by Jane Jamison
Bending over, he took her nipple into his mouth and sucked on it as hard as he could. She cried out and brought her hands up to grip his arms. He lashed her nipple with his tongue then bit on it, and she arched her back, giving him more than her simple permission to keep going.
“Brandon, I want—”
He stopped, clamping a hand over her mouth. “No. I’m running the show. You don’t get to tell me what you want. Do you understand? Don’t talk. Just nod.”
She nodded, her blue eyes alive with lust. He slid his tongue over her cheek in a gesture that was much as his animal would’ve done. “Good girl.”
Checking around him, he found a strip of her shirt and snatched it up. He took her wrists and put them together, quickly tying the material around them. Pushing her down on her back again, he shoved her bound hands above her head then straddled her, bringing his cock between her breasts. He pushed them together, enclosing his cock between the fleshy mounds. He worked his thumbs over her nipples as he rocked back and forth, creating a different kind of friction than what her pussy gave him.
She slid her tongue over her upper lip, telling him what she’d like to do. He moved back and forth more, making the tip of his cock peek out. She reached for it and tried to catch it but couldn’t do more than flick her tongue over the end. Her groan was filled with frustration.
“I know it’s driving you crazy, baby, but isn’t that the point?” He let out a shout when she nipped at the tip of his cock. “Okay, okay. Calm down. We’ll try something different.”
He moved down her body then pulled one of her legs over his shoulder, turning her lower torso on her side. Her breasts still faced him, still bouncing prettily as her breathing grew heavier. She reached out for him, but he shot her a stern look and she put her hands back over her head.
“You liked it when I pinched your nipples, so I know you like pain. So how about some more?” He cupped her mons then shook his head, teasing her as he moved his palm to her butt cheek.
He raised his hand and lowered it in a blink of an eye and spanked her bottom. Her flesh still rippled as he brought his hand up to give her a second swat. She cried out again but said nothing.
“When we get together with my brothers, I’m going to make sure one of us brings a whip. Would you like that, baby?”
Her answer was a soft mewling sound, one that turned his insides into molten lava. His stomach tightened, and his balls drew up. With any other woman, he could last for hours, but his first time with the woman he was meant to live the rest of his life with had broken down his stamina. Not only did his wolf howl to claim her, but his human heart and mind begged to show her how much she already meant to him.
How could one woman have so much power over him so fast? Yet, if given the choice, he wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.
He leaned over to skim his tongue over the tender cave of her belly button then slid it up to her breasts. Nipping, licking, he cupped one breast while he traveled from one side to the other. She squirmed, pressing her hot pussy against his cock. Hotter, wetter than ever before, she was his dream woman come to life.
He pushed away, saw the desire clouding her eyes, and rammed his cock inside her pussy. She cried out then reached for him, and he brought her bound hands down to her mons.
“Play with yourself while I fuck you, baby.”
She did, driving her fingers between her folds then throwing back her head to herald her climax. Her juices ran down the skin between her pussy and anus, covering his cock as he pushed in then pulled out. Rocking, he tried to keep his rhythm even but couldn’t resist the incredible sensation of her pussy walls closed around his cock. She was more than just tight, she was a vise, a trap that wouldn’t let go until he’d given her his seed.
He clenched his buttocks, gathered all the strength he could muster, and drove into her one last shove. Growling, he froze as the thunderous storm inside him spun out of control, driving the wolf inside to claw at him in a frenzy. Then he stiffened. The rolling wave of his release swept over him as his body shuddered against her. Her tremors collided with his as yet another orgasm tore out of her. They clung together, their breathing labored, their speech torn from them. When he could no longer hold his body upright, he pulled out and fell to the side. She held out her hands and he tugged the material off, freeing them.
“Next time, I get to tie you up.”
“Next time?” He liked how that sounded. He’d known that they’d have a lifetime of next times, but he was still pleased to hear her say the words.
She darted her gaze away, suddenly shy with him. “Sorry. I shouldn’t assume that there’ll be a next time.”
“Baby”—he pulled her closer, taking hold of her hip to do so. Her breasts pushed against his chest as he rolled to face her—“there will definitely be a next time. With me, with my brothers, however you want us.”
“You guys really don’t mind sharing?”
“Not one bit. In fact, we expect it.”
“Are you like polygamists or something?”
“If you’re asking if all three of us would marry you, then no. We don’t feel the need for marriage, but if you do, then we’ll draw for that honor. No matter what the law says and no matter if we sign a piece of paper or not, we’re yours. All you have to do is accept us for what we are.”
“Holy cow shit. All of a sudden we’re into the marriage thing. I didn’t mean to imply anything.” Her lips were plumped from kissing and sucking his cock, making them even more desirable. “Wait. What exactly are you?”
He’d taken it too far. Rick and DJ would have his head if he told her anything more. Especially with them not around to hear her answer. He had to find a way out of the conversation without making her notice that he’d dodged the question.
“Heather?” He played with a strand of her hair, holding it over his upper lip like a mustache. When in doubt, distract with humor.
She laughed and copied him with a strand of his hair. “Yeah, Brandon?”
“I need to know. What is your relationship with Duke?”
She pushed away from him to a sitting position then shoved him back when he tried to sit up with her. “Are you serious? Are we back to that?”
He winced inwardly and knew he was in trouble again. Why couldn’t he just leave well enough alone? But it was as if his mouth wouldn’t listen to his brain.
“You never answered me before. Have you and Duke boy gotten hot and heavy?” He glanced down at the bedspread. “Here?”
If he hadn’t known she was human, he might’ve thought she was a shifter by how fast she was off the bed, grabbing clothes out of a large dresser, and tugging them on. “I’m not getting into that discussion again.”
Why was she acting that way? Unless she had slept with Duke and didn’t want to admit it. He felt the bile rising to his throat. He didn’t think any less of her, but the idea of her sleeping with Duke Simpton made him physically ill.
“Heather, calm down. It’s just a simple question.”
“Listen very closely, Brandon.”
He had to listen since she’d suddenly started talking in a whisper. “I am.”
She flicked her tongue along the part of her lips. “It’s not what you think between me and Duke.”
“That doesn’t really answer the question. In fact, I can’t shake the impression that you’re hiding something.”
She blanched, regained her composure, then dropped to the floor at the end of her bed.
“What happened?” He leaned over the edge and watched her root around underneath the bed. “What are you looking for?”
When she pulled out a bat, he almost laughed. At least it wasn’t a gun. But when she raised the sports-equipment-turned-weapon, the urge to chuckle left him in a flash.
“Now hold up, Heather. You don’t need to resort to violence.” He slid off the bed and snatched up his jeans to tug them on. He was pulling on a boot when she took a threatening step toward him.
Brandon hoppe
d backward, stumbling over her shoes on the floor. He got to his feet as she thrust the bat at him, aiming for his midsection and narrowly missing him. Her strike most likely wouldn’t have hurt much, but he didn’t want to find out.
“Damn it, baby. Watch what you’re doing.”
“Oh, I am. I am.”
He jumped away from her second attempt to push the bat into his gut. Going as fast as he could, he backed out of the bedroom and down the hallway toward the front door.
“It’s time for you to leave, Brandon.”
“I take the question back. I have a bad habit of mouthing off before my mind has a chance to filter the words. So take it easy, okay?”
“Move.”
“Can’t we talk about this?”
“No. Talking and everything else is off the table. I said move, Banning.”
Was she serious? Her hard expression said she was, but the glint in her eyes made him think she was enjoying herself.
He didn’t wait for her to lift the bat again. Instead, he whirled around and dashed down the hallway. Pausing long enough in the living room to see if she was still following him, he strode to the front door.
“I don’t suppose you’d like to join my brothers and me for a ride tomorrow? A friend of mine is loaning us horses and—”
She whacked him lightly on the butt and he yanked open the door then half jumped, half fell outside. Heather stood at the door, the corners of her mouth tipping upward and the bat by her side. Using the bat, she slammed the door.
Brandon tugged on his shirt and caught his breath. Damn, but she’s sexy. “Should I take that as a no?”
Chapter Eight
Rick gave his horse an easy kick with his heels to gallop up the small rise and join his brothers at the top. They’d stopped, leaning back in their saddles as they gazed over the land. Windy Hills stretched out in front of them as far as they could see.
“We’ve got to turn in a bid.”
Brandon didn’t look at him. Instead, he kept his attention on the green expanse of the valley that led to the tree line. DJ sat on his horse, his wrists crossed over the saddle horn just like Brandon’s.
Rick tried not to let their lack of response bother him. He knew what they were thinking. How many times had they borrowed horses from their friend who owned the land that butted up to Windy Hills? How many times had they ridden out to the same rise to take in the beauty of the ranch they so desperately wanted to own? His horse, possibly sensing his nervousness, shifted back and forth, tossing its head up and down and making the metal in the bridle rattle.
Still, they needed to talk about what they would do concerning the ranch and Heather. “Have either of you talked to her?”
“Nope. Not since she ran me out of the townhouse.”
DJ nodded, no doubt assured that Brandon would glimpse the movement out of the corner of his eye. His younger brother loved to bait Brandon, often catching Rick in the middle.
“Yep. That was a great move you made, big brother. We sent you over there to check on her and, maybe, get to know her.”
“I got to know her just fine.”
“Yeah. Her and her trusty baseball bat.”
Rick had to hand it to DJ. Either DJ was a lot braver than he was or he’d gotten thrown off a horse once too often. Either way, it took balls to bring up the subject of Brandon’s visit to Heather.
As much as he loved to dig at his brother like DJ did, Rick opted for a safer, and more necessary, discussion. “Did she ever say how she knows the Cumming family? Maybe she’s a friend of his daughter.”
“We didn’t talk about that.”
“What did you talk about? Oh, yeah. You kept bringing up Duke. Did you want to piss her off, or was that your way of seducing her?”
Brandon’s eyes flashed with bits of amber, signaling that his wolf was close to the surface. If DJ kept pushing, Brandon might lose it, shift, and start a fight. And right now, that was the last thing they needed.
“I don’t care who she’s slept with in the past, but I do want to know if she’s with him now. We need to tell her about us and soon. Before she can get tied up with him in a serious way.” Brandon shifted in his saddle.
“You don’t know that she already isn’t involved with him in a serious way. Thanks to your not-so-subtle methods of extracting information from her.”
Brandon turned his hard glare on him. “And you don’t know that she is.”
“But you suspected something was going on, right?” DJ clucked to his horse to settle him down.
“Yeah. She was definitely skittish.” Brandon’s tone had dropped, giving his words a deeper sound that was close to a growl.
“Calm down, you two. Next chance we get, we’ll tell her and see how it goes. We’re all agreed that she’s our future mate, right? So let’s not blow this by going off half-cocked.”
He shot DJ a glare to keep him from making another joke at the expense of their brother. “If she goes screaming, running into the night, then we’ll have to come up with another plan. Until then, let’s table that discussion.” Rick paused, giving his brothers only a short time to object. “Moving on to the other subject. I went over our finances again last night—not that I figured it would do any good—but, as you can guess, we’re nowhere near what the ranch is going to sell for.”
“Then we’re screwed.”
Rick could see Brandon’s anger leave him at his assessment of their situation. He was dejected and at a loss to figure out how to raise enough money to put in a viable bid.
“I think we should go ahead and offer anyway.”
“What’s the point?” Even DJ’s eyes showed bits of amber now. Probably out of frustration.
“I managed to get hold of the details of the bidding process. They had to make it public even though they’re not sending out any media alerts or anything.”
“Which tells me that they already have buyers that can give them what they want.” Brandon moved his head side to side, a clear indication that he was getting tense. “What’s your point, Rick?”
“My point is that one of the least-talked-about parts of the process is that the person in charge of selecting the ultimate buyer is John’s daughter. I don’t know her name. She’s listed only as Ms. H. M. Cumming. But the interesting thing is that she doesn’t have to choose the highest bidder. Not if she doesn’t like what they have planned for the ranch.”
“So if she likes our plan for the ranch, she’ll accept our lower bid? Come on. That’s bullshit. They probably threw that in to appease the environmental groups.” Brandon tugged his cowboy hat lower.
“I agree. John Cumming’s daughter is in charge because he knows she’ll choose the bidder he wants. He’s probably got a side deal going with some developer and will be pocketing both the money for the sale of the ranch as well as a kickback and future dividends for investing in their venture.” Rick hated thinking that anyone was less than honorable, but he wasn’t naïve. John Cumming didn’t get to be a wealthy man by singing about love and unicorns.
“Come on. I want to show you something.” He clucked, urging his horse forward, off his friend’s land and onto Windy Hills’s acreage.
“Where are we going?”
He didn’t bother to answer DJ. After all, it wasn’t as though they were worried about trespassing. They’d gone onto Cumming’s land often enough, and the only person they’d ever run into was Heather. Maybe if they were lucky, they’d run into her today.
Several minutes later after riding along in silence, Rick brought them to the small headstone under a large shade tree. His brothers dismounted and followed him over to the grave.
“How’d you find this?” DJ took his hat off and motioned for them to do the same.
“I was out for a run the other night and came on it. Not sure why we haven’t seen it before.” Rick thrust out his chin, gesturing for them to notice the name engraved on the simple headstone.
“Lydia Cumming. Is that John’s wife?” Brandon’s tone
was solemn.
A slight breeze flowed over them, reminding him of a woman’s soft caress. If he listened hard enough, would he hear the voice of Lydia Cumming’s ghost? Too many people discounted the possibility of the existence of ghosts, but werewolves knew differently.
“Yeah. She died a few years back from cancer.”
“Why is she buried here?” DJ knelt before the grave and touched the ground. “Why not in a proper cemetery?”
Rick had done research online about her death but hadn’t found much. “Seems Cumming wanted his wife on the ranch she loved.”
“Then why is he selling? It’s not like he needs the money. And what happens to her grave once the ranch is sold?”
“I don’t know, Brandon. But it seems like a damn shame to disturb her resting place. As much a damn shame as it is to tear up this land.” Rick scanned the area around him, memorizing the way it looked now, unspoiled by bulldozers and construction.
“We don’t know that’s what’s going to happen. Maybe Cumming’s daughter isn’t like her father. Maybe she still has a heart.”
He tossed DJ a skeptical look then put on his hat and went back to his horse. “Yeah, right. Let’s take a ride by the house. Maybe we’ll get lucky and see Heather. Then Brandon can get down on his knees and ask her to forgive him for being such an idiot.”
Brandon and DJ mounted their horses. Together they took one more moment to take in Lydia Cumming’s grave then turned their horses toward the house.
They’d only gotten a mile from the grave when Rick pulled his horse to a quick stop. “What the hell is that?”
Brandon and DJ followed his nod. Heather and Duke walked off the porch of the Cumming home and over to a Range Rover.
“Please tell me I’m not seeing what I think I’m seeing.”
“I’ve never lied to you, bro, and I’m not starting now.” DJ shook his head. “But what are they doing out here? You know Duke’s submitting a bid for that land developer he works for. Word has it that they want to tear up the land and build a super mall like the Mall of America.”