The Badger City Gang [Bride Train 7] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Reece Butler

  She ran back to the cabin and changed into the clothes she’d worn to ride. The rough pants were fine, but she needed something to cover her chest other than her chemise. She sorted through the overflowing mending basket until she found a shirt. She stuffed it into her pants, which she tied with twine. She folded up the cuffs and put her boots on. She jammed her bonnet on her head and tied it under her chin, more to keep her hair from getting into her eyes than for any protection.

  The horses were milling about, as far from the noise as possible. This brought them near the barn. That’s where Zach found her when he rode in for a fresh horse.

  “Kate?” She turned at the yell. His face snarled his displeasure before he found words to blast her. “What do you think you’re doing? Get in the cabin!”

  “I need help saddling a horse, but I can ride. An extra person could help keep the cattle in order.”

  “An extra person could get trampled in a stampede, gored by a horn, or a half dozen other things! Now get back in the house like a decent woman.”

  He jumped down and strode over. His fury was greater than anything she’d seen on her father’s face, but she trusted him not to hit her. He grabbed the leather reins of the horse she held and brought it to the barn. It was so agitated it trotted, so he had to run. She followed him, leading the horse he’d rode in on.

  “Make up your mind, Zach McInnes!” She shook her finger at him. “A decent woman would not live in a cabin with three men. If I’m good enough to live here with you, I’m good enough to help with the cattle.”

  “She’s got you there, cousin.” Rusty flashed her a wink as he switched saddles from a tired horse to a fresh one. She was so hepped up she hadn’t seen him enter the barn. They all jumped when thunder pounded, and then rumbled away.

  “It’s too dangerous for a female out there,” said Zach. He switched saddles, grunting when the fresh horse knocked him sideways with her head.

  “Looks like your mare doesn’t agree,” said Kate sweetly.

  “Darn it, Kate, this isn’t funny. You could get killed.”

  She took the tack that Rusty thrust on her, holding it for him while he worked.

  “I was perfectly safe on the Bride Train, but some bandit wearing a bandana over his mouth hauled me away and tossed me into the arms of a man on a galloping horse. I could have died right then. I could have fallen riding those trails. But I didn’t!”

  “She’s right,” added a new voice. Gideon had arrived. “We can use any rider we have.” He took Zach and Rusty’s tired horses and brought them out of the barn.

  Zach flipped the stirrup onto the saddle horn and checked the belly band. He let the stirrup down, whirled, and stuck his finger in her face.

  “You do exactly what I say! Not a thing more, and not a thing less. Do you understand?”

  She nodded. Part of her was eager to be accepted and another part was terrified, but it was too late to back out. This would either prove that she deserved respect, or kill her. She swallowed her fear.

  “If I say stand there in the pouring rain and don’t move, you’ll darn well stand there!”

  “Yes, Zach.”

  He thrust the reins of the horse he’d just saddled at her. “Shorten the stirrups on Sissy and get ready to ride.”

  An hour later, soaked to the skin and shivering, Kate waited where she was told. They had circled around to the east and brought the cattle toward the west, into the wind. They didn’t like it, not one bit. The idea was that, if they stampeded, they might stop while still on the Running W, rather than on the property to the northeast, which belonged to the mayor. It seemed he couldn’t be trusted to give their cattle back if they strayed. She didn’t ask Zach why the town would elect someone untrustworthy to be mayor, but she’d get around to it one of these days.

  She heard the cattle bawling before she saw them approach. They moved slowly, pushed from behind by the mass of the rest. She stayed where she was, guarding the entrance to a small cliff that, if they roared past in panic, could send them to their deaths. Her horse stamped her feet impatiently.

  “Sorry, Sissy,” she said, patting the mare’s neck. “Zach says we’re doing an important job standing here, and we’ll do it the best we can.”

  A cow with horns that spread farther than Kate was tall came toward her. She made Sissy step forward as she swung a rope to make herself seem bigger. She yelled at the cow to back away. It snorted as if she meant nothing to it, but continued on. Few other longhorns even looked her way as they plodded past, following the one in front.

  Rusty rode over. The sky was so dark that all she could see of his face was his teeth.

  “You look cold, Kate. You want my shirt?”

  She shook her head. She had two layers to his one, and she couldn’t get any wetter.

  “Stay here until the last of the stragglers come by, then push them into the wind. We’ll hold them at Sinclair Gulch Creek until the worst of this is over.”

  “Will do,” she said. Rusty started to turn away, and she waved to catch his attention. “First one home makes supper!” He laughed and trotted away.

  Half an hour later she followed the slow ones straight into the wind. The rain smashing against her body started to hurt. She flinched when one drop hit her knuckle like a red-hot poker. White dots bounced off Sissy’s hide.

  It wasn’t rain. It was hail!

  Kate hunched forward, crossing her arms to protect her breasts from the sting. This was what the men were worried about. If the ice pellets got too big, the cattle would run and run, fighting to escape the pain. They’d run in the dark over everything, including a cliff.

  She winced at the pellets peppering her. It wasn’t really painful, but so many of them added up to a real nuisance. There was no shelter here. No trees to hide under, no rock outcrops to lean against. Like Sissy and the cattle, she had to endure.

  Though it felt like an hour, the hailstorm must have lasted only a few minutes before it switched back to rain. The wind slowed, as well as the slap of the raindrops. She shook out her shoulders and sat tall.

  She’d fought for the right to ride and work as an equal, and she’d survived!

  Her sisters could coyly hide behind silk fans, fluttering them to gain the attention of a useless dandy. They would be protected from physical danger, but they’d never know the joy of conquering fear and surviving the elements!

  A horse rode out of the rain toward her. “Time to go home,” said Rusty. “How’re you holding out?”

  “I’m fine. Where are the others?”

  Rusty’s wicked smile heated her, but not enough to stop the bone-cold chill. “Gideon was closest so Zach sent him in to get the stove going. There should be a hot supper waiting by the time we get home.”

  She turned Sissy and rode beside Rusty. The luxury of having the cold wind at her back, rather than in her face, was warming in itself. Zach joined them shortly before they arrived at the barn.

  “We’ve got to get you some working clothes,” said Zach when she dismounted. He took another look at her as if measuring her body. “I think you’re about the same size as Jessie, of the Double Diamond ranch to the west. I bet she’s got something you can borrow for now.” He gently pushed her away and took over unsaddling Sissy. “She’s in the family way, so Ace won’t let her ride her horse.” He tilted his head toward the cabin. “You did a good job out there, Kate.”

  “You trying to show us up?” Rusty pulled off his shirt. He had a number of red spots on his face and shoulders, perhaps where hail had landed.

  “Just doing what needed being done,” she answered.

  “Thanks, Kate,” said Zack. “You should be proud of yourself. Now go get dry.”

  “Soon as we’re finished we’ll help warm you up,” added Rusty. His chuckle sounded forced.

  She trudged out of the barn. She was so tired that all three men could kiss her and she’d sleep through it. Just thinking about it warmed her a bit. Maybe they could skip supper and go right to
bed? Her steps quickened, no longer tired.

  Chapter 15

  Zach scowled. They’d had three days of sunshine, working long, hard hours to clean up after the hailstorm. Last night the weather had changed, bringing a real gully washer. It was over by morning, but they couldn’t do much but get bogged down, so they cleaned and repaired tack.

  Those three days of sun felt good but the nights were hell. Kate insisted on sleeping on a pallet in the loft because of her woman’s time. They understood her need for privacy but were impatient for it to be over. After years of nothing, then a couple days of paradise, they’d been so horny it was a wonder they hadn’t had a throw-your-hat-down, knuckle-busting fight just to get rid of the frustration.

  Zach had an easy way to solve the problem for the future. Once Kate had a baby growing, she’d have no reason to sleep anywhere else but their bed. His pants tightened and he swore silently. How long before the thought of Kate, even fully dressed, didn’t cause his cock to thicken and rise?

  The way things were going, they’d have a couple of little ones by the time they bought Walt out. Kate’d be married to him by then, of course. Zach would try to be as good as the man who raised him, but he’d keep his eyes far more open. No woman would pretend love while sneaking behind his back. Rusty understood, as his mother was just as underhanded.

  Gideon, though, he thought Ma didn’t have much choice. He believed her when she swore nothing happened while Pa was alive, but Zach remembered the look in Peyton’s eyes. He and Ma were both dead to him after that. Zach shook his head to clear it of useless memories that brought nothing but pain.

  If he married Kate, she would know what he expected from her before she said I do. He offered hard work, protection, and a home. In return he expected her to work just as hard, day and night. Crude, but it was the truth. He believed that working hard and doing right showed the man you were. Love was just a word, and words couldn’t be trusted. Only actions counted, and that took time to prove.

  So far Kate was doing well, but it was early days yet. She’d shocked the heck out of him when she insisted on working with them in that hailstorm, but she’d held her place. She’d been so tired that she’d fallen asleep before they could have any fun. They made up for it the next night. Good thing, too, as they hadn’t touched her since.

  His cock throbbed, reminding him of what he wanted. To hell with dinner, he had a much stronger need and it wasn’t for food.

  Zach heard a quiet curse beside him. He looked over to find his fool brother had tied the leather straps wrong, for the third time.

  “Get your mind on your work instead of your cock,” he said, elbowing Gideon out of the way.

  “Me? Look at your pout!” replied Gideon. “You’re mooning over Kate just as much as me.”

  “We’re all hornier than hound dogs outside a yard full of bitches in heat,” said Rusty, looking up from his own chores. He sighed. “Kate seemed pretty chipper at dinner last night. I think we can charm her into bed tonight.”

  “What if she’s turned shy?” asked Gideon. “She was wild when she came home with you from the train, but she’s settled in now.”

  “I want a hell of a lot more than a chaste kiss.” Rusty took off his hat and swatted it against his thigh. “Ain’t fair to push her, so how are we gonna get her to jump us again?”

  Zach couldn’t help groaning in memory of that first night. He’d barely slept from having sore balls and a throbbing cock since the first time he saw that pert ass of hers swaying in front of him beside the train. He’d never tell her that the coiled snake hissing and shaking its tail in the dried leaves to make a rattle, was a gopher snake. He wasn’t sure about it at first, so grabbed her just in case. It looked enough like a rattler, but wasn’t poisonous. When he realized they were safe, he still held her, just to get the feel of her.

  He wanted more than a quick feel tonight.

  “Got an idea,” he said. “We’re going to get soaked getting between here and the cabin.”

  Rusty barked a laugh, quickly catching on to Zach’s idea. No wonder, since he was usually the sneaky one. “We don’t want to get the floor or anything else wet after all the work Kate’s done to fix things up,” he said.

  Gideon caught on. “So we’d better take everything off at the door.”

  “Yep,” agreed Zach. “Ev-ry-thing. Hats, boots, pants, shirts, you name it.”

  “If your cock’s anything like mine, Kate’s gonna get an eyeful,” warned Gideon.

  Zach slapped Gideon on the shoulder. “I’d rather she had a mouthful.” The dinner triangle rang out, making him throb with eagerness.

  “Act natural getting wet,” said Rusty.

  “How the heck am I gonna do that?” complained Gideon.

  That was easy to solve. Zach pushed his brother into the full horse trough. The only part of him dry when he hauled himself out was his boots. Zach and Rusty busted a gut laughing, so he went at them full out. Rusty moved just out of reach, but Zach gave him a shove which landed him ass-first in the water. Gideon and Rusty then turned to Zach with matching grins.

  “Your turn, brother,” said Gideon with an eager grin. “It was your idea to get soaked.”

  “Whoa!” Zach backed up, hands out in front of him. Gideon, soaked from the knees up, and Rusty, wet between shoulders and knees, advanced. “Let me get my belt and boots off first.”

  “Shuck ’em,” demanded Rusty.

  Zach slid his belt off and tossed it aside. He was hopping on one foot, hauling the other boot off, when they closed in. Each hooked an arm around his elbow and hauled him backward. His boot went flying and he went in, back first. The cold shocked him enough that he forgot about his cock. Gideon shoved his feet in as a final insult.

  “Hey, this is my only pair of socks without holes!”

  “What in the world?” Kate pointed her hand at each one of them as if it was a gun keeping them from moving. “Don’t you dare come inside wet!” She tossed her hands up. “Men! If supper’s cold by the time you finish, don’t blame me. I’m not waiting for you.”

  Zach struggled out of the trough, refusing the laughing help of his partners. He had a good idea that they’d let go at the worst time and he’d bang his head, or something more delicate, on the wooden sides. After all, he’d do the same thing to them.

  They stripped down to eager smiles and hard cocks, leaving their wet things outside to drain. They fought to be first through the door, pushing and shoving. Kate briskly stirred a pot on the stove, but Zach saw how red her ears were. He grinned and waggled his eyebrows.

  “Get dressed while I serve dinner,” she ordered.

  “Can’t. Them’s the only work clothes we’ve got,” said Gideon. “We’re too dirty to put on our going-to-town ones.”

  Her back was as stiff as a tortoise. Zach bet she would have pulled her head in her shell if she had one.

  “Then sit down and pull up to the table. Tight.”

  “What’s the matter, Kate?” Rusty crooned the words. “You gone shy on us?”

  Her head came up like a shot. She deliberately put the wooden spoon across the top of the pot before turning. Though her color was high, she tried to pretend nothing was different. She looked them in the eyes. She set her jaw, then dropped her gaze to their cocks.

  “My, aren’t you the eager bunch,” she said in a singsong voice. “But you’ll have to wash your own clothes. I’ll be using the hot water for a sponge bath while you’re working this afternoon.”

  “I’ve got a better idea,” said Zach. “You want a real bath, Kate?”

  “How? You don’t have anything bigger than the tin wash tub.”

  “What if I said we could take you to a place where there’s enough hot water to swim in? You can get clean and then soak as long as you like. Wash your hair and let it dry in the sun while you laze around.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him. “Where?”

  “It’s a bit of a ride, but there’s a hot spring west of here, with a big nat
ural rock pool.”

  “What?” Rusty smacked Zach on the side of the head. “Five months in the saddle from Texas, and you say nothing when we get here?”

  “I just found out,” said Zach, rubbing his head. He turned to Kate, the most important person in the room as far as he was concerned. “It’s west of here, on the Double Diamond ranch. We’ve been helping them off and on. I met Henry coming home last night. He was cutting across the Running W, taking the long way to town. Said Jessie gave birth to a little girl the other day.”

  “Why was he riding to town?” asked Gideon.

  Zach laughed in memory of the look on Henry’s face. “He said the place was full of cooing women and he had to get away. Ace couldn’t go because he’s Jessie’s husband. Sin says the baby girl’s his because she has his coloring, so he swelled up bigger’n a bullfrog. Henry had to escape.”

  “What’s that got to do with a bath?”

  Zach held up a hand to stop Rusty’s complaints. His cousin was rough and tough, but he loved his comforts when he could get them. “Because of the babe, they won’t be using the hot pool for a bit. Henry said we could help ourselves as long as we kept the soap and dirt in the sandy wash area. He said we’d be able to tell where that was.”

  “What’s the baby’s name?”

  Of course a woman would want to know something as useless as that. Zach thought back to Henry’s eager words.

  “Turns out Sin’s real name is Charles. Since Jessie spoke words in front of a preacher with Ace, and she wanted all of them to be part of the babe, they named her Charlotte Henrietta Langford.”

  “Dang, that’s a mouthful,” said Rusty.

  “Jessie’s calling her Charlie.” Zach looked closer at Kate’s wistful expression. “You wanting a baby?”

  She flushed and turned away. “Of course I want babies. After I find a decent husband.”

  “Just one? Why not three?” Rusty drawled the words.

  “Three?” She whirled around. “You can’t marry three men!”

  “I ain’t marrying any,” said Rusty. He winked. “We’re talkin’ about you.”