Nowhere to Hide (Masked Men Novellas)

Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

Riley

The tears haven’t stopped all day. Tai has come up a few times to ask if I needed anything, but I’ve ignored him. Years of hurt have surfaced at Kennedy’s words, and while I understand why they stayed away, it doesn’t make it any less painful.

In anger, I sent a request through to Wild Steps. I need to rid myself of my memories of Archer. I shouldn’t have slept with him; it’s complicated everything. It was the wrong thing to do when I feel just as strongly about Tai and Kennedy. I cannot choose between them. I wouldn’t have been able to then, and I sure as hell cannot now, not knowing they had feelings for me as well. Nope, I am taking Tillie’s advice for once—the best way to get over someone is to get under someone else.

My fury burns out, and I email Wild Steps asking to cancel. I need to sort out this mess with the guys before I start something else. My stomach grumbles, so I decide it’s time to eat, and if the guys are awake, I think we need to sit down and talk this out before our families arrive. It’s the holidays and the one time of the year everyone is in the same room. The Jacobs spend Thanksgiving together every year, no matter what.

The house is dark as I head downstairs—maybe the guys all went to bed early, which seems odd.

“Hello, Riley,” a robotic voice says, and a glow mask comes to life by the front door.

“You didn’t think we forgot about you, did you?”

I look over my shoulder to where a second masked man has appeared behind me.

“We could never forget about you,” comes a third.

Panic sets in. The guys can’t see this, not now, not with how rocky things are. This was all fun and games while it lasted.

“Bear!” I yell my safe word, then rush out, “I’m sorry for wasting your time.”

“You could never waste our time, Riley Bear.” I pivot to look at the first masked man and he pulls off his mask, revealing it’s Tai standing before me.

“We would take you however you are willing to give yourself to us.” Archer. Turning, I see he is the one behind me, having also removed his mask.

“I think it’s time you knew the truth.” Kennedy. I turn to face him as he reveals his face.

“How? Why?” I mumble, shaking my head, feeling dazed and confused.

The three of them move to stand side by side, and all I can do is blink like a stunned owl, not knowing what to say.

Though I want to yell at them—how dare they trick me?!—the more rational side of me realizes this actually makes sense.

I found the card right outside Kennedy’s door, where they must have dropped it.

I was a paying customer, and they were already here.

“Can we talk?” Archer says. He doesn’t make any sudden movements; instead, he gestures slowly toward the living room. At my nod, the three men lead the way, and I follow behind them. They sit together on one couch, and I take a seat opposite.

We sit in silence for several long moments as I stare at them, sorting through my jumbled thoughts. Anger, hurt, and a tiny amount of thrill courses through my veins—but mainly anger at being deceived.

“I don’t understand why you would do this to me? Do I really mean that little to you?”

“I think we should start from the beginning,” Archer says, and I nod as tears prick my eyes. “You now know, after we left, we started a sex club. It’s very successful, but it wasn’t our ultimate goal. When we were in college, Kennedy joined a book club.”

I shift my gaze from Archer to Kennedy because surely there is no way he would have been part of a book club.

He nods. “It’s true. Sure, at first it was a way to get more pussy, but I was surprised when we read the first romance novel. The women openly discussed how they felt shamed for admitting things they wanted to try sexually, and over time, me and the guys had an idea—what if we gave women a safe space to figure it out? The sex club is good, but some women don’t want to leave their home or face other people, so we came up with the idea for Wild Steps.”

I nod as he talks, but then I blurt, “Did you purposely leave the card where I would find it?”

Tai shakes his head. “God no, that was my fault. We received the first run of business cards right before we flew in, and it felt real to see them finally. One must have fallen from my bag.”

“Does Braidy know about this?” I ask.

“He does. He helped us start it and owns a good share of the club. It’s another reason we stayed away from you. We were selfish pricks, Riley. We did whatever we had to do to make it happen, and there was no way we were dragging you into it. When Braidy signed on, he?—”

Cutting Archer off, I snap, “He what?”

“Fuck!” Kennedy runs a hand through his hair. “He made us promise to keep our distance from you. And we stupidly took that as a directive to stay away.”

“Looking back, we know now we should have done things differently. But how could we have told you how we felt, then dropped the sex club bomb?” Tai adds, and deep down I know eighteen-year-old me wouldn’t have been able to handle knowing they owned a sex club.

“That’s all in the past. We can’t change it, and I have no regrets about where my life is now.” I pause. “Well, maybe one. I would never have dated Mike. But why did you accept my application?”

“Because we are selfish fucking pricks,” Archer mutters. “Technically, we weren’t going to, up until we heard about Mike and how he made you feel. We planned to give you one experience, so you could go home knowing sex is good and you are worthy of being fucked right, but?—”

“I fucked up,” Kennedy adds. “I thought they couldn’t handle it, so I went to you before we could talk it through. In my head, I was the fuck-and-forget type. I could easily get the job done and keep it professional.”

“But we watched and got jealous,” Tai says. “We also thought we were strong enough to walk away after the week was up.”

“We were wrong, Rye. So, so wrong,” Archer continues. “The last few days, spending time with you has made us realize how stupid we were for not coming back sooner. We missed being around you and your friendship.”

“Please don’t hate us, and if you do, please know we really had good intentions,” Tai adds.

“So when we...” I trail off, looking at Archer and trying to find the right words.

“That night was me. I was so stupid. Being with you behind the mask just felt wrong, so I ran back, wanting to check on you. I don’t regret it.”

“Neither do I.”

My words shock him. I don’t know how I feel right now. I’m rightfully a little angry at being deceived, and a little hurt, but we can work through both of those things. Their intentions were in the right place.

“Why tell me now, though?” I ask. “You could have all left in a few days and I wouldn’t have known it was you.”

“Because when we leave here, Riley Bear, we want to be your friends at the very least. We cannot exist with you not playing a role in our lives.”

“As only friends?” I ask.

Archer moves from the couch and kneels in front of me. “Riley, it’s all we could hope for right now. We don’t deserve your forgiveness, but we are asking for it.”

“But if it was possible, we would ask for more,” Tai adds, and my brain scrambles at Kennedy’s smirk.

“I could never choose between you, so if that is what your smirk is for, Kennedy Carter, you can wipe it right off your face along with your ‘I told you so.’”

Kennedy holds his hands in the air. “I wasn’t saying anything, I promise. No one said anything about choosing. There are plenty of ways we could do this.”

“That is if you want anything to do with us after today,” Archer adds, looking up at me from where he is still on his knees.

“What are the options?” I bite my lip, glancing between the three of them.

“The first is we call it as friends, and chalk this up to what happens on holidays, stays on holidays,” Tai says with a smirk, then his tongue flicks out to toy with that damn lip ring like he’s taunting me.

“The second is that you choose one of us, and the other two act like grown-ups and get over it,” Archer says, but when I bring my gaze back to him, his beautiful eyes plead with me to not pick this option.

“Or three,” Kennedy states, “is you don’t choose.”

“You mean I date you all?”

Kennedy nods, and I think his words over. How in the world could it even work? The logistics almost seem impossible. However, I won’t lie and say I didn’t fantasize about that growing up. I could stay mad at them, but my gut tells me not to. I know they’d never intentionally do anything to hurt me, and in their minds, they were trying to help. And it worked . In the few days of the masked men chasing me, I felt free, no longer trapped by my subconscious, which liked to whisper I was too chubby to be wanted by the ‘hot guys.’ I no longer think I have to settle for a man like Mike, who thought I had a pretty face, but that was all I had to offer.

“I have a better idea,” I say as a light bulb goes off. Standing, I move around the living room. “You three count to ten, then put your masks on and come find me. Whoever finds me first not only gets to fuck me first, but they can also tell me what option they would choose. It might help me decide.”

Backing out of the room before they can say a word, I then turn and run toward the front door. I don’t look back, knowing they will be close behind me. Darting toward to the lake, I run along the shoreline, and before long comes the sound of quickly approaching footsteps. I wonder if they will split up or work as a team. Not knowing sends a thrill of excitement zinging through my body.

Holy shit, I can’t help a small smile from forming as the truth sinks in—I was not crazy thinking they liked me back then. They stopped coming to events not only because of my brother, but because they didn’t want me to choose only one of them. And now they are chasing me around the lake, where we share so many memories.

“There is nowhere to hide.”

I look back over my shoulder and one of the masked men is hot on my heels, and within seconds, my body is lifted from the ground. A scream peels from my lips as we go down. I’m cradled in large arms, and he takes the brunt of the fall as we hit the water, my scream turning to laughter as it bubbles up my throat. I grin down my captor. Kennedy has his hands securely on my hips, so I cannot get away—he has always been the most competitive, and hates losing.

In one swift movement, he rolls me onto my back in the few inches of water, his body hovering above mine. His glow mask floats beside my head, completely ruined.

“What now?” I ask. “The ball’s in your court.”

Kennedy smiles. “First, I fuck you while they watch, and then we’ll go back to the house and shower. Next, we show you what it would be like to be ours.”

His lips descend on mine, and I moan against them as his tongue delves between my parted lips. His large body presses all along mine as he grinds against me. I’ve wanted this for so long my head spins with lust.

He pulls back and kisses the side of my mouth, moving slowly down my jaw, my body arching the further down he moves.

“Fuck you’re beautiful,” he says. “Every curve is sculpted to perfection.”

He runs his hand over my waist and down my hip. “If you fuck me knowing it’s me, Riley, I don’t know if I can come back from that. One taste of you wasn’t enough.”

“Please fuck me,” I whimper.

He smiles down at me. We remain in the shallows of the lake as he rips off my shorts and throws them toward where Tai and Archer are watching, no longer wearing their masks.

“Whatever you want, Riley. All you have to do is ask.”

He sits up on his haunches and motions for me to flip over. “This is going to be fast. I want you to keep your pretty eyes on them as they watch you get fucked. Enjoy it, and know they wish it were them buried deep inside your perfect cunt.”

I do as he asks and get on my hands and knees. Kennedy moves us, so I’m now a little out of the water and facing the other two. Water drips from my hair and down my face as I look up at them, and Tai has already taken his cock out and is biting his lip.

Archer’s intense gaze burns into me, making me feel sexy. I watch him as Kennedy moves behind me, pulling my ass where he needs it. He thrusts deep and my moan of pleasure echoes in the still air around us.

Kennedy takes hold of my hips and uses them to help him thrust hard, fast, and deep inside me. My screams of pleasure don’t stop as I watch Archer and Tai watching me. I see how turned on Tai is, and there’s banked passion in Archer’s gaze. I want them all, consequences be damned.

My head is pulled back as Kennedy wraps his hand in my hair, and he forces me up onto my knees. His cock is still buried deep inside me, his other hand pressed against my stomach as his thrusts slow.

“Are you going to come for me, Riley? I want to feel your pussy shatter around me.” The hand on my stomach moves lower until his finger circles my clit. “Come for us.” Kennedy finds a languid, rolling rhythm with his hips and his hand. “You’re the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on,” he whispers. “Your curves make my fucking mouth water.”

My orgasm hits and doesn’t stop until my entire body goes limp and Kennedy growls from deep in his throat as he finishes deep inside me.

He pulls out, tucks himself away, and wraps me in his arms as I get my bearings. When he stands, he takes me with him, cradling me like I weigh nothing as he walks toward the guys.

“Rest your eyes, Riley Bear, because your night has only just begun.”

Kennedy keeps me pulled tight to his chest as we walk back toward the cabin. I’m too afraid to close my eyes, because this must be a dream. There is no other explanation as to why these three men would want me.