“Those bathrooms, though.”
“I know, right? I’d be one of the ones who was arrested for indecency for getting it on in my seat before I’d hook up in one of those bathrooms. It’s basically a flying Porta-Potty.”
“That’s probably why they make them so small. To discourage joint ventures.”
“Excuse me, but did you change the subject?” Haley asked. “I believe we’re supposed to be talking about your hymen.”
“Or lack of hymen,” I said, flopping back on the bed and letting out a scream of excitement. It had finally happened, and it had been perfect.
“Okay, you gotta warn me when you do that,” Haley said. “Or we’ll be talking about my lack of eardrums, and trust me, that’s not nearly as juicy as your hymen.”
I let it all spill out, how I’d lost my virginity to a guy while his two brothers watched, and how I’d nearly choked myself on Sawyer’s cock while Waylon fucked me. And how Holden was so sweet afterwards, and how he’d held me and not asked for anything for himself.
“I like that one,” Haley said. “Make them take care of you. If I were you, I’d be lying in bed eating Bon-Bons and making them rub my feet.”
“Speaking of taking care of things,” I said. “When are you leaving?”
We talked a few minutes longer, and then another call tried to come through.
“I have to go,” I said with a sigh. “It’s my mom. I think I’ve put this off long enough. I better answer.”
“I might envy your guy situation, but I do not envy your parental situation,” Haley said. “All I can say is good luck.”
“And that if the guys dump me, I can move in with you?”
“Sure, if you want to move to Central America,” she said. “My mom will always kiss your mom’s ass, and I don’t have my own apartment, so you’re pretty much screwed. So go get screwed, and don’t screw it up.”
“That’s a lot of screws in one sentence.”
“What can I say, I have a loose screw.”
We hung up amid laughter, but I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of sadness. That, and a sheer wall of panic barreling down on me. Things were changing, and not just in my nether regions. Haley was actually doing something selfless and good, and I was proud of her. But I was also more alone than I’d ever been. I was in the middle of nowhere in Wyoming, with no one to turn to but horses and cows. Which was cool most of the time, since I had the guys. But what if I needed advice about them, or just someone to talk to when one of them had done something that got my feathers ruffled?
And not only was Haley not there for me, but my mother wasn’t going to be there if things went south. I couldn’t crawl home to her with my broken heart, not after what I’d done. I had jumped, and there was no safety net. I’d just have to trust that the guys would catch me.
9
Amber
Finally, when my mom called back, I took a deep breath, steeled myself, and answered.
“You had better have a reasonable explanation for this,” my mother said the second I answered. She didn’t have time for little things like small talk or hellos.
“I do,” I said. “I didn’t miss my flight, if that’s what you’re wondering. And yes, I will reimburse you for the cost.”
“I don’t need you to reimburse me, I need you to be back in New York.”
“Why, Mom?” I asked, my spine stiffening as I sat on the edge of the bed. “Do you miss me?”
“Because that’s what I told you to do,” she said in her low, angry voice. “Where are you?”
“I’m in Wyoming,” I said. “Bonding with my stepbrothers, just like you and Senator Westling wanted.”
“Why didn’t you come home?”
“I guess this feels more like home,” I said, twisting the edge of the blanket between my fingers. “You don’t miss me. You can’t even tell me that you do when I ask. You don’t want me there, Mom. I’m just one more headache. That’s all I’ve ever been to you and Dad. Here, I have purpose. I’m wanted.”
“Please don’t tell me it’s for the reasons I think.”
I bit my lip, thinking furiously. I probably should have decided what I was going to say ahead of time, but that never worked out for me, anyway. I’d just end up spewing all my words at once. And now here I was. Three months ago, I would have denied it a little longer, made her beg for answers I’d never give. But that was high school Amber, not wanting to rat out someone’s party or lose a privilege. I wasn’t under her roof anymore. Waylon had already ratted us out, so I was only confirming. And Mom didn’t control my future. I did.
“It’s true, Mom,” I said after a long pause.
“You’re having sexual relations with your stepbrothers.”
A twinge of pain reminded me of exactly how recently I could answer that question in the affirmative. But since my vag couldn’t actually answer the phone, I had to say something. I gulped. This was it. Adult Amber having an adult conversation. I was all woman now.
“Yes,” I said.
“Why are you doing this to me?”
“Not to you, Mom. To me. And technically, they’re the ones doing it.”
Okay, maybe that was TMI. My mother didn’t speak for at least a minute, which was a precious minute she could have been typing emails and all that junk. She didn’t like to waste minutes. She didn’t like awkward phone silences.
“All of them?” she asked at last.
I knew she didn’t want to hear the answer to that. I opened my mouth to lie, the way I’d always told her what she wanted to hear, even when the evidence was right in front of her.
Then I closed my lips and inhaled slowly through my nose. “I have no reason to lie to you,” I said. “If this is something that comes to light, and you have to face it at some point during your campaign this year, at least you know up front. Do what you want with it. Have your spin doctors come up with something to say when people find out. At least you won’t be blindsided and find out at the same time as everyone else. Like, I don’t know, this one time when my mom didn’t think I was important enough to tell me that she was freaking married until she told half of New York.”
“Is that what this is about?” Mom asked, her voice rising slightly. “You’re doing this to get back at me for marrying Senator Westling?”
I winced. I knew I’d say something stupid once I got going. “No, Mom,” I said with a sigh. “But it would have been nice to tell your own daughter, don’t you think? I know your daughter thinks so.”
“Amber, sometimes adults do things that their kids don’t necessarily agree with.”
“And sometimes, they do things their parents don’t necessarily agree with,” I said. “Like their stepbrothers.”
“This isn’t a game,” Mom snapped. “I know you’re young, and you don’t think ahead. You don’t realize that what makes it to the internet is forever—.”
“Mom, seriously? Don’t you think I’ve heard that in every class in school forever? I know that. I’m not trying to make it to the internet. I like it here. Life is different in a good way. People here don’t care about gossip columns.”
“People everywhere care about a good scandal.”
“It’s not a scandal, Mom. It’s our relationship.”
“That’s not a relationship,” she snapped. “It’s some kind of Freudian fantasy you’re living out to prove that we didn’t pay enough attention to you growing up.”
“Uh, no,” I said. “I’m sorry you can’t understand this, but it is a relationship.”
“Relationships are built on mutual love and trust,” she said. “Not bed-hopping to escape reality.”
Her words cut deeper than Mrs. Grimes’s. Maybe Mom wasn’t being all judgmental and calling me a whore, but her words were sneaky and evil. They were poison, the kinds of words I’d think about later, over and over. I’d start to doubt myself, doubt my feelings. Mom had always been good about making me not trust myself. That way, I’d have to trust her when she told me what was g
ood for me.
“I’m sorry, Mom,” I said. “I’m sorry you can’t understand. But this is the relationship I want. It is built on love and trust. And I’m keeping it.”
“You’re going to regret this, Amber. I hate to see you throw your life away.”
“Then stop seeing it that way.”
She sighed. “If this comes out, I don’t want you home for Christmas,” she said. “In fact, it would probably be better if you’re going to stay out there, if you just stayed. I’ll have your room boxed up and sent.”
Her words slammed into my gut like a wrecking ball. I’d been expecting them, and yet…I couldn’t believe she’d actually said them.
“You’re kicking me out?”
“I think, for simplicity’s sake, that it would be better if it looked as though we’re estranged. Which became true the moment you didn’t step on that airplane, Amber. You’re choosing this. You knew how it would end.”
“And if this ends?” I asked in a small voice.
“I’ll have to talk to my advisors,” she said. “It might get the public’s sympathy if they saw me soften towards my wayward daughter.”
I blinked back tears. I wasn’t going to let her use me as her political pawn any longer. “Okay, Senator Durant,” I said. “I guess this is goodbye.”
She had gone into campaign mode, though, musing about how to cover up things she found unpleasant. I couldn’t even get a goodbye before I hung up. So I guessed this was what being a responsible adult was like. To be honest, it kind of sucked.
But hey, whoever had said you couldn’t choose your family, they were wrong. Mom had just chosen for me not to be a part of hers.
Which meant the Westlings were my family now. In a way, I’d already chosen them, hadn’t I? So why waste time feeling sorry for myself. Sure, I’d lost a mom, but I’d gained three adoring stepbrothers in the process. And I wasn’t about to let it be for nothing. I’d told my mom that I loved them, but I hadn’t even told them yet. As always, the question that popped into my mind was…who first?
10
Sawyer
Around suppertime, I headed up to the house to cook while my brothers put up the tools and shut things down. I could tell it was going to be a cold one already. Heading inside, I kicked the snow off my boots and peeled off my outer layer. At the sound of Amber’s soft footsteps padding around upstairs, I smiled.
It sure was good having her around. Knowing she was staying. That was really something. Something that brought a smile to my face and had me whistling while I chopped carrots. My brothers had been anxious to see if she’d stay permanently, but I hadn’t been worried about it. I knew she’d stay. What woman wouldn’t want what we could offer?
The whole place felt better now that she had decided. The house felt brighter, like when the sun came out after a bad storm. The storm had passed, and the skies were clear as far as the eye could see.
Clear, and as blue as my balls. Not literally, as I’d gotten mine the night before, too. I wasn’t one to deny myself, like my brothers. If I was going to do the work to make a woman come, I was damn sure going to let myself have just as much fun. But it had been way too damn long since I’d been with a woman. Months, I knew that for sure. At least three, since Amber had arrived, and probably a couple before that. There were only so many women in a town our size, and by now, we’d just about run the well dry.
I figured that’s why people found something they wanted to keep. We were just lucky ours had landed in our lap.
Just then, I heard a shriek from upstairs. Dropping the wooden spoon, I raced for the stairs, taking them two at a time. I found Amber standing on her bed, leaning against the wall and clutching her chest. “There was a mouse,” she shrieked when she saw me. “It ran over there.”
She pointed to the corner, flapping her hand like she was shooing off flies. I couldn’t help but laugh. “Probably just came inside to keep warm for winter, same as us,” I said.
Amber’s eyes widened. “You let mice run around in here? Don’t you know they’re…they’re dangerous. That’s what caused the plague. I’m pretty sure. Like, the Black Death one. It killed almost a third of the world’s population. Did you know that?”
“Can’t say I did.”
“I’m pretty sure it was that one. And you know what carried it? Mice.”
“Are you sure it wasn’t rats?”
“Ew,” she said with a shudder. “Do you have those, too?”
“I’m sure we’ve got every kind of varmint there is,” I said. “We live on a farm.”
“Can’t you, like, kill them?”
“Sure,” I said, scratching the back of my neck. “We probably ought to have a barn cat or two.”
“Oh, no,” she said. “You’re not turning me into a cat lady.”
I laughed and reached for her hand, helping her down off the bed. I pulled her into my arms and smiled down at her. “As long as you’ll be our pussy cat, I guess we can do without.”
“Well, I’m not going to catch mice for you, that’s for sure,” she said, twining her arms around my neck. “So you might have to get another pussy or two around here.”
“I thought you were happy being the only one,” I said, nuzzling her neck. She smelled sweet, like vanilla and sugar. My mouth watered at the memory of how she tasted.
“As long as you keep the others in the barn,” she said with a flirty smile.
“I don’t know about that,” I said. “I seem to remember a certain afternoon in the hay loft…”
“Hmmm,” Amber said, running her hand down my chest, over my abs. “I seem to remember a cock getting attention in the barn that day, not a pussy.”
My cock jerked against my jeans, dying to light into her the way Waylon had the night before. Amber’s hand fumbled over the button of my jeans, grabbing my stiff cock through the layers of denim and zipper. She bit her lip and smiled up at me, a challenge in her eyes. “You better go tend to dinner,” she said. “You don’t want to burn the onions.”
“Fuck the onions,” I said, ripping her hand away from my cock and tossing her onto the bed. Falling onto her, I wrenched her legs apart, grinding my cock against her. She winced, but I smothered her protests, sealing my lips with hers. Her tongue pushed into my mouth, and her hands tugged my shirt up. Her nails raked across my skin and I growled at her, yanking at the button of her jeans.
“Wait,” she said. “I really do smell the onions burning. You better go turn them off before the house catches fire.”
“Fuck the house, too,” I said. “We’ll live in the cabins out back.”
“You can’t, we’re going to rent those out,” she said, turning her face away and pressing against my chest when I tried to kiss her.
Groaning, I drew myself off her. “To be continued,” I said, heading for the door.
“It’s too bad, too,” Amber said, giving me a wicked grin. “I’m all wet.”
I started back towards her, but she pointed at the door and raised an eyebrow.
With a growl, I turned and stomped downstairs. I’d already burned the onions, anyway. But I’d get her back for that one. If she was going to tease, I’d return the favor. I knew she liked my naked chef routine, and I was hot and bothered as hell. So I stripped down right there in the kitchen and waited for Amber to come downstairs, all smug, thinking she’d gotten me good. Instead, I was going to get her good.
Like I said, I was the wrong brother to tease. I didn’t do delayed gratification.
11
Amber
I could hear Sawyer cussing in the kitchen before I even reached it. Smiling to myself, I descended the stairs. The other guys hadn’t come in from working yet, so it was just the two of us. A thrill went through me when I stepped into the kitchen and saw his round, delicious ass. All that farm work was keeping him in tip-top shape, and all those muscles would ensure a good pounding next time I was ready for it.
“You’re in trouble now, Princess,” Sawyer said without turning
from the stove. Like the last time, he was still wearing his cowboy hat and boots, along with an apron. But that was it.
I widened my eyes all innocently. “What did I do?”
“You made me burn the onions.”
“Are you going to punish me?” I asked with a pout. I leaned back against the table, bracing one hand on the edge and angling my leg in what I hoped was an enticing way. It might look like I had a gimp leg, but I was hoping for the best.
Sawyer looked me up and down, narrowing his eyes. “What are you up to?”
“Me?” I asked. “Oh, just standing here. You left me upstairs all by myself. I was so lonely I had to…take things into my own hands.” I peeked up at him from under my lashes.
“Is that what you did?”
“Since you wouldn’t do it for me…”
“That’s it, little lady,” Sawyer said, ripping off the apron and throwing it to the floor. “You’re going to get it now.”
“Am I?”
He lunged at me, and I shrieked as I dashed around the table. Sawyer glowered at me from across the table, but a spark of excitement lit his eyes. His cock stood straight, huge and intimidating. I swallowed hard at the thought of that thing inside me. I was still sore from the night before, but the pressure of longing built between my legs despite the pain.
Sawyer stalked slowly around the table, his eyes never leaving me. “You’re going to get it so hard,” he growled.
“You have to catch me to give it to me,” I said.
He dove for me again, but I twisted away, running for the kitchen door. Just as I reached it, his thick arm clamped around me from behind. I shrieked and struggled as he lifted me off my feet and carried me back into the kitchen. “No need to fight,” he said. “You’re going to enjoy every moment this. I’ll make sure of it.”
Wreck Me, Cowboys_A Reverse Harem Forbidden Romance Page 5