Desires of the Cowboy Bears (BBW MMF Menage Shapeshifter Romance)

by Tabitha O'Dell

  Desires of the Cowboy Bears

  BBW MMF Ménage Shifter Erotic Romance

  By

  Tabitha O’Dell

  Copyright 2015 by Tabitha O’Dell

  All rights reserved

  Cover photo image credit: aarrttuurr & romancephotos| depositphotos.com

  Contents

  Desires of the Cowboy Bears

  Also by Tabitha O’Dell

  About the Author

  Desires of the Cowboy Bears

  Two men who were once total strangers were now spreading kisses all over the curves of my body. Hot and passionate, I was delirious with pleasure as the two men – no, the two werebears – turned my nerves into desire as their lips, their hands, and their tongues caressed my body.

  If only two weeks ago someone had told me that this would happen, I would have laughed in their face. Now I was living it and it was the greatest thing I’d ever known.

  But I never would have guessed we could have ended up here.

  Growing up on a five thousand acre ranch in Texas doesn’t give a girl many opportunities to meet men. At twenty-two, I spent more time on horseback than I did much else. My life was the ranch, and as my father’s only child, there was no doubting it would all be mine one day.

  Even though I wasn’t sure I wanted it.

  It’s not that I don’t love the ranch or being a downhome cowgirl, but I missed out on college, I missed out on dating, and I was still... well... inexperienced with men. It was hard to meet guys when you lived miles and miles from anyone else, and even if I did know anyone, most nights I was out keeping watch for the cougars that had been hurting our herd lately.

  On nights I did make it into town to head over to the local bar – playfully called The Saloon – I didn’t have much luck. Most of the men were older than my dad, and the rest were either assholes who refused to talk to me just because I’m curvier than most cowgirls, and the rest were only after my daddy’s land.

  Things all changed when the ranch that bordered ours was put up for sale. It lasted only three days before it was off the market and my pop scoffed that it was some city slickers probably hoping to make a quick buck off the land that had bought it.

  His opinion changed when our new neighbors, or as close to neighbors as we would get out in the wild expanses of Texas, came rolling in their truck down our lane one afternoon not long after they took possession of the ranch.

  “Doesn’t look like the type of truck a city slicker would buy,” I told my dad, but he only spit into the dirt. He wouldn’t give the new owners a pass until they could prove that they could work the land and herd the cattle.

  But when the two men hopped out of the rusty old truck, my jaw went slack. They weren’t anything like what I expected when I heard the place had sold. Hell, I was expecting a couple, not two young men who were easily the hottest guys in the county. They were both tall and muscular – even through their plaid shirts I could see that – and they both had bright green eyes that sparkled in the mid-afternoon sun.

  While one had hair so dark it was almost black, the other was a sandy blond. Both had a sight bit of stubble on their jaws, and both wore their jeans just a little too snug.

  If my father hadn’t have mumbled, “Queers,” under his breath, I might have been at a total loss for words.

  “Dad!” I shot at him. I didn’t care that he had grown up in a decade where that kind of thing was okay, it wasn’t okay now. Not only that, but I was really, really hoping the two guys weren’t gay. They might be my only chance to actually meet someone and try to date.

  “Sorry,” he grumbled and he put on a smile as he approached our new neighbors.

  “Howdy!” the one with the dark hair called as he meandered over to us. “You must be the Wilsons.”

  “That we are,” my dad said as he shook the man’s hand. “My name’s William, but everyone ‘round here calls me Buck. This here is my daughter, Amelia.”

  “You can call me Amy,” I told them.

  “I reckon I’ll do just that,” he said. “My name’s Hudson, Hudson Turner, and this here is my business associate, Flynn Hill.”

  “Pleasure,” the sandy blond said as he tipped his hat, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Business associate was good, business associate meant not lovers. Meant that hopefully they were straight. They wouldn’t be the only ones who went in on a ranch together. Ranching is hard work and costly. Doing it on your own isn’t for many folks.

  “We’re just getting settled in,” Flynn told us. “Old Mr. MacGucket sold us the herd along with the land, so we’ve been focused on making sure we’ve got our ducks in a row, so to speak.”

  “Anything we should know about the area?” Hudson asked.

  “Well, it’s not the kind of place that welcomes city slickers easily,” my dad said, giving them the hard sell.

  “Good thing neither of us are,” Flynn chuckled. “I’m sixth generation, and Hudson’s fifth. We’re both third sons, which meant when it came to passing on the family homestead, we were both third in line. We figured we might be better off going in together and buying a place of our own to ranch. We’ve got three thousand acres out there, which is about what we were both raised with.”

  “Only thing is that we’re both from Nebraska,” Hudson told us. “So we don’t know the lay of the land. Things to be cautious of. If you could help us out, well, that’d be mighty kind of you.”

  “Oh, well, yes,” my dad grumbled as he kicked at the dirt.

  It wasn’t that my father is an asshole, but he has never taken too kindly to strangers and them proving him wrong at every turn was hurting his pride. I could see where this was going and I put a stop to it.

  “Watch out for the groundhogs,” I told them. “But you probably know about that. Honestly, the biggest issue we’ve had lately is cougars.”

  “Cougars?” the men asked in unison.

  “Yeah, mean old bastards,” I said. “I can’t blame ‘em, drought killed off a lot of the wild critters they’re used to eating. We’ve lost a few head ‘a cow the last couple months to them, though. Just be careful and don’t let them get the drop on you.”

  “Thanks for the warning, ma’am,” Hudson said, and I blushed at that. No one ever called me ma’am. I usually got ‘Little Lady’ from my dad’s friends. I was an adult, but no one saw me that way. Hudson did, though, and I hoped Flynn did too.

  “We best get back to the ranch,” Flynn said. “But it was a pleasure meeting you.”

  “You too,” I told them. “And if you need a hand, just call. Hopefully MacGucket left the local numbers by the phone.”

  “That he did,” Flynn said. “And I’m sure we’ll need to ask for a hand sooner than later.”

  That hand came more sooner than later, and I lit up when I heard Hudson’s dark, silky voice on the phone. “Hi, is this Amy?” he asked and I almost giggled instead of replying.

  “Yes,” I told him, hoping he needed me to come over for something. Anything.

  “We’re a bit short handed right now,” Hudson said. “We’re looking to hire some hands, but at the moment it’s just Flynn and me. Would you mind coming over and helping us do a little inventory on the herd?”

  “Sure!” I told him, and was out the door before I could even think of telling my dad where I was going.

  Not that it mattered. He was out on the range with a few of the new hands we’d hired on, showing them the ropes. I could probably head the few miles down the road and help the out and return before he even knew I was gone.

  The ride to the MacGucket Ranch, or
maybe they’d rename it, was nearly twenty minutes in the old Ford, but I was excited the whole way. I’d been down there hundreds of times to help out, but this was the first time I actually wanted to head over there.

  Flynn and Hudson were sitting on the front porch of the homestead as I pulled up and I offered a wave as I hopped out of the truck. They looked even better than I remembered and I prayed I didn’t say anything stupid as I walked over to them, but they got down to business right away.

  “We’ve got a horse saddled for you,” Flynn said as we walked toward the stable. “We brought a few of our own from Nebraska, and we have a few from MacGucket. I hope you don’t mind we picked one for you.”

  “It’s okay,” I told them. “Animals tend to like me.”

  “I can believe that,” Hudson said. It was innocent enough, but for some reason his words sent a chill down my spine. He was so hot and just about anything he said would probably get me excited though.

  With our horses under us, I followed the two men out into the open summer air and we brought our horses to a trot. There was a lot of ground to cover and my job was to keep the cows in some semblance of a herd while the two men took stock of what they’d purchased.

  We checked for lame animals, for any injuries, and with my warning about the cougars, any sign that they might have been in the area.

  “Over there,” I said as I pointed at an old tree near the fence that divided our properties.

  Bringing our horses toward the tree, we got a better look at the damage. Something had run its claws all over the stump and shredded the side of it to ribbons.

  “Damn,” I mumbled. The claw marks looked bigger than I thought a cougar’s could, but I’d seen the big cats out at night. It had to be what did it.

  “Well then,” Flynn said as he looked to Hudson and then back to the tree.

  “I’ll say,” was all Hudson offered and I looked at both men to try to figure out what was going on. They didn’t say anything, not specifically, but something about their reaction put me on edge.

  “I think we’ve had enough work for a bit,” Flynn said, changing the subject as he turned the horse back toward home. “How about we head back for a beer and some lunch?”

  “I’m down with that,” Hudson agreed, but all I could manage was a nod. Something about their reactions caught me off guard and I wasn’t sure what to say about it.

  By time we got back to the house, though, I was starting to realize I was just over reacting. They men probably just didn’t want to scare me by worrying about the big cats in the area and when we all sat down for some sandwiches and beers, I let myself relax and enjoy their company.

  “You have any siblings?” Flynn asked me as he sipped his beer.

  “Nah,” I told them. “It’s just me and my dad, along with the hands, of course. My ma passed away when I was ten, and it’s just been dad and me ever since.”

  “That’s too bad,” Hudson said. “About your mom, I mean.”

  “I get’cha,” I assured him. “And it was tough at first. The hardest part bout the whole thing is being so far from everyone else. I love the ranch, but it’s really tough to meet new people when you’re miles and miles from civilization.”

  “I guess it’s good you got new neighbors,” Flynn joked and my stomach leapt into my throat. It was good I had new neighbors, but I didn’t expect them to think that. I thought they were being polite, but that comment was downright flirty and I didn’t know how to respond.

  “Yeah,” I agreed as I sipped more of my beer. And then more. “Really good.”

  God, I hated that I was so nervous around the two guys. I really hated it. They were so nice and I honestly thought they were flirting with me, but I didn’t know how to respond. I was at a completely loss and I chugged back my beer.

  “I should probably head back,” I told them. “Unless you need more help.”

  The two men looked at me and then each other, but they gave me a nod and Flynn said, “No, it’s cool. Thanks for all your help. Can we call again in the future?”

  “Um, sure,” I said as I made for the truck. If only I’d had more experience flirting, I might be able to handle myself, but I was so inexperienced, so nervous, that I was almost running by time I got back to the vehicle.

  In my rush to escape my own awkwardness, I spun the tires in the dirt and raced down their lane toward the road. The whole way home I cursed myself for being so nervous, but I had an excuse. A damn good one. I never had two men show any interest in me like that, and now that I had, I had no clue what to do with it.

  At least I’d been right about one thing, I was home long before my father got back to the house and he never noticed I was gone. Especially when there was a home cooked meal on the table waiting for him and the men he’d been working with.

  Ranch hands had come and gone over the years and once in a while my dad would encourage me to date one of them, but I never wanted to. They had always been after one thing – the ranch, and I was just a way to get to that. Sure, I’d tried, but most of the guys who weren’t after the ranch were after some skinny little cowgirl and I wasn’t that, either.

  But now that I’d found two men who might actually be interested in the real me and I’d acted like an idiot at the first sign of flirting. I’d run home like some child and I just had to hope that I hadn’t ruined my chances.

  My worrying kept me up all night, at least at first. By time midnight rolled around, the noises coming from outside had me more worried than anything.

  The cougars were usually quiet, at least until they started scrapping. One night I’d seen two of them at it, scrapping over one of the cows they’d killed, but tonight the noises were different. The cats sounded scared and I could only hope it was because one of the hands out on patrol had actually tagged one of the beasts.

  Morning came too early, but when I walked into the kitchen, my father had a sour look on his face.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked him.

  “Damn animals,” he muttered as he dug into his oatmeal. “If the cougars weren’t enough, last night Jose spotted two bears near the property line. Big sons of bitches at that. First we have the cats, now we have bears to add to the damn mix.”

  “Crap,” I muttered. That was the last thing we needed added to the menagerie of predators that were stalking our herd.

  “I hope you don’t mind going out tonight and seeing if you can’t keep an eye on things,” my dad said. “I need a night off and no one is a better shot than you.”

  “No problem, dad,” I assured him while I got my own breakfast. I wasn’t a huge fan of killing the animals, but each one of our cows that some cat or bear killed was money out of our pockets. It was them or us, and hopefully if we actually nailed one of them, the rest would get spooked enough to stay away.

  My worries only amplified when the phone rang again. I just knew before I answered it that it was Flynn and Hudson again, and I debated not even answering it.

  Stop being stupid, I told myself. You’ll never get a shot with either of them if you blow them off.

  With a deep breath, I picked up the phone and said, “Hello.”

  “Hey Amy,” Flynn greeted me. “We’re heading up to town this afternoon and were wondering if you’d like to join us. You could show us the best places for feed and supplies. We’re happy to drive.”

  “Sure,” I made myself say, though I was nervous. We needed a few things around the house and it would give me an excuse to grab them, as well as an excuse to spend some time with Flynn and Hudson.

  My dad wasn’t too pleased when I mentioned where I was going and who I was going with, but thankfully he didn’t stop me and grumbled that we needed milk. I knew he wasn’t afraid of me going out, but he was afraid of me falling for some boy. All dads are.

  “Thanks for driving me into town,” I told the guys when I got in their truck. I’d pulled on my favorite pair of jeans, the ones that gave my bum a nice lift and didn’t give me a muffin top. With it I w
as wearing a pink plaid shirt and I put on a cowboy hat for good measure. It took less time than doing my hair.

  “Thanks for coming with us,” Flynn said while Hudson drove. It was an hour into town, but the longer we drove, the more comfortable I felt with the two men. I even allowed myself to flirt with them as we got into town. It was tough, and I probably came across as more awkward than sexy, but they laughed at my jokes and Flynn even held out his hand to help me get out of the truck.

  The town our ranch was technically part of wasn’t very big and catered to ranchers, but everyone was friendly and they had most everything we needed. The rest we got from Amazon and had it shipped to the local post office, which I informed the guys of as well.

  “How about some dinner while we’re here?” Hudson offered as we walked by The Saloon. “Our treat.”

  God, I wanted to say yes. I wanted to say yes so badly it hurt, but I had to turn him down.

  “I can’t,” I told him. “I need to get back home and have a quick nap before I take the horse out tonight.”

  “Tonight?” Flynn asked, his eyebrow raising as he studied my face.

  “Yeah, we’re having some trouble with the cougars,” I told him. “And one of our hands said he spotted a couple bears out last night. It’s my turn to keep an eye on things.”

  “I don’t think the bears will cause you any trouble,” Hudson said. “They are probably just passing through.”

  “I don’t want to chance that,” I said. “We can’t afford to lose any more cows. We had three killed already, and two more broke their legs. Bears just add to that. I don’t want to have to do it, but if I see one around the herd, I’ll have to put it down.”

  The two men glanced at each other once again, but didn’t say anything. They didn’t need to, though. I saw the worry on their face and I didn’t know if I should reassure them that their herd would be safe once we got rid of the problem. They knew that, though. I was sure they did.