by Unknown
“Because you were both outlaws!”
“No, because Harlow saved my life once. We didn’t like each other, but we were comrades.”
The idea of Harlow being friends with this man made her sick to her stomach. She took a few more steps backward.
“You left me that doe to find,” she accused.
“I did.”
“You searched my house.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re Harlow’s sister. And I told him I’d take care of you.”
His words would have sounded nice and safe if he hadn’t smiled at her, because she saw all his poison and hatred come out in that twisted slash of lips.
She didn’t believe him, of course, didn’t trust him at all. But then she realized she couldn’t trust any of them, not even Garrett and Cassidy. Because what if, just what if, there was a measure of truth to his words?
When he took a step toward her, Scharlie reacted without thinking. The hand holding the whip lashed out, the leather slicing through the air and landing on the soft flesh of his cheek with a crack. The skin split open, blood poured, and Breaux Cox howled in rage as he fell to his knees in pain.
Scharlie wasted no time. She turned and ran, running full speed back to her hotel, where she ignored the grumblings of the front desk clerk as she dashed upstairs to her room. In moments, she had packed what she needed, hurried back down, and left the hotel. She rushed to the stable where, hours earlier, Cassidy and Garrett had dropped off the horses.
Scharlie woke up the stable hand, handed him a bunch of coins, and waited impatiently as he saddled Cassidy’s horse. Thirty minutes later, she was riding from WillowCity as if the hounds of hell were chasing after her.
Chapter Fourteen
Dawn was cresting over the horizon as she rode up to her house. Exhaustion clawed at her mind and body, but she stubbornly pushed it aside. She knew that Garrett and Cassidy would be following her soon, that they would ride harder than she had, would push themselves to find her.
And now she knew that Breaux Cox was also coming for her. She had stood up to him, defied him, had hurt him. He wasn’t the type of man to let that slide. She had felt the evil radiating from him, and though she didn’t trust him at all, she didn’t know how much truth was behind his accusations.
Sharlie dismounted and walked the horse into the barn. She took off the saddle, blanket, and bridle, rubbed him down until he cooled enough to be fed and watered.
Her plan was to head out again as soon as she changed clothes, washed up, and ate something. The only person she could trust now was Sheriff Tanner. However, after washing away the traveling grime in the small washstand, her bed beckoned. Unable to resist its pull, she lay down, intending to only get an hour’s rest. But as soon as her head hit the pillow, oblivion pulled her under.
* * * *
The sound of horses woke her up.
Scharlie sat up, slightly disoriented, until she shook her head to clear it of cobwebs. Then everything rushed back to her, the trip to WillowCity, meeting Breaux Cox, and her hasty retreat back to Rock Ridge. She glanced out the window. The slant of the sun shining through the window made her gasp and jump off the bed. She dressed hurriedly then stepped out of the bedroom just as Cassidy and Garrett entered her house.
“Get out!” she yelled, pointing to the door.
“What the hell!” Cassidy yelled back. “You left in the middle of the night! We were worried sick!”
“Why did you run, Scharlie?” Garrett asked, his voice calm.
She looked back and forth between them, her heart twisting in pain. How could she still love them?
“How could you break my heart?” she whispered.
All was quiet for a moment.
“What?” he asked, shaking his head.
“Scharlie Thorn! Are you in there?” Sheriff Tanner’s voice yelled from outside.
Scharlie’s eyes widened. “Get of here,” she said frantically. “Hide in the cellar. I’ll get the sheriff to leave, and then you can get away.”
“What are you talking about?” Garrett asked.
“I came to the realization in WillowCity that I may not like who and what you two are, but it doesn’t stop me from loving you both.” The admission slipped easily out of her mouth. “I don’t want you two to be arrested. I don’t want you to be in prison. So go. Get out of here.”
“Scharlie! If you won’t come out, I’ll have to come in!” the sheriff called.
Cassidy’s eyes closed. Garrett swore under his breath. And Scharlie hurried to the door, opened it, and stepped out.
“I’m here, Sheriff.”
Sheriff Tanner was an older man with a heavy mustache, but he was still agile. He watched her with narrowed eyes. His shoulders were stiff with tension.
“I’m fine, Sheriff,” she said, trying hard to make her smile believable. “Perfectly fine.”
But the sheriff realized something was off, and he pulled out his gun. “Miss Thorn, step away from the house.”
Just then the door opened behind her. Cassidy stepped out with his hands up in the air, Garrett right behind him.
“Hold it right there!” Sheriff Tanner yelled at them. “Cassidy Brooks! Garrett Webb! I found you guys out. You’re wanted by the law in Illinois, and I mean to send you back, dead or alive.”
“No!” Scharlie yelled out.
“Sheriff, in my right vest pocket, I have documents you might find interesting.”
The sheriff’s gun did not waver.
“Let me get them out,” Cassidy insisted. “You’ll want to see them.”
Very slowly, the sheriff gave a nod of permission. Equally as slow, Cassidy reached into his vest and pulled out a leather pouch. He held them out.
“Open them and hold them up,” the sheriff ordered.
Cassidy did as he was told. He took a step closer and squinted before grabbing the papers to read them more thoroughly.
“Goddamn it!” The sheriff eased the hammer back down on his Colt and put it back in his holster. “Are you kidding me?”
Confused, Scharlie looked from him to Cassidy. “Wait! What are those papers?”
He looked down at her and ran a hand over her cheek with his free hand. “Those are my Pinkerton documents.”
She blinked. “Your what?”
The sheriff thrust the papers into Cassidy’s chest. “He’s a goddamn Pinkerton agent.”
Cassidy grabbed the papers. “Pinkerton’s agency was hired by the State of Missouri to bring down Breaux Cox and his men, who have managed to hit about four hundred banks throughout the state.”
“Four hundred!” Scharlie gasped.
“Garrett Webb, Harlow Thorn, and I were sent in to infiltrate Cox’s gang, gather irrefutable proof of their activities, and then bring them in to face justice.”
The sheriff swore under his breath and turned his back on Cassidy.
“Wait,” Scharlie said, “Harlow was an agent too? He wasn’t an outlaw?”
Garrett’s hands came down on her shoulder. “None of us are outlaws, Scharlie. But we had to make everyone believe we were. Hence the fake warrants from Illinois.”
She pulled away from him and spun, angry. “You made me think he turned against the law! That he hurt people! I thought he was a wanted man!”
“We had to maintain our cover,” Cassidy replied.
“Cox shot Harlow in the back, but we didn’t see it happen,” Garrett explained. “Proof, remember? In the three months we rode with him and his men, he never trusted us enough to bring us along when they robbed a bank. They would disappear, we would catch up, but the deed had already happened. But we knew Cox was coming for you, so we arrived here first. Mainly to protect you, Scharlie, but also because we love you!”
“Why does he want me so badly?”
“Because of Harlow.” Garrett sighed and ran a hand over his face. “Cox found Harlow’s Pinkerton papers. He found your letters. For him, you’re a means of reven
ge, Scharlie.”
At that statement, the sheriff turned and marched up to the two men. He placed a hand on Scharlie’s shoulder. “How do we protect her?”
“I’m not leaving again,” she said again. “This is my home. Besides, I ran into Breaux Cox in WillowCity.”
“What?” Cassidy yelled.
Garrett ran his hands up and down her arms. “Are you hurt? Did he hurt you?”
She shook her head. “He told me Cassidy killed Harlow.”
“Is that why you ran?”
She nodded. “I knew he was lying. I could feel his evilness surrounding me. But I couldn’t think. I didn’t know what to believe anymore.”
“It’s okay,” Garrett said softly, pulling her into his arms.
She smelled the heated scent of his skin and relaxed, letting the tension drain from her body. She was almost light-headed from the relief of everything turning out right.
While she was cocooned in Garrett’s arms, she heard Cassidy talking with Sheriff Tanner.
“We have men in WillowCity,” he was saying. “We had set up a false payroll delivery in hopes of luring Breaux Cox out into the open, but we only caught Cautling and Barnes. Cox never showed.”
So that’s what they were talking about, she thought.
“You think he’s coming back here?” the sheriff asked.
Scharlie broke away from Garrett’s arms. “He will,” she assured them. “He’ll come after me.”
“What makes you sure?” Garrett asked.
“Because I hurt him. A man like that, he’ll come after me.”
Cassidy grabbed her arm and marched her away from the other two men. He took her far enough away so they couldn’t be heard, but he still pitched his voice low.
“Get out of Rock Ridge for a while,” he urged.
“Do you really think that’s going to work?”
“At this point, I’m more focused on making sure you stay safe rather than trying to find evidence against Cox.”
“But that’s not who you are, is it?”
He cocked his head, confused. “What do you mean?”
“Cassidy, if you kill him, then you’d lose everything, ’cause like you said, no evidence. You’d be guilty of murder.”
He shook his head. “Pinkerton agents are contracted through the federal government. There’s enough against Cox, so I wouldn’t go to jail.”
“But you wouldn’t be allowed into the field again, right? You wouldn’t be an agent anymore, would you?”
His silence answered her questions.
“So,” she continued, “we come up with a plan to catch him.”
Chapter Fifteen
Evening was falling.
Sheriff Tanner lingered for another half an hour as each of them tried to come up with a way that made sense to finish Breaux Cox. Scharlie would just as soon shoot him in the back, as he did Harlow, and be done with it, but the men of the law thought differently. Scharlie couldn’t understand that, because snakes always managed to crawl from under rocks to return. In her opinion, chaining Cox up and letting him live wasn’t punishment, it was mercy, and she held none of that in her heart.
After he left, without a workable plan on catching Cox, she went back inside the house. Garrett and Cassidy followed her.
She was aware of them behind her, men who had taken her life and turned it upside down. They had taught her about love, fulfillment, and rapture. But where did they go from here?
She turned to face them, even went so far as to open her mouth to talk, but before any sound come out, Cassidy marched up to her, placed one hand in her hand and one hand on her ass, and pulled her into his body. His mouth came down on hers fiercely, his tongue plunging to meet her hers. Desire rose sharply inside her, the need to feel him inside her, a hunger she couldn’t quell.
She backpedaled her way to the bedroom, keeping their lips locked, pulling him with her. She vaguely heard the door close behind them before hands started disrobing her.
She broke the kiss, coming up for air, and saw Garrett’s hands removing her clothes. He leaned forward and feasted on her neck as Cassidy took over delighting her skin from the front, a duel of twin pleasure.
Cassidy’s hands landed on her hips, forcing her back, and she fell upon the bed with a gentle thump. Garrett was beside her, kissing her and tugging the sleeve of her dress off her shoulders, exposing her skin inch by inch. Cassidy stood watching them, his body hard, his face stiff with lust.
“Cassidy,” she said softly, holding out a hand.
He shook his head. “Fuck her, Garrett.”
Scharlie stiffened. Feeling her withdrawal, Garrett halted his ministrations. They both glanced at Cassidy.
“Why won’t you join us?” she asked.
“Seeing you both turns me on,” he replied, avoiding the question.
But Scharlie had had enough. “So you can sneak off and finish by yourself? What’s so wrong about loving me together with Garrett?”
“Nothing is wrong,” he said with a shake of his head.
She held out a hand. “Then join us.”
Cassidy’s chest rose and fell sharply with his breathing. His eyes went back and forth between them.
Scharlie rose to her knees. Her dress fell away, revealing her chemise, which was unbuttoned to her navel, and her soft breasts and puckered nipples to his gaze. She saw him swallow thickly.
“You’ve always been in charge, haven’t you, Cassidy? Always the leader, always giving orders.” She ran her hands over up her abdomen, pushing her chemise to the side as she cupped her breasts and teased her own nipples. “But now I’m giving the orders. Do you understand? You will obey what I say, and I want you to strip off your clothing and join me and Garrett in this bed.”
Cassidy’s gaze narrowed as he studied her. Scharlie continued with her ministrations, teasing herself by pinching her nipples. Garrett helped her remove all her clothing and tossed the dress and undergarments onto the floor.
She now waited, completely naked, her hands running up and down her body. Fragments from her lost book returned to her, guiding her ministrations. One finger traveled between her legs, and she opened her thighs more to tease her swollen clit. The sensations caused her to shiver.
Scharlie moaned and glanced at Cassidy through hooded eyes. “Wouldn’t you like to replace my finger with yours? Wouldn’t you like to suck my clit until I drip with need? Do as I say, Cassidy. Join us.”
The darkness she saw in his eyes shadowed a war he fought within himself. But as she dipped her fingers inside again, he suddenly snapped. The defiance melted away, and with a groan of surrender, he started to strip.
A moment later, he eased onto the bed, trapping her between himself and Garrett. Garrett started kissing her neck again, licking his way up and taking little love nips. His hands came around to cup her breasts, taking over teasing her nipples. He pressed his naked body into her backside, and Scharlie felt his hard cock weeping at the tip.
Cassidy’s hand on her knees forced her to lean back into Garrett’s arms as he replaced her fingers with his, exploring her. Scharlie reached for his cock. It was big and hard, throbbing with its own heat. She used the pre-cum to lube the bulbous head before using her fingers as a hole to pump it up and down.
Time dissolved. Scharlie floated on a sea of bliss as need rose steadily. She licked her lips, wanting to taste Cassidy, so she pushed him down onto his back and leaned forward.
Her mouth slipped over the head as she began sucking him, her head bobbing up and down as her tongue traced the shape and width of him. Cassidy let out a long moan, his hips moving in time to her ministrations.
“Christ,” he gasped. “Take it deep, Scharlie!”
She reached with her hands to encircle the base of him, holding him gently as she tried to stuff more of him into her mouth. When the large head hit the back of her throat, it caused a momentary gagging reflex, until she learned to control it by breathing through her nose. And then she started to bob up an
d down again, bringing him deeper and deeper into her throat. As she did this, Scharlie felt Garrett’s hands on her ass, spreading her thighs apart, rubbing her cheeks, and brushing featherlike touches across her clit. Her stomach clenched each time, wanting more. Garrett’s finger ran up and down, slipping inside each time to tease, slowly at first and then faster and faster. Tingles rose up, causing her to suck a little more frantically on Cassidy’s cock, harder and deeper.
And then, suddenly, Garrett’s fingers were gone, but before she could bemoan that fact, she felt his shaft push into her, stretching her wide. She heard Garrett groan as he impaled her over and over, pushing her more into Cassidy’s cock. It was heaven. It was amazing.
It was more than any of them could take.
Cassidy came first, grabbing her head and holding his cock deep in her mouth as he came. At first, Scharlie thought she would choke, but she managed to swallow the salty essence as it flooded her mouth. He collapsed back down, spent, watching Garrett through half-open eyes.
“Oh!” she gasped as Garrett grabbed her hips. Her pussy contracted around him, convulsing as orgasm swept over her. “Yes! More, Garrett!”
He obliged, pushing deeper and deeper. And just as her orgasm started to fade, another one swept over her, this time in tune with Garrett’s, who let out a moan as his crest broke over him. His hips gave another pump before he collapsed over her back. Scharlie fell forward, lying over Cassidy’s hips as Garrett draped over her back.
As replete as she felt, there was a slight bitterness at the thought that Cassidy hadn’t done exactly as she wanted. He may have fucked her mouth, but he still hadn’t filled her as she longed to be filled, sandwiched between him and Garrett.
With that thought going around in her head, she fell into an exhausted sleep.
Chapter Sixteen
She was unsure what caused her to wake, but when Scharlie opened her eyes, she was cocooned between Cassidy and Garrett and moonlight was streaming through the window.
Unease slithered its way over her skin. She rose and gently detangled herself from the lightly snoring men. She grabbed her dress and hastily put it on, hearing the crinkle of paper as she brought it over her hips. Curiously, she reached into the pocket and brought out the letter she had gotten weeks ago, when she had first picked up the books for her schoolkids.