Triple H Ranch [Slick Rock 13] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Becca Van

  “I’m fine.” Barry and David clasped her hands, leading her to the table.

  “Come here, sweetheart.” Hank who was already seated, crooked his finger at her.

  Cat had no idea what he wanted, but since she was curious, she skirted the table and took his proffered hand. Before she knew what was happening, he tugged on her hand and she almost fell onto his lap. “What are you doing?”

  Hank lifted her until she was sitting sideways across his lap with his legs parted slightly. She sighed with relief when she realized he was helping her get comfortable.

  “Better?” Hank asked.

  Cat nodded and hoped her blush wasn’t as red as it felt. “Yes, thank you.”

  Hank kissed her cheek. “We would do anything to make you happy, sweetheart.”

  Cat watched as the three men loaded their plates with bacon, eggs, pancakes, and toast. She had no idea where they put so much food but guessed since they ran a ranch, they used a lot of energy. She wanted to ask to see their land but wasn’t sure they would let her until her uncle was behind bars, but she’d been sequestered behind four walls for three months, and now that her grief was starting to ease, she needed to feel the wind in her hair and the sun on her face. Maybe she would ask if she could go outside after the men had eaten. Hopefully they would be agreeable once their bellies were full.

  “Open up, Cat.”

  Cat looked at Hank to see that he had a fork loaded with scrambled eggs hovering near her mouth. “I can feed myself, you know.” She went to move from his lap, but he dropped the fork on his plate and snagged her around the waist with his arm.

  “Stay where you are, sweetheart.” Hank kissed her on the forehead. “I know you can feed yourself and have been looking after yourself for a long time, but you need to stay where you are. I can’t stand seeing you in pain and knowing that I am partly to blame for your discomfort. I, we, want to take care of you. Please, let us.”

  Cat couldn’t deny him after such heartfelt words. She could see the sincerity of that need to look out for her in his eyes. She drew in a deep breath and nodded. He smiled and winked at her before picking up his fork, scooping more eggs onto it, and holding it to her mouth.

  By the time she’d had enough to eat, she was content to be sitting on Hank’s lap. Every now and then, David and Barry had fed her bites to eat and she watched them through half-closed eyes as they finished their breakfast. The moment they were done, she shoved to her feet and started to collect the dishes.

  “Cat, what are you doing?” Hank asked but from the look in his eyes, there was no need for the question.

  “You cooked, it’s only fair I clean up.”

  “No,” David said as he rose. “You are going to take your medication and drink your coffee while Barry and I do the dishes.”

  “I’m only trying to help. You’ve all been so wonderful to me. You took me in when you had no clue who I was. I could have been an axe murderer, but you didn’t hesitate to bring me back to your home and call a doctor to fix me up.

  “Now I’ve probably brought trouble to your doorstep. You’re feeding me, you’ve bought me clothes, and all I’ve done is sleep and eat. It’s time I started pulling my weight and earning my keep.”

  “That’s enough,” Hank snapped as he snatched the dishes from her hands before shoving them at Barry. He clasped her shoulders and turned her toward him. “Have we said anything or done anything to make you feel like you have to earn your keep?”

  “No,” Cat sighed with exasperation. “But I’m not used to doing nothing. I spent the last three months holed up in a small bedroom, wallowing in self-pity. I know I can’t get a job and go out to work to contribute to the household bills etcetera, but I need to do something or I’m going to go crazy. Apart from being on the run where there was no time to stop and take in my surroundings, I haven’t felt the sun on my face or breathed in fresh air unless it was through an open window. I need more…I need to feel needed.”

  Cat sighed when Hank pulled her into his arms.

  “We already told you that you would be ours if you accepted having a relationship with us, sweetheart. How can you not see that we all need you?”

  “What does that mean exactly?” Cat drew back and looked up to meet his blue-eyed gaze.

  “I’m falling in love with you, Catalina Ball. We’ve waited so long to have a woman like you in our lives. Don’t you realize how much you mean to me, to us?”

  “You love me?” Cat whispered, her eyes wide with shock and moisture began to well.

  “Yes.”

  “Oh,” Cat sobbed and then jumped up into his arms. Her heart felt so full and light for the first time in months. She wanted to cry and dance with joy at the same time, but instead she hugged him tight around the neck with her arms, her legs hooked around his waist and she pressed her lips to his. She wanted to tell him that she loved him back, but while she was happy and her feelings for Hank, Barry, and David were strong, she wasn’t sure if what she felt was love.

  “How can you love me?” she asked as uncertainty wormed its way into her heart. “You hardly know me.”

  “Yes, we do,” Barry said as he pressed his front to her back.

  “We know that you are a strong caring woman, darlin’,” David stated as he moved to her side.

  “You could have given up when you found your parents but you didn’t.” Hank kissed her forehead. “A lot of other people, men and women alike, would have lost their shit and been too scared to flee. You went straight to the police and sought protection. Not only that, you escaped and even while injured kept on running.”

  “Anybody would have done that.”

  “No.” Barry caressed her back. “They wouldn’t. You have strong survival instincts, baby, but you’re also a very loving woman.”

  “But…”

  “No buts.” David stroked her cheek with a finger. “We’ve had interactions with a lot of women in our lives, Cat. As much as I hate to admit it, we are experienced where the opposite sex is concerned. The moment we set eyes on you we knew you were special, the woman we wanted to spend the rest of our lives with.”

  Cat shook her head. Not because she was denying them but because she had a target on her back. How could she accept their love when she could end up dying? “Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, but what if my uncle finds me? What if he kills me? I don’t want any of you getting hurt physically or emotionally if he succeeds.”

  “See. You’re selfless.” Barry brushed her hair from her neck. “You want to protect us but, baby, you don’t need to. We’re trained SEALs and don’t need your protection. We can look after ourselves.”

  Cat’s mind and heart were in turmoil. On one hand, she wanted to tell them yes, she would spend the rest of her life with them. On the other, she was scared that by association they could end up hurt or dead. She wiggled until Hank lowered her back to the floor and, after moving out from between them, began to gather the dishes. Not one of them said a word and then she heard the back door slam shut.

  * * * *

  “I know what you’re doing,” David said as he began to gather the dirty dishes from the table. He watched Cat in his peripheral vision and saw her glance his way before carrying the load of dishes into the kitchen. She didn’t speak and tried to ignore him as she began to rinse the plates and load the dishwasher.

  His heart hurt that she hadn’t said she loved them, or Hank back when his older brother had bared his heart, but not because he didn’t think she didn’t care. In fact, he knew the opposite was true. He could see her emotions in her eyes every time she looked at them. She was the type of woman that couldn’t hide what she was feeling or what was in her heart, thank God. He understood why she was holding back, but he hated that she felt the need to do so.

  She had accepted that she would be theirs before they had made love to and claimed her, but for some reason she’d done a complete one-eighty.

  “What did you do before all of this?” he asked, hoping that
by talking, she would relax and the frown on her face would even out.

  “I’d just finished college. I was supposed to go to the presentation ceremony on the Monday after I found my parents.”

  Her voice hitched, and he cursed himself for reminding her of the finding her dead parents, but he hadn’t known the situation. “What did you study?”

  “Teaching.”

  “You like kids? What ages were you going to teach?”

  “I love children, but I decided that I wanted to help shape the preschoolers, to teach them necessary skills like social interaction, how to play and learn at the same time. Young children don’t judge and have no preconceived ideas on how others should look. They accept people as they are regardless of their culture, religion, skin color, and such. That is unless their parents are prejudiced and have forced their beliefs on their kids, but even then I wanted to try to make them see that every person is made up of flesh and blood. That they have a heart just like anyone else.”

  David took the last plate from her and put it in the dishwasher. “You’re an amazing woman, Cat.”

  She shook her head. “I’m ordinary, just like anyone else.”

  “You’re beautiful, kind, accepting, and loving.” David turned and nudged her chin up until their gazes were locked. “You make me happy, darlin’, as well as Hank and Barry. I’ve never seen either of my brothers so enamored with a woman before.”

  “Really?”

  He nodded. “Yes, really. Hank’s normal propensity is so serious. After serving as SEALs, we all sort of closed our hearts off, Cat.”

  “It must have been hard. Thank you for fighting to keep our country safe.”

  “You don’t need to thank us, darlin’, we wanted to do it and as much as it affected us, it made us stronger and closer. We didn’t serve together. The military keeps family separated in case something goes wrong. They don’t want a family losing all members in one fell swoop.”

  Cat grabbed the pot of coffee and filled two mugs before setting them on the now clean counter. She skirted the bench and perched on a stool. David followed her and sat beside her.

  “I’m sorry about your friend.” She placed her hand on his arm to offer comfort. He sucked in a deep breath and knew his eyes were probably full of pain, but he didn’t care. He knew he could be himself with Cat, that there was no reason to hide his emotions with her. From the wary look in her eyes, he thought she might expect him to pull away, but he threaded his fingers with hers and turned toward her. “Do you want to talk about him?”

  “I’ve already told you what happened.”

  “Maybe talking about him will help. What was he like?”

  “He was always quiet. Hardly ever spoke but when he did, he usually made other people laugh.”

  “Did he have any family?”

  David shook his head before taking a sip of his coffee. “No. I only found out after he died that he was alone. His mother had died of a drug overdose when he was thirteen, and I don’t think he even knew who his father was.”

  “That’s sad. So he grew up in foster care?”

  “Yes.” David frowned when he remembered how Decker had flinched whenever someone came up behind him and told Cat.

  She sucked in a breath. “It sounds like he’d been abused.”

  “You’re right.” David swallowed around the lump in his throat. “I hadn’t ever picked up on that until now.”

  “That’s because he didn’t want you to know. He probably thought you might look at him differently.”

  “I wouldn’t have, but I understand that he may have thought that.”

  “Tell me about some of the jokes.”

  David smiled and then chuckled. “He stole one of our teammate’s phone and sent out a blanket text to all his contacts.”

  “What did it say?”

  “That he was off duty and needed to blow some steam. He said he wanted to go lap dancing and asked who wanted to tag along.”

  Cat giggled and then laughed out right. She could just imagine some of the responses to that. David’s laughter joined hers and for the first time in a long while, he felt happy. The guilt over Decker’s death lifted, and he knew it was all because of her.

  “You should do that more often.”

  “What?” Cat asked.

  “Laugh, smile.”

  “So should you,” Cat said before sliding from the stool. “Can we go outside?”

  “I don’t see why not,” David replied. “Just make sure you have one of us with you whenever you want to venture out.”

  Cat nodded before leading the way outside.

  David glanced about anxiously but relaxed when he didn’t see anyone around that shouldn’t be. He hated that Cat couldn’t go outside whenever she wanted but keeping her safe was more important than her having freedom right now.

  Now that she was theirs he wanted to keep her inside under lock and key but he knew that he couldn’t do that. He rubbed his chest when his heart flipped over when he thought about her uncle tracking her down and hurting her.

  The small knot in his gut had been lodged there since the day she’d told them what she been through and with each passing day that knot just seemed to get bigger and bigger.

  He had an awful feeling that things were going to come to a head soon and he just hoped that he and his brothers we up to winning the fight.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Max stood on the porch and watched the headlights of the car coming toward the cabin he’d decided to make his temporary home. The car stopped, the engine quieted as the ignition was turned off, and he stared at Kelly as she got out of the car. She glanced around nervously before taking a step toward him.

  “Hurry the fuck up,” Max shouted and nearly smiled when she startled and nearly fell to her knees. As far as he was concerned, that’s where she belonged. On her knees as he fucked her mouth and throat with his cock. That’s all any woman was good for.

  She stopped when she reached the bottom of the two steps.

  “Inside. Now!” he barked and then threw the door open so hard the window next to entry rattled.

  He heard her draw in a scared, ragged breath and smirked when she moved past him, trying to keep from touching him. He followed her inside, closed, and locked the door. She stood by the empty fireplace with her back to him. From the way her body was trembling she was scared shitless, and that was a good thing because her fear would make it easier for him to take her out. She didn’t know it yet, but she wasn’t going to be leaving.

  He’d killed several women over the last few years and had gotten away with it. Seeing the fear in their eyes as he stabbed them was such a power trip, but not as fulfilling as killing his asshole brother and stupid whore of a wife.

  No one would find her body out here in the boonies, and he would have a vehicle to go wherever he needed and wanted. Hopefully she had her purse with her and some cash as well as credit cards. If so, then he would be home free.

  “What have you found out?” he asked as he leaned against the only entry to the one-room cabin.

  “She’s in Slick Rock, Colorado. The local sheriff contacted my boss for information.”

  “And?” he asked because he knew there was more.

  “There’s APB out on you.”

  Max shrugged. It would be easy to disguise his looks. All he had to do was dye his hair and don a pair of glasses and a hat.

  “Where is she staying?”

  “On the Triple H Ranch.”

  “Come here.” He pointed to the floor in front of him as he unbuckled his belt, undid his pants, and pulled his hard cock from its confines.

  The look she gave him as she approached was one filled with anger and fear, but she knew not to disobey. She went down on her knees and as she reached for his dick with one hand, he clasped her wrist in a bruising grip. She looked up into his eyes as he grabbed her other hand and spun her around on her knees.

  “W-what a-are y-you d-doing?”

  “You know I lik
e to be in control.” Max removed the handcuffs from his pocket and locked her hands behind her back before spinning her back around on her knees, ignoring her gasp of pain. He grabbed a hank of hair at the back of her head and pulled her face toward his hard dick. “Suck it.”

  At first, she was hesitant, but as she bobbed her head up and down over his erection faster and faster, she began to moan. Max moved his free hand toward his back slowly, reaching for and removing the gun from the small of his back. He panted as he got closer and closer to orgasm and began to shove his hips hard and fast, spearing his dick deep into her throat.

  The moment he tipped over the edge into orgasm was the instant he placed the silencer against her temple and pulled the trigger.

  * * * *

  Barry knew the moment Cat entered the barn. The dim light seemed to brighten, and it took everything he had not to turn and acknowledge her presence as he continued to muck the stall. His first instinct had been to berate David for bringing her out, but he knew they couldn’t keep her locked away forever. If it had been him stuck inside, he would have gone stark raving mad by now.

  “Oh, so beautiful,” Cat gasped.

  The awe in her voice had him turning to see what she was talking about. She moved slowly toward Mabel as the mare stuck her head over the stall door.

  “Can I pet her?” Cat asked.

  “Yes, darlin’. This is Mabel. She’s our oldest and most reliable mare. She’s docile and the perfect horse to learn to ride on,” David said.

  “Do you think I can learn to ride?” Cat glanced at him but then gazed back at the horse she was petting. Barry watched her hands as they caressed over the horse’s neck and nose. Mabel nibbled at her palm, making her giggle.

  “Absolutely,” David answered enthusiastically.

  “David!” Hank yelled from just outside.

  Barry turned to see his brother glaring at David angrily.