by Lynn Stark
Collin caught her up, pulling her close to his body as she trembled there. Mick reached out to stroke her silky black hair, all the while glaring at the two ignorant assholes who wouldn’t take no for an answer.
“You two need to find something else to do. Gracie is ours. End of story. Move on.”
“You have a woman already. What do you need two for?”
“We love them. That’s what we need them for.” Collin put Gracie into Mick’s arms as he charged the two men, not stopping until he was nose to nose. He had a good six inches on both of them, but they likely outweighed him by forty pounds each. They had the bulk. “Stay the fuck away from her and our ranch. Next time something of ours comes up mysteriously damaged, we’ll come looking for you.”
“Fuck you, asshole! We told Evans we had nothing to do with your tires getting slashed.”
“Boys! Language!” A strident voice reached the angry men.
They each winced. “Sorry, Miss Bradley,” they said in unison.
Vinnie, the pizzeria’s owner, started grabbing strong arms, angry about the ruckus taking place within his establishment. “Take it outside. I don’t want this place getting a bad reputation.”
The deputy escorted them out onto the sidewalk, his expression telling that he was also losing his patience. “I want this wrapped up. You two,” he said to Ed and DJ Marks. “It’s clear that Miss Harper has chosen the Preston brothers. You have to accept that and move on. There are plenty of women in and around Silver who’d probably be more than interested in you if you didn’t go growling like wild animals all the time. Get it together. Try to be something women will be interested in. You’ve got a lot to offer a woman, or women. You’ve got a real nice piece of land with a decent cabin on it. You also have good jobs. You’re not lazy and you’re not broke. Start there and work to make yourselves more likeable, more appealing to women. And lay off the caveman tactics. They obviously don’t work for you.”
Mick and Collin stared at the other two men, their bodies tense as they waited for them to make their decision. They could see the men were torn. Their gazes kept straying to where Gracie stood between them. He doubted the men were in love with her. He couldn’t see it. It was more like she was something they had seen and wanted. It also hadn’t mattered that she didn’t want to be wanted by them. She hadn’t mattered at all. She was just an object, a thing. There had been no consideration for her feelings, her wants, or her desires. That’s where this had all gone wrong.
Finally DJ nodded briskly, his mouth tightening. He tapped his brother in the arm with a beefy fist before they turned and headed for their truck. Relief swept over Mick. Though he was more than willing to defend his woman, he hadn’t looked forward to getting into a fight with the two roughnecks.
Though he doubted they would be able to change their rough ways, he silently wished them luck. Mick went inside the pizzeria to speak with Vinnie. The owner liked Gracie enough not to be angry with her, or blame her for what had happened. He promised she could come in on her next scheduled day.
Gracie was a little put out that he had gone in to speak for her, but he soothed her with a kiss. When she gave him a smile he felt all was forgiven and he and Collin guided her toward the vehicles.
“Is there going to be room for me?” Gracie asked with a laugh, eyeing all the supplies and bagged purchases in both the truck and her car. “What did you guys buy?”
“Feed, hinges, sex toys…”
Gracie grinned. “Cherry and I got some, too. Can we try them out when we get home?”
Mick and Collin crowded her, backing her against the side of the truck. She didn’t look scared by the dominating move. If anything, there was a new fire in her green eyes Mick suddenly knew he wanted to see grow and brighten. Okay, so he was going to have to talk to Logan. They’d do anything to make their naughty little princess happy.
“Darling,” Collin drawled thickly, “you’re going to have to beg us to stop now.”
Nodding her dark head, her hair moving in a sassy fashion against her small chin, she told them brightly, “I have a safe word. It’s robot. You don’t have to stop until you hear me say it. Logan said so.”
“Logan, huh?”
“And what else did he tell you?”
“Well, it’s not so much what he said, but he told Cherry the proper way to spank me, and how to put a butt plug in the right way. I’m wearing one right now.” She wiggled her bottom, a happy smile on her face. “I really like it. But I would rather have one of you inside me. Will you do that, too? I liked when you took turns fucking my pussy yesterday,” she chattered on, not seeming to realize she was torturing them with her words. “It was sooo hot. I thought I was going to melt all over the place. I’d like it if you took turns fucking my ass. Can you do that? Would you guys mind? It makes me feel so naughty,” she admitted in a conspiratorial whisper, glancing around. “I like feeling naughty.”
“Baby girl,” Mick growled, pulling her close so she could feel the length of his throbbing cock against her stomach, “by the time we’re done with you, you’re going to be the naughtiest girl in Silver.”
“Promise?” Gracie asked hopefully, her eyes sparkling.
“We’ll do anything for you, darling, anything for you.”
* * * *
“Anything” was delayed by someone running Collin off the road as he drove Gracie’s small car toward home. Since one of the few traffic lights in Silver had stopped the pair riding in the truck, he was probably about a mile ahead of them, but close to ten miles out of town. It was as he was coming out of a curve in the road that a big dual-wheeled truck came across the center, heading directly toward him. He swore viciously, his heart slamming into his ribs, his gaze automatically drawn to the driver. He couldn’t see much. Just a shadowy shape behind the wheel, wearing a black western hat pulled low. He couldn’t see enough of the driver’s face to know whether he recognized the driver or the truck in that split second.
Knowing there was no way he could win the game of chicken, as one hit by the huge truck would take the compact car out, he veered sharply. Collin missed a head-on collision, but the truck’s left front clipped the rear of the car hard enough to send it spinning. Even as he tried to gain control he knew it was a no-win situation for him. The car rolled.
The world spun out of control with him in the middle of it. Metal and glass screamed and shattered. Air bags exploded around him. The seat belt bit into his body even as that body was jerked violently in one direction after another. The air left his lungs after one particularly hard hit when the car’s fifth roll was abruptly ended by a large pine. Unfortunately the hit was taken by a roof which was already smashed in.
Taking a deep breath, wishing he hadn’t, Collin cautiously began to move around. Despite the violence of crashing down the slope and into a tree, nothing felt broken, though he was certain there would be plenty of both bruises and sore muscles.
Groaning, he looked up through the window space above the crumpled door. All he could see was the pink and blue of the evening sky through the branches of the ponderosa which might have saved his life. The slope was long enough that the car could have rolled many more times before coming to a rest at the edge of the river below.
“Collin!” Mick’s voice held panic.
Then he heard Gracie. “Do you see him?”
“Stay here,” he heard his brother tell their beautiful bride to be. “I’ll see how bad it is.”
Lifting an arm, Collin raised it through the open window space and gave the thumbs up. “Oh, he’s okay! Hurry! Oh, dammit, help me down! My legs aren’t long enough to get down off this rock without breaking something.”
Searching beside his hip, he found the release for the seat belt. He braced himself so he wouldn’t fall into the passenger side below. He managed to get the steering wheel to shift up into a position which would allow him greater movement. Then he was wriggling around until he could shove his shoulders through the window.
C
ollin was twisting around, his feet on the center console, when a small body threw itself against his. Winding an arm around Gracie, he held her as she sobbed uncontrollably, kissing the top of her head as he looked across into the relieved features of his brother’s face.
“Hush, baby girl. I’m okay. I’ll probably have some pretty bruises for you to kiss tomorrow, but it doesn’t feel like I broke anything.”
Gracie pulled back, sniffling. Her green eyes were glistening with unshed tears. “You’re going to the hospital. We have to be sure you’re not bleeding inside.”
Giving her one last squeeze he accepted Mick’s help to get his legs out of the wreck then to the ground. His body was already stiffening up. He bit back a groan. The look of fear on Gracie’s pretty face was enough to keep him from doing too much complaining just yet. It was obvious she was still in the grip of the terror after fearing the worst.
“Did you see the truck?”
“Yes. But I’ve never seen it before. It passed us a ways back. We didn’t see the accident. When we got up here the wind was carrying the dirt up the slope. What happened?”
“Did you call the sheriff?”
Mick nodded, his face showing just how upset he was. It was all there, but Collin knew he wouldn’t let his emotions go in front of Gracie. Neither of them wanted to upset her more than she already was.
“He’s not far off. The ambulance and fire department are coming, too. What about the truck?”
“The driver ran me off the road. First it just looked like a jerk trying to play chicken. I tried to dodge it but lost. It clipped the back of the car.” Collin looked Gracie’s car over. Steam was coming from under the hood, but no gas seemed to be leaking.
Small hands tugged gently on him. “Come sit over here,” Gracie instructed. There was a large boulder about twenty-five feet away. As shaky as his legs were he didn’t know if he would make it. “Lean on Mick. There, that’s it,” she babbled nervously. “Don’t fall down. You’d crush me if you came this way.”
Chuckling, Collin sat down on the rock, glad to be off his feet. “Come here, sweetie. Let me hold you. It’s going to be all right, though I can’t say the same about your car.”
“Don’t worry about the car. It’s not important.” Her small hands were going over him again, checking for damage. “Are you sure you’re okay?” She started pulling on his shirt, trying to tug it from the waistband of his jeans.
“As much as I’d like to get naked for you right now, I think we’d shock Gray when he shows up.”
Gracie blushed and then giggled as he had hoped she would. Damn, how close he had come to never hearing that lovely sound again. The thought made him sick as he saw that the tears were drying up. Her beautiful green eyes sparkled like jewels as she stared at him.
A sudden thought made him tense. Lifting a hand, he patted his shirt pocket. He relaxed as he felt the slender box. “What’s that?” she asked, her gaze shifting, following his panicked action. “What do you have?”
Collin exchanged a glance with Mick over her head. Mick’s face, which had been grim following the initial fear, lightened with an encouraging smile. He nodded. It would have been nice if their brothers were there, but Jake and Cody would understand.
Dipping his fingers into his pocket, he pulled out the box. When he opened the box a beautiful solitaire diamond was revealed. “Will you marry me, Gracie?” he asked huskily, ruefully noting her shocked expression.
The shock turned to joy a moment later when she threw her arms around his neck and peppered his face with kisses. “Yes! I’ll marry you.” She held out her hand as he took the ring from the box. They were both shaking. Taking a deep breath he slipped it onto her finger. It was a perfect fit. “Oh, it’s so beautiful.” She stared at it silently for a few moments, and then looked at him with worry in her eyes. “What about Cody and Jake?” She bit her lip. “It doesn’t seem quite fair. There’s only one of me.”
“But you love all of us, right? Even ugly old Mick there.” She scowled at him for that, but nodded. “It was going to be the four of us with Cherry. Then we found you. We all agreed Mick would marry Cherry. And we were all good with that. We’re not jealous of one another. If you would rather marry Jake or Cody, I’ll understand. It’s not about who loves or wants you more. Or who deserves you more. We’ll be together for the rest of our lives. We’ll love you and Cherry until we all turn to dust.”
Gracie grimaced. “I suppose that’s romantic, though I think it should have been something like until the stars fall from the sky. Stars are more romantic than dust.”
“I’m a cowboy, baby.” Collin laughed, bending stiffly to kiss her nose then her pouty lips. Lord, they were sweet and soft. He imagined their plumpness wrapped around his cock. “I talk to cows all day.”
“Well, I guess dust is better than comparing our love to a cow patty or until the last coyote sings.” She grinned and hugged him, then admired the ring as it sparkled on her dainty finger.
The sheriff chose that moment to save Collin from himself. He was also damn ready to get off this rock and get home, though he doubted he would see that for hours yet. And he was right. An ambulance followed the fire trucks. They had managed to get everything out of the car before the fire prevention was seen to by the men. Charlie Granger, the fire chief, shook his head over it.
“You’re a lucky bastard, Collin. If that damned tree hadn’t stopped you, you would have gone all the way down to the river.”
By the time Collin was back up to the road, with Mick’s help, his parents, his brothers, Cherry, her sister and her husbands were all there along the road, adding to the general confusion. The sheriff asked his questions, obviously concerned by the event, but still hesitant to call it anything more than an accident at that moment.
Though he didn’t think it was necessary, Collin was put into an ambulance and hauled away, Gracie clinging to his hand as he lay strapped to a gurney.
Chapter Ten
Cherry watched with amusement as Gracie fussed over Collin. The man was tucked into his own bed and had been for almost two days. When he had arrived home from the hospital the tiny woman had taken charge with all the starch of a five-star general, insisting he was to rest as the doctor had instructed. To say Collin was getting a little grumpy was an understatement. He did not, however, let his little love know it. Every time she came in with water, juice, a magazine, or DVD, he smiled and thanked her, accepting her help and her kisses.
Cherry was in the room talking to him when the door opened and Gracie came in carrying a tray with his lunch on it. She had to bite her lip to keep from laughing out loud when Collin saw what the woman was wearing and his jaw hit his chest.
One call to a friend in town by Logan and the outfit Gracie was now wearing had been delivered within an hour. The very saucy nurse’s minidress costume was formfitting. Its hem just managed to cover her sweet behind, showing off her slender thighs and the thigh-high white stockings. She wore a pair of red stilettos on her dainty feet and a crisp white cap pinned to her black hair. A stethoscope hung from her neck and, when she turned from setting the tray down, there was a thermometer in her hand.
Walking across the room she stood, waiting expectantly beside the bed as Collin lay there drooling. Then he realized what she had and scowled at her. “Where do you plan on putting that?”
“I have to check your temperature, Mr. Preston.”
“You’re not sticking that up my…” She didn’t. She tucked it into his mouth then began fussing over his bed, straightening the blankets, leaning over so he could get a good look down the gaping V exposing her small, round breasts. Cherry grinned as she heard his moan.
“Are you in pain, Mr. Preston?” A small hand pressed to his forehead. “You feel hot.” She pulled the thermometer out of his mouth and looked at it. “You seem a little feverish. I think it would be best if you stayed in bed another day. We can’t take any chances that you have a relapse.”
“I’m not going to ge
t in a car wreck in my bedroom, Gracie.”
“That’s Nurse Gracie to you,” she told him tartly, turning and walking back across to where she had placed the tray, her hips twitching enticingly. Cherry heard another moan from Collin as Gracie dropped the napkin on the floor. It was accidently done, of course. When she bent over to retrieve it her panty-covered ass was exposed to him. She had to agree with the men. Those white cotton panties were very sexy. “Are you staring at my ass?”
“No, Nurse Gracie.”
“Oh, you are starting to sound terrible. Do you have a sore throat?” she asked, again with great concern, as she straightened and hurried back to the bed. “Open up.”
Collin opened his mouth obediently. Cherry thought his brain was now fried and running on autopilot as his grayish-blue eyes were fixed on the sexy nurse at his bedside.
“I think you are too hot. We better get these blankets off you.” They were tossed to the end of the bed. She pressed a hand to his forehead. “Yes, you’re quite feverish. We better get your clothes off, too.” Collin hadn’t owned a pair of pajamas since moving out of his parents’ house, but somehow a pair had appeared the moment Gracie had requested them for him. Now she began unbuttoning the shirt, peeling the fabric off his powerful torso. She straddled his lap as she did so. “Lean forward, please.” When he did so his face was pressed between her breasts.
Cherry lost it, laughing almost hysterically as the man groaned with pleasure while Gracie pulled the shirt off and tossed it to the floor. The door opened and the rest of their men walked in, curious to see what was causing her to laugh so hard. They stopped dead as they watched the sexy nurse, whom they hadn’t seen after her transformation into Nurse Gracie, begin to shimmy along Collin’s long legs as she removed the pajama bottoms.