Cowboy Truth: Cowboy Justice Association #3

by Olivia Jaymes

  Ava wished she could see Logan’s face but she only saw the imperceptible tension in his body. If she hadn’t spent the last several days in close proximity to him she never would have noticed.

  “I became like this when dead bodies started showing up in my town.” Logan pointed to the chairs. “Sit down.”

  His voice was low and deadly, and Lyle and Aaron sank into the chairs, their expressions wary. It was clear this had turned into an adversarial conversation. There was no pretense of brotherly love or even friendly camaraderie.

  Logan pushed the statement over to Lyle and Aaron so they could peruse it. “So you’re saying this statement was made up? It isn’t true?”

  Wade shook his head, his face growing red. “I don’t know where you got that but it isn’t true. I never saw that.”

  Ava searched Wade’s features for even a flicker of deceit but found none. He seemed to truly believe what he was saying.

  “I suppose that signature at the bottom is a forgery as well?” When Wade didn’t respond, Logan moved on. “Do you know of any reason someone would want to kill your uncle?”

  Wade looked at his brothers and then at his lawyer. “From what Dad said, Uncle George liked gambling. Maybe he owed somebody money.”

  “That’s possible. I’ll be getting a subpoena for your uncle’s personal accounts. Do you know what I’ll find?”

  Wade shrugged, his eyes looking everywhere but at Logan. “I don’t know. I didn’t get involved with Uncle George’s personal finances.”

  Logan continued to pepper the three brothers with questions but they continued to plead ignorance of anything. They apparently thought their father was a saint and the only issue their uncle had was a proclivity to bet on slow horses.

  “One more question.” Logan paused. “Do you think George killed your father?”

  Lyle and Aaron shook their heads vigorously, but Wade finally turned to Logan and looked him right in the eye.

  “Yes, I think he did.”

  * * * *

  Ava helped Logan unload the groceries they’d picked up at a small general store into the cute little log cabin. Several hours from Corville, the house was tucked into the mountains north of Lincoln. Logan had found Helen Main but she currently wasn’t answering her phone. They’d left a message and hopefully she’d get back to them soon. In the meantime they would stay in this cabin Logan had borrowed from one of his sheriff friends, Jared Monroe.

  The cabin wasn’t large but it was warm and cozy. The air was colder this high up in the mountains but the home had been built to last. The main room was half a kitchen and half a living room with a fireplace on one end. The furniture was old but clean and comfortable indicating this Jared person either cared for the cabin himself or hired someone to do it for him.

  Every surface in the kitchen and bathroom were spotless and the sheets on the bed appeared to be fresh. Ava could happily hole up here for weeks and write.

  She sat the bag onto the kitchen counter with a huff. “You barely said a word on the drive up here. I’m starting to worry about you.”

  Logan began to unload the bags into the refrigerator. “I didn’t have much to say. I’ve been mulling everything over in my mind.”

  “And?” she asked, stowing the dry pasta in one of the cabinets. “Have you come to any conclusions?”

  “Sure have,” Logan grinned. “Thinking gives me a headache. What about you? Have you figured anything out?”

  “I think Wade believes what he said,” she admitted.

  “About his dad or about George?” Logan tossed the bags into the trash and popped open a beer.

  “About his dad. But that thing about George? That was just weird.”

  “I agree. I think Wade knows more than he’s letting on.”

  “Is that why you asked him?” Ava had been shocked when the question had come out of Logan’s mouth. She’d been even more surprised when Wade had answered in the affirmative.

  “Wade’s the oldest son. He was thirteen when his mother died. I can see the younger ones not knowing what was going on in their home, but Wade? I don’t think so. I vaguely remember he was very protective of his mother. I didn’t think anything of it at the time but now I firmly believe he knew his father was beating up on his mother.”

  Logan sank down into one of the kitchen chairs and Ava sat opposite him. “When you say protective…” Ava prompted.

  “He kept Lyle and Aaron from being around her at times. I distinctly remember Lyle scraped his knee and he was going to run to his mother. Wade grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him into the kitchen, determined to put a band aid on it himself. I just thought he didn’t want his little brother to be a cry baby. Now I see he may have known his mother was covered in bruises.”

  Logan’s tone was bitter and she couldn’t blame him a bit. Seeing his friends and half-brothers protect their father and uncle couldn’t be easy, although he still didn’t appear to have fully processed everything that had happened. He was too calm. Too matter of fact.

  He should be pissed as hell.

  She couldn’t stop herself from asking the question. “Do you think one of them is the killer?”

  It sounded farfetched and ludicrous but if they knew what their father was like it was a motive. He may have killed their mother. Had George Bryson known what his brother was like and eventually killed him? If so, why had he waited? What had set him off that night?

  Logan was staring off into space, gone somewhere again, but he finally turned to her and nodded. “I think it’s a possibility. I have no evidence, of course. That’s why I have Jared working on their credit cards. Maybe one of them made a purchase that will give us a clue.”

  “What are you hoping for? That one of them bought a gun?”

  “I’d love it but that would be too easy,” Logan snorted. “I was just thinking one of them might have used their card close to a vigilante crime scene. If I can place them near one of those murders, I can tie them to Bill’s.”

  She screwed up her courage and placed her hand on his. “I’m still worried about you. You aren’t dealing with everything we’ve learned in the last few days.”

  A flicker of irritation crossed Logan’s face but he hid it quickly, his expression bland. “I don’t know what you mean, good girl.”

  “You know exactly what I mean. Everything that we’ve uncovered should be making you angry. You barely reacted to Frank Jesse’s actions. Plus the fact that your father turned out to be a wife beater. Don’t you care about that at all?”

  Logan’s beautiful blue eyes turned cold. “Leave it, Ava. I’ll deal with things in my own time. Until then, just leave it alone.”

  His words cut her to the quick but she valiantly tried to hide the hurt. He was in much more pain than she was whether he’d admit it or not.

  “Fine.” She got up from the table and opened the refrigerator. “How about a steak and baked potato for dinner? I’m getting hungry.”

  As quick as he’d turned icy, he was back to his former self. “That sounds great. I could eat a horse. I’ll go outside and cut some wood so we can have a fire tonight. It gets cold up in these mountains when the sun goes down.”

  The sun was already dipping close to the horizon. Ava shooed him out of the kitchen. “Off with you. I’ll call you when dinner is ready.”

  Logan laughed and headed out of the door leaving her to start dinner and contemplate everything that had happened. She feared their conversation with Helen Main would only uncover more trauma for Logan that he wouldn’t be able to handle. So far he’d played it cool, but Ava knew it couldn’t last.

  He was a powder keg just waiting for the right spark.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Logan patted his stomach and stretched out his legs. He and Ava had finished dinner and were lying in front of the fire. He knew he’d been a jerk earlier and had been trying to make it up to her. He simply wasn’t ready to deal with the eight hundred pound elephant in the room. Eventually he wouldn’t ha
ve any choice, of course. He was living on borrowed time.

  “Was everything okay?” Ava looked worried, her brows pinched together.

  Picking up her dainty feet, he started massaging the instep. He stripped off her socks to find her toes were painted a delicate shade of pink. Was everything about her sexy? She groaned as he found a particularly sensitive spot.

  “Dinner was great. No complaints.” The food had been cooked perfectly but he would have told her it was fabulous even if it tasted like paste. She’d stuck by him through all this shit and the least he could do was not be an asshole to her.

  “Oh, that feels amazing.” Her teeth sunk into her full bottom lip and her head fell back into the cushion. “So good.” The last part came out as a groan of pleasure.

  Chuckling to himself, Logan continued to work on the pliant flesh. Ava’s lids fluttered closed in ecstasy as he dug into the pads of her foot. Suddenly her eyes snapped open and she jerked her leg back.

  “Did I hurt you?” He didn’t think he had but she’d pulled away from him like she’d been shocked with a cattle prod.

  “You’ve had a bad day,” she said. “A bad couple of days.”

  “Welcome to my life,” he replied sardonically. “What does that have to do with your foot massage?”

  “I’m supposed to rub your shoulders when you have a bad day.” Ava sat up and began to move around him. He wasn’t sure he heard her correctly.

  “What? I don’t understand.”

  “We have a deal. You have a bad day. I rub your shoulders. Why don’t you take off your shirt?”

  There was nothing he wanted more except for maybe taking his pants off too, but he was still numb with disbelief. Was she really stopping her own massage just to give him one? He’d never had anyone who gave a shit about his day that much.

  He shook his head, trying to move her back into position. “Don’t worry about it, good girl. I was giving you a foot rub. I know you liked it.”

  She gave him a look that said he was dumb as a stump. “Of course I liked it. Who wouldn’t? But I promised to rub your shoulders so take off your shirt.”

  He didn’t argue but instead pulled his T-shirt over his head and tossed it on the couch. Her hands were soft and warm as they stroked his skin, his body waking up instantly. His mind, however, wasn’t letting go of conscious thought that easily.

  She’d kept her promise.

  The words tumbled through his head over and over. She’d been the first woman who hadn’t wanted anything from him, and now she was the first woman who had put him first. He still couldn’t quite believe it, but he wasn’t going to question it now.

  Her hands kneaded at the tight muscles and he let himself relax as his tension dissolved. It felt good. More than good, really. As good as his shoulder felt, his heart felt even better. She really cared about him. Honest to God.

  A part of him wanted to tell her how he felt but the fearful part of him clapped his mouth shut tight. He didn’t really know what he felt after all. Having never felt anything for a woman in his life, this could be a mirage or maybe temporary insanity. It didn’t mean it was…you know…

  Shit—he couldn’t even think it, let alone say it.

  He grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet, paying no attention to her protests. He reached behind her and flicked on the radio.

  “Dance with me, good girl.”

  Her smile lit up her whole face, and he twisted the dial until he found a station playing bouncy tunes from the 80s. After all these years, he still didn’t know what Wang Chung meant but it was a good song to dance to. He and Ava twirled around the floor, giggling like teenagers. He dirty danced his woman until she was looking up at him with a seductive expression. His cock was hard and aching in his jeans and Ava’s nipples were poking holes in his chest.

  It was time to move this party into the bedroom. Logan Wright style.

  He bent over and pressed his shoulder into her abdomen, lifting her into a fireman hold. She squealed and beat him on the back with her fists but she was laughing the entire time. Clearly she didn’t truly want him to stop, but he smacked at her bottom a few times just in fun. She shrieked and wriggled in his arms but it was a half-hearted attempt to get away.

  Tonight he’d be with the one woman who could make everything all better.

  * * * *

  It simply wasn’t fair for one man to be that incredibly sexy.

  Logan was shucking off his jeans, boxers, and socks, and Ava sucked in her breath as his beautiful body was revealed. He looked like something that should be on display sculpted in marble. All hard muscle, his body radiated leashed power, and she reached out to trace his ridged abs with her greedy fingers.

  Groaning at her exploration, Logan grinned and captured her hands before pinning them behind her back. She giggled at the restraint knowing he would never hurt her. In fact it was exciting to be helpless like this as his lips traveled up the sensitive column of her neck, over her jaw, and rubbing against the corner of her mouth.

  His tongue snaked out and ran along her bottom lip and she mewled with frustration until he fused their mouths together. As always his kiss took her breath away and she strained to get closer to him, loving his clean masculine scent and the heat of his body.

  “My good girl is frustrated.” Logan chuckled and she could feel the reverberation in his chest. “What does she want?”

  She twisted but his firm and gentle grip held her easily. She was at his mercy at the moment.

  “I want you,” she said breathlessly. “Now.”

  His lips played with hers but never allowed full contact. “So demanding. I think I need you to be more specific. Tell me exactly what you want.”

  Logan might be the only man in the universe she could do these things with but she wasn’t sure she could just out and out ask for it. She shook her head and tried to hide her flushed cheeks.

  “Uh uh uh, good girl.” One hand released her wrists and lifted her chin so she had to look into the blue depths of his gaze while the other still restrained her hands behind her back. “If you say it, honey, you’ll get whatever you want. I swear.”

  There was a world of promises in those eyes. Promises she desperately wanted to believe. Did she dare put words to fantasies she’d only dreamed about?

  “I swear, good girl. Anything you want. It’s all about you tonight. Trust me,” he urged, his voice deep and compelling. She wanted to trust in him. Believe in him. She licked her dry lips and forced the words past her suddenly thick tongue.

  “I want you to dominate me. I want you to be everything.”

  Logan’s eyebrows shot up but then a grin slowly crossed his face. “I think I’d like that. I think I’d like to be everything to you.” Logan let her go and stood up. “Strip, Ava.”

  “Have you ever—” She broke off, unsure how to ask the question but Logan seemed to understand.

  “I’ve played some bedroom games before,” he answered softly. “Tonight you don’t want to think about the case or what we’ve discovered, am I right?”

  She nodded with relief, glad he understood. She wanted both of them to think of nothing else but each other tonight. Tomorrow would come soon enough and they’d have to face everything.

  “I want the same thing.” His soft blue eyes locked with hers. “I want to lose myself in your body. I want to own you so you’ll never look at another man ever again. Strip, Ava.”

  His voice was hypnotic and compelling, and she reached for the buttons on her blouse, popping them open one by one. He’d said he didn’t want her to ever look at another man ever again. Ever was a long time. She wasn’t sure he was in it for that long, but she was. Logan was her man and she was his woman. Tonight for sure. Tomorrow hopefully. She wasn’t going to leave until he told her he was done. She’d stick around and make him happy. Anything could happen. Maybe Logan might fall in love with her. Stranger things had happened.

  Ava tossed her shirt aside and worked on her jeans, sliding them down
her legs. She felt Logan’s heated gaze on her body and her insides turned to liquid. He made her feel sexy and wanted in a way no one ever had. She quickly stripped her bra and panties and let him inspect her bare body, squirming slightly inside. As beautiful as he made her feel there was still that last remnant of the good girl she’d been making her uncomfortable.

  Reaching out, he ran his fingers through her hair. “Mine. All of this is mine.”

  God, yes.

  Cool air ran across her heated flesh and her nipples peaked as he ran a finger around one and then the other. “So pretty. All pink and tight for me. Play with your nipples, good girl. I want to watch you.”

  If she did that she sure couldn’t be called a good girl anymore. She probably couldn’t anyway as she’d admitted to enjoying the spanking he’d given her. Those weren’t exactly the actions of a goody two-shoes.

  “Now, Ava. Or you get punished for not obeying.”

  Her gaze flew to his stern features. He appeared to be completely serious although not angry or mean. Her thoughts went back and forth as to whether she wanted to obey or be punished. The last time had been pleasurable, and she wanted to feel it again.

  “You’d spank me?”

  She held her breath waiting for his answer. A corner of his mouth tipped up in amusement.

  “Punishments will take a form of my choosing. It might be a spanking. It could be something else. Are you going to obey me?”

  The possibilities of “something else” made her dizzy with anticipation. Cream was gathering between her legs and her breathing was growing shallow. Apparently she’d waited too long. Logan pushed her back onto the mattress and lifted her arms over her head. She felt something soft wrap around her wrists and she tugged on them but got nowhere. He’d tied her hands to the headboard. A moment of panic flew through her, accelerating her heart as she pulled at the restraints. Logan placed a calming hand on her abdomen.

  “Calm down, good girl. If you want me to let you go, I will. But I think you’ll like this punishment.”

  His tone was gentle and soothing and she stopped thrashing on the bed. He was completely calm and in control and she knew he’d untie her in a second if she wanted to be. She lifted her arms and craned her neck so she was looking back.