“Clancy saved your brother from getting his lily-white ass kicked, twice tonight.”
Her brow furrowed. “What?”
“This is none of Clancy’s doing,” Ty grumbled. “It’s that wild-haired brother of yours.” The man sounded pissed, but why?
Confused, she shot a glance toward Clancy still holding her brother upright against the truck. “I don’t understand.”
Ty scowled at her brother. “The little bastard—”
“Ty,” Clancy growled, stopping his friend cold. Then his voice softened as he turned toward her. “This is probably best discussed between you and Levi.”
As Clancy heaved her brother over a shoulder as if he weighed a feather, Tess struggled to withhold a million questions. She followed him silently, every nerve burning with the need to know what had happened. Then the memory of Monday night and the smell of alcohol came to mind. She’d thought it was the beer she had partaken in. Now she wasn’t sure.
Oh God. How long had he been drinking? Had she been so wrapped up with starting a new job, getting things organized around the house, she had missed all the signs?
Thoughts of her parents’ death, the car accident, sent a shiver through her. What would have happened if he had gotten behind the wheel? Tess couldn’t bear losing another family member. Tears sprang from out of nowhere, but she wiped them away before she entered the house behind all three men.
Moving quickly through the room, she said, “Lay him on the couch.”
When Clancy eased her brother down, his head thudding against the arm of the sofa, she knelt before Levi’s listless body. His lips were parted. He snored softly. The need to touch him, make sure he was okay, was too powerful to dismiss. She reached out and stroked his cheek, feeling stubble beneath her fingertips. His cheeks were cold, but warmth lay beneath. Thank God, he was alive. She released a pent-up breath, thinking at least for the moment.
Because tomorrow she was going to kill him.
Worrying her bottom lip with her teeth, she couldn’t help wondering what had he been thinking? Didn’t he realize their survival depended upon all of them pulling together? If something had happened to him—
A hand settled on her shoulder, startling her. She looked up to see Clancy hovering over her. He gazed down at her with sympathy in his eyes.
“Don’t be too hard on him. He only did what boys do.”
Tess didn’t respond. She returned her attention to her sleeping brother. Crescent eyelashes against his cheeks, his firm jaw, chin so like their father’s. Didn’t he know they didn’t have the luxury of being like other people? They were different. Their lives were different. She and her siblings were all they had. No family. No backup plan. Nothing, except for each other.
When she heard the door close quietly, she realized that Ty and Clancy had left. Pushing to her feet, she stood and began to tug one of Levi’s boots off, and then the other. After retrieving the throw over the back of the couch, she laid it over him, tucking the ends beneath him before she gently pushed a sofa pillow beneath his head.
“Tess.” He stirred, his eyelids rising halfway to reveal bloodshot eyes. “S-sorry. Wiseman—” His eyelids drifted down. “D-don’t blame him.” And then her brother passed out again.
Shame and regret flooded over her in waves. He was right. The outcome could have been disastrous, if not for Clancy. She could have lost—
Pinching her lips together, she beat back rising tears. When she found her control, she released another heavy breath.
Instead of thanking Clancy, she had accused and condemned him. He hadn’t even attempted to defend himself. Had he realized she didn’t want to believe Levi would do anything so careless? Needed someone to blame this on? Because without being able to shun the responsibility she would have to face the truth.
She sucked as a guardian and a sister.
Tess turned her eyes toward the ceiling. “Mom. Dad. I can’t do this.” Batting her moist eyelashes, she hissed. “Dammit. I won’t cry.” Crying never got her anywhere. It couldn’t change the past and it wouldn’t make this situation better.
Hugging herself, she started to pace. Why? kept pushing its way into her mind, but no answer clambered to the surface.
Pausing, she glanced at her brother. She had given Levi a lot of leeway. He needed to feel some sense of control after what had happened to their parents. They all did. But she’d made a mistake—a big one. Levi needed a stronger hand, a man to guide him.
Thoughts of Clancy—his silent strength—made her start walking again. She still didn’t have any idea what had happened tonight. Maybe her neighbor could shed some light. Maybe he could suggest how she should address the issue. One thing she did know was that she had to know more before confronting Levi tomorrow. With that in mind, she hightailed it to her bedroom.
It didn’t take her long to don a pair of underwear and bra, jeans, T-shirt, and slip her feet into flip-flops. Within seconds she was dressed and headed into the hallway and through the house.
Checking Levi once more, she found him curled on a side, sleeping like a baby. Doubting the boy would wake any time soon, she made a beeline to the door and grabbed her keys off the wall unit before she let herself out.
A cold breeze nibbled at her nose and stroked her hair like a lover’s caress. She’d left in such a hurry she’d forgotten her jacket. Before she lost her courage, she climbed inside her car and started the engine. In seconds she was pulling out of her driveway and heading down the road.
As she grew closer to her destination, she spied a single light burning bright through the window of Clancy’s house. For a brief moment, she slowed the car and thought about turning around. Instead, she accelerated.
Tess needed answers.
Her determination stayed its course, even as she maneuvered the car into the driveway and pulled it to a halt. Still running on resolve, she stepped out of the vehicle. Above her a light sprinkle began. The misty rain hastened her steps down the sidewalk. When she came to the door, she sucked in a deep breath and raised her fisted hand. Before she could knock the door swung open.
Clancy glanced over her shoulder, quickly scanning the area, before he met her gaze. “Is everything all right?”
“Yes. No. I mean— I need to know everything that happened tonight. Why was Levi drinking? Did something happen? And what about these fights?” She shivered as a large raindrop plopped on her forehead, followed by another.
Widening the door, he took a step backward. “Come inside before you get soaked.”
After she entered, he closed door, and then surprised her by pulling her into his warm embrace. “Where the hell is your coat?”
Instead of answering, she found herself snuggling closer, his heat a magnet she couldn’t resist. “I need answers.”
Damn. He smelled good. Earthy. Masculine.
He brushed a hair out of her eyes. “Darlin’, you’ll have to ask your brother.”
“But Ty said you saved him from getting his ass kicked, twice.”
There was something odd to his uneasy chuckle, but it became all too clear when he spoke again. “One of those times was from Ty. It appears his sister has caught your brother’s eye.”
“Oh Lord.” Tess dropped her shoulders in despair. “Drinking and girls?”
“A man’s two worse vices.” Clancy laughed, but quieted when she bit her bottom lip, looking so lost, so crestfallen.
“I don’t know what to do,” she whispered, more to herself than to him. Then she looked up at him with watery eyes and a forlorn expression that nearly broke his heart. “I can’t do this.”
Damn Levi.
Clancy tightened his hold on her, wanting, no, needing to make everything all right. “Everything will be okay.” In fact, he’d kill the little bastard himself if he ever did this to Tess again.
“Okay?” she choked on the word. “How? I don’t know how to raise a child, much less three precocious teenagers. Rose and Rachel need a mother to guide them. Levi needs a f
ather.” She shuddered, rattling on without taking a breath. “Then there’s the fact I don’t know anything about cattle or—or horses. I can’t run a ranch now, much less when Levi leaves for college. And then there’s that.” This time she sucked in a big gulp of air, releasing a weary utterance when she exhaled. “He doesn’t want to go to college. He wants to be a cowboy—a rancher. Oh God,” she said breathlessly. “I’ve placed my entire family in a lose-lose situation. This is my fault. If I fail—”
“No, Tess,” he said firmly. “You won’t fail. Darlin’, everything you’ve done is out of love. No one can fault you for that.”
A half laugh-half cry pushed from between her thinned lips. “No? The law says I’m responsible. I’m their guardian. Do you know what the judge will say when he sees that I’ve purchased a ranch that we won’t even be able to raise cattle on?”
“Now, I didn’t say you couldn’t raise cattle on this land, because you can. I just said that—”
A tear slid down her cheek, followed by another. Her bottom lip trembled.
Clancy wiped at her emotion with a knuckle. “Please, baby, don’t cry.” But just saying the words seemed to open the floodgates.
Tess gasped, releasing a whimper that nearly crushed him.
“I can’t do this.” She gulped down a mouthful of air. “I’ve been so wrong. Moving. This ranch. And you.” She rambled on. “I’m sorry. So sorry. I know you had nothing to do with Levi’s drinking tonight. But—”
“Shhh, baby. It’s all right.” His lips lightly touched hers. “Everything will be okay.”
She shook her head as if she couldn’t accept his words.
Her tattered emotions tightened like a hangman’s noose around his neck. His gut clenched. Like most men, he didn’t do well with tears. He struggled for a moment on what to do—to say. Then he swallowed hard, holding her so near that she buried her face into his shoulder. Her fingers were tangled in the back of his shirt as she held on and wept.
Ty entered the room quietly. He stood silently, watching. The helplessness in his friend’s expression pretty much summed up exactly how Clancy felt.
Rubbing his cheek against Tess’s, he murmured, “Shhh, darlin’.” Each convulsive gasp that shook her was like claws ripping at his heart.
Tess was right. Everything wouldn’t magically be all right and it had been wrong to infer it. But, dammit, if there were anything he could do to make it easier for this woman, he’d do it.
“Please, darlin’.” He rocked her softly. “We’ll make this better, together.”
Ty’s eyes widened at his impulsive promise.
Yeah. Clancy knew he was treading on dangerous ground, but what could he do? She was a woman in need, not to mention she lived next door. It wouldn’t be neighborly to let her flounder, especially when he could do something to help. The problem was accomplishing this without getting involved. That would be the tricky part.
When Ty nodded toward the door as if he planned to leave, Clancy shook his head. The last thing he needed was to be alone with Tess when both their guards were down. Not with how perfect she felt in his arms. The way their bodies aligned as if they were two parts of a whole.
She hiccupped several times, her sobs quieter, starting to diminish.
When he brushed his hand down her long, golden hair, she raised her tear-stained face, placing their lips a whisper apart. Warm, peppermint breath spread across his skin. He didn’t know who made the first move, but he felt the quake that rushed through her into him when their mouths met.
Clancy swallowed her next cry, but this one was different. It didn’t hold her previous pain. No. This one was of hunger—a need too overpowering to refuse as she deepened their kiss.
For a moment, he felt like the doors of heaven opened up and he tumbled inside. But when her small hand slipped beneath his T-shirt, stroking up his back, it was his turn to tremble, awakening his body with a jolt. Tingles started at the base of his cock and spread outward, every nerve ending going on full alert.
As her tongue swept along his, he tasted her desire, sweet and feminine. He speared his fingers through her hair. Tightening his hold to guide her head back, he broke their caress, before pressing his lips against the silky skin of her arched neck.
Her desperate mewl coaxed a rumble deep in his throat. Everything inside him screamed he had to have this woman. Only when a firm palm came down on his shoulder did he remember Ty’s presence.
“Mmmm. Wouldn’t mind some of that sugar.” His eyes shimmered with lust.
Clancy glanced questioningly at Tess. Her chest rose and fell swiftly. Her nostrils flared, before she reached out and pulled Ty close.
When their sultry kiss ended, Ty smiled. “She’s like summer rain on the tongue, isn’t she?” Brushing her hair aside, he nuzzled her neck. “Her skin is like silk.”
The man was right.
Tess did taste of summer rain, of a day bursting with promise, of life and a future. The image of Clancy and her sitting on the back porch in the swing, cuddled together, while the heavens spilled from above them washed over him.
For the first time tonight he relaxed. With Ty there, Clancy could be close to her with no fear of hurting her. He could do all the things he had dreamt of doing with her.
Before he realized it, he murmured, “I need you,” against her lips, and then he froze. Want. Not need. But it was too late to take back the Freudian slip.
Chapter Eight
Oh. My. God.
Tess stood speechless, sandwiched between two men. While Clancy stared longingly into her eyes, his lips a mere breath from hers, Ty’s firm chest and an impressive hard-on pressed to her back. His hands, which had been moving from her waist to her hips, stilled when Clancy spoke.
I need you.
The cowboy had no idea of the real meaning of need.
Talk to a woman who had been celibate for the last year. Her breasts felt heavy, sensitive. A throbbing pulse beat between her moist thighs. And her body was a furnace of excitement just thinking of making love to not one, but two men—at once.
While her body screamed with joy, her mind whirled. She’d love nothing more than to get naked with these cowboys, fulfill the itch that she’d experienced ever since she met her next-door neighbor, but she didn’t dare. Did she?
“That makes two of us,” Ty whispered against her ear, sending a chill up her spine.
“Whad’ya say, darlin’?” Fire burned bright in Clancy’s eyes. “Wanna take these ’ol cowboys for a ride?”
Oh Lord, she must be dreaming.
Clancy shifted a leg and she felt his arousal, hard and thick, against her abdomen. When he traced his nose along hers, their lips touched in the process.
“Please,” she moaned, leaning in for a kiss that was withheld when Clancy eased back.
“Please, what?” The gravelly texture of his voice made her heart pound faster.
She flexed her fingers in an attempt to not pull him closer. “Tell me to go home.” She made a desperate plea—one that would save her from making the biggest mistake of her life. “Make me leave.”
“Do you want to leave?” He gazed through sexy, hooded eyes showing an array of emotions. Desire. Tenderness. And if she didn’t know better, possessiveness.
Confused and thrilled, she startled, tensing, when Ty’s warm, wet tongue circled the shell of her ear. But the rogue didn’t stop there. He licked a slow path down and up her neck, stopping to nibble and suck on her earlobe.
“Are you sure you want this? Me? Ty?” Something felt off in his tone when he said the other man’s name, but she ignored it. Instead, Tess fought to keep her wits about her.
If she were wise, she’d get the hell out while the getting was good. Uncertainty made her hesitate, but then Clancy pressed his lips to hers and every rational thought fled. She literally melted against him. As he made love to her mouth, Ty stroked the sensitive skin between her shoulder and neck, his short-cropped mustache and beard tickling her. Moving restles
sly between them, she softly moaned.
“Yes.” Her breathy hiss appeared to surprise all three of them, because both Clancy and Ty stopped what they were doing.
Tess wanted what they offered. Damn the consequences. Tomorrow she’d pick up the pieces. But at this moment she needed to feel alive, needed to forget what happened with Levi tonight, forget her responsibilities, and especially the loss of her parents. Right now all she wanted was to be in these two men’s arms.
“Too many clothes,” Ty complained, plucking at her top.
Tess caressed her gaze from Clancy’s chest to his eyes. “Way too many.”
He reached for the hem of her shirt. “Then let me suggest we start with this.” As he pulled the garment over her head, she heard him suck in a breath. The lacy bra she wore didn’t do much to cover her breasts.
Ty moved around her to stand next to Clancy. He made a head-to-toe scan, releasing a low whistle as the corner of his mouth rose into a cocky grin. “Damn, baby. You’re beautiful.”
Clancy just stared at her. She didn’t miss the way his jeans tightened around his hips or the swell of his cock. A cock she had full intentions of feeling deep inside her.
“Now it’s your turn.” Tess had never been shy in asking for what she wanted. And, Lord knew, she wanted it all.
When neither of them made a move, she reached behind and unfastened her bra. Sides tucked beneath her arms, she controlled the material, not allowing it to slip loose until the exact second she wanted it to. As she eased a strap down one shoulder, the men reacted at once, quickly shunning their shirts.
Now Tess knew she was dreaming.
Two half-dressed, gorgeous men stood before her and they only had eyes for her. In fact, she felt like Little Red Riding Hood surrounded by wolves, and by the gleam in their eyes they had every intention of gobbling her up. A wave of desire released, dampening her thighs with the thought of parting them and one, if not both, men going down on her. She clamped her legs together but it did no good to assuage the throb, especially when she gazed at the bronzed, muscled flesh before her.
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