by Gigi Moore
She did not want to lose them.
Chapter 13
“I should go rustle us up some supper.”
“Not yet. We can wait.” Wyatt glanced at Dakota over Lily’s shoulder and got no argument from the other man.
“We can’t just stay in bed like this all day,” Lily protested.
“Speak for yourself,” Wyatt said and circled his hips against her for emphasis.
Lily giggled and smacked his ass.
The noise of the contact shocked him more than the sting of her hand. In fact, Wyatt enjoyed the sting as much as he enjoyed being inside her. He had never seen Lily so playful before either, not even way back when they first got married.
“Well, maybe you two aren’t hungry after our…tryst, but I am starving.”
He supposed he could go for something to eat, especially since he had thrown up last night what little he’d managed to eat during the day. Not only could he eat, he probably needed to get something in him. He didn’t like feeling weak and at the mercy of anyone, not even his wife, especially not his wife.
Wyatt got up to let Lily slide out of the bed, enjoying the view of her rounded hips and long, shapely legs as she walked across the room to retrieve and don her robe.
He glanced at Dakota and caught him looking, too, but couldn’t muster a lick of indignation at the other man for watching his wife with as much obvious hunger and enjoyment as Wyatt had.
Lily paused at the threshold of the door and glanced over her shoulder at them. “You boys joining me for some vittles?”
“We’ll be down directly,” Wyatt said. He needed a few minutes alone with Dakota.
Lily stared at him for a long moment as if she didn’t totally trust the two of them alone together without her to play referee. He supposed he didn’t blame her.
Finally, though, she nodded her head and left the room.
As soon as she was gone, Wyatt bent to retrieve his long johns, slowly pulling them on and buttoning them as he watched Dakota slip back into his borrowed clothes. Like Wyatt, he took his time, probably not shy about being full- or half-naked in the presence of another male. Hell, didn’t most of his menfolk run around half-naked anyway?
Out on the range Wyatt had regularly eaten, slept, and bathed in the company of other men, so Wyatt wasn’t too shy about being naked or half-dressed in the room with another man either. None of these facts stopped him from feeling at a disadvantage standing in front of Dakota in just his underwear, so he hunted up a pair of trousers and pulled them on.
“You wish to talk.” Dakota folded his arms over his chest as if he had waited for Wyatt to get good and comfortable in some clothes before he decided to speak.
He hated to admit it, but he admired the Indian’s forthright way, always had.
Now that they were alone, though, he couldn’t for the life of him figure out what he wanted and needed to say to Dakota. Certainly they needed to talk about what had just happened between them all, maybe lay some ground rules for future…trysts, as Lily had put it.
A little late for that, isn’t it? The horse is out of the barn now!
“Hand me that there bottle.” Wyatt impatiently motioned to Thayne’s concoction sitting on the bedside table, needing something to do besides fret about real or imagined trysts.
Dakota picked up the bottle and tossed it to him.
Wyatt grabbed it from the air and looked at the liquid inside. He couldn’t tell much about its makeup through the brown bottle. Giving up, he finally unscrewed the top and lifted the lip of the bottle to his nose, taking a whiff. “Smells like banana.”
“Thayne said it is one of the main ingredients and would help you with any dehydration and headaches. He also said that you should drink plenty of fluids.”
Wyatt frowned. Banana wasn’t the only ingredient in that there bottle, but he’d give it a go if it was supposed to be such an all-fired cure-all. He tipped the bottle up to his head and took a big gulp. The liquid was cool and went down smooth. He tasted other things that he couldn’t quite put a name to, but overall it wasn’t too bad. Wyatt drained the bottle in short order, wiping the back of one hand over his mouth with a flourish while he set the bottle back on the bedside table with the other.
He glanced across the room to see Dakota smiling indulgently.
“Feeling better?”
“At least I’m still above snakes. Although I’m sure it’s not all due to Thayne’s concoction.”
Dakota nodded. “The love of a good woman can do wonders.”
Did he think Lily’s love could keep them all together, that they could just be one happy family now without any backlash or that everyone would approve of their relationship?
Wyatt didn’t consider himself a sophisticate by any means and wasn’t privy to the sort of ménage a trois situations that might have been acceptable in the larger, more cosmopolitan cities of the world outside of Elk Creek. Though he wasn’t real big on most people’s opinion of him except Lily’s, he now found himself wondering what the good townspeople—the people he had grown up with and known most of his life—would think of him sharing not just his home, but his wife and their bed with not just another man but an Indian. He could only imagine the hushed tones and stares from his neighbors.
Yet, he had been enduring the latter two for years now, along with the pity that had been reserved for the poor widower before Lily’s return. Something told him none of those people, the ones who would speak badly of Dakota or disapprove of his relationship with Lily and Wyatt, were his and Lily’s real friends. None of them, except for maybe Thayne and Cade, knew Dakota or could understand what he meant to Wyatt and Lily.
He had a fair idea what Dakota and Lily meant to each other. From the beginning they seemed to share a secret relationship that went beyond Christian charity and gratitude, though Wyatt didn’t know all the whys and hows of it.
Wyatt just wasn’t sure what Dakota meant to him, especially now after he had shared his Lilybelle with the other man. He knew for certain he was at sea when it came to putting a name to exactly what the three of them all were to each other. Sure he and Lily were husband and wife, and they loved each other. What did that make Dakota, though? He wasn’t a spouse, but he was much more than a third wheel.
Wyatt didn’t want to think it, much less say it, but the fact was Dakota was Lily’s lover. There were no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Once again he wondered what that made Dakota to him. The man certainly wasn’t his lover, but there were some strong emotions there for the Indian that Wyatt couldn’t put a name to, actually didn’t want to put a name to.
A week ago he would have said his emotions fell somewhere between anger, hostility, and just general ill will. Now, however, he didn’t know what he felt when it came to Dakota or what Dakota felt when it came to him.
Wyatt guessed he had called a truce, but wasn’t sure if it was just for Lily’s sake or his own.
“What is it exactly you think we’re doing here, Dakota?” he finally blurted.
“You and I?”
“All of us. All three of us.”
Dakota lowered and shook his head. “I do not know.”
Wyatt gaped. Well tarnation, if the logical and serene Dakota Cooper was bewildered and flustered then what hope did a mere mortal and hotheaded man like Wyatt have of unraveling this mess?
He supposed they’d have to consult with Lily. She seemed to have more of a handle on these matters of the heart than Wyatt and Dakota could ever hope to. She seemed to know exactly what she wanted.
She had gotten Wyatt and Dakota together inside her after all.
* * * *
Lily put the finishing touches on the evening meal of beef stew and biscuits with several minutes to spare for herself before she expected the men to arrive downstairs.
She knew she had taken a chance leaving them alone, hoping they didn’t come to blows, but she had to trust that their feelings for her would override their enmity for each other eventually. They were grown m
en, after all, and had been at peace long enough to work in harmony to please her.
Not to mention she’d seen the look in Wyatt’s eyes when he’d said they’d be down directly. His tone had brooked no argument and Lily knew to try would have been a waste of her and their time.
She listened for any commotion from upstairs now and was relieved when she didn’t hear anything untoward. Since she still had a moment of freedom to herself, Lily decided to retrieve from the cupboard where she had stored it the bag Maia had brought her earlier. She took the items out of the bag, one by one, smiling at some and frowning in confusion at others until she read the accompanying handwritten note enclosed.
Lily felt the heat rising to her cheeks before finally replacing all the items and then the bag back to its hiding place, hoping for the opportunity and eager to put every article to use soon.
Since coming down from the bedroom, however, she felt overcome by a sudden pall.
Upstairs in her marriage bed but thirty minutes ago, she had been living her wildest, outrageous fantasies with two men focused on catering to her desires. Downstairs, however, reality was beginning to settle in.
Lily wondered how Wyatt and Dakota would behave with each other now that they had shared such a momentous occasion with her. Obviously, they had called a truce, probably more for her sake than anything and at least long enough to fulfill her needs and theirs. The question was how long would their cease-fire last.
She wanted Wyatt and Dakota to like each other, at least share the same deep affection and respect for each other that she held for each of them. Was she tempting fate and asking for too much to want that?
Lily got up and began to set the table before she had another moment to ruminate the situation without any real hope of a solution to come. When she heard footsteps several seconds later, she was glad she had put away Maia’s little “swag” bag and hadn’t gotten caught looking through its contents.
She had enough time to take a deep breath and gather herself just a little before Wyatt appeared on the threshold of the kitchen.
Lily continued to set the table, glancing at him through her lashes as she moved around the kitchen like she had a purpose. He surprised her, however, when he didn’t make any more of a move to come into the kitchen and just paused where he was.
She lifted her head, unsure of what she would see, what she hoped to see, but when she finally, fully laid her gaze on her husband, he took her breath away as if she were seeing him for the first time in her life. She wasn’t prepared for her body’s intense reaction—her nipples hardening, the moistening between her legs, the heat swirling in her belly. She had thought their lovemaking would assuage her desire. If anything, her body was more on edge, as if waiting for the other shoe to drop.
“Let me help you with that.” Wyatt had soundlessly crossed the room while she stood gaping at him. He took the plate she loosely held at her side. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” he observed, staring down at her as if she was a ghost.
“I just…I just…”
Wyatt put the plate down on the table and took her chin in his hand, drawing her closer and placing a soft but deep kiss on her lips. He stopped just short of slipping in his tongue, pulling back to breathlessly look down at her.
“Everything fine between you and Dakota?”
He grinned and stepped back, walking to the cabinet to retrieve several pieces of silverware without answering.
Lily stood at the table with a fist on her hip, wondering if he would.
He paused in placing the silverware beside each plate, quirking up an eyebrow at her, and Lily was struck, again, by how breathtakingly handsome her husband was, how much their little boy had looked just like his father.
She drew in a shaky breath, placing her hand on the back of a chair.
Wyatt rushed to her side, pulling the chair out and helping her into it. “I was just joshing with you, Lily, not ignoring you.”
“I know that. That’s not why I—”
“Were we too…rough?”
She shook her head, thinking how she wanted him and Dakota to be rough with her again if earlier was Wyatt’s idea of rough.
Lily caught his hand and squeezed it, desperate to assure him that she was okay. She didn’t want him to retreat now after it had taken her so long to pull him out of the hole where he had been buried since her disappearance. She didn’t want him to start second-guessing himself about the decision he had made. She didn’t want him to start regretting.
Wyatt pulled out the chair opposite Lily and sat down. He took both of her hands in his, gently caressing the back of her wrists with his thumb.
She watched the motion, the contact of his callused hands in hers making her pussy tingle with anticipation.
“Everything is fine between Dakota and me.” Wyatt smiled. “We…talked.”
“You did, did you?”
Wyatt nodded. “We’re still not sure where we all stand or what it all means. We thought we’d have to hammer out those details with you.”
Lily grinned, liked the teasing smile playing at the corners of her husband’s full lips.
She cupped his face, returning his smile. Relief flooded her at the thought that he wasn’t shy with her or regretful about what he had done. He didn’t seem to hate her for bringing Dakota into their bed, either, and Lily was glad that he seemed to forgive her for wanting Dakota and wanting him, too.
“What is it?” Wyatt frowned. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Like what?”
“Like you’re seeing me for the first time.”
“Probably because I am.”
“Get over here, woman!”
Lily had a moment to gasp before Wyatt growled and reached for her. He picked her up out of her chair and plunked her down on his lap, holding her across his thighs and close to his chest as he bent his head to nuzzle her throat.
She cuddled close, feeling safe and on fire at the same time.
How could she be so ready for her husband again so soon after being ravished? She thought she should have been well sated after what Wyatt and Dakota had done to her, but she was as hungry as ever for Wyatt, as if he and Dakota hadn’t been deep inside her less than an hour ago.
Wyatt worked his way from her throat to her mouth, cupping her face with both hands as he thrust his tongue past her lips to tangle with hers. She tasted the banana from Thayne’s concoction and baking soda, but underneath them both she sampled Wyatt, the sweet, the tangy, the forceful. She threw her arms around his wide shoulders and hugged him tight, panting as he slid his hand in the opening of her robe.
She closed her eyes and sighed as Wyatt cupped her still-sensitive breast. “Please…”
“You don’t ever have to ask,” he whispered and lowered his head, circling her throbbing nipple with his tongue before sucking it into his mouth.
Lily shuddered in his arms. She had never felt so wanton in her life, having relations in a room outside of the bedroom. They had never gotten to this stage in their marriage, hadn’t had enough time together before she was violated and taken. She felt like she was making up for lost time the last few hours, trying to cram a lifetime, or at least the last five years, into every moment she spent with her husband now.
Had being with Wyatt and Dakota together stoked a desire she’d never known existed, or primed her body for the pleasures that each man could give her?
Lily tunneled her hands through Wyatt’s hair, luxuriating in the smooth strands. She fisted a hank at his nape, holding him flush against her with both hands as she wriggled around on his lap until she straddled his hard-muscled thighs.
Wyatt slid his hands down her body, caressing her sides before he grabbed her ass in both hands and dragged her forward, fitting her naked pussy against his hard cock.
Lily felt the heat of him through his trousers, the thump of his shaft as he thrust against her. She rode him hard, grinding her hips down as Wyatt bucked against her in a fierce, friction-produ
cing rhythm that drove Lily to completion so fast her head spun.
Lily loosened her hold and Wyatt lifted his head to stare at her. His intense blue gaze set her aflame, pushing the confessions—about her ordeal, her and Dakota’s history—from her chest where they lodged in her throat and stayed.
She opened her mouth to speak but heard a noise at the threshold of the kitchen.
Lily turned to see Dakota’s worried look.
Did he know what she’d been about to say? Did he fear the outcome as much as she?
Chapter 14
Dakota watched as Lily hastily untangled herself from Wyatt’s arms and practically leaped off his lap to stand beside the kitchen table.
He saw how she had to steady herself, bracing her palm atop the cherrywood. She still looked shaky to him, as if her legs were ready to give way at any moment. He sympathized with her, for after his intercourse with her earlier and now seeing her so intimate with Wyatt, Dakota was feeling a little unsteady himself.
Lily cleared her throat, pulling her robe around her body and tightening the sash, hiding her creamy, full breasts from view.
“I am sorry to interrupt you again.”
“You’re not interrupting us. Lily and I were just…reconfirming a few things.” Wyatt kicked the seat opposite him from beneath the table. “Have a seat. We were just about to eat.”
“I don’t need any help, so please.” Lily smiled before Dakota could offer.
He sensed their coordinated efforts to make him feel comfortable so with no recourse, he took the seat across from Wyatt as directed. He took pleasure in watching Lily move around the kitchen in a flurry as she finished setting and bringing food from the stove to the table.
Everything looked and smelled appetizing and Dakota’s mouth watered enough to remind him that his body actually had other hungers to feed besides his libido.
Once the food was on the table, Dakota realized this was the first time that they had all sat down to the table at one time for a meal.