Peaches 'n' Cream (6 page)

“For all anyone knows, he could be on his way here.”

“He could be.”

Amber eyes touched on the other two men, then Peaches. “So, there’s actually no point in your leaving. Now that
I
have been told about all this shit, we can take appropriate measures to be certain that none of us gets killed.” His eyes narrowed on his friends. “Damned dumb-shits. I don’t think either of you were thinking with the right heads the past few days.” Both grinned unrepentantly. “Ya think?”

It finally happened. Logan laughed, rising from the chair. The sound was rather harsh, as if it was rusty with disuse. “Assholes. You two need to get your priorities straight.” Then he was looking at her, pinning her there in her chair. “And you. You’re not leaving here.”

“Who’s going to stop me?” Peaches folded her arms over her chest as she leaned back in the chair. She looked up at him. The man truly was impressive in size. The fact that she was all but challenging him was something he obviously didn’t like. “You?”

“I will if I have to. You’ll stay here. If you start jumping all over the country, it’s just going to make it harder to find these people who are after you.”

“Maybe. Or maybe they would just give up and go home. They’d slip up sooner or later.” The man growled again. She didn’t know if she was supposed to be afraid, but she did know one thing. Every time he made that dark, sexy sound it went straight to her pussy. Just looking at him had her panties drenched. Hearing him and catching the scent of his body was a major bonus.

After Logan stalked out of the room, Ryan, of course, had to tell her, “He really likes you.”

“How can you tell? All he did was glower and growl.” 33

“Well, he hasn’t run off. He ate with us. He didn’t flatten either of us in front of you. And he didn’t tell you to get the fuck out.”

“I have to admit that numbnuts is right. Logan seems to like you. And Logan is right, too.

You’re better off here with us. Have your dad send info on the creeps to the sheriff. The man’s a jerk at times, but he’s usually pretty good at what he does. Especially if having these men running around Silver could have a negative impact on the town’s economy. That’ll keep him on his toes. He likes his job too much.”

Peaches decided she would listen to the advice of all the men. It really didn’t make any sense to change directions at this point. If the creeps were going to come looking for her, they would be heading for the ranch. It wouldn’t make any difference if she were actually still here or not. They might shoot first and ask questions later. They knew what Damien looked like.

Ryan, too, since the store’s security footage had been playing nonstop on TV the past couple of days.

When the men wandered away to watch the weather reports, she got her phone. Tucking herself away in her bedroom, she stretched out on the bed while she talked with her parents, then three of her seven siblings. Juno draped his slinky body across her stomach, while Roxie took it upon herself to groom her hair.

Having such a close, supportive family was sometimes smothering. But there were times like these, when the risks were the greatest, that having such a family proved to be invaluable.

Her father told her he would get the information to the sheriff in Silver. Her mother fussed over her in her usual fashion, concern obvious in her soft voice, while her brothers teased her mercilessly about having to find herself stranded in the wilds of Montana with two men.

“Three,” she corrected, grinning, easily imagining the shocked expressions on their faces

“It’s three men. They own this ranch together.”

There was an audible gasp from her sister, Cherry. They were on speakerphone. “Three?

Did you tell Daddy?”

“Do you think I’m crazy?” Peaches asked with a delighted laugh. “I might be all grown up, but Daddy would still come to get me and drag me home. And, believe me, I’m not ready to be dragged away yet.”

“They’re that good, huh?”

“Yes, they’re that good. They’re nice, too.”

“Do you think you’ll stay, once everything’s calmed down?” That was a question. Would she stay? Since she was quickly developing deep feelings for Damien and Ryan, she knew it depended upon one thing. Or, rather, it depended upon one person. Logan. “Well, it’s the third guy that’s the problem. If he doesn’t want me here, and he currently doesn’t, I really don’t see it working out. I’d leave. I wouldn’t want to cause trouble here.”

Cherry made a sound of disgust. “What’s wrong with the guy?”

“Other than being all hot Dom? Not a thing.”

“Oh. Okay. I see the problem now. You couldn’t be submissive if you tried.” Cherry sighed. Their brothers laughed at the idea. “Well, I guess it did sound too good to be true. I always thought Aunt Judith got it right. Her husbands are great. What a family!” 34

“Well, if you think that’s great, you should hear about this town. It was founded by gay men more than a hundred years ago. It’s filled with families of every kind. A woman being married to more than one man is very common here.”

“Once you get settled in,” Cherry said with a laugh, “I think I’ll come visit you. I wouldn’t mind meeting a cowboy or two. Preferably it would be two or more cowboys. Now that’s my idea of a dream come true.”

“Cherry!” Peaches was more than a little shocked and didn’t hide the fact. She had never guessed that her sister had even thought along those lines. It was an eye-opener. “Well, huh!

I’m speechless.”

“That’s a first. Never knew I had a secret dream of having my own kind of harem?” It was
all
girl talk after that. Their brothers wandered away. They lost themselves in it for over an hour, until her phone began beeping. Peaches sighed as she realized her phone was about to die and she hadn’t a clue as to what Juno had done with the cord. She had seen him dragging it around earlier. “I have to go. I’ll call in a day or two, to let you know how things are going. I’ll also keep a lookout for just the right men for you.” Her sister laughed. “You do that. Now that I’ve given it some thought, three or more would be just right. The more the merrier.”

“Jeez, you’re such a perv.”

“And you aren’t? Good night, Peachy. Love you.”

“Love you, too, Cherry girl.”

The phone went dead on their girlish laughter. Peaches rolled off the bed, going in search of the cord so she could charge her phone. She was looking under the bed when there was a knock on the door.

“Come in,” she gasped, seeing the cord and reaching for it. “Damn you, Juno. Why did you leave it so far under?” Her fingertips could just touch it, but not enough to get a purchase on it.

“What are you doing?” The voice of thunder rumbled around the room.

It went straight to her pussy. Peaches resisted the urge to wiggle her ass in the air. Would that be too obvious, she wondered?

Chapter Five

Logan stared at the shapely ass in the snug-fitting jeans. His cock reacted predictably, causing him to curse as blood filled it, making it press against the front of his jeans. What the fuck had he been thinking when he came to her room? That they’d just chat a bit and he would wander back down to watch a shoot-’em-up movie with the guys?

He was well aware that the dynamic duo was giving him a chance to get to know their lovely guest. The last three certainly hadn’t worked out. The first, though. A sigh escaped him.

Sally had been such a sweet beauty, all gentle curves, a breathy voice, and cornflower-blue eyes a man could lose himself in. He had fallen hard and fast for her. Especially when he had discovered that sweet Sally had a really dirty side. Yes, the woman enjoyed being tied up, whipped, fucked in the ass, all while being gagged and blindfolded.

When she had packed her bags one day, blindsiding them, they were to learn she had a cruel side, too. “It’s been fun, boys,” she had told them airily. “But I’ve got to go.” That was it. There hadn’t been any real explanation. But it was simple enough to figure out. She’d used them from beginning to end. When she’d grown tired of them, she’d left. No muss, no fuss. Except she had crushed that part of him he had allowed her to pull from him.

He had been falling in love with her, and it hadn’t mattered to her.

“Would you prefer I take my pants off?”

Logan said nothing. He just stared at that ass some more, thinking of all the deliciously nasty things he could do to it. It was a shame that Peaches, despite the sweet name, didn’t seem to have a submissive bone in her body.

“Well, that is a possibility. I’ll give some thought to it. What are you looking for?”

“The power cord for my phone is under here. Ah, there, got it.” A moment later she was shimmying back out, and his lust grew tenfold. Jumping up, she hurried to plug it in. “I have to call my friend Tad later. He used to be my boyfriend. He’s married to my best friend now.

He’s also my therapist.”

She chatted away as she turned to the cats, which were sitting side by side on the bed, staring at her with unblinking eyes as she instructed them not to dare touch her phone. One of them yawned, the width of the gaping, fanged maw impressing him.

“You talk to him a lot?”

Peaches shrugged. “We’ve talked about the shooting twice now. It’s good to talk through it. I found out after the first time I was involved in a shooting that it’s not good to bottle things up. I started getting depressed. Now there’s something that sucks big time.” Logan nodded, and then turned his gaze on the cats. “I hate cats.”

“Well, they don’t care much for you, so I guess the three of you are even.”

“Get dressed. We’re going into town.”

Nope, she was not submissive in the least. The command got her hackles up. Her beautiful brown eyes gleamed as she looked at him. “Really? Do you think I’m just going to fucking kneel at your feet and be your little sub? Ask me if I’d like to go to town with you, and I’ll consider it.”

Not much good at bending, he actually felt something akin to physical pain as he bent.

“Okay,” he said gruffly, his jaw tight. “Will you go into town with me? We’re supposed to be getting some really bad weather for the next few days. This will be our last chance to get supplies out here.” Fuck, could words really burn your tongue? He felt like he was the one begging.

36

“Okay. I’d like to go into town.” He watched as she bounced around the room again. The woman had some energy to burn off. He guessed she wasn’t used to sitting around. “I was thinking I would start giving the house a good cleaning tomorrow.” She didn’t ask his permission. She wouldn’t. He guessed that normally she wouldn’t over-step the bounds of being a guest, of politeness, but she wasn’t going to show him even that kind of weakness.

“It needs it. We mostly look after ourselves, with a woman coming in to clean a couple times a week. But she’s been sick off and on the past month and hasn’t been able to get out here. I suppose there’s some stuff that could use a cleaning.” His gaze went to her ass again as she took a bright green sweater from the drawer and pulled it on over her head. Then she was finding thick socks and the heavy boots she had been wearing earlier. The holster was strapped to her shapely thigh and his cock hardened again. Damn, Ryan wasn’t the only one who saw that as hot, he thought with disgust. The pistol slid in, and he watched as she stroked the dark metal with the tips of her fingers. “You plan on using that?”

“I will if I have to. Don’t tell me you’re not armed. I won’t believe you. You’re carrying.

It’s under your shirt, tucked in a holster in the small of your back.” Laughing suddenly, Logan shook his head and moved toward the door. He opened it, and then held it politely. “I always carry. So do Ryan and Damien, when they’re here, as do all the men who work the ranch.”

They didn’t take the big, ugly, black SUV, but a big, ugly, black pickup. Both were his vehicles, but the truck would be more useful this trip. They made the trip to town with little conversation. He wasn’t much of a talker and appreciated the fact that she didn’t try to push him into it. The second woman his partners had brought home hadn’t known how to shut up, always trying to smother him. Coupled with the fact that she wasn’t very good in bed, basically without any kind of sexual imagination, he had left her alone for the most part.

When they got to Silver, he took her on a slow tour, mainly due to the fact that the streets and sidewalks were jammed with pedestrians. He pointed out the oldest buildings, their significance, and told her some of the history. His great-great-grandfather was one of the gay men whom had founded the town. Though gay, he had realized early on that if he wanted to preserve his legacy, he would have to produce a child the old-fashioned way and found a woman willing to live a grand life in exchange for her womb.

“Were they happy?”

“By all accounts, they were extremely happy. Lucinda enjoyed her position in Silver’s so-ciety. Her husband Edward was wealthy and politically ambitious. He doted on her and their children. It was a good place for her. My grandmother has her diaries, if you ever want to read them.”

“That would be very interesting. Thanks.” She sounded sincere.

Logan knew his suggestion that she might want to read the diaries would probably give Peaches a small measure of hope that he was thinking about something more with her. It was tempered by reality. He had shown her little more than animosity since her arrival. Why would she want someone like him? Was he beginning to think about her as something other than an annoyance?

No, Logan thought, Peaches was not the kind of woman he wanted, though she was perfect for his two partners. It sucked. They had talked about finding just the right woman for 37