Dream Life Read online

  He’d be a fool to come out of hiding. The authorities would no doubt have wanted posters circulating regularly across the country.

  She pushed her fearful thoughts aside, turned the interior lights off, armed the alarm, and hurried out the front door. After making sure the door was locked, she glanced about the empty parking lot, and for the first time since arriving in Slick Rock, she wished she hadn’t sold her car. She was so tired she was almost asleep on her feet and would have loved to have gotten into her car and driven home. However, that wasn’t possible since she’d sold her vehicle for cash as well as for safety reasons. She didn’t want him being able to track her down through her license plate.

  Shyann slung her purse over her shoulder and started walking.

  Her mind was totally blank as she put one foot in front of the other. She was too exhausted to think or to take in her surroundings. She didn’t even notice she was about to walk by the diner since she was on automatic pilot, and she certainly didn’t see the three men standing in front of her. That was until she slammed into one of them.

  She raised her sore gritty eyes to the person she’d walked into, an apology on her lips, but the words fled from her mind when her gaze locked with a pair of masculine green eyes filled with concern.

  “Are you okay, Shyann?” Raiden asked as he steadied her by wrapping an arm around her waist.

  She nodded and tried to convince herself to stop leaning against his big, warm, hard body. When she noticed Raiden was intently scrutinizing her face, she lowered her gaze and tensed in preparation to pull out of his embrace.

  Raiden nudged her chin up with a knuckle. “You look exhausted. What have you been doing?”

  “Working,” she replied softly as she straightened before stepping back.

  “Where do you work, Shyann?” Brigg asked.

  The way he asked his question hadn’t been a query at all. Brigg had practically barked out his question as if he was a drill sergeant commanding his troops. She took exception to his tone and authoritative attitude. “Here and there,” she replied evasively.

  Tane sighing drew her eyes toward his. “Your eyes are bloodshot to hell. Have you been drinking?”

  Shyann didn’t bother to deign that question with a response, but she certainly scowled at him to let him know her displeasure.

  “Shit!” Tane combed his fingers through his hair. “I’m sorry. That was unforgivably rude of me. It’s been a long week.”

  She nodded and then tried to skirt around the three men, but Brigg moved and blocked her path. “Please get out of my way.”

  Brigg crossed his arms over his brawny chest, and she couldn’t help but notice the way the muscles in his shoulders flexed and biceps bulged. He and his brothers all had muscular physiques and handsome faces. Her body was responding to their unique clean scents as well as their good looks, but she ignored the inner reactions as much as she could.

  “We were just about to get some dinner at the diner,” Raiden said. “Have you had dinner yet? Why don’t you join us?”

  The offer was tempting since her belly was empty and grumbling in complaint, but Shyann didn’t want to sit with the three Tremaine men. She was worried they’d inadvertently pick up on her attraction to them, but she definitely wasn’t interested in a romantic entanglement.

  “Thanks, but not tonight.”

  “How about tomorrow night?” Tane asked.

  Shyann shook her head as she nibbled on her lip. She met Tane’s gaze briefly before quickly glancing away. “I don’t have time.”

  “What about Sunday?” Brigg asked. “You can come over to our house. We’ll have a barbecue, weather permitting, of course.”

  “Sorry, I have plans.”

  “Who with?” Brigg snarled.

  Shyann frowned up at Brigg. He sounded awfully possessive, and she didn’t like it. When she lifted her eyes to his, she caught him eying her over and had to suppress another shiver as it worked up her spine. “I don’t have to explain myself to you.”

  Brigg uncrossed his arms and nodded before turning toward the diner door. He yanked the door open and disappeared inside.

  “See ya later, Shyann,” Tane said before he, too, entered the diner.

  “Have we done something to upset you?” Raiden asked.

  “No.” Shyann frowned, trying to cover the guilt in her heart. Brigg and Tane had looked really disappointed when she’d refused their dinner invitations. She didn’t want to hurt the Tremaine brothers, but she wasn’t about to encourage them either. She’d only met them briefly twice, and after what had happened—she was very wary of men. It was better all-round if she declined any invites and didn’t get involved.

  So why was her heart screaming at her to say yes?

  “Have you had any headaches since you were attacked, Shyann?” Raiden stared into her eyes expectantly.

  “No.”

  “Are you sure?” he asked. “You’re squinting and look as if you might have a headache now. Plus, your eyes are all bloodshot.”

  “I appreciate the concern, but I’m fine. I’ve just been really busy.”

  “What doing?” Raiden asked.

  From the way he was looking at her and his stance, he wasn’t going to let her go until she’d answered his questions. Shyann decided there was no harm in telling him where she worked. Most members of the opposite sex kept her on tenterhooks but not the Tremaine men or most of the males living in Slick Rock. She’d spent the last few months watching how the men treated the women in this town. She’d been pleasantly surprised about how protective they all were. That wasn’t the only surprise she’d gotten.

  There were a lot of ménage relationship in the town and the surrounding county, and while she wasn’t bothered about how other people lived their lives, it had been a shock. It didn’t bother her in the slightest anymore. She’d been a little uncomfortable at first but not because she was a prude or against anything that was considered normal. No, it had been because she wasn’t used to seeing so much affection being displayed out in public. However, now it didn’t bother her in the least. Her mom and stepdad had never been publicly demonstrative of their love. Nevertheless, she’d known how much they cared for each other.

  Now they were dead.

  Tears stung her eyes, and while she tried to blink them away, she wasn’t fast enough. One drop of moisture welled over her eyelid and rolled down her face.

  “Shyann? What’s wrong?” Raiden asked.

  Before she could respond, he pulled her into his arms and held her against his chest. She sucked in a deep breath and tried to get her grief under control. The effort of such restraint caused her to tremble. His hand caressing up and down her back was so comforting she never wanted him to stop. She didn’t even realize she was giving him all her weight leaning into him and hugging him until his arms tightened around her body and she felt the hardness of his thighs pressing against hers.

  “Are you hurt?” Raiden whispered.

  Another shiver coursed up her spine, but this one wasn’t because of loss of control. This one was because she could have sworn he’d just kissed the top of her head. The arm he had around her waist tightened even more, and the hand he was caressing her with skimmed up her back, combed into her hair, and then grasped her tresses. He tugged gently, and she obeyed the silent command, tilting her head up until she was staring into his concerned green eyes.

  “Talk to me, baby. What’s going on?”

  Hearing him call her baby made her yearn for things she’d decided she’d never want, but now as he held her she wondered if she’d made the right decision. Her chest and throat were so tight with emotion, she didn’t have a chance in hell of speaking without sounding upset, so she shook her head instead.

  Raiden shifted his hold on her until she was standing against his side, his arm draped over her shoulders. “Come into the diner and have something to eat. I can hear your belly rumbling.”

  Shyann didn’t protest as he turned her toward the diner door
way. Nor when he guided her through the melee toward the back where Tane and Brigg were already seated in a booth. Raiden settled her onto the bench seat across from his brothers before sitting beside her. She was aware of the other two men staring at her, so she kept her gaze lowered.

  “What can I get y’all?” Cindy, the young waitress, asked.

  She tried to decide what to order while the men told Cindy what they wanted to eat. When they were done, Cindy turned her gaze to her. “Shyann! It’s so good to see you. How have you been? Are you well?”

  Shyann cleared her throat, nodded, and forced a smile. “It’s good to see you, too. I’m well.”

  “Glad to hear it.” Cindy’s smile widened. “Are you ready to order?”

  “I’ll have the chicken and asparagus soup.”

  Cindy wrote her order on her pad. “Anything else?”

  Shyann shook her head.

  Cindy was about to turn away, but Brigg speaking up stopped her. “I’d like a chicken salad sandwich with a side on fries, too, please.”

  “Sure,” Cindy responded. “Do you want anything to drink besides coffee?”

  “Coffee’s good,” Tane answered.

  Shyann nodded when Cindy glanced her way, and then she hurried off to place their order. As Shyann shifted her eyes back toward the table, she made the mistake of keeping her head up. The moment she locked gazes with Brigg, she felt as if she was drowning. His eyes were the most amazing combination of blue and green, and no matter how hard she tried to look away, she couldn’t. As she stared the color in his eyes, changed from the bluey green to mostly green. She tried to figure out what that meant.

  “Where do you work, Shyann?” Brigg asked in a voice so firm and forceful, she found herself answering even though she didn’t want to.

  “The library.”

  “You’re a librarian?” Brigg stated more than asked, but she found herself nodding in response.

  “You must really like books,” Raiden said, drawing her gaze. She sighed with relief as she met his eyes, and while his green eyes were just as compelling as Brigg’s, she didn’t feel as if he could see past her outer shell into her soul. Or not as much, anyway.

  She lowered her eyes as she nodded again.

  “I heard the new library is set to open on Monday,” Tane said. “Is that true, or just a rumor?”

  “It’s true.”

  Tane smiled when she looked at him. He leaned back in his seat, looking all casual and relaxed, but she had a feeling he was coiled with tension and ready to pounce. She wasn’t sure what to make of the Tremaine brothers, but she knew she was in deep shit. She should have ignored them and just kept walking, because now she was having a hard time fighting her attraction to them.

  She just hoped they didn’t realize what their presence and masculinity did to her.

  Chapter Two

  Danny Bradley seethed as he paced back and forth. That fucking slut had left town, and he had no idea where she was. He glanced about the dirty dilapidated warehouse he was holed up in and roared with fury.

  The only way he was getting his hands on all the inheritance his father and the slut’s bitch of a mother had left was to kill his stepsister. He’d been planning things for a while, but the slut had been late coming home. He’d taken his old man out first, the first slice of his knife ending the bastard’s life, and then he’d gone after her. His fucking stepmother had squealed like a pig as he cut and stabbed her over and over. It hadn’t seemed to matter that he’d turned the stereo up loud enough to drown out her screams. Maybe the loud music had been what had drawn the neighbor’s attention in the first place.

  When he’d caught sight of a neighbor staring at the house over the back fence, he knew he couldn’t wait for the bitch to arrive. If the nosy prick called the cops, he’d be arrested and never get his hands on all that cash.

  There were thugs breathing down his neck for all the cash he’d owed getting drugs on credit. He should never have taken the crack when he couldn’t afford it, because now he was in deep shit.

  His slut of a stepsister had gotten everything she’d ever asked for. Yeah, he knew she’d studied to get her degree, but he knew that his dumbass father and his cunt of a second wife had given her money to pay off all her school fees. How else had she been able to afford a nice car to drive and lease her own apartment?

  So what if she’d worked one and two jobs to get money? He knew, deep in his heart, that the asshole parents had to have been giving her cash on the side. The deeper he got into debt for the drugs he used, the more he realized he’d been missing out. In the end Danny had felt as if he didn’t even exist. The rage had taken over, and while he’d planned what he’d been going to do, he hadn’t meant to leave such a mess behind. Killing his father had been such a thrill. When he’d turned on his stepmother, seen the terror in her eyes, power had surged through his blood and body. He’d felt like he was a god holding someone else’s life in his hands. Seeing them breathing their last breath had been such a rush. He couldn’t wait to do it again.

  He was going to have to find his next victim and soon. Having so much supremacy had made him feel so alive. The control, the dominion over another being had made him feel purposeful, had given him a reason to live and the rush had been as addictive as the drugs.

  Danny stopped pacing as his slut of a sister’s face flashed before his eyes. He’d seen her leaving the Athens library just after making a deal a while back. She’d looked so fucking happy it had been sickening.

  A light bulb switched on in his head. The library where she used to work was the key to finding where the cunt had gone.

  He glanced down at himself as he ran his fingers through his greasy hair and rubbed a hand over his stubbled face and chin. He was going to have to find a place where he could clean up. When he was more presentable, he was going to visit her previous place of work and act in the starring role of his own play.

  He’d find where that slut was hiding if it was the last thing he ever did.

  His life depended upon it.

  * * * *

  Brigg was ecstatic that Raiden had been able to talk Shyann into coming into the diner with him. He and his brothers hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her since they’d first laid eyes on her. Even though he’d been furious over her injuries, there was just something about her that drew him her way. While she was gorgeous with her long black wavy hair and blue eyes, her attractiveness wasn’t the draw, although that helped. She was so fucking sexy that every time he even thought about her he got a hard-on. He shifted in his seat and licked his lips as he stared at her mouth. Her lips were full and red which made him think about having them wrapped around his cock as she sucked him off.

  He brought his mind back to the present when he heard her sigh as she lowered her gaze to the table. Glancing at his brothers and seeing the same frown on their faces, he realized they were just as concerned for Shyann as he was. She had dark smudges under her eyes as if she was having trouble sleeping, and there was a deep sadness in the depths of her blue orbs. He wished he knew her better and could ask her all the questions running around in his mind, but she was already wary, and he didn’t want to scare her away.

  There was a plus to Raiden talking her into joining them. They now knew where she worked. Brigg hadn’t frequented a library since earning his paramedic degree, but he and his brothers would be visiting so they could see Shyann more often. He had no idea where she lived, but he was determined to find that out too.

  He pushed his thoughts aside and smiled at the young woman who brought their food out. He watched Shyann intently when Cindy placed the bowl of soup and chicken salad sandwich in front of their woman. He bit the inside of his cheek when she stared at the two dishes before raising her gaze to the waitress, her mouth opening as if she was about to speak, but when she glanced at him, Raiden, and Tane, she closed her mouth and dropped her eyes down.

  Brigg released the breath he’d been holding quietly so she wouldn’t hear his r
elieved sigh.

  “Are you looking forward to the library opening, Shyann?” Tane asked after chewing and swallowing the food in his mouth.

  “I am. I used to work at another library before I moved here. When I saw the advertisement a few months back, I immediately applied for the position of head librarian. I was excited and surprised to get the job.”

  Brigg frowned when she paled and lowered her gaze again. She’d been so animated while talking about her new job, and there’d been a sparkle of passion in her blue eyes while she’d spoken. But something had saddened her, and she’d immediately closed her lips into a tight line. There’d also been tears and grief in those beautiful orbs.

  “Where did you move from?” Raiden asked before lifting his fork to his mouth.

  “Ohio,” she almost whispered her reply.

  Brigg blanked his expression as he stared at her, willing her to look up again. She gazed at him and blushed when she caught him watching her and lowered her head again. He was pleased to see color returning to her cheeks.

  “I’ll bet your parents were upset when you moved,” Tane said.

  Just like that, the color drained from her face again. She kept her head down as she shook it, licked her lips nervously, and then said, “No.”

  “But surely—”

  Shyann cut him off. “My parents are dead.”

  The tense silence that followed cut Brigg to the bone. He hated that he’d caused her pain and wished he could go back in time so that Tane had never asked her that question.

  When he saw tears on her eyelashes and one roll down her cheek, he cursed under his breath. Raiden glared at Tane as he caressed up and down her back. “We’re sorry for your loss, baby. Tane didn’t mean to upset you.”

  “I’m fine.” She picked up the napkin she’d placed on her lap, surreptitiously drying her eyes as she wiped her lips.

  “Sorry, Shyann,” Tane apologized.

  She responded with a shrug and scooped another mouthful of soup to her mouth.

  “How’s your food, darlin’?” Brigg asked.