The look on Pat and Charlie’s faces told her that likely the older man had bitched some when she hadn’t shown up for meals the last few days. Well, she guessed she couldn’t really hold that against him. He always made sure a hot meal hit the table at the end of the day, and that wasn’t a job Maddy ever wanted to have to take on herself. She’d rather be out in the hot sun digging post holes than in a hot kitchen cooking.
Before long, it seemed everyone had relaxed back into the usual camaraderie of dinner. This was the time of day she liked most generally, for it allowed her to touch base with her people, the one time of day when everyone came together like a family.
“I had a call late yesterday from Jordan Comstock,” Maddy announced now. In fact, her neighbor’s call had completely slipped her mind in the wake of more personal considerations. She tried not to think of what some of those considerations consisted of. She especially needed to keep this afternoon’s activities off her mind. Her staff would wonder if she started blushing all over the damn place.
“Comstock says there have been reports of a cougar being spotted on the outskirts of Marshville. Have any of you men seen any cat signs near the herds?”
“I haven’t noticed anything,” Charlie said, “And that’s something I always keep an eye out for. I once had a run in with a mad-as-hell mamma cat when I worked over the other side of Colorado Springs. Spooked the damn horse, dumped me on the ground. It was a close one, and not something I’d care to have happen again.”
“Those cats can be mean bitches,” Lucas agreed, “especially if they have young. Keep an eye out for tracks, or signs of a den. Let us know if you see anything at all.”
“It’s my preference to call in the wildlife people and have any cats removed rather than killed,” Maddy said as she cut into her pork chop. “We can only do that if we see them before they threaten us.”
“We’ll keep our eyes open,” Pat said. “Maybe we’ll take a bit of extra time scouting around likely locales tomorrow, just to be sure.”
“Good idea, thanks. Of course, if a situation arises, protect yourselves first.”
“Don’t worry, boss. We will.”
Lucas picked up the rhythm of the conversation, asking questions of Pat and Charlie who been sent to monitor the livestock.
For the first time, Maddy fully realized how they’d always done this, been a team in running the ranch.
Her mind wandered, and she didn’t realize she’d begun to play with her food. Maybe she’d never been as alone as she’d thought. Yeah, she’d felt the weight of responsibility early on, but a lot of that really had to do with her father and the way he’d treated her, the way he’d never seemed to be happy with anything she did.
But right from the beginning, Lucas had been there. In the background for the most part, but at her side when it counted. She shuddered just thinking how much more difficult the last few years would have been without him.
Now she had someone on her other side, too, someone she believed she would come to rely on just as much.
She’d been wrong when she’d told herself that she’d never been able to count on anyone. She’d always had Lucas.
“Bill, you figure we’re about ready to have Selestial and Moon Dancer serviced? I bet Ralph here is eager to get home.”
Lucas’s question cut into her thoughts, and Maddy brought her attention back to the table.
“Aw, it’s not so bad here.” Ralph smiled as he made that comment.
Bill looked up from his plate. “Reckon day after tomorrow Moon Dancer will be prime. Maybe another day for Selestial.”
Maddy raised one eyebrow. There’d been a chill in his response. Something had to be really bothering Bill for him to talk to Lucas that way. However, she didn’t have the energy to tackle it right at the moment. So when Luc looked over at her, one eyebrow raised, she just shrugged and shook her head in the negative.
The exhaustion that had been relieved for a time that afternoon chose that moment to return full force, and it was all Maddy could do to finish her dinner. She’d had a few hours sleep that afternoon, and some of the best pampering and orgasms she could ever remember. Hell, the latter could be said of damn near every day since she’d taken on two lovers. But the last couple of days had taken it out of her, emotionally. Who could have guessed that keeping a secret from the ones who cared about you, even when you’d convinced yourself you were perfectly justified in doing so, could be so much effort and cause so much stress?
The chatter around the table carried on, but Maddy mostly listened. She also paid attention to Bill, and wondered why he kept shooting nasty looks at Chase. As she continued to just observe everyone and everything, she noticed Charlie give Chase some strange looks, too.
Hell, I’m just being paranoid.
“I think I’m going to call it a night.” She’d eaten most of her dinner but had no desire for any dessert. Pushing away from the table, she got to her feet.
“If you’re turning in, I’ll come up to the house right now and finish working on your computer. It’ll only take a few minutes then you can use it in the morning, first thing.” Chase spoke as he got to his feet.
“Ah, sure. That would be great.” Maddy said smoothly, despite the fact that Chase had just thrown her a curve. He hadn’t been working on her computer at all.
To Lucas Chase said, “Snag me some cake, please. I’ll be right back.”
Everyone in the bunkhouse wished her a good night. One look in Chase’s eyes as he held the door for her and she knew for certain that it was going to be a very good night indeed.
* * * *
He got away from everyone else as soon as he could. He didn’t want them to see his anger. No, not anger. He’d gone beyond angry, bordering on furious.
He didn’t like the way those two gay boys took all of Maddy’s time and attention. Playing on her gentle heart, while the whole time they carried on with their sick sex games in the dark of night. He didn’t want to see them anywhere near her. She was good and pure. They would taint her.
Maddy hadn’t looked well tonight. As a matter of fact, he didn’t think she’d been looking very healthy in the last few days at all. And in the last few days, every time he looked, there those two had been with her. Following her everywhere, crowding her out even in her own house.
Could just being near the two of them be making her sick? Who knew what all manner of disease and germs they carried around with them? He’d heard stories about the contamination gays carried and spread. He’d been on guard each night, only sleeping lightly, awakening at the smallest sound. No way one of those homos was going to crawl up his ass in the middle of the night. He slept with a gun under his pillow, and he’d taken to washing his hands with soap and hot water several times a day. Those were the only ways he could think of to protect himself.
No, that wasn’t true. He knew of one other way he could protect himself—one way he could protect them all. He knew what to do to destroy the plague running rampant on the Circle D. He’d handle it the same way all plagues had been handled, down through the ages. He’d take the next day or so to be sure he had everything he needed. Then he’d just do it.
He had no choice. He couldn’t let their sickness spread.
Chapter Fourteen
Maddy couldn’t sleep, but it wasn’t worry or heartache that kept her awake. Anticipation curled in her belly, clawed at her nerves. She waited, and she hungered.
Chase had walked her back to her house right after dinner. On her porch, before going through the door, she’d turned to him, a slight smirk in her voice, and asked, “Work on my computer?”
Chase flashed that grin of his, the one that never failed to flutter her belly and make her smile in return. “I didn’t want to tell anyone the truth—that I was coming over to prepare you for me, for later tonight.”
She’d taken a quick shower while he watched with a level of intensity that all by itself lit her fires. When she’d dried herself, he ordered her to bend at th
e waist and lean on the vanity. She rested her upper body on a folded towel he’d placed for her there.
The lubricant felt cool against her hot flesh. While he spread it, he said, “I’d like to take a paddle to that lovely naked ass of yours some time. How do you feel about that?”
Oh, the images! Full color and completely erotic they’d instantly come alive in her mind and had damn near made her come on the spot. She’d never known she would like so many different things, that she could be aroused this way. Unable to speak at first, she could only moan. Chase had dipped a finger into her. Her eyes were drawn to the mirror over the sink. She watched as, behind her, he sucked that finger into his mouth.
“You’re nice and wet and very tasty so I’ll take that as a yes. I’m telling you right now, it’ll sting. But I’ve found that a bit of pain during sex is one of the best aphrodisiacs in the world. We’ll make a special occasion of the first time, maybe have you tied to the bed and completely at our mercy. We’ll plan for it.”
“Chase.”
His chuckle dripped sex. The things this man does to me with just his voice and his words ought to be illegal.
“But not tonight. Tonight is for just you and me. Tonight, you’re going to take me the way Lucas takes me. The way I take him.” And with that, he slid the butt plug into her.
He’d brought her to her bed, told her to lie down on her belly. His hand on her sex had stroked and teased, and Maddy’s arousal coated her in a fine sweat. Her hips undulated, and the presence of the plug within her added to the delicious sensations coursing through her. This larger plug she’d only worn one other time. The sensation of it and Chase’s fingers both massaging different erogenous zones brought her to the brink.
He didn’t let her come, of course. He wanted her burning for him.
“I want you to stay just like this. Naked, needy, and waiting for me. I’ll be back in a couple of hours. I have to go have my cake, and then spend some time with Lucas. I’ll tuck him into bed and then come to you. Sleep if you can, darling. Because you won’t get much of that precious commodity once I return.”
She’d been exhausted when she’d left dinner, but all tiredness had fled in the wake of Chase’s erotic promise.
She stayed where he’d left her. She didn’t have to ‘obey’ him, she knew that. But when he told her to do something, when he—well, when he played the dominant, something about it and him simply thrilled her. She wanted to obey him. She wanted to submit to his will completely. But he only wore the mantle of master in the bedroom.
Outside of it, he had nothing but respect for her authority as the owner of the ranch where he lived and worked. Even inside the bedroom she knew he would never do anything to demean her. This morning, when he’d told her to come back here with Luc, to let that man ‘take care of her’ while he began to deal with the problem that had been eating at her soul she’d felt an emotion she’d believed could never be hers: complete relief.
She could and would continue to make her own decisions, steer her own course, and face her own consequences in life. But how wonderful to relinquish control for a bit, and feel absolutely safe in doing so!
If that wasn’t love, Maddy didn’t know what was. She wanted to tell him and Lucas how she felt. She didn’t know if they’d be pleased or horrified by her words. The prospect of actually saying them out loud made her more than a bit nervous.
It would be taking one hell of a chance. Of course it would. And yet the glimpse she’d gotten so far of what it could be like to be part of a family—a real family because in many ways that’s what the three of them were—had whetted her appetite, teased her into wanting what she’d never allowed herself to want.
Telling those two studs she loved them would be risky. But she—and they—were worth it.
So the next time she had them both here, the next time they stole private time for themselves, she’d tell them.
“There you are.”
She hadn’t heard Chase come into the house, but the sound of his voice flowed over her naked flesh, the deep sexy timbre the most exquisite sensation she’d ever known.
A moan escaped her soul as he stroked one hand down her back, splayed it over her ass then followed the crack, down along her curves until he brushed the lips of her labia.
“I’ve brought some candles. I’m going to set them around the room. I want to see you in candlelight.”
“Chase. I need you.” She didn’t mind begging. There could be no ego here, no posturing.
“Of course you do, darling. Because you belong to me. Don’t you?”
“Yes. Oh, yes, I belong to you.”
“Then you’ll have me. You’ll have all of me. But there’s no rush. We have all night. And darling? I need you too.”
Her arousal burned so hot Maddy felt tempted to play with herself, bring about her own orgasm. Instead, she angled her body slightly, bringing her right leg up, bending it at the knee, then holding herself tightly. Flexing the muscles of her perineum felt so good, especially with the butt plug in.
Chase laughed softly. “Horny, darling?”
“I’ve never been so horny. Every time I think it can’t possibly be as good as the time before, but it keeps getting better.” That was part of this wondrous miracle. That each day, each moment of each day, improved upon the last.
“And it always will.”
That, Maddy thought as she watched him set some of the candles about, light them, had sounded suspiciously like a promise. Then Chase walked over to the door, flicked the overhead light switch, and Maddy’s mind turned off.
The room shimmered in a soft, golden glow.
“There, that’s better.”
Chase came over to the left side of the bed, the side she faced, and slowly began to strip the clothes from his body.
“I expect Lucas will soon be fast asleep. I’ve already ordered that bed for us, Maddy. It arrives on Saturday. Are you looking forward to having us both in your bed for the entire night?”
The very thought of having them both with her through the night made her insides purr. “Yes. I want you both to stay the night with me. Every night.” She wanted them with her, in her, every moment she could have them.
“We’ll talk about every night later. For now, do you want to know what I did with Lucas a few minutes ago?”
He had only his jeans left, and Maddy’s mouth watered as he peeled the fabric down his legs. My God, he’s so beautiful. His muscled body glowed even more golden in the candlelight than normal. His cock, long and thick, and a little larger than Luc’s stood erect and proud. The wicked gleam in his eye told her he knew she lusted for him, and more, that he approved.
“Yes. Tell me about you and Lucas. I love watching the two of you together. I love knowing that I fit in there with you, and that I’m the only one you share with.”
“Oh, darling, very soon you’re going to be the meat in our man sandwich. Would you like that? Would you like to have us both fucking you at the same time?”
He came down on the bed beside her and scooped her into his arms. Nearly delirious with the pleasure of his hot, naked flesh against her own she wrapped her arms around his neck, her lips fastening on his. His flavor intoxicated her, the glide of his tongue against her own tasted so good, felt so right, that nothing mattered but this. The subtle sucking sound of his mouth thrilled her. He devoured her and she gloried in it.
“I had Luc’s cock in my mouth, as he had mine. He said it excited him to know that so soon after I’d be buried deep inside you. We sucked each other off, talking about how much we enjoy the feel of your naked breasts in our hands and our mouths. We talked about what a thrill it will be to have you watch us fuck each other. Do you know what I want to do? I want to put my mouth on the two of you the next time Luc has his cock buried in your pussy.”
His words were the most erotic pillow talk she’d ever heard. Never had Maddy understood the power of words as she did now. When Chase took her mouth again, she thought she might come
right then and there. She wanted to be absorbed by him, blur the lines between them so they became one. Her nipples loved the abrasion of the hair on his chest, and she rubbed herself back and forth against him.
“I want all of that. I want everything and anything. I want you.”
She’d had lovers, but only now dared to be so bold. She’d wanted, but had never demanded and surrendered at the same time. She hadn’t known that she could, that it could even be possible. She brought one of his hands to her drenched labia at the same time she arched up and rubbed a nipple against his mouth.
He took her nipple, sucked and nipped as he rolled her on the bed, his fingers moving in and out of her slit in a rhythm both heavy and full. Her hips rose off the bed, begging for more.
His mouth released one nipple only to take the other. His hot moist breath bathed her, aroused her, set her ablaze.
“More. Moremoremoremoremore,” the chant became her mantra, a writhing, pulsing need that spread, consuming every whim, every thought.
“You’re so hot, so wet,” his words vibrated against wet flesh, tingling her skin, chasing shivers down her spine. “I want to drink from you.”
Maddy cried out when Chase’s mouth found her woman-flesh. His tongue flicked her clit on its way to her tunnel, and with long, slow laps he drank. His lips closed over hers, the suction so marvelous she wondered she didn’t melt into the bed. Control evaporated as she came, the sexual chaos overtaking her so thoroughly she collapsed against the pillow, her keening wail coming with each breath, her muscles so lax she couldn’t move, her body so surrendered she lay completely splayed and vulnerable.
The sound of foil tearing nearly didn’t register. Surging up her body on his way to claiming her, he said, “Here, now, feel what it’ll be like with two of us inside you.”
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