Cowboy Double-Decker (9 page)

Though, if anything happened to her, where would Scotty go?

That was one of the reasons she was determined to put down roots in a small town. She’d make strong friendships, like a family she chose rather than was born into. Then she’d get a lawyer to set her will up so Scotty had lots of support if anything happened to her.

“Sweetling, you ain’t got nothin’ on me.”

While she fidgeted he leaned back, crossed his hands over his belly, and settled himself in the big padded chair. The gleam in his eye faded.

“Who hit you, Kaela?”

“What?” Blood rushed so fast from her pounding heart that she could barely hear. The memories she already forced down once today rushed back up to overwhelm her.

“Someone used to beat on you. Someone big.”

She clamped her jaws shut, swallowing to keep her dinner down.

“When Scotty let loose on my chest you ducked away, expecting a blow. You don’t develop those reflexes without a reason.”

She stood and turned her back to him, fist to her mouth, biting her knuckles. She heard the rustle of clothing and strong arms turned her around. He pulled her to his chest and tilted her chin to look up at him.

“I know what it feels like when someone who should protect you slams their fist into you. It’s not your fault and it’s nothing to be ashamed of. Adam’s father had a mad on for the world and beat on anyone smaller. I’m big now, but I was once Scotty’s size. I remember, Kaela.”

She gripped his shirt with her free hand, holding on so her knees wouldn’t buckle. His deep, slow breathing calmed her, as did the slow circles his hands made on her back.

“Who was it, Kaela? I’m not letting you go until you tell me.”

“My uncle,” she finally whispered. He let her pull away to tidy up supper. She tossed her son’s toys into his basket. Folded some
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clothes. Straightened papers. He waited patiently, leaning against the desk, white hands clenching the wooden edges on each side of his hips. She finally ran out of things to organize in the small room and slouched into her chair.

“Adam had just started school when his ma ran away,” said Bryan quietly. “His dad, Grant, turned into a mean drunk. Ma took care of me, Adam, and my older brother, Sam. Adam slept over when it was really bad. I was twelve and Adam fourteen when Ma died. I moved in with Adam since I had nowhere else to go. Sam was in the Army, overseas.” He shrugged, staring at his boots. “Adam and me, we survived. But we vowed our kids would always have loving dads and moms. Four of us living together makes it more likely.”

He looked at her with eyes that said what she felt.

He knew.

She bit her lip, raised her head, and looked at him. Seeing caring and compassion, she inhaled and began.

“My parents died in a car crash when I was five,” she said. “I was sent to the only family I had, my father’s sister, Delia, and her husband, Wesley. They made sure I knew they only took me in because of charity and I should bless them every day. My uncle believes a women’s duty is to obey men in everything, as all women of Eve are cursed and must be chastised. He took it more literally when he was drunk. He was careful to never break a bone, but it was close. I never knew when he’d turn on me.”

“Bastard.” Bryan hissed the word.

“School was everything to me. I escaped to college on a scholarship, loving the learning and the freedom. I’d never dated, spending most of my time in the library. I was afraid to touch myself in my own bed until I’d left home. In my last year I met Freddie. He was only an inch taller than me, so he was nothing like Uncle Wesley.

He was polite and showered me with attention. Desperate for someone to care, I fell for it. Before we had sex, he promised to marry me, but to keep it a secret until the end of the school year. He said he
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loved me and I trusted him. When I got pregnant he laughed and said I was ‘just this semester’s fuck buddy.’ He wrote me a huge check for an abortion and walked out.”

“From one bastard to another.”

She nodded. “Scotty is my only family and I thank God every day that he looks nothing like Freddie.”

“Aw, hell, Kaela.”

Bryan swept her up and carried her to his chair. He settled into it, pulling her against his chest when she struggled.

“Dammit, relax woman!”

She blinked quickly to hold back the tears threatening to flow.

“Let it go, Kaela.”

“I can’t,” she keened. “I’ve got to be strong for Scotty. He has no one else.”

“Neither do you. Sweetling, if you don’t let it out it will haunt you and Scotty all your lives. Trust me on that. I couldn’t let go until we buried the bastard. And even then it was only Adam’s friendship, then Candy’s love, that kept me going until the girls were born.”

“I’m not ready to let go yet. There’s too much else I have to deal with first.”

“Like what?” He stroked her cheek with the back of his finger.

“Like finding a way to feed my child and a home to keep him in!”

“Those are good ones.” He pulled her tight. “But just rest a bit.”

“I’m too heavy. I’ll squish you.”

He ignored her and she finally relaxed in his arms. Slowly her worry slipped away, leaving her with an awareness of the aroused man under her.

“I like being underneath sometimes,” he said. He winked and slid a hand over her bottom. “I’ve got an even better idea,” he said, slow and sexy.

“What?” She wriggled as he moved his hand to her breast. Her nipples crinkled under his palm, her tissues swelling. She inhaled, a slight tinge of leather enhancing his manly scent.

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“Picture Adam and me as thick slices of bread with you and Candy between us, like a cowboy double-decker sandwich.”

“A what?” She turned her head.

His dark eyes bored into her, sending an unmistakable message.

One her body twitched to answer. He caught her nipple between his fingers, gently squeezing. She clenched her internal muscles, wanting something hard to hold. Like what pressed against her bottom, separated only by their clothes.

“When Adam and I share Candy, she’s the filling in our cowboy sandwich. Add you and there’s more for everyone.” He nodded, eyes glistening. “Yep. A double-decker cowboy sandwich. Two sets of breasts, sweet buns, and best of all, fragrant special sauces. What more could a man want?”

“How does she do it?” Kaela gulped. Heat blasted up her chest and face at the possibility of someone actually doing what she fantasized about. Being cherished and loved by not just one man, but two. She’d never thought of adding a woman into the mix.

“You tell me, Kaela,” he challenged. He slid his finger over the center seam of her jeans, pressing it into her pubic bone. She clenched his hand.

Dark fantasies rose like thick smoke, obscuring her vanilla world.

She closed her eyes, imagining being face to face with Adam’s dark-haired wife. Naked breasts rubbing, naked thighs intertwined. A man behind each, sliding into succulent heat. Hands and mouths exploring.

Or each woman on their side, mouths to thighs. Licking and nibbling tender swollen folds while a man held their hips, entering from behind. If Candy could take both men, could she?

Kaela shivered at the raw sexuality of it. Totally filled with strong, virile men. She flashed to a mental image of Bryan lying on his back while she rode him. Adam would urge her to bend forward so he could press into her behind while Candy’s hot mouth danced over her breast and fingers found Kaela’s nubbin. She moaned, pressing against Bryan’s hand.

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“Kaela’s thinking about something hot,” murmured Bryan. He shifted, capturing her breast again, kneading it through her thin top and bra.

“I saw those pictures on your laptop.” She watched him play with her nipple, gasping when he lightly pinched it.

“Candy put it together. Haven’t seen ’em.”

“There’s some very, um, interesting photos.”

His heart pounded hard under her left shoulder.

“Like what?” His hand stilled.

“Um, Adam wore a yellow caftan and you had a jeweled turban—”

“Aw, yeah.”

He sighed before inhaling deep, crushing her tight. She pulled away and looked up. He smiled down at her with arrogant pride, eyes squinting in a broad smile.

“Sheiks and slave girl. One of my favorites.”

“Uh, that would be it. It looked like Candy enjoyed herself, even though she fought you.”

“That she did.” He nuzzled her neck. “I love it when a strong woman fights the dominance of strong men. Fights back with everything, yet is still overpowered.” He nibbled her earlobe, causing tingles to zap to her nipples and clit. “It gives me such a rush when Candy rages at the beginning, yet screams my name when she comes.”

He tilted his head to look at her. “From the way your heart is pounding, I think you want it, too.” He looked at Scotty, zonked out in his playpen bed.

“It’s my turn to play.”

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“Take off your T-shirt.”

Back to the closed bedroom door, Kaela’s body hummed at his demand. She didn’t move. His nostrils flared like a bull about to charge. She felt a flutter of delicious apprehension low in her belly. A rush of adrenaline hit, but instead of fear, she felt on the edge of something wonderful. Though she disobeyed him, refusing his orders, it was okay. He wouldn’t hurt her.

“Stand here.” He pointed to the floor in front of him, right by the bed.

His deep voice sent quivers through her. Just as he began to move to get her, she stepped away from the door. She crossed her arms over her front and grabbed the T-shirt hem with both hands. She slowly raised it to reveal her belly, then her ribcage with a boring white bra.

She finally whipped it over her head and tossed it away. She shook her curls loose.

“Drop your bra and put your hands behind your head.”

He spoke slow and deep, steel determination in every word.

Enjoying her new rebelliousness, she again made him wait. How far could she push him, discovering her newfound sense of power?

“I see you want to be punished. I’d enjoy that. One.” He waited, eyebrows high. “Two.”

She flicked her bra’s back closure. He licked his lips, eyes zooming in on his prize. But she whirled around before dropping her arms. When the bra fell to the floor all he saw was her naked back.

Purposely tantalizing him, she slid her hands up the swell of her narrow hips and over the slight dent that marked her waist. Up her
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ribcage, over her breasts, then behind her neck to lift her hair. Only then did she clasp her hands together and, elbows out, thrust her small chest high. With her back still to him.

“You’ll pay for that, woman.”

She trembled at his hoarse voice, his slow, deliberate steps. She shivered when his hands slid around her waist. His calluses rasped, tantalizing her flesh as they lightly scraped their way to their prize. He moaned, though her breasts didn’t quite fill his large hands. He stepped close behind her, his chest hair tickling her shoulders and upper back. He nibbled her neck. She bent her head to encourage him.

“You are so damn beautiful.”

He choked the words out as if the act of speaking was almost more than he could achieve with his hands full of her. He flicked her nipples with his thumbs. She inhaled sharply and arched, thrusting herself into his care. She’d never felt so alive.

“Don’t. Move.”

He kissed his way down her shoulders, nibbling her backbone until he reached her jeans. He unzipped them and pulled them off, supporting her to lift each foot free.

Leaving her in nothing but wet panties.

He pressed her feet apart by running his hands up her thighs until his thumbs touched. He slid one thick finger between her thighs, sliding over her panties.

“You’re so wet for me, sweetling. Turn around.”

He helped her shuffle to face him, unsteady on trembling legs. She looked down. He knelt before her, face almost in pain. His chest heaved, as did her own.

“I can stop. But you’d better say ‘no’ pretty damn quick.”

She’d never imagined a man would look at her with such need.

Never thought a strong, handsome man would want her. Or that he would give her the power of choice.

“Yes,” she said.

“Thank God,” he whispered. He dropped his head for a moment,
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resting his damp forehead on her hot belly. When he looked up again, he had a boyishly eager grin on his face. “You won’t need these.”

Before she could ask what he meant, he grabbed the front of her panties and ripped them from waistband to leg. They dropped to the floor. He pressed his nose against the vee of her thighs. He inhaled and held it a moment. Then he let go, blowing his hot breath through her curls.

“You drive me crazy, woman.”

He lifted her by the thighs and, unbalanced, she fell backwards.

He controlled her fall so she landed gently on the bed. He hauled her bottom to the edge and ducked until her knees were on his shoulders, her legs up and spread.

“Close your eyes and enjoy,” he ordered.

* * * *

Bryan allowed himself a smirk when Kaela yelped and slammed her palms down on the bedspread as he kissed her opening bud. He loved awakening Candy to the pleasures of good loving, but he had to share her with Adam.

Kaela was all his. Another woman slighted by selfish men. He’d show her what she’d missed all her life, what she’d crave from now on.

He inhaled her scent again. Sweet and welcoming, it shot straight to his groin. It had been so long since he’d pleasured Candy, he’d almost forgotten how hot a woman’s nectar made him.

He pressed the tip of his tongue like a finger, separating her swollen folds, pushing them back to gain access. She had long lips, like soft flower petals. Her slickness, pulsing forth succulent juice to flavor his journey.

Her fine auburn hair, downy soft, tickled his nose. He lipped a few long strands, watching them spring back into curls when released. She was totally natural, just the way he liked. But then, why would she
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