McKenzie, Cooper - Daria's Heroes [Men Out of Uniform 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Read online

  Gage took the key ring without a word. He remained silent for several blocks before asking, “Do you think she’ll stay? Will she want both of us? Will we be able to make this work?”

  Roman turned to look at the man through the dim light of the dashboard lights. “Let’s get through the next week before we discuss the long term. My plan is for her to join us permanently. I know we promised Mrs. Stone we’d wait until she turned twenty-five, but that’s no longer an option.”

  Chapter 2

  When the pale fog of shock lifted, Daria found herself standing in her favorite spot in New Bern. Union Point Park’s east-facing railing overlooked the Neuse River a few yards north of where it and the Trent joined forces before flowing toward the Atlantic Ocean.

  A look across the river proved that more than a few minutes had passed since she had walked away from the fire at Mrs. Stone’s house. Only an occasional car crossed the Neuse River Bridge, but other than night, Daria had no idea what time it was and did not care. Nothing mattered except that Mrs. Stone was dead and she was now homeless, jobless, and alone.

  When her stomach rumbled, she chuffed and wished she had brought her messenger bag with her. There was a cracker pack and candy bar she had planned to eat before her class then forgot about. She had skipped dinner so she could get in a few more minutes of studying, and now she would be paying for it until she returned to her car. However, she was not sure she wanted to leave this safe place for the reality that waited for her just four blocks away. Hopefully the police would not have it towed before she got back to it.

  She jumped in surprise when a deep, sexy voice to her left asked, “Does this mean you’re ready to go home?”

  Taking a deep breath in case she needed to scream for help, Daria turned her head and looked at the man. She prepared to beat the crap out of him, though all at once she could not recall any of the self-defense moves she had learned over the past eight years.

  Though clouds had moved in to obscure the sky, she recognized the movie star profile against the lights from the hotel behind him.

  Roman Foster.

  The most overprotective of all of her foster brothers. The first one she called whenever Mrs. Stone had to be hospitalized. The only one who knew the truth of why she had been taken from her mother and placed into foster care in the first place. The one she called at two o’clock in the morning when her boyfriend had taken her to Jacksonville then dumped her and disappeared. He had left her with an enormous bar tab and no way to get the forty miles home.

  Roman was the man to whom she had given half her heart when she had first met him eight years earlier at the age of sixteen. The man she used as a standard to measure the worth of every other man she ever thought about dating. The man she never had a chance of winning because his heart belonged to another.

  “Where’s Gage?”

  Gage Mulligan held the other half of her heart and all of Roman’s. The two men were like mismatched bookends that went together perfectly. The fact that they had been partners and lovers for more than ten years was something Daria had accepted, though she wished things could be different. Roman and Gage were so close that if one started a sentence, the other could finish it. She thought there might be something more between the men by the way Gage took care of Roman, but never questioned the men about it.

  She wished she could find someone to dedicate himself to her the way they were to each other.

  “Gage is dealing with your car. He’ll meet us at the house. Now, I ask again, are you ready to go home?”

  “There’s nothing to go home to,” Daria said as her breathing hitched.

  At her first sob, Roman pulled her into his chest. She did not fight as he wrapped long, strong arms around her back. With his heat and strength surrounding her, Daria felt not quite so alone.

  Sure, Roman and Gage, as well as Mrs. Stone’s other so-called kids who had grown up and gone on to build wonderful, productive lives, would surround her with love and caring. Then, after the funeral, they would return to their lives and Daria would be on her own. What was she going to do then?

  When hot tears dripped on her, she realized she was not the only one mourning the elderly woman who had done so much good for so many. Wanting to comfort Roman as he was comforting her, Daria wrapped her arms around his back and held on tight.

  They held each other, providing both comfort and strength. If only Gage was here, Daria thought as she snuggled even deeper into Roman’s embrace.

  When Daria’s tears stopped, she lifted her head from his chest and looked up into his sorrow-filled eyes. He held her gaze as he slowly tilted his head closer. One hand slid up her back and cupped the back of her neck, holding her head in place.

  His lips brushed hers once before settling in for an extended stay. Her sensible public persona was appalled that he was cheating on Gage while the rest of her jumped up and down screaming, “Yippee!”

  Giving over to the need to kiss him that had haunted her since the first moment she had met him, Daria parted her lips when he touched the tip of his tongue to them. When he just brushed it back and forth across her lower lip again, she grew impatient so she reached out her tongue in invitation. She leaned tighter against him and shifted her belly against the long, thick bulge pressing against the front of his jeans.

  He was hard for her? What the hell is going on?

  Her breathing stopped when his tongue suddenly plunged deep and took control of the kiss. They immediately went from a brotherly hello kiss to one that said, “I want to fuck you here and now.” Daria willingly followed his lead, giving him whatever he wanted as he thoroughly and leisurely explored her mouth. Taking a deep breath, she smelled the dark tang of sex along with laundry soap and citrusy, woodsy cologne.

  Her hands slid down his back to the waistband of his jeans. His belt kept her from slipping her hands under the fabric so she settled for sliding farther south and palming his ass cheeks over the fabric. His ass felt tight and muscular as she pressed her hands into the flesh. She wondered if it looked as good as it felt. Her pussy overflowed with her need to be closer to this man.

  She sucked a breath when a large, hard hand shifted between them to palm her breast, massaging it gently before the fingers drew together to tweak her beaded nipple.

  When he finally broke the kiss, they were both panting. She stared up at him, shocked at what had just happened. She swallowed hard as she stepped back, not able to think of a single thing to say in defense of her actions. But then again, he started it, so maybe he should be explaining to her.

  Roman released her reluctantly but did not let her get too far away. Without a word, he wrapped one arm around her back and turned them toward his humongous white truck. As he lifted her into the passenger’s seat, Daria looked from him to his truck and could not help but ask the question that had haunted her since he had bought his latest ride.

  “Do you drive this big-ass truck to compensate for something?”

  She blanched when he stared at her with one raised eyebrow as if questioning her sanity. He was not alone. She was beginning to wonder what in the hell had gotten into her to kiss him as she had.

  “It doesn’t compensate for a thing. It matches my big-ass ego,” he said just before he closed the door.

  His comeback was so quick and so serious it took Daria a moment before she began to giggle. By the time Roman climbed in and started the truck, her emotions had flipped, and she once again lost control, only this time with giggling.

  He looked at her and smiled as he put the truck in gear and drove out of the park. “Something funny?”

  Daria shook her head, afraid to comment on their kiss. “Not really, I just can’t seem stop.” She began hiccupping and gasping for air as the peals of out-of-control laughter continued until she passed out.

  * * * *

  Gage swore as he climbed into Daria’s little red car. Thankfully, he had arrived before the police called in a tow truck to impound Daria’s car. Now he just had to find a
place to park where the car would be safe until morning while he went and talked to the fire crew still on the scene. While Roman dealt with their woman, he would deal with this.

  Pushing the seat all the way back, Gage found his knees were still nearly in his armpits. There was no way he could drive this thing across town, no matter how much he loved its owner. Driving extra carefully, he pulled in and parked at the public access lot a block and a half down the street. Taking a pen from his pocket and paper from the notebook on the passenger’s seat, he wrote a note and stuck it on the dash so it would remain safe and secure until morning. Tomorrow he would bring her so she could drive it home herself.

  When he tried to climb out of the tiny car, Gage wondered if he was going to have to call 911 for help. Taking a deep breath, he forced his foot to twist in a not-quite-natural direction and jerked his left leg free. Then it was a matter of wiggling the rest of him out.

  “We’re getting her a bigger car ASAP,” he muttered to the two seagulls watching him.

  He pulled her messenger bag from the passenger side. After setting the locks, he made sure he had the keys for the little car in his pocket before he closed the door. Then, holding the bag against his body so it would not jiggle around too much, he jogged back to where one lone fire truck remained parked in front of where Mrs. Stone’s house used to stand.

  He was not surprised to see Roman’s white truck pulling up and parking just beyond the far barricade down the street. Roman walked toward him, looking so serious Gage’s heart began to pound. Even through the evening shadows, he saw his other half had been crying.

  Though he wanted to hold his lover and comfort him, he kept his distance. Master would not appreciate any public display of affection, especially in front of their coworkers. After ten years of being partners on the job and off, the men and women they worked with still were not exactly sure what their sexual status was, and that was how Roman liked it.

  Gage would not care if they shouted it from the bell tower of city hall.

  “Where’s Daria?” he asked once they were close enough to speak without waking the neighbors. “Wasn’t she at the park?”

  “She’s in the truck. She got herself into such a state she hyperventilated and passed out,” Roman said as the two men marched in step toward the man in charge.

  Though the fire appeared to be out, firefighters continued hosing down the burn site, making sure there was nothing that could kick up and start burning again later. Gage saw they were concentrating on the back corner of the house where Mrs. Stone’s bedroom had been located.

  An ambulance waited in the driveway to take the body away once they found it. Gage blinked fast to keep his tears from falling. Though he was tempted to cry like a baby, he needed to be strong for Daria and for Roman. He would grieve later.

  “Hey, Kelso,” Roman said.

  “Roman, Gage.” The captain glanced at them then returned to staring at the burnt remains of the house they had all grown up in. After a shudder passed through his body, he turned and hugged Roman. “Thank the good Lord Daria wasn’t home when this happened. Otherwise we’d be pulling her body out as well.”

  “What the hell happened?” Gage asked when Kelso released Roman and turned to him for another hug.

  “Randy thinks it was electrical, but he won’t know for sure until he can get in there tomorrow to look around,” Kelso said, referring to the department’s fire investigator.

  “If you need to talk to her, Daria will be staying with us,” Gage said.

  He turned so he looked out toward Roman’s truck and not at the remains of the house. Though he would mourn his saving angel eventually, for now he would stay in control. His Master and the woman they had fallen in love with needed him to stay strong.

  Roman and Kelso talked for a few more minutes, consoling each other as much as it was possible for two alpha males to. Gage listened but remained silent as he began a mental list of all that would need to be done in the next few days.

  As he watched, the passenger’s door to Roman’s truck opened. Turning, he looked at Roman. “She’s awake.”

  At that same moment, the radio clipped to Kelso’s shoulder squawked. “We found her.”

  Knowing the procedure, Gage watched as Kelso gave the ambulance crew the signal to move into action. Then the three men headed down the sidewalk toward Roman’s truck. They moved fast without running and reached the truck before Daria could close the truck door.

  Standing shoulder to shoulder, they formed a wall to keep the petite woman from seeing the grisly scene about to play out behind them.

  “Feel better, angel?” Gage asked as she looked at each of them.

  She nodded, then shook her head and threw herself at him as tears filled her eyes. Gage caught her and lifted her easily until her head rested on the top of his shoulder. She wrapped her arms and legs around him. He gritted his teeth as his cock slammed to attention.

  “Mrs. Stone is dead, Gage,” she whispered softly as she rubbed her cheek back and forth across the top of his shoulder. “And Roman kissed me. I’m sorry.”

  Gage could not speak to assure her that everything would be all right. It was not his place. Master had to be the one to lay out their lifestyle and the part they wanted, needed, desired her to play in it. Hugging her close, he looked at Roman. “Let’s take our angel home.”

  Roman nodded without a word.

  “I’ll come by after shift,” Kelso said before he turned back to work.

  Once Gage settled her in the car, she looked at him wide-eyed and panicked. “I need to get my car. I left it on the street, and the cops will impound it, and I can’t afford impound and tow fees.”

  “Shhh, angel, I’ve taken care of it. We’ll get it in the morning. I did bring your computer and purse and stuff.” He pulled the bag’s strap over his head and handed it to her.

  She grabbed it and clenched it tight to her chest as the men climbed in. “This is all I have left. Everything’s gone,” she said softly. She sounded as sad and alone as any one person could be.

  After a look to Roman for permission, which he gave with a nod, Gage wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her so she leaned against him. “You’re not alone, Daria. You have me and Roman. Hell, all of Mrs. Stone’s kids are here for you. You’ve not been alone since Mrs. Stone brought you home to us.”

  Daria nodded, but he could tell that she did not believe him. She did not know it yet, but once he and Roman got her home, they were never letting her go again. She was their woman, and they were about to stake their claim.

  Chapter 3

  Daria wanted to argue, but she had not yet come up with a valid one to offer. Instead, she took a deep breath and released it on a sigh as she relaxed into Gage’s side. For now, she would let Roman and Gage take her in. Once the dust settled in a couple of weeks or so, she would find a place of her own and begin the overwhelming task of rebuilding her life. In the meantime, she just had to remember that these two men were off-limits, even if Roman had kissed her as if he wanted to swallow her whole. After all, they were gay and totally committed to one another. There was no room in their life, or their bed, for her.

  And the last thing she wanted was to come between them.

  Closing her eyes, she forced her brain to disengage and tried not to think of anything. She drifted with the soft jazz music on the radio until a light flashed on. She stiffened but did not open her eyes, not wanting to face the hard things to come.

  “Daria, are you asleep?” Gage asked as he gave her a one-armed hug.

  She blinked several times as she straightened. They had arrived. The truck was now parked in the detached, oversized two-car garage at the back of their yard.

  “Come here, baby girl,” Gage said once he had climbed down from the tall truck.

  Daria nodded and handed him her messenger bag, which he hooked over one shoulder. She moved across the seat, and he caught her as she slid out. He hugged her tight to his chest with her feet several in
ches from the ground for several long seconds before lowering her. Daria thought she felt his cock stiffen and grow against her belly, then chastised herself for such wishful thinking. He belonged to Roman. There could never be anything between them no matter how much she wished differently.

  Once her feet landed on the garage floor, she tried to step back, but Gage would not let her go. When she tried again and still he would not release her, she looked up and stared into his gentle sky-blue eyes that held a heat she had never before seen in them.

  She thought he wanted to kiss her, but before he made a move, Roman joined them. Gage looked from her to Roman then slowly released her and stepped back.

  Roman turned her to face him and settled his hard, warm hands on her shoulders. She look up into his dark chocolate brown eyes and found herself caught up in a heat that was different than Gage’s and yet at the same time so very similar.

  “Consider this your home now,” he said. A thread of something in his voice melted any will to argue she might have had. One hand stroked down her back, not stopping when he reached her waist but going all the way down and over the curve of her ass. “We’re Mrs. Stone’s kids. We stick together. Understand?”

  Looking deeper, she thought she saw more than just brotherly caring. Could that be male-female attraction? Could they be interested? Both of them? Would they make her choose between them, because she was not sure she could.

  “Yes…no…I don’t know,” she replied honestly, not able to get her brain to focus on anything but the hunger that was growing in her heart and in her pussy. She did not even care which one wanted her; she would take either one.

  “That’s okay, baby girl, you will.”

  Roman hugged her for longer than normal before releasing her and stepping back. A look at Gage had the other man moving in to hug her as well. She took several deep breaths to keep from falling apart again. She needed to be strong and stand on her own two feet. She could not allow these two wonderful men to coddle her from the reality that she owned nothing and had nowhere to go.