by Marla Monroe
With a sigh, Lexie attempted to tone down her smile and finish fixing dinner. They were full of surprises. She hadn’t expected Quade to be able to be so relaxed, but it was as if having fucked her, he could relate to her better. She didn’t understand it but welcomed it because she didn’t feel nearly as uneasy around him now.
She had almost said “made love,” but that wouldn’t have been right. They hardly knew each other, and despite what she kept thinking she saw in their eyes, they didn’t love her. It was way too soon for anything serious like that to have occurred.
Then what is it you’re feeling for them, Lexie? Because you do feel something for them. She shook her head and sighed. She cared about them. That was all.
* * * *
After dinner, Lexie finished up the dishes and turned on the dishwasher before heading for the bedroom. She was exhausted. It had been a long and eventful day. She decided she would opt for a nice soak in the tub before bed.
Once the tub was full of hot water and she had her clothes off, Lexie slipped in the water and relaxed against the bath pillow she found in the cabinet. She closed her eyes and willed her mind to go blank. She didn’t want to think about anything. Her mind needed to relax as much as her body did. They were both knotted up with tension.
Sometime later, she was half dozing when a slice of cold air sent shivers through her body. She sank a bit lower in the now-warm water, wondering if she should turn the hot back on for awhile.
“You look like a pretty little mermaid lying there in the water.”
Lexie’s eyes flew open to find both men staring down at her. She grabbed her cloth and tried to cover herself.
“Hey, relax, it’s just us, baby. We’ve already seen you naked.” Jared knelt on the floor by the tub and smoothed her cheek with the back of his hand.
“You startled me. What are you doing in here?”
“We came to see what you were doing. We didn’t mean to upset you.”
Quade sat on the edge of the tub and trailed his fingers through the water by her knees. He looked into her eyes with what looked like worry.
“I was just relaxing in the tub for awhile before I went to bed.”
“You didn’t come see us before you left the kitchen, and we got worried something was wrong,” Quade finally said.
“Nothing is wrong. I was tired.”
“We wore you out earlier.” Jared chuckled.
She felt her face grow warm at the memory.
“You’re so cute when you blush.” Quade smiled down at her then brushed the tip of her nose with his finger. “I could eat you up when you do that.”
“Nope, next taste is mine,” Jared said with a laugh.
“Are you ready to get out yet, baby girl?” Quade stood up and reached for a towel.
“I better, or I’ll turn into a prune.”
She started to stand up, but Jared reached in and stood up with her in his arms.
“I’m getting you all wet!” she exclaimed.
“I’m about to get undressed anyway and go to bed. Don’t worry about me, baby. I’d worry about what we have in store for you tonight.”
“What are you talking about?”
Quade wrapped the towel around her and began to pat her dry with his big hands. He continued patting her until he was satisfied. He whipped the towel away from her before she could grab hold of it and picked her up in his arms, carrying her to the bed. He tossed her on the already-prepared bed.
Then he began to peel out of his clothes. She glanced to the side and found that Jared was doing the same thing. Did they mean to have sex again? She scrambled to her knees in the middle of the bed and grabbed the cover to shield her body.
“What are you doing?” she finally managed to squeak out.
“Getting ready for bed, baby girl.”
“We sleep in the nude, Lexie.” Jared finished and climbed into bed on one side.
“I wear pajamas to bed. I need to get up and get them.”
“There’s no need for clothes, baby. We’ll keep you warm.” Jared rolled over and pulled her down on the mattress again. “Did you think we would make love to you then just go back to sleeping in our own lonely beds?”
“It was sex.”
“It was more than sex,” Quade said quietly. “I–I care about you. That’s more than sex.”
“Let us love you some more, baby.” Jared leaned in and kissed her.
His mouth brushed lazily over hers before settling into a deeper kiss. She couldn’t help falling under his spell as he licked at the roof of her mouth then slid along the side of her tongue. They traded licks and swipes before settling into mutual tongue sucking.
When he finally pulled back, she was totally out of breath. She gasped, trying to regain it before he started something else. She knew he would. She could see it in his eyes.
He began to lick and kiss his way down her neck to her chest where he gave each breast a loving massage before nipping at her nipples and moving on. He layered kisses down her torso to her pelvis where he paid extra attention to her groin where she was very sensitive. He rubbed his whiskered cheeks against her skin then slid between her legs.
She knew what he planned to do down there. He’d already warned her she wanted a taste earlier. Still, when he licked her from slit to tip, she nearly came off the bed with pleasure. He settled down to kiss and lick and suck her juices as fast as her body released them. The more he licked, the more she made. He seemed hell-bent on drying her out. When he finally moved across her clit with his tongue, she screamed. He chuckled and began sucking on her clit in earnest until she was writhing on the bed, thrashing her head back and forth, crying out at the pleasure he was giving her.
“Fuck, you’re beautiful when you come, baby girl.” Quade smoothed her hair from her face and kissed her as she panted, trying to breathe.
“Don’t you love watching her face as she reaches that point just before going over? She looks like she can’t believe what is happening to her.”
Jared licked his way back up her exhausted body and grabbed the condom that Quade held out. Then he sheathed himself and positioned his cock at her slit.
“Baby, I want you to suck Quade’s cock for me. I want to watch his dick disappear into your mouth, baby.” He watched her as Quade knelt by her head and fed his thick cock into her mouth.
Lexie’s lips stretched to work around him. He was so large. She wasn’t sure how much of him she could take, but she would try to take all of him. She wanted to please them both. They were making her feel wonderful. She had never come so much in her life. Not even by her own hand.
Jared fed his cock to her pussy a slow inch at a time as he worked his way into her tight sheath. Her cunt was swollen from coming and didn’t leave him a lot of room to get in, but she knew he would eventually bury himself inside her. She needed to concentrate on Quade for now.
The thick cock took up every spare inch of room in her mouth and throat as she pulled back then moved forward. When she got him to the back of her throat, she swallowed around him and felt him jerk in her mouth.
“Aw, hell, baby girl. That felt fucking wonderful. Do it again.”
She swallowed around him again and again. He reached up over her and grabbed the headboard. Then he ran his fingers around her mouth where his cock disappeared inside it. She backed off of him and swirled her tongue around him, paying extra attention to the soft skin beneath the crown. She nibbled on it and was rewarded with a hiss of breath.
“Fuck! Just like that.”
She almost lost her concentration several times as Jared tunneled in and out of her wet cunt with his hard cock. She fought the urge to let go of Quade and just feel. She wanted Quade to come in her mouth though. She didn’t want him to think she couldn’t take him.
With that thought, she relaxed her throat and breathed through her nose and sucked him as far down as she could get him, feeling his groin hairs at her chin. She swallowed around him then pulled up and did it again.
<
br /> “Aw, hell! Fuck…aw, fuck me.”
She grinned and ran her hand over his balls, rolling them then squeezing them as she swallowed around him once again.
“Baby girl. I’m going to come. You need to back off, baby.”
She sucked harder and was rewarded with his cum shooting down her throat and into her mouth. She swallowed over and over. Then when he was through, she licked him clean. He collapsed on the bed next to her with one hand tangled in her hair.
“That was fucking hot, baby.” Jared had stopped long enough for her to take Quade’s cum.
Now he pulled out and thrust back in with enough force to send her scooting up the bed. She gasped with the sensation of him bumping her cervix. It sent thrills through her body. The pleasure-pain was almost more than she could bear when he did it again and again. Then he was gilding in and out of her pussy, sending wave after wave of pleasure throughout her body. Her cunt began to tighten around him as her climax built inside. He reached down and tapped her clit several times, sending shards of sensation deep inside. Her blood turned to molten lava as she exploded again and again around him. Her spasming cunt squeezed his dick in wave after wave of rapture. She felt him stiffen and jerk inside her as he shot cum into the condom.
Jared roared out his release then collapsed over her. She wasn’t sure if he had passed out or not, but she didn’t think she was far behind him. She closed her eyes and fell asleep.
Chapter Ten
Lexie woke up the next morning aching all over. She felt as if she had run a marathon then jumped off a cliff. Her body was sore in the oddest of places. Then it all came back to her, and she rolled over to find that she was alone in the big bed. She looked at the alarm clock and nearly screamed. It was almost eight o’clock. She’d overslept and missed fixing their breakfast. They would be furious with her. She quickly climbed out of bed and raced to the bathroom to get ready.
After dressing, she hurried to the kitchen to find the coffee made and a note on the coffeemaker. You looked too pretty sleeping to wake up. We hope you rested well. Don’t worry. We managed breakfast on our own. See you at lunch. Quade and Jared
Lexie breathed out a sigh of relief. They weren’t angry after all. Maybe they wouldn’t get that way about the least little thing. She smiled at that bit of knowledge. She could live with that.
She cleaned up their breakfast bowls where they had obviously had cereal. She would fix them leftover spaghetti for lunch. It would be more filling to them then sandwiches. She wondered what they were doing today. She thought about looking for them but decided instead to do some cleaning in her room. The maid, who came once a week, didn’t go in her room.
By the time lunchtime had rolled around, she had cleaned her bedroom and bathroom and had the leftover spaghetti warmed up with fresh garlic bread. The men wandered in soon after she pulled the bread out of the oven.
“Wash up and come on. Lunch is on the table.”
They smiled at her and hurried to the washroom to clean up. Then they each pulled her into a hug, stealing a kiss before sitting down at the table to eat. She smiled and sat down with them. They talked about what was going on while they ate. Then Jared asked her what she’d been doing while they were gone.
“I cleaned the bedroom and bathroom. I don’t think Angel goes into the bedroom to clean.”
“No, we had told her not to since no one was staying in there, but you can tell her otherwise now. We’re going to move our things downstairs to the master bedroom so she won’t have those two rooms to clean up anymore after that.” Jared was eating as he talked and didn’t notice that she has stopped eating.
“Jared?” Quade said in a quiet voice.
Jared looked up and noticed she was staring at him.
“What is it, baby?”
“You’re moving in the bedroom with me? Both of you?” She wasn’t sure she had heard him right.
“Do you not want us sleeping with you, baby?” he asked carefully.
“I–I don’t know what to think. I guess I hadn’t thought that far ahead. It’s only been a week.”
“We want to be with you all the time, baby girl.” Quade’s voice sounded odd.
“What will Angel think? The ranch hands? They will find out. You can’t keep things like this a secret.”
“Does it matter to you what they think? It doesn’t matter to us, but they won’t think anything of it. Most of the people in this town are in a polyamorous relationship, baby.”
“I guess I knew that. I just don’t know what to think.” She could see pain in Quade’s eyes, and it hurt her to know that she had put it there. “Can we maybe move your things in a few days? Let me get used to you sleeping with me.”
“If that’s what you want, baby. We can wait a few days. It won’t change anything.” Jared watched her closely as she nodded.
Quade got up and raked the rest of his spaghetti out into the trash then set his plate in the sink and walked outside.
“I’ve hurt him, and I didn’t mean to, Jared.”
“He’ll be okay. He’s just really taken with you, baby. He wants us to be a family, and we thought we were on our way to becoming one. It’s just a setback, is all. You need more time. I understand.” He stood up and carried his plate to the sink. “We’ll be back inside in three or four hours. We’re hiring another hand to help around the ranch so we can spend more time with you.”
“Oh, I didn’t realize that.” Now she felt even smaller.
He bent over her chair and kissed her before walking back outside. Lexie stared at her plate for several seconds before she got up and raked hers into the trash as well. She hadn’t meant to hurt Quade. He had been nothing but good to her. They were moving so fast, though. She knew in her heart that she was falling in love with them, but her mind also knew that nothing was ever what it seemed. Where would she be when they changed their minds?
* * * *
“Quade?”
“Yeah?”
“It’s going to be fine. She’s just scared. Give her some time to get used to the idea. We’ve moved pretty fast considering she just got here a week ago.” Jared dropped his hand on Quade’s shoulder.
“She still doesn’t trust that we care about her.”
“I think she does believe we care about her, but she thinks it can change. We could change our minds or just decide one day that we’re tired of her. That’s what’s going through her head, I bet.”
“How are we supposed to convince her otherwise? I’m not going to change my mind, but evidently someone has in the past.”
“That’s what we’re working against, Quade, the past. She’s been hurt over and over again, I would bet, and learning to trust is going to take time. Give her some time, Quade.”
“I want to go to sleep with her in our arms and wake up to her every morning. I don’t want to go back to my bedroom now that I’ve had that.”
“I’m not planning on us doing that, but we can put off moving our clothes for a few days or weeks if that’s what it takes. It’s a small thing. We know the people around here don’t care how we live our lives as long as no one gets hurt. She doesn’t know that yet.”
Quade drew in a deep breath and worked at calming his racing heart. He wanted to believe what Jared was saying, but he also knew that he loved that woman in there, and her rejection hurt more than he could have imagined.
“Okay, I’ll give her some time. I know she’s been hurt. That’s why I know she may not ever accept us. She looks at me sometimes, and I can see where she has to work at not being afraid of me. It hurts like hell, Jared.”
“I know, but I don’t think she’s afraid of you. She’s just afraid in general. Relax around her. She’s more at ease with you when you’re like that.”
“I’m going for a ride. I’ll be back in a few hours.” Quade stepped off the porch and headed for the barn.
He needed to work through his anger. He wasn’t mad at her but at everyone who had hurt her. They were keeping her from b
eing happy with them. Then there was the persistent worry that he was like his father. He refused to drink anything harder than beer, but he had his father’s temperament, and it took everything inside of him to keep it under control. He worried that she had picked up on that and maybe that was the reason she sometimes looked a little warily at him.
He would never hurt her. He would walk away before she did, but maybe she could sense it in him. If she never relaxed around him, he would go crazy. He loved her more than he had ever cared about anything or anyone in his life. If he lost her, he wouldn’t know how to go on.
Quade saddled his horse and mounted up. He headed for the north pastures after double checking that he had his gun loaded. He didn’t want to get surprised by that mountain lion still lurking around. He rode for nearly an hour before he stopped to let his horse drink at the stream that ran through the property.
Climbing down, he noticed tracks. They looked fairly fresh. He didn’t like that they were so close to the house and the barn. He decided to follow for a ways to see if he could tell where the cat might by bedding down at night. He rode for another hour and finally gave up. He still had no idea where that cat was living. It had moved from the west pastures to the north, and that worried him.
Quade turned around and headed back toward the house. He had told Jared he wouldn’t be gone long. It was going on three hours now. By the time he made it back and tended to the horse, it would be close to five. He figured if Jared got too worried he would call him on the radio.
He felt a little more in control but hadn’t really settled anything in his head. He still didn’t like that they couldn’t go ahead and move their things in with Lexie. He also wasn’t any closer to figuring out how to convince her that they were serious about her. Maybe Jared was right and there just hadn’t been enough time yet. He never had been good at waiting. A week really wasn’t all that long to put all your trust in someone you had never known before.
When he reached the barn, he climbed down from his horse and led him inside. He was startled to find Lexie standing outside Molly’s stall talking to her and feeding her a carrot.
