The urge to chase after her was there, but whatever was wrong, he didn’t want to compound it by doing something stupid like tackling her to the ground and demanding answers.
He would demand answers, but he knew where to find her.
Trevor raced back to his truck, spinning wheels on the gravel as he gunned the engine and shot forward, screaming into her yard in under a minute. He dropped from the cab and sprinted for the backdoor, making it there seconds after the heavy door slammed on her retreating back.
“Becky, talk to me,” he begged, slipping inside before slowing down—he didn’t want to scare her, but damn if he’d let this drop before she’d shared what was wrong.
He rounded the corner and found her curled up on the couch, the once crowded and junk-filled room now shades of green and white as she’d taken it and begun to make it her own.
Becky refused to meet his gaze. “I’m a fool.”
Trevor approached gingerly, watching carefully as he lowered himself onto the opposite corner of the couch. “We all get foolish at times.”
She made this noise halfway between a laugh and cry, and his heart damn near broke. He reached around her and tugged her in close, satisfaction rising as she accepted his hug, curling up against him as if she were hunkering down for a storm.
“What happened at the party that scared you into bolting?”
Her face was still buried against his chest as she responded. The words were mumbled, but he finally figured out “two men with a woman” in the middle of the clutter.
For fuck’s sake.
His cousin’s unusual two for the price of one relationship had caused all sorts of amusement and scandal in Rocky over the past year, but it was a lot less entertaining now that it was innocent Becky who was upset. Only he needed to tread carefully, because even if she was shocked, the threesome’s situation wasn’t wrong.
“I think I get it. One of them was my cousin, Travis—he’s a bit of an ass, but he’s also got a huge heart. When he fell in love he didn’t find a nice girl to settle down with. He found a nice girl and a nice guy.”
Becky stiffened, sliding back far enough to blink wide eyes at him. “Wait. The three of them are together? You mean the guys are—?”
“The guys are lovers too, yes.” Might as well speak bluntly. They were family, and Trevor wasn’t about to apologize for them. “Travis, Ashley and Cassidy are all in love with each other, and it’s not typical, I know that. But for them, it works. There’s no doubt they are completely into each other, and care for each other like any couple, only with three. Heck, if anything they have to work harder than a couple to keep that extra person happy, but they’re doing it. They’ve been together for well over a year.”
“Wow.”
There was surprise in her eyes, but not disgust. That was good.
“I’ll introduce you to them sometime, but honest, they aren’t that scary.” He stoked his thumb over her cheek. “I’m sorry you were upset.”
She shook her head, her expression tightening. “I’m not upset about them. I mean…if you say they’re happy, I guess that’s okay.” Becky spoke quieter, her lashes dropping to hide her eyes from him. “But I saw them, and it made me remember…something. I thought because I ran away from my past, I could pretend none of it ever happened. But it did.”
“Bad things?” So there was more. Trevor carefully linked his fingers with hers, thankful when she didn’t jerk away.
“Some,” she admitted, “but mostly things that will make a difference to how people will see me. How you’ll see me, and I can’t pretend that all away.”
He stroked the back of her hand gently. “Then tell me everything. I can pretty much promise I won’t think less of you for anything you can tell me.”
She shook her head. “You can’t promise that.”
“Of course I can. I’m complicated, remember?”
His mind raced, wondering what she possibly thought was so bad. And what she could have been reminded of after seeing Trevor fooling around with his lovers.
He could think of things he didn’t want to think of— Abuse? Prostitution?
Nothing his imagination came up with could have prepared him.
“I’m married.”
What the fuck? “You’re what?”
Becky scrambled for words. “Only it’s not real, but it is. Wait, that’s wrong, but—” She retreated to her corner of the couch, wrapping her arms around her thighs, sheer misery on her face. “It’s not real. It was a sham, and I know that, and I’m saying this wrong.”
Trevor locked down his emotions. Put a temporary lid on his questions and his rising anger—not at her, but at this situation that had left his sweet Becky floundering so hard. “Just say it, in whatever order you want. Talk until it’s all out, and we’ll figure out if you missed anything later.”
She nodded slowly. “Where I grew up in Manitoba wasn’t so bad. I mean, the rules were very strict. The pastor and my father talked a lot about how we were evil and headed for hell, but my mom was nice, and my sister, who’s four years older than me, and I were close. Then our church joined with another. Sarah married their leader and moved away, and all we got for nearly two years were letters. And our church turned even more…intense. There were rumours that the government was conspiring to take control of us—crazy things like that.”
He was still stuck on the I’m married bit, but he waited as patiently as he could.
Becky stared straight at the wall behind his shoulder. “Sarah said she missed me lots, and hoped that someday I could come live closer. Then she wrote all excited to say she’d had a baby boy, and now she was senior wife, and she’d asked if I could join the family. My dad—”
“Wait,” Trevor interrupted, not sure he’d heard right. “Senior wife? What the hell is that? Are you saying…?”
Dull eyes full of sorrow instead of her usual snapping, lively ones met his. “The man my sister married was the leader of what I’ve since been told is a religious cult. Abel already had three wives, but she was the first to give him a son, which made her more blessed than the others. So when she asked for me, he agreed.”
“Your sister brought you into a religious cult.” Goddamn it. He was working hard to keep from shouting, and his words still came out at a dull roar. “And what the hell is going on? Polygamy is illegal in Canada.”
“Still happens,” she said lifelessly. “Legally he married his first wife, and the rest were religious ceremonies only, but that didn’t matter to them. And that’s what happened to me. Sarah asked, Abel arranged it, and my father said yes. I got sent to Paradise Settlement for my sixteenth birthday to be married to Abel as well.”
He was ready to puke just thinking of what had happened to her.
“I know you’re shocked,” she whispered. “It’s not real—that marriage. I never would have kissed you if—”
“Of course it’s not real.” Jesus. He wanted to tear something apart. Someone. A whole lot of someones, but he had to hold it together and not make this worse for Becky. “I’m not judging you, sweetie. I’m sick to my stomach that you had to deal with any of this, because it’s not only wrong, it’s fucked up and wrong.”
“I didn’t want to. I didn’t love him. I mean, things were getting scary at home, so I thought it would be better to leave. There was no place for me with my parents anymore, and Sarah said he was a good man, but—”
“Good men don’t take more than one wife,” Trevor snapped, instantly feeling the need to qualify his remark. “Okay, there are exceptions like my cousin’s situation, but that’s not what you’re talking about. And no sixteen-year-old should be a fourth or fifth wife to a man.”
“I know.” She refused to meet his eyes again. “I also wasn’t a very good wife, according to the family. A good wife would have gotten pregnant. I didn’t, not even when he gave me to the other leaders of the family.”
Goddamn bastards. Old men with stupid religious rules that did nothing but hurt the innocent. Becky’s voice had gone monotone, and Trevor’s heart was breaking apart while he burned with fury at mankind’s cruelty and full-out evil.
He’d been so blown away that he’d nearly missed it. “Wait. Gave you to other…?”
A hollow scream echoed in his brain, numbness setting in. He was past fury. Past trying to comprehend. It was too much, and he didn’t want this conversation to continue. Not because he’d heard enough, but because he didn’t want Becky to have to relive any of the indecent things that had been done to her.
Trevor Coleman might not be the brightest bulb in the pack, but he knew one thing. Becky deserved far more than what she’d been given. He couldn’t fix it, but he’d be damned if he’d let her ever doubt or worry about her worth again.
Trevor hauled himself off the couch so rapidly it was as if he’d exploded.
Becky had figured what she had to share would upset him, and obviously she’d been right, but the way he stomped across the room away from her, dragging a hand through his hair, spoke of anger and frustration for her, not with her.
He stood with his back to the room, every muscle bunched up tight. Rock solid and granite hard. Out of nowhere, he swung his fist at the wall and smashed it though the drywall, and she shrieked in surprise.
“Trevor. What—?”
He spun on his heels, barely two feet from the couch, breathing hard, eyes gone to ice. “You asked me to get naked for you. I’m going to do it. Right now.”
Becky hauled her jaw back into position. “Um, okay…?”
He stood with legs spread wide, a solid hunk of one hundred percent prime masculinity “I have to say it. You have had one hell of a life, sweetheart. I’m so fucking mad that I can’t change what happened. If I could, I would go back and tear those bastards apart limb from limb, because what they did to you wasn’t right, none of it. For so many reasons.”
His voice was grim. Powerful, begging her to picture him storming into the family hall and causing chaos on her behalf. It was a sweet thought for a few, brief seconds before reality kicked in.
She didn’t want him to get in trouble for her. She didn’t want him anywhere near her past.
Besides, what he’d suggested sounded more interesting and it was here and now. The mere suggestion was amusing. She was tired of crying, and it made more sense to laugh.
Somehow Trevor always said things that made her laugh.
“So instead of ripping people’s arms off, you’re going to strip. I don’t know how your brain works sometimes, Trevor, but I like it.”
He stooped and caught her fingers in his, squeezing them tight. “Yeah, my brain is a special and sparkly unicorn. But what you are is an amazing, gorgeous, unique woman, and any man who couldn’t see that you deserved to be treated with care and respect, they’re fucking not real men.”
“You want to show me what a real man looks like?”
Fire flashed in his eyes. “I guess I do.”
So much emotion churned inside that it threatened to rip her apart as it escaped. Laughter bubbled up, and hope, and an unstoppable thread of rising attraction and passion.
Becky liked the way her day had changed so completely, from bitter memories to something deliciously distracting. She lifted his hand to her mouth, kissing his poor, bruised knuckles. “Don’t let me stop you. I’ve got the best view in the house.”
Trevor stepped back and undid the button on his jeans, lowering the zipper the slightest bit before reaching over his head and grabbing hold of his flannel shirt. He jerked it forward over his head, ripping it from his body.
A harsh move—desperate. As if he were frantic to break free of what he was trapped in as rapidly as possible. He did the same thing to the T-shirt underneath it, staring her in the eyes as he flung the black fabric to one side as if he didn’t care what happened to it.
As if she was the only important thing in the room.
And then he spoke, and her world shuffled three feet to the left, taking a brand new path.
“You’re in charge, Rodeo. Not only today, but I promise you right now that whatever you want, whenever you want, I’m going to give it to you. You want me on my knees next to you planting in the garden? I’m there. You need driving lessons? No problem.”
He didn’t need to offer his truck—she knew that was a given.
“You want me naked? I’m yours. No questions asked.”
It was more than she’d ever dreamed of when this day had begun. “I don’t want you to be anything other than yourself,” she insisted.
His dark eyes flashed again—deep burning fire and tender caring at the same time. “You need to know there’s one man out there who will never take more than you’re willing to give.”
“Oh, Trevor.” She refused to let the tears come. “I’m so glad I met you. I’m so glad I’m free of Paradise and came here to start a new life.”
Becky bolted off the couch and into his arms, throwing herself the final few feet and trusting that he’d catch her.
He was warm and protective and wrapped himself around her as much as she curled herself around him and hung on tight. She had his neck in a chokehold, her legs over his hipbones as he pulled her to him and stood immobile, supporting her like a rock.
Her rock.
Her half-naked rock, with smooth skin that was flaming hot under her fingertips. She took in the scent of him—clean and masculine as she dipped her nose to his shoulder and breathed him in.
He stood there for at least a minute before lowering her feet carefully to the ground. She stayed close, hands stroking the firm muscles of his chest. “I know you said you needed no explanations, but I want to give them.”
“I’m all ears.” His tone wasn’t quite back to normal, but he was trying to lighten up, and she appreciated that.
She planted one hand firmly against his chest, fingers spread wide. The steady thud of his heartbeat connected with her palm, and her own heart skipped a beat. “Whenever they did things to me that weren’t my choice, I shut myself down and pretended it wasn’t real. That I wasn’t really there. That’s how I’ve dealt with life, but it means there’s so much I haven’t gotten to experience. I’ve told you that before, and that’s why this is so amazing.”
She stroked his skin, fingertips trailing gently over his nipple. The flat disk tightened under her touch, his already solid muscles flexing harder.
“Touch me all you want.” He sucked in a gasp as she leaned closer and pressed her lips to his chest. More of his typical amusement had returned to his voice as he continued. “I’ll be your real-life mannequin.”
“You’re my friend,” she corrected in a whisper. “That’s what I need. That’s all I want.”
They were in the eye of the storm. Everything she’d shared in the past moments had turned their relationship upside down and sideways, and they still had more to talk about in the days to come. It wasn’t as if her world had been swept clean in under thirty minutes.
But right now there was only them. Only this intimate, strangely peaceful togetherness.
And like she’d been doing for the past couple months, she ignored the past and looked to the future. Taking life by both hands and riding it as hard as she could.
Although not quite riding it. More like barely containing it. Molding power and strength and iron-will under her fingertips as if she were harnessing a wild stallion.
Trevor stood stock-still while she touched him, and slowly the tension in his body changed. Sliding from fury to raw passion. His eyes no longer held the urge to kill, but desire and arousal.
She stroked her fingertips down the faint trail of hair leading toward the open button on his jeans. Under her caress his muscles formed a grid, and she laughed.
It came out rather breathlessly.
“Six-pack, right?”
He curled his hand around the back of her neck and tugged her close again, his hot breath pressing over her cheek. “Kiss me,” he demanded.
She was more than willing to oblige. His mouth settled over hers like a benediction—a blessing for what was about to happen between them. Like her history was scrubbed clean and this was all that remained. Passionate need. Fierce want.
Heat dragged up her spine, melting it rapidly as his tongue stroked into her mouth and he owned her completely.
Trevor had threaded his fingers into the hair at the back of her head, but he cradled her even as they feasted hungrily. Becky’s eyes were closed, hands exploring without the aid of sight.
He twitched as she skimmed her palm lower over his jeans, over the ridge of his thick erection that lay under the taut fabric. He moaned as she scooped farther, both hands going to his butt so she could squeeze the muscle there.
The new position put her up against him, his arousal tight to her belly. It didn’t scare her—the sign of his physical desire. Maybe she was supposed to be more broken, or fearful, but she was tired of being told how she should behave.
She was turned on, and Trevor did that to her. Maybe she’d never been there before because of life and circumstance, but he did it for her. Left her aching, a deep need in her core and a tingling sensation all over her skin that made her want more, not less.
Telling her she was sinful and damned, and whatever the rest of the warnings she’d been threatened with, didn’t make it real. This was real. The heat washing over her as she snuck her hands under his jeans to touch skin.
Trevor jerked them apart—still careful. Still caring.
But even as they dragged in gasps of air, he was ripping off the rest of his clothes until, as promised earlier, he stood fully naked in the evening sunshine streaming into her living room.
She’d seen pictures once of statues without clothes, and the images had never gone away. Yet they weren’t anything nearly as titillating or exciting as the real thing.
Maybe it was terrible, but the first thing curiosity focused her attention on was his erection. It stood upright, dark black hair at the base, and when he wrapped a hand around the thick length and stroked, something inside her went fuzzy with need.
Becky glanced upward to see him smiling. Not cocky and flirtatious, but full-out male pride and pleasure.
“You look like a strutting rooster,” she said, surprised how rough and tight her throat had gone.
“It’s tough to not feel a bit of pride right now. Jeez, Rodeo, you should see your eyes. They’re on fire.”
It made sense—her body was on fire, the rest of her should be too.
All of him was amazing. Lean muscles, firm stomach and backside. She stepped slowly behind him and touched again, unable to resist trailing her fingers over his butt.
“You having fun?” he asked, low and deep. “Anything you—fuck.”
She’d slipped her hand past his hip and over his fingers where he held his erection. “Show me,” she whispered. “Show me how you touch yourself. I want to make you feel good like you did for me the other day.”
It was easier standing behind him, sneaking peeks past his torso as he immediately followed her directions than being out front and having to meet his eyes. At least this time, although she totally expected there to be a second and third go-round in the future, and then she’d see.
Trevor changed the game slightly, letting go and pressing her fingers around him before curling his fingers over hers. Now she was the one stroking skin, heat to her palm, a touch of wetness as he guided her over the top where his seed had gathered.
Becky’s face was pressed to his side, his scent in her head as they stroked together, his breathing picking up in pace.
“Feel that? That’s what you do to me,” he growled. “You touching me, looking at me, kissing me—all of it makes me hard. Beautiful woman. So fucking beautiful.”
She stroked more boldly, his grip surprisingly tight as he taught her, but once he let her take charge she worked him willingly. Bending over so she could watch closer as he brought one hand down to cup his balls. Groaning as she pressed her lips to his side. Her teeth, nipping his hipbone as she eyed what they were doing.
Trevor’s head tilted back and a low moan escaped his lips. A cry of pleasure broke free as he brought his free hand over the top of his shaft, moisture and seed spurting over his fingers, over hers, as she continued to work him.
“Easy, sweetheart,” he gasped, guiding her to move slower. To adjust her grip to let the final pulses escape, his erection still impossibly hard.
A delicious stickiness covered her hand, and an ache pounded between her legs, but she wasn’t in want, she was glad. Satisfied at giving back to this man who’d made her so happy.
Trevor stooped and grabbed his T-shirt. After wiping their hands with it, he kissed her, a wall of male contentment.
His lips curled into a smile and she felt it during the kiss. A moment later a laugh escaped her, sheer joy making her break away to stare at him in amazement.
She shook her head. “You’re beautiful. Thank you for indulging me. Thank you for being so amazing.”
Trevor’s smile shone like a beam of sunshine, or bubbles in a fizzy drink. He stood buck naked in her living room, bold and shameless in all the right ways. “We sparkly unicorns are amazing.”
Quiet hovered—would he turn the conversation back to what she’d shared? In a way, she hoped not. This moment was flawless how it was, and she didn’t need more time spent on bad memories.
Fortunately Trevor was his perfectly wonderful self, stroking her arm slowly as his grin turned wider. “If you want some ice cream for dessert, I should put my clothes back on.”
Becky laughed again then offered his clothes, watching as he pulled on everything but the T-shirt. “Do you mind if we don’t go back to the party?”
“Not at all.” He tucked his fingers under her chin and tilted her head back. “This is a party made for two, and I’m fine sticking around for a while.”
It hadn’t been the day she’d expected—it had ended up so much more. And the reason was very clear.
The man now pacing toward her kitchen to raid her freezer.