Honor Bound: Bound and Tied, Book 1 (6 page)

Jake fumbled through his belongings and unearthed a square of cotton he used when he bathed. He dunked it in the bucket, wrung it out and crossed to where Zach sat beside Honor.

Zach extended his hand. “Give it to me.”

Jake held the cloth out of reach. “I got it.”

“I’m here, I might as well do it.”

“I got the water and the cloth. By golly, I get to wash her.”

“She’s not a doll to be playin’ with. Give me the damned cloth before I knock you down and take it from you.”

Jake’s eyes narrowed. “I can take you.”

“Don’t be stupid.” Zach held out his hand again.

With his lips pressed into a thin line, Jake slapped the wet cloth into Zach’s open palm. “Next time
you
go get the water.”

Zach started at the ankle and worked his way up her right leg, cleaning the cuts. Some of them appeared red and angry. “This one doesn’t look so good.”

“You should make that poultice you used on my leg when I cut it mining last month.” Jake lifted his trouser leg and stared down at the healing scar on his calf. “It did the trick.”

“Right.” Zach stood, handed Jake the cloth and glowered at him. “Clean only what needs cleaning. She doesn’t need us riding roughshod on her again.”

Jake took the cloth and grinned. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“No fucking her while I’m out of here.”

“I’ll wait for you, then.” Jake dipped the cloth in the bucket and wrung it out. “Don’t worry. I don’t ride unconscious women.”

“Remember that.” Zach paused at the doorway, not altogether certain Jake would keep his word. If he opened the shirt…

Zach hadn’t been so steady in his ability to keep his hands off her once he’d seen her naked body lying there. Even now he longed to touch those beautiful breasts. To take them into his mouth and suck on them. He wanted to trail his tongue down the length of her torso to that narrow swath of curls between her thighs.

He groaned, grabbed a tin plate from the shelf and one of the lanterns from the hook on the wall and took off at a run to the creek and the stand of bushes he’d need to make the poultice. He didn’t feel entirely comfortable leaving Jake in charge of their little thief, though he really had no claim on the woman. She didn’t belong to either one of the men. But he’d been the one to capture her. If anyone had a claim, it would be him.

Zach gathered the leaves he needed, scooped up some mud from the creek bank and ran all the way back to the cabin.

Inside, Jake dabbed at a long slash at the top of Honor’s leg.

Heat boiled up inside Zach at how near Jake’s hand was to the juncture of her thighs.

From the outset, Zach and Jake had agreed to share all finds on the mountain equally. But with the entrance of Honor Whitaker, Zach wasn’t feeling so keen on sharing. He wanted her—if not all to himself, he wanted to be in charge.

“She’s a beauty.” Jake glanced up, a smile curving his lips. “Makes a fella wanna fuck her all over again.”

Zach ground his teeth, reminding himself he had no claim to her. Why start a fight with his partner over a woman who for all they knew wasn’t going to be around for long? He set to work grinding some of the leaves. He mixed the ground leaves with a bit of creek mud, forming a paste, and then carried the plate over to where Honor lay unconscious on the bed.

Jake jumped up and let Zach sit in his place. Carefully, he slathered the mixture on a particularly nasty cut on her right calf.

He inspected the rest of the cuts and applied the poultice where she needed it most. Then he laid open the shirt again. “Help me sit her up so we can check her backside.”

“Sure.” Jake practically leaped over the bed to the other side. He helped Zach lift Honor to a sitting position.

While Jake held her up, Zach stripped the shirt from her body.

A low groan escaped Jake. “Don’t know how you’re holding up, but I’m about to bust my breeches.” Jake held on, his fingers suspiciously close to Honor’s breasts.

“Just keep your pants on. The woman’s unconscious, for heaven’s sake.”

“Don’t tell me you’re not wantin’ to touch her. I can see you’re as hard as I am.”

“Well, I ain’t plannin’ on doing anything about it.”

“We could always…” Jake jerked his head toward the cabin door. “You know…what we did in the creek.”

Zach’s eyes widened. “No.”

Rather than look hurt, Jake grinned. “Afraid you’ll like it again, aren’t you?”

Zach used the cloth to wash Honor’s back, the soft, white skin a stark contrast to Jake’s tanned back and hard muscles. He shook his head. How could he be attracted to both a woman and a man? He shot a glance at Jake, who was still shirtless, his skin all golden in the glow from the fireplace.

If Zach was honest with himself, he’d admit he liked the way Jake’s hard muscles felt under his fingertips. Beneath the wise-cracking, fun-loving exterior, Jake had a heart of gold and he was as loyal as a man comes. He couldn’t ask for a better partner. Zach just hoped that whatever they had done out in the creek didn’t change that relationship. He’d always respect Jake and trust him to do right by him and their claim.

All that aside, Zach couldn’t erase the feel of Jake’s cock in his hand. Zach had relieved himself on many occasions, so he wasn’t completely green to pumping his own dick. But the feel of Jake’s had been different. Knowing he’d made the other man hard with desire got Zach bothered all over again.

As he dipped the cloth in the bucket of creek water, he hoped the coolness would quench the heat building in his groin. He wrung the excess moisture from the rag and placed it on Honor’s back.

Jake held her body leaning against his shoulder, his gray eyes staring over the top of her head, directly into Zach’s gaze.

Zach couldn’t look away. He swept the rag across Honor’s naked back blindly, his gaze locked with Jake’s.

Jake reached out with his empty hand and closed it over Zach’s. Together, they repeated the motion. Starting at the top of her shoulder blades, they slid the cloth over her skin, angling downward to the crease between her buttocks. Both men followed the path of the cloth with their gazes. When they reached the swell of her ass, they looked up into each other’s eyes.

Jake’s hand tightened on Zach’s and up they went to the top of Honor’s back.

“We can’t keep doing this. We’ll rub her back raw,” Zach said, pulling his hand from beneath Jake’s. Immediately, he missed the warmth. “Let’s lay her down. She probably only needs sleep. After running through the woods alone, she’s most likely exhausted.”

Jake leaned her back, easing her down to the mattress.

Zach and Jake stared down at the naked woman.

Honor’s nipples puckered, gooseflesh rising across all her exposed skin. She shifted, her arms wrapping around her middle, a frown creasing her brow.

Still, Zach couldn’t bring himself to cover such perfection. “She has such a tiny waist,” he said, his voice a coarse whisper.

“The hair down low is a lighter color than that on her head.” Jake ran his fingers through the fluffy mound between her legs. “It’s soft. Feel it.”

Zach’s belly clenched and he sucked in a sharp breath. Despite his determination not to take advantage of the unconscious woman, he couldn’t resist. He leaned forward, his fingers lacing through the fine curls, meeting Jake’s. He looked up.

Jake’s light gray eyes pierced him with their directness. “I want you.” Jake laced his fingers with Zach’s and laid them over Honor’s mound.

Zach shook his head, but he didn’t withdraw his fingers from Jake’s. He wanted Jake too. And this woman. Both of them. At the same time.

His chest tightened. What kind of man was he?

As if they had become one, both men stood, their hands still joined over Honor’s body. They walked to the end of the bed and faced each other with nothing between them.

“Touch me,” Jake demanded, his easy smile gone, his face intense, as though everything hinged on Zach’s actions.

Zach couldn’t turn away from the intensity of Jake’s gaze, but he couldn’t reach out and do as Jake demanded either. “I can’t.”

“You can.” Jake didn’t initiate the moves this time. If Zach wanted Jake, he had to take the first step.

Despite what Zach’s head told him, his cock couldn’t be denied. He wanted Jake in a bad way. Already his trousers had a stranglehold on him. If he hoped to ease the pain, he’d have to do what his head told him was wrong, sinful. As if of its own accord, Zach’s arm rose from his side. At the same time, the hand laced with Jake’s pulled until Jake had to step forward.

They stood toe-to-toe.

Zach inhaled. “You smell good.”

Jake grinned. “Better than the stench of a dirty miner, huh?” His grin disappeared, his eyes widening when Zach’s hand closed around his crotch.

“Much better.” Zach let go of Jake’s hand and used both his own to unbutton Jake’s trousers. The hard cock beneath the stiff fabric pressing against the backs of his fingers made his own dick swell.

As he unbuttoned the last button, Jake’s hand covered his. “You don’t have to do this.”

“Yes…I do.” Zach moved Jake’s hand, his trousers fell to pool around his ankles and his cock sprang free. “This is so strange.” His fingers wrapped around Jake’s member. “Yet so familiar.”

“I know.” Jake stepped out of his trousers, his fingers feverishly working the buttons on Zach’s trousers.

As the buttons slipped free, the pressure on Zach’s cock lessened until his trousers slid from his hips and his cock stood erect. He kicked the trousers across the floor. “Oh, thank God. I felt like someone was strangling me down there.”

Jake laughed, his hand stroking the length of Zach’s dick. “Me too.”

Zach’s hand worked back and forth, just as he had hundreds of times alone in the woods on his own.

“What about the girl?” Jake jerked his head toward Honor, whose eyes remained closed, her breathing even.

Zach shrugged. “She’s already seen us once.” Hell, what would it hurt? The hellcat had confessed to spying on them earlier.

Jake let his hand trail lower, capturing Zach’s balls.

Zach inhaled sharply, rocking his groin toward Jake, pressing his balls into Jake’s palm. “That feels good.”

A chuckle rumbled up in Jake’s chest. “Oh yeah.”

Venturing further into the forbidden, Zach threaded his fingers through the hairs on Jake’s groin, trailing them down to the other man’s balls. He rolled them between his thumb and fingers, marveling at how different it was to touch another man’s genitals. Different and erotic. His fingers slid up Jake’s body, across his hard belly to the muscles in his chest. He bent forward and flicked Jake’s hard brown nipple with his tongue. His hands slid around Jake and down to cup his tight ass, pressing his hips into his, their two cocks sliding together.

“Gentlemen.” A soft feminine voice broke into Zach’s lust-filled brain.

He jumped back, his hands falling to his sides, his face burning.

Jake laughed shakily. “Look who’s awake.”

Chapter Six

“How long have you been awake?” Zach demanded.

“A while.” Honor lay on the bed, her hand covering her pussy. “Please, don’t stop.” She fingered her folds.

Her movement drew Zach’s attention, his cock pulsing.

“I’ve never seen men touch each other like that before I met you two,” she said, her finger pressing into her opening.

“And it doesn’t shock you?” Jake asked, his grin stretching across his face.

“On the contrary.” She lifted her head and stared down at her naked body. “For some reason I’m not shocked at my own lack of clothing. Please continue.” She fell back against the mattress, parting her legs. “I must admit, I led a very sheltered life with Parson Whitaker.”

Zach choked, his cock wilting slightly. “Parson?”

She laughed, the sound as light and pretty as a bird twittering. “Oh, did I forget to mention my husband was a parson?”

Zach’s heart stuttered at the way her laughter made him feel as well as at her answer. Surely he was going to hell. “You are a parson’s widow?”

“Is it that hard to believe?” She stretched, her hands running the length of her body. “I don’t remember ever being this naked with him…and it not being completely dark in the room.” She grinned. “I think I like being a widow.”

Jake laughed out loud. “Zach, can we keep her?”

Zach didn’t respond.

Honor’s smile faded and she sat up, rubbing her wrists where the ropes had been earlier. “Oh, I’m not staying.”

“Why?” Zach asked without thinking. After all, why would he want her to stay? He and Jake lived in a one-room cabin. They didn’t have room for another person. Besides, she’d get bored after a few days and want to return to a more populated area. Most women did.

“One thing I learned from being a parson’s wife and then being captured by an Apache warrior…” She stared at the two men, her gaze direct. “I don’t want to be owned by any man. I want to make my own decisions and lead my life the way I want without asking for permission to breathe.” She nodded sharply as if to emphasize her point. “That also means no ropes…unless I ask for them.”

Just as Zach suspected. He didn’t want to get attached to a woman who didn’t plan on staying.

Jake nudged him with his elbow. “Did you hear that? No ropes unless she asks for them.” He laughed.

Zach didn’t see anything funny in what Honor said. She didn’t want a man telling her what to do, she wasn’t staying.

Honor sat in the light from the dying fire, her red hair flowing around her pale creamy shoulders, her breasts full and ripe for the tasting, the dark triangle of hair a temptation from the devil herself.

Zach wondered what it would be like for a woman like this to occupy his bed every night. A woman who was not only beautiful, but strong, brave and smart.

His gaze moved from Honor’s feminine body to Jake’s hard, muscular countenance. He wanted both.

Honor frowned. “You didn’t think you could keep me, did you? You were only trying to scare me when you called me a thief and threatened to kill me, right?” Her green-eyed gaze bounced from Zach to Jake and back. “You are going to let me go…” She gulped and her voice faded.

“Of course we are,” Jake assured her, stepping up beside the bed to run his hand across her brow. As Jake stood naked beside her, his cock was level with her face.