Mastered by Mavericks [Doms of Destiny, Colorado 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Chloe Lang

  “I took care of that before I headed to town.” Sawyer sighed. “Time for you to take center stage and be serious for a change. She needs us to be at our best.”

  “Macho much?” Nicole asked. “Guys, you have to know that I’m no shrinking violet. I am a strong woman who can take care of herself.”

  “I believe you, baby,” Sawyer said, and then turned to him. “Read your fucking fortune now, before you piss me off.”

  “You’ve got a deal, Chicago.” He cracked open his cookie, shoving both pieces into his mouth. He took the tiny slip that Melissa Phong had written on, shocked at the message on it.

  “What does it say, cowboy?” she asked.

  It was right then reading those words that he realized Nicole was for him and Sawyer. Love deserved a chance no matter the risk. BDSM or not, he would do whatever it took for her to agree to stay in Destiny and not return to Chicago.

  He looked right into her brown eyes and saw his forever there.

  Nicole chewed on her lower lip. “Well?”

  He told her what was on his fortune and saw her eyes light up and her cheeks turn red. Ready to make a new and better vow, he glanced back at the prophetic words on the slip of paper.

  Happiness is right in front of you.

  Feeling the magic that Nicole’s grandfather’s tradition about the fortune cookies had invoked, Reed moved his eyes back to her—the woman he wanted as his own with everything inside him.

  “Someone’s coming,” Sawyer said, pulling him from his thoughts.

  Like his brother, Reed moved his fingertips to the gun in the holster, which was strapped to his side like always.

  Nicole had her gun out and in her hand.

  “You should head to the bedroom until we say you can come out,” Sawyer said.

  “Like I told you two before—I’m not helpless.”

  God, she needed a firm hand in the worst way. He prayed she would take to the life like he had. It was second nature to him now. Even if that long shot happened and she agreed to be trained by him and Sawyer, it would take many sessions to get her to trust them fully.

  Sawyer walked to the window and peered out. His shoulders shifted downward, a silent motion that told Reed whoever was coming wasn’t a threat to Nicole.

  “Who is it?” she asked.

  “It’s Erica. Our sister,” Sawyer informed.

  Reed felt his shoulders sag. He was glad his sister had come to the cabin. She’d seemed sad and blue since that day at TBK. He missed the carefree, sunny Erica from before. He was sure that she and Nicole would get along, but even more, he hoped that Nicole, being a cop, would be able to help his sister understand she’d done nothing wrong.

  What they all heard next made every muscle inside Reed tighten.

  A gunshot.

  Chapter Twelve

  Nicole pulled out her gun and pointed it to the door. Whoever had fired the shot wasn’t too far away by the sound of the gunfire.

  Sawyer and Reed both had their guns drawn, too. Sawyer ran for the door, opened it, and pulled his sister inside. “Get down.”

  As he slammed it shut, Erica dropped to the floor.

  “Over here,” Nicole whispered in her best cop voice.

  “I should’ve brought my gun,” their sister said in a trembling tone.

  Sawyer stared at Erica. “A gun?”

  “Dylan has been training me to shoot. I want to know how to defend myself.”

  Nicole remembered meeting Dylan the day before in Sheriff Wolfe’s office. He was a former federal agent, so he certainly would know his way around firearms. Erica had a good teacher.

  “Good to know, little sister. Everyone should know how to take care of themselves.” Sawyer ruffled his sister’s hair.

  Nicole called on her police training and considered the situation.

  One shot. No more.

  What had happened? Was it one of the Russians coming for her?

  Sawyer cautiously peered back out the window.

  “See anything?” Reed said quietly.

  He shook his head.

  Suddenly, they all heard a motorcycle engine rev up.

  “You head out back to make sure there’s not two of them. I’ll go out front. Meet you at the truck,” Sawyer said, running out the door.

  “Nicole, you know what to do,” Reed said as he headed out the back to the porch where she’d had her bath.

  Even though her heart was slamming into her ribs, she kept her head. She did know what to do. Keep her gun ready at all times. Keep Erica calm. Keep herself calm. It was quite the task, but a necessary one.

  “Hi Erica. I’m Nicole,” she said in a steady voice that surprised even her. “I’m a cop. You’re in good hands. And you know your brothers will be safe and have things under control in no time.”

  “I want to believe you, but I’ve been through this kind of thing recently. I’m definitely the one to blame for that incident, and maybe this one, too.” Erica wiped tears from her eyes. “I know about you, Nicole. The whole town does. I came up here, knowing how my brothers live. Rustic. God. I brought you a care package that I thought you might need. Did those Russians follow me here? How stupid can I be?”

  Nicole squeezed Erica. “No, this is all my fault. I brought all this to your town, not you.”

  The brothers’ sister turned to her. “You understand what I’m going through, don’t you?”

  “As much as anyone carrying guilt can, Erica.”

  “Nicole, are you sure that Reed and Sawyer are going to be okay? I would die if anything ever happened to them.”

  So would I. “Yes. We just have to be calm. We’ve got to trust that they know what to do.”

  * * * *

  Sawyer and Reed had given up the chase of the motorcycle. They’d never actually seen it, but only heard if from afar. Now, they couldn’t even hear it. On foot, he and Reed—pistols still drawn—were headed to where they believed the motorcycle’s engine had first turned over.

  Reed pointed to the ground up ahead. “You see that?”

  He nodded. “Looks like blood.”

  As they got closer, they saw a body on the ground that shocked Sawyer.

  Connie. Their mountain lion was down. She’d been shot. Her breathing was labored.

  “Be careful, Reed,” he said as his brother knelt down beside the wild cat.

  Reed nodded. “There’s material in her paw, bro. Connie took some of the asshole’s flesh.”

  “Doesn’t surprise me one bit.” Sawyer looked through the trees and saw the cabin’s front door. Knowing how close the killer had come to succeeding in his mission sent a chill down his spine.

  Reed took off his shirt.

  “Careful. She might wake up,” he cautioned his brother.

  “I will, but we can’t just let her die,” Reed said. “You know what she just did, don’t you? Erica could’ve died today.”

  Sawyer nodded, knowing that Connie had saved their sister’s life. Whoever the motorcyclist was must’ve thought Erica was Nicole. “I’ll go get the truck so we can get her to the cabin.”

  * * * *

  Nicole looked at the magnificent animal in the bed of the guys’ truck. She hated seeing Connie this way, eyes closed, jaw agape, breathing shallow. “We’ve got to get her to a vet.”

  “We can’t leave. You know that. Whoever shot our girl got away, likely back to Destiny, crosshairs ready for any sign of you.”

  “You just can’t let her die,” Nicole said, feeling the sting of unshed tears in her eyes.

  “Reed and I know a thing or two about taking care of big animals,” Sawyer said gently. “We work on a ranch, you know?”

  Erica nodded. “Nicole, they know what they’re doing. Believe me. I’ve seen my brothers work miracles.”

  “Erica, take Nicole to the barn. Get all the towels you can find. Fill up a bucket with water. Get the black case marked ‘animal med supplies,’” Reed ordered. “It’s next to the drench and the fly spray. Got it?”

/>   “Yes,” their sister answered.

  “Good. Bring everything back here,” he added. “Hurry. Sawyer and I will remove the bullet and will need those things pronto.”

  Nicole ran beside Erica to the barn, praying for Connie, the big cat she felt a deep connection to.

  * * * *

  Reed took a swig of the whiskey his brother had just brought him. It had been a very long night, but Connie had pulled through. She was heavily sedated and resting. He and Sawyer had modified her stall to ensure if she did wake she couldn’t get out.

  It would take a few days, maybe even a week, for her to get back on all four paws, but she was going to be okay. Thank God, the shot hadn’t damaged any of Connie’s internal organs, having entered her side. A fraction of an inch in any other direction would’ve taken the big cat’s life for sure.

  Luckily, all the livestock were still in the pasture and would remain there until Connie fully recovered.

  “Look at those two,” Sawyer said, pointing to Nicole and Erica, both asleep in the stall across from Connie’s.

  He shook his head and smiled. “How many times did we tell them to go into the cabin and rest?”

  “At least two dozen, bro.” Sawyer yawned. “They’re both so stubborn.”

  “We owe Dylan for taking care of our sister.” Reed took another swallow of the amber liquid.

  Sawyer smiled. “Maybe he’s finally ready to pull his head out of his ass and make a move on her. Cam’s been ready for a while. It’s just Dylan holding things up.”

  Reed looked at Nicole. Time to pull my head out of my ass, too. He was ready now. How did such a tender treasure like her find her way to Destiny, to Coleman Territory, to him and Sawyer? “I want her, Sawyer,” he confessed. “Not just for a few nights or a long fling. I want her forever.”

  “So do I, Reed. So do I.” Sawyer put his arm around his shoulder. “You’ve got to let Nicole know what you want. Right?”

  He nodded, hoping for the perfect time to tell her.

  * * * *

  Nicole felt more connected than she had in her entire life. She was in a barn outside Destiny, Colorado, with Sawyer and Reed, the two cowboys Sheriff Jason Wolfe had forced on her, looking at a sleeping mountain lion.

  Watching how skilled and gentle they’d been with Connie last night had reached deep into Nicole’s heart, making it swell up with pride for them.

  Erica was asleep inside the cabin. Sawyer and Reed had refused to let her return to Destiny alone until the shooter was found.

  These cowboys had been strangers to her just a short time ago but now they were…what to her now? She really didn’t know how to describe what she felt for them, but it was intense. Love? Maybe. If so, she’d have to move her debacle in the station two years ago down a notch. Foolishly, she’d actually opened up her heart to Sawyer and Reed. The new topper of her unwritten but often quoted too-stupid-to-live list would have to be that now.

  Even though Sawyer seemed interested in something more lasting, Reed had made it quite clear on the porch the day before that he wasn’t. Giving in to Sawyer’s sweet advances might be wonderful and what she wanted deep down, but she couldn’t. It would most definitely create a wedge between the two brothers, which she wasn’t about to do. With all their brotherly sparring, it was so clear to her how much they loved one another. Sure, they’d grown up in an unusual home with two dads and one mom. Did that matter, really? Until the tragic plane crash, they’d been surrounded by love. Three parents had to be better than two. She’d not even had one parent to love her. Thank God for her grandfather. A poly family was what Sawyer and Reed were meant to have. One woman they could both cherish. She wasn’t about to break up that dream for them even if that meant losing them both and ripping her heart in two.

  They heard a vehicle coming up the road. They all pulled out their guns. Reed went to the barn door. “Relax. It’s the sheriff.”

  He put away his gun. She heard the engine stop. “We’re over here in the barn, Jason,” Reed yelled.

  The sheriff walked into the barn wearing the same kind of uniform he’d been wearing when she’d met him—a crisp, starched khaki shirt and pants. He tipped his hat to her. “Flowers.”

  “Sheriff,” Nicole answered back. As much as she wanted to get to the bottom of the case and clear Henry’s name, she couldn’t help but feel heartbroken that her stay might be coming to an abrupt end. “Fill me in.”

  Reed moved next to her, creating an anxious, sad brew inside her. The sooner she was out of his hair, out of this cabin, out of Destiny, Colorado, the better. But she knew that wasn’t completely true. Once she left for Chicago never to return, her heart wouldn’t recover.

  Sawyer walked over and stood by Sheriff Wolfe. She couldn’t seem to be able to rein her mind in. Visions of her time with Sawyer and Reed swirled in her head. The trip up the mountain between the rugged cowboys had chipped away at her walls. When she’d spotted Connie, the graceful mountain lion in the middle of the dirt road, another chip fell away. Taking her bath on their porch snapped several more bits off her invisible barriers. The dream had demolished more. The moth, too, had been a part of the spell. And the most powerful elements of the magic had been Sawyer and Reed. Sexy. Charming. Funny. Kind. Too good to be true.

  She’d fallen for them hard. Even after learning what kind of family they wanted, she’d let herself imagine what a life with them loving and sharing her would be like.

  I’m a fool.

  “I’ve got some troubling news, Nicole,” the sheriff said. The caution in his tone shocked her. “Your friend Henry is missing. I tried to call him at the station, but they said he hadn’t shown up for work.”

  “Maybe he’s out sick.” But she knew Henry better than that. He prided himself in his perfect attendance record at the station. He’d never missed a day of work in his entire career.

  “I checked with the desk sergeant. He told me Henry hadn’t bothered to call in. Does that sound like your friend, Flowers? I only talked with him a couple of times over the phone, but he didn’t seem to be a man who would no-show anything.”

  Nicole immediately felt regret and dread sweep through her. She shouldn’t have left Chicago, shouldn’t have left Henry. “Any leads, Sheriff?”

  “About Henry? No.”

  “I’ve got to get back to Chicago immediately.”

  “No way,” Sawyer snapped. “You’re staying here.”

  She wondered if the edge in his tone was more about keeping her in Destiny or keeping her safe. Maybe it was a little of both. “Sawyer, Henry is like family. I have to go find him. He probably is in trouble because of me.”

  “Trouble with a capital ‘T’ would be my guess, Chicago.” Reed put his hand on her arm. “More the reason you have to stay with us.”

  “Just stop, cowboy.” Her heart clanged in her chest, rocking her entire body. One minute Reed was flirty. The next he was pushing her away. Now, he was acting like he wanted her by his side so he could play bodyguard. “I’m sick of your macho BS. I’m a cop. I carry a gun. I’ve been trained. I know more than a little about how to protect myself.” The words were coming out more sharp and angry than she wanted but still they came. Like water rushing through a broken dam, there was no stopping them. “I’ve been on my own a long time—long before I came to Destiny. Read my lips. I. Don’t. Need. You.”

  Sawyer walked over and stood beside her, opposite Reed. “What the fuck happened while I was in town?” he asked Reed.

  Reed didn’t answer or even turn to him. Instead, his steely blue eyes fixed on her, making her shiver. She wasn’t about to look away even though everything inside her was pushing her to do just that. He might’ve broken her heart, but he wouldn’t win this stare off, a poor consolation, but the only one she could have.

  After a lengthy silence, he finally spoke. “Chicago, I need you to trust me.” Then he brushed the hair out of her eyes, and Nicole felt the sting of hopeful tears.

  No. Don’t fall down that rabbi
t hole again, Nicole.

  “I want to, Reed. I really do, but you of all people have to understand why I can’t.”

  “Can’t or won’t?” he asked.

  “A little of both. Henry is in trouble. I’m not like Sawyer with his sixth sense, but I know Henry. He isn’t someone who just falls off the map without so much as a word. If the Russians are involved, he’s in real danger. I have to go back to Chicago.”

  “Not alone, you’re not.” Before she could refute him, he held up his hand. “Stop. I know you are a strong, powerful, capable cop. I get that. Good cops know when they’re outgunned. I don’t know much about the Russian syndicate but I’m certain you’re way outgunned. Great cops know when to bring in backup. Think of Sawyer and I as yours, okay?”

  Sawyer nodded. “Listen to my brother. He’s right on this.”

  “We can work out all the details on the trip to Chicago.” Reed sent her his signature wink.

  “God, you’re too much.” She wanted to ask him about what in the hell was different now than their time on the porch when he’d given her the breathtaking good-bye kiss. Had he really changed his mind about her? This wasn’t the time to delve into that. Right now she needed to find Henry and fast. “If you both insist on going, you better be ready to leave right now.”

  “Hold your horses.” Jason shook his head. “Flowers, before you make tracks out of here, you might want to know that I do have a lead you might be interested in.”

  “Stop beating around the bush, Jason, and come to the point why you’re here.” Reed’s frown screamed about his inner irritation. He grabbed her hand and gave her a reassuring squeeze.

  “You and Henry really did cause quite the stir with the Russians. I was smart to have these two mavericks get you out of Destiny.”

  “Jason, I swear if you don’t tell us what you found, I will beat it out of you.” Reed’s impatience seemed to be fueling his growing anger.

  Jason’s demeanor turned to a dark challenge. “I’d like you to try. You’d find yourself on the very wrong side of the law, Reed.”