Luke apparently understood, because he nodded at Jackson and squeezed me tight again.

A while later, Luke and I were curled together in his bed, and he was gently brushing my hair back from my face as he placed soft kisses along my jaw.

I let my mind wander to what had happened earlier, still slightly convinced that it was all just a dream. Luke had pulled his shirt off and then shoved his jeans down and kicked them off, completely uncaring that Jackson was sitting three feet away. He had pulled my shirt off me, too, both of us standing naked for a second before he had lounged on the couch again, facing Jackson, and pulled me over him. I straddled his hips, facing outward towards Jackson, and he had pushed up into me, filling me as he reached around and spread me open to Jackson’s gaze.

He had set a smooth, quick pace that had sent me over the edge almost immediately, and didn’t stop until I had come twice more. The last one was so intense that I screamed, and Luke had to slap his hand over my mouth so I didn’t wake up Brandon. It had been so intense because Jackson had shoved his jeans down and began stroking himself, matching the thrust of my hips against Luke’s. I had been unable to tear my eyes away from him, from the sight of his hand circling the (huge!) hard length of him, firmly stroking root to tip as I rode Luke, and it had set me off, exploding around Luke and milking him until he came, still thrusting and prolonging my orgasm until Jackson followed as well, spilling himself over his hand.

I closed my eyes, pressing my thighs together at the ache the memory of that moment caused. I heard Luke laugh softly behind me.

“What’s the matter, sugar?” Luke asked, his tone teasing.

“Just thinking,” I replied. I turned to face him. “Luke? Why…how…I’m kind of confused,” I stammered. “I’ve been confused since Jackson got here. He watched us…and you weren’t mad. Then…earlier happened, and you were okay with everything but you said he couldn’t touch your girl, and he said he knew where you stood on this one. What does that mean?”

Luke pressed his lips to my forehead, and then pulled back to watch my face as he spoke. “Jacks and I have known each other for a long time. I met him when I first went to live with my dad’s brother; he was in my class. He became my friend, my only friend, and he really was the only person constant in my life other than Brandon. It didn’t matter where we were sent for foster care, he made his mom bring him over, or even come get us, because I tried to never leave Brandon behind, until he was able to drive. Then he did the same. His mom took me to get my license, and Jacks helped me get my first car. We’ve never been separated until the last year or so, and that’s only because he took a job in L.A.

There’s no way to ease into this, so I’ll just be blunt. We used to have some wild times, and we’ve shared women. In fact, we shared almost all the women we dated. None of them ever meant anything really, but we always swore that if we found one that did, then the other wouldn’t touch her. I…you said you’ve seen the darkness in me, Emma. I cant help it, it’s a rush, that feeling of someone watching, of being caught in the act. I know I pushed you into it, and I’m sorry if I went too far.” Luke sighed, closing his eyes and resting his forehead against mine.

I shook my head. “Luke, you pushed me, but I felt safe, I feel safe with you. And you were right, it turned me on so much. But you still didn’t explain what Jackson meant when he said he knew where you stood.”

“You’re mine, Emma. I’ve told you that. You heard me tell him he wasn’t touching my girl. You’re my girl. Mine.” He punctuated his last word with a hard kiss on my lips.

I raised my brows at him, but didn’t feel like arguing because I was way too warm and comfortable wrapped in his arms.

“Sugar?”

“Hmm?” I tipped my head back a bit to meet his gaze.

“What time do we have to be at your parents’ house in the morning?” Luke asked.

Shit! I had forgotten about that. “Ummm…ten?”

Luke rolled over to look at the clock, and groaned when he saw what time it was. “Sleep!”

Ten minutes later (it felt like) the covers were ripped off me, and Luke slapped my ass. “Get up, sleepy head! We’re gonna be late!”

I buried my face in the mattress. “No! Sleep!” My words came out muffled and then I shrieked as Luke lifted me up off the mattress and set me on my feet, pointing me towards the bathroom. I stood there for a second, blinking sleep from my eyes, and Luke swooped in, kissed me briefly, and shoved me into the bathroom to get ready.

When I got out of the shower, my clothes from last night were sitting on the counter, neatly folded and pumpkin free. An unopened toothbrush was sitting next to them, and I smiled at Luke’s thoughtfulness. I dressed hurriedly, brushed my teeth, and then, finding Luke’s comb, quickly combed the tangles out of my hair and pulled it up into a knot on my head.

I got downstairs to see Jackson still sprawled out asleep on the couch, but Brandon and Luke were standing by the door, both looking wide awake and ready to go.

“Why didn’t you guys wake up Jackson to go?” I asked, baffled.

“Uh, well, we’re going to your parents’ house and didn’t want to be presumptuous,” Luke replied.

“Well, it would be rude to leave him! Get him up and lets go!” I looked at the clock on the kitchen wall and let out a little shriek. “Now! We’re gonna be late!”

Fifteen minutes later, we were crammed into Luke’s car and headed to my mom and dads. I really didn’t think I was ready for this, but I’ve learned over the years not to argue with my mom. It only makes things worse.

Chapter 12

Luke followed my directions and we pulled up outside my parents’ house. I closed my eyes when I noticed that every window curtain in the front of the house was twitching. I opened them again to see that my family had quit being cautious and were openly staring out the windows. My mom was in the window above the sink in the kitchen. Leah and Jenna were each in a window in the living room, and Allie’s face popped up above Leah. My dad and Calland were peering out of the two small side windows framing the front door.

Leave it to Hayden to be the ice breaker, though. She flung the door wide, and as we got out of the car, I heard her say, “Aun’ Emmy, Mommaw, Poppaw, Mommy, and Uncle Cow are ‘pying on you from the windows!

I laughed. “I know, sweetie. That’s because they’re nosy, and Aunt Leah and Aunt Allie aren‘t any better!”

She nodded sagely at me before turning the three men standing beside me. She craned her neck to look up at them and her eyes widened. “Aun’ Emmy! You gots giants wif’ you!” she whispered loudly.

I blushed, whispering, “Hayden! They aren’t giants, and Uncle Calland is almost the same height.”

She cocked her head to the side, her little hands on her hips, and studied each of the guys. “No. They bigger than Uncle Cow. They prettier, too.”

I just shook my head and grabbed her arm, dragging her with me into the house, Luke, Brandon, and Jackson all trailing behind me.

We walked in and everyone had moved back from the windows, pretending to be busy with something, with the exception of Noah and Jarrod, who were playing Xbox and shaking their heads. I rolled my eyes and began introducing everyone. When I got to Jackson, I turned to my mom. “Sorry, Momma, there’s one extra. This is Jackson and he’s in from out of town to visit Luke and Brandon. I didn’t think you’d mind, though.”