Steel and Hardness (3 page)

Her head pounded, and she
swallowed the bile that continually came up and choked her. Whoever
took her must have poisoned her. She leaned over and put her hands
on her knees. None of this made sense. She didn’t have any enemies,
and most of the time she struggled to pay her monthly bills.
Unless the person wanted to get me away from my
horses…

She straightened
up.
Jack.

Rushing to the door, she
pounded her fist against the wood. “God damn you, Jack. Let me out
of here!” She kicked out with her boot and groaned.
God, my head.

Not wanting to admit that her uncle had
fucked her out of the sale of her best horse, she leaned her
forehead against the doorjamb. “Fuck you, Jack.” Then she closed
her eyes and prayed that Bryce and Taylor, her steel and hardness
men, would find her.

Chapter Four

The next day, a dually pulled up to the barn
with a horse trailer. The truck backed up to the sliding doors, and
an older man stepped out of the cab. Bryce glanced at Taylor. “You
were right.”

Taylor’s jaw muscle flinched. “We still have
to convince her uncle to take us to where he’s hiding Pauline.”

He nodded. “When we get her back, we need to
figure out a way to make this relationship permanent. I don’t want
to put her in this kind of predicament again."

Bryce lifted the collar of his shirt where
the wire was attached. “Wait until he’s brought out the horse.”

“Roger.” Tony’s voice came over the
earpiece.

“We’ll find her,” Donovan replied a second
later.

Bryce let the edge of the curtain close and
held up his hand. “Let’s go, partner.”

Taylor clasped his hand and squeezed. “Watch
your back. Pauline would kill me if something happened to either
one of us.” He swallowed.

“Always.” He slipped out
the back door and ran straight across the yard to the front of the
dually. Hunkering down in front of the grill, he waited.
We’re close, brown eyes. Hang on a little bit
longer.

“He’s in with the horse,” Tony
whispered.

Bryce stood up and darted
inside the horse trailer.
Okay, you
bastard, come on.

The men had worked many cases together over
the years. Every move was planned to include the unexpected. Bryce
trusted them, depended on them, and would put his life on the line
for any one of them, and yet, it didn’t explain the uneasy
queasiness in his gut. It was more than his life they were playing
with…it was Pauline’s life.

“Sergoni’s headed your way. Keep your head
on, Bryce. Don’t do anything stupid and jeopardize finding
Pauline.”

He slipped the safety off his pistol. The
horse’s neigh warned him that Jack Sergoni was near. He slowed his
breathing, raised his arm, and shifted his weight to the balls of
his feet.

The groan of the metal door had him standing
up. Jack jolted at finding himself facing an armed man.

“Arms up in the air!” He stepped to the end
of the trailer. Out of his peripheral vision he saw the other
agents circling the rear. “Hold it right there.”

Jack dropped the reins and raised his arms.
“What’s this about? Who are you?”

Donovan slipped behind Jack, grabbed his
arm, bent it behind his back, and snapped the handcuffs on. “You’ve
fucked with the wrong men, Sergoni.”

Taylor slipped his pistol into the back of
his jeans, stepped up in front of Sergoni, and stared the man down.
“Where is she?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He
motioned with his head. “Somebody grab my horse before he hurts
himself or runs away.”

Taylor nodded at Tony, and then lowered his
voice. “I’m going to ask you once more. Where is Pauline,
Sergoni?”

Jack snarled, and he turned his head to spit
on the ground. Taylor’s hand itched to curl into a fist, but he
kept his composure. “Three. Two…”

“That bitch could be anywhere.” Jack
shrugged. “Rumors going around say she’s fucking not one, but
two—”

The older man dropped like
a sack of potatoes. Taylor leaned over, grabbed the front of Jack’s
shirt, and hauled him back to his feet. “You’ve got one second to
tell me what you did with her, or we’ll skip the charges already
piling up on you and let
one
of the men who loves Pauline put a bullet in your
forehead, you piece of shit.”

A
click
behind Taylor might as well
have been a gunshot. Jack squeezed his eyes shut. “I didn’t hurt
her. She’s locked…”

Taylor shook the man. “Where?”

“Two miles out Fox Road. There’s an
abandoned house.” The man sagged in Taylor’s hold. “I didn’t hurt
her. The horse is mine. It’s always been mine.”

Sweet relief flooded through Taylor. He
pushed Jack away from him and turned to Bryce. Hope shone in his
eyes. “Let’s ride.”

* * *

The hum of an engine
growing closer woke Pauline up. She pushed herself off the floor,
groaning, and ran to the window. “Hey!” She picked up her boot off
the floor and beat it against the wall. “Over here. I’m in here.”
She laid her ear upon the glass.
Please
let it be someone who can help me.

A door slammed. She frowned. What if it was
Jack? She pursed her lips. He’d turned nasty over the last few
years, but did he have it in him to kill her? Clamping her lips
together, she marched over to the door, lifted her arm, and smacked
the door. “Open this door right now, Jack. So help me God, you are
a pathetic excuse for an uncle.” She screamed loud and long.
“You’ll never get away with this.” Stepping away from the door, she
turned and threw her shoulder into the wood. “God dammit! Open it
up. I’m hungry. I want to use the bathroom, and…and…I’ll enjoy
watching Bryce and Taylor kill you!”

She rubbed her arm. “You heard me, asshole.
My men will shoot your cold, dead heart out of your chest. They
never miss!” She wrapped her arms around her waist and leaned
against the wall. Tears slid down her cheeks. A sob came out, and
she wiped her hand across her nose. “They love me!” Not giving up,
she picked her boot back up and hurled it against the door. “I’ll
give you the damn horse…all of it, the ranch, the business,
everything. Just let me go. I don’t need anything…just them.”

The handle clicked. She
hurried to take off her other boot. Holding it above her head, she
stood to the side.
Come on,
fucker…

The door swung open, and Taylor stepped into
the room. “Brown eyes?”

She cried out, dropped the boot, and flew
into his arms. She squeezed him, sobbing. Her hands touched him all
over his body, reassuring herself that it was really him.

“Sh…I got you.” Taylor smoothed her hair
back from her face and peppered her mouth, her cheeks, and her
eyelids with kisses. “You scared the hell out of me.” He cleared
his throat. “I thought we’d lost you.”

She shook her head rapidly. “Never.” She
sniffed and noticed Bryce standing behind Taylor. “Bryce!” She
stretched out her arm.

He walked up to her and clasped her face in
his hands. His lips captured her mouth, plunging his tongue inside.
She gave him everything she had in that kiss, all the desperation,
fear, and happiness over them finding her. Pulling back, she gazed
at the two men who meant the world to her. Each of them holding
each other, they were linked, a chain that would never break.

“You found me.” She let the tears fall. “I
thought I’d never get the chance to tell you both how much I love
you.”

“We love you too.” Taylor’s eyebrow
twitched.

She shook her head. “I mean really love,
love you. The most important thing to me is that I’m with you two.
I don’t need the horses…the ranch…nothing. I just want us to all be
together. I don’t care if the world knows I sleep with two gorgeous
men. I don’t have to explain what is in my heart…that’s only
important to the three of us.” She gazed at Taylor. “I don’t want
to go another day without you reminding me not to pout when I don’t
get my way.” Pauline turned to Bryce. “And you”—she laughed—“I’m
going to hide the batteries in the remote control, because your
channel surfing drives Taylor and I crazy.”

The men grinned at each other. The weight of
figuring out how to make their relationship work lifted off her
shoulders. It took a kidnapping to help her make up her mind, but
she had no doubts about what she wanted.

“Will you guys marry me?”

Chapter Five

Every light in the small cabin was on.
Jolene sat on Tony’s leg at the end of the couch while Donovan had
Josie wrapped up in his arms, both of them laughing at the story
Jolene was retelling for the third time. Pauline absently ran her
finger along the tiny rip in Taylor’s jeans. Bryce had his arm
around her shoulders, his finger curling the ends of her hair. She
lifted her chin and winked at Taylor.

“Ready?” He leaned down and kissed the tip
of her nose.

She nodded and turned to Bryce. “Do you
think they already know?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. Jolene is
getting so damn good at eavesdropping. She might have overheard us
the last couple days.”

Pauline laughed. “Josie and I have already
talked Jolene into giving us lessons on her stealth skills next
month when you guys leave to go undercover.” She lifted her brows.
“There will be nothing you can do around us that we won’t figure
out ahead of time.”

Bryce pushed himself off the loveseat and
held his hand out to Taylor. “Steel or hardness?” He reached into
his pocket and extracted the coin she had made especially for them.
On one side was the word steel, and the other side read hardness.
Those two had come up with some pretty kinky games to play with the
gag gift.

“Hardness, of course.” Taylor grinned.

Bryce flipped his thumb, caught the
medallion, glanced down, and groaned. “You win.”

A hush moved across the room. Pauline stood
up between her two men. Her stomach fluttered. She wasn’t afraid of
what everyone would say about their news. Every one of them in the
cabin had told them one way or another how happy they were that
they’d all found love. But she was nervous about Jolene’s reaction
to their request. Her answer meant so much to her.

Taylor cleared his throat. “Bryce and I have
something to tell you all.”

Every head turned in their direction.
Pauline slipped her arms around Taylor and Bryce’s backs and hooked
her fingers in the back pockets of their jeans. This was the
perfect place to share their love with others. The agents were
family, the women had become best friends instantly, and good news
should always be shared.

“Pauline has agreed…” He leaned down and
gave her a kiss. “…to marry Bryce and me.”

Jolene and Josie jumped up and rushed across
the room. Pauline laughed and slipped her arms from her two guys,
then hugged her friends. Tears spilled over onto her cheeks. “Can
you believe it?” She held up her left hand.

“Oh, my God, girlfriend.” Josie held her
hand up. “That is a beautiful ring.”

Jolene smiled and moved to hug Bryce and
Taylor. “I’m so happy for you all.”

Pauline laughed. “Okay, I have to know…did
you already know, Jolene?”

Everyone glanced back and
forth. Jolene snorted. “I told you I’m getting really good.” She
crossed her arms. “Oh, fine…of course I knew,
and
I told everyone. This is
exciting news. We’ve all had our fingers crossed that you three
would work it out. We love you.”

Pauline laughed and backed up beside her
men. “We do have a favor to ask you and Tony. Actually, we have
something each one of you could do for us…”

“We’d like to have the wedding here, at the
cabin.” Bryce squeezed her hand.

Jolene clapped her hands. “Of course, you
all are more than welcome here. This is your home too.”

“Thank you.” Pauline blew her a kiss.

“We’d like you all to be a part of the
celebration. We already know that three people getting married to
each other isn’t legal, and we’ve decided not to leave one of us
out…so we’re going to have our own ceremony, and take our pledge to
one another privately. We’d like you to be with us.” Taylor
grinned. “As our family.”

The other agents came up and shook hands
with Bryce and Taylor, kissed Pauline, and slowly everyone wandered
back to their spots and settled down in quiet conversations.
Pauline leaned over to Bryce. “Want to go for a walk?”

He nodded.

She turned and smiled up at Taylor. “We’re
going outside. Want to come?”

He nodded.

They slipped out the front door. She paused
and inhaled the fresh night air. A shiver ran up her spine, and she
rubbed her arms.

“I’ll go back and get your coat.” Taylor
turned, but Pauline grabbed his arm.

“I won’t need a coat.” She held out her
hands. Pulling her two men, she led them down the path to the
creek. It took sneaking away throughout the day to set everything
up.

“Stay here.” She laughed over her shoulder
and disappeared behind a patch of bushes. “No peeking,” she called
out.

A few minutes later, Pauline popped her head
out from behind the brush. “I’m ready.” She crooked her finger.
Stepping back, she fluffed her hair up, inhaled a deep breath, and
waited.

The guys came around the greenery and
stopped. “Damn,” they said in unison.

“I’ve planned this all day.” She stepped in
front of them and held out her hands. “Do you like?”

She’d spread out an oversized red comforter
in the grass and lit six lanterns set in the rocks edging her
makeshift bed. Tony had helped her set up a netting to keep off the
bugs earlier, and all she’d had to do was lure the men down, strip
out of her clothes, and she had a perfect scene to show her men how
much she loved them.