Their Forever Home (16 page)

“Think about it,” Jonathan said. “If you couldn’t find anyone to help you look for him and Vella is your responsibility, would you risk something happening to you, leaving her alone?”

Lance ground his teeth together, already feeling guilty that he’d left her alone their first night in a strange place. He sighed and shook his head.

“Be glad he figured no one would care enough to come after him. Otherwise, this would be a lot more difficult than it already is,” Jonathan told him.

Lance just nodded and continued following McCall, with Jonathan trailing behind him. Now he worried about having left Vella by herself. That had been foolish. He should have at least insisted she stay with someone while he was gone. He hadn’t been thinking straight. If they did manage to find Carver, his friend was apt to take a chunk out of his hide for the mistake he’d made.

Which was why he needed the man there to help him take care of their woman. He didn’t have the street sense or the gritty determination the other man had. He could handle the emotions and the romance she would need, but Carver was who she needed for safety and support and those times when she needed just plain fucking. All women wanted that on occasion. Lance wouldn’t apologize that it wasn’t something he could do. He would enjoy pampering her and making long, slow love to her, but he just didn’t have the raw emotions that Carver did. He needed him, and the bastard was going to come back if he had to tie him up and drag him back.

“Okay. Looks like I was right. The shed’s door has been opened recently. The leaves are all pushed away from it,” McCall told them.

“What do you want to do, Lance?” Jonathan asked.

“Is there a back way out of the shed?” he asked, proud that he’d at least learned that much from the man.

“Nope. Just a small shed. One way in and one way out,” he replied.

“Okay. Just stay here and make sure if he gets by me you stop him until I’ve had my say.” Lance wished he felt better about it.

“Got it,” McCall said.

“Good luck, Lance.” Jonathan clapped him on the shoulder, and then both men melted into the darkness of the trees.

Lance walked up to the door without even attempting to move quietly. He had no doubt that Carver knew they were outside. The man just didn’t miss anything. Lifting his hand and fisting it, he banged on the door.

“Carver. It’s Lance. I need to talk to you, man. We’ve got problems.” There was no answer. He tried the makeshift door handle, but it didn’t budge.

I don’t believe it. He’s locked himself in the thing like a twelve-year-old boy.

“Look, open the fucking door and talk to me. It’s damn cold out here in the wind. We’ve got to talk about this. Vella is back at the cabin crying her eyes out right now.” Lance banged on the door again. “Let me the fuck in!”

Still, there was no answer, and Lance was beginning to wonder if his friend had boarded himself up in there and killed himself. There was no way he could sit there without making a sound while Lance banged on the door loud enough to wake the dead.

“She loves you, Carver. You didn’t give her enough time to get past something that came at her out of the blue. You’re not being fair, Carver. Get your ass out here and talk to me like a man instead of a spoiled brat who got his favorite toy taken away from him.”

The longer Lance stood there, the angrier he became. He should be back at the cabin with Vella, not out here in the dark and the cold chasing after a grown-assed man who knew better. It pissed him off.

“Well, fuck you very much, Carver. Just stay out here and pout. I’ve got a woman to take care of. I shouldn’t have left her at the cabin alone as it is, but she wanted you and I did what she wanted. I hope to hell someone in this community will care enough about her to help me keep her safe, ’cause you and I both know I’m useless at this.” Lance kicked the door with one boot and glared at it before turning around to tell Jonathan and McCall he was ready to head back.

He walked face-first into a solid wall of granite called Carver Windom, and the man was pissed.

“You fucking left her alone!” Carver bellowed. He couldn’t believe the man was that incompetent. “She’s in a strange place with people she’s never met before, and you just left her there. Have I been talking to a tree all this time that I’ve been teaching you how to survive, Lance?”

It took every bit of restraint he possessed not to knock the bastard on his ass for doing something that stupid. If he was going to cave and do everything Vella asked of him, she was going to end up hurt or sick, or worse. He needed to have some backbone where she was concerned.

“You can’t let her tell you what to do when it’s not good for her. What were you thinking?” Carver demanded.

“I was thinking that I couldn’t take care of her without you, asshole. She loves you and needs you even more than she needs me. All I can do is make her feel good and give her compliments. She needs you to make sure she’s safe and has the things she needs to survive.”

Carver had the feeling his friend wanted to punch him for walking away. Hell, he should let him. He knew Lance couldn’t take care of her by himself. He’d have to find someone else to help him. What if Vella didn’t like the other man? She shouldn’t have to accept another man into her life—into her bed—that she didn’t care about.

“You know how to trap and dress out meat to feed her. You know how to tan hides to make sure she stays warm. You’re not totally hopeless,” Carver said a little softer.

“Yeah, well, I had to get help to track you because I wouldn’t have found you by myself. Hell! Someone would have had to come searching for me if I even managed to live.” Lance sighed, hanging his head. “The truth is, I need you, Carver. Vella loves you. She’ll never be happy with just me. I need you to help me make her happy. I can’t do it on my own. This isn’t ten years ago when you could work a nine-to-five job and come home to love your wife and it all be fine. There’s more to life now. It’s about survival as much as it is about trying to make do and be satisfied.”

Carver had to grit his teeth to keep from yelling out his frustrations. If it had been just him and Lance, he’d have done it, but with strangers around, well...

“Are you sure she really wants me despite my past?” Carver finally asked.

“I’m sure. She was crying when I left, afraid she’d never see you again. She’s blaming herself for you leaving and thinks you’re going to die out here. You and I know better, but I didn’t tell her any differently,” Lance told him.

“I don’t want her guilt, Lance. She has to be sure. She has to be damn sure she wants me even though I was a bondsman at one time. I can’t change that, and though I regret it, I’m just as responsible for some of the things they did as they are. All I can say is that once I realized they were selling innocent women into slavery, I quit and made sure the ones I worked with would never touch another woman again.” He’d never told Lance that part of it, the part where he’d killed the men he’d ridden with.

“Then there’s no one you have to worry about seeking revenge, is there?” Lance pointed out without batting an eye.

“Nope.”

“She loves you, Carver, but you’re going to have to give her some leeway. It’s going to be hard for her to just forget that part of your life at first. Don’t go running away like a baby if she frowns at you for some reason. Okay?” Lance asked.

“Did you just call me a baby?” Carver asked in amazement. “You called me a spoiled child earlier.”

“Yeah, I did. Get over it and let’s get back to our woman. She’s probably worried sick by now,” Lance pointed out.

“Later you and I are going to have a nice long talk,” Carver said with a growl. “Where did the other two go?”

Lance sighed. “Jonathan! McCall. He’s ready to come back now.”

The other two men drifted out of the trees. Jonathan had a huge smile on his face while McCall just glowered. Carver figured he and McCall just might have something in common from the looks of him.

“Just a second. I need to fix that door in case someone needs shelter,” he said and quickly released the lock he’d fixed up to make it look like he was inside. He settled his pack more firmly on his shoulders and nodded at the three men that he was ready. Now that he was heading back, Carver was anxious to get to Vella to be sure she was okay.

* * * *

Vella nearly jumped out of her skin when someone banged on the door hard enough to shake the rafters. The dog growled but didn’t lunge for the door. Instead, he stood up and watched. It took her a second to get up from where she’d fallen asleep in the chair. Her legs were stiff and her mouth dry. She couldn’t even manage to call out she was coming. Fear that they hadn’t found him and hope that they had wound her emotions into a tight knot that threatened to choke her.

“Who is it?” she finally managed to get out.

“Open the door, Vella.” Her heart jumped into her throat at the sound of Carver’s deep voice.

She struggled to lift the broad board from the hooks then opened the door to be swept into Carver’s arms. He hugged her so tightly that she nearly squealed in protest. The dog growled once then whined and sat down next to Lance. Carver kissed her as if he’d never get enough of her, and she forgot everything else. His mouth devoured hers, ensuring that she couldn’t doubt how much he cared. Vella didn’t expect the words from him again. He was a different kind of man than Lance or most other men. He showed her how he felt every time he touched her or did something that made sure she would be safe. He’d even shown it when he’d left.

“Please don’t ever go away again. I couldn’t bear it, Carver. I love you, and we’ll work this out. I know you didn’t kill my brother. I know that.” She wanted to be sure he understood that she didn’t blame him for Phillip’s death. “His name was Phillip, and he wouldn’t have wanted me to blame you for something you had no hand in.”

“I’m sorry, Vella. If I had been there, I wouldn’t have allowed it. That’s why I stopped what they were doing that last time and never returned to that kind of work.”

She looked him over as best as she could. “Are you okay? Are you hungry? I have soup on the stove I can warm up.”

“Right now I have a taste for something different,” he said with that half-smile he always gave her. “I need you, Vella. I need to hold you and be inside of you.”

Immediately, her pussy moistened with her desire. All it took was a look from the man to set her blood on fire. When he actually came out and said that he wanted her, she got so hot that she was sure her face was all kinds of red. It wouldn’t take much for her to come at all right then.

She smiled, and just like that, she was upside down over his shoulder. She heard a chuckle and lifted her head to find Lance following them from the living area to the bedroom. He had a smile larger than hers on his face.

“Um, hi, Lance.”

He chuckled. “Hey there, hon. I think you’re about to get royally fucked.”

She giggled. “I think you’re right.”

Suddenly she was flying backward to land safely on the bed with a big bounce. She squealed then laughed as both men fell on her, pulling at her clothes and their own at the same time.

“Fuck!” Carver dropped the boot he’d pulled off of one foot and stomped with one socked foot and one boot still on out of the room.

“What’s wrong?” She sat up, pushing Lance’s hands away.

“He got so excited about taking you to bed that he forgot to see to your safety first,” Lance told her as if there was some huge joke in there somewhere.

“What are you talking about?” she asked.

“He forgot to make sure the doors and windows are all locked.”

“Well, you could have done it just as easily as he is,” she said, frowning at him.

“I know,” he said, laughing again.

“It’s a long story,” Carver said, walking back into the room to kick off his other boot. “We’ll tell you later.”

“Much later,” Lance added.

“What if I want you to explain it now?” she asked as Carver jerked her panties off and tossed them over his shoulder.

“You don’t always get your way, princess. You better learn that right now,” Carver told her.

“What?” she frowned and looked over at Lance for an explanation. The other man just shrugged as if he didn’t have a clue. She narrowed her eyes at him. Oh, he knew.

When she started to demand that they explain it to her, Carver shoved her thighs wide apart and filled the empty space with his head and shoulders. Right before he dragged his tongue up her slit, Lance closed his mouth over her nipple and nipped the tip playfully. Vella was lost.

Every stroke of Carver’s magical tongue and each tug on her nipple by Lance sent new sensations throughout her body. How could anyone ever be satisfied with one man after they’d been with two? Separately, they were wonderful, attentive lovers, but together, they rocked her world and then some.

“Fuck, you’re so damn good to eat, babe. Lance was right. There is some caramel in there somewhere. Think I’ll try to find the source.” He used his stiffened tongue to fuck her, twisting it and dragging it over her hard little clit.

“Told you,” Lance said.

“I didn’t ask you to talk,” Carver snarled before running the tip of his tongue up and down the side of her pussy.

“I’m still right,” Lance teased.

“Stop it, both of you! No more arguing. Fuck me!” she demanded.

“Do we have lube here, Lance?” Carver asked as he slid a finger deep into her cunt and wiggled it there.

“Yeah, one of the guys gave me some. They make it out of sunflower oil and mink oil form the fat,” he told the other man.

“Ew! Don’t tell me about it or you won’t be using it on me. That means you won’t be playing back there either,” she warned them.

“Shut the fuck up, Lance,” Carver told the other man.

Vella giggled, but it turned into a moan when Carver added a second finger and located her hot spot that sent her screaming over the edge every time. When he latched onto her clit with his teeth while flicking it with his tongue, all the air left her lungs and spots danced in front of her eyes. Then she was screaming as the climax shot through her like a bottle rocket.