by Robin Gideon
Aaron suddenly tossed his tin cup aside and rose swiftly to his feet. Katie was reminded once again of his great size, of the breadth of his shoulders and the leanness of his hips, of the clearly defined muscles in his chest, shoulders, and abdomen.
“Be careful how you tease me.” Aaron’s voice was low. Katie looked straight into his eyes, but with her periphery vision she saw that all the other brothers were quickly getting to their feet. “Being in love is new to me. It’s never happened before, so I’m just learning now how to deal with it.”
“Don’t be—”
Katie silenced herself before she finished the sentence. She had almost said “afraid,” but she knew instinctively that no man as alpha as Aaron could ever allow the word “afraid” to be tacked onto him. Not without rebelling, he couldn’t. As she looked up into his eyes, feeling small and fragile and deliciously protected and coveted, she was aware of the other McGowan men slowly surrounding her. It was almost as though she could feel the heat of their nearby bodies going straight into her bloodstream, warming and exciting her, and making her clitoris pulse and throb with hungry anticipation.
Aaron prodded with suspicion. “Don’t be what?”
Despite her best intentions, Katie couldn’t keep her gaze from flicking down to Aaron’s penis, which was no longer showing the truncating effects of the icy stream.
“Being in love is new to me, too,” Katie replied, opting for honesty. “I’m just as confused as you are.”
Aaron smiled, and Katie realized that she hadn’t changed the conversation properly.
The man she adored smiled down at her and said, “How about if you let me and my brothers love away any confusion you’ve got? Out here. Under the sun. What could be more natural than that?”
He closed his eyes and tilted his face up to the sun. Katie shivered when she looked at the full length of his body. He seemed sculpted in marble as though by a master artist, and in the sunlight, its strength and proportion were flatteringly on display. Though she’d seen him before, Katie’s body and libido reacted as though experiencing the visual splendor of Aaron’s nudity was completely new.
“No.” Her single word came out softly. Aaron’s eyes opened, and Katie was conscious of the other brothers staring intently at her. She smiled sheepishly, a bit apologetically. “It’s not that I don’t want to, and it’s not that I’m not appreciative of your desire for me.” She placed a hand lightly on Aaron’s naked chest. She felt the heat of his body and took her hand away. He was far too enticing to touch without responding favorably. “It’s just that last night was very vigorous, and as entertaining and as loving as it was, I’m not yet ready for another...um—”
After several seconds of silence, Aaron suggested, “Session?”
Katie smiled. “Yes. That’s a good word for it. Session.”
Garrett blushed guiltily and asked in a low voice, “Is it me? Is it what I did to you?”
Katie shook her head vigorously. “No!” She gave the single word the emphasis of a slap in the face. There could be absolutely no misunderstanding how vehemently she meant it. “You’re not to blame. And you didn’t do it to me, you did it with me.” More softly, she added, “There’s four of you and only one of me. As much as I want you all, my want exceeds my ability. Sorry.”
She let her gaze slide slowly and sensually from one brother to another. It was obvious that the influence of the cold mountain stream had been mitigated by her nearness and attire.
This isn’t the last time I’m going braless in a T-shirt for my men, she decided. I feel so trashy this way, but they make me feel sexy. They make me feel beautiful. I can’t make love right now...but I don’t want to let them down.
Aaron reached out and touched her forehead lightly with his fingertip. He drew the finger slowly down between her eyes, along the bridge of her nose, and then finally down over her lips to her chin. A shiver went through Katie.
“There’s no reason for you to apologize.” His timbre was low, a subtle caress to her feminine senses. “We’re all big men, and we got pretty rambunctious last night. I admit that I can’t seem to get enough of you, but I sure as hell won’t hurt you.”
He cupped her cheek in the palm of his hand and ran the edge of his thumb lightly over her lips. Katie kissed his thumb and closed her eyes as a whirlwind of chaotic emotions swirled around and through her. Only a fool would simultaneously fall in love with four men. It took an even bigger fool to fall in love with four brothers and think they would share one woman among them. Katie knew this and accepted it as fact, just as she accepted as fact her love for the McGowans. So she was a fool. So what? There were worse things to be, she decided.
The hows and whys and wherefores of her love for them were, she suspected, both irrational, dangerous, and possibly insane. A sane woman would fall in love with a McGowan man. It would take a certain degree of insanity to fall in love with all four of them.
She kept her eyes closed, concentrating only on the thumb passing slowly left to right and then right to left over lips that suddenly seemed heightened to the potential for pleasure. She could feel her heart steadily accelerating, and the soft, insistent throbbing pulse of her own heartbeat in her clitoris.
“I can’t,” Katie said, her voice a breathy whisper, “but I have to.” Burgeoning desire had made her only partially aware of the contradiction.
“No.” Aaron’s tone was authoritative. He was in charge. He was always in charge.
Katie felt intoxicated by the virility and adoration of the naked men surrounding her. She opened her lips and captured the tip of Aaron’s thumb between her lips. When the thumb slipped deeper into her mouth, she sucked it erotically. The visual double entendre couldn’t be mistaken. She swirled her tongue against Aaron’s thumb and uttered a low, sensual moan.
Aaron’s tone was taut when he asked, “Are you absolutely certain you can’t?”
Katie’s eyes were still closed, but she could feel her lovers all around her, enveloping her in the aura of their virility. The thumb was pulled from between her lips, and she issued a small, plaintive sigh, as a spoiled child might who had suddenly been told she couldn’t have an entire chocolate cake all to herself.
“Kiss me.” It was a breathy whisper of words from Katie, her tone hushed and more than a little frightened. “All of you, kiss me now. One at a time.” A tremor went through her. She kept her eyes closed. “How is it the four of you always excite me so?”
She felt strong fingers encircle her right wrist. An instant later, a hand slipped around the back of her neck, the fingers sliding beneath her hair. She knew it was Aaron who had moved closer, and that he was going to kiss her. She angled her head back, keeping her eyes closed, and an instant later she felt Aaron’s lips against her own, taking possession of her mouth.
She parted her lips and accepted his probing tongue at the same time her fingers curled around the shaft of a cock that was swelling rapidly. A soft moan came from her as Aaron’s kiss became more heated and more intense. A hand took her left wrist then guided her hand to another cock. Someone—she wasn’t quite certain who, though she suspected it was Blair—had moved behind her and reached around her body to caress her breasts through the thin T-shirt.
It was exhilarating and confusing for Katie. So many men all wanting her simultaneously, so many cocks all needing her undivided attention. As she sucked Aaron’s tongue deeper into her mouth, she worked her hands over the shafts that filled her hands. As always, the McGowan men were responding to her quickly, and it was only seconds before their erections were all intensely rigid.
“Ohhh,” she sighed when the kiss finally ended. Her stomach felt fluttery, and her heart was pounding. “You men will be the death of me.”
Aaron took a half step away from Katie. “That’s the last thing in the world I want.” Katie opened her eyes, a bit shocked at the forcefulness of Aaron’s statement. “Boys, we’re just going to have to leave her alone. She made it clear she needs time to recuperate
, and we’re going to give her that time.”
All four men started to move away from Katie. She still had her fingers around two hard shafts, and she tightened her grip on Garrett and Flynn.
“Not so fast,” she said. “I might be a little out of commission—a very temporary condition, I assure you—but it’s obvious that you men aren’t.” She let her gaze go from Aaron’s face down to his erection. His cock, thick and hard, was pointing straight at her. “Come closer, darling. Let me give you pleasure.” Slowly, with her gaze locked with Aaron’s, Katie sank slowly to her knees in the grass. She saw the fire, the spark of raw lust, sizzling in Aaron’s eyes as he moved closer. “Now there’s no need to be in a hurry. You four are so good at making sure I’m always satisfied. Let’s just let the good times unroll slowly.”
“Whatever you want,” Aaron said, putting his hands on his hips. When Katie captured the crown of his cock between her lips, and then put her tongue in motion on the underside, he groaned and whispered, “Oh, lordy, she excites me.”
It was a surreal experience for Katie. Her head was spinning dizzily. She had thought she knew what she was doing with the McGowans, but she really didn’t. On her knees in the high country, fully dressed under a brilliant sun, she looked up to see the four brothers, their bodies gloriously naked, their cocks exquisitely hard—for her. She nodded slowly over Aaron as she used her hands on the twins. Then she released Aaron and turned her attentions toward Flynn. A minute later she had Garrett between her lips, and his lean body quivered with the erotic sensations she provided.
True to her word, she wasn’t in any hurry, and neither were her men. She would bring one brother to the brink of orgasm then turn her attention to another. It might have seemed like she was taunting and teasing the men by pleasuring them until they were at the edge of ecstasy and then stopping, but what this did was heighten the excitement until Katie knew that all four brothers were aching to come.
“My gorgeous men,” Katie whispered.
She eased her face between Aaron’s powerful thighs to suck one of his testicles into her mouth. She sucked lightly, feeling the saliva-moistened shaft throbbing lustily against her cheek. She heard Aaron groan, and she knew that it wouldn’t be long before he climaxed. She released him, planted a moist, smacking kiss on the head of his cock, and then turned toward Blair and took as much of his erection into her mouth as she could hold.
I can’t believe I’m giving head to four men, she thought, amazed at how her life had changed upon coming to Elk’s Crossing and meeting the McGowan brothers. These men make me uninhibited. They make me want to do things with them that I wouldn’t imagine doing with anyone else.
She tilted her head back on her shoulders to look up. The brothers were standing shoulder-to-shoulder in a half circle directly in front of her. They towered over her, but their size and strength did not intimidate her. In fact, quite the opposite was true. Their power and their stark masculinity made her feel protected and distinctly feminine.
I’d get down on my knees for them anywhere, anytime, in front of anyone, she thought as her supple lips traveled along Garrett’s shaft. For these men, there isn’t anything they could ask that I wouldn’t do. Nothing at all. I’d give them everything and more so long as they’re mine. Mine alone. Exclusively, faithfully mine.
Her thoughts were wandering in a desultory fashion when Garrett pushed the fingers of both his hands into her hair and clenched them into fists. Though it had been Katie who had been bobbing while the men remained standing motionless, Garrett’s hips suddenly began churning as he held her head motionless.
“Oh, Katie!” he said through clenched teeth.
He was the first to come, as Katie had suspected from the beginning. Flynn wasn’t far behind him. With just the two older brothers to contend with, Katie pleasured one then the other, sucking slowly and expertly. In a calculated manner, she pushed Blair into the abyss of pure sensation. Lastly, as the alpha male of the clan, it was Aaron’s turn to erupt.
Shortly afterward, as she watched her men putting their clothes on, each one smiling in the subtle fashion that indicated sexual satiation, Katie felt an overwhelming sense of triumph, and a self-confidence to a degree that she’d never before experienced.
I’m good at this, she thought as she collected the wrappers and cups and put them back in the wicker basket. I’ll keep them all so happy they won’t even think of other women.
Chapter Ten
Aaron was hot, sweaty, and tired. He and his brothers were working one of their lowland pastures. They had arrived early in the day, only to discover that several nights before some kids had decided to use their pastureland to have a party. Since the pasture was remote, there wasn’t much chance of them getting caught by the sheriff. And in truth, Aaron wouldn’t have minded the kids using McGowan land to blow off a little steam, have a few beers, and maybe do some kissing in the shadows. But the kids—and he guessed there must have been fifteen to twenty of them—were the kind that Aaron positively loathed. They probably had four or five cases of beer with them, had drank every one, and then left the cans all over the place. There were also to-go wrappers from the Mountain View Saloon everywhere.
He wondered if Katie would remember who had come in and ordered a great deal of food to go. He’d like to have a damned stern talk with the kids about picking up after themselves and asking to use a person’s land, not just assuming that it would be all right.
“The herd’s all accounted for,” Garrett said. “We did the count twice, and we’re not missing any. Seems like the trespassers just wanted to party.”
“I don’t begrudge them partying, I begrudge them being slobs,” Aaron replied. “This is clean country. We don’t need trash strewn on good grazing land.”
Garrett’s lean body twisted around sharply in the saddle, and then he was tumbling out of the saddle. He had nearly hit the ground when Aaron heard the distant gunshot echo out through the valley. Garrett landed in the grass and rolled onto his back as blood spread out across his chest, soaking through his shirt.
“I’m hit! I’m hit!”
* * * *
David had a sick, empty feeling in the pit of his stomach as he hurried through the trees, the rifle he’d purchased from Paulie’s Gun Shop clutched tightly in both hands.
He had been aiming at the big man in the cowboy hat, not the slender one. He had lined up the crosshairs on the man’s back and pulled the trigger. The anticipation of seeing the big man react to the bullet hitting him in the back had been so intense David nearly salivated, like a man waiting for a sumptuous meal.
What had gone wrong? The crosshairs were on the big man’s back. When David pulled the trigger, he figured he had a heart-shot for sure. Instead, it was the slender man on horseback to the right who spun out of his saddle and hit the ground hard.
At least I killed one of them, David thought as he got into his car.
He had left the key in the ignition. When he twisted the key, the engine turned over but didn’t start.
Oh, goddamn it, car, don’t fuck me over now, David thought as the engine turned over and over without coming to life. I just killed some dumb son of a bitch, and now my car’s going to fuck me over?
And then the engine coughed and sputtered before coming to life, and David smiled because he knew he’d just killed one of the bastards that had been fucking Katie, and with any luck, he’d kill her, too. Yes, her too, and very soon. Because David knew in his heart that he just couldn’t return to San Francisco and get his life back in order as long as Katie was still alive and still hadn’t suffered for the injustices she had foisted upon him.
David stepped on the accelerator, and the tires spun on the gravel road. Within minutes he was on the two-lane highway. It was time to celebrate, he decided. He’d have a good meal somewhere then find a hotel he could afford. A man of his importance deserved a luxury suite, not some Super 8 out in the country, but luxury suites with in-room Jacuzzis would have to wait for now, but
not for long.
David smiled as he drove down the highway. He’d never killed a man before, and he hadn’t really been sure how he would handle it emotionally. Now he knew how it felt to kill, and he smiled. It felt good. And the next time he sensed the exhilaration of having taken a life, it would be Katie’s life that would be extinguished.
* * * *
Garrett pushed himself up a bit in the bed. He grimaced when pain lanced through his body from the gunshot wound to his shoulder. The county doctor who had bandaged him up had given him pills for the pain, but Garrett didn’t much like taking them, even if they worked. Garrett was an ardent fan of professional football, and he’d read too many stories of athletes getting addicted to painkillers for him to not have a skeptical attitude toward their use.
He looked around the bedroom, and despite the dull throbbing in his left shoulder, he smiled. This was Katie’s room. She had transformed it into her own, and in doing so, had made it feminine. On the bureau were her perfumes and lotions. In the open closet were her clothes.
A soft knock at the door preceded it opening by only a second. Katie stuck her head into the room.
“Oh, good,” she said. “You’re awake. Do you mind if I come in?”
“Of course not,” Garrett answered. “It’s your room, after all.”
“Until you recover completely, this is your room.”
Garrett felt a surge of emotion go through him when Katie stepped into the room. She wore a white cotton blouse and a pair of blue jeans, and though the attire was simple enough and certainly not unusual for Elk’s Crossing, in Garrett’s eyes and judgment, she was the most beautiful and sexiest woman in the world. In her hands was an aluminum serving tray, and on it was a can of beer with a glass.
