by Diane Leyne
“Owen, I’m sorry. This is a big mistake. You know I care for you. I’ll always care for you, but I don’t love you. Hell, maybe I never did and it was just a teenager’s crush that I held on to.”
“Just give us a chance, Jules.”
“I’m sorry, Owen.”
She watched as his gaze narrowed and his knuckles turned white, he was gripping the hamper’s handle so hard.
“Is there someone else?”
“Yes.” She didn’t elaborate. She didn’t want to tell him that she now had two loves. “I’m sorry,” she repeated.
He just sat there. She could almost see the wheels turning in his head.
“Jules, I’m very sorry to hear that. I should have looked at you, really looked at you, years ago. Are you sure you will never love me again? Is there anyone else?”
“Yes, there is.”
“I see.” He let go of the handle and stood up, taking her hand. “Then I hope you’ll be very happy together.”
Jules felt a rush of happiness and hugged him. “Thank you.”
“I just need you to do something for me. A favor. A big one.”
Alarmed, Jules stepped back. He laughed, but it held no mirth. She suddenly realized that he looked…afraid?
“What is it?”
“You own the mineral rights to all this land, right?”
“Yes. But how do you know? Only a few people know. I haven’t talked about it for years. Not until the other day…” She’d talked with her girlfriends at the bar.
“You know that nothing stays secret in a small town. Jules. I need those mineral rights.”
“Is that why you suddenly wanted to go out with me? You don’t love me. You just want my mineral rights?”
Owen stepped forward and reached out for her. Stumbling, she stepped back quickly and he stopped moving. “You don’t understand. I need those rights. I’d marry you to get them if you’d have me. We’d be good together. I know I can make you happy. You love me. You always loved me.”
“Not anymore!” The disgust she felt must have shown on her face as she turned away from him. He grabbed her arm and pulled her back toward him.
“Dammit, Jules. I need those rights. I owe some very bad people a lot of money and they are going to hurt me unless I can pay the money I owe. There’s oil here, Jules. Lots of it. They couldn’t be sure before, but they are now. Millions and millions of barrels. We’ll be rich! It’s more than enough to pay off my debts.”
“By destroying the land!”
“A small price to pay!”
“I don’t think so. Look around you, Owen. This is wild and beautiful and perfect. And it’s home to so many birds and cattle and other animals. What would happen to them? Or are you claiming that these will all be protected?”
“I never asked, but I am sure that as detection technology has improved, so has extraction technology, but if it hasn’t, so what? Think of the money!”
“Think of the dead animals?”
“What about me, Jules? They’ll kill me! Don’t you care?”
“Kill you? Just how much money do you owe? No. Scratch that. I don’t want to know and I’m not going to help you. Hell, I couldn’t if I wanted to!”
“Yes, you could!”
“Hell no, Owen. You only heard half the story. I own the mineral rights, but I have no right to decide what happens on the land above the ground. Without Murphy’s agreement, your precious oil company can’t even drive on the property let alone set up their oil wells and poison the land and the water.”
“You are lying!” Owen grabbed her upper arms and shook her, his fear and frustration evident in his eyes.
“Sorry, Owen, sorry you got your hopes up. Even if I agreed, which I never will, the Double S has been in Murphy’s family for generations. He’ll never agree to anything that despoils the land. As long as the water flows”—she gestured to the pond and the creek beyond it—“he’ll put the Double S first. Sorry, Owen. You are going to have to find another way.”
He pushed her away and she stumbled, falling hard. He’d turned away, not even noticing. He was pacing now and speaking under his breath, almost arguing with himself. Finally he stopped and turned to her.
“You’re right. I’ve found another way, but I was hoping I didn’t have to use it.”
She watched as he stomped off back to the truck. She thought of following him, but it was probably better to leave him alone. Besides, she needed some time to think. She had regretted riding away from Quin and Doc almost immediately, but she’d been too hurt and too stubborn to go back and talk it out. Then pride took over. No matter how things had started, she knew what they all had was real.
She had never felt as loved as when she was in their arms. So what if she hadn’t known Quin that long? This thing with Doc was new in its own way. They’d been friends for two years. Being lovers was brand new, so in some ways, her relationship with Doc was as new as her relationship with Quin.
She sighed and hoped she hadn’t messed things up too badly. They deserved her anger, but not her walking away from the relationship. If they had something real, they had to be able to deal with fights along the way. No relationship was without its bumps in the road, and they could learn to deal with them.
She’d enjoy the food, think some on how best to proceed and maybe take a swim. Then she’d call for someone to come and get her. The area might be remote, but Murphy had installed cellular antennas at regular intervals so his men were never out of touch when they rode the range. Ranching could be dangerous business, and he had implemented as many safety measures as he could.
Chapter 14
Blake drove as quickly as he could. He was heading toward the small parking area that was the closest they could get to the pond in a truck. To get closer, they’d either need a horse or to go on foot. They didn’t have time to go to the ranch and get the horses saddled, so they’d be hoofing it on foot once they arrived.
“Damn, Quin. You should have just arrested him once you had a suspicion of his involvement.”
“That wouldn’t have been legal. Besides, I can’t arrest anyone. I can just hold him until the authorities arrive.”
“Crap. Call Dace. He’s the sheriff. He can arrest Owen’s ass. But not until I’ve had a chance at him.”
Quin whipped out his cell phone and made the call. When he hung up, he looked at Blake.
“Can’t you go any faster?”
“Just about there.” Blake steered expertly onto the side road that was barely more than a track. He turned one more corner and stopped. Firth’s truck wasn’t there.
“Damn. I was sure he’d be here. If he’s not at the pond, Quin, where the hell did he take her?”
“Look around, Doc. The fence is down over on the right. I think he drove up to the pond.”
“Drove? What the hell?”
Quin started to open the door, but Blake advised, “Hold tight.” Then he floored it, driving through the newly made gap.
“Holy shit. I’ve never seen you drive like this before, buddy.”
“My woman’s never been at risk before.”
Driving quickly, the truck ate up the distance between and they could see Owen’s truck parked by the foot path that led to the pond. The hood on the truck bed was up, but they couldn’t see anything else.
“Hurry!”
“I am!”
* * * *
Jules stopped chewing and listened. She could hear what sounded like a truck approaching, but that couldn’t be. Only horses and pedestrians were allowed. Frowning, she walked toward the sound and saw Owen driving toward her.
Shit. How had he gotten the truck in here? Had he torn down the fence? Was he coming to drive her back to town? She shook her head and went back to the picnic, her appetite gone. She’d tidy up and be ready to talk to him when he arrived. Maybe she could calm him down and they could end things like civilized people.
When he entered the clearing, he was carrying a metal drum of some sort. It
looked the size of a small keg, but he certainly wasn’t bringing beer, was he? He disappeared and returned a few minutes later with a second one.
He set it down beside the first and looked up at her. He looked sad and resigned.
“I’m sorry, Jules, but you left me no choice.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I tried everything. I tried to sabotage things on the ranch so Murphy would need the extra cash that the oil would bring in, but he just made Cole and Jess partners and they injected money into the place. My partners pressured me to make something happen. They said I was taking too long and threatened to come in and take care of things. They suggested that I poison the water to destroy the ranch so they’d have to sell to get enough money to clean up, but I knew you’d hate it if I damaged the land, so I tried to come up with another plan.”
“How was that worse than what the oil company will do?”
“Hell, Jules. Sure they’ll cause some damage, but not as extensive as pouring poison directly in the water would. I figured Murphy would negotiate some environmental safeguards to minimize the damage, but he threw them out and wouldn’t even talk to the oil guys.”
He looked at her, his eyes wild.
“I was desperate, Jules. They were going to kill me and then probably Murphy and Cole and Jess, too, if that was what it took. The only thing I could think of was to hire a hit man. If Murphy was dead, Jess and Cole would sell up and they’d be safe and I’d be safe, too, if I just sacrificed Murphy.”
“Oh my god, you tried to have Murphy killed? Are you crazy? He was your friend.”
“No, just desperate. And before you judge, your hot new boyfriend is the hitman I just hired. He just doesn’t know that it was me who hired him.”
“You are lying!” She hesitated. Maybe he wasn’t. She looked at him. He was definitely telling the truth as he knew it. Damn. Quin was undercover as a hitman. She swallowed hard. She hadn’t realized just how dangerous his job was. What if he got killed on assignment? Even if he wasn’t at risk on this one, there was the next and the one after that. She could lose him. She could lose him, she realized, before she had a chance to tell him that she loved him. They hadn’t been together long, but she couldn’t imagine her life without him in it. They would have to have a long chat about his job.
And Doc. She’d wasted two years that she could have spent being happy with him. She hadn’t told him that she loved him either. She was an idiot. She should have given them a chance to explain and she never, ever should have come here with Owen.
There was nothing like a situation like this to bring on life changing epiphanies and help you get your priorities in order. She just had to make it out of this alive to tell her two men that she loved them and wanted a second chance.
Suddenly she was blazingly angry.
“You are a coward and jerk and a liar. You had a choice. You always have a choice.” She advanced towards him but when she saw the look of desperation in his eyes she stopped, suddenly very afraid.
“Believe what you like. I didn’t want to do it, but I was frantic and he came highly recommended. But then I found out that you owned the mineral rights and I thought I’d found another way. But you tell me that even if you marry me and I have control over the rights, that won’t be enough. I don’t have a choice, Jules. I am sorry!” He turned to the two barrels. “Individually, they are harmful but not catastrophic. Once I pour them both in the water and they mix, they’ll kill everything for miles. Murphy will go bankrupt and have to sell.”
“He won’t sell to you or your friends. And you’ll go to jail, Owen. I’ll make sure of it.”
She saw the sadness in his eyes and stepped back.
“I can’t let you do that, Jules.”
“Owen?” The fear coursed through her and she took another step backward.
“I’m sorry, Jules. I really do care for you, but I want to live. When this is all done, I’ll be rich. I’ll make sure you don’t suffer.”
Suddenly, there was a blur and Owen was on the ground and Blake was on top of Owen and beating him mercilessly.
She moved to stop him, but then she felt some arms come around her. It was Quin.
“Let him get out his frustrations. He’s spent two years watching you pine after this asshole, and now we find he’s even more of an asshole than anyone suspected.”
“He was going to poison the pond. And the land. And, and…” She pulled out of his arms. “He said he hired you to kill Murphy! He said you were a hit man. Dammit, Quin. I was right about you being an SSP operative, wasn’t I?”
“What, you didn’t believe me as a hit man?”
She snorted as she laughed. She heard the sound of more laughter and turned to see Blake straddling a limp and possibly unconscious Owen.
“You aren’t as dangerous-looking as you seem to think, Deck.”
“Yes, kitten. You were right. I am SSP.”
“I knew it!”
“You aren’t mad at me?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Oh.”
That’s when she heard the sound of the siren fast approaching.
Chapter 15
Two weeks later
“Micah, you are my brother and I love you, but after the collaring ceremony, I’d really appreciate if you’d leave the club for a while.”
“I love you, too, baby sister, but the thought of watching you play in my club with two men, collared or not, is not something I ever want to see. Are you sure you can’t do it in a private room? You’ve been using the private rooms the last couple of weeks.”
“I promise. In the future we’ll only ever use private rooms while you are around, but tonight, tonight is special and it’s a part of our celebration. After they collar me, they are going to…”
“La, la, la! I don’t want to know what they are planning to do. All I care about is your happiness. And you do look happy, Jules. I’m so glad you’ve found someone. Even if Owen didn’t turn out to be a grade A asshole, he was never good enough for you.”
“But he was your friend?”
“And that’s how I knew he wasn’t good enough for my baby sister. Now go get changed and let’s get this ceremony done so I can go back to the bar and get enough to drink so I can forget the sight of my naked sister getting collared by two men.” He shivered theatrically.
* * * *
Jules looked up from her position kneeling on the raised platform. It was like a small stage, really, and she was naked and waiting for her two men, her Doms, her loves, to come forward and claim her.
She looked around the large main room of the club. It seemed like every single member was there, watching her. For the ones at the back, there were mounted screens and she could see herself, naked and waiting. She knew for a fact that there were no recordings made, but it was still disconcerting to see herself larger than life on the televisions.
She heard footsteps and it was Blake and Quin approaching. She quickly lowered her eyes but not before noting that they wore black leather pants and nothing else. They looked so hot that she could feel the moisture building inside her and starting to drip down her inner thighs.
Hers. They were hers, and soon it was as official as it could be. They obviously couldn’t marry, but this was just as good and as official for her. They were committing to each other in every way that counted.
They came to a stop standing before her.
“Raise your eyes, Jules, and look at us.”
She did, and she felt her heart swell with love and her clit throb with need. Her men were beautiful and all hers. She couldn’t believe how much had changed in such a short time.
“Jules, I love you so much. I love your beautiful heart, spirit, and mind. And your smoking hot body, too.” Quin’s words drew a laugh from the crowd.
“I have loved you, Jules, for the past two years and had despaired that you would ever see me as a man and possibly, someday, return my love. Now that you have, I can’t believe I got
so lucky. I promise to love, protect, and spank you for as long as you’ll have me as your Dom and your partner, your love and your lover.”
“I haven’t known you as long as Blake has, Jules, but I heard about you from Blake for two years and I felt that I knew you, even if we had never met. When we did meet, I knew that I’d found the missing part of my life. I’d be honored if you would also accept me as your Dom, your love and your partner. I promise to love and protect you as long as you’ll have me. I also promise to redden your ass on a regular basis and give you as many orgasms as you can stand.”
Jules had to laugh along with the crowd as Quin indicated the riding crop hanging from his belt, but then she turned serious as she looked up at them both.
“I love you both more than I ever thought it was possible. For so long, I held on to a childish dream that prevented me from seeing the man, the love he offered in front of me, real adult love. And then when Quin arrived, it was like everything just fell into place. There’s a children’s song from years ago, ‘Three is a Magic Number,’ and I believe that with all of my heart. Now that I have found the two of you, I’ll never take for granted what we have together. I’ll love and honor you with all my heart. As for obey, we may have to discuss that further!”
She watched as the men chuckled and then Jess came out with a tray. Quin opened the largest box and took out a black leather collar with a D-ring in front. Then Blake opened the largest box and took out a beautiful platinum filigree chain with a charm hanging from it.
“These are your two collars, if you accept them. The leather is for play. The platinum is for day wear. They both have tags which say, Jules, property of Blake and Quin. Do you accept them?”
“I do.”
“And do you agree to always wear one of the collars except when you are swimming or bathing?”
“I do. Maybe both.”
They each grinned and then, in turn, fastened the collars around her neck. She wanted to go admire them in the mirror.
“We have one more thing. We can’t all get married, as much as we’d like to. We could ask you to marry one of us they way that Murphy’s grandma Rose married the older Smith brother, but that was another time. We don’t need a legal marriage to have a marriage of the heart. We would like you, though, to wear a ring signifying our marriage of the heart.”