The Climax Montana Complete Collection

by Reece Butler

  Katie didn’t smile sweetly at him, she glared. From the moment he’d seen her in Tom’s doorway, she’d gotten on his nerves. He wanted to throttle her, and at the same time kiss her senseless. She made his heart pound and his cock rise just by being in the same room. Having her in his truck, their thighs almost touching, was torture.

  A quick glance to his right showed she had her fingers tightly clasped again. Was that to stop herself from fidgeting, or from slapping him upside the head? He didn’t think she’d hesitate to hit him. Though perhaps now she’d be on good behavior because she needed the job.

  But do you really want her to be good? Wouldn’t it be a lot more fun if she was naughty?

  Naughty could be good. Very good. But work came first, always.

  He and Trey needed a wife. Wives were female, which meant they were difficult to understand. It had been years since he’d been around a woman he wasn’t related to. He needed practice with someone who would be willing to have fun but would not hang around after. Once he got up his nerve he’d suggest to Katie that he was interested, leaving it up to her to follow through.

  He pulled in beside the front porch, flipped off his seatbelt, and killed the engine. He cleared his throat, gathered his manly courage and turned. Her hair shone like red gold. It was a glorious mess of curls. He wanted to tighten his fingers into the mass at the back of her head, draw her close, and devour her.

  “Katie?”

  She didn’t move. The damn woman had fallen asleep! He thought a moment then got out of the truck. Slamming his door didn’t wake her so he tromped around the front of the truck to her side. He carefully opened the door. The seatbelt held her in place, though her head rolled toward him.

  “Katie? We’re home.”

  Nothing. He leaned over to undo her seatbelt. His hand brushed against her breast. He froze. A wave of heat blew over him as he watched her nipple rise. He swallowed, hard. Carefully undoing the seatbelt, he set it hanging. She slumped, so he lifted her out of the seat before she fell.

  He’d carry her to the porch. By then she should be awake. He straightened, shifting her to hold her snug. She sighed and curled into him. It pressed her breast against his chest. She felt good in his arms. Way too good.

  He gritted his teeth as he stomped across the gravel. Though he slammed his feet down on each step she still didn’t wake. He set her in the old rocker by the front door then backed away. She looked good sitting there, eyes closed and nipples popped. How to wake her?

  He shook her arm. “Katie!”

  “Hmmm?” she murmured. A tiny tongue flicked between her lips. His groin tightened. He clenched his jaw to keep back a moan.

  “Katie, wake up!” He stepped back and stomped his foot. Her eyes jerked open, her hands coming up in fists. She recognized him, then yawned and relaxed.

  “What’s the problem?”

  “You fell asleep in the truck. Look, I’ve got to get caught up in the barn.”

  She stretched. “Great. If you’ll show me around—”

  “No need. The door’s open, so just go in and start. We’ve got nothing to hide. Put the kitchen however you like, do whatever you need to. I had a good breakfast, so I’ll work through lunch.”

  “I didn’t think ranches had an hourly schedule,” she said, arching her brow.

  “This one does.”

  “Fine!”

  Her clipped reply felt like a lash. Most of his family had stopped making pointed comments about his need for order. There was no reason why her reaction irritated him so much. She had her jaw stuck out, lips pressed together. She was blinking fast, and it wasn’t into the sun. Was she holding back tears? He didn’t think she was the crying kind, but after what she’d just gone through, he didn’t blame her.

  “You’re safe here,” he said gently, hoping it made up for his previous bark. “Our road ends at the Bitterroot Ranch just west of here. Nobody goes up this road except family. We’ve been taking care of the Bitterroot since our aunt and uncle died a few years back. I heard my cousin Ashley might be moving back, but I’ll believe it when I see it. We’ve got a motion sensor on the cattle grid which rings a bell at the house and the barn so you’ll know if someone is driving in. We take care of our own here, and right now that includes you.”

  “Thank you.” She pulled herself to her feet. “I’m good. Go get back to your schedule.”

  She stretched her arms, which also stretched her T-shirt tight against her breasts and nipples. He fought it, but his cock hardened. She noticed and glared in challenge. She looked nothing like the woman who’d curled into his chest in total trust. He liked both women, the trusting and the feral. He liked her too damn much. But it was up to her to do something about it if the feeling was mutual.

  “I’ll say this once and back off.”

  “What?” Her eyes narrowed as if expecting a reprimand.

  “If you’re interested, so am I.”

  * * * *

  An hour later Katie wrung out the stained drying cloth she’d had to use since there was no floor mop. She wished it was Sam’s neck. The man was hot and cold, first coming on to her, then pushing her away. And then he’d thrown what amounted to a dare at her before heading to the barn. He didn’t say what he was interested in, but she had a few ideas. Ideas that had more to do with the fantasies that slipped through her dreams than the reality that was Sam Elliott.

  “He’d better not come stomping in here in dirty boots,” she muttered as she pulled off her rubber gloves. They were huge and the right one had a hole, but they were better than nothing.

  She’d washed the kitchen and was not ready to tackle anything else. She left the pail of filthy water where it was. The sunroom beckoned. Her clothes were too dirty to sit on the couch, but she could put down some dish towels and lie on the rug in the sun. A quick glance showed the room could be lovely if the battered couches were replaced and the windows washed. She hit the two-pieced washroom first. It was clean by bachelor standards. So was the thick rug. She put down the towels and then stretched out, groaning. Tonight she would have a real bed, all to herself!

  Sam’ implied that situation could change quickly if she wanted it to. Did she?

  Sam and Trey were good looking cowboys with broad shoulders, long legs, lean hips, and muscles. Lots of muscles. They intrigued her, in different ways. They also turned her on. She wanted to make Sam lose his precious control. To roar, grab her, and take her like a wild stallion would a mare. She also wanted Trey to slowly seduce her, touching her everywhere until she demanded release.

  Dorothy said Sam’s growls and complaints showed more emotion than she’d seen in ten years. She’d added it would help Sam if Katie pushed him to accept he was human. Then Dorothy had suggested there were two ways to do that. One was to make him lose his temper. The other was to seduce him.

  Katie didn’t need much encouragement to make Sam furious. She’d been unable to fight back when her family attacked her with cold, contemptuous arrogance. With Sam, she had nothing to lose. The huge man’s false calm urged her to provoke a reaction. When he looked down his nose at her she wanted to poke him in the belly to break a hole in his ego and let out all that pompous hot air.

  She sighed, relaxing. The rug was softer than many of the places she’d slept in the last few months.

  Yes, she could make Sam angry, but it would be more fun to seduce him. She’d also get the benefit of it. He was no innocent, and the bulge she’d seen behind his belt buckle confirmed he wanted her. The eager hum between her thighs spoke the same language, making her panties damp. One of her fantasies was to be ravished, taken by a man who wanted her so much he couldn’t hold back his need for her. Sam and Trey were both big enough that she could fight as hard as she needed and they would still win. Dorothy and Tom insisted they wouldn’t harm her, and her instincts agreed.

  Oh, God. The thought of Sam carrying her away like a caveman as she kicked and screamed, then driving her mad with lust until she begged for release, made
her entire body buzz. She’d spent most of her life hiding in the corner like a meek brown mouse. It was time for her to step into the spotlight and demand her needs be met!

  In small steps, she added, immediately backpedaling. She needed to prove to herself that she was an attractive woman and deserved a man’s attention, in bed and out. If she got a few orgasms out of it, and memories to cherish, all the better. Only, this was Climax. Dorothy said every man in town made darn sure their women came first, at least once. With two men to arouse her, the chance of experiencing screaming orgasms was far higher. And wouldn’t that be the best way to end her six months of freedom?

  If she wanted to have some fun, it had to be now. Winterbourne females dated one appropriate man and then married him. Some of her cousins got away with a couple of serious boyfriends, but most of them had fun in college far away, and then came home and settled down. She had little time before she had to return. It wouldn’t take much to encourage Trey into wild sex. With what she knew of brotherly rivalry, Sam wouldn’t be far behind.

  Katie curled her back to the sun. Though her body buzzed, she couldn’t keep her eyes open. She needed sleep, food, and a bath. They would come after a short nap. And then it would be game on!

  Chapter Five

  Sam headed for the house, stomach growling from skipping lunch. He’d chickened out, just like a fourteen-year-old desperate for a date but afraid to do much about it. He’d blurted out that he was interested then ran without explaining what he meant. It was time for him to bluntly set his cards on the table, let the chips fall as they may, and deal with the result. With Katie and with Trey.

  He opened the kitchen door and stopped, his foot inches from touching the floor. The kitchen was clean, as in counters bare and floor scrubbed. The pail Katie’d used, still filled with dirty water, sat beside the door to the sunroom. He left his boots on the porch in front of the door as a warning to Trey to do the same, and entered in sock feet. The floor had dried, so she’d finished it a while ago. All he heard was the kitchen cat clock. It ticked loudly as its black tail swung side to side. The wide, white eyes jeered at him, as always. Many times he’d wanted to smash the thing but his dad had given it to his mother just before he died.

  He padded to the sunroom. Katie lay on the rug, curled with her back to the sun. Her torch of hair blazed, resting on a bent arm. She looked so vulnerable that he backed away. He told himself she would not want him to see her this way. The truth was he wanted to take her into his arms and hold her, and that was not going to happen. Not until they straightened a few things out. The soft ting of a bell announced Trey’s truck had crossed the cattle grid. Sam hurried outside so his brother wouldn’t wake her.

  “Katie inside?” Trey didn’t wait for an answer, striding across the dirt.

  “How’s Mom?”

  Trey stopped on the porch. “Good. Mrs. Jefferson’s fussing over her.” He took a closer look at Sam. “What the hell happened to you?”

  “Nothing.”

  Trey set his feet, crossed his arms, and got that mulish look that said he wasn’t going anywhere until Sam spilled. Sam hauled off his hat, woke up his hair with some heavy scratching, and then stuck his hat back on. Trey still waited. If he and Trey were to marry themselves a wife, he had to start talking to his brother about more than ranch chores.

  “Hearing about Mom being hurt scared the hell out of me,” he admitted.

  Trey looked up to the mountains, silent for once. His face looked older, lined. Sam realized his brother was always laughing and making faces no matter how he felt. He’d used a mask as much as Sam, only one of a grin rather than a scowl.

  “Scared me, too,” admitted Trey with a sigh. “Makes me think how time’s slipping past. After losing Pa and Dad I never thought I’d make twenty-five, so I made sure I had a hell of a good ride.” He rubbed his breastbone with his knuckles. “Don’t quite know how to behave with a woman here.”

  “Katie will be good practice for a wife,” said Sam.

  “You need practice with that sexy wildcat?” Trey barked a laugh. “What, you’ve gone without so long that you’ve forgotten what to do with a naked woman?”

  Sam’s cock twitched, proving the opposite. “Hardly.” He shifted his feet and cleared his throat. “I, uh, told her I was interested. We all know she’s only here a few days so it would be just sex. Nothing complicated.”

  “A few days and nights.”

  “Exactly.”

  “You’ve got lustful intentions and want to scratch an itch?” Trey raised an eyebrow.

  “Something like that. As long as she’s itchy, too. From those nipples and the way she twitched in the truck, I think she feels a fair bit of lust in return.”

  Trey rubbed at his chin, silent. He hadn’t shaved that morning, unlike Sam, who had a morning routine. He also had set activities afternoon and evening. He hoped Katie would change his nightly routine, which was to fall into bed too exhausted to do more than sleep. That way he didn’t have to think.

  “Katie irritates the hell out of me.” Sam scowled, hating to admit the next part. “And she makes me hard.”

  “About time something other than work got your head out of your ass.”

  “My head isn’t in my—”

  “Not since Katie knocked it out with one punch.” Trey snickered. “You planning on working until you crash tonight?”

  “Not if Katie’s interested in staying awake.” He winced as his cock swelled with nowhere to go.

  “She inside?”

  Sam nodded. “Last I checked she was flaked out on the rug in the sun. She scrubbed the kitchen floor, so take your boots off.”

  “Did you make sure things were ready for her upstairs? Change the bed, that sort of thing?”

  He didn’t want to admit he hadn’t thought of it, or that he’d gone far too long without feminine companionship of the lustful kind that he wasn’t sure how to start.

  “I had barn work to do so I told her to help herself.”

  Trey laughed, a natural one that Sam hadn’t heard in a long time. “Admit it, bro. You’re scared of that pint-sized fireball.”

  “Am not!”

  Trey gave Sam that superior look which pissed Sam off royally. “I dare you to kiss her,” said Trey.

  “Yeah? Well I double-dare you!” he blurted in automatic response.

  Trey grinned and reached for the door. “Thought you’d never ask.”

  “Don’t you touch her!”

  Trey tsk-tsked as he shook his head. His hand didn’t leave the door handle. “You are so busted, big brother. You want her, but are afraid to do anything about it. Boo-hoo-hoo, you might love someone else, and then lose them, too,” he taunted. “Yeah, life can suck, but if you never take a chance you’ll never have anything good happen, either.” His lip curled up in disgust. “I’m not afraid to go for what I want. And I want to kiss that fiery redhead.” He winked. “On both sets of lips.”

  Sam forced his rage back into its cage. He did not get mad. He was the Iceman.

  “Katie Winterbourne is an employee,” he reminded Trey.

  “And that means…?”

  “Hands off unless she makes the first move. You don’t touch her without permission.”

  “As I said, no problem!” Trey gave an insulting salute and sauntered inside.

  Sam held onto his fury until the door shut. He wanted to charge into that sunroom and give Katie an orgasm she’d never forget before taking his own. But he’d wait. He could control his lust until Katie took the next step. She had to ask to ensure he was not putting pressure on her. That was his rule.

  Sam Elliott always followed the rules.

  * * * *

  Trey easily pushed Sam out of his mind when he spotted Katie. She lay on her side, dead to the world. The fire in her hair would be even brighter when it was clean. He’d love to lie in the tub, her back to his front, while he washed it and the rest of her, of course. Slowly and sensuously slipping his fingers into every crease an
d crevice.

  Soon, but not today. She was exhausted, filthy, and no doubt hungry. He bet she was scared as well, though she’d hide it. He took her Tanner’s Ford Mercantile bag upstairs and dropped it on the bed in the master bedroom. This part of the house had been added to the original cabin. The ceilings were high, with wide windows facing south. He opened them to the breeze.

  He’d had a lot of fun over the years while Sam kept his nose to the grindstone. He’d joked about Sam not getting things ready, but Trey knew more what women liked.

  He changed the sheets, leaving the comforter pulled down in invitation. He put out towels, the special thick ones Mom had bought for guests. He set out some mini bottles of shampoo and fancy soaps that Amy had left behind. He looked in the bureau and pulled out a pair of Amy’s old sweat pants. He added one of his white T-shirts. He started a bath, deciding not to add bubbles in case her skin was sensitive. She was, after all, a redhead.

  He padded downstairs and leaned a shoulder against the doorway, watching her sleep. She shifted and a smile flashed across her face. He hunkered down nearby, though not too close since he’d heard about her tackling Sam. Unfortunately she hadn’t hit his brother hard enough to give him a black eye. Trey would’ve enjoyed that.

  Katie was wild and untamed, insisting on being strong when she had little more than the clothes she’d arrived in and a determination to get the job done. He admired that. Male or female, he liked people who worked hard and didn’t quit. Pretty girls were a dime a dozen, or had been when he was younger. Beautiful women were nice to have on your arm, but not to live with. Katie was neither, and both. She was unique, and hot, and he wanted to get to know her a whole lot better. Preferably with both of them naked.