by Jane Jamison
Then, with a force that would’ve knocked her off her feet had she been standing, the orgasm swept over her, taking control of every inch of her. She cried out as the huge release swamped her and vaguely heard birds in the nearby trees take flight.
As her cream wet her hand and the shudders died down, she let out a whimper as her hand fell to her side. She was spent, but satisfied.
“Damn, girl. If you’d needed help, all you had to do was ask.”
The accent wasn’t Texan. Instead, it spoke of humid nights spent on Bourbon Street. Of gumbo and crawfish. Of stolen kisses on the dimly lit streets of New Orleans. Of sex wrapped in the arms of her lover as the strains of the blues drifted in the air.
She gathered her strength, then as gracefully as she could, swung her legs over the end of the tailgate and sat up. Shaking her head, she let her hair fall back into a tousled mess around her shoulders.
“Obviously, I didn’t need any help.”
Damn, but they’re hot.
She hid her reaction, but her body recognized their sexiness. The man who’d spoken had dark hair, blue-black in color and cut just above his ears. His dark eyes twinkled with mischief, but his face was set in stone, masking his feelings. It was difficult to tell while he was on horseback, but if his long legs were any indication, he was tall. Real tall. His black hat was pushed back and his body relaxed as though seeing a woman pleasure herself was something he saw every day. Just like almost every other man in those parts, he was dressed in jeans, a T-shirt, and rugged boots. The only sign of decoration he wore was the large silver belt buckle with the initials GL engraved on the front.
“I’m Gage Langham. And this is my brother, William.”
She shifted her attention to William. Even if he hadn’t said as much, she would’ve been able to tell they were brothers. Both had the same square jaw, the same angular-shaped face and dark hair. William, however, had blue eyes that reminded her of a cloudless sunny day. They even sat in the saddle the same easygoing way. He, too, wore the same clothing, although his shirt was white while Gage’s was black. His hat was white, too, and she resisted the urged to ask if he was the good cowboy to his brother’s bad one.
Aw, hell, why not?
She cocked an eyebrow at William. “So you’re the good guy?”
“What?”
She nodded toward Gage. “You’re the good guy to his bad one. Like the sheriff to his robber.”
William laughed, sending a pleasant shiver down her spine. “I never gave it any thought, but yeah, that’s kind of how it is.”
Gage cocked his eyebrow. “So you think it’s that easy figuring out what a man’s like? A white hat means good, while a black one means he’s bad? Lady, you’ve got a lot of learning to do.”
“Maybe so.” She gave him the sultry look that rarely failed to work. “Then again, maybe I could teach you a thing or two.”
Gage was more solemn than William. They’d looked a lot like each other when she’d first seen them, but she could sense that Gage allowed his heat to smolder while William’s heat burned brightly.
Gage’s hot gaze slid over her. “Maybe you could.”
“Either way, it’s good to meet you.” Not wanting to push them too far, she dropped the seductress routine and welcomed them with a nice, I was just playing with you smile.
“Do you always walk around naked?” William leaned forward and rested his forearms on the saddle horn. His horse lowered its head to nibble at the grass.
“I wasn’t walking around. I was swimming.”
Eva Marie reached into the duffel bag she’d thrown in the pickup’s bed and pulled out her waitress uniform. Bending over, she hooked the back of the black halter top, then buttoned the straps behind her neck. With that done, she shimmied the tight skirt over her hips and zipped it at the waist. Club rules meant not wearing any panties.
“Besides, you’re two full-grown men. I figure I haven’t got anything you haven’t seen before.”
“That might be true, but yours looks a lot better than most.”
She did a little curtsy at William. “Thank you, sir. I’m glad you noticed.”
“And you know how to use your body. That was quite the show.”
Gage was harder to handle than his brother. “I figure you two will be dropping by the club after work sometime, so why not give you a preview of what you can expect?”
Wickedness seeped into Gage’s expression. “I heard we can expect a whole lot more than just a show.”
She’d let them know how it was right from the get-go. “From others, maybe, but not from me. I don’t do the playtimes.”
“Now that’s a damn shame.” William wasn’t teasing her. He was dead serious.
“And what’s your name, darlin’?” asked Gage.
It wasn’t the first time she’d been called darlin’, but he’d said it with a little extra rawness she liked. That along with the Southern drawl could’ve melted her panties. If she’d been wearing any. She tilted her head then flipped her hair the way she knew men liked. “Eva Marie.”
“Is that your full name?” asked William.
Again, his face had more expression in it than Gage’s, confirming him as the more outgoing of the two. “It’s Eva Marie McAlister.”
“Okay, Eva Marie McAlister. Do you go skinny-dipping a lot?” William grinned, showing two amazing, sexy-as-hell dimples. The dimple on his left cheek pointed at the scar that ran along the side of his neck. Yet, instead of making him less attractive, it gave him a dangerous vibe in a hot, bad-boy kind of way. He had an odd combination of boy-next-door and wickedness whereas Gage was simply bad boy through and through.
“Just so you know, I’m not here every day. I don’t have a scheduled show time or anything.”
“Wouldn’t turn it down if you did,” added Gage.
She stuffed her other clothes into the bag, then slammed the tailgate closed. Walking around to the door, she slid her bag across the torn leather seat, then turned back to them. “You should’ve told me you were spying on me.”
Gage didn’t take her joke the right way. “We were in plain sight. I wouldn’t call that spying.”
“If you were gentlemen, you would’ve told me you were there.”
William’s laughter was deep and throaty. And yeah, filled with a craving she knew only too well. His accent mirrored his brother’s. “Then I guess it’s a good thing we’re not gentlemen.”
“You aren’t foolin’ anyone, darlin’. You knew damn well we were watching.”
“Did I?” She frowned, putting on a different kind of show. “I guess it doesn’t matter now.” She hopped behind the wheel.
“You know you did.” Gage challenged her some more. “That was one hell of a show.”
She liked a good challenge. “And if it wasn’t a show?”
“Darlin’, don’t try and deny it.”
“I’m not saying one way or the other.”
“You will.”
Intriguing. That was a good word for Gage. “I will?”
“Maybe not in so many words, but you’ll tell me I’m right.”
She glanced at William, who remained quiet, his interest evident in his intense expression.
“Okay, now I’ve got to know.” She arched an eyebrow. “How do you think I’ll tell you if I don’t say anything?”
Gage studied her. “Because, darlin’, the next time we see each other, I’m going to kiss you. And when you kiss me back, your kiss will tell me you knew we were there all along.”
She chuckled, amused at his nerve. “Cowboy, you’re dreaming.”
“We’ll see.”
William shifted in his saddle. “I’ll take a part of that action.”
“No one’s going to take anything. Like I said, if you boys are looking for a little fun, try stopping by the club. I’m sure you know where it is, considering you’re riding Pleasure Ranch stock.”
“Are you putting on a show tonight?”
Gage seemed even more i
nterested than before.
“I just might be.”
“Then we might just stop by,” added William.
She turned down the volume on the radio and switched it back to the country channel. Throwing the gearshift into drive, she gave them a wink. “See you later, boys.” She hit the gas pedal, lurching the old truck forward, and sending up a cloud of dust.
When she checked out her rearview mirror, they were in the same place she’d left them. “I sure do you hope y’all show up. Something tells me you two are going to be a lot of fun.”
Chapter Two
“That’s the prettiest sight we’ve seen since we moved here.”
Gage didn’t disagree with his brother, although William had a way of making things sound “flowery,” as he’d have put it. “Yeah. She’s good looking, all right.”
“Good looking?” William pulled his cowboy hat down, tugging on his horse’s reins to turn it around and face his brother. “That’s like saying the Eiffel Tower’s made out of toy blocks. Or that the sun’s just a big hunk of burning rock in the sky.”
“You do have a way of putting things, bro.” Gage watched the dust billowing in the air as her pickup bumped along the dirt trail leading to the main road.
“But it’s not. It’s a mass of molecules and atoms that keeps this planet going. Without it, life as we know it would cease to exist.”
Gage chuckled. “Are you sure you aren’t a girl in a man’s body? I swear, you can make anything sound dramatic.”
“My point is that she’s more than good looking. She’s downright gorgeous. Hotter than hot. Sexier than any woman I’ve ever seen.”
Again dramatic. But he wouldn’t tease William about it again. After all, he was right. Eva Marie McAlister could make any other woman look like she was just plain butt ugly.
They’d arrived the night before, and not wanting to stay in the bunkhouse with the other hands, had settled into the small framed house on the outskirts of Pleasure Ranch that the Casing brothers had offered them for temporary housing. It wasn’t anything like the house they’d left behind in Maston, Louisiana. They’d owned a good-sized ranch there with a large two-story white house. At least, until the bank had finally fulfilled its multiple warnings and notices, and had foreclosed on the property.
They’d tried everything to keep the ranch afloat, including a last-ditch effort of turning the place into a dude ranch. He swallowed the foul taste in his mouth. Just thinking about it made him want to retch. Other than being able to ride into the nearby Kisatchie National Forest while leading a riding tour, the dude-ranch thing had driven him crazy. People wore his patience down on a good day, but having to deal with a bunch of city folks who’d never seen a live horse, much less ridden one, was more than he could stand. He hated failure, but he hated losing his sanity even more. They’d finally agreed to settle up their debts and take the jobs at Pleasure Ranch.
“I hadn’t planned on going tonight, but now I’m kind of itching to see what the club’s all about.”
Gage knew what had spurred William’s sudden interest. “What about the Dom positions Paul was talking about? Are we going to give it a try?”
William took off his hat and wiped the sweat from his brow. “Let’s get a good look around then decide. I kind of like the idea, but I’d like to see how it’s handled here. We don’t want to get into something that doesn’t sit well with us.”
“Agreed.” As a rule, he didn’t push ideas onto his brother, but something about Eva Marie made him want to push this time. “Maybe if we try our hand at being Doms, we could get her to do a scene with us.”
“Doubtful. She seemed like she had her mind set.”
“Maybe so, bro, but women are a lot like horses. They can get pretty stubborn, but with a few treats, they’re eager to learn a new trick or two.”
“I wouldn’t let her hear you talking that way about her.” And yet William’s grin said he’d like to see her reaction if she did.
“She won’t as long as you don’t go blabbing it to her.” He could try, but he doubted his brother would heed his warning.
“Come on. Let’s get those chores done, then get cleaned up and see what all the fuss is about. If she’s doing a show tonight, I want to be front row and center.”
William gave a yelp to his horse and broke it straight into a run. Gage was left eating dust, but that didn’t stop him. He urged his mount into a run and chased after his brother.
Chasing after Eva Marie McAlister would be a lot of fun. But fun sometimes came back to bite him in the butt. Still, if Eva Marie was the one doing the biting, it might just be worth it.
* * * *
“I swear to God, Bob, if you lay another grubby finger on me, I’m going to whack you upside your head with this mug.” Eva Marie had just about had it. Bob Stuben, a long-standing member of The Club at Pleasure Ranch, had been after her ass since the first day he’d seen her.
“But that’s what you’re here for, Evie.”
“No, Bob, it’s not. Not if I don’t want it to be, and I don’t.”
She gripped the mug of cold beer even harder. It wasn’t as if she wasn’t used to guys coming on to her, but after she made it clear that she was a “hands off” girl and that she only allowed certain kinds of physical interaction, they respected her wishes and backed the hell off. But not Bob. He just wouldn’t stop. Even Paul and Destin had tried talking to him, but it was as though he had no control over his hands.
His lecherous expression faded into one with more influence over her. With a round face and jowls beginning to sag, along with a receding hairline that seemed to go farther back each day, he was a pitiful sight. He could give a hound dog a run for its money in a saddest face contest. She felt sorry for the poor guy. His wife, the saint of a woman she must’ve been, had died five months earlier.
“But, Evie—”
“For the millionth time, my name is Eva Marie.”
“I heard you. But, Evie, how about doing a little strip show for me? We can get a private room, if you want.”
She caught Georgia, Paul and Destin’s permanent submissive, trying to smother a grin and failing. That was part of it. Everyone liked Bob, including the Doms, who considered him harmless. He was a man mourning his dead wife and seeking a little comfort. They’d cut him some slack, preferring to think he’d get back to his old lovable, sweet self sooner or later. Hell, she even liked Bob when he wasn’t trying to put his hands where they weren’t welcomed. But liking him and doing the things he wanted her to do couldn’t have been further apart.
“Because, Bob”—she tried her most soothing voice—“I. Don’t. Want. To.”
“But you do shows all the time.”
“Not all the time. When I feel like it and only on the main stage. I don’t do private rooms.”
She hated to see it, but lately, the uglier side of Bob kept surfacing. His looks had gone from sweet smiles to hard, appraising ones. Looks that left her feeling as though he’d already put his hands all over her.
“Come on, Evie. You’d make a ton of money. Fucking play with me and I’ll make it well worth your while. If you’ll do a scene with me, I’ll buy you a brand-spanking-new truck.”
“No, thanks. I like the pickup I have.” She slipped her hand out of his hold. The old coot didn’t have money to throw away. According to Myrtle Gunderson, owner of Myrtle’s Salon and head gossip of Pleasure, Bob could barely afford to hang on to his tiny home on the edge of town. He hadn’t been able to give his poor wife, Charlotte, a decent burial. The nice people of Pleasure had chipped in, paying for the funeral bills without his knowing. The florist, preacher, and funeral home from nearby towns had lowered their prices to less than their base costs so he could pay them something and believe he’d managed it all on his own. There wasn’t a person in the county who wouldn’t go to their own grave with the secret. To do otherwise would embarrass Bob.
“Then how about a pretty necklace? Or new clothes?”
As muc
h as she wanted to believe he was offering out of the goodness of his heart, she’d been around too long to misinterpret his real motive. He’d want something in return. Something more than just a show.
“No, thanks, Bob.” Setting his beer in front of him, she felt his hand slide its way up her skirt. Slapping it away, she shot Georgia a dirty look for not stepping in to help, then eased out of his reach. She couldn’t blame Georgia too much. She knew she could handle him.
At last, she was free and hurrying across the crowded room toward the bar. The main room was an elegant mix of charm and raw sex. Red leather booths lined each side of the room with room for tables to form a semicircle around the dance floor. For the safety of both the members and the staff, cameras were strategically aimed to catch every inch of the place, even the more secluded areas, while blending in with the décor. The long bar stretched across the center with two hallways running toward the back of the building. Private rooms for members who didn’t like public displays of their sexual preferences lined the hallways. Toward the end of one hall were the owner’s office as well as storage rooms. A back door led outside to a huge water tank that was used for initiation of staff members. The initiation wasn’t mandatory and everyone had the right to perform collaring ceremonies as well as other ceremonies in whatever way they wished. The only hard and fast rules applied to safety issues, not personal preferences.
“Is Bob hounding you again?” Wilson, the bartender, wiped the counter down, then poured her a soft drink.
“No more than usual. Thanks for checking, though.” She slid onto a bar stool and sipped at the cool drink.
“You look like you could use something a little stronger in that.” Wilson was a nice-looking man, but not anyone she’d be interested in. He wasn’t the tall, hard-packed cowboy she dreamed about.
“That’s for sure.”