MenageaDare Read online

  Eve breathed a sad sigh, drawing to a halt. “Ten? What happened, Remy?”

  “Let’s talk while we walk,” Remy said, keeping Eve close to him. “Blair went missing during my freshman year of college. His remains weren’t found until five years later.”

  “That’s awful. I’m so sorry.” Eve shifted a little, moving his hand off the small of her back. A half-second later, her fingers wrapped around his and held on tight. “If it’s difficult to talk about, don’t feel pressured.”

  “Talking is good. Blair passed away. His soul didn’t and he visited me often that first year, then intermittently until his killer was caught.”

  “What did he say or do when he came to you?”

  “The first time it happened, I’d gone home to help my parents and sisters search for him. He came to me in my room, warning me about Mr. Sisco, the ice cream man and youth soccer coach who lived a couple miles from our house.”

  “You told the police about this man?”

  “Absolutely, but Abe Sisco had a wife who’d given him an alibi the day Blair disappeared. He had children, all adopted, some were my sisters ages and they played soccer together.”

  “Oh my god, I can’t imagine what it was like for you and your family.”

  “It was terrible. Each time Blair appeared to me, he insisted he’d gone into Abe’s garage to get an ice cream cone out of the freezer and never came out.”

  Eve squeezed his hand again. “Poor Blair, I wish I could hold him right now. Did the police apprehend Abe Sisco?”

  “Yes, my brother was found in an old cellar under Sisco’s garage.”

  “Your family must have been devastated.”

  “They were, we all were, but we got vindication. A forensics team and the police were able to trace Abe Sisco’s alias to a serial killer from Chicago who’d gone dormant and moved to Massachusetts when the FBI nearly caught him.”

  “Tell me this sucker is in prison or I’m having Phalen, Ethan and Taran Maddox hunt him down and take him out,” Eve demanded, her fight for his baby brother touching his heart.

  Tugging on her hand, he brought her around to face him, shrugging to ease the backpack off his shoulder and set it on the graveled path.

  “Sisco is gone, sugar,” he assured her.

  “Gone as in dead or gone as in prison?”

  “Dead,” Remy revealed. “Authorities believe he committed suicide in his cell soon after being sentenced to life in prison without parole.”

  “Then Blair was given justice,” Eve commented.

  “Blair stopped visiting once Sisco was arrested.”

  “Do you miss your brother coming to visit you?”

  Remy inclined his head. “Every day, but I’m glad he’s at peace.”

  “But you’re not?” Eve locked eyes with him, elevating her chin, her stance telling him she was ready to take on his demons.

  “During those first five years my brother was gone, I made a lot of mistakes, hurt people I loved, all to cover the pain going on inside.”

  “You must have felt so alone,” she said, lifting her hand to place it against his cheek.

  “Yes, and I’d fooled myself into thinking fucking anyone I could find would fulfill that part of me that’d been missing since Blair died.”

  “For what it’s worth, Remy, I’d have stood by you.”

  “You’ve stood by me even after I kept pushing you away. Why?”

  “Because you are the part of me that beats,” she claimed, resting her free hand over her heart.

  “I’m your heart, sugar?” he asked, liking that, liking that a lot. He’d never been someone’s heart before, much less believed himself worthy of a woman such as Evelyn.

  “Haven’t you figured that out yet?” Her fingers curled inward slightly, cupping his cheek and making him feel wanted, loved.

  “You’re going to let me make love to you tonight, aren’t you?” he asked, wanting to kick himself in the ass for getting nervous all of a sudden.

  “For as long as you want me, no matter what you ask of me in bed, I’m yours,” she answered. Bending his head toward her, he caught her mouth in a gentle kiss, remaining aware of the chill in the Colorado air and the approaching sunset.

  “Be careful, Eve, my kinks go beyond the norm,” he declared as he drew back, nipping on her cute fuller lip before moving to her side.

  “I hope so,” she replied. “You’ve no idea the fantasies I’ve had about you.”

  “Let’s take it slow this weekend, Eve. We’ll talk, make love, play, maybe go hiking and make love some more,” he insisted, taking her hand and leading her on. “But if at any point, you want out afterward that’s all you have to say. Okay?”

  Shortly, they arrived at their horseshoe-shaped camping spot, which was secluded from neighboring campsites by thick bushes and trees. Better yet, the campground had all the amenities needed for a camper, including hookups for water and electricity.

  Taking the backpack to his truck, he opened up the canvas cover, put the pack inside and then set about stacking dried kindling and logs provided by the campground in the small fire pit. Couple of minutes later, a fire came to life, warding off the early evening chill.

  “Have a seat, sugar,” he said, guiding Eve to a camp chair he’d set near the fire pit earlier.

  He had a couple of battery-powered lanterns stowed in the camper and walked to the kitchen side to retrieve them. Turning them on, he moved to hung one from a hook in the side of the camper, the other he kept in his hand.

  “I’ll find some sticks for the hotdogs. I have buns and condiments if you need them,” he said after the campsite was well lit.

  “Hotdogs over an open fire sound perfect tonight. I’m fine eating right off the stick.” Her eagerness to eat hotdogs set off a chain reaction. One second he was thinking about food, the next his cock was thickening in his jeans.

  “In that case, eat well, sugar. We’ll both need to if we plan to have sex more than once tonight.”

  “More than once?” she said, looking upward at the darkening sky. “God, please let that happen.”

  “Don’t ask God. Ask me.”

  Eve stayed in her chair, lowering her eyes from the sky to his face. “Do I need to call you Sir?”

  “Not yet, Eve. Remember what I said, we’ll get there,” he promised.

  As much as he enjoyed the BDSM lifestyle, he didn’t want to rush Eve into it without her full understanding and consent. They were still getting to know one another as lovers. That’s what he wanted to concentrate on.

  “You’re in charge, I take it?”

  “You already know that answer,” he said, watching her blush scarlet. “Let me ask you something. How long has it been for you?”

  “Since I’ve had sex?”

  “Yes. Be honest.”

  “I haven’t had been with anyone since you hired me,” she said.

  “I’m glad. It’s been almost as long since I’ve had a lover, sugar.”

  “Are there any rules I should know going forward?” she asked.

  “For now, the only rule I have is that you tell me if something I’m doing to you doesn’t work for you. Okay?”

  “I don’t get it. I heard you joined Alex and Ryan’s club at Druid Creek Castle,” she admitted.

  “It’s true. I’ve been a switch in relationships before, but joining the club was more for the social aspect than trying to hook up with anyone or play.”

  “Will it make you walk away from me if I don’t accept it? I’m curious but I’m not sure it’s right for me.”

  Needing to reassure her, Remy stopped whatever he was doing and went straight to her. Reaching out, he touched his hand to her face, bringing her chin up. She was beautiful in the firelight.

  “No,” he told her. “Being curious is good, Eve. Maybe when we get back to New England we can look into attending munches together.”

  “Munches,” she repeated. “Avery explained them to me.”

  “Then you know they�
��re meant to introduce someone new to the lifestyle without pressure to join or engage. While we’re on this road trip, if you want to play, we’ll see what fun can be had without scaring or pushing you. Okay?”

  “Okay. Thank you, Remy.”

  Leaning down, he kissed her on the cheek, inhaling her fresh scent as he drew back. Damn, his cock thickened to the point of discomfort. Having to turn away and adjust himself, he went and grabbed a lantern and headed off into the woods to hunt down sticks.

  Despite needing a little cool down time, he didn’t want venture too far from Eve or their campsite. Once in a while, he’d stop what he was doing to make sure she was okay then resumed his task until he had several long, thin sticks suitable for roasting marshmallows and hotdogs over the fire.

  Taking them to the camper, he set the lantern on the picnic table and went to the kitchen, took out a Swiss Army knife from one of the small utility drawers and sharpened the ends of the sticks.

  “Everything okay over there, Eve? Are you thirsty or anything?” he asked, putting the knife back. “I’ve got Red’s Apple Ale, bottled water, apple juice and beer.”

  “The ale sounds good,” she answered.

  “Got it.” It took a minute to fish through the cooler for two ales, remove the caps and take them over to the campfire and hand one to her. “Here you go.”

  “Thanks,” Eve said, taking one. Together they each took a sip then set their bottles on a big, flat rock that sat between the camp chairs. It would make a convenient table.

  Retracing his steps to the kitchen, he grabbed the sticks, two packages of hotdogs, beef for her and veggie for him then headed back to the fire pit. On his way back, he paused, watching Eve sip on her ale and genuinely seem to enjoy it.

  Man, she was beautiful. If all went well for the rest of this trip, maybe he could overcome his penchant for hurting women he’d cared about. The most damaging had been his ex-fiancée, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t dated others or tried again only to find himself drawn to another man.

  At first, he’d thought playing or engaging with couples was the answer to avoid hurting women. If both were open to ménages, it would be the best of both worlds. But most of the time, his attempts fell flat and many were hurt, himself included.

  “Hungry?” he asked, taking a seat in a camp chair and cringing when he nearly bent his erection in the wrong direction. Adjusting himself, he settled more comfortably.

  “Yes, very,” she admitted, her stomach growling.

  “Me too,” he said as he offered her a stick and a hotdog. “Here you are.”

  “Thanks, Remy,” she said, assembling her hotdog on the stick and extending it over the flame as he sat down and prepared his own.

  Together, they roasted the hotdogs. Darkness fell. It was pretty darn chilly away from the fire pit, but here everything was warm and there was nowhere else Remy wanted to be.

  Chapter Two

  Eve rocked back in her chair and looked over at the man she’d wanted for so long. She honestly thought she knew a lot about him before tonight.

  She knew he liked ice cream, action movies and predominately wore black. But until he opened himself up to her about Blair, she hadn’t known why he’d made ghost hunting his life’s work.

  In that respect, she and Remy shared common ground in needing to understand paranormal phenomena. Ever since her mom died of breast cancer when she was younger, she’d wanted to find a way to reassure herself that her mom was in heaven.

  She’d tried several means to do that, attended seminars or séances and did extensive research on paranormal activity throughout history. Except for occasional déjà vu, she’d never thought of herself as psychic though she believed in the power of the mind.

  Then a year ago almost to the day, she was hired on as Remington Sinclair’s history consultant for his ghost hunting reality TV show and met psychic Morgan Everhart, now Morgan Maddox, back in October. At first she’d been jealous of Morgan’s friendship with Remy.

  But that changed after Morgan touched her mother’s rocking chair and gave a reading that’d been so spot on there was no way it could’ve been faked. Above it all, she’d been given reason to believe her mom was indeed an angel watching over her and her father.

  “What are you thinking about, Eve?” Remy asked, withdrawing his stick with a veggie hotdog from the fire.

  “My mom,” she answered.

  “Tell me about her,” Remy prompted. “I mean, I know you lost her years ago, but I’d love to know what she was like.”

  Eve reached over and picked up a bottle of apple ale. Taking a long sip, she hummed, it was quite delicious and it gave her a moment to think before speaking.

  “She was the best mom a girl could hope for. She told me bedtime stories when I was very little and let me cry on her shoulder when Billy Simms broke up with me in the sixth grade.”

  “Billy Simms was an ass to break up with you.”

  Chuckling at that, Eve took another sip, eyeing the empty end of her stick. She’d eaten one hotdog and could use a second.

  “Billy had several girlfriends in sixth grade after our big breakup. His family moved out of state the following summer and I moved on.”

  “Your mom was a lawyer, correct?”

  “Yes, she was and she headed up the legal department of Dad’s company and still had time to attend every recital and school event until she became too sick.”

  “If your mom was as dedicated to her job as you are to helping me track down historical facts about a given estate or town, I’d say your father was lucky to have her on his side.”

  “I don’t think I told you this, Remy. The day I read the ad you’d posted for a consultant, I’d closed myself off in my apartment with a half gallon of vanilla-fudge ice cream, intending to watch Casablanca. It was her birthday and we used to watch old movies together.”

  “I can understand that. I’ve done that for Blair.”

  “To this day, I think she had a hand in guiding me to you instead of Netflix.”

  “Certainly possible, sometimes spirits come to us in dreams or in person. Sometimes the tickle on the back of your neck or the crash of a cup on the floor when no one else is around alerts you to their presence.”

  “And sometimes entities are caught in an event that they relive over and over,” she added.

  “I find that’s the case on battlefields or a place with traumatic history. I’ve also found that some spirits are transient, passing from one place to the next, some are residual or intelligent and have a story to tell.”

  Eve glanced up, looking over at Remy. He looked so relaxed sitting in his camp chair, sipping on his apple ale or nibbling on a hotdog.

  “I think it takes an open mind to believe those who’ve passed away remain or communicate with us. It also takes faith, which stems from the heart.”

  “True,” he agreed. “Many times I’ve gotten what I thought was photographic or video evidence that turned out to be dust or an animal. Old houses with faulty wiring can set off EMF detectors.”

  “And it can take hours to obtain a simple EVP. It’s a good thing you have Morgan to help. All I can do is hunt down historical information about a site or the genealogical records of a family or families who lived there.”

  “Her abilities are amazing, that doesn’t mean what you do is any less important to the success of the show. So often, history is lost over time. You keep it alive.”

  “Is that your way of saying I make history sound interesting? I hope so.”

  “Guess it’s fair to say you’ve altered my view of historians forever.”

  Eve set her bottle on a flat rock situated between their chairs and went for another hotdog. Poking her stick through the hotdog, she held it over the fire, ducking a little when a puff of smoke blew up toward her face.

  “What was your view before you met me?” she asked, curious even as she waved off the smoke.

  It was par for the course when it came to campfires. Her mom used to say sm
oke followed beauty. Eve never thought of herself as beautiful. But the way Remy stared at her when she’d walked out of the bathhouse changed that view.

  “Considering my parents are tenured professors at MIT, my mom in sociology and my dad in physics, I suppose it’s safe to say the history professors I’d met were boring.”

  “History isn’t boring. If taught right, it can help us avoid repeating mistakes in the future. Sociology’s fascinating to me too, ditto for anthropology.”

  “My mom, Aiyana, studied the Wampanoag and Narragansett cultures extensively. I’ve learned a lot about my maternal heritage from her.”

  “What was it like for you growing up?” Eve asked curiously.

  Remy shrugged, finishing off his hotdog and preparing another. “Same as any other boy’s, I suppose. I’d played baseball and football, teased girls with frogs and worms, loved going to carnivals and skinny dipping, especially if Beth and Gary were involved.”

  “Were they your friends?”

  “Their parents were friends with mine for years and we lived in the same neighborhood.”

  “What happened?” It was the first time he’d mentioned them.

  “They’re married now. Beth’s expecting a baby. They’re very happy.”

  “That’s nice. Why do I have the feeling something happened between the three of you?”

  Remy sat in his chair, roasting his hotdog in silence. Eve pulled her stick back so that her hotdog wouldn’t burn. Tentatively, she nibbled on the end. It was perfectly warm, not overdone or too hot.

  “You don’t have to answer if it’s too personal,” she said between bites.

  “Beth was my fiancée,” he admitted in a quiet voice. “This is the part of our conversation you should listen to, Eve. Before we get into that camper, you need to know what kind of man I am.”

  “I already know what kind of man you are,” she countered, ignoring her hotdog.

  “Do you?” he challenged, turning his head to face her.

  “You’re the kind of man I’m proud to call a friend, hopefully soon, my lover. You’ve known for a long time that I’m attracted to you and you could’ve taken advantage of me but you didn’t.”