by Jane Jamison
He hadn’t planned it and didn’t even want the same thing, but the majority of the men who worked for him wanted to share one woman. Whether they were brothers, cousins, or friends, they’d long ago decided to live their lives together with a woman who would fulfill all their needs and give them a family. He wouldn’t have believed their kind of lifestyle would work, but they’d proven him wrong.
He ran over the different teams that were available to send to Sienna North. Chase, one of the men on his best team, came out of the barn. Chase and his brothers would do, but just as he was about to catch Chase’s attention, Short Dave handed the phone over to Joe Young.
“Yeah, Gabriel. You got something? A mission?”
Gabriel was never one to question fate. He turned his back on Chase. “Yeah. Get your cousin and your brother—”
“Cousin by marriage and stepbrother. Not that it matters.”
“Whatever. Grab West and Collin and get up to my office. Pronto.” Gabriel ended the call then let his bulk fall into the leather chair behind his desk.
* * * *
Joe Young had many reasons why he hated going it alone. First and foremost was the fact that a man could get into some hairy situations before he had time to blink. Without West and Collin, he had no one to back him up if things went wrong.
West Young was his cousin by marriage, but he was as close to him as anyone. He considered West a blood relative even though he really wasn’t. The same went for his stepbrother Collin Young. If Joe’s mother hadn’t married Collin’s father who later adopted Joe, the three men might never have met.
Then there was the problem that didn’t seem to be much of a hassle, but that he hated nonetheless. If he didn’t have West or Collin along with him, he had to pick up the tab for his meals. And he hated paying for his own meals.
Joe shifted in the seat of his older model Jeep. He’d wanted to wait to get started on the mission until West and Collin came back from Tulsa, but Gabriel had insisted that he get going. Why Gabriel had to send both of them on a non-dangerous, easy mission to Tulsa was beyond him, but he couldn’t change it now. All he could do was press on and hope they’d catch up to him before anything bad went down. If it went down. But that was part of what he liked about working with Cowboys for Hire. No job was ever the same.
He had to admit, however, that the best part of the job was that he could help a woman who needed it. Although he’d never had anyone close to him in a bad situation, he couldn’t stand the thought of any man mistreating a woman. Didn’t they understand how precious women were? How could any man not revere women for all they did? For everything that they were? Women were mysterious creatures that could either make a man or break him, and, as such, they were to be respected and treated with dignity.
Destiny wasn’t that far from Second Chance Ranch where Gabriel had stationed his men. But it was far enough that Joe had to stop and grab a meal from a drive-through. Although he hated fast food and preferred a good home-cooked meal, he didn’t want to delay getting to his destination.
He pulled up in front of the pretty three-story house and rested his forearms on the steering wheel. It was late, too late to go knocking on the door, even if the place was a bed-and-breakfast. Gabriel had told the woman to stay put and lock her doors, so he doubted anything would happen tonight anyway. Instead, Joe decided to sit back and make himself as comfortable as he could.
He glanced at the remains of his fast food and wished he’d swung by a convenience store to load up on coffee and doughnuts. The local market was only a couple of streets over and he could make a quick trip there, but when he gazed up at a window on the second floor, all thoughts of food disappeared.
“Now that’s what I call a show.”
The shapely shadow against the blind was that of a woman. And not just any woman. She had curves that made his mouth water. Too many women today were stick and bones, all fake breasts and nothing else, but whoever was casting her silhouette on the shade wasn’t one of those girls.
She moved slowly and gracefully as she tugged off her clothes. He wasn’t sure, but he guessed that it was a T-shirt she pulled over her head. The outline of her breasts had his cock jumping to life. Maybe it was his imagination, but he would’ve sworn that he could see the peaks of her nipples.
She turned, putting either her front or back to him. Although he missed seeing her firm, high breasts, the hills and valleys of her outline sent his cock into high gear. He pushed on his jeans, trying to rearrange his ever-growing package, but it was useless. Unless he let his cock fly, he’d be in danger of getting a permanent imprint in his dick. Still, jerking off to a woman without her knowing just seemed creepy.
She bent over, her arms angled with her hands toward her head, then stood up abruptly, flipping her hair wide. The strands spread out around her, creating a dark halo effect that he hoped wasn’t the only thing heavenly about her.
When she started moving as though in a dance, he thought he’d lose his mind. The mischievous side of him that rarely came out urged him to use the trellis running up the side of the house to make his way to her. He fought the inclination since he was there on a mission and didn’t want to jeopardize his client’s safety for the sake of his libido.
What if that’s her?
He could only hope. But he wouldn’t find out until tomorrow, if ever. It wasn’t as though he could walk up, introduce himself, and then ask if she’d danced in front of her window the night before.
Then again, it’d be fun to do just that.
Her hands were at her waist and he squinted as though that would make the darkness lighten enough to see her better. Was she taking off her jeans? Or maybe she’d already shucked them and was about to wiggle out of her panties.
I wonder if she’s wearing a thong?
His mouth watered just thinking about it. Although he’d never understand how women could wear the thin strings as underwear, he was damn glad they did.
He tried to position himself to get more comfortable. Unfortunately, the only thing that would unstiffen his cock would be to stop watching her. He didn’t want to and yet felt guilty for continuing to spy on her. Still, unless he was ready to take his problem in his hand, he’d have to stop looking. With a groan, he jerked his gaze toward the opposite side of the street and froze.
Aw, shit.
A young boy stood on the steps of the two-story frame house. A lock of his hair fell in front of his left eye, but the right eye was fixed on Joe.
The boy’s gaze lifted toward the silhouette in the window then came back to rest on Joe.
Does he know what I was doing? Did he see me playing Peeping Tom? What the hell is he doing out at this hour anyway?
Joe tipped his cowboy hat at the kid, then pulled it down over his eyes, pretending to go to sleep. If he was lucky, the boy would go inside his house and not mention Joe to anyone. If he wasn’t lucky, he might end up with an irate mother and father who’d call the sheriff on his butt and have him arrested for playing voyeur.
The thought unnerved him. It was one thing to get locked up because of a bar fight, but getting locked up as a pervert? He shuddered to think of the ribbing he’d catch from the other men.
Well, that’s one way to get rid of a hard-on.
It wasn’t the way he’d have chosen, but it worked. After waiting several minutes, he sneaked a peek out from under his hat and saw that the kid was gone.
He knew he shouldn’t, but he couldn’t resist.
No, man. Don’t do it. Don’t be stupid.
But he couldn’t stop himself. He whipped his gaze back to the window.
Damn. She’s gone.
The light that had so seductively outlined her was off and blackness had settled over the house. He didn’t even know if the woman he’d seen was Sienna North or another guest of the B&B. But he could hope. He’d help any woman in need, but it didn’t hurt if the woman was good looking.
He’d never had an assignment that had dealt with anyone he’d f
ound really attractive. Not that they weren’t. He simply hadn’t found any of them appealing. It was as though he was waiting for one lady in particular.
West, Collin, and he had decided a year earlier that they wanted to share a woman. Before joining the organization, he’d have laughed at the idea. One woman for three men? Not on his life! But after seeing how the situation worked for other men on the ranch, he’d decided that they had it good. What one man couldn’t provide for their mate, the other two could.
To make it work, however, they’d have to find someone with a lot of spunk. They couldn’t abide by a weak-willed woman who would do and say whatever they told her to. Instead, they’d talked long and hard about it and had agreed that they wanted someone who had a mind of her own. She had to be courageous and willing to risk everything to protect the ones she loved.
And if she happened to have some meat on her bones that gave her the appearance of a seductive temptress, then all the better. Although looks weren’t their top priority, he hoped she’d have that going for her.
He drew in a long breath, took one more check of the boy’s home, then pushed his hat back down on his head again. Pulling his jean jacket around him, he slumped into the seat, and not for the first time, wished he’d sprung to replace the old worn cushion with a new one. He’d catch a few hours of sleep, knowing that he’d hear if trouble started.
* * * *
At first Sienna thought the shouting was coming from a television in another room. She blinked, frowning as the noise grew louder.
“Sienna! Run!”
She sat bolt upright in the bed, her heart racing. A scream had her throwing off the bedspread and running to the door, forgetting that she was wearing only the skimpy tank top and her pajama pants she’d purchased the day before. By the time she was at the top of the stairs, fear had clutched her in a tight vise that threatened to rid her of rational thought.
Three men towered over the diminutive Daisy. They held the poor girl by both arms while the biggest and ugliest of them pinched her chin between his fingers and forced her to look at him.
“Is she here? Tell me, cunt, or I’ll cut a slash across your face. No man will ever want you after that.”
Sienna hadn’t noticed the knife he held in his hand until he’d spoken. Her hand gripped the top of the railing until her fingers hurt, but she barely noticed the pain as she stared in horror.
“Fuck you!” Daisy tried to twist away, but she was no match for the brutish men. She cried out and Sienna saw blood running down her arm as the nails of the second man dug into her flesh.
“Cut her, Dougan. Cut her straight across her pretty lips.” The baldheaded man holding Daisy’s right arm cackled with glee.
“Mack’s right. Do it.” The second man nodded his head, making his stringy black hair dance in front of his face. “Better yet, give her another slit right over her pussy.”
Dougan held the knife against Daisy’s breast. “How about I carve my initials into your tit as a little reminder of our visit? Then you and me can spend some time alone. You’d like that, I bet.”
“No!” Daisy jerked so hard she lifted her feet off the floor, but again, it was of no use.
“Tell me where that Sienna bitch is and I’ll turn you free.”
Sienna could tell he was lying, but could Daisy? Either way, it didn’t matter. She couldn’t let Daisy pay for trying to protect her. “Let her go!”
The three oafs lifted their gazes toward her. Dougan was the first to recover as he widened his mouth to expose yellow teeth in a treacherous grin. “There you are. Just like in the photo Big Dan showed us. We’ve been looking all over for you.”
He wiggled his fingers, beckoning her to come down. “Come on, sweet thang. Big Dan wants to see you.” His grin died, replaced by an expression of pure evil. “And bring his money along or he’s gonna get even madder.”
Sienna didn’t move. She couldn’t until Daisy was free. “I told you to let her go.”
The baldheaded man took his hand off Daisy, but Mack kept hold of her. Dougan shook his head and put his foot on the first step.
“The boss told me to bring you to him, and that’s what I plan on doing.” He jabbed the knife toward Daisy, narrowly missing her face. “Be a good girl and we’ll let your friend here live.”
“I’m not taking a step until she walks out that door.” Sienna’s mind raced, searching for any other way out of the situation. If she ran, Daisy would get hurt. But if she stayed put, she had a sinking feeling they’d both end up raped and stabbed, then left for dead.
Dougan growled, reminding her of the junkyard dog that had lived at the dump next to her mother’s hovel of a home. “Okay, bitch. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Big Dan told me I could play around with you first, then bring you in.” He glanced at his cohorts. “You two can share the slant-eyed bitch.”
Sienna drew in a ragged breath, unable to think of how she could get out of the mess with both her and Daisy unharmed. Her mind drifted to the duffel bag that rested beside her bed where they would easily find it. But she had no choice. She had to try and bluff.
“Don’t even think about it. If you hurt one hair on her head, I’ll never tell you where to find the money. And you don’t want to go back to Big Dan without the cash, now do you?”
“She’s right about that, Dougan.” Mack took hold of Daisy’s other arm.
She’d thought she’d seen evil on Dougan’s face before, but it was nothing compared to the hate-filled look he gave her now. “You’ll tell me, you little cunt. One way or another.”
Her stomach did a sickening flip-flop as he put his other foot on the step. She’d just started to turn and run back to her room when the front door exploded off its hinges.
Dougan didn’t have time to turn around before he was sent flying backward through the air and out the front door. The dark-haired man who’d sent Dougan soaring whipped his arm to the right, striking the bald man in the face. He stumbled, tried to regain his footing, but lost the battle and landed on his ass.
“You shit!”
Mack landed a solid hit before the man had time to duck. But it didn’t appear to faze her rescuer. Instead, he brought a short club out of nowhere and swung, clocking Mack in his jaw. Mack’s face twisted into shocked surprise before his body crumpled underneath him. Daisy jerked out of his hold as he slumped to the floor.
Sienna’s mouth fell open as the man lifted his gaze and fixed it on her. Glittering gray eyes glared out of a face that was nothing short of heroic with stubble running over the strong square chin and high cheekbones. He exuded the essence of strength and power. The jean jacket he wore open showed his muscled chest under the tight fit of his black T-shirt.
But was he really her hero or another thug Big Dan had hired? Knowing Dan as she did, she wouldn’t put it past him to have hired two sets of scumbags to come after her. He’d probably even set up a reward to let them fight over it.
Still, the man below her confused her. Or was it only his heroic face that had her thrown?
She was about to demand that he tell her who he was when he started up the stairs. Fear took over, demanding that she flee, as her instinct to survive kicked in. Seeing that Daisy was already running toward the rear of the house, she pivoted on her heel and sprinted toward her bedroom.
Whirling around, she slammed the door a second before the huge man made it to the top of the stairs. She had her back against the door when he hit it. The force of his blow bumped her body forward, and instead of trying to keep the door closed, she snatched her purse from the desk chair and was bent over to get the duffel bag when the door banged open behind her.
“Hold up.”
Sienna didn’t listen, couldn’t take that chance. Letting out a small cry of despair, she launched her body toward the bedroom window. She had the latch flipped open and was pushing on the frame when arms the size of tree trunks surrounded her.
She froze as his warm breath tickled the back of her neck. “I can’t
go back.”
“I’m not asking you to.”
Surprising her, he pushed on the window and opened it. A waft of fresh air flowed over her body. She trembled, unable to move.
Groans and curses drifted upward from downstairs. “Lady, unless you plan on giving those boys what they want, I suggest you haul your ass out this window.”
She gathered enough courage to twist around and glare at him. “And I guess you’ll be right behind me, right?”
“Damn straight. Now get moving.”
“First tell me who you are.”
He shot her an incredulous look. “You want my whole life story or just the highlights?”
Yet before she could answer, he flattened one hand on her butt and took her by the arm with the other. She let out a yelp as he half-shoved, half-pushed her through the window and onto the narrow roof surrounding the second story.
She clung to the bag and her purse, and shuddered when she saw the high drop to the ground. “What am I supposed to do? Jump?”
He was halfway outside when he stopped and pointed at the trellis on the side of the house. “Drop the bags and start climbing.”
She’d never liked heights and climbing ladders had always frightened her. Not so much the climbing up part as the climbing down part. “But it’s a trellis. I’m not sure it’ll hold my weight.”
“You don’t have a choice. Toss the bags to the ground, then climb down.”
Did he really think I was talking about the combined weight of my body plus the bags, and not just about my chunky size?
The thought gave her a moment of pleasure, and she wasn’t about to tell him any differently. “I’m not letting go of my bag or my purse.”
He edged next to her, his big bulk taking up a lot of the limited space. He was a massive man, not so much in stature since he was only about six inches taller than her petite five feet four inches, but where she was soft, he was boulder after boulder of solid muscle. His hair was military-style short and he had cheekbones that reminded her of a Native American. His dark hair matched his dark eyes and overall stern countenance.
