by Jan Springer
Rafe caught JJ’s cries into his mouth as he fused his lips over hers. He locked her into a mindless kiss that sent shockwaves through her nerve endings. She could feel the heated blood pumping through her veins. She gasped as Brady let go of her nipple and she heard foil ripping and lube slurping.
With the suddenness of a violent storm, Brady grabbed her waist and impaled his cock deep into her ass. Tremors of pleasure raged through JJ.
Rafe’s tongue thrust into her mouth like a mini cock. His heated flesh tangled with JJ’s tongue, making her heady as sizzling sensations burst through her mind.
The storm built inside of JJ. Pleasure and pain intermingled. Heat and fever snapped like live wires, electrifying her. She arched and bucked. Cried out and whimpered. –
They took turns with her. They brought her into orgasms so strong, JJ swore she’d entered another dimension. Moved into another world where nothing existed but pure pleasure, primal lust and tender love.
She eagerly accepted their thrusts. Arched into them as they powered into her. She was wild. She was free. She was loved.
He could barely stand to watch as the three cowboys took turns with her and double-penetrated her. He needed to figure out a way to get rid of them bastards. He’d almost succeeded the other day, when he’d swung that branch over that son of a bitch’s head. He would have taken her that night, had known she was somewhere in the house, but the storm had raged and instincts told him she sensed he was near. Knew she would fight. He wanted to take her by surprise. It was more fun that way.
He’d left the house, hoping she would let down her guard. He would have waited until she was asleep. But then those other two had returned in that plane earlier than they should have.
Her cries of arousal split through the air and grated on his nerves. He clenched his fists with fury. Those bastards had taken that night away from him. That night should have been his. Alone with her.
He needed to figure out another way of being alone with her. Then she would know what the words alone really meant. He would put her in a prison that would give her the real meaning of incarceration and he would enjoy torturing her. Watching as her life slowly ebbed away.
Fury wrapped tight around him as he tore his attention from the erotic scene. He would find a way to get to her. Sooner or later.
He would find a way.
Five days later…
Anxiety gripped JJ as she made Rafe’s bed. He’d stepped out about an hour ago and had commanded her to stay inside with the doors and windows locked until he or one of the guys returned. So, she’d decided to do the laundry and had brought up the fresh sheets and Rafe’s clothing to his room.
It was hot downstairs, and hotter up here. She didn’t want to be locked up. They were out here in the middle of nowhere with the only way to the ranch via floatplane. Who would be insane enough to come here, steal their food, attack Dan and be a nuisance?
Her thoughts turned to Rafe.
He’d been in contact with his police friend. Yesterday, Kelly from North Country Air had dropped in with the nutritional supplements that Brady and Rafe had been waiting on when they’d been delayed in Thunder Bay. Kelly had also picked up the evidence they’d gathered at the site where Dan had been attacked.
Kelly had been instructed to bring the evidence to the small town of Chapleau. At the post office she would courier the evidence to Rafe’s friend, who said he would have the evidence run for fingerprints and other tests. If whoever was lurking around had a police record and their fingerprints were on the wrapper, they’d have their culprit.
But JJ didn’t expect any such luck. Lucky breaks like that just didn’t happen to her. Well, except for her being released early from prison and sent here. That break had been beyond her wildest dreams.
Many times JJ had to pinch herself to make sure her cowboy bosses were real. Sometimes she let her mind wander to frightening territory — like what if something happened to them and everything would be taken away from her? She would curl up and die.
But they were safe and sound, working around the ranch. She was letting her overactive imagination run away with her. She needed to calm down.
Hell no! She didn’t want to calm down. Totally the opposite. She wanted to run outside and dance in the sunshine. Suddenly, she craved a fast hike in the woods. She wanted to be free!
The need to go out was so intense that without warning the smothering feeling of claustrophobia crashed into JJ. Her heart began to pound way too quickly and it was harder to breathe.
She tensed as the walls suddenly wavered.
Oh no! Not an anxiety attack. Not now!
Panic snapped through her. She needed air.
In a flash, JJ moved to the nearest open window. Warm air breathed against her as she looked outside.
Everything appeared surreal. Not at all normal. The trees didn’t seem friendly. The late-afternoon shadows stretched menacingly over the yard.
JJ’s breathing grew faster.
Okay. Calm down. Check your breathing. Everything is going to be all right.
Her heartbeat pounded in her ears. The back door creaked open. Boots stomped down the hallway downstairs.
She tensed. Was someone breaking in?
A chorus of laughter drifted through the air. Rafe and Dan had returned. They’d been vaccinating the cows out in the east meadow, sucking up fresh air and sunshine, and she was being told to stay indoors.
It had been several days since their outdoor tryst. Nothing out of the ordinary had happened. JJ wanted to be able to go out again. To enjoy outdoor sex again with the guys.
She craved it. But sex had resumed indoors because they’d been busy.
Screw busy.
JJ’s anxiety mounted as she placed Rafe’s folded clothes into the appropriate drawers. Her task reminded her of when she’d discovered her underwear drawer in disarray.
Maybe she’d made the mess herself? In the mornings, she was always in a hurry. She could have simply shoved some underwear aside while looking for a bra or her socks or…but shoot, she just couldn’t remember making a mess like that.
JJ’s anxiety mounted. A wave of dizziness made her cry out.
Downstairs, the guys laughed some more. It irritated her. She felt trapped. Suffocated. Mad. She didn’t want them to see her like this.
She needed to get outside and calm down. Needed to get away. Just for a minute.
“Where’s JJ?” Brady asked as he stepped into the kitchen and discovered Rafe and Dan seated at the dining room. The places at the table were all set for dinner and the two of them leisurely sipped their coffees. The mouthwatering scent of a roast in the oven had him almost moaning out loud.
Damn, JJ was a good cook. She was always hovering around them like a mother hen during meal times, but when they heard his question, both men stared at him with surprise.
Fear skittered into their gazes and before they even answered, Brady’s gut twisted in anguish. Something had happened to JJ.
“We thought she was with you?” Both men answered in unison.
Chairs clattered as they both stood. Panic brewed in their eyes and stabbed through Brady’s heart like a hot poker.
“Did you check upstairs?” Brady asked as he headed toward the stairs.
“Yeah, I did,” Rafe answered. “I figured she was at the back of the house upstairs and didn’t hear us calling.”
Brady stopped and returned to the kitchen. He jumped as a beep from the oven indicated the roast was finished. He turned off the stove. He had lost his appetite.
“When was the last time you saw her?” Brady asked as anxiety mounted.
“Fuck! We’ve been here at least half an hour. I saw her maybe an hour before that before I went out to the barn to do the chores. Shit, I’ll check in the cellar in case she locked herself in somehow. Not that she could, but…I’ll check.” He didn’t say anything else as he stomped down the hallway.
“The garden? Maybe she’s doing some outdoor work?” Rafe
said. He and Rafe practically ran to the living room window and peered outside.
Brady held his breath and hoped to hell she was out there. No movement. Just a chipmunk scampering across the yard.
Damn! Something was wrong. It was suppertime. JJ would have been in here preparing food items to complement the roast. So, where the hell was she?
JJ couldn’t believe this was happening. She’d been in full panic mode when she’d snuck down the stairs, passed behind the unsuspecting guys and hurried out the back door.
She hadn’t wanted them to see her having an anxiety attack. Hadn’t wanted them to worry.
Most times, she’d been able to minimize the panic by going outside for some brisk exercise. In the winter, she’d skied or snowshoed. Now, with the snow gone, she walked.
She’d just wanted to stroll near the woods and see if she could get rid of her panic attack on her own, without her meds. She’d planned to stick to the tree line around the perimeter of the ranch yard. Surely she would be fine outside for just a little while.
But after she’d taken a detour for a bathroom break, the trees in the forest weren’t familiar. The way back home had disappeared. It was getting dark fast.
Despair crawled through JJ and she heaved a heavy sigh. She was freaking lost.
The idea of screaming her head off in the hopes of one of the guys hearing died in her throat as a burly man suddenly stepped out from behind a large tree directly in front of her. He wore her missing cowboy hat and he smiled at her, but the smile didn’t reach his black eyes.
Eyes that looked all too familiar.
Oh my God! She knew this man!
“Hello, Jennifer Jane. Long time no see.” His creepy voice and lusty sneer sent chills of warning screaming through her.
Her long-lost stepbrother was paying her a visit.
JJ’s throat suddenly went very dry and it took all her self-control to stand her ground and to not blindly run deeper into the woods as terror enveloped her.
“Ross…what are you doing here?”
Like she needed to ask? Now everything made sense. Ross had been the one causing the trouble. He was the one who had hurt Dan. She’d met him when she was a teenager. He was as violent as his father and had thrown his unwanted attention on her every chance he got during his infrequent visits to visit his father. She had no reason to believe he’d changed.
His disturbing grin widened. She shivered and recoiled with disgust.
“I’ve come to visit my long lost stepsister, of course. We’ve got some unfinished business to attend to, baby girl.”
She stiffened at his nickname for her. Her stepfather had also called her that.
“Don’t call me that.”
“Why, you’re right, of course. You’re no longer a baby or a girl.”
Ross took a step toward her. She took two steps back. He’d tried to get alone with her during his visits. She’d always managed to elude him and her mother had done a great job deflecting his advances. Just thinking of her late mom brought a sting of tears.
She forced her sadness aside and feigned happiness.
“It’s great to see you again. Come on, you lead the way. Let’s go back to the ranch and I’ll introduce you to my bosses. We can show you around. You can stay a few days.”
His smile disintegrated into a severe frown. His eyes narrowed into evil slits.
“Why would I return you to those three bastards, Jennifer Jane? Do you think I enjoy watching what they do to you? Do you think I enjoy watching them take what’s mine?”
Shit. It had been him watching Dan and herself that day when she thought she’d seen something while Dan had been making love to her up against that tree.
She needed to find a way to get away from him.
“Come on, I’ve baked a delicious raspberry cake. It goes great with hot chocolate. You must still like hot chocolate like we used to have, with those miniature marshmallows. Follow me. I know the way back.”
Yeah, right.
JJ turned and began to walk in the direction she’d just come. The ranch had to be this way. Somewhere far away she heard the low drone of an airplane. Was someone coming to the ranch? Or were they just flying past?
She would just take a few more steps away from him and then she’d run like hell and—
Rough hands clamped around each of her elbows, stopping her cold. Her breath halted as he painfully yanked her arms behind her back. Before JJ knew what had happened, her wrists were cuffed.
“Not so fast, baby girl. We’ve got a lot of time to make up for, and I intend on showing you exactly how good a time I can give you. Better than those three cowboys all at once.”
Terror paralyzed her. He’d been stalking them!
She tried to pull away but Ross grabbed her upper arm. His grip was so tight she couldn’t budge as he pushed her forward.
No! Please! No!
Chapter Seven
The roar from the engines of an approaching plane had Rafe, Brady and Dan rushing out from the various buildings they’d been checking for JJ.
Irritation snapped through Brady. No sign of JJ. He could only hope whomever was coming would be able to help them search for her.
He joined Rafe and Dan on the trail and they hurried down to the dock to find Blue angling her blue floatplane against the dock. A few anxious minutes later, they had the plane secure and Blue stepped onto the dock with a giant cooler in her arms.
“Brought some supplies that JJ ordered the other day,” she said as she handed Brady the cooler. He placed it onto the dock and swore he’d never been so grateful to see someone in his life. Blue had been a cop. She would know stuff about how to search for a missing person. Besides, an extra person on hand to search for JJ was a good thing.
As Blue stared at the three of them, she frowned.
“Uh oh. I get the feeling I’ve come at a bad time?”
“JJ’s missing,” Rafe said.
“For how long?” Blue asked. Her eyes narrowed as she scanned the surrounding buildings.
“Maybe an hour. Maybe more,” Dan replied. There was an odd tremble in his voice.
“Maybe she took a walk?” Blue said. Brady noticed how her shoulders had tensed. She was suddenly worried as much as they were.
“Or maybe whoever was lurking around came back?” Blue said, echoing what the three of them had been afraid to say aloud.
Dan swore.
“I will kill whoever took her, if it is the last thing I do,” Rafe growled.
Brady nodded. At the moment he was so scared and angry for JJ that he could rip apart anyone who would try to hurt her.
“I did see a spiral of smoke when I was circling. About two miles southeast.”
A fissure of relief snapped through Brady. It had to be the stalker’s camp.
“Can you be more specific, Blue?” Dan asked.
“Well, yeah. Right on the southeast shoreline of this lake. But I didn’t see anyone.”
Brady nodded to Dan and Rafe.
“It’s the best lead we have. Let’s go.”
* * * * *
Branches whipped against JJ’s face and arms and mosquitoes stung her bound hands. Ross kept pushing her forward and the instant she stumbled or tried to slow down so she could step over a fallen log, the son of a bitch cursed her.
Her fear of him was turning to red-hot anger and she welcomed the terrifying feeling.
“Quit pushing!” JJ snapped. In retaliation, he shoved her again. A branch slapped her cheek, leaving a sting of pain.
“Don’t tell me what to do, bitch! You’re mine and you do as I demand!”
“Go fuck yourself, you slimy piece of shit!”
He chuckled. “Feisty one, aren’t you? Unlike your saintly mother.”
At the mention of her mom, JJ came to an abrupt halt. She swung around and faced him. Moonlight shone through the trees and she spied surprise wash across his face at her sudden defiance. But in a flash, his lips twisted into an angry snarl and his eyes
glowed with pure evil hatred.
“My mother didn’t deserve your lowlife father,” JJ said in a cool voice. “She was too good. You and your sadistic father took full advantage of her gentle nature.”
A nasty rage was building inside of JJ.
“Get me out of these cuffs, and I will kill you just like I did your dad.”
Suddenly, he laughed and jumped around with glee.
“Oh! You’re trying to scare me?”
“You should be scared, because I will willingly do another ten to twenty to get rid of you.”
JJ wasn’t kidding either.
Ross’s smile dropped and he went quiet.
Toward her right, she could hear the croak of frogs. Frogs was an indication of water. It could be a pond or it could be the lake. If she could get to the lake…
JJ cried out in surprise as pain burst against her right cheek as he slapped her.
Bastard!
If he thought violence was going to subdue her he had another thing coming. She would die before she let this trashy nut job near her. It was time to make her move.
In a split second she was screaming and running into the darkness.
Behind her, he cursed her and then shouted at her to stop. She ran faster.
With her hands bound, JJ couldn’t protect herself. Branches snapped like whips against her face and body. It was hard to keep her balance, but she kept running.
JJ stopped screaming, realizing it would only give away her location.
Panic grabbed her as his chuckles drifted along the dark air. He was keeping pace with her. Following her. Teasing her with his creepy laughs.
As she continued to run, she forced the panic aside and tried to concentrate on her surroundings. The scent in the air had changed to a mild smell of fish.
The lake. It had to be. She had to be close to the lake.
Suddenly, she burst out of the trees and stumbled onto the rocky shoreline. Moonlight shone upon the water, making it look like a mirror.
Because her hands and arms were useless she couldn’t dive into the water and escape that way. Even if she had been able to swim. The ice had gone out only a couple of weeks ago. The water would still be too cold for her to last long before hypothermia set in.