by Jana Leigh
Slone had the patience of a saint, making sure each of the men knew their jobs and teaching them how to bid at the auction. Then made notes for each of them for when they called to arrange delivery of their animals, pointers on how to handle the other ranchers. She had been so proud of each of the men, as they tried to make sure they did things right.
With each day, she felt her heart give a little to Alex and Slone as men, and the others as brothers. In the end, that is what she thought about through the last two hours of travel. How they would all work together making sure the ranch was successful. She was hopeful that she would be in the equation.
When they entered the front door of the huge home, Sable could only pause and smile. The place was amazing. It held furniture that actually looked comfortable; in a house like this, it could have been a toss-up. The overstuffed cream and green furniture screamed for her to sink down in them and rest. Sable sighed and followed Louise as she walked through the large home, damn, it had so many rooms, she peeked into some of the doorways, and saw a large dining room with a table that looked like it could seat at least fourteen. Then she found an office and a small library, wow, she could lose herself for days in this house.
Finally, Louise opened the door into a huge country-style kitchen, it was amazing with white cupboards and a gorgeous jade green counter, and there was a large island that held a grill and a small sink, as well as a breakfast bar with six chairs. A tall older gentleman, who smiled and looked a Louise as if she was the only one in the room, filled one of the chairs. When his gaze fell on Sable, she grinned at his twinkling blue eyes and welcoming smile.
“Sable, this is my husband and wrangler, Timothy,” Louise said and dropped a kiss on the silver haired handsome man.
Sable felt like she belonged as the man pushed out a chair and Louise bustled around the kitchen getting dinner ready. The wonderful smells made her stomach growl and she remembered the men were so intent on making it back that they had stopped only a few times to grab some food.
“Lou, I think our little Sable is starving,” Timothy said with a laugh.
Sable felt her cheeks turn red and she looked down. “No, I can wait.”
“Oh, for heaven's sake, no you can't, those boys need to be paying attention to you. I swear. I knew they were going to hurry home without a thought to food. Let me make you a small plate of bread at least, it just came out of the oven so some butter and jam would fill you a little,” Louise said and turned back to the stove.
In a few minutes, Sable had several pieces of fresh bread and homemade strawberry jam sitting in front of her. She grinned to herself, took her first bite, and almost groaned aloud with the sinful flavors that burst in her mouth. This is what she had been missing all these years—homemade food from a mother figure, while sitting in the kitchen that reeked of family and warmth. Tears began to gather in her eyes. Frank would have loved this place. This is what they had been searching for all those years. And fate brought them to her when he was gone.
“Dinner will be ready in about thirty minutes,” Louise said to someone behind her and Sable turned and looked. Slone and Alex both stood in the doorway looking at her. She shifted under their gaze, smiled, and held up the bread.
“A small snack, you should try some, it is heavenly,” Sable said.
“Louise makes the best bread,” Alex said and joined her at the breakfast bar. Slone went to the refrigerator, pulled out a pitcher of sweet tea, and poured a glass for her and Alex, as well as himself before settling on the other side of Alex.
“Smells good,” he said and Louise turned around and put her hands on her hips.
“I should not give you any treats, you practically starved the poor girl on the way home,” she chided.
“Oh, I have enough padding to not waste away,” Sable said and no one in the room laughed, instead she felt the heat of their stares and she looked up. “What? Do I have jam on my face?”
“No, my dear,” Timothy said and patted her shoulder. “I think they are taking exception to you saying you had padding. Around here, skinny model types are not the norm.”
“No, and we like a woman who looks like a woman—not a boy,” Slone laughed and grabbed a piece of the bread that Louise set before the men.
Sable shook her head and laughed. The men talked about the trip and they told Timothy about the herd of cattle they bought, as well as the horses. Timothy told them about the men who were inquiring about jobs and soon everyone was in the room talking about ranch business as they ate loaf after loaf of bread. Louise seemed to be in her element as they snacked while she prepared the meal.
“We will eat in here apparently,” Louise said and began to get pans out of the oven. Sable jumped up and silently began to help her plate the chicken and potatoes.
Soon they were sitting at the large kitchen table, shoulder to shoulder, passing the heaping plates of food. Louise had her work cut out for her, Sable thought as she watched the men pile the food on their plates. Their food bill had to be seriously huge to feed these six men. She wondered what they'd do when they hired hands to help with the ranch. Louise would definitely need her help to keep all the food prepared for them. She began to feel marginally better as she ate and listened to the conversation swirling around her.
All the men were talking business, some in their own conversations but mostly they spoke together about the plans they had for the shipment of animals they would be receiving in the next few weeks. The ranch would be up and running in the next month. She could hear the excitement in the men’s voices.
She watched them interact and knew over the last six months things had changed a lot for all of them. Sable tried to remember what her brother had written to her about these men, but one thing she did know, the difference in their environment was a huge factor.
“So tomorrow we get everything settled and ready, then get a few men hired, and we will be ready. Timothy, could you get a list together for us, I think it is about time for us to head into town and open an account at the supply store, maybe check out the rest of the town, make-face, and introduce ourselves to the people in Healing. I think it would be a good idea since we are planning on starting a business,” Alex said smoothly and the men all nodded.
Gage rubbed his hands together and said, “Yeah, then maybe stop in at the bar, see if we can start a tab.”
The men groaned and then laughed.
“Let me show you to your room,” Slone said to Sable.
She nodded and helped clean up the table, but then Louise shooed her away when she said she would help with the dishes.
“You can get settled and get your bearings, then we can worry about helping in the kitchen,” she said and kissed her on the cheek and pushed her to the door where Slone was waiting for her with Alex.
Together the three of them walked up the main staircase, the men were pointing out rooms to her, giving her a tour. There was a separate staircase on the backside of the house that they explained led right to the kitchen. She was sure she could spend a day exploring the house and she would still get a little turned around.
“This house was built by a man who moved his bride from a plantation in the south to Wyoming. It has an interesting history. I think we have the book in the library still. Anyway, he is the one who started Healing, Wyoming. Him, his brother, and his bride moved here and were the founders of this town,” Slone said.
“How did you find all this out?” Sable asked.
“When Dallas and Noah called, I did my research. It is a funny little town,” Slone said slowly. “One of the reasons I figured I would like to live here.”
Alex looked at him questioningly and finally said, “What do you mean?”
“Well, this area is known for its acceptance of ménage relationships. Many of the people in town are involved in a ménage,” Slone said.
Alex laughed and said, “Figures they would pick somewhere they could come and visit without having to hide.”
“Yep,” Slone said and S
able just listened. They had been dropping hints about ménages over the last week. Well, Slone had, Alex just kinda agreed but never really committed to whether he would be interested either way. Although the sexual tension between her and both men was definitely getting stronger. She wondered if they were finally going to kiss her now that they were on the ranch. During the trip, they were perfect gentlemen.
They reached the top floor of the house and showed her to the end of the hall. “This is Alex’s bedroom, mine is across the hallway. Yours is at the end, you have a master bedroom with a bath. We thought you would feel more comfortable with your own bathroom,” Slone said and Alex nodded.
“Oh, you shouldn’t have gone to so much trouble,” Sable protested until they opened the door, then all of the words seemed to fly out of her mouth. It was gorgeous and open. The room sat at the end of the hallway, and she knew there were at least ten bedrooms in this house. Hers expanded the length of the home on one of the ends, it had a small sitting room with a television, as well as a couch and rocking chair, the fabric on both was a charming blue floral. The room was white, and the curtains were sheer blue that billowed in the early evening breeze. The bed was enormous, larger than the regular king size bed. The dressers were antique white, and the bed itself was a four-poster bed, with a canopy. She wandered silently into the small apartment like room. Hell, it was almost as big as the apartment she had just left, but with better furniture. She wanted to giggle at the thought.
The bathroom was the stuff dreams were made of. It held white porcelain fixtures, and the towels were the same light periwinkle blue floral. She grinned when she saw the huge oval shaped tub with jets on the side. The shower stood separate, and the wall had three heads on it. She knew her mouth hung open as she looked at the sinks that were lined against the wall—there were three of them. Shit, the people who built this house were involved in a ménage relationship. She looked in the closet and saw all of the matching towels that were placed in there. Apparently, Louise had no problems making sure things were stocked and matching. If she actually had that much money, she would have done the same. It was like a dream come true for Sable.
She turned and grinned at Alex and Slone who just stood in the doorway watching her explore the room. “Oh my goodness, this is amazing.”
“Glad you like it,” Alex said with relief.
“Like it, I love it. I may never leave this room again.” Sable laughed and twirled around with her hands in the air.
“We will leave you to it, your bags are in the closet, we didn’t know where you wanted them all, plus all of your boxes are stacked in there also. You can change anything you want,” Alex said and looked at Slone who was nodding.
“Uh, so, we will leave you then,” Slone said and turned.
“Wait,” Sable said firmly and walked to them. They had hinted toward the possibility of a three-way relationship and she was finally of the mindset to reply. She wanted to know more about it. How it would feel or if they even had the right chemistry.
Sable walked to the doorway and smiled up at the handsome and sexy men. She leaned forward and gently placed her lips on Alex’s and sighed when he wrapped his arms around her, deepening the soft kiss into something more. It was as if they were meant to be together, she could feel it. Everything that had happened since meeting these two, led her to believe that maybe she had been waiting for them. It was something she had dared never to believe in—fate. Alex’s touch burned through her clothes, making her want for the first time to give the gift she had waited to give any man—her virginity.
Slowly Alex ended the kiss, and she turned to Slone, whose eyes were glazed over from watching the two people in front of him kiss. She leaned into his tall frame, gently kissed his full lips, then smiled to herself when he did the same thing that Alex had done and deepened the kiss. She was right, it was like coming home, being with both of these men was something she had never dreamed of, but the rightness of it was hard to ignore. For the first time in her life, she had something to look forward to. When Slone released her, she was breathing erratically.
“Wow, well then, thanks and I will see you in the morning,” Sable said brightly, needing a little time to process what she was feeling. The men nodded in a daze and left the room, the soft click of the door shutting released her giggle. She had done it, something her body had craved for days.
Sable turned back to the room and put her hands on her waist, of course, she would not change the décor, she loved it. However, possibly she would get her things out and put a little of herself into the place, she was going to be staying here for as long as they let her. That she was sure of.
Chapter Thirteen
What the fuck was she doing leaving with seven men, driving to another state, and hiding at a fucking ranch? She should have told him first. The bitch was not doing what she was supposed to and she was going to have to pay for that. Her punishments were going to be severe.
Steven pulled his car to the side of the road and pulled out the GPS tracker he had place in her belongings months ago. She could not get away from him no matter how hard she tried.
First, they went to Salina, where he lost sight of them a few times, his tracking was in one of her stupid monkey sock stuffed dolls, she took them everywhere. Then they began moving back, what the fuck were they doing? He knew, they were trying to lose him. The bastards thought they could take what was his, no he would teach them a lesson, too. All brawn and no brains, that’s what they were.
Steven frowned as he watched them begin to cross the state lines. This would not do, they were not taking his woman away from him. Steven pulled back out into traffic and followed the dot—no way was he going to lose her now. Not after all the time he put into making sure she stayed put, right where he wanted her.
Bringing her back to Kansas was always an option; however, taking her to the west coast also had an appeal. They did some crazy shit out there, and no one noticed most of the time. He could easily keep her chained in his bedroom without raising eyebrows. No one would bother him if they didn’t know him.
Steven began to plan in his head. He could get a job at the local university, probably make tenure quickly there since they would not be as threatened as the assholes he worked for now. The money would be a lot better.
Sable would be waiting for him when he got home with dinner ready, naked, and marked with his brand. That was necessary, she had to be branded, one of the guys he met in the chat room told him how to do it. It was simple, only bending a wire hanger to the shape he wanted and then heating it with a lighter or using any open flame. He would love to see the reddening of her skin as he singed his mark on her. The thought of it made him hard.
Shit, he had to stop thinking like that or he would have a raging erection for the whole drive, and he didn’t want to stop so he could relieve himself. Maybe he could stop in one of these smaller towns and find a stupid woman who was needy. They were the best, they'd let him do anything as long as they didn’t spend the night alone. He could handle that, and maybe then, Sable and her band of idiots would stop. Steven could catch up and surprise them.
Soon, Sable would be his—there was no other option. He would do what he had to in order to make her understand she was right where she belonged. His possession—his plaything.
He would be her master.
Chapter Fourteen
“Do you think it would really work?” Alex asked thoughtfully, as Slone and he sat in the office early in the morning.
“Tell me,” Slone said, “what do you think? There is no one I would rather share a woman with than you. Since we were young, I felt like you were my brother. When you left for the Navy, I figured when you came back we would talk about it.”
“I thought we were on different paths. Wanted different things, but that has changed,” Alex said.
“Yeah, but you didn’t choose this, it was thrust on you man,” Slone said and leaned back in his chair. “I don’t know how you feel about this.”
> “I guess you could say that over the last month or two, I have realized that since the military was discharging me, I had to make a decision. What I wanted to be when I grew up.” Alex laughed sourly. “But I really like this house, and the land.”
“So could you stay here, I mean, it will be pretty boring compared to everything you have done,” Slone said slowly.
“Maybe boring is what I need. The nightmares are still there,” Alex admitted. “And then there is the thing about seeing the dead people. I mean how do I explain that?”
Slone laughed, Alex had told him that a few weeks ago in a fit of rage. He had been angry and yelling at someone when Slone walked into the room, and there was no one there. Alex explained everything, even called in his friends to make sure that Slone would not call the psych ward and report he was crazy. Slone was still awed by the fact, and although he didn’t really believe in spirits, he respected Alex enough to allow him to work through his issues—no matter how he did it.
“Sable seems like a reasonable person, man. I think you have to tell her sometime or another. She will understand,” Slone said confidently.
“Really? Are you crazy?” Alex said in dismay.
“Maybe a little, but you are working out your issues.” Slone shrugged.
“Like the million I have,” Alex said and bent his leg, which still got a little stiff if he didn’t work out. Since they were traveling, they weren't actually able to do their exercises. In fact, the others were probably out in the gym right now without him.
“Maybe your issues are who you are now, maybe whomever you decide to be around needs to understand that. Let me tell you, I get that you have to make sure every night the property is secure. I get that you startle at loud noises, and that you carry a gun with you all the time. I also get your need to work through all of this shit. I am your best friend, and I want to help you,” Slone said.
