The silence that followed was so abrupt William wondered for a moment whether he was dead, too.
“Tyler?” a voice shouted. He heard boot falls heading toward him. “You alive, Tyler?” Sheriff Angus’ voice was getting closer.
“Maybe,” he called back. He dropped the gun and jerked his head around in panic. “Kate! Are you all right?”
She nodded and sat herself up. “I think so.”
“It’s over,” Angus said. “Tanner’s dead, along with two of his men. The third’s wounded and in custody.”
“Jack!” William dropped the shotgun and raced over to where the man had taken a bullet meant for him. He lay sprawled on his back, eyes fixed and staring straight up at the moon. The blood William expected to see smeared on the man’s torso and pooling on the ground, however, was absent.
“Jack?” William asked as he sank beside his ranch hand. Remorse gripped his gut and threatened to empty out what little was in it. “Are you with me?”
He stared at the still form of the man who’d saved his life. Jack had been more than a damn good ranch hand and someone who’d shared an intimacy he’d never known with another man. He’d been a friend, loyal beyond words throughout the lean times and right up to the end.
“What am I supposed to do now?” William said.
Staring eyes blinked. “Water would be nice,” the man said in a croaking whisper. “Better yet, make that whiskey.”
William grinned. “You’re alive?”
“I wasn’t hit. The shot went wild. Wrenched my back and knocked my wind out fallin’ flat, though. Remind me never to drink afore I bust the two of yeh out of jail.”
“We need the doc over here, Sheriff.”
“Already on the way.”
“Jack.” Kate was beside him without William even realizing she’d moved. She pressed a willowy hand against the man’s forehead. “Thank God you’re all right.”
“I came to save yeh,” he said. “Both of us.” She nodded, and William saw her swallow hard. “We knew yeh were innocent. Clyde came to me and said we had to do somethin’ about it.” His head rolled slowly to where Kate sat. “We came up with a plan to bust yeh out, but I tried to talk Clyde into stayin’ behind. He wouldn’t listen. I’m sorry, Kate. I shouldn’t have let him.”
Tears brimmed her eyes. “Pa’s always such a stubborn man.”
Her use of present tense hung in the air a moment. William took her hand. “And the damn bravest one I ever saw.” His voice cracked on the last word as his eyes met Kate’s glassy ones. “Aside from Jack.”
Jack reached a hand up, and William grasped it. With a groan, the man sat up. “I knew it weren’t you who done it, but I never would have twigged it were a Tanner involved.”
“I barely figured it out myself.”
He heard the crunch of Angus’s boots come up behind him. “Pretty smart move, Tyler, gittin’ Caleb to confess while I was hidin’ back there.”
William stood, helping Jack to his feet. “To be honest, I had no idea you were there. I just wanted to hear the truth from the horse’s lips afore he did us in. Won’t say I’m not glad you came along when yeh did, though.”
“Happy to oblige.” Grande shifted his hat on his head. “Guess that clears you of the charges I arrested you for.”
“That’s a relief,” Kate said, still teary-eyed.
The sheriff turned back to the decimated pile of brick rubble that had once been the back of their cells. “Still, there’s the matter of yeh destroyin’ my jail. And breakin’ out of it.”
“We was just tryin’ to save ’em an unrightful hangin’,” Jack said. “The mob surrounded the front and were firin’ on yer deputy. I had to do somethin’ fast or they’d have killed William and Kate for sure.”
“How is Deputy Smith?” William asked. “He took a bullet durin’ the scuffle.”
“Got hit in the shoulder,” Angus said, his eyes fixed on William. “But he’ll be fine. Thanks fer askin’.”
“He got hit tryin’ to save us,” William said. “He did a brave job in there.”
“I suppose in light of the circumstances, I’ll drop charges on the breakout,” Angus said. “But there will be a matter of restitution.”
“I’ll pay for all the damage to the jail,” William said.
“Damn right yeh will.” The old man sighed, eyeing up the three of them. “Miss Kate, I’m frightful sorry yeh wound up a guest in my cell. And terrible sorry about yer pa. He was a brave man, from beginnin’ to end.”
Tears glistened on her moonlit cheeks. Her voice broke into a whisper. “Thank you, Sheriff. For everything. And to you, Jack. You saved us.” She moved in and pressed a kiss to his cheek, one that would appear to the bystanders as nothing more than a thank you. But the look that passed between them held in its depths something deep and hungry. A look only William fully grasped, for he felt it, too.
The nightmare was finally over. Life’s heartbeat had sputtered, but restarted for all three of them. Hopefully now they could move forward and live out the dream they shared together.
Chapter Fourteen
Four months later
The front door banged open while the newlyweds laughed. Kate glanced at the entry, smoothing her lacy white gown while waiting for this big moment.
William bent down to pick up his new bride, but Jack stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.
“Now, seein’ as how yeh got to be the one to marry her, how’s about I get to carry her across the threshold?”
“I suppose that sounds fair,” William said, turning to her. “If my wife doesn’t mind?”
She beamed at the men who had just stood side by side at her wedding. Now, they stood together at the threshold of her new, married life. “I think that’s a splendid idea.”
Jack, his hair slicked back neat like William’s and dressed in a wool suit that matched his eyes, swooped Kate up in his arms and strode into the entry way. “Yeh are the finest, most beautiful bride I have ever seen, darlin’. We’re the luckiest two men on earth.”
“Especially the groom,” William said, closing the door behind him. “Welcome home, Katie Rose.”
Jack eased her down until her white button-up shoes touched the ground. She grabbed William around the neck and kissed him. “No, I’m the luckiest woman. I love you, Mr. Tyler.”
“And I you, Mrs. Tyler.”
She beamed, her stomach heating at the sound of her new name. Jack was gazing at her with the same emotion-filled eyes he’d watched her with during the wedding.
“That was a mighty fine ceremony,” Jack said.
“I wish Pa could have been there,” she said, feeling the twist of loss in her stomach. The sting of tears rose in her eyes. “It was sad not havin’ him and Ma there. But I still felt them with me, somehow.”
William took her hand, fiddling with the new slender band circling her finger. “I’m sure they were right there, smilin’ down on you. And in the meantime, my parents absolutely adore you.”
She sighed. “That feeling is quite mutual.” She cocked her head. “You know, your father is quite the charmer. Guess I see where you get it.”
“What about me?” Jack said, fussing pointedly with his bow tie. “Was I charmin’, too?”
“Terribly.” Her smile turned serious. “I was glad when you let me catch your eye a few times during the vows. I was saying them to you, too, you know.”
His brown eyes glazed. “And I vowed to love, honor, and cherish you, for as long as you’ll have me.” He arched a brow. “I just hope no one else noticed.”
“The preacher’s wife gave Kate a strange look or two,” William said, leaning close to her face and taking hold of her chin. “She might have gotten the notion that a bride should have eyes for no one but her husband while she’s standin’ at the altar.”
“And she is absolutely right,” Kate said, scratching at a spot on her scalp where the pins holding her veil on tugged on her hair. Her eyes slid over William’s fine gray
suit, and her heart skipped. “The two of you looked so dazzling I couldn’t hardly take my eyes off of you.”
“But only one was your husband,” Jack said. “The other was just the best man.”
“And I plan to see that just the best man has the same duties in our household as my husband,” Kate said with a teasing lilt.
He grinned. “That so?”
William turned to Jack. “A better best man I couldn’t have asked for.” Now his eyes raked over the other man. “Or a more handsome one.” Their lips met with a groan, and Kate’s stomach jumped. “I’ve been waitin’ to do this all day,” William said.
“Yeah,” Jack said. “The two of yeh were all lips and hands after the ‘I do,’ while yer best man was left standin’ in the cold.”
“Poor darling,” Kate said with a wicked grin. “At least you get to be part of the wedding night.”
“Oh, honey,” he said, sidling up to her and whispering in her ear. “I intend to be yer and William’s weddin’ night. Startin’ right now.”
The men took her by the hands and led her to the bedroom, where they began slowly and sensuously removing the delicate wedding attire loaned to her by William’s mother. Kate stood watching them while goose bumps rose all over her body. She was married to William now, the man who had turned a young, feisty girl’s head years ago—and had unwittingly inspired her to pursue a life of non-conformity. And Jack, what could she say? He’d ridden onto her farm one day in search of the “hoss doc” and hadn’t flinched like the rest when he discovered she was a woman. The handsome cowboy had favored her with a heated smile that lit a fire inside of her, one that kept fanning hotter ever since. And then when she’d thought he’d deserted her to an appointment with the noose, he’d teamed up with another hero—her father—and rode in to save the day. So while she belonged legally and rightfully to William, she belonged privately to them both. While this sort of loving wasn’t something she could declare to the world, she had shouted it in her heart and declared it in the beds of both of her men.
The three of them remained silent while her garments were lovingly laid aside. Her hair was unpinned by the two men whose smoldering gazes brought a rush of need between her thighs. Katie Rose Marsh had never been a conventional girl, something that had proven both a hindrance and an advantage. Now, Kate Tyler would spend her wedding night with an unconventional advantage not many brides could boast—the ability to relax and fully enjoy all the pleasures her men could bestow upon her without the fear, nerves, and physical pain virgin brides whispered about “enduring.”
As the men’s mouths and hands began to move on her bare flesh, she smiled at the thought that maybe, such lack of convention was a freedom that pants-wearing, career-chasing women of the future would be lucky enough to embrace.
THE END
HTTP://JROSEALLISTER.COM
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
When she isn’t busy painting tall tales about the wild West and heroic cowboys, J. Rose Allister loves spending time in her patio garden, homeschooling her daughter, and reading or watching movies with her real-life hero, husband Mike.
Also by J. Rose Allister
PolyAmour: Kata Sutra
Siren Classic: Bewitching Love
Siren Allure: Sinful Ella and the Wolf
Siren Classic: Holidays Bite
Siren Allure: Immortal Paradise 1: Suite Seduction
Siren Classic: Immortal Paradise 2: Tropical Heat
Siren Classic: Immortal Paradise 3: Seduced by an Angel
PolyAmour: Immortal Paradise 4: Immortal Menage
Ménage Amour: Crystal’s Cowboys
Ménage Amour: Her Full Moon Cowboys
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To Tame a Wild Mustang Page 23