Edie Earns Her Saddle

by Edie Earns Her Saddle (lit)

  Lena pinned her with a shrewd gaze. “You’re just digging yourself a pity hole.”

  Edie let out a breath. Damn. She was right. “It’s just hard not picturing them with her, especially after all the things she said to me. And I know they were true because Jason and Seth had to shut her up. God, I want to pull all her hair out and steal her shoes.” She met Lena’s eyes, and they started laughing. “Thank you for listening to me complain.”

  “Of course. That’s what I’m here for.”

  “So, how are things with your Stone men?” Edie wiggled her eyebrows.

  Lena sighed dramatically and rested a hand over her heart. “I’ve discovered my new favorite position.”

  “Again? I thought you already did that.”

  “No. This one’s even better—”

  “Hi, Edie.”

  She looked up from their conversation to the cowboy standing at their table. Matthew Smith. He was handsome, standing tall and solid in his starched shirt. His wavy black hair brushed the top of his collar, and his dark brown eyes looked down at her with just the right amount of heat to make her a little nervous.

  “Matt. Hi. How are you?”

  “I was just wondering if you would like to dance.”

  Edie looked at Lena, asking silently if it was all right if she went with Matt. Lena shooed her away from the table. “Go, go. I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”

  Edie took Matt’s outstretched hand and let him pull her to her feet. Glancing back one more time at Lena, who gave her the yes-I’m-sure look, she let him lead her downstairs and toward the dance floor.

  Matt’s hand completely engulfed hers. She was not as petite as Lena, but next to Matt, who was almost as tall as Jason and Seth, she felt like it. He spun her around once they reached the dance floor and pulled her back into his big body. Edie let him lead her, let her body follow his as his hands pressed against her waist, spun her out, and brought her back.

  Her hair untwisted itself from the bun and fell against the skin of her back. She felt Matt’s hand smooth over the ends of it before he pulled her a little closer. A little too close. She pulled away from his hard chest a little, and that’s when she saw them over Matt’s shoulder.

  Cassandra and Seth talking.

  Cassandra leaned against the table, bent over at the waist, while her blouse dipped low, revealing her breasts. She was not wearing a bra. Seth kept his gaze on Cassandra’s face, his expression wary and a little hostile, but Cassandra reached out to run her fingertips over Seth’s five o’clock shadow. Edie’s body jolted at the sight, her muscles locking up. She missed a step as she watched. Then another.

  Why, that little bitch!

  “You doing okay?” Matt asked, his boyishly handsome face blocking the ugly sight of Cassandra trying to sweet-talk Seth into doing God knew what.

  She snapped herself out of it. “Yeah. I just lost count,” she lied. “Sorry.”

  “Nah. Don’t worry about it. You were doing great. Mind saving me another one before you go?”

  Edie almost said no. The desire to bolt off the dance floor and race home overwhelmed her, but the image of Cassandra trying to sink her evil claws into Seth’s hide lingered in her mind.

  Two could play that game.

  “How about another one right now?” Edie plastered a smile on her face and hoped he would accept.

  “Yeah, sure.” He pulled her toward him again, and Edie’s smile faltered.

  The band started a slow song. Damn.

  Edie let Matt guide her into his chest. She had to admit he smelled pretty good. Not as good as the way Jason or Seth smelled, but the scent of fresh cotton and a little male musk made her smile to herself. Matthew smelled as nice as he was. She felt his hand move to the small of her back and fell into step with him. He moved to lead her into a turn, and she saw his eyes widen a fraction before she smacked into a hard body. Tilting her head up, she saw Seth’s face, hard with anger.

  “Just what in the hell do you think you’re doing?” he asked. Seth pulled her out of Matthew’s soft grip and, with his big hands, pushed her behind him.

  “And just what the hell do you think you’re doing, Seth?” She thumped him on the back with her palm and tried to get around him. “You’re acting like a complete jackass!”

  He rounded on her. “I’ll get to you later.” Edie saw him turn toward Matthew, and she flinched. Poor guy. Sure, he was a solidly built man, but he did not exactly look like the type to get into a bar fight. She never thought Seth did, either, but given the way his body tensed and bunched under his button-down shirt, she realized she assessed him incorrectly. “Just what do you think you’re doing, Smith?”

  “I’m just dancing, Seth.”

  Seth advanced on him. Matt stood his ground, unmoving. Couples on the dance floor stopped to look at them.

  “Yeah? Just dancin’? It sure as shit didn’t look you were just dancin’ with your hands all going down to her ass.”

  “Damn it, Seth, I didn’t touch her ass!”

  “Well, that’s not what I saw. I saw your hands going to her—”

  “Cut it out, Seth.” Edie stepped between them. She met Seth’s blue-black eyes. “He didn’t do anything inappropriate...”

  “He better not have, or I’ll—”

  “...or anything I didn’t ask him to do,” she finished. Oh boy. Maybe she should not have taken that particular leap, judging from the way Seth’s mouth snapped shut and the scary look in his eyes. Part of her rejoiced in getting that response out of him. The other part of her, the sane part, wanted to find a safe place to hide.

  “What did you just say?” The words came out quiet but filled with dark menace.

  Edie resisted the urge to back up as Seth stalked toward her.

  “Seth—”

  His hand shot out and wrapped around her wrist. “You’re coming with me.”

  “I’m not going anywhere with you.”

  “Oh, yes, you are,” he seethed.

  Out of the corner of her eye, Edie saw Matt move toward them. Her heart stopped. She did not want to think about what would happen to Matt if he tried to get in Seth’s way. Seth must have seen him coming, though, because he dropped her wrist and gave Matt the coldest, most hostile look she ever saw.

  “Don’t. Fucking. Think. About it.” Seth’s voice no longer sounded human. It was something else. Something drenched in hard fury.

  Matt backed off, but not before looking at her again, his eyes seeming to ask if she needed help. Edie shook her head. She knew Seth would never hurt her, not even in this state. She could not say the same about Matt.

  Seth wrapped his arm around her waist and plastered her body against his before he led her toward the back of the building. Edie saw a flash of blond out of the corner of her eye and briefly met Cassandra’s furious gaze with her own. Edie smiled her sweetest, most irreverent smile at the other woman.

  Eat your heart out, you heinous cow.

  * * * *

  Jason flew down the stairs as Seth dragged a pissed-off looking Edie from the dance floor and toward the back of the building. He caught up with them just as Seth pulled her around a corner and into the hall leading to their offices.

  Jason looked over his shoulder to make sure no one followed and rounded on the both of them.

  “Well, that was a scene if I’ve ever seen one. What the hell were you thinking, Seth?” His voice sounded hard and cold to his ears.

  His brother released Edie from the obviously hard grip he had on her and walked up to Jason, putting them face to face.

  “I was making good and damn sure no one else touched our woman, that’s what!” Seth yelled.

  Jason shoved against Seth’s chest, pushing him back. “Get out of my face.”

  Seth came right back, though, and it pissed Jason the hell off. He stepped toward his brother, stopping him in his tracks. “Just try it, Seth.”

  They squared off, each sizing the other one up, their chests rising and falling with thei
r heavy breaths. Jason sensed the moment his brother backed off.

  “Chill, Seth. Fuck.”

  “What was I supposed to do? Let Smith fondle her ass?”

  “No, you’re supposed to act like the manager of this place and like the adult you’re supposed to be and handle the situation accordingly. Not go all ape shit, carrying on and making a scene.”

  “Screw that. Smith was putting the moves on her, and you know it.”

  Oh, he knew it. He saw every second of it. He saw Edie when she and Lena came in earlier, and he went to try and talk to her when he saw Matt go up to their table and ask her to dance. Jason almost laughed to himself, thinking Edie would not accept the offer, but when she let Matthew Smith lead her to the dance floor, her hand in his, Jason had to contain the urge to kill the man with his bare hands. And when he saw them dancing, Matt touching Edie’s bare back—he would talk to her about her “shirt” later—he decided he had enough. He started down the stairs to tell Matt to cut the shit or else, but Seth beat him to it. Had Seth overreacted and made a scene? Hell, yes. Could Jason honestly say he would not have reacted the same way? Nope.

  “Of course I saw him feeling her up.”

  “Stop talking about me like I’m not here. He was not feeling me up!” Edie broke in between them and glared up at him, her jaw set and her eyes glinting with a hardness he never saw before. “Get over yourselves! If I want to dance with someone other than the two of you, I will. I can do whatever I damn well please! You don’t own me despite the lies you flatter yourselves with, especially when you’re fraternizing with that psycho woman.”

  “So you saw her, huh?” Seth asked, his voice repentant.

  Her eyes shot bullets at him over her shoulder. “Of course I saw you, you traitorous ass! How the hell did you think I wouldn’t find out about it, especially when you’re with her right in front of me?”

  “I am not seeing her or doing anything with her. We aren’t doing anything with her, Edie. Christ, would you just learn to trust us?”

  “After what I just saw—”

  “What you just saw,” Seth cut in, “was Cassandra trying to, notice the key word trying, to get my attention, but I wasn’t gonna let her have it, Edie. Not when I, when we, have you.”

  Jason could tell by the set of her jaw she didn’t want to believe any of it. This was going to be something they’d have to sort out later. After they reacquainted themselves with her after the longest week they ever had to endure.

  She tried to move past him, and he did not miss the slight sway of her breasts beneath that skimpy little silk top she wore. His arm shot out and hooked around her rib cage. She struggled against his hold, but all the strength in her body did not match the strength of his arms.

  “We’re not done with you yet, cupcake.” His voice sounded quiet, but he knew she could tell just how furious he was.

  Her bracelets jangled as she pushed herself away from him and swatted at his chest. He caught her hand easily and held it against his left pec. He saw her eyes widen a fraction at the contact. Was that arousal he sensed?

  He looked over the top of her head to Seth, who glanced down to Edie’s back, then met Jason’s gaze. Seth’s jaw clenched. Yeah, Jason understood that one.

  “Edie, what were you thinking when you put this on?”

  Her eyes widened, and he saw her delectable throat bob a little before she said, “I was thinking it looked good on me,” in a sour tone.

  Damn, she had good bravado. He’d give her that. He loved watching her face when she was riled up. The heat and passion that bubbled under her skin made him hotter for her than he ever thought possible. And the way her hair looked when it tumbled out of her bun, all wavy and wild, made his cock twitch in his pants. That was the way her hair looked every morning after he and Seth made her come, screaming. He ignored all the memories of her ridiculously soft skin and her fragrant hair that came flooding back to him. It had been way too long since he last held her against him.

  He stepped toward her, invading her space on purpose, and just as he expected, she backed away. Two more steps and he backed her up against the wall, her hair pillowing against it. He saw Seth step next to him out of the corner of his eye, and the two of them towered over her much smaller body.

  The heat in Edie’s eyes turned into something softer, more inviting, but the set of her jaw told him she still had some fight in her.

  “Don’t you try to intimidate me,” she said. She tried to push past them, but her efforts only pushed her farther into the wall.

  For a brief second, Jason’s heart stopped beating in his chest. Not because he thought her lack of strength compared to theirs was cute, but because if anyone ever tried to hurt her, it was very possible they could. She didn’t realize how small she was, and he knew almost any man who wanted to hurt her could. She never thought about how vulnerable she was, how easily something could happen to her without him or Seth watching over her. The thought made him want to kill something, then tie her to them in any way he could so they could always protect her, always be there to shelter her.

  Whoa. Always?

  Jason pushed the thoughts out of his head and focused on the rise and fall of Edie’s chest and the amazing things the movement did to her breasts. Her nipples pressed against the silk fabric, and his dick got so hard he had to shift a little to relieve some of the heavy pressure.

  The instant he moved, he felt her eyes on him. His gaze met hers for a heated moment before hers flicked to his crotch, then back up to his face. A pink flush started on her cheeks, and her lips parted at the center. Her eyes flicked between him and Seth, and Jason felt a groan begin in his chest before he leaned into her and slanted his lips over hers. He absorbed the soft gasp she let out, and his hands skimmed along the sides of her hips, the skin there revealed by the damn scrap of material she wore that barely covered her voluptuous body.

  Jason loved skimming his hands along her sides and feeling her ribcage narrow into her soft waist. And her ass. He filled his hands with it, pulling her into his body so she could feel just how much he wanted her. His name came like a whisper from her lips, and a bolt of heat burst over his skin when he heard it.

  He pulled her away from the wall and lifted his head for a brief moment. He wanted to look at her face, wanted to see if she wanted him as much as he wanted her. What he saw there made his chest tighten almost painfully. She looked at him through glazed eyes, and her lips were bruised and pink. Her fingers wove into his shirt and pull him toward her as he looked over her and saw Seth walk behind her body, a glint in his eye that said her top was coming off. Now.

  “Hey, wait,” she protested, but Jason kissed her again, then lifted the top off her body and let it float to the floor. He stared at her full breasts and their dusty pink nipples before she tried to cover herself.

  “Oh, no you don’t.” Jason took hold of her wrists in one hand, lifted them over her head, and crowded her against Seth’s body. The position made her breasts look like the most delicious offering he ever laid eyes on. He moved off to the side a little, still holding her immobile with his hand, her wrists pinned together.

  “B–but someone might c–come.” Her belly quivered, and her breasts jiggled a little as she tried to squirm away.

  “And if they do?” Seth challenged, his voice low and full of heat. His blue eyes looked almost black from his desire, the evidence fully visible in the huge bulge in the front of his jeans.

  “They won’t be able to see anything. My body’s blocking yours. Besides, the only person who’s going to be coming any time soon is you,” Jason said against the shell of her ear before he dragged the tip of his tongue against it. He took her earlobe between his teeth, then sucked on the flesh where her jaw and neck met.

  Her soft, breathy moans made him want to bend her over and fuck her sweet pussy right there, but he told himself to be patient. She quivered around him so much harder the more foreplay she got, and he wanted her quaking.

  When he pu
lled away, she muttered a protest, but he wanted to get a good view of what he knew was coming next.

  Seth stepped in front of her and slid his hands from her waist up slowly, his fingers tracing over her flesh. Edie tensed in Jason’s grip, but she did not fight them anymore. When Seth’s big hands cupped her breasts and his thumbs ran over her puckered nipples, she sucked in a breath between her teeth and her eyes fluttered closed.

  “No, cupcake, open your eyes,” Jason commanded. “Watch.”

  She moaned, but she followed his command, and the look on her face made the remaining blood in his head shoot to his already bulging dick.

  Seth’s tongue flicked out and licked her nipple before he sucked it into his mouth. Edie let out a soft cry and arched her back, offering herself up, silently begging for more. Seth’s hand fondled her other breast, kneading it, playing with her nipple before his mouth followed suit.

  “Touch me, please,” she begged.

  Jason felt the smile form slowly on his lips. He knew what she wanted, but she was not going to get it until she told him exactly what she wanted. He let his mouth hover over her ear, let her feel his breath brushing over her skin.

  “We are touching you.”

  Her head swiveled back and forth. “No, touch me.”

  “Where?”

  “You know where—Seth, harder!”

  Edie’s eyes were wild and blind, and her mouth hung slightly open, her pants growing louder. She struggled against Jason’s hold now, but he held her immobile in his grip.

  “Where do you want to be touched, cupcake?” Jason let his hand come between them and let it rest on the highest part of her belly. “Here?”

  “N–no.”

  “Well, where do you want my hand, then?”

  She did not answer. Instead, she moved her torso against his hand, her body moving like a belly dancer’s.

  “Seth,” Jason said, “she’s not answering my questions.”

  Edie’s high-pitched inhalation filled the hallway as Seth put his mouth to her breast and sucked until his cheeks caved in a little.