Monroe, Marla - Trusting the Cowboys [Riverbend, Texas Heat 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Marla Monroe

  “Oh, you’re back. I should go finish dinner.” She gave the rest of the carrot to the horse and wiped her hands on her jeans.

  “Don’t stop if you aren’t ready to. I’ve still got to brush him down and then take a shower. There’s plenty of time.”

  “Molly likes her carrots. I usually bring her one or two a day and talk to her. Is that okay?”

  “That’s fine. You’re making a friend for life with her.” He swung the saddle down from his horse. “Think you might like to ride her a little tomorrow? Nothing much, just around inside the paddock?” He didn’t look at her as he talked.

  “Um, I think I’d like to try. That is if you have time.”

  Quade looked up and caught her smiling at him. His heart skipped a beat then stuttered into overdrive.

  “How about right after breakfast while it’s still a little cooler out here?”

  “Okay, that sounds like a good idea. Um, I’d better go and work on dinner. It will be ready whenever you are.” She gave Molly one last pat on the nose and walked toward the door.

  Quade couldn’t help himself. He had to have a taste. When she started to ease past him, he reached out and snagged her ponytail and brought her to a stop. She looked up at him. There wasn’t any fear in her expression, but some worry. Maybe she wasn’t sure what he would do, but she didn’t think he would hurt her. It was a start.

  He slowly lowered his face to hers and kissed her. Tentatively at first then deeper until they were holding on to each other as if they couldn’t let go. Quade backed away licking his lips. He smiled at her and let her go. She blushed a pretty pink color and hurried out the door.

  He had to admit, it was a start. Maybe things weren’t as bad as he felt like they were. He just needed to give her some time and keep kissing her. As long as he could kiss her, he could hold on.

  * * * *

  Lexie hurried from the barn up to the house. She couldn’t believe she had been so wild with kissing Quade. Something about him called to her. He seemed so lost sometimes. She touched her lips with her fingers when she was safely inside the kitchen. Jared was holed up in the office, working on paperwork. She could indulge in a few minutes of daydreaming.

  She sat at the kitchen table and imagined a life where they all three could live together and no one would care. Sure, the guys said they could do that now, but people like Lowery were everywhere. Then there was the fact that she knew they would get tired of her eventually and want someone else. She wasn’t very pretty and was overweight. She didn’t have a lot of social grace or class. She was an orphan, a give up. Somehow she couldn’t see them wanting to spend the rest of their lives with her.

  Why not enjoy what you have for as long as you have it, Lexie? What would it hurt to be happy for awhile?

  She shook it off. Because as soon as she was happy, it would all crash down around her. She was better off being cautious. Or was she? Maybe she was being too cautious. The guys seemed so serious when they told her they cared about her. God knew she was falling hard for them. What was she going to do when it was all over? Maybe by then she would have enough money saved that she could start over somewhere away from Lowery. They had promised to help her. Surely she could depend on them to keep their promises, if nothing else. They seemed like they could be trusted in business or they wouldn’t have this ranch.

  Lexie felt like she was grasping at straws now. She looked over at the clock on the wall and sighed. She needed to finish up dinner. Quade would be in soon to take his shower. Just as she stood up, the back door opened, and the big man walked through the door. He smiled at her and took off his hat before heading for the stairs.

  Forty-five minutes later, Quade and Jared walked into the kitchen and sat at the table to eat dinner. They were busy talking about a mountain lion and the north pasture, so she was able to watch them without having to join in the conversation. She hadn’t a clue what was going on anyway. She managed to figure out that a mountain lion was stalking their cows and had moved from the west pastures to the northern one. For some reason this worried Quade. They talked about forming a hunting party one night and looking for it.

  Lexie shivered. She didn’t want them going out in the dark looking for a big cat like that. Surely it could attack them from anywhere, and they would never see it coming. She nearly spoke up but reminded herself that she was the cook and didn’t have any say in the running of the ranch or what the guys did.

  Once they had finished eating, they helped her gather the dishes then retired to the living room to watch the news and weather. She finished cleaning up the kitchen, which didn’t take long at all. Then she walked into the living room and sat on the couch. Both of the men were in their recliners. Jared looked over when she walked in, but Quade hadn’t seen her.

  After the weather was over, she stood up to go to her room. She was tired and breakfast was early.

  “Going on to bed, Lexie?” Jared asked.

  “Yea, I’m about ready for bed. By the time I get my shower, I’ll be half asleep.”

  Quade turned and smiled at her. “Don’t fall asleep in the shower. You could break something.”

  “I don’t plan on falling asleep until after I get in bed.” She smiled at the other man and waved good night.

  She walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower. Then she stripped out of her clothes and climbed in. The water felt wonderful pelting down on her tired muscles. She was obviously still a little stiff from the night before. She could feel her cheeks heat up at the memory.

  Just as she was lathering up her hair, someone stepped into the shower with her and grabbed her around the waist when she jerked.

  “Easy, baby girl. Don’t fall.”

  “What are you doing in the shower with me?” She couldn’t open her eyes because she had soap all over her face from shampooing her hair.

  “I’m going to help you finish up. Here, let me wash your hair.”

  “You’ve already had a shower?” She tried again.

  “Yep, that’s why I’m helping you with yours.”

  He took over scrubbing her head, massaging it as he went. She couldn’t help moaning in appreciation of the attention he paid it. Then he turned her around and rinsed her under the water. Once she was completely free of soap, he brushed away her hair and kissed her eyes.

  “You can open your eyes now.”

  She rubbed them then opened them to find Quade staring down at her. His face held such tenderness that she reached up and ran her fingers over his cheeks.

  “Thanks for washing my hair. It felt good.”

  “You’re welcome. Let’s get you dried off and in bed. You look worn out.”

  “I’m tired. I feel like I could fall asleep standing here.”

  “Well if you do, I’ll put you to bed, baby girl. Just trust me to take care of you.”

  “I will.”

  Chapter Eleven

  The next morning after breakfast, she met Quade at the barn, where he had Molly saddled up for her. He helped her up then led her around for a few minutes explaining the mechanics of riding a horse. When he gave her the reins and got up on his own horse, she nearly panicked but found that Molly was indeed very well behaved. She followed Lexie’s lead perfectly.

  After an hour, Quade called time and said she would be sore as it was, but if she stayed on much longer, she wouldn’t be able to walk. Lexie was all for stopping at that. He chuckled when she stood up after being helped down from the saddle. She groaned and stretched. Quade walked up behind her and massaged her lower back.

  “I’ll give you a good one after you have hot bath tonight.”

  “Thanks, I’ll probably take you up on that.” She turned around and smiled up at him.

  He leaned down and kissed her. It was a chaste kiss by his usual standards, but it still set her lips on fire.

  “We’ll ride every day after breakfast until you get the hang of it. How about that?”

  “Sounds like fun. I love riding Molly. Now what do I do
to take care of her?”

  “I’ll rub her down. You don’t have to do that.”

  “Isn’t that part of taking care of a horse?”

  He smiled at her. “Yeah, it’s part of taking care of a horse. Come on. I’ll show you.”

  She spent the next thirty minutes caring for Molly and talking with Quade. They actually had a good time just talking.

  “I better get back to the house and get ready for lunch. I’ll see you in a little while.” Lexie reached up and pecked him on the cheek before walking outside and toward the house.

  After lunch, Jared called her into the office. She was worried she had done something wrong. Her hands were shaking as he sat down behind the desk.

  “So, how do you feel after you first full week? Do you like it okay?”

  “Um, yeah. I hope you’re happy with my performance.”

  “Lexie, this isn’t a review. I’m just trying to find out if your happy or not.”

  She swallowed down the lump that had formed in her throat and gave a nervous giggle. “Yeah, I’m happy. I like to cook, and this morning I got to ride Molly.”

  “I thought maybe since you’re spending some time with Quade that you and I could spend some time together in the afternoons. How would you like that?” Jared seemed to hold his breath.

  “Sure, that would be great. What did you want to do?”

  “Talk. I figured we could talk about ourselves and get to know each other. Sort of like you and Quade are, only without the horses.”

  Lexie smiled. She liked that idea. She really hadn’t even realized that’s what she and Quade were doing that morning.

  “So, tell me a little about your childhood, Lexie. Where did you grow up?”

  She frowned. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea. She looked down and tried to figure out what she could tell him.

  “Hey, this isn’t supposed to be hard, baby. What’s wrong?”

  “Um, I grew up in foster home mostly. My mom gave me up for adoption when I was born, but then my adopted family was killed in a car accident when I was young.”

  “I’m sorry, baby. I didn’t mean to bring up sad memories.”

  “It’s okay. I guess I wasn’t thinking, either. Tell me about you.”

  She listened as he told her a little bit about growing up with his two brothers and little sister on the ranch. He told her about his parents retiring to Arizona and how he and Quade became best friends.

  “Wow, you had a really great time. I mean, I know it was hard work, but you enjoyed doing it for the most part.”

  “Yep, Quade and I built this ranch from the ground up and then merged my parents’ in with it when they retired. My oldest brother is a doctor out in California, with three kids, and my youngest brother is in real estate in the East. He isn’t married yet. My sister and her husband live in Oklahoma. She’s got two little rug rats.”

  “Do you see any of them very often?”

  “I see them at least once a year, if not twice. We all get together on either Christmas or Thanksgiving.”

  “Wow, that would be wild. I can’t imagine that many people all in one place.”

  “You’ll get to meet them this year if you stick around. I hope you will, anyway.” Jared stood up and walked around to the front of the desk. He sat on the edge of it and crossed his feet at the ankles. “Think you would like to meet them?”

  “I–I don’t know. That’s a lot of people at one time.”

  “Well, there’s plenty of time till the holidays. Let’s go over the house books. I’d like you to be able to take them over at some point, and that will leave me with the ranch to keep up with. It would help me a great deal.”

  Lexie felt her eyes get wide. That was a lot of responsibility for her to take on. Could she do it? She just nodded and listened as he went over the basics with her. Thirty minutes later, she called a halt.

  “I’m getting mixed up. It’s too much information at one time.”

  “You’re right, sorry. I got carried away.” He chuckled and pulled her into his arms. “How about a kiss?”

  “A kiss? Um, sure.” She reached up and kissed him lightly on the lips.

  He smiled and pulled her up closer to him where he could kiss her back. It wasn’t a light kiss on the lips, either. He devoured her mouth with his tongue and teeth. He licked along her lips and the roof of her mouth before sliding his tongue along hers. Then he pulled away and let her catch her breath.

  “Thanks, Lexie.”

  The phone rang, and he got back to business. Lexie let herself out and headed back to the kitchen. It was time to work on dinner. The entire time she cooked, Lexie was thinking about what she had learned about Jared, and to some extent, Quade. Her life, by comparison, had been lonely.

  When they arrived for dinner that night, she had figured out some things about herself. What could they possibly see in her? They had worked hard for what they had, and she had nothing. Her liberal-arts degree hadn’t really prepared her for much of anything, and she hadn’t used it for anything, either. She was a little ashamed of herself. Instead she had floated from one bad relationship to another. She needed to make something of herself and forget men. Maybe she would make a go of this job and prove to herself that she could handle the house books. Then maybe her next job wouldn’t be so daunting. With the money she was making here, she would be able to set up somewhere else later.

  “You’re in a good mood, Lexie. How are you feeling?” Jared smiled as he ate.

  “I’m doing fine. I think I’m going to need that soak in the tub, though, after my first riding lesson this morning.” She smiled over at Quade. “I’m a little saddle sore.”

  Quade chuckled. “You’ll get used to it. Put some bath salts in the water.”

  “Oh, I don’t have any.”

  “I know where there are some. I’ll get them for you after dinner,” Quade said.

  “Thanks, I appreciate it.” Lexie smiled at him and continued to eat.

  After she finished with cleaning up the kitchen, she headed into the bathroom to start her bath. She had forgotten about Quade’s offer to get her some bath salts until he walked in on her undressing. She jumped but didn’t bother trying to cover up. She was getting used to them seeing her now.

  “I promised the bath salts. Hold on, baby girl.” He reached up in the back of the cabinet in the bathroom and pulled out a small jar of lavender salts.

  She oohed over them and sprinkled a small amount of them into the water. Quade frowned and added more.

  “Won’t do any good if you don’t use enough.” He kissed her forehead then placed the salts on the counter. “Let’s get you in the water so you can soak awhile.”

  Lexie let him help her into the tub. He turned on the jets to the tub and helped her settle back against the bath pillow. Then he kissed her nose and left her to soak. She smiled to herself. He was such a thoughtful man. Most men wouldn’t have offered, much less remembered, to get them for her. She closed her eyes and let the hot, scented water lull her into a light sleep while the jets manipulated her muscles.

  When the water began to cool off, she reached up and turned off the jets before pulling the plug and climbing out of the tub. When she stepped out of the tub, Jared walked in and grabbed a towel to dry her off.

  “Quade said you would probably need to get out soon. I made it just in time.” He gently massaged her with the towel until she was completely dry all over.

  Lexie shivered when he pulled the towel off of her. Jared chuckled and wrapped his arms around her.

  “Better get you in the bed before you get pneumonia. Nothing worse than a summer cold.” He bundled her under the covers and kissed her. “I’m going to take a quick shower, and then I’ll be in to keep you warm. Quade should be here in a few minutes.”

  Lexie had finally gotten used to the idea that they were going to sleep with her. It still felt odd, but she liked it. Having both of them close to her seemed almost natural now.

  Tonight, she had ju
st gotten comfortable when Quade scooted in next to her. His cooler body sent chills down her spine. She giggled.

  “You’re cold. Warm up before you touch me.”

  “I’ll warm up faster if you let me touch you.” He waggled his eyebrows at her.

  Then he wrapped his arms around her and squeezed until she was squealing uncle. About that time, Jared walked out of the bathroom and demanded to know what was going on.

  “You two are like children. I can’t leave you alone for a minute without you getting into some mischief.” He climbed into bed and immediately began tickling Lexie.

  The tickling soon turned into something more. Their hands smoothed instead of tickled as they touched her everywhere. Jared’s fingers trailed lightly up her arms as Quade’s moved down her legs. She began to feel warmth seep from her pussy as her juices heated up.

  When Quade reached her wet pussy, he hummed his approval and began to lap up the bounty. His tongue rasped over her clit on several passes, ramping up her arousal as it did. Then Jared sucked in her nipple and flattened it to the roof of his mouth in an attempt to take more of her breast in his mouth. His other hand molded the opposite breast.

  The two men were driving her crazy with their hands and mouths. She wiggled between them, unable to move far without touching one of them. They teased and tormented her until she thought she would explode in ecstasy.

  Just when she was on the verge of begging them to let her come, Quade latched on to her clit and sucked until she was screaming in orgasm. He had never even used his fingers on her. She couldn’t believe how easy they had gotten her to come just by sucking and playing with her breasts and pussy.

  They soothed her as she came apart in their arms. Then they helped her relax after she had settled down some from her orgasm.

  “Baby, we want you.” Jared ran his hand down the side of her face.

  “I want you, too, Jared.” She looked over at the other man, too. “Quade.”

  “No, we want you at the same time, Lexie. Both of us in your body at once. We want to feel like we’re all a part of each other.”

  Lexie shivered. They had played with her ass several times now. Could she do it? Did she want to do it? She realized she did want to, but she was scared. It had hurt when Lowery did it. But then he hadn’t been careful like they were. She bit her lower lip and nodded.