by Leah Brooke
“That’s all right. Duke said he’d show me tomorrow.”
Eb’s jaw tightened. “I’ll show you where the supplies are kept.”
That possessiveness in him seemed to grow with every passing day. Suspecting that the anger and callousness was caused by jealousy, she hid a grin and allowed herself to be led to the outbuilding where they kept all the supplies. She knew damned well he had to have had a hand in the decision to build such a house for her, which meant that he had to care for her at least a little, despite his determination not to let her see it.
She just hoped she was right. If not, he’d break her heart for sure.
She waited while he lit a lantern, her jaw dropping when she saw the large number of shelves, every single one of them completely filled. Barrels stood in two of the corners, bags stacked high in another. The amount of supplies they stored staggered her, and it hit her all at once just how isolated they were.
“I never realized…”
Holding the lamp high, Eb gestured her inside and pointed to a shelf on the side. “There’s material there for you. You don’t have to worry about making shirts for us. I bought as many shirts and pants as I could find in Kansas City and Tulsa.” He pointed to another shelf that held stacks and stacks of them. “You can take whatever you need from them, but I thought you might want to make yourself a new dress or two.”
Stepping away from him, she walked down the racks and racks of shelves. Maggie shrugged again, trembling with awareness when he closed the door behind them. “I usually wear pants. They’re more comfortable and don’t get in my way as much.”
As she continued on, she looked over her shoulder at him in time to see him set the lantern on one of the barrels. The look of determination in his eyes as they raked over her made her nipples tingle and pebble and sent an answering surge of need through her.
Not wanting him to know how quickly she fell under his seductive spell, she turned away and continued to inspect the shelves, not remembering half of what she looked at. “Are you sure we shouldn’t be getting back to Jeremiah? He might not like us going off alone like this.”
She knew a man like Eb hated to answer to anyone, but she hadn’t counted on his reaction.
With a curse, he caught her waist from behind, pulling her back against him, his teeth scraping over her neck at the same time he pressed his cock against the small of her back.
“Right now I don’t give a damn what Jeremiah wants. All I care about is getting inside you. I want my wife.”
Holding on to the arm at her waist, Maggie leaned back against him, not even bothering to fight the need he stirred so easily. “You want a woman, or you want me?”
His other arm came around her and immediately covered a breast, massaging gently while the hand at her waist slid lower. “I want you. Right here. Right now.”
Her knees gave out when he started to nibble at her neck. “I don’t want a husband who doesn’t care about me, one who only wants to be my husband when he wants sex.”
The hand over her abdomen gathered the front of her dress, raising it inch by inch. “I’m your husband all the time—even when Jeremiah’s inside you and I’m not around. Don’t ever forget who you belong to, Maggie.”
The hand at her breast shifted slightly, and she gasped at the sting when he pinched her nipple and let her head fall back. “Never.”
Without hesitation, she let him support her weight, leaning back against him as his fingers teased a nipple and the other hand worked her skirt out of the way and covered her mound, his strong fingers pressing insistently between her thighs.
Maggie’s head fell to the side, her neck no longer strong enough to support it. A languorous heat flowed through her, weakening her everywhere, allowing him to position her any way he wanted.
“Don’t you ever forget that I’m your wife.”
Eb took advantage, running his lips over her neck. “You’re my wife, all right, and this time I’m going to have you all to myself.”
He opened her shirt and slid his hand inside with a sureness that weakened her even more. “My grown up Maggie. My wife.”
The silky possessiveness in his tone and gentleness of his touch contrasted sharply with the cold demeanor he usually displayed, and the contrast captivated her.
Covering his hand with hers, she arched her neck to give him better access. “I need you, Eb. I need us to be close the way we were before.”
Her stomach quivered under his hand, her nipple pebbling against his palm as he caressed her. Crying out when his fingers teased her slick folds, she grabbed on to his sinewy arm as her knees buckled completely.
He caught her with no apparent effort, lifting her until her feet no longer touched the ground.
“We’ll be even closer in a few minutes. You’re all wet again, sweetheart. I can’t wait to teach you some of the other ways we can give each other pleasure.”
Moaning, Maggie licked her lips and arched against him. “Do you mean besides you and Jeremiah taking me together?”
Her breast felt hot and swollen in his hand, her nipple tight and tingling with an ache that sharpened with each pass of his work-roughened thumb. Fisting her hand in his shirt, she turned her face against his shoulder to muffle the cries she couldn’t contain.
“There’s a lot more that we can do together, just the two of us, honey. That’s it, Maggie. Just let me make you feel good. You want this as much as I do, don’t you?”
Eb’s attention centered at her slit, tracing her folds until they felt swollen and heavy, the random taps to her clit making her jolt in his arms. His arms tightened around her, absorbing her shudders, and, catching her earlobe with his teeth, he thrust his finger inside her.
Her pussy clenched on him as though trying to suck him in, her juices easing the way for his slow thrusts. Tilting her hips, she tried to take him deeper, gasping when he slid his thumb over her clit and held it there.
Maggie cried out, bucking against him, trying to get the friction she needed. Her clit felt swollen and heavy, throbbing against his thumb, so hot she could hardly stand it. Too to control her movements, she whimpered in frustration and kicked at him.
With a string of curses, he withdrew his finger and strode to where several bags had been stacked. Before she knew what to expect, he turned her to face him and placed her on top of them, tossing her skirt up and out of the way.
Making a place for himself between her thighs, he slid a hand under her neck and lifted her. “You want my cock, don’t you? I can make you forget all of that other shit and make you feel so good you don’t care about anything else.”
Moaning, she let her head fall back, trembling when his hand covered her mound. “No, I want more.”
Eb scraped his teeth down her jaw, ripping open the front of her shirt to reveal her breasts. Fisting his hand in her hair, he pulled her head back until he could reach her nipples with his mouth and held her there.
“That’s it, baby. I’ll take care of you. Part of being your husband is satisfying all of your needs, including this. You’re in good hands, baby. I’m gonna make you come so hard you’ll scream.”
Maggie cried out as he closed his mouth over her nipple, her eyes drifting closed as her head fell back against one of the sacks. So he did understand what she wanted and still continued to deny her. She couldn’t let him get away with it, but right now, as he took a nipple into his mouth and swirled his warm tongue around it, she didn’t need any words at all.
He flicked a thumb over her clit. “I’ve got better uses for my mouth than spouting a bunch of pretty words. Let me show you.”
Fighting the rising hunger, Maggie kicked her legs, needing to be more to him than just a woman to fuck. Determined to get closer to him, she wrapped her legs around him and tried to pull herself up, but the hand in her hair prevented it.
Meeting his eyes, she smiled tremulously, moaning as the strokes on her clit became more deliberate. “Yes, Eb, please kiss me.”
He smiled coldly, despite the warmt
h simmering in his eyes. Both hands went to her thighs, lifting them high and wide. “Demanding, aren’t you. Well, never let it be said I didn’t satisfy my wife.”
Lifting her, he slid his hands under her bottom and buried his face between her thighs, his thumbs threateningly close to her bottom hole as he closed his lips over her clit.
The heat and pressure as he sucked was immediate and all consuming. She only had time to suck in one breath before a scream escaped, one of overwhelming desperation.
With no warning, he shot her into a place where nothing existed except her burning clit, and controlled her entire body with nothing more than the sweep of his tongue.
She threw her hands over her head in an effort to hold on to something solid, so lost in sensation she could no longer even feel the bags beneath her. Digging her heels into his back, she fought to get away from him, the euphoric sensation too strong to bear.
Her orgasm crashed over her with no build-up at all, the huge wave crashing over her with such intensity she froze in the throes of it. She couldn’t even scream, the pleasure so powerful it struck her senseless.
His warm tongue stroked her clit with a cold precision and ruthlessness that left her shaking helplessly, that no amount of writhing could escape.
Eb held her there, not releasing her from the almost unbearable pleasure, mercilessly holding her there with his mouth and the thumbs he used to apply enough pressure outward on either side of her bottom hole to make it sting.
When her pleasure crested and finally began to release her from its erotic hold, she desperately sucked air into her lungs, each breath followed by a whimpered moan.
She’d just experienced more pleasure than she’d thought herself capable of, but the cold calculation in his touch left her feeling sad and disillusioned. Still shaking and weak, she whimpered again when his head shot up and he spun away from her.
“Come out and show yourself.”
The cold menace in his tone hit her like a splash of ice water in the face. Still trembling, she struggled to sit up, unable to make sense of why Eb sounded so furious or who he was talking to.
But it did register that someone was there and it wasn’t Jeremiah.
She hurriedly gathered the ends of her torn shirt as Eb reached back and tossed her skirt down to cover her legs.
Hearing the scrape of a boot on the wooden floor, she turned her head to see one of the men who’d been staring at Hawke and Blade in the chow shack move closer, making his way around one of the shelves until he stood in the open.
“Sorry, Boss. I thought I heard screaming.”
Maggie scrambled behind Eb for cover, mortified that someone had heard her and had probably seen her naked and in the throes of passion.
With her hand on Eb’s back, she felt his muscles tighten, the fury emanating from him reminding her just how lethal he’d become. For the first time she realized he held a gun on the other man, a gun that remained steady and aimed at the man’s chest.
Eb’s soft, deadly tone made her shiver. “You couldn’t tell it was a woman’s scream? You didn’t know that the only woman on the place is my wife?”
The other man shifted his feet, his eyes darting from the gun to Eb’s face and back again. “Uh, yeah, boss. I knew it was a woman and thought maybe Mrs. Tyler was in some kind of danger.” He glanced at her, his gaze obviously lingering a little too long for Eb’s taste.
Eb’s body shifted, and with his free hand, he reached back and pushed her none too gently behind him, but she still managed to peek around his arm, prepared to try to stop him if he tried to kill the other man.
He wouldn’t really kill him, would he?
Remembering what they’d said about a man not pulling a gun unless he meant to use it, Maggie feared for the other man’s life, not daring to look away from the scene playing out before her.
With a voice like iron, Eb shoved her back again.
“If you thought my wife was in danger, why did you sneak in instead of running in to help?”
Maggie looked around Eb, running what she hoped was a calming hand down his back.
The other man gulped and eyed the gun again. “I…uh…once I heard your voice, I didn’t want to interrupt. I was gonna sneak back out again without you knowing I was here.” He shrugged his shoulders and looked away. “I figured you’d be mad if you saw me in here, but I didn’t mean no harm, boss. I swear it.”
Maggie had already righted her clothing and no longer saw the need to hide. As mistress of the Circle T, she would show no fear and make Eb and Jeremiah proud.
Pushing at Eb’s arm, she started to step out from behind him, lifting her chin and meeting the other man’s eyes squarely.
Eb growled when the other man looked in her direction, his eyes razor sharp as he yanked her back behind him.
“Get out of here, Stockney, and stay the hell away from my wife. I catch you looking at her again, you’re dead.”
The snap in his tone was more effective at keeping her in place than his grip on her arm. As soon as she heard the click of the door being closed again, Eb stuck his gun back in his holster and turned slowly, his body trembling in rage, his eyes narrowed to mere slits.
“When I put you somewhere, from now on, you stay there. Or were you trying to give Stockney a peek at those breasts?”
He lifted her by her arms and plopped her back down on the stack of bags, getting right in her face. “You like having men panting for you? You like making them crazy to have you? You trying to be like every other damned woman?”
Grabbing a handful of her hair, he pulled her head back, his face tight with anger as he loomed over her. His free hand roamed over her breasts and, with cold deliberation, tugged a nipple until she cried out.
“Don’t you ever forget that these are mine. So’s your pussy and ass. If I ever catch you teasing anyone, I’ll beat your ass raw and then fuck it until you beg for mercy. You can’t play with these men like you played with your little friend Fred back home. These are men, not little boys, and I won’t have my wife offering her favors to anyone else.”
Maggie pushed at his chest, ignoring the sharp pull of her hair. “Listen, you sidewinder! I never played with Fred’s feelings, and you know darned well I was never free with my favors. I don’t tease other men, and I never have.”
Smirking, she didn’t let her fear or hurt show even when he tightened his grip and lifted her to her toes, his eyes glittering coldly.
“I never even wanted to marry you, if you remember. As far as I’m concerned, men are more trouble than they’re worth. Every one of you thinks a woman should fall all over themselves with gratitude whenever you give them some attention.”
For him to think that she would do anything like that cut her like Duke’s knife.
She poked him in the chest, her anger overriding her fear.
“You don’t want a wife. You want one of the whores that pass through here, who’ll follow your every command and see to your every desire. I’m not one of them, and I’ll be damned if I’ll let you treat me like one!”
She twisted from his grasp and actually managed to take two steps before he caught her around the waist from behind and lifted her several inches off the floor. She cried out in surprise, biting her lip to keep from giving him the satisfaction of crying out again when his free hand came down hard on her bottom.
“You’re my wife. Mine. That means, sweetheart, that I can do whatever I want to with you, and there’s no one who will lift a hand to stop me.”
She found it hard to believe that just minutes ago she’d been falling apart in his arms.
Lifting her chin, she glared over her shoulder at him. “Jeremiah will. Let go of me. I need some air.”
Eb’s temper snapped, something she’d seen only a handful of times in all the years she’d known him, the ice in his eyes turning to searing heat in a heartbeat. Curses poured from him, each a little more vicious than the last as he strode to the nearest barrel and sat on top, throwing her over
his lap. He overcame her struggles with remarkable ease, tossing her skirt out of the way and blithely ignoring her screams and threats.
“Don’t you ever, ever, try to pit me and Jeremiah against each other again!”
His hand came down hard on one cheek of her ass and before she could draw breath, on the other. “Never, Maggie.”
Hanging upside down over Eb’s lap, Maggie screamed in outrage. “That hurts, damn you! I didn’t do anything wrong. Wait until Jeremiah hears about this.”
“Hears about what, darlin’?”
With a gasp she twisted, grabbing Eb’s leg for leverage and facing a grim-faced Jeremiah. Counting on him to show her the tenderness he had earlier, she reached out for him, pouting her best pout.
“Eb’s spanking me for no reason. He’s just mad because that man came in here and saw me naked.”
He shot a look at Eb and stepped closer.
“What man saw you naked? What the hell happened in here?”
Eb slapped her ass again, leaving his hand over it this time. “Stockney snuck in here, and I was too distracted eating Maggie’s pussy to notice at first. I don’t know how long he was here, but when I turned, he was watching us through the shelves. I think I was blocking his view of her, but I just don’t know. Fucking asshole.”
Alarmed when Jeremiah moved closer to her feet and disappeared from view, Maggie tried to shove her skirt away to see him again.
“That’s not my fault. I didn’t know he was here. You can’t blame me because you decided to take my clothes off in the damned storage shed!”
Eb slapped her ass again, making it even hotter, but what startled her the most was the feel of another set of hands moving slowly up and down the backs of her thighs.
Instead of holding the heat in the way he had before, this time Eb pushed his hand between her thighs, shocking her into immobility.
“What are you doing?”
Ignoring her question, he slid his fingers through her slick folds and spoke to his brother.
“She isn’t being punished for that, and she knows it. No, letting Stockney see her was my fault, a mistake that won’t be repeated. But she kept peeking out from behind me when I was trying to keep her covered, despite the fact that I kept pushing her back there.”