by Leah Brooke
“I’ve got to admit, Sheriff, I like that about you.” Thrilled that she’d been able to surprise him, she lifted her face for his kiss.
“Why did you pick me up and put me on your lap if you didn’t want me to get dirty?”
His lips twitched, indulgence and love shining in his eyes as he tugged her braid.
“Habit. I can’t seem to stop reaching for you anytime I’m anywhere near you. What do you need from the supply building?” He ran his hand up and down her back, his eyes constantly scanning their surroundings. Even when he didn’t look at her, she knew that nothing she said or did would escape his notice.
“Some fabric to make curtains. With so many men building their own homes around us while they’re waiting for the mail-order brides to arrive, and building the house for the women to live in across the way, we never know who’s going to ride by our windows.”
Hayes glanced down at her, his eyes lingering on her breasts. “Good idea. I’d hate to have to kill one of these men for seeing you naked.”
Wyatt urged his horse closer and reached for her, the gleam of remembered pleasure in his eyes as well as the promise for more.
“Come here, honey.”
Savannah smiled, something she did quite often now, and went willingly into his arms.
Bending his head until the brim of his hat hid her from view of the other men, he kissed her, one of those hot, hungry kisses that made her heart race.
She moaned into his mouth as the awareness increased, and rubbed her thighs together at the surge of heat that settled there. Wishing they could be alone, she lifted her hand to his neck, moaning in protest when he lifted his head.
He studied her with narrowed eyes, a slow smile of satisfaction spreading across his face.
“I love when you get that look on your face. Makes me want to strip you naked right here, wrap your legs around my hips, and sink my cock into you.”
Savannah groaned, her pussy clenching with anticipation.
“I hate when you say things like that when I know I have to wait hours before you can take me. I think I’m mad at you.”
Wyatt chuckled. “Yeah, but you love me.”
With a sigh, she leaned against him, eyeing Hayes.
“I do. I love both of you, which is another reason for me to make those curtains. When those mail-order brides come, they’re going to see you two and decide they want a closer look. If they see my husbands naked, I’m going to get jealous and might have to hurt someone.”
Both men smiled, their eyes dancing with amusement.
Wyatt tightened his arm around her and turned his horse, riding the short distance to the supply building. Running a hand over her thigh before helping her down, he grinned.
“Get your fabric. We wouldn’t want to have to arrest you for hurting someone.” He tapped the brim of her hat, pushing it down to cover her eyes.
Pushing it back, she grinned up at him. “I have two husbands who wouldn’t let that happen. Believe me when I tell you that you don’t want to mess with either one of them!”
Turning her back when Wyatt roared with laughter, Savannah hurried into the supply building, laughing with pure joy at their banter.
Still smiling, she worked the bolt of fabric she’d picked out earlier loose. Holding it in front of her, she made her way back outside, anxious to see her husbands again.
Surprised to find them both gone, she closed the door behind her, her smile falling.
She knew it was ridiculous to be so disappointed. Her husbands had been busy every day since they’d moved here, riding the perimeter of their new town and getting to know each and every person who lived here. They spoke to Eb and Jeremiah every day to keep track of everything going on, and even took time to see little Ace, completely fascinated by the baby.
Even so busy, somehow, they always made time for her, one or the other stopping to see her every chance they got throughout the day.
It seemed strange that they hadn’t waited for her today.
Mentally shrugging, she started across the yard, smiling and waving to acknowledge greetings from the other men, far less than had been there just moments ago. After stashing the fabric in her saddlebag and getting on her horse, she took a last look around, hoping to get a glimpse of her husbands.
“They’re checking something out.”
Turning, she saw Duke coming out of the chow building, wiping his hands.
Something about his tone sent off warning bells in her head. “Oh? Is something wrong?”
Duke’s expression appeared harder than usual, the muscle in his jaw working and making his large scar, so much like Hayes’s, seem larger than normal.
“Don’t know. They say the backs of their necks are itching. Out here, we all respect that, and the men are out checking things out. You riding out?”
Savannah nodded, looking around. “Yes. I’m going home. I want to get started on these curtains while there’s still a little daylight left.”
“I think you should stay here until your men get back.”
Savannah shook her head. “No. They know I’m going home. They know where to find me. If you see them, please tell them that I’ll wait for them to bring me back here for supper.”
“I think you should stay here.”
Savannah smiled at the authority in his voice. “I just saw them two minutes ago, and they didn’t say a thing to me about staying here. I’ll see them at the house, and I’ll see you later for supper. Thanks, Duke.”
She rode away before he could say anything else, anxious to get back home. Hopefully, she would have the chance to get some water hot and ready for Hayes and Wyatt to take a bath before they came back for supper. While the water heated, she could start measuring and cutting the curtains.
Thinking about her evening plans, Savannah rode toward the house, slowing to check the progress of the house the men seemed intent on finishing first, the house the women who came here would live in until they were claimed.
The men figured that building the house close to the sheriffs’ home and the jail would be the safest, and many of the other men who eagerly anticipated being married had begun to build their houses close by.
The beginning of a town.
“Savannah Hawkins?”
Startled, Savannah whipped her head around, alarmed to find a stranger sitting on his horse only about twenty yards away.
Her hand went to her gun, some instinct warning her that this man wasn’t from the ranch.
“Who are you?”
“Name’s Slick. They call me that ’cause I’m so fast with the pistols. Heard you was, too. I got a reputation for being the fastest gun out here, but lately I ain’t heard nothin’ but talk about you. Say you’re fast and could shoot the wings off a fly at twenty paces. They tell me I wouldn’t be nothin’ against you. Can’t have that now, can I? You’re ruinin’ my reputation.”
Savannah had seen that not quite sane look in her uncle’s eyes often enough to respect it.
“I think you’re mistaken.” Damn it. She should have stayed at the ranch. Just the thought of having to shoot another man made her sick to her stomach.
To her dismay, four other men on horseback came out of the woods behind Slick, two stopping on either side of him.
“This her, Slick?”
Slick nodded, straightening in his saddle. “Yep. You all can watch me kill her and then tell everyone in Tulsa that you seen me outdraw her with your own eyes.”
“That’s going to be a little hard to do when you’re all dead.”
Wyatt’s deep voice came from somewhere behind her, razor sharp and cold as ice.
She’d never heard anything so wonderful in her life.
To her further amazement, several of the other men from the ranch came from everywhere, surrounding Slick and his friends.
Hayes spared a glance at her before turning his attention to Slick. “That’s my wife, and I don’t appreciate it when men want to draw on her.”
Hawke, Blad
e, Phoenix, Hart, Gideon, Eb, and Jeremiah surrounded the men, each with a gun pointed at them.
Wyatt rode up beside her. “Don’t draw those guns, Savannah.” He continued ahead, placing himself between her and the other men.
“If you apologize to my wife, and turn around, we’ll let you go, but only because we want you to tell anyone you come across that women are treated with respect in Desire. We take any slight to them real personally.”
Slick frowned and pointed at Hayes. “I thought she was his wife.”
Hayes smiled coldly. “She is.”
Wyatt nodded. “She’s married to both of us. The women here are protected. Any man who harms a woman here will have no mercy shown to him. The only reason we’re letting you go is so you can pass the word. Uh-uh. Get those hands away from those pistols.”
Savannah couldn’t breathe, the atmosphere so highly charged, she started to shake. With her heart thumping nearly out of her chest, she stayed as still as she could, scared to death one of those men would draw and—
In the blink of an eye, all hell broke loose around her. Before she even knew what was happening, two shots rang out, almost simultaneously.
Smoke still rose from the end of Hayes’s gun, while Slick screamed and held his gun hand.
The other men sat frozen, slowly lifting their hands away from their own guns, while eyeing the men of Desire, who still held guns on them.
Jeremiah grinned. “None of you gonna go for it?”
Wyatt backed his horse up until he sat next to her, glancing at her while still keeping his gun trained at Slick’s friends. “Savannah?”
Savannah nodded, drawing her first deep breath.
“What just happened?”
“Slick there decided to draw on Hayes. Hayes shot the gun out of his hand.”
“Anybody hurt? I thought I heard two shots.” She looked at each of the men from the ranch, searching for blood, but the only blood she saw was on Slick’s hand.
Hart picked up his hat from the ground, poking his finger through a hole in it.
“I just got it broke in.”
Wyatt chuckled, his eyes still hard as they raked over her. “Hart goes through hats like you go through peppermint sticks. Every time he gets a new one, something happens to it.”
It didn’t escape her notice that he searched her eyes while talking to her, or that even though he tried to sound playful, his voice still carried an edge.
Holding a gun on the men now sitting on the ground while Hawke and Gideon tied Slick and his friends’ hands behind their backs, Eb smiled, a smile that didn’t even come close to reaching his eyes.
“Hart hates new hats. He’ll be complaining until he gets it broke in. You all right, honey? You look pale.”
“I thought I was going to have to shoot him.” The words slipped out before she even knew she wanted to say them.
She met Hayes’s eyes and then Wyatt’s. “I knew I could do it. I wasn’t looking forward to it, but I knew I could do it. It was a relief that I didn’t have to.” Aware of the tension coming from both of them, she searched their eyes, but their icy ones revealed nothing.
Wyatt pulled her close, running his hands up and down her back. “You’re going to have to be watched closely. I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to you.”
“Nothing’s going to happen to her.” Hayes came close and dragged her from her horse to his. “We’re going to take these men to Tulsa and let everyone see what happens to men who come to Desire to cause trouble.”
Hayes gathered her close, burying his face in her hair. “I love you so damned much. When I heard what that man said to you—”
Grateful for something solid to hold on to, Savannah smiled, staring at Wyatt, who’d moved closer.
“If that man got a shot off, that means that he outdrew Hayes, doesn’t it?”
Wyatt blinked. “Slick’s gun went off just as Hayes shot it out of his hand. Messed up his aim enough that he couldn’t shoot him.”
Savannah smiled. “Uh-huh.”
Hayes stiffened. “He didn’t outdraw me. We drew at the same time. I hit my target. He didn’t.”
“If you say so.” She couldn’t resist teasing him, wanting to erase the horror still lingering in his eyes. She needed to prove that she was tough enough to survive life out here, and that even though she’d fallen apart before, she wouldn’t let it happen again.
Leaning back, he glared at her. “He did not outdraw me.”
Savannah leaned back against him. “Of course not.”
The other men did their best to hide their smiles, Eb shaking his head, not even bothering to hide his.
“I always knew you were trouble, Savannah. Hayes and Wyatt are both hell with guns and with their aim. I’ve seen Slick here in action. He’s fast, but against your husbands, he didn’t stand a chance.”
Savannah shrugged, winking at Eb, keeping her tone thoughtful. “Hmm, I’m sure you’re right. I wonder if I could outdraw them.”
Wyatt placed a hand on her thigh and leaned over her threateningly. “Savannah Hawkins, you’re treading on thin ice here.”
“Everything all right here? I heard shots.”
All eyes whipped around to see Duke ride up, his eyes scanning the clearing.
Wyatt nodded. “Everything’s fine. The one bleeding over there wanted to draw on Savannah. The others are his friends.”
Duke’s eyes met hers and then lifted to Hayes’s. “Told her to stay back at the ranch and wait for you. She wouldn’t.”
Hayes leaned back, lifting her chin to stare down at her, his eyes hooded and swirling with anger as he turned his horse, putting himself between her and the other men, and her between him and Wyatt.
“Is that a fact?”
His deceptively low tone didn’t fool her one bit.
Chills went up Savannah’s spine. “Well, I—”
Wyatt squeezed her knee, and she heard several uh-oh’s from behind her.
“We’re going to have a talk about that later, Savannah.”
Memories of the time he’d spanked her came rushing back, making her clit swell.
She actually looked forward to it, but didn’t want her husbands to know that.
Over the last two months she’d learned a great deal about her husbands and used that knowledge now.
Out of sight of the others, Savannah stared up at Hayes and lifted his hand to her breast.
“Thank you so much for coming to my rescue. I love you so much.”
His eyes softened, the flash of heat in them unmistakable. His fingers moved on her breast as though he couldn’t help himself. His touch intensified her need, making her pussy clench and her clit begin to throb.
“I love you, too, but don’t ever do that again. You need a damned spanking for the things you put us through.”
Savannah smiled coyly, placing her hand on his chest, no longer able to sit still. “I’m looking forward to whatever punishment you think I deserve, Sheriff.”
Hayes unerringly found her nipple and squeezed lightly, his eyes flashing again at her soft cry.
“We’ll just see about that tonight, now won’t we?”
Wyatt groaned.
“Now I’m going to spend the rest of the day hard. Give her to me.”
Hayes pinched her nipple before releasing her. “Until tonight. Then you’re mine.”
Savannah touched her lips to his chin, tracing a finger down his scar. “I’m always yours.”
After Hayes passed her to Wyatt, he rode away, leaving her staring after him. Watching the men put Slick and his friends facedown over their horses’ backs, with their arms tied behind them, Savannah leaned back against Wyatt.
Concerned at his stillness, she turned her face to look up at him, surprised to find him staring down at her. Concerned that he might be jealous, she stiffened. “What’s wrong, Wyatt?”
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I would die for you, Savannah. I don’t know how I could ever live witho
ut you now.”
Incredibly touched, she blinked back tears. “You won’t have to.”
Wyatt nodded. “You won’t be able to get away with what you did today. Your safety is the most important thing in the world to us. You’re going to get a hell of a spanking tonight.”
He gathered her close, turning her in his arms and burying his face in her hair. “Then I’m going to love you like there’s no tomorrow.”
“That’s all I need.”
She looked forward to a lifetime of tomorrows with two men she now couldn’t live without.
She’d found more love than she’d ever known existed, and lived in a wonderful place unlike any other.
She had it all.
She had love—and Desire.
THE END
WWW.LEAHBROOKE.NET
Desire, Oklahoma: The Founding Fathers 3
Savage Desire
Raised in a bordello, Sarah Smith knew it was only a matter of time before she’d have to earn her keep on her back, the way her mother did, instead of doing the washing and cleaning. When one of the bordello’s meanest customers—an outlaw—noticed her, she knew her time had run out. She rushed to pack her things, only to discover that she’d accidentally stolen the outlaw’s gold. Running away, she finds herself on a train, headed for Desire, Oklahoma.
Met by the tall, dark Indian, she finds herself drawn to him, and before she knew it, found herself married to him—and his two brothers. She knew, though, that Willy would come after her—and his gold. Realizing the danger she’d brought to her new home, she runs away, determined to keep her new husbands safe. But Hawke, Blade, and Phoenix Royal aren’t intimidated by Willy, and will do anything to protect her.
Genre: Historical, Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Western/Cowboys
Length: 82,324 words
SAVAGE DESIRE
Desire, Oklahoma: The Founding Fathers 3
LEAH BROOKE
Copyright © 2017
Chapter One
She had to get out of here.
There had to be a life better than the one she lived now. It was out there, and she just had to find it.