by Vanessa Vale
Maddie
“Our lives as criminals are over,” Amanda said, sitting down on the edge of my bed with a sigh. She and Tara had worked their way to my hotel after the robbery to disperse the remainder of the money and to say our goodbyes.
The robbery had gone just as the others had. I’d expected the teller to be prepared for me; Mr. Rollins had had his banks robbed before and obviously they knew to watch out for a woman thief. I’d expected, when I’d pulled out my gun, for the teller to raise one of his own and shoot me. But when I gave the man the piece of paper with the amount I wanted, he didn’t raise an alarm, but instead grinned at me.
Grinned! Yes, he’d expected me, but hadn’t wished to do me any harm. Instead, he’d said he felt honored to be robbed by the Black Widow, but wondered why I only wanted a certain amount. I responded that I was an honorable thief, only taking what was owed me. He looked at me oddly, but said nothing more, taking the money from the drawer and counted it out with a flourish. After I’d tucked it into my reticule, he nodded and wished me a good day.
I had to admit, I’d been flummoxed. Either the man hated Mr. Rollins and was thrilled to see him robbed, or he had a sweet spot for me. I had to assume it was the latter. I had an admirer!
I’d walked away from the building, my heart hammering, confused about what had occurred. This clerk wasn’t going to forget my face. The plan had been the same as the other robberies; all three of us would leave town separately. Since we were now done with our nefarious activities and we’d met to dole out the last of the money, we wouldn’t see each other for several months to ensure there was no connection between us.
But I couldn’t leave town as I’d originally planned. I couldn’t take my portion of the money and disappear. I could, but I had no doubt I’d have two handsome men tracking me. They were ardent husbands who I doubted would allow their wife to run off, and they were US Marshals, skilled at tracking. It would be ill advised because then I’d definitely raise their suspicions. There was no doubt I’d enjoyed our night together. I couldn’t play a scandalized miss. And, I was married—married!—to Seth. He wasn’t going to be abandoned by his new bride and neither was Landon.
No. I’d had no choice but go to the hotel.
“Yes, it has been so exciting,” Tara countered, her eyes wide with excitement. The energy from the robbery had yet to dissipate and she was all but humming. Even energized, she looked so sweetly innocent in her gingham dress and straw hat, her pale hair pulled up beneath her hat, but the back hung long in loose ringlets. “I fear I shall miss it.”
“I shall miss the two of you,” I countered. We would never have met without the evil intentions of Mr. Rollins. While I wished Daddy had just taken the man’s offer when he’d wanted to purchase the property initially, we would not have become friends—even outlaws—together otherwise. Nor would I have married Seth and Landon. How my life had changed!
A knock came at the door and we startled, eyed each other. “Front desk.”
I put a hand to my chest, felt the quick pounding of my heart as I opened the door to a porter.
“You requested a bath?” The man was older, but burly, and the tub appeared to be no difficulty for him to carry.
When he saw Amanda and Tara, he offered a nod and a simple, “Ma’am,” since his hands were full. “I’ll be back with the hot water.”
After placing the tub in the middle of the room, he left as quickly as he came, shutting the door behind him.
“A hot bath sounds divine.” Tara moved to sit beside Amanda and offered a small smile. “We won’t stay long. Besides your bath, we need to stick with our plan. While we need to remain apart until the interest in the robberies dies down, it will be quite lonely without you both.”
We’d plotted and planned for two months before the first robbery, but after that, saw as little of each other as possible. Our only visits were to disburse the money and set a date and location for the next one. I’d wished we’d only needed to rob the first bank to collect all the money owed to us, but it had taken three extra chances at being caught to do so. Now that we’d ensured our shares were all covered, I was glad we’d done so.
I felt some closure, although I knew it wouldn’t bring the ranch, or my father, back. Not Tara or Amanda’s family’s land either.
“You will find husbands and have beautiful babies,” I forecasted. While they were smart and cunning enough to be whatever they wanted, life as a woman in the Montana Territory was based on a husband and most likely children. With the money they’d retrieved from Mr. Rollins, they had a choice, unlike others. But I knew their hearts’ desires were to marry and settle.
Tara blushed, putting her hand on the blanket and smoothing out imagined wrinkles. “And you? You are a catch yourself.”
I bit my lip. “Well…”
Amanda popped up, clearly she saw something on my face or heard something in my tone. “You’ve met someone!”
Tara’s face brightened even further. “You have? Do tell.”
I couldn’t keep Seth and Landon a secret. Well, I could keep Landon a secret. “It was all rather whirlwind.”
Tara clapped her hands in glee.
It had been several hours since Seth and Landon went to their meeting across town. I had no idea when to expect them and didn’t really want them to discover Tara and Amanda in the room. I had told them I was meeting a friend, so if they did return, discovering them both here was easily explainable. And, there’d been no mention of three women as part of the string of robberies, only me. Therefore, I felt safe in their presence, although we could not linger together for long.
I did wish to share though, for I was married and I had yet to tell a soul.
“Tell us everything,” she said, her eyes laced with mischief.
A brisk knock at the door and the porter came in, a bucket of steaming water in each hand. He poured the water in the tub, said, “Be back with more,” and left.
Tara’s cheeks were flushed and she was biting her lip. I was the widow, the newly married one. I was older, although not by much. Still, I was the one who needed to be level headed.
“There were no other rooms available at the hotel,” I replied. “This was where we’d agreed I’d stay and I didn’t wish to deviate from the plan.”
Amanda waved her hand. “That’s very dull. We want to hear the exciting part.”
I grinned. “He overheard my predicament and offered me his room.”
Tara frowned. “Then where is he staying?”
“With her, silly goose,” Amanda countered.
Tara gasped at the impropriety of her words. “She might be a widow, but she wouldn’t,” she countered, sure I was virtuous. Little did she know.
“He’s traveling with a friend, so he was intending to share his room. But then I was invited to dinner and well… we married this morning.”
“What?” Both women spoke at the same time, their faces showing complete shock.
I had to laugh and it made me feel better. Telling them was worrisome because my actions had been so incredibly rash. What if they said I’d been silly or naive or just plain stupid? “We went to the sheriff who is a justice of the peace.”
Amanda’s mouth fell open. “You went to the sheriff’s office? After what we’ve done?” She whispered the last, as if the porter was in the room instead of in the kitchen refilling the buckets.
“I admit, it was very scary. It’s not like I went with a gun in my hand and my reticule full of stolen money. I had two men with me.”
“Two?” Tara asked, frowning.
I realized I’d blundered and replied quickly. “He came to Helena with a friend. The man came as witness.”
They accepted that readily enough. Why wouldn’t they? It wasn’t as if they’d consider being married to two men as a possibility. I hadn’t until I’d spent the night with them.
“What’s his name?”
Another knock, the porter again with two more bucketfuls that he poured int
o the tub. “One more trip.”
“Seth Bane,” I said after the porter had left. I wasn’t going to mention my new husband was a US Marshal. That would only make them panic and even question my insanity. I was questioning my sanity.
“We should leave so you can have a bath before he returns.” She waggled her eyebrows. “Or maybe you want him to return while you are in the tub?”
Tara gasped, swatted Amanda on the arm. “That would be unseemly,” she replied.
Amanda grinned. “Not if they’re married.”
Tara frowned, but kept her mouth shut, as if the idea of being seen bathing by a husband had never occurred to her.
“You have your money and gun stashed away so he can’t find it?” Amanda asked, ever practical.
“In my bag,” I replied. My drawers were wrapped around the small pile. Since Seth and Landon both seemed adverse to my underthings, enjoying me bare beneath my dress as I was now, I had to hope they wouldn’t change their minds and pull out some for me to wear after all.
Tara stood, gave me a hug. “I’m thrilled for you. Enjoy married life. Who knows?” She shrugged. “The next time we meet, maybe we’ll be married too.”
I had to hope so. They deserved good men. They deserved a good life, more than what Mr. Rollins had stripped from them and their families.
The porter returned one final time, emptied his buckets. I offered a hearty thank you. He left with another nod and a coin I’d pulled from my reticule.
I hugged Amanda next. “You two married?” I asked. “I hope so, if that is what you wish. At least you have your money that allows you to make a choice about it.”
“Like you,” Tara said.
I’d had a choice—and made it—although I’d barely had time to even think about it. I’d known my men less than a day and now I was married. And, in the middle of that, I’d robbed another bank, without wearing any drawers. Perhaps it was actually good I wasn’t thinking too much about what I’d done, otherwise, I might panic.
One thing I didn’t have to think on was that I wanted to get between Seth and Landon again. As soon as possible. There was one area of our marriage that was worry free, and that was when we were naked.
CHAPTER NINE
Maddie
“I could get used to this,” Landon said as they came through the door. His serious expression didn’t match his humorous tone.
Seth grinned as he quickly shut it behind them. While they didn’t seem to mind seeing me indisposed, apparently he didn’t wish for anyone else in the hotel to do so.
I was in a copper tub, hair quickly pinned up on top of my head, steam rising from the water. It had barely been two minutes since Tara and Amanda had left and my men’s arrival startled me. Had they run into them in the lobby? A jolt of fear had me stilling, but they didn’t appear to be men who’d just arrested two accomplices and were intending to handcuff me. Not unless it was to the bed again.
“Have a good visit with your friend?” Seth asked.
“Yes, thank you.” I shifted a little, but didn’t cover myself. It was too late to play coy. “Do you have your assignment? Are you leaving me to chase him down?”
Landon squatted down by the tub, but his hands on the rim. His gaze never met mine, instead taking in my body, my breasts floating in the water. My nipples were just above the surface and he seemed entranced.
“What criminal?” he responded vaguely. “My mind has wandered…elsewhere.”
“The meeting?” I reminded him, although his playful mood had me smiling.
He frowned. “Yes, the meeting. Turns out, our criminal isn’t a he, but a she.”
Not a—
I made a sound in my throat, something akin to a whimper, and Landon looked up.
He grinned a little sheepishly. “I love your breasts.”
He thought I was bothered by his over eager attentions, when in fact I was stunned by his revelation. How many female criminals could there be?
“A woman?” I asked, intentionally trying to keep my tone even.
He nodded absently. “Bank robber. We would have been here sooner, but she struck the bank in town and we had to investigate.”
Seth came around to the other side of the tub and knelt beside it, glared at Landon. “I’m the one who likes breasts.”
“Gentlemen, I have two,” I offered. It was a blatant statement, but humorous. They were like two little boys fighting over a toy.
They took my words as invitation, each cupping one in a hand.
I leaned back, closed my eyes, licked my lips and enjoyed their exploration.
“The Black Widow—that’s what she calls herself—has struck four banks now. We will need to travel to each one to investigate,” Landon added while he continued to play. It was play because his thumb slid back and forth over my nipple and it hardened automatically.
I did not call myself that ridiculous moniker. One of the tellers came up with it.
“She cleaned them right out,” Seth replied.
I stilled at that tidbit of news, opened my eyes. “She did? That would be awfully heavy,” I replied, then bit my lip. I didn’t need to give them any direction on this because it would lead directly to me.
“That’s a valid point,” Landon said. “I hadn’t thought of that, how she’d carry all that money out of the building, but you, sweetheart, give a woman’s perspective.”
“Is that what you were told?” I asked. I knew I shouldn’t, but I had to know.
“Yes,” Seth offered. “Mr. Rollins, the bank owner, said she took all the money that wasn’t in the safe.”
“But that’s not—” I bit my lip harder this time. Mr. Rollins was not only a cheat, but a liar, too. I had only taken a specific amount so that all three of us received the recompense we deserved. Not a penny more. What was Mr. Rollins doing? Hiding the remainder of the money for himself or was he telling the lie to US Marshals so they had more inclination to bring me to justice? Either way, I hated Mr. Rollins. Any doubts about committing the robberies vanished.
“What, sweetheart?” Seth asked.
I had to redirect them. I’d said too much. “How… how did you become US Marshals?”
Their hands fell away. “You want to ask us that now?” Landon asked, one pale brow arched up beneath the fair hair that curled over his forehead.
I sat up in the tub, water sloshing up and almost over the side. “You are telling me about a criminal while you play with my nipples,” I countered. “Besides, I know nothing of you.”
Seth stood up, leaned down and scooped me up, unbothered that his shirt became immediately soaked. I pounded on his chest. “Seth! What are you doing?”
He carried me to the bed, laid me down. Goose bumps spread across my wet skin, but Landon was there with a bathing towel to dry me. He was very thorough in his efforts as he spoke. “We know that you have a little mole on the inside of your right thigh. We know you like it when we lick your pussy. We know you like it when we brush a finger very gently over that virgin ass.”
He continued on with the things they knew about me, that they’d discovered the night before. By the time he was done, I was wet all over again, this time between my legs.
“A marriage needs to be based on more than that. Although that is a good start,” I admitted, smiling lazily. He’d certainly wiped away all my worries along with the bath water.
“We will tell you all about ourselves, once we’ve had you again,” Seth promised as he shucked his shirt. I was curious about them, but I didn’t mind the delay in learning more one bit. “It’s been far too long.”
I wasn’t going to argue with a man who was taking his clothes off. I especially wasn’t going to argue with two men doing it. When they were beautifully bare, their cocks erect and pointing directly at me, I couldn’t help but ogle.
“What do you want, sweetheart?” Landon asked.
“You.”
It was the truth. Ridiculously enough, I wanted them. Wanted to be theirs. Wanted their
very focused attentions on me. Yes, we hardly knew each other but I wanted to learn more. I wanted to know everything. I was done with my nefarious ways. No more robberies. Just husbands and hopefully babies.
Landon shook his head. “What do you want?” he repeated, his hand going to grip the base of his cock in a tight hold, then stroking up the thick length. The act was dark and carnal and him doing it so blatantly, without any shame, only made it seem more intimate, as if it was just for me.
I’d made him that way. Hard and eager, so needy he had to take himself in hand.
“I don’t know,” I replied. I sat up so I could brush my fingers over each of their cocks, watch as they grew impossibly bigger from the simple gesture. “I am no virgin, but I admit, with you two, I feel quite the innocent.”
“What was the wickedest thing we did last night, sweetheart?” Seth asked, arching his back so more of his cock was in my palm. “Grip it. Harder.”
I did and he hissed. Landon dropped his hand and let me take over. I began to stroke them both, biting my lip as I did so. These two big men, strong enough to do me all kinds of harm, were reduced to their basest urges at my control. In this moment, I had all the power and I reveled in it.
“What did we do that you liked the most, yet was completely unexpected?” My hands stilled at Landon’s question. “Don’t stop. Don’t think. Just answer.”
Seth’s words were deeper, rougher. His hands were in tight fists at his sides as if he was restraining himself. Oh my, I did want him to give up that tiny thread of control and just take me however he wanted. I’d never thought I’d like the idea of being overpowered, but… mmm.
I knew exactly what it was, but I could do nothing but flush at the thought of mentioning it.
“That wild?” Landon asked, seeing the obvious reaction.
I nodded.
“Wilder than stroking your men and having their seed spurt all over your bare breasts?”
I gasped, his words so bold and crude. I wasn’t appalled. I was aroused and that was what surprised me.
I dropped my hands and Seth groaned. “Tell us, sweetheart.”