Cowboy Cravings

by Morgan Ashbury

  “That’s so sweet! Thank you. Would you like a glass of iced tea?” Annie always kept a pitcher of iced tea on hand to serve her customers.

  One of the things she learned during her brief stint as a store clerk in Queens was that customers appreciated the little things. Despite the warnings of hard times from Mr. Cuthbertson when she met him at the lawyer’s office to get the keys, business had been good this past year.

  “Thank you, no. I have to be on my way. Have an appointment to have my hair done. Lisa Cantrell does it from her home these days. You know Lisa? She and her husband have a ranch about ten minutes out. You can see it right from the road. It’s the place right before you get to the Conrad place.”

  “I think I saw it yesterday. Frame house with pretty yellow shutters?”

  “That’s the one. I heard you spent some time out there yesterday. At the Conrad place, that is.”

  And there it was, the same note of speculative interest she’d heard from just about everyone who’d dropped by today.

  She’d come very close to confessing the full truth of her activities the day before to Veronica this morning over breakfast. Though she didn’t consider them to be as close as she thought Veronica sometimes did, the other woman was about her own age and came from the same geographical area of the country. Truthfully, she supposed Veronica was the closest thing she’d ever had to a best friend. Jim hadn’t encouraged her to socialize much.

  But at the last moment, she changed her mind. She wanted to keep the miracle of attracting two handsome hunks to herself. So she ended up giving Veronica an abridged version of the truth, and had been repeating that story about every half hour or so since. What she shared with one and all formed a part of the truth, just not all of it. Maybe she was guilty of lying by omission, but who could blame her?

  “I did! What a surprise! Jesse and Grant thought that in honor of my one year anniversary, and thereby becoming a ‘real Wyomingite’, they’d teach me how to ride a horse. When they found out I’d never even been up close to one before, they took me for a short ride with them, first just to make sure I didn’t have any height or allergy issues.”

  “Well, for goodness sakes! I didn’t know you’d never been up close to a horse before. Those boys are just the sweetest things, aren’t they? You know, they’ve been close as brothers all their lives, even before poor Jesse was orphaned as a teen when his folks were killed by that drunk driver over near Cheyenne. Thick as thieves, the two of them, and if one got himself into mischief, there was the other one right alongside. Well, good for them offering their services that a way. What did you think of your first ride?”

  Annie did her best not to laugh or blush. “I liked it a lot.”

  “Bet you’re eager to get mounted up again!”

  Oh, my. If things kept up in this vein she was going to have to close early today. She didn’t know how much more she could take. Swallowing her laughter and her embarrassment, she said, “Yes, as a matter of fact, I am.”

  “Well, I always figured new experiences kept a body limbered up and young. Now, since I’m here, I was wondering if you got in any of that embroidery thread we talked about the last time I was in?”

  Annie had to send away for the thread and pay retail because so far, she didn’t have enough demand for it to qualify her orders for wholesale pricing. Embroidery thread was one of the handful of items she sold at cost as a service to her customers. That didn’t bother her. She was able to make a living with a small profit on everything else, and that was all she cared about.

  “It came in first thing this morning, Phyllis, and I just managed to set it out.” She accompanied the woman over to the corner of the store that held all the sewing notions, and listened politely while Phyllis went on about her twin grandsons, now eight and living in Utah.

  After she rang up the sale, and waved Phyllis off, Annie took the opportunity to sit down on the stool behind the counter. Both hands cupped her face, as if by touch she could tone down her blush. She looked at the clock. It wasn’t even noon yet. She had hours to go before she could close her store and drive out for her ‘riding lesson’.

  She only hoped she could get through the rest of the day with her dignity intact.

  * * * *

  “This has been the longest damn day,” Grant said to Jesse when he arrived at his friend’s ranch around five-thirty.

  “Tell me about it. I went out chasing after those stray cows that got through the fencing on the north pasture and I didn’t think I’d get back here in time.”

  “You going to shower?” Grant laughed, because his friend looked as if he’d put in a long hard day on the range.

  “Yeah, heading there now. Just wanted to wait for you to get here first.”

  “Is there a problem?”

  “Nope. I didn’t want the lady to arrive with neither of us in sight is all.”

  “You’re worried she’s going to change her mind?”

  “Maybe a little. That was kind of a jarring interruption yesterday. I was afraid the combination of Mrs. Bishop and the preacher’s wife might have seemed like an omen of some sort to her. Maybe given her second thoughts.”

  “I started to think that way, too. Then I decided I wasn’t giving Annie enough credit.” In fact, Grant had thought of little else once he returned home Sunday evening. If the three of them had started to make out spontaneously, or if he and Jesse had taken advantage of Annie’s hormones, then he supposed they would have cause to worry the lady might change her mind.

  But as much as they lit her fires yesterday, as well as their own, he knew Annie had made a conscious decision to start an affair with them.

  At least he hoped so.

  Jesse headed into the house to take a quick shower. Restless, Grant left the porch steps and walked toward the corral.

  At odd moments, he noticed how still everything was here. When he and Jesse combined their businesses a couple of years ago, they chose to have just one base of operations—at the Douglas homestead. As Jesse had pointed out at the time, it made sense to have their crew combined and in one location, and since Grant’s father had recently built a new bunk house, the choice of where seemed obvious.

  Still, it didn’t take much to look back over time and to remember the years before Brian and Beth Conrad had been killed. The quiet here, the lack of activity, just felt wrong. It felt as if the ranch was in limbo.

  The sound of a car coming down the drive pulled Grant out of the past. Annie’s ten-year-old Buick slowly approached. He began to walk toward the porch at the same moment Jesse emerged from the house. His hair still looked damp, and he buttoned his jeans as he walked. Grant looked at his watch. Showered and dressed in under five minutes. Well, when a man was motivated….

  They reached her at the same time. Jesse opened the car door, and Grant reached in, unfastened her seat belt, and eased her out of the vehicle.

  “You wouldn’t believe the day—”

  Grant didn’t give her the chance to finish her sentence. He hauled her into his arms and kissed her. She wrapped herself so sweetly around him and he lost himself in the heat and the flavor of her. The first time he kissed her yesterday, she’d been shy in her response. Not now. Maybe having been interrupted the day before had been a blessing in disguise. As frustrated as he’d been at the time, he couldn’t deny his craving for Annie had grown in the interim. The way she clung to him, the salacious stroke of her tongue against his own and the seductive roll of her hips as her mound cradled his erection told him in no uncertain terms her hunger had done the same.

  He swept his hands down her back, taking the opportunity to cup the cheeks of her ass and give them an impassioned squeeze. Then he drew his lips from hers and took a small step back.

  Jesse gathered her in, and proceeded to greet her the same way. While she was in his friend’s arms, Grant shut the door to her car. Her response to Jesse was every bit as hot as her response to him. He couldn’t resist stroking his hand down her hair, letting his fin
gers comb through the silken strands as Jesse continued to kiss her.

  Jesse lifted his lips from Annie, and as one they moved her back a couple of steps so she leaned against the side of her car.

  “You’re as hot for us as we are for you,” Jesse said.

  “I thought this day would never end!” Annie laid a hand on each of their faces. Grant turned toward her palm, kissed it, then grasped her wrist lightly with his right hand.

  His left he played down the front of her, caressing her breast, continuing on down to brush at the juncture of her thighs, hidden from his view by the worn denim of her pants.

  “Neither did we,” Jesse said, his hand just as busy caressing and teasing Annie through her clothes.

  “I wanted the clock to move faster,” she whispered. Turning toward him, she stretched up and placed a kiss on Grant’s mouth. When he opened to her, she only allowed a tiny dip into her mouth with his tongue before she turned to offer Jesse the same endearment.

  Grant didn’t think, he just moved closer. He could feel the heat from Jesse’s body as they bracketed Annie. His rapid breathing was echoed by the other two. They should probably move, get inside the house, but the only thing Grant could get his body to do was cling to Annie, run his hands up and down her wonderful curves, and press his hard cock against the side of her hip.

  Moaning in response, Annie let her head fall back against the roof above the driver’s door as her hand traced down his chest until she stroked the denim-covered ridge of his erection.

  “I thought I was frigid, and here I am making out in the middle of the day with the two hottest studs I’ve ever met. I’ve been thinking about us, about this, all day.”

  “You want to talk about hot?” Grant all but panted the words against the side of her neck as he angled his head to lick her creamy skin.

  “Grant’s right. Annie, you’re the hottest woman either of us has ever met. Let us show you what you do to us. Let us show you what we can do to you.”

  Her groan as they moved her slightly so she stood with her legs parted was all the permission they needed.

  Grant stroked her crotch, the heat pulsing back at him so amazing, he bet she’d soak right through her denim before they got her naked. He slid one hand up to tangle in her hair and gently guide her face to his. His tongue swept the inside of her mouth, the rhythm the same he wanted to use as he fucked her. He didn’t know how much longer he could wait to get them all naked and horizontal.

  Dragging his lips from hers, he said, “Let’s go inside.”

  Jesse gathered Annie in for another kiss, his hand sweeping between her thighs and rubbing. Annie cried out, a uniquely feminine sound that told them how aroused she’d become, how close to climax she was.

  “Good idea,” Jesse agreed, his breathing ragged.

  They stepped back from Annie, neither of them relinquishing her completely. Grant knew he needed to keep his hand on her, keep that touch alive. He needed her, more than he’d ever needed a woman in his entire life.

  He thought he might just explode if he didn’t get her in the next few minutes.

  “Well, holy hell, give me a fucking break!”

  Jesse’s curse and the stiffening of his body made Grant turn around to see what had irked his friend.

  Not one, but two cars had turned into the lane and were headed straight for them.

  Chapter 7

  Annie hated being the center of attention. She felt nervous enough sitting all by herself on the back of Sandstone, the horse she’d ridden with Grant yesterday.

  She really could have done without the impromptu audience of four that arrived earlier.

  Jesse and Grant had stood for several moments, leaning with their front profiles against the side of Annie’s car, exchanging pleasantries over the roof of the vehicle with first the Grays and then Mrs. Bishop and Billy Woods, whom the matronly woman brought along with her.

  “We wanted to come and give Annie our encouragement on the occasion of her first riding lesson,” Mrs. Bishop announced, a pleased smile on her face. The Grays both nodded their heads, having obviously been of the same mind.

  “Me, I just tagged along for the ride because I’m nosy,” Billy said.

  Annie had been torn between hysterical laughter and extreme embarrassment. She’d turned innocent eyes on Jesse and Grant. She probably should have told them word about their ‘riding lessons’ had spread throughout the day. Actually, she had planned to do just that.

  But once she’d arrived, she’d been distracted. Besides, they hadn’t really let her say a word.

  “Right. Well, I guess we should get started,” Jesse finally said. Grant only nodded.

  Annie felt such fondness for them both. Neither of them acted impatient or short with the unexpected guests. Instead, they were kind and acted genuinely pleased to see them, especially Mrs. Bishop, whom Annie learned had been a particularly close friend to Jesse’s mother.

  Jesse brought Sandstone out of the barn, and together he and Grant had shown her how to saddle the gelding, and then how to mount up.

  Before long, between the two of them, she’d learned how to hold the reins, how to keep her knees in and heels down, and how to coax the beast into a walk around the corral.

  “You fellers should have told Annie to wear some riding boots,” Harry Gray called from his perch on the top rail of the corral fence.

  Phyllis gave him a swat, and Jesse chuckled. “She’s likely telling him we probably did tell you and you forgot, and not to go embarrassing you that a way,” Grant said quietly.

  “Probably is,” Jesse agreed.

  “I can still recall the first time my daddy got me up on a horse. Scared the living daylights right out of me. I was only about three or four at the time,” Mrs. Bishop said. “Don’t ride any more, of course,” she added, and Annie could hear genuine regret in her voice. “The rheumatism, you know.”

  “Doesn’t that horse have more than one speed?” Billy asked when Annie walked Sandstone past him.

  “Oh, now you hush-up, Billy-Boy,” Mrs. Bishop, swatted the tall, lanky man as if he were her own son. “You’re from back East, too. How many horses you ever ridden?”

  “Actually, quite a few. My mother put me in dressage when I was ten. I think she had Olympic dreams on my behalf.”

  “You’re just full of surprises there, Billy-Boy,” Harry quipped.

  Annie couldn’t hold back her smile. She hadn’t just crossed the country a year ago, she’d entered a totally different world. A world where strangers became friends, and everyone cheered everyone else on. These people had taken both her and Billy into their hearts. She figured if her fellow, former Easterner lived in Branchton the rest of his life, he’d still be called Billy-Boy when he turned ninety.

  “Hope you’re enjoying yourself,” Jesse said so only she and Grant could hear. “I planned on giving you an entirely different kind of ride.”

  “No kidding,” Grant commiserated. “Twice in a row. What are the odds?”

  Oh, they were sweet all right. And so just exactly what she wanted and needed. “Don’t you worry about that. You will. I have it all figured out.”

  For the rest of the lesson, she tuned out thoughts of other kinds of rides and focused on paying attention to her teachers—all six of them—and her horse.

  The sun was sinking toward the horizon when Jesse said, “I think that’s good for the first day. I don’t want you to be sore.” And didn’t he wink at her when he said that?

  “I don’t mind a little pain in a good cause,” she teased in return. “But I will bow to your expertise.”

  She guessed by the way his eyes widened, he got her intentional double entendre.

  “You want we should wait around, follow you home? I know you’re not overly familiar with these country roads, and it’s going to be dark soon.”

  “No thanks, Harry. I told the boys here I wouldn’t take riding lessons for free. I promised after we were done in the paddock that I’d take care of th
eir appetites for them.”

  “Hope you’re fixing to make lots,” Mrs. Bishop said. “Working men can eat a mountain of food.”

  “Isn’t that the truth!” Phyllis agreed.

  Annie heard the approval—they did believe in returning favor for favor—and had to work extra hard at keeping a straight face. “I think I have everything covered,” she said.

  Grant looked as if he were about to choke on his tongue. Jesse just smiled, looking cheeky as hell. Then he said, “We warned her how much we could gobble down, Mrs. Bishop. And don’t you worry none, we’ll see Annie gets safely home when we’re done.”

  “Never doubted it,” Mrs. Bishop said. “You did pretty good for your first time, Annie. Reckon once you get yourself broke in better, you’ll be able to stay in the saddle longer. Stamina builds up over time. It’s all practice.”

  “Yes, ma’am, I hope so.” Annie was going to lose it if these good-hearted people didn’t clear out soon.

  As if moved by her unspoken plea, the uninvited guests said their good nights and headed to their cars. With final waves and toots of their horns as they passed, they were on their way back down the lane in mere minutes.

  “Um, can I get down now?” Annie asked after a moment.

  “You’d better. Unless you’re fixing to take care of our appetites from on back of old Sandstone, here” Jesse said.

  “Oh, nothing fancy for me just yet. Not until I’m broke in better.”

  Jesse and Grant looked at each other, then dissolved into a fit of laughter.

  * * * *

  The door closed behind her and the sudden silence was palpable. Annie had taken only a couple of steps into the kitchen. She turned to look at them when she sensed they’d stopped moving and felt immediately caught by the two men who stood motionless just inside the door, staring at her.

  She read hunger in their expressions, raw and visceral, and for one instant terror kissed her flesh. She knew their hunger had gone beyond merely feral and bordered on the primal. In that moment, she understood that, stripped to the basics, she was female, and these two males were about to claim her in the most elemental way possible.