Two Cowboys in Her Crosshairs [Hellfire Ranch] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Jennifer August

  “Come on, boys.” She winked and spun around. Her T-shirt flared, showing off her trim, naked ass. “Let’s go to bed.”

  Hudson shucked his shirt and jeans but left his underwear on. He was dog tired, but Olivia was temptation wrapped with a satin bow. They’d never get any rest if he crawled into bed naked.

  Jake apparently had the same thought because he, too, slipped between the sheets in his boxers.

  Hudson rolled onto his side and propped his head on his hand. She lay on her back, smiling up at them. Jake traced the curve of her cheek down to her lips and then along her neck.

  “We need to rest,” she murmured.

  “We are resting.”

  His hand flattened on her chest, and she sighed happily. Hudson settled onto the bed and laid his head on her shoulder. Her hair tickled his nose, and he moved it out of the way. Her body was warm and inviting. His dick rose in response.

  “Are you sure we need rest?”

  “Yes.” She gave him a mock glare. “If you two can’t behave, I’ll just go to my own room.”

  “Won’t work,” Hudson said. He tapped her nose. “We’ll follow you.”

  “Yep,” Jake agreed. “Don’t think you’re getting away this time, sweetheart.”

  Her breasts rose with her inhaled breath. “Good, cause I don’t want to.”

  Jake settled beside her and draped his arm over her waist. “I set my phone with a two-hour alarm. Much as I want to ravish you, I don’t think I have the energy.”

  “Me, either.” She yawned and turned her head to stare into his eyes. “You?”

  His erection throbbed. With one small thrust he could brush against her thigh. But Hudson saw the lines of fatigue in her face. There’d be time enough for loving later.

  The right time, when they could concentrate on the pleasure and nothing else.

  “I’m tapped,” he said. “Close your eyes and sleep, Livvie.”

  She smiled as her eyelids drifted down. “Yep.”

  He watched her fall into sleep with an alacrity that amused him. Jake had the same habit most of the time. When it was time to sleep, the man went to sleep. It didn’t much matter what kind of chaos was going on around him.

  Hudson figured it must be something they learned in the military. He was a little jealous of the time they’d had together in Afghanistan, but mostly he was glad they’d both made it home alive.

  Especially since it appeared someone close to them meant for them to die.

  And maybe still did.

  Hudson snuggled closer and let his eyelids drift down. His hand rested just above Jake’s on Olivia’s warm stomach. A swell of love pushed through him followed by a resolve made of pure steel.

  As long as he was around, no one was going to hurt either of them.

  No matter what he had to do to ensure their safety.

  * * * *

  Jake’s alarm tittered much too soon, and Hudson groaned at the intrusion. “Turn it off,” he muttered.

  There was no movement from the other side of the bed. Olivia still slept on her back and a soft snore rattled delicately from her. Hudson couldn’t stop a smile at the sweet little sound.

  The alarm continued to ratchet in tempo and volume. He shoved to one elbow and poked Jake’s side.

  “Mm?”

  “Shut that thing up,” Hudson said.

  Jake sighed and groaned as he reached for the phone.

  Blessedly the noise stopped.

  Olivia’s eyes popped open. She blinked a few times then smiled up at him. “That was a fast two hours.”

  Hudson nodded then leaned down to drop a fast kiss on her lips. He dared not linger since his morning erection was at full tilt.

  As soon as her soft lips met his, he forgot all about a strategic withdrawal. She moaned into his mouth and cupped his head with a strong hand.

  He nipped her bottom lip then lined it with his tongue. She opened her mouth, and he thrust his tongue inside. She met him with her sweet taste and impatience. Their tongues tangled, retreated, and tangled again. Hudson pulled back and gasped for air. She tasted as sweet as sin and was twice as tempting.

  Jake stood next the bed strapping on his watch. “No time for fun, kids, we’ve got a bad guy to track down. I’m gonna start another pot of coffee.” He strode from the room leaving the door open.

  Hudson smiled down at Olivia. “Hi,” he said.

  “Hi,” she whispered back. Her fingers traced the contour of his forehead down to his chin. “I love the way your mouth feels, Hudson.”

  “Oh, Lord, sweetheart, don’t start saying stuff like that or we’ll never make it out of here without getting naked.”

  She giggled, and her expression was an odd combination of innocent and seductress. “I like the sound of that.”

  Hudson dropped a fast and hard kiss to her mouth then rolled away. “Me, too,” he said as he stepped into his jeans. “And I demand a rain check.”

  Olivia sat up, and he tossed her jeans at her. “Fine. Spoilsport.”

  She winked as she slid from the bed.

  They joined Jake at the kitchen table. A box of cereal and the milk jug were in the middle surrounded by two bowls and spoons.

  “Ah, haute cuisine,” Hudson said. “My favorite kind.”

  “You don’t like cereal?” Olivia asked as she sat down.

  Jake shook his head. “He loves cereal. I think he’d eat it breakfast, lunch, dinner, and midnight snack if he could. He’s always been that way.”

  She poured some of the crunchy bits into her bowl and smiled at the colorful marshmallow pieces that accompanied them. As soon as she put the box down, Hudson snagged it. “I can picture you as a mischievous kid, Hudson. I bet your antics drove your parents crazy.”

  The box wavered then straightened as he continued to pour. Olivia looked at Jake, but he was looking at Hudson with a bittersweet expression.

  Hudson set the box on the table, poured his milk, then spooned some into his mouth. She was casting around for another topic when he set his spoon down.

  “My mom died when I was two. My dad spent the next eight years trying to kill me, too.”

  Her eyes grew wide as she clasped his forearm. “He abused you?”

  “Damn right,” Jake muttered.

  “He blamed me for her death. Said she was never well again after I was born. I think she probably had cancer of some sort. He had a good job, decent money, but wouldn’t let her go to the doctor.” His mouth twisted. “Now I think it’s because they would have seen the marks of his abuse. He was all about status, which is why we lived in a nice neighborhood. When I met Jake, my entire life changed. Well, mostly.”

  He ate some more of the cereal as she processed this information.

  Hudson pointed his spoon at Jake and grinned. “One day at the bus stop a few of the bullies pummeled the hell out of me. They left me bleeding and eating dirt then took off. Jake strolled up, picked me up off the ground, dusted me off, and said, ‘Boy, you’ve got to learn to block a punch or you’ll never survive middle school.’ He spent the rest of that day and all the ones afterward showing me just what it meant to be a normal kid. He’s the reason I got on that Little League team, too. His parents paid for all the fees and stuff because mine sure as hell wouldn’t.”

  She smiled at Jake, who was blushing like a teenage girl caught with her skirts tossed up at prom. “He was puny. It was obvious he was going to be a favorite target. I just thought he should have some sort of options.”

  “I spent as much time at Jake’s as I could without my father catching on. He finally did, though.”

  Olivia’s heart clenched. “Did he stop you from going?”

  “Oddly enough, no. I have never understood why. He was all sorts of pissed when he found out I’d been hanging with that ‘damned Logan boy.’ Said he’d make sure I’d never see him again. He stormed out but was back home within the hour and said he didn’t give a frog’s fart what I did.”

  Something about Jake’s st
illness made her believe he knew what changed Hudson’s father’s mind. With Jake’s overblown sense of justice, she had a pretty good idea what that might have been. He’d gotten that code of ethics from somewhere, and she’d be willing to bet Jake’s dad blistered Hudson’s father.

  “Why was Jake that damned Logan boy?”

  Hudson grinned. “Because of his family. The Logans are renowned for their business acumen and skill. This furniture isn’t all just for hobby. They’ve made themselves quite a fortune selling it. But I think he was jealous of their happiness. Everyone knew the Logans were family first, no matter what. If one was in trouble, the others rallied round.” He cleared his throat and grabbed the cereal box again. “Greatest day of my life when I was admitted to that inner circle.”

  “Admitted?” Jake said with a snort. “Kid, you pushed your way in and refused to leave.”

  The gentle teasing had the desired effect, and Hudson’s face cleared free of the past. “Yep. And now you’re stuck with me.” His blue eyes speared Olivia. “You both are. Whatever is going on here, we’ll figure it out and fix it together.”

  “Agreed,” Olivia said even as Jake nodded. She teared up a little bit and thanked her lucky stars that she, too, had been granted entrance into their special club. She’d always known Jake was a good and decent man and a wonderful lover. She was not so prepared for the whirlwind of love and desire that assailed her after meeting Hudson. But she was damn glad for it. They both made her feel more than special. They made her feel treasured.

  Her throat tightened, and she had to choke her cereal down.

  “I wish I knew what was going on in town,” Jake muttered. “I hate being cooped up here. Feels like we should be doing more.”

  Olivia pushed away the shimmer of vulnerability her exposed emotions caused. There was no time for it, and she couldn’t afford to be distracted. Plus, she really wanted some time to sit down and examine them fully when the only thing she had to concern herself with was whose cock to suck first. She grinned and shook her head before focusing on the man across the table. “Jake, we’re gathering information as fast as we can. I’ll need your help to track down the remaining team members. You were always good with computers.”

  His brows furrowed. “Trying to keep me busy?”

  She smiled sweetly. “Honey, if I wanted to do that, I’d take my clothes off.”

  “I’m in for that,” Hudson said.

  She rose and rinsed out her bowl then stuck it and the spoon in the dishwasher. “Why am I not surprised? I’m going to boot up the computer and see what’s new.”

  As her laptop started, Olivia looked around the room at the amazing array of furniture Jake’s family had crafted. The gleaming wood spoke of dedication and a single-minded pursuit of excellence. No wonder they’d made a booming business for themselves.

  Jake and Hudson wandered in just as the final e-mails downloaded.

  “Anything new?” Hudson asked.

  “Not from my contact.” She stared at the list of senders and frowned. “But somehow Sadie got my e-mail address.”

  “What? How?” Jake demanded. He slid a chair next to her and shoved his face close to the monitor.

  She smacked him lightly on the head. “Scoot back, I can’t see.”

  Hudson scraped another chair on the other side of her. “What does she say?”

  “I don’t know,” she said in exasperation. “I haven’t read her e-mail yet. I’m more interested in how she got my address.”

  “Is it classified?” Hudson asked.

  “Well, no,” she admitted. “But she doesn’t know my last name.”

  “I wouldn’t count on that,” Jake said. “This may be small-town Texas, but we’ve got a wide net of resources. And Sadie is one of the best when it comes to ferreting out information.”

  “There’s one from Maljib,” Jake said. “How’d he get it?”

  Olivia nodded. “I gave it to him so he could e-mail me a copy of his potato salad recipe.”

  “Aha,” Hudson crowed. “He must have given it to Sadie.”

  “Uh-huh.” Olivia clicked open Maljib’s message and read it. He was sending her the promised potato-salad recipe. She squinted at it and laughed.

  “What?” Jake asked.

  “You were right, Hudson. This isn’t even close to the real recipe.”

  “How do you know?”

  She pointed at the screen. “This one calls for mustard. There is not one drop in the salad he serves.”

  Jake and Hudson chuckled. She sent a brief thank you reply then opened Sadie’s e-mail.

  This was a bit more interesting. Olivia grabbed for the legal pad on the table.

  “Sadie says that a stranger was in town yesterday.”

  “That’s not unusual,” Hudson said. “Lots of people come here for the Hitching Post.”

  Olivia nodded. “I remember you talking about that. She mentions him because the grapevine followed him just like they did me.” She looked at Jake. “Exactly like me. He went to every place we did.”

  Jake angled the computer toward him then let out a whistle. “She says she can identify him.”

  “Against what?” Olivia asked. “We don’t have any suspects.”

  “Yes, you do,” Hudson said. He loped from the dining room and returned moments later with a stack of tall, thin books. He fanned them out on the table. “The squad yearbooks.”

  “Brilliant!” Olivia crowed. “We can get these to Tag, and he can show them to her.”

  “Good idea,” Jake said. “I’ll give him a call.”

  Hudson stretched, and his joints popped with the motion. “I need a shower,” he said.

  “Yeah, me, too,” Jake said.

  “Me, three,” Olivia chimed in.

  Hudson waggled his brows. “I’d say let’s go, but we don’t have a shower big enough for all three of us.” He leaned down and cupped her shoulders. “But you’re more than welcome to join me.”

  “Not fair,” Jake muttered, but he was grinning.

  Olivia’s cell phone rang. She picked it up and checked the number then hit the answer button. “Hi, Tag. We were just about to call you.”

  Jake and Hudson planted their butts along the table edge and listened with identical expectant expressions. She rolled her eyes and waved her hand toward the hallway.

  “Go shower,” she mouthed.

  They both shook their heads no.

  “What? Oh, because I have an e-mail from Sadie. Not sure how she got my work e-mail.”

  “I gave it to her,” Tag said.

  Olivia pulled the phone back and frowned at it. “Why would you do that?”

  “She asked for it. Said something about a new book. I don’t know, does it matter?”

  “I’d rather you didn’t give it out to anyone else.”

  “Sure, whatever, sorry,” he snapped.

  She could tell his temper was climbing. He’d always been touchy, and the least little criticism tended to rub him into a fit of pique that usually ended with a broken wall. Back in the day, Tag liked to hit walls when he was mad. She wondered how many patches were in the sheriff’s office. “Why did you call?”

  “I need you to come to the station. We’ve got a lead, but I want you to verify it.”

  She looked at her two housemates. “What time?”

  “Now would be good, but as long as it’s sometime today, that’s fine. I’d prefer it to be a little more low-key than your last outing in town, though.”

  “Hey,” she protested. “I had nothing to do with that.”

  “Sure. Why were you calling me?”

  Jake shifted, and his foot tapped the floor. She shook her head.

  “Sadie sent me an e-mail about a stranger in town.”

  “Oh, hell, not that again.”

  “She already told you?”

  “Yeah, it’s bunk. We get a lot of strangers passing through. The whole town is calling me.”

  “Did she tell you he followed my every step
and that he questioned some of the shopkeepers about me?”

  There was a long silence followed by a clearly exasperated sigh. “She must have forgotten that part.”

  He sounded like he was grinding his teeth to fine nubs. “She said she has a good description of him.”

  “She’s blind as a bat.”

  “Tag, quit being so damn negative. We have an idea. Jake has some tour yearbooks here. We’d like you to show them to her.”

  His hiss was clear through the phone line. “You think she can identify him through the pictures.”

  “Yep. Kind of a like a police lineup. They’re not the best quality pictures, but we should be able to get some kind of yes or no.”

  “Good idea.”

  “Thanks,” she said drily.

  “When do you think you’ll be here?”

  Olivia again looked at Jake and Hudson. If they went with her, there was no way the trip would be incognito. Plus, they’d made a huge deal about holing up on the ranch until this was over.

  She didn’t like sitting and waiting any more than they did. But no way would they agree to let her go by herself.

  “You’ll be by in about forty-five minutes? Sounds good.”

  “What do you mean I’ll be by? You’re coming here,” Tag said. He sounded thoroughly confused.

  “Yep, that’s correct. I’ll see you in forty-five minutes. Bye, Tag.” She disconnected and leaned back in her chair.

  “What did he want?” Jake asked.

  She gave them a slightly twisted recap of the conversation in which Tag merely mentioned they had a new lead. She didn’t say a word about going into town. What she was planning was deceptive but necessary.

  “Okay guys, go take your showers.”

  “You should go first, you’re our guest,” Hudson said.

  Olivia bit back a groan of frustration. Cursed Texas manners. “No, I’m going to do some PT before I get in. Don’t want to have to shower twice, you know?”

  Jake nodded. “Yep.” He kissed her hard then headed for the hallway.

  Hudson kissed her, too, then made for the back of the house where the second full bath resided.

  Olivia waited until she heard the doors shut then crept into her room and got dressed. Just as she was lacing her tennis shoes, she heard the water kick on in the hall bath. She inched through the hallway and paused to listen for Hudson’s shower. She grinned when she heard him whistling. Hopefully they both enjoyed long showers. At least long enough for her plan to work.