Lost Without Them

by Trista Ann Michaels

  “Sam!”

  * * * *

  “Sam!” Keegan screamed as she sat up in bed.

  Sweat covered her skin. Every inch of her body trembled in fear and sadness. Tears streamed down her face, and she raised her hand to wipe them away. More followed as sob after sob racked her body. She kept seeing it. Over and over in her mind, she saw Sam mauled by that massive, black beast.

  Why? Why did she keep seeing this? Why did it scare her so much?

  Her door burst open, and both Sam and Cody rushed in. She looked up at them in surprise. At least this time, she was covered.

  As she stared at Sam, she had an overwhelming sense of relief that he was okay. She jumped from the bed and threw herself into Sam’s arms. Sobs made her shake from head to toe as she buried her face in his neck and held on tight.

  Sam tensed in shock, then slowly wrapped his arms around her back. Cody moved in behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders, softly massaging them.

  “Keegan, what happened?” Sam asked.

  “I saw them kill you,” she sobbed.

  “Saw who kill me?”

  She shuddered. “Those wolves.”

  “I’m fine,” he whispered and tightened his arms around her. “Keegan, listen to me.”

  He tried to pull away, but she wouldn’t loosen her hold. She knew it was stupid and unreasonable. She knew she shouldn’t care this much, but she did. She knew it shouldn’t be real, but something deep down told her it was. Something deep down gave her the feeling that something very bad was going to happen, and it would be all her fault.

  “It was so real,” she whispered.

  “It was just a dream, Keegan,” Cody said as he placed a kiss on the back of her head.

  “No,” Keegan argued. “It was more than a dream.”

  Sam grabbed her arms and began to pull them from his neck. “Keegan…baby, look at me.”

  She turned tear-filled eyes to his, and her lower lip began to quiver.

  “You’re somehow mixing me up with what happened to you. That’s all this is.”

  She shook her head. “No. I’m there. I see it happen, and I can’t stop it. It tears you apart.”

  “Keegan,” Sam said as he took her hands and put them on his chest. “I’m right here, see? I’m in one piece.”

  Keegan noticed his bare chest for the first time. His skin was smooth and warm, his muscles hard and firm. He was tan from working shirtless in the sun. A scar ran across his right pec, and Keegan traced it.

  “See?” Sam asked in a strained voice.

  Her gaze moved to his, and she could see the desire darkening his brown eyes. He wanted her just as much as she wanted him right now. Should she do what her body wanted? Would it be wrong to take them both to her bed when she didn’t know what tomorrow would bring?

  She just didn’t want to be alone. Not tonight. Maybe not ever.

  “Please stay with me,” she whispered.

  Sam frowned. “Keegan.” He swallowed before continuing. “I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.”

  “I don’t want to be alone.”

  “You just had a nightmare, baby. That’s all.”

  Cody rubbed his palms up and down her arms. Sam still continued to hold her left hand against his chest. His fingers were warm as they closed around hers. Every swipe of Cody’s touch sent a warm sensation of awareness to her core.

  She was determined to get them to stay, even if she had to seduce them. To hell with what she’d said this afternoon. She wanted them. Why fight it? Why deny it? She needed this, and she would have it, come hell or high water.

  Standing on her tiptoes, she slanted her mouth over Sam’s. He tensed at first, but she didn’t give up. She nipped at his lower lip, encouraging him to open his mouth for her. When he did, she pushed her tongue inside, hoping to entice him to play. It didn’t take long.

  Sam growled deep in his chest and met her passion with a hunger of his own—a hunger that nearly sent her to her knees. Wow, he could kiss. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she held tight and gave as good as she got.

  Behind her, she sensed Cody pull away. Letting go of Sam with one arm, she reached blindly behind her and grasped Cody’s wrist. She took his hand and put it over her breast.

  Cody didn’t hesitate. He moved quickly in behind her and wrapped his other arm around her as well. Both hands fondled her breasts, and she moaned into Sam’s kiss as lust swam through her veins, giving her an incredible rush.

  “Keegan, are you sure about this?” Cody asked as he leaned in to kiss her neck.

  She broke the kiss with Sam long enough to answer. “Yes.”

  She’d never been surer about anything. After the last two days of coming close and not finding release, if she didn’t get one of them inside her soon, she’d scream.

  Sam’s hands slid lower and cupped her ass, giving it a hard squeeze as he pulled her closer. She could feel the hard ridge of his cock as it pressed into her stomach. She wiggled against it, hoping to let him know just how badly she needed him, wanted him.

  “Cody,” Sam growled breathlessly against Keegan’s mouth. “We need condoms.”

  “Hurry,” Keegan pleaded as she pushed her hand into Sam’s pajama pants and wrapped her fingers around his cock.

  He was huge—so big, in fact, her middle finger wouldn’t touch her thumb as she tightened her fingers around him.

  Sam groaned and grabbed her hand, removing it as Cody quickly left the room for condoms. “I swear to God, woman, if you don’t slow down, I’ll fuck you without a damn condom. I won’t be able to wait for one.”

  He gave her a little shove toward the bed. Keegan smiled slightly at just how excited he was, how hot he was for her. He could take her right now, without any more foreplay, and she wouldn’t mind. Matter of fact, she wished he would.

  She could tell she was wet. She could feel it between her legs. She knew she was ready for him. Ready and willing. More than willing.

  Hoping to push him even further, Keegan grabbed the edges of her shirt and lifted it over her head. Sam growled low in his throat at the sight of her naked. His gaze raked over her body, making her hot all over. Or hotter, if it were possible. She was already so hot she felt like she was on fire.

  Sam brought his gaze back to hers as he lowered his pants, letting them fall to the floor around his ankles. His cock was long and thick, the head purple and moist. She licked her lips, wanting to taste the precum that dotted the tip.

  Cody walked in and stood next to Sam, naked. He was just as big as Sam, their bodies almost identical. Sam was just a smidge taller than Cody, his cock just a bit longer.

  Keegan’s flesh flared even hotter at the image of two naked, gorgeous cowboys ready to please her, to grant her every wish and desire.

  Cody turned sideways and slid a condom over Sam’s cock. Keegan’s mouth dropped open at the sight of Cody’s hand on Sam’s shaft. It was so hot, so incredibly wicked to see them touch one another.

  “Do that again,” Keegan whispered.

  Cody and Sam glanced at one another before Cody put his hand back on Sam’s cock and stroked it back down as though sliding the condom in place. Keegan swallowed at just how sexy that was. It was even sexier the second time around.

  “Do you do that often?” she asked breathlessly as Sam stalked her backward toward the bed.

  “We’ve been sharing women a long time,” Sam murmured. “When two guys share like we do, you sometimes can’t help but touch. When we do, it’s not sexual. It’s just a side effect of close proximity.”

  “Maybe so.” She sighed as Sam pushed her to the bed, where she landed on her back with a soft bounce. “But it’s still hot as hell.”

  Sam grinned as he climbed over her. “I’ll remember that. Lift those beautiful legs around my waist, Keegan. Foreplay’s over.”

  She wrapped her legs around his waist, and he entered her in one deep, hard thrust. Keegan squealed as the stretching sensation sent tingles all the way to her womb.<
br />
  “Ah yes,” she hissed as he began to move immediately.

  Her hips lifted off the bed, meeting his thrusts, forcing him deeper inside her. She wanted it faster, harder. She wanted him to make her come, but Sam seemed content to take it slow, despite his haste to get inside her.

  “Sam,” she pleaded. “Harder.”

  Instead of picking up the pace, he slowed it down. Keegan groaned and tried to use her feet to force his hips forward. Sam chuckled as he leaned down to capture her lips with his. The kiss was deep and dominating, silencing her cries of frustration and making her moan for other reasons entirely.

  He felt so good moving inside her, filling her, she could hardly stop the noises she was making. Sam surprised her by rolling them to his back. She squealed, then giggled as she settled on her knees, straddling his thighs. Cody appeared in front of her and captured her lips with his.

  His kiss was so different from Sam’s. It was slow and deep, gentle, yet at the same time left no doubt he wanted her just as badly as Sam did.

  Sam grasped her hips and rocked her slowly. As he brought her forward, he lifted up with his hips, forcing himself farther inside her body. She’d swear he hit her womb, and every time he did, a sweet tingling sensation traveled up her spine. His groin rubbed against her clit, and she could feel her release building.

  She was going to explode with a vengeance; she just knew it, and part of her didn’t want it to be over yet. If she came too soon, it would be over, and she still had Cody. Could she come twice? She didn’t know. She didn’t remember.

  “Hurry and come so that I can get my turn at this hot little body,” Cody murmured against her lips.

  He lifted his fingers and pinched her nipples. She wasn’t sure if it was his words, his actions, or Sam’s movements that sent her over the edge. Dropping her head back, she let out a scream as pleasure raced like wildfire through her body. Sam joined her with a shout of his own as his hips lifted high off the bed.

  Before Keegan’s throbs of release had even subsided, Cody pulled her off Sam’s body, pushed her to her back, and entered her with a guttural groan that sent waves of desire up her back.

  Keegan was in heaven. Cody took her slow, building her back up to a frenzy so fast it took her breath away.

  “Cody,” she moaned as she placed her feet on her mattress and pushed her hips upward, meeting his thrusts with her own. He pressed in balls-deep, grinding himself against her clit before pulling almost all the way back out. Every time he almost left her body, Keegan gasped in protest, then sighed in pleasure as he thrust back in, filling her hard.

  He rose up on his palms, allowing Sam to roll over and cover her lips with his. When he was done kissing her senseless, he moved his mouth to her breasts. Keegan arched her back toward his mouth, forcing her breasts farther into his mouth, wanting him to suck them harder, to bite her nipples.

  He seemed to sense her needs and did everything she wanted. Cody was… God, Cody was incredible, bringing her to the brink of release a second time. Every inch of her body tensed as her orgasm came closer. She screamed in surprise when it hit, sending sharp tingles of pleasure over every inch of her flesh.

  Cody followed shortly behind her, emptying himself inside her with a groan of his own. Keegan relaxed and sighed as she began to feel the stress of the last couple of days leave her body.

  “Do you want us to stay with you, Keegan?” Cody asked as he leaned down to place a kiss on her forehead.

  As soon as Cody moved, Sam placed one there as well.

  Keegan couldn’t speak. Instead she nodded and closed her eyes. When Cody pulled from her body, she mumbled in protest but then sighed in contentment as Cody stretched out on one side of her and Sam stretched out on the other. Two sets of arms enfolded her in their embrace. Two warm bodies made her feel safe and protected.

  She could stay here forever, she thought just before falling asleep.

  Chapter Eight

  Keegan awoke with a start and glanced around the room. Sunlight streamed through the window, and she glanced at the clock. It was almost ten?

  She sat up and winced at the soreness in her side. Damn. Had she hurt herself last night? She bent her head to try to see her stitches, then froze.

  Oh God.

  She’d had sex with them last night. Incredibly good sex. Glancing around frantically, she determined she was alone and sighed in relief that she didn’t have to face them just yet.

  What the hell had she been thinking?

  It was that dream again. That same dream she’d had in the hospital. Why was she having that dream, and what was with the two wolves with her that could talk? Did they represent someone she couldn’t remember? Were they her pets?

  She shook her head at that thought. Pets didn’t seem quite right. They were something else. But what?

  “You really need to be thinking about last night, Keegan,” she said to herself as she dropped her head into her hands.

  The whole thing had happened so fast. One minute she’d been clinging to Sam for comfort, then the next he was thrusting inside her, making her feel incredible. And Cody. My God. Cody had made her come again, something she really hadn’t expected.

  She couldn’t remember much after that. Just the feel of their arms around her, their bodies close, keeping her warm and safe.

  “What do I say to them? How do I act?”

  She lifted her head and stared out the window. The sky was a bright blue; all the snow from the other night was gone, leaving brown grass and leafless trees. Still, it was one of the most beautiful sights she’d ever seen. It was so peaceful. A stark contrast to the turmoil tightening her gut.

  “What do I do now?” she whispered to no one in particular.

  SAM STOOD AT the fence, staring out toward the house. He wanted to go back inside and make love to her again. He frowned at his choice of words. When had he started referring to it as making love? In the past, it had always been just sex or fucking.

  He shook his head and turned back toward the barn. He had things he needed to do, and he was sure Keegan needed her rest. After last night, he wondered what her reaction to them would be. Would she be upset? Would she want them again? Would she leave?

  The thought of her leaving left a hole in Sam’s chest he didn’t like the feel of. He hadn’t known her long enough to have developed feelings for her beyond lust. He wasn’t the type to believe in love at first sight, but he could admit to feeling something different whenever he looked at her.

  Perhaps it was just a feeling of protectiveness. They had found her injured and unconscious, after all. Perhaps what he felt was just a need to make sure she was okay.

  Sam snorted at that idea. If that was all it was, he wouldn’t want to screw her every time he got within five feet of her. After last night, that desire hadn’t lessened. Instead, it had intensified to the point he’d had to leave her bed this morning before he ended up taking her again.

  Even now, he was hard as a damn rock. He’d had this erection all damn morning, and because of it, his balls hurt so badly he wanted to hit something.

  Taking a deep breath to calm his raging lust, he glanced at his watch. It was lunchtime, and he was hungry. Since everyone was at the other side of the ranch, Sam decided to head into the house and see what was in the fridge to make a sandwich. Maybe eating would get his mind off eating Keegan.

  Sam snorted. “Fat chance.”

  KEEGAN SAT AT the kitchen table, going through the cookbook and writing down ingredients. She found she really enjoyed cooking, but the kitchen was in dire need of restocking. Perhaps she could convince Cody to take her to the store later if he wasn’t too tired. She didn’t feel she knew the area well enough to go on her own.

  She flipped the pages of the cookbook with her right hand while she tapped the table with the fingernails of her left. She ran across a recipe that looked interesting and stretched her fingers to grab the pen. Before she could move her hand, the pen jumped into her fingers. Keegan jerked bac
k with a startled gasp, dropping the pen on the table.

  Surely that pen hadn’t moved on its own.

  She reached out slowly, stretching her fingers out toward the pen. The pen moved toward her hand without her touching it. Keegan jerked her hand back and stared in shock at the pen.

  “What the hell?”

  The front door opened and closed, making her jump. This was something she would have to decipher later. Right now, one of the guys was home, and she was so nervous about seeing them her heart was about to jump out her throat.

  Sam rounded the corner into the kitchen and stopped dead in his tracks. His jaw was set in a firm line; his eyes were dark, almost stormy. She wondered if something had happened to make him angry.

  “Something happen?” she asked.

  For a second, Sam appeared surprised, then relaxed his features into a look of confusion. “No. Why?”

  “You seemed angry.”

  He shook his head and started for the fridge. “I’m not angry. Just hungry.”

  “Do you want me to fix you something?”

  “No,” he said as he opened the fridge door. “You stay there. I can get it.”

  Keegan frowned at his odd, almost cold demeanor. “Sam?”

  “Yeah?” he said from behind the door.

  Keegan sighed and got up to join him at the fridge. She put her hand on the door and slowly shut it, forcing him to stand up straight and look at her. “You don’t strike me as the shy type, Sam.”

  His lips twitched just a little. “Nope. Not shy.”

  “Are we going to talk about last night or ignore it?”

  Sam sighed and leaned against the counter. “Honestly, I was trying to gauge where you were on this. If you didn’t want to talk about it, I wasn’t going to say anything.”

  “Ah,” she said with a nod. “We can’t avoid it.”

  “No,” Sam said in agreement. “But I damn sure want to repeat it.”