Rose's Cowboys

by Starla Kaye

  She focused solely on Victoria. “I really am tired tonight. I’m going to head on home. Sorry.”

  “Just one dance first.” Camden stepped in front of her, held out his free hand, and gave her a smile that had no doubt won over many women.

  He nearly won her over, too. But she grabbed onto her fading resistance and shook her head. “I appreciate the offer, but no thanks.” Did she sound too prim and proper? He made her nervous, made her… No! Keep your mind on the goal: leaving.

  “Think of my reputation, darlin’,” he protested, turning on his playful charm, lowering his tone.

  She’d always liked a man with a deep voice. It did funny things to her insides. This wasn’t an easy man to refuse.

  Pulling her from her second of foolish desire, he said, “What will people say if I let the prettiest woman in these parts get away without even dancing with me once?”

  She didn’t get a chance to answer before Doug moved right into Camden’s personal space. He flashed his own wickedly tempting smile. “If you dance with one Grayson brother, then you have to dance with the other. Fair’s fair.” He gently nudged Camden’s sling-encased arm. “Besides I’m the better boot scooter.”

  Her heart pounded, her palms grew moist. Panic. As silly as it was, just the idea of dancing, even country style, filled her with such overwhelming sadness. She wanted to dance, but she wasn’t sure her legs were fully healed. What if she made a fool of herself, collapsed, or worse reinjured her legs? What if she tripped her dance partner? What if she could never do any kind of dancing again? The idea was almost too much to bear.

  She inched back from the men, fought not to let the tears that threatened fall. “I…I can’t.” She turned and looked anxiously around for a quick way out. “I’m sorry.”

  She hurried away, weaving her way around people standing and visiting on the side of the crowded dance floor. Even over the lively sound of the country western band, she heard the two cowboys following her. They called out to her. But she didn’t want to talk to them, didn’t want to be pressed about why she was running away. She was so embarrassed. She just wanted to go home. She was tired of being haunted by what she’d given up, her life’s dream. She was tired of being worried that she would never be able to feel the music and let it guide her as it once had. She needed to move on. Still, she couldn’t do it tonight.

  Finally she made it outside and the cool night air hit her. Heart still racing, she pressed her back to the brick building, tried to suck in calming breaths. Then she realized she’d come here with Victoria. She didn’t want to go back inside and find her friend to drag her away from the party. The town council had almost decided not to support this annual dance. Victoria had fought hard to make it happen. This was her special night.

  She tensed as heavy footsteps pounded onto the concrete drive. She didn’t have to look to know who they belonged to, the persistent Grayson brothers. Most annoying of all, her silly heart did a little two-step of pleasure. Idiot, idiot, idiot! You should not have come here tonight!

  “Need a ride?” One of the far-too-sexy voices asked from her side. The deeper voice, Camden’s. Again her stomach fluttered at the huskiness in his tone.

  Doug quickly pressed, “My rig’s closer.”

  “But mine’s cleaner.”

  Sensing a battle of one-upmanship coming, she bucked up her courage and faced the blond devils. Somehow they’d managed to catch up with her and grab their hats from wherever they’d placed them before. Probably on that wall of pegs she’d noticed next to the entry doors. How they managed to find their specific hats from among all of those similar ones amazed her. But that was beside the point.

  “I’m so embarrassed,” she said quietly, trying not to stare at them. She’d never seen such earthy men, such… Get a grip! You’re not interested in getting involved with a man right now. Remember that!

  She ignored her rapidly beating heart, the way her knees were starting to shake. “Really, can’t you just leave me to wither away from humiliation in private?”

  Camden stepped closer, shaking his head. “I don’t know what you’re embarrassed about.”

  “For all but running out of there,” she muttered in explanation. This was a small town and probably by tomorrow her frantic run would be the talk of the area. She could hear it now: The town council hired a crazy woman to be librarian. Her face heated even more. It would have been so much easier just to stay lost in the throng of people in New York City. But she hadn’t been able to stay there any longer knowing she couldn’t return to her dream. And it was too expensive to live there. Thankfully, she’d had a way to leave. She’d never really expected to use the degree in library science she’d gotten while struggling her way in the dance world.

  Fortunately the men seemed oblivious to her concerns. They were still focused on competing for her attention. Camden nodded at Doug. “Because of him. He scared you off.”

  Now Doug moved next to Camden, scowling and sputtering, “I never meant to do that.”

  “Neither of you scared me off.” She raised her chin. “My reaction had nothing to do with either of you.” Well, not exactly. “It’s personal. Something I don’t want to talk about.”

  Surprising her, they didn’t press her for more. She relaxed a little, even managed to smile. “You boys should go back inside. Find some agreeable women to scoot your boots with.” Why did she immediately hate that idea? She didn’t even know these guys.

  “There’ll be another time to scoot these boots,” Camden said, not moving away. “I’d rather give you a ride home if that’s what you still want to do.”

  Doug shook his head. “Not much interested in boot scooting either. I’ll ride along with Bro. Make sure he minds his manners.” He winked at her. “And we’re men, not boys.”

  Oh, she definitely knew that. Every cell in her body was highly aware of how male they were, how they were full­grown, sexually confident men. After her recent rotten history with men, she was surprised that she wasn’t running screaming away from them. Yes, she’d sped away in the dance hall, but not because of them…because of her fear of being drawn once more to a man all wrong for her.

  “Right. You’re men. Understood,” she said, finding herself smiling.

  They both looked pleased, gave her similar grins that did all kinds of funny things to her. Testosterone seemed to ooze out of them as they each stood taller, puffed out impressive chests. Chests she would love to see nice and bare. No, you wouldn’t! No, no, no!

  “Stop that,” she protested, battling down a serious case of unwanted lust.

  “Stop what?” Camden asked, sounding confused.

  Doug frowned, studying her.

  She’d actually been trying to stop her wayward thoughts, but she wasn’t about to tell them that. Instead she blurted out, “Stop preening! I’m not interested. It’s entirely wasted on me.” Lie, lie, lie. She was interested in both of them—weird as it was. The idea creeped her out. It was wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Which was beside the point, because she wasn’t ready to think about getting involved with one man, certainly not two men.

  “He’s preening, not me,” Doug protested, looking in annoyance at his brother. “Are you sure you’re not interested? Because—”

  Before Camden could counter or she could respond, Victoria walked up and forced her way between the cowboys. She focused on Rose and said bluntly, “Stop pestering my friend. I’m taking her home.”

  “But—” they both sputtered.

  “Hit the road, boys.” She stepped forward to take Rose’s arm and tugged her away from the building. She headed for her Mustang in the packed, well-lit parking lot.

  “Men!” Doug and Camden called out in unison.

  “What?” Victoria asked and glanced at Rose, as if she’d missed something.

  Rose shook her head. “Never mind.” But she was smiling inside, and she was strangely disappointed that Victoria had come to her rescue.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Doug had
tossed and turned most of the night, restless, frustrated. Half asleep, not wanting to fully wake up, he tried to focus again on the slender brunette from the dance who had tormented his dreams. He’d done some sliding up of that sassy little denim skirt she’d had on, getting it out of his way. He’d slipped his hand between her legs, delved inside her quivering body with his fingers. Then he’d shifted lower on the bed and feasted on her sweetness. He’d been about to…

  Heart pounding, he shifted again on the bed, annoyingly fully awake now. His cock throbbed, ached. Lord a’mighty, he needed some action, bad. The hell of it was he never went a long spell between rumpling the sheets with a warm and willing woman. He’d been with Anna only last week. The woman was damn demanding. He’d been certain he wouldn’t even be thinking about sex for another month after she’d finished with him. So why was he suffering so much now? Over a woman he’d just met, didn’t even really know.

  “Either get up and let me sleep in peace,” Camden growled from next to him. “Or let me give us both some relief.”

  Doug slowly opened his eyes and glanced at his closest friend, his sometimes lover. He wouldn’t allow any other man to touch him, not ever again. But with Camden he could let go, feel safe and loved…at least for a while. For those short periods of time, he could forget the painful past, what he’d suffered, how he still suffered…would always suffer.

  He rolled to his side and looked at Camden. He sure was prone to getting his body beat up. The six-inch scar on his lower left abdomen and a half-dozen other minor scars gave testament to that. There were thin pain lines around his mouth. His broken nose wasn’t so bad now, but he knew that his seriously sprained arm continued to hurt him, not that it kept Camden from pulling his weight with the ranch duties. Still, Camden was looking at him with such heat. When he got that intense, he usually wanted to be on top. But physically, Camden wasn’t ready for that.

  When Camden started to move off his back, Doug firmly but gently eased him down again. “My turn to drive.”

  Camden frowned for a half-second and then his gaze landed on Doug’s thick rod. The heat in his eyes flamed hotter and he gave in, settling in place, ready. “No objections from me.” He reached out to put his hand around Doug’s cock, gave a shuddery breath. “I need this, really need this.”

  Holding Camden’s gaze, Doug straddled his legs. He licked his fingers, coating them with saliva, and slid them between Camden’s thighs. He carefully probed his hole with light strokes, and then more boldly. Heat surrounded his fingers, fired through his body. “I need this, too. Damn bad.”

  Doug stroked again, feeling pressure building inside him. His patience was growing thin. The scent of arousal made it hard to breathe normally. He was starting to sweat.

  Camden’s eyes darkened, his nostrils flared, and he groaned as his desperation grew.

  When Doug glided his fingers in and out, faster, further, Camden squeezed his muscled thighs tighter around Doug’s hand. “Stop teasing me,” Camden gritted out. “Take me. Now.”

  Doug liked it rough, hard and fast. Camden did, too, but he also had a gentler side sometimes. Even though he sounded demanding now, Doug was cautious. Camden was hurting, his body still healing from that damn stallion he’d been working with last week. Doug refused to give into his wilder side this time. He kept his fingers buried deep, leaned down to kiss the man at his mercy, and reached into the nightstand’s drawer with his other hand for a condom. Although he would try to control things, he was too excited to play for long.

  He sat back on his haunches and withdrew his fingers. While Camden watched him, he bit open the foil packet and quickly slid the condom over his dick. “Ready?”

  At Camden’s curt nod, he gripped his protected cock in one hand and once more drove two fingers into Camden’s anus. Still worried about hurting his friend, he reached into the drawer again for the tube of lubrication. A second later he smoothed the lube over his rod and applied some to the puckered hole he would enter.

  Camden lifted his hips in invitation, thighs spread wide, grimacing from the strain on his injured arm. “Would you hurry up!”

  Doug snorted. “Just taking care of my good buddy.”

  He eased his cock inside, groaned in pleasure at the tightness. Nerves up and down his dick came alive. Yeah, he needed this. He needed to pound into Camden until the pressure inside him burst free. And yet the hot little brunette slipped into his thoughts, which surprised him. Usually when he and Camden fucked, nothing else intruded on the moment. He frowned, annoyed and confused.

  “Focus,” Camden snarled and glared up at him. He wrapped his legs around Doug’s back, pushed up and forced his cock deeper. “On me. Only on me!”

  He braced his forearms on either side of Camden’s head, locked gazes with him. “On you, only you,” he grunted out. He pumped his hips, stroked deeper still. The heat, the tightness. “So good. So damn good.”

  More. Harder. He struggled to find what he needed and to not hurt Camden. His breaths came fast, trembling; he was already sweating from the effort.

  The tight contraction of Camden’s ass on his cock made him moan again. Then he lowered his head and claimed his lover’s mouth. Their tongues moved together as frantically as their bodies. Until finally he threw back his head. Bare seconds later, he exploded in orgasm, bit out, “Ohhhh, ohhh shit!”

  Doug leaned his forehead against Camden’s, sucked in ragged breaths, and waited for the strength to move again. Sex between them was always good. It never mattered who dominated whom.

  “You good now?” Camden asked, having obviously sensed his restlessness, his need for this.

  Doug felt Camden’s throbbing, hard cock against his stomach. His own had deflated. Relieved, calmer now, he slipped from his friend’s ass and collapsed next to him on the rumpled bed that smelled like sex. “Yeah, thanks.”

  They lie there recovering in silence. He couldn’t quite remember when the two of them had first come together, discovered they could satisfy each of their needs for raw powerful sex. He imagined his other brothers knew about their relationship, but none had ever confronted them. Each of them—including the three women—had secrets. Every last one of the men was alpha, strong-willed, and yet they respected each other’s privacy. Samuel had demanded they respect privacy and secrets. Doug was more than thankful for that. The things he’d had to do after his father kicked him out… What had happened to him while trying to survive on his own at fifteen… Hell. Pure fire and brimstone hell is what it felt like he’d gone through. Without Samuel saving him…

  Secrets. He was far from the only one he knew who had things in their life they didn’t want to share with others. He’d sensed that the pretty little librarian had secrets as well. He doubted they were as horrible as his—God, he hoped not—but something made her sad. He’d seen it in her eyes. He wanted to… What? Help her? Hell, he couldn’t even deal with his own inner pain! Still, he felt more drawn to her than he had to any other woman. Maybe because she had resisted his flirting. She was a challenge. Challenges were his specialty.

  He closed his eyes and thought about Rose. She was slim, not skinny thin, but not as curvy as he normally liked in a woman. But she had a real nice pair of breasts. He’d watched them plump out against her pink T-shirt when she’d gotten uncomfortable with him and Cam. And he liked that thick, wavy hair of hers. He could see himself running his fingers into it as he kissed her on those nice Angelina Jolie lips. Lips he could almost feel surrounding his dick.

  Almost see moving up and down Camden’s dick. What the hell!

  Then, oddly, the idea intrigued him. It might even be pretty damn spectacular to have a little threesome. He’d never done that before and he didn’t think Camden had either. Would Camden be interested? Was he really interested? Well, maybe. But he couldn’t imagine a lady like the town’s new librarian being part of such a scandalous arrangement.

  The bed moved, distracting him from his ponderings. He remembered the way Camden’s cock had been h
ard as a rock, pulsing between them. His friend was no doubt taking care of his problem.

  Feeling guilty, he opened his eyes and found Camden leaning back against the headboard, jerking off. He sat up and brushed Camden’s hands away, took over. “Let me. It’s the least I can do.”

  Camden didn’t object. He laid back, his eyes glazing over as he neared his own release. Yet he managed to grit out, “I’m going after that librarian.”

  Doug’s hand tightened around Camden’s cock until his friend scowled at him and protested, “Hey!”

  Easing his grip, Doug said, “Want to bet on who gets her in bed first?” Oddly, the thought of betting that way bothered him. They’d made such crazy half-assed bets before and it hadn’t been a big deal. But Rose was different.

  “You…don’t…even…like…brunettes,” Camden protested, grunting between the words, his breathing coming harder. Then he yelled out in release.

  Doug pulled his hand away as his lover recovered. He crawled off the bed and headed for the bathroom. “I’ve changed my mind.” This brunette was an exception.

  * * * *

  Several hours later after a long, hot shower and after trying to get his thoughts straight, Camden parked in front of the massive equestrian center in the main part of the ranch. Ever since Doug had strode out of his house he’d tried to wrap his mind around how to help his friend. He was worried about him. He knew that the anniversary of Doug’s arrival at the ranch always triggered the violent memories of his previous life. He had Doug’s back, was there when he wanted to talk, and was there when he needed something else. But Doug had been extra moody lately, and he wasn’t sure how to help him this time.