Cole, Kaliana - No Bag Limit [Liberty Springs, Wyoming 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Kaliana Cole

  “I don’t think so, Colby Whelan.” Marley Richards came to the foot of his bed, her amusement warring with exasperation. “They need to go.” She smiled at Emma. “I’m sorry, Emma, but we have to clear the ward now. Go home, get some sleep. You can come back in the morning.”

  Emma bent and kissed him, chuckling when his tongue tried to sneak past her chaste lips. “There is not too much wrong with you.” She laughed.

  “I don’t know. Want to check my blood pressure?” The diabolical eyebrow wiggle gave away his lewd intentions.

  “I am sorry you have to put up with him, Marley.” Emma chose to ignore his crude efforts.

  Marley just smiled, a wicked gleam entering her startling emerald eyes. “There won’t be much to put up with. If he gets cheeky, I just turn up his morphine, and it’s off to la-la land for Colby.”

  Emma left the ward to Colby’s complaining shot at the nurse. “You’re a joy-leech, Marley. You suck the fun out of everything.”

  She felt Ty chuckle silently at her side. Zach didn’t bother to keep it quiet. He ducked his head, suitably repentant when another nurse leveled him a sharp look.

  Emma walked in a cocoon of their love, a huge weight she hadn’t even known she carried off her shoulders. Colby was going to be fine, and Hawkins was gone for good. His death had granted her freedom. She searched for how she felt about that, feeling the pamphlet on post-traumatic stress disorder the paramedic had pressed on her in her pocket.

  A part of her mourned for the man Hawkins might have been if circumstance had been different. Would he have been a fine, well-balanced adult if, as a child, he had known love and guidance instead of abuse and defilement? But Emma had to admit, she felt cleansed; there was no other word for it. The man had infiltrated her life for the best part of five years, terrorized her, and abducted her, but his biggest mistake had been to target the men she loved.

  When she had realized Hawkins had shot Colby, she had wanted to take back her own shot and aim for somewhere more painful and less fatal, and empty the whole damn clip. She had felt the righteous rage of a lioness defending her cubs. No one fucked with what was hers.

  The cool night air touched her face, and she stopped with the same realization that had halted the men at her sides. They had no way of getting home.

  She wasn’t sure who laughed first, but all three of them ended up in a giggling mess on the concrete. She knew there were tears running down her face, but she didn’t care. The relief was unbelievable. Laughter and tears washed away the tensions of the traumatic day.

  A slightly concerned orderly found them and called a cab. There was real relief on the man’s face when he loaded them into the vehicle and patted the roof. The cabby had a similar look when he dropped them off. Zach had needed to duck inside to get money to pay the poor man as none of them had a wallet on them.

  Exhaustion caught up with Emma. She showered and crawled into bed. Ty and Zach were quick to follow. Ty spooned her back, the solid reassurance of his heartbeat echoing through her. Zach snuggled in against her breasts, his cheek lying against them as if listening to her heart. She breathed in the warm scent of his hair and let fatigue have her.

  * * * *

  “Stop scratching at it,” Emma scolded.

  “It’s itching like a son of a bitch.”

  “That means it’s healing. Leave it alone.”

  Three days after being shot, Colby was home. Emma had offered to babysit him so the others could go to work. Four hours into it she was now questioning her wisdom. Men were the worst patients on God’s green earth. Colby was worse than most.

  He whined like a baby, pouted when he didn’t get his own way, and got sulky when she rebuffed his amorous advances.

  Marley had warned that there was to be no raising his blood pressure for another day or two. The tissue needed time to knit behind the stitches.

  “But I’m bored. What can I do?”

  “Not me. Watch a movie.” Emma was trying to get some work done, but so far trying was all she had accomplished. She glanced at the clock, checking if it was time to give Colb his next lot of medication. She decided it was close enough.

  “It’s time for your pills. I’ll get them and put something on for you to watch.” Emma closed the laptop and headed for the kitchen.

  Marley had given her two lots of tablets when she picked him up this morning, plus his antibiotics. The white ones were just a general painkiller while the yellow had a sedative in them to help him sleep. Marley had told her they were for nighttime, but to slip him one if he got to be too much. After having him as a patient for three days, she knew what a pain in the ass he could be.

  Emma felt no guilt as she added a yellow one to the pile.

  “Here, down these.” She held out the pills and a glass of water.

  “That many? I’m gonna rattle when I walk.”

  Her look was eloquent.

  “Has anyone told you you look hot when you’re mad?” His blue eyes sparkled with devilment as he tossed back the pills.

  “Only your brothers, but they weren’t stupid enough to say it while they were injured and at my mercy.”

  “You don’t have any. You’re a mean woman, Emma Duncan.”

  Emma ignored him and grabbed a DVD at random from the cabinet and shoved it in the machine. It was full of guns, muscles, and cars, and she was hoping it would shut him up long enough for the medication to take hold.

  “I can’t get comfortable. I need a pillow.” Clenching her jaw, Emma headed for the door. “No, I just need you to sit down. I’ll use your leg.” He gave her innocent eyes when she arched her brows. “I promise I’ll be good.”

  “That’s what worries me.”

  “Come on, Em. I haven’t had a chance to just cuddle you for ages. Come and sit down. Bring the table over and you can work.”

  The big, blue eyes were pleading his case, and as much as she had reached the end of her patience, she couldn’t resist him. She sighed and tugged the tray table to the end of the lounge.

  Colby’s arm shot out when she sat down but he did no more than wrap his hand around the thigh his head lay on. The sling held his raised shoulder secure. She briefly laid her hand on his forehead.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Just checking for a temperature. You’re actually behaving yourself.”

  “I am sorry I’m being a pain in the ass. I just hate being all cooped up with nothing to do. I can’t even have a bit of fun.”

  “You’re not the only one going without, Colby. There’s no naughties for anyone until you get the all clear. That’s why I’m sleeping at home. What is fair for one is fair for all.”

  Colby laughed softly and then winced. “I’m glad I’m not the only one suffering.”

  Emma opened the laptop and started work again. Colby’s embrace was a warm comfort. Three and a half pages flew from her fingers before he spoke again.

  “Em?”

  “Mmm?”

  “Did you dope me up?” His voice was soft and sleepy.

  “Yes, Colby, go to sleep.”

  “You’re a mean, mean woman,” he informed her, but snuggled in closer and drifted off.

  * * * *

  Ty walked in an hour later, a warm smile curling his lips as he spotted Colby wrapped around Emma, the movie playing on the widescreen muted.

  “You are a good influence on him, darlin’. If one of us were here we would have strangled him by now. He is an absolute pain in the ass when he’s sick. How did you stop him complaining?”

  Emma decided on honesty. “I doped him.”

  Ty chuckled. “We gotta get some more of those pills.” He bent and kissed her upturned lips, softly and thoroughly. “How is your work going?”

  “Great now that I am not being hassled. Have you seen Ron this morning?” It was the first time Ron had taken a client without her there.

  “I called in there before I came home. It went fine. The Mannings were a little hesitant at first, but David really took t
o Ron. He was riding Barney around the small yard alone by the end of the session.”

  “That’s great. I was a little worried.”

  “I know you were. That’s why I went.” He sat down in the armchair and stretched his back out. “I called in and saw Andy, too. He wasn’t joking about all the paperwork he would be bogged down in. Cal and Connor are hassling him as well. Two underground D and s clubs have been attacked in the last week down in Denver, and they are concerned it might spread. Andy doesn’t need that worry right now. I’ll call in on him again tomorrow.”

  “You’re doing a lot of running around at the moment.”

  “Life would be a lot simpler if we all lived in one place.” He brought up the subject they had been butting heads over for days.

  “You know why I can’t move in here, Ty. The riding center is important to me, and I have an office full of research material there.” She willed him to see where she was coming from.

  “We could always move in with you.” Ty floated the idea.

  Emma stilled. She had been flirting with that idea, too, but hadn’t voiced it. Her mind had come up with all sorts of ideas why that wouldn’t work.

  This was their home. They had lived here for years.

  Most men would feel insecure living in a house that was owned by their girlfriend.

  She needed her space, a retreat that was hers alone.

  She was a moody bitch who would drive them away in a matter of days.

  The more she thought about it the more reasons she came up with why it wouldn’t work.

  “You’re thinking too hard, darlin’. Talk to me.”

  Emma took a deep breath and laid her objections out one by one. Ty listened, elbows on the arms of the comfortable, old chair and fingers steepled. When she finished he leant forward, slate eyes boring into hers. If it wasn’t for Colby sleeping on undisturbed, she would have squirmed beneath the intensity of his gaze.

  “This is a house, Em. It was never a home until you came here. Wherever you are we can make our home, darlin’.

  “As for insecure, do you really think that label fits any of us? Hell, Colby can walk into anywhere and make himself at home. Zach’s not much better, and I am happy to be wherever you are.

  “And we respect your space, Emma. We know your computer is off-limits. It doesn’t take much to stretch that to a room or a couple of rooms. God knows there are enough of those at your place.

  “Whatever it takes, we’ll do it. You mean that much to us Em. We can handle your shitty moods. They don’t scare us, darlin’. It tears our hearts out to see you drive home of an evening instead of staying with us. Can you at least give it some thought?”

  His gray eyes pleaded, and Emma shut her mouth before she told him to pack his stuff and move in with her right now. The idea of waking among them every morning was intoxicating. Almost enough to give up her freedom and independence. Almost. “I’ll think about it, Ty,” she promised.

  * * * *

  The sky was shot with the red and orange streaks of the dying sun as the evening colors played their glow over the horses grazing peacefully in the paddock. Emma leaned against the fence, her arms crossed over the top rail. She let the solitude infuse her as she reflected and weighed options.

  She loved those guys. There was no doubt about it. She had always known Ty had the potential to find a place in her heart, but the slice of her that Colby and Zach now owned staggered her. All three of them were more important to her than she had ever thought any man could be.

  She had wondered how women like Beth and Lacey could love more than one man, but now she knew. The “bag limit” Ty had joked about was only limited by the size of the hearts involved. Her love was shared between three men but was not diminished in any way. In fact, Emma thought the love was actually magnified and multiplied as it encompassed and embraced all who it touched. She had never known such an all-consuming love, one that nurtured and grew rather than burning bright and fizzing out.

  It was worth taking a risk on. They were definitely keepers.

  She took a deep breath and headed back up to the house. She would let the guys move in and see how it worked. But not until Colby got his stitches out. No house was big enough to share with his whining ass until then, and they were all out of sedatives.

  * * * *

  “Have you seen the size of that bath?” Zach was like a kid in a candy store.

  Em just smiled while Ty answered for her. “Emma’s lived here for three years, Zach. I think she might have found the bathroom by now.” He was unpacking clothes into a walk-in closet that was big enough to hold a poker tournament in.

  “You could swim laps in that thing.”

  “As I said, Zach, make yourself at home. It is only this bathroom through here and my office that you have to steer clear of.” The idea of sharing a bathroom with three men after a beer and pizza night was downright terrifying. The air freshener hadn’t been invented yet that could deal with that load.

  She glanced around. “Where is Colby?”

  “Checking out the weights room.”

  “Make sure he doesn’t hurt that shoulder. Just because the sling is off doesn’t mean it’s fixed.”

  “Yes, mother hen,” Zach teased. “Beth is keeping an eye on him.” He stuck his head into the closet. “Don’t you ever get lost in here?”

  “I can usually find my way back out,” Emma replied drily.

  She was enjoying watching their reactions to the sprawling almost-mansion she called home. She had promised them a two-week trial once Colby had a checkup. A two-week trial where everyone promised to be themselves. She knew it wouldn’t be a fair test if the boys were on their best behavior.

  This morning the doctor had said Colb could resume normal activities as long as he kept the shoulder clean and rested, although he still had another five days before the stitches could be removed. She had relented on her stance regarding the stitches coming out on the proviso that Colby ceased his whining. So far he had managed to hold it back. Before she knew it, three men were annexing closet space and moving shaving gear into the main bath.

  It was good to hear voices rumble in the echoic halls, to see sweat-stained hats hung on the coatrack, and to know a comforting touch was only as far away as she wished it to be.

  “What are your plans for this afternoon, darlin’?”

  She didn’t feel like working and knew that if she stayed here it was only a matter of time before she found herself the subject of some amorous attentions. Colby had been angling for a quickie from the moment the doctor gave him the go-ahead.

  She needed to get out and revel in her newfound freedom. “I think I might go for a ride. I haven’t ridden Cajun for a week now. He’ll be spoiling for a run.”

  “Got a spare mount or two?”

  “You want to come riding?” Despite the fact that he worked with horses nearly every day, Emma had only seen Ty on a horse once in three years, and that had been for a charity ride over to Sheridan last year. She still remembered the look of that fine ass in a saddle.

  “I’d love to. I don’t get a chance to do it often enough to warrant keeping one anymore, but we can all ride. Some of us are just a little more comfortable than others.” His grin made her wonder.

  “Colby?”

  “No, he sits a horse like he was born there. Zach, now he would fall off a gate on a windy day.”

  “If he wants to come, I had better catch Barney then. I’m not hauling his ass up off the ground.”

  “If I fall off, you gotta kiss it better.” Zach had clearly overheard their plans. He was scrambling through his bag to find some jeans to replace the comfortable sweats he wore. Emma watched, captivated, as he shucked the pants and pulled on the faded denim, commando and completely unself-conscious about it.

  Ty groaned. “Put that thing away, Zach. Em’s looking hungry already.”

  The worst thing was that he was right. One look and she was gone. In one way she hoped the effect settled with exposur
e. In another she hoped they would still affect her like that when they were all old and gray.

  “Don’t she?” Stormy eyes rested on hers, and a naughty smile erupted. “Want me to take them back off?”

  “Take what off?” Colby sauntered in, his face lighting up when he spied Em. “Mmm, somebody’s horny.”

  He walked straight over and pulled her close with his good arm. Emma wanted to tell him to back off, but between his mischievous hunger and the way he smelled so damn good, she melted. His mouth was flavored by Beth’s apple tarts. Cinnamon and warm sugar laced his lips and Emma couldn’t help but lick into his mouth. He tasted good enough to eat.

  “This isn’t fair.” She groaned against his lips, her hips snugging in to his body without conscious thought.

  “What isn’t?” Colby slid his hand down to cup her ass and squeezed, his lips nipping along her jaw.

  “That I can’t control myself around any of you.” The pleasure was licking along her spine and pooling low in her belly.

  “That’s a bad thing?” His teeth scraped over her earlobe.

  “Yes, no, I don’t know.” Ty moving in behind her took all the starch out of Emma’s spine. Her head lolled back to rest against his chest.

  “You only have to say ‘no,’ and we all leave you be, darlin’.”

  Yeah, like that was going to happen. The moment Colby had touched her she’d been lost. Five days of their gentle caresses, soulful kisses, and no sex had taken its toll. The glowing embers had flared to life, and she knew the flames would roar around the eaves before they were quenched.

  Colby’s lips trailed down across her collarbone as she reached up and splayed her hand behind Ty’s thick neck. She tugged deliberately until he capitulated with a smile and kissed her upturned face.

  “That would be right. I start things off, and they get the kisses,” Zach grouched.