Oak, Sophie - Three to Ride [Nights in Bliss, Colorado 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Three To Ride

  Max set her down. His brain just went there all the time now. He couldn’t stop thinking about Rachel between him and Rye. “What’s for breakfast?”

  “Pancakes and sausage,” Rachel replied with a suspicious gleam in her eyes.

  Max kissed her forehead gently and went to sit down at the kitchen table. He was very careful since Rachel was looking at him. He didn’t want her to figure out what he was thinking. He had more than one thing he needed to hide from her today. He schooled his features to express nothing but innocence.

  “Oh, God, what are you thinking?” Rachel looked utterly horrified. “Who are you going to kill?”

  “What?” Max asked, holding his hands up in confusion.

  She rounded the table and leaned over. Max couldn’t help but notice she wasn’t wearing a bra. If he leaned in just a little bit, he could see the curve of her breasts and the faintest hint of nipple.

  “Eyes up, mister,” Rachel ordered in what he’d come to think of as her “drill sergeant” voice. His eyes obediently came up. He’d learned when it was in his best interests to obey her immediately. His baby was one tough cookie, and he was man enough to admit he needed her to be that way. He would walk all over her otherwise. That would make for one boring relationship. Rachel kept him on his toes.

  “Sorry, baby.” He would try to distract her with charm. He had some of that. He smiled and pulled her hand into his. He tugged her down onto his lap. “I can’t help it. I get distracted by your breasts. They’re really pretty. And I’m really, really horny. We haven’t had sex in days. It’s killing me, Rach.”

  She rolled her eyes and sighed. Her arms went around his neck. “Max, you just had surgery. You haven’t even had the stitches out yet. The doctor said we should wait a few days.”

  “It’s been almost a week.” He put a little whine in his voice. Maybe if she thought he was just horny, she would forget her suspicions. It was imperative that she not figure out what he had done after she’d gone to sleep. “I promise I could be very still. I would lie perfectly still, and you could do all the work.”

  She grinned. It did strange things to his heart. “That sounds so tempting. I’ll call the doctor today, and I’ll see if we can get him to let you off the leash.” She kissed his cheek. She got up and went to the stove, where she poured out pancake batter. Max relaxed.

  She rounded on him suddenly. “You’re sure you’re not planning something terrible?”

  She knew him far too well. He grimaced inwardly. This was where Rye would come in handy. Rye could distract her. Rachel, Max had decided, was far too much woman for one man. He needed his brother because Max had figured out that a tag team approach was required when Rachel got saucy. But he was all on his own now. He didn’t like the feeling.

  “Baby, I’m just planning on doing a little light work around the barn. I’m going to spend some time with Sunflower, and then I’ll have Rye drive me into Del Norte for my checkup. That’s my plan.” It was true. It was part of his plan. He didn’t mention the stop he intended to make.

  Her eyes narrowed, and he wondered briefly if she could make that spatula into a weapon. He thought she probably could. Max sighed. He could make it into one, too. He could pull her over his lap and shove those boxers off her hips, then spank that pert little rear. He wouldn’t hurt her. He’d just get her bottom all pink and pretty. He’d rather use his hand, though, he decided.

  “What did you just think?” Rachel asked breathlessly.

  Rye stood in the doorway. He had on jeans and a T-shirt. His hair was still wet from his shower. “He was wondering how you would handle it if he pulled you across his lap and spanked you with your spatula. You should use your hand, Max. It would be better.”

  Rachel’s mouth fell open. She looked between the two of them like she was trying to figure out what to say.

  Max pointed at Rye. “He said it.”

  Rye shrugged. “He was thinking it.”

  “So were you.”

  Rye’s face fell. Max saw him look down at the crotch of his jeans. “Damn it.” He turned and walked back down the hall. Max knew exactly where he was going.

  “What’s wrong with him?” Rachel looked concerned as his brother marched off.

  Max smiled broadly. Rye had done his job. She wasn’t thinking about his potential plans anymore. She set a plate in front of him. “I guess he’s not hungry,” Max lied.

  His brother was hungry, all right. He’d been hungry since the minute he laid eyes on Rachel. Max didn’t blame him. He had been lucky to see her first, or Max knew he might be the one spending an awful lot of time in the bathroom. The thing was, Max thought as he began to dig into his breakfast, he was starting to believe this whole thing could work. There was a light at the end of the tunnel, and it was getting brighter every day. The last week had been a bit of a revelation. Rachel had been perfectly comfortable with Rye. She seemed to enjoy being with both of them.

  That was the trick. Getting her comfortable being at the center of their ménage would change everything. Once she realized that they intended to worship the ground she walked on, the sex would be easy. She was beginning to see that no one in Bliss would look down on her for being involved with two men. Once Rachel realized she would be accepted, and that they loved her, she would understand that it was okay to love them both back. Max knew he and Rye could make it so good for her that she would wonder why she hadn’t had two men before. She wouldn’t want to go back.

  A sense of contentment took root. He had a plan. He’d formulated it during the long hours he’d been forced to stay in bed. After he’d woken up in the hospital, he’d realized exactly what he wanted out of life. He wanted everything, and he wasn’t willing to compromise. He wanted Rachel to marry him and Rye. He wanted her to have their children. He wanted happily ever after for all three of them. He would have to be ruthless and purposeful to get what he wanted. Part of his plan was figuring out just what Rachel was running from. In all the discussions the three of them had indulged in over the last week, Rachel had been silent on the subject.

  Max munched thoughtfully on his sausage as he watched his woman swaying to some music she heard in her head while she flipped pancakes for Rye’s breakfast.

  Last night, while she’d slept peacefully in their big bed, he’d slipped away. He’d moved quietly through the house and out to her car. She’d been living in it. It only made sense that she kept her secrets there. After thoroughly going over every inch of the old Jeep, he’d found a seam in the floorboard. The items she kept in that little hidey-hole had just brought up more questions.

  He’d found her pitiful stash of cash. She’d saved three hundred dollars from her tips, and there was a check she hadn’t cashed yet for another three hundred and fifty dollars. It was the sum of her wealth. Max’s heart seized at the thought of her having so little to her name.

  Which wasn’t Rachel Swift. Elizabeth Courtney or Shannon Matthews was her real name. He’d found identification with both of those names in an envelope. Max wasn’t sure which one was actually her real name, but he intended to find out. He intended to discover just what had happened in her past to send her running. Then he would sit down with Rye and tell his brother what he wanted. He would tell Rye he wanted them to marry Rachel. Together they would take care of her problem. He just wanted to make sure it wasn’t anything that would compromise his brother’s position as an officer of the law. Once he was sure of that, he’d bring in Rye.

  “Are you sure you didn’t find out the name of the hunter who accidently shot you?” Rachel asked suspiciously.

  He shook his head. “No, baby.”

  She didn’t look convinced. Max took a quick swallow of coffee and tried to look normal. She put Rye’s plate down. “Where did he go? I swear that man disappears four times a day. What is he doing in that room?”

  Max choked on his laughter. He knew exactly what his brother was doing. “I have no idea.”

  “Rye, breakfast is ready,” she shouted down
the hall.

  Max leaned back in his chair. He needed to get this plan going. His brother was going to go blind if he didn’t stop masturbating.

  Chapter Ten

  Stefan took the clothes Lana offered him. They were perfectly folded. Stefan inspected them and nodded shortly. It was her cue, and she did exactly what was expected of her. The lovely blonde sank to her knees gracefully and sat waiting. Her head was submissively down. Her hands were on her thighs facing upward. She could sit like that for hours. There was nothing quite like a well-trained sub, Stefan thought.

  Stefan turned and walked to the small closet in the front hall of his guesthouse. He placed her clothes in the drawer he had designated as hers, and then shut the door. She wouldn’t see her designer suit, La Perla lingerie, and Jimmy Choos again until late Sunday evening. Until then, she would either remain naked or wear exactly what he selected for her. There would be no deviation from his requirements. She would not complain or suggest something different. Lana was close to perfect.

  So why was his head so filled with someone else?

  He looked over his sub. She was his match in every way. Lana was well educated. She maintained her lovely body with daily trips to the gym. She was roughly thirty-five, but Stef knew she already had regular appointments with a plastic surgeon. She was stunning and had no intention of being anything else. Most importantly, she knew who she was and what she wanted. It was what he absolutely required from any woman he “dated.”

  Jennifer Waters was this woman’s opposite. The little painter could only be described as a hot mess. She was barely twenty-two and had no idea who she was. Her work showed great promise, but she needed years to temper her undisciplined ways. She had come to Bliss in the hopes that she could learn from him, but Stefan didn’t teach. Not art. He was renowned in the art world as an upcoming master, but he didn’t have any idea how to teach what he did.

  He also didn’t know how to get a woman out of his head. She was far too young to be what he needed her to be. Lana was a much better choice. She was cultured and sophisticated. There was never a hair out of place or a nail chipped. Jen’s nails always had paint under them. Stefan could tell what colors were on her palette by looking at her nails. He was utterly fascinated with her hands.

  “Up,” he said, eager to get his mind off troublesome subjects.

  Lana rose with little effort. She stood calmly as he looked her over. She wasn’t waiting for his judgment. Stef had no doubt that she knew exactly how good she looked and how much he wanted her sexually. Stefan knew she was merely waiting for his next command.

  “Present yourself to me,” he said quietly.

  She walked to the middle of the austerely decorated room and leaned over the plush sofa. Her hands pressed against the arm. She placed her well-formed ass high in the air. Stefan sighed, satisfied with her obedience. He almost never needed to discipline Lana. Occasionally, she was late due to her job. That resulted in time spent over his lap or in the whipping chair, depending upon the degree of the infraction, but that was a rare occurrence. Lana didn’t play at this like so many others. She didn’t purposefully disobey to force him to discipline her. It was why she continued to be invited to his playroom. Stefan ran his hand down her straight spine and let his fingers drift to the cleft in her ass. He loved the sleek lines of her body. Her legs went on for days. She really was a work of art. He felt his interest rising just as he heard the car pulling up the drive.

  Stefan looked out the bay window and saw the beige-and-white SUV pulling up. The driver slammed on the brakes and then proceeded to jam his door shut. Stef smiled. It was Rye. He had expected that Max would be the one to violently assault him, but he was happy to see Rye. It proved that Rachel was a smooth co-conspirator. He’d left the choice of which brother to tell of his offer to her, and she’d chosen correctly. Rye was the one she needed to break. Max would follow along.

  “We have company,” Stef said, shoving his finger into her tight pussy anyway. She had been a very good girl. There was no reason to punish her because Rye was insanely jealous. It wouldn’t be the first time Rye had walked in on him having sex.

  Stef smiled, thinking about their shared youth. Max and Rye hadn’t always just shared with each other. They’d enjoyed some of Stef’s games, too. Stef remembered a particularly hot night when the three of them had shared a woman. His thumb reached up to swirl around Lana’s clitoris. She moaned a bit. “Silent,” Stef said, reminding her. “I’ll let you know when you can make noise, darling.”

  She closed her lips and made no move to cover herself even when there was a knock on the door.

  “Come in.” Stefan added a second finger and picked up the pace. “Hold off until I give you leave.”

  Rye stalked through the door. “What the hell do you think you’re doing, Stef?”

  “Well, right now, I’m playing.” He felt the heat of her pussy. She was ripe and wet. Lana was extremely responsive. Her body had been trained to receive pleasure, so she expected it. Stefan could feel the willpower it took for her to stand and allow him to pleasure her. It took discipline to do it. He admired discipline.

  “Could you stop playing and talk to me for a minute?” Rye’s question came out in an irritated hiss.

  It didn’t concern Stefan. He had an obligation. “No, you’ll have to talk to me like this or wait until I’ve seen to my submissive.” Stefan pressed his fingers into her clenching cunt and rotated. He knew exactly which spot to hit.

  “Fuck this, Stef,” Rye growled. “I have a serious problem with you.”

  He wasn’t going to wait patiently. “Our guest is going to prove irritating, dear,” Stefan said to his sub. “Perhaps you should come, and then we can pay him proper attention. Consider yourself off the leash.”

  Lana pushed back against his hand, fucking his fingers. She moaned loudly as he hit the perfect spot, and she went flying. A pretty blush covered her skin. She let her head fall forward and groaned as she extracted maximum satisfaction from her orgasm. When Stefan was sure she was done, he removed his fingers from her body, then turned to Rye.

  “How may I help you today, Rye?” Stefan knew exactly what Rye took exception to, but he found himself anticipating the coming confrontation. He pulled a handkerchief out of his slacks pocket and gracefully wiped his hand. Lana silently sank to her knees, assuming the proper submissive position at his side. He let his hand find her hair to acknowledge her good behavior.

  Rye did not look impressed. Stefan knew that most men wouldn’t be able to take their eyes off the lovely sub, but Rye was different. “What the fuck do you mean by offering to take Rachel in?”

  “Such language.” Stefan laughed as he walked to the bar. He poured himself a couple of fingers of Scotch. It was ridiculously expensive, but he always had the best. “I merely offered the lovely Rachel a place to stay. I was being neighborly. She mentioned she was going to need a new home soon.”

  “She doesn’t need anything from you.” Rye paced the room, seemingly unable to stand still.

  Stefan looked his best friend over. They had grown up together. Stefan’s father was an eccentric millionaire who took a liking to Bliss and moved his son there. Stefan had stayed on with an army of servants even after his father had returned to his jet-setting lifestyle and the family mansion in Dallas. Rye and Max had been a big reason he chose to stay in the town. They were the brothers he’d never had. Callie was as close as a sister. They, and everyone else in the offbeat town, were his family.

  He wondered if Rye had any idea how much he looked like an angry bull at the moment. His normally happy-go-lucky friend was like a predatory animal circling an opponent. Stefan was suddenly very happy Rachel had made the right choice. Rye was the reasonable one. If she’d told Max, Stefan knew he would probably already be on his ass. Max wouldn’t have asked questions. He would have done exactly what he had done since they were children. He would fight first and ask questions never. Max was pure pit bull.

  “She apparentl
y needs a place to stay,” Stefan remarked negligently. “Luckily, I have this place. I think she’ll find it very comfortable.”

  Rye’s jaw looked like it was made of granite. Stefan knew his friend was holding on tightly to his rage. “Are you planning on training her?” He indicated the woman at Stef’s side. “You getting rid of that one so you can move Rachel in? Do you really think Rachel is so weak-willed that she’ll be your little slave?”

  Now Stefan felt his own anger building. “First of all, there is nothing weak-willed about Lana. She is my guest, and I would prefer you treat her with respect.” He looked down at his part-time submissive. “You have my permission to speak, sweetheart. Tell our intensely rude guest who you are and what you do for a living.”

  Lana’s head came up. Stef could see Rye flush with embarrassment. He knew Rye hadn’t meant to be rude, but the mistake would be corrected nonetheless.

  “My name is Lana O’Malley. I’m the owner and CEO of True Line International. I’m worth roughly a billion dollars, depending on how the market goes. I enjoy my time with the master. It’s how I relax. I make no apologies for my sexual desires, whoever you are. If you have a problem with it, I really don’t care.”

  “I am sorry,” Rye said sincerely. “I don’t judge. As perverse as I’ve been on occasion, I really shouldn’t. I’m just pissed off that your master here seems to think he can swoop in and take my girl.”

  Stefan raised a single eyebrow. “Your girl?”

  “Max’s girl.” Rye corrected himself, sounding sheepish. He suddenly seemed fascinated with his boots.

  “Then I have to ask, why Maxwell isn’t here defending the lady?” Stefan walked to his friend and put an arm around his shoulder. “You really need to figure this out. I can see it’s killing you. Why are the two of you denying your natures? We promised each other a long time ago that we wouldn’t pretend.” Stef remembered the day well. Callie had been there, too, and the four of them had sworn to be true to themselves no matter what.