Three Men and a Bounty

by Three Men

  He took a deep breath and willed the change. Over the decades, he had become adept at completing it almost instantly. Though the pain proved a given and inescapable, he had learned to ignore the bone crunching and popping so that it didn’t affect his focus overly so.

  Several breathless moments later, he stood before the men on all fours, completely changed and waiting as if for approval.

  James spoke first, words bursting from his lungs in a long sigh of wonder rather than shock and disbelief. “My Lord…”

  “The wolf,” Chris whispered.

  Troy turned his look on the kid, barked once and trotted over. He expected Chris to turn and run. The kid didn’t. Whether fear froze his legs or if he genuinely wanted to stay, Troy couldn’t tell until he reached the kid and caught his scent.

  Chris wasn’t afraid. Troy sensed it. He smelled more inquisitiveness on him than any fear.

  Chris reached out his hand, and Troy took several more steps until he was close enough to push his head against Chris’ palm.

  Troy’s chest puffed up with pride when he heard the intake of Chris’ breath, then he shuddered with pleasure at the feel of the kid’s fingers stroking and then burying in his fur. He growled deep in his throat, pleased when Chris didn’t jerk away. Instead, he continued petting him.

  “I dreamed about you.” He looked up from his crouch to James. “How?”

  So many questions inhabited that one word. Troy had asked himself the same question and more so many times. How? Why him?

  James cleared his throat as if in answer. “The Navajo believe that there are witches who can imitate any animal they choose to be—a cat, a coyote, a bear, anything.” His tone proved as reverential and sincere as Chris’ expression proved spellbound. He crouched beside Chris, burying his hand in Troy’s pelt, too, and Troy closed his eyes and rumbled deep in his throat. “It’s been said that the Navajo witch picks his skins for the ability he needs to exhibit. Wolves are known for their cunning, intelligence, and loyalty, among other things.”

  Troy barked once to indicate his agreement.

  “If the witch is intelligent when he shifts, he’ll carry that intelligence with him into his animal form. Skinwalkers have also been known to stalk the night wearing their animal skin, looking for unsuspecting victims to hurt…”

  Troy popped open his eyes and barked twice.

  He’d learned about the Navajo witches from Josiah.

  Josiah had found Troy aimlessly roaming around near his cabin, injured and bleeding in his wolf form after the Indians had attacked Troy’s house.

  Josiah showed no fear and seemed to know exactly what to do for Troy to help him heal, which wasn’t much except give Troy a clean and quiet space to let his body do its own work. Like James, he wasn’t shocked to see Troy shift. He seemed to accept that there were creatures on this earth like Troy who did not mean anyone any harm despite his strangeness. Josiah proved unlike the Indians who’d attacked his home, assuming he meant harm to all.

  James deepened his kneading, his fingers at once firm and gentle around the scruff of Troy’s neck. “I reckon we’re dealing with something a little different from most Skinwalkers, though. This fella here is something the Lord made, not magic or witchcraft, and he wouldn’t hurt a fly that didn’t hurt him first.”

  “I know.” Chris solemnly nodded.

  Troy barked once and settled onto his side, delighting in the sensation of being massaged and fondled in kindness. He hadn’t felt so accepted and loved since Josiah had taken him and nursed him back to health, subsequently taking Troy under his protective wing. Josiah had understood what he was, understood his sexual proclivities as well as his animal.

  He’d learned so much from Josiah, especially how to hide his nature—both aspects.

  The old miner had been taken away from him much too soon.

  “I’ve heard tell of Skinwalkers using witchcraft and mind control to make their victims hurt or even kill themselves,” James stated.

  “Not him.”

  James looked at Troy and shook his head. “Not him.”

  “Are all Skinwalkers…bad?”

  “It depends on what tribe you listen to. Most Navajos deem them evil. There are other tribes that believe the Skinwalker shapeshifts to escape the horror of discrimination. Still others say the Skinwalker is a medicine man, a healer, not someone who harms.”

  Chris cupped Troy’s muzzle with both hands. “Will you change back for us now?”

  Troy barked once, stood on all fours, stepped back, and began the process of shifting to his human form, aware of James and Chris’ extreme interest the whole while.

  A few moments later, he stood before them on two shaky legs, naked and skin still tingling. The thrill of shifting, the rush he got going from one form to the other proved more intense when done under the watchful gazes of Chris and James. He liked the feeling, the exhilaration. He felt like he had when he’d been a young teen and had originally discovered what he could do.

  The first time he’d changed he’d been thirteen years old. He’d been shocked and afraid that he wouldn’t change back—be human again—but more terrified that he had done something to cause the change. He’d heard the sermons on Sundays when Ma and Pa took him to church. He understood right, wrong, and perversion and thought God punished him for wanting to love who he wanted to love. He thought God punished him for being an aberration.

  His father knew Troy was different but tried to deny it, ignoring the signs of his son’s proclivities. And despite Troy being small for his age, or maybe because of it, Pa chose instead to teach him how to handle a gun, hunt, and use his fists. He chose to teach his son how to protect himself, his family and property—how to be a man.

  “You can’t be soft in this world, boy. Especially not out here. You have to know how to defend yourself, how to fight…”

  Troy heard the arguments, too, between Ma and Pa, how Pa thought Ma mollycoddled him and treated him like a baby with all the hugging and kissing.

  “You’re going to make him into a nancy-boy, Rose. You gotta cut the apron strings and stop fussing over him so much.”

  “He’s my baby boy, my only baby.”

  “He’s almost a man, Rose. Out here, he’s a man.”

  By the following year his mother had died, his father had taken over the mollycoddling, and Troy had undergone his first change.

  He understood what his father tried to do, how he didn’t want Troy to hurt or be hurt.

  He couldn’t protect Troy from himself, though. No one could do that but Troy.

  Neither James nor Chris said anything now, just watched him, their fierce gazes heating his skin like twin flames, making him flush. Troy imagined his whole body beet red from their interest.

  “You’re beautiful,” Chris murmured.

  Troy didn’t think he could be any more uneasy until James stepped beside Chris and wrapped his arm around Chris’ shoulders. He looked at the teasing grin James sported beneath his mustache and got hard.

  “I thought you said I was beautiful.”

  Chris blushed and tilted his head back to look at James. “You are beautiful. You both are.” He lowered his gaze to include Troy.

  Troy’s heart tightened in his chest watching Chris, watching both men. They looked so right together, so contented and in love.

  Did they have room between them for him?

  As if reading his mind, Chris eased out of James’ grasp and took the taller man’s hand in his before leading him over to Troy.

  No one could have told Troy that Chris wasn’t the one pulling the strings in the relationship, that he wasn’t the one in control. Smaller and younger he may have been, but it remained obvious that he had James and Troy wrapped around his smaller and younger finger.

  The kid presented more of a threat to Troy’s sanity and well-being than any Indian, vengeful outlaw with a grudge, or a marshal who might or might not have remembered Troy from his lawless days.

  Right then and there
, Troy realized he was in a mess of trouble.

  Chapter 8

  “Please don’t.” Chris caught Troy’s arm as he bent and tried to retrieve his clothes. He had to stop himself from fondling the hard biceps that flexed beneath his fingers and made him eager to explore more. “I want to look at you.” Chris glanced at James a couple of steps away and saw him nod his agreement. It emboldened him to go on. “We want to look at you.” The color that flooded Troy’s already slightly tanned complexion made Chris’ heart pound. He liked seeing someone else blush for a change, liked putting the boot on the other foot.

  Troy stood, switching his weight from one leg to the other, and folded his well-muscled arms over his chiseled chest as if he didn’t know what else to do with his limbs.

  Chris rocked back on his heels, hands in his pockets as he took his visual fill, enjoying the view of Troy’s tall, lean body unclothed. He enjoyed looking at all that skin he couldn’t wait to run his hands over.

  His palms itched at the idea of touching Troy and feeling the rasp of chest hair beneath his fingers. It wasn’t overwhelming, just an all-over dusting highlighted by a pleasant sprinkling that tapered down the middle of Troy’s rock-hard stomach and farther arrowed to the nest of chestnut curls where his arousal jutted.

  Chris licked his lips, hungry for a taste.

  “I have to admit, I’m plumb lost as to what you want me to do now.”

  “Just stand there,” James said as he circled Troy, stopping just behind him.

  Chris watched as James pressed close, slid his arms around Troy’s chest, and reached for his ear with his mouth. He closed his eyes as James licked and nibbled Troy’s earlobe, knowing just how enjoyable it felt to have James so close, breathing down his neck.

  His eyes popped open when he heard Troy release a groan. He echoed Troy’s sentiments, his nipples immediately becoming hard and tight as if the harsh sound of Troy’s voice had a direct link to Chris’ body.

  Troy leaned back against James, and James slid his hands down Troy’s front until he reached the Promised Land and grasped Troy’s arousal.

  He pumped Troy’s cock once, then twice, until a pearl of liquid shimmered from the slit. “Come taste him, young’un. I want to watch you take him in your mouth. I want to feel him tremble when you make him come.”

  “Jesus…” Troy gritted his teeth.

  Chris saw his Adam’s apple bob up and down and the muscles in his neck strain as he arched it until the back of his head rested against James’ shoulder. His legs appeared to give way just a tad, but James remained a rock and accepted Troy’s weight.

  “It’s all right, Troy. I’ve got you. You just lean back and let the boy please you the way he knows how.”

  “Yes, please. I want that.”

  The ragged sound of Troy’s words acted like a magnet, pulling Chris forward until he found himself helplessly dropping to his knees before Troy.

  James moved his hands up from Troy’s groin to slide his arms around Troy’s waist instead. His hands crept up Troy’s body until he found Troy’s erect nipples. He pinched each of the hard nubs at the same instant that Chris put his mouth on Troy.

  Troy released a shuddering breath and sank deeper into James’ embrace.

  James gently stroked Troy’s chest, circling the skin around his nipples as Chris lowered his head until his mouth reached the base of Troy’s shaft.

  Troy bucked his hips, hands instantly burying in Chris’ hair. He caressed then fisted the strands, and his touch pushed Chris to suck harder and pump faster. The feel of Troy’s cock hard and throbbing in his mouth and beneath his fingers proved as satisfying as Chris had imagined. He inhaled as he sucked and licked, Troy’s raw, musky scent making him hunger even more.

  “Oh…Christ…”

  “That’s it, Chris. He’s coming…”

  No sooner had James spoken than liquid spurted into Chris’ mouth—warm, salty, and sweet. He eagerly swallowed it down, then licked his way from the root of Troy’s member to the head. He dipped his tongue into the slit, teasing Troy, milking the dregs of his climax.

  “What have you two done to me?”

  In answer, Chris let Troy’s cock slip from his mouth, but not before giving it one final lick as he watched James turn Troy around in his arms.

  “Nothing you didn’t want,” James said simply, cupping Troy’s face in both hands and drawing him forward. “You want us.”

  “Yes.”

  James covered Troy’s mouth with his, sliding in his tongue and making Troy moan deep in his throat. Troy’s arms slid up to hug James as if of their own accord.

  Chris moved closer, sandwiching Troy between him and James as he wrapped his arms around Troy’s waist. He pressed his cheek against Troy’s back, relishing his moist, silky skin stretched tight over hard muscles. He inhaled Troy’s fresh, natural scent, the smell of man and animal. An air of warmth and power seeped from Troy’s pores, one that called to Chris’ hunger and need like a flame to a moth.

  Troy pulled back from James, breathless. “Take your clothes off. I want to see you.” He turned to Chris, gaze smoldering as it raked over him. “I want to see both of you.”

  Anticipation scudded through Chris at the throaty words. He stepped away and reached for the front of his shirt at the same time that James reached for the front of his vest.

  From here, it proved a race to see who could shuck his clothes the quickest and catch up with Troy standing naked and waiting for them.

  By the time Chris and James stood unclothed facing each other, Troy had already silently slipped away from them toward the water’s edge.

  Chris watched as he gave them a big, dimpled grin before turning to dive into the lake. He caught just a flash of Troy’s smooth, round backside before Troy cleanly cut the water. He took Chris’ breath away with the gracefulness of his moves.

  Several moments later, Troy’s head broke the surface some yards away from shore. He shook water from his wavy, chestnut hair, and the deed drew attention to the way his wet shoulders and hair glistened beneath the late afternoon sun.

  Chris stood spellbound by the way the water clung to Troy’s long, thick lashes. The water reflected the light so that each hair sparkled like tiny crystals before the drops sluiced down his chiseled cheeks.

  “Let’s join him, young’un.”

  “Age before beauty.”

  James arched a brow. “Oh, really?”

  Chris smiled, backing away from James toward the water. “You’re the one who keeps calling me a young’un, old pod.”

  “I’ll show you old man, smart aleck” James pounced before Chris could react. He scooped Chris up into his arms as if he weighed no more than a nipper and took a running leap into the water.

  Chris surfaced, shaking water from his hair as Troy had and sputtering from the bracing cold of the water.

  James swam up behind him and slid his arms around Chris’ waist as Chris treaded water. “You make quite a sight, all wet,” he whispered in Chris’ ear before nibbling the lobe and making Chris shiver as much as the water did.

  “Speak for yourself.”

  “Private party or can anyone join?” Troy swam over to tread water not too far from them.

  Chris turned to him and smiled, glad to finally have the two men he wanted most in the world together. He hadn’t exactly had them yet, not really, but he decided that he would.

  * * * *

  James’ critter proved more alive and erect than it had ever been since he’d learned how to use it right and proper. And it had taken these two men to bring him to this point.

  The idea of not having either one of them in his life, of letting either one of them go now, just made him plumb disheartened. He’d done without the companionship and passion of a man long enough that he didn’t want to go without them anymore.

  Time to take the bull by the horns.

  And, as if reading his mind, Troy reached down between him and Chris to grasp James’ cock, skillfully flicking the sl
it with his thumb before James said, “I think we need to take this on dry land before we all drown.”

  Chris and Troy both laughed as James turned and swam back to shore.

  Arriving first gave James the opportunity to watch Troy and Chris as they followed his lead. He admired their bodies as they emerged from the water and stepped onto dry land. Both of them looked nothing less than spectacular, like creatures not of this earth. And knowing Troy’s nature, this comparison seemed more than appropriate.

  James’ gaze automatically went to the puckered skin delineating past wounds on Troy’s otherwise smooth torso. Like Chris’ bruises, he wondered how Troy had gotten the scars. They were more than likely bullet and arrow wounds, but he didn’t want to agitate the fragile balance and peace the three of them had found out here in the wilderness together by opening healed wounds and asking outright. James released the breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding as the two men neared, lake water glistening on their naked skin.

  Silently, James picked up his clothes, turned, and headed into the forest. He went far enough in that they wouldn’t have to worry too much about prying eyes, but not so far that they couldn’t keep an eye on their horses. Although with the way James felt, he didn’t think he’d be able to keep his mind on anything outside of the two men following him past the tree line.

  Chris and Troy followed James’ lead and left their clothes folded on the ground before they advanced to where James leaned against the trunk of a tall, sturdy aspen.

  Troy reached James first, hesitating once he got a couple of feet away as if waiting for permission to move forward.

  James gave his tacit agreement, putting out his hand and firmly grasping the hand that Troy placed in his. He pulled Troy forward until the other man fell into his arms.

  Breathless, Troy asked, “Now what?”

  “What do you want?”

  “I-I…”

  “Let me help you.” James grasped Troy by the shoulders and turned him around so that Troy’s back rested against his chest. They proved so evenly matched in height that Troy’s cleft perfectly cushioned the head of James’ hard cock without James having to crouch, stand on his toes, or otherwise make an adjustment. James rubbed himself up and down the crack between Troy’s butt cheeks and closed his eyes at the groan that escaped Troy’s lips. His arms automatically went around Troy, imprisoning him as he hugged Troy tight. “Lord, you feel so good! I can’t wait to get inside you.”