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

by Natalie Acres

  “You got any children?” the stranger asked, immediately getting too personal for Lynlee’s comfort.

  “We can’t keep her still long enough to get her pregnant,” Lantry said, entering the barn from the other end and implying a lot with the “we” factor. “I’m Lantry McCain. Rhett tells me you’re looking for a job.”

  The men shook hands, and Lynlee kept a keen eye on them. Under normal circumstances, Lynlee would be engrossed in the arrival of a new filly. Today, however, there was a dark cloud over the celebration.

  “Like I was telling your buddy,” the man said, “there’s no work around these parts, and all I’ve ever done is work around a kitchen.”

  “Then how is it that you think you’re cut out for the farm?” Lynlee asked, not one to interrupt a meeting between men, particularly in matters of firing and hiring the staff.

  Lantry shot her quick glance.

  “Sorry,” she said, “I’m not trying to interrupt, but I’m curious. Do you know anything about horses?”

  “Plenty,” he promised. “I grew up on an Arabian farm down in Middle Tennessee.”

  “Really,” Lynlee said, taking a step toward them then. She couldn’t recall an Arabian stables close to her hometown. That much she was positive about. “Whereabouts?”

  “Crossville.”

  She cleared her throat. Lantry and Rhett studied her. They were ready to let her have at this guy now. Lynlee grew up on the largest farm in Crossville.

  “Say you’re from Crossville, huh,” she said, thinking if this guy didn’t reside in Crossville at some point in his life, he had shit for luck.

  “Yup.”

  “What farm?” Lynlee inquired. “If you don’t mind my asking.”

  The fellow narrowed his gaze. Then, he shot her a toothy grin. “Doubt you’ve heard of the place.”

  “Try me,” she said firmly, unwilling to give the guy an out.

  Lantry tilted his head, rubbed the outline of his five o’clock shadow and waited, acting as if he fully expected a little bit of trouble. Rhett stood with his hands behind his back, and Lynlee wondered then if either of them were armed, or if they needed to have a weapon at all.

  “Like I said, doubt you’d know the place I’m referring to. It was off a dirt road kinda back in the sticks.”

  “What road?”

  His eyes turned cold as ice then. “I don’t rightly remember.”

  “Oh, come on now,” Lynlee drawled, refusing to say die. “Everyone remembers what street they lived on as a kid.” She noticed Lantry had retrieved his cell phone and was now sending a message, without a doubt to one of the others since they were likely sitting ducks if this guy represented a new danger. She was beginning to believe he might.

  “I don’t know, ma’am,” he said, brushing her off and turning to Lantry who stuffed the phone in his pocket. “So are you hiring around here or not?”

  “You know I didn’t catch your name,” Lynlee said, stalking him now. “You shook my hand but you didn’t tell me.”

  He bowed his head low then. The rim of his hat slipping over his brow. It was that stance, that precise image that sent Lynlee reeling. She quickly backed away as if she’d seen a ghost. “Lantry,” she said, gulping.

  Lantry slowly shook his head.

  Oh, God. She’d pressed too hard. She’d fought for answers and Lantry wasn’t fully prepared to hear the replies. Without a doubt he was unarmed.

  Rhett grabbed her around the waist and pulled her against him. “You’ll have to excuse Lynlee today.”

  “I reckon,” he said, keeping his head down.

  “Yes, she’s a little testy. Blaine and I should’ve called her when the mare was down, but you showed up and seemed to know what you were doing so we just let her rest. I guess she’s still a little sore that we didn’t give her a ring.”

  “I reckon the gal stays a little sore all the way around, huh?” he asked, implying a lot as he looked directly at her crotch.

  “I beg your pardon?” Lantry asked, stalking him. “You got something on your mind, cowboy?”

  “Yeah, Lantry McCain. I got a lot of stuff inside this head of mine. Both of ’em, if ya wanna know the truth. I have a feeling your little woman can help me ease a whole lot of tension.”

  Before Lantry could respond to the obvious threat, the man retrieved a pistol and aimed the piece at Lantry’s head. “Now, you got two choices here. You can die for that one, if you think she’s worth it, or you can back the fuck off. Let me walk out of here with her like I plan to do one way or the other.”

  Rhett tightened his grip around her waist, digging his fingers into her side. Lynlee’s mouth dried. “I’ll go with you,” she choked out all at once.

  Lantry shook his head, and it was the last gesture he’d give. The evil intruder raised his arm and walloped him, knocking Lantry out cold.

  “Lantry!” she screamed, trying to break Rhett’s grip. “Let me go!”

  “Lynlee, shh,” Rhett said, staring down at Lantry’s lifeless form. “What do you want from us?”

  “Well, I came here for your girl, Mr. Mitchell. Fact is, I ain’t leavin’ without her. Now, if you don’t want a headache, too, I suggest you back the fuck up. Give me any problems, and I’ll drop you where you stand.”

  “What did I do to you?” Lynlee asked, realizing she sounded like a desperate woman. She was, in fact, a woman in dire straits, but she’d never been a whiny broad. She stared at Lantry. Then again, she’d never known such pain and suffering. “Lantry! Please! Get up!”

  Rhett kept her trembling body from going to Lantry. He fought to keep her in his arms as she struggled to break free. “Damn you, Rhett! He needs me! He’s bleeding!”

  “Lynlee, stop!” Rhett screamed, his arms locking around her waist.

  Their visitor watched them. An ear-piercing whistle fell into the air, and he said, “Man alive, that woman has a rack on her.” He shot them a lopsided grin and added, “I bet she’s a real pleasure in the sack.”

  Lynlee immediately went limp in Rhett’s arms. His hard body was too much for her to overpower, and the stranger’s comment frightened her.

  He studied them as if he thought the unfolding drama was too good to miss. “Hand over the girl, Mitchell and I’ll walk outta here.”

  Rhett stilled beside her. “What do you want with her?”

  “You know what I want.”

  “We’ll pay you to walk away,” Rhett said.

  “You will pay me? Hell, son, you’re as broke as I am. That’s why people like me and you get in bed with the devil, because the devil may be evil but he damn sure pays some mighty fine dividends.” He grunted, stuck his hands in his breeches and situated a hard cock he must’ve wanted Lynlee to notice. Then, he added, “Why, do you think you’d be in bed with that if the McCains weren’t your best friends?”

  “Lynlee and I love one another.”

  “Love?” He snorted. “Love, hell. That woman don’t love you fellas. Hell, that woman is nothing more than a two-bit whore that don’t wanna make up her mind who to fuck, so she just screws ’em all.”

  “All right, that’s enough,” Houston said, stepping behind the guy with a rifle aimed at his back.

  “Well, look here, why don’t ’cha,” the guy drawled. “We’ve got another McCain hero.”

  Lantry moved. His fingers wiggled and his leg jerked. Tears streamed down Lynlee’s face, and she saw the stranger’s next play coming from a mile away. She relaxed in Rhett’s arms and when his grip loosened, she prepared to give herself to a man who would certainly kill her.

  But at least she would save Lantry. She had one shot, and she had to take hers before this lunatic pulled the trigger and took his.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Houston kept his gun aimed at the intruder’s back. He looked down at Lantry’s listless body and watched for any movement. Once he saw his leg tremor, he called out to Lynlee and Rhett, “You two all right?”

  “They’re fine, McCain. We�
��ve been having a nice little chat. I think I hurt your friend’s feelings, though. Apparently, he’s under the misguided impression that McCain blood flows through his veins, too.”

  “I’d say it might,” Houston fired back. “This piece of ground you’re standing on is as much his as it is any other McCain’s. What do you want, mister?”

  “I’d like to first suggest that you lower that piece you have aimed at my head. See, your brother is lying at the wrong end of my gun and I have a problem with my forefinger. The damn thing wiggles around at the most inopportune times.” He made his point, fired the gun right below Lantry’s boot and laughed when Lantry jerked.

  “Ah, so damn, he really isn’t dead,” the fellow said.

  Houston pressed his lips together. Above him, a squeaking board announced where the rest of the McCain clan lingered. The perpetrator stared up and, with a singsong quality to his voice, said, “We have company.”

  “Ya never know,” Rhett said.

  “Well, it looks like at least one McCain will have to die.” He cocked his gun and before he pulled the trigger, Rhett lost control of Lynlee and she flew straight into the man’s arms.

  “Wait!”

  “Lynlee! What the fuck!” Houston screamed.

  An alarming sound similar to an evil hiss filled the barn. “This is more than I bargained for, a little one so desperately in love, she’d die for her lovers. This is better than Romeo and Juliet.”

  “Don’t hurt them and I’ll make it worth your while,” she promised.

  Houston’s heart jumped out of his chest. He looked up toward the hayloft and spotted the sniper rifle poking through two hay bales. He saw Dallas and Carlisle walking toward the edge, keeping their heads low, so they could hit the planks if the madman decided to fire into the loft.

  “What’d ya say we work out a deal, man?” Houston called out.

  “Kind of like what you worked out for Fink and Gentry? No, thank you.” He turned to face Houston and he pointed the gun at Lynlee’s head. “Now then. Your little woman has made this pretty easy for us. I want you to drop your gun, or she’s dead.”

  “I’m not sleeping with her. I don’t give a damn if you kill her or not,” Houston said, bargaining with the devil.

  “Is that right?” he asked, pressing the gun to her forehead.

  Lynlee’s frightened gaze met his, and it was about his undoing. He was about to lower his weapon when Lynlee said, “He’s telling the truth. Please. He doesn’t care about me. You could blow my head off and he wouldn’t give a damn. Let’s just go. Let’s just get out of here. I promise, I’ll be good company to you.”

  He ground against her backside and sneered. “You heard the lady. She wants to show me, a perfect stranger, a good time. What’d you think about that?”

  Houston grimaced. “I don’t have an opinion.”

  The man cocked his head to the side and looked at Rhett. “What about you, Mitchell. Do you give a damn?” Again he brought the gun to Lynlee’s head.

  “Put down the fucking gun, Houston,” Rhett ordered, probably realizing there wasn’t a chance in hell. Houston was taking a gamble, a huge risk, and the best he could hope for is that in the end, his effort would pay off.

  “Can’t do it,” Houston announced quickly.

  The man groped Lynlee, and Houston felt a stabbing sensation as he watched another man’s hands rush up and down Lynlee’s sides. Lynlee’s gaze met his and she turned around and shoved her fingers through the man’s hair, clumsily knocking his hat off in the process. “I remember you.”

  “You do?” he asked, stretching his neck and peering over her shoulder.

  “Yes, from the meadows.”

  He held her with one arm around her waist as the gun started to lower. Unbeknownst to him, Lynlee was making a play to put him in a very vulnerable position, one certain to leave him disabled before he knew what hit him.

  “I watched you limp across the fields and as you were coming for me, I almost turned back,” she said, playing him for all he was worth. “There was something about you that struck me as special.”

  “How about that. Special, huh?”

  Houston glanced in the loft. Dallas nodded. Austin made a motion as if he were signaling Lantry. That’s when Houston cut his gaze toward his brother and realized Lantry was fully coherent now. With one eye opened, he seemed to be coming around and the expression on his face was one Houston recognized. He was determined, and he was mad as all hell.

  Lynlee ran her fingers through the guy’s hair again. “I think you and I would’ve hit it off from the start. Are you married, by the way?”

  “I was,” he said, somewhat shyly.

  Good Lord, this guy was a disgrace to all men. He was falling for Lynlee’s game faster than she could deal the cards.

  “What happened?” she asked, tilting her head as if she cared.

  “We didn’t get along.”

  Lynlee frowned. “I bet you could get along with me.”

  “Why?”

  “I feel what ’cha got there in your pocket,” she crooned.

  Lantry set his jaw, and Houston might have laughed aloud if only this were a laughing matter. Fact was, he was damn pissed she had to work her body in a way to avoid playing this man’s killing game.

  The man’s face blushed, and he said, “You are a little whore, aren’t ya?”

  “I try to please men who interest me,” she said, never missing a beat. “And you have my undivided attention.”

  His gun lowered completely then. “I do?”

  “Yes,” she said, grinning with what she conceivably saw as an instant win. “And I can’t wait to give you exactly what you deserve.”

  In an instant, Lynlee darted to the side, Lantry rolled twice, secured her body under his, and Royce—God love him—took the shot Houston missed.

  When all was said and done, they stood over the man who almost claimed a McCain life. “What was his name?” Houston asked, mildly curious.

  Lantry shook his head. “I have no idea.”

  “We wouldn’t have had to go through this if your friends from the force would get their asses out here and clean up this mess.”

  “I’d say they’ll be on their way now,” Lantry said, digging for his phone. “Dad actually kept them off us. He thought there might be one more, and apparently Pops was right.” Lantry immediately sent a text message.

  Rhett looked at Lynlee and said, “I never wanted the triplets to discipline you, but by God, you’ve left them no other choice. If they don’t teach you a lesson after your stunt today, so help me, I will.”

  With that, Rhett stormed off and headed toward the house.

  “I think you pissed him off,” Houston said.

  “He’ll get over it,” Lynlee retorted.

  Lantry narrowed his gaze. “Well, damn it to hell, I won’t. Lynlee, what you did here today was the damned-dumbest thing I’ve ever heard tell of in my life.”

  “He’s right,” Houston said.

  Lynlee walked toward Houston and said, “What’d you care? You’re the one who said I didn’t matter when he put a gun to my head.”

  “And you bought that line of bullshit?” he asked, bracketing his arms around her and lowering his mouth to hers.

  “No, I never believed it for a minute,” she said saucily. “But it sort of hurt my feelings.”

  “Want me to kiss them and make them better?” Houston offered.

  She shrugged. “You’ll have to find them first.”

  “Honey, trust me. That won’t be a problem.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  In the guest house a few hours later, Lynlee was convinced that whatever Houston wanted to find with his mouth, he discovered without a problem. She clutched the sheet beneath her as he spread her legs with his elbows and thrust his tongue inside her, lapping at her core until she was begging for more.

  The way he ate her made a believer out of her, if nothing else. She had Houston by the balls as much as she held tig
htly to the others. In many ways, Houston had been the most difficult to read. He’d cared for her, sure, but he was so guarded, careful to keep some distance between them.

  Now, his defenses were shattered. He ate her pussy like he never planned to leave the table, sipping at her clit and thrusting his tongue inside her until the slurping noises were practically her undoing.

  Her nerve endings shattered as her stroked her with his tongue. Her body heat rose a degree higher as her pussy pulsed with new vibrations. Her orgasm moved closer, coming forward at a higher rate of speed.

  Blaine’s hands swept over her. He rubbed the pads of his fingers over her nipples, applying enough pressure and friction to send her spinning. His eyes were hooded and his mouth was sinful as he dropped simple kisses around the shape of her breasts.

  She stretched her neck and located Lantry. He was at the end of the bed, gripping himself at the base of his cock, pumping his hardness through his tight, closed fist.

  Carlisle inched beside her, his hips next to hers. Naked, he looked at her like he thought she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.

  Where had the time gone, she wondered then as she watched the men she loved surround her. She felt as if she’d lost hours and minutes, as if she’d been dazed and confused while they’d prepared to join her. They came to her one by one, each man joining her after taking a cowboy’s sweet and easy time.

  Houston’s mouth assaulted her intimate lips again. He fucked her with his fingers and tongue, his mouth covering her clit and manipulating the little button until she was writhing under him, grinding against him. Her pussy slapped against his chin and she cried out for more, begged for something as intimate as he could give.

  “Easy, girl,” Lantry said, watching her with those hot chocolate eyes. She’d melted in that warm gaze before. Still, the only thing Lantry did then was inspire her. Houston was the one guiding her, leading the way and promising an adventure without a word exchanged.

  “Relax, Lynlee,” Austin said, walking over to the bed and immediately caressing her pussy. “We’re not in any hurry here. We have a lot of time to pamper and spoil you.”