A Little Dare

continued using his fingers to pleasure her. And when it

started all over again, and more spasms rammed through her, signaling a second orgasm, she pulled her mouth from his, closed her eyes and leaned forward to his chest, crying

out into the cotton of his shirt.

“That’s it baby, let go and enjoy.”

And as another turbulent wave of pleasure ripped through her and she fought to catch her breath, Shelly let go and enjoyed every single moment of what Dare was doing to her.

And she doubted that after tonight her life would ever be the same.

Eight

“M om? Mom? Are you okay?”

Shelly heard the sound of AJ’s voice as he tried gently to shake her awake.

“Mom, wake up. Please say something.”

She quickly opened her eyes when her mind registered the panic in his tone. She blinked, feeling dazed and

disoriented, and tried to focus on him, but at the moment she felt completely wrung out. “AJ? What are you doing out of bed?”

Confusion appeared in his face. “Mom, I’m supposed to be out of bed. It’s morning and I have to go to school today.

You forgot to wake me up. And why did you sleep on the

sofa all night in the same clothes you had on yesterday?”

Somehow, Shelly found the strength to sit up. She yawned, feeling bone-tired. “It’s morning already?” The last thing she remembered was having her fourth orgasm in Dare’s arms and slumping against him without any strength left even to hold up her head. He must have brought her into the house and placed her on the sofa, thinking she would eventually

come around and go up the stairs. Instead, exhausted,

depleted and totally satisfied, she had slept through the

night.

“Mom, are you all right?

She met AJ’s concerned gaze. He had no idea just how all right she was. Dare had given her just what her body had

needed. She had forgotten just what an ace he was with his fingers on a certain part of her. “Yes, AJ, I’m fine.” She

glanced at the coffee table and noticed the book both she and Dare had been reading and considered it the perfect alibi. “I must have fallen asleep reading. What time is it?

You aren’t late are you?” She leaned back against the

sofa’s cushions. After a night like last light, she could curl

up and sleep for the entire day.

“No, I’m not late, but you might be if you have to go to work today.”

Shelly shook her head. “I only have a couple of patients I need to see, and I hadn’t planned on going anywhere until around ten.” She decided not to mention that she was also having lunch with Dare’s brothers today. She yawned

again. “What would you like for breakfast?”

He shrugged. “I’ll just have a bowl of cereal. I met these two guys at school yesterday and we’re meeting up to ride our bikes together.”

Shelly nodded. She hoped AJ hadn’t associated himself with the wrong group again. “Who are these boys?”

“Morris Sears and Cornelius Thomas. And we’re going to meet at Kate’s Diner every morning for chocolate milk.” As an afterthought he added. “And it’s free if we let her know we’ve been good in school.”

Shelly made a mental note to ask Dare about Morris and Cornelius when she saw him again. Being Sheriff he

probably knew if the two were troublemakers.

“They’re real cool guys and they like my bike,” AJ went on to say. “Yesterday they told me all about the sheriff and his brothers.” His eyes grew wide. “Why didn’t you tell me that Thorn Westmoreland is my uncle?”

“Because he’s not.”

At AJ’s confused frown, Shelly decided to explain. “Until you accept Dare as your father you can’t claim any of the Westmorelands as your uncles.”

AJ glared. “That doesn’t seem fair.”

“And why doesn’t it? You’re the one who doesn’t want Dare knowing he’s your father, so how can you tell anyone that

Thorn and the others are your uncles without explaining the connection? Until you decide differently, to the

Westmorelands you’re just another kid.”

She stood. “Now, I’m going upstairs and shower while you eat breakfast.”

AJ nodded as he slowly walked out of the room and

headed for the kitchen. Shelly knew she had given him something to think about.

“Is it true?” Morris asked excitedly the moment AJ got off his bike at Ms. Kate’s Diner.

AJ raised a brow. “Is what true?”

It was Cornelius who answered, his wide, blue eyes

expressive. “That you had dinner with the sheriff and his family last night?”

AJ shrugged, wondering how they knew that. “Yeah, so what about it?”

“We think it’s cool, that’s what about it. The sheriff is the

bomb. He makes sure everyone in this town is safe at night. My mom and dad say so,” Cornelius responded without

wasting any time.

AJ and the two boys opened the door and walked into the diner. “How did you know I had dinner with the sheriff?” he asked as they walked up to the counter where cartons of chocolate milk had been placed for them.

“Mr. and Mrs. Turner saw all of you and called my

grandmother who then called my mom and dad. Everyone was wondering who you were and I told my mom that you were a kid who got in trouble and had to report to the

sheriff’s office after school every day. They thought you

were a family member or something, but I told them you weren’t.”

AJ nodded. “My mom had to go to work unexpectedly last night and the sheriff offered to take me to dinner with him since I hadn’t eaten.”

“Wow! That was real nice of him, wasn’t it?”

AJ hadn’t really thought about it being an act of kindness and said, “Yeah, I guess so.”

“Do you think he’ll mind if we go with you to his office after school?” Morris asked excitedly.

AJ scrunched his face, thinking. “I guess not, but he might put you to work.”

Morris shrugged. “That’s all right if he does. I just want him to tell us about the time he was an FBI agent and did that undercover stuff to catch the bad guys.”

AJ nodded. He didn’t want to admit it, but he wouldn’t mind hearing about that himself. He smiled when the nice lady behind the counter handed them each a donut to go along with their milk.

Shelly’s hands tightened on the steering wheel after she

brought her car to a stop next to the police cruiser marked Sheriff. She’d had no idea Dare would be joining his

brothers for lunch. How would she manage a straight face around him and not let anyone know they had spent close to an hour in a darkened area of her porch last night doing

something deliriously naughty?

She opened the car door and took a deep breath, thinking that the things Dare had done to her had turned her inside out and whetted her appetite. To put it more bluntly, sixteen hours later she was still aroused. After having gone without sex for so long she now felt downright hungry. In fact

starving was a better word to use. Would Dare look at her and detect her sexually-excited state? If anyone could, it

would be Dare, a man who’d once known her better than she’d known herself.

And to think she’d even admitted to him that she hadn’t slept with another soul since their breakup ten years ago. Now that he knew, she had to keep her head on straight and keep Dare’s focus on AJ and not her.

With a deep sigh she opened the door and went inside.

She paused and watched all five men stand the moment she entered the restaurant. They must have seen her drive

up and were ready to greet her. Tears burned the back of her eyes. It had been too long. When she’d been Dare’s

girlfriend, the brothers had claimed her as an honorary

sister, and since she’d been an only child, she’d held that attachment very dear. One of the hardest things about

leaving College Park had been knowing that in addition to leaving Dare she’d also left behind a family she had grown very close to.

As she looked at them now, she began to smile. They

stood in a line as if awaiting royalty and she walked up to them, one by one. “Thorn,” she said to the one closest to

Dare in age. She gladly accepted the kiss he boldly placed on her lips and the hug he fondly gave her.

“Ten years is a long time to be gone, Shelly,” he said with a serious expression on his face. “Don’t try it again.”

She couldn’t help but smile upon seeing that he was bossy as ever. “I won’t, Thorn.”

She then moved to Stone, the first Westmoreland she had come to know; the one who had introduced her to Dare. Without saying a word she reached for him, hugging him tightly. After they released each other, he placed a kiss on her lips as well.

“I’m so proud of your accomplishments, Stone,” she said smiling through her tears. “And I buy every book you write.”

He chuckled. “Thanks, Shell.” His face then grew serious. “And I ditto what Thorn said. Don’t leave again.” His gaze momentarily left hers and shifted to where Dare was

standing. He glared at his brother before returning his gaze to hers and added, “No matter what the reason.”

She nodded. “All right.”

Then came the twins, who were a year younger than she.

She remembered them getting into all sorts of mischief,