“Can’t or won’t?” she snapped in frustration, her pussy now pulsing as strongly as her ass. Julie shook with unfulfilled lust and ached with a need for Jackson that went beyond sex, but she could still recall the way he’d walked away from her for six years, and feared he would do so again if she told him of her cowardice.
“Won’t, then. It’s your choice.”
“I…” Turning in his arms, she was searching for an excuse when she glimpsed the blond-haired Carlson brother she’d met earlier leaning with negligent ease against the corner of the house. She stiffened in mortified surprise, shocked at the titillating thrill that rendered her speechless for a split second.
Troy winked, his small grin unrepentant. “Sorry to interrupt, but we have to head out soon. All the tables have been returned to storage and the girls set out the leftovers upstairs in your kitchen.”
“If you have time, stick around and we’ll finish them together,” Jackson suggested, pulling his belt back on, seemingly nonplussed at his friend’s intrusion.
Troy nodded. “Yeah, we’re good with that. See you upstairs.”
Julie waited until Troy swung about and disappeared around the corner before turning accusing eyes up to Jackson’s bland face. “You could’ve warned me.”
The rigid outline of her nipples belied Julie’s peevish tone. With a pointed glance, he didn’t offer an apology. “I figured you could use another example of what to expect if you ever decide you can trust me with what happened to you.”
She blushed, something she rarely did around him, and it made her wonder how many more hidden facets to her sexual nature she had suppressed. Julie looked away from his knowing gaze. “Jackson, it’s… it’s not a pretty story,” she finished in a lame attempt to excuse her reticence.
“I didn’t think it was, but it has to come out, pretty or not. Come on. If we don’t get up there, Miles will have devoured everything, and I’m hungry.” When he took her hand, Julie breathed a sigh of relief as he led her back to the front of the property. Discovering someone had witnessed her humiliating spanking was bad enough, accepting she might be into exhibitionism took some doing. She was starting to wonder if there wasn’t anything she wouldn’t be willing to do if it involved Jackson. If she didn’t find a way to get up the courage to talk to him, she would never know.
JACKSON FORCED himself to set aside his frustration with Julie as they went upstairs. He knew from experience it would do no good to push or argue. Julie did things in her own time, and if this was as bad as he suspected, she would dig in her heels. The only thing he had going for him this time was her desire for more of what he’d already given her. At least he’d been right about one thing so far: the barn scene had left her wanting more, which she wouldn’t get until she gave him what he wanted.
Holding the door for her, he followed her inside and spotted his keys sitting on the kitchen counter. “Hey, who found them?” Picking them up, he put them back on the hook by the door.
“I did,” Sandie called over from where she sat perched on Zach’s lap in the great room. “I found them out on the drive.”
“I’m always dropping them or setting them down somewhere. Thanks.” With his hand on Julie’s lower back, he prodded her ahead of him to fill a plate at the counter, but when she didn’t budge, turned to give her a quizzical look. Those expressive purple eyes shifted from him to Troy, who’d just entered from downstairs. With a nod to his friend, he told Julie, “You don’t have to be uncomfortable, baby. He didn’t witness anything he hasn’t seen or done himself before. I swear, it’s no big deal.”
“Jackson, mind if I set your sub at ease?” Troy asked.
“Please do so I can eat,” he drawled with a one-sided grin. “Miles looks like he’s ready for seconds.”
Troy cupped Julie’s face and surprised her with a soft kiss on the mouth before saying, “Welcome to the gang, Julie.”
“Troy.” Jackson threw him a warning frown. Until he knew what he was dealing with, he couldn’t go there with Julie yet.
Troy’s grin remained unrepentant as he slapped him on the back. “Get used to it, bro. Both Zach and Dax had to.” He strode to the buffet without waiting for Jackson to reply.
Julie’s bemused expression replaced her embarrassment, so he could be grateful to Troy for that, at least. He didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable around his friends. “Come on, let’s get a plate. It’s been a long day.”
“I noticed several of you refer to each other as bro,” she commented as she picked up a paper plate.
“Troy and Trevor are the only ones who have a sibling. Except for Dax, whose twin sister died from a rare heart condition when they were teenagers, the rest of us are only children.” He placed a large serving of brisket on her plate, then helped himself. “We formed our own family, of sorts, that summer; one we vowed would be better than what we were born into.” Shrugging, he gave her a scoop of potato salad, saying, “We’re as close, if not closer than blood brothers.”
“Not so much.” Pulling her plate back before he could add a roll, she frowned up at him. “I can’t eat all this.”
“Try. You’re too skinny.”
An hour later, Julie said her goodbyes then opted to stay upstairs as Jackson walked down with everyone, Miles and him bringing up the rear. It pleased him how well she’d gotten along with Sandie and Krista. Hope and Alessa appeared to have had a good time also. They’d proven to be a big help and his gratitude extended to the four of them as well.
“Your girl has troubles,” his best friend said in a quiet undertone, the simple statement proving how observant he was even though he wasn’t prone to talk a lot.
“Yeah, and I wish I knew what they were.” The kennels were a lot quieter now that two-thirds of the dogs had found new homes. There were a few Jackson would miss, but he had screened the new owners carefully and felt confident they were going to good places. “I noticed you still have an eye on Hope.”
Miles’s black-eyed gaze zeroed in on the blonde as she slid into Dax’s vintage ‘Vette. “Just don’t want any more trouble coming her way. She does good work at the shelter.” He stopped before they reached the cars and swung his gaze to Jackson. “Don’t give up on her.”
Jackson knew better than to tease him. With good reason, Miles possessed a dark side and a temper when he spotted abuse. Of all of them, his childhood had been the worst. “I won’t. I did that once and have a feeling I’m going to pay for it for a long time.”
Nodding, Miles veered toward Dax’s car first, bent down to Hope’s open window and asked, “Do you still have my card?”
“Yes.”
He nodded at her soft reply and turned away without another word. Jackson, along with the others, wondered when Miles would make his move. Waving them off, he returned to the house, his mind shifting to his own dilemma, and his limited options if Julie didn’t open up to him soon.
JERKING UPRIGHT, Julie cast a frantic, disoriented look around the strange room and tried to slow her pounding heart. Within seconds, she recognized the pale peach walls and dark brown carpet of Jackson’s guest room and her breathing slowed from panicked pants to heavy, deep breaths. She recalled falling asleep dreaming of Jackson’s large body covering hers, pounding between her spread legs, relieving the ache she could still feel pulsing in her sheath. She didn’t know what triggered the nightmare this time, what little thing had tossed her back two years and placed her cowering in that dark bathroom again with her friends’ screams ripping her insides to shreds, but suspected it had something to do with Troy standing there, watching them yet not interfering. Just like she had done herself on that horrific day.