The Divine Creek Ranch Collection Volume 3

by Heather Rainier

  Her head rested limply against Chance’s shoulder, and she smiled and sighed blissfully.

  “It sounds like Lydi likes it, too, Chance,” Clayton murmured. The deep tone of Clayton’s voice drew her attention, and Lydia gazed at him through half-open eyes as he stared intensely at her. The look sent a tremor of excitement through her body and a rush of heat between her legs.

  The tension grew inside her and her heart hammered as Chance’s hands slid from around her torso to her breasts. When he squeezed them gently, she arched her back, pressing them more fully into his hands. Clayton drew closer and stroked the denim covering her inner thighs. His touch was light, and a shudder worked its way through her body.

  “Sorry, you’re ticklish,” Clayton apologized and laid his whole hand against her inner thigh.

  “No, cowboy. I liked it. It’s just my feet that I don’t like tickled.”

  Clayton gave her a devilish grin and said, “I’ll remember that,” as he leaned forward and kissed her.

  Rapid boot steps were heard pounding up the flagstone steps outside, then on the screened-in porch. Someone knocked loudly on the back door, and both men groaned in frustration. She sat up, feeling pretty aggravated as well, and Chance hurried to the door.

  Clayton left the family room and joined the conversation as Chance spoke, and she recognized Gil James voice. She walked up as Chance turned as if to go speak with her.

  “Baby, there’s a grass fire burning along the highway, out in front of our place. A friend of Gil’s drove by and called him to let us know. He’s called the Divine and Morehead Volunteer Fire departments, but we need to get up there and keep it from getting out of control. Will you stay here at the house?”

  “Sure. Can I do anything?”

  “No, Lydi,” Clayton replied. “Just stay here where we know you’re safe. Lock up behind us, just in case we’re out there all night. As dry as it’s been, the last thing we need is for that fire to get out of control. Keep your phone with you.”

  “All right. Please, be careful.”

  “We will,” Chance said as he pressed a kiss to her temple. “Hold that thought from earlier, okay?”

  “I will,” she said as Clayton kissed her quickly on the lips.

  Lydia walked to the front door and stepped outside on the deep front porch as two farm trucks roared past the house loaded down with ranch hands. The sun had long since set, and it was too dim for her to see what tools they carried with them. How would they fight the fire?

  The strong odor of smoke hung in the air as she looked up to the ridge where the entry was located. The trucks raced toward it, and she thought that she detected the hint of a glowing light from over the ridge. Sirens could be heard in the distance, and she sighed with relief that they would have help.

  She was startled by the sound of boot steps on the dark front porch. A dark voice that set her nerves on edge a little said, “Hey, pretty lady. Where are your men?”

  “Up at the entrance—” She cut herself off, realizing that was not a smart thing to say. “They’re fighting the fire. Why are you still back here, Kade?”

  His boot steps didn’t seem all that hurried as he continued his approach. She wondered if he’d be missed up at the source of the fire and hoped she wasn’t completely alone with him on the ranch. A chill went up her spine as she remembered the way he’d looked at her and greeted her when she’d brought the ranch hands a snack the first time. The front door was now between her and Kade Parker, and she didn’t want to move any closer to him to reach it.

  “You enjoying living here on the ranch?” he asked as though there was nowhere else he needed to be.

  “It’s fine so far,” she replied, crossing her arms over her chest, hoping he couldn’t see as she darted her eyes around looking for something to use as a weapon.

  “A woman can get lonely, working on a ranch this far from town.”

  Firming her voice, she replied, “I do just fine, Mister Parker.”

  He closed the distance between them and murmured, “Well, if you ever decide to take on a third—”

  Gil James suddenly barked from the direction Kade Parker had come. “Parker! What the fuck are you doing here at the house? You’re needed up at the entry! Get your ass on the truck!” Gil’s tone was aggravated as he snapped the order. Kade gave her a smile and turned on his heel and sauntered to the truck.

  Gil called out to her and she could hear the concern in his voice. “You okay, Miss Lydia?”

  Lydia waved as she hurried to the front door, “Yes, Gil! Thank you. Be careful!”

  “Yes, ma’am!” he called before the truck raced off down the drive.

  Had Kade Parker been about to proposition her? What if Gil James hadn’t come along in one of the ranch trucks when he had? Would Kade have taken advantage of the Carlisle brothers’ absence? The thought sent a wave of gooseflesh over her skin. There was no question in her mind that she needed to mention the episode to Chance and Clayton.

  She took one more look up at the ridge before closing the front door. After locking up the house like they’d asked her to, she went upstairs and dressed for bed. The fire made her a little nervous. The house was a distance away, but a grass fire could get out of hand quickly, and she also worried for Chance and Clayton.

  She went into Chance’s bedroom which looked out over the front of the house and could now plainly see the glow near the ranch entry when she slid back the curtains. She pulled the upholstered rocker from his bedside and sat before the window, rocking. Her phone sat on his nightstand, in case either of them called her.

  Lydia covered up with the soft, hand-knit throw blanket from the back of the chair as she pondered what might have happened if the three of them hadn’t been interrupted earlier. Her resolve to take their relationship slow was weakening with each passing day as they both charmed their way past her defenses.

  She’d taken a risk, coming to Divine with Chance, and felt certain her choice had been the right one. With the exception of her less-than-helpful house help, she felt very happy and at home on the Rockin’ C Ranch. She watched out the window, praying that the blaze would be kept under control and Chance and Clayton were safe.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Smelling like smoke from the grass fire, Chance walked in the back door with his twin at three o’clock on Friday morning feeling grubby. He wanted a shower but thought twice about traipsing through the house, knowing Lydia was trying hard to get it thoroughly clean, despite having little help.

  “Let’s strip down in the utility room,” Chance said with a yawn. “We can throw the clothes straight in the washer.” Clayton nodded mutely, and they set the washer to filling and dropped their clothing in one article at a time. Chance grabbed their boots and put them on the back porch so they wouldn’t stink up the house with their smoky, sooty smell.

  With the exception of one dim lamp downstairs, the house was dark as Chance followed Clayton up the stairs in his boxer shorts. He was beat and wanted a shower and his bed. He’d be lucky if he got a couple of hours sleep before it would be time to get up and face the day again.

  They took hot showers and scrubbed away the smoke and soot that clung to their skin. The hair on Chance’s right forearm had gotten singed off in a flare-up, but in all they’d been very lucky.

  The grass fire had burned up a lot of the mesquite and dry brush that bordered their property. He was thankful that the fields up front had been baled the week before and the bales stored elsewhere.

  Working together with the volunteer firefighters, they’d managed to keep the fire contained to an area roughly fifteen acres in size. A vehicle must have come though dragging something that threw sparks because small grass fires had sprung up all along that stretch of the state highway, and they’d kept busy helping put out the other fires, besides the one in front of their place.

  On his mind also was the news that Gil James had discovered Kade Parker on the front porch talking with Lydia. Chance knew Lydia wouldn’t wil
lingly spend any time alone with Parker, and Gil had mentioned that she’d sounded a bit tense when he’d asked if she was all right. Gil had told Chance that he’d given Parker instructions to get on the second truck to head out to the fire while Gil secured the barns for the night.

  When Chance and Clayton later questioned him, Kade had been very apologetic, claiming that he’d misunderstood and had merely been “checking on things,” as he put it. They’d warned him to listen to instructions better, and he’d promised that it had been a misunderstanding.

  “Did you check on Lydi before you came in the shower?” Clayton asked as he scrubbed his head.

  “No, she must be sound asleep. I’ll check her before I go to bed. Damn shame we got interrupted,” Chance murmured as he rinsed the soap from his skin. He lathered up again just to make sure the smoky odor was gone.

  Clayton chuckled as he rinsed his head under the pelting spray of the showerhead. “She seemed real disappointed, too.”

  Chance yawned and said, “Good sign.”

  “Good night,” Clayton said as he climbed from the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist.

  “See you in a couple,” Chance replied as he rinsed the soap from his body again. He turned off the shower and grabbed his towel as he stepped on the bathmat and dried off.

  Clayton reappeared in the doorway. “Her bedroom door was open. She’s not in her room. She’s not in my room either.”

  Chance frowned as he tucked the towel around his hips, wondering where she could be. He went into his room to fetch his robe so he could help his brother look for her then sighed in relief. Earlier, he’d stumbled through his dark bedroom to get to the bathroom and hadn’t noticed the rocker that had been repositioned before the window. She was curled up fast asleep in the comfortable, padded rocker. Her head was resting on the arm of the chair, and she was bundled up in the red throw blanket his mom had knitted for him several Christmases ago.

  “She’s going to wake up with a stiff neck if we leave her like that,” Chance whispered as he stood gazing down at her angelic, sleeping face. “Pull back the covers, will you?”

  “On your bed? You don’t want to put her in her bed?” Clayton asked, sounding uncertain.

  “If you were me, would you take her to her own bed?”

  “Good point.” Clayton pulled back the covers on the king-size bed, and Chance gently lifted her from the rocker. Beneath the throw blanket, her limbs were silky and warm and his cock tingled and stiffened in response. He carried her the regrettably short distance to the bed and laid her on it. He removed the throw blanket and was about to cover her when he noticed her nightie.

  His eyes had adjusted to the dark a little, so he was able to see that she hadn’t worn her robe. She must have intended to go back to her own bed before they returned home because she was clad only in a skimpy little nightgown that barely reached her upper thighs.

  Clayton’s voice was low and intense. “Damn, she’s beautiful.”

  Chance’s cock came fully erect as he recalled seeing her fully naked in her motel room just a few days before. Now here she was, curvy and luscious, sleeping in his bed. Chance recalled her saying that she was a restless sleeper, but she lay perfectly still.

  * * * *

  Lydia stretched slowly and rolled over. The stretch rippled through the muscles in her torso and thighs. She curled around the pillow next to her on the bed. She breathed deep, caught the scent in the pillow, and her eyes flashed open.

  Where am I?

  She was in Chance’s bedroom. Thinking about it for a second as her brain began to function properly, she remembered sitting in Chance’s room, watching the glow of the grass fire on the ridge. Heat came into her cheeks as she recalled that she’d donned her white lace baby-doll nightie for bed the night before. She hadn’t intended to fall asleep in his room so hadn’t bothered with a robe.

  Chance must’ve found her and carried her to his bed. Smiling, she buried her nose in his pillow and inhaled deeply. Lying there, breathing in his scent, she was instantly hot and wet between her legs. Chance seemed very talented at getting her into that state with amazing speed. Her internal clock was telling her to get up, and she wondered what time it was. She rolled over to reach for her phone on the other nightstand. Yawning, she laid her head on the other pillow as she squinted at the screen.

  Her heart flip-flopped in her chest when she breathed in Clayton’s dark, spicy scent. She looked around the dim room, verifying that she was definitely in Chance’s room and buried her nose in the pillow again. It was definitely Clayton’s scent that she breathed in, and her pussy confirmed it by trembling with arousal.

  They both slept with me last night?

  She’d just changed the sheets on Chance’s bed the day before and knew she wasn’t mistaking them. They must’ve both come in and found her, then put her to bed and slept with her. They hadn’t taken advantage of the moment either. She smiled as she crawled to the end of the bed and sat on the edge. Stretching again, she thought how considerate it had been of Chance, or Clayton, to put her to bed instead of leaving her folded up in the rocker.

  Padding down the hall, she heard distant voices coming from the kitchen. She was running just a few minutes late, but if she hurried, she might be able to have a cup of coffee with them before they went out to the barns for the morning. She went into the bathroom and reached for the faucets in the shower.

  She’d noticed the morning before that the hot water faucet was loose but had forgotten to mention it to the men. Now, this morning, it came off in her hand. She stood looking at it quizzically. “Hmm.”

  She heard Chance’s voice in the hallway. “Baby?” He must’ve paused at his doorway, because now she heard his footsteps as he came closer. “Lydia?”

  “I’m in here, Chance.” She knew it was Chance, even though their voices were as identical as their faces. His voice had a sexy, musical lilt to it, and his endearment for her was “baby.” She turned to the bathroom door as he leaned against it, looking her over with a smile. Her bathrobe was hanging on the back of the bathroom door but she decided it was pointless to grab it. Chance had already seen her in considerably less. His gaze was a warm caress as he looked her over admiringly.

  “Good morning, gorgeous.”

  “Thanks.” When she’d bought the white lace nightie on a lark, it had fit well and been comfortable, so it was one of the few things she’d decided to bring with her when she journeyed to Fort Stockton. She would’ve thought she’d feel self-conscious for either of them to see her in it, but the appreciation in his gaze made her glad she’d chosen to wear it last night.

  His brows quirked when he saw the faucet handle in her hand. “Don’t know your own strength, baby?” he teased. “I brought you a cup of coffee,” he said, indicating the mug in his hand.

  She traded the faucet handle for the mug and enjoyed the ease of the moment as he leaned down and planted a leisurely good morning kiss on her lips. “It was loose yesterday. I forgot to say something about it.”

  “I’ll see what I can do about it. You can use my shower if you want to.”

  She took a sip of her hot, sweet coffee. He’d remembered how she liked it. “Thanks. Did both of you sleep with me last night, in your bed?”

  He played with a lock of her hair before tucking it behind her ear as a slow, sexy smile crossed his lips. “Yes, we did. We got in late, and after we took our showers we found you in my room. So we tucked you in with us. Did you sleep well?”

  She paused and said, “Yes. I normally have trouble sleeping, but last night I did fine, obviously, if I never noticed you lifting me from the chair and putting me in bed. Did you get much sleep?”

  “A couple of hours, but that’s how it goes sometimes.” Chance yawned, as if inspired by their conversation, and said, “Why don’t you use my shower and I’ll see about getting this fixed. Breakfast is downstairs for you, too.” She was struck by how comfortable she was, talking to him in her nightie as he leaned agains
t the bathroom doorjamb. Not that her body wasn’t responding to his gaze with some heat of its own as her clearly visible nipples hardened under his gaze. The moment just felt right.

  “Thank you. It was thoughtful of you to bring me coffee. Something happened last night after you both left that you should be aware of.”

  Chance nodded. “Parker?” At her nod, he said, “Gil told us he caught him on the porch. Did he scare you?”

  Lydia bit her lip and nodded. “Yeah, a little. I was afraid I was all alone with him there. I was relieved when Gil pulled up. It sounded like he wasn’t where he was supposed to be.”

  Chance shook his head. “He wasn’t. We warned him to follow orders from now on.”

  Satisfied with that, Lydia said, “Thank you. I hope he takes your advice. I’ll be down in a few minutes.” He kissed her again and left with the faucet handle. Lydia grabbed her toiletries and clothing and went down the hall to the bathroom that adjoined Clayton’s and started one of the showers. She stripped and got under the hot spray and groaned quietly as the hot water pummeled against her head and shoulders, erasing the last of the tension from the grass fire and Parker’s unwelcome visit. She hoped he heeded Chance’s warning. She lathered and rinsed off then squeezed the hot water through her hair in preparation for washing it. She opened her eyes and caught a glimpse of a dark head through the frosted glass a split second before the shower door swung open.

  “Hey, Chance. Did you not get all the soot off you?” Clayton poked his head in the shower, she gasped, and then his eyes bugged. “Oh, damn! Lydi, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were in here.” His eyes were glued to her and he seemed incapable of looking away as his gaze travelled slowly down her body.

  She could’ve reacted like a prude, screaming at his sudden appearance, but that reaction seemed out of line with their relationship so far. “It’s okay, Clayton. You just surprised me.”