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Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
577 Mulberry Street, Suite 1520
Macon GA 31201
Saddled
Copyright © 2009 by Delilah Devlin
ISBN: 978-1-60504-478-1
Edited by Angela James
Cover by Natalie Winters
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: March 2009
www.samhainpublishing.com
Saddled
Delilah Devlin
Dedication
For every woman who ever lusted for a cowboy…or two.
Chapter One
Bobby Blackhawk shook his head as the taillights of the little Beemer just ahead flashed red again through the falling snow. Sure enough, as soon as the driver crunched the brakes, the tail end of the car began to slide on the snow-covered ice.
“She’s gonna go right into the river if she keeps that up,” Cale Yancey muttered beside him.
They’d been following the car for the last ten miles, inching down the lonely highway. They’d already figured out the car wasn’t using snow chains, and the driver was too stupid to know she was skirting on the edge of real trouble.
“Why are you so sure it’s a woman?” Bobby asked.
“Can’t drive worth a damn.”
“Love for you to tell Lacey J. that.”
“Lacey’s not like other women.”
Now, that was an understatement that had them both sharing lopsided grins, considering how well Lacey had proven that point the previous weekend.
“Sure could use me a little of her lovin’,” Cale said, sounding wistful.
The last trip into Wellesley, Colorado in anticipation of snow blocking the mountain pass had been a wild, lust-packed two days. With a lonely winter facing them, they’d both taken Lacey up on her offer of a threesome that was sure to keep the two men growling like hungry bears for the next two months, impatient for the thaw so they could get back down the mountain.
It was a good thing they’d discovered long ago that they were compatible in ways that would make most men blanch, otherwise the wait to make it back into town would have been unbearable. Neither was squeamish about helping the other out; however, both preferred emptying their passion inside the wet, snug passage of a woman. If the woman happened to be obliging, like Lacey often was, they didn’t mind sharing.
Both vehicles climbed the last long hill right before the men’s turnoff and another half-mile beyond to the highway, tire treads biting into fresh snow.
“She might make it,” Cale said, sounding doubtful.
“Think we better follow to make sure?”
The car ahead made it to the top of the rise, and then the brake lights flashed again.
Cale cursed. “Wish she’d quit doing that.”
Rental company plates on the back of the car explained a lot about the aptitude of the driver. “Doesn’t know she should just gear down and take it slow.”
They reached the top, and Bobby geared down. Sure enough, the driver up ahead hit the brakes again, and the rear of the car slid sideways. As though watching a movie in slow motion, both men held their breaths, hoping the woman would gain traction at the last moment, but one rear tire slid off the edge of the road and then the right front followed. With tires spinning and brake lights flaring bright, the car slipped slowly down the hill and into the creek.
“Not good,” Cale said tightly as Bobby pulled into the snow bank at the side of the road and left his emergency lights flashing. Just a precaution since there wasn’t much of a chance of anyone coming up on their rear end since the road crew had been taking the barriers off the truck when they’d passed.
Bobby slammed the car into park and climbed out, following Cale as he slid on his ass down the hill. They paused at the water’s edge, staring at the vehicle, both knowing one of them was going to have to get wet.
Water was midway up the car door, and the driver had rolled down her window. Blonde hair peeked beneath a black knit hat. Terror-stricken blue eyes peered at them through the falling snow.
“Ma’am, can you get yourself out?” Cale shouted.
“I think so,” she said, her voice tight and quavering.
“If you can crawl out your window, we can help you the rest of the way.”
“I’m getting wet. It’s cold.”
“Gotta move now, sweetheart,” Cale said, his tone gentling the same way it did when he worked with a fractious horse. “You wait another second, two of us are gonna be in trouble.”
“My purse. I can’t find it.” She turned in her seat, reaching into the back of the car.
The car bobbed on the water, and for a moment, Bobby thought it might break free and start floating. “Lady, leave it,” he shouted. “You don’t have time to look.”
“But my money—”
“Not gonna spend it if you’re dead.”
She bit her lip, and then her face screwed up as though she was going to start crying.
“Fuck sake,” Bobby muttered, stepping past Cale and stripping off his coat. “I’ll get her out. It’s gonna be up to you to get us both up that goddamn hill.”
And then he was plunging into water so cold his legs went instantly numb. He reached her door, stretched an arm inside her window and unbuckled her belt. Her skin was too pale, her body shaking violently. She was entering hypothermia, and he was fast on her heels.
“Sweetheart, you have to help me a little bit. Please.” Then he reached inside and pulled her, dragging her out, using brute force and knowing he was banging her around the window frame, but he had to be quick because the cold was sapping his strength.
As soon as her legs cleared the window and fell back into the water, she moaned, but he turned with her, slung an arm around her waist and half-dragged her back to the edge of the bank.
Cale reached for them both, but Bobby shoved her at him. “Get her to the car first. I’ll be right behind you.”
Cale gave him a sharp glance but didn’t argue. There wasn’t time. He bent and heaved the woman over his shoulder and then clumsily made his way up the hill and out of sight.
Bobby took only two steps out of the water before his legs gave out, and he fell to the ground on his knees. Shivering with cold, he stuck his hands under his arms and huddled inside the coat he’d left behind, knowing he’d have to be hauled up the hill too.
It seemed only a moment later and Cale was kneeling beside him. “Your turn, buddy.”
Bobby tried to give him a smile, but he was just too damn tired and his face felt frozen.
“Can’t carry you. Dammit, you have to help.”
“Gimme a minute. Too cold,” Bobby managed to mumble, but Cale’s hands were already under his arms and tugging him hard. “Just a minute. I’ll…walk.”
“You’re in no condition, but this is gonna be slow. I’m not leaving you here.”
“Woman…gotta get her warm.”
“Just shut up,” Cale bit out. “She’s in the truck. Got the heat goin’ full blast.”
“’S good,” Bobby said, trying to keep his mind clear, but he was tired. So goddamn tired, and he couldn’t feel his arms and legs. One last moment
of clarity and it struck him that he might die. “Leave me.”
“No fucking way.” The tone of his best friend’s voice was rough, deeper than usual.
If he could have, Bobby would have smiled. The only time Cale got this shook up was when his cock was deep, his balls tightening and on the verge.
***
By the time Cale fell through the front door of the cabin with his final burden, he was shivering hard.
Bobby hadn’t spoken a word in too long. The woman was still unconscious, lying in the same spot he’d dropped her before he’d headed back to the truck for his friend.
Bed, he had to get them both into bed. He let Bobby slide to the floor and walked on wooden feet to his room, tore back the quilt, turned on the electric blanket and then began to strip as he headed back for them both.
The woman was in the worst shape, but he carried her to the bedroom, sat her on the edge of the bed and stripped her as fast as his frozen fingers could manage before drying her with his clothes, then scooting her to the far side of the mattress and covering her up.
Then it was back for Bobby, whom he had to drag by his arms. Once his friend was stripped and lying on the bed, Cale stoked the wood-burning furnace and crawled up between them, pulled the covers over them all and tried to still the shivers that racked his own body sandwiched between two frighteningly cold bodies.
He pulled them both close on either side of him and wondered as he drifted off to sleep if any of them would make it through the night.
Despite their dire circumstance, Cale couldn’t help thinking that the girl they’d rescued was just the type the two of them would have rushed toward in a bar, crowding her between them as they both jockeyed for attention.
More often than not, Bobby would win the competition. With his glib tongue and darkly handsome face, he’d lead the woman away, grinning at him over his shoulder.
Cale might have been left a time or two with a hard-on he couldn’t ease, but he hadn’t really minded. Not much, anyway. He knew his limitations when it came to attracting a woman like this. He’d noted the lush pink and cream curves he’d uncovered when he’d stripped the woman raw. With pale, shimmering hair and a face so sweet and perfectly formed, he knew he’d have been left tongue-tied and staring.
That something as classy as this woman was lying right beside him had him thinking that maybe this wasn’t such a bad way to go.
***
Katherine Duvall awoke as sensation flooded her feet and hands—sharp prickling pinches that made her moan.
“Yeah, it’s gonna hurt. But it’s a good sign sweetheart,” a man whispered against her hair. “And there’s no frostbite. I checked.”
He’d checked? One fact penetrated her pain-filled fog. He’d done a lot more than checked. She was naked. And his bare-naked body was pressed up against her back, a penis nudging her bottom.
“Where are my clothes?” she gasped, choking on outrage and fear.
“Had to shuck ‘em. They were soaked.”
She remembered the car sliding into the water. But why wasn’t she in a hospital? “Where am I?”
“In my cabin. Couldn’t chance taking you back to Wellesley. Snow’s comin’ down too hard.”
Her fingers stung, and she pulled her hands from under the covers to peer at them in the inky darkness. “How long have I been here?”
“Maybe an hour. Was worried about you two. You both passed out.”
“Both?”
“Bobby went into the creek after you. He’s not in much better shape.”
She edged carefully away from his body, instantly missing the warmth and rolled onto her back to get her first view of her “rescuer”. What she saw didn’t do a whole lot to alleviate her fears.
The man lying beside her was enormous—a broad-shouldered shadow. Her heartbeat thudded against her chest as her alarm grew, and she wondered what else he might have done while she’d been out.
“Let me get the lamp. You sound like you’re about to freak out.”
About to?
He leaned away. A light flickered on from a bedside table, and she got her first clear glimpse of the stranger in the bed beside her. He leaned on his elbows, his expression taut as she stared back. Shaggy, brown hair, thick dark brows over deep-set eyes. His skin was deeply tanned, his chest and abdomen a study in light and shadow as muscles rippled as he breathed. The thick fur covering his chest glinted with red and gold where the light struck it.
Then she caught a glimpse of another body outlined beneath the covers on his opposite side. “Just what the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“It’s not what it looks like,” he said softly, a smile turning up the tips of his mouth. “Swear. I had to get you both warm.”
She pulled the edge of the blanket higher over her chest and scooted away from him, caught by a hard shiver.
“You’re still chilled. The electric blanket’s set low. Didn’t want to damage tissue as I heated you both up.”
A groan sounded beyond the bear-like man. “Goddamn, would you both shut up? Fuck, everything hurts.”
“Bobby, you need to wake up. We got a problem here.”
The figure huddled under the blanket stirred and rolled toward them with a moan. When he came up on an elbow, air hissed through Kate’s teeth. The man was even more attractive than the first, and she was wondering if she’d woken up on the wrong side of heaven. This one wasn’t as large but was every bit as ripped. And his wide chest was hairless, his face austere, scraped clean over high cheekbones and a jutting jaw. An Indian by his bronze skin, even without seeing the long black hair that filtered around his shoulders.
Still, they were both naked. And sharing a bed with her. And she didn’t know if she was safe or about to be molested. After all she’d felt an erection prodding her bottom.
She took a quick, silent inventory. The parts of her that weren’t busy thawing didn’t feel any different. She’d know, wouldn’t she, if he’d already taken advantage of her?
“We’re not going to hurt you, lady,” Bobby said. “We saved your life. Get back under the covers and snuggle close. You’ll warm up faster. Can’t have you getting sick, seeing as how you’ll be stuck here for a while.”
Her heart stuttered, then began to race. “What? I can’t stay here.”
“Don’t know if you noticed,” Bobby replied, “but there’s a storm outside. The roads are closed. No one’s getting in or out.”
She opened her mouth to make another protest, but she shivered again and moaned as the pain intensified in her fingertips.
“You’re gonna have to trust us,” the big guy said. “If something comes up between us, you’ll just have to ignore it. My body’s warmer than yours even though I’ve been stuck between two blocks of ice for an hour.”
Color filled her cheeks. She shivered for another few moments and then gave in to the offer of warmth. Facing away, she settled on her side and held her breath as he snuggled close again. When his arm came over her waist, she jumped but calmed as he shushed her gently.
The embarrassment and fear was a small price to pay for the heat his body generated.
“Just go to sleep,” he muttered. “This is as close as I’m gonna get.”
It was close enough. Again, his cock was upright and poking at her bottom.
“Don’t know how it’s staying hard,” he whispered. “Your ass is cold.”
A gust of laughter surprised her. “Serves you right. Should have kept your underwear on.”
“Lady, you always this grumpy?” came Bobby’s slurred whisper.
“No. I’m just not used to waking up in bed beside strangers.”
Bobby grunted and slid closer to the bigger man’s back. She knew because his hand reached right across the body between them to land on her hip. “Fuck, I’m cold.”
Cale lifted his upper leg. He was relieved the woman hadn’t starting screaming the house down, but he was embarrassed just the same that she’d noticed he was aroused. “S
lide whatever you need to warm up between my legs.” He slid his ankles forward, capturing the woman’s feet between them.
She sighed and settled deeper against him. “Can’t believe I’m doing this…”
He wondered if she’d really freak if two cocks poked at her when he felt Bobby’s slip between his legs, nuzzling under his balls. His own gasp at the uncomfortable chill stirred thick, fragrant hair in front of his mouth. She smelled like strawberries. Nice.
Spooned front and back, and with his companions warming up nicely, he raised his eyes to the window beyond the bed, thinking it might be an interesting few days while they rode out the storm.
From the sound of the wind howling, shaking the glass and rustling thick drifts of snow over the roof, they might as well hunker down and stay warm inside. Cale tightened his grip on the woman’s slender waist, slowly drawing her closer, and nestled his face against her soft hair. Yeah, the next few days might get hot as hell.
Chapter Two
Kate muttered a protest when the warm hand cuddling her breast slipped down to her hip.
“Sorry about that,” came a low mutter.
Her eyes sprang open. She took note of the nipple that had tightened into a bud and hoped like hell the man hadn’t noticed. But she thought it was already too late, because the cock digging into her back pulsed gently. It had to be killing him to hold her like this.
But he’d been a gentleman after all. Sharing his body heat, holding still to keep from disturbing her sleep. She hadn’t been as careful. Her feet were snuggled between his legs. Her bottom snuggled even closer to his groin. Sweat had begun to pool between them.
Add the interesting extra factor of the other man included in their embrace, and she thought “The Bear” probably thought he’d died and gone to Hell. She smiled at his discomfort, amazed she’d woken so at ease inside his arms considering her initial reaction, but some of what had happened at the river had sunk into her mind. The two of them really had saved her life.
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