Along Came Merrie (10 page)

“Oh, God, yes,” Braden gasped.

The dirty words really turned her on. It seemed to do the same to Braden, who held her waist as he hammered into her from beneath.

She gently stroked Leo’s rock-hard erection, rising straight out from its nest of dark pubic hair. He pumped his hips, driving his cock into her hand. She gripped tighter, stroked harder. White fluid leaked from the tip and she eagerly lapped it up. The salty, bitter flavor burst across her tongue. Once more, she swallowed him down, taking as much as his big cock into her mouth as she could.

Their thrusts synchronized. Leo fucked her mouth and Braden guided her on his cock. She’d simply become the vessel for their sexual gratification—getting her own enjoyment in the process. Everything tightened. Her breathing came out in shallow pants. Her climax burst upon her, a wave of pleasure so intense all her muscles seized.

“Holy shit!” Braden gasped. “You’re squeezing me so tight. I’m going to come.”

His orgasm hit and he paused within her. He shook as he pulled her hips down while he surged up, thrusting as deeply as possible in her as he came and came.

Leo buried his fingers in her hair, taking control. She relaxed her throat muscles as much as possible as he chased his own ending. His rhythm faltered as he swelled in her mouth. At the last second, he pulled away as cum erupted from his cock to paint thick ropes on her chest.

As Leo collapsed beside her, Braden used the opportunity to leave her body and dispose of the condom. She snuggled into both of them, feeling replete.

Chapter Twelve

Braden turned on the oven light to give him enough illumination to make coffee. He should be bone-tired but he was too distracted to rest. His mind raced with what had just happened upstairs and it left him a little unsettled because he’d come to realize the heat of passion was one thing and reality was something quite different.

When the coffee had brewed, he poured a little milk in it then sat at the table letting his mind wander. What was he supposed to do or say now? Was he to believe that the Great Father, Tam Apo, had some great design that had led Merrie into his path? He’d never been a spiritual man but he didn’t discredit Leo’s beliefs. Hell, all one had to do was take a look at nature’s beauty and wonder what had created such perfection. But he’d long ago given up in the faith that love conquered all. He didn’t doubt love between a man and woman existed—his own parents were proof of that—but his parents had come from a different era and life in Destiny could be remote.

Not to mention the fact that Leo was involved in the mix. How the hell could he think a ménage relationship would work? Relationships took a great deal of effort, and having three people made the attempt triply difficult.

Merrie talked a good talk, but she was young. She had her whole life in front of her with different horizons to meet and mountains to climb. And he knew best, what happened when wanderlust settled into the soul. It made a person pack up in the middle of the night and drive away, never to return.

“Can’t sleep?” Leo asked from the kitchen doorway.

Braden shook his head. Leo headed to the coffeemaker and poured himself a cup then sat across from Braden, studying him by the muted oven light. Leo studied him right back. Memories poured through Braden’s head of when they’d been kids, when Leo would come with his father and the two boys would ride over the plains for hours. They’d talked about all sorts of things and shared confidences. When his family had all but adopted Leo, he’d become more than just a friend to Braden. They were brothers, regardless of blood.

“You’re regretting what happened,” Leo stated, as he blew on his coffee. He took a tentative sip of the hot brew.

“Aren’t you?”

“No,” Leo answered, a grin teasing the corners of his mouth. “I will admit I never thought I’d be sharing sex in the same bed with you, but your masculinity is safe with me.”

“Good to know,” Braden replied dryly.

“Come on, man. Don’t be like this.”

“Be like what?”

“Don’t turn off your feelings,” Leo answered. “You do it all the damn time. It’s like you can’t handle—or don’t want to deal with—your emotions. What happened with Merrie is a good thing. She cares for both of us.”

“She’s grateful. That’s all she is. And I should’ve been more responsible.”

Leo raised one eyebrow. “Responsible? She’s a grown woman.”

“She’s seventeen years younger than me. That’s a helluva age difference, Leo.”

“She’s not Samantha.”

“How do you know?” Braden demanded. “How do you know that once this mess is cleared up, she’s not going to get the itch for something bigger? You’re only deluding yourself if you think she’s not attracted to us out of gratitude.”

Leo compressed his mouth into a hard line. “All right. I’ll bite. Let’s say you’re right and she decides living on this ranch isn’t what she wants. Are you going to be relieved that you were right or are you still going to miss her? Because I don’t think you can stop your heart from falling in love.”

“Love?” Braden scoffed. “What did you plan on? Us living together in a three-way relationship forever?”

“I didn’t have sex with her thinking it was just sex,” Leo stated. “Did you?”

Braden pushed his coffee away and stood. “I’m stepping back, Leo. You and Merrie, that’s how it ought to be, at least until she’s out of danger. And I won’t say ‘I told you so’ when she leaves.”

Leo swore under his breath. “We went into that bedroom as three people. You’ll hurt her by rejecting her.”

“What happened tonight was a mistake.”

“You can’t possibly believe that! Braden—”

Braden held up a hand, halting Leo’s speech. “This is for the best, Leo. I let my dick do my thinking earlier but you’ll see I’m right and so will Merrie.”

He left and headed back upstairs, even though he didn’t feel like sleeping. He paused at the top and looked at Leo’s closed bedroom door. His stomach seized with want and desire. Despite his words, all he wanted to do was crawl back into bed next to Merrie and spoon with her, kiss her awake and make love to her again. His cock grew so hard with arousal that he was sure he could hammer nails with it. But he didn’t—he
couldn’t
—go through heartache again.

Best to end it now.

He walked into his bedroom and shut the door.

* * * *

Merrie had never been so comfortable, so relaxed, in all her life. She blinked her eyes open and stretched. Alone in Leo’s bed, she reached out to the warmth in the sheet, but the lack of heat indicated Braden had risen a while ago. She sat up, holding the sheet to her breasts, just as the door opened and Leo walked in.

She smiled, all warm and gooey inside. “I was lonely,” she said.

He held out a cup of coffee. “Good morning, beautiful.”

Pleasure rushed through her body at his words. She took the coffee and sipped it, loving how the heat and caffeine hit her system. “What time is it?”

He sat at the foot of the bed and studied her. “Six. I got a call from the Johnson farm. One of their cows somehow ended up tangled in barbed wire again so I have to head over there. Want to come with me?”

“Yes,” she said. “Poor thing.”

“Mmm,” he murmured. “This is the third time. I keep telling Chuck that he doesn’t need the damn barbed wire for cows, but the idiot doesn’t listen to me.”

She set her coffee mug on the nightstand then scooted forward and draped her arms around his neck. She studied his dark eyes.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that question?”

“I’m okay,” she said. “Although I’m a little surprised that I enjoyed it so much.”

“Why?”

“Because I never thought of myself as anything other than a one man sort of woman. You know?”

Something dark passed over his face. Hesitation? Regret? Then he smiled brightly, leaving her to wonder if she imagined the slight reaction at all. “Society has placed a stigma on alternative lifestyles, but I see nothing wrong with a polyandrous relationship.”

“Two stubborn men? Handling one can be a full-time job.”

He bent his head and kissed her lightly on the lips. “Why don’t you shower and get dressed?”

Merrie let her arms fall away from him as he stood. She got the distinct impression that he wanted to change the subject.

“I’ll meet you downstairs.”

“Leo? You
are
okay with what happened, aren’t you?”

He nodded. “I guess I’m wondering what you see in me.”

“Are you kidding? You’re constant.”

“I’m what?”

“Braden is…tough—strong. It’s obvious that he takes no shit from anyone. You’re the foundation, the glue that holds him together.”

“I’m not sure how I feel being compared to glue.”

She smiled. “I meant it in a good way.”

“I know. There’s just…things going on. I’ll wait for you downstairs.”

He left the bedroom, pulling the door behind him. She sat for a moment and listened to his boot steps receding down the stairs, the
thud
,
thud
,
thud
on the wooden floor suspiciously echoing the hollowness of the house. Where was Braden?

She got out of bed and gathered her scattered clothes. Not bothering to get dressed, she first went to her bedroom to clean up then headed into the bathroom. She stood in front of the mirror, staring at her reflection, trying to see if she looked any different after having a
ménage à trois
.

The bruise on her cheek had faded and the good nights of rest she’d been getting had helped erase the pinched, haunted look she’d had the previous week. The bruises around her torso had begun to fade as well. She looked kind of like a squash with ripe yellow skin.

Showering was still tricky with the cast. Merrie had to lay out what she needed and stand with her back to the shower, hanging her arm out of the curtain while only using one hand. By going slowly, she managed.

She dried and dressed but left her hair damp as she hurried downstairs, her sneakers not making any sound. Leo waited for her by the stove and handed over a plate containing a breakfast sandwich. Two slices of toast held an egg, bacon and a piece of cheese together.

“Thanks,” she said. “I’m famished.”

“After last night, I’m not surprised.” He smirked.

She playfully smacked his arm. “It’s entirely your fault. You and Braden wore me out.”

That dark little frown briefly touched his face again. This time she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong, but Leo encouraged to her eat and, minutes later, she was buckling her seat beat as he put the truck into drive.

Unlike the last time when she’d left the ranch, she didn’t have the urgent sense of desperation to go back and hide. Last night had given her a sense of belonging she’d never had before. Surely that monster, Axe, couldn’t still hold out on his hope that he’d find and hurt her. Hopefully he’d realized that type of barbaric behavior wasn’t tolerated by the law, because Merrie didn’t want any other woman going through what she’d experienced.

The Johnson dairy farm wasn’t that large, and since she’d worked on such a farm, this was familiar territory to Merrie. She saw the automated milk parlor as well as the refrigeration tanks that sat off to the side, ready to collect the milk pumped from the cows’ udders. The cow stalls needed a good cleaning and she hoped that the owner, Chuck Johnson, would get to the task right away. Cows required fresh, dry, comfortable stalls. A man stepped out from the barn. His dirty overalls looked about a size too large, hanging off his rail-thin frame stuffed into rubber waders. His thinning hair, a non-descript color, lay plastered to his forehead from heat. He eyed her up and down before turning to Leo.

“She’s out in the west pasture,” Chuck said without a greeting.

Merrie read disdain in his face as he stared at Leo and her hackles rose. She knew immediately that Chuck Johnson didn’t like Leo.

“All right,” Leo replied softly. “Can we borrow your four-wheeler?”

“Sure,” Chuck replied, thumbing to the side of the barn. “On the yonder side. Just follow the ridge line.”

Leo nodded and walked where Chuck had indicated. Merrie followed.

“What’s his problem?” she asked quietly.

“He doesn’t like Indians.”

Merrie blinked and stopped in her tracks, her mouth dropping slightly. “Are you serious? He’s racist?”

“Many people are,” he answered. “Those people take their pets all the way to Riverton to a non-Native vet. Chuck only deals with me because he doesn’t have a way of transporting his cows.”

“That’s not right,” she said. “It’s the twenty-first century, for God’s sake!”

“I don’t do this for him,” Leo stated. “I do it for that poor beast tangled up in metal that’s cutting into her skin. Come on.”

Dried mud splattered the ATV and it looked weather worn. Leo stowed his medical bag in the attached basket, straddled the machine, turned on the engine then waited as she got on behind him. He laid on the throttle with one hand. A moment later, wind blew her hair back as they raced over the land, headed toward the hurt cow.

Merrie didn’t like the idea of anyone looking down on Leo. His people had more right to this land than assholes like Chuck Johnson did and she wished she could give the hateful little man a piece of her mind. But as soon as she saw the wounded animal lying on its side, she promptly forgot about everything but helping the poor creature.

She and Leo spent close to two hours untangling the wire from the cow’s front hoof then bandaging it. Somehow, the cow had stepped through the opening of the fence line, but when she’d pulled it back, the wire had dug into the skin, crippling her.

“Poor baby.” Merrie petted the animal on the forehead.

“I’ll tell Chuck to bring her in, keep her in the barn for a few days. The bastard should’ve already untangled the poor beast instead of relying on me.”

“Can we arrest him for animal cruelty?”

Leo shook his head grimly. “I’ve already measured the fence. The wire is strung properly at fifteen inches apart, which is the Wyoming livestock law. This cow was just unlucky.”