Double Jeopardy (7 page)

“Please, no more. No more,” she begged.

He was still twitching inside her. Still
hard. He lifted her up gently, causing her to cry out at the
friction, until she felt the pop of his head leaving her body. They
were both covered in his semen, but she didn’t care. She could
hardly move. She fell to the side of him in the swing and decided
she could sleep the rest of the night right there.

“God, will it be like that every time?” he
asked once he’d gotten his breath back.

“I hope not. You’ll kill me.”

He stood slowly and pulled on his clothes
while Chloe watched out of heavy eyes. He gathered up her clothes
and put them inside the screen door for her to get later, and then
came back for her. He carried her to one of the downstairs bedrooms
and laid her on a small bed with a white quilt.

“I don’t have the strength to carry you up
the stairs.” He kissed her gently on the forehead. “Are you up for
a ride in the morning?”

“Oh, yes.” Chloe had a feeling their morning
rides would never be the same.

Chapter Ten

She was right.

They saddled the horses quickly the next
morning and took them for a fast ride to the edge of the McKenzie
property where it met Jack’s land. A creek divided the two ranches,
and a thick copse of oaks provided a secluded spot.

They’d barely dismounted their horses before
they were in each others arms again. They wasted no time getting
each other undressed and rolling to the soft grass.

“Even after I came in you I was hard all
night, wanting you again,” Jack said, licking into her mouth.

Chloe grasped his cock in her hand and pumped
it slowly, feeling the proof of his words. He flipped her on her
back and took her hand away, holding her wrists tight in his
grasp.

“You’ll make me come too soon.”

He kissed his way down her body until she
felt his breath on her clit. His tongue flicked against her slowly,
savoring each taste. Each kiss. He licked each fold delicately.
Torturing her to the point of madness. Stopping each time she came
close to coming.

“I want to taste you to,” Chloe said, and he
flipped their positions so she sat astride his face and could see
down the length of his body.

His cock stood rigidly, his balls tight
underneath, and she leaned forward and licked just the tip of him.
He moaned into her pussy, sending vibrations all over her body. It
would be impossible to fit him entirely inside her mouth, so she
knew she’d have to get creative. She cupped his balls firmly in one
hand and held his shaft in the other, stroking it in time to her
licks, swirling her tongue around the head and then sucking it
inside her mouth. She couldn’t help but writhe against his face as
his tongue continued to make the same slow licks up and down her
nether lips.

She began to move faster and Jack mirrored
her. Chloe squeezed his shaft and massaged his balls until they
tightened even more under her hands and she knew he was close. She
moved her fingers down, massaging the area between his sac and his
anus, until she made it to the puckered star. He was thrusting
against her now, just as she was grinding against him.

She slipped first one finger inside him, and
then another, pushing her way into him and massaging his insides in
time with the pumps of her fists and the swirls of her tongue. He
moaned continuously against her clit and his tongue moved faster
and faster. Her fingers hit a small knot inside of his and he
stiffened in response, screaming his pleasure into her pussy. His
come hit the back of her throat just her own orgasm rocketed
through her body. She drank him in, every drop, just as he drank
her.

When they finished, Chloe rolled beside him,
spent, and fell asleep in his arms.

Jack now knew very well the reason Billy had
sent Chloe to him. She was a miracle. Every fantasy he’d ever had
come to life. And it would only be sweeter if Billy was there to
join them. But he wasn’t, and he might never be.

Chloe stirred in his arms, and his cock stood
at attention in response. He’d never get tired of her. Never stop
wanting her.

He spooned behind her and groaned as she
shifted against him in her sleep. He could only take so much. He
circled his hand around her breast and squeezed gently, rubbing her
nipple with his thumb. She sighed, but didn’t stir. She’d literally
exhausted herself with pleasure.

He continued to thrust himself against the
crease of her buttocks before deciding it was time for her to wake
up. He lifted her leg and put it over his own. She was still wet
from his mouth and her orgasm, and he probed gently with his cock,
finding her ready and open for him. He pushed inside her swiftly,
to the hilt, and she gasped aloud as she came awake.

“I had to have you,” he whispered in her
ear.

“Then by all means. Take me.”

Her voice was husky with desire and want, so
he had no choice but to do as she commanded.

Chapter Eleven

The weeks flew by with their lovemaking. By
the time the first snow came in October, Chloe and Jack knew each
other intimately, body and mind, and they’d made love every way
possible.

Mrs. Peace and the other hands all knew of
their affair, and all seemed comfortable enough with it. Jack spent
most nights in her bed, waking before dawn to go see to his own
stock.

She felt different with Jack than she had
with Antoine. Antoine had wanted nothing more than to please her.
To make sure she was taken care of and comforted, treating her with
a kind of reverence she’d never experienced before. He’d seen to
her every need in the short time she’d known him.

But Jack was different. Jack didn’t try to
take care of her. He expected her to give as much as he did—in and
out of bed—and he treated her as his equal. It surprised her more
than him that they were becoming such good friends.

Both men had given her the exactly what she’d
needed to make her feel special. To give her the power she needed
to pick up her life when it had been nothing but shit. She owed
them both more than her gratitude.

“It looks like a blizzard’s coming,” Jack
said one day after lunch. “We’ve got to get all the stock battened
down at both ranches before it hits. I’ll be late for dinner.”

“What can I help with?” Chloe asked.

“You and Mrs. Peace keep the coffee hot and
the fires stoked. Keep all the lights in the house burning, no
matter how late. Just don’t go to bed without me.” He kissed her
goodbye and all she could do was just as he said.

They were gone for only an hour when the snow
began to fall harder. Big fat flakes that covered the ground
quickly. Soon the wind began to blow, Chloe worried about Jack as
it howled against the windows and whether he was warm enough. She
became really worried when she couldn’t see anything but white as
she stood at the front door well after dark and long since
supper.

Chloe changed into a white nightgown and
heavy wrap and sat in her chair by the fire, trying to keep her
mind on the sewing in her hands. But her mind stayed with Jack. She
loved him. And she was ready to live her life with him. She was
tired of the men she loved being taken from her.

Her tears were bitter as she buried her face
into Jack’s shirt, his scent fresh and clean as she breathed him
in. The clock chimed midnight and she kept the lights burning. Her
eyes grew heavy and she couldn’t help but doze in her chair as she
waited.

The slam of the front door blowing against
the wall startled her awake. She stood as two men covered in ice
and white stumbled into the warmth of the house. Her sewing fell to
the floor unnoticed.

“Oh my, God!” Her hand covered her mouth on a
choked sob.

“He drove up just as the storm started,” Jack
said, grinning, as they leaned on each other like giddy drunkards.
“Just in time to help us get all the cattle in. But his blood’s
still thin and he’s about frozen solid.”

Antoine looked up at her, his face thinner
than she remembered. His smile was bright, but his eyes were unsure
at her reaction.

“I thought you were dead,” Chloe said through
her tears.

“No. I very much wanted to live.”

She ran to him with her arms open, and his
eyes filled with relief. His coat was soaked through and shivers
wracked his body, but she held to him tight, kissing his chin and
cheeks and the tip of his nose before settling on his mouth.
Antoine held her tightly, and she felt Jack’s arms embrace them
both. She turned her head and rested it on Antoine’s shoulder and
then looked at Jack. His eyes met hers, and the need in them made
it difficult for her to catch her breath.

“I don’t know about Jack, but I’m starving
and I’d love to get on some dry clothes.”

“Of course,” Chloe laughed, wiping her tears.
“There’s fresh coffee on the stove, and Mrs. Peace baked a ham this
evening. I’ll get everything ready while you two change out of your
wet things.”

Antoine gave her a quick kiss and Jack
squeezed her hip before they both headed up the stairs. It took
every ounce of willpower she possessed not to follow up after
them.

They weren’t gone long, but when they came
into the kitchen their faces were flushed and their eyes were
bright. Jack’s erection bulged impressively behind the buttons of
his trousers, and Chloe couldn’t help but lick her lips at the
sight.

She kept her eyes downcast as the men filled
their plates to heaping. She hadn’t seen Antoine in months. She
didn’t even know if he still felt the same way about her, but after
one look at him she was able to recall his taste and the feel of
him hard inside of her with ease. But questions and doubt spiraled
through her mind, leaving her wondering if she’d really have a home
here since they now had each other.

Chloe picked at her food as the men warmed
their bodies with food and drink. No one spoke until both plates
were cleared and only dregs were left in the bottom of the coffee
pot.

“Is Lucien dead?” Jack asked.

Chloe looked up quickly. It’s the first time
she’d heard Jack utter Lucien’s name. She’d never been completely
sure that he knew everything that Antoine had been up to in his
other life. They’d never come straight out and talked about her
time in New Orleans or what had happened there. Everything Jack
knew about her was before she’d ever met Antoine Rousseau.

“He’s dead,” Antoine confirmed.

Thank, God
, Chloe thought. Being on
the run for the rest of her life had given her more than the
occasional nightmare.

“Though he didn’t make it easy.” Antoine
leaned back in his chair and rolled the stiffness from his neck and
shoulders. He looked tired. And not from an evening spent herding
cattle through a blizzard. This sort of fatigue went much deeper,
leaving lines on his face that hadn’t been there months before. “I
made contact with the federal agent I knew could be trusted and
told him everything I knew. I turned over all of Lucien’s personal
records and dates of future shipments and where they would come
from. It was enough information to put a lot of men away for a very
long time.

He set up a trap to catch Lucien on the way
home from Chicago with a portion of Capone’s shipment. But two days
before it was set to take place, the agent was killed in his bed. I
had to go into hiding because Lucien knew I’d betrayed him. It took
me a long time before I could find a man who was willing to try to
take on Lucien Devereaux. It was a good thing I found him too,
because Lucien’s men tracked me down everywhere. I was always just
a step ahead of them, and I couldn’t have lasted much longer.”

Antoine’s haunted eyes made Chloe reach out
for his hand. Jack had the same idea and Antoine sat, linked
between them, as he replayed the horrors of the last months in his
mind.

“You’re safe now,” Chloe told him

“Yes. Finally.” He squeezed her hand but
didn’t let go. “Lucien became careless. He thought he was too far
above the law, and he might have been right. It wasn’t the federal
government who finally took him down. It was Capone himself. He
walked right in the front door of
Vieux Coe
ur in the middle
of the day and shot everyone in the house. There were dozens of
witnesses, but he paid the cops more than Lucien could have ever
dreamed and they ignored his crimes. I just thank God every day
that you weren’t there. And now I’m free. Free to come home to
you.”

Antoine looked at Chloe first, then at Jack.
She wasn’t sure who exactly he was talking about.

“I guess I should go on up to bed now that I
know you’re both safe,” she said, pushing back her chair. She
avoided both their gazes and felt the blood rush to her cheeks in
embarrassment. It had been a long time since she’d felt so unsure
of herself.

“Chloe,” Antoine said.

She found the courage to look at him and saw
the raw need for her in his eyes.

“Do you still want me?”

“Of course I do. How could I not after
everything we’ve been through?”

“But you want Jack too. You’ve taken each
other while I’ve been away. You’ve felt his cock deep inside you
just as you’ve felt mine.”

“Yes,” she said, her voice weak.

“I knew you would. When I sent you here I
knew you wouldn’t be able to resist each other. You are both like
missing pieces of my soul. I pictured you here together, fucking
every way possible, while all I had was my hand.”

“You still want me?” Chloe asked surprised.
“You want both of us?” She dared to look at Jack and saw the
evidence of his arousal at the thought.

“Yes. If you’ll take us. Jack loves you as
much as I do. I think the three of us will get along very well
here. But the choice is yours.”