"Offer the Treasure Cove a thirty percent discount on all our products. Pull our beef out of Delbert"s, obviously. I happen to know that the owner of the Cove has had trouble getting a loan to redecorate and expand his selection. He wants to hire a new chef. I believe I feel like investing in a restaurant again. This one turned out well."
"d.a.m.n straight." Sam loved it when Jack plotted. Sam would have just kicked the man"s a.s.s, but this was much better. Of course, he would still kick the man"s a.s.s, but Jack"s revenge was longer lasting. Sam"s would just make him feel better.
"If that still doesn"t tempt the good people of Willow Fork away, I"ll just buy the property and kick him out," Jack finished. Like Sam, Jack had ditched the jacket and tie. He watched Abby with an unmistakably possessive gleam in his eyes.
Mike nodded. "Well, I"m with you. I believe in retribution. There are people in this town who more than deserve a little justice coming their way for how they treated Abby. I saw they already towed the car."
"Yeah, her new one will be delivered tomorrow." Sam grinned at the thought of Abby tooling around in her brand new convertible.
He"d ordered it himself when Jack had informed him Abby needed a new car. Sam had chosen a pretty, pearl Mercedes. It would look nice with Abby"s auburn hair.
"She"s going to put up a fight, you know," Jack mused.
"That"s half the fun." Sam sat back. He was looking forward to Abby"s reaction when she got the car. "She looks awful cute when she"s yelling at us."
91.
"That she does." Jack turned to Mike after taking a long swig of cold beer. "This is really all about some boy who died more than twenty years ago? I don"t understand what the problem is. From what I"ve heard, Abigail wasn"t even in the car with him."
Mike rolled his eyes and sighed. "Abby and Adam had a big fight that night. Practically the whole town heard it. They said some awful things to each other. You gotta understand, Adam was wild. He ran off, got drunk, and killed himself driving too fast down the highway.
One of his friends said he was trying to get to Abby so they could make up. He wouldn"t have been on the highway if he hadn"t been trying to see Abby. It"s ridiculous, but they blamed her. Ruby, his mama, said Abby changed him. Back then, they ran this town. I suppose they still do. They used to be the biggest employers in Willow Fork. Ruby"s dad ran a textile mill. It closed down shortly after Abby left. It hurt the town, but the Echols family didn"t seem to lose much cash."
"Then why does everyone follow their orders?" Sam had noticed a certain portion of the town practically worshipped at the old biddy"s feet.
Mike shrugged. "I suppose it"s a habit. People want a king, I guess. Especially in a small town. I guess that person is usually the town"s mayor or the richest family or the biggest employer."
"Two out of three ain"t bad," Jack commented with an arrogant smile.
"It"s going to have to be. I don"t think either one of us wants to be the mayor." Their packing plant was small, but it still employed more citizens than any other business around.
"No, but the mayor might be more willing to stand up against the Echols family if you and Jack mentioned that you might have plans to expand in the future," Mike mused. "Plans that might not include Willow Fork."
92.
"They might not." Jack"s eyes narrowed. "If this town doesn"t accept our queen, then this set of kings will take their business and their money and their jobs elsewhere."
Sam exchanged a look with Jack. Sam would go along with whatever needed to be done. It would be hard, but they could do it. He wouldn"t have Abby treated like that.
"Mike," Jack put his beer down, "will you excuse us for a moment? I need to have a private word with Abby and Sam."
Mike smiled knowingly as Jack stood. "I"ll keep the table warm."
Sam"s entire body went on red alert at the thought of cornering Abby. He"d been crazy to find out what she was wearing under that skirt. "What"s the plan, Jack?"
"Follow my lead," Jack said with a predatory look.
Sam had been following Jack"s lead for years. He wasn"t about to stop now.
"What is this place?" Abby tried to contain the excitement of being alone with Jack and Sam. Jack used a key to open a door at the top of the stairs. The Barn had, at one point, been an actual barn, Jack had explained over dinner. When they renovated it to make it a bar, they created a second floor for offices and storage.
"Sam sometimes gets plastered." Jack escorted Abby through the door into the room. "I had the contractors build this room specifically for those times."
It was a small room but well kept. There was a small bed and a dresser. Several bottles of water and aspirin were on a bedside table.
"Are you telling me Sam has a drunk room?"
"h.e.l.l, no." Sam"s smile was wicked. "The bar is my drunk room.
This is my pa.s.sing out room."
"It"s a drive from the bar to our house, and I was worried Sam might decide to take the more direct route right through our land."
93.
Jack turned on the light by the bed. "I couldn"t take the chance he might plow through our fences or hit the herd."
"I don"t always make the best choices when I"ve had a few," Sam admitted with a negligent shrug.
"Come here." Jack sat down on the bed. He indicated his lap, and Abby felt her body getting soft and warm.
This was the part of the evening where Abby had sworn to herself she would explain that she needed to slow things down...like to a stop. She would be polite, but she needed to end things. It was for their own good. So why was she coming up with a million excuses to put it off?
Earlier, she"d told herself that they had gone to the trouble of changing their plans, so she should enjoy dinner with them. Then she thought it wouldn"t hurt to dance with Sam. Then Christa had shown up. Now she was wondering if she shouldn"t just chuck the whole idea of leaving them. The truth was she didn"t want to. She wanted all of this to be real. Abby found herself settling onto Jack"s lap. His hands went around her waist, and she felt safe.
"I need you to tell me why you didn"t mention that someone had vandalized your car, sweetheart." Jack"s tone was firm. Abby"s head came off his shoulder. How had he found out about that?
"Abby didn"t know about it," Sam protested. "She was driving your car, Jack."
Abby flushed because she knew the truth.
"Abby went by earlier in the day." Jack looked down at her.
"That"s how she got that dent in the truck. It was from Mike"s trailer."
Abby looked down at her hands. "I am sorry about that. I know I should have gone on and taken my car anyway, but I was embarra.s.sed, and I didn"t have time to get four new tires. They slashed those tires good."
Jack tilted her head up, so she was forced to look him in the eyes.
"What you should have done was call me. What you should have 94 done was been mad as h.e.l.l and told me what was going on. She didn"t call out for you tonight, did she, Sam?"
Sam"s face was grim. "No, she didn"t. If she hadn"t fallen, I expect Luther would have hustled her out the door without me knowing about it. I was talking to Lucas."
"You should have shouted out the minute you even thought that son of a b.i.t.c.h was going to lay a hand on you," Jack explained sternly. "I never want to have to hear about you being hurt or humiliated from someone else again. I want to hear it from you because I want to be the first person you call when you need help. It"s me or Sam. There"s no going it alone."
Abby sighed. It looked like they were going to push her into the discussion after all. "I don"t think you should get involved in this."
"Wrong answer, sweetheart," Sam said.
Jack"s eyes narrowed. "Not get involved?"
Abby swallowed. He looked really p.i.s.sed. "Just in that part, Jack.
It"s nothing that should worry you. I can handle it." Jack"s face was turning a slightly pink color, and his right eyebrow started to twitch.
"Are you all right? I think you might be having a reaction to the stress, or is that a nervous tick?"
Sam started laughing, and Abby sent him a dirty look. "Don"t you laugh. Stress is a serious problem."
"And I need some stress relief, Abigail." Jack"s hands tightened around her waist. "Can you think of anything that might relieve my stress?"
"Exercise." Abby used her best nurse voice. "It"s absolutely the best thing for stress."
"Excellent." Jack neatly flipped her over his knee.
"Do you practice that move?" Abby found herself staring at the floor for the second time today. He was really good at it.
"It looks like I will be getting a lot of practice in the near future."
Jack pulled the skirt of her dress up, exposing the fact that she had been completely truthful about her lack of undergarments.
95.
Abby felt cool air hit her backside and couldn"t help it. Her heart started to race. She had always thought she might be s.e.xually submissive, but these men were proving it to her.
"Abigail," Jack"s voice was a dark seduction, "I want to make a few things very plain. I want to settle some things between us so there is absolutely no misunderstanding. Do you understand the type of s.e.xual relationship I want with you? That Sam and I want with you?"
It took everything she had not to laugh at him. She was laid out over his knee with her bare a.s.s in the air. He couldn"t be less subtle if he tried. "Yes, Jack, you want to top me."
"It is not something I want to play at." Jack"s hands caressed her b.u.t.tocks. Abby heard him sigh. "I"m in charge in the bedroom. If I hurt you, I want to know because that is not my intention, but I want to experiment. I want to push your limits. I want you to trust us with your pleasure."
"I trust you." Abby meant it. All thoughts of leaving them were gone now. She had to find out where this was going. She owed it to herself to see if this was really what she wanted. Adam had been very dominant. It was what had attracted her to him in the first place, she recognized now. They might not have understood the correct terminology, but they had been headed toward it. Her relationship with Ben had been completely different. She had subjugated her own needs because she wanted to protect her heart. Ben had been what she needed then, but Jack and Sam...she needed them now more than she"d ever needed anything in her life. She was ready to discover who she was as a woman.
"We"ll take good care of you, baby." Sam"s voice had gone husky.
A hard hand came down on her a.s.s, the pain a shocking burn that bloomed across her skin and then turned to a sweet heat that sank deep inside her. Abby moaned and waited for Jack to continue.
"That was for not telling me someone vandalized your car." Jack"s hand came down strongly on her other cheek.
96.
Abby cried out and clutched at Jack"s leg. Her p.u.s.s.y was getting ridiculously wet. She hoped, no prayed, that he didn"t walk out on her like he had before. She wanted both of them. She wanted Jack to f.u.c.k her hard while she sucked Sam"s c.o.c.k.
"That was for not telling Sam that some a.s.shole was threatening you," Jack said sternly.
Her bottom was hot and sensitive, and she wriggled against his lap, trying to get some relief from the desperate ache lodged in her p.u.s.s.y.
Another sharp slap.
"Stop moving," Jack ordered, and she stilled. She was rewarded with Jack"s fingers slowing pushing into her exposed p.u.s.s.y. "When I am disciplining you, you will remain still. If you need it, I"ll tie you down." His fingers slid into her wetness as his thumb slipped over her c.l.i.toris, and she had to bite her lip to keep from crying out. "Outside of our s.e.x life, I won"t completely dominate you. I will protect you and take care of you, but I won"t expect you to not be you. I won"t order for you in a restaurant or tell you who to be friends with. I want you to have all the things you want. But when we"re alone, I want you naked and submissive. I don"t think you"ll mind, sweetheart. Sam and I will treat you like a princess."
"We want to give you everything you want." Abby felt Sam"s hand caressing her bottom where Jack had spanked her. His fingers trailed over her cheeks, tracing the sensitive skin. "If you have obnoxious friends, we"ll put up with them."
"But here, in the bedroom, I want you to obey me." Jack pulled her up. He was gentle with her.
Sam"s strong arms lifted her off Jack"s lap, and she found herself on her feet. Jack got up as well. He towered over her. It made Abby feel very pet.i.te.
"Abby, I want your submission," Jack said solemnly. "Can you give it to me?"
97.
"Yes." Abby felt Sam relax behind her. Had he really thought she would refuse?