by Ember Cole
Fear snakes through me at the thought of her leaving us. “Let’s just calm down,” I say. “Let’s head back to the ranch and talk it over, okay?”
She nods, and we all climb back into the truck.
I hold her tight as we drive back to the ranch. I can’t believe I didn’t consider all the ramifications. Vance must have, or else he wouldn’t have been such an asshole about the whole thing. He should have talked to us. I mean, she’s Texas royalty. And her father wants to marry her off to his business partner. Of course he’d be beating the bushes looking for her.
This trip into town was a bad idea.
“We’ll figure something out,” Reed says, glancing at her in the rearview once we’re on the road and heading back to the ranch. “Don’t worry.”
I try to put my arm around her, but she’s staring straight ahead, her face pale, her mouth tight. I can almost hear the desperate thoughts whirring inside her head. Nothing we’ve said has convinced her she’s worth the risk to us.
She’s already leaving us.
18
AMELIE
“You can’t go home,” Reed says. “You just can’t.”
He’s sitting across the kitchen table, the others gathered around. Kind of like my own personal Knights of the Round Table, I think sadly. All ready to sacrifice themselves for me.
I can’t let them do that.
“It would be the easiest solution,” I say, though the thought of marrying my father’s business associate sends icy dread down my spine. “Daddy would never know where I’ve been. You’d be safe.”
“But you wouldn’t,” Vance says. “You’d be marrying a man you don’t love, being forced to share his bed.” He grips the table, his knuckles white.
I look down at my hands. The start of the new calluses from all the work I’ve been helping with around the ranch make me smile. My manicure is long gone, ragged bits of peeling pink nail polish all that’s left of the old me.
“I don’t want to go home,” I say, “but I can’t put you all in danger by lying to the police. And I can’t hide forever. I have to face the music sooner or later.”
“Later,” Greyson says. “Much later.”
Memphis nods. “Let ’em come. We can take them all out.”
Jesse rolls his eyes. “This isn’t some old-timey Western,” he says. “We’re not about to draw our Colt .45s and have a showdown with the sheriff in the middle of the street.”
“And nobody is taking anybody ‘out,’” Vance says, pinning the twins with a fierce glare. “The last thing I need is you two causing trouble.”
“It’s been a while,” Memphis says, grinning at Greyson.
The others sigh and curse lightly under their breaths. I have the feeling there are a lot of stories the twins could tell me that would have me laughing for days. But I don’t have days.
“Hank Carter will make things a lot more difficult for us if he finds out she’s here,” Jackson says.
Vance scrubs his hands over his face. “Hank’s had it out for us for a long time. This gives him another excuse.”
“Well, we’re not handing her over to that asshole,” Reed says. “If that’s what you’re suggesting, I’ll take her and run away with her myself—”
“It’s not,” Vance says. “Calm down. We need to think through this and figure out what’s best for Amelie. What she wants.”
Seven pairs of eyes focus on me.
“Well,” I say. “I came here because I wanted to give my virginity to a man of my choosing.” My eyes slide to Vance, and his eyes warm slightly. My heart tightens, remembering how perfect it was. I look back to all the others. “I think we can safely say that’s been accomplished.” I smile brightly at each of them. “A girl couldn’t ask for a better group of men to be her lovers. I’ve enjoyed my time with each and every one of you. And you’ll all always be special to me.”
I swallow hard, my throat closing with emotion. “I can never thank you enough for everything you’ve given me.”
As I look around the table at each of them, my heart breaks. It’s not just that I don’t want to go home and be subjected to marriage and sex with a man I don’t love. It’s that I don’t want to leave these men. I want to stay here, on the ranch. I want to stay with these seven men I’ve come to care about in just a short time. All my life I’ve done what was expected of me without ever really thinking about what I want. But I am now. And I want these men. All of them. Nothing has ever felt so right.
But I can’t stay because I do care. Daddy will never give up. He’ll find a way to destroy the Maddox brothers and all they’ve worked and sacrificed for all these years.
And…they haven’t asked me to stay. It hurts, but I know I crashed into their lives without giving them the choice to turn me away. I’m sure they care, but maybe they’ll be glad to get back to their own lives when I’m gone.
“I won’t go home,” I say. “But I do have to go. And soon.”
I don’t realize that a tear has slipped down my cheek until Vance leans over to brush it away. I blink up at him and see the sadness back in his blue eyes. He leans in and kisses me, his lips gentler than they ever have been. I stand up and lean into him, wrapping my arms around his waist.
The others gather around, too, wrapping me in male warmth and affection. Which only serves to make me surer of my decision. I’ll have them drive me to Dallas tomorrow, find a pay phone so Daddy can’t track me back to the ranch, and call my cousin in L.A. to make arrangements. She’ll help me.
My heart is breaking. I squeeze the guys even tighter, not wanting the moment to end.
Finally, I look up at Vance, then Jesse, Reed, and the others. I take a deep breath and make one last request of my heroes. “Make love to me.”
Vance searches my face for a moment, and I think he sees what I’m thinking. One last time. His mouth hardens, then he kisses me, taking my lips fiercely. After a moment, he scoops me up and heads for the living room. Reed moves the coffee table out of the way, leaving a big enough space for all of us in the center of the room.
As soon as Vance puts me down, eager hands start removing my clothing. Reed tugs my shirt up and over my head. Memphis unsnaps my bra with a practiced flick of the wrist and whisks it away. Jackson already has my jeans unbuttoned and unzipped. Tanner and Jesse shove them down my legs and help me to step free of them. Greyson is on panty duty. Within the space of a minute, I’m completely bared to my seven lovers.
“Beautiful,” Reed says, then kisses me, tugging me hard against his chest. The others don’t hesitate to join in. Someone kisses my neck while another man slides his hands over my breasts from behind.
“There’s so much I want to do with you,” Greyson says in my ear, and I know exactly what he wants. What he’s wanted from the beginning.
His hands drift down my back to my ass. He strokes my cheeks, then dips into the crevice between, just grazing the entrance he wants to fill.
My breath catches. I remember how good it felt to have his finger inside me, stretching. I want his cock, too.
“Yes,” I whisper.
“You won’t be sorry,” Greyson says, pressing a kiss to my neck. I can hear the excitement in his voice. He turns and runs up the stairs, taking them two at a time.
Reed is kissing my breasts now, circling each tight peak with his tongue before sucking it into his mouth. And all the while, other hands are caressing every inch of my body. Someone slides a hand between my legs, cupping my pussy, rubbing gently. Lips move over my arms and shoulders, my face. I feel so protected, so cared for. Cherished by all my guys.
Greyson is back. “My turn first this time,” he says. The others don’t argue, they just help me to lie on the floor in the center of the area rug. Greyson had already stripped down to his underwear, and he gets rid of those, smiling down at me.
He drops to all fours and dips his head to kiss the inside of my thighs. Jesse is by my head. He takes my lips in a sweet kiss before delving deeper, swirling his tong
ue over my lips and tongue.
Greyson parts my legs and moves his magic mouth to my folds, licking and kissing his way to my clit. There he gives it extra attention, sucking gently before licking it again with hard, flat strokes.
“I want you good and ready,” he says, and circles the outside of my pussy with one finger. I squirm, needing him to quit teasing and fill me.
Finally, he does, his finger sliding inside, then trailing my juices down to where he wants to be. “You’re so hot and so wet for me already,” he says. “But fucking your ass is going to be even better.”
He sits up and grabs a pillow from the nearest couch. “Turn over. Put this under your hips.”
I do as he asks. He adjusts the pillow until it’s angled so that my ass is up in the air.
He strokes the back of my thighs, then parts my legs more. “Yes,” he says. “Just like that.”
Someone is kissing my hands, working their way up my arms. Someone else is rubbing my back and shoulders, raking my hair up and over my head.
Warm oil splashes on my back and ass, and multiple sets of hands rub it in. I’m slick and wet and so turned on I’m ready to come right now.
I feel Greyson’s fingers at my entrance and try to relax my muscles. I liked it when he fingered me there before, and I’m eager for that sensation again.
His slick finger breaches my ass just a tiny bit. He withdraws, then pushes in again, a little farther this time.
“Feel good?” he asks, and I manage to nod. There is pressure and a sensation of fullness, but the oil eliminates any friction, letting him probe a little deeper with each stroke, adding a second finger, circling and thrusting, opening me up for him. At last I feel his knuckles against my ass, and I know his fingers are in as deep as they can be.
“Oh, yeah, you’re loosening up beautifully. This is going to be amazing, Amelie.”
Greyson removes his fingers, and I feel his thighs against the back of mine. I hear him lubing himself up, and a sudden wave of uncertainty washes over me. I blow out a breath and concentrate on how good his fingers felt.
“Be careful, Greyson,” I hear Vance growl from above me.
“I’ll be good, I swear,” Greyson says, pushing slowly ahead.
His cock is slick with oil and the head slides in, pushing through the tight ring of muscles with a silent pop. I let out a breath, trying to relax further. He waits a heartbeat and then pushes in a little farther, slowly, letting my body adjust to the invasion, just like he did with his fingers. The sensation of fullness is amplified now. Not painful, but definitely strange.
“Okay?” he asks. He voice is strained. His hands grip my hips, though he holds perfectly still.
“Yes,” I manage, breathing heavily. “It feels good.” And it does feel good.
He pulls back, then pushes in, working himself into my tight opening bit by bit.
At last he’s all the way inside me. His hips are against my ass, our thighs pressing together. I push up with my arms so I’m on all fours now. Immediately, Jackson’s hands are on my breasts, caressing me, adding to my pleasure.
“God, you feel good, Amelie,” Greyson says. “I knew you’d like this. I just knew it.” His voice is still strained, but I can hear the pure joy there and smile. I thrust my hips back, giving him permission to move, asking for it.
He pulls out, then thrusts all the way home again. With each movement, my body adjusts to the invasion and I enjoy it more. I begin to rock with him in the slow-motion thrusting rhythm he sets.
Then Memphis is beside me. He reaches beneath me to gently trace my clit. Then he maneuvers his fingers into my folds.
“As soon as you’re ready, I’m going have you ride me so I can fuck your sweet pussy while Greyson is plowing your ass,” Memphis says. His fingers move in and out of me more quickly now.
“Yes,” Greyson says, pounding into me. I’m a lump of nothing but feelings. No resistance, no pain, only intense, overwhelming pleasure. “Fuck yes!”
Someone is in front of me, his cock out. He nudges my lips. “Take me, too, Amelie,” Reed says, and I suck him deep inside my mouth, swirling my tongue around the full, salty head.
Blood races through my veins. It feels like all my nerves, inside and out, are being stimulated at once, and it’s almost too much. Greyson is thrusting a little harder now, his hands gripping my hips tighter. With a low groan, he pulls out.
“Hurry, Memphis,” he says, breathless.
Memphis lies on the floor next to me. “Come on, Amelie,” he says with a smile. “Time to take both of us at once.”
I release Reed’s cock and scramble over to Memphis. The idea thrills me, and I move to straddle his hips. I’m more than ready to have him, and I lower onto his cock easily.
“Perfect,” he says, closing his eyes for a second.
I lean down and kiss him as he starts to move his hips. When I can’t breathe for the pleasure, I pull back and smile down at him. He and Greyson are troublemakers, both spending a lot of time joking around and bragging about their sexual prowess, but deep down, they’re good, sweet men with hearts of gold. I’m going to miss them both.
Memphis runs a hand down the side of my face. His eyes are bright—he’s as eager for this as his twin—but I see the sadness he’s trying to hide, too. “Ready for Greyson?” he asks.
I nod.
“Come here.” He pulls me back down and nibbles at my lips. He spreads his legs wide, and Greyson moves into place behind me. Since my ass is sticking up in the air, he has easy access. He applies more lube to my opening, using his finger to coat me inside and out.
I groan when he thrusts his finger all the way inside me. Memphis is still moving, but very little, swiveling his hips in very slow, languid circles.
“If you think that feels good, wait until both of us have our cocks buried inside you,” Greyson says, then removes his finger. He positions himself at my entrance and slowly begins the process of working himself back inside.
Memphis kisses me a little more clumsily now, clearly turned on and using all his strength to wait until Greyson is fully seated. I can feel the tension in his mouth and his hands where they cup my face.
Greyson slides in and out, going a little deeper with each push until, at last, he’s buried all the way inside me again.
I can’t breathe. I’m so full, stretched to breaking around their two cocks. Completely claimed by them both. One hard man is below me, filling my pussy. One hard man is behind me, owning my ass. Five other hard men look on.
Then Memphis starts to move. He pulls out while Greyson presses in, a perfect rhythm just like last night. I push up on my arms a little, still bent over Memphis’s chest, but with some space between us. Reed stands in front of me again, his cock in his hand. I lick my lips in invitation and he guides it to my mouth. All my holes are filled now, all three men moving in and out of my body. I feel completely possessed, completely dominated, and yet still in control, too. I want this, all of it, all of them, touching me and filling me.
I suck Reed harder as Memphis and Greyson up their pace.
Memphis strokes my breasts. “It’s not every day I get such delicious-looking tits within reach of my mouth,” he says happily. “Gotta take advantage of that.” He raises his head slightly and captures one hard peak between his teeth before circling his tongue over the stinging bud.
I’m hot all over, the tension in my belly coiling tighter and tighter under the ministrations of the three men. The sense of fullness, of stretching, of possession, it’s exactly what I need.
Reed’s fingers tangle in my hair, guiding my head. Greyson’s fingers dig into my hips, controlling his penetration. And Memphis licks and sucks at my breasts, all the while matching the thrust of his hips perfectly to Greyson’s.
My arms start to shake as blood rushes through my veins. My muscles clench on the twins as the power of my impending climax builds. They both groan and thrust harder. Reed stiffens, then empties into my throat with a hoarse groan.
>
When he pulls out, I gasp for air. Memphis pinches my nipples, and that last little twinge of pleasure/pain sends me sailing over the precipice. Waves of pleasure roll through me with a power I haven’t felt before. I scream out with the force of it.
Below me, Memphis jerks, and I feel him come deep inside me. Behind me, Greyson stiffens and he fills me, too.
I suck in air, breathing hard as the last tremors rattle though me. My skin feels flushed, and I’m shaking. I collapse on Memphis’s chest, and I feel his heart beating double time, too. His arms come around me. Snuggling me to him.
“Are you all right?” he asks.
I lift my head and give him a smile. “Better than all right,” I say, and kiss his lips.
“I told you it would be awesome,” Greyson says, withdrawing from my body.
Memphis kisses me again, and even though I’ve just been completely wrung out, I feel that distant thrum of desire starting anew.
Then Greyson gets to his feet and there’s another man there to take his place. I turn to see Jackson sitting on the floor, completely nude, his erection standing tall and ready for me.
“Looks like Jackson wants some attention,” Memphis says. I kiss him one last time on the lips, then lift off him and go to Jackson.
“On my lap, facing me,” he says, and I obey.
I bend over to kiss him, nipping at his lips. He deepens the kiss, and I open for him willingly. I reach down and guide his hot, hard cock to my opening and sink down on him.
He smiles at me when he’s fully seated. I like this position because our faces are so close. I can see the emotions flit through his blue eyes, see the strain when he’s holding back and the joy when he starts to move inside me. He thrusts upward with his hips and slams me down on his cock with his huge hands at the same time.
Tanner is beside me, stroking his cock. I want to taste him. With one hand I guide him to my mouth, loving the salty taste of him on my tongue. He threads his fingers though my hair and looks down at me, biting his full bottom lip. His body is so toned and sun-bronzed from the ranch work like his brothers’. It’s fitting that he’s an artist. He looks like a flesh-and-blood replica of Michelangelo’s David, all sensual and hard male.