by Marla Monroe
Andrew nodded and led his horse out of the barn. He swung up in the saddle. He was glad to be out again. He still felt sore in the ribs from all the coughing, but all in all he felt a hundred percent better. Rachel had fussed that he wasn’t ready yet, but he knew she was just worried. He’d been out of the loop long enough. Six days was plenty of time to recuperate from a bad cold. Okay, bronchitis.
They checked the cattle and the dogs and found everything looked normal. They rode around until they spotted tracks and followed them as far as the stream. Then when the tracks disappeared into the water, they turned around and herded the cattle farther from that area. With both of them working, it didn’t take long to move them. He was sure it had been hard on Danny handling it all alone.
Then he thought about Rachel and how she’d single-handedly taken care of him and the house and the garden while he had been sick. It was no wonder she’d lost weight and looked so worn out. She needed some rest. He would make sure she got some as soon as they settled the cattle down and figured out what to do about the creature.
“What are you thinking so hard about?” Danny asked him.
“Just that Rachel has been pulled pretty thin between taking care of me and helping you. She needs some rest.”
“She’s lost some weight, too,” Danny added. “Have you noticed that she seems really preoccupied lately?”
“I figured that was from being so tired.”
“Maybe, but I think it started before all of this. She just seemed distant to me.” Danny urged his horse to cut off a cow that tried to make a break for it.
“Soon as we get this mess under control with the creature, we need to spend some quality time with her.” Andrew steered his horse alongside Danny’s. “I can’t remember the last time we made love to her.”
“I think we’ve all been sort of busy,” Danny pointed out.
“No excuse. We should be able to keep her happy between the two of us.”
Danny scowled at him but shrugged and agreed. “You’re right. We’ve just let things get out of hand.”
“Let’s give her a good massage tonight when we get ready for bed.”
Danny smiled. “I like the sound of that.”
They worked to keep the cattle in the same general area until the cows began to get tired and want their afternoon naps. Andrew was about ready for one himself. He’d gotten used to them while he’d been sick, and before when they’d taken them during the hot part of the day. Maybe it was time for another one today.
“How about a nap?” Andrew asked.
“Huh?” Danny’s brows furrowed.
“Let’s go to the house and take a short nap.”
“Ah, okay.” Danny turned his horse to follow Andrew.
They walked in the kitchen to find Rachel canning tomatoes.
“Hey, is something wrong?” she asked wiping her hands on the apron.
“No, just decided it was a good day to come in for a nap. We might be out a little later this evening.” Andrew reached over to kiss her on the cheek.
“Take a shower before you climb in bed. I just changed the sheets.”
“Come on up as soon as you finish what you’re working on. The rest will keep.” Danny kissed her other cheek.
Andrew and Danny shared the shower and finished in record time. By the time they were in bed, Rachel walked into the bedroom and stripped off her clothes. She looked thinner than ever. Andrew was worried all over again.
“Honey, you’ve lost a lot of weight. You should be gaining, not losing,” he said.
“Why should I be gaining?” she asked as she climbed into bed between them.
“Put on some baby fat.” Danny hugged her close then let Andrew have her.
“Oh.” She didn’t say anything more.
The three of them curled up together with Rachel being the first to fall to sleep.
“Something’s up all right,” Danny pointed out.
“Do you think she’s worried about not getting pregnant yet?”
“It’s only been a few months, and we’ve been preoccupied the last couple of weeks with one thing or another.” Danny ran a finger up and down her arm.
“She’s going to be awful disappointed if she can’t get pregnant.”
“Let’s not discuss this around her. It will only upset her worse.”
Both men settled down, and Andrew soon fell asleep.
* * * *
Rachel woke to an empty bed. She had been so tired. She looked over at the time and cursed. Late or not, they would want something to eat, and it was nearly six. She’d slept the afternoon away.
By the time she had cleaned the kitchen up after canning the tomatoes, she had a good idea of what to fix for supper. It took nearly an hour, but by the time the men showed up at seven-thirty, she had a hot meal on the table for them.
“Hey, honey. How are you feeling?” Danny asked.
“I’m fine. I slept late. You should have woken me up when you got up. I almost didn’t get supper ready for you in time.”
“It wouldn’t have hurt us to eat a sandwich,” Andrew said.
They ate in silence this time, and Rachel couldn’t help but worry that something was wrong. Between the little quip about her needed to gain weight and putting on baby fat, and the worry about the creature, she was sure they had plenty to talk about. Maybe they had already talked while they were out on the range.
Still, she worried about not becoming pregnant since that seemed to be important to them. They had each come from large families and had built the house to hold several children. What were the odds that she couldn’t get pregnant? What would happen then? Would they want another wife? Oh yeah, they’d never had the stupid ceremony in the first place. She was just their live-in woman. Tears welled up in her eyes. She quickly began gathering dishes to wash so they wouldn’t notice them.
“Hey, leave the dishes till later, honey. Come in the living room with us and sit on the couch.” Andrew rubbed a hand on the back of her neck and turned her around.
He looked about ready to kiss her when he must have noticed her tears. He frowned.
“What’s wrong, Rachel?”
“Nothing. I’m just emotional today for some reason. I guess I got too much sleep.” She pulled away and began running the sink full of water.
“No, you’re not getting away with it this time. Something’s been bothering you for a while. Come into the living room, and let’s talk about it.”
She almost told him to leave her alone but figured that was childish, and he was right. They needed to get some things out in the open. She had no intentions of bringing up her lack of being pregnant yet. She would give it more time. They hadn’t been intimate in several weeks, with everything going on.
She followed him and Danny into the other room. The men pulled her down between them so that she sat with her back to Andrew in his lap, and her feet were in Danny’s. He pulled off her shoes and socks and began kneading the muscles in her feet and calves. Andrew rubbed her shoulders in a long, slow motion.
“Now, what is bothering you?” he asked.
“I guess I don’t feel like a part of the ranch with you guys. I feel like I’m only here to keep house and tend the garden. I want to be part of all of it.”
“Honey, you are a part of all of it. You helped Danny get me out of the mud and took care of me when I was hurt and sick.” Andrew squeezed her shoulders and kissed the side of her neck.
“I wanted to drive the transport home, but Danny, you insisted that Andrew drive it when he was hurt. Why?”
“I never thought you would take it personal like that, honey. I just felt that Andrew needed something to keep him going until we got home. What made you think I was leaving you out?”
“You keep things from me. I know the creature is back, because you’ve spent more hours out after dark and carry guns around with you now. You remind me every day to stay inside once it gets dark. I’m not stupid.”
The men stared at each othe
r, looking guilty. She knew they had been doing that. No doubt they had lost more cows to it as well.
“You’re right. We’ve kept that part from you. We didn’t want you to worry. We’ll take care of it. It’s just going to take time. We were going to have to tell you about it soon anyway, ’cause we’ve decided we’re going to have to stake out the herd one night to catch it,” Andrew told her.
“I don’t want you out there like that. It’s too dangerous. You can’t hear the thing move, even as big as it is. It’ll sneak up on you in no time.”
“It has to be done, honey. We can’t let it pick off our cows one at a time and leave us with none.” Andrew wrapped his arms around her.
“Then take the transport and use it as a safety cage. You can wait until it shows up and then get out and shoot it.”
“We’ll think about it,” Danny said.
“It’s either that, or you’re not getting any until you do,” she said, with a frown.
“Not like we’re getting any right now anyway.”
Rachel hissed out a breath.
“Danny.” Andrew sighed.
“That was uncalled for. It’s not like you’ve wanted sex in several weeks. I sure as hell haven’t turned you down—ever.”
“You’re right. That was uncalled for. I’m sorry. I’m just frustrated about this thing.”
“Fine. Do whatever you want to do. I’m going to bed.” She pulled out of Andrew’s arms and stood up.
Rachel didn’t look back as she walked for the stairs. She was tired of worrying about everything. She wanted them so badly, but she wasn’t going to beg. She’d hoped by opening up, they would come to an understanding, but she didn’t think they’d accomplished anything other than getting upset all over again. At least she had. She couldn’t tell that the men were upset at all. Maybe it wasn’t worth their time to worry about how she felt. Maybe they were already regretting their choice, and since she wasn’t pregnant, thinking about taking her back.
She didn’t bother trying to hold back the tears this time. She climbed into the shower and cried. By the time she was cried out, the water had turned cold, and her face was swollen and blotched. It was the perfect end to a perfect day.
Chapter Nine
Danny sighed and stood up. They’d done it for sure. Made her mad and hurt her feelings all over again. Well, he’d hurt her feelings. Why had he said it? She was right. It wasn’t because she had refused them. Yeah, she’d fallen asleep several times, but she had reason to. She was dead on her feet from working like a slave these last few weeks. Hell, they all had. Maybe all of this was just exhaustion talking.
“You sure put your foot in your mouth this time, Danny.” Andrew huffed out a breath then stood up and stretched.
“I know. I don’t know what has gotten into me. I never meant to make her feel less than important when I insisted you drive the transport. I just figured you would do a better job of it, and it kept you coherent enough to get you in the house.” Danny paced in front of the fireplace.
“We don’t include her in a lot of the talk about the ranch itself. She has her hands full with the house and the garden, though. I didn’t think it would matter that much to her.”
“I still think there’s something else going on. What have we said or not said since we brought her here?” Danny asked.
“I don’t know.” Andrew paused and thought some more, then shook his head. “Nothing that I can think of.
“I guess we just see how things progress.”
“It’s not going to get much better as long as we’re preoccupied with this creature.” Andrew ran a hand through his hair.
“Well, I’m going to go give her a backrub. It might not make thinks okay, but it should help. It sure couldn’t hurt.” Danny headed toward the stairs.
“I’ll be up in a minute.” Andrew walked back toward the office. “I want to see if anyone else has had trouble with this thing.”
Danny just continued up the stairs. He wanted to try and soothe things over with Rachel some if he could.
He found her already in bed but obviously not sleep. He pulled off his clothes and climbed into bed with her despite needing a shower. He’d change the damn sheets himself if he had to.
He kissed her shoulder and then her neck and urged her over on her stomach. Then he straddled her hips and began a gentle massage of her shoulders. She didn’t say anything, but she sighed. He took that as an okay to continue. He carefully kneaded her neck and shoulders then moved down to rest at her lower back.
She moaned when he began that part, so he stayed at it for a while before going lower to her buttocks. He loved her ass. It was plump just like he liked them. He could tell she’d lost weight there as well. They needed to work on making sure she ate plenty. They hadn’t been paying attention to her during the meals.
His cock had settled between her ass cheeks, hard and needy. He wanted her but wasn’t sure if it was a good idea after the crack he’d made earlier. As it was, she made the first move.
“You’re hard. Does that mean you want to have sex?” She turned over.
“No, I want to make love to you.”
Andrew walked in and began stripping. “I want to love you as well. It’s been a long time, and we’ve neglected you, honey. I’m sorry.”
“I don’t want you to do this just because you feel guilty.”
“Believe me, Rachel. It has nothing to do with feeling guilty. I’ve wanted you all this time but figured you were just as tired as we were.” Danny lay to one side of her and laid his hand over her mound.
“Let us love you, honey,” Andrew said.
She reached out to both of them and grasped their cocks in her hands. She squeezed at the base and then pumped them several times until she had a dewdrop of pre-cum. She wiped her fingers over them and licked each one in turn.
Both men groaned.
Danny crawled down her body, spreading kisses all along the way. When he reached her cunt, he was relieved to see that she was wet. She did want this. He licked her pussy lips clean then spread them wide so he could gather more of her sweet syrup. He fingered her then plunged two fingers inside of her, pumping them in and out as he licked over and over. He ran his tongue around her clit then flattened his tongue to run over it once. She followed his tongue with her pelvis, but he pulled back and chuckled.
“Not yet, honey.” Danny looked up her body to see Andrew licking and sucking on her nipples.
His friend had one in his mouth and his fingers pulling and twisting on the other one. Rachel was thrashing her head back and forth on the bed.
Danny continued to finger-fuck her cunt as he licked and sucked on her pussy lips. She became more frantic in her efforts to get him to her clit, angling her clit toward his tongue.
“Andrew, she’s ready to explode.”
“I’ve got her,” he said.
Danny curled his fingers and found her sweet spot and began a gentle stroking as he licked over her clit. About the same time that Andrew began nipping at her tit with his mouth and pulling on the other with his fingers, Danny sucked her clit into his mouth. She began to shake and then screamed when he gave his strokes inside her a little harder touch.
He couldn’t stand it. As soon as she’d begun to calm down, he climbed up and entered her with one deep thrust. She was so tight he almost had to back out and try again, but he was balls-deep. God, it felt so damn good to be inside her again. He’d missed feeling the intense connection. Maybe tomorrow night they could all three come together.
He looked up and smiled. Rachel had Andrew’s cock in her mouth, sucking while she played with his balls. He had his head thrown back with an intense look of pleasure on his face. Danny couldn’t help but revel in the excitement he saw in his friend’s eyes. He’d worried so much over what was wrong with Rachel. They might still not know all of it, but they would get there. They wanted her happy above all else.
She was pumping her hips in time with his thrusts now. Danny picked up
her legs and positioned them over his arms so he could go deeper for her. His cock wasn’t long like Andrew’s. He couldn’t hit her cervix every time, but he could stretch her to feel the burn of her climax.
He was close but wanted to wait until she brought Andrew. Then he would fuck her good and hard. She liked it that way, and he was only too happy to give her what she wanted.
“Fuck, I’m not going to last, honey. Take me deep and let me fill your throat with my cum.” Andrew’s hoarse voice seemed to spur her into action.
She hummed around his cock and took him to her throat. Andrew threw back his head and called out her name as he came. Danny watched Rachel’s throat convulse over and over as she drank him down.
Danny’s cock twitched at the sight. As soon as she withdrew from Andrew’s cock, he began pounding into her. He tunneled in and out of her sweet cunt over and over until he thought he would catch them both on fire. Finally, he dropped one leg and reached between them to pinch her clit, and they both cried out at the same time as their climax rolled through them and over them.
Danny’s breathing came in short gasps as he tried to hold himself off of her. Andrew reached over and pushed him to the side. It made Rachel convulse all over again. He and Andrew grinned at each other.
Slowly, he withdrew from her twittering pussy and rolled out of bed to clean up. He returned with a warm, wet cloth and cleaned Rachel up before they all climbed under the covers and fell asleep.
* * * *
The next morning, Rachel woke before the men did. She grinned at the thought that they would wake up in bed together. She slipped out of the bed and hurried through her shower, being as quiet as she could. Once dressed, she snuck downstairs and started the coffee. She took the first sip and sighed. It was then, for some odd reason, that she realized that she was in love with Andrew and Danny. Not just a little in love but head over heels in love.
It was why the fact that they hadn’t taken her for the ceremony really hurt so much. She loved them, and there was a good possibility they not only didn’t love her but never would.