Ice Men of North Dakota [Dakota Heat 5] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Leah Brooke

  In the process of adding another log to the fire, Grant paused. “I was married before.”

  Kendra blinked, realizing for the first time that she hadn’t even considered that any of them had another woman. Irritated at the possessiveness she felt toward them she frowned. “You’re not now?” Holding her breath, she waited expectantly for his answer.

  Grant waited until he lit the fire before turning. “No. I’m divorced.” Straightening, he turned. “And before you ask, none of us are married, and there are no women in our lives. We like it that way.”

  Kendra blinked. “Oh.”

  Shaking his head, Grant moved to the chair she’d sat in the night before. “No, we’re not gay. We’ve been friends since— hell, forever. We each had ranches in Texas, and we were all at a low point in our lives. When we saw this place advertised, we decided that it would be the change we all needed. We came here a little over five years ago, and have no intention of ever leaving.”

  Kendra didn’t understand the warning in his tone, and decided she must have imagined it. “Okay. What happened? You didn’t like Texas anymore?”

  Grant sighed, turning to stare at the fire. “We all had ranches right outside of El Paso. We all had our reasons for leaving. Barrett saw this place in an ad. We came to see it, and fell in love with it.”

  Kendra looked toward the window. “It’s beautiful here. All those mountains. It almost looks like you could reach out and touch them.”

  Grant turned to look at her, his eyes narrowed with what she assumed to be suspicion. “It’s cold and barren, just the way we like it.”

  Too drowsy and relaxed to make sense of the undercurrents, Kendra shrugged. “Oh.” Wanting to change the subject, Kendra stared into the fire. “Does the Jagged Rock Ranch have the same views?”

  Grant’s jaw clenched. “Yes.” Turning toward her, he frowned. “Your boss really has a hard-on for that place, doesn’t he? Why does he want it so much?”

  With a sigh, Kendra stared at the fire. “From what I can gather, he has someone who wants to put some kind of resort there. I haven’t worked for him for very long, so I don’t know what he’s usually like, but he seems jumpy to me. I have a feeling it has something to do with the men who came in the office the day before yesterday. Business suits, but they had a hard edge to them that gave me a chill all the way through. They went into Mr. Edelson’s office for only a few minutes, but whatever they said to him must have really shaken him. When they left, he called me into his office and told me that I was flying out the next day. He told me to go home and get packed, and called me about an hour later to tell me that he’d hired someone to fly me out here. It all happened so fast.”

  Turning her head, she met his searching look. “Like I said, I’m new to this business, but he didn’t sound excited or anything like that. He seems scared.” Shrugging, she looked back into the fire, remembering how badly her boss shook when the other men left his office. “But, I don’t know him well enough to know for sure, but he was pale and sweating.”

  Grant pursed his lips, apparently deep in thought. After a companionable silence, he spoke again, jarring her out of a warm state of drowsiness. “I understand that when Richard came out, the owners of the Jagged Rock told him they had no intention of selling.”

  The pain medicine had started to take effect, easing the throbbing and relaxing her so much that she had trouble keeping her eyes open. Frowning, she tried to focus. “That’s not what he told me. Mr. Edelson told me that the owner of the Jagged Rock didn’t like Richard and wanted to talk to someone else before they signed. A woman.”

  “That’s a lie. Are you warm enough?”

  “Hmm. How do you know that?”

  “The Jagged Rock isn’t far. We know the owners.”

  “Oh. I’m going to have to talk to them and see what they have to say.” Turning toward him, she found herself struggling to keep her eyes open, and gave up the effort, leaving them closed. “When do you think the sheriff will be here?”

  “It might take a while. We told him that we would take care of you, and with the storm and the crash, he’s pretty busy. You can just wait here until he comes to talk to you.” His voice had lowered, losing some of its hard edge.

  Lulled by it, she found herself drifting. “Yeah, and I have to call the Jagged Rock as soon as I can.”

  * * * *

  “Sure.” Grant watched her struggle to keep her eyes open, but knew the combination of a late night, the pain, having a full stomach, the warmth of the fire, and the pain pill would take effect and let her sleep.

  When her eyes closed, he could finally look his fill, and took full advantage of it.

  Even with the dark circles under her eyes, and no makeup, she had to be the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.

  Bait.

  He couldn’t help but wonder if the realtor had hired her for just that purpose.

  It would explain a lot, including the fact that Edelson had sent her on a mission without giving her all the facts.

  Unless she was playing them for fools.

  The commission would be enough to tempt her.

  He’d been married to a woman who needed designer everything, and so he’d learned to tell the distinction.

  Kendra’s clothing, her luggage and her purse were cheap imitations at best. Her boots were the only thing she had of quality.

  She didn’t have money, and she’d appeared out of nowhere. His wife, a gold digger he’d fallen for, had taught him to be suspicious.

  Something was going on, and he didn’t like it one bit. It made him nervous, disrupting the peace he and the others had fought so hard to attain.

  They’d considered Edelson merely irritating at first, becoming infuriating when he sent Richard.

  Kendra’s arrival changed everything, and made the situation intriguing, and highly suspicious.

  Someone wanted their land, and Edelson didn’t appear to want to take no for an answer.

  Why?

  Kendra thought her boss feared something, and it had something to do with sending her out here.

  Could she know more than she let on?

  She seemed innocent, but he couldn’t be sure. In his experience, beautiful women couldn’t be trusted, and Kendra was by far the most beautiful woman he’d ever laid eyes on.

  Her blue eyes, bluer than a Texas summer day, sucked him in. Expressive eyes that darkened with pain and sparkled with need.

  Her hair looked dark on Barrett’s pillow, but appeared to be streaked with every color of blonde and brown, a look that he doubted very much came out of a bottle. Everywhere the sunlight streaming in from the tall windows touched it, it appeared red.

  Fascinated by the colors, he stepped closer, his breath catching at the sight of the upper curve of her breast. Fisting his hands at his sides, he noticed that the top button of her pajama top had come undone since she stretched out, and wondered briefly if she’d undone it on purpose while he’d built the fire.

  Gripping the edge of the blanket between two fingers, he covered the creamy flesh, fighting the urge to bend closer and put his lips there.

  She can’t be trusted.

  Listening for her, he went to the kitchen and washed the dishes, his mind spinning. As soon as he finished, he checked on her again, unable to stay away for long.

  She’d turned in her sleep, facing the back of the sofa, her face pressed against it.

  Telling himself that he only touched her hair so that he could push it back from her face to really see her, he ran his fingers through the silky waves, fascinated by the texture and colors.

  When she moved again, he jerked his hand away and straightened, waiting for her to settle again before turning away.

  He had chores they generally shared that he could take care of while the others handled some of his chores outside.

  He had better things to do than to stare at her all day.

  One of them was checking to see if she actually worked for the real estate company

she claimed to work for.

  He went to the drawer in the kitchen where they kept things like business cards, and then remembered that they’d thrown the card away. Deciding that she should have one in her purse, he grabbed the imitation leather bag from the counter and dug inside for her wallet.

  Curious to see how much money she carried, he opened the side pocket of her wallet, grimacing as he counted out the bills.

  Seventy-eight dollars.

  Glancing toward the family room, he went through her wallet until he found one of the cards from the real estate agency.

  Instead of her name, though, it had Richard Douglas’s name.

  Not wanting the ranch phone number to appear on the agency’s display, he went upstairs to get the cell phone Barrett had told her none of them had. He dialed the number and waited, listening for Kendra.

  Someone answered on the second ring.

  “Edelson’s Realty. How can I help you?”

  Ducking into his bedroom, he closed the door behind him. “I’d like to speak to Kendra Stevenson please.”

  After a pregnant pause, the women spoke again, her tone cool. “She’s not in right now, and I don’t expect her anytime soon. Can someone else help you?”

  “No, thank you. Can you tell me when she might be back?”

  “No. I can’t. Perhaps another one of our realtors could help you.”

  “No, thank you. I want her.” Grant disconnected and sighed. “That’s the fucking problem, isn’t it?”

  After turning his cell phone off and tossing it back into the drawer, he went back downstairs, doing a number of chores while he waited for the others to come in for lunch. Inwardly cursing when he realized that he spent as much time staring down at Kendra as he did doing things around the house, he went to do another load of laundry.

  He’d just checked on Kendra, and found her still sound asleep when he heard the others come in through the back door.

  Going out to meet them, he held up a hand, urging them to keep quiet. “Kendra’s sleeping. We need to talk before she wakes up. Something’s going on and I don’t like it.”

  Chapter Four

  Staring down at Kendra, Quinn swallowed heavily, fisting his hands at his sides in an effort to resist reaching for her.

  What the hell was it about her that made him want her so damned much?

  To possess her.

  When she looked at him, he felt as if she saw into his soul.

  She tormented him. Tortured him. Captivated him.

  He didn’t care for it one bit, and hoped by keeping his distance, he could overcome her pull on him.

  It hadn’t worked.

  Reminding himself that he couldn’t trust her didn’t seem to matter.

  Even with the bruises and scrapes marring her features, she was beautiful, but he’d been with many beautiful women before.

  Still, nothing seemed to matter but her, and it was pissing him off. Unsettling him, and he hated feeling unsettled.

  Her soft, creamy skin, still too pale for his peace of mind, had flushed a little in sleep, and made his fingers itch to stroke it.

  The waves of silky hair that reached halfway down her back seemed to be shot through with at least a dozen colors of blonde, brown and red. It lay tousled around her shoulder while she slept, one curl enticingly wrapped around the nipple poking against her pajama top.

  Teasing him. Tormenting him.

  Daring him to reach out to touch her.

  He didn’t want a woman in his home. He went to town for sex when the urge got too strong, with a woman who didn’t complicate things.

  Kendra had complication written all over her.

  Frowning to realize that it had been over six months since he’d been to see Sophia, he dismissed thoughts of her with an ease that surprised him and dropped into the chair next to the sofa, content just to watch Kendra sleep.

  He’d bet anything that her full lips, parted in sleep, would be every bit as soft as they looked.

  She pulled at something in him, something that made him both want to fuck her senseless and protect her.

  Sex and caring.

  A dangerous combination—one that would have a man drowning before he knew it.

  She shifted in her sleep, her movement lifting her breasts as if in invitation. Gritting his teeth against the surge of need, he fisted his hands at his sides to fight the urge to accept her silent invitation.

  He hadn’t been able to think of anything but her since they’d found her, and it had started to piss him off. He’d been so distracted that he’d found himself staring toward the house when he should have been concentrating on his chores.

  Irritated each time Barrett and Mason glanced toward the house, and knowing that they thought about her, too, he’d become more determined to lose himself in his chores and forget about her, but it hadn’t worked.

  Consumed by jealousy, he’d found himself answering them in clipped tones, his mood getting worse, until he hardly said a word to either one of them.

  Now that he thought about it, they hadn’t spoken much to him, either.

  He tried to ignore the tension between them, tension that extended to Grant. He could see that the others tried as well, but it was there.

  Because of her.

  Her presence threatened to ruin everything they’d all worked so hard to establish.

  They’d come here for peace, and they hadn’t had a moment of it since she’d appeared.

  They couldn’t trust her. For all he knew, she’d planned to use her looks and feminine wiles and get them to sign with her.

  Her commission would be staggering.

  No, he couldn’t trust her, and having her here had already started to cause trouble between him and the others.

  The sooner they could get rid of her, the better it would be for all of them.

  She moved again, kicking part of the blanket to the floor.

  He reached automatically to cover her, not wanting her to get chilled. Pausing, he dropped the blanket, fascinated by the sight of her small foot encased in one of Grant’s thick socks.

  Glancing at her face to make sure she still slept, he decided to indulge himself, reaching out to take her small foot in his hand.

  Hearing the others in the kitchen, he glanced toward the doorway, not willing to have a witness to his absurdity.

  Holding her foot, he kept his touch gentle, stroking her ankle through the soft cotton. He froze when she moaned and flexed her foot, as though she liked it.

  Fascinated, he did it again, marveling at her pleasure-filled sigh.

  If something so insignificant could give her pleasure, he could only imagine what she would be like when he made love to her.

  Her soft moans as he brushed his lips over her nipple.

  Her cries of pleasure when he spread her thighs and used his mouth on her.

  His cock stirred at the thought of having her spread out before him—a feast for him to savor.

  Fuck.

  Disgusted with himself for letting her get to him again, he lowered her foot to the sofa with a soft curse and covered it with the blanket. With another curse, he shot to his feet to move away from her, needing to put some distance between them before he gave into temptation again.

  He knew it wasn’t fair, but he blamed her for feeling this way.

  He’d kept his emotions in check for years, keeping sex and emotion separate, but Kendra threatened that.

  And he had no fucking idea why.

  In his experience, the kind of rough and kinky sex he preferred and a caring relationship with a woman didn’t mix well.

  He could have one or the other, but not both.

  He knew enough about himself to know that he could never keep his sexual needs under wraps for long, so he’d decided long ago that sex without bonds would be the only answer for him.

  Bracing his hands on the mantel, he stared into the fire, trying not to imagine Kendra’s ankles spread wide and tied with silky bonds to his bed.

  On the heels of that thought came another—one that sent his senses reeling.

  A vision of Barrett, Mason, and Grant surrounding her while he pleasured her—using their hands and mouths to send her into a world of decadent pleasure that would wipe away any thoughts she had of trying to manipulate them.

  Straightening, he turned to stare at her, imagining the possibilities.

  A woman like Kendra would fit well here. One woman to provide them with pleasure.

  They all wanted her—and she wanted them.

  Interesting.

  Fascinating.

  * * * *

  Kendra once again woke to the feeling of warmth, a warmth that went all the way through, and combined with a sense of anticipation that made her smile. It felt so good to lie here, but her body demanded that she get up. Still smiling, she stretched, the dull ache in her thigh reminding her of the crash, and explaining the sense of anticipation.

  Opening her eyes, she expected to see Grant, and gasped at the sight of Quinn, who stared at her with eyes as cold as ice.

  He sat in the chair Grant had been sitting in when she fell asleep, leaning back as if relaxing, but she could feel the tension pouring from him. He remained motionless, watching her, his impossibly dark gaze glittering with anger, his body poised as if to leap at her if she ran.

  Dressed in jeans that had seen better days, and a dark flannel shirt, which they all seemed to prefer, he stared at her, a challenge in his eyes she didn’t understand. His hair, so black it appeared blue in places, fell in tousled streams to his shoulders as if he’d run his fingers through it countless times. It lay plastered to his head in places from his hat, somehow making him appear even more formidable.

  Quinn scared the hell out of her on many levels.

  The most disturbing to her was the erotic intent and knowledge gleaming in his impossibly dark eyes.

  Part of her feared it, and part of her wanted it with a hunger that made her ache.

  She struggled to a sitting position, hoping that sitting up would make her feel less vulnerable, hissing at the pull to her stitches. Moving carefully, she worked her legs over the side, blinking against the bright light reflecting off of the snow and streaming through the large windows on either side of the stone fireplace.

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