Claiming Their Racy Sub [Racy Nights 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read online

Alexa watched Chase part the crowd around her with a mere look, and then he smiled at her. Her breath caught in her throat as she gazed into his hazel eyes. They were green at time, and golden at others, like a cat’s eyes. Right now, they blazed dark and full of admiration as he made his way to the stool on which she sat.

  “Surrounded again, as usual.”

  She loved the rich tones to his voice, and could listen to it for hours.

  “I swear I don’t know any of them.”

  “Any of who?” Chase grinned, and Alexa’s clit began to throb. She was just as attracted to him physically as she was to Luke, and that fact never ceased to amaze her.

  Eight months ago, Alexa would have laughed at anyone who’d told her that by the New Year she’d be living in Racy, Indiana, and would have two gorgeous men vying for her attention. She literally hadn’t had sex since leaving Brad The Hose Bag—as Kari always called him—eight months earlier. Thank goodness for vibrators.

  Chase Taylor was a hunk with an attitude, but she was drawn to him. He wasn’t cocky or haughty though. That wasn’t the reason he fascinated her. She loved his confidence, and the way he’d walk into a room and simply take charge of it by his mere presence.

  She’d made sure he wasn’t a sadistic asshole like Brad by grilling Noah for almost two hours one evening. She knew Chase frequented Maddox McCree’s very private and exclusive dungeon, and that he was the zoning commissioner in Racy. He was also the reason why Kari had been able to renovate the old house into both living quarters upstairs and a sex shop on the first floor.

  But that wasn’t why he and Alexa had started dancing around each other. Alexa had been in the bar one night and Chase walked in. He hadn’t stopped staring at her, and finally Luke had introduced them. After Luke closed down his bar that night, the three had gone to Nan’s Place, the favorite local greasy spoon, and spent hours just talking. Alexa had been so comfortable with both men it surprised her.

  “How is business at the shop?” asked Chase.

  “It’s great. Kari and I are so busy it’s crazy. Three months ago we weren’t even sure we’d be open for Valentine’s Day.”

  “That’s what she said.” He gave her a pointed stare. “Soon you’ll be able to put on some of those clothes you two plan to sell and come to Maddox’s club with me.”

  Chase had been trying to get her to go to Maddox’s club with him ever since, but she’d given him one lame excuse after another. Alexa wasn’t quite ready to walk into a club again. Not yet, at least.

  “You’re a million miles away tonight, Alexa.” A lock of Chase’s brown hair fell over his forehead. Alexa reached up without thinking and brushed it out of his eyes. The softness that came over them sent a flood of desire coursing through her body.

  Whereas Luke reminded Alexa of a bear, Chase was more like a lion or a cheetah, perhaps. A bear was cuddly and soft but able to rip your head off if he was defending his territory. But a cheetah was purely predatory. Chase had an aura about him that screamed, “I’m in control but I won’t hurt you.” Noah, who she’d trust with her life, had assured Alexa that Chase would cut off an arm before he’d hurt a woman. She wanted so badly to take a chance and trust him.

  Chase waved a hand in front of her face. “Earth to Alexa.”

  “Sorry, Chase. I guess I’m just tired.”

  Chase’s smile was quick and sexy. “You should be. You’re working too hard. You need a day off.” He leaned close, and the smell of Aramis filled her head. “Why don’t you come on a drive with me tomorrow? The shop will be closed, right? Have you seen the wind turbines? We could drive up I-65. What do you say?”

  She stared into his eyes, overcome with conflicting emotions. A drive on a frosty Sunday afternoon would be fun, and she was curious about the wind turbines. Almost everyone in this town was associated with them in one way or another.

  It wasn’t that she didn’t want to get back into the lifestyle. It was that she wasn’t prepared to face her past and all that Brad had put her through, and being a sub again meant she’d have to do both. She and Julie had talked about that aspect of her life extensively.

  The idea of submitting to a man again made her wary, even while she craved it. Most days she believed she was completely fucked up. But she’d come to realize there was a fine line between being a Dom and being abusive, and Brad had crossed it. Alexa simply hadn’t known how to back away, or not to get involved in the first place.

  But having grown up with a mother who was an escort and let her clients stay overnight in her home with a teenage daughter in the next bedroom while she drank herself into a coma nearly every night so that the clients did what they wanted, when they wanted to the daughter, had left Alexa with a skewed sense of right and wrong.

  “Alexa, all I’m asking for is to take a drive with me. We’ll stop somewhere afterwards and get dinner. No expectations, and no strings attached. I swear it.”

  She sensed movement next to her and glanced up to find Luke standing close. Chase’s smile didn’t leave his face as he shook Luke’s hand.

  “How are you, Luke? Great crowd tonight.”

  “Yeah.”

  Chase cleared his throat, and resignation filled his eyes. He cut his gaze to Alexa for a second then glanced up at Luke. “I was just telling Alexa we should take a drive to see the wind turbines. She never has. And then we could stop and get something to eat. Want to come along? Can you leave your bar for an afternoon?”

  Luke blinked a couple of times. To say he looked surprised was an understatement, but he recovered quickly. “Sure I can. My sister Peppi will keep an eye on it for me. Okay. I’ll come along.”

  “Great.” Chase nodded toward Alexa. “What do you say now? Yes?”

  Alexa didn’t want to hide in the past anymore. She wanted her chance at happiness as well. Now that Kari spent all her free time with Noah and Adison, she was lonely. They’d had such a great time at Nan’s that night, why should tomorrow be any different? Then again, this wasn’t a walk down Market Street in Racy. It was a drive some miles away, and an entire day together with the two of them.

  But Alexa wanted this. Julie had said she was ready, and she felt ready. It was only a day. She didn’t have to tell them about Brad or hr past, and she didn’t have to do anything except enjoy their company. They wanted to be with her, and she wanted to be with them. She was hungry for them both, and it was time to stop being afraid and enjoy her life.

  “Okay. Let’s do that. It sounds perfect.”

  Chapter Two

  Chase grinned as he watched Alexa play with the adjustable seat and individual climate control from the front passenger seat of his Hyundai Azera. From the backseat, Luke prattled on about the wind turbines. For someone who’d never worked for Notus, the power company that owned the wind farm, Luke knew a lot about it.

  “Which sister works for Notus again?” asked Chase.

  “Maggie.”

  Chase glanced at Alexa. “Magdalena. She goes by Maggie.”

  Alexa turned around in her seat. “Magdalena is such a pretty name. Why doesn’t she use it?”

  “People can’t pronounce it.”

  Alexa laughed. “That’s silly. It’s not difficult. What does she do at Notus?”

  “She’s head of marketing for this entire area.” Luke’s voice was full of pride, and a flash of jealousy shot through Chase. What must it be like to have a big, loving family like that? Chase had never known.

  “I’d love to meet her,” said Alexa. “Kari and I talk about marketing all the time but we don’t know where to start.”

  “If you’ll come to Sunday dinner with me next week, you’ll meet my entire family, Alexa.”

  She didn’t say anything, and Chase cringed inwardly. When would he stop asking her? Clearly she was uncomfortable with the idea. Noah hadn’t told him much about Kari’s best friend, mainly because he didn’t know much. But it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that Alexa was a very private person. She was also hiding something.
Chase should know. He’d been hiding his home life from the people in this town for thirty-three years.

  “What about me?” asked Chase. “I could use some good home cooking.” He only asked to take the focus off the uncomfortable silence that had descended after Luke asked her to come to Sunday dinner.

  “Then learn how to work your damn oven,” said Luke.

  “Oh, I see how it is. You came along today to be with Alexa, not me.”

  “No,” said Luke. “The real reason I came along was to ride in this expensive car.”

  “I knew it,” said Chase, winking at Alexa.

  She squirmed in her seat, giggling. “You two are so much fun. Thank you for this. I needed to get out for a day.”

  “Yes, you did,” said Chase. “And I have a surprise for you and Luke. Adison arranged for one of his staff to meet us at a turbine and give us a tour.”

  Alexa clapped her hands. “Oh, what fun. Thank you, Chase.”

  As they started passing the miles of turbines extending on both sides along Interstate 65, Alexa swiveled around in her seat, trying to see each one. Chase had never seen anyone so excited about giant steel and fiberglass windmills.

  “I wonder what they look like from the sky?” she asked. “Can you see them from space? What happens if there’s a tornado?”

  “They’re supposedly tornado proof,” said Chase. “Ask Noah about it. But get ready to have your ear talked off for like three hours about the physics behind why a twister won’t take them down.”

  They all laughed. Chase knew his best friend well. Noah seemed quiet and reserved until you got him talking about his work as a research and development specialist at Notus, and then you couldn’t shut him up. But when Chase had asked him about Alexa, he’d clammed up again. If Kari had told Noah anything, he wasn’t going to reveal it.

  What were they all protecting? He glanced to his right again as she continued to talk about the turbines, twisting and turning in her seat. Chase hadn’t been able to stop staring at her from the moment he’d met her. It wasn’t only her looks. She had a playfulness and naiveté about her that he found irresistible. But there was something tragic behind that smoky voice and those incredibly blue eyes.

  Chase wanted to peel back the layers of Alexa and find out who or what had hurt her so badly. He wanted to expose it and free her from it. His dick was pretty much rock hard while he was in her presence, but he hadn’t been able to get any further with her than hot kisses and a couple of feels. He didn’t think she was playing with him either. It was fear that held her back, not game playing. And she’d told him she wasn’t a virgin. He believed her because she certainly didn’t kiss like a virgin.

  But how to reach her? Chase had no idea. He only knew he wanted her, and his desire went beyond pure physical need. He wanted to protect her and help her heal from whatever was in her past that had scarred her so badly. He knew all about that kind of scarring. He’d lived through it and come out the other side, and that’s what he wanted to help Alexa do as well.

  And then there was the issue of Luke’s involvement. Chase didn’t know him well, but he respected him and liked him. Luke was obviously smitten with Alexa, and Chase knew that Luke wanted only the best for her. Part of him wished that Alexa wasn’t also dating Luke, but Chase was a realist. This was how it was. This was what she wanted, and so he’d have to deal with it.

  It would be different if Luke were out to simply hop into bed with Alexa, but he knew that wasn’t true. The man looked at her as if she’d hung the moon. Chase had no clue where this might end up, but for now he was going to enjoy the day with her.

  * * * *

  They pulled off at the next exit, and Chase led them through a series of twists and turns, courtesy of his GPS, until they finally trundled down a narrow blacktop road. When they came to a gatehouse, Chase gave his name and the name of the staff member to the armed guard, and they were waved past.

  As they neared one of the turbines, Alexa was even more impressed. It towered over them, the blades slowly turning in the wind, like an alien sentry. The service technician who met them was named Mark, and he gave them a quick overview of how the turbines worked, before taking them closer to one.

  “It’s not big inside,” he said, “and this isn’t like an elevator in a high rise, so if you’re afraid of heights or claustrophobic, say so now.”

  Mark handed them each a helmet. They climbed a few steps then Mark unlocked a door in the tower. It was loud. He’d forgotten to mention that. Alexa felt like she’d wandered onto the runway at JFK and gotten too close to a 747 about to take off. She covered her ears.

  “Don’t worry,” he said, smiling at her. “We turn them off first.” He unlocked a cabinet and entered a series of numbers on a keypad, and then they listened to the sound die down. “All set.”

  They climbed a short ladder to a metal platform, their shoes echoing off the walls of the tower. It was cramped in the elevator, but she enjoyed being this close to Luke and Chase. Their combined scents filled her head, making her wonder what they looked like naked. Alexa bit back a laugh. Only she could become aroused inside a wind turbine elevator.

  She had to keep swallowing as they slowly ascended three hundred feet into the air. The elevator was open on the bottom, and when she looked down, she became dizzy. At one point she grabbed Luke’s hand and squeezed hard. When she glanced at his face, she saw the same queasiness she felt, and that helped her relax a bit. If a big, strong man like Luke could feel uneasy in this situation, she wasn’t overreacting at all.

  There was no room to move around at the top, but that was all right. She pressed closer to Chase, and he put an arm around her shoulder. Alexa couldn't think of a more convenient excuse to snuggle closer to him and Luke.

  “Have you been in one of these before?” she asked Chase.

  He shook his head. “No, but Noah and Adison have. Of course if you ask them about it, they’ll each talk your ears off.” He winked at her and Alexa sighed. It might not be the most romantic place in the world, but she still loved that Chase had arranged this tour for her.

  Mark pointed out several parts above them, and threw out names for them she knew she’d never remember. He explained how the rotating blades adjusted themselves based on the wind, how many times they could rotate before they had to rewind, and how difficult it was to have to work on one because this was the only way to reach the mechanism that allowed them to turn in the wind.

  Luke just gaped at everything, but Chase asked dozens of questions. Alexa listened to everything he asked and was struck by how intelligent he was. When he and Mark began discussing wind velocity and the length of the blades, Alexa turned her attention to Luke.

  “Did you ever consider working for Notus?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t have a college degree, Alexa. And there is no way I could do this.” He pointed above to the nacelle, which Mark had told them housed the generator and gearbox. “I could never climb up there or go out on the blades.”

  “Are you that afraid of heights?”

  He nodded.

  “So then, I guess going to an amusement park with me is out of the question?”

  Mark and Chase had stopped talking, and Alexa became embarrassed for Luke. She hadn’t meant to put him on the spot.

  “I’m a bit afraid of heights too,” said Chase.

  Alexa smiled at him, grateful that he’d sensed Luke’s discomfort and instead of doing or saying something to make it worse, he’d ensured they had a common bond.

  “How about you, Alexa?” Chase asked. “Are you afraid of heights?”

  She shook her head. “Not usually, but this is different than looking out the window of a skyscraper.” She glanced at Mark. “Do you ever have to walk out on the blades?”

  “Sure do. There’s a hatch on them to reach the individual gears inside. But we’re tethered to the nacelle, much like the astronauts are tethered to their space station when they have to do space walks to fix things.”

/>   “Has anyone ever fallen?”

  “Not that I know of.”

  Once they were on the ground again, Alexa felt like she’d been on a wicked rollercoaster ten times in a row. It took a few minutes of walking around on firm earth before she felt ready to get into a moving car again. As they drove away she turned around and gazed up the tower once more. It wasn’t nearly as tall as the skyscrapers in Manhattan, but those building didn’t have elevators you could see through, and they weren't narrow metal towers. This had been an entirely different experience.

  They drove toward Merrillville, continuing to talk about the turbines, when suddenly Chase pulled into the parking lot of Asparagus, an upscale Thai restaurant. She hadn’t even noticed where they were going. Alexa clapped her hands again. “How did you know about this place? Kari mentioned it a few times, saying we really needed to take a drive up here one day.”

  “It was Luke’s idea. He thought you might like it since you’re a vegetarian.”

  Alexa turned around to see Luke beaming as if he’d just found nirvana for her. “Thank you, Luke. That was so thoughtful.”

  “Anything for you, cariño.”

  The meal was delicious. Alexa hadn’t had decent Thai food since leaving New York, and she closed her eyes as the memories assaulted her senses. She suddenly missed the city so much it was painful. Racy was a lovely small town, but it wasn’t New York. It never would be. Despite the bad memories, she missed it.

  But then again, Luke and Chase were here, and she was free from Brad. She co-owned what was promising to be a very successful business with Kari, the best friend a girl could ask for. Racy was a place where she could start to heal from the past and build a new life.

  Chase and Luke kept up a steady stream of gossip about Racy and its residents as they ate their meal and sipped tea. Alexa felt so comfortable in their presence she didn’t want to leave the restaurant. They knew every dirty little secret about Racy, and they knew so many of its residents. It was hard for Alexa to imagine growing up in such a place, where you went to school with the same people for twelve years, and where most of them could trace their history back to when the town was settled in 1898.