by Reece Butler
She lifted her knees as the orgasm hit. It made him go even deeper, prolonging her ride. Suddenly he bellowed and erupted. A few more wonderful strokes and his rhythm broke. He shuddered. He held himself above her for a moment, quivering.
She relaxed on her back and stretched, all tension gone. His chest heaved and drops of sweat ringed his forehead.
“You look very proud of yourself,” she said. She smiled lazily up at him. “And you should be. That was pretty good for your first time.”
“Thank you.” He fought for breath. “And you look like a cat after she’s had a dish of cream.” Holding himself up with one arm, he placed a hand on her breast. “Next time I want to pay some attention to these ladies.” He bent over and took her nipple in his mouth. He watched her, eyes smiling, as he tongued the tip.
“Next time?” She swallowed.
He let her nipple pop out of her mouth. It sat up, wet and hard.
“I’m not going without now that I know how good this is.”
“Smart man. When do you think you’ll be ready again?”
“Now.” He backed up. His cock slipped out of her. It was still hard. “I want you to ride my cock like a horse. That way you can do the work while I play with those lovely breasts.”
He stood up. She watched him flex and bend as he undid his boots and took them off. His pants followed, tossed to the side. His kept his eyes, so warm and inviting, on her the whole time. A sheen of moisture covered the parts of him without hair. Gorgeous, in a manly way. She’d seen Gillis MacDougal in only a kilt and boots. He had red fur compared to Gabe’s soft, dark fuzz.
“Luke and I had the same tutors, but I always learned faster. Let’s see how much you can teach me before morning.”
She stood up to give him room. He lay on his back and beckoned. His eyes caressed her from head to foot. His mouth curved up in a satisfied smile, then he frowned.
“What’s that mark on your hip? It looks like a burn.”
She backed away, covering the mark with her hand.
“Sarah? Don’t run away. Someone hurt you, didn’t they?”
Her throat was so tight she couldn’t speak. She jerked her head in a nod.
“Show me, so I can kiss it better.”
She shook her head. “It’s already healed,” she croaked.
“The skin may be, but it’s still raw inside you if you’re that afraid of me seeing it.” He beckoned to her. “Please.”
This was Gabe. He would make it better. Though her heart pounded with dread, she shuffled forward. He got to his knees and held out his arms. She walked into them. He laid his head on her breasts and hugged her.
“Tell me,” he whispered.
She concentrated on sifting her fingers through his shaggy dark brown hair. Softer than she expected, thick and full.
“It’s a brand. A burn.” She pressed her lips together for a moment. Did she tell him the whole truth, or something more easy to accept? “Mr. Isaac likes to mark the women he’s been with.”
Gabe’s grip tightened for a moment. He sat with his feet crossed and pulled her into his lap. She faced right, with her left hip out and facing the lamp. His heart pounded against her. His hoarse breathing filled her ears.
“Did he do…anything more?”
“He didn’t rape me, if that’s what you’re asking. But he beat me.” She leaned her head against his broad chest. “No one had ever hit me before,” she said quietly.
“I’ll kill him.”
She shook her head. “You can’t.”
He pulled back to look at her. His eyes, bright with what must be unshed tears, burned into hers.
“Someone already killed the bastard?”
She shook her head. “No. I’m going to kill him myself.”
He startled, and then laughed. He pulled her tight against him. “Good for you!” He suddenly flipped her over, bottom up. She squawked, but he easily held her. “Hush. I’m going to kiss it better.” He traced the capital ‘I’ with his little finger. “Imagine that I’m taking it all away. All the burning, the pain, and the fear. You’re free of him Sarah. We’re here now. Me, and Luke, and Oz. He’ll never, ever, harm you again.”
She tried to believe him, but it was hard. She remembered the terror of wearing that eyeless mask, unable to face her attacker. He’d stalk her, moving around the room and making sudden noises to make her jump after telling her not to move a muscle, just so he could punish her for disobeying him.
Thanks to Rosa and Lily she realized later that it wasn’t her fault. No matter what she did, or didn’t do, he would do whatever he chose. She had no power, no voice, no name, and no soul. She was nothing but a body to be used. The brand he burned into her had sealed that night of terror, humiliation, shame, and pain into her forever.
“I can’t ever get rid of it.”
He continued tracing the letters, again and again.
“This?” He tapped her right on the spot. “This is just a burn mark, Sarah. Something that you got when you bathed by the kitchen fire. You bent over and your hip touched the edge of stove, leaving a mark. It hurt, but it healed and you learned to be more careful.”
She shook her head. “Every time I see it, it reminds me of that horrible night.”
Gabe touched her chin and turned her face until they were eye to eye, only a few inches apart.
“No, Sarah. All that mark needs to remind you about is not getting too close to a hot stove. End of story.”
He maneuvered her around so he could kiss the spot again. She was fourteen inches shorter and half his weight so he lifted her effortlessly. He was big and strong enough to do whatever he wanted with her, but he was nothing like Isaac. Gabe cared about her as a person. To Isaac she was little more than a piece of meat.
“Now I’m going to give you some better memories. Because if I have anything to say about it, you’re going to be naked a lot.” He lay back on the bed, steadying her with his hands on her hips. “Climb on for the ride of your life, cowgirl. I want to see those gorgeous breasts bouncing as you ride my cock. I want tasty nipples in my mouth when you lean over.”
Just like that, her heart lightened. The mark wasn’t gone, but the shame was far less. She’d not been destroyed by Isaac that night. She’d been shown how much she valued her life, how much she wanted to share her body with those she cared about, and how much pleasure they could give each other.
She lifted her foot high and stepped over his chest, making sure he got an eyeful. He choked, but his cock, stiff and thick, didn’t waver.
“I think I’m a bull rider instead of a cowgirl,” she said. “That cock of yours is big enough for a bull.”
His eyebrows furrowed. “Is it too big for you?”
She laughed. “The only thing that might be too big about you, Gabe Downey, is your heart. This fella is the perfect size.”
His face cleared, and he grinned up at her. She knelt over him and dangled her breasts. He grasped them and guided her as she slowly settled onto his cock. She took her time, rising and falling, tantalizing them both.
“You know where my clit is?”
“Not yet,” he said, “but if it feels good for you, I want to learn all I can.”
“Very good answer.” She took his thumb and placed it on the right spot. “This part of me is very sensitive, like the head of your cock. Let’s see if you can make it sit up and beg. And if you’re a good student, I’ll let your tongue find it as well.”
He rotated his thumb, jolting her to the core.
“Did that moan mean I’m doing this right?”
“You’d better do that again,” she said, gasping, “just to make sure.”
Chapter Eighteen
“Damn, if that’s Luke, I’m heading for home.”
Gabe peered at the horse coming down the mountain toward him. He relaxed when the man pulled off his hat and red hair spilled out.
“Looks like our chat ended just in time, Blue,” he said to his horse. It flicked an ear as Oz�
�s horse trotted closer.
“You ready to talk to a human, or are you still telling secrets to Blue?” Oz slapped his hat on again and grinned up at Gabe.
“I was just telling him that a gelding doesn’t have the base of knowledge needed to understand or appreciate our situation,” said Gabe.
Oz pulled his horse to walk beside. He kept his distance as their horses had an ongoing disagreement and tended to nip. If they couldn’t reach the other, they went for the rider.
“Enough of your high-falutin’ words. How’s Sarah this fine morning?”
“I helped her bring her things to Sophie’s,” said Gabe. “We had a quick breakfast and I headed out, just after dawn.”
Oz sized him up. “You get more than an hour or two of sleep?”
“Nope.” A flush of heat rolled over Gabe. It started at his cock and went up and down, from the tips of his hair to his toenails.
“But you did manage to sleep with her?”
Gabe swallowed hard and nodded. “It’s the first time I shared a bed in about eight years.”
“You never did tell me why you always sleep alone.” Oz frowned. “Why do you sleep on the floor instead of on a mattress beside me and Luke?”
“It’s just the way things are. But last night with Sarah was different.” Gabe smiled, remembering how her warm breasts pillowed on his chest. “I fell asleep holding her. When I woke, she was all twined around me. But I didn’t panic.”
Perhaps it was her womanly scent that kept him calm. Instead of fighting to escape the hands holding him down, like he had since prison, he began kissing her. She woke with a moan, and he forgot all about the prison.
“You feel like you could wrassle a pair of grizzlies with your bare hands and win?”
“Yep,” replied Gabe, staring straight ahead.
“Good.” Oz nodded sharply to himself. “Sarah’s a fine woman. One I’d like to keep around for a while.”
“That she is.”
They rode on for a bit. Oz cleared his throat. “So, how was it?”
“As I figured, sex with a good woman is a thousand times better than going it alone.”
Oz barked a laugh. “Amen to that.”
“But that was only part of it. A good part, mind you. Damn good, in fact.” A grin crept over Gabe’s face without him doing anything to help it along.
“You want to give Sarah pleasure more than getting it yourself.”
Gabe pulled his head back and stared at Oz. “Since when did you get so smart?”
“You got it bad for her.” Oz sighed, a small smile curving up one corner. “And so do I. Problem is, we can’t tell her. Not without messing up Luke’s plans.” Oz looked away. “You saved my life when you forced me not to give up just because I was damned near blind in one eye. Luke’s gold bought this ranch. Without you two, I’d be a one-eyed nothing. I vowed I wouldn’t do anything that would hurt you or Luke. But Sarah,” he sighed. “She just…”
Gabe didn’t prompt Oz to finish his sentence. He agreed. There was something about the woman that went beyond anything he’d known in his life.
They checked for calves, cows which hadn’t yet dropped, and critter and varmint tracks as they continued riding. Gabe searched for the right words to explain what he felt about Sarah to Oz. For once, his wide vocabulary didn’t help. He finally spit out the bald truth.
“I think I love her. The kind that doesn’t go away. Ever.”
He looked up at the mountains, still covered with snow. They’d still be there long after he turned to dust. When his bones were gone, would a part of him still live in the valley through his great-grandchildren? He suddenly understood Luke’s need for sons, and daughters, to follow after. Luke wanted the name to continue, but Gabe just wanted to know that a child, from both he and Sarah, would live and love, into the far future. Having that dream would lighten the burden of all today’s hard work.
“I can’t see living without her, Oz. All this”—he gestured at the acres of land they owned—“is worth nothing unless Sarah can share it with me. With us. With our children.”
Oz said nothing for a while. Finally, he sighed.
“I see her fighting for something she wants so much, something she’s denied just because she’s a woman, and I hurt for her. She doesn’t ask for help, will refuse it if I offer, but I know that deep inside, she needs me. Maybe not much, but it’s there.”
He checked that his reata was still snugly tied to the saddle. Gabe knew Oz was stalling, and understood.
“No one has ever needed me,” said Oz quietly. He snorted a sarcastic laugh. “Few people have even wanted me, other than you two clowns. But Sarah’s eyes light up when she sees me, and…” He hardened his jaw and turned away.
“Yeah. When she smiles, no matter how bad things are, I feel better,” said Gabe. “It’s like her smile heals me. Lingering hurts that I’ve accepted for a long time are suddenly gone.”
Oz spat on the fresh June grass. “If anyone found out about us talking like this—”
“They’d either understand, or it wouldn’t matter,” replied Gabe. “I bet most of the married ranchers know what we’re talking about. Only, they have it forever, with their wives.”
They rode on, each tied up in their own thoughts. They were almost home before Gabe finally broke the silence.
“What can we do to have it last forever, for us?”
“Why are you asking me? You’re the one who knows Luke best. He’s the one that has to smarten up and treat Sarah like the real woman she is, not the simpering ones he grew up with.”
“That’s just it,” replied Gabe. “You know women. Luke has a chance to figure out what he wants out of marriage, and Sarah, while she lives with us. But what can we do to make her want to stay with us in spite of him behaving like a spoiled kid who wants everything and still demands more?”
Oz suddenly laughed, startling both horses.
“If you haven’t figured that out after last night, you’re not the man I thought you were.”
“What, just give her more sex?”
“There’s no ‘just’ to it.” Oz chuckled for a few minutes. “Rub her feet and her back. Make her a cup of tea. Bring posies for the table. Make her feel welcome, so she knows the Circle C is her home now.” He stood up in the saddle. The bulge in his pants suggested why he needed to relieve the pressure. “Not just sex, Gabe. Orgasms. If we can make her scream a few times each night, and pamper her during the day, she won’t want to leave.” He suddenly grinned. “Damn, we could have fun during the day as well. Out in the sun where we can see every inch of her. Oh, yeah. The Circle C is nice and quiet. We’ll have days, and nights, to show Sarah why she should stay with us.”
Gabe had managed to share Sarah’s bed for one night. But how could he sleep in the same bed with her and another man, even one he knew and trusted with his life? Would he accidently kill Oz in his sleep if a hand touched him, or would Sarah’s presence soothe the terrified beast in him?
“We?”
Oz turned his head to make sure he saw Gabe with his good eye. “I intend to sleep with the lady every night I can. I’ve never shared a woman before, and I know for damn sure you haven’t. But she’s our lady, and we’ll do everything we can to make her happy.” He grimaced. “If that means seeing your hairy ass pumping up and down as you give her pleasure, then I’ll just have to put up with it.”
Gabe picked up the hint of friendship from the wounded sarcasm.
“And if I have to see those big ears and red hair of yours snuggled between her thighs, licking her clit as I suck her nipples, well, I guess it’s a sacrifice I can make.”
Oz opened his eyes and mouth wide. “My God! You found her clit on the first night?”
Gabe swatted at Oz for the comment. He ducked and they both laughed. The tension finally eased, allowing Gabe to smile as he thought of what he’d done.
“Yeah, but I made sure I kept losing it,” he said with a chuckle. “I’d touch it with the tip o
f my tongue and make her cry out. Then I’d slide away, around, and back again.” He smiled slowly, remembering her frustration in thinking he was so slow in learning about something so important. “I made her show me for an hour before I got the hang of it. She was pretty steamed by then, so she didn’t realize I was doing it on purpose. When she came, she bit down on my shirt so hard I thought I’d find a hole in it. Now that she’s home, she can let loose and scream all she likes.”
He and Oz grinned at each other in understanding.
“We’d better give her a couple days to settle in before hitting her with both barrels.” Oz squirmed in his saddle. “That woman has a fine ass. She needs to gain a bit of weight before she’s well rounded again, but I can’t wait until she’s ready to take me there.”
“Her ass?” Gabe’s heart pounded at the thought. Having just discovered the joys of her pussy, he hadn’t thought far beyond. He lifted himself in the saddle, just like Oz, to find more room for his cock. “She’d be so tight…would she want a cock there?”
Oz shook his head, smiling slowly. “She sure liked it when I put my finger in. If we take our time stretching her, I think she’ll be demanding it soon enough. Try bending her over and taking her pussy from behind. Use some lard and work your fingers in her asshole, one at a time, while your other hand plays with her clit. She’ll purr as you slide your cock slowly in and out. If you do that, I bet she’ll scream the house down when she comes.”
The image of Sarah’s ass high in the air slammed into Gabe. He could watch his cock fill her wet, red pussy. She could tilt her ass to suit herself, while he was free to do things with his hands other than hold himself up, like touch her.
“If she’s agreeable, give her a few weeks and we’ll be sharing her at the same time,” said Oz.
“You mean, she could take both of us in her, at once?”
Oz laughed so hard his horse danced sideways. “I see there’s some blank spots in that expensive education of yours. Yes, Gabe,” he said as if lecturing, “in time Sarah’ll be able to take both of us at once. And when she hits her fourth or fifth orgasm, her scream will echo off the mountains and make the cattle stampede.”