Sandman, Big Jay, or Duke, she felt it to her nipples and her pussy. It was instant and it was incredibly strong.

  “So this is the library. Not sure if you’ll find something of interest, so I’ll just get you the e-reader and write down the password for you. Don’t worry about the cost. We have an account set up.” Duke pulled open a desk drawer and handed her the reading device.

  She looked around the beautiful room. There were two large windows that looked out over the backyard and some sort of pond and waterfall.

  “That is gorgeous. Is that a waterfall and pond?” she asked as she moved closer to the window. It even had a sitting area around it with a swinging bench and lots of flowers.

  “Yeah, we worked on that together,” Duke said from behind her. She tightened up when she felt his hand on her waist and the other go to her left shoulder.

  As he gave her shoulder a slow, light squeeze, she found herself leaning back against him.

  “There are Koi in there, too. I’ll take you outside later, once I finish helping Big Jay look over some things.”

  She turned to look up toward him.

  “I’m sorry that you need to be involved with this. You probably wish you were working in SWAT right now and training officers.”

  He cupped her chin and she gripped the windowsill behind her. Every ounce of her body was aroused. She swallowed hard and nearly coughed from the difficulty.

  “I don’t regret being here. I sure as hell am glad that my brother called Big Jay and I in on this. We’re going to keep you safe and we’re going to find this guy.”

  She lowered her eyes from the intensity of his words.

  “No one has been able to. It’s been so many years. How can he still be out there and committing all these murders yet remain undetected?”

  He caressed his thumb across her lower lip. The look in his eyes as she held his gaze did a number on her. The depth and emotion in his blue eyes was stunning.

  “That’s not for you to worry about, Grace. We’re good at our jobs. I’m looking forward to getting to know you better as well.”

  “It’s always nice to make new friends. I just don’t want you guys to miss out on important things in your life because of me and this situation.”

  He scrunched up his eyes and stared at her lips then locked gazes with her.

  “Sweetheart, we wouldn’t be here unless we wanted to be. Now, you just need to relax a little and let us take care of you. I mean that.”

  She gave him a small smile and as he began to move his lips closer toward her, she anticipated his kiss. But it never came as he immediately stepped back and Sandman entered the room. She hadn’t even heard him coming, but Duke had.

  “What’s going on? Did you give her the password and the e-reader?”

  “She’s got it and is ready to download, right, Grace?”

  “Right. Thanks, Duke.”

  “Later, sweetheart.” He winked and she shyly looked away as Duke left the room.

  When she looked up, she locked gazes with a very serious-looking Sandman.

  “I’m going to get in touch with Frank and see if we can set up a call for you with your mom.”

  “Oh God, really? That would be
great. Thank you.”

  She picked up the e-book reader and looked at the screen. She wasn’t sure what to do.

  “He didn’t show you, did he?”

  She looked at him and shook her head.

  “Just hit this button to get online, then press add to cart, and when it states that you’re at checkout, enter the password. Then the book will be downloaded instantly,” Sandman said as he stood right beside her. She was shocked at the emotions she felt. She was just as attracted to Sandman as she was Duke and she was certain even Big Jay. What in the world is happening to me?

  “I’ll check on you in a little bit, just call if you need anything.” He stared at her a moment before walking from the room.

  Grace fell into the long lounge chair that overlooked the windows and outside setting. She stared down at the e-book reader and looked for a book to read. She was a romantic at heart but for some reason as she scanned through the synopses of the stories, she found herself submerged in an excerpt from an erotic romance novel. The ménage story interested her and before long she was hitting download and reading the amazingly sexy story.

  She knew that ménage relationships existed. She knew a few models that were involved in that type of relationship and they were very happy. Grace never really saw herself in any kind of relationship. She felt she had too much baggage and too many fears to let herself go and to trust fully. She couldn’t even imagine herself having a boyfriend. A lover was one thing, but believing that a man could be trusted with her every intimate thought or sexual desire scared the crap out of her. Therefore, she couldn’t even imagine two or three or more men committed to her at once.