Ride Me, Cowboys: A Reverse Harem Forbidden Romance (Coyote Ranch Book 3)

by Alexa B. James

  She smelled like dish soap, but as I dipped my nose to her hair, I caught the familiar scent of Amber, a warm smell like brown sugar. I inhaled her, squeezing her against my side. How could this be happening all over again? She hadn’t pitted us against each other. She didn’t hide her feelings for the rest of us while she was with one of us. All the ugliness of Maria was absent in Amber. She was perfect in my eyes.

  So how could she be leaving as surely as Maria had?

  I’d always been a sucker, but this time, I knew I was doing it. I wanted to sit there with her, enjoying the feel of her warm body in my arms, the scent of her hair, the sound of her giggle. But I just couldn’t do that to myself again. I couldn’t. If I did, I might not survive the leaving part.

  “I—I don’t think I can tonight,” I said, extricating myself from her.

  I ignored her question and fled, which was usually more Waylon’s style. I usually hung around for the torment. But I couldn’t bear it this time.

  I sat in front of her canvas in my room, my breath coming hard. In the painting, her nipples were too big. Amber’s nipples were smaller than that, harder. She’d never worn my hat, not yet. That was something Maria had done that Amber never had—taking my hat off and putting it on her own head, teasing me that she wanted to get fucked. Amber didn’t torture me like that.

  Hands shaking, I squeezed paint out onto my palette. Amber’s long legs beckoned to me from the canvas like an invitation. I picked up my brush and took a breath to steady myself. I had to get in there, into the headspace of painting. I had to escape, to forget the way her curves had felt under my body, the way she tasted, the way I felt like she was one of us. She wasn’t.

  Dipping my brush, I ignored the tremble in my hand and began to cover the canvas with strong, sure strokes.

  16

  Amber

  A few days later, I emerged from the office in the evening to the smell of frying herbs and the sound of whistling from the kitchen. I smiled, moving in that direction. It made me warm inside that I could tell which brother was cooking before I even saw him.

  “Hey, Sawyer,” I said, stepping into the kitchen. “Need some—”

  My voice broke off when I saw him standing by the stove, wearing an apron and his boots and hat, and not a stitch more.

  He turned around and grinned, raising his eyebrows and holding up a wooden spoon. “What’s that you were saying?”

  I cleared my throat, trying not to choke, and tore my eyes away from the bottom of the apron, which barely hid his cock. “Um…I…can’t remember.”

  “Well, you just let me know when you’ve gathered your wits,” Sawyer said with a grin, turning back to the stove. His ass was deliciously muscled and round, and I had the strangest urge to give it a good bite.

  Instead, I strolled up to the counter like it was a usual day. “Playing naked chef today, are we?” I asked casually, grabbing a handful of mushrooms to rinse.

  “I don’t know if we are,” Sawyer said. “I know I am. But if you wanted to join me, I wouldn’t argue. Just don’t be surprised if you’re the first course on the menu.”

  “Someone’s in a good mood today,” I said.

  “We went to the doctor,” he said. “Turns out, they don’t have to stick a Q-Tip up your junk anymore.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. “That is cause for celebration.”

  “Damn straight,” Sawyer said. “If I’d known that, I would have gone a long time ago.”

  “Did she say anything else?”

  Sawyer’s arm snaked around me from behind, pulling me close. “He said I’m all clean. My dick is perfect.”

  “Mmm, I could have told you that,” I said, reaching back to give it a squeeze.

  “So how long you going to make me wait?” he murmured in my ear. “I’m going crazy here, Amber. I want you so bad.”

  I gulped, my heart thudding in my chest. “I don’t think I get to decide that,” I said. “Waylon makes that call.”

  “Bullshit.” Sawyer spun me around and pinned me to the counter. His hips pressed against mine, and my belly loosened at the sensation of that huge cock pressing against it. “Amber,” he said, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. “I’m not going to push you into it if you’re still not sure. But I won’t lie, it’s hard sleeping next door to you every night, knowing you’re right there in that bed, not being touched. I want to touch. I want to fuck you so bad it hurts.”

  He ran his hands down my sides and grabbed my ass, pulling my hips to his so I could feel how bad he wanted it.

  “I want some time to enjoy it before you gotta head back to the city,” he said. “You know every one of us wants that. But don’t be fooled by any notions about us setting the pace here. That’s all you, Princess. We’re just waiting for you to say the word.”

  “What if I’m ready right now?”

  He smiled down at me. “Then I’ll bend you over the table and fuck you right now.”

  I shook my head. “Not quite that ready.”

  “Then we’ll keep jumping through hoops for you,” he said, turning away and picking up the spoon to stir the vegetables sizzling in the frying pan. “We’re not going anywhere. You know where to find us when you’re ready for the real fun to begin.”

  Seeing the muscles in his glorious ass as he stood at the stove made me gulp again. I could just imagine them all tensed up, powering his thrusts. Leaning back against the table, I watched him work, the thoughts of what those muscles could do making me so hot I had to fan my face. What he didn’t realize was that it had been just as hard on me as it had on them. I wasn’t being a tease. I wanted to get pounded senseless on the daily.

  If I was giving them blue balls, well, they’d been giving me blue vag. Or whatever the female equivalent was. I’d have to ask Haley about blue vag. She’d probably know the technical definition.

  But then the cover of that magazine I’d seen in the gas station flashed through my mind. If my mother’s supposed love story was enough to disqualify her as senator, what would her opponents do to her if they ever got word of this? What would voters do?

  Before I could work myself into a pit of guilt, the sound of tires on the driveway outside drew my attention. My inner jealous bitch—okay, it was really just me—immediately thought it must be Natalie. Sure, I could see a potential friendship there, but that didn’t mean I wanted her seeing Sawyer’s dick. And yes, I realized how ridiculous that was, since she’d seen it long before I had. But his dick was mine now, and I wasn’t about to share, no matter how generous the guys were about that.

  “Damn,” Sawyer said, dropping the wooden spoon on the counter. “Take over?”

  As he ducked out of the kitchen, my mind leapt to that other bitch, Millie. But when I peeked out the window, I saw a gold Cadillac in the drive.

  “Damn is right,” I muttered as their mother climbed out of the car. My heart hammered double-time as she made her way up the walkway. That hadn’t even been a close one, but it still made me feel sick. What if we’d been going at it on the table and hadn’t heard her drive up?

  She let herself in as usual, calling out as she came in. This time, Sawyer had made it upstairs before she walked in. This time, I’d resisted the urge to spread myself across the table like a buffet and tell the guys to dig in. I was fully clothed and standing at the stove when their mother walked in with a bottle of wine in one hand and a huge purse in the other. This time.

  What if next time I wasn’t? What would she do if she caught Sawyer fucking me on the table? We thought we were being so careful, but were we? I’d let them all go down on me in the middle of the living room. Had we even drawn the blinds?

  Their mother would probably keep things quiet, because she wouldn’t want a scandal around her sons. But the Grimeses certainly wouldn’t. Natalie might not. Millie would probably offer to keep quiet if they all fucked her, too, but then she’d call my mother’s office.

  “I thought I’d stop in and see how things were going,” Li
dia said. “I brought a bottle of wine. Thought I might stay for dinner.”

  “I’m sure the boys will be delighted,” I said.

  “How are you, dear?” she asked, taking off her jacket and stepping into the hallway to hang it on a coat hook with the rest of them. “I can’t say this place is suffering from the addition of a woman’s touch.”

  “If I didn’t know better, I’d think there was a compliment hidden in there somewhere.”

  Lidia laughed as she joined me in the kitchen again. “Of course there was,” she said. “I told you the first time we met that my sons could benefit from a woman’s touch. I just wouldn’t have chosen one related to them, even if only by marriage. But who am I to argue? They’re grown men, and it looks like you’re getting along fine.”

  “As a matter of fact, we are.”

  “I can see that,” she said. “I admit, I’m pleasantly surprised to find you in here cooking while the boys are out working. A city girl like you, I’d think you’d find taking care of a house beneath you.”

  “I love cooking.” I wasn’t about to tell her that I was actually just here stirring because Sawyer had to duck out and make himself decent for her. I also wasn’t going to tell her that I’d made sure they knew first thing that I wasn’t here to cook and clean up after them. I didn’t mind doing my share, but on an equal basis with everyone else.

  “That’s nice to hear,” Lidia said. “Too many women nowadays are opposed to it on principle alone, whether they enjoy it or not. I say, who wouldn’t want to know how to cook? It’s the most basic survival skill there is.”

  With her nice car and designer handbag, she looked like she knew about as much about survival skills as I did.

  “Then I guess I have you to thank for Sawyer’s excellent survival skills,” I said.

  Lidia was chuckling as Sawyer entered the kitchen, now fully clothed. “Smells delicious,” he said to me, giving me a wink over his mother’s shoulder as she engulfed him in a hug.

  “Thanks,” I said. “I hope your mother will be impressed. Seems she’s staying for dinner.”

  “Is that right?” Sawyer asked, holding Lidia at arm’s length.

  “I thought it might be nice to get to know my new stepdaughter,” she said. “Since we’re family now and all. I guess I’ll be seeing her from time to time until your father gets bored of her mother. No offense to you, Amber. I’m sure your mother is lovely. But if I know anything, it’s that a Westling man doesn’t stay with one woman long.”

  “I don’t know, he must have stayed with you a while,” I said. “You do have four sons with him.”

  She waved a hand dismissively. “Oh, don’t be fooled. Just because we were married doesn’t mean he was faithful.”

  When she headed to the table to open the bottle of wine she brought, Sawyer squeezed my hip. “I can take over,” he said. “Go and visit with Mom. Put your feet up.”

  “She might have an aneurism if I sit down and drink wine while you’re cooking.”

  “It’s worth a shot,” Sawyer said with a grin.

  “Let me just get you a glass,” I said, taking down some glasses. I set the table while Lidia poured the wine, which she said needed to breathe. She didn’t seem as concerned about making sure I was breathing. But hey, I was just glad there was wine. She’d already seen me toasted, so I wasn’t too worried about making a fool of myself. I’d already fallen on my ass in front of her. How much worse could it get?

  17

  Amber

  “Now this is how a body ought to eat,” Lidia said, patting her mouth with a napkin after emptying her bowl of beef bourguignon. “I bet they don’t serve beef stew in New York.”

  “Mom,” Waylon growled.

  “I’m just saying, Amber can’t be used to eating like this.” She turned to smile at me. “ It’ll be good for you, dear. Maybe put a little meat on those bones. It takes a sturdy one to withstand the force of a Wyoming winter.”

  “It does deliver quite a pounding,” Sawyer said, giving me a wink across the table.

  I shot him a warning look, but he only grinned.

  “Winter’s not the only thing up here that’s rough,” Lidia said.

  Oh my god. Was she going to try to talk about guys with me, get all chummy? My mother was never that way, even when she was three sheets to the wind on gin-and-diazepam. But if I was going to be part of this family, and one that lived here, I needed to meet not just the expectations of all three Westling boys. Maybe even more important than that, I needed their mother’s approval. Natalie had told me as much when she’d visited.

  “I’m stronger than I look,” I said, meeting Lidia’s gaze.

  “Let’s go sit by the fire,” she said. “Pour me some more wine, would you?”

  “I thought you’d never ask,” I said, grabbing the bottle and giving us each a refill.

  “We’d better get out of here and let the boys clean up after us,” Lidia said, scooting back from the table. I noticed she was a little tipsy, so I caught her elbow.

  “Spoken like a truly liberated woman,” I said as we headed for the living room.

  Lidia hooted with laughter. Well, this was a change. I was pretty sure she was already drunk, though she’d only had a couple glasses of wine like the rest of us. So maybe there was an advantage to having partied hard for the past four years. I might not be able to keep up with the guys and their whiskey shots, but I could definitely drink their mom under the table.

  “You must think I’m old-fashioned,” Lidia said, setting down her wine before flopping heavily onto the couch. “But I assure you, I’m not as old as I look.” She winked and picked up her glass. “At least not on the inside.”

  “You don’t look a day over thirty,” I said with a grin.

  “Oh, now you’re just being silly,” she said, waving a hand to dismiss the flattery. But her eyes were warm and slightly unfocused.

  Well, shit. If I’d known all I had to do was get her drunk to make her like me, I’d have tried harder to get her to have a drink during our first infamous encounter.

  “Seriously,” I said. “You look amazing, especially considering you live out here. It’s rough, like you said. Plus, you have four kids!”

  “That’ll take the stuffing right out of you,” she said. “Kids—that’s what makes you old. Not years.”

  “Well, you did good with them,” I said. “At least, I think so.”

  She sighed. “I wish they’d all just get along. I bet they’ve never told you, but Waylon and Cody were like twins growing up. Couldn’t tear them apart for anything. You’ve never seen two brothers who loved each other more.”

  Her words cut through me. I’d thought about Maria, what a bitch she was to run off on Waylon. And they’d told me that it hurt more that Cody betrayed them than a woman. But I didn’t know he and Waylon were close. There was so much I still didn’t know about any of them.

  “That’s terrible,” I said. “I mean, what happened. Not that they were close. That’s great. Not that I’d know. I don’t have any siblings. But I’m sure it’s great to be close like that. Unless your brother runs off with your fiancé. Then I guess it’s not so fabulous.”

  Lidia tittered. “You’re a hoot and a half, you know that?”

  “So I’ve been told,” I said. “I’ve also been told I have verbal diarrhea, but let’s not get into that.”

  Lidia sipped her wine and set her glass down, her eyes shining as she smiled at me. “So tell me, Ms. Durant. Which one of my sons are you keen on?”

  “What?” I squeaked, swallowing so fast that some wine went up my nose. And let me just say, that was not an experience I ever cared to repeat.

  “I know it’s one of them,” she said. “A girl like you in a house full of lonely men. And I may be biased, but they’re damn fine men, and not too hard on the eyes, either.”

  “I don’t really think we should be talking about this…”

  “Now who’s being overly proper and old-fashioned?” sh
e asked. “I wasn’t born yesterday, girlie. I know my sons, and I know what I see.”

  I shot a desperate glance at the kitchen doorway, praying one of the guys would interrupt. “And what’s that?” I asked, stalling for time.

  “I see a bright young lady who may not know what she wants, but she probably knows who she wants,” Lidia said. “And I see a light in my sons’ eyes that I haven’t seen for a few years.”

  I gulped, then grabbed my wine glass to steady myself. “Which son?”

  “Now that’s what I’d like to know,” she said. “Because I’m seeing a difference in all three of them. I’m just trying to figure out which one you’ve got your eye on. Unless it’s all three of them. I wouldn’t blame you, dear. You’ll have your hands full, that’s for sure. But you’re still young enough to handle that kind of thing. Believe me, back in my day, I wouldn’t have minded having my hands that full.”

  Oh my fucking hell. My face got so hot I was afraid my skin would peel off like a sunburn, and my mouth dropped open so far I could probably fit all three of my stepbrothers’ cocks in there at once. Did she seriously just condone me sleeping with all of her sons at once? Or was I wishful thinking?

  18

  Holden

  By the time our mama was ready to go, she was three sheets to the wind. There was no way I was letting her drive home like that, so we ended up helping her up to the guest room, the only one that wasn’t occupied.

  “That Amber sure is charming,” Mama said when I was getting her settled in.

  “I think so, too,” I said. Mama thought everyone was charming when she was intoxicated. The more she drank, the more she loved everyone around her, and she wasn’t afraid to tell them so. Or to tell them anything else that crossed her mind, no matter how inappropriate. It was a whole lot better than being a mean drunk, though, so I couldn’t complain.

  “I know you do,” Mama said. “I can tell you’re sweet on her.”

  I tensed, ready for her rebuff, but she just laughed. “Oh, honey, don’t look so shocked. A mother knows.”