Porterhouse Read online

  Porterhouse

  Grade-A Beefcakes Series - Book 4

  Vanessa Vale

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  Porterhouse

  Copyright © 2019 by Vanessa Vale

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the products of the author's imagination and used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from both authors, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  * * *

  Cover design: Bridger Media

  Cover graphic: Deposit Photos: area; Period Images

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Note From Vanessa

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  About Vanessa Vale

  Prologue

  Women. The saying went, can’t live with them, can’t live without them. I would agree to that, except it wasn’t all women. Just one in particular. Jill Murphy. I couldn’t live with her because she wasn’t ready yet to do more than date casually. The fact that she wanted me and Liam Hogan but hadn’t let herself admit that yet was probably the reason. We weren’t helping her with that all too much since she didn’t know we were both totally on board with it. He and I had met and agreed we’d claim her together. Why fight when we could both have her? Two men taking care of her, loving her, protecting her was better for Jill. She’d always have a man to lean on, to take care of her every need.

  We both wanted her. Both ached for her. Both needed inside her, and soon. I could sway a jury in the courtroom with strategic words and a solid argument. But Jill wasn’t a case to win, but a heart to covet. It was important she came to the decision that she belonged to both of us on her own. We wanted her all-in, heart and soul. And luscious body.

  So no living with her. Yet.

  As for living without her? Not happening. No fucking way. Just seeing her face light up when she saw me made my day. My week. Hell, my entire fucking life.

  Jillian Murphy was mine. All mine, and Liam’s too. We’d live with her, claim her, keep her, cherish the fuck out of her and never spend a night without her beside one of us.

  But first, she had to agree.

  Women.

  1

  JILL

  * * *

  I could hear my cell ringing from the depths of my purse, but I wasn’t taking my hands off the steering wheel to search for it, no matter how eager I was to answer. Not with the snow on the road. The latest few inches were fresh and the plows had been through, but they didn’t use salt or scrape all the way down to the pavement, so the streets of Raines were a hard crust of white until the spring thaw. And that wasn’t for a few more months.

  A spot on the street was easy to find, and I pulled in and shut off the engine. I’d been in newer models that allowed a cell phone to sync into the dashboard for hands free calling, but that wasn’t something available in my older model SUV. It ran, had heat—which was great since it was close to zero—and it was mine free and clear.

  I dug through my purse, found the cell. I thought it might be Porter telling me he was running late because he was coming from work in Clayton, but it was Parker Drew instead.

  “You’re going to talk to them, right?” she asked, not bothering with a warm up ‘hello’. “No chickening out.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Yes. Tonight’s the night.”

  “You sound a little panicked.”

  “I am a little panicked,” I admitted. “I mean, why shouldn’t I be? It’s not that often a guy gets told he’s not enough, and that a woman wants him and his best friend.”

  “Neither of them is going to think that,” she countered.

  The butterflies in my stomach were telling me otherwise. “I hope not, but it’s a possibility I could end up with neither of them.”

  “Porter’s a Duke and having two guys claim one woman is a Duke thing. I mean, look at me.”

  “You’ve got three,” I corrected. She was dating—a very bland term for what she had going—Porter’s cousin, Gus Duke, as well as two other guys, Kemp and Poe.

  “You’ve been up front with them all along that you were interested in both of them. It’s not like anyone can get away with dating two men at the same time on the sly in a town the size of Raines without them hearing about it.”

  I was dating Porter Duke and Liam Hogan, the new sheriff of Raines County. Right from the start, I’d told them I wanted to keep things casual. Not exclusive. Well, I was exclusively dating the two of them, but not together. I’d been interested in being with both of them all along, together, but had no idea how to tell them that. I still didn’t, but tonight I was doing it anyway.

  I really liked them. No, I’d fallen. Hard. Not just for Porter or Liam, but for Porter and Liam.

  “I work too much to do anything but take it slow,” I told her. I was a nurse and worked full-time at the hospital. Three twelve-hour shifts in the recovery room at the beginning of the week, then I co-shared a job at a doctor’s office with a woman who’d just had a baby and wanted to cut back to part-time. It worked for both of us to split the full-time position, so I worked there Thursdays and Fridays. Dr. Metzger was a sweetheart and had talked to me about continuing my nursing education, but that wasn’t going to happen. I didn’t have time for that, not much free time for anything beyond sleeping in, doing laundry and errands. Especially not tons of time for a boyfriend… or two.

  I had the hots for Porter and Liam—to put the feelings I had mildly—and I’d wanted to get to know both of them. They’d been receptive to fun, easy dates and the fact that I was going out with the other. Over the past few months, we’d gone, separately, to dinner, hiking, even bowling. Both were charming, smart, successful men—sexy, too—and I wanted both. Everything we did only confirmed that. Parker and her men proved that I could have both Porter and Liam, that my heart didn’t have to settle. And she wasn’t the only one. Ava, who ran the Seed and Feed, was engaged to Colton Ridge and Tucker Duke, another one of Porter’s cousins. Two men.

  “Honey, glaciers move faster than you do,” Parker added.

  I frowned at her words, although she couldn’t see me. We’d been friends growing up, but had lost touch over the years. She’d moved back to town a few months ago to be the temporary sheriff and we’d reconnected. The fact that she’d been Liam’s boss for a few months before he was elected into the position, and the fact that she was also dating a Duke herself, made her think she was an expert on my love life.

  “It’s one thing to casually date two guys at once, but I draw the line at sleeping with them at the same time,” I replied.

  “Unless it literally is at the same time.”

  My body heated at the idea of being the filling of a Liam and Porter sandwich. I’d fantasized about it, touched myself and climaxed at the mental picture of being in
bed with the two virile men. Even did some discreet online shopping for some butt plugs to see what it would be like. What would it be like fucking two men at the same time, one in my pussy, the other in my ass? One dark, the other fair. Big hands meant big dicks, and I squirmed in my seat hoping I’d get to confirm that with them. Hopefully tonight.

  “Exactly. So that’s why we’re meeting at Cassidy’s, to tell them that I want to be with them. Together. Enough with casual dating.”

  “Good, because there’s no doubt those two have blue balls.”

  “You’re worried about them? What about me? Have you seen those guys? I’ve been dating two hotties and haven’t gotten more than kissed.”

  “That’s your own making,” she countered. “If you’d talked to them about this weeks ago, there’s no doubt in my mind you’d have gotten both of them in your bed by now.”

  I made a funny whimpering sound. A mixture of worry, horniness and agreement. But I still doubted, still worried they’d laugh when I told them the truth. I wasn’t used to men committing. My dad had bolted when I was a kid, leaving my mom high and dry to raise two kids on her own in a small town with limited job opportunities. My brother was turning out to be just like him: selfish and irresponsible. Relying on men wasn’t something I did. Perhaps that was why it had taken me this long to even attempt to tell Porter and Liam what I wanted. It was easier not to have them in my life, but they weren’t anything like men I knew. They were… good. Gentlemen through and through.

  But if they left like my dad… it would destroy me.

  Parker laughed. “Fix it. I’ve seen the way they look at you. They are into you. Seriously. Give your vibrator a break and go for the real thing. Times two.”

  Times two sounded fabulous. I’d never been with two guys before. My technique in bed was pretty much limited to missionary and a few other non-Kama Sutra positions. And orgasms? I might have been with a guy or two, but it took a little clit play on my part to get off. Taking on two dicks at once was well beyond my experience level. Just because I hadn’t tons of experience didn’t mean I didn’t fantasize about more… didn’t read about it in steamy books. But I wanted to go for it anyway. With Porter Duke and Liam Hogan. I wanted it all with them.

  With the engine off, it was getting cold fast, but thoughts of being with those two kept me warm. Kissing them had been thrilling enough. And that had been on the mouth. What could they do to other places on my body? At the same time?

  Glancing out the window again, I saw Porter walking toward me down the sidewalk. My heart skipped a beat at the sight of him. Big, like block-out-the-sun kind of big. Unlike his cousin, Duke, who was similarly sized and went into the pro rodeo circuit, Porter had gotten a football scholarship to college. He might have left those linebacker days behind him when he graduated and went to law school, but he hadn’t lost the size. He didn’t wear a coat, even on the coldest of nights, saying he was built like a furnace and never needed one.

  His dark hair peeked out from beneath his cowboy hat. He saw me and smiled and even from a distance, I could see his dimple.

  God, I had it bad. Really bad. I’d never felt like this for anyone else… besides Liam. I’d never been in love before, but it felt a whole lot like it. I had a feeling he was right there with me because the way he looked at me, the way he talked to me… I just wanted to lean into him and hold on, let him take care of me. He wanted more of a commitment than I’d been willing to give, until now. Not that I was a wait-for-marriage kind of gal, because I wasn’t, but I’d needed to be sure.

  Glancing in the rearview mirror, I saw Liam Hogan coming down the sidewalk from the other direction. God, my heart clenched at the sight of him as well. Laid back and easygoing, the blond had a quick smile and a generous nature. Protective as could be. And he was horrible at bowling. He also had pale eyes that looked at me with such heat that it ruined my panties. And a man in uniform? I was a goner. I loved him, too. God, I did. I wanted to climb in his lap and never get up.

  But since I’d been dating both men, I refused to do more than kiss either of them, but when the chemistry was off the charts, it had been soooo hard. It wouldn’t be fair to do more with either one and it would feel like cheating. I didn’t want to string them along, but I wanted both of them. And tonight, things had to change. No more dating. No more casual.

  The men stopped in front of my car, stood shoulder to shoulder and looked at me. I gulped. This was the first time I’d seen them together. They were big, strong guys and they both wanted me. Hopefully, after our little chat, they would continue to do so. I pushed all thoughts of my pain-in-the-ass brother out of my mind.

  This was it. I bit my bottom lip to stifle a silly giggle. Two men. I wanted both of them. At the same time. And it was time to tell them.

  2

  PORTER

  * * *

  “She wouldn’t make a date with both of us if she were going to dump us. Right?” Liam murmured, tucking his hands in his coat pockets as we stood beside each other on the sidewalk.

  It was cold as fuck, but I was hoping before the night was out, we’d be staying warm with Jill between us. Naked. My dick was getting hard just thinking about it. Hell, it had been hard for her for months, ever since we started dating. Dating. Shit, that term was a social media status, not reality. Not at my age. Did a thirty-four-year-old date?

  Reality was Liam and I biding our time until our girl got over the issues she had with being with both of us. Yeah, it was a big deal and not ‘normal.’ But what the hell was normal when it came to relationships? Hopefully, we were done waiting and we could make it official.

  “Hell, no. She’s too sweet for that.”

  I heard Liam offer a grunt in response. “There’s more to her than sweet, and I’m ready to bring that out.”

  “Fuck, yes,” I murmured, more to myself than Liam.

  Jill Murphy was everything I ever wanted in a woman. Smart, caring, thoughtful, full of integrity and perseverance. She’d worked her way through college to be a nurse, took care of her mother while she’d been sick and had been her brother’s guardian after the woman passed away. She deserved to have someone take care of her for a change. Lucky for her, she had two men who wanted to do that.

  I’d been friends with Liam for years, but had never considered claiming a woman together until recently. Until we saw Jill here at Cassidy’s one night. Then, it was all over. One look at her and I’d been sucker punched right in the gut. No, right in the heart. TKO—total knock out—for me. It had been years since I’d been in a serious relationship and that had been a total clusterfuck. Sierra had not only stomped on my heart, but she’d destroyed my career. I hadn’t turned into a monk, but I hadn’t expected to be serious about a woman ever again. Until Jill.

  Same went for Liam. He saw her and he was done searching. We weren’t going to fight over her. Hell no. Why should we? It wasn’t like I was the first Duke who shared a woman.

  Parker Drew, Liam’s predecessor as sheriff, had taken up with my cousin, Gus, and two other men. Sure, the fucker Beirstad had stirred some shit up, but Parker herself had shut that down. So had Auntie Duke.

  No one else in town cared, and I didn’t give a fuck if they did. No one was going to mess with my career because of a ménage relationship. No, a threesome was no big deal. A woman using me for my position as the DA so her case could be tossed because of conflict of interest—fucking the defendant was definitely that—was a bigger problem. That might have been Sierra, but that wasn’t Jill. She was too sweet for that, even if she had an inner vixen who craved two dicks.

  Nothing stood in the way of making Jill ours. Except Jill herself. She’d been clear from the beginning that she wanted to date both of us. We knew it, were—grudgingly—fine with it since we hoped it would eventually get her between us. But two months? My hand wasn’t enough to satisfy my dick, to empty my balls of all the cum I made just thinking about her.

  She refused to do anything more than kiss. Hell, that’s al
l we’d done in the time we’d been dating. And that was on the lips. I envisioned getting my mouth on more of her than that. Her dainty collarbone, the full undercurve of her breast, the jut of her hipbone, the inside of her thigh. Her pussy.

  I licked my lips, ready to discover how sweet she was all over.

  The time with her had been more chaste than being in high school; there hadn’t even been making out in a car. No hot and heavy petting. No second base.

  I ran my hand over the back of my neck. What we’d been doing was courting. Two months of getting to truly know Jill Murphy. Her likes, dislikes. Quirks. The fact she was allergic to grapes, that she worked too fucking hard. The time had been worth it. For me, and Liam had agreed, for him as well. It had only solidified that we wanted her, and not just for a quick fuck. That she was ours, that we loved her. We just had to get that smart brain of hers to finally admit it as well.

  We’d continue to take things slow and easy with her until she was ready. But I was a red-blooded male and she was hot as hell. I’d dreamed of all kinds of dark and dirty things to do with her. Rubbed one out in the shower often enough—daily—thinking of her. On my bed, naked, thighs spread nice and wide. Bent over the back of my couch. Sprawled out on my kitchen table.

  Fuck, I was getting hard just thinking about it.

  She wasn’t a quick lay. No easy romp with her. Not that I wanted one. No, I wanted forever with Jill. Liam, too. When we took her for the first time—and we would—it wouldn’t be chaste. It wouldn’t be sweet. It would be wild, but it would be the last first time for all of us. She had to know that once we claimed her, she was ours. Permanently. Perhaps that was why she’d been taking her time. That she knew there would be no going back.