by Jodi Olson
“Where you headed in such a rush darlin’?”
Lauren gazed into Max’s green eyes and wanted to melt. He’d changed a lot during the time she’d been gone. He was so good looking now compared to back when she thought him a little too thin. “I need to get back to work, only stopped in for coffee.”
“I was wondering if you’d like to come out to Luke’s this weekend? We could go riding or...”
“What does Luke think about that idea?” Over Max’s shoulder, she spotted Luke coming their way carrying a couple of grocery bags.
“Max, we need to get back to the ranch. My foreman just called, he found two horses lying in the barn not moving.”
Lauren rushed forward, “Let me come with you Luke. I’ll run across the street and get my bag so I can examine them. You’re looking at the new veterinarian.”
“No way. Max, get Dr. Richards, tell him to get out to my ranch pronto. I need to find out what the hell is going on.”
“Luke,” Lauren’s voice was firm, “soon you won’t have a choice. Dr. Richards is retiring and I’ll be the only vet in town. Just give me a chance.”
When they arrived at Luke’s ranch, the foreman showed them the horses. Lauren examined both horses. “I’m sorry Luke, there’s nothing I can do. They’re gone,” she stood, wiping her hands on her jeans.
“What are they dying from? My horses get the best care, the best feed. Damn it! I have ranchers waiting months for a horse of mine. They know mine are the best.
Lauren walked over to the feed and grabbed a handful. She held out her hand, showing it to Luke and Max, “I’m betting this feed has been contaminated with cattle feed. Don’t you know it’s poisonous to horses?”
Luke stiffened as if she’d struck him. “Of course, I know the difference. I’m not stupid! If it is cattle feed I have no idea how it got mixed in; it was fine this morning. ”
“Lauren, it was,” Max added, “I helped Luke. It was pure horse feed. Someone must have done some switching while we were in town.”
“Well then, who would do this to you, Luke?” Lauren knew he wouldn’t harm his horses, but what if he was hurting for money?
Three
Robert Landers stood outside of the barn, listening to the conversation between his ex-wife and his former friends. She’d never gotten over Luke and always compared him to his former friend; telling him he wasn’t as good as Luke in bed, even calling him lazy.
Lauren had no idea he’d followed her here and had been watching her ever since. When he didn’t hear them talking anymore, he walked in the door. “Well, look at this, my ex-wife and two ex-friends. How cozy,” he sneered.
Luke started toward Robert, but Max grabbed him, holding him back. “What are you doing here Robert?” Luke gritted.
“I could ask Lauren the same question. Wasn’t one fucking session with these two cowboys enough for you, sweetheart?”
Lauren gasped. “How did you know what we were doing? Have you been following us?”
“Yeah, and I watched the whole thing. I thought about joining in but didn’t think these two would go for it,” Robert laughed. “Should’a had a camera, would’ve looked great on You Tube.”
“Get off my ranch, Landers before I call the sheriff.” Luke lurched forward but Max still held him tight.
“Okay, but I’ll be back.” He pointed at Lauren, “We have some unfinished business.”
“I don’t think so Landers.” Luke looked ready to lose the last of his patience.
“Sure we do. You’re not going to win this one, Luke.”
*****
Luke stormed off to who knows where, leaving Max and Lauren standing in the middle of the driveway.
By the look on Lauren’s face, Max could tell she was upset; he wasn’t sure why it bothered him so much seeing her that way. It’s not as if they were involved or anything. “Lauren, I’ll drive you home if you want to leave. I don’t know when Luke’ll be back. When he gets in one of those moods, he could be gone for hours.”
“Yes, please take me home,” she turned around and walked toward his truck.
Max glanced at Lauren several times during the trip to her place. She’d been crying and he didn’t know what to do about it except maybe kick Luke’s ass. A short time later, he pulled into Lauren’s driveway. He wanted to come in with her, but it wasn’t a good idea, since all that was on his mind was getting her back in his bed.
Lauren opened the front door and glanced over her shoulder, “Do you want to come in? I can make coffee if you want,” she walked inside toward the kitchen when Max said yes.
“So, Lauren, did you know Rob was in town? He sure isn’t the guy I remembered back in school.”
Lauren measured coffee into the machine. “No, I had no idea he was here, or even why. He must’ve followed me.”
“You need to be careful, Lauren,” Max pinned her with a glare.
“I think I’ll go change into something more comfortable while we wait for the coffee. I’ll be right back.”
*****
Lauren walked into the bedroom and was startled to see Luke on her bed, wearing only a pair of well-worn jeans. “What are you doing here? And how did you get in here?”
“Aren’t you happy to see me darlin’?”
“After the way you stormed off, not really. So why are you here?”
“I wanted to make sure that asshole wasn’t here, to make sure you’re alright.”
“I’m a big girl, Luke; I have been for a long time now; I can take care of myself.”
“Well… That might be true in the past, but Max and I’ll make sure no one harms our woman ever again. No more talking, come on over here and put those pretty lips to good use.”
Lauren wanted to do more than kiss Luke, but Max was still in the other room and she wanted them both. She was becoming addicted to both men; Lauren craved them like she craved chocolate.
“What about Max? He is here, you know.” Luke tugged on her arm and she tumbled on to his lap; her bottom in direct alignment with his erection. Her last words smothered by his lips. Lauren’s trembling hand traveled down his hard chest, caressing all the way.
Luke sucked in his breath as her fingers came close to the snap of his jeans. “Don’t start something, Lauren, unless you intend to finish it. I’m so hard for you right now I hurt.”
Lauren let her fingers undo the snap of his jeans; the next sound in the room was the noise from his zipper. As Luke lifted up his hips, Lauren pulled down his jeans along with his briefs until they reached his ankles.
She didn’t waste any time taking his cock into her mouth, so deep the tip hit the back of her throat. His growl resonated from his throat and she gazed into his eyes, seeing the need there. Her tongue licked from one end of his shaft to the other, up and down.
His body stiffened at her oral assault, “That feels so damn good, Lauren.”
One hand slipped between his legs, her fingers massaging his balls. She loved the way he smelled, manly and outdoorsy. Slowly, her other hand stroked his shaft while she caressed the head of his cock with her tongue.
“God Lauren you’re gonna drive me crazy.”
Lauren took him completely into her mouth, knowing it wouldn’t be long before he’d come. She pumped him with long strokes of her mouth and tongue, wanting the taste of him against her tongue.
“Luke, I need the taste of your hot come in my mouth. Don’t hold back.”
Luke’s hips moved with the rhythm of Lauren’s mouth on his dick. He grasped her head as he released his seed in her mouth, “Lauren darlin’, swallow it all.”
*****
What the heck is keeping Lauren? How long does it take to change clothes anyway? Max drank more coffee and waited. Now he was getting worried something may be wrong. Was Rob hiding somewhere in the house? I better go check on her. Max headed down the hall to her bedroom.
With long, purposeful strides, he neared her room; that’s when he heard Luke’s voice behind the half closed door.
What is Luke doing here and how did he get in her house? When he’d stormed off, Luke must have decided to come check out the place in case Rob showed up.
Max stood outside the door, listening to Lauren making noises as she sucked on Luke’s cock. It was getting him hard as a pistol, and he wanted Lauren’s mouth wrapped around his cock too, but tonight he’d give Luke some alone time with Lauren.
Max was about to turn around to leave when his cell phone rang. He looked at the display, Luke’s foreman. He answered, knowing something must be dreadfully wrong for Luke’s foreman to call him. Max listened as the foreman talked, “We’ll be there asap.” He clicked the phone off, “Fuck! Not again.”
Luke jerked the bedroom door open. “What now?” he yanked up the zipper on his jeans.
“That was your foreman, Luke.”
“Why did he call you, not me?” Luke tucked in his shirt.
“He did call you, but your phone must be off.”
“Yea, okay, what did he want? What’s happened now?”
“Sheriff Adams just left your place. He was there about some complaints filed against you.”
“Complaints? Damn it! This isn’t making sense.”
On his way out the door, Max asked Luke something that had been bothering him, “Luke, how did you get in Lauren’s place?”
“I crawled through the open window in her bedroom. Which by the way, she should have her ass spanked for leaving open in the first place. She isn’t safe; I could’ve been Landers waiting for her.
*****
The sheriff’s office questioned Luke for almost two hours before allowing him to leave. Sheriff Adams intimated that Luke was guilty of insurance fraud for killing his own horses, but all he had was circumstantial evidence. The sheriff did tell Luke something that totally blew him away, one of the calls against him came from the new vet. The only new vet I know is Lauren. Why would she do something like that? And when had she called? She should know I’d never hurt any horse. All this shit started happening as soon as she got back in town. I was doing great without her around, now she’s got my world turned upside down.
Driving back to the ranch his thoughts drifted to the night of the auction. Seeing Lauren up there being auctioned off for charity caused so many emotions to rage through him. In less than three minutes, he went from pissed off to hard as a brick.
All those years ago, he would’ve done anything for her; even quit the rodeo if she’d asked him too. She never did. Luke remembered the first time he laid eyes on Lauren in high school. She was a cute little cheerleader who hung around with the rich kids, and he was the boy who daydreamed of riding broncos someday in the rodeo circuit. Who would have thought they’d end up together by the end of senior year? He’d even planned on marrying her one-day.
His mouth curved into an unconscious smile and his breathing became ragged as he thought about the first time they had sex in the hayloft of her parent’s ranch. Lauren was such an innocent back then.
Fuck! He was as stiff as a rod. Shifting positions he adjusted the fly of his jeans with the heel of his hand. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately since Lauren had come back to town—and into my life.
Luke was only a few miles away from his place when he looked in the rearview mirror and saw a vehicle coming up fast behind him. The headlights blinded him in the pitch-black darkness as they came closer. Luke glanced away just as the vehicle struck his back bumper. He swerved, but straightened back just as the vehicle hit him again. Luke’s truck veered off the road and into the ditch.
Four
Max took Lauren back to the ranch while they waited for Luke to return. He knew his friend was innocent of any wrongdoing; someone had to be setting him up.
Maybe he should have went to the sheriff’s office with Luke, but Lauren was so shaken up he didn’t want to leave her alone. While trying to comfort her, they soon were so distracted with their actions, they forgot all about Luke. Clothes scattered the floor on the way to the bedroom.
Max leisurely made love to Lauren’s mouth at first. Her mouth was warm and sweet; she tasted good. She moaned against his lips when Max’s hands dropped to her bare shoulders.
Max took one of her hands in his, wrapped her small fingers around his hard shaft, holding her hand there with light pressure. “Baby, feel what you’ve done to me.”
Lauren’s fingertips stroked up, down, and around his cock and he shuddered, feeling pleasure all along his spine.
“Oh, that feels so good, honey,” he urged, “but if you don’t want this to end soon, you’d better stop. I want to last.”
With one hand on her waist, he gathered her close with his other arm and pressed against her soft hip. He kissed her gently while running his hands from her waist to her breasts and down again.
She whimpered as his kiss deepened.
His hand slid across her belly, stroking her velvety soft skin. With each movement, he trailed lower until his fingers were stroking the springy curls between her legs.
“I need you now, Max,” she whispered.
He eased one finger into her moist folds. “Open your legs for me, darlin’.”
Like a budding flower, her legs unfolded and he slipped his hand further between, finding her slick and responsive to his touch. It was as if they’d been together for years. Deeper he probed, inserting one finger into her channel, then withdrawing and returning with two fingers.
Lauren’s breathing grew heavy as her hips moved against his hand. Max smiled as he bent his head and took her breast in his mouth. As he did, he slipped his fingers through the moist curls, in search of the tender bud hidden beneath.
Lauren gasped as he pressed against her clit, circling lightly, her hips lifting off the bed. “Max!”
“You’re so beautiful Lauren.” Max whispered against her breast.
He feared losing control; her hip touching his was potent, and he found himself moving against her in response. He shifted his weight until he was lying between her spread legs, the head of his shaft at her entrance. Max entered her slowly, retreating and advancing a little at a time. Over and over again, he repeated the motion. Suddenly she arched her back, gripping the sheets with hands, her legs wrapping around his waist. They moved in unison; their moans filling the air.
Lauren’s body began to convulse around him, her tight sheath gripping him, milking him again and again as she shook and shuddered. Waves of ecstasy rolled down his spine when he released his seed inside her still quivering chasm.
With shaky arms, Max slowly moved off her and collapsed onto the pillow next to Lauren. Pulling her close to his side, his thoughts drifted to who would want to frame Luke? Did Rob have something to do with it? He hoped not, because Luke wouldn’t stop at just hitting him to the next county.
Lost in thought, Max didn’t realize Lauren had fallen asleep. He leaned over, kissed her shoulder and rose from the bed. As he picked up each article of clothing he smiled to himself, thinking how much of a hurry they seemed to be in.
Quietly, he placed Lauren’s clothes on the chair near the bedroom door, and put on his jeans. Out in the kitchen, he was surprised to find Luke sitting in one of the chairs, his arms folded and a scowl on his face. “Well, what happened, Luke? I was about to come look for you as soon as I got dressed.”
“Yeah, sure,” the line of Luke’s mouth tightened a fraction more. “No, you just thought you’d move in on my woman, didn’t you?”
“Luke, you look like hell so I’m going to forget you said that. Besides you’re the one who said she belonged to both of us now.”
“After what she did to me, I don’t care any longer.” Luke’s eyes darkened with emotion. “You can have her.”
“What do you mean by that? She didn’t do a damn thing to you, Luke.” Max wanted to give him a swift kick in the ass, but something wasn’t right with his friend. “Now tell me what happened at the sheriff’s office? What did he say to you?”
“Well after being questioned for two damn hours, he finall
y told me the new vet called in to report I was killing my horses. Oh, and to top it all off, I wrecked my truck on the way home. Can you fuckin’ believe that?”
“And you think it was Lauren?” Max gripped the back of the chair so hard his knuckles turned white.
“Do you know any other new vet around here?”
“No, I don’t, but I do know Lauren, and she wouldn’t do that to you.”
“Max, she left town ten years ago with no explanation. What do we know about her? She could be capable of anything and —”
“Shut the fuck up before you say something you’ll regret later. Did you forget she’s in the other room?”
“I don’t give a damn if she heard me or not.” Luke slammed the screen door as he stormed out of the house.
When Max turned around, Lauren stood in the kitchen doorway. He wondered how long she’d been standing there and what exactly she’d overheard.
*****
Rob left his truck down the road and walked the short distance to Luke’s ranch. His plan wasn’t working as well as he hoped since Luke wasn’t sitting in jail by now. Not only had Luke taken something, Lauren, which belonged to Rob, he now had to get his truck fixed. It’s all Luke’s fault.
By the time, he reached the drive leading into the ranch, he groaned, dropping the sack of cattle feed to the ground. Dammit, this shit is heavy.
While wiping the sweat off his brow, he spotted Lauren heading to the barn. What the hell is she doing, checking on the horses? And where is Luke? Hopefully he’s still stuck out in that ditch. If he knew for certain she was alone, he’d show her what a real man could do for her.
Rob picked up the sack of feed and headed back to his truck down the road. Tonight wasn’t the night for another horse to die. He’d come back when he knew they were gone.
*****
Luke shifted his position on a bale of hay. The only way to get whoever was trying to ruin Luke’s reputation was to stay in the barn. If the sheriff wasn’t going to do anything except spout accusations then he’d take care of it all on his own. I’ll spend all night in the stables until I catch the guy in the act.