Where There is Hope [Taos Wolven Mates 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (5 page)

After feeding and watering the horses, they tended the other animals. The chickens were out of their coop foraging, though a few of them were missing. They gave the two pigs some of the feed they purchased from the general store the last time they visited the newly named Serenity Falls.

“Where are the dogs?” They looked everywhere for them but couldn’t find either of them anywhere.

“They’ve probably gone hunting. I know I would if someone left me here to fend for myself.”

Maybe that’s where the missing chickens had gone. “I hope you’re right.” Braxton searched the tree line in the distance. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. He just couldn’t help but think that there was trouble in their little corner of the world. He could feel his spine tingling as his wolf snarled to break free, its hackles raised.

“Something’s wrong.” He glanced around their ranch, trying to figure out why he felt the way he did. “I’m not sure what it is, but we need to get to Robio’s and Dradon’s ranch.” He turned to Hope. “You’ll have to come with us. We can’t leave you alone when we suspect trouble.”

Grabbing her hand, Braxton dragged her behind him to the barn. “I hope Diablo and Satan are through eating. I don’t want to wait any longer than we already have.” He was itching to find out what the hell was going on.

Hope glanced at Braxton, a half smile on her face. “You both named your horses after the devil?” Wow. Talk about lack of imagination.

Joran winked at her. “They didn’t trust us at first. They threw us and ran more times than I would care to admit.” Removing his hat, he swiped his forearm across his forehead then put it back on. “They were the wildest pair of cow horses we’d ever seen.”

“Even though they’d been trained, they were still wild as jackrabbits when we got them. I imagine they could sense the predator in us and didn’t want to stick around long enough to see if we’d make them dinner.” Braxton pulled a saddle from a wooden horse and threw it over his shoulder. “I can’t tell you how many bones they broke before they realized we didn’t plan to eat them.”

Hope tried not to stare at the muscles rippling beneath his shirt, but she failed miserably. Even if this was some sort of dream or nightmare, she didn’t want to give in to her inner slut and ogle these two. She had her principles and they didn’t include ogling two uberhot guys almost young enough to be her children.

She looked away when Joran picked up his saddle and followed Braxton deeper into the barn.

“You know,” she said as she licked her dry lips. “You could leave me here.” She waved her arms. “It’s not like I have anywhere to go. You have no phone, and I haven’t ridden bareback since I was sixteen. I don’t think you have to worry about me escaping on you.”

“That’s not what worries me.” Braxton turned to face her, his expression grim. “Wolven males don’t get bad feelings over trivial matters. If something
is
wrong, you’re much safer with us than you would be here alone.”

“Oh.” She hadn’t thought of that. Hope stared down at her feet and wondered just what they thought was wrong. What kind of trouble would give a man the size of these two the heebie-jeebies? She frowned. The better question might be, what could cause such trepidation in men like them? If they really
were
some sort of magical were-being from another planet, they had a huge advantage over human men.

Hope shivered at the thought and rubbed her hands up and down her arms. “You know, I really think I should stay here.” How would she survive a long ride with either of these two? She couldn’t let them make her ride out with them. If they
were
were-beings like they claimed, they would smell her arousal every step of the way. Hope couldn’t imagine a more humiliating experience. Going with them was dangerous in more ways than one.

Heck, if these guys were on alert the way they were, she wanted nothing to do with heading into any type of trouble zone with them. She wasn’t stupid.

“We cannot leave you here, Hope,” Joran said as he led his saddled horse from its stall. “It would divide our attention. We can protect you much better if you remain by our sides.”

He stopped in front of her to reach up and cup her cheek. “Besides,” he said with a grin, “neither Braxton nor I can think unless you’re close enough to touch.”

Quickly, before she could protest, he leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to her lips.

Her breath hitched as his warm lips covered hers. Her nipples tightened and arrows of desire shot through her blood, headed straight to her womb. Her toes curled in the ugly, serviceable shoes they provided for her, and her head spun. She felt herself beginning to sway on her feet when he grasped her shoulders and steadied her before pulling back to look at her.

Hope stood staring up at him, speechless. What could she say to the fact that she was attracted to a man nearly half her age? Other than telling herself she was the clichéd cradle robber, there really was nothing else to say. Stepping back, she took a deep breath and opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out.

Joran rested his finger against her lips. “Shh, darlin’. You have nothing to feel ashamed about.”

“I’m not—” She tried to pull away, but he followed her, his finger still firm on her lips.

“Yes you are. You forget our other form is that of a wolf. We can smell it.” He grinned. “We can also smell your arousal, so don’t try to deny that either.”

“Oh!” Hope spun around, covering her face with her hands. They
could
smell that. How humiliating! Did she need a bath or something? She
did
spend all day out in the damned heat.

“There is nothing for you to be embarrassed about, sweetheart. It is totally natural. And,” he said with a wink and a smile, “we can’t tell you how happy we are to know that you desire us.”

God, could things get
any
worse? Hope couldn’t face them again, she just couldn’t. How could she continue to keep company with these two when they practically knew her every thought by the way she smelled?

“Just leave me here and go see what’s causing your weird radar to act up.” She started to walk back to the house. “I’ll stay inside. I’ll even barricade myself in the cellar if you have one. Just promise me I don’t have to go with you.”

Hope was halfway to the house when Joran scooped her up, sat her across his saddle then climbed up behind her. “We are
not
leaving you here. Whatever Braxton feels is
not
good. Now turn yourself astride unless you want to ride sidesaddle.”

Lifting her skirt, she maneuvered her right leg over the neck of the horse and patted the folds of material in place. Hope shivered when his breath tickled her ear. Goose bumps covered her flesh, and she tried to ignore the fact that his hard cock pressed into the cleft of her rear.

One thing was certain, they weren’t lying when they said they were attracted to her. Both of them had been sporting a hard-on since she’d regained consciousness. She’d tried to ignore that, she really had.

Shaking her head, Hope closed her eyes and wondered what she had ever done to deserve this madness in her life. She’d been a good wife. She’d even wanted to be a good mother. Apparently, motherhood just wasn’t in the cards for her. Otherwise, she would have been one by now. She never used birth control in all the years she’d been married.

That Bob’s girlfriend got pregnant almost immediately told her that she needn’t ever consult a fertility doctor. It was more than obvious that Hope was the one at fault for their childless union.

“Whatever you’re thinking about, Hope, stop it,” Joran said against her ear before he pressed a kiss to the side of her neck.

Liquid heat rushed from her womb to soak her panties. If he kept that up, she would be so wet by the time they got where they were going, she’d need a change of underwear. Maybe she should have worn the archaic pantaloons they’d provided. At least that way she would have had another bunch of ruffled material between her and the saddle that kept rubbing her already sensitive and throbbing clit with every swaying step of his horse.

All Hope knew was that if they decided to break out into a canter, she was a goner. Swallowing thickly, Hope closed her eyes and tried to ignore the sensation, but it just wouldn’t go away. She would come if she had even the slightest bit of extra stimulation. That was saying quite a bit considering she hadn’t been able to bring herself off since Bob left her.

“Oh, my God.” She gasped as Joran’s fingers slipped beneath the elastic of her panties and circled her clit. It was all the stimulation she needed to finish what he had inadvertently begun by placing her on the back of his horse and whispering in her ear.

Her orgasm washed over her in wave after wave of sensation while he continued to strum the now-oversensitive nub. Hope grabbed his hand through her skirt and pressed it tight against her as she panted through her climax.

Nothing could have prepared her for the utter shame and dejection she felt once she came down from her peak. Her face burned with mortification. How could she let him do that with his friend riding just in front of them?

Braxton most likely even heard her when she came. What was wrong with her that she could throw her conservative upbringing aside and allow a man she had just met to thrust his hand between her thighs and bring her off like some free-love maven from the sixties?

“Shh, love. Don’t beat yourself up so. Braxton and I told you we brought you here to be our mate. That means we want you to be a mate to both of us.” He pointed to Braxton who had stopped and turned his horse around. “Look at him, Hope. See the way he smiles at you? Does that look like a man who thinks you did something wrong?”

“It doesn’t matter what he thinks. Jesus, Joran. I’m almost old enough to be your mother!” The last came out on an embarrassed hiss.

“I doubt that, dear heart.” He leaned forward and kissed her cheek.

Braxton dug his heels into his mount’s sides and trotted back to them, with a laugh. “You are most assuredly not anywhere near old enough to be our mother, Hope.” Reaching across the space between them, he tucked two fingers under her chin and looked deep into her eyes. “We are much older than we look.”

“Yeah, right.” She pulled away to swipe her eyes with the back of her hand. “What are you two, twenty-five, twenty-six tops?”

Braxton chuckled and shook his head. “No, Hope. I am nearly three-hundred years old.” He tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

“Bull chips! There’s no way you are that old. It’s impossible.”

“It’s impossible for humans. It is not impossible for us.”

Turning, she glanced back a Joran. “How old are you going to claim to be, five hundred?” she asked with a snort. If they thought she was going to believe that crap, they were even crazier than she thought.

“No,” Joran said with a laugh. “I’m only two hundred and twenty.”

“God, you’re both delusional.” Her face burned. What did they call women who dated younger men? “And I’m a jaguar or something.”

“You’re a what?” both of the men said at the same time.

“I don’t know. They call women who date younger men some kind of cat name. I don’t know what it is.” Of course she didn’t. She had never once entertained the idea of dating a younger man. Hell, she’d been married since she was eighteen and here she was, nearly forty-eight and single again.

She wasn’t supposed to be single. After thirty years, she had entertained the idea of retiring with Bob and traveling around the world until they were too old to do it anymore. Hope had scrimped and saved their entire lives to save up enough for them to retire in less than two years and how did he thank her? He withdrew the money and bought a house for his new girlfriend then sold their home out from under her.

She looked out over the grassy plain they crossed to the stand of trees on the other side and swiped the tears from her eyes. “How long before we get to your friends’ house?” It felt as though they’d been riding for hours. Hope needed to dismount and stretch her legs. As it was, she knew she wouldn’t be able to walk in the morning.

“It’s just through that stand of trees,” Joran pointed off to the left in front of them. “We should be there in less than an hour. Faster if we canter.”

“Canter if you want. I can handle it.” Hope didn’t know if her rear could handle it, but she did know that the two men were anxious to see why their friends hadn’t cared for their ranch while they were gone.

“Are you sure?”

“Positive,” she said with a nod.

Ten minutes of hard riding later, Hope muttered to herself. “Only fools are positive, you idiot.” Her butt already hurt so much she didn’t know if she’d be able to stand when they finally arrived at their friend’s ranch, let alone walk.

The countryside was quiet when they arrived. It was too quiet as they cantered across another flat stretch of green grass littered with cows and horses grazing. The two men finally slowed their horses to approach the ranch at a more sedate pace.

“Something doesn’t smell right.” Braxton tilted his head back and took a deep breath. “I scent death in the air.”

“They probably can’t cook either,” Joran said with a chuckle. “I’d hate it if we were interrupting their meal.”