Acres, Natalie - Bridled and Bucked [Bridled 3] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme)

by Natalie Acres

  “You must be saving yourself for some kind of gal,” Royce muttered.

  “That’s what I hear,” Dallas taunted him, settling his back against the sofa, crossing one leg over another. “You have no idea what it’s like to be on the outside looking in.”

  “I have some,” Royce advised him, remembering how he felt when they moved to Asheville. When he’d first discovered Blaine had been sharing Lynlee with Carlisle and Rhett, he felt like the scrawny kid everyone left on the playground hanging upside down on the monkey bars.

  “Something else eating at you?” Carlisle asked.

  “No,” Royce replied, realizing what it was that irked him in the first place. He’d driven over eighty miles per hour coming back from Anderson, dying to see Lynlee for himself, just to assure himself she was safe and left unharmed. Then, he rushed inside as soon as they arrived, only to have Rhett dart around him and win Lynlee’s affections first.

  Houston said, “I am sorry to hear about Tara.”

  “I know you are,” Carlisle said. “None of us would want something like this to happen to her. I just hope whoever has her will let us know what they want so we can try to negotiate her return.”

  “You’re moving a little fast there, Carlisle,” Dallas pointed out. “With that woman’s reputation, she could be anywhere.”

  Carlisle narrowed his gaze. “She loves her job. She wouldn’t risk losing her career for a night out with some guy she doesn’t want to kiss good-bye at breakfast. That’s not Tara. She’s more man than wo-man.”

  “He’s got that right,” Austin agreed. “She fucks a guy crazy, glances at her bedside clock, acts like she’s distressed, and tells him her husband will be home any minute.”

  Houston laughed. “That’s a fact. I witnessed Austin tripping into his pants one night because of that little stunt.”

  Austin slowly turned to face him. “That reminds me. I know that’s been a good bit ago but how come you didn’t race me to the door that night?”

  The room fell silent, and all eyes were on Houston.

  Grinning, Houston said, “Let’s just say I’d visited there once or twice. I was used to the routine.”

  Austin rubbed his jaw. “So the night you introduced me to Tara, you already knew she wasn’t opposed to double stuffing?”

  Royce laughed. “Hell, he knew she liked a chain reaction!”

  “Really?” Austin asked, dumbfounded. “I never would’ve guessed that.”

  “Right,” Houston said, shaking his head. “Of course that never occurred to you.”

  “Come on guys, give the gal a break. For all we know Tara is in some real trouble, and you’re sitting here talking about her sexual preferences,” Carlisle said.

  “I’m worried about Lynlee,” Royce said. “If Tara is missing and this is somehow related, we have no idea who we’re up against here.”

  “You’re right,” Lantry agreed. A second later he added, “All right then, so here’s what we’re going to do. Lynlee must be with one of us at all times. She’s not allowed to leave this house without an escort, if at all.”

  “That’ll go well,” Royce said, realizing part of the reason Lynlee had begun to smile again was because she’d regained her freedom. After the threat ended with the death of Lee Marks, and his loyal followers were halted in their pursuits, too, Lynlee’s life had returned to some level of normalcy. Now, here they were, preparing to strip away the very things that made her happy—lunching with friends, riding through the meadows, taking Heidi for long walks, and reading by the river.

  “We’ll assure her this is for the best. She’ll understand. Believe me.”

  “Believe me, he says,” Royce whispered.

  “Is something else eatin’ at you?” Lantry asked, stamping his foot. It was a nervous habit he acquired as a kid but the tic still irked the hell out of Royce. The gesture made his thirty-four-year-old brother look as if he were throwing a girlish tantrum.

  “Look,” Royce began, “no one is happy about this situation. We’ve all been here with Lynlee before. I don’t like that she’s in danger. And I damn sure don’t like it when she feels threatened. We’ve worked hard to make sure she feels safe. Now we’re facing an enemy and we don’t know who or what we’re up against. It’s unsettling.”

  “Then I guess we’ll have to do our best to make sure Lynlee stays preoccupied.” A second later, Lantry added, “I have every confidence the sexy vixen will find ways to keep us entertained right here at the farm.”

  “I wouldn’t be so sure about that if I were you,” Lynlee said, joining them. “In fact, if I were you, I wouldn’t count my bullets before I fired them.”

  Chapter Three

  Lantry’s cocksure attitude wilted when he saw the saucy siren standing in the doorway. She struck a pose guaranteed to turn heads and moisten lips. With her hand placed in the small of her waist, she asked him, “Are you talking behind my back again, Lantry?”

  He winked. “You caught me again.”

  “Did I hear someone mention Tara’s name?” she asked, searching the faces of each man present.

  Houston felt some measure of guilt, and he wasn’t sure why. He cared about Tara about as much as he carried concern for his fellow man, but beyond that, there was nothing there. Still, he hoped Lynlee didn’t think he carried a torch for an old flame. He wasn’t the kind of man who got off on catfights or enjoyed one woman making another feel inferior.

  Sure, he’d spent a lot of time with Carlisle’s employee and, against Carlisle’s warning, taken her to bed more times than he could count on one hand. Still, he’d never betrayed anyone, least of all Lynlee. Besides, he had his sights set on the white-haired blonde with light blue eyes. He’d never held Lynlee in his arms for longer than a few seconds, but he was planning to change that. Starting tonight.

  “Well?” Lynlee pressed. “Which one of you is banging the help again?”

  “Lynlee,” Carlisle warned. “Tara likes you and we’ve discussed this before. There’s no reason for you to feel threatened.”

  “No reason, huh?” she asked, her gaze shifting from Austin to Houston, and finally to Royce.

  “You know I haven’t touched another woman since we started sleeping together,” Royce assured her.

  “I believe that,” she said, eyeing Houston and Austin. “But there’s a reason I’m not sleeping with them and I blame one feisty redhead who happens to be on your payroll, Carlisle!”

  “Why on God’s earth would you blame Tara for our slow approach?” Austin asked, his gaze flicking over her.

  “Because,” she said. “Because… you know why.”

  “I’d like to hear this,” Dallas said, crossing his arms.

  Carlisle set his jaw. “I’m not firing her.”

  “You couldn’t if you wanted to right now,” Lantry reminded him. “She’s missing.” A beat later he added, “And there’s no reason for you to be jealous of another woman in the first place. Besides, it’s unattractive.”

  Houston disagreed. Lynlee had never appealed to him more.

  “What do you mean, she’s missing?” Lynlee asked, her voice raising an octave.

  Blaine entered the room, took a seat on the armrest of the sofa and watched Lynlee. The couple shared a knowing glance, one Houston envied. They seemed to understand what the other one was thinking, and Houston wondered if he and Lynlee would ever share a similar connection.

  Carlisle ran his fingers through that mess of short, black hair. “Tara didn’t show up for work today. She didn’t return home last night either. Her mother called the firm and spoke to one of my partners. Evidently, she’d been receiving threats, daily phone calls, and text messages from private or blocked numbers.”

  “Maybe she spent the night with someone,” Lynlee suggested. “I mean if I were out whoring around, I wouldn’t tell my family where they could find me.”

  “Lynlee, that’s enough,” Austin warned. “Tara could be in a lot of danger. You would be in the same boat if we h
adn’t—”

  “We, nothing,” she interrupted. “Heidi is the reason I’m standing here today.”

  “Like hell,” Austin said, stalking her. “Heidi may have led us to the filly but it wasn’t Heidi who threw your sweet ass over a shoulder and carried you off into the sunset.”

  “Austin,” Houston warned. “Let this go.”

  “No way,” Austin said, moistening his lips. “I’ve put up with all the sass I’m gonna from this one. Maybe it’s time we showed little Miss Lynlee what she’s been missing. I’m willing to bet afterwards, she won’t be jealous of anyone.”

  “I’m not,” Lynlee said, backing away.

  “You are,” Austin said, stepping forward.

  Blaine started to get up. Dallas propelled his arm back, stopping him from interfering. “This is between them.”

  “She’s still my wife.”

  “A wife you agreed to share,” Dallas reminded him, swinging his gaze at a very uncomfortable Lantry.

  Lynlee gaped at Lantry as well. He should’ve been coming to her defense. Instead, he looked like he was waiting for the next play, anxious to see who might win the game.

  Houston knew better. There was a reason, a very good one all things considered, that the triplets had been the last to join Lynlee in the bedroom. They weren’t easy on a woman’s body and they had certain expectations, a lifestyle they wanted implemented, when they took a woman to bed.

  They realized some of what they enjoyed in the past would be strictly forbidden in Lynlee’s bed. They’d discussed, at various times, the lifestyle and what they were willing to give up for Lynlee. Still, they had certain desires they wouldn’t forfeit for Lynlee or anyone else.

  “You lured the devil out of hell,” Austin said, stalking her.

  “I’m not scared.”

  “You should be,” Dallas told her.

  Houston wondered why Dallas wasn’t leaping to his feet. He’d had a hard-on for Lynlee for a long time and he’d yet to act on pursuing her. Instead, he looked relaxed where he sat, like he wasn’t in any rush to take Lynlee upstairs and have his way with her.

  “What do you say we let them keep an eye on dinner?” Austin asked, a guttural edge in his voice.

  Carlisle arched a brow. “Lynlee, don’t let him persuade you into doing something you’re not ready to do.”

  Lynlee copped a smile. “I was born ready. Besides, in case you failed to notice, I have a weakness for McCain men.”

  “Uh-huh,” Dallas grumbled. “If that were true, you would have been all over me first.”

  She swung her gaze at Dallas. “Some men are better in bed after they’ve stood in line and waited their turn.”

  “Is that an invitation?” Dallas asked. “Because if it is, I’ll show you why I was worth the wait.”

  Lynlee pulled away from Austin and sashayed across the room, heading for the foyer and front steps. “I guess you’ll have to follow me if you want to find out what you’ve been missing.”

  Dallas grinned. Austin shrugged. And Houston stood, hoping Lynlee was ready for a triple treat.

  “I need someone to cover me in the kitchen.”

  Lantry stomped across the foyer. “It ain’t gonna be me, sugar.”

  Austin sneered. “We got this, Lantry.”

  “Over my dead body,” Lantry said. “I’m not Blaine. Lynlee belongs to me as much as she belongs to him. You aren’t going anywhere with Lynlee unless I’m with you. Period.”

  “Why is that, Lantry?” Dallas asked, sticking out his chest as if he thought he could intimidate the family badass.

  Carlisle trailed behind them, too. “You have to ask? There’s only one way Lantry is assured of Lynlee’s safety.”

  Austin smirked. “Let me guess. You’ve gotta be fucking her before you’re convinced she’s not in any immediate danger?”

  “I can’t believe you just said that,” Lantry remarked, covering his chest with his palm. A beat later, his smile widened and he added, “But yeah. That’s about the gist of it.”

  “You’re a sick man,” Austin said.

  “Lovesick, maybe,” he informed them, looking up at Lynlee, now standing at the banister overlooking the circular staircase. “And you, sugar, are spanked.”

  “I hope so,” she said, inviting trouble.

  “See there!” Lantry exclaimed. “A woman in love wouldn’t dream of going to bed without the man she loves.”

  Houston turned around and gawked at Blaine, watching to see if he detected a hint of jealousy or an expression marked with regret. Instead of finding the youngest McCain with a set jaw and sorrowful eyes, he noticed something else. He looked proud, happy, and downright eager for them to bed his wife.

  And Houston wasn’t one to let a brother down.

  * * * *

  Lynlee was nervous as she changed clothes and prepared to join them. She had every reason to be a little apprehensive. After all, the trips—as everyone often referred to Dallas, Houston, and Austin—hadn’t been in her bed due to opposition from the others. Rhett, Blaine, Carlisle, Royce, and Lantry feared what would become of her if Dallas, Austin, and Houston insisted on bringing their lifestyle into their home, her bed.

  Lantry and Carlisle had been against her forming a relationship with the trips from the beginning. Only in recent days had they come to accept the fact that Lynlee belonged to all McCains and not just a select few.

  Active in the BDSM lifestyle, Dallas once lived with a slave, a woman who wasn’t at all interested in being submissive, but rather more in tune with a dominant partner who made all choices for her. Austin and Houston chose to share a submissive woman a few years back and as far as she knew, that was the only relationship either of them had for any length of time.

  She shuddered as she slipped her arms through a simple silk robe, open down the front. She tied the sash around her waist, affixing the material so her breasts were displayed the way she thought her men would appreciate.

  She brushed her hair, reveling in a mix of sensations unlike anything she’d experienced in recent days. She would be spanked, cuffed, and stuffed with toys, devices, and cocks. She moistened her lips as she considered the last one.

  Lynlee barely handled the men in her bed now. She must’ve been three cards short of a full deck for considering a relationship with the triplets as well.

  Her instant recall immediately forced her to revisit the last conversation she had with Casey McCain, the patriarch of the family. In short, he apparently wanted her to love all of his sons or none at all. Since her last conversation with Casey, she’d discovered there was more to his odd request than she initially thought. In some ways, Casey McCain used reverse psychology to get what he wanted.

  Casey was involved with very dangerous men and women. He funded Lantry’s company, and together they reopened cold cases from coast to coast and fought to bring down some of the most notorious and dangerous criminals.

  Casey didn’t trust outsiders. He didn’t want a pack of strangers—daughters-in-law—infiltrating his family. He’d known Lynlee since she was a little girl and always had her in mind for one of his sons. When he discovered she was in bed with Rhett and Carlisle, too, he first bought them out of her life, paying them to leave her by purchasing a farm in North Carolina and signing over the deed.

  His scheme backfired.

  She soon formed an unbreakable bond with Lantry and Royce. After Casey discovered Lynlee had feelings for several of his boys, he devised a plan that apparently worked to her benefit more than anyone else’s private or professional agenda.

  Lynlee would become his sons’ lover and friend. Lynlee would, in many ways, become McCain property—and what Lantry once described as an irreplaceable asset—the woman who would be pampered, adored, cherished, and loved.

  Chapter Four

  “Stop right there,” Dallas ordered as soon as she stepped out of the bathroom.

  “Good God, she’s a beauty,” Austin rasped, moving toward her.

  Lynlee’s
pulse raced as she stared at the men in her room, a spacious area designed to host events such as this. Only Lynlee noticed a few changes. For starters, there were toys she’d never seen before scattered across the bed. A lot of lubes, creams, and unopened containers were strewn across the mattress.

  Her nipples throbbed as her gaze traveled over the eight men seated around the open space. They’d planned this first moment together. There wasn’t a question in her mind as she paid close attention to attire—all eight men wore white towels around their waists.

  Lantry and Blaine sat on the bed. They supported their poses with their hands behind their backs, their palms flat against the mattress and legs casually splayed. What she’d give for a good look under those towels.

  “Hot damn, you look sexy as hell,” Carlisle said, rising to his feet.

  “Sit down, little brother,” Austin bit out, waving his finger toward the window seat he’d just vacated.

  Carlisle was the next to the youngest, but given the fact he held power and position in his career, he typically didn’t take kindly to one of the older McCains telling him what to do. Still, he took a seat, grumbling something under his breath.

  “Are you okay?” Lantry asked, arching a brow.

  “I’m perfect.”

  “You won’t hear an argument about that from me,” Dallas rasped, inching closer to where she stood.

  Austin and Houston moved toward her as well. Taking her hands in theirs, they led her to the cushioned bench in front of the antique dressing table. “Sit down, Lynlee,” Austin directed her.

  “Here?” she asked, patting the plush cushion.

  “No,” he retorted, his brown eyes turning a shade darker. “Sit on the table. Open your robe.”

  Taking a deep breath, she allowed them to help her to the elevated flat surface. Once she was seated, Houston stood in front of her, spreading her legs so he could stand between her parted knees.