Still, when Heather offered her a lifeline with the check, Rachel shook her head.
“Want to hang out?” Heather glanced up at the front windows, now gone dark with the night. “You could come over to my place after.”
“Nah.”
“You know they’re probably out there, waiting.”
“Yeah.” Rachel sighed and offered Heather a small smile. “But hiding for the night won’t change the fact that they’ll still be out there, waiting.”
Heather gave her one of those concerned mother looks. “Do you want to go out there?”
“I want them to love me,” Rachel whispered, finally admitting to it aloud. “I want them to promise me forever and then actually give it to me.”
“Well, then,” Heather said, giving the windows another bleak glance, “I guess you’re going to have to go out there because you’re not going to find either of those things in here.”
Rachel would, in a moment, once she got her nerve up. “Patton said I should fight for them.”
“Patton’s half-cocked,” Heather retorted instantly. “She’s already got you, Hailey, and Kitty in enough trouble. This isn’t some kind of game, Rachel. We both know you love those men, despite all reason.
“Now, the question is, are you willing to give this relationship a chance.” Heather held up one hand before raising her second. “Or are you still intent on crashing it headfirst into a brick wall. And don’t for a minute think that your decision is going to bring you happiness or misery for the rest of your life.”
She paused to offer Rachel a small smile. “I’m sorry, honey. Everybody’s future holds both.”
Except that hers could be weighted to one side or the other, all depending on what decision she made now. Ultimately, she had nothing to lose. If she took a risk and they crushed her, that wouldn’t be any worse than the past two weeks.
“I guess it’s time I settled down then, huh?” Rachel offered up as a weak joke.
“It’s time to make your decision and stick with it.”
Chapter 34
Rachel stepped out of the diner, feeling like she was walking out into the set of a movie. There was something surreal about the lacy rays of moonlight brightening the darkest of shadows into a hazy gray. A plump, full moon filled the sky, appearing too close to be real. At any moment, Gene Kelly would appear to go singing and dancing down the street.
Except that if her life was a musical, the Jaws song would be playing. Her heartbeat mimicked the song that whispered through her head. The steady thump kept her braced and ready to fly into a full gallop at the least sign of danger, a possibility of which existed in every car she passed and every shadow that shifted in the night’s cool breeze.
Strung up on anticipation, Rachel twitched and shied her way around the edge of the Bread Box and into the most treacherous part of her path. She really should have parked on the street. Of course, when she’d arrived, Rachel had hoped to bait Killian and Adam into action. Boy, had that been a dumb idea.
Score one for Patton. Actually, score two because it had been her voice nagging at Rachel into action. This is what came from listening to Patton. Now she crept down the parking lot’s drive, staying dead center and well away from any shadow, probably making a complete fool of herself in the process.
They were just men, after all. Killian and Adam weren’t some mythic warriors with magical powers allowing them to shape-shift through the night to sneak up right on her heels and…Rachel spun around, half expecting to see Adam smiling down at her, but the only thing looking at her was a vacant parking lot.
She really had to calm down, Rachel told herself. Killian and Adam didn’t scare her. They never could. The only thing frightening about them was what she felt for them. That existed whether or not they stalked her through the night or ignored her existence. In the end, she couldn’t escape, which was why she’d stepped out of the Bread Box alone in the first place.
The pep talk worked at lifting her chin, straightening her shoulders, and getting her feet to move forward in a brisk, determined pace. Rachel didn’t even fumble with her key when she got to her car door. It popped open, banging her in the stomach as she stepped back into a hard wall of unforgiving muscle. An arm as solid as any tree branch shot out from around her to slam the door back closed.
Adam. She’d know him by his scent alone. His appearance didn’t scare her at all. Just the opposite, Rachel found her first real smile in days. “I knew you were out here.”
She’d meant to turn with that comment and confront him directly, but Adam apparently had other plans. The hand he’d slapped back the car door with lifted to clamp over her mouth at the same moment his other hand plowed into her back. With the speed and efficiency of a well-trained cop, he bent her right into the car, cuffing her hands behind her before Rachel’s mind could register his actions.
By the time it hit her what Adam had done, it was too late. He levered her back onto her feet, continuing to hold her hostage with his hand pressing her head back into his chest. The world went black even as the sound of a truck engine shattered the night’s silence.
It rumbled over the gravel, the heavy tread vibrating through the ground beneath her feet, but Rachel couldn’t see the headlights around the blindfold Adam had lassoed over her head. No piece of rolled-up fabric tonight, Adam used a proper blindfold.
This one bunched her hair as he tightened down the strap, making her wince slightly and finally issue an objection from behind the tight grip of his fingers. Adam’s only response was to begin dragging her back over the gravel toward the growing growl of the truck.
He had to release her to heft her up into the bench seat, but as Rachel’s butt hit the long, smooth cushion, she didn’t bother to offer any more complaints. Nor did she waste any efforts on fighting. She had lied to Patton when she’d said she didn’t see any point in it. If she hadn’t wanted to be here, then she could have ducked out the back and gone home with Heather.
Instead, she was back to her favorite spot, tied up and pinned between Killian’s long length and Adam’s hard heat. It could only be better if they were naked, but Rachel suspected that would be next on the agenda. That and making a show out of her for all the Cattlemen. That made her womb melt instead of putting the vigor back into her spine like it should have.
It did a little as it dawned on her that if they planned on only revenge, they’d be doing what they were doing right then and staying silent. It wouldn’t work that way because Rachel needed this to be something more. That meant they had to have a conversation before she agreed to Killian and Adam’s payback.
With the truck bumping over the road and speeding fast into the night, Rachel figured she didn’t have much time. So, in the spirit of compromise, she began.
“Don’t you two think this is a little much?” Rachel asked to neither one of the deputies in particular. “I mean, I know what you’re planning to do.”
She waited but nothing happened, not even a slight shift in the men bordering her. Sighing over their stubbornness, Rachel decided to prove a point. Turning her head, she leaned over slightly to press her nose against the soft cotton of a T-shirt and inhale the clean, fresh scent.
“You’re Killian. And that makes you,” Rachel guessed, leaning in the opposite direction to take a sniff of the man to her right, “Adam. Now that you’ve kidnapped me, which, by the way, was a completely overdramatic statement so I have to figure that it was Killian’s idea, you’re taking me to the Cattleman Club to fuck me in front of all your friends, which has to be Adam’s brainchild for as deviant—”
Rachel choked on the bolt of cloth that was shoved in her mouth, effectively ending her attempt at reconciliation, right along with her tolerant mood. It didn’t help that Adam tied the gag as tight as he had the blindfold, pinching her in the process. This time, Rachel did fight, or at least squirmed, trying to rub the gag off along with the blindfold.
With such big men taking up all the space, she didn’t have much
room to twist about in. Every time she managed to get her cheek to rub against her shoulder, Killian would jerk the truck and send her flying sideways, plowing her head into either his or Adam’s lap. Rachel bet the big lug was grinning, too.
That had her ignoring the gag to shout out obscenities that might have been muffled but still came through as angry, aggressive noise. He jerked the truck hard again, this time making enough of a curve that they had to have turned into or onto something. The sudden rotation had her falling into Adam’s lap before her head started to roll down into the floorboards.
She’d have ended completely upside down in her seat if one of them hadn’t caught her. A big hand fisted in the back of her dress, curling around the elastic edge of her panties to hold her pinned in position as the massive truck came to a screeching halt.
The sudden stop jerked the whole vehicle. Rachel was thankful for the hand keeping her from slamming into the dash, even if it hurt to be dragged back onto the seat by her underwear. The discomfort distracted her for a moment as she wiggled around, trying to smooth out her bunched panties. Not embarrassed and not silent, Rachel gave Killian hell through her gag for pulling such a juvenile stunt.
Her tirade came to a squeaking halt when Killian’s hands clamped onto her arms. Pinning them tight to her side despite the cuffs, he held her still as he waited for something. Not knowing what only made Rachel more nervous as her mind jumped from one outlandish idea to another.
Anything was possible because she was pretty damn sure they’d arrived at the club. Her wildly perverted musings did not prepare her for the simple brush of cool metal against her neck. It snaked around her, Adam’s fingers brushing like heated leather against her flesh as he worked to clasp the two ends.
Rachel didn’t need her eyes, didn’t need to see, to know that Adam had collared her. What she needed was to have her hands free so she could rip the damn choker back off. He would not be leading her around all his obnoxious buddies naked and directed by a damn leash. She might not be able to pull it off and lasso his damn neck with the chain, but Rachel could still throw a hell of a tantrum.
As the crank and creak of a gate opening whined through the air, Rachel went into a frenzy, thrashing about in her seat and managing to stomp her feet and dig her heels into their shins. The revelry was short lived, brought to an end by Adam smashing Rachel’s face into Killian’s heavily muscled lap. It had grown a new one, a big one that pressed his zipper out and into her cheek.
Rachel snarled back at the penis flexing for her benefit and jerked hard to free herself of Adam’s hold. Even one-handed, he managed to keep her pinned while his other hand jerked her legs up and into his own lap. She’d have loved to have bent a knee and done some damage to the other erection now rubbing against her thigh.
They didn’t give her the opportunity as one of Killian’s hands came to keep her face pressed into his crotch, freeing up Adam to hold her legs stiff and steady across his lap. Unable to do more than ground out a few obscenities that came out sounding more like moans, Rachel found herself stuck, stretched flat across the bench seat on her tummy, her shoes lost somewhere in the floorboard.
The truck rumbled and jerked forward, moving at a slower pace now. Rachel knew they’d passed through the massive entrance that protected the Cattleman’s Club from unwanted visitors. She might not be unwanted, but Rachel didn’t know if the sentiment was fully returned.
For as much as their arrogant and rough antics aroused her, they also stirred a panicky sensation that made it hard to breathe. Her heart and body might pulse with the anticipation of what came next, but a part of her seethed with the knowledge. It wanted to rally and fight, but not having those options made it harden into bitterness.
Nothing would ever change. It would always be like this, with them trying to control her every move and her pulling back because she needed some amount of independence. Her love didn’t matter. Even if they loved her in return, this constant tension could only lead to disaster.
That solemn thought kept her still and quiet as the truck wound its way into the darkness. At the silence, Rachel’s ears perked up, straining for some tinkling of glasses or murmuring of conversation when the truck’s engine finally died out. They’d arrived. Rachel knew that throngs of men awaited this moment, but as Killian pulled her from the truck all that greeted her was the noisy hum of crickets and the guttural thrills of frogs croaking all around.
They had to be at the club, but there was no way so many men could be so silent. Their scent certainly would have no place to hide, but no hint of smoke or must tickled her nose. Only the rich, drugging odor that was Killian’s alone penetrated the fresh air to warm her from the inside. It was a comfort when his hard shoulder was not.
Being carried around like a sack of feed gave her some satisfaction that Killian knew better than to walk her like a dog at the end of some damn leash. Mostly, it made her stomach object to the hard bone digging into it.
Rachel squirmed and whined behind her gag in a clear signal that she wanted to be shifted. If not to her feet then at least to his arms, but Killian only responded with a pat on her ass as another gate cried over being opened.
This one they walked through into a garden judging from the crunch beneath Killian and Adam’s footfalls. Perhaps even an alleyway made of shrubs because she could feel the occasional scrape and scratch of stiff, brittle leaves brushing past.
They lingered, appearing to pass endlessly by until Rachel wondered if her mind hadn’t shut down for a moment. Perhaps it couldn’t handle everything this time and had simply forgotten to track time because it felt they’d wandered for over five minutes before another gate groaned on its hinges.
However far they’d walked, wherever they’d carried her, they’d arrived at their destination. Rachel knew that for a fact when her feet touched the ground. The soft grass caressed her toes, leaving her no doubt that they remained outside, still surrounded by the happy murmurings of nature…and the soft babbling of flowing water.
Rachel strained to hear more, knowing they hadn’t dumped her in the middle of a field. Her mind, though, hadn’t fathomed the decadent beauty that greeted her eyes as the blindfold lifted. Rachel turned, taking in her lush surroundings as Killian went to work on untying her gag.
Stacked stone walls encircled the small patio, bordered on either end by wrought iron gates nearly overgrown with rose vines. Above, leaves fanned out across slender tree limbs that grew over the edges of the wall to form a natural canopy. It diffused the moonlight, letting it rain down in soft slivers that shifted and danced with the breeze.
Everything grew so full and thick but was tailored to give the little oasis a sense of civilized nature. Or perhaps not. Rachel reconsidered her opinion as her gaze fell over the altar-like structure erected in the very center of the circle.
She could make out the shadow of drawers lining the sides, thick and big. Rachel could well imagine what lay hidden beneath the padded top. The rings cemented into each corner gave the not-so-subtle function of the altar.
“So,” she breathed out evenly, trying to sound nonchalant, “this is where you sacrifice you virgins, huh?”
That earned her a slight smile from Adam before his voice purred out with a promise that made her shiver. “You’re not wrong.”
He flicked a switch, and suddenly the rock walls glowed to life with the gentle umber of the glass lanterns. Bathing the whole area in a seductive warmth, the light revealed that the Cattlemen had more than civilized their garden. They’d modernized it. From the wide stretch of the black screen embedded in the wall to the little kitchenette built into its side, they’d made their garden of Eden a place to relax and enjoy a good show.
Rachel’s eyes glanced up, and sure enough cameras were mounted, discretely but pointedly, along the entire perimeter. Easy to be forgotten in the moment, they were sure to leave a woman tingling over the memory for years. The moment had really come, and she couldn’t help but glance at the gates.
“You’ll never make it,” Adam warned her in that velvety tone that made her breath catch. He was prowling, watching her with a gaze feral enough to make her start to truly worry. She’d never seen him this pissed or this hungry.
“So you’re going to tie me up to that altar and have your way.” Rachel silently cursed at the way her voice trembled, betraying both her fear and her desire. “Is that going to make it all better?”
He came to a stop with his boots brushing against her toes, and he split into a true, double-dimpled grin. More intimidating than an angry Adam, the happy one had her breath catching as he leaned down close to whisper in her ear.
“Oh, honey, you’re not getting off that easy.”
Then he bumped her, brushed right past and banged her backward into Killian in the process, like a shark would challenge something it was considering eating. Rachel turned with the jarring motion, unnerved in the extreme by his attitude as much as his words. Killian got in her way. Instead of catching her, Adam moseyed off, too, leaving her to ram her nose hard into the bulge of his arm.
“Watch yourself now, darlin’. Don’t want to hurt yourself.”
Rachel stared up into Killian’s laughing eyes and told herself she had it right. Killian was about as giddy as a five-year-old rushing down to see what Santa had left for him. The big deputy might be even more excited than that, given he knew what present awaited him.
He never seemed to take anything seriously, which was probably why she loved him so damn much. The man had a way of charming the good sense right out of her head with vivacious enthusiasm. Not tonight, though.
Tonight she stared up at him, wondering if he even understood how important this moment was. They could either destroy her or heal her, but they couldn’t laugh at her. Not tonight.
* * * *
Killian watched the tension fade in her gaze as her eyes clouded over with thoughts. The flush on her cheeks receded as her whole face seemed to swell with sadness. The pensive look made him groan, forcing her back around so he could undo the cuffs and avoid looking at that serious face.
Penn, Jenny - Rachel's Seduction [Cattleman's Club] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 36
