by Jane Jamison
“It’s about you and Aiden getting locked in the basement.” Trent took off his worn cowboy hat and blew out a long, slow breath.
What should she say to him? Had Aiden told his friends everything? Or just that they’d gotten locked in the basement? Still, what did it matter what Aiden had told them? Didn’t she know they liked to share? And what if she was right about Aiden being the innocent one? “What about it?”
“Well, it’s like this.” Trent stepped closer but kept a little distance between them. He looked like a kid who’d gotten called to the principal’s office for sticking gum in a little girl’s hair.
“Aiden didn’t have anything to do with it, did he?” She saw the answer in his face a second later.
“How’d you know?”
“Never mind.” As she’d suspected, Aiden’s denial that he’d done anything wrong was a truthful one. “Why did you do it? What did you hope to gain by locking us in a basement?”
“I figured someone had to get you two together. Either you’d work it out or you’d end up killing each other.” His quick grin died at her scowl. “Either way at least we’d have a resolution. Instead I just fucked things up even worse. I’m real sorry, Celia.”
“Okay. I mean I guess I can understand why you did it. Sort of. I know Aiden and I haven’t exactly been on great terms all the time, but, yeah, you did mess things up even worse. Until getting locked in, we were, um, getting along pretty well.”
“Yeah? Like how well?”
She ignored Trent’s ploy to get her to tell him what had happened. Aiden was innocent. Now that she knew he’d told her the truth, she felt like a grade-A heel for telling him off.
“Look, Celia, I know Aiden’s a hard man to cozy up to, but you can take my word that he’s one of the best men I know. You’ll never find anyone who’s more loyal and dependable than Aiden Carr.”
She wanted to get mad at Trent for locking them in the basement, but she just couldn’t muster up enough energy get angry. After spending so much time being infuriated at Aiden, she didn’t want any more drama. Besides, Trent’s heart had been in the right place even if his method had gone all wrong.
“Loyal and dependable, huh? You make him sound like a dog.” Celia crossed her arms. “And because of what you did, I treated him like one.”
“Yeah, I know. But, again, I’m very sorry. From the bottom of my heart sorry.”
He appeared contrite, and with big, brown eyes like his, she doubted anyone could stay upset at him for long.
“You know, it’s not the first time a woman has accused him of being a dog.”
She fought back a smile. A funny man could get on her good side every time. “Don’t let him hear you say that.”
“No way.” Trent took her hands in his. “So what do you think? Can we get past this? I know Aiden wants to.”
“Did he tell you that?”
“Naw, but both Steve and I know he does. He was up all night after you stormed out of the house, pacing the floors back and forth. Give him a break, will you? And forgive me for mucking things up, okay?”
She patted his face just a little harder than necessary, but doing so made her point. “I’ll forgive you this time. Just don’t try anything else like that.”
“Yes ma’am.” Trent’s mischievous smile warmed her heart. Unlike Aiden, it was hard as hell to get angry at Trent. Trent and Steve just didn’t rub her the wrong way like Aiden did. They were the light to his dark, easy to his hard. But that didn’t mean she didn’t care for each man in her own special way. Just like Sandy had said, she cared equally for each of her men.
“Can we kiss and make up?”
Deciding to make him pay a little bit for his misdeed, she tapped her fingertip to her cheek. “I’ll think about it.”
He pecked her on the cheek. “Thanks, Celia. I think Sandy will be back in a minute if you’ll just wait here.”
“Why is everyone so concerned about my staying in this room?” She heard a noise outside, turned to glance through the window, then turned back to him. But he was out the door before she had a chance to stop him. “Damn, but people around here sure move fast.”
Celia flopped on the bed and tried to sort out her confusing emotions. Her feelings for Trent and Steve were strong, and she had no doubt she’d be happy with them. But what about Aiden? The attraction was just as strong with him as with the other two men, but did she want to spend her life arguing with him?
She chewed on the end of one of her fingernails. What was it her mother always said? It was something about when there’s heat between a man and a woman, there’s also flames. Flames as in the hot-between-the-sheets kind of flames. Her mother had told her stories about her grandparents. They’d fight as hard as they could then make up even harder. She smiled as she thought about how hard Aiden could be. If she was honest with herself, she had to admit she kind of liked fighting with him.
She heard the door open and sat up to greet Sandy.
“Shit!” Aiden glared at her, his face a mask of confusion and irritation. “What the hell are you doing here?”
She slid off the bed and fisted her hands on her hips. “You mean in Sandy’s room? Don’t you think I should be asking you that?”
“Sandy asked me to come and get—Forget it.” Aiden scanned his gaze over her, turning the flames burning between her legs into an inferno.
“Look, Aiden. Now that you’re here, let’s talk about last night.”
“What for? You won’t believe anything I say anyway.” His eyes flashed.
Damn, how I want to kiss him. Kiss him to shut him up then fuck him until he begs for mercy. Instead, she took a deep breath and tried again. “Trent was just here and told me what he’d done.”
“Oh, so now that you hear it from Trent, you believe me.”
She rolled her eyes, hating that she’d been wrong. Hating more to admit it. “Yes. I guess I misjudged—”
A strange noise at the door had them turning toward it.
“What was that?”
“I don’t know.” He faced her again, his eyebrows diving between his eyes. “Unless…”
“Unless what, Aiden?”
He turned, and in that brief moment of time, disappointment flooded her. She’d opened her mouth to ask him to stay when Aiden stopped and twisted the doorknob. But the door didn’t open.
He cursed under his breath then added, “You have got to be kidding me.”
* * * *
This cannot be happening again. Aiden turned around slowly and faced Celia. “I know you’ll figure out some way to blame me for this, but the door’s locked, and I can’t get it opened.”
Celia stalked past him, pushing him aside to get to the door. “It can’t be. These doors lock from the inside.” She yanked on the doorknob and, although it would turn, the door didn’t budge when she pulled on it.
“These old doors have locks that lock them from the outside as well. It comes in handy whenever there’s an unruly—Never mind.” He groaned, but it sounded more like a growl. “Someone’s locked us in.”
“This cannot be happening again.”
“My words exactly.” He backed away even though the burning attraction he felt every time he got close to her was pulling him toward her. She was as beautiful and as sexy as she always was, and he wanted to pull her to the bed then have her land on top of him.
She stopped yanking on the doorknob, paused, then started banging on the door. “Sandy! Sandy, help! We can’t get out of your bedroom.”
“Do you really think anyone’s going to come?” Damn, but he loved the fire in her eyes. She was as spirited as a wild pony.
“Why wouldn’t they?”
“Because, like the first time we got locked in together, someone has set us up.”
“Trent again?” She brushed her hair away from her face. Her eyes glittered with something akin to anger with a good dose of lust thrown in.
“He probably had a lot of helpers this time.” Aiden strode to the w
indow and looked down into the yard. “Yep. There they are. Cupid Trent and his helpers.”
She was by his side and trying to push the window open. Her scent, slightly different than before, was filled with strawberries and the juices already heating her pussy.
Sandy and her men as well as Trent and Steve stood as a group and stared up at the window. Sandy lifted her hand in a wave. “Why those little—”
“Friends?” He chuckled then left her by the window before he made the mistake of putting his arm around her to comfort her.
“So I take it Trent confessed.” She’d said as much, but he wanted to hear it again.
She flattened her hands on the window sill, her shoulders slumping forward when she placed her forehead to the window pane. “Yeah.”
She was having a difficult time bringing herself to admit that she’d accused him unjustly. But he could relate. If the situation was reversed, it would take a lot for him to apologize, too. He decided to give her a break.
“It’s okay. You don’t have to say anything. If I were in your shoes…Oh, wait. Your shoes, as well as your clothes, were off most of the time we were in the basement.”
Her shoulders shook as she laughed, but he knew she wasn’t going to let him see her laughing. He waited, letting her take all the time she needed. In the meantime, he could enjoy the light making her hair shine.
She finally turned around and crossed her arms. “We have this love-hate thing going, don’t we?”
“Love-hate? Not at all. I don’t hate you even when you make me madder than a bear with his hand stuck in a bee’s nest.” He willed her to come to him, needed her to make the first move.
Her eyes softened, and she took a step toward him. “I never hate you either.”
He whistled low and long. “I think we’re making progress. At least we can say we don’t hate each other.” He kept his eyes locked to hers. “In fact, I’d have to say I care about you a great deal.”
She moved forward again. “You do? As much as Trent and Steve do?”
He wanted her, wanted to take her into his arms, but he held back, delaying the moment of delicious reconnection. “How much do you think they care for you?” He spread his arms wide like a little kid would do. “Do they care about you this much?”
She laughed and got even closer. “More.”
“This much?” He spread his arms wider.
“More.” She covered the last step between them, putting her body inches from his.
“Man, they must care for you a whole lot.” He inhaled slowly, dragging in her enticing scent.
“Yeah, I think they do.” Her mouth parted, temping him to kiss her.
He was breathing quicker now, and he hadn’t even touched her. “Then let me show you how much I care for you.”
Her eyes sparkled, and his control was lost. He crushed his mouth to hers, slanting his head for a better angle. The flavors that he’d missed so much from their time in the basement swept into his mouth. He moaned and held her head, keeping her with him. She gave him her tongue, and he took it, drawing it into his mouth.
His body ached for hers, his mind reached for hers, and he knew in that instant he’d never let her go. Whether they argued or made love, he wanted her with him every moment of his life. She was their mate, their everything, and he’d almost lost her.
Without breaking the kiss, he picked her up and carried her across the room. She wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. He moved, uncaring where they ended up. He’d walk forever if it would keep her in his arms. They bumped into the window, shaking the blinds that had been drawn up to the top frame. He wouldn’t have cared if they’d broken the window. All that mattered was having her body close to his.
She clung to him like a drowning woman, and he answered her need with his own. Pushing against her, he held her to the window, her ass pressing against the window sill. He cupped one of her butt cheeks as his other hand found her breast. She moaned, tightened her legs around him, and thrust her hips forward. His cock throbbed in his jeans as his dick pushed against her stomach.
“Aiden.”
Her voice was filled with her need, and he wanted nothing more than to give her what she wanted. His inner wolf howled with frustration, urging him to rid her of her clothes.
“I want you now.” He growled and traced his tongue over the seam of her lips. She opened her mouth, giving him permission to enter again. He gave her his tongue, picking up her flavors that made him want to taste what was between her legs.
He broke the kiss and bent his head to her breast as he tugged her shirt out of her jeans. She tugged at his shirt, her moan filling his mouth.
“Hey, Aiden!”
Aiden lifted his head to peer over Celia’s shoulder. “Damn you, Trent.”
Her chest heaved with her pants. “They’re still watching, aren’t they?”
“Yeah.” His body hummed with her energy mixing with his.
“All of them?”
He nodded, knowing what would have to come next. “They’re all still down there and enjoying the show.”
“Aiden, man, I’m sorry to interrupt, but we’ve need to get moving on this horse.” Trent grinned and held up a key.
Aiden lifted a hand and gave Trent a one-finger salute. “I’m coming if someone will open the damn door.”
Trent saluted him and hurried toward the house. Just a few minutes later and Aiden could hear Trent bounding up the stairs toward the bedroom.
Celia ran her hands down his arms. “Now? You have to go right now? Are you sure you can’t stay?”
He set her on her feet and pulled away from her. “As much as I hate to say it, yeah, I have to go. We brought a horse over here to break. If we don’t do it now we’ll have to haul him back to our ranch.” He shrugged, hating the disappointment on her face.
She tucked in her shirt, ran a hand over her hair, and chuckled. “It’s never easy for us, is it?”
He kissed her again, touching the corner of her mouth in a gentle caress of his tongue. “Nothing good ever comes easy.”
* * * *
By the time Celia made it into the yard, Aiden, Trent, and Steve stood near the horse barn talking to Mark, Will, and Luke. A pickup was parked next to the barn with a horse trailer attached to it. Within a few minutes, the group started walking around the far side of the barn and disappeared from view.
“Come on. You’re going to want to see this.” Sandy tugged on her arm, pulling her along with her. Sandy gave her a satisfied smile. “I take it things went well with Aiden?”
She had to resist touching her plumped-by-his-kiss lips. “You could say so, which is a good thing for Trent after he pulled another locked room stunt. But you were all in on it this time, weren’t you?”
“I’m pleading the fifth.”
“The fifth, my ass. Where are we going anyway?”
Sandy rounded the corner of the barn then slowed her pace as she saw the men standing around a corral. A beautiful bay horse pawed the ground then whirled around to race around the enclosure. Celia took Sandy’s hand as they strolled over to the men.
“Is this the horse they’re going to break?”
Sandy, her face lit up as she returned a smile from Will, whispered, “Isn’t he a beauty?”
“Yeah, he is. But do you mean like in the Old West? Do they still do that?”
“Of course, silly. How do you think horses learn to take a rider? By Googling it?”
“Hey, girls.” Trent met them halfway and slipped his arm in Celia’s, pulling her away from Sandy.
The now-familiar electric sizzle zoomed up Celia’s arm, through her body, all the way down to her pussy. She drew in a long, slow breath to keep from jumping on Trent and grinding her hips against his.
He pressed a quick kiss to her cheek just as he’d done earlier. “Am I forgiven again?”
She rolled her eyes. “Since it turned out okay, then I guess so. But don’t make a habit of it, or I’m going to get y
ou one way or another.” She punched him playfully in the arm.
“You got it, babe.”
She turned her attention back to the horse. “So you guys are going to break a bronc, huh? Is that how you say it?”
“Yeah, most of the time. But we don’t do it the old-fashioned way. Instead, we found another way, one that’s been in our families for ages. It works better and without actually breaking the spirit of the animal.”
“Really?” As drawn as she was to Trent, Steve, and Aiden, Celia couldn’t tear her attention away from the horse. “I hope so. I always hated the sound of ‘breaking a bronc.’ Sounds like you’re going to split him in half.”
Trent’s laughter always made her smile. “I agree. I think you’ll find our way much better for the horse, the men involved, and even the spectators like yourself.”
“So who’s going to do the actual breaking? Eck, how about we call it training instead? Maybe then I won’t cringe every time I say the word.”
Trent’s deep brown gaze locked onto her. “I knew you’d be sensitive to an animal’s needs. Even before we met you.”
“Huh? How could you know that before we met?”
Trent blinked, and for a moment, she thought he acted like he’d made a mistake. “Uh, I guess from the way Sandy talked about you.” He pulled her to a place next to the fence then leaned close to her ear. “We all know how to break, I mean, train a horse, but Aiden’s got the best touch. But don’t tell him I said so. We wouldn’t want his ego to get any bigger.”
She glanced at Aiden, who had acknowledged her presence with a steamy look that weakened her knees. Steve winked at her, a gesture that struck her deep in her pussy.
Sheesh, girl. Get your head off of the sex!
Shooting the men a smile, she grabbed the top of the fence then pulled herself onto the bottom rung. Trent gave way to Sandy who took his place. He joined the rest of the men as they discussed the horse and its attributes.
“He’ll make a good cutting horse.” Luke took off his cowboy hat and ran a hand through his hair before pulling it back on and dipping the front of it lower over his forehead.