Chase’s cock stretched her feminine passage, Lucas’s cock stretched her mouth. The thrusting heat and brush of hair against her clit matched the salty heat in her mouth and she wanted more, and still more. She wanted her arms free to wrap around one, and her legs free to wrap around the other. She wanted to keep them both inside her and soar.
“Do you want to come, baby?”
She could only groan. No way did she want to let go of Lucas even long enough to answer him.
“I think that’s a yes.” Chase’s voice and Luc’s answering chuckle both washed over her.
“Come for us, baby. Come on my cock, while our cocks come inside you.” Chase’s words commanded her, and her body rushed to obey.
Her climax exploded, the pounding, thrusting, heartbeat of ecstasy, wave after wave of it obliterating everything, every thought, every emotion, until only the hot pulsing, the eruption of salty lust remained. Her throat swallowed, her feminine passage convulsed, as she fed on the rapture of her lovers. The fire of passion consumed her atom by atom, until she had not one ounce of energy, or stress left.
Her body shivered, her lips quivered as the orgasm ebbed, as the aftershocks took over.
“Rest for a while,” Lucas whispered as he placed a gentle kiss on her lips. “Just for a while, then Chase and I will trade places. The afternoon is young.”
Maddy groaned, and the masculine laughter her lovers offered in response wrapped around her like a blanket as she drifted off to sleep.
Chapter Seven
Chase had forgotten how good a wild, hard ride could be.
Ransom, a spirited chestnut gelding, seemed to relish the speed and the freedom, too. Their morning assignment had been to head out to the western-most pasture and check on the number of cattle grazing. A simple assignment, and since they’d secured all the fences, no one expected any of the cows to have escaped. But there could still be predators of the four-legged variety, and Maddy liked each of her three pastures checked on a regular basis.
Chase had traveled far and wide when he’d left here all those years ago. He’d been to a lot of places, done a lot of things, and made a lot of friends. But this place had always shone in his mind as home. He felt so pleased to be here, even if he did occasionally miss a few of his friends.
Thinking of some of those friends now, he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed all the way to New York.
“Haggerty Investigations.”
A grin split his face as the familiar voice echoed in his ear. “Philip, don’t tell me you’ve lost another secretary?”
“Chase! My God, man, where the hell have you been? It’s good to hear your voice.”
“Yours, too. I’ve been here and there. But mostly, I decided to come home.”
“No shit! You’re in Colorado? Good for you. And to answer your first question, no, I have not lost another secretary. You’ll be pleased to know that I’ve worked on my one or two very minor personality flaws. Sheila has been with me for nearly two years. She’s just gone out for a bit is all.”
“Well, good. How’s your dad? And Roger?”
Philip Haggerty had filled the role of best friend for a lot of years. His father, Patrick, had more or less adopted Chase when he’d been eighteen. Patrick’s confidence and encouragement had resulted in Chase going to college. When he thought back to those days, it still floored him that men like Patrick Haggerty existed in the world. His acceptance of his son’s lifestyle remained, in Chase’s eyes, truly amazing.
He’d more or less joined the Haggerty clan as Philip’s partner then slid to the role of additional son and brother when the romantic relationship between himself and Phil had sputtered to an end.
Philip had met Roger just a few months after that, and the two men had been together ever since.
“Dad’s great. He’s on a cruise right now, touring the Mediterranean. Roger’s good too, and I am so glad you called, because we’ve decided to get married. Roger’s family is in Boston, and we’re going to have the ceremony there.”
“Congratulations!” Chase felt his throat tighten a little. He and Philip held the same cherished dream, though the exact definition for each of them differed slightly. Because of that, while his friend could look forward to formalizing his relationship, Chase knew he would never be able to take that final step. “So when is the wedding?”
“We’re waiting until October, because his sister is in England till then and can’t shake free. Give me your address there and I’ll send you an invitation.” There was a pause and Chase caught the slight change in tone. “Do I put the words “and guests” on it?”
“Yeah. We’ve taken a first step. It just remains to be seen how far we can go. Actually, that’s one of the reason’s I’m calling, Mister Private Investigator slash lawyer with ties.”
“You know I’m here for you. What’s up?”
Chase had been having very bad feelings about that visit last week from Kevin Marsh. Something about the guy just rubbed Chase the wrong way. Maddy hadn’t spoken of it since, but he wondered if something wasn’t going on because she’d seemed a bit off the last day or so.
Everything had been fine Sunday afternoon when they’d all returned, sated and sleepy, from their time by the stream. After dinner, she’d gone into her office, just to check up on e-mail and catch up on ranch business. When she’d come out, she’d been distracted—and, he’d thought at the time, stressed.
Chase didn’t know why he believed Marsh lay behind the change in her mood and temperament, but he’d learned to trust his gut instincts. So he gave Philip all the information he had on the man, which admittedly wasn’t much.
“I’ll get back to you on this. Chase, I’m really glad you called, and I’m very happy you decided to take a chance and go home.”
“Thanks. Just wish me luck.”
“You know I do.”
Chase closed his phone after giving Philip the number at the ranch. Looking around, he took in the majestic beauty of the Rocky Mountains. The air smelled and looked lean and fragrant, in stark contrast to the pollution filled skies of some of the places he’d lived.
He’d taken a degree in accounting and business, but riding the range, working with his hands and his back as well as his brain suited him more. He could be at home on Wall Street, and could mingle with the movers and shakers of the world, but he appreciated the company of a good horse and stalwart pines.
Reining his horse around, he headed back toward home. Lunch time was drawing near, and this afternoon he and Lucas planned to ride into Gunnison for supplies.
Chase grinned again, just thinking about spending some time alone with the man. He’d be asking Lucas to make a stop at the post office. He’d phoned an order in to a specialty shop in New York the week before, and the package should have arrived by now.
* * * *
Just enough trees lined North Main Street in Gunnison to lessen the starkness of the city. Lucas knew this place, of course. Marshville served well for the necessities; especially with its location so close to the ranch. But if you wanted a good meal, or to catch the latest Hollywood flick, then Gunnison would be your destination. It had always been his, he mused as he pulled the ranch truck around the corner so he could enter the parking lot of the ranch supply store. He shot a look over at Chase, who’d been trying to take in everything since they’d arrived in the city.
“Not much compared to some of the places you’ve lived, I bet,” he said as he turned off the engine.
“Size-wise, no. New York is massive. But I don’t think I’m cut out for big city living. I hadn’t been there more than a few months before I began to itch for wide-open places again.”
“Took you long enough to come home.” Lucas heard the edge in his voice and wondered why he was trying to pick a fight with the younger man.
“You don’t have to be worried that I’ll get bored and go away again, Lucas. It’s just not going to happen.”
Lucas pulled the keys out of the ignitio
n, let his fingers play over them as he inhaled deeply, trying to ease the shaky feeling of relief that had swept over him with Chase’s words.
“How do you do that? How do you know so easily what I’m thinking and feeling, when I don’t even hardly know myself?” In the short time they’d been lovers, what thrilled Lucas the most—even more than the sex between them and with Maddy—was the way Chase had of taking care of him.
“It’s a gift.”
Lucas laughed, and he heard the edge in the sound. The next moment, Chase’s hand touched his. The younger man stroked him then laced fingers with him. Lucas held on and felt solidarity in their connection, an element of warmth and safety Lucas hadn’t known he’d hungered for.
“I know because my heart tells me. Yes, I did take a long time to come home. You, Maddy, even the ranch—you were like the shining beacon in my past. The feelings I had for you seemed so huge, but I was afraid that, in my yearning, in my loneliness and my neediness, I’d built them up beyond reality. I feared you couldn’t—or wouldn’t—let me in.”
Lucas felt himself blanch as a terrible possibility crossed his mind. He believed he’d always kept his attraction to men buried. Now he worried if, somehow years ago, he’d said something, done something, he shouldn’t have. “You were only a kid. Did I—”
“Of course you didn’t. Lucas, you never said or did anything even remotely provocative. You never once betrayed your nature. That’s why it took so long for me to get up the nerve to come here. What if I’d only imagined what I’d sensed in you? What if I’d only imagined that Maddy might come to care for me, too?”
Lucas met his gaze and held it for a long time. “You’re my first,” he said slowly. “I didn’t want to admit even to myself that I felt attraction to both men and women. But there’ve been a couple of times in the past when I’ve met men I sensed might be interested in me. I could have become involved with them. I know it now, and I think I knew it then. I tuned them out. But with you, that option never even occurred to me.”
“So maybe we’ve both found our place,” Chase said quietly.
“God, I hope so.” Lucas closed his eyes for one moment. More than anything, he wanted to hang on to this feeling of belonging that had begun to fill him since the afternoon Chase had knocked on his screen door.
When he opened his eyes again, he offered Chase a smile. “The sooner we can get things done, the sooner we can get home. Maybe we can talk Maddy into playing. Or maybe we can steal a little time to ourselves.”
“My thoughts, exactly. But we have to swing by the post office. There should be a package there for me.”
“Oh yeah?” Lucas got out of the truck and looked over at Chase, whose Cheshire-cat grin made him smile in turn.
“Yeah. I ordered a few toys—items designed to liven things up in the bedroom for us all.”
“Things get much livelier in the bedroom and I may die of a heart attack.”
It pleased Lucas enormously that he could make Chase laugh.
* * * *
Arabella, a two year old chestnut filly, could be a handful. Maddy had bought her dam Annabel at auction, one of only four horses she’d purchased in the first year she branched out into the horse business.
Maddy’s father had been a cattleman through and through, and proud of it. But Maddy didn’t judge the future of beef to be all that sound. One of the problems was BSE—otherwise known as mad cow disease—popping up with enough regularity that anyone whose entire livelihood came from beef cattle took one hell of a chance. Not so likely, really, that any of her cattle would be struck with that disease; but any outbreak in the United States, even if only one or two cows and hundreds of miles away, could tighten the market right up for everyone. So three years ago Maddy had decided to diversify and implement a horse breeding program as a way of supplementing the cattle income for the ranch.
Arabella balked at the paces Maddy tried to teach her. She’d much rather just run wild than learn how to take direction. Maddy couldn’t really blame her, but she held firm to the reins, and waited the fractious mare out. Her horse breeding program had begun to do well. She had three mares and one gelding ready to show some prospective buyers next week, and another potential customer had shown interest in Arabella. Snagging that business would be a real coup for her.
The Lassiters from over near Barstow wanted to add to their cutting stock. They’d already begun making a name for themselves at the futurities. A few good customers like them would go a long way toward giving Maddy the credentials she needed to become a known name in breeding circles. Arabella had excellent blood lines. Her dam and sire had both been champions. Maddy again waited for the filly to obey commands. The Lassiters—if they bought Arabella—would want to saddle train her themselves, and then train her for cutting. But the horse still had to be amenable to being led.
There existed a good market for cutters and saddle horses. Her father had never fully approved, but she loved working with the horses. Why shouldn’t she earn her living by doing what she loved rather than by what had always been traditional?
Traditional. There’s an interesting word. At the moment, her personal life could be called anything but traditional. She was having a flaming hot affair with two men at the same time. Two men who were also having a flaming hot affair with each other.
Some moments Maddy had trouble getting her head around the entire situation. And then there came the other moments—not just times when they lay sprawled naked together, sated and teetering on the edge of sleep—but times when the three of them just shared the evening paper on the front porch, or had their morning coffee together, that she thought she might be the luckiest woman in the world.
She’d sent her men off to Gunnison. It was difficult for them to find time to be alone together. She very much wanted to afford them the opportunity to do just that. Both Lucas and Chase wanted to be discreet. Maddy sensed that Chase would be perfectly comfortable if his relationship with Lucas became known, but she suspected Lucas wasn’t quite there yet. She knew Chase was his first male lover.
She hadn’t told either of her men, but she’d already resolved if anyone on her ranch gave them grief, that sorry s.o.b. would be sent packing. She had no tolerance for hate or discrimination of any kind.
The sound of tires on dirt caught her attention, and she looked over her shoulder. Damn it. She would have thought after the blistering response she’d given his e-mail request to meet last Sunday that Kevin Marsh would have gotten the message that she had no interest in having any contact with him at all.
If he thinks I’m going to drop everything for him, he has another think coming. She continued to work with the mare, though both she and the horse knew it wasn’t as serious a session as it had been only a few moments before.
“That horse would obey you better if you took a crop to it.”
If he’d been looking for words that would piss her off, he couldn’t have chosen better. “Now that is exactly the kind of thing I would expect you to say, Marsh. Why don’t you just go to hell? And get off my land, while you’re at it.”
“You want to be careful how you respond to me, Maddy. Our life together will run much more smoothly once you learn your place. That’s something I think I’m going to enjoy teaching you. And I won’t hesitate to use a crop in the teaching. Or my belt. Matter of fact, I think I’m looking forward to that part.”
Maddy felt a shiver along her skin. Despite the fact that she had absolute faith in her ability to take care of herself, she wished for one moment that her two men had returned from the city. Hell, she wished the rest of her crew were within ear-shot. Not the time to give in to skittishness. The first lesson she’d ever learned in dealing with untrained animals she applied now. Never show your fear.
She turned around, keeping her hold on the horse. “Damn, Kevin. You’ve gone right loco if you think for one moment that you and I are going to have any kind of life together.”
“I think you’re going to change your m
ind. I truly do. Because if you don’t, why, your life is going to become a real living hell for you. With my help of course.”
She hadn’t seen the large manila envelope in his hands. Now he raised it and pulled out the contents. She could tell just by the look of what he held he had a photograph of some sort. Oh God. Her heart thudded in her chest as she wondered if this slime-bucket had somehow snuck onto her land last Sunday…she swallowed hard, determined to appear unmoved.
“Met a man last Saturday night all the way over in Colorado Springs,” he began slowly.
Maddy frowned. Colorado Springs?
“Man by the name of Neil Crawford,” Marsh continued. “Doesn’t ring any bells, does it? That’s because you never met him. You are, however, acquainted with an employee of one of his business competitors. And as luck would have it—my good luck, and your bad luck, in my opinion—Mr. Crawford had engaged in video surveillance of his competition. He set his rival up for a police sting. Turned out pretty good for him, by the way. State cops moved in, cleared out the other guy’s organization.”
Maddy had begun to relax when she realized that Marsh hadn’t stooped to the lowest form of voyeurism. But as he’d continued to speak, her heart began hammering in her chest again in slow, painful beats.
“The State’s Attorney General gave a news conference, actually, about the successful sting operation the state police conducted. He’s quite proud of getting hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal substances off the streets. And he’s vowed—and it’s very handy that this just happens to be an election year—to make sure the ‘mop up operation’ is thorough and complete. I find him to be a self-righteous son-of-a-bitch, personally. But that won’t prevent me from sending this photograph to him, and the local news outlets, with all the pertinent data, such as your name and address. Only one thing will prevent me from doing that, and it’s all up to you.”
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