by Jan Springer
Maybe they weren’t coming. Maybe her bitchiness had encouraged them to vote in a new leader during her absence. She’d be left out here in this desolation to fuck her brains out with two sleeping men.
Reena smiled as she dashed back into the warm cabin. Fucking them wasn’t a bad idea, actually. But what would happen when the medicine ran out and they woke? She shivered. She’d have two virile men on her hands. That’s what would happen.
And then her troubles would really start.
Chapter Seven
Cade was floating in a dark place. He didn’t like it. Evil lurked here. Evil and emotional devastation. A sob bubbled up from somewhere deep inside him and he tried to stop it, but it came up and wrapped itself around him like a blanket of depression. He knew the feeling well.
He’d lived with it for many years, honing the raw emotion until it was razor sharp, just like the knives he carried to torture terrorists or those people he suspected of harboring them.
He remembered when the dark, evil depression had started, along with the scorching need for revenge. The day had begun innocently, the cheerful early-morning sunshine streaming through his bedroom windows at his parents’ farmhouse. It heated his skin, baking him, but he didn’t toss aside the warm comforters. He just lay there, cherishing this time of the morning.
His parents spoke in hushed voices in the kitchen down the hall. They did that every morning, talked intimately about their kids, their plans and what they were going to do that day. Then they roused their six sons and one daughter and got on with their chores.
He didn’t think it the least bit funny that he, a twenty-five-year-old man, still lived with his parents. He had a girlfriend he fully intended on marrying. He slept over at her place a lot. They had magnificent sex. But for now, he was perfectly content helping his dad out on the farm and saving money for the land he planned on buying so he could farm too.
He and his sister Melanie were the only ones staying here at the moment. Their brothers were either in college, university or living at their own places.
Just thinking about his only sister made him smile. She was the youngest of the Outlaws. Being Tyler’s twin she’d been born five minutes later. After the twins, his parents had two more daughters but they’d both been stillborn.
Needless to say, Melanie was the most precious Outlaw of them all. And she certainly used her leverage to the full extent. Wrapping them all around her little finger, getting anything she wanted. All the brothers caved when she asked them for a favor. Whether it was getting them to try out her latest cooking creations for the catering business she ran or setting them up on a blind date. That’s how Cade had met Sue. Melanie had set them up and he’d fallen for Sue’s gentle ways hook, line and sinker.
He held so much love for his sister and mother it had been perfectly natural for his feelings to overflow toward Sue. With her, though, he experienced a different kind of love…but it was just as fierce.
Strong, tart-scented coffee made him gaze at the clock. Time to get his ass in gear, shower, grab breakfast and head out to the fields with dad. He was just about ready when a light rap came at his door. Before waiting for an answer, which everyone did out of respect for one another’s privacy, the door was flung inward.
His sister stood in the doorway in her nightgown. She was beautiful. Too pretty and nice for that preacher’s son who’d come sniffing around lately. Anger burst inside of him. He didn’t like Rafe. The kid was too polite. He was only after one thing—getting Melanie into bed with him. Cade’s anger vanished when he saw his sister’s fever-bright eyes.
He knew that look. His world collapsed and so did Melanie. Right on his bedroom floor. The X-virus had come calling.
They spent the next couple of days trying to save her life. The brothers all came home and tried to keep Mom away from Mel, but she wouldn’t hear of it. Then his mother fell ill. Then he got word Sue was gravely ill too.
Fuck! People always said things happened in threes and they surely did. The three women he loved died within hours of one another.
The brothers buried them all on the same day. The coldness in his heart as the three caskets were lowered into their respective graves, one by one, had made him numb. None of the brothers had gone to the viewing. Not that anyone had shown up. Except Luke’s wife Callie, the woman he and his brothers had years later Claimed after her request to make the union legal in the eyes of the law so she couldn’t be touched by strange men.
Callie, who’d taken care of the women while they lay dying. Callie, bless her, hadn’t been touched by the virus.
But virtually every other woman he knew had either died or survived the X-virus. Survivors were left with various side effects and many times he gave thanks the three most important women in his life had died because the world, as it was now, sucked.
Ah shit, this depression was threatening to take a firm hold. He didn’t want that to happen. It was a frightening place, a desolation where he couldn’t control his emotions and his mind threatened to drown him in the same despair he’d lived through immediately following their deaths. He concentrated on shrugging it off by thinking about Reena and, to his amazement, the crappiness hugging him vanished.
Thankfully despair hadn’t been present when he’d sniffed around Reena. Despite not wanting to put his heart out there again, he’d physically fallen for her. The instant he frisked her warm, curvy body, ran his fingers through that gorgeous cloud of red hair and saw defiance in her eyes, he’d been hooked.
Despite the cold darkness, the snow flailing around them, he’d been on fire for her. It had been a long time since he’d been with a woman—Callie being the last. But she’d moved with his brother to Monaco where the Claiming Law didn’t exist.
“Hey. How do you feel, Cade?”
Reena’s feminine voice curled out of the evil darkness and she leaned over him. He caught her fresh gentle-soap scent which twisted through him like a teasing ribbon of lust.
He loved her delicate features. High cheekbones, skin that flushed so easily when a sexual remark was mentioned. Her cute button nose. Sparkling eyes framed by long, black lashes. Yet it was her dewy mouth that drew his attention.
Warmly curved, her lips would be full, cushiony and so sweet wrapped around his cock.
“Cade? Can you hear me?” she asked. Concern flooded her features and a cool hand whispered across his hot forehead. This was nice.
“You still have a fever. But it hasn’t gotten worse.”
“Hot,” he muttered as the heat of pain rushed up and wrapped itself firmly around him.
“Yes, that’s right. Because of the fever.”
What he actually meant to say was she looked hot. Fantastic. Sexy. Beautiful.
The tinkle of falling water split the air and then a cool, wet cloth danced over his fevered chest, just around the area where the pain throbbed. It hurt with such magnificence he wondered if something vital had been pierced by the bullet. He’d had his share of bullet holes, knife slashes and bayonet stabs, along with being tortured. He’d experienced various levels of pain with each wound. This was one of the worst. Right up there with his own knife being carved into him.
Through the haze of pain, he determined he was in a room. Dark-brown stained board and batten-style wood flanked the walls, and thin strips of pine board made up the ceiling. The walls and ceiling were clearly handmade, but very good craftsmanship. Whoever built this place had known what they were doing.
Beside him, about four feet away, the silhouette of a potbelly cast-iron stove stood in the middle of the room. Shoved against a far wall was a couch draped with blankets.
He inhaled her enticing scent as she caressed his chest with the cool, wet cloth.
“We’ll have you feeling better soon. I have medicine,” she said. Tenderness laced the pretty features of her face and her soft words spread wonderful warmth into him, pushing aside the fever.
He sighed in relief. After all these years, the scorching warmth for a wo
man was back and the cold anger he’d been harboring was gone.
“I love you,” he said. His voice sounded strangled, unused. He hadn’t said those three words in one hell of a long time and it just seemed appropriate he should say them now. To her. Before he died.
“I know,” she said. She may have figured what he said had something to do with the fever. Well, it probably did.
Just before he drifted away again, he vowed he would show her how much he truly did love her. He closed his eyes and slept.
* * * * *
Cade had been watching Red for hours. At least, it seemed like hours. He awoke to find her feeding the woodstove. Then, while humming a soft tune he didn’t recognize, she prepared a meal in the adjoining kitchen. She cooked something on a portable camping stove and, every once in a while, the rich scent of frying beef—the kind in those store-bought cans—taunted his nostrils. His stomach growled in appreciation.
He hoped she didn’t hear. He didn’t want her to know he was awake and spying on her. He enjoyed watching her. She seemed so free. Like a graceful butterfly, flitting from the camp stove set on the table to the kitchen sink to wash something in a bucket, and then back to the kitchen table to cut vegetables before returning to the camp stove.
She lifted the pot and headed toward the potbelly stove beside him. He closed his eyes and feigned sleep. A couple of unidentifiable clanks split the air. His curiosity got the better of him and, through lowered lashes, he dared a peek.
The pot sat on the woodstove but Reena was nowhere in sight. Disappointment spilled through him. The soft hiss of the glowing gas lamp on the kitchen table was his only companion.
Where had she gone?
He tried hard to push back a surge of panic. Had she left the pot of food on the stove because she had every intention of clearing out and leaving Blade and him to fend for themselves? But then she coughed and the rustle of clothing followed. She was undressing.
His cock reacted, pulsed and began to tremble. He envisioned her creamy, full breasts pillowed in his palms. Nipples engorged and red from his sucks, her face flushed as she erotically gasped.
Cade inhaled and tried to shift his body as his cock continued to harden and his balls swelled in a burst of arousal. In order to focus on something other than his discomfort, he thought of Blade.
Just before losing consciousness in that camp, he had seen Blade take down the man who’d shot him. And for his troubles, Blade had taken a bullet from another man who’d been covering the guy who’d shot Cade.
He owed Blade for saving his life. He owed him big-time.
An odd clank made him peer to his right. Reena was shoving more wood into the potbelly stove. He lowered his lids to half-mast so she hopefully wouldn’t see he was awake and watching her. She’d changed out of her day clothes and wore a loose-fitting, white, very short t-shirt. The sensual curves of her breasts were outlined beneath the shirt, her nipples stabbing boldly at the material. Gold glinted in the lamplight, illuminating a belly ring, and when she moved past the potbellied stove, the luscious round curves of her bottom came into view.
Oh shit.
No pants. No panties. Just the prettiest, curviest ass he’d ever seen. He almost groaned out loud at the sexy sight, but managed to catch himself as she lifted her top and tossed it to the floor.
What the hell was she doing?
Oh man. Oh man. Was he dreaming?
Cade clenched his fists in frustration as she quietly climbed onto Blade’s cot.
No fucking way.
She had long legs for a petite woman. Nice wide hips. She swung a leg over Blade’s body and a glimpse of gold gleamed on her pussy lips. Labia rings.
Nice.
She crouched over Blade’s lower belly. In the lamplight, wetness shimmered between her thighs.
Wake up, man! Wake up and see the present she’s giving you!
Blade didn’t wake. Didn’t so much as flinch or groan as she sheathed herself on him.
Good Lord! The man must be dead not to realize what she was doing. Cade forced his breathing to slow.
Strangely enough, jealousy or possessiveness didn’t entertain his thoughts as Reena played with her breasts, tugged her nipple rings and gyrated upon Blade. Her pretty lips parted as she cried out quietly.
Cade tensed at her strangled outburst, his cock and balls swelling like a son of a bitch. Gritting his teeth against the awesome pressure, he continued to lie perfectly still. Man! This was hard.
He didn’t want her to know he was watching. Didn’t want her to know he was aroused while she pleasured herself with Blade. She seemed pretty confident Blade wouldn’t wake up as she let out another cry, this time a little louder. She wiggled her hips faster, grinding into Blade’s prone figure.
Cade almost swore out loud at the realization that Blade must have been drugged. He couldn’t be that far into a fever he didn’t know a woman was riding him. Reena was fucking Blade while he was unconscious. Was she drugging him as well?
Shortly after drinking the tea she continued pouring into him, an odd dopiness would hit. His gut twisted with awareness. She must be putting something in the drink. That would explain Blade lying there and her confidence in using his body for her sexual satisfaction.
Cade held back a moan as Reena gyrated harder and faster. Suddenly she stopped and her mouth went slack, the tension eased from her body. Slowly, she climbed off Blade. Cade didn’t miss Blade’s swollen shaft, hard as a pole and glistening with her juices as she wiped him with a cloth.
Afterward, she grabbed her top, her perky breasts jiggling as she padded over to the gas lamp on the table. She turned off the lamp and the room plunged into darkness. A couple of moments later, his eyes adjusted to the new lighting as the moon’s glow drifted against the curtained windows.
Movement at Blade’s cot had Cade’s breath backing up in his lungs.
“Little bitch,” Cade said softly as he kept his eyes glued in Blade’s direction, cursing the bastard for being asleep through the whole thing.
A strangled gasp erupted from Blade.
Son of a bitch. He had been awake while Reena rode him and now he was masturbating.
Cade grinned. He wrapped his good hand around his shaft and began stroking himself, moaning softly as pleasure quickly curled through him. He’d have to figure out how to make sure she didn’t get any more drugs into his system. He’d have to keep an eye on her every move. And he would, of course, have to plot the perfect sexual punishment for her.
He could hardly wait.
* * * * *
It was so quiet in the cabin. Reena surveyed the several pairs of panties and one bra she’d washed and hung on a string she’d suspended across the hot area above the woodstove. She tossed another log into the fireplace and shoved yet another into the potbelly stove before dropping some pills into her palm. These meds were meant to prevent infection. So far they were working. But she would have to stop drugging the men soon with her special tea. If they lay in bed for too long, they would have health issues like blood clots or pneumonia from lack of movement.
Maybe one more night. They should be strong enough by tomorrow to fend for themselves. There was enough food here to feed them until she could send in some members of the Resistance to rescue them. And then what?
Try to talk some sense into them? Try to get them to join the Cause?
Yeah, right. Cade’s brother Tyler would spring Cade and Will the instant he found out her group had them, and then Will would come after her and maybe kill her, and Cade would try to recapture her and bring her in so he could collect his bounty to pay his bills. Well, let them try. That’s what she had bodyguards for.
Reena sighed. She really should leave now. Tonight. She could use her old snowshoes to get out of this valley and head up to the main road where there was a cell signal.
Her momentary hope deflated. That is, if she had her cell phone. Cade had taken it when he’d captured her. She’d gone through his jacket after she’d resc
ued him and her cell and weapons hadn’t been there. He’d probably put them in his knapsack back at his camp—the pack now buried under a heap of snow and her phone so frozen it wouldn’t work anymore.
No, she would need to rest here tonight and decide what to do in the morning. An uneasy jittering still haunted her over what had happened with those hunters. Oddly enough, a sense of security flooded through her at having Will and Cade here, even if they were unconscious.
Her defenses were down. Despite being out of harm's way, there was a vulnerable and naughty side to her, wanting both of these men making love to her at the same time. This was so not good.
She grabbed a glass of water and headed to Blade. He appeared to still be out of it. Good. She’d forgo his tea tonight and coax him into taking a traditional antibiotic pill.
She’d have sex with Cade tonight. She’d be careful not to open his wounds. The anticipation of orgasming with Cade shot quivers of excitement through her. She blew out a breath and trailed her fingertips along Will’s jawline. He moaned softly and her lower abdomen fluttered. She loved that sound.
Primal. Sex-on-a-stick. Man.
Touching the edge of his lips, she spoke softly, asking him to open his mouth. Thankfully he did.
“Stick out your tongue. I have some more antibiotics for you,” she said.
His mouth opened partially and he stuck his tongue out. Reena couldn’t hold back the shiver of heat zipping through her at the memory of his luscious tongue dabbing into her vagina.
Okay, Reena. Chill.
Her breathing grew faster and raspier and it took her a moment to steady her breath. She placed the pill on his tongue and he took it in, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed.
Huh, no need for water tonight. That was easy. He must be getting better.
She checked the new poultice she’d placed on his chest and the wound appeared to be healing quite nicely. No sign of infection. The pill would keep him doped up and drowsy so she could have her way with Cade.
