by Paige Warren
Beau reached for her hands and released her from the cuffs. They’d served their purpose, but she’d need her hands free for the next part. Beck had felt those soft lips wrapped around his cock twice now. It was his turn. He rose from the bed and unfastened his jeans. The rasp of his zipper was loud in the otherwise silent room, and Elodie immediately rolled onto her hands and knees, crawling toward him.
“I don’t recall telling you that you could move,” he said.
“But I want you, Beau. I want to taste you.”
“Why don’t you give her what she wants?” Beck asked. “You’ll both enjoy it.”
“And what will you be doing?” he asked.
Beck grinned. “I’ll be fucking this delightful pussy, making her scream.”
“Won’t it be hard for her to scream with her mouth full?”
“Oh, she’ll scream. Just wait and see.” Beck’s grin broadened.
Elodie tugged at his jeans. “Please, Beau.”
It was the please that did him in. How could he possibly deny her when she asked so sweetly? Her full lower lip pouted as she batted her pretty eyes at him. He’d never had a woman want to suck his cock so bad. He wasn’t as long as Beck, so he didn’t think he’d choke her, but he was rather thick.
He kicked his jeans away and forced himself to stand still, hands fisted at his sides, as Elodie moved closer. He wanted to bury his hands in her hair, tilt her head back, and feed her his cock. Wanted to see just how much of him she could take. Would she swallow him down like a pro? Or would she be hesitant, uncertain, and inexperienced? He knew she’d never sucked cock before Beck the other day, but she seemed to know what she was doing. He supposed they could thank those books of hers.
She braced her hands on his bare hips and licked her lips. Leaning forward, she buried her nose against his groin before giving his cock a nice, long, slow lick, her tongue caressing him from root to tip. Pre-cum beaded the head of his cock and she lapped it up before fitting her lips around his dick. Nothing could have prepared him for how wonderful Elodie’s mouth would feel. Her soft, full lips caressed him, her tongue stroking. Her fingers curled into him, biting into bone as her head bobbed in time to some rhythm only she could hear.
His eyes slid shut, his head tilted back. A groan built in his throat as he fought the urge to reach for her. He was disciplined, damn it! He could do this. He could take this exquisite pleasure, let her have this little bit of control, if it pleased her. God knew it was pleasing him to no end. The sound of a hand smacking bare skin jerked his eyes open.
Beck had discarded his clothes and knelt on the bed behind Elodie. He’d slapped her on the rear, if the light pink handprint was any indication. Beau watched as his brother parted her legs and pulled her hips back snugly against him. He wasn’t at the right angle to see everything, but by the look of rapture on his brother’s face, Elodie was being filled by a second cock. A crumpled condom wrapper was testament to his brother’s eagerness to be inside of their woman.
Beck clicked the remote to the butterfly again and Elodie made a sound unlike anything he’d ever heard before. Half cry, half moan, and something else he couldn’t name. She sucked him harder, almost wild, attacking him with reckless abandon. He could hear the sound of flesh slapping against flesh as Beck pounded into her from behind, felt the vibration through his cock and he closed his eyes, trying to stave off his orgasm.
His brother must have hit just the right spot because Elodie’s grip on him tightened, almost to the point of pain, and she cried out around his cock before drawing on him long and hard. All of his good intentions fled as he buried his fingers in her hair, holding her steady. Rocking his hips, he thrust into her mouth, forcing her to take all of him as he started to come. He could feel spurt after spurt of hot cum filling her mouth, felt her swallowing it down, and it just heightened his pleasure.
When he was finished, he pulled away from her and collapsed on the chair a few feet behind him. He sprawled, catching his breath, as he watched Beck fuck Elodie. Her large breasts were bouncing with every stroke, her fingers curled into the bedding. His gaze took everything in, the way she pushed back against his brother, the plumpness of her lips from sucking his cock. It was almost enough to make him hard again, but she’d taken a lot out of him.
As Elodie cried out again, Beck roared behind her, slamming into her hard and fast. After a few more strokes, his brother stilled. Elodie collapsed onto the bed, then jerked. Beau smiled as he realized her clit was overly sensitive and the butterfly was still turned on. Taking mercy on her, he stepped over the bed, took the remote from Beck, and switched it off.
“Come on, you two. I think we need to get cleaned up.”
Elodie shook her head. “I can’t move.”
“Then we’ll have to carry you. Beck can help you bathe and I’ll take a quick shower. I’ll take care of dinner tonight while you rest.”
“I don’t care if we never eat again. I don’t want to move from this spot,” she moaned.
Beck removed the butterfly from her and tossed it aside. It would have to be cleaned and put away for later use, but for now their priority was getting Elodie cleaned up and settled downstairs on the sofa. One of them would need to change the sheets while the other cooked. Since Beck had made lunch, it only made sense for Beau to make dinner…even if he did plan to cheat and call Cody, asking him to pick up some Chinese takeout on his way home.
Not waiting to see if Beck followed, Beau strolled into the bathroom, flicking on the light. He’d get the bathwater started, then clean himself up. And if he was really, really lucky, she’d let him get dirty again later.
Chapter Thirteen
The next morning, Elodie blew out a breath in frustration. Whatever could go wrong, would. That was her mantra for the morning. First, Beau had been called out because a calf was caught in the fence at the edge of the property and every time one of the men got near it, it would struggle and the barbed wire would cut deeper into its skin. That’s when Elodie learned that Beau had a special relationship with the calves, having made sure to imprint with them at birth. Of course, she’d had to have imprinting explained to her.
That had left her with Beck and Cody for company. Then a neighbor had called about a stallion that broke free and was heading for the ranch. Beck had worried about his horses and had taken off, intent on finding the wayward stallion before he could do any damage, leaving her alone with Cody. Not that she was complaining. It just seemed odd that so many things were happening at once. Of course, she didn’t know much about ranch life. This could just be a typical day.
When the foreman rushed into the house yelling about a fire, Elodie’s unease ratcheted up another notch. Three bad things happening at once, each one taking one of the brothers away from her? Surely that wasn’t a coincidence. Was Casey behind it? She shook her head, thinking she was just being paranoid. No way would Casey be sneaky enough to set loose someone else’s horse, coax a calf into a precarious situation, and then set a fire, too.
Cody pulled on his boots and stood uncertainly. “I don’t like leaving you here. Promise you’ll lock up tight?”
“I could just come with you,” she offered.
“I don’t know how bad the fire is. What if it gets out of hand? I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“But won’t I be safer with you?”
He shook his head. “I won’t be able to focus if you’re out there because I’ll be worried about you the whole time. Just stay here, lock up tight, and I’ll be back in just as soon as I can. I’ve got to get the fire under control before it wipes out the whole pasture, or comes after the barn and house. I’m wasting time arguing with you. Please stay here, Elodie.”
“Fine.” She sighed. “I don’t like it, but I’ll stay put.”
He brushed a kiss across her forehead. “Thank you, darlin’. I’ll hurry home.”
Without a backward glance, he rushed out the door and ran for his truck. She didn’t know where the fire was, not understandin
g the dynamics of the ranch yet, but apparently it wasn’t close enough to walk. That had to be a good sign, right? Surely if it wasn’t nearby, the barns and house would be okay. Maybe Cody was just being overly cautious. She was certain the foreman could have handled it himself.
Sliding the bolt home on the door, she found herself wandering the lower level, checking the front door and all of the windows. Everything seemed to be locked up tight, but she still felt uneasy. Call it a woman’s intuition, but something big was coming, and she had a feeling she’d have to face it alone. With all of her men gone, she was left defenseless. Or so they thought. She refused to be a victim, waiting for the worst to happen while she worried herself into a harried mess. No, if she was going to be here alone, she was going to be armed.
Her first instinct was to go to the kitchen and get a knife from the butcher block, but she quickly tossed that idea aside. In order to use a knife, she’d have to get in close to her assailant, and that’s the last thing she wanted. This was a ranch, which meant there had to be guns around here somewhere. She knew there was a gun safe in the office where Beck locked up the rifles, but surely one of her men had a handgun stashed somewhere. She just had to find it.
Taking the stairs two at a time, she started with her room, digging through the dresser, bedside table and even snooping through Beck’s closet. When she didn’t turn up anything, she moved on to Cody’s room, but mostly she found rodeo equipment, a rather impressive sized box of condoms, and more dirty laundry than she wanted to think about. Which meant Beau was her last hope.
She wasn’t sure how long she dug through his room, but as she was about to leave, disheartened, she noticed something. The mattress was crooked. Not by much, but enough for her to notice. Investigating the bed a little more closely, she realized Beau had stuffed an intimidating looking handgun between the mattress and box springs. She knew nothing about guns and couldn’t have said what kind it was. Other than black. And heavy.
Elodie had watched enough movies to know you pulled the top portion back. What was it called? The slide? It took all of her strength it pull it back, and when she did it showed an empty chamber. That was the right term, right? It took a bit of fumbling for her to figure out how to release the clip and she was relieved to see it was loaded. Sliding it back into place, she made sure the safety was on, like she’d seen them do in some of those gun shows she watched on occasion, and pulled Beau’s door closed behind her.
She was halfway down the stairs when the hair on the back of her neck stood on end. The house felt different than it had when she’d gone upstairs. Nothing smelled different, it didn’t look different from what she could see, but it definitely felt different. Had Cody come home and she just hadn’t noticed? Maybe Beau or Beck had come home.
Elodie hurried the rest of the way down the stairs, the gun still clutched in her hand. As she rounded the corner to enter the living room, a land lashed out, knocking the weapon from her hand. She cried out in pain as her hand throbbed from the contact, watching as the gun skittered across the floor and under the coffee table. All of that effort to find the damn thing and she’d lost it before she’d even seen her attacker’s face. Lara Croft she was not.
When the man stepped around the corner, and she’d decided right away it had to be a man, she wasn’t surprised at all to see Casey. The man had already tried to get his hands on her, so it was only a matter of time before he tried again. Being the coward that he was, he’d waited until no one was home. If she hadn’t been leading the way with her gun arm outstretched, she’d still have her weapon. She called herself ten times a fool.
“What do you want?” she asked, surprised her voice was somewhat steady. Her heart was hammering in her chest and her palms had slicked as fear filled her.
“You’re a lot of trouble, Elodie.”
“Why did you come home, Casey? You had my car, all of my cash. You could have made a fresh start somewhere.”
“You said it yourself, Elodie. This is home. Where else is the law going to look the other way?”
“But they won’t this time.”
“No. This time they didn’t, because you gave them a statement.”
She eased back a step, but stopped when he jerked a gun up toward her chest.
“What makes you think I gave a statement?”
“I saw my picture two towns over, on a Wanted poster. You squealed Elodie, just like the little piggy you are. Do you know what happens to pigs on farms?”
She swallowed hard.
“They die.” He cocked the hammer on his gun. “And now you’re going to die, too. Without you as a witness, this whole mess will just fade away like a bad dream. I’ll come back home and things will go back the way they were.”
“It’s never going to be the way it was,” she told him. “The sheriff knows you’re in town and when I turn up dead, where do you think he’s going to look first?”
His jaw tensed. “You’re lying. No way that redneck asshole knows where I am.”
“Someone reported seeing my car drive back into town. You don’t think everyone was notified of what happened when you shot me and stole my belongings? You’re a wanted man, Casey, and shooting me is only going to make your problems worse. It’s one thing to go to jail for armed robbery. How do you feel about a murder charge? This is the state of Texas. Think about it. You’d get the death penalty.”
She watched him swallow hard. His hand shook a little, but then he tightened his grip on the gun and steadied himself. She’d made him doubt himself for a moment. If she did it once, she could do it again. Once he was distracted, she could make a mad dash for the gun. There was no doubt in her mind she could shoot him if the need arose. She was hoping he would give himself up once she pointed a loaded weapon at him, but if it didn’t happen that way, she’d do what she had to, to survive. Her life was worth living for, her men had made sure of that. They’d filled her days with laughter, love and more joy than she’d ever known. No way was she giving that up without a fight.
“Think about it, Casey. If you left now, no one would ever know you were here. You could sneak out of town, go far away, maybe even to another state. It doesn’t have to be this way.”
“What do you know about it?” he demanded, his voice holding a tremor that gave her hope.
“You think my life has been easy? I know what it’s like to struggle.”
“You don’t get it. No one does. I need money. Lots of it, and Daddy Dearest isn’t forking over a dime this time. Someone blew the whistle on me. Once he found out about my drug habit, he pulled all of his funding from me. Said he wouldn’t pay for my heroin addiction.” Casey sneered. “The bastard said he’d put me in rehab if I’d sign something stating I’d never ask him for another cent for the rest of my life. Can you imagine? My own father wanted to cut me off. How did he expect me to live?”
She had to bite her tongue. Something told her a snarky comment about working like the rest of the planet wasn’t a good idea, not while a madman held a gun aimed at your chest. She’d survived the last time he shot her, but this time he was sure to have better aim. A shoulder wound was one thing. A shot to the heart? Yeah, she wasn’t going to come back from that. Her gaze skittered to the gun under the coffee table. There was no way she’d make it. Her hands clenched and unclenched at her sides, her brain working furiously to come up with a solution, one that didn’t end up with her being dead.
Casey waved the gun around and she braced herself. “Everyone in this piss ant town thinks they’re better than me, even you. And let’s face it, you aren’t better than anyone in this dump. The daughter of a whore. I shouldn’t be surprised you’re spreading your thighs for three men. Oh yeah, I’ve been watching you. I know all about the games you like to play with those bastards. You really should think about closing the blinds at night, or turning out the lights. There isn’t a man on this ranch who hasn’t seen your disgusting self naked and surrounded by those men.”
She swallowed down the bile build
ing in her throat. Knowing that Casey had watched them cheapened those precious moments with her men. What else had he seen? Had he watched her bathe through the bathroom window? Had he been studying her this whole time, studying them, just watching and waiting for his moment to strike? Looking for weaknesses so he could make his move?
His gun arm dropped a fraction and a noise outside drew his attention. While he was distracted, she made her move. It wasn’t like she had anything to lose at the moment. It was stand still and die, or fight for her life. She launched herself at Casey, knocking his gun arm to the side. She must have hit him at just the right angle because the gun clattered to the floor.
“You bitch!” he howled, shoving her away from him.
They both dove for the gun, Elodie landing within inches of it. She stretched her arms to the max, her fingertips brushing the butt of the weapon as Casey’s heavy weight settled over her. He tried to crawl up her body, going for the gun, but she wasn’t giving up. Bucking wildly beneath him, she dislodged him and scrambled the last few inches toward the only thing that would save her life.
Her hand curled around the handle of the gun, the rubber grip warm in her palm. She rolled to her feet and pointed the weapon at Casey. He gazed up at her with wild eyes and a bloody nose, where her elbow must have caught him in their struggle. She suddenly felt like she couldn’t get enough oxygen and sucked in lungfuls of air as her heart raced uncontrollably. Nothing in her life had prepared her for this moment. She didn’t dare take her eyes off him long enough to make a phone call, but she wasn’t sure she could hold him off until one of her men came home. No, she was going to have to end this on her own, one way or another.
“I’m not going to jail,” he spat. “Do you know what they’d do to someone like me in jail? I’m too pretty for a man.”
“Maybe you should have thought about that before you turned to a life of crime. And the sad thing is that you did it because you were bored. Your father has always given you everything you’ve ever wanted or needed. You haven’t struggled a day in your life, not until now. You’re nothing but a big crybaby.”