A Force of Three [Elite Dragons 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read online

  Once done, they waited for Nyssa to process the information. It didn’t take her long.

  “So you broke into the clinic and bugged it because you think Dr. Jones is part of this black-market organ-smuggling ring?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why are you telling me?”

  “Because we think you’re in danger, darlin’. Don’t think of that conversation between the doctor and the other man as him extolling your skills. You have to realize these people are semi if not total professionals. They aren’t going to incriminate themselves by saying too much.”

  “Read between the lines, baby,” Codi said and rose to his feet. He walked across the room and sat on the arm of her chair.

  “Oh. My. God,” Nyssa whispered. She covered her mouth with her hand, fear and horror crossing her face as she struggled with her emotions. “You think he wants me as an organ donor?”

  “That’s definitely a possibility, honey,” Linton said. “How did he get your medical report?”

  “He asked for a copy when I started working for him.” Nyssa looked at Linton. “He said he always liked to have a copy of his staff’s medical records in case anything ever happened to me and he would be able to treat me by knowing everything he could about my medical history.”

  “Bastard,” Bryden muttered. “What’s your blood type, darlin’?”

  “AB positive.”

  “Fuck!” Codi spat.

  “What? Is that bad?”

  “For you it is, baby. This black-market organ-smuggling ring has been using clinics to screen for women with rare blood types. Obviously if they find a blood match then the likelihood of an organ match increases, since this ring seems to specialize in rare blood types.”

  “Oh, I have to quit. I can’t work for someone who kills people.”

  “Wait, Nyssa. There is more.” Linton stood and began to pace.

  “More? No, I don’t want to hear any more. I’ve heard more than enough. I’m going to go home and e-mail my resignation. Effective immediately.”

  “You can’t.” Bryden walked over and knelt in front of her, taking one of her cold hands in his.

  “Why the hell not?”

  “Do you honestly think you’ll be safe from someone like that just because you resign?”

  “I−I want t−to believe I would. I h−hope I w−will be.”

  “You know better than that, baby.” Codi placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

  “I’m not safe anywhere, am I?”

  “Not now that they have your social security number, your birth date, and your full name,” Bryden answered gently.

  “What am I going to do?”

  “You can move in here for a start. We have a spare room. That way we’ll be able to protect you. We have this place outfitted with top-notch security. No one can even breathe on a window or door without setting off an alarm. You’ll be safer here,” Cody stated in a firm voice.

  “I can’t move in here. I don’t even know you.”

  “There is no way we are letting you stay by yourself, Nyssa,” Linton said in a hard voice.

  “Darlin’, you can’t expect us to leave you on your own. Not when you could be in danger. It’s our job to protect you.” Bryden caressed the back of her hand with his thumb.

  “You don’t even know if I am in danger.”

  “Do you honestly believe that, Nyssa?” Codi asked in a harsh voice.

  “No. I heard the recording, and I believe you.”

  “Okay. We also want to outfit you with a device that allows us to hear what you do, and we’ll be able to communicate with you at all times while you’re at work.” Bryden rose to his feet and walked back to the bag he’d placed near the end of the sofa. After finding what he wanted, he pulled the envelope out.

  “You want me to go back there?” she asked, fear evident in her voice.

  Codi rubbed her arm. “You are the only one able to move about that clinic without causing suspicion.”

  “What do you want me to do?”

  “That clinic is being used to find women who could be kidnapped,” Codi said. “If you can tell us who his patients are, we can keep those women safe.”

  “Linton is trying to infiltrate the ring by getting Jones to hire him,” Bryden added, “but Jones might not take the bait. If that’s the case, you’re the only person we can trust on the inside.”

  “How many of his patients are women?” Codi asked.

  Nyssa thought about it. “More than half of them. We’ve gotten quite a few walk-ins since the first day and only a few appointments have been made by phone since the clinic’s number isn’t in the printed phone directory as yet, but it is listed online.”

  Bryden exchanged a look with his brother. “He’s screening again,” Codi confirmed. “Can you make a copy of the women’s details and bring them home? We can pass that information on to the sheriff, and he can make sure they stay safe.”

  “I…I guess I can do that.”

  She still looked uncertain. Codi squeezed her hand. “Will you please help us catch these bastards, Nyssa?”

  “Oh God. What if I give myself away? I’m not trained for this like you are.”

  “Honey”—Linton paused in his pacing and turned toward Nyssa—“we promise you that we will protect you with our own lives. But we can’t allow these fuckers to continue kidnapping and killing innocent women.”

  Bryden watched the emotions flit across her face as she decided whether she would help them, and her feelings bombarded him, first fear, then horror, and finally a determined resignation.

  “Okay, I’ll do it.”

  “You are so brave, baby.” Codi rose to his feet, scooped Nyssa up into his arms, and sat back down in the chair with her in his lap. “You have no idea how much we appreciate you helping us. If we didn’t have your help, it could take us years to crack this ring.”

  She looked at the syringe in Bryden’s hand.

  “What are you going to do with that?” she asked, pushing back against Codi and trying to get up.

  “Shh, darlin’, I promise you won’t feel a thing. You already have pierced ears, thank the Lord. I’m going to give you an earring which is also a tracker and transmitter. Then I will place this tiny little thing into your ear canal. It will rest up against your eardrum and you’ll be able to hear us when you need to. If at any time you feel threatened or scared, all you have to do is speak and we’ll be able to pinpoint your whereabouts within seconds.”

  Nyssa held out her hand and Bryden placed the stud into her palm. She studied it and then smiled at him. “It’s a good thing I have earrings that match these. It would look a little odd otherwise, if I only had one.”

  Bryden smiled, glad that she found a little humor in such a tension-filled time. Codi kissed her temple, startling her.

  “Um, what…”

  “Thank you, Nyssa.”

  Bryden gently pushed Nyssa’s head down until she was resting with her cheek on Codi’s chest. With care he inserted the plastic syringe and pushed the plunger.

  “Okay, all done, darlin’. Why don’t you put the earring in this ear?” Bryden touched her earlobe. “And then we can do a test.”

  Nyssa removed her own earring and replaced it with the one he gave her and then looked at him expectantly.

  “Use the tip of your finger and you’ll feel the tiny button on the back of the earring.”

  At her nod, Bryden continued, “Good. Now, push it and you’ll be able to hear all of us.”

  Bryden moved to the far side of the room with Linton.

  “Can you hear me, darlin’?” he asked in a whisper.

  “Oh. That is amazing. You sound so loud and close.”

  “You are so fucking sexy, baby,” Linton whispered and pinned her with a heated look. Nyssa looked up at Linton with shock, and then she wiped all expression from her face, but Bryden could see that Linton’s words had affected her.

  Bryden strode over to her, took her hand, and helped her off of
Codi and then led her across the room.

  “Can you hear me, too, baby?”

  “Oh, yes. I can hear all of you.”

  “Good. Now let’s go and pack you a bag, because there is no way in hell you’re staying anywhere but here.”

  Chapter Six

  Nyssa woke early. She lay on her back, feeling the emptiness of the bed around her. Just before she woke, she’d been dreaming about the Healy brothers. In her dream, they’d surrounded her with their bodies, all three of them kissing and touching her. It had been heaven.

  She rolled over and turned on the lamp. The clock read just past five. These past few weeks, sleep eluded her most of the time, and she was amazed she’d slept this late. Though she knew she’d never go back to bed, she was too tired to get up just yet.

  At least I don’t have to go to work today. Back when she’d started working for Dr. Jones, she’d thought it strange that the clinic wasn’t open on Saturdays, but given that it was just a front for organ smuggling, she guessed Jones could do as he wanted.

  Nyssa let out a shaky sigh. The Healys never hesitated to reassure her that her work was helping their mission. In the past eight weeks, she had printed out dozens of patient files and smuggled them home to the men. No other women had been kidnapped, and if Codi, Linton, and Bryden were to be believed, it was because of her hard work.

  But it was terrifying. Nyssa had been walking on tenterhooks ever since she returned to work as a spy. She was scared she would somehow give herself away and put herself in danger or, worse, destroy the whole mission. When she was at work her heart pumped hard and adrenaline coursed through her veins so that by the end of the day she was totally exhausted. Two days’ reprieve wasn’t long enough.

  She heard a voice in the hall and tensed up until she recognized it as Linton’s. “Yeah, talked to RCMP last night,” he said softly. “No one’s tried to get them over the border. Jones is sitting tight.”

  Nyssa sighed and tried to relax. None of the men seemed to need much sleep. This wasn’t the first time she’d heard one of them on the phone with their teammates at some ungodly hour.

  Whatever the Healys might say, she knew she couldn’t take all the credit for Jones’s inactivity. While she gathered patient files, the men made it impossible for Jones to get the two kidnapped women out of the country. In the past, they’d told her, the smugglers made a run for the Canadian border, but the men were pulling strings to make sure no one resembling Jones or the women could get across.

  “No, no phone calls.” Linton’s voice sounded tired. “If he’s communicating with Smith, we aren’t seeing it. I think he’s keeping a low profile.” There was another pause as he listened. “Right. But he hasn’t taken the bait, and I don’t know if he will.”

  Nyssa wasn’t happy about that either. She would give anything for one of the men to work in the clinic along with her, but Dr. Jones had yet to hire Linton. The men were doing their best to direct Jones to him, though. They’d put around rumors that the only person who could get an illicit package across the border right now was Linton Wade.

  If Jones didn’t fall for it, they would have to keep relying on more conventional means to find the missing women, and so far searching had turned up nothing. No one even knew if the women were still alive.

  Linton’s voice had moved down the hall and dwindled to nothing. Nyssa threw off the covers. She’d never sleep now that she’d started worrying about those poor women.

  Grabbing her shorts, she dressed and slid her socked feet into her slippers. When she’d pulled on her robe, she paused. Looking at the big empty bed, she remembered that dream she’d had. The heat of their bodies, their sweet kisses.

  Reality was a little different than her dream. Each of the brothers slept in his own room, and Nyssa had moved into their guest bedroom. While Nyssa was grateful for their protection and hospitality, she wished her men would sleep with her.

  Shit! Where did that come from? They’re not yours, Nyssa. Get that thought out of your head right now.

  Every time she was near one or all of them, her body sat up and took notice. Her breasts swelled and her nipples hardened. Her clit began to throb and her pussy clenched. By the time she was ready to go to bed at night her panties were soaked through. Nyssa spent half the night tossing and turning, trying to imagine what they slept in, if anything, and what they would look like nude. Now she was dreaming about them for the other half of the night. Great!

  She was scared about the way she felt for Codi, Linton, and Bryden. She had begun to think that the three Healy brothers had been trying to seduce her only so she would spy for them as since she had moved in with them they had backed off slightly. Although they were honest men, she knew that busting this organ-smuggling ring was important to them.

  They all lived in such close quarters that they were bound to work their way under her skin. Not only that, but she had gotten to know them better and had seen how kind, ethical, and sincere they really were. They took every opportunity they could to touch her, albeit in a platonic, nonsexual way. It seemed like it would go no further than that, and she wasn’t sure how much more she could take.

  She was beginning to wonder if she had done the right thing by moving in with the three men, but she couldn’t imagine leaving. Her own home was so close but so far. If she stayed, at least she got to spend time with them. That seemed like the most she could ask for.

  Nyssa stuck her head in the hall, but she saw no sign of Linton. He’d probably wandered back to his bedroom. She headed for the kitchen. Since she knew there was no way she would be getting any more sleep, coffee was just the thing.

  Moving quietly, so as not to wake the others, she crept down the hall and into the kitchen and put the pot on. Soon the aroma of coffee filled the room. Eying the pot, Nyssa realized she’d made enough for four out of habit. She grabbed a mug and filled it. Once she had added milk she sat down at the kitchen table.

  “Are you okay, baby?”

  Nyssa startled, spilling her coffee over her hand at the unexpected sound of Codi’s voice.

  “Yeah, I’m fine.”

  “Can’t you sleep?”

  “No.” Nyssa averted her eyes from his naked chest and abs. He was only wearing a pair of jeans and they weren’t even fastened properly. She had the urge to reach out and touch him. She wanted to know what it would feel like to run her hands over his warm, hard, muscular flesh.

  “You’ve been living on nerves, haven’t you, Nyssa?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m sorry this is all getting to you. If we could wrap it up, we would.” Codi headed to the coffee.

  “I know. It’s just the waiting. You know?”

  “Yeah, that’s the hardest part.” Codi sat next to her.

  As she thought of the Healys waiting for this thing to end, Nyssa’s chest got tight. While she knew how much they cared about destroying the smuggling ring once and for all, were they looking forward to getting out of Butte and leaving her behind, too? Her lack of sleep had frayed her nerves and made her less in control of her emotions, and before she could stop it, her face crumpled and tears ran down her cheeks.

  However, instead of backing away from her as fast as possible, Codi looked at her with tenderness and cupped her face in his hands. He looked deep in her eyes as he asked, “Darlin’, what did I do to make you cry?”

  Nyssa forced herself to get her tears under control and replied bitterly, “Nothing. I guess we all just want this to be over so you can go home and we can get back to our regular lives.”

  Codi’s face registered shock and then understanding. “You think we’re looking forward to leaving you? Baby, don’t you remember us telling you how sexy you are?”

  When you needed something from me. Nyssa didn’t want to dismiss the praise, but it was hard to believe him when he and his brothers weren’t interested in her.

  She sighed and looked down. How had these three brothers crept up on her and wormed their way into her heart? Sharp pai
n stabbed her in the chest when she thought of them completing their mission and leaving.

  “Don’t tell me you haven’t realized how much we all want you, baby.” Codi stared at her heatedly.

  “I…”

  Codi leaned forward until his mouth was a hairbreadth from hers. She was in shock at his words and wanted to close the distance so she could feel what it would be like to kiss him just once, but she didn’t have the confidence to pull it off.

  But he must have read her mind, because the next thing she knew his lips were brushing against hers and his hand was on her nape, whether to prevent her from pulling back or just to touch her she didn’t know.

  His warm, moist breath caressed over her lips, and then his tongue swiped across the seam. When her lips parted on a gasp, he seized the advantage, slipping his tongue into her mouth and taking control. Instead of the kiss starting slow, it was immediately off the charts. Hot. Wild. Carnal. Never had Nyssa felt so aroused and dominated as she did right at this moment. He took from her with a voracious hunger that had her insides heating and melting.

  His masculine scent wrapped around her senses, pulling her down into a haze of desire and making her feel like an animal in heat. The hand at her nape tightened, and then the other one landed on her waist, then the first joined it on the other side just above her hips. And then she was moving, not sure where he was taking her but more than willing to follow. Her breath rushed out as her ass landed on his lap. The heat of his body warmed hers even more as he settled her with his naked chest against her arm and side.

  Codi released her mouth and looked down at her. With slow deliberation, he moved the hand at her rib cage up and down, caressing her over the large T-shirt she wore beneath the robe. He moved higher and higher until his hand was resting on the outside of her breast.

  She shivered with aroused need, and as she looked into his eyes, she felt as if he could see into her soul. She was drowning, and even though she was unsure whether she really wanted to be attracted to him and his brothers, she knew she couldn’t resist. Her need to feel his hands on her body superseded her mind’s anxieties. Even if they left her, the need to feel and know what it was like to be with them overrode everything else.