“Mmm, I did. I always do. And yes, we always enjoy each other.”
She loved the way he said that. “Too many rules?”
He nodded, glancing down as he guided her in a rhythm that felt a lot like third base. Maybe fourth. She wasn’t sure.
“A little like your brother, Stephen, I think,” he said. “Whereas I embraced my shady past, those two had the gall to rise above it. To make something of themselves. But that takes discipline, I’m told. That road has rules that must be followed.”
She thought she knew what he meant. The only time—other than this—when she’d strayed from her structured Little Finn path, it had ended in handcuffs. And not the good kind. “Was… Oh.” She gripped his shoulders more tightly and took charge, rocking her hips against him and increasing the pressure. His jeans were rough through her cotton boxers, rubbing against her in just the right way. “So Declan was like you and Stephen? Was he in your group?”
“We weren’t a boy band, Jen, we were troublemaking punks.” Trick sounded amused. “And God no. Declan was as far away from the streets as you can get. But until he was eighteen, he had to suffer through regular family visits with the Kelleys. His cousins made our little gang look like a boy band. And man, did they hate the Finns.”
“What? Why?” Her attention immediately shifted from Trick’s jeans to his words, and she stopped her impromptu bump-and-grind to pay attention.
He frowned at that. “Your grandpa and theirs had some Irish mob drama that the Kelleys never let go of. No one ever told you any stories?” When she shook her head, he sighed. “Ned Finn and Rod Kelley were friends at one point, then they weren’t. Honestly, there’ve been so many tales over the years, there’s no way to know which ones are true. But Kelleys blame the Finns for everything bad that happens in the world. It’s just a habit now, harmless unless you have to eat dinner with it once a week.”
Like Declan did. “So Declan hates Finns? Me? Why would you—”
“No, Jen, no. He doesn’t hate Finns at all. He’s just not used to… those kinds of relationships, I guess. Once his mother died, he cut off all ties with his father’s family because of how miserable they were. And his mother didn’t have any family left for him to know.”
“He doesn’t have anyone?”
“He has me.”
“Off and on?”
Trick nodded, looking grim.
Jennifer couldn’t imagine it. Everywhere she turned she saw someone she was related to. Two family dinners a month, babysitting, wedding planning, nights at the pub… She’d been struggling to have something belong to her that wasn’t connected to her family. How would it feel to have no connections at all?
Was that why Trick had hatched his plan? “What started you thinking about ménage?”
“I’m a man, Jen. I was born into this world, I cried when they spanked my ass, and then I started thinking about it.”
She laughed. “You know what I mean. If it wasn’t to please Declan, then why?”
He looked down, obviously trying to find the words. “It’s not for any one reason or any one person. That first day in his class, I knew. It was a damn light bulb over my head. How I feel about you. What I feel for him and what I know he wants. Your fantasies and responsiveness. It was perfect. It is perfect.”
“How do you feel about me?”
And why had she asked him that, dammit? She didn’t mean to put him that much on the spot.
Trick pushed up her shirt and stared at her breasts, watching the nipples harden beneath his gaze. “The first time I saw you walking to your car to get your bag, I was wondering what Stephen’s baby sister was doing wearing an outfit like that in public. Little leather shorts that barely covered your ass and fishnet stockings.”
Embarrassed, Jen pulled her shirt down. “It was the club parking lot, not a church picnic. Everyone was dressed like that.”
“I was close enough to see the black electrical tape that covered your nipples under your white pullover, and I knew as soon as you went back inside that shirt would be off so everyone could see.”
He was that close? She’d never seen him.
“You had a smile on your face and your hair in braids… I don’t think you know what a turn-on that is to a guy, baby. That contrast. Innocence and sin all wrapped up in one beautiful woman. I only saw you walking to and from your car, but I swear I wasn’t thinking about Declan that night. I was thinking about that tape. Wondering what it would be like to look down at you on your knees with nothing but that tape over your nipples and those sexy shorts. What it would be like to touch those braids and see you smile at me.”