by Jan Springer
“But what if they don’t care about losing Laurie? What if they threaten to kill Tyler? What if—”
“Laurie is a beautiful woman, Callie. They’ll fight like the dogs they are to keep her. Besides, there are too many ‘what ifs’, Callie. Don’t worry about it. Let me go to the Barlows tomorrow—”
Panic seared through her. “You’re not going there alone. I won’t allow it.”
“Colter’s coming with me. The other boys will stay here and keep an eye out.”
“Are you sure it’s safe for you to go? I mean with the arrest warrant…”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be careful. Now let’s get back to forgetting all our troubles, shall we?”
“I love the way you make me forget our troubles,” she giggled, and arched her backside against his hard hips, allowing the rest of his thick cock to slide all the way into her warm and waiting pussy.
* * * * *
As the day dragged on and Luke and Colter hadn’t come back from the Barlow meeting, Callie grew more and more nervous.
Had something happened to them? Had the Barlows called the police on Luke and gone ahead and pressed charges?
“They’re back!” Mac shouted.
A moment later, Mac and Cade’s footsteps stomped along the back porch where she’d secured the men to shuck beans and peel the potatoes for tonight’s dinner.
One quick glance out the window, and her heart picked up a wild pace.
Luke and Colter were getting out of Luke’s pickup truck and behind them a black stretch limousine pulled up.
Callie cried out as the three remaining Barlow brothers stepped out of the limo.
Followed by her sister, Laurie.
* * * * *
After Laurie and Callie embraced each other and cried in the kitchen, the Outlaws and Barlows made themselves scarce, telling them they had business to take care of.
Just by looking at Luke’s grim face, Callie knew the Barlows had accepted their blackmail deal.
Despite trying hard to stop it, her anger at those Barlows brewed inside her. It was obvious they had come for their ranch.
Sons of bitches!
But she didn’t have time to waste on them, she wanted to concentrate on Laurie. Her sister looked tired. And thinner. She’d even lost all of the baby fat she’d been trying to exercise away for years.
Her long, golden-blonde hair was styled in such a way it swept off her neck and curled up top of her head in tiny coils with a couple of ringlets dangling at the sides, giving her pretty face a warm, soft look. She was dressed in a sexy, red-velvet dress that showed off her bare back and dipped down low in front barely covering her full breasts.
She wore no jewelry and hardly any makeup.
She looked absolutely stunning.
“Luke told me the Outlaws are going to claim you,” Laurie said softly, her eyes sparkled with excitement. She grabbed Callie’s hand and tugged her to sit down at the kitchen table.
“That’s the plan.”
“It’s a good plan. They’ll protect you, sis. They’re good men. I’ve always thought highly of each and every one of them.”
“Wish I could say the same thing about the Barlows. Luke told me they originally wanted Cate. You should have known they would have figured out some other way to avoid the Barlows from getting her. Why’d you go and take her place?” Callie finally asked the question she’d been itching to ask since she’d heard about her Claiming.
Laurie frowned.
“I have my personal reasons, Callie. Rest assured though, I’m doing the right thing. Please don’t worry about me, okay? Promise?”
“How can you be doing the right thing? I don’t understand? You were supposed to join the women’s resistance. You were supposed to be safe.”
“Please, just trust me on this.”
“Laurie—”
“We’ve only got a few minutes. Let’s not discuss this anymore.”
Callie nodded, but frustration screamed through her.
“How are they treating you?”
Her sister flinched visibly at the question.
“And you don’t want me to worry about you? I want you away from them, Laurie.”
“I’m where I need to be at this time,” she said gently. There was a strange glint in her eyes. It made Callie even more concerned.
“What do you mean you need to be there?”
“Please, don’t ask any questions. The answers are private…for now.”
Private? What in the world was going on? Before she could put the pressure on her to spill her guts, Laurie continued, “They are demanding. Men who haven’t had sex in a while can be tiring—especially with so many of them, and now that there is one less it will be a relief.” To her surprise, Laurie smiled and squeezed her hand. “You’ll find out how demanding sexually deprived men can be with the Outlaw brothers…but I’m sure they must make excellent lovers if they’re anything like Tyler.”
At the mention of Tyler, Callie’s heart picked up speed. How she ached to tell her sister about him.
But she didn’t know what the final deal was Luke had hammered out. She had to keep quiet for now, and she had to bite her inner cheek to keep herself from saying anything.
“Is that a wedding ring, you’re wearing?” Laurie’s shocked voice made Callie realize she still wore the gold band that Luke had slipped back onto her finger.
“Luke and I got married.”
“Married? That’s not possible. All the preachers and anyone capable of marrying couples have been imprisoned. How did you do it?”
Quickly Callie explained about what had happened after Luke had escaped from the Barlows ranch.
“And he forced you to marry him at gunpoint?”
Callie nodded, and had to laugh as her sister’s eyes widened into saucers in disbelief.
“How absolutely romantic. If Ty had lived, he would have been my Prince to my rescue like that, too.”
Tyler is alive! And the Barlows know where he is.
She’d figured agreeing to be claimed by four men would be the hardest thing for her to do in her life, but keeping this secret from Laurie was even harder. How long could she keep the information to herself before she actually cracked and told Laurie? But as Luke had said, if she did tell Laurie then the Barlows would have Ty killed.
“Time to go, Laurie.”
Callie’s head snapped up at Zeb Barlow’s deep voice. He stood in the kitchen doorway watching both of them intently. Obviously, he was making sure Callie didn’t tell Laurie about Ty.
Familiar anger burned inside her, but she clamped down on it, opting to keep Laurie here with her as long as possible.
“Oh! Couldn’t you all stay for supper? Laurie and I have so much catching up to do.”
Zeb frowned and shook his head. “I’m sorry, but no. We have other plans for Laurie tonight.”
Callie’s excitement plummeted. Laurie hadn’t even been here for ten minutes and they were already taking her away.
“But please,” Zeb continued, as he was joined by the other Barlows behind him, “We’d all love to see your Claiming videos. Feel free to drop by and visit anytime.”
Callie’s stomach tightened.
The Barlows were absolutely disgusting and vile creatures.
As if sensing Callie was about to blow up, Laurie quickly stood and embraced her tightly.
“I have to go,” she whispered. “Please come and visit me when you can.”
Tears shone in her haunted eyes as she pulled away and gave Callie a watery smile.
Callie nodded, suddenly wanting to grab her baby sister and never let her go.
This isn’t right! her mind screamed. She shouldn’t go with them! She doesn’t belong to them! She belongs to Tyler. He’s alive!
She took one step forward with every intention of telling the Barlows that as far as she was concerned they could go straight to hell with the brother she’d killed when Luke’s hand wrapped around her elbow stopping her cold.
>
“Let her go,” Luke whispered. “She’s a strong woman. She’ll be fine.”
She wished she could believe him. Wished she could trust that Laurie would be safe with the Barlows.
But she couldn’t be sure of anything.
Deep down in her very soul she knew there was one thing she was sure of. Only one man could rescue her.
Tyler Outlaw.
Keeping silent, she stood at the kitchen window as the Barlow brothers and Laurie sped away.
“Everything is done. We buried the body over on Ty’s land in a place they’ll never find it. We can keep the fact that there is one less Barlow hanging over their heads just like they can keep Ty hanging over our heads. The good thing is the Barlows accepted most of the deal we agreed on last night. They’ve agreed to drop the charges against me and to make the one-month waiting period vanish for you if I gave them our ranch. That’s why we were gone for so long. We went with them to buy a judge.”
“So they have our little ranch.”
He nodded, and she bit her lower lip to prevent from crying.
They’d lost their ranch. Their beautiful future was gone. The finality of it left her with a hollow, empty feeling.
“That’s not all. We’re not to mention to Laurie that Ty is alive.”
“I don’t know if I can do this to Laurie. I feel as if I have to tell her the next time I see her.”
“Hear me out, Callie.”
“What?” Callie stamped her feet in frustration.
“It’s only for nine months. We keep quiet for nine months, and they’ll tell us where Tyler is.”
“Why nine months? He could be dead by then.”
“I tried for less. But they wouldn’t go for it. They figure in nine months they’ll have her pregnant, and she’d be less likely to leave them when he came back.”
Callie felt like screaming. How could Luke ask her to keep quiet?
Luke’s arms curled around her waist and he squeezed her tightly. His warm body pressed lovingly against her, but it did little to douse her hatred for those men who would betray Laurie in such a way.
“If we tell her within that time frame, the Barlows have threatened to have Tyler killed.”
“Can we really believe that they even know where he is?”
“Oh, they know where he is.”
Anger spiked his words and he let go of her, digging something out of his shirt pocket.
He held up a photograph of Tyler, and it just about broke her heart. His face was bruised, one eye swollen shut and he was holding up a copy of last week’s edition of Rackety Valley’s newsletter.
“Do you think they have him hidden close by?” Callie asked, as she ran a finger over the picture, tracing Tyler’s black eye. Despite the fact he looked awful, he was smiling, if only to defy whoever was taking his picture.
“Close enough so they can get a picture of him with last week’s town paper, but far enough away where it’ll take us one hell of a long time before we find him. If you’ll notice the background is a white wall. It could be anywhere.”
“I don’t know, Luke. So many things can go wrong in nine months.”
“We have to trust them, Callie. We have no other choice.”
Even when he said it, Callie detected the doubt lacing his voice, and Callie knew he was trying really hard to make himself believe Tyler would be all right.
Perhaps he believed the same thing she believed? That the odds of Tyler making it back home alive were pretty bleak.
“Something else the judge ordered. This will probably come as a shock, but he’s ordered the Claiming right away. The minute he gets the tape, he’ll approve it. If it’s okay with you, I’ll tell the boys and we’ll do the Claiming tonight.”
At Luke’s words, Callie’s breath backed right up into her lungs and erotic weakness splashed through her, along with tremors of nervousness.
Tonight? So soon?
Better to get this over with as soon as possible. She wanted to be safe, and she wanted to be with Luke.
And she wanted to be close to her sister.
“Will you be there always?”
“Right beside you. We’re in this together, sweetheart. Every step of the way. Go on into the bedroom and get ready. I’ll bring Colter in first.”
Callie blew out an anxious breath, and headed for the bedroom.
Chapter Eleven
Tension knotted Luke’s shoulders as he listened to Callie’s shower running.
He’d told Colter, Mac and Cade about the plans.
They’d been visibly shaken that the Claiming was taking place so quickly, but after reassurance from him that this Claiming was something that needed to be done in order to protect Callie, they’d retreated to their rooms to get ready.
Shoving his fingers through his hair, he closed his eyes and wondered once more if he was doing the right thing in allowing this Claiming.
Maybe he should have simply thrown Callie over his shoulder and dragged her off to live in some cave with him like their ancestors had. But Callie said she’d run enough. She wanted stability. A life. Peace and security.
Luke had explained to the judge about Blakely wanting Callie. The judge had reassured Luke once she was claimed she would be legally safe from Blakely’s wants. At present, in the government’s eyes, a man’s sexual satisfaction was top priority.
Sex kept the men happy.
Kept them out of trouble in a world that had gone topsy-turvy without a woman to gentle a man’s fierce needs or keep his bed warm at night.
Luke sat there listening to the running shower, and imagined how warm Callie’s flesh must feel after being naked under the hot spray. He could imagine her hands soaping the curves of her breasts, over her belly and lower.
He hadn’t missed the familiar tremors or arousal coursing through her as he’d held her earlier in the kitchen and told her the Claiming would take place tonight.
A little stab of jealousy had ripped into him at the idea his brothers would be so intimately involved with Callie but he’d reined his emotions in, making himself grateful that at least Callie’s Claiming would be consensual and not forced as it might otherwise have been had she been caught by some strangers.
“Luke?” Colter’s soft voice ripped into his thoughts.
He opened his eyes to find Colter standing in front of him wearing nothing but a pair of black track pants, the material stretched tight over an impressive bulge between his legs.
Maybe he should have warned Callie that Colter was a hell of a lot bigger than he was?
Oh, hell, she’d find out soon enough.
“Ready?” Luke asked.
Colter nodded tensely.
“Okay, let’s go.”
* * * * *
Callie looked down at her empty ring finger. A strange loneliness clutched inside her as she placed the disposable razor onto a nearby soap dish, and allowed the pulsing shower spray to wash away the soap and curly hair from her pubic area. She’d left the ring on the dresser not wanting the camera to pick it up and have the judge asking questions.
She hadn’t comprehended that taking it off would have such an impact on her. The lack of it making her feel as if her future with Luke was gone forever. In a way, it was, but she wanted to believe this new way of life would be just as fulfilling. Time would tell.
She’d shaved her pussy as quickly as possible, but considering it was such a sensitive area, she’d taken much longer than expected, dipping the razor on both sides of her soaped-up pussy lips and over her mons, making her privates nude so she could bare herself to Luke, his brothers and to the camera.
When all traces of hair and soap were gone, she stepped forward until the hot fingers of water poked the sensitive flesh of her breasts, massaging her nipples until they enlarged with arousal and hardened into thick pebbles. She turned around allowing the heated spray to knead the anxious muscles in her back and shoulders. The tenseness knotting her flesh slowly dissolved, making her skin tingle with fi
re.
Callie smiled.
Tonight would be the beginning of her new life. She’d be free.
Well, as free as a woman could be in a world gone mad.
Free, nonetheless.
Despite the way Colter had acted toward her when he’d told her not to trust any man, deep in her heart she knew she could trust the Outlaw brothers to protect her from Blakely.
Callie grabbed the bar of fresh-smelling soap, and ran it along the scar on the right-hand side of her abdomen, compliments of that last surprise experiment.
The bastard had drugged her, cut her eggs from her belly, sewn her up and dangled the fact that he would use her eggs and his sperm to create future fetuses for his experiments to cure the women.
The man was mad.
But then he had to be to create the X-virus and hand it over to the highest bidder. And now he was being commissioned by her own government to find a cure or a vaccine against the sickness he’d created.
Despite those disturbing thoughts, Callie continued smiling.
The night she’d escaped she’d exacted her revenge.
He’d left her isolation lab and for the first time since she’d been there she hadn’t heard the familiar click that indicated the door locking. She’d waited only a few minutes before trying the door.
To her ultimate excitement, the door had opened.
The corridor had been quiet and dimly lit, allowing her to tiptoe out into the hallway. She’d been surprised to discover she was being housed right across the hallway from the lab.
It had been empty when she entered it and searched it frantically. Eventually, she’d located the vials containing her eggs and had smashed them on the floor, effectively destroying any chance of him ever using her eggs for experiments.
To her surprise, getting out of the building had been easy.
Almost too easy.
She’d slipped into a nearby storage room where she’d been able to don a lab coat, a pair of slippers, a mask and hair net to cover her hair.
Then she’d grabbed a package of cigarettes and a lighter off a lab bench, and followed the Smoking Areas signs, which led her directly to an unlocked back door. There she’d lit a cigarette and casually strolled outside into a yard where a few smokers were puffing away.
