“We know how you feel on the subject of marriage and relationships,” Grant said in his quiet, thoughtful way, “because over the last few months, you’ve said some things, and we’ve put two and two together. But you’re far too young, and far too responsive to want to live the rest of your life like a nun.”
Since both men made a point of looking at the way her nipples pebbled under her T-shirt, she couldn’t deny the accusation of being responsive. Neither did she think it would be smart to tell them she only seemed to be responsive to them.
“We’ve both been drawn to you, right from the beginning, from the first moment we laid eyes on you. But we’ve been best friends forever and had no intention of letting anyone get in the way of that friendship,” Jesse said.
“When we realized our feelings for you weren’t going away, and that you didn’t want any kind of committed relationship, we thought that maybe there was a way for all three of us to enjoy ourselves without either getting mired down with expectations of marriage, or damaging a life-long partnership,” Grant said.
“We could all just be friends together…friends with benefits,” Jesse finished, flashing the sexiest grin she’d ever seen.
For a long moment, Annie couldn’t think of a thing to say. “Wow,” she finally exhaled, “that is a lot of thinking.”
“We’ve done ours. Now you do yours. Jesse and I will get our picnic set out.”
Those two rogues did not just propose they both become her lovers and then move right along to setting out food! Annie shook her head, a small chuckle escaping. That was exactly what they were doing.
Both men still sported erections that tested the strength of their denim, and both wore engaging, nearly cheeky grins.
Both looked at her as if she was the tastiest thing on two legs and she was about to become dessert.
A year ago, Annie would have said she was done with men and sex forever. A year ago, she had said that. She figured if anyone knew all she’d been through with that bastard Jim Rutherford, they certainly wouldn’t blame her. Hadn’t she just affirmed to herself this very morning that it would be best all around if she forgot about sex and relationships completely?
Over the last few months, she had begun to heal. And she had begun, albeit tepidly, to explore her own sexuality.
She’d masturbated for the first time in her life just a few weeks before. Annie turned away as she felt her cheeks heat at the recollection.
One of the things she’d vowed when she moved West, she would always be scrupulously honest with herself. Though difficult, she applied that principle now. She’d begun pleasuring herself for the first time one night when thinking about these two men had gotten her aroused.
“Annie? Come and eat, honey.”
“I don’t know how you can expect me to eat after that bombshell proposition you just dropped on me!” She turned and headed toward them. They’d set out a pretty blanket and were on the ground beside it. There were zipper bags with sandwiches and a bag of cookies. A large thermos sat off to the side, and they’d even thought to bring paper cups.
“Aren’t you hungry?” Grant asked that with just enough of a twinkle in his eyes to tell her he knew she was feeling off balance.
“I’m not sure I know many women who would be hungry for food immediately after being propositioned with a ménage by two sexy studs.”
“Wanna have sex, then?” And oh, didn’t Jesse look just the right amount of hopeful to make her laugh? She accepted his hand and settled on a corner of the blanket, effectively between them.
“I’m thinking about it. I’ve never done anything like this before.”
“Neither have we,” Grant said. “And believe me, coming to the decision to give this a try wasn’t as easy for us as you might think.”
Annie stretched her legs out, sighed, and accepted a sandwich from Grant. She would have thought she would feel all sorts of uncomfortable talking with two virile, ruggedly handsome men about having sex. Especially about her having sex with them. She did feel some nervousness, but who wouldn’t?
“I’ve only had sex with one man in my life. It was nothing to set off fireworks, let me tell you. He convinced me I was frigid.”
“You’re not frigid,” Jesse said.
“Damn right you’re not,” Grant said.
She heard absolute certainty in both their voices.
Annie began to eat her sandwich, a pretty tasty ham and cheese, as she worked at processing the proposition she’d been handed. “The thing is, I’m not very experienced at sex. There are a whole lot of things I’ve heard about, but never done.”
“Don’t even think for one second that you would in any way disappoint us. Not going to happen.” Jesse’s vehemence coaxed a smile out of her.
“You may believe that, but I won’t hold it against you when you discover differently.” Memories from the past rushed up to flood her thoughts. Jim had left no doubt about the depth of his disappointment in her. Even before they moved to the city and he began drinking, he spared no opportunity to berate her for being a complete and utter failure as a woman. Near the end, his words had been especially cruel, his actions as he forced himself on her especially painful.
Then came the attack that changed her forever, the one that made his label of ‘failure’ became more than just a label.
There must have been something in her expression, because in the next instant Grant had her left hand in his and brought it to his lips while Jesse stroked a gentle hand down the center of her back.
“Someday, honey, when you’re ready, you’ll tell us about it,” Grant said quietly.
“It?” The painful memories evaporated. Annie’s attention focused on the two men who had turned tender in a heartbeat and were lavishing her with more pure care than she knew could exist in the world.
“The thing you think about every now and then that puts those haunted shadows in your eyes,” Jesse said.
Their sensitivity amazed her. She’d grown up with a father who had never seen her and a husband who’d never bothered to look. Neither one of them had cared about her one iota.
She swallowed the lump in her throat. She’d never told anyone about those last months, not even Veronica, the one female friend she’d made in Branchton. Maybe the past needed not so much to be shoved in the back corner, but dragged out in the light of day and treated to a full dose of sunlight.
Could she tell these men what she never before discussed with anyone? “Maybe,” she said softly. But not today.
“Fair enough. In the meantime, you just said ‘when we discover differently’ and not ‘if’, which means to me that you’ve already decided to take us for a ride.” Jesse sounded smug.
Annie blinked, her gaze going from one smiling hunk to the other. Mentally replaying her words, she realized she had said that. More, she understood that she was going to take these two cowboys up on their outrageous offer. How were they going to make that happen, exactly? They couldn’t mean…her gaze wandered down to the soft, pretty blanket she was perched on.
“Here? Now?”
“Well, if you insist on here and now, God knows we’re both ready,” Grant said, popping the last of his sandwich in his mouth.
“But we’d actually prefer our first time with you to be in a more private place, like a bedroom. And on a more comfortable surface, like a bed.” Jesse’s voice dropped down to an almost reverent whisper. “Say yes, Annie. Say yes, then come and lay with us.”
Chapter 4
Annie couldn’t think, she could barely breathe. She knew if she said no to these men and what they offered, there would be no repercussions. She knew beyond a doubt that if she shied away, if she refused, they would treat her the same way they’d always done, with kindness and respect and friendship. She knew she could say no and that would be the end of it.
God help her, she didn’t want to say no.
“Come on, sweetheart.” Jesse’s breath warmed her lips as he leaned closer, almost but not quite kissing
her. “Just one word. All you have to do is say one word and we’ll take care of the rest.”
Oh, how tempting that sounded! How many times had she longed for someone to step in and ‘take care of the rest’? She’d done every hard thing, and done it on her own. She’d lived with an abusive father, an abusive husband, and survived. But there’d been a tiny part of her, a Cinderella part longing for Prince Charming, and a fairy godmother or two, and the luxury of being taken care of.
She wasn’t absolutely certain, but she thought that maybe she’d healed enough in the last year to send that Cinderella dream packing. There were possible consequences to the choice she was about to make. She would face those consequences, whatever they turned out to be. She didn’t want shielding anymore, at least not from this. “I’ll say the word, but I’ll play an equal role in this, in whatever it is we make between us.”
Jesse leaned in closer, his scent so potent her mouth watered. Beside her, Grant stroked the back of her hand, his thumb strong yet gentle, the heat of his body so close, filling hers with longing.
“Say it, Annie.”
Annie met Jesse’s gaze. Needing to taste him, needing to sample the heat and the passion she read in his eyes, she licked suddenly dry lips and said softly, “Yes.”
He moved slowly as if he would give her one more chance to change her mind. She didn’t, of course, change her mind. Instead, she stretched up to meet his lips with her own.
She expected a gentle kiss, a first kiss like the kiss-and-run she got from Pete Barton in tenth grade when he cornered her in the gym after the spring dance. This was no questing foray. This kiss was full blown, open-mouthed, go-for-the-gold splendor.
Annie sank into Jesse’s kiss, into a world of oral pleasure. Hot and wet, his mouth mated with hers, his tongue stroking her lips then plunging when she opened to him. For just one instant, she felt overwhelmed. She’d never been kissed like this, with heat and passion, as if the taste of her was vital. Then Jesse’s hands cupped her face, their fine tremor oddly soothing. She relaxed into the caress, into him, blocking the rest of the world from her mind.
He tasted like heat and heaven, delight and danger. His tongue didn’t coax, it demanded. Smitten, lured by the promise of ecstasy, she leaned into him, offering more, offering everything.
If he’d laid her down, stripped her naked, and taken her then and there, she would have given him a wet welcome and begged for more.
He lifted his lips from hers, his hands still on her face, his thumbs stroking her cheeks with restrained passion. She opened her eyes and felt her excitement climb at the look of glittering arousal in his. No man had ever looked at her that way, as if she was the sun and the moon and all the stars combined.
A hand stroked her back, down, then up and around to cup her shoulder. Jesse relinquished her and Grant used a single finger to turn her head, bring her attention to him.
The fire of need burned no less brightly in his eyes. Drawn, she placed her left hand on his face and moved closer, moved in.
Grant’s kiss felt and tasted different from Jesse’s. Annie took one second to register that fact, and then became captivated by his softly wooing touch. Here she found the questing, the sampling, the gentle persuasion. Sweet and subtle, his tongue slid and stroked, touched and tasted, teaching hers the rhythm of the dance. The heat of his arm surrounded her, and the compelling scent of his woodsy cologne combined with the power of his kiss to seduce her completely. When he eased back, she leaned forward, reluctant to let him go. When the absence of his chest plastered against hers registered, she moaned in disappointment.
“You taste good, Annie,” Grant said as he rested his forehead against hers. “But if I don’t stop right now, I’m going to have you naked and under me in the next two minutes.”
Annie never believed herself capable of inspiring even mild passion, let alone the kind that could overwhelm a man’s best intentions. But obviously she could, here was proof in duplicate. Today repudiated years of insecurity. She couldn’t hold back her smile.
“Look at that siren smile,” Jesse teased. Then, as if he couldn’t resist, he swooped in for another quick nibble and lick of her lips. Annie wanted more and fisted his tee-shirt.
He gave in to her, but just for a moment. This time when he thrust his tongue into her mouth, hers met it with equal fervor. She blinked when he pulled back, then licked her lips to capture more of the taste of him.
“You do taste good. The reality of being with you right now is better than my dreams, and I’ve enjoyed some pretty damn hot dreams lately.” He looked around, then put his focus back on her.
“I’m pretty sure we wouldn’t be interrupted here, honey. But Grant and I don’t want to take that chance. What we’re planning for the three of us is way outside of convention. But it’s our choice, and nobody else’s business. We want to be able to guarantee you privacy, behind closed doors.”
“And if we put this stuff away and get a move on, that privacy can happen in about twenty minutes,” Grant added. “If you’re sure you want us both.”
“If I’m sure?” Annie didn’t have to think about it very long or hard. She was going to be thirty-two on her next birthday and she’d lived up until today believing herself incapable of passion. To some extent, her past determined her future. She would never marry again, never have a family. There would be no hearts and flowers and happy endings for her. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy a physical relationship with two men—two men!—she both liked and respected. It didn’t mean she couldn’t grab whatever happiness life decided, at this late date, to hand her.
“I’ve never been this sure of anything. I want you, both of you. I know it’s outside convention. We’ve known each other a year, and I’ve been attracted to you both from the beginning. I know this won’t be permanent, but it won’t be a one night stand, either. I can’t see any reason to wait any longer. So, yeah. Let’s get a move on.”
The men had the remains of their picnic stowed in their backpacks in record time. Grant vaulted onto his horse. Jesse spun Annie into his arms and kissed her. Hot, hard, impassioned, he imprinted himself on her. A little taste of him to carry with her while she was riding with Grant, she thought. Her nipples peaked so hard, they pinched. Jesse broke the kiss, looked down at her breasts, and ran one hand over them.
“No one night stand, Annie. That’s a fucking promise. You’ll have us. We’ll have you. Soon, baby. Very soon, and I’m hoping, very often. Now up you go.” He lifted her into the other man’s arms.
Grant’s chest against her back felt as enticing, as hard as Jesse’s had been during the ride to this oasis, and the impression of his erection against her bottom felt just as potent and appealing. Annie became so hot, so excited, the movement of the horse beneath her was no longer a cause for concern. Instead, the motion seemed to accelerate her arousal, the gentle back and forth swaying of her hips feeding the flames of sexual need these men had ignited within her.
She closed her eyes, worked with that motion, but couldn’t quite take herself to the next level. She must have made some sort of sound, some kind of desperate whimper in frustration, because Grant wrapped one arm around her and pulled her tighter against him as he surged his hips forward. “I know, Annie. Just a bit longer. I’m going to bury my cock so deep inside of you, sweetheart, I swear you won’t know where you end and I begin.”
Annie wondered if she could have an orgasm just from listening to them talking about it. Grant’s husky bedroom voice vibrated right through her to her sex, teasing her pussy with promises of attention to come. If she didn’t feel so desperate, so needy, she’d laugh. After a lifetime spent thinking sex the ultimate overrated experience, she was acting like a nymphomaniac!
“I know you may not believe me, but I don’t usually behave like this. You two have got me so aroused, I’m shaking with it.” She held her hands out in front of her so they could see she wasn’t joking.
“Believe me, baby, we know,” Jesse said, guidin
g his horse closer. “It’s the same for us. Good thing we have most of the rest of the day to spend together, because I think it’s going to take us at least that long to quench the craving we have for you, and the one you apparently have for us.”
“You don’t have to worry, either, about protection. Jesse and I have been stocking up on condoms the last few weeks. We got them over in Laramie, of course, so no one around here would know.”
Annie nearly told them protection wasn’t necessary, but then she recalled that in this day and age there was more than unwanted pregnancy to guard against.
Just then, the path they were on curved to the left and Jesse’s house came into view.
Was she crazy? She’d just made a conscious decision to have sex with two men at the same time. Not even in her wildest dreams had this scenario ever surfaced. Even if she nurtured a cherished fantasy of having two men, she certainly never would have had the self-confidence to suggest acting on that fantasy.
Yes, she’d been attracted to both men on sight. And as she’d gotten to know them, she understood that she’d come to care for them equally. She never would have been able to choose between them. How very lucky for her she wouldn’t have to.
Two barns stood well back of the house. Jesse once told her that when he and Grant decided to merge their operations, they’d chosen Grant’s ranch as their headquarters. The Douglas spread had always been a bit bigger than the Conrad’s, and while Grant’s dad had done what he could to keep Jesse’s property viable after the death of Jesse’s parents, there’d been no capital improvements done during his stewardship. The year before Jesse turned twenty-one, Grant’s father erected a new barn and modern bunkhouse on his own property.
“I’m almost tempted to leave the horses,” Jesse murmured as they neared the barn. “But it won’t take us long to see to them.”
Annie thought they worked very quickly.
Cowboy Cravings Page 3