The Sweetest Dish [Sweet Serenity 5] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read online

  Maybe, we shouldn’t have waited. Fuckity, fuck, fuck, fuck.

  “Oh, honey,” Leila said as she touched Ella’s arm, disrupting her anxiety.

  Hell no. She did not just touch me. I’m going to need a week-long shower. Shaking off Leila’s arm abruptly, Ella scowled. “Don’t touch me,” she gritted out through teeth clenched so tightly she cringed in pain.

  Leila shrugged negligently, but she ruined her uncaring appearance when she growled. Yep, someone’s inner female dog is emerging. Now I remember why Katie-Anne dubbed her The Bitch.

  “Whatever,” Leila said with a wave of her hand, doing the gesture Katie-Anne had perfected before she even hit puberty. Copycat. “I just wanted to let you know that I’m back—for good. I’ve had five months to plan my triumphant return, and it’s time to remind everyone who this town belongs to.”

  “Wow,” Jaycee said, sounding wondrous. “I think she believes that bullshit, Ella.”

  Rotating her head to the side, Ella replied, “Me, too,” before returning her attention to Leila, who seemed to be losing her cool. She’d flushed in the manner of seconds, her temper showing through the façade she had pasted on her face and draped around her petite body.

  “It’s the truth,” Leila snapped. “I own this town and everyone in it. The Schilling family has more money and power than any of you lowly pieces of trailer-trash could even imagine, and my lover is an influential man that could pulverize you at my whims. So don’t fucking push me.”

  Jaycee laughed. “Really? Somehow I doubt that. First of all, your lover hasn’t done shit to us since you ran out of town. If he’s so powerful, why hasn’t he done something yet? And secondly, I think the Blakemore name has higher standing with the townspeople.”

  Jaycee’s husband, Gray, and her sister-in-law, Katie-Anne, came from one of the founding families in town. Their bank account might be massive, but it was the tradition behind the name that mattered most. Even through their father’s abuse and their mother’s psychosis, no one in town questioned the Blakemores.

  “What about Jacobs and Tolliver?” Ella asked, bringing in another name that held standing within the town. Katie-Anne’s husbands, Shane Jacobs and Landon Tolliver, might not be from one of the town’s core families, but they had enough money to back them up. Besides, they were good guys that people had grown to love since they’d moved here as adolescents. Not to mention, they’d married into the Blakemore family. “Do their names count?”

  “Mmmhmm,” Jaycee replied. “They definitely count.”

  “And Dalton isn’t anything to scoff at, Jaycee,” Ella added with a half smile. “You know everyone adores your brothers and Shannon.”

  Fisting her dainty hands at her side, Leila snarled, “Sluts. I’ll take you and every other damn woman in this town down if it’s the last thing I do.” With that ominous threat, she spun on her designer heels and stalked away, thankfully taking the odor of her expensive perfume and her repugnant air of arrogance with her.

  “Hasta la vista, baby,” Ella drawled. Then, using her hands, she cocked a pretend pistol. “Bang.”

  Rolling her eyes, Jaycee inquired, “You like the Terminator?” The surprise in her face and the appalled tone led Ella to believe that Jaycee did not like that particular movie.

  Ella smiled cheekily. “Never seen it. I’ve just always wanted an excuse to say that.”

  “Well, in her case, I think most people would love to say those words then pull a real gun on her.”

  Giggling, Ella grabbed the front of the cart then tugged it around the corner of the store aisle. “I think so, too.”

  Jaycee followed behind her quietly—too quietly. The woman was notorious for a lot of things. Silence was not one of them. Something must be weighing on her mind, but she was hesitating to put it out there. Well, it’s a good thing that I’m not shy about anything—ever.

  “All right,” Ella muttered while continuing to shop or, at least, pretending to. Jaycee’s heavy silence unnerved her, distracting her from the things she was looking at. “What’s going on in that wild mind of yours?”

  Trailing her, Jaycee said, “I don’t know. I just have this bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. She seemed cockier than normal.”

  Ella snorted, but it was for show. She had the same sick sensation sinking into her soul that Jaycee had. “How could you tell that? She’s always cocky.”

  “I can’t describe it, Ella. Something’s just not right.”

  Ella guided their cart toward the front counter to check out. Maybe I can talk to Micah and Caedon when I get home. They’ll be able to help.

  Just the thought of Ella’s two men brought a smile to her face and pushed out her worries. They were the two people on the planet she trusted, the two people she could count on. They knew her and loved her anyway. She could talk to them, and they’d help her figure out what was going on and what to do. They were talented at that. And that’s not the only thing they’re talented at.

  “Hey.” Jaycee interrupted her spiraling thoughts. “Where did your mind go? You have a secretive smile, and I want to know what put it there.”

  I am so not telling you. I’m not even going to let my mind go there in the middle of a grocery store while my men are at home probably still fucking. But, of course, she did. Her mind wandered back to this morning when she’d watched them in the shower. Micah had been fucking the hell out of Caedon with his massive cock.

  They’d been magnificent together—as always. The water running down their body in rivulets, the steam crowding the air, and their naked bodies trysting underneath the spray had been too much. She’d hoisted herself onto the counter and watched them while she finger-fucked herself to orgasm. Her inner voyeur had loved it almost as much as she had when her husbands had gotten out of the shower and tackled her on the counter then up against the wall.

  “Ella?” Jaycee asked.

  Blinking, Ella realized that while she’d been thinking about fucking her husbands, Jaycee had already placed all of their items on the cash counter and paid the teenage clerk for them. Stepping forward to grab the bags, she replied, “Oops. Sorry. I got lost in thought.”

  Returning the cart to the front of the store, they headed out into the beautiful Kansas morning. Ella carried half the bags while Jaycee lugged the others. Adjusting her grip on the plastic bag handle, Ella scanned the relatively busy parking lot. People had, apparently, flocked to Garrett’s to start stocking up for Thanksgiving. With only two days until Turkey Day, there were people milling around and cars driving up and down the aisles, fighting for the closest spots to the store’s front door.

  Inhaling deeply, Ella relished the clean smell of her hometown. It was soothing, comforting in some ways. The cool November air wrapped around her, but she didn’t mind. It only reinforced the sappy warmth the town brought her. After living in big cities and travelling the world, nothing got to her better than the smallest details of the town.

  “No problem,” Jaycee murmured in a conspicuously strained voice. “I get lost all the time. Actually, I get lost almost as much as I fall down.”

  Ella laughed, the voice sounding as choked as Jaycee had sounded strained. “That’s pretty much every few minutes.”

  Expecting a snarky reply, Ella glanced at Jaycee as she rounded the corner of the lot to where they’d parked in the back corner. Only her friend wasn’t looking at her, and she wasn’t irritated or amused. Instead, she was pissed. Jaycee had her eyes glued to her third baby, the 1968 candy-apple-red Shelby Ford Mustang GT500 her husbands had given her last year. “What the fuck?”

  Chapter 2

  Before Jaycee had finished yelling, “What the fuck,” she dropped the grocery bags in her hands and took off through the busy parking lot. She dodged people and cars, right then left and back again. Her legs moved faster than they had since before she’d gotten pregnant, yet she still felt as though she were in slow motion. No matter how fast she moved it wasn’t fast enough.

  Ella chased behi
nd Jaycee, but she didn’t look back. Jaycee heard her friend’s feet hitting the concrete heavily as she yelled. However, the sound barely connected with her brain. She had no clue what Ella was saying, and she did not particularly care. Her only thoughts were centered around getting to the vandalized car sitting in her parking spot.

  Reaching her Mustang, Jaycee nearly cried. Since the day she’d gotten it, she’d treated her car better than most people treated their friends. It might be an inanimate object, but it was hers, and she loved it. Damn it.

  “That wacked-out twatbag,” she screamed. “I’m going to fucking murder her!”

  She heard a couple of gasps as parents covered their children’s ears. Normally, she would feel bad, but not right now. The violent fury twisting her in knots prevented many thoughts from entering and exiting her mind.

  Finally getting to her, Ella panted. “No, you’re not going to murder her. We are going to call Belle and have her look at the car. Then she’ll take care of it.”

  Jaycee could tell Ella did not want to do that. The bloodthirsty glint in her pretty blue eyes gave her away. She wanted to rip into Leila as badly as Jaycee did, because it was obvious this was the beginning of something. By the looks of her car, it was going to be something big.

  Leila had demolished Jaycee’s once pristine muscle car. All of the windows had been shattered, and it looked as though she’d taken a Louisville slugger to it.

  In utter horror, Jaycee stared through the space where the windshield used to be and saw that Leila had sliced one word into each of the leather sport bucket seats. Sweet had been etched into the passenger-side seat while Revenge had been carved into the driver side. Sweet Revenge. Fuck.

  “How did she do this?” Jaycee asked, angry tears forming in the corners of her eyes and spilling down her cheeks. “There are people all around here.”

  Ella stepped forward, curling a supportive arm around Jaycee. “Honey, when we got here, there wasn’t a person in sight. I bet she followed us here and did it before anyone else arrived.”

  Jaycee knew that Ella was right, only one thing didn’t add up. “Why didn’t anyone say anything?” Everyone knew about Jaycee’s car, and her deep, abiding love for it. She couldn’t believe that no one would say a word to her.

  “I don’t know,” Ella replied honestly. “But no one would do it maliciously. You parked in butt-fuck Egypt so that people wouldn’t want to park close. I imagine that they haven’t even looked this way.” Letting go of Jaycee, Ella moved around the car. Then, out of nowhere, the voluptuous brunette pointed through the busted passenger side window and snarled, “What are those?”

  Unease filled Jaycee, and she ran around the side of the car. Flinging the door open then ducking inside, she pulled out two wicker baskets filled with sweets. As she backed away from the car, Jaycee eyed the presents from Leila. One of the baskets overflowed with peppermints and held an envelope with “Jaycee” penned on the cover in intricate calligraphy.

  Jaycee’s basket looked exactly like the one she’d sent to Leila last year when the little cunt had attempted to break her, Gray, and Cade up—again. After getting re-engaged to Gray and engaged to Cade, she’d taunted her nemesis with the fact that her plan had backfired. A couple of months later, she’d married Cade legally and Gray spiritually, but she hadn’t felt compelled to start the petty games again. So she’d just let it go. Unlike some psychotic people.

  Ella’s basket and note was identical to Jaycee’s except the candy. She had mini-Fifth Avenue candy bars rather than peppermints. Backing away from the car, Jaycee handed Ella her basket. “I believe this is for you,” she murmured.

  Immediately, Ella narrowed her eyes but took the basket anyway. “Thank you,” she muttered.

  Both women dropped their baskets on top of the vandalized car with thunks. Opening their notes at the same time, the women gasped then cursed simultaneously. After each of them cursed their way through their twisted version of the alphabet, using different words for every letter excluding everyone’s favorite, thundercunts, they fell silent.

  Finally, Ella demanded, “What does yours say?”

  Instead of speaking the words aloud, she handed her card to Ella and, in return, Ella handed her card to Jaycee.

  Ever the impatient woman, Jaycee read Ella’s card aloud first, “Revenge is a sweet dish best served cold. This has been a long time coming, Gabriella. Fifth Avenue and Hollywood will never be the same.”

  Oh shit. Jaycee knew all about the scandal that had forced Ella home. Just like she was perfectly aware of the scandal that broke a few months back about Ella, Caedon, and Micah’s ménage relationship. Double shit.

  Ella recited Jaycee’s card, “Revenge is sweet, and so are these. Enjoy!”

  Like the basket, the card was identical to the one Jaycee had sent Leila, and it pissed her the hell off. “The Bitch wasn’t even creative,” Jaycee grumbled. “I wish—”

  Ella’s screech cut Jaycee off. “Wait! There’s something on the back of your card.” Flipping the card over, her friend’s face paled, going white enough to scare Jaycee.

  “What?” Jaycee asked, her heart thumping so strongly in her chest that she could barely breathe for it. Whatever Ella held in her hand had to be bad. Ella wasn’t one to panic, and she looked horrified.

  “Um,” Ella hesitated.

  Without giving her a chance to stop her, Jaycee snatched the card from Ella’s hand and turned it over. “Oh my fucking God,” she screamed as her eyes landed on the photograph on the back of her card. “That is…that is—”

  Jaycee couldn’t even finish her sentence. Something about saying the words made it real in a way that freaked her the fuck out, and she would prefer to pretend she’d never seen the picture in the first place.

  Dropping the card to the ground, Jaycee stormed around the car and got inside. She leaned across the passenger seat before asking, “Are you coming?”

  Ella paused, looking as though she’d thought of something dreadful. “If she put pictures of her fucking your drunk husbands twelve years ago on the back of your card, what did she put on mine? Surely she didn’t…”

  Jaycee feared looking at the back of her friend’s card, but she would rather do it than just hand it over to Ella. “Get in,” she ordered, “and I’ll tell you.”

  “No,” Ella refuted as she opened the door and sat down in the passenger seat. “I need to read it first. Okay?”

  Jaycee nodded in understanding, even though she didn’t like it one damn bit. Without taking her eyes off her friend, Jaycee handed over the card to Ella. As soon as Ella’s hand touched the card, she turned it over and read it. Wadding up the card in her hand and shoving it out the window, Ella snarled, “This means war.”

  * * * *

  “Bring it, Landon Tolliver,” Katie-Anne whispered sultrily, barely holding back her laughter. Her husband stood across the kitchen with her other husband, Shane. Well, I should use the word stood loosely. The two men had wrapped themselves around each other, their beautiful godlike bodies completely nude and wholly aroused.

  As she’d entered the room, the dark-haired devil she’d married, Shane, had used his powerful biceps to push their equally sculpted, blond husband against the cabinets. Bending over Landon, who’d leaned back as soon as he’d hit the countertop’s edge, Shane ravaged his mouth with enough heat that molten lava poured off them and ran over her.

  Katie-Anne’s body responded instantaneously, a wave of intense heat seeping into her flesh. She fought the urge to fan herself as tiny droplets of moisture formed on the surface of her skin. “Get ’em, tiger,” she growled gutturally.

  Even though she’d spoken twice, her husbands were too consumed with the passion burning between them to notice her—yet. So she took advantage of the moment, tiptoeing into the kitchen. She crept across the cool tiles, discarding the only thing she’d worn to bed last night—Landon’s oversized T-shirt—and dropping it to the floor as she went.

  Stepping behind Shane,
she slid her arms around him. With a hum, she kept her hands moving until she touched Landon, too. “Good morning, boys. I think this is a much better way to wake up than a dreary cup of joe.”

  Shane and Landon jumped noticeably but didn’t slow down their ravenous assault on each other’s mouths. Their mutual groans of satisfaction continued on, the deep-throated sound echoing through the room and sending an electrical charge zipping through Katie-Anne’s body. Her pussy responded enthusiastically, a fierce throb mounting inside the walls as moisture seeped from her slit.

  Craving her husbands’ attention, Katie-Anne whimpered. But they didn’t respond. They were too busy gripping each other’s body feverishly, as though this was their last moment together. The desperation in their touch caused a strong need to crash over her, and she lost her breath.

  Unable to control her frantic hunger, Katie-Anne lowered her head to the back of Shane’s neck and nibbled on the skin there. He groaned. The deep, heavy sound rumbling from his chest was muffled by Landon’s mouth, but she heard it still.

  Katie-Anne’s lips twitched against Shane’s warm flesh. A smile spread across her face, but she suppressed it as best she could. Instead, she focused her attention elsewhere.

  Gliding one hand away from Landon, she skimmed her fingertips over the side of Shane’s solid abdomen before drifting further south. She appreciated the way his muscles bunched as she smoothed her palms over his lean hips then wound her way around to his taut ass.

  Without pausing, she thrust her finger between the crevice and speared him with her middle digit mercilessly, not allowing his stubborn sphincter to keep her out. At the same time, she bit into Shane’s neck, hoping that her two hedonistic actions would drive him as mad as he had her numerous times before Kane’s birth. It worked. Shane wrenched his lips from Landon’s, throwing his head back with a roared, “Katie-Anne.”