Ink Enduring (Montgomery Ink #5)(60)

He cupped Jake’s face, the other man’s beard rough against his palm. “I don’t know what I’d do if you or Maya got hurt because of me.”

Maya moved toward him then and straddled his lap. Thankfully, it didn’t hurt, but right then, he didn’t think she cared. She cupped his face and frowned. “I’ll get up if I hurt you, but you better listen to me, Gentry. You’re ours. We said we’d do this as long we were sure we wouldn’t get hurt, that we wouldn’t break ourselves in the process, but you running away to protect us will hurt us more than you staying. Find a way to keep the house safe, to keep my apartment and the shop safe. That’s what you do, right? Keep us safe by staying. If you go, it’ll be worse. We won’t have you, and we won’t have protection. I’m not one to say I need it, but to keep you with us, to keep you safe, I’ll do anything. But you have to stay.”

Border swallowed hard, his hands shaking. “I can’t lose you two,” he whispered, knowing he would lose them anyway if things got too bad. He’d walk to keep them safe, to keep their futures intact. But for now, he would stay because they needed him to. Once that changed, he would leave. It would break him, but he’d do it.

“Border,” Jake growled.

“I’ll stay,” he said finally. Both of them visibly relaxed, and Border knew that though they’d promised to keep at what they were trying to do with each other, it wasn’t the end of this discussion by far. Maya leaned on him, and he wrapped one arm around her to cup her butt while using his other to keep Jake close. His body hurt, but his heart hurt more. They held him close, kept him closer, and he knew that if the stars aligned…he might just be able to do this forever.

He could try to keep them safe, to keep them in his life.

He could try…or maybe…just maybe, it would be the last thing he did.





Chapter Fifteen


Jake’s hands slid over the clay as the wheel turned, the vase in front of him slowly taking shape with each stroke, each turn. Clay skimmed his fingers, soft and yielding under his touch. He bit his lip, slowly sliding his thumb in and out of the top of the vase to create the exact shape he wanted. This was what he loved, working with clay, creating works of art with his own two hands and knowing that when he was finished, it would be something he had made, rather than something he had no part in.

A groan sounded from his side, and he took his foot off the pedal and removed his hands from his latest piece. It was done at this point, and no amount of his handiwork would make it any better. At least not right now. It was exactly what he wanted, and hopefully, exactly what his client needed.

He looked over his shoulder at a newly healed Border and a freshly scrubbed Maya standing in the doorway, their hands on each other yet their eyes on Jake. His cock thickened at the sight, and he swallowed hard. He licked his lips, his mouth suddenly very dry.

“What are you two doing here?” he asked, his voice oddly rough. He cleared his throat, trying to get his head out of his art and on to the two people in front of him. Both ideas meshed, however, blending into the perfection that was their heat and his table.

Maya licked her lips and reached down to grip Border through his jeans. Their lover groaned again, rocking his hips into her hold. “Watching you work with your hands like that?” She leaned back to fan herself with her free hand. “I’m having a Ghost moment.” She grinned like the cat that ate the cream. “You think we could do that? I’ve watched you work for years, you know. Even though I’ve known what your hands on my body felt like our entire relationship, I don’t think I’ve ever found you working with clay between your legs as sexy as I do right now.” She squeezed Border again while their lover reached up to cup her breast, his thumb casually swiping over her hardened nipple.

Jake chuckled and stood up, his hands filthy but his thoughts even filthier. “We can go Ghost on my next piece. I’m behind on this one, but when I put a new block of clay on there? We can play around. Watching your hands on my…piece would be nice.”

Maya rolled her eyes and slid her tongue ring over her lips. “Nice?”

“I think I want to bend you both over Jake’s benches and f*ck you until you scream,” Border said casually though his words were anything but casual.

Jake opened his mouth to say something, but his alarm on his phone went off, forcing him to curse. “As much as I want to do all of that, right now, I can’t. That’s my alarm to head over to my brothers’ project site and help them out.”

The tone kept ringing, and he looked down at his clay-covered hands. It used to be easier when he’d used an old alarm clock that he didn’t care if he got clay on, but he’d been lazy with his phone. Maya sighed and sauntered over to his cell to shut the alarm off.

“Go shower and get ready,” she said. “I need to head over to the shop anyway, so no time for a quickie or even a nice blowjob.” She sounded so sad when she said it, Jake couldn’t help but smile.

“When I get home?” he asked. He liked the sound of that word, home. Maya had been staying over at his house with him and Border every night since Border had come back with those cuts and bruises. Jake had felt safer that way, and hell, he just liked that the three of them were sharing a bed nightly. He wasn’t sure if it would always work like that, but for now, he would relish it. It was all he could do not to fully plan for the future with these two. That was too dangerous right now. Hell, he was afraid it would be too hazardous for a long time to come.