Stoneface Read online

  “Wubs you, sis.”

  She smiled. “Wubs you too, bro.”

  “So, how is he in the sack?” He grinned. “Or should I say, ‘they?’”

  She nearly choked. “What?”

  “Oh, please. I saw the way he was looking at you.” He laughed and touched the back of her neck. “And that hickey didn’t get there by itself.”

  She clapped her hand over her neck. “I’m…I’m…”

  He pulled her close again and kissed the top of her head. “You’re in heaven. You also look happier than I’ve seen you in years. Ruthie’s not the only one who’s experienced a massive paradigm shift in the last twenty-four hours. Am I right?”

  She felt her face heat. No doubt her cheeks were bloodred. She nodded. There was no reason to deny it or lie about it. Not to Liam.

  “Okay, then. Nothing to be ashamed of.” He rested his chin on the top of her head. “You’ve been writing about it for years. Time for you to experience a little happily-ever-after in real life, you know.”

  She hugged him tighter as she burst into tears. “You’re the best brother ever.”

  He laughed. “I’m your only brother, sweetie.” He sighed. “You and me against the world.”

  “Yep. You and me.”

  * * * *

  Gwen let Liam sit in the front seat. The men talked as they drove back to Tim’s house. After Liam was settled in the other guest room and had a chance to freshen up, the three of them gathered around the kitchen table with the notebook and Liam’s laptop and went over what Gwen and Tim had found out.

  “But nothing’s showing up on her cell phone?” Tim asked.

  Liam shook his head. “Nope. I’m guessing she’s using the prepaid phone.”

  “Sure seems like she’s hiding something,” Tim said.

  Gwen nodded. “Yep. But why? She’s told Liam and me about boyfriends before.”

  Liam snorted. “I bet he’s married.”

  “Really? You think so?”

  “I’d put money on it. Which is weird because you know what? That would so not be like the Amy you and I know. Our responsible older sister has more secrets than we can guess, I would imagine.”

  Gwen didn’t want to think that about her sister, but she couldn’t deny it made sense. Having been cheated on herself, she didn’t want to believe her sister would do the same thing to some other poor, unsuspecting wife. “Let’s just focus on finding her and making sure she’s okay before we start making suppositions as to the why. Maybe she had a great horndog holiday and the thought of returning to the same house as our parents has her shitting her pants.”

  “Okay,” Tim said, “are your parents really that bad that she’d do something as drastic as running away from home?”

  “Yes,” Liam and Gwen said in unison.

  “You don’t know them,” Gwen said. “Mostly it’s our father, but our mom goes along with him.”

  “I wish we were exaggerating,” Liam added. “Puritanical would be a good catch-all term. And Mom’s just flat out a worrywart.”

  “You know,” Tim slowly said, “if you two wanted to turn this into an extended working vacation, we’d love for you both to stay here.”

  Liam sat back and laughed. “I appreciate it, but I suspect it’s Gee you’re more interested in than me.”

  Tim smiled and captured her hand, lacing his fingers through hers as he smiled at her. “Any family of Gwen’s is welcome in our home. Well, except maybe your parents.”

  Gwen laughed, heat rising to her face. “You’d get sick of me really fast. I’m a workaholic.”

  Tim grinned. “And you don’t think Stoneface is?”

  “Who?” Liam asked.

  “Jack,” Tim and Gwen said together.

  “It’s his nickname,” Tim added. “The past twenty-four hours, he’s been happier than I ever remember seeing him.” He caught and held Gwen’s gaze. “Because of you, babe. And if you think I’m going to let you just walk out of our lives like that, you’re sadly mistaken.”

  Her heart pounded in her chest. Is he serious?

  Liam leaned back in his chair, a playful grin on his face. “Well, Gee, looks like we should look into making a move to South Dakota.”

  This was too much, too soon. She couldn’t process it, much less deal with it. “Let’s just concentrate on trying to find Amy first. Then we can talk about everything else.”

  * * * *

  There wasn’t a lot they could do except keep trying to retrace Amy’s steps. After Tim fixed them a scrumptious lunch, they went to a few more of the local attractions in Amy’s notebook. Tim called Jack but got his voice mail. A few minutes later, he received a text message back.

  In depositions all afternoon, sorry. Let’s go out for dinner.

  “Well, we’ll have to wait on that angle,” Tim said as he read the text message. “I’m sure once he gets a chance he’ll look into it from his end.”

  Jack called Tim later when he left the office. When Tim got off the phone, he gave Gwen a playful swat on the butt. “Go get dressed for dinner, sweetie. We’re all going out.”

  “I didn’t bring anything fancy, you know. I wasn’t expecting to go out on dates.”

  He smiled and pulled her to him, where he kissed her. “Then maybe tomorrow we need to rectify that, and I’ll take you shopping.”

  Liam leaned back in his chair and laughed. “Sis, I’d say you’ve officially got yourself a couple of boyfriends.”

  She felt her face redden. “You don’t have to do that, Tim.”

  “Oh, yes I do.” He nibbled the side of her neck, weakening her knees despite the fact that Liam was sitting there in the kitchen with them. “We’ve got a hot lady we want to show off.” With that he released her, turning her around and giving her a gentle push in the direction of the spare bedroom.

  She felt like her feet didn’t touch the floor—yet another cheesy romantic cliché proven correct—as she made her way to the bedroom to change. She heard Jack arrive while she was getting ready. When she emerged in the kitchen, Jack grabbed her and planted a kiss on her that dampened her panties and nearly melted the shoes right off her feet.

  “Hi, sweetie.”

  “Hiya,” she whispered.

  She dared a glance at Liam, who grinned from ear to ear. “Yeah, I’d say you’ve got it bad, sis. Now write me a happily-ever-after with a hot, hard-bodied hunk, would ya’?”

  * * * *

  They took Gwen and Liam to a different restaurant, a tiny, family-owned place on the main street in the small town of Keystone, down in the valley overlooked by Mt. Rushmore. A cross between old western and Italian, it shouldn’t have worked, but it did. The smell of fresh garlic and tomato sauce greeted them as they walked in. They had to wait a few minutes for a table, but apparently Jack and Tim were regulars, and a waitress seated them in a corner booth with a little bit of familiar chitchat along the way.

  “This is neat,” Liam said as he looked around. Antique photographs of the area from the late 1800s to the mid 1950s lined the walls, along with custom-painted murals depicting Italian scenes. The stereotypical red and white checked tablecloths lined the tables.

  “The food here is excellent,” Jack said as he handed out the menus the waitress left them. “Everything is great.”

  Gwen relaxed throughout the meal. It was more than obvious to her that Liam was sincere when he said he approved of what she’d done. He also seemed to genuinely like Tim and Jack, and the four of them talked and laughed all evening until they were the last customers there.

  “Hold on,” Liam said, digging out his phone. “I want to get some pictures.” They took several rounds with all their phones, the waitress even helping out so all four of them could be in some of the shots.

  Her nervous worry returned, however, once back at Jack and Tim’s house. Liam apparently sensed her anxiety. He gave her a hug. “It’s been a long day, sis. I’m heading for bed.” He kissed her forehead before letting her go with a mischievous smile. “
Have fun tonight.”

  He disappeared into his bedroom and softly closed the door behind him.

  Tim winked at her. “Ready to head for bed, sweetie?”

  She smiled. “I’m guessing sleep isn’t going to be soon in coming.”

  “No,” Jack said as he stepped behind her and nibbled her ear, “but you soon will be.” She moaned as he playfully nipped her. “And soon, we will be, too.”

  They led her to their bedroom. Tim put on the radio and tuned it to a jazz station. She stood with her back pressed against Jack’s hard body as he slipped his arms around her. He nuzzled the back of her neck, the stubble on his chin pleasantly scratchy against her flesh.

  “You are so beautiful,” he whispered in her ear. “I love the feel of your body.”

  Tim stepped over. He lifted the hem of her blouse and kissed the top of her breasts, his tongue flicking along where the cups of her bra prevented him from accessing more. “I think it’s time to get rid of these clothes, baby.”

  She lifted her arms and allowed Tim to remove her blouse. He made quick work of her bra, cupping and kissing her breasts as she felt a hard bulge digging into her lower back through Jack’s pants.

  Jack returned his attention to her earlobes, nearly taking her knees out. Tim released her breasts and worked on her slacks, unfastening her belt before unbuttoning them and sliding the zipper down to reveal her pink panties.

  Relatively damp panties, truth be told. She’d hoped for a repeat of the night before—and that morning—but was afraid it might not happen.

  Now her dreams were coming true a second time.

  She kicked off her shoes and tipped her head back to kiss Jack. His tongue plunged deeply into her mouth. She offered no resistance, stepping out of her pants when Tim prompted, shivering a little from excitement as he pushed her panties down her legs.

  Cool air brushed her flesh, making her nipples tighten and adding to the lust building inside her already wet pussy. Tim’s fingers traveled between her legs, playing with her clit and sliding inside her cunt. She moaned into Jack’s mouth and spread her legs as much as she could. Jack helped support her, his strong arms holding her upright as Tim rubbed her clit.

  “You going to come for us, baby?” Tim asked.

  “I want to.” She felt her juices sliding down the insides of her thighs. Never in her life had she ever felt so horny or come so hard as she had with these two men. She felt sexy, desirable. Wanted.

  “Come for us,” Jack said, his voice growing deeper as the bulge pressing into her back grew harder.

  Encased in his strong arms, she leaned against him and closed her eyes as Tim’s talented fingers stroked her closer to release. As she felt the orgasm slam into her, Tim plunged two fingers into her channel and fucked her with his hand, his thumb hitting her swollen clit with every stroke.

  It felt like a beautiful firebomb going off inside her. She threw her head back against Jack’s sturdy shoulder and totally turned herself over to the men. As her orgasm finally subsided, she managed to pry her eyes open. Tim withdrew his hand from her pussy and licked her juices off his fingers with a playful smile.

  Jack scooped her up and playfully dropped her onto their bed. She hungrily watched as both men stripped and joined her. Jack knelt over her head, and she opened her mouth, wanting to suck his cock. She wrapped her mouth around the head, her tongue flicking the slit and tasting salty pearls of pre-cum there.

  “That’s it,” he encouraged her, his hand buried deep in her hair. “Suck it good, baby.”

  His words and tone fired her passion deep inside her. She eagerly devoured him, taking him as far back into her throat as she could. She held onto the base of his cock with one hand and used the other to stroke and gently massage his heavy balls.

  He held onto the headboard with one hand. “Oh, yeah, baby. That’s it.”

  Gwen wanted to make him come, wanted to swallow every last drop he pumped out. She felt powerful as she made him moan with every swipe of her tongue along his cock. Just when she thought he might be close, he pulled out. She started to protest, but he laughed. “Don’t worry, baby. Just a change in position.”

  He made her move and he lay back on the bed and spread his legs. “There you go.” She dove for his cock again.

  Tim laughed as he stroked her ass. “That’s more like it.” She heard a condom wrapper being opened, then felt the head of his cock pressing against her well-lubricated channel. She wiggled her hips at him, prompting another laugh.

  “Getting anxious, sweetie?”

  “Mm hmm,” she mumbled around Jack’s cock.

  “Ooh, I liked that,” Jack said as he cupped her head with his hands and guided her motions. “I liked that a lot.”

  She tried to laugh, but with a mouthful of Jack’s cock it came out more as a mumbled snort, which made both men laugh. “On second thought,” Jack said, “don’t talk with your mouth full, baby.”

  As Tim slowly fed his cock into her pussy, she tried to push back against him, wanting to feel both cocks deeply impaling her at each end. “Yeah, that’s it,” Tim encouraged her. He gripped her hips and started slowly fucking her, his balls slapping against her ass with every stroke. “You like being spit roasted, don’t you?”

  The dirty talk stoked her passion even more. She moaned around Jack’s cock in response and met every one of Tim’s strokes, trying to urge him faster, harder, deeper.

  “That’s our girl,” Jack said. “You want hard and dirty, don’t you?”

  The rumbling tone of his voice pushed her over the edge a second time as Tim’s cock hit her G-spot. She moaned, deep-throating Jack’s cock and triggering his orgasm. She moaned again as she tasted his seed pumping into her mouth.

  “Oh, fuck,” Tim gasped, “that’s damn sexy.” He thrust harder, faster, and soon added his happy moans of release to theirs. She felt his cock grow harder, swell and throb inside her before he fell still. “Holy crap!”

  He pulled out and flopped to his side. He hooked an arm around her waist and pulled her over onto her side where he spooned against her. Jack shifted position and lay against her. She nuzzled her head in the hollow of his neck as they all regained their breath.

  “Wow,” she whispered.

  Jack stroked her arm. “Wow is right, sweetie. That was amazing.”

  “Fantastic,” Tim agreed. He kissed the back of her neck. “Absolutely wonderful.” After a few minutes, Tim slowly rolled away and headed for the bathroom to clean up. When he returned, Gwen snuggled against him. It felt right being comfortably sandwiched between them.

  She started dozing off to sleep when Jack rested his arm across her hip. “Good night, baby,” he whispered. Then he kissed her forehead.

  A warm rush of emotions flowed through her at the tender tone of his voice. “Good night, Jack.”

  Tim kissed the back of her neck and pressed closer. “Good night, sweetie.”

  She smiled and wiggled her ass against him. “Good night, Tim.”

  Like that, she crashed into a deep, dreamless sleep.

  * * * *

  Fortunately, the next day was Saturday, and they were able to sleep in. Unfortunately, it meant all the local tourist attractions were full to the brim, meaning that asking around if people had seen Amy would be pretty futile.

  Jack made a few unofficial calls, but there wasn’t a lot he could do then without raising suspicions. He’d have to wait until Monday to do more.

  “Well, I guess this just means you’ll have to let us play tour guides,” Tim said with a grin.

  “And I can tell that just breaks your heart,” Gwen replied.

  Jack laughed. “He loves to show people around.”

  They took Liam and Gwen to the small town of Custer. They had fun browsing statues of bison placed all over town in front of businesses, decorated in different themes. They had lunch at a quaint little restaurant on the main street before going to Custer State Park. There, Gwen and Liam saw their first bison in the wild. After dri
ving them around the park and showing them the pigtail bridges on Iron Mountain Road, they headed back toward Rapid City for dinner.

  It was only seven in the evening when they returned to the house. Liam lightly slapped Gwen on the shoulder. “I’m going to grab my laptop, iPod, and headphones. Give me about twenty minutes to get set up before you start howling,” he said with a smirk.

  She blushed but hugged him. “Thank you.”

  “Hey, I wish I was getting as lucky as you, girl.”

  The three of them went downstairs to the hot tub. They all stripped and climbed in, naked. She loved sitting between Tim and Jack and staring out at the valley below.

  “This is a beautiful place,” she said. “I’m used to Ohio. It’s so different out here. So quiet.”

  “Wide open spaces,” Jack agreed. “You either love it or hate it, it seems like.”

  Tim nodded. “I wasn’t sure how much I’d like it out here. I’m a beach boy, grew up surfing and with smog.” He laughed. “It sort of spooked me when I saw all the stars my first night here. It was a clear sky.” He looked at Jack and smiled. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard him laugh so hard than he did at my reaction.”

  “Well, you have to admit, it was funny,” Jack said. “You should have seen the look on your face. Wide-eyed wonder.”

  “I think I’d love it out here,” she said, not realizing she’d said it aloud until she saw Tim’s broad, beaming grin.

  “Is that a promise, baby?” Tim asked. He pulled her close and planted a kiss on her lips. “Because let me tell you what, if it is, I’m all for you moving here yesterday.”

  * * * *

  Jack smiled, but didn’t comment. His heart raced. He and Tim hadn’t really discussed any of this yet. Sure, in a perfect world, he’d have her moved in a heartbeat. But…

  This wasn’t one of Gwen’s books. This was real life with all its concerns and problems and perception. He had a feeling her parents would blow a gasket if she announced she was up and leaving for Rapid City. No doubt that would put a damper on her enthusiasm. She would make excuses to delay the trip. She would…