Springer, Jan - Be My Dream Tonight [The Desperadoes 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (16 page)

He turned to look down at her, his brows still furrowed with concern, anger, and a host of emotions. But she noticed his shoulders slump in defeat. He held out the rifle.

When she tried to grab it, he didn’t let it go.

“You promise me she’s not a threat to you?”

“To you guys, definitely a threat. To me, no.”

“She fucking held a gun to your head, Eve. She’s fucking nuts. With friends like her, you sure as hell don’t need enemies.”

She couldn’t help but smile at him. “She saved my ass from Wolfe. We all owe her big-time. Now give me the rifle. I need to change and talk to her. And you need to stay out of her way. Promise me?”

“She needs to stay out of my way. I don’t take kindly to people threatening to kill the love of my life,” he said. “Here! Make sure the gun is off safety when you’re with her. Tell her to get her ass out of the house or I’m coming in with guns blasting. She has five minutes.”

Eve nodded, let go of his arm, and grabbed her rifle. Turning swiftly, she headed back into the cabin. Her head was whirling, and she felt way off balance. Had he said she was the love of her life?

Sweet mercy! The truth comes out. Finally!
It was just as she had suspected. She came to an abrupt halt when the barrel of C.J.’s rifle poked around the corner to the kitchen entrance, aiming at her.

“It’s just me,” Eve breathed. The rifle vanished, and C.J.’s arm appeared from behind the doorway, waving her inside.

When Eve stepped into the kitchen, she wasn’t sure if she should laugh at Mad and Riley being tied up or if she should start crying at the mess. Pots and pans had been strewn all over the floor. Flour dust was plastered over the counter. It looked as if an explosion had gone off in here. Sitting uneasily on their chairs, their mouths gagged and their hands tied behind their backs, Maddox and Riley glared daggers at C.J., who swung her rifle back on them.

C.J. grinned at her and with her free hand pushed the brim of her trademark light gray cowboy hat, giving Eve a full look at the pale pink scars on her face. She was surprised that her friend wasn’t wearing her scarves. Usually she did around people she didn’t know. But then she spied two black scarves lying on the floor. Obviously the men had fought her good and hard. Her blue eyes twinkled with amusement despite her earlier irritation.

“They were so involved in cooking breakfast for you, they didn’t even hear me enter the house.” C.J. shook her head in apparent disgust. “You better get yourself some heavy-duty guard dogs, Eve, because these two aren’t going to cut it as protectors for you.”

On their chairs, both Mad and Riley growled and fought their bonds.

“Kayne’s giving you five minutes to leave, or he’s coming in with his guns blasting. I’ll meet you up by the windmill. We’ll talk then.”

C.J. shook her head and rolled her eyes as if she was being very inconvenienced. Well, join the club. Her nipples and ass were killing her, and all three men would now be on the warpath regarding C.J.’s impromptu and totally not nice visit. Her friend pulled the brim of her cowboy hat lower over her forehead. Her midback-length, straight black hair whipped into the air behind her like crow’s wings as she swiftly turned and headed for the back door.

* * * *

“Mad, I really need some of that ointment you make,” she said as she hurriedly undid Mad’s gag.

“What the fuck is her problem? She threatened to blow off our balls if we didn’t do as she said,” Maddox shouted, his face red with rage.

“Mad, I don’t have time for this. Please, the ointment?”

He frowned and shook his head, not saying anything for a moment as he looked out the window and watched C.J. sprinting across the meadow. Then he returned his attention to her. “In my saddlebag. Small pouch on the outside. Bag’s on the floor in the hallway closet.”

“Thanks, you’re a dear.”

She headed out of the kitchen and back into the hallway, wincing as Maddox cursed and ordered her to untie him. Urgency to get to C.J. before Kayne changed his mind and got himself killed had her moving even faster. Thankfully Kayne had kept his word about staying outside. In a second, she had the jar of ointment and was smoothing on some of the slippery salve. The smell was familiar, and once again flashes of memories of the men smearing salve on tender parts of her body flared through her mind. She forced it aside. She’d deal with these newest memories later.

Relief came almost immediately to her nipples, so she just opted to grab a pair of leggings from the line she’d hung last night. Quickly she slipped into them and kept the blanket as her top. A moment later she was rushing past a furious Mad and Riley, who glared daggers at her. Thankfully not as intense as the way they had looked at C.J., which came as some comfort.

“Come on, Eve. Don’t leave us like this,” Mad shouted before she could close the door.

“Kayne will be in shortly,” she called back, trying to reassure them they wouldn’t be tied up for too long. Then she was sprinting across the meadow behind the cabin, heading toward the windmill. Thankfully Kayne wasn’t around to stop her, which made her tighten her grip on her rifle and run even faster, thinking that maybe he’d gone after C.J. after all.

Casting quick glances over her shoulder to check for any signs of Kayne, she breathed a sigh of relief when a couple of moments later she spied the side door burst open and three men stomp outside. Thankfully they stayed on the porch. She was too far away to see the expressions on their faces, but in their vivid stances, she knew they were pissed off.

Too bad. She was a big girl, and she knew how to take care of herself.
Unlike the way you used to be. Totally helpless and reliant on men for protection.

Whoa, where had that thought come from?

“About time you got here,” C.J. snapped as she suddenly melted out from behind a nearby tree halfway to the windmill.

Eve had the rifle up and ready to shoot before she even realized it was her friend standing in front of her.

“You know how much I hate when you do that!” Eve shouted as anger rushed away and relief quickly took hold.

Before she knew what was happening she was enveloped into a warm embrace.

“God, I’ve missed you, Eve,” C.J. whispered against her ear and squeezed her tighter to the point that her sore nipples were really getting an owie workout. Her friend’s face was drenched with emotion, and that instantly dragged out Eve’s emotions as well.

Tears pricked at her eyes. “I missed you, too, C.J. What in the world are you doing here? I was sure I might never see you again.”

C.J. drew away and sniffed the air. She frowned. “What’s that funny smell? Why in the world are you wearing a blanket? Have you caught a cold?”

“I’m fine. Long story. What about—”

“Everything is fine. Don’t worry. I came here because I wanted to brief you on Wolfe.”

Alarm snapped through Eve. “You didn’t go back to that place. Tell me you didn’t.”

There were bad memories there for both of them, but more for C.J.

She nodded and winced. “I did.”

“I told you I would make sure we knew the layout before we went in. They are professional robbers, C.J. They scout out every hit for weeks before they go in.”

“I know. I know. But you know how I get.” She shrugged her shoulders and threw Eve a frown which totally disintegrated her anger. She could never stay mad at C.J. for longer than a few seconds.

“Yeah, I know you. Worry, worry, worry. Plan ahead on everything.”

C.J. grinned. She was already back to her cheerful yet cautious self again. “Let’s get caught up on personal stuff, then I’ll give you the lowdown.”

Eve nodded and grabbed C.J.’s hand, and they quickly headed toward the windmill on the hill.

* * * *

“Why the fuck did you let her go, Kayne?” Riley growled as frustration unlike anything he’d ever experienced before sliced into him. Maddox, Kayne, and himself stood on the side veranda watching the two women holding hands like two school chums as they headed toward that windmill.

“Like I had a choice?” Kayne snapped back at him. He was obviously pissed off as much as Riley, and that fact didn’t sit well with him. If Kayne was pissed, then the situation with Eve had gone totally out of his control.

“She’s the woman, isn’t she? The one Eve went off with. She looks different. More healthy. Filled out,” he commented.

“As opposed to her being riddled with black-and-blue bruises, nine months pregnant, and just a tad less angry this time around than when she stuck a gun in our faces back then?” Maddox grumbled in a sarcastic tone. He continued, his voice turning lower, softer.

“That woman deserves to get her ass spanked. That sure as hell would snap her out of some of that anger that she carries around like a fucking badge.”

“Got the hots for her, do you, Mad?” Riley teased.

Mad glared at him. “Go fuck yourself, Riley.”

Riley chuckled inwardly. “Why should I fuck myself when there are two gorgeous women within fucking distance?” Riley replied, trying hard not to let himself get wrapped up in Mad’s anger or his own frustration, for that matter. They didn’t know this chick. The way she’d come busting into the cabin, it had felt like a SWAT team. He’d tried to grab his gun, and she’d chopped it right out of his hand. Fuck, the bitch was strong. Maddox hadn’t fared any better. Mad had tried to smack her with a couple of pots, but that had only pissed her off. She’d put him in a tight neck grip and had him tied to the chair before either of them could say boo.

Mad rolled his eyes, and Riley relaxed a bit as he saw the tips of Mad’s mouth tilt upward a bit. Kayne, on the other hand, still looked pissed.

He focused his thoughts back to this chick again. She was fast with a gun, just the same as Eve. She was pretty good with defensive and offensive moves, too. If he were to guess, he’d say she was the one who taught Eve how to shoot.

“Maybe I should have invited her for breakfast? Maybe she wouldn’t have been such a bitch?” Riley said softly, trying to break the tension between the three of them.

“Speaking of which, I’m starved. Maybe we should go in and eat and wait for her to come back?” Mad replied, picking up the thread that Riley had tossed.

But none of them moved. Their gazes were fixed to the two women who were starting to climb the faraway hill.

Okay, so maybe they weren’t hungry after all? If these two wanted to play sentry over Eve, then by all means, he would do the same. Besides, he felt a whole lot better knowing that the two women had three sets of eyes watching them, instead of two.

* * * *

“Oh my goodness! Do they hurt as bad as they look?” C.J. whispered as she gazed upon Eve’s breasts. The nipples were so engorged and red that she couldn’t help but feel sorry for the poor girl. If Eve didn’t have the biggest satisfied smile on her face right now, C.J. would have been halfway down to that cabin, her gun ready to shoot those three bastards the moment she saw them. Obviously, Eve was enjoying her time with the
Durango
Gang.

“I think I have a pain fetish.” Eve giggled and closed the blanket. “It felt really good while it was happening, but afterwards…it got so sore. My behind is a bit more tolerable, but the butt plug they put into me is making me cream up a storm.”

C.J. hid a smile as she watched Eve’s cheeks redden. She figured this was not the time to kid her about such intimate things.

“Well, anyways, now I know where that smell is coming from. You’d better wear it more often in order to keep them away from you.”

The look of horror that flashed across Eve’s face had C.J. realizing that Eve truly was serious about her three men.

“I’m kidding. It doesn’t smell bad at all.” She chuckled.

Relief made her friend’s shoulders slump. “Thank goodness. Anyways, C., if you ever need some, just come by and ask Maddox.”

“Maddox? Which one is he?” She wanted to ask if he was the handsome one, but heck, all three were equally handsome. But as C.J. had discovered, good looks on men were deceiving.

“The one wearing the fur pants.”

“The cook?”

Eve smiled. “That’s the one.”

“And all three of them did you on the couch?” C.J. couldn’t help her curiosity, but it all sounded so fantastic, having three men making exquisite love to her at the same time. It was moments like these, moments when she saw Eve’s smile so bright and her eyes twinkling with such happiness, that C.J. wished she hadn’t sworn herself off men. But all she had to do was think about Wolfe, and she got totally turned off to men yet again. Still, the erotic way Eve described how they made love to her, all three of them taking her, one after the other, wrenching scorching orgasms out of her, made her pause.

“And Kayne took me down by the river. Twice. Once up against the tree with my hands bound,” Eve gushed. “That’s how my breasts got so red. The other time, he turned me around. That’s how my ass is probably just as red.”

C.J. shivered. Now that scared her. Being bound again would not be a good thing for C.J. For her, being bound only held bad memories. But she was glad for Eve that C.J.’s avoidance of men hadn’t turned her friend off toward them.

“Okay, I can see I’ve lost you in conversation.” Eve shook her head and inhaled deeply. “I totally understand. I know how guys turn you off. Tell me about what you’ve learned about Wolfe.”