3
Amber
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Waylon growled.
I could feel the tension ripping through his body from five feet away. An involuntary shiver went through me, and I had to squeeze my thighs together at my body’s conditioned response to the way he was trembling with holding himself back. Usually I got to experience it while lying flat on my back when he was pissed at me and teasing me to the point of insanity before unleashing his fury by giving me a pounding for the ages. Our angry sex was nothing short of miraculous, but I didn’t think Waylon was about to bend this guy over and fuck him until he was a born-again believer.
“I did the decent thing and called, but seems y’all have lost my number,” the renter guy said.
“We got nothing to say to you,” Sawyer said.
“Mind telling me what’s going on?” I asked.
The guy stuck out a hand and grasped mine. “Cody,” he said. “Nice to meet you.”
Cody. Holy fucking shit. The prodigal son had returned. No wonder he’d looked familiar. None of the Westlings looked very much alike, but I’d been staring into the faces of his three brothers every time I’d been fucked for the past year. I couldn’t believe I’d missed the family resemblance, even if it was slight.
“Amber,” I said weakly as he pumped my hand.
Waylon wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me back like he was afraid Cody was going to grab me and hold a gun to my head. “Don’t touch her.”
Cody looked me up and down, then nodded. “She’s your woman, huh?”
“Leave,” Waylon said, his voice flat. “You got about two minutes to get off our property before I get the gun.”
“Now hold up just a minute,” Cody said, raising a hand. “I didn’t come here for any of that. I been calling for months—hell, for years now. You could have answered, and we could have done this over the phone, all civilized.”
“I can’t shoot you over the phone,” Waylon said.
“Wait a minute,” I said, stepping in front of Waylon, who looked like he was ready to grab Cody and rip his balls off. “He’s the one who’s been calling all this time? I thought those were your booty calls.”
“You think we’d be taking booty calls?” Holden said, shooting me a wounded look.
“You didn’t take them,” I pointed out. “Which is exactly why I thought they were booty calls. Although I admit I thought those women were pretty desperate to still be calling after a year of being ignored. All those calls were from your brother?”
“He’s not our brother,” Waylon said flatly. “He’s dead to us. And he’s about to be dead to the whole world.”
“Hold up,” Sawyer said. “What are you here for, Cody? You got a lot of balls showing up like this. So what do you want?”
“I don’t remember him giving us the courtesy of asking what we wanted before he took off,” Waylon said.
“I’m here to make amends,” Cody said. “I know what I did was wrong. But I hope we can put that behind us. This ranch belongs to the four of us. I don’t see any reason we can’t make it right.”
“You son of a bitch,” Waylon said, springing forward like a snake that had been waiting to strike. His fist connected with Cody’s jaw hard enough that I could hear the crack. Cody’s hat flew off, and he stumbled backwards, catching himself on the door frame.
Holden leapt forward and wrestled Waylon back while Cody rubbed his jaw and cursed. Straightening up, he spit a stream of blood into the snow off the side of the porch. I was pretty sure I saw some tooth chunks in there, too. I wanted to barf, but I didn’t want them to take me off and hide me in the house like they had when they dealt with Mr. Grimes. I was a big girl now. I’d seen a cow give birth. I could handle the sight of a little Wyoming justice.
“I guess I deserved that,” Cody said, glowering at Waylon. I could tell he was itching to throw a punch of his own, and I didn’t think Waylon would have minded having an excuse to knock out every one of Cody’s teeth.
“Damn right you deserved it,” Waylon said. “Now get the fuck off our property.”
“Our property,” Cody corrected.
A silence fell over the five of us.
“So that’s what you want,” Sawyer said. “I figured as much. You had to be desperate to show your ass around here again. It had to be either Maria left you, or you needed money.”
“Maria’s been gone for two years,” Cody said. “And I’ve been calling y’all for a year. Not because I need money. Look at my damn car. Does it look like I’m hard up?”
He did have a really nice Jeep—a lot nicer than the beat-up old truck the guys drove around when they didn’t have to pull a trailer. Their diesel truck was a bit nicer and a lot bigger, but it was a business write-off.
“I just want to make things right,” Cody said. “Give me a half a chance, Waylon. Whether you admit it or not, we’re still brothers. Blood brothers. Can’t nothing change that.”
“Something can,” Waylon said.
“Don’t make a man beg,” Cody said. “The Waylon I know wouldn’t do that.”
“The Waylon you knew is dead and gone,” Waylon said. He turned on his heel and headed back toward the house without another word.
I felt bad for him, but I couldn’t help but feel bad for Cody, too. I knew what it felt like to be an outsider with these three impossible, wonderful men. I knew how much I’d wanted to be part of what they had—and it had to be a hundred times worse for Cody. He’d had it, and he’d ruined it. I knew a thing or two about regret, but nothing like that.
Of course, that was because I hadn’t been a backstabbing piece of shit who stole my brother’s fiancé.
Cody swore and wiped blood from his lips. “What about the rest of you?” he asked. “I don’t want to make things ugly, but I don’t give up easy, either.”
“You going to make trouble?” Holden asked.
“I’m back in town, if that’s what you’re asking,” Cody said. “And I don’t intend to leave until I get what I came for. How that happens is up to you.”
“That sounds like a threat to me,” Holden said.
“I ain’t threatening to bring out my shotgun,” Cody said. “And I’m not looking to get shot. I’ve said my piece. Now I think I best get going before Waylon comes out guns blazing.”
“You can’t blame the man,” Sawyer said.
“I don’t,” Cody said. “But I value my life, too. If you want to follow me down to the bar, we can talk longer. I sure have missed it around here, and I wouldn’t mind catching up on what-all’s happened these past years.”
Sawyer and Holden exchanged a look. “I don’t think Waylon would like the looks of that.”
“Go,” I said, putting a gentle hand on Sawyer’s back. “I’ll take care of Waylon.”
Sawyer shot me a surprised look.
“So, she’s yours,” Cody said with a slight nod. “I was wondering. You did good. A lot better than I did. Worst mistake I ever made, leaving here with that woman.”
“You got no idea,” Sawyer said, sliding an arm around my waist. I didn’t know if he meant Cody running off was a mistake, or that he’d done good by winding up with me. Either way, he didn’t seem ready to let go of me anytime soon. I figured they’d all be a little possessive around Cody, considering his past. And I was more than okay with that. Now that I knew what was fishy about Cody, he didn’t creep me out, but I wanted my men to feel secure and know I’d never betray them the way the last woman had.
“I think we’ll pass for tonight,” Holden said.
“You should go,” I said again. “Talk it out. Maybe he’s got something to say that you’ll want to hear.”
Sawyer looked uncertain, but Holden shook his head. “Not tonight,” he said. “We’ll talk it over with Waylon, see what we all want to do.”
Cody shrugged like it didn’t matter. “I’ve never known a Westling to want for company long in this town. I imagine if you don’t want to have a drink,
“We haven’t been out in way too long,” Sawyer said. “Maybe we’ll join you sometime this week. Have a couple beers, cut a rug.”
This time, my arm was the one tightening possessively around him. He used to be a regular down at the honky-tonk bar they had in this town. We didn’t go out much, though I did try to go dancing with Natalie every few months, and the boys were always down to come with me and scare the other men away. Now that his brother was back, he’d want to go hang out with him, which was fine. But I wasn’t about to let him loose with a bunch of cowgirls who wanted to ride him as much as I did.
“Don’t worry,” Sawyer said as we headed back to the house. “I’ll bring you with me.”
“You better,” I said.
Holden was silent on our walk through the snow to the lodge. Cody followed at a short distance behind us and then circled around to his Jeep.
“Think we can trust him?” Holden asked as Cody drove slowly down the snow-packed drive toward the road.
“I’m not one to hold grudges,” Sawyer said. “Not even if I tried. But that don’t mean I’m not aware of the kind of man he is.”
“He seemed genuine to me,” I said. “I think he meant it. Not saying that excuses what he did, but I do think he’s sorry.”
We stepped into the house, which was almost completely dark. The only light came from the fire, which was roaring in the fireplace. Waylon was sitting on the couch in the dark, a whiskey glass in his hand.
“He’s gone,” Holden said.
“He better not come back,” Waylon said, not turning.
“Are you okay?” I asked, ducking from under Sawyer’s arm and approaching Waylon with caution. I set a hand gently on his shoulder, but he jumped up and spun to face me.
“No thanks to you,” he growled. “Your meddling is what brought him here.”
“How was I supposed to know?” I asked, drawing back.
“If you weren’t always pushing for this change and that change, he wouldn’t have ended up here,” Waylon said. “You wanted to rent out the cabins. Hell, for all I know, this was your plan all along. After all, you think you know what’s best for all of us, don’t you?”
His words stung like a slap. “Maybe if you weren’t so damn secretive, I’d have known he was your brother when he called to rent a cabin,” I shot back. “You guys wouldn’t even tell me he was the one blowing up your phones all that time.”
“Because it’s none of your damn business.”
“Well, then, I guess you’ll have to forgive me when I make innocent mistakes because I don’t know what the hell is going on with you half the time.”
We stood there staring at each other. My stupid lip started trembling, and I was sure I was going to burst into tears if I didn’t keep holding onto the anger his words had stirred up.
“It’s not Amber’s fault,” Holden said at last, stepping up beside me. I could have burst into tears of pure gratitude. It was one thing for him to take my side against their mother, which had been a huge for a mama’s boy like Holden. But for him to stand up to his brother for me made my heart melt like a marshmallow in hot cocoa.
“Thank you,” I whispered, some of the tension in my body easing.
“You’re right,” Waylon said. “You can’t help it if you have ridiculous notions. It’s our fault for indulging you like a child. You want to more responsibility around here, you can start by taking responsibility for fucking up.”
I was so mad I could hardly draw breath to fire back at him. “Oh, so it’s my fault for making you think about someone besides yourself for a change? Sure, it wouldn’t have happened if you’d just kept being a jerk all your life and refused to do something for the good of the ranch. Fine, keep thinking that if it helps you sleep at night, all by yourself with your self-righteous jerk-face. Maybe you should have married that cheating bitch, since you’re obviously never going to get over her. Then you could have each other and be miserable together. And I guess I’d have Cody instead of you, so we’d all be better off.”
With that, I tore free of Holden’s arm and whirled around, stomped up the stairs, and threw myself onto my bed. I had no one to yell at up here, so I screamed into my pillow with rage. I wanted to call Haley and vent, but she was back in New York on a date with some glamorous man who’d never shoveled horse manure in his life. I was supposed to be here, having the time of my life. But dating three men was no picnic, not when one of them was as impossible to love as Waylon. And I couldn’t exactly ask my mom for advice with men. We hadn’t spoken in over a year. The only contact we had was when she sent messages through her secretary.
When I’d calmed down a little, I rolled over onto my back and tried to sleep, but I was still all riled up. Downstairs, I could hear the guys talking in low voices, probably trying to decide what to do about Cody. Even they weren’t concerned with me. They had each other. I was the one going to bed alone, not Waylon. Stupid me.
After punching my pillow a few times, I felt better. I wasn’t going to be alone, that was for sure. I still had some pent-up anger, and someone might as well benefit. I got up, stripped off all my clothes, and slipped down the hall. At the bottom of the stairs, I paused and leaned on the banister. I tried to remember a sexy pose. One leg slightly in front of the other, the knee bent at an alluring angle, my feet poised daintily so I didn’t look like a flat-footed duck. Back arched and ass poking out, but it had to be in a classy way, not an insert-cock-here kind of way. Tummy in, boobs up, chin tilted, lips pushed out to make them look fuller—again not in imitation of a duck—eyes hooded. Above all make sure not to look like I needed to poop.
Damn, being a woman was hard work.
“Are you really going to leave me alone to think about your brother while you talk about him down here?” I asked with a pout.
“What the hell are you doing?” Waylon asked. “It’s zero degrees outside.”
“Exactly,” I said. “It’s so cold and lonely upstairs by myself.”
“I can take care of that,” Sawyer said, leaping over the couch in a single bound. He swept me up into his arms, and I wrapped my legs around his waist. He grinned and slid his hands under my ass to support my weight.
“Can you?” I plucked his hat off his head and put it on mine, grinning up at him. “I think a hot cowboy is just what I need to warm me up.”
There was no quicker way to push Sawyer over the edge than to put on nothing but his hat.
“You already wet for me, Princess?” he asked, his hands sliding from my ass to the tendons at the top of my thighs. “That move says you’re ready to get fucked right here, right now.” He began to work his fingers into my crease, spreading the folds and teasing my opening with the tip of one finger. Over his shoulder, I locked eyes with Waylon, who sat watching with his jaw set and his eyes hard. His grip tightened on the arms of his chair as I gasped when Sawyer spread me open and slid a long, cold finger into me. I closed my eyes and threw my head back, shuddering with pleasure when Sawyer’s hot mouth latched onto my nipple.
He gave a hard suck, and I cried out, arching against him. But when I felt him start to undo his belt, I stopped him. “Not here,” I said. “Upstairs.”
“You don’t want an audience?” he asked with an easy grin. A tremor went through me, and my thighs clenched. He knew me well.
“Not this time,” I said, glaring at Waylon. “He doesn’t deserve to watch.”
“Whatever the lady wants,” Sawyer said, throwing me over his shoulder. I squeaked and grabbed for his hat, barely clamping it on my head before it fell off. My blond hair swung around my face as Sawyer turned to the others, giving them a full view of my naked bottom. “Guess we’ll be heading up to bed.”
He gave my ass a good whack for emphasis. With me draped over his shoulder like that, the I could just imagine the look on Waylon’s face, and it made me happy as fuck.
Halfway up the stairs, I started to get lightheaded from all the blood rushing to my brain, but when I tried to squirm up, Sawyer gave me another hard smack on the ass. This time, I let out a little yelp.
“You better shut that mouth,” he said, marching me into the bedroom. “Otherwise Waylon will come up here and plug it for you.”
He tossed me onto the big bed in the bedroom at the end of the hall. We’d moved another bed in and squished them together so we could all fit when we wanted to, which was most of the time. But sometimes, I just wanted one of them.
“If you want me to be quiet, maybe you should stop smacking my ass,” I said, rolling over and twisting around to see the red handprint he’d left on my ass.
“Don’t even pretend you don’t like it,” he said, whipping off his belt and dropping his pants. “And you’ll be quiet the day hell freezes over.”
He gave me a wicked grin, plucked his cowboy hat from my head, and replaced it on his own. Then he grabbed my hips, pulling me onto all fours. I turned to give him a seductive look over my shoulder. “Is this what you like, big brother?”
“You know it, baby,” he said, sliding the head of his cock up and down my wetness. “On your knees, so I can smack your ass again while I fuck you.”
“Then stop teasing me and fuck me,” I said.
“You’re a greedy little princess, aren’t you?” he said, but he grabbed my hip with one hand and his huge cock with the other, guiding it to my throbbing opening. He pushed gently, then waited while I squirmed with impatience. At last, he gave a quick little thrust, forcing his cock past my opening. I gasped in both relief that my body was finally getting what it wanted and pain. Even after a year, we usually had to start slow. But I relished the ache of stretching around his impossible girth.
Once he was pushed to my depths, he rested his fists on the bed and pressed his lips between my shoulder blades. “Tell me what you want, little sister,” he said.
“Fuck me,” I said, squirming against him, needing some friction to relieve the pressure inside me.
Sawyer chuckled. “It’s a little late if that wasn’t what you wanted. But tell me how you want it.”
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