by Vanessa Vale
“The day I buried Frank. Said Frank owed him money because he’d lost playing cards.”
“Did you give him any?” Xander asked.
“What money?” she asked, her tone dry. “The bank’s taking the ranch, the furniture. Everything. I even offered for him to take whatever he wanted in payment before the bank took it away. He didn’t want it. He wants me. Everyone in town knows my husband was a drunk and a gambler.”
I’d heard it from various sources, but didn’t realize the extent of her husband’s troubles. Most men went to the saloon now and again and played a game of cards. But to lose a successful ranch and still owe money, that was something else entirely. And Emily had been mixed up in it all. Trapped, even.
“Then why did you target us?” Xander asked. It wasn’t how I’d have phrased the question, but it made her respond.
She pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes. “I didn’t target you two, you big brute. You asked me.”
“You were desperate though. Desperate enough to say yes,” Xander said, pushing her.
“That’s right. I was desperate enough to say yes,” she repeated, her words dripping with bitterness. “I assumed if he ever came around that you’d protect me. You’re both much bigger than he is and that when he saw you both, he’d just give up the money owed him. Besides, your ranch isn’t near here. I’d hoped he wouldn’t know where I’d gone.” When neither of us said anything, she continued. “What was I to do? He was going to make me work on my back as repayment.”
Xander pushed down the back of her dress and stepped back as if he’d been burned. Spinning on his heel, he rubbed a hand over his beard and swore. Now he saw the error of his ways. His line of questioning made her think we were just like Ralph, that we just wanted her body.
“He was going to make you whore for him?” I asked. Anger bubbled to the surface and I clenched my fists. It was a good thing Quinn had dragged the man away, that enough time had passed where I couldn’t go after them.
She came up slowly, clearly worried we’d push her back over the desk. “Saturday. I was supposed to go to him on Saturday.”
“Fuck!” Xander shouted.
Emily flinched. I took her arm and helped her to stand. I pulled her into my arms, held her tightly, one hand at the nape of her neck, the other about her waist. I didn’t care if she wanted me to hold her; I wanted to feel her in my arms.
“I’m sorry, baby,” I murmured, kissing the top of her head. “You’ve been through so much. Sounds like your husband was quite the asshole.”
She laughed, although it was full of sorrow.
Over her head, I glanced at Xander, who was running his hands through his hair, tugging on it. His gaze was on Emily, looking at her as if he had no idea what to do with her. She was a puzzle, a mystery to him. Living on a sprawling ranch, he’d kept himself at a distance from people easily enough. As his friend, I understood him, his “think the worst of people” mentality. He also knew I wouldn’t stand for any shit. But he was now responsible for Emily, which meant he would have to think and act differently from now on. The question was, would his past drive a wedge between the three of us? Could he be the man she needed?
XANDER
Shit. Shit. What the fuck had I done? When that man had said he wanted money out of Emily, I hadn’t thought about how he might be using her, but how she had been using us. I’d been stupid, fucking stupid. She’d even leaned over the desk and lifted her dress up, expecting us to get payment from her pussy. I was no better than Ralph.
“Did Frank hit you?” I asked. I tried to calm my racing heart, to take deep breaths and try not to scare her any more than I already had. People would walk a wide path around me on good days; between the two of us, Tyler had the sunny disposition. Emily needed her men to cherish her, not scare the hell out her.
Tyler held her tightly as if he could absorb all her pain—pain that I’d caused. I had to know the shadows of her heart, to know how she’d been hurt in the past so I didn’t repeat it.
“A few times.” Her voice was muffled by Tyler’s shirt. He loosened his grip—slightly. “He was always drunk and I’d hidden the house money.”
The idea of anyone laying a hand to her, especially her husband, the person who should have been taking care of her, had me wanting to hit something. Someone. But that wasn’t what she needed right now.
She’d given the truth and she deserved it from me in return. I had to fix this, and the only way I could think of was to let her know about the man she married. She just caught a decent glimpse of him. I wasn’t soft. I wasn’t kind. Good thing she was legally married to Tyler. If need be, I could just ride off and leave them. She’d be safe and well cared for with him. My breakfast settled heavily in my stomach at the idea of never seeing her smile or see the way she came all over my cock again, knowing I’d given her the pleasure she deserved.
“I was convicted of a crime I didn’t commit.”
Emily twisted out of Tyler’s hold and he dropped his hands, only long enough to pull her back into him, his arm banded about her waist. He was keeping her close and I didn’t blame him.
“I was in Laramie and I spent the evening at the saloon. I’d had too much whiskey and I woke up the next day in a jail cell. The sheriff told me I’d almost beaten a woman to death. There were two witnesses.”
As I spoke, my gut churned, remembering how I’d felt at the time. Hungover, definitely. Confused. I’d been railroaded and I hadn’t even known how.
“I couldn’t remember a thing. It was possible I’d actually done it.”
“Bullshit,” Tyler said.
I glanced up at my friend and knew he’d been as helpless as I in the situation.
“Weren’t you there with him?” Emily asked, looking over her shoulder at Tyler.
I shook my head, answering for him. “I went for business alone. A cattle deal. Instead, I ended up before the circuit judge and then six months in jail.”
“Surely you didn’t hit a woman. You wouldn’t do that!” Her vehemence melted a hardened spot on my heart. Even after the accusations I’d made, she stood up for me.
“After what I’ve just done to you, you’re so sure?”
“Yes,” she replied simply.
I just shook my head in disgust. “I’m not a nice person, Emily. I think the worst of people.”
She came to me, took my hands. I looked at how much smaller hers were in mine. How pale her skin was, how dainty and fragile her fingers were.
“What really happened?”
“Another man wanted the cattle. He went to the saloon and went upstairs with a whore. He… took her roughly, choked her, beat her, then left her. A saloon girl, who we discovered had been paid handsomely, helped me upstairs and into the woman’s room.”
“So they found you with the poor woman and they all pointed their fingers at you,” she replied.
“He paid the whore to lie before the judge, to help convict me.” I remembered how helpless I’d felt at being locked behind bars for a crime I couldn’t even remember.
“Took Tyler six months to get the truth. The real perpetrator was brought to justice and I was released.”
She spun on her heel, knew the connection, the friendship between me and Tyler was more than fucking the same woman. I didn’t have many friends, but what he’d done to have me released would put me forever in his debt. Perhaps, that even included marrying when I shouldn’t have, when I knew I wasn’t good for any woman. But now, even only a day into it, he’d been right. A woman—Emily—was good for me, for us. I just had to keep from fucking it up.
“So, sweetheart, you’ve married a fucked-up bastard.”
Turning her head, she looked up at me and pursed her lips. “Definitely one who likes to swear.”
I couldn’t deny that. “I don’t trust easily,” I admitted. “I don’t like liars and I like control. If you want a gentle husband, you go see Tyler.”
She glanced down at my words, wrung her hands. Tyler remaine
d silent. I remained silent, too, waiting to see what she’d say. That stupid ticking clock only reminded me that she was taking an awfully long time to think.
“Maybe… one gentle husband is enough.”
My heart flipped at her words. Yeah, Tyler would be good to her. I nodded my head and turned toward the door, resigned to know she would be well taken care of. Without me.
Her small hand on my arm stopped me.
“I… um, actually, like rough, too.”
Slowly, I turned to face her, to stare at her, to look into her dark eyes and search for the truth.
“What are you saying, Emily?”
“I’m saying I… I liked it when you were rough.”
Her admission made her cheeks turn a bright pink.
The corner of my mouth tipped up. “You like it when I take control, sweetheart?”
She nodded, then bit her lip.
“You like it when I push you up against a door and lick your pussy until you come?”
I saw heat flare in her eyes, her flush creep down her neck. “Yes.”
“I can’t be gentle, sweetheart, but I’ll never hurt you.”
“I know.”
Just like that, my cock hardened, my body relaxed and settled into the mindset of a man who had a woman who needed to be controlled. Who liked it. Who came because of it. Who needed it.
I flicked my gaze to Tyler and he just gave me a small nod. Emily wasn’t leaving me. She wanted me just the way I was.
“You’ve been such a good girl, I think you deserve a treat.”
I grinned when I saw her mouth fall open and her nipples tighten beneath her dress.
CHAPTER EIGHT
EMILY
“Treat?” I asked.
Xander had made my emotions so topsy-turvy that my brain was muddled. When Ralph had been dragged inside I thought my heart had stopped. He was insane to come to the Bridgewater Ranch and push me for money. He could have been shot and buried where no one would ever find the body. Xander and Tyler had protected me, paid the man and gotten rid of him all within a matter of a few short minutes.
I’d wanted them to protect me from Ralph but hadn’t expected them to pay him off. Panic was replaced by relief when I knew he wouldn’t be coming after me anymore. I was free of him once and for all.
But then Xander had accused me of awful things. I’d even thought he had wanted repayment in the form of… of fucking. I’d assumed then that he was no better than Ralph or Frank. So I’d dutifully bent over the desk as I’d assumed he’d want to take me. The look on his face when I’d done so was a mixture of anger and horror.
Then, hearing about his past, the reason for his abrupt and hard demeanor had my heart aching for him. What he’d gone through must have been awful for him, a man so desperate for control. I understood now why he wanted it when we were together, when he’d told me the other day he wanted me to submit.
I wasn’t submitting to him like I had with Frank, with nothing in return. I was giving myself to Xander and he took that as a gift and cherished it.
I’d said I didn’t love them. I didn’t, but after Xander’s confession, I knew it would happen given time. But would they ever love me? Xander spoke of hating liars. I was one. I hadn’t told them about killing Frank. Keeping that secret was like keeping a lie, for they would never know the kind of woman they married. I was the lie. While I hadn’t tried to pin my crime on an innocent person, I’d definitely gotten away with it.
“A treat, sweetheart,” Xander repeated. His voice, while still commanding, had lost the hard edge. He was still full of intent, but it had shifted. “Not a candy or anything, although I’ll find it very sweet.”
I frowned, not sure what he meant.
“Hold up your skirt for me. More. More.”
I lifted the fabric so the bottoms of my legs were exposed. First my ankles, then my calves, then higher and higher until I knew to what he spoke.
I felt Tyler at my back as his hands cupped my breasts. Only for a moment did he squeeze and fondle them, for he moved them to work the buttons down my dress so that my breasts were revealed to their gazes, so he could play with them without the dress in the way.
Xander dropped to his knees before me when I held the fabric up around my waist, just as it had been only the day before. Instead of the unforgiving hard door at my back, I had Tyler, all rippling muscle and hot skin. Xander pushed my thighs apart, kissed the soft skin there on one side, then the other. The rasp of his beard made my skin tingle, a sharp contrast to his soft lips. He glanced up at me, his dark eyes filled with arousal and a hint of pleading. “I won’t be gentle in this, Emily, but I will pleasure you.”
Through my instant haze of arousal, I saw the kiss for what it had been. Gentle. Xander didn’t see it or even know he had it in him.
When his fingers slid inside of me as his mouth latched onto my clit, I knew he would pleasure me as he’d said. There was no question. In fact, he didn’t tease, didn’t start off slowly, but curled his fingers over a place inside of me that had my hips bucking and a gasp escaping my lips.
His tongue slid over my newly bare flesh and I had to admit it was much more sensitive. When he flicked against my clit as he sucked on it, working me up to the peak within seconds, I would never doubt them again.
When Tyler tugged on my nipples, then pinched them, I couldn’t hold back. I was so easy to arouse. I came with a breathy scream.
“Xander, yes!”
I wilted against Tyler, my breathing ragged, limp like a rag doll. I realized that my fingers were tangled in Xander’s dark hair and holding his face against my pussy.
Releasing my hold, he pulled back and glanced up at me from his intimate spot. His lips and beard gleamed with my arousal. Slowly, he slipped his fingers from me, then licked them clean.
“So sweet,” he murmured before standing, then lacing a hand behind my neck. “Taste.”
He lowered his head and kissed me, his tongue dipping into my mouth and I tasted Xander’s personal flavor, but my own as well. I was sweet and musky and the combination was heady.
“I hope you’re not hungry, for I want to get home as quickly as possible.”
Tyler grunted in reply. “We would fuck you now, baby, but I doubt Brody and Mason want to give up their office for the rest of the day.”
With awareness came embarrassment. “Oh, I’m sure they heard me. What are they going to think?”
I covered my face with my hands.
“They’ll think you have two very skilled lovers.”
I peeked between my fingers at them. They stood before me with open arousal and, when I glanced down at the front of their pants, very hard cocks. It was their grins, however, that had me pulling my hands back and laughing with them. It was amazing, the change in my mood after a husband-induced orgasm.
***
“Of course, I’m thrilled!” Tyler’s mother exclaimed when I was introduced.
We’d ridden to Helena and made good time, arriving at Tyler’s parents’ house before the sun set. Xander said it was a good halfway point to the ranch and where we would spend the night.
I knew the Bridgewater men were wealthy. I even knew Tyler and Xander had money—if it hadn’t been Xander giving Ralph fifty dollars directly from his billfold, it was the information Olivia had shared about her cousin’s ranch. But the mansion in which Tyler was raised was much more obvious. So far I’d counted three servants, all of whom Tyler knew by name.
I’d expected a stodgy older woman with a diamond-covered chip on her shoulder, but I was very wrong. Mrs. Tannenbaum was relaxed and delightful. She hugged the ever-stiff Xander and even coaxed a smile from him. Instead of eating a late meal in their formal dining room, we sat at a well-used table in the kitchen.
“I knew the two of you would find a bride together, but not this week.” She was pleased and overwhelmed with the news. “I am sorry your fathers are not here to see you. They would have stalled their meeting in Billings had they known.”
She ran a hand down her son’s cheek, the love there quite clear. I felt a pang of jealousy for what they shared; I never knew my mother, as she died when I was a baby and I did not wish to remember my father.
“As you always said—”
“Lightning.”
The one word had Tyler nodding.
Mrs. Tannenbaum turned toward me. “Tell me about yourself, Emily.”
Her posture was ramrod straight and her hands were folded in her lap. She was a lady through and through.
I dabbed my lips with my napkin and took a sip of water. I cleared my throat, suddenly nervous. I am a liar. A killer. “Well, Mrs. Tannenbaum—”
“Belinda, please.”
I gave a small nod. “All right. Belinda. I was recently widowed and found myself in a predicament.” I didn’t need to share more than that and I was relieved neither man chose to do so. I glanced at both of them. Tyler watched me with his usual calm demeanor—now I knew where it came from—and Xander was helping himself to a second serving of chicken and dumplings.
“It wasn’t a good marriage,” Belinda said. She didn’t form it as a question, but as fact. She was very good at reading people, so I looked away. What else could she see?
“No. It wasn’t a good marriage. He wasn’t a good man.” That truth was easy to tell. “Marrying Xander and Tyler, well, it might not have been lightning as you call it…” I swallowed again, worried I’d make everyone mad at me. Perhaps she’d see me as a gold digger even, or worse, what I really was. “However, I have found that both Xander and Tyler are… nice.”
Xander arched a brow and his forkful of dumpling stopped halfway to his mouth. “Nice? You think that about us?”
I shrugged, not wanting to admit to my new mother-in-law that I found her son and Xander very attractive and eager to have them fuck me as soon as we were in private.
“We will have to work on some other adjectives,” Tyler added with a very heated look.
I felt my cheeks blush.