Across the surface of his mind slithered thoughts of retaliation against Allen Carpenter. Retaliation would be delivered with Frank’s fists, and when he was finished, Allen would carry the effect of the beating. His nose, in particular, would take the brunt of Frank’s big-fisted vengeance.
“Just lay there and let me do everything.” Colleen got onto the bed and almost immediately straddled Frank’s hips with her knees. “And if you get a headache, you’ve got to tell me and I’ll stop right away.”
Frank was quite certain that even if his head was about to explode, he wouldn’t admit to it.
With her pale, voluptuous body gloriously naked except for a pair of white cotton socks, Colleen reached down, took Frank’s pulsing erection between her fingertips, and angled it properly. When the crest was secure against her entrance, she released him, caught her lower lips between her teeth, and then began to descend.
“Oh, yesss!” Frank hissed as he felt her expanding to accommodate him, the smooth, liquid warmth of her cunt even more arousing than her mouth.
She placed her hands on his chest, her long lashes fluttering briefly against passion-flushed cheeks. Sliding slowly down his cock, she took only a few inches at a time, sinking to impale herself on him before lifting up to very nearly release him completely.
“You are so lovely,” Frank said, reaching up with his uninjured left hand to caress her naked breasts hovering above his chest. “How is it I didn’t see that until just a few days ago?”
“I’m not lovely.” She eased down onto him, engulfing his entire length. A soft cry escaped her throat. With forefingers and thumbs, she pinched both of Frank’s nipples, adding significantly to his escalating loss of self-control. With the lips of her pussy surrounding the base of his cock, Colleen sighed and whispered, “You mustn’t come inside me. Promise that you won’t do that.”
“I won’t. I promise.”
She began rising and lowering her lushly curved hips, leaving Frank to do nothing more than simply lie there and be exquisitely pleasured. With his left thumb, he reached to where their bodies were joined and, as she bounced on him, began rubbing her clit.
He had hardly started when Colleen’s green eyes opened wide. She looked down at him, and in a voice that suggested more shock than actual passion, gasped, “Oh! I’m going to come!”
She shivered, her hips taking on a greater urgency, and Frank used his thumb harder and faster on her clit. He felt her contractions as the pulsing waves of orgasmic release went through her.
When the last of her shudders vanished, Colleen sank onto Frank, his cock buried deep in her slick, receptive body.
“That was fast,” he said, a grin touching his lips.
“Thanks to you,” Colleen replied. “Now it’s your turn to be satisfied.”
The sound of a horse trotting to the front of the house reached their ears simultaneously. A moment later, Marc’s voice called out, “Hail the house! Frank, it’s me!”
“Shit!” Frank whispered.
Colleen was off him in a heartbeat, pulling on her trousers and shirt.
Chapter Fourteen
Colleen had managed to get her trousers on and belt buckled before Marc reached the front door. Fortunately, the door was locked, so he had to wait outside while she buttoned her shirt, though she left it untucked to hide the fact that her fly was unbuttoned.
“Come on in, Marc,” she said, immediately turning away from the door after opening it. She didn’t dare look him in the eyes, certain he’d see her guilt. With feigned lightness, she said, “It’s good to see you again.”
She heard his boots thudding lightly against the wooden floor as he went straight to Frank, then heard the chair scrape a little as he moved it before sitting down.
Marc asked, “How you doing, buddy?”
Grateful that Marc’s concern was focused on his friend, Colleen kept her back turned to the men as she took several deep, calming breaths. It didn’t seem that Marc had noticed anything untoward when he stepped into the house, but she still wasn’t ready to look him in the eyes. As the men spoke quietly, Colleen busied herself with pointlessly moving dishes on the cupboard shelves. Only when her heart rate had returned to some semblance of normalcy did she finally pick up the bottle of fine sipping whiskey Marc had brought earlier.
“Would you like a drink, Marc? It’s not too early, is it?”
She turned and suppressed a smile when she saw that Frank had lifted a knee beneath the blankets, hiding the erection she suspected he still had.
“Actually, that sounds damned good.”
“I’ll leave you men alone. I’ve got some chores to do in the barn, and I’m sure you two want to talk privately.”
She was out of the door before either of them had a chance to protest. Colleen was a woman who desperately needed some time alone, time to think logically to make some sense of her own irrational behavior. Because the things she was doing of late with Marc and Frank were most definitely not rational. Not in the least. In fact, they were the most irrational things she’d ever done in her life, by far.
And the most exciting.
* * * *
Sheriff Dixon leaned back in his chair and kicked his boots up onto his desk, then scratched his chin contemplatively.
“How do you figure they knew Frank Bishop had a wad of cash on him?” he asked Golden Valley’s deputy. “The only people who knew Frank had a fortune on him were in the card room at the ball. And a man like Daggard isn’t likely to have a lot of friends who attended the banquet, now is he?” He tilted his Stetson far back on his head and looked up at the ceiling of the jail. “I’ve no doubt in my mind now that Daggard and his chums were responsible for the attack on Frank Bishop and Marc Andollini. Too much lined up for them to not be behind the ambush. What I don’t get, what isn’t making sense to me, is who put them up to it.”
“Fess up,” Deputy Hastings said, sitting in the chair facing Clay’s desk. He was concentrating on rolling a cigarette. “You’ve got an idea, but you’re only giving me dribs and drabs.”
“It’s not an idea based on any facts.”
“Your hunches have been right in the past. That’s why the Watermann girl’s killer went to the gallows.”
The sheriff nodded, pleased with the memory though he didn’t smile. He was proud that the girl’s killer swung from a rope, but it would have been better if he’d foreseen the man’s potential for lethal violence in advance. Preventing the murder would have enabled him to think of himself as a real hero. In his own eyes, making sure the murderer faced justice only made him an effective vehicle for vengeance.
“The way I’m seeing it in my head right now, someone wanted Frank’s money and wanted it bad, but didn’t have the guts or the guns to do it himself. It was an inside job, of sorts, because the only men who knew about the cash on Frank had to have been at the Sons of Freedom banquet.”
“So who killed Daggard and the other three?” The deputy made a soft, snorting sound. “Not that anyone in Golden Valley, me included, will miss any of them.”
“Some were worse than others, though there’s no doubt the town’s better off without any them. But that doesn’t make their killing any less of a crime.” He reached into the pocket of his shirt for his own tobacco pouch and papers. “We know Frank and Marc had both been drinking. I suppose the four of them thought it would be easy to kill them in an ambush, take the money, and ride off without anyone being the wiser.”
“Except it didn’t work the way they planned.”
“Exactly. It was supposed to be a simple, easy double-killing, except the shot that was supposed to go through Frank just winged him. Marc’s horse got shot out from beneath him, and once the horse was down, its body provided all the protection the men needed from the rest of the shots.” The sheriff scratched a sulfur-tipped match with his thumbnail and lit his cigarette. “Did Daggard and the others know anyone who would attend the banquet? That was by invitation only. You’ve got to have money to get a
n invitation, and Daggard sure as hell never had any of that.”
“So you’re saying that whoever put Daggard up to shooting Frank is the one who killed Daggard and his boys?”
“Uh-huh. They never planned on Colleen O’Malley being on that road, and they damn sure never planned on her having a rifle.”
“And knowing how to use it.” The deputy cleared his throat, and the sheriff’s eyes narrowed on him. “There’s something else I’ve been wanting to tell you about. You’re always talking about how we do our jobs best when we stop the crime before it gets committed.”
“That’s right.” Daggard and his friends were instantly forgotten as the sheriff concentrated entirely upon his deputy. “What’s the trouble?”
“No trouble yet, but I suspect there will be sometime soon.”
“Oh?”
“Morgan Holloway has been bragging that he’s going to make a fortune selling his daughter’s virginity.”
The sheriff groaned. “That old man has disgusted me from the first time I saw him.” He angrily ground out his cigarette in an ash tray on his desk. “Amada’s a sweet kid, and she’s kept her distance from all the riffraff in Golden Valley. Lord knows she’s pretty as a spring flower.” He felt acid in his stomach begin to churn at the thought of Amanda Holloway being auctioned off like chattel. “Any ideas on who is bidding on her virginity?”
“He’s not just selling her virginity,” the deputy explained. “It’s got to be a marriage proposal, which limits the pool of potential bidders. So far Eli Nichols and Adam Roberts have shown the most interest. Phillip Anderson put in a bid, I’m told, but since he’s already got a wife and three kids, as well as Jane Hammerly as a mistress, he was dismissed.”
“At least Holloway has the decency to make sure it’s a marriage he’s selling his daughter into.”
“Actually not. The only reason Hammerly’s bid was rejected is because it was too low.”
The sheriff closed his eyes, then rubbed them with a forefinger and thumb. “Hammerly’s a pig. Not only is he a sanctimonious prick, he’s a low-balling, cheap jackass.” He sighed and pulled open the lower desk drawer where he kept his whiskey. He splashed a small amount into two glasses, then pushed one across the desk for his deputy. “How long has the bidding been going on?”
“Just a couple days. I’d have told you sooner, but I didn’t have anything solid until this morning when Maggie over at the general store told me about it. Apparently, Amanda has an inkling what her father’s doing, but she doesn’t know the specifics.”
“She’s not going to be sold to any rich businessman in Golden Valley. It’s only a matter of meeting his asking price.”
“How do you figure on stopping it?”
“I’ll think of something. You can count on it.”
* * * *
Colleen spent a half hour in her barn. It was enough time to recover her composure and to steel herself to the conclusion that her ongoing sexual fascination with Marc Andollini and Frank Bishop simply had to come to an end. The men were charming and amazingly virile, and though she did not regret the passion she had shared with them, to continue her sexual dalliances with them was to taunt the cruel Fates. Sooner or later, the men would make her suffer. Not intentionally, perhaps, but she’d suffer for the illicit desires they inspired with such ease.
She wanted permanence, stability. How could falling in love with two men simultaneously make a lasting relationship possible?
Colleen paused a moment, standing in the barn and looking at her house, to digest the unsettling fact that she had, in truth, fallen in love with Marc and Frank. It was an emotional state she’d never intended, and one she certainly wasn’t happy about. But whether it made her happy or unhappy didn’t change the fact that she had unquestionably, inarguably...fallen in love.
She tried to convince herself that what she had with Marc and Frank was just a sexual attraction. Raw, animal lust. Nothing less than that, but certainly nothing more.
Except she knew this was a lie. If it was just lust, then why did she take such sublime pleasure in their company when they weren’t making love? The men were so different from each other, yet each appealed to her with a singularity that was complete.
How was it, she wondered, that Frank could make her want to suck him? That was something she’d done to Allen, but only under duress. And Marc had introduced her to pleasures she’d never even dreamed possible.
Memories of how Marc and Frank had made her climax repeatedly flooded Colleen’s consciousness, and she blushed.
But Marc and Frank didn’t seem to think that she was too big. With them, she certainly didn’t feel that way. Each man, significantly larger than Allen in both length and girth, filled her completely. When she took them into her body, it took her breath away. She felt not just penetrated by them but joined to them.
You’ve had fun, and they’ve had fun. In a few days, maybe a week, Doc Hamms will say that Frank is well enough to travel, and those men will ride out of your life and that’ll be that. They’ve given you some great memories. Be happy with that and don’t expect more or you’ll only set yourself up for disappointment.
Quite determined to be content with the memories she had of her brief but glorious time with Marc and Frank, she stepped out of her barn, cast a glance at the sun, and thought it shining rather pleasantly on this early evening. She tried her level best to believe that she was happy the men in her house would soon be leaving.
Even before she closed the house door, Colleen knew that Marc and Frank were wickedly amused about something. Frank was sitting upright in bed, his mouth quirked into a half-smile. Marc was standing with his arms crossed over his chest, an equally roguish smile touching his lips. His dark eyes were shiny with amusement.
“Oh...oh, no,” she whispered through her fingers, a hand to her mouth. “You know.”
“Marc and I have shared a lot over the years, but never women,” Frank said. “My darling Colleen, you fooled us both.”
“I didn’t mean to fool anyone.” Her words came out so softly they were barely audible. She was unsure of precisely how Marc and Frank would react to the secrets that had been revealed. “I didn’t mean to deceive anyone. Both of you wanted me, and I couldn’t resist either of you.” She sighed. “Please don’t blame me for falling in love with you.”
“Blame you?” Frank asked, eyebrows lifting. “You’re no more to blame than we are.”
“Less, I’d say,” Marc added. ”As I recall, you didn’t exactly throw yourself at me.”
“I never meant to fall for either one of you. And I most certainly never thought I’d love both of you at the same time.” Her gaze moved slowly from one man to the other. “I’d been alone for a long time. The women in town, the sanctimonious ones that’ll never let me forget I’d been a fool with Allen Carpenter, always talk amongst themselves and always just loud enough so that I can hear them. Do you know what it’s like to be called a whore? Not straight to my face, mind you, but not behind my back. It’s off to the side, like handwritten notes in the margins of a school book.”
“I’ll put the word out,” Marc said softly. “The next person who insults you becomes my enemy for life. Trust me, folks in Golden Valley don’t want to be my enemy.”
“Our enemy,” Frank amended. “She’s just as much my girl as she is yours.”
Colleen combed fingers through her hair. Their words tantalized, but they were rich and that insulated them from the scorn Colleen had so often been subjected to.
“Let’s be honest here. I’m not a woman either one of you is going to stay with. I’m entertaining for now, I suppose. But soon enough you’ll want to go back to your rich debutantes who keep throwing themselves at your feet.” She looked away. “You’ve given me some wonderful memories. Memories I’ll have for the rest of my life. But I’m just a woman who makes cheese. I milk a cow every day and deliver eggs for a living. I just fell for the charms of two very seductive men, and that’s the simple and emba
rrassing truth of it. Someday, Doc Hamms will pronounce Frank fit to travel, and when he does, I have no doubt that you’ll both ride out of here and out of my life.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Marc said, stepping closer to Colleen. “When I said we weren’t finished, I meant it. Damn it, woman, I haven’t been able to think about anyone but you. Thoughts of you drive me crazy day and night.”
He took another couple steps and put his hands on Colleen’s upper arms. She tried to turn away, but he held her tight.
“I’m not letting you go.” Marc chuckled softly. “I can’t believe what I’m hearing myself say.” His heated gaze went up and down over Colleen. “Don’t even try to get away from us.”
“Why don’t you just tie her up like you did in the barn?”
Colleen gasped and replied instantly, “Don’t you dare!”
Marc laughed. “No more ropes. I promise.”
“We’ll be trying for the impossible.”
“Frank and I have specialized in the impossible for years now.” He took a half-step closer to Colleen, and the breath caught in her throat. “Trust us. We’re as new to this as you are. But think about it. If I can make you happy, and if Frank can make you happy, imagine what you’ll experience with all three of us together.”
Colleen closed her eyes for a moment. What these men she loved were proposing made her dizzy.
“And Colleen and I have unfinished business,” Frank said. He turned his attention over to Marc. “When you came riding up hell-bent-for-leather, you disturbed some very unfinished business between Colleen and myself.”
Time seemed suspended in space. Colleen looked at Frank as he slowly pushed the blanket down to expose himself. Even in a relaxed condition, he was lovely. She tried to not respond to his nakedness, but her clit tingled softly, and fresh cream moistened her sex lips.
“Oh, I did, did I?” Marc replied, his tone colored with sensuality. “Well, that’s makes it a little easier for Colleen, I suppose.”
Maxwell, Brandi - Colleen's Desire [The Lost Collection] (Siren Publishing Menage Everlasting) Page 13