by Zoey Marcel
Emmett gave several more animal thrusts and then slammed into her, stifling his strained grunts of defeat as he finished.
She felt sated and surrounded. Her men were good to her.
Emmett kissed her shoulder and then cleaned up. He didn’t cuddle with her afterward the way Jake did. Jake loved her, though. Emmett didn’t.
When she caught him stealing long, deep glances at her, she began to wonder.
Chapter Eight
Emmett walked out of the hotel with Melanie and his brother. His body felt spent with exertion, but the endorphins made it a good kind of tired. He had his arm around Mellie and couldn’t shake the warm, affectionate pull he felt toward her. She was truly good and beautiful. If evolution ended with her he would consider the halt in progression no loss. As far as he was concerned she was the crowning glory of everything he’d ever encountered in nature.
His head jerked to the right when he saw his uncle, Alan McAlister, just outside the grocery store. Alan was the brother of Emmett’s deceased mother, Elsa, and right now Alan was talking to someone who looked very familiar. Of course it was difficult to ascertain who in the blue-green veil of twilight, but the older man Alan spoke with bore a great resemblance to his father.
Emmett lightly nudged Melanie toward Jake. “Take her home for me. I have business to take care of.”
Jake smirked. “Okay. At this hour?”
Emmett kissed his lady on the head. “I’ll see you at home, love.”
Her lips parted briefly and her eyes glistened. “Thank you.”
He wasn’t sure why she was thanking him, but the old man talking to his uncle had him distracted.
“See ya.” Jake waved and led Mellie away.
Emmett headed toward the two older men talking. Some people got in his way, but he simply moved them aside with his hand. No one got in his way when he was on a mission. If they didn’t know that by now they would soon learn it.
Alan McAlister waved to the other man, who left in a hurry when he glanced in Emmett’s direction. Oh no, he didn’t. That had to be the old man himself. He wasn’t getting away.
His uncle Alan got in the way, greeting Emmett in his fancy British accent. “Emmett, what brings you into town at this hour?”
It wasn’t that late and the old gent was obviously stalling.
“Was that my father you were talking to?”
“Which man?”
Emmett glowered at him and started to brush past him. His uncle stopped him.
“If he stayed out of sight for this long, there must be a reason for it.”
“The reason is he’s trying to marry off his sons to the same woman. I’m done playing his games.”
Emmett sidestepped him, glad his uncle didn’t pursue him. He walked swiftly, closing in on the old boy who was untying his horse from the hitching post. That alone would have incriminated the old man. He always preferred horses to vehicles. Herschel O’Neil had ridden up to his wedding on a horse decades ago. He’d left the ranch on horseback years ago, and he always said he would die on a horse.
That was all fine and wonderful, but if the old man insisted on being buried with his horse, they would have to draw the line.
Emmett walked briskly toward the aged cowboy he could see plainly was his irritating father.
“Get on that horse, I’ll pull you off.”
Herschel looked casually at him and offered him a crooked smile. “Emmett, how’s my favorite son?”
“That’s what you say to all your sons when you think the others are out of earshot.”
He smiled bigger this time and laid the reins over the horn of the saddle. “You always were the smartest. Well, second after Greyson, but with his crazy thrill-seeking streak, I reckon your book learning gives the smart fella a run for his money.”
“I meant what I said. You’re not getting on that horse.”
“Is that a fact?”
Emmett stepped closer. “Where the hell have you been all these years?”
“Biding my time. Alan tells me you boys might have found the woman of your dreams. That’s good. I’ve missed all of you. When you pop the question to her I’ll come back into your life.”
Emmett wanted to hit him. “You just rode off and didn’t tell anyone where you were going. What the hell is wrong with you?”
“Now calm yourself, son. I’ve been living twenty miles outside of McKenna Downs.”
He blinked in surprise. “That’s it? All this time you’ve been right under our noses?”
Herschel got a mischievous smile on his weathered face. “I reckon you don’t feel so smart now, do you?”
Emmett’s eyes narrowed. “If you ride out of here, I’ll tell the others I saw you.”
The old boy sighed and then mounted his horse, grunting with the motion. “Suit yourself, but I might just pull up stakes and move on before you can lead them back to me. It’s as I said, when you and your brothers can get along and prove it by sharing the same wife, then I’ll come around again.”
Emmett glared at him.
Herschel reined the horse to the right. “Until then, your old man is just gonna have to keep roughing it.”
“What, are you living off the land or in a tent?”
“Nah, I’ve got a nice cabin with plumbing and electricity, some chickens, and a good cow.”
Emmett smirked. “You call that roughing it?”
Herschel grinned. “It’s just far enough from town to give me space, but not so far that the ladies can’t find me.”
The old man winked at him with a teasing smile.
Emmett shook his head as a meager smile finally slipped through. “You devil, you’re too old for that sort of thing.”
Herschel laughed. “That’s what you think. What’s that pretty little thing’s name that I’ve seen you and your brothers with?”
Something soft and warm moved through Emmett. “Melanie. Her name is Melanie.”
“Melanie. She seems like a sweet little thing. Tell me about her.”
“Your absence from our lives would suggest that you don’t give a damn about what goes on in them.”
Herschel made a tsking sound at him. “Has Greyson warmed up to her yet?”
“No. We’re working on that.”
“Hmm.” The old man tapped the horn with his finger. “That one has trust issues. If you ask me I think something bad happened to him a long time ago, something he never told anybody about.”
“Nobody asked you,” Emmett said with a straight face before a smirk broke out.
Herschel laughed. “Now, now, son. No hard feelings. Greyson is the one that carries grudges. I like to think you’re more evolved than that.”
“For you I can make an exception.”
“You remind me of your mother. Thirty percent class, thirty percent badass, and thirty percent wit.” He paused. “Wait.”
“You’re missing a full ten percent of something.”
“Fine, forty percent wit. Alan has my phone number. He can give it to you.” Herschel nudged the horse and waved. “See you around, son. You make Melanie yours and get all your brothers on board.”
“See if I do, you stubborn fool.” Emmett waved to his father, annoyed that he missed him despite the way Herschel abandoned them years ago in the name of uniting them.
He could follow the old timer, but it didn’t matter. Herschel O’Neil was no longer the reason Emmett was considering getting married to a woman. Melanie Laurie was.
* * * *
Diego waited in the stable. The hour was somewhat late and no one should be coming out here at this time…no one but Greyson.
Diego’s heart leaped in his chest and his pulse skyrocketed when he saw the rough-hewn cowboy walk into the barn, closing the large door behind him.
“You took your precious time getting here.”
“I come and go as I please. You know that.”
He did know it, but he was more aware of the scintillating effect Greyson’s husky voice had on hi
s body.
Diego frowned when his best friend pulled a gun out of his back pocket. “I would have thought your motorcycle stunt earlier would have been enough to fuel your fantasies for a solid week.”
“I want more.”
“You’re insatiable.”
Greyson flashed him a crooked grin that turned his cock to lead.
“Use it or don’t, but I might not get you off if you refuse me.”
“Is it loaded?” It was a stupid question when he already knew the answer.
Greyson’s voice dropped an octave. “You know it is.”
Diego sighed. “How many bullets?”
“Two.”
He crossed his arms. “Bring it down to one.”
“I need this.” Greyson’s eyes were wild with fire and a touch of crazy thrown in.
“One bullet or I leave.” Diego held out his palm and Greyson gave him the gun.
“You should have been the one to bring it out here. It’s more exciting when you surprise me with danger.” Greyson took his shirt off.
Diego unloaded the gun completely, taking care to keep the other man from seeing him remove both bullets. “Two bullets. You’re loco. Earlier should have been enough.”
“You should know me by now.”
“I do know you, amigo, better than anyone. A man can still hope.”
“Hope is for the deluded and the weak.”
Diego eyed him with a raised brow and a bemused smile. “So cynical.”
“Put the gun down. This is too staged. I don’t like it.”
He set the gun down. “There was a time when you didn’t need to have your life threatened during sex from what I understand.”
“Shut up and take your damned clothes off.”
Diego removed his shirt. “Do you ever miss when we used to share women together?”
“I miss when you used to shut your trap and fuck.”
Diego chortled and traced a line down the front of Greyson’s sternum. “I miss it. Feeling all that soft, feminine warmth trapped between us, hearing a woman whimper while we pleasure her together and feel her cunt and ass gripping our cocks.”
Greyson’s irises darkened and his muscles twitched at the delicate slide of Diego’s finger over his abs.
“I still remember how good it felt when your dick rubbed against mine, separated by a mere piece of female skin. That tiny membrane was the only thing that kept our hot flesh from touching and proving that we were inflamed by one another.”
Diego nuzzled his friend’s neck and rubbed Greyson’s crotch through his jeans. The man’s breathy sigh spurred him on. He kissed and licked Greyson’s neck.
“But there was always that one small discrepancy in each encounter to prove we were only kidding ourselves when we claimed we were straight.” He massaged Greyson’s erection, making him breathe heavier. “There was nothing between our balls. No woman ever kept them from touching while we fucked her.”
Greyson grabbed his ass and leaned into him when Diego flicked open the button on his fly. His harsh breaths fanned against Diego’s bare skin when he slid the zipper down on Greyson’s jeans.
“Our testicles loaded with all that hot sperm every time we rubbed against each other. Sometimes I’m inclined to believe that our balls grinding against one another was the greater initiator of our climaxes than the women we were with.”
Greyson panted and wrapped his arm around Diego as Diego slipped his hand down into Greyson’s pants to fondle his cock.
“The women all change, but the man we shared them with never changed,” Diego pointed out.
“I shared with Emmett before.”
“You let him have one-on-one time with your fiancée years ago, but you never had a threesome with them.” Diego nipped at his shoulder. “I was the only one.”
Greyson groped Diego’s crotch, making his eyes cross at the jolt of sensation that shot through him.
“In the beginning it might have been about experimentation, but it didn’t take long for that to change.” Diego sucked on his neck vigorously.
Greyson let out a feeble moan, accepting it for a minute before shoving Diego’s head away. “What did I say about hickeys? You’d be a shitty spy the way you leave evidence.”
“I will give them to you elsewhere.” Diego forced Greyson’s pants and underwear down and kissed a steamy trail down his chest and abs. “Remember the first time we touched at eighteen? We were comparing dick sizes and had a masturbating race. Then you got carried away.”
“You touched me first.”
“We got each other off with our hands.” Diego bypassed Greyson’s groin and started kissing his thighs instead. “That was our first sexual encounter with anyone. I remember it like it was yesterday.”
“I remember,” Greyson said quietly. “I told you it wouldn’t happen again. Then years later you started sharing women with me like the sleazy weasel you are.”
Diego grinned and then bit down on Greyson’s flesh. “You enjoyed it, you filthy sinner.”
“It wasn’t terrible,” Greyson teased. “I don’t even remember what those women looked like.”
“But you remember me.”
He hesitated before answering. “Yeah.”
Diego spoke in between sucking on Greyson’s inner thigh and stealing broken groans from him. “You haven’t had many women since Tasha expired.”
“That’s a delicate way of putting it, you asshole.”
“Surely you must crave a woman’s touch every now and then.”
“I don’t miss the bitch if that’s what you’re implying. Are you gonna suck my dick or talk me to death?”
Diego planted a kiss on the crown of Greyson’s penis before turning his attention back to the man’s legs.
“Teasing bastard.”
He smiled and then sucked Greyson’s inner thigh hard. He wanted to leave a hickey there. He wanted his lover to think of him every time he took his pants off and saw that mark there.
“You must miss it like I do sometimes.”
“The women are a third wheel,” Greyson said, sounding almost sad. “I never found one that completed us. I’d just as soon not have them around.”
Diego cupped and squeezed his balls in an attempt to distract him. “Melanie is different. I think you would feel that way, too, if you spent time with her.”
Greyson stiffened. He grabbed Diego’s hand and jerked his head up with the other. “Did my bonehead brothers put you up to this?”
“I was speaking of you and me. I’ve seen the way you look at her when you think no one is watching. Melanie could be the one.”
Greyson let go of Diego’s hair, giving his head a light shove in disgust. He yanked his underwear and jeans back up in a hurry.
“I’m not sharing a woman with any of them just to get Hershel back.”
Diego stood. “Don’t do it for your father. Do it for yourself because you need it.”
“The only thing I need is to be left the fuck alone.”
“If I leave you alone, you will hurt yourself or end up getting killed trying to sate an ache.”
Greyson’s jaw flexed with aggravation and his eyes were brimming with anger. “If I die taking care of my needs, you’ll have no one to blame but yourself. All you have to do is what I tell you to. If you’re too much of a pussy to run with me, then we’re done.”
Diego’s chest spasmed with pain and fear. He reluctantly grabbed the gun, though his haste would have had any observer fooled. He pointed it at his friend, angry and saddened that the whisper of death must always be the mistress that stood between them and their intimacy.
“Get your ass over here and start taking off my pants.”
Greyson’s eyes heated with desire and he licked his lips as he sauntered over. “That’s more like it.”
Diego held the gun to his head while Greyson finished undressing him and then himself. “Lie down in the hay.”
Greyson did so. “I’m sure I don’t have to tell you to pull the
trigger?”
“Shut up.”
Diego lay down in the hay next to him. He dragged the barrel of the gun slowly down Greyson’s body and gave the cylinder a spin. Thank God it was unloaded…this time. Fortunately Greyson didn’t have a clue that it was empty, but Diego knew he’d be pissed if he found out.
“Such a nice cock you have. Has any man ever put his hands on it?”
“Fuck yourself.”
Diego pressed the gun to Greyson’s scrotum, getting harder when he gasped. “You’re going to masturbate for me and you’re going to look at me and feel my body against yours while you do, so you know you’re coming for a man.”
Greyson’s moan and eager hand sliding down his own body to his loins gave him away. “What if I don’t?”
Diego cocked the hammer. Grazing the gun gently along his ball-sac, he said in a sinister hush, “Are you really asking me that?”
Greyson’s chest heaved, but Diego knew it was the threat of death rather than the role play that got to him.
“I think you’ll like the way it feels to have a man’s hands on you. But first I want you to pet your cock and think about how good it will feel when I touch you.” Diego traced Greyson’s shaft with the gun. His dick thickened and elongated beneath the insidious slide. “Put your hand on your cock.”
Greyson shivered. “I’m not jacking off to a fucking man.”
Diego knew what he wanted. He pulled the trigger and it clicked with emptiness like he knew it would. Greyson’s tightened body relaxed in relief and his face distorted from the adrenaline letdown. His huge exhale sounded sexy.
“You will touch yourself and think of me or you will lose your balls.”
Greyson’s hand shook as he reached for his shaft. Gripping it, he tweaked and stroked himself, breathing hard and heavy as he shuddered with excitement.
“You’re so hard for me. I think you like being touched by another man.”
Greyson pursed his lips, pushing ever so slightly into the gun. He really was insatiable.
