They’d enjoyed one hell of a good time.
Chapter Seven
Later that evening, Lindsey curled up in their guestroom bed all alone. After the sex was behind them, they’d acted all weird. Perhaps they’d thought she might ask them to stay. Maybe they believed she wanted them to hang around.
Even though she’d benefited from their company, she wasn’t up for cuddling and spooning. She needed time to heal. She needed time to think.
The only thing she wanted was time alone.
Pleasantly sore, she tiptoed to the window and sat on the seat with her back against the wall. Dragging an afghan from a nearby shelf, she tossed it over her lap and stared out at the grounds below. The farm in the distance—her farm—was clearly visible thanks to a full moon, a moon which was as much a curse to her as it was a blessing to the Stallard brothers.
If someone tried to break in over at her place, they would inevitably discover what it meant to stare down the wrong end of a shotgun. She scoffed at that, thinking Seth and Beck had always been such bad boys with attitude.
They took pleasure in bringing down the house of cards when they thought they were standing on the right side of the law and someone else was standing on the other. According to Seth, they’d always been rebels with a cause, the kind of fellows who knew what they were fighting for.
At this point, they sure understood what was at stake, and she appreciated their loyalty, their friendship. Beyond friendship, however, she didn’t know how she felt.
She would’ve been lying to herself if she tried to pretend that she hadn’t expected to land in a Stallard bed. She’d often thought about this sort of rambunctious night. She’d imagined the two of them loving her, caring for her, and doing whatever necessary to make her feel more like a woman and less like their young neighbor.
The Stallards were brilliant men, too. In business, they were profitable. In love, they were lucky. Or maybe it wasn’t love exactly. One thing for certain, the gals in town sure knew their names.
She raked her fingers through her long hair and watched for movement. After a hot round of mind-blowing sex, she’d taken a long bubble bath and joined the Stallards downstairs for a beer. After strained small talk, they kissed her good night and Seth had carried her back upstairs. After she was tucked in and he was apparently satisfied she wouldn’t leave the bed again, he left her alone.
Realizing she needed to check in with her father’s sister, she dialed her aunt. Back in the day, Aunt Lisa had been quite the man’s lady, a real goodtime girl from what her mother had once told her.
“Well it’s about time you called,” Aunt Lisa said. “Where are ya, hon?”
“Take a guess.”
“Mmm…then that’s not any fun because I’ll guess right the very second I say their names.” She laughed. “So which one has your attention?”
“Aunt Lisa,” Lindsey groaned, knowing good and well she wouldn’t lie to the only family member she had left among the living. She just wanted a little time to figure out what was going on before she announced it to the world. Confiding in Aunt Lisa was like telling the rest of the country what was on her mind. She had no guarantee if Lisa would hold her secrets or blab them to everyone.
“Don’t ‘Aunt Lisa’ me, young lady. We both know you’ve had your eye on both boys since you were knee-high to a rattlesnake.”
“Grasshopper, Aunt Lisa. The adage you’re looking for is knee-high to a grasshopper.”
“No it isn’t. Not in this case. Why, those boys have been nothing but trouble since they were barely out of diapers. Honey, when they finally get ahold of you, well, we’ll be lucky if there’s anything left of you. They’ll strike first, ask questions later. And you? Well, if you know what’s good for you, you’ll strip first and talk about feelings and shit at a later date.”
Lindsey cradled the phone between her shoulder and ear, wondering if she should just go ahead and confess her truths. Then again, she could save the juicy stuff for another day. She and her aunt were due for a girl’s day out. Maybe a weekend shopping trip would be just what the doctor ordered.
Like she could afford that. She couldn’t pay for fuel to take a trip down the street.
“I may need to come and stay with you,” she said.
“Why? What’s wrong with where you are?”
“Matchmaker,” Lindsey grumbled.
“Can’t blame an aunt for trying.” After a brief silence, Aunt Lisa said, “So Sheriff Crass Ass is still a jackass, I hear.”
“Who’d you talk to?”
“Seth. He said he has you lined up to talk to his attorney on Monday.”
“Why didn’t you call me?”
“I did. Check your call log.”
She held out her phone. Sure enough, she’d tried to reach her—nine times.”
“Persistent as hell and a matchmaker,” Lindsey said, laughing. “What was so important?”
“Had a small problem today. A couple of dudes came looking for you.”
“What?” Lindsey tossed aside the blanket and scrambled to her feet. “Who were they? What did they want?”
“Lindsey, I think you know who they were and I’m pretty sure you can answer the last question, too. Hon, what were you thinking? Strippin’ for a livin’?”
“I never agreed to take my clothes off. I wouldn’t.”
“They showed me a contract you signed. The only way out of it is to buy your way out.”
“Aunt Lisa, I’d never ask you to do that.”
“Turns out, you don’t have to. Apparently Beck has some kind of meeting set up with the club owner.”
“Who told you that?”
“Seth, of course.”
“Why would he set up a meeting?” Lindsey asked.
“Well, best guess is he doesn’t want any other man looking at what he plans to take as his.”
“Aunt Lisa, I—”
“I already know you’ve been in bed with them.”
“Seth Stallard has the biggest damn mouth of any man on God’s earth.”
“So I hear.”
“It’s not like what you think,” she said.
“I hope it’s exactly what I think,” Aunt Lisa said. “Lord knows, I’ve had a fine time with a few cowboys in my day. Best time I ever had in bed was with three of them as a matter of fact.”
“Do I need to hear this?”
“Not really,” she said. “Besides, I want all the details about you and the Stallards. Are they hung?”
“OMG! I’m not having this conversation.”
“And I’ll hang up if you start talking in text-language.” A beat later, she said, “I’ll let you off the hook about the Stallard stallions. You need to know what’s important. Dude from the club sent a few dudes on his payroll. Muscle guys tried to rough me up but you know me, shotgun Sally. I drew on them. They drew on me. And well, it was a standoff, if you know what I mean.”
“You drew on them?” Lindsey rolled her eyes. She couldn’t picture Aunt Lisa with a water pistol, much less a shotgun.
“Damn right I did. Nobody comes to this place in the middle of the day pitching threats. I’ll set ’em straight.”
“I forgot you were Bonnie Badass.”
“Listen kid, I could help if it would save you, but the thing is, I don’t think I can help. It’s bigger than me and a lot bigger than you, too. Apparently, this dude who owns the strip joint also has a vested interest in that farm going to auction.”
“I know. Seth and Beck have explained it all.”
“Honey, I know you’re probably at a crossroads and you don’t know which way to go but trust me on this. I’ve seen the way those two look at you. From the time that you were a kid, I always had a feeling that you would have one of those great love stories, you know what I’m talking about, a love that would stand even in a devastating tsunami.”
“Aunt Lisa, I’ve never heard that and I’m not sure it makes sense.”
“Sure it does. If a man’s love can p
ull a woman out of a storm then it can sure keep her warm in the summer sun. Think about this from my point of view. I’m not going to live forever. I’m no spring chicken.”
“You’re thirty-eight.”
“Like I said, no spring chicken here.” She sighed. “Besides, I’ll eventually die a tragic death. That’s what my fortune teller told me.”
“Aunt Lisa, I probably need to go and check on the guys. They’re watching the farm and I don’t want to—”
“Mourn me before it’s time?” She laughed. “I understand, hon.”
“Not what I was thinking but if it gets me off the phone, we’ll go with it.”
She cackled again. “Listen, sug, be sure to thank those men appropriately and often. It’s not every Saturday that you find a fellow who is willing to fight for you.”
“You’re probably right,” she said. “Aunt Lisa, I don’t want you to worry about this. If the farm goes, it goes. I’ve done everything I can to try and hang on. Sometimes it’s not meant to be.”
“Psht! Listen to you. I don’t believe that and neither do you.”
“Then why didn’t you stay?” Lindsey wanted to put that out there. “Why didn’t you stick around and farm?”
“I was called to be a nurse.”
“Called?”
“Yeah,” she drawled. “On the telephone?”
“There for a minute, I thought you’d found religion.”
“No, but I did pay for a nursing education and was lucky enough when someone wanted to hire me.”
“I’d like to be a nurse, too,” she admitted.
“Ah, hon, that’s just a silly little dream. You were born to farm. You’re a farmer’s daughter with the reins and knowledge to make the family proud. Remember that if nothing else. Your daddy was always proud of you and he expected you to stand tall and run things.”
“The only family I have left is you.”
“My point, hon. Now go suck up to those men of yours. Talk soon. Love you!”
“I love—” The phone went dead and Lindsey slumped to the bed. Why did she even try? Aunt Lisa was too self-absorbed to realize that she had a right to live out her dreams just like anyone else.
Sometimes she wondered. Was she trying to hang on to the memories at the farm or was she trying to hang on to the farm to please her aunt? Did she want to build her own memories there?
Collapsing against the bed, she stared up at the ceiling fan. In some ways, she felt like those blades. For a number of years, she’d been going through the motions, turning around and around but never gaining any momentum or changing her course in life.
How could she ever hope to achieve her dreams if her goals were more about pleasing her aunt and honoring her dead father’s memory?
She immediately regretted her feeling. Deciding she could wallow in her disappointment and heartache for one night, she snuggled up on the bed with one thought on her mind—her ass was sore. A smile crept across her lips.
Maybe wallowing would be best put aside for another night. She had a roof over her head and two men standing guard over her farm.
Even in the worst of times, there was a bright spot in her life. In fact, there were two.
Chapter Eight
She awoke with a start. “You scared me to death.”
“That wasn’t my intention.” Beck threw his arm behind his head and grabbed hold of his T-shirt. Dragging the material away from his body, he knelt next to the bed and whispered, “But I spent the night tossing and turning and thinking about you.”
“So you decided to wake me up at the crack of dawn?”
“Some men like their breakfast served in bed.” He grabbed hold of her legs and dragged her to the edge of the mattress. He wasn’t gentle. He damn sure wasn’t easy.
He tucked his fingers on either side of her thong and yanked the lavender material away from her tan body. She trembled with excitement but he didn’t give her time to anticipate the coming pleasure.
Instead of taking things slow and easing into the moment, he pushed her legs apart and settled between them, assaulting her with his greedy mouth by thrusting between her folds with quick fluttering motions. Her sweet taste peppered his tongue and he was one lost man as she arched her back and moaned in pleasure, begging for plenty more.
“Tell me what you want, baby,” he whispered, nipping at her clit until she whimpered.
She guided his head between her legs again. He wasted no time and took full advantage of opportunity.
Thrusting inside her pussy, he fluttered his tongue up and down, side to side. Tremors set her legs ajar. Her body rocked against his mouth and he kept right on sipping, licking, and sucking. He stirred his fingers around and around, watching her as his tongue played inside her pussy.
“Mmm,” she moaned, biting down on her knuckle.
He slapped her smooth, recently waxed mound and her cries set him in motion. His tongue danced inside her cunt then and he thrust as high as he could go, fluttering the damn thing until he felt her walls come tumbling down.
Halfway seated then, she flattened her palm beside her hip and lifted her bottom away from the mattress. Planting her feet on his thick thighs, she pumped up and down, grounding out an outright rhythm, swaying one way or the other.
“Mmm…” She fell to her back and he assaulted her with speed and precision. She mashed the soles of her feet against his legs. “Ah God bless, Beck!” Her hips shot forward. “More! God bless! Yes! Give me more.”
Beck didn’t look up again. He was mere seconds from coming in his jeans and he might have done just that if he’d taken the time to steal away with another quick peek. Instead of grabbing hold of that small pleasure for his own, he tucked his hands under her bottom and lifted her soft pussy to his greedy mouth. Famished and desperate, he thrust inside her with a tongue that wouldn’t quit.
Then, he drove her from one orgasm straight into the other, loving the way she fucked his mouth without one bit of shame. And when she screamed his name, he loosened his jeans and tugged his cock free.
Thrusting his fingers inside her, he manually fucked her until her body quivering had subsided. Then, he rolled a condom over his cock, grabbed her hand, and yanked her from the bed.
Before she gained an ounce of control, he locked her legs behind his back and entered her with a hard and deep thrust. Once the fucking started, he stayed locked between her legs, finding an unprecedented ramming beat.
They set their own sultry rhythm as old as the act itself. And as he topped her and thrust inside her again and again, one thought remained at the forefront of his mind.
Lindsey belonged to him. She belonged to his brother.
Now, they had to convince her that her name may have been Lindsey Leland, but she was a Stallard, too. She’d been their neighbor but she’d always been their family.
They cared about her. Hell, they probably even loved her.
One thing was certain—no one, especially the likes of Bonzo Maldeni—would ever take her away from them. Maybe he needed to convince her. Seemed like a perfect day to try.
* * * *
Across town, Seth entered The Beer Well. A couple of strippers he knew wasted no time in offering a lap dance. Not one to strip a person of their pride, Seth forced a smile and said, “Maybe later.”
He never looked, and that alone should’ve set off alarms inside his head. He was a tit guy and loved staring at topless dancers. Then again, he was also a committed man when he had a cause.
Right now, his cause was the most important thing on his mind.
He wanted to save his woman. He wanted to make things all right for Lindsey again.
“Hey, Sharon. How’s it going?” He sidled up to the bar and met the redheaded bartender he’d known for more than half his life. His father had supposedly dated Sharon in their youth so she’d always been overly kind to Seth and Beck. She’d become their surrogate mother of sorts, at least when they were tying one on and needed a safe ride home.
�
�Haven’t seen you around in a while,” Sharon said, grinning at him suspiciously. “Does this have anything to do with your cute little neighbor?”
“Everything now,” he admitted. “Before yesterday though, we were mending fences and doing a bunch of remodeling over at the house. You ought to stop by and see it sometime. White picket fence around the whole place, along with new paint on the porch. We even bought some leather furniture for the den.”
She laughed. “Sounds like someone had a reason to throw out the old and bring in the new.”
“You might say that,” he said, grabbing his spot at the bar when she set a beer in front of him.
“What’s up, hon?”
“I need to talk Bonzo.”
She took a deep breath. “That’s the last person you need to talk to today.”
“Why would today be any different than any other?”
“Some information came flying through the door about three this morning, right around closing time. Seems there were some guys who paid Lindsey’s aunt a visit. She pulled a shotgun on them.”
“What’d they expect? She was Nathaniel Daniels’s old lady for nearly fifteen years. Woman knows how to use a gun.” He was downright proud of Lisa. She didn’t take any shit.
“Hon, she may have pulled on them, but she didn’t use it.” Sharon leveled one of those knowing looks his way. “Bonzo is sending the crew back out this afternoon.”
“The hell he is,” Seth said, standing. “Where is he?”
“Back room. They’ve got a poker game going. Some guys you might recognize joined the game.”
“One of them a banker by chance?”
“Well, he was,” she drawled. “Rumor has it Farmer’s Lending fired him when they found out he was planning to refinance Lindsey’s place.”
“Who else is back there?”
“Bonzo, Bob Callaway, and one of the Leonard brothers.”
Tap That (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 5