Ella felt like a water-logged rat the moment she stepped foot into the kitchen, but relief flooded her tortured soul at being in a familiar place and out of the basement. Her riding jeans—the ones she still wore from yesterday—clung to her flesh like a starved leech. Her button-up denim shirt was in the same shape and had come untucked. Her hair had long since come loose from the efficient bun she’d put it in to clean the cabin and currently hung in stringy, sodden strands over her eyes. She’d lost the tie in the basement during her overnight ordeal.
When she brushed the wet hair from her face, she got her first good look at the two men who’d rescued her. Ella’s mouth fell open as she stared at the two most handsome men she’d ever had the pleasure to look upon. Her gaze darted from one to the other and back again a couple of times before she decided they were real and not some ghostly presence set to drive her over the edge of sanity.
Her eyes widened as she scanned each of their muscular and amazing bodies. Rugged, tall, masculine, and so very attractive, these two men couldn’t be her intended bridegrooms. Unfortunate, but Ella knew the Stevenson brothers hadn’t transformed into these two perfect specimens of man candy. Not even the most accomplished plastic surgeon had this skill level. Neither of these men had angry, black eyes set too close together or wide, piggish upturned noses better suited to sniffing out truffles.
“Are you okay?” the one who’d followed her up the stairs asked. His dark blond hair spiked when he ran a hand over the top of his head. The shorter of the two by only a little, he had an intelligent face filled with gentleness and concern. The tension in her body relaxed just looking at him. A wide smile grew as she stared at him. He was waiting for an answer.
“I…I…oh…uh…” She couldn’t form a single coherent thought to thank them for saving her. The Adonis on her right was well over six feet tall. She’d kissed this man after exiting the prison below. The wide white grin that formed made her heart sing. She wanted to kiss him again. His handsome friend also had a smile on his face as well as a quizzical expression. She wanted to kiss him, too.
“Are you okay, ma’am?” he asked again, concern shaping his beautiful face. His gaze traveled from her face down her body and back again.
“I…I…” Shit. Speak, for heaven’s sake. “Yes. Thanks to the two of you. I’ll be just fine once I dry off and get something warm to drink.”
“Who in the world locked you in the basement?” the other man asked. He also had short dark blond hair. He was slightly taller and heavier through his chest, but that wasn’t to say the other was a scrawny pipsqueak either. The shorter of the two was equally handsome but well over six feet tall. His smile was engaging and softened her attitude into wondering what it would be like to kiss him.
Instead of answering, Ella searched with her gaze around the inside of the cabin to assure herself that these two weren’t somehow attached to the future wedding party set to arrive anytime today. Like the incredibly handsome preacher and his trusty witness or something that would completely wither her soul upon learning.
“Are you two alone?” she asked after inspecting every corner, nook, and cranny of the cabin’s main interior space. Ella still wasn’t over the fact that she wasn’t about to be pressed into marriage with two of the most despicable men in the state of Wyoming. Casting her gaze back at the two handsome men before her, she decided quickly that even two complete strangers were a better bet than what she faced when her father returned. Perhaps she should make them an offer they couldn’t refuse.
“Yes. It’s just the three of us now. Why were you locked up below?”
Ella wasn’t ready to share her soon-to-be-sordid life story just yet, and she still wanted to consider the possibility of asking them to rescue her once more. But how to ask another favor when they’d just saved her life?
She changed the subject in order to give herself more time to think. Remnants of leftover fear still coursed through to her soul. She needed a minute or so to regroup. “Why don’t I make us some coffee? That will warm us up.” She moved toward a counter in the kitchen where the coffee station was housed. In the cupboard above were the mugs. Reaching for the three closest, she pulled them out before they moved to stop her.
The taller of the two walked a few steps in her direction, reached out, and put his large, warm hand on her shoulder. “Wait a minute. Who are you? I want to know why you were imprisoned below.” Perhaps he was reconsidering his initial observation that she’d been imprisoned below because she was an ax-wielding murderer and a danger to polite society.
Ella pushed out a sigh. “From my perspective, the better question is, who are you?” She turned to face them again. “This is my home. I’m happy to share the accommodations until the storm is over, but that doesn’t mean I’m required to answer questions like I’m a criminal. And I don’t want to. So in the spirit of strained hospitality, would you like a cup of coffee or not?” She inwardly winced at her severe attitude. She didn’t truly mean to sound so uncivil, but her mind spun with possibilities. And the freedom she now enjoyed wasn’t unappreciated either. The storm still blustered outside, meaning she was still trapped here awaiting a fate she had little if any say in.
“I’d like a cup,” the other man said with an engaging smile. He moved forward. “I’m Matt, by the way.” He extended one hand toward her. “Matt Drakestone.”
His smile was so engaging, she threw caution to the wind and grasped his warm hand. It enveloped hers completely. The moment they touched, a flash of unexpected lust drilled through her imagination. Now she really wanted to kiss him.
Was it wrong to picture these gorgeous strangers naked already? Then a more practical idea occurred. What if she offered them her virginity if they agreed to accompany her off this property? Would they be interested? She pondered that a few minutes more. The idea warmed quickly as she could then escape her destiny. And that notion softened her instantly.
Ella squeezed his fingers. “Drakestone?” She put her gaze into his beautiful green eyes. “As in the Drakestone land that borders this property?”
He shrugged. “Actually, my two cousins own that land. I live in town. I’m a lawyer.” He finally released her fingers. She probably would have held on all day if he hadn’t let go.
“Really?” Ella hadn’t met many people from town. Her life had been fairly sheltered out at the Parker homestead. She hadn’t even gone in town to school for the last few years. Her father wanted her to be homeschooled and kept away from what he called bad influences.
Ella decided the choice he’d made was far worse in the great scheme of influence, so she was about to change her fate. “A lawyer. That’s interesting.” She turned to the other man and smiled. He’d be the harder one to convince, but she hadn’t been very nice to him either. She was about to change her attitude very quickly.
His expression was more somber, but he also reached out, grasping her water-soaked hand between his large, firm fingers. “I’m Colton Westmoreland. And you are?” Westmoreland? More nearby landowners? But that land is abandoned, isn’t it? His eyebrows went up as his grip on her hand suddenly tightened.
She wouldn’t be able to extract her fingers without losing a couple. And yet, his forceful query didn’t frighten her. She was even more intrigued. The foolish plan to escape what her father intended spun in her brain with furious force made so much easier by the appealing men before her. She needed to be strong. Needed to win them over. Needed for them to take her away from here as soon as the storm was no longer dangerous.
Colton took a step closer without releasing her hand. The vertical size of him should have frightened her, but instead, she wanted to move into his body and press herself against him. The closer she got the more intrigued she became. Besides, she’d already kissed him once. He was as enticing as his friend. She wanted one more kiss.
“Westmoreland? That’s another name I recognize.”
“Is it? Good.” He didn’t so much as flinch or loosen his grip even when he spoke.
Ella was very interested in discovering more about these men.
Even being a virgin such as she was hadn’t protected her from discovering what went on between a man and woman. She knew the basics. Although, her mother had died when she was young, Ella had gotten quite an earful and an equally enlightening education from various housemaids in her father’s employ.
Eventually, her father had fired most of the house staff, deciding Ella could “earn her keep” by cleaning the house. But not before learning that men didn’t necessarily like inexperienced woman in bed. Perhaps she could pretend to be more worldly than she truly was and practice on these men with what she’d learned. It wasn’t like she didn’t know what happened during sex. She lived on a ranch. She’d seen all manner of animals mate. How different could it be for humans?
Ella brushed away the musings of her past and focused on Colton. Did he want an experienced woman in bed? Very likely. He looked like a man who always got exactly what he wanted, too. Virgins probably annoyed him, but she wasn’t planning to back down. Perhaps they wouldn’t notice she was a novice once things got started.
She inhaled, and his amazing scent assaulted her, overwhelming her suddenly energetic libido. Thinking about sex in the past hadn’t been as exciting because she hadn’t truly met anyone she wanted to get naked with. That had changed the moment she got a good look at these two.
Just staring at Colton’s body made her insides go warm and tingly. With each breath she took in, she was further entranced, as if he possessed the ability to please her with the sheer magnitude of his presence.
All the knowledge she ever possessed about men and trying to please one slammed into her head. She needed to be aggressive. She needed to pretend that she was experienced in the ways of love. Then perhaps she could convince them to want to take her with them once the storm was past.
Silence permeated the kitchen endlessly. Outside, the winds continued to howl. The rain continued to fall hard and fast onto the land around them, but Ella was transfixed by the man who waited patiently for her to tell him her name. She opened her mouth to speak. “I…I…” What is wrong with me?
He lowered his face, coming closer and closer. His sensuous lips inched nearer and nearer. Was he about to kiss her again? Yes.
Ella closed her eyes halfway and leaned into his closeness. He pressed his lips lightly to hers in the barest of sweet kisses and whispered, “Tell me your name, honey?” The breath of his question brushed across her sensitive mouth, tantalizing her intensely. Her lips tingled with the brief contact.
She tilted her head back and opened her eyes to his intimately seductive expression. She finally found her voice. “I’m Ella,” she said quietly. Her focus went directly to Colton’s mouth because she wanted more of him. The light kiss he’d given her just wasn’t enough to satisfy her prurient curiosity.
With her passion elevated in the extreme, Ella made the next move. She plastered her saturated body against his and pressed her mouth to his lips for a deeper, more intense kiss.
Tightening his arms around her back, Colton delivered exactly what she wanted. A deep, gratifying, astonishing kiss that had her insides pulsing with delight, desire, and satisfaction with the first stroke of his tongue between her lips.
Her passion raging as powerfully as the storm outside, Ella only barely noticed the vibrant crack of lightning and the continual pounding of thunder overhead. The front door of the cabin suddenly rattling against its hinges, popping open wide, and banging against the inside wall, thereby letting in the violent storm from outside, barely registered in her conscious. Since he didn’t stop twisting his tongue languorously against the inside of her mouth, Colton probably hadn’t noticed it either.
Across the room, the clock on the mantle struck the hour of nine and pealed the appropriate number of bongs to signify the early-morning hour.
Colton finally pulled away from the sensuous kiss first to look at the open portal to the squall outside and then to briefly stare at the clock.
Ella pressed her mouth back against his, not wanting this newly discovered pleasure to end. It would be so easy to change her life, if only these attractive strangers would agree to help her. And she knew in this moment that she’d do absolutely anything they asked to make it happen.
As the echo of the final bell rang, Ella kissed Colton even harder, knowing that if she had her way, she’d be naked and deflowered before the clock chimed the next hour.
Chapter Four
Matt, transfixed by watching Colton and Ella kiss, finally pulled his head into reality. He ran to the wide-open door—as rain-soaked wind disturbed every component of the room—and wrestled it closed. The door rattled in its frame the moment it clicked closed, threatening to burst open again.
He then picked up the sturdy wide plank of wood next to the frame and placed it in the fixed holders on either side of the door to ensure it didn’t blast off its hinges with the next gust of wind.
He turned back after securing the door to see Ella had plastered her mouth over Colton’s once more. This made him smile. Colton was obviously completely engaged in the kiss. He’d actually never seen his brother so ardent and singularly focused with a woman before.
Ella had wrapped one of her legs around the back of Colton’s thighs, half hanging on to him like a monkey attached to a banana tree. She was also completely enthralled. Or she was an excellent actress. Another trait Colton said his many ex-girlfriends possessed, always pretending to be totally in love with him until he disagreed on how his hard-earned money should be spent. Then they weren’t as concerned with his feelings.
Colton, meanwhile, had one hand sealed to Ella’s curvaceous ass as the other clamped around her back like he feared she might get away before he’d thoroughly tasted her.
Matt hoped that Ella was different than the scheming women in Colton’s past, because he was already half in love with her from the rescue. Her beautiful yet frightened face after being released, so vivid in his mind, made him want to continue protecting her. He wondered what her status was regarding her ability to conceive. Did she have an established bride price? Would they be able to afford it?
“Why don’t we get dried off?” he suggested when Colton finally broke away from her enthusiastic kiss.
Matt headed for the bathroom in search of something to dry off with. He was followed closely by Ella, who in fact passed him, entered the bathroom, and retrieved three thick white towels from a tall, wooden cupboard next to the sink.
Colton, his expression pensive, took a towel and pressed it to various parts of his body to soak up the excess water. Matt also did this without comment.
But once they were as dried as possible, Matt realized they were in the bedroom. The large bed was made up nicely and covered with a quilt. A vase of fresh flowers rested on the dresser in front of a large oval mirror. The scent drifted around the room, making the space feel even more intimate. Matt suddenly wanted to peel Ella’s sodden clothing away and kiss her silly like Colton had just done.
As if she read his mind, Ella stepped to the open bathroom door and tossed her towel on the sink. She turned to him with a seductive smile in place and promptly threw her arms around his neck. Her soft lips pressed to his mouth, and one second later her tongue trailed along his lower lip before dipping inside to taste him.
Stunned at first by the kiss, it didn’t take too long for Matt to get on board. He crushed her to his frame and poured his soul into the already amazing kiss with this exceptionally desirable girl.
Tangling his tongue inside Ella’s luscious mouth, Matt largely ignored the storm pounding against the house around them. What he couldn’t disregard was Colton’s hovering presence nearby. Matt expected Colton to break them apart any minute so he could question the sultry woman in his arms for details about her captivity and who she was.
Matt reluctantly ended the engaging kiss and pulled away from her. “You’re welcome,” he said with a laugh.
Colton didn’t wait two seconds. “
So who are you, Ella?”
She stiffened in his arms and turned her head toward his brother. “What difference does is make?”
His eyebrows furrowed. “Why are you so adamantly opposed to identifying yourself?”
Ella backed out of his arms, standing apart from them both. But Matt’s view contained the huge bed and the delights the three of them could have if only they could all get along.
She shivered and put her hands up to rub her arms. “Listen. I appreciate that you rescued me. And I may have gone a little overboard in thanking you, but I don’t know who you are.”
“We told you who we were.” Above them and outside, several cracks of lightning repeated, and the resulting thunder drowned out anything she might have replied. “You even recognized our respective names. We aren’t roving bandits ready to steal everything and ravish you before we go on to our next crime.”
Aside from the fact that her eyes lit up a bit when Colton said the words “ravish you,” her expression remained even and expectant. Matt realized his role had possibly become mediator between the two of them. “She doesn’t have to reveal anything, Colton. Leave her alone.” He then turned to her. “We aren’t here to do anything improper to you. We were on our way to look at a piece of land when the storm caught us. We knew this place was the closest shelter in the area.”
She stared at him carefully as he spoke and then looked over at Colton as Matt continued, “If you prefer that the two of us go out to the barn, we will. If you want to sip coffee and huddle together in the living room until the storm is over, we can do that as well.”
Ella blinked once, remaining quiet for a few seconds. Matt truly hoped they weren’t about to get kicked out to the barn with the horses. “Don’t go to the barn in this weather. You can stay inside here with me. I’m sorry for seeming ungrateful after you rescued me. I was so panicked, I lost my head for a few minutes.”
Matt assumed she referred to the kissing.
Shotgun Bride [Tasty Treats 12] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Polyromance) Page 4