Sidney’s Triple Shot [Apache Crossing] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (32 page)

“Hey! I just had a haircut and styled!” she squealed trying to remove the hat like covering.

“I’ll pay Marie extra to fix it when we get back. Now hold still while I strap it on.” His large fingers deftly snapped the chin strap under her jaw. The helmet only covered the top of her head, leaving her face and ears bare like a bicycle helmet would.

She stood still for him in wonder. Surely he isn’t serious, she thought to herself, but she watched wordlessly as he pulled a matching helmet out of his saddlebag and buckled it onto his own head and then threw a leg over the huge bike before shoving his hands into thick, black leather gloves.

She hesitated, throwing another look over her shoulder at Noah, who seemed to be the most likely ally if she chose to argue with Xavier. Instead of offering to take her away from his brother, Noah instead stepped forward and took her chin in his hand.

“Honey, I would do anything for you, and you know it, but I’m not bailing you out this time. I’m so sorry that we screwed up, by having that meeting without you, and showing them the photos, but you broke your promise. You ran away instead of talking to us, now you have to face the music.” He pressed a kiss to her gaping lips, stroking over her tongue gently before pulling away. “I’ll see you later tonight after work. I love you.”

Noah stepped backward, allowing Tyce to take his place. Tyce was grinning like a bobcat, and Sidney could feel the butterflies start dancing in her belly. They were really going to let Xavier take her away on the bike, instead of talking this out like grown-ups. A twinge of guilt went through her brain as she realized that they were right. She had run away to avoid a painful conversation, but really, how much rejection and betrayal could a girl take before she snapped, she thought to herself.

Tyce started chuckling, drawing her attention back to his beautiful blue eyes. “What?” she snapped, narrowing her eyes at him as he pulled her against his chest.

“I’m just watching your brain work, love. It’s amazing how easy you are to read. Yes, we’re subjecting you to Xavier’s company for the day, and no, we’re not giving you up, ever. No matter what he does, just remember that none of us would ever hurt you. We all love you too much.” He bent and gave her a sexy kiss that sent her blood pressure skyrocketing and left her swaying on her feet as he released her from his grip.

She felt the cold stroke of leather against her elbow as Xavier reached out from where he was waiting on the bike and turned her back to face him. He didn’t speak. He just held his hand out to help her climb onto the bike. This was the moment where she could trust him, or walk away. She knew that if she balked right now, and refused to get on the bike he wouldn’t actually force her, but he was asking her to trust him. Steeling her nerves against the unknown, she took his hand, and threw a leg over the back of the bike. Once she was settled in behind him, he started the engine. She shuddered as her pussy clenched hard from the vibrations.

Xavier’s broad back obscured most of her view as she shifted to find her seat and placed her hands lightly on his shoulders. She could feel him sigh with irritation, and he reached up to pull her hands down to his waist, then he tugged hard, forcing her forward into the seat. Her front was now plastered to his back, and after a moment of assessment, she decided to just go with it and pressed her cheek against the warm material of his T-shirt.

His softly spoken “Good girl” made her grin, and she squeezed her thighs a little tighter around his lean hips as he backed the bike up and headed out onto Main Street.

All of her anger, fear, and reservations flew out of her brain when the wind hit her face and the uncovered ends of her much shorter hair whipped against her cheeks and jaw. Her hands clutched at the material covering Xavier’s rock-hard abs, and she tipped her head backward to stare up at the wide blue sky. The highway out of town was nearly empty, and it felt like they were the only two people in the world.

The roar of the bike faded as she got lost in her own thoughts and just relished the feeling of holding Xavier and relaxing into his care. Tyce was right. There was no way that they had purposely brought out those pictures to hurt her. Even though it was embarrassing to see herself that way, it was important that the people of the town realize how dangerous Robert could be. The best way to make them understand was to show them.

The knowledge that Robert was in Apache Crossing, and had more than likely seen her with the Dawson brothers, was terrifying. It meant that if he actually managed to get to her, he would kill her. Now the question was, how to either make him lose interest or protect herself when the time finally came that they were face-to-face again. This time though, she wouldn’t be facing him alone. She would have her three men backing her up. A shiver of pleasure tickled down her arms, and she clutched Xavier tighter.

Her thought process was broken when Xavier turned down a gravel drive with a huge gate that said
The Yellow Rose
. She remembered hearing them talking about the Blake ranch, and she knew that this was Marie’s childhood home, so immediately her excitement level ratcheted up.

They came to a stop in front of a large ranch home with a wide front porch, and a huge man stepped out the front door. Gorgeous melted-chocolate-colored eyes set in a striking face made this muscular, blond cowboy very intriguing. He oozed power and control from his skin, and yet his movements were such pure grace that he reminded her of a tiger she had seen in a zoo once.

“Dawson.” His gravelly voice didn’t cause the shivers that Xavier’s did, and she decided that, as attractive as the cowboy was, he didn’t match up to her men.

“Blake. How’s ranching?” Xavier said as he shut the bike off and leaned back into Sidney’s embrace, placing one hand over hers where they were still wrapped in his T-shirt.

“Hard as hell, shitty hours, and the pay sucks. How’s the bar business?”

“About the same. This is my future wife, Sidney Rowe,” Xavier said, and all of the air left Sidney’s lungs. It was a good thing she was seated and holding on, because if she had been on her feet before she heard that, she wouldn’t have been after.

“Wife, huh? Well, I’ll be damned, Dawson.” The cowboy now stared at Sidney with wide eyes as he held his hand out to her. “Hi there, pretty, I’m Nathan Blake.”

She jerked her hand out from under Xavier’s to grip Nathan’s. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Blake. Let me correct Xavier in his misstatement of our current relationship. I’m dating him. Not marrying him.”

Nathan’s face split into a wide grin that made the mustache he wore quirk up comically. “Dating him, huh? Is this the one you were having the meeting for?”

“Yeah, Noah has all of the info back at the bar for Jaxon to bring down to you. The meeting was wrapping up when we got interrupted and I had to take care of personal business,” Xavier said, patting her thigh where it still rested snug against his hip.

“I can just imagine. I don’t make it to town much, but I’ll keep my eyes and ears open for strangers,” Nathan said. “Who’s handling the meeting while you
take care
of your business?”

“The other two brainiacs in this relationship, of course,” Sidney muttered.

“She’s also marrying Tyce and Noah,” Xavier said, and Sidney heard herself growl low in her throat. “Calm down, hellcat, I’ll get to you in a minute.”

“Never figured you three for a ménage,” Nathan said, crossing his arms over his chest and narrowing his eyes at Xavier. “You seem a little more…possessive than they are.”

“Just say it. He’s a Dom, or so he keeps telling me. Although, I’m not sure what kind of a difference that makes at this point, other than the fact that he’s bossier than Tyce and Noah. He kidnapped me today when I tried to leave town for a little while,” Sidney said, shoving at Xavier’s large shoulders as he still leaned back against her. When she realized the futility of the motion, she growled again. Her temper was getting the best of her, but even she realized that her words would have gotten her killed if they were directed at Robert instead of Xavier. Having the freedom to speak her mind around the Dawsons was just one of the reasons she felt safe with them.

“Kidnapped?” Nathan said. “You don’t seem to be fighting to get away, Ms. Rowe.”

She turned her attention back to Nathan, and she could tell that he didn’t like her behavior. Something in his demeanor told her that she would find no ally here. His jaw was clenched, and his grin was now tightly pursed lips.

“Where exactly am I supposed to go, Mr. Blake?” she said snottily.

Nathan cocked his head at her and watched her closely. “Dawson, you better take her in hand now. She seems to be topping you.”

“Thanks for the advice, but I think I can handle my woman. I’m going to take her out to the ravine for a little heart-to-heart,” Xavier said, adjusting his position and starting the engine on the Harley again.

Nathan nodded, and raising his voice, Sidney thought she heard him say, “Good luck, Ms. Rowe,” as the bike shot away from the ranch house and continued on down the long, winding gravel drive.

She stubbornly held on to the grips next to her hips instead of wrapping her arms around Xavier again. The serenity of the ride was broken by his assertion that she was going to marry him, like it or not. Didn’t he understand that she was tired of being told what to do?

She could admit to herself that in her heart she loved him, but she wasn’t so sure she liked him right now. She didn’t know why he was refusing to understand her side of this. She couldn’t risk watching the men she loved get hurt because of her. Sure, she knew now that she couldn’t just leave, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t protect them.

It was several minutes of pastureland and grazing horses before they entered a small crop of trees. With the sun blocked out by the large, old trees, the light grew dimmer, and she blinked as she waited for her eyes to adjust. Xavier brought the bike to a stop near the bank of a small pond that seemed to filter into a rambling creek.

She waited silently while he removed his helmet and gloves and climbed off of the bike before turning back to help her off.

“This place if pretty, but what are we doing here?” she asked as he lifted her helmet off of her head and gently smoothed her hair down around her face.

“We’re going to hash this out. I like your new haircut, by the way,” Xavier said.

She couldn’t have stopped the wide smile from bursting over her face if she had wanted too, and nearly bounced with pleasure at his compliment.“Thank you. I wanted something new.”

“It suits you,” he said, and then he turned around in a circle as he looked around him. “This is where I like to come to think. Nathan and Jaxon showed it to me last summer when we came down to help them with rebuilding a barn. It’s a great hideaway for some solitude, and it’s perfect for a little meeting of the minds between you and I.”

He turned back to the back and opened the leather saddlebag on the side. He pulled a stretchy bungee cord out. It was red and black and had hooks on the ends to help lash something down to the back of the bike, and she watched him with intense curiosity as he approached her and took both of her hands in his. “I’ve been remiss in explaining my point of view to you. I wanted to ease you into the lifestyle, and now we have to backtrack to fix it. Do you know anything at all about what it means to be a Dominant?”

She shrugged. “I assume it means you want to be able to tell me what to do, but I’m not sure I can handle that.”

He shook his head with a small frown. “Being a Dominant means that I want to be in control of your pleasure. I need you to trust me enough to completely submit to me during sex. I need to be in control of our sex life, but I also need to be able to take care of you. I want to make you happy, and to do that I need you to let me take care of you.”

“I can’t let you run my life. Robert decided everything about our lives, and he controlled every aspect of my world. I hated it.”

“I don’t want to live your life for you, baby. I want to live a life
with
you. Ultimately, I want to bring you the most pleasure possible, but to do that I want you to submit to me, and at other times in our everyday life I want you to respect my need to lead you. I admitted that I made a mistake by not including you in the meeting, but there will be times that I do things that I think are the best for you without asking first.”

“Like what?”

Xavier took a deep breath. “Like calling a private investigator in to find Wicks.”

“What!” she gasped as she felt all of the blood drain from her face. “Why would you do that?”

“Because if we know where he is, then we can figure out what he is up to. I’m a Marine, baby. I can’t sit back and wait on the sidelines for him to make a move. I need to go on the offense to make sure that I keep you safe,” he said, brushing hair away from her face with one hand and then stroking his thumb over her open lips.

“Why do you keep going behind my back?” she said softly, staring at his Adam’s apple in his throat and trying not to show her unease.

“You’re telling me that if I had made the suggestion of hiring a PI, you would have gone along with it?” he asked.

She hesitated. It would be easier to lie and say yes, but she expected total honesty from him, so she could offer no less. “No. I would have told you not to bother.”

He nodded, and she watched his Adam’s apple bob in his throat. “You know, with any other submissive, I wouldn’t even explain myself, but you’re different, Sidney. I want you to be my wife, not just my sub. I want to have a partnership with you, but I need to know if you can let me top you or if it would be too much for you.”