Cowboy Cravings

by Morgan Ashbury

  When first Rick, and then Veronica, demanded she hand over the necklace, she’d been telling the truth when she told them she had no idea where the gems could possibly be.

  But a few hours had passed and the shock had begun to wear off. She’d been able to think.

  She hadn’t known where the necklace was a few hours ago, but she did now. In fact, Rick Rutherford had more or less told her where it was.

  Billy opened his eyes, sat forward. “What do you want?” He flicked a glance at first Jesse, then Grant. When her men just sat back, continued touching and comforting her, he returned his gaze to hers. She shook her head slowly.

  “Half.”

  “Half. So…you and I would split the fee. Just the two of us. You’d cut your men out of the deal?”

  “I know my men,” she said softly.

  “After everything Annie’s been through because of that SOB she was married to,” Jesse said, “she deserves every cent recovering that thing will give her. I wouldn’t dream of taking even a penny of it.”

  “Ditto,” Grant said.

  Billy’s head bowed, as if that had been his last chance to win.

  “Cheer up, Billy. Splitting the money only two ways works better for you than splitting it four.”

  “True. Okay. Partners, then.”

  “Uh uh,” Annie said. “Needs to be written down and notarized.”

  “Not very trusting, are you?” Billy asked.

  “After tonight’s activities and revelations?” Annie asked.

  Though it was nearly ten o’clock on a Sunday night, it didn’t take long for arrangements to be made. Grant placed a phone call to his godfather, who was a Justice of the Peace for the county. Jesse went into his office and wrote up an agreement on his computer, printing out several copies. By eleven o’clock, the document had been signed and witnessed, the Justice of the Peace thanked and sent on his way, and a new pot of coffee brewed.

  “You didn’t know before tonight where they were, did you?”

  Billy asked that, and his statement of faith in her character pleased her.

  “No, I really didn’t. I didn’t even know they existed.” She smiled around a yawn.

  “Well? Do we head over to your place now? I know it’s late, but I would like to get this done and over with,” Billy said.

  “No need. Does anyone have a pen knife?”

  Grant fished one out of his pocket and handed it to her, a shiny one with a tiny blade. She held Mr. Tinkles up, looked into his faithful face for one long moment.

  “Sorry, old man. I’ll have you fixed again, I promise.”

  She turned the bear over and laid him on the table. She’d examined him carefully earlier—truthfully, the first time she’d done so in years. She noticed the stitching along his spine, newer thread than the rest of him had, and she’d known.

  Carefully, so as not to cause any more damage than necessary, she sliced through the stitches on the old bear, opening him butt to neck. Easing back the two sides of fifty-year-old cloth, she reached inside. Mr. Tinkles had been made at a time before modern stuffing and consumer protection laws. What came out of him resembled the grass used to fill Easter baskets, but this was brittle and yellow, and much diminished in volume than in years past. For some of it had been removed and replaced with a small, soft blue felt jewelry pouch.

  She handed the pouch to Billy, who laid it on the table and opened it.

  Dozens of diamonds held in settings of ancient gold glittered in the kitchen’s artificial light.

  Chapter 21

  There’d been no time or energy the night before for anything but a long, warm snuggle in bed. With a hot, hard male body on either side of her, exhaustion caught up to Annie and she dropped into sleep.

  When she opened her eyes the next morning, she saw sunlight streaming into the room, making a sunspot on the floor. As the fog of sleep dissipated and her mind began to work, the reality of the day, and likely the time, intruded. She sat up, looking for a clock.

  “Hey.”

  Jesse had spoken, but Grant was there, too. Each put a hand on her arm and coaxed her back down on the bed.

  “I need to open the store.”

  “Not today, baby,” Grant said. “Today, you need to rest and let us take care of you.”

  “You went to sleep so fast last night, you had us worried,” Jesse added.

  How wonderful it felt to lay safe and secure and snug between her two lovers! How amazing to reach up with both hands and stroke beloved faces.

  “I guess I was pretty stressed out.”

  “An understatement.” Jesse pulled the blankets down, baring her to the waist. Instinct moved her hand, jerking them back into place.

  “Annie?” The concern in Grant’s tone, the sudden wariness on Jesse’s face nearly brought her to tears.

  “I have to shower first.” She looked from one face to the other. “Please. He touched me. I…I don’t feel clean.”

  Grant moved first, hauling her into his arms, squeezing her so tight, she wondered if she’d be able to breathe. When he released her, Jesse stroked a hand over her hair, then bent and kissed her.

  “Tell you what. Grant and I will play lady’s maid today. We’ll bathe you.”

  “I haven’t been bathed since I was a baby,” Annie said.

  * * * *

  She’d imagined lounging for hours in this massive round tub the first time she’d laid eyes on it. Because it dominated half of the fabulous space Jesse had created, the tub—surely an inadequate name—inspired all sorts of decadent fantasies. One image that formed in her mind featured lit candles music playing, fragrant steam and hot water soothing sore muscles.

  Reality proved far better than imagination.

  Instead of candlelight, daylight softly accented the room. Fresh air, from the constant Wyoming wind, streamed in the open window, carrying with it the rare scent of rain, as intoxicating a fragrance as any scented wax. The heat of water, the jets set on low, and the lush jasmine-scented steam soothed her.

  Gentle hands, caressing, laving, healed her.

  They’d left her in bed until the tub was ready. Then Jesse carried her into the bathroom. They’d waited until she let go of the sheet he’d wrapped her in.

  She couldn’t understand why she felt so shy, revealing her flesh to these wonderful men who’d seen and touched every inch of her numerous times already.

  “It’s because someone tried to take what we have and are to each other and make it ugly,” Grant said softly. It amazed her that he understood her emotions when she hadn’t understood them herself. He was right. That was exactly why she’d felt shy. No, not shy. Ashamed.

  “We love you, Annie. No one and nothing could ever change that, or defile that. Never doubt that. Never forget that,” Jesse said.

  She hadn’t realized she was bruised. Not surprising, considering the rough handling she’d had last night. There were marks on her face and neck, and on her hips from when she’d been thrown to the floor.

  Minor insults compared to what could have been.

  “If I had seen these at the time, I’d have kicked his face in.” Jesse’s quiet vow warmed her and frightened her at the same time. His muscles gave him a power she doubted few men possessed. She had no fear that he would ever use that strength against her. But he’d use it to defend her, regardless of the cost to his body, or his soul.

  “He’s not worth it, darling,” Annie said. “He’s not worth one more thought.”

  And as Jesse lifted her and settled her in the perfumed water, Annie released the tension and the fear that clung to her. The hate and the panic, not just from last night but from the past deserved not one moment more of her time, attention, or care.

  Grant stretched her arms out, up over her head, to rest against the rim of the tub. She closed her eyes, anticipating the soap-enhanced stroke of hands on her breasts and belly. Instead, a hand and a foot were taken up tenderly, lathered and massaged in a rhythm that felt almost coordinated.


  Annie groaned, the sound one of pure pleasure, coaxed by such loving touches.

  “I think our woman likes this,” Grant said quietly.

  “So do I,” Jesse said.

  Toes and fingers, hands and feet, arms and legs, they washed, caressed, massaged until it seemed every joint in Annie’s body had turned to jelly, every muscle to molten lava.

  “Oh, God,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “This feels so good.”

  “Just enjoy,” Grant encouraged.

  How could she do anything but? Stress gone, the sense of shame and dirtiness that the malice of another had created, stood no chance against the outpouring of love her men lavished upon her.

  When she heard the rustle of clothing, the slide of zippers, her heart rejoiced. The round tub easily accommodated the addition of their big, strong bodies. Annie licked dry lips as arousal began to curl in her belly.

  Surprising her, Grant gently lifted her until she sprawled on him, supine, her back cushioned by his flesh.

  They washed and rinsed her, reverently, treasuring her in a way that brought tears to her eyes.

  “I want you,” she hadn’t known last night if she ever would again, but now there lived no doubt within her. “I want you both so much. Inside me. I want you inside me at the same time.”

  “Yeah,” Grant’s agreement was as much a rumble beneath her as a voice close to her ear. “Then that’s what we’ll give you.”

  The growing erection beneath her told her he was more than up to the task.

  “You’ll have us just that way,” Jesse added his agreement to Grant’s. “Now, and any time you want for the rest of our lives.”

  They rinsed her and dried her. Then Grant carried her back to their bed. He came down beside her, gently turning her face to him. With his lips sipping and his tongue tasting, he kissed her until her blood heated and her flesh tingled. When he sampled her throat, and then her shoulder, Jesse coaxed her face to his, laid his mouth on hers and devoured her.

  Passion rose, a swelling of heat and love more powerful than any force of nature. Annie crested the wave of her orgasm from the loving of their mouths alone.

  “We’ll give you more,” one lover whispered.

  “Everything, we’ll give you everything,” the other vowed.

  Caressing and cupping, stroking and sliding, their flesh owned hers so that she couldn’t tell where she ended and they began. Each touch brought liquid heat and shivering sighs. Each kiss and lick and nip fueled the need in her, so that she wanted more, she craved everything.

  Smooth and supple, as if they performed a dance of intricate balance and tempo, they moved and melded, soft, hot, electric.

  She heard the sounds, knew they protected her, and the knowledge that they always would wrapped a layer of purest joy around her pleasure.

  “Come here, baby, ride me.” Grant’s plea energized her, and she went to him, raising up to straddle him, sinking down, down, until his hot condom-covered cock sank deep into her body.

  “Your pussy feels so damn good.” His hands on her hips, he moved her, taking control of their loving with long, measured strokes. “Come down here.” She placed both hands on the bed, bracketing his head, her lips seeking his for another deep, drugging kiss.

  She felt Jesse move behind her, his hands gliding up her back and down her ass. Looking over her shoulder, she gave him a smile that felt wild, wanton, and sultry.

  His answer was to stroke one finger over the rosette of her anus. The lubricant chilled and heated at the same time, igniting a hunger in her, a hunger to be taken and filled in this most scandalous of ways.

  “Fuck me,” she begged him.

  “Lord.” Jesse breathed and pushed forward.

  Hot and hard, he pressed into her, a steady thrust that held her, pushed her down harder onto Grant’s cock, which so magnificently filled her pussy. Her anus stretched, the burning of it adding to her pleasure, the promise of that wonderful cock so enticing she dipped her back, spread her legs just a bit more, giving Jesse total access, denying him nothing.

  The head of his penis slipped into her, and when she moved just a little, Jesse groaned, pressed on in one solid thrust that embedded him in her to the hilt. His balls caressed her mons just next to where Grant’s cock entered her body. Pleasure seemed too paltry a word to describe the sheer delight of being completely impaled by her lovers.

  “Damn. You’re so tight. So hot. So fucking good.” Even in the heat of near-climax, Grant held still, the only sign of his growing need the trembling of his hands as they continued to clamp on her hips.

  “Fuck us, Annie. We don’t want to hurt you. Fuck us, take what you need.”

  “I need more. I need everything.”

  Down and back, a languid sway of hips that worked slow, steady, she did as Jesse asked. The slide and pull, the push and glide of her lovers’ cocks inside her, drove her passion higher than she’d ever imagined. Twinges of pain mixed with the pleasure, and her body responded, separate from thought or logic, feeding the hunger that burned and yearned and churned within her. Faster, deeper, relentless in its compulsion, her body moved, the groans and pleas of her lovers a sexy symphony, an arousing aria.

  “God, baby. I’m so close.” Jesse hissed.

  She felt his restraint, felt him fighting the primal need to take, to plunder, and would have none of it. Perspiration glistened on her flesh, and on Grants. Bending down, she licked the salty sheen from his skin.

  “Take me. Take me hard,” she whispered, needing to give them the gift not only of her body, but of her trust.

  “Hold on.”

  Two words, the snap of control, the unleashing of the feral. Annie pressed harder down on Grant’s cock and squeezed him with her inner muscles at the same time she surrendered control of her ass to Jesse.

  “Yes!” Jesse and Grant both grunted their need, their greed, their rapture as together they moved, an almost convulsive pounding that once begun neither could control. Annie’s climax exploded, the bliss so fierce, her cry of joy became a scream, a sound so primal, so feminine, her lovers could never mistake it for anything but absolute satiation. On and on the current sheared through her, stretching her, pressing her to give and give and give.

  “Don’t move,” Jesse cautioned what seemed minutes later as he labored for breath and tried to make his arms support him.

  “Don’t worry.” The orgasm had stolen every single ounce of energy and strength she possessed. Collapsed on one lover, covered by the other, Annie doubted she’d move anytime in the next week.

  “Good God.” Grant’s words, hoarse and strained, brushed her hair.

  Eventually, Jesse withdrew from her, easing himself up and off. Annie dozed, the sound of him moving into the bathroom, of the toilet flushing, and water running, familiar sounds that played in the background of her conscious thoughts. The bed dipped, and cool hands lifted her slightly. She felt Grant slide out of her, then from under her, heard him repeating Jesse’s motions as she felt the mattress rise up beneath her, felt Jesse’s solid body against her back as he settled behind her. Then Grant returned, sliding in next to her, facing her.

  They were three individuals who had somehow, through love and friendship, become one.

  “You’ll let us build that house,” Jesse said. For all of his sweet charm and impish ways, he was pure Alpha male. She loved that about him.

  “Yes. I want you to build me a house.”

  “And you’ll stay with us.”

  Grant could be just as dictatorial when he wanted to be.

  Funny, she’d spent the first thirty years of her life only knowing bossy men. Now, she had men of strength and she could attest to the difference.

  “I’ll stay.”

  “Later, if we decide we want kids, we’ll adopt,” Jesse said. “After the way my life was mended when Grant’s folks adopted me, it’s something I’ve always planned to do.”

  “Maybe a baby or two,” Grant said, “but a couple of ol
der kids, too. Kids who maybe have given up on being chosen. Like my Aunt Bev was. Gram and Gramps took her in when she was thirteen. She said they saved her life. She and Uncle Harry adopted a couple of kids themselves. We’ll make it the family tradition.”

  Of course! She could have that family she’d always longed to have. Why had that possibility never occurred to her before? She would have a family that would be created not by her body, but by her heart, and the hearts of these two men.

  “I love you both so much,” Annie said. “I never would have thought it possible to love two men with equal passion and equal heart. But I do.”

  “I love you, Annie. You’re ours,” one lover declared.

  “I love you, Annie. And we’re yours,” the other lover vowed.

  They laid, warm and sated, quiet and loving for a long moment.

  “Why did you only want half the money?” Jesse asked. “By rights, you could have claimed it all.”

  “I know. But half was more than enough. I wanted something because what you said—about it being owed to me after all was said and done—was exactly right. As soon as I knew I could get that, I don’t know, it felt like a kind of closure. And the other reason was the two of you.”

  “I meant it, woman. I don’t want one red cent,” Jesse said.

  “No how, no way,” Grant agreed.

  “I know. But we’re making a family, and I wanted to come into this family on equal footing, financially.”

  She thought they might protest, but they didn’t, proving once again her men really did understand her. Then, thoughtfully, she said, “If Veronica ends up needing a lawyer, I intend to see she gets one.”

  “Of course you will. You wouldn’t be you, otherwise.”

  Annie smiled. Words spoken the night before at the kitchen table came back to her.

  “A long and happy life, huh?”

  “Very long,” Jesse said.

  “Very happy,” Grant said.

  Annie snuggled closer to her men. “With the two of you to satisfy every one of my cowboy cravings, I don’t see how it could be any other way.”