by Неизвестный
With that deplorable discovery fresh in her mind, she would have gladly hit the electrified fence to escape if Alex and Rafe hadn’t opened it. But thankfully, she had new options.
Back to the present, Alex and Rafe Drakestone were nothing like she had expected. Her notion of them colored by Cody’s vehement dislike and continual venom-filled attacks for the short time she had spent with them before they left on their sudden business trip. Cody and Simon hadn’t wasted any time talking down the neighbors. She’d expected the Drakestone brothers to be at the very least barbarians of the west rather than two of the most attractive cowboys she’d ever laid eyes on.
Rethinking her original escape plan, Brianna decided to wait until an opportune time and slip away from this sanctuary. Hopefully, the Drakestone brothers wouldn’t hinder her strategy. It wasn’t that she wasn’t intrigued by the possibility of marrying them, but she had so many secrets, and they ultimately wouldn’t want her as their bride. Not after they found out what she’d done. Heaven help her if it was ever discovered she’d broken the federal law regarding full disclosure of her ability to bear children.
The ride to the Drakestone homestead was quiet and uneventful. They crested a small plateau, and displayed before them in the valley between several other hills were the many outbuildings dotting an obviously thriving cattle business. Drakestone beef was said to be the finest dining in the west. And the east, too.
A multi-colored dog of mixed origins raced up to their horses dancing and barking as if his masters had been gone far too long.
“It looks like your dog is happy to see you. That’s telling.”
“All dogs are happy to see pretty much anyone return.” Alex sent her a puzzled gaze.
She turned to stare deeply into his vivid emerald eyes. “Not all of them.”
Cody’s dogs slinked around with their tails perpetually tucked between their hind legs as if waiting for a beating. So did his servants. She’d heard whispered rumors the moment she arrived. Cody equated being as mean as an angry snake with ultimate power. And apparently, Simon was worse.
The three of them dismounted in front of an antiquated-looking barn. Upon closer inspection, it was a modern structure but designed to look as if it was two centuries old.
Brianna found it as quaint and charming as the two men with her. She relaxed a notch with the notion that this change was for the better. Because frankly, anything was better than Cody Welter and his cousin, Simon.
Alex called a ranch hand over to take their mounts. “Feed the Palomino, brush her down, re-saddle her, and drive her back to the Welter ranch in our plushest trailer.”
Brianna didn’t know if being stranded without a horse was a good thing. Alex turned and gave her a reassuring look. “If you need a horse, we’ll provide one. I don’t want a horse thieving charge launched against you.”
“Supposedly, it’s my engagement present, but with the broken pledge, perhaps the gift is no longer mine.”
“Well, it should be yours, but just in case. We don’t want to lose you to a technicality or a felony charge of horse thievin’,” Rafe said. His hand graced the lower part of her back, sending a friction of sensation up her spine. Alex joined them and grabbed her hand. Together, they led her to the front door of a charming, oversized log cabin.
Brianna wasn’t certain she wanted to escape from these two interesting men, but if given the opportunity, she’d be gone faster than a speeding-pulse laser shot.
After having her sign a standard temporary marriage agreement in their den, which had beautiful timber-lined walls, Alex and Rafe led her quickly to their private quarters.
“We inherited the rooms when our folks died ten years ago,” Rafe explained, “but we didn’t move in until recently.”
“I see.” Brianna walked along with them quietly, but was very aware of them. Her apprehension had doubled since entering the house.
“It was hard to modify everything, but we wanted to do extensive remodeling to modernize it.”
“And to shape it to the current lifestyle changes?” she asked.
He grinned. “Right. There are two large master bedroom suites on either side of an equally large center guest suite intended for our bride. All three rooms exit into an octagonal-shaped parlor area. That’s the room we’ll see first.”
They walked down a short hallway. Through the ornate door at the end was the octagonal room he’d described.
“It’s lovely,” she murmured the moment they stepped into the parlor area. Warm wood tones dominated the space. The outer walls to her left were made of rough hewn logs, but the touches of color in the paintings and furniture were inviting. Through the skylights above her head, Brianna could see clear blue sky. There were three doors straight ahead and one to her left. She knew what these room were.
“The center door is our bride’s room.” Rafe pointed to the center of the three in front of her.
She didn’t smile. “And each of the other doors leads to your individual rooms, correct?”
Rafe nodded.
“And each of your individual rooms has an entrance into my room, right?”
“It’s fairly standard. Although, I like to believe it has a certain country charm you don’t find just anywhere.” Rafe grinned. He was fast becoming hard to resist. She glanced at Alex’s seductive mouth when he spoke.
“And all the bedrooms face the western sky so as to take advantage of the singular unobstructed beauty of the Rocky Mountains. You’ll be able to see the white caps of leftover winter snow on the peaks even though it’s already early May.” Alex’s soft tone didn’t fool her into believing he had anything other than sex on his mind, but since she was having similar lust, she couldn’t really blame him. But it didn’t alter her plans for what she had to do next.
“I’m sure it’s lovely.” Truthfully, in her mad dash this morning, she hadn’t even noticed the mountains.
Rafe squeezed her hand.
Brianna’s heartbeat kicked up a notch with the gentle pressure applied to her fingers. Alex’s hand moved to rest on her shoulder. Every place he touched her skin warmed to scorching levels. It was a wonder she hadn’t self-combusted each time they’d offered a small caress.
“Would you like to freshen up?” Alex squeezed her shoulder, and her heart rate doubled again. He turned into her, putting their bodies very close. “Then we can discuss what happens next.” The tone of his voice lowered with the last three words, and her body responded with a gush of moisture between her legs, the likes of which she’d never felt before. These two men were like walking aphrodisiacs to her libido. Dangerous.
She nodded, unable to trust her voice.
Alex leaned closer as if to whisper in her ear, but instead he kissed her cheek with a gentleness she hadn’t expected.
The whisper came next. “We’ll meet back in this room in, say, ten minutes to discuss our future together.”
His chest brushed the side of her breast. It was all she could do not to leap on to his body to satisfy the craving she’d just discovered she had for him.
Rafe kissed her other cheek, only his lips lingered and nibbled along her jaw line. Her nipples hardened, and the rush of desire took her off guard. She almost invited them to help her freshen up but shook off her lust. She needed to get away from these two men before she did something she couldn’t take back.
Marriage wasn’t in her immediate plans nor was providing an heir. In theory, she was fertile and able to produce children. She hadn’t ever put this to the test. Cody somehow knew this. He had relished the idea of taking her virginity . She was grateful Cody never got the opportunity. He’d even made mention of it in the horrid video she’d discovered. Escaping him was a huge victory. Before, just knowing he wouldn’t be able to impregnate her was tantamount to winning.
However, now that she was off and ready to marry Alex and Rafe, her deception weighed on her heart. They didn’t deserve what was about to happen. They’d do their level best to get her pregnant, of th
at she had no doubt. But it wouldn’t happen. She had ensured this fact herself. This was the first time she’d experienced regret over her scandalous actions.
She hadn’t ever wanted to take husbands. She would have been plenty content to be single. Although, if she had to choose two men to marry, these were definitely the two she wanted. However, providing an heir for them would not only be difficult just now, it would be impossible.
Brianna disengaged from them and walked on rubbery legs to the door they’d indicated. Hand on the shiny brass doorknob, she cast a glance over her shoulder at the two amazing men. Correction. Very dangerous.
She didn’t plan to stay long enough to discuss anything. In ten minutes and with a little luck, she could be halfway off this property and headed back home. Her brother would be desperate by now wondering where she’d gone so abruptly. She wondered how long these two cowboys would wait before coming after her. Hopefully long enough for her to steal a horse and be out of sight of the ranch.
Maybe they’d write her off within seconds of finding her gone. That made her a little sad as she walked through the door and left her rescuers behind.
Chapter Three
The moment the door to the bride suite closed behind Brianna, a call came on Alex’s cell phone. It was their ranch foreman, Henry.
“Hey boss, can you come out to the barn? There’s something you need to see.”
“Be right there.” Fuck. He’d rather wait for Brianna to emerge and spend the afternoon convincing her to be his wife. And then they’d celebrate with sex. Lots of sweaty, satisfying sex.
Rafe’s eyebrows rose in question.
“Henry wants me to see something. I’ll be right back. Don’t start anything good without me.”
Rafe’s bark of laughter preceded his statement. “No promises.”
Alex exited the house by way of a side door because it was closer to the barn. He rounded the back corner of the house in time to see Brianna’s long, shapely legs and lovely ass protruding from the bay window in her room.
Leaning a shoulder against the exterior, he paused to watch her wiggle backwards out of the frame. The window she chose was half a story above the ground. She was about to drop down onto the basement window well grate below.
If she was lucky and had good balance, she’d be okay. If not, she’d break a bone in her ankle the minute she hit because the window she shimmied out of was a six-foot drop. Not the best way to fall to the ground. Plus, she wore impractical boots.
He watched the spike-heeled and narrow, slick toes protruding from the window. Yep, she’d break both ankles if she didn’t have any sense of balance. He approached silently, ready to catch her if she lost control.
Alex waited until she hit the grate with the balls of both feet. She bent at the knees and stood momentarily before falling backwards toward his extended hands. Before she could get caught in the grate or fall on her ass, he grabbed her around the waist from behind.
She screamed the moment he touched her. He hung on tight until she was stable on her feet.
“What do you think you’re doing?” She twisted in his loose embrace until she faced him.
Alex tightened his hold again once she turned. “I could ask you the same thing. Do you have a death wish or something?”
“No. I just…I wanted to…why are you…” she stopped stuttering and pressed her lush lips together until a straight line formed. She promptly shook her head as if trying to clear the cobwebs from her mind.
“You could have gotten hurt.”
“Like you give a shit,” she muttered. Her gaze lowered from his face to his chest.
“I do give a shit. Liability insurance is astronomical, in case you didn’t know. I’d hate for you to sue me.”
Her gaze shot to his mouth and then rose to his eyes. He loved that she couldn’t seem to keep from staring at his mouth.
The vibrant blue color of her eyes sparkled in the mid-morning sun. He wanted her with a singular lust he’d never experienced before in his jaded life. His cock thickened, and he pressed his hips against her lower belly, unable to stop the bold come-on.
A slim thread of rational thought entered briefly into his lust-soaked mind. He had her wrapped in his arms in broad daylight, and Henry was waiting to “show” him something in the barn. He should back away, but found he lacked the willpower to do so. It was difficult not to touch her. He wanted to mold his body to hers. He wanted to bury himself into her. He wanted to learn every detail of her life in between bouts of sexual intercourse.
Before he got hold of his libido, her hands bunched his shirt at the collar, and she pulled him closer. When her lips brushed across his mouth, Alex was so surprised he lost all rational thought. He pressed forward, tightening his arms around her. He didn’t care who saw them.
The soft texture of her tongue as it entered between his lips pretty much disconnected his brain and any idea of stopping.
He slanted his mouth across hers to get a deeper taste and pushed his cock into her soft belly again. She tasted like sex, and he wanted more. Her hands discarded his shirt and fastened to his face. She pulled his head closer, dueling with his tongue in a frenzied kiss. Alex slid his hands to her ass, lifted her up, and then pulled her legs apart. He pushed her against the outer wall of the house and pressed his cock into the heat between her thighs.
God help him, he couldn’t stop kissing her. Next step would be their clothes flying off into the breezy morning. Alex reached up to cup her breast and brushed a thumb across her nipple. She moaned into his mouth, and he thought he might die if he didn’t take her to bed in the next few seconds.
“What in the blazes are you two doing down there?”
Rafe’s amused voice from the window above his head didn’t even slow him at first. But Brianna startled the moment Rafe spoke and slid her lips off of his. The pink in her cheeks emphasized her freckled, pert nose.
Alex had never seen a more beautiful sight. He cleared his throat, looked up at his brother’s slightly perturbed face. Rafe’s gaze went to Brianna, and a hungry look his brother rarely exhibited came out for a few seconds. Not jealousy at what Alex was doing, but a desire to do the exact same thing.
He separated his body from Brianna’s with regret and helped her find her footing. “I’m headed to the barn to see what Henry wants to show me. Brianna’s coming with me. Please join us, if you’d like.” Alex took a deep breath to control the raging lust that made his jeans tight across his lap. He grabbed her hand and pulled her along behind him on a trajectory to the barn. She followed without speaking a single syllable.
The scent of fresh hay assaulted him the second he stepped inside the large structure. “Hey, boss,” Henry said the moment they entered the barn. “I figured you’d want to take a look at your favorite horse’s latest issue.”
Henry turned and walked over to the birthing stall. He and Brianna trailed behind him.
They peered into the stall at the wobbly-legged foal still slick in a few places across his flanks from being born. His face had very similar markings to that of his horse, Desperado, as if his eyes had been swiped with a wide, white paint brush. “Looks just like his sire. Even at a couple hours old.”
“We should call him Bandit.” Alex’s heart softened a little at the miracle of life displayed before him. Baby animals were very hard to resist. Rafe’s urge to procreate became easier to understand as he watched the foal lurching carefully in the hay near his mother.
“Will do, boss. Bandit it is.” Henry pushed his cowboy hat back on his head and grinned. Rafe entered the barn and peered into the birthing stall. “He’s adorable. Looks just like Desperado.”
“Who is Desperado?” Brianna asked quietly. Her steady gaze hadn’t shifted from the foal since they arrived.
“My horse.”
She turned her head to him and laughed. “Wow. Hard to believe such a cute little foal came from the beast you were riding today.”
“He may look like a beast, but he’s a pu
ssycat.” Alex turned his focus from Bandit to Brianna whose smile faded when he added, “Much like his owner.”
Her lips quirked into an unreadable expression, and she turned her attention back to Bandit.
Rafe clapped his hands together and rubbed his palms back and forth, stealing their attention from the foal. “Now that we’re all refreshed with the spirit of new life, let’s go back and discuss our future.”
“I agree.” Alex reached for Brianna and slid his arm around her shoulders. She didn’t resist, but he didn’t let her go.
She crossed in front of the latest technological advances in animal husbandry with regard to cow impregnation. It was called the Impregnator Plus. The large square machine, which looked more like a scale to weigh their cattle, was actually a machine designed to determine whether a cow was ready to be inseminated with a bull’s seed for impregnation. It was guaranteed to be a hundred percent accurate.
Many crude names had already been attached to it. Alex’s favorite thus far was the “time to put it to ‘em” machine, but he pretended not to engage in such foolish cowboy antics with his workers.
Brianna walked past the machine and stepped one foot on the base as they walked past. Rafe was hot on her heels, and Alex saw him glance at the read out as Brianna passed by it. His laugh made Brianna stop. She turned back to him, and Alex also paused.
“What’s so funny?” she asked.
“Nothing.”
She lifted an eyebrow. He wasn’t being very convincing.
“You just stepped on the insemination machine. And you registered.”
She looked at the Impregnator Plus and paled. She jumped back as if it might reach out and knock her up.
Alex put a hand on her lower back as if he intended to push her toward the machine and said, “Maybe we should test her. It would save us time.”
Brianna stumbled backwards into Alex’s body and looked positively horrified.
“Don’t worry,” Rafe said quickly. “It’s not reliable on humans.”