“I would be fine.”
“Not a chance we’re willing to take,” Charlie countered.
“Yeah, especially after what Wyatt said about the men in town asking about you.”
“Asking about me? Why?”
Ben and Charlie chuckled.
“Not your worry. Wyatt will spread the word,” Charlie added.
“And what word would that be?” Anna asked.
Charlie cupped Anna’s chin and tilted it up toward him.
“That you belong to the Cantrell brothers. Wyatt, Ben, and me,” Charlie replied, then kissed her long and deep.
By the time he released her lips, she wasn’t certain what she just agreed to by spending the weekend in their house.
As Charlie released her, Ben took his turn pulling her toward him and kissing her just as deeply.
She clung to his chest, holding on to the amazing sensations these men sent through her body from their kisses alone. Her mind spun with thoughts of being loved and cherished. But then came reality. As Ben released her lips, she saw the raw desire in his eyes. They wanted her, but was she ready to take such a chance? She feared losing herself and what fraction of an identity she had left. Ben, Charlie, and Wyatt were such different men. She admired their individuality and what she knew about them so far, but intimacy and reacting on emotions wasn’t smart thinking. If her present track record was any indication of the possible results, this could prove disastrous. Me, in a sexual relationship with three men at once? Crazy!
Chapter 8
Brooklyn, New York
“So you’re fucking telling me his kid is so hot that you want to track her down, drag her back here, and use her to make back the money her old man owes us?” Marcus asked.
“He’s dead fucking serious. He’s had a hard-on for weeks since she skipped town,” Jake replied with a snicker.
“Fucking-A, I have. I’m telling you, boss, she’s so fucking hot and pure that I might just have to pay her daddy’s debt and keep her for myself,” Vinny replied.
Marcus laughed. “Son of a bitch! That fucking hot, huh?”
Both Vinny and Jake smiled and nodded their heads.
“Do I get ta give her a whirl when you get back here for letting you leave for a few weeks?”
Vinny looked shocked, but Marcus was the boss, the least he should get besides the thirty grand was a whirl with the woman.
“Only once,” Vinny stated, and Marcus laughed.
“What about her old man? Is this going to be a problem?”
“No. He fucking tried to sell her to us for his debt anyway. A real asshole, that one. Meanwhile, she was supposedly working her ass off supporting him and the sick mother before the old lady died. A sad fucking case.”
“That does sound sad. Since when did you become a Good fucking Samaritan?” Marcus asked sarcastically.
“Since he felt Anna’s big tits and firm, round ass,” Jake replied, and they all laughed.
“Where’s the deadbeat dad now?” Marcus inquired as he sat behind his desk.
“Dead in a fucking alleyway in the South Bronx,” Vinny replied.
“Okay. There’s no other family that will come looking for her?”
“Just the one chick she’s friends with that the old man told us about. We figured Anna headed there. It’s our first stop.”
“Okay, then it seems you’ve got everything covered. Don’t leave a mess behind you, and be back here in three weeks. I can’t wait to see this Anna,” Marcus replied, then chuckled at Jake and Vinny.
* * * *
“I can’t believe he wants to try her out, too.” Vinny was annoyed.
Jake laughed.
“What the fuck did you expect him to say when you carried on about her? You fucking put a major beating in on her old man. I didn’t even get a chance to help you kill him. What the fuck was up with that?”
“He fucking tossed her to us like she was trash.”
“How the hell do you know she’s not trash?”
“Jake, do you remember her? It was fucking obvious she was an innocent. I think she was a fucking virgin.”
“Nooo!”
“Fuck, yes. I want a piece of that, and the more we’ve learned about her life, the more I want to find her.”
“What the fuck for? You don’t want to care for her, you want to fuck her and whore her out.”
“With her body and looks, she’ll make up her old man’s debt like that, and then she’ll be all mine to fuck whenever I want to.”
“What are you going to do, tie her to a bed and leave her there?”
“If I have to. Or she might be so thankful that I saved her from her old man and keeping her after she’s used goods that she’ll cling to me and serve me in every way.”
Jake laughed.
“You are so fucking psycho it’s not even funny, Vinny. I think killing people has fucked with your brain.”
“Maybe it has, but mark my words, Anna is mine, and no one will stand in my way. If they do, I’ll fucking kill them.”
“Hey, Marcus said no messes.”
“Don’t worry, she’s in Texas with a bunch of fucking hicks. “Badda bing…badda boom…It will be a piece of cake to knock off anyone in our path and leave them for dead out in a fucking field with vultures and shit.”
Jake shook his head.
“I can’t believe I’m fucking leaving New York to go to fucking hick, cowboy Texas to find you your whore.”
“Believe me, man, we are, and our flight leaves in two days.”
* * * *
Anna was walking by the stables when she heard a ruckus going on inside the barn. She watched as a few cowboys walked out looking somber.
“What’s going on?” she asked, and the two men looked at her, surprised she was there. They removed their hats and greeted her.
“Sorry, Miss. We didn’t see y’all standing there,” one of the cowboys stated with a thick accent.
Ben came through the stable doors, and he didn’t look happy.
“Anna! What are you doing out here?” he asked, his tone seemed off, as if he was upset that she was there. She lowered her eyes and swallowed hard. It was crazy, but she felt the tears reach her eyes.
“I’m sorry, honey. I didn’t mean to sound displeased. We’ve got a cow in labor, and she just can’t seem to deliver on her own. She’s having trouble breathing, and it’s not looking good.”
“Will she lose the calf?” Anna asked.
He nodded.
“Oh, no. Is there anything I can do to help?”
Just then, Charlie called from inside the stable.
Ben turned and headed inside, and Anna did the same, despite the attempts by the other cowboys to stop her.
“Oh, my God!” Anna whispered as she saw the sight.
Charlie was sweating, his hands were covered with blood, and he was trying to assist the cow in delivering her baby. The poor cow was huffing and puffing then it would lay its head down and heave deep, horrible sounding gasps of air.
“Anna, you shouldn’t be in here.” Ben spoke to her as he helped Charlie.
The sounds were difficult to listen to, and Anna felt terrible for the cow. She had to do something.
Without a second thought, and despite both Ben and Charlie’s protests, Anna sat down next to the cow’s head and began to caress her fur. She rubbed her chest, recalling doing this many times when her mother was dying and couldn’t breathe too well. It had brought her mom some comfort and eventually helped her to calm her breathing and not panic. Although Anna didn’t know anything about cows, she thought she would give it a try anyway.
Anna looked down at the cow and her dark brown eyes. She had lifted her head and looked at Anna.
Anna smiled and continued to massage and caress the cow’s neck as she spoke to her.
“You need to calm your breathing, lady. You’ve got a healthy, beautiful baby to deliver, and it’s going to need its momma to take care of it. So, come on and breathe for me. List
en to my voice, lady.”
Charlie and Ben continued to help the cow.
Time had passed slowly, but Anna refused to give up hope.
“I think it’s working, Anna. I think she’s trying to push. Keep talking to her,” Charlie stated, sounding breathless as he reached inside to help pull the calf out.
“Oh, my God, I don’t believe it,” Ben said as Charlie pulled the calf while the mother pushed, then mooed really loud. The baby calf was born.
* * * *
“That was amazing, Anna. Absolutely amazing,” Ben said as he pulled her into his arms.
Anna laughed as the cow and the calf remained next to one another and Charlie got cleaned up. A few ranch hands came inside to continue to care for the animals and clean up.
Ben caressed her cheek and held her close to him.
“Where did you learn to do that?”
“Do what?” she asked, sounding breathless in Ben’s arms.
“Learn to calm a cow down during labor? We thought for sure she wasn’t going to make it.”
“I had my doubts,” Charlie blurted out as he joined them.
Anna shrugged her shoulders.
Ben caressed her lip with his thumb before he leaned forward and kissed her softly. It was a quick kiss but left Anna blushing.
His button-down, blue, plaid shirt sleeve brushed against her neck. He smelled of straw and cologne, and it appealed to her. He was muscular and good looking with his dimples and all.
Charlie took that moment to take her hand into his own and bring it to his lips. The feel of his large hands holding her small hand made her feel protected. He kissed her knuckles as he held her gaze. Her imagination jumped into overdrive as she imagined him taking each digit into his mouth and sucking. She swallowed hard.
Get a grip, woman!
“You’re an amazing woman. Thank you for helping.”
Anna smiled then they walked outside of the barn to the fenced in corral. She was relieved for the fresh air and the open space. Back inside, between the two sexy men, she’d felt claustrophobic.
Both men leaned on either side of her against the fence.
She leaned against the fence and looked out between the rungs of the fence and at the horses that gathered in the corral.
“So, where did you learn how to help deliver calves?” Charlie teased.
Anna chuckled. “That was my first calf delivery.”
Charlie nudged his shoulder gently into Anna’s shoulder.
“It was impressive.”
She smiled then she thought about her mother. Tears filled her eyes. She wrung her hands together as the scene of horses before her began to blur from her tears.
“My mom was very sick with cancer…and I took care of her,” she whispered.
The men leaned in closer to her and turned to face the corral. They were taller than her, so they looked over the top rung of the fence.
“My mom used to get so clogged up with fluid or some side effect from all the medications that she was on that she would have trouble breathing. It made her panic and could set her into an anxiety attack or worse. We couldn’t rush her to the hospital every time this happened, and I couldn’t afford nursing care, so I took care of her on my own.”
Anna sighed.
“I would talk to her calmly, try to get her to focus on my voice instead of the inability to take full breaths and, eventually, calm her down.”
She wiped the tears away, embarrassed that she shared such information with Charlie and Ben. She had to admit, she trusted them and was growing fond of them.
“I don’t know what the heck made me think it would work on a cow!” she blurted out then pushed away from the fence and began to walk a few steps away.
Charlie stopped her by pulling her back towards the fence between himself and Ben.
“Well, it worked, and I bet the cow is thankful, just as I’m certain your mom was thankful that you helped her through it,” Charlie stated.
She felt Ben move closer behind her then move her hair off of her shoulder, away from her neck.
“It was kind of you to help out,” Ben whispered then softly kissed her neck.
Anna felt the chills run over her body as she unconsciously leaned back against Ben. Charlie touched her chin.
“Yeah, thank you, Anna.” Charlie kissed her.
It was short and sweet, and before she could panic, they each took her hand and began walking back toward the house.
* * * *
Anna grabbed a few things and quickly headed downstairs. After some long, hard thinking, she began to chicken out and decided sneaking into town for the night was a lot safer than being around the Cantrell men. They were lethal, and after their kisses today, she was gun-shy big time.
She was afraid of their size, their personalities, and experience. They each had a good seven, or more, years on her, and it didn’t take an experienced woman to know that these men knew how to seduce a woman. She didn’t want to add that to her list of “things I’ve done wrong in my life.”
The men were rugged, attractive men, and being around them was becoming addictive. She sought them out, thought of them immediately when she landed the job today, and that wasn’t normal. She shared the story about her mom with them, and that was really personal. It was scary how comfortable she felt with the men. Her trust in them could be granted prematurely. The feelings, the need to be around them was solely her hang-up and was not reciprocated by them. They merely felt sorry for her and the fucked-up life she had back in New York.
The tears stung her eyes as she thought about them. They were perfection individually, but together, they were a force. They could have their choice of a woman to share life with. They obviously had practice in their search for one.
They had to have had plenty of practice. Anna thought about that a lot. It made her jealous, and it scared her. She saw the way the women drooled over Wyatt in town. She also noticed the dirty looks she received when she entered the doctor’s office. Some women had their faces practically plastered to the front window. They had to have seen Wyatt kissing her.
Then there was Ben, who always seemed to grab the attention of the ladies. That would bother her a lot. She was insecure still, and a feeling like that could cause unnecessary problems in a regular relationship, never mind one between four people. What the heck did she know? What about jealousy. When she was talking to Charlie, Ben or Wyatt would touch her. What if they got jealous of one another because of her? She could destroy their brotherly relationship.
There were so many what-ifs, but then her body and her heart reacted so strongly to each of them. Did she want them?
They each had strong characteristics of good partners. Ben was cheerful all the time, he made her laugh, and he always pulled out a chair for her or opened the door to let her in first. Charlie had a past just like hers, with his experience going through war and re-adapting to “civilization”, as he called it. That conversation they had was intense and ended in one hot and heavy kiss. She warmed inside at the recollection.
Wyatt was all man. There were no hidden agendas with him. He was direct, bossy, stubborn, and…ah, hell, I’m falling for them!
Her number one focus should be healing up, doing well at the job tomorrow, and saving some money to leave. Now that Stacy was pregnant, it was even more important to keep her and the baby safe.
Helping with the cow today reminded her about the natural and unexpected things that could happen during a pregnancy and delivery. She wouldn’t add danger into the equation. Stacy meant the world to her. She felt the ache in her belly, and fear clenched her chest. She didn’t want any trouble to come to the Triple C looking for her and then have Stacy and the baby caught in the middle. The thought made her nauseous. Yet, she was scared to go off on her own. The last few weeks had been nice on the ranch. She never felt so safe, and the open air seemed to help her heal. But she couldn’t be a wimp. She couldn’t be so self-centered and want to be part of a family so much that she pu
t her best friend and the baby in harm’s way. That just wasn’t an option.
As she slowly tiptoed out the back porch, she heard Stacy giggle and Eric and Max chuckling. She was envious as she left and hoped the three of them had a great night. How wonderful that Stacy was pregnant.
Too bad she couldn’t stick around to see the baby born. But maybe in a year or two it would be safe for her to return to the Triple C and visit.
With that last thought, she slowly crept off the porch and headed around the house to the garage.
“Where do you think you’re sneaking off to?”
The deep voice caused Anna to drop the bag and squeal.
Wyatt came into view as the sun began to set in the distance. She had thought that the trees provided cover, but apparently, she was wrong.
“Oh, my God, you scared me.” Her heart pounded in her chest, and her legs began to shake.
“Where are you going?” he asked again, taking a few steps toward her. He looked like a man on a mission, and she felt as if he was on the hunt and she was his prey. His eyes were dark and sexy as they roamed over her body. His crew cut hair was wet. Did he just finish taking a shower? The thought sent a bolt of quivering desire through to her core. She focused on his clothing, relieved he wasn’t wearing his uniform and was dressed casually. His jeans were loose, but snug where they should be, leaving a woman to use her imagination. His black T-shirt was stretched tight across his pectoral muscles, and his biceps looked huge. He was a big man, from her standpoint, probably the biggest of the three brothers. Anna suddenly realized his attire didn’t diffuse the burning attraction inside her, it brought up the heat index. Shit!
“I was just going for a walk.” She nibbled her bottom lip and felt her cheeks flush at the lie. Wyatt was the epitome of intimidation. The thought of him being forceful with her made her panties damp. Damn!
Wyatt prowled closer and now stood directly in front of her. “With an overnight bag?’ he inquired, then placed his hands on his hips, tilted a little to the left as if daring her to lie some more.
Dwyer, Dixie Lynn - For the Love of Anna (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 9