Jamie's Revenge (16 page)

“I love you, too.”

That got him a quick kiss, but the smile wore off his face as he turned to his little sister-in-law. “And
you
, I’m going find out just what it is you did, and trust me, my punishments ain’t fun.”

That had worry in Jamie’s gaze, and Linc considered that little enough consolation for all she’d put him through these past few days…and what she was about to put him through. Lifting his hat off its hook, he smashed it onto his head and shoved out the screen porch door. Making his way down the steps, he whistled off like he’d normally do as he headed toward the barn.

Only, this morning, he put an arch into his path that circled him around the back of the house. Well out of way of the women’s view and hearing, he hopped the porch railing and silently sidled back up to the kitchen’s door.

“You are playing a dangerous game with those boys.” Linc smirked at the heat in Bridgette’s tone. At least somebody gave Jamie what she deserved. Not that Jamie ever respected good advice.

“Oh, please. I can handle those two.”

“No, you can’t. You’re issuing challenges you don’t know how to back up, and don’t you roll your eyes
at me
, young lady. I don’t give a shit what you learned in that parlor house for the last five years. I don’t care if you are a damned Madame.
You’re also a virgin
.

“You got those boys so riled up, they’re going to tear you up, and it ain’t going to be fun. It might just outright
hurt
. Then what’s going to happen? You gonna be hurt, they’re gonna be miserable, and the truth’s going to come out one way or another. It’s a disaster in the making, and I’m
begging
you to stop.”

Shock helped Linc control the natural response to barge in and start demanding answers with that watershed of information.
Parlor house…virgin…
none of it made sense, and their conversation certainly didn’t clarify any of his confusion. One thing he could understand and totally agree with was Bridgette’s assertion.

Brodie and Caelen would tear Jamie up if they got their hands on her and didn’t know she’d never taken a man. It made a difference. A
big
difference. Not just to how gentle his brothers would need to be, but on the whole problem at hand.

How easy would it be just to tell Brodie and Caelen, then step back and let them have the girl? The good Lord knew he’d tired of trying to keep up with Jamie and his brothers and had obviously failed. Trying to do right got him nothing but grief, so why not let Brodie and Caelen do wrong and take the grief they earned with it.

Shoving away from the wall, Linc left his wife to handle her sister as he sulked off with his own headache. He’d rather not know what he did, just as he’d rather not have to face the options he had.

* * * *

Brodie waited in the shadows of the barn for Linc to show up. Jaw clenched, he worked a bit of leather through his fingers as he rubbed out his restless aggression on its smooth surface. The bright, cheery morning mocked him just as Jamie had all through breakfast.

And what the hell had she been wearing?
Nothing decent because apparently, there wasn’t any decency left in his little Jamie. Not that he honestly could object. Even if the golden breast bulging over the low cut of her neck line inflamed his sense of decorum, it also kept him painfully captivated.

Yeah, he liked her clothes. He liked seeing her in them, but what he’d like the most—ripping them right off her body, tying her naked ass to his bed and indulging in
days’
worth of wicked fantasies. That could have been considered a fantasy itself a day ago, but this morning it had only become a matter of time.

After last night, Brodie didn’t see any need to hold back any longer. Jamie had set the bar, and now he would break it, right along with Linc if he got in his way.
 

* * * *

Bridgette wore out of her tirade right along with the rest of her energy, abandoning Jamie not only to the day’s chores, but the guilt she’d hammered into her for the past half hour. Not that Bridgette made it easy to be sympathetic with all her layers of snide comments, but she had the rounded hammer of her swollen belly to pound down any response Jamie might have made in kind.

As wrong as it might have been, Jamie had been thankful when her sister insisted that she had frustrated Bridgette into physical pain. Lumbering up the stairs, muttering to herself, Bridgette left Jamie wasted in her wake, feeling depressingly overwhelmed.

She had just been having fun. Bridgette just didn’t understand. Brodie and Caelen would never hurt her. Besides, how bad could it really be? All the women she’d ever known seemed to like sex.
If sex was half the reaping Bridgette describes it as, then how can there be so many people in the world?

Point made and Jamie wouldn’t let her sister’s fretting worry her anymore. Gathering up the baskets, Jamie finally confronted what she’d been avoiding all morning—leaving the safety of the house. Unnerved that Linc hadn’t driven Brodie and Caelen far,
far
, away from the ranch, Jamie hesitated behind the screen door.

Down the slope, all three men worked in the same corral, branding the junior cattle. Even from the distance, she could see them separating the cows out, one by one, to be run down, roped and pinned to take the pain of the hot iron. It was sweaty, dirty work and not likely to calm Brodie or Caelen’s tempers.

That didn’t mean she had a choice about going down to the root cellar to get the supplies to restock the kitchen shelves. No, she’d had a choice last night, and she’d made it. Hell, she’d made it when she’d decided to come home. There wouldn’t be any turning back now.

Shoving through the screen door, Jamie kept her gaze focused only on the barn as she ignored the eyes she could feel swarming in her direction. With each step their gazes tracked her, unnerving her.
They’re just lookin’, because that’s all they can do with Linc around.

That silent assurance didn’t make her feel any safer. Only once she’d propped open the cellar hatch and lowered herself into the cool shade did she gain any sense of protection. Welcoming as the feeling was, it had her dawdling over her task.

Next on the list of chores would be tending the garden. Everything would have to be taken down to the barn to be washed. That would put her in easy striking distance of the twins. Not to mention being out of Linc or Bridgette’s protective sight.

Getting to it later will only make it more dangerous.
That worry finally had her lugging the baskets back up the ladder and rushing to get on with all her outside duties. Linc would only be as fresh as he was for as early in the day as it was. That meant she wanted to be good and done before the men broke for their mid-day meal.

Hurrying didn’t make tending the garden go any faster, and the sun had settled squarely overhead by the time she lugged the baskets of vegetables and fruits into the barn. All too aware of the men, she hadn’t failed to take note that they’d nearly finished up with their morning’s chore. They’d break for a meal after, and that would be more opportunity than Jamie wanted to be in the barn to give.

Not caring whether Bridgette bitched at her later, Jamie just upended the baskets into the tub, letting the entire produce tumble out in a crash. Another load got added before she began straining her muscles to pump water just as fast as she could. The moment the tub filled enough, making everything float, Jamie quit.

Going against tradition to leave everything to soak for a while, she had intended to run, if necessary, back to the house. It would have been necessary, but she wouldn’t even get a chance to make it out of the barn. Twirling around only to come to a complete, horrified stop, Jamie’s eyes widened over the sight of Brodie filling the stall door.

In the shadows of the barn, he appeared twice as big as normal…or maybe that had something to do with the rage thundering through his gaze. Jamie swallowed with a lick of her lips, unable to keep her gaze from dipping down over the sweaty shirt clinging to every single one of his flexed muscles. It settled on the impressive bulge denting out of his jeans, making the quivers in her stomach turning into an all-out riot.

It is going to be a reaping.
The sight of his oversized, leather gloves chased that thought into fear as her gaze snapped back up. Only it didn’t find his. Brodie’s own chin had dipped, lowering the wide brim of his hat to conceal where his eyes had wandered to. Not that Jamie needed help guessing.

“What did you do? Knocked Linc out, Brodie?” Jamie demanded as she brought the protective cover of her hands to her bosom.

That had his chin lifting, a slight curl turned up one side of his mouth. Without a word, he yanked off his gloves. Slapping them down on top of the piled up laundry barrels, his hat landed on top of them next. When his hands began tugging his shirt right over his head, she didn’t have any doubt of what would go next.

“Don’t you even think about it, Brodie.” God, but she wished her voice wouldn’t squeak out like that. Not that she’d let it shut her up. “I’m not going to be had up against some stall wall just ‘cause you can’t control yourself.”

He smirked at that and shook his head before finally speaking.

“Look at me, Jamie. I’m cut, burned, and bruised.” With each accusation he measured a step forward. Each one she tried to match with a backward retreat but came up short by the wall of the barn.

“I’m sleep deprived after a week of being taunted and tormented by a crazy vixen who has shoved, punched, kicked, pinched, and bit me, and not mention, threatening to de-ball me with a knife. As if that ain’t enough insult to a man’s pride, I gotta learn this morning that the woman who broke into my house, tied me up and then did me all sorts of wrong is a…
virgin
?”

Every drop of Jamie’s blood evaporated at that indignant word. She might have been held in a state of suspended terror, but Brodie found something to grin about. She could easily guess where those chuckles came from.

“I gotta tell you, that kind of irritates me because now I can’t give you just what you deserve for last night, but…as wanton and wicked as you are innocent, it’s gonna be a whole lot of fun to see how you end up when I’m done training you.”

“I’m not a horse for you to break for riding.” Jamie might love Brodie, but she’d never be owned by him.

That earned her a small smirk before Brodie did something that left her puzzled. He turned and just walked away, leaving Jamie standing there wondering. Had he actually given up? Had her virginity turned him off as it had last time?

No.
She didn’t believe that for a moment. Creeping up to the edge of the stall, Jamie peeked out. The main alley down the old barn shined with the light reflecting off the hay-strewn floor. Though shadows lurked along the sides, she couldn’t see anybody about, but she could feel them watching her.

 
The situation had gotten further out of hand than Bridgette had predicted and all because her sister had obviously turned traitor. Instead of being riled into rash action, her men had gone to a simmer, no doubt plotting a devious plan.
 
Right now she was supposed to run, but Jamie didn’t expect they’d actually let her get out of the barn.

Fear and panic warred with pride and desire, arguing over whether to make that run or…well, there really wasn’t much of an option but to ignore them, pretend to go about her day, but stay alert,
very
alert. Not that any of it would probably make a difference on how her day ended, but Jamie went with pride and turned back to the tub.

Starting over every little creak or crack she heard, her dignity bent enough to race through cleaning and loading everything back into the baskets. As much as her instincts urged her to flee, fear made it really hard to finally step out of the stall.

With the water gurgling out of the tub drain, she could barely hear her own steps, let alone those of a predator. Assured that she heard them every other second, Jamie managed a very fast-paced walk with her head swinging in all directions as she approached the barn doors.

Absolutely certain her fate would be sealed before she cleared them, panic overwhelmed her vanity, and she darted out, only to shriek when they banged to a close right behind her.

“Why you running, Jamie?” Caelen asked in that slow, pointed drawl.

“You best leave me alone, Caelen,” Jamie warned him as she backed her way up the path.

“Now why would I do that when messing with you is just so much more fun?”

Instead of shifting off the slouch he’d taken up against the door, Caelen just grinned bigger the further she got away. Wary of the intent captured in that smile, Jamie expected Brodie to appear at any moment. Feeling the constant rush of somebody coming in behind her, she couldn’t help but cast fretful glances over her shoulder.

“Who you looking for, sugar?”

Jamie took off at that word coming from his mouth. Caelen had never once called her that. Neither had Brodie. The only time she’d ever heard them use that word was when they were dick deep in some slut. That’s when the ‘sugars’ started rolling out.

Not stopping until the screen door bounced in its frame behind her and she managed to slam the wood one over it, Jamie nearly collapsed on the kitchen table. Dropping the baskets on the floor with what little food hadn’t gone flying out in her mad dash.