by Неизвестный
“That would have been a shame because her cinnamon-colored hair already makes my dick throb. Let’s find out what her name is and if she’s attached.”
Alex shook his head, but he had to admit to a similar feeling in his loins. Likely because she didn’t look too giggly perched atop a thousand pounds of thundering horse flesh.
The lovely rider slipped through the hole of the fence and headed straight for them. The closer she got, the better Alex could see her and the more his cock came to attention.
She drew her reins short and slowed as she came to rest between their horses.
“Thank you very much for opening the fence. I thought they were going to catch me.” She leaned over and stroked the neck of the palomino horse she rode with affection.
Alex caught a whiff of jasmine scent in the air from her direction, and the fabric across the lap of his jeans tightened even further. “Why were you being chased?”
Her attention shifted from her horse to focus directly on his face. Her eyes, a vivid azure blue shade, beckoned him like a sea siren. “I didn’t want to get married.”
“They chase you for that now?” Rafe grinned and sent her an unspoken look of approval.
Alex could tell Rafe was already mentally putting a ring on her finger and a baby in her belly. Given the conversation they’d just had, Alex assumed this girl’s name was about to be added to their short list of marriage contenders. Hell, she’d probably garner the top spot. He wouldn’t say it out loud because she was a stranger, but so far he heartily approved of this new choice.
“They do if you’re promised to one of the most powerful landowners in the state.”
Rafe grinned and winked at her. “And I thought that title was exclusive to Rafe Drakestone or his brother Alex.”
Her eyes lit up, and her gaze intensified. “This is Drakestone land, correct?”
“Yes. It is.” She turned her gaze from Rafe to him. The only other close contender for most powerful landowner in the state was Cody Welter, and since his land was directly on the other side of the electrified fence, it stood to reason this beautiful woman was his bride-to-be. A crime of nature if there ever was one. Cody Welter was as popular as a wet dog in a dance hall.
“Please, I beg you. I’m asking for free passage across this land and asylum. Will you take me to your land owners to plead my case?”
Alex and Rafe exchanged a glance. “Perhaps. What’s your name, and what are you offering?” Asylum was commonly asked for by brides not wanting to marry the men their parents had selected. Especially if the contract had been set up when the bride was a child.
“My name is Brianna Lancaster. If you’ll allow me to accompany you to your ranch, I’ll offer myself in dual marriage to the land owners and grant them the right to test my fertility for ninety days before the final marriage papers are signed.”
The riders in pursuit slowed down as they approached the fence. It didn’t look like they would cross over the border. Smart.
“Stay here,” Alex commanded. He kneed his horse into a canter and headed over to the hole in the fence.
He counted nine riders. Each and every one of them had an impressive arsenal attached to their horses. Pulse rifles, laser pistols, and even sonic grenades were attached to each man’s saddlebag. Overkill for one little girl, he thought. Or she was more dangerous than she let on, which made her even more intriguing.
“Drakestone,” the rider in the lead called out, “thanks for stopping Brianna for us. Send her back on over the border, and we’ll take care that she gets back home safely.”
“Why would I do that?” Alex placed both hands on his pommel. A glance over his shoulder assured him the woman and his brother were too far away to hear their conversation.
“She’s the bride-to-be of Mr. Welter. She knows she’s gotta marry him. Running away won’t stop it.”
“She’s asked for asylum on my property. I’m granting it.”
“She can’t do that. The contracts have already been signed. It’s done.”
Alex shrugged. “She says otherwise. In a case like this, with conflicting statements, the authorities will have to decide.”
The lead rider sat forward in his saddle and narrowed his eyes. “Send her through the fence, Drakestone, or there will be consequences.”
“Don’t threaten me, cowboy, or you’ll find yourself on the wrong side of a range war you won’t win. Tell your boss the lady will only be escorted from my private home with a warrant issued by the law. And he better bring the state sheriff himself or she stays here.” He pushed a button on his wrist control panel and closed the fence. The blue semi-translucent border lit up again. He turned his horse to leave the perimeter.
“You’re making a big mistake, Drakestone!” the leader shouted.
“Won’t be the first time,” he murmured under his breath.
Ignoring the colorful obscenities now flying over the fence, Alex returned to where Rafe waited with the girl. He felt sorry for the man who’d have to tell Cody his bride-to-be got away on Drakestone land. Well, he almost felt sorry for him.
“Thank you,” she said the second he got within earshot. “Honestly, I’ll never be able to thank you two enough.”
“Guess we’ll find out pretty soon.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I don’t understand.”
“We own this property, and coincidentally, we’re looking for a bride.”
“You aren’t just range workers?” Her gaze fastened on his mouth for a few beats before she turned to stare at Rafe.
“Nope. I’m Alex Drakestone, and this is my brother Rafe. We’re the land owners you sought to make a deal with. Still interested in us?” She stared at him without speaking until he said in a low tone, “Want me to open the fence back up?”
She sent her gaze to the right and eyed the semi-transparent blue electric wall where Welter’s men still waited. She shook her head. “No. I’d be pleased to marry the Drakestone brothers. And no…I didn’t know you were looking for a bride.”
“Uh huh. Well, you must not be from around here then. Everyone knows we’re bachelors still searching for a wife.”
Her gaze strayed to his mouth again, and Alex’s intrigue level shot up as her gaze lifted to his eyes. “I’m not from around here. I’ve lived back east for my whole life. The truth is, I didn’t want to live out in the west.”
“But if you marry us, you will certainly live out here now.” Alex noticed she had freckles on her nose and was even more captivated by her beauty.
“Unless you decide against my proposal.” Her head tilted slightly as if to break his fixation on her face.
“Why on earth would I ever do that?”
Brianna’s slim shoulders raised a fraction of an inch. “Maybe you already have someone picked out that you’d rather marry. I’m not an eighteen-year-old debutant. And well, we are complete strangers.” She left out the part where she’d have to prove fertile. She also failed to mention the means by which they’d establish that knowledge. Sex.
Alex took it upon himself to answer for them both. “Coincidentally, we don’t have anyone picked out. And I don’t want a giggly teenager as my mate for life. Besides, lots of married couples today start out as virtual strangers. Trust me, that won’t stop us.”
She expelled a long sigh. “I don't really want to get married right now.”
“That’s unfortunate because I do. Given your generous offer of letting us try you out for fertility before we commit to the marriage for three months, I can’t wait to get you back home.” Alex stared into wide-open eyes so blue he wondered if the sky was jealous. This feisty woman touched his very soul. He watched as the meaning of his words sunk in to her brain. He wanted to fuck her as soon as possible, and now she knew it, too.
Rafe cleared his throat and gave him a “what the hell” look.
For the first time in his life, Alex was smitten with a woman. The color of her hair, the scent of her perfume, and the very tone of her voice conspired t
o light his world on fire. If she truly didn’t want to marry Cody Welter, and given her kind ninety day offer that seemed very certain, Alex planned to seduce her as quickly as possible before she changed her mind.
She found her voice after giving him a generous appraisal from head to chest. “I only said that because I thought you were workers. I wanted to ensure you’d take me to your land owners.”
“So if we’d been stable hands, you would have told a different story to our boss?”
She released a deep sigh. “Let’s just say I would have presented my case differently. Besides, I figured most of the landowners here were already married and shooting out progeny like bullets at a firing range. I didn’t expect to find two bachelors on the make.”
“I wouldn’t say we were on the make, I’d just say you present a great opportunity. Most of the naive marriageable girls we meet don’t like the idea of a ‘try me before you buy me’ sort of arrangement. Their fathers and mothers like it even less.”
“So I’m just a spontaneous opportunity? Great. I’ve always wanted to spread my legs for the chance at being a permanent wife. Night after night in my bed I wished for two handsome cowboys on horseback, of course, to sweep me off my feet by offering me a three month get-pregnant-or-get-lost deal. My dream life is unfolding before my very eyes.” She ended her mock tirade with a long, soulful sigh.
Alex laughed out loud. “Well, when you put it that way, it makes me like you even more. You’re funny.”
She didn’t respond, but a faint smile surfaced on her lips. He wanted to kiss her with every fiber of his being. Would she respond? Would she give as good as she got?
“Just for the record, if you don’t get pregnant in the determined time frame, we won’t just kick you out into the world with the clothes on your back. We’ll arrange things for you.”
“What things? An allowance? A big pay off? Men are all the same. They think money solves everything. Husbands are worse. Even if we are only married temporarily, I’d bet my last dollar that you’ll spend the rest of my life trying to control me. And the reason I’d rather stay single.” She pushed out a long sigh as if in resignation and focused her attention on her saddle horn.
“Wow, Alex, she has the same views of marriage that you do. She should be perfect for us.”
She eyed the fence over one shoulder as if she were pondering her rock or hard place choices.
“It would likely have killed you if you’d run into it,” Alex said. He hoped that she didn’t change her mind about returning to their ranch house.
Over his shoulder he noted that the group of Welter’s men hadn’t vacated the fence line. Perhaps they wished for a miracle. Alex didn’t want to give them one, but it would be entirely up to the blue-eyed beauty before them.
“Well, the truth is, that would have been my preferred choice rather than marrying Cody and his deplorable cousin.”
Alex crossed his forearms and rested them on his pommel, his reins rested in one gloved palm. “The leader of the pack of Welter’s men following you said that you’d already signed the papers to finalize your marriage to Welter.”
Her head whipped around to stare deeply into his eyes. “That’s a big, fat lie!” Her gaze dipped to his mouth for a third time in as many minutes. “I’ve been here for the past week for the initial pre-signing phase.”
Alex wanted to taste her in the worst way, not just her lips but her face, her neck, her collarbone. Given the chance he’d lick every inch of her skin. And truth be told, he wanted to unbutton her blouse and savor each nipple as she panted and moaned as his first foray into the exploration of her body.
Doing so in front of an audience like Welter’s men was inappropriate and might invite retribution from the group across the fence. Besides, Alex wanted to get her alone to explore a future. He knew the right woman would strike him like a bolt of lightning. Brianna Lancaster was that woman. The woman he’d worried didn’t exist. But she did. Alex would do everything in his power to have her.
“Just to be clear and before we gallop away, you’re willing to sign a bride contract with us as soon as we get back to our ranch, right? And you’ll give us ninety days to fulfill the stipulated aspects of the bride contract?” With lots of sex.
Her gaze fell to the pommel of her saddle again. “Yes,” she said quietly.
“And then we can commence a three-month trial period of fertility to see if you get pregnant before signing the final marriage papers?”
Her gaze caressed his mouth before she once again nodded her assent. “I trust you’ll be less frightening than my expectations of life with Cody and his second, Simon.”
Truthfully, Alex didn’t want to even think about Cody Welter in the same room with Brianna, let alone picturing what the man had said or done to scare Brianna so badly. “Let’s head to our homestead. We can discuss detailed expectations when we get there.” Rafe sent a stern look his way.
Alex wasn’t in the mood to be chastised. “Actions speak louder than words though, right, Rafe?”
“Settle down. I figure we can let her relax a moment and offer her respite before we pounce on her.”
“I thought you were in a hurry to have kids. No time like this afternoon to get started.”
“Kids?” Her head whipped up so fast Alex blinked in surprise. She glanced at the fence again and the fierce riders still waiting there. “This afternoon?”
Rafe forced a laugh. “He’s only joking. Come on. The sooner we get going, the faster we get home.”
Alex didn’t want her to make another escape attempt, but wasn’t truly joking about getting her naked in as short a time as possible. His mouth watered at the prospect of their first kiss. Their first skin-on-skin embrace. In his mind, she did too have something to fear from them. Unmitigated lust. He hoped she wasn’t fearful of shedding all her clothing when they made love to her the first time. He wanted to gaze upon every inch of her body before sinking his cock deeply into her slick, hot pussy.
Brianna looked over at Rafe and nodded. Her gaze then traveled to him, and her eyes narrowed briefly. She didn’t stare at his mouth this time, but instead glanced from his head to his legs and back.
Alex wanted her to keep staring, but after a few seconds she looked away.
“Let’s go then. I’m anxious to get off this horse.”
Rafe and Alex exchanged a glance behind her head as they rode back home. Alex didn’t know what was on his brother’s mind, but he wanted Brianna to ride a different sort of animal.
The one currently swelling the front part of his pants.
Chapter Two
With a wary eye on each of her two new riding companions, Brianna Lancaster suspected she had ridden out of the frying pan and straight into hell.
After being pressured by bodyguards sent to her home in New York with only a forty-eight hour notice and brought out to Wyoming at the behest of her odious former fiancé, Cody Welter, her lack of trust for men in general was riding very high.
“Why didn’t you break the contract with Cody Welter if you never intended to marry him?” Alex asked.
“The original bride contract was with his cousin, Dylan. Turned out he wasn’t as anxious to take over for his family in the ranching business. That suited me just fine. We struck a deal a long time ago to put off our permanent marriage agreement as long as possible.”
“But Dylan Turner was killed a couple of weeks ago and his cousin Cody is now set to inherit.” Rafe shook his head as if saddened that Dylan was dead. She agreed. It was a huge tragedy. And not just because she cared for him. His death left her in a bad place with regard to the marriage contract. Dylan would never have allowed this if he’d know what an asshat Cody was.
“Right. And then Cody asserted his rights for the marriage much more quickly than I was prepared for. I don’t think Dylan was cold yet when he signed the paperwork for me to be sent out to Wyoming. Plus, Dylan was my friend. I’ll miss him very much. I certainly wasn’t ready to get down to business wi
th Cody and his new selection so quickly.”
“I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Thanks.” She had to turn her head away and blink hard a few times to keep from breaking down into sobbing tears. It wouldn’t do any good. Dylan was gone, and Cody was his heir and now about to be in charge of all Dylan held.
She hadn’t signed any new agreement and didn’t wait around at Cody’s ranch to be persuaded. Not after she’d found that video disc hidden in his desk.
Instead, she took the first opportunity and ran like the devil himself chased her from a bride negotiation from long ago that she’d had no part in. She knew her rights. Unless they could prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was fertile, she didn’t have to marry at all.
Cody Welter had the coldest eyes she’d ever seen. If he wasn’t already at the right hand of Satan, then he held a job as disciple of evil over the limited world he controlled. The very thought of his lingering gaze upon her after her arrival last week was enough to make her blood freeze. If it hadn’t been for some unexpected business meeting which took him away from the ranch, Brianna was certain her fate would be already irreparably decided.
Worse, today’s run would have been a waste of time. Cody had wanted her to come to Wyoming six months ago to spend time with him and Dylan. She had put him off.
The new law requiring each woman marry two men, under the guise of protecting the country’s shrinking population, had changed everything for her. She’d held out as long as possible. She had never wanted Cody, but his cousin Dylan made him palatable as a secondary husband. She knew Dylan would protect her.
After Dylan had been killed, Brianna had flown out for his funeral. During her short stay, Cody made a new choice as second in the bride contract. He pulled her aside directly after Dylan’s service to introduce her to Simon. The bastard. Brianna decided death was preferable to the man he’d chosen as secondary.
If Cody was Satan, then Simon was surely spawned from hell’s dark side. The hidden video discs she’d found proved her instincts accurate. The two of them should be arrested for the perverse way they enjoyed sex with women.