“Fucking hell, I love you,” he said, collapsing onto me at last.
Heat and tenderness swelled between my legs, where my pussy still pulsed around his cock. He didn’t pull out, but let me feel his cock throbbing in answer, squeezing every last drop of come into me.
7
Amber
When I’d recovered enough to speak, I said, “The feeling is entirely mutual.” And then I burst into tears. When I say I cried, I don’t mean cute little sniffles or silent tears. I mean big, heaving, ugly-cry sobs.
Waylon stiffened and muttered a curse under his breath. “Did I hurt you? I’ve never made a woman cry while I was still inside her.”
“No,” I managed, pushing at his chest until he rolled away.
He stood up from the bed and pulled on his jeans. “Let me call Holden.”
“No,” I sobbed, shaking my head.
Waylon stood by the bed, looking panicked as I curled into a ball and hiccupped and writhed. “Should I go?”
“No,” I said. “Haven’t you ever seen someone cry before?”
“I usually try to look the other way.”
“Well, I’m not one of your brothers,” I said through my tears. “If you’re going to have a girlfriend, you better learn to comfort her when she’s crying.”
“You want me to comfort you?” Waylon asked. I wasn’t a big crier, so this hadn’t been an issue since I arrived. I might have shed a few tears on Holden now and then when my mom was busy abandoning me, but otherwise, I’d kept my cool the majority of the time.
I nodded, more tears spurting from my eyes when Waylon sank onto the edge of the bed and awkwardly patted my shoulder. He cleared his throat. “This comes more naturally to my brothers. Are you sure I can’t call them?”
“No,” I blubbered. “I just need you to hold me.”
He swung his feet up and lay down beside me, wrapping me in his strong arms and pulling me against his long, lean body. “Do you want me to ask what’s wrong?”
“Not if it’s such a burden to you,” I said, angry all over again.
“It’s not a burden,” he said. “What’s wrong?”
“How about my mother disowned me? She won’t even let me visit for Christmas. Apparently, I’m a liability. And my best friend isn’t coming here, which means I won’t see her, either, and now that I’ve moved to the middle of nowhere, we might never see each other again, and I have no one else to talk to. I never thought we’d grow apart, but I think we are.”
A fresh wave of sobs wracked my body.
“That’s a lot on your shoulders,” Waylon said, holding me against his chest.
“And oh yeah, I invited your brother here by accident and now you’re mad at me, and I burnt the cookies.”
“Those were supposed to be cookies?” Waylon asked.
I cried even harder.
“I’m not mad at you,” Waylon said quietly.
“I knew what I was getting when I agreed to this, and I’m grateful, don’t get me wrong. I know you’re giving me a lot. I just didn’t realize what I’d be giving up.”
He didn’t say any more, just lay there holding me until I wore myself out and fell asleep.
I dreamed I woke up to find Cody standing over my bed. His dark eyes, so much like Waylon’s, locked on mine as he unbuckled his belt. “My turn.”
I woke with a start, my heart hammering in my chest. Waylon was still holding me, his eyes open and all his usual hardness gone for the moment. This time, I didn’t have to tell him. When I undid his jeans, he rolled over onto me, pushing into me slow and hard, stroking my hair back and kissing me softly as he made love to me.
When I looked up, I caught sight of my other two stepbrothers standing in the door to my room. I watched them watching as I wrapped my legs around their brother’s hips, using my legs to help him drive even deeper, his muscles flexing as he moved in me. Neither of them looked shocked, or horrified, or jealous. They looked excited and happy. I wasn’t betraying them. I was fulfilling them all. No matter what I’d lost to make this dream come true, it was worth it. Right then, as Waylon came inside me for the second time that day, I knew I was the absolute luckiest girl in all of Wyoming.
*
The next evening, as we all sat down to dinner, I finally got the chance to ask the question that had been on my mind all day. “How was the time with Cody?” I said, carefully avoiding eye contact as I scooped casserole onto my plate.
“Not bad,” Sawyer said, shoveling the cheesy rice into his mouth.
“Come to any conclusions?” I asked.
“He ain’t leaving,” Sawyer said. “And he’s right. Legally, he owns this ranch the same as the rest of us. So, we’re going to have to come up with a way to buy him out of it, if he’ll sell, or we’re going to have to accept that he’s going to be around.”
“And what about us?” I asked. “Does this affect us?”
“No,” Waylon said. “Absolutely not.”
I remembered my dream from the night before. If they made up with Cody, would they want to share me? Would he be okay with sharing? Would I? I remembered that knowing that had settled between us when our eyes met the other day. He wanted me. I wanted him. We both knew it. And we both knew it could ruin everything I’d worked so hard to establish this past year.
But aside from the attraction, I couldn’t decide more before I knew him better. For now, I couldn’t imagine having more than I already had. But if I’d learned one thing in Wyoming, it was that you could never say never. When I’d left New York, I’d definitely never imagined I’d like Wyoming. I’d sure as hell never imagined having three stepbrothers so sexy they could drop panties with a wink. That I’d meet three cowboys I wanted to give myself to. That I’d want to stay here and keep giving myself to them every night, maybe forever.
I realized that if my mom had married their dad four years ago, she might have never had time to hook me up with Charlie. Instead, she might have introduced me to my own sexual awakening. And the guys might never have asked Maria to move in, and she might have never fallen in love with Cody and taken off. Waylon would still be the quiet, watchful one, because that’s just how he was. But he wouldn’t be such a jaded bastard.
I’d have been fifteen, though. I didn’t know if my fifteen-year-old self would have been able to handle the three of them. Not to mention it would have been illegal in like forty-eight states. Still, I sort of liked the naughty fantasy of me, innocent of betrayal and cheating and chastity belts, being passed around by my stepbrothers on our visits to the ranch every Christmas.
“Well, I think you should invite him for Christmas at the very least,” I said. “He’s got to be lonely.”
“He made his bed,” Waylon said.
“He’s living with our ma,” Sawyer said. “That’s a pretty steep penance.”
“She’ll bring him over and insist we get along at Christmas, anyway,” Holden said.
“We may not be able to stop her from bringing him,” Waylon said. “But we don’t have to get along.”
“It’s the time of year for turning over a new leaf,” Sawyer said, raising his glass. “It’s fine by me.”
“It ain’t fine by me,” Waylon said, pushing back from the table and standing. “I’m going out to work on the car.” With that, he disappeared out the door. Christmas or not, it didn’t look like we’d be inviting Cody to join our little family any time soon.
8
Amber
True to his word, Cody showed up the next day. The guys were out again, but I wasn’t so freaked out this time. I was kind of getting to know the guy. I mean, he had gotten me out of a scrape, and he hadn’t even told the guys about it. In fact, he hadn’t come in bragging about how he’d saved the herd from their run for Mexico, either. The guys didn’t even know that he’d patched up the fence and saved my ass from looking like an idiot once again.
“Are you planning to move back to the ranch?” I asked when he’d plopped himself down at the table afte
r I let him in.
“I’m still thinking on it.”
“You know you’ll have to watch your back, right? Waylon hates your guts.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Cody said. “But I ain’t scared of Waylon. He’s not the only one with a gun.”
“You shoot Waylon, and I’ll personally chop off your nuts and make them into a coin purse.”
Cody grinned from under his hat. “Fair enough.”
I turned from where I was making myself an omelet for brunch, leaned back against the counter, and crossed my arms. I hoped I looked as tough as a real cowgirl. “Why’d you do it, anyway?” I asked.
“Do what?” Cody asked, his eyes wary.
“You know what,” I said. “Why’d you run off with his fiancé? And don’t look so surprised. I know all about it. We don’t keep secrets in this house.”
Cody studied me a long minute, until I was squirming and dying to drop my eyes. But I kept my chin up and my gaze steady.
“Foolishness, I reckon,” he said at last, shifting in his chair and pulling at the knees of his jeans. Why did that movement make me automatically size up a guy’s package? I mean, I totally wasn’t interested in his package, but I couldn’t deny that I wondered if he was as blessed as his brothers in the dick department. Judging by the bulge, he was.
“I’m going to need a little more than that,” I said, tearing my eyes away from his crotch.
“I was young, thought I was in love,” he said. “All the usual bullshit excuses. Look, Amber, I don’t have a good reason. Ain’t no big scandals or schemes behind it. Things were good between the four of us before that. I wasn’t jealous or nothing like that. I just chased after a piece of tail, thinking with my dick. That a good enough reason?”
“Not a good one, but it’s an honest reason,” I said. “And I accept your apology.”
“I didn’t know I had to apologize to you,” he said.
“Are you kidding? You made Waylon into a jaded, mean old bastard. Trust me, you got a lot of apologizing to do to any woman who wants to be with him for more than a night. But we’ve all done stupid shit—God knows I have. So I’m willing to forgive you for the insufferable ass you made your brother into.”
Cody smiled, shaking his head. “I apologize, Miss Amber. You’re right. I keep thinking you’re Sawyer’s gal. I’m more than a little surprised Waylon’s not just living with a woman again, but from the looks of the cabins, you’re all four living here in the lodge together.”
I gulped, realizing Cody might be catching on to what we had going. They’d all lived out back in the cabins when Waylon had brought Maria to live with him. Cheating had been easy enough for her when they all lived just next door to each other. Here we were living in the same house, and after what Maria had done, Cody would know that Waylon would have to be crazy to bring another woman into the same situation. Not to mention Cody seemed pretty shrewd. I’d bet anything he at least suspected that I was both Sawyer and Waylon’s gal.
“So, how do you plan on getting back in their good graces?” I asked, moving to a safer topic. “I might have accepted your apology, but that doesn’t mean they have.”
Cody shrugged. “I reckon I could show them what I could bring to the ranch. I’m sure they could use a hand. Sawyer told me they fired old Grimes.”
“And if they don’t want your help?”
“I don’t guess they’ve got much choice. If they won’t listen to reason, I can get a lawyer and get a quarter of the ranch sectioned off for my use.”
“You can’t gain their trust by threatening them,” I said. “Like, trust me or I’ll take your home away. That’s not going to make them trust you. You have to earn it.”
“How’d you gain their trust?” Cody asked, narrowing his eyes.
I didn’t like the way he was always studying me, like he was trying to figure out my place here. But I didn’t want to let it show, so I laughed instead. “Trust me, you can’t gain their trust that way. Not to mention it would be illegal in too many ways to count.”
“They sure forgave Maria fast,” he said darkly. “But they’ll never forgive me.”
“I don’t know if I’d say they forgave Maria.”
“They moved on, though,” he said, looking me over. “They got you.”
“You’re their brother,” I said. “They expected more from you.”
“I reckon,” he said grudgingly.
“But your first plan is more solid,” I said. “I like the horses, but I’m not so good at the detailed business stuff. Taxes and salaries and all that.”
He nodded. “You’ll help me get back on their good side?”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” I said. “My loyalty is and will always be with them. But you’re their brother, and I wouldn’t mind seeing you all together and happy again. I don’t have any brothers or sisters, but I always wanted them. It’s lonely being an only child. I wouldn’t mind being part of a big family, even if it’s not mine by blood.”
“That’s nice of you,” he said. “Thanks, Amber. Even if it sounds a little more selfish than just wanting the guys to get their brother back.”
I scoffed and turned back to the counter. “And to think I was going to make you an omelet.”
“I could eat.”
“Help yourself,” I said, sliding mine out onto a plate. “There’s eggs in the fridge.”
If he thought I was going to wait on him, he was in for a rude awakening. I didn’t even wait on the guys I was sleeping with. They liked to wait on me.
I sat down at the table and dug in, not even feeling a little guilty that Cody was sitting there watching me eat. If he wanted to eat our food, he’d have to fix it himself after calling me selfish.
“Did you give any thought to what I said?” he asked. “About me helping out and taking over some of the ranch duties?”
“I’ll float the idea at dinner,” I said.
“Then I’ll be going to have a look around,” Cody said. “Oh, and Ma expects to see y’all at church tonight. Christmas Eve service.”
“Oh, we’re not really a church family,” I said.
Cody just looked at me.
“I mean, I wasn’t,” I said. “My family, like, me and my parents. Not your family. I’m sure you’re all into church and whatever good country people do.”
“See you tonight,” Cody said before I could really get going.
“Um. Isn’t there supposed to be a blizzard or something tonight?”
“Not until after midnight,” he said. He stood from the table and tipped his hat before disappearing out the door.
Damn it. I didn’t know if I had made things worse or better. All I knew was that I needed to find a dress that covered my ass before this evening.
I set about doing some last-minute cleaning since the guys’ mother was coming for Christmas. In usual Lidia fashion, she was sure to criticize everything in the entire house from the wreathe I’d chosen to the boughs on the mantel to the decorations on the tree. She would no doubt find burnt cookie remnants anything but amusing, especially if she knew I’d been hurling them at one of her precious sons. The only saving grace was that she was a total lush, and as soon as I got a glass or two of wine down her, she thought I was the best thing since the frying pan was invented.
When the guys came in, I had the fireplace roaring, the candles burning, and Christmas music on drifting from the speakers.
“Smells like Christmas in here,” Sawyer said, whisking me into his arms and giving me a kiss.
“Were you trying to summon a spirit?” Waylon asked, gesturing to the candles lining the mantel and set strategically around the room.
“Yeah,” I said. “I was trying to summon your holiday spirit. Guess it didn’t work.”
“It looks great, Am,” Holden said. “Real cozy.”
“Thank you,” I said, standing on tiptoes to give his scruffy cheek a kiss. I squeezed his hand and smiled up at him. “Ready for dinner?”
I didn’t
even give Waylon a second glance as we all settled around the table. If he was determined to be a Grinch, I wasn’t going to stop him.
“Your mother invited us to church tonight,” I said, pouring a glass of wine for Sawyer.
“Is Cody going to be there?” Waylon asked.
“I’m sure he is,” I said. “Look, he’s not going away. You can either let him take you to court, which costs a lot of money, and you’ll lose a fourth of the ranch, or you can figure out some way to live peacefully with him around.”
“I can think of another option,” Waylon said, forking food into his mouth.
“He’s been calling you every day for over a year,” I said. “He’s sorry, and you know it. And I’m not even saying you have to forgive him. But he owns one of those cabins, and he’s planning to move into it. Like it or not, he’s going to be a part of our lives. He might as well help out around the ranch.”
“He’s got a mind for business, I won’t deny,” Sawyer said. “Nobody could squeeze a dollar out of a quarter like Cody. I swear he’s magic when it comes to the business side of the ranch.”
“Well, I like taking care of the horses, but I wouldn’t mind a little oversight,” I said. “No offense, but shoving medicine down their throats just seems cruel to me.”
“It’s for their own good,” Holden said, frowning. “We’re not cruel to them.”
“I know,” I said. “And I don’t even mind shoveling shit that much. There’s just a few things I think someone with more experience could bring to the table. And I’m not so confident in the business side. I can keep the books, but if he could do the in-depth business stuff, like paying your salaries and the taxes and stuff, that might be nice.”
“So that’s it?” Waylon asked. “You’re all in favor of letting a snake into the nest?”
“I didn’t say we’d trust him,” Sawyer said, his eyes landing on me. “Especially around Amber. You know how he is. But we can’t really stop him.”
Wrap Me, Cowboys Page 5
