I had to know what that would feel like, I had to take them up on their offer and take them both to bed.
I would go crazy if I didn’t at least get one chance.
Chapter Ten
“Oh my god, you made this from scratch?” I asked, biting into a warm, soft gingerbread cookie. “Are you sure we had the stuff to make these?”
“You sure did, Natty,” Jordan laughed. “I can tell you haven’t looked in these cupboards for a while, have you?”
“God no, I was in school and ever since I got back, Doctor Roy has been working me like a slave driver,” I said, taking another bite of the spicy perfection.
Hot men who could cook, who wouldn’t love these two?
I ate another cookie before we had to get outside and water the animals. We only had a few cows and a couple old saddle horses left on the ranch, but I did my best to care for them all.
They helped me start up the old tractor and move a huge bale of hay into the pasture, fill the watering troughs and make sure the roof on the woodshed wasn’t leaking after the recent snowfall.
It felt good to have them with me, making fun and talking about our lives. The three of us got along so well now, we fell into easy silence when needed, or shared bits of our growing up when it felt necessary.
We just got along so well, I wondered how I could have ever hated them.
We were walking back to the house when Jordan dropped down, scooped up a handful of snow and yelled, “Face wash!”
They tackled me, just like they used to, and smeared the snow in my face. This time, instead of screaming and crying and calling them names as I stormed into the house like when we were teens, I got them back.
I squealed with laughter and wiggled away from them. I ran through the snowy driveway to the small snow bank and grabbed two big handfuls. As they caught up with me, I whirled around and hit them each smack dab in their faces.
I laughed so hard as they sputtered and wiped snow out of their eyes that I fell into the snow bank behind me.
“You little minx,” Jesse roared and grabbed me playfully.
“Let’s get her,” Jordan growled with a grin and took my kicking legs.
They scrambled over the snow bank and tossed me into the deeper snow on the lawn. I landed on my back and found my mouth full of snow. I tried to laugh, but inhaled and began to choke instead.
“Oh god, Natty,” Jesse yelled and dropped into the snow beside me. Jordan joined him on the other side and they both gently lifted me up so I was sitting.
“I’m sorry, god, I didn’t think it would make you sick,” Jordan said, his eyes full of sincerity and concern.
Jesse’s look matched, and I dramatically pretended I was too weak to reply; I just looked up at them with my big eyes filling with water that they thought was tears.
As they leaned in towards me, I grabbed them each by the shoulder, pushed myself up to my feet and knocked them face first into the snow.
I ended up laughing so hard again that I fell back on my own ass as they rolled over and crawled towards me.
They pulled me down with them, the three of us in the snow, but not noticing the cold or wet as things suddenly turned from playful to intense.
Jordan was first, he grabbed my face in his hand and kissed me deeply, sending a warmth racing through my body and making me gasp with excitement.
Jesse was next, taking my face in his hand and kissing me as hard as his brother with the same result.
I swear we melted a twenty-foot radius around us with the combined heat of our bodies. We were all close to combusting in the middle of the yard surrounded by the chill of winter.
I could barely breathe as they helped me up, our clothes soaked through and steam rising off our bodies into the cold winter air.
“We should really take this inside,” I said in a breathless tone.
“What are you saying?” Jesse asked with a little smirk.
“I’m saying we should get inside before I tear your clothes off and fuck you on the front lawn,” I said with a naughty grin.
I didn’t even know where that was coming from, but my logical side was fully switched off and I was ready to give in to what my body had wanted all along.
“I think she’s saying we’d better take her up on this offer before she changes her mind,” Jordan laughed and scooped me up into his arms.
He carried me carefully over the snow bank and across the driveway.
As we began up the front steps, I heard the sound of an engine coming up the driveway.
“Fuck, I thought they’d be gone for longer,” I said as Jordan put me down.
Our parent’s truck came into sight as we reached the top step, trying our best to look innocent and not extremely turned on.
I would die if either parent guessed what we were up to.
“Kids,” my dad yelled as he jumped out and rushed to the passenger side. “We have great news!”
He helped Tina walk, but she was looking remarkably better.
“What is it?” Jordan asked as he and Jesse hurried down the steps to help their mom. My heart did a little thud at their gentle ways, they were such different people now that they were all grown up, and I wasn’t just talking about their hotness.
“The doctors in Midtown figured it out! Your mom is going to be just fine,” my dad told them.
“What is it?” I asked.
He turned to me with a furrowed brow and said, “This is the only bad part, Natasha. We have to sell the ranch.”
“Sell the ranch?” I asked, my world shifting and tilting until I felt like I was going to fall over. This was the only place I’d ever lived.
Jesse reached out to grab my elbow and keep me steady.
“It’s simple allergies,” Tina said looking apologetic. “I’m sorry, Natty, I know how much you love this place but I have to move into town.”
“Can’t you treat it with medication?” I asked, my lower lip quivering.
“We can’t, it’s too strong of a reaction. As Tina grows older, her body responds more and more badly to something that once just made her sniffle. It’s only going get worse if we don’t get her out of here,” Dad told me, his tone gentle but firm.
“I could buy it from you, I make enough with the vet clinic,” I said, suddenly excited at my new idea.
“You know you can’t keep on top of things around here,” Dad said. “You’re so busy with work that this place would fall apart around your ears. Hell, it’s almost already falling apart.”
“What am I supposed to do?” I asked in a small voice as we walked into the house I’d grown up in and had expected to inherit one day. It had been in my dad’s family forever.
“It’s okay, Natasha,” Jordan said glancing at Jesse. “Everything will be all right.”
I offered him a wan smile for trying to be nice, but I felt like I had lead in the pit of my stomach and everything seemed bleak to me.
Where would I live? And how could I say goodbye to the ranch that meant so much to me?
Chapter Eleven
I showered in my room, not that I didn’t want a repeat of the hot shower scene from the night before, but because I was miserable.
I wasn’t ready to give up the family farm, but if it meant Tina was healthy, I really had no choice.
Dad was right though, even if I could come up with the money to buy it from them, there was no way I could handle running things on my own. The sad thing was that back in the day, the ranch was a productive cattle operation. With the help of the twins, my dad was able to make a very comfortable living at it.
That was the key though... he had help. Once the twins moved away, and Tina fell ill, he’d become too distracted to care for the place properly.
If only I had more hours in the day. Or could physically handle the amount of work needed.
If only I wasn’t alone.
I finished the shower and dried off, feeling somewhat better now that I was warm. I had been hot, even in the snow, but th
at was more about Jesse and Jordan than anything else.
I pulled on my favorite fuzzy pajamas and curled up on my big cozy chair with a book in hand, trying to escape the horrible news I’d just gotten.
I was a few pages into the latest hot romance by my go-to author when I heard a light tapping at my door.
“Natasha, are you okay?”
It was my dad. I sighed heavily and knew I couldn’t ignore him. This wasn’t his fault; he was just doing what he thought was best for everyone involved.
“Come in,” I said, sitting up and tucking the book under the corner of the blanket. I didn’t want dad to know I was reading some book with a half-naked muscle-bound guy on the cover.
Come to think of it, the hot model’s body was very similar to Jordan and Jesse.
I blushed just thinking of them knowing my dad was on the other side of my door.
He opened the door and stepped inside. His face was drawn and I could tell he was worried about my reaction and that made me feel instantly guilty.
“I’m so sorry, Natty,” he said, his eyes dark with concern. “If there was any other way for this to work, I would leap at it. We just need to get Tina off the ranch as soon as possible. I’ve called a realtor and she’s coming out just after Christmas to list the place.”
“I know you’re not doing anything on purpose, Dad,” I said, hating how upset I was about the entire situation. “I’ll be okay once it sinks in, I just need time to process the information is all.”
“It’s going to be tough, watching this place fall into somebody else’s hands. I grew up here, so did your grandpa and his father before him. I had always hoped to see you live here and raise a family like the rest of us,” he said. His voice was genuinely full of sorrow and I felt awful for making him feel that way.
“Dad, I’ll be fine. I’ll get myself a few acres and have a couple horses. Maybe I’ll get a dog. I’ll be okay, you know that,” I told him. I stood up and walked to him, hugged him tightly, and told him again that it was going to be just fine.
He left my room and left me sitting back in my chair in deep thought. I couldn’t get back into my book as I slowly told myself to say goodbye to the ranch I loved so much.
As he had assumed I would one day raise a family here, I had assumed the same. I had often thought of the children I would have, raising them on the soil my ancestors had turned from forest to farmland, side by side with my husband.
I sighed heavily and turned my attention to the window to watch the sun set.
I felt tears welling up in my eyes as I realized this might be one of the last sunsets I saw on the farm, and definitely the last Christmas.
My breath caught in my throat and my chest tightened as I fought the sobs that bubbled up inside of me.
I decided I would have to force myself to focus on the future and not the past if I was ever going to survive this horrible thing.
I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but I had to do it to survive in the face of this shock.
I pulled back my covers and curled up under the thick blankets, regulating my breathing and trying to tell myself how good my new life would be, and how nice it would be once I wasn’t responsible for the farm that was falling down around my ears even as I fell asleep.
It might not have been so hard if only I could have convinced my heart and soul to listen to my mind.
Or if I had even convinced my mind that this was the best thing and it would all work out for me.
How could I convince myself of something that I knew was so wrong?
How could I find happiness so far from the land that was my true home?
Chapter Twelve
“Natty,” a voice broke in the dream I was having. “Natasha!”
I grumbled against waking up, choosing instead to slide back down into the dark comfort of sleep.
“I told you she’s sleeping, let’s just leave her a note and be done with it,” another voice said, piercing my happy cocoon of slumber.
“She’s waking up,” the first voice said. “I told you she was a light sleeper.”
“What are you guys doing in here?” I asked sleepily. “What time is it?”
“It’s five in the morning, we want to go sledding at the hill behind Old Man Smith’s place,” Jesse said in a whispered hush.
“Down Breakneck Hill, are you nuts?” I exclaimed, sitting up.
Twin faces wearing equally devilish smirks hung next to my bed in the dark.
“We might just be,” Jordan replied. “There was a fresh snow last night and we want to go sledding in the dark, to watch the sun rise. Are you coming along, or are you chicken?”
“Bawk, bawk, bawk,” Jesse made chicken noises that immediately angered me. Ever since we were kids those stupid noises pissed me off and got me into more trouble than I could have managed on my own.
“Fine,” I said, pulling the blankets back angrily. “I’ll come along. But I have to work later, at one.”
“We’ll get you there in time, sis,” Jesse grinned and took my hand.
I stood up and laughed. “That’s not what I’m worried about. I’m worried about getting there in one piece.”
I tried to shoo them from my room as I got dressed but they both stubbornly sat on my bed and raised their eyebrows at me lasciviously.
I sighed heavily and thought fuck it, they’ve seen me naked already and I had a feeling they’d see much more than that at some point soon. If I followed through on my naughty little fantasies, that was.
I slid my fuzzy pajamas off, their eyes watching my every move intently, and dropped them on my chair.
I was naked underneath, my nipples pebbled in the cool air and my body felt strangely as if it weren’t my own. It was as though I was watching the scene unfold from somewhere out of my flesh, but I could still feel my heart pounding and my blood rushing in my ears at the shocking eroticism of the moment.
I bent over to choose my panties and bra and heard twin sharp intakes of breath. I smiled to myself, did a little wiggle, and stood up with my clothes in hand.
I stepped into my bright red panties and slid them up over my thighs and the curves of my hips. I then pulled on and clasped my matching red bra, Jesse and Jordan’s eyes never left my body. I swear I could feel them burning through the fabric of my underwear with the hot lust in their eyes.
I slipped on a pair of fuzzy socks, an old comfortable pair of jeans and a big sweater to keep me toasty warm.
I turned back to them and gave them a wide, warm smile.
“All right boys, ready to go?”
They shifted uncomfortably on the bed and I noticed matching thick ridges in their jeans, they were hard for me and that pleased me immensely.
They followed me downstairs, we got into our winter gear, left a quick note for Dad and Tina, and headed out to the truck. Jordan tossed a couple old sleds into the back and we were ready to go.
I got in the middle and felt squished between their massive bodies. It was comforting and a huge turn on.
“So what gives?” I asked as Jesse pulled out of the ranch driveway. “Why are we going sledding? It’s not like we can get naked on Breakneck Hill… can we?”
Jesse laughed and Jordan said, “I don’t think so, but we could try.”
“I don’t want to have to explain frostbite on my dick, dude,” Jesse chuckled.
“Yeah, good point,” Jordan replied. “We actually thought you needed a little pick me up. Yesterday’s news was an awful blow to all of us, but we know how much that ranch means to you. It’s going to be hard for you to give up the family farm.”
I felt a wave of sadness wash over me as I was reminded of the pending farm sale.
“I guess I need the distraction, although I should be packing and looking for a new place to stay,” I said in a gloomy tone.
“Come on now, Natty,” Jesse told me. “This is supposed to be fun, so drop those thoughts and let’s just sled like the old days, okay?”
I sniffled and said, �
�I guess. Okay, just for today. Then tomorrow I start packing and looking for a place to live.”
“Tomorrow’s Christmas Eve,” Jordan said. “There’s not much point in you starting to look this time of the year. Besides, even if the place sells quickly, they have to give you time to move out.”
“That’s true,” I said. “Okay, I’ll wait until after Christmas. I wish you guys weren’t taking off again, I could use some muscle to move furniture.”
They exchanged a quick glance across the seat at each other. “Would you like it if we didn’t leave?” Jesse asked, his hands on the wheel, staring straight ahead now.
“I don’t know, I mean you guys have lives to live so I suppose you have to go,” I said quietly.
Inside I knew my answer. I didn’t want them to go. I hadn’t felt this amazing in years, in spite of the farm sale, and I loved the way my body seemed to almost vibrate when I was around them. It was like we were meant to all share the same space.
“Yeah, there’s no point talking about it, Jesse,” Jordan said. “Oh look, we’re the first ones here!”
He pointed to the parking area above Breakneck Hill and it was deserted.
I took his hint that he wanted to drop the subject of them leaving and carried on like nothing was different.
I wondered what it was though; did he not want to leave now? Did they want to stay after we’d shared just a small time together?
Were they wondering the same thing as me…if it felt that good in such a short time, would it feel even better the more we got to know each other?
I had a feeling it would. It would get so, so much better.
Chapter Thirteen
I shrieked as Jesse’s strong arms held me tight against him and we rushed down the hill in the pre-dawn light.
Jordan rushed past us, his speed picking up to truly breakneck levels. My heart pounded as we raced down the slick slope, the snow turning to ice the farther we went.
Breakneck Hill had been the one spot we’d all gotten along as kids. The three of us had spent many days here growing up. All the kids in town would use it, back before video games and social media took over their lives.
Christmas With the Cooper Twins Page 4
