Her Ranger Rescuers

by M J Adams

  “She wants us all,” Isaac said, not looking away from her.

  “Okay,” Luke said again, placing a folder on the table. “But can we do it after we look at these contracts?”

  “Max isn’t here anyway,” Cora said, backing up and looking at Luke. “And you’re okay with this?”

  He looked at Isaac and shrugged, but Cora could see the emotion flowing through his eyes. “I thought it was great,” he said.

  “That’s exactly what he said.” Cora looked back and forth between them. “Are you guys giving me a rehearsed speech again? Because if you are…”

  Isaac chuckled while Luke smiled and shook his head. “No rehearsals took place for what happened this morning,” Isaac assured her. “Trust me on that.”

  “You did seem to both know exactly what to do,” she said.

  “You told me what to do,” Luke said. “And I did it.”

  “Yeah,” Isaac agreed. “You’re a little bossy in bed.”

  Cora blinked at them, and the three of them burst into laughter at the same time. Luke threaded one arm around her and kissed her. “Let’s forget about the contracts for a second.”

  “Yeah?” Cora asked, turning toward him and receiving his kiss. Isaac’s hands came right back to her sensitive parts, his mouth already gently tugging at the skin along her shoulder.

  “Yeah, I think so,” Isaac said. “So get your bossy pants back on, sweetheart.”

  “Oh, there’s no room for pants with all three of us.” She smiled at him, fear suddenly striking her heart. “Will there be room for Max when he gets here?”

  “Yes,” Isaac and Luke said at the same time, and Isaac lifted her right out of the chair and into his arms, taking her down the hall to the bedroom.

  A day passed. Then a week. Two weeks bled into three. Luke had perfected the schedule to keep the house clean and the groceries stocked. He went into town himself to do all the shopping, and Cora had started venturing down the road to the other house. It was in a lot worse shape than this one, but the yard was completely fenced, and she felt safe there.

  Nothing else had come up on the newsfeeds. Nothing about Parkwood Academy. Nothing about an unconscious man being found in Benson, Arizona near the bus station. Luke never saw anyone threatening in town, and Isaac never left the house or yard.

  He wanted a dog badly, and Cora had discovered that his birthday was just around the corner. She’d been begging Luke for a solid week to let them get a dog. For her, she reasoned. For Isaac, she pleaded.

  He’d finally relented, and they’d started looking online at the animal shelter in Milwaukee. “That’s a two and a half hour drive,” Luke had said when they’d finally mapped it. “Not happening, Cora.”

  “So we’ll never leave this tiny town?”

  “We can, of course,” he said. “But not for a dog. And there’s paperwork with adopting a dog.”

  “I’ll find one,” Cora said. “No paperwork.” And so while he went shopping, she’d started looking in groups on Facebook. She didn’t think for a moment that either one of them would let her drive the car to pick up the dog, but she could make all the arrangements.

  “What are you looking at?” Isaac asked, coming into the kitchen and glancing at her. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, and she took a moment to absorb the beauty of his body. He had a series of scars across his right shoulder that she’d asked him about once, a week or two ago.

  “Battle injury,” he’d whispered just before making love to her in the most beautiful way.

  The next time they were alone while Luke shopped, she’d laid in bed with him, tracing her fingers over the scars as he’d kissed her completely.

  “Nothing,” she said, practically slamming the laptop. She stood, already reaching for his body. “Luke left a half an hour ago. We’ll have to hurry today.”

  “Hurry?” Isaac said. “I don’t think I know how to do that.”

  She giggled against his shoulder blade. “Yes, you do. Now, come on.”

  He turned into her body, dipping his head and claiming her mouth. “You want rough today?”

  “Yes,” she said, drawing his bottom lip gently between her teeth.

  Isaac didn’t waste another moment—and he didn’t follow her into the bedroom this time either. Instead, he took her right there in the kitchen, her on the counter while her back met the cabinets where they kept cups, completely in command of the situation when they were alone.

  Cora loved making love to him singularly, loved how confident and in control he was. She also absolutely adored telling him exactly where to touch her when she had to deal with the two of them at the same time.

  As Isaac never left the house, she and Luke had found unique ways to be alone together, and they didn’t need a schedule or a system. Isaac woke early every morning and left them in bed together, and Cora had taken full advantage of Luke during those times.

  Her face felt flushed from the recent pleasure Isaac had just given her, and she didn’t have a stitch of clothing on when the doorbell rang.

  She froze and looked at Isaac, who’d literally just pulled on his boxers. A moment later, pounding sounded on the door.

  “Guys?” Max called. “It’s me. Open the door.”

  Chapter 27

  Max

  Max knocked again, sure someone would be here. But what if they weren’t? Could he really be the first one to arrive after all this time?

  By his count, he, Cora, and Isaac had left Parkwood Academy in the relocation caravan thirty-three days ago.

  He was only four weeks late.

  Frustrated, he backed up a step and glanced at the windows on either side of the door. Tightly covered, which meant someone had been here. Most people liked to let light and life into their home.

  The door opened, and Isaac said, “Max,” before clutching him in a bear hug. “You finally made it. Come in. Come in.” He backed up to allow room for Max to come in, and he took in the lived-in, peaceful feel of the house.

  They’d been here a while, thank goodness.

  Isaac seemed flushed and a bit hot under the collar, and Max saw his gym shorts were on backward. So he’d interrupted something—probably something down the hall in one of the four bedrooms.

  “Luke’s in town getting groceries,” Isaac said, turning and going into the kitchen. “He should be back any minute.”

  “It’s good to see you, Isaac,” Max finally said, following his friend and teammate.

  “Coffee?”

  “No, I’ve been living off it for a while.” He managed a smile. “Trying to cut back.” The kitchen held dirty dishes and mail and even a potted plant. “How long have you guys been here?”

  “Luke arrived the day he was supposed to,” Isaac said. “Cora was delayed about a week and a half. Me, almost two weeks.”

  They were all here. “All safe?”

  “Yep.”

  “I assume I’ll need to debrief with Luke when he gets back.” He glanced toward the back window, which did have the blinds open. “Is Cora around? Or did she go with him?”

  Isaac grinned and lifted his coffee mug to his lips. “Down the hall,” he said. “You’ll find her.”

  Max wasn’t sure what that meant, or why Isaac wore such a wolfish look in his eyes. What he did know was that while he was relieved to find everyone here, safe and sound, he really wanted to see Cora.

  Make sure for himself.

  All the doors down the hall were closed, except for the one at the very end on the left. He found Cora there, propped up against a pile of pillows, the blanket pulled all the way up over her chest. Her bare arms and shoulders held the blanket in place, and Max felt a waterfall of blood rush south.

  “Hey,” he said, closing the door behind him. He locked it, unsure of why. Cora got to decide what they did or didn’t do.

  “Max,” she said, her chin wobbling. She lifted one arm toward him, and Max hurried over to her.

  Kneeling beside the bed, he took her hand in both of his and pre
ssed his lips to her palm. “Hey, baby,” he said. “You’re okay here? Things are okay?”

  “I can’t believe you’re here,” she said, and Max looked up into her gorgeous eyes, so full of confidence he hadn’t seen before.

  “I’ll tell everyone about it when Luke gets back,” he said, not wanting to repeat himself a bunch of times. There wasn’t much to tell anyway. He’d survived. Maybe that was enough.

  For Isaac, it would be. Cora would have a ton of questions, and Luke would want to detail it all and go over everything with a fine-toothed comb. Max wanted that too, if only so he could sleep at night without worrying there was someone about to find them.

  “I’ve been so worried,” Cora said, leaning forward enough for Max to realize she wasn’t wearing any clothes. Her mouth touched his and moved with such precision and love. It left him lightheaded and weak in certain areas. “Come lay next to me,” she whispered, folding back the blanket to reveal the full length of her very naked body.

  Max pulled in a breath, allowing himself to drink her in, eat her up. She reached out and grabbed onto his collar, pulling him toward her. He went willingly, everything in him asking a question.

  “Hey,” he said softly. “We don’t have to do this. I mean, I just got here. I can wait.”

  “I don’t want to wait,” she said. “I’ve been with Luke and Isaac.” Her eyes searched his. “Is that okay? I mean, I thought it would be okay.”

  “It’s fine,” he said, though a pinch of unrest hit his gut to know he was the last one to be with her.

  “Together,” she said next.

  His eyebrows drew down in confusion. “What?”

  “Sometimes, we all go to bed together,” she whispered, the tip of her nose tracing a path down the side of his face. If he hadn’t already been high on the sight of her, the rosy scent of her silky skin would’ve done it. His eyes drifted closed as the last of the worry that had been plaguing him for weeks left him.

  “Is that okay with you?” she asked. “If we all sleep together?”

  “Of course,” he said, his voice way down deep in his throat. He pulled back slightly. “Wait. Right now?”

  “No,” she said, slipping her hands under the hem of his shirt and pushing it up. Her fingers trailed along his chest and fireworks popped through his whole system. “Right now, it’s just you and me.”

  Max certainly liked the sound of that, and he matched his mouth to hers again, ready for anything now that he was finally here with her.

  “I don’t know why we chose Wisconsin,” Luke said, coming in the back door and stomping his feet. “And that dog is a menace in the snow.”

  “Oh, she just likes it,” Max said, lifting his coffee mug to his mouth. “It does snow a lot here, though.” He didn’t mind the snow, though he knew Cora did. And apparently, Georgia-boy Luke.

  “I’m freezing,” Luke said. “You’re on firewood duty next.”

  “Okay,” Max said easily. They’d fallen into easy roles over the last six months, and Max basically did whatever anyone told him to do. For the first time in his life, he was enjoying not being in charge.

  Luke made breakfast every morning and did all the grocery shopping. Isaac made cookies in the middle of the night and went running with his dog every morning—even in the icy, snowy conditions of Wisconsin.

  Cora painted and had filled the house with her art, while Max paid the bills and slowly worked on the house down the hill. Well, they all worked on the second house at the end of the road, and come summer, Isaac was determined to fix up the yard to make it look like a real place.

  Only Luke went to town. All of the utilities were in his name. If anyone ever came to the door, everyone else barricaded themselves behind a locked door while Luke dealt with the visitor.

  And Isaac wanted to be less confined. So he was going to move into the second house permanently come spring, and then he’d be able to go to town the way Luke did.

  Max was perfectly content in his backseat role, as was Cora. With her, he never felt like he wasn’t good enough, or that he needed to be the officer in command. She made him feel alive in a way he’d never experienced before, and he’d enjoyed the past six months as they got to know each other in every way possible.

  Not only that, but Max had gotten to know Luke and Isaac in a whole new way as well. He supposed he should’ve anticipated that when he’d declared he’d do whatever Cora wanted back in that conference room at Parkwood Academy.

  And he had done whatever she wanted. Isaac had. Luke had. Sometimes all at the same time. In fact, the nights where Cora took him to bed first had become his favorite. He knew she and Luke had morning trysts, and she and Isaac snuck off to anywhere and everywhere to be together.

  He wasn’t as adventurous as Isaac, but Max didn’t spend much time comparing. He got her at night, whenever she wanted him, and he took his sweet time making her feel as good as possible, as many times as possible.

  And then he’d ask her, “Do you want me to get everyone else?”

  Sometimes she said yes, and sometimes she didn’t. When she didn’t, he stayed with her that night, sometimes making love to her in the morning too.

  But when she did want all three of them…all he had to do was open the door and Isaac and Luke would make their way to her king-sized bed. Max had learned that Isaac liked to undress himself, and that Luke liked Cora to take off his clothes. He’d learned that Cora wasn’t shy about saying what she wanted each man to do, and when, and where. He’d learned he really liked being told what to do, where to tie her wrists, and how to touch her in such a way that she moaned his name and then screamed it as she came beneath his hands—and Luke’s mouth, and Isaac’s tongue.

  Max had experienced a lot with the four of them in bed, and he’d liked it all. She dictated everything, and Max hoped she always would.

  Later that night, he went out into the snowmaggedon to get the firewood. Honey came with him, because the golden retriever Cora had gotten Isaac for his birthday loved to romp through the snow.

  It was bitter cold as Max looked up into the sky. He felt very insignificant under the vastness of it, and he prayed one more time that the four of them would go unnoticed in this tiny part of the country for the rest of their lives.

  He knew Luke still prayed for that too, and all three of them kept eyes and ears on what they could to make sure nobody was getting too close.

  Parkwood had disappeared from the news, and Max hadn’t been able to find out what happened with Lucinda. Isaac’s talk with Jonas haunted Max sometimes, because he knew the Academy was still out there, possibly still looking for them.

  “But they’re not here now,” he told himself, lifting the axe and driving it through the wood. Back inside, he stoked the fire and glanced at Cora, who was cuddled into Isaac’s side as she read a book.

  “Fire’s good,” he said. “Did Luke go to bed already?”

  “He’s not feeling well,” Cora said.

  “I’m going too,” Max said, crossing the room to kiss her. “You wanna come?”

  “Yes,” she said, getting up and handing her book to Isaac. He watched them head for the hallway, and Max paused outside Luke’s room too.

  “Hey,” he said, poking his head inside to find his friend sitting up on the side of the bed. “You okay? Cora said you’re not well.”

  “Just tired,” he said. “I’m fine.”

  “Too tired?” Cora asked, glancing at Max.

  “Never too tired,” Luke said, standing up.

  “Give us some time,” Cora said with a smile, pushing up onto her toes to kiss Max in a slow, sensual way. Luke had mentioned once that he got off watching her kiss the other men, and she’d taken full advantage of it.

  Luke groaned from across the room, and then he crossed over to them, crouching down to touch his mouth to her belly button.

  She gave a light laugh and said, “Max first, Luke. He’ll come get you when I’m ready for everyone.”

  “Mm,” Luke sa
id. “You sure? Maybe we should change things up tonight.”

  Isaac appeared at the end of the hall. “We’re changing things up?”

  Max looked at Cora, who wore heat, desire, and love in her eyes. She looked back at him. “What do you think, Ranger?”

  “I think you should tell us what you want us to do.” Max loved her, and he said so, getting echoes from his friends that they did too.

  “And I love all of you,” she said, opening her arms to hug them all. Isaac didn’t quite fit in with everyone, but she patted him on the front of his shoulder as she sniffled. “And yeah, maybe we should change it up tonight.”

  She wore a hint of the trepidation Max had seen in her eyes when he’d first taken her from the streets of Hollywood Hills. “I want you all individually, and then I want you all in bed together.”

  “Deal,” Isaac said, stripping his shirt off.

  “Max.” Cora slid her tongue along his bottom lip, sending every cell inside him into overdrive. “You’re first.”

  He went with her, noticing the other two stayed where they were.

  “Come on,” she called over her shoulder. “We’re mixing it up tonight, and that means everyone gets a front row seat.”

  Sneak Peek! HER SOLDIER SAVIORS Chapter One: Cimony

  Cimony

  Cimony Woods woke exhausted, not that such a thing was anything new. “The trial’s over,” she whispered to herself as motivation to get out of bed. She was back home, if this run-down, cluttered, claustrophobic apartment could be called her home.

  And it could, because she’d been in the Witness Protection Program for six months as she fought against the Gulf-Juarez drug cartel. With three attempts on her life thwarted, she’d delivered her testimony about the drug and human trafficking that had taken place right there in the border city she’d grown to love.

  Yes, El Paso was boiling hot. Dirty. Trees had seemed to boycott the place altogether. Yet Cimony couldn’t.