Special Cowboy Menage Collection

by Morgan Ashbury

  “Why are you doing this?”

  “Money. And payback. The Kellers have lots of the first and they’re going to get a good helping of the second. Take the next exit, go right. We’ll be at the Murchison place in about half an hour…which should be about a half an hour before your lovers arrive on the scene.”

  He gave her an appraisal that made her flesh crawl. Reaching toward her, he put his left hand on her leg and began to slide it upward, toward her crotch.

  “Think we can find something to kill the time while we wait of them?”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  James kept one hand braced on the dashboard while the other pressed his cell phone to his ear. Thompson had called them at the Ranch as soon as he’d gotten word from the State Police that Derek had forced Tabitha into his car in Carson City.

  He and Jonathan had immediately taken to the road, heading south. They’d been driving for nearly forty minutes. He couldn’t explain why they both felt every minute was vital. That sense of deep dread that always before had only come when his twin was in danger churned his guts and liquefied his bowels. He knew without asking Jonathan was experiencing the exact same thing.

  If Derek Hamilton laid a hand on their woman he was a dead man.

  “The Murchison Place? Yeah, we know the place he means. We’re not far from there now.”

  “No more than twenty minutes,” Jonathan said.

  “You need to know, Pete. Anything he wants—anything at all, he’s got it. We’ll pay any price to keep Tabitha safe.”

  “James, I told your brother, and I’m telling you. No hero shit.”

  “Yeah, Jonathan told me about your conversation. Thing is, the situation changed the minute he took our woman. He knows it, too. The fact that she is ours is why she’s in danger right now. If you’re right, if his goal is to hurt us or strike back over some imagined wrong, then he’s scored a big one. Our only goal is getting Tabitha away from him. Nothing else matters. Nothing.”

  “Now you listen to me, James Keller. The State boys have Derek in their sights. They’re holding back so he won’t panic, but they have him. I’ve just been handed a note. There’s a rise about a quarter of a mile from the meeting area. There’ll be a tactical team in place about ten minutes after he arrives.”

  “And we’ll be on the scene before that.” James closed his cell phone then turned it off.

  “She’s terrified out of her wits.” Jonathan’s pronouncement conveyed the same fury and fear burning within James.

  “I know.”

  Time had never moved more slowly. All James could think about was getting to Tabitha. He knew his brother felt the same way.

  “We’ll make it.” Jonathan’s words echoed in the truck.

  “Yes, we’ll make it.”

  Soon Jonathan was taking a side road, one that dwindled to a dusty track. James shot his brother a smile. “I’d forgotten this back way.”

  “Remember the time we borrowed dad’s Oldsmobile and tried to drive this track?”

  “Yeah. I remember that we got stuck because it had actually rained for the first time in more than a month and the ground turned to mud.”

  “We’re nearly there,” Jonathan said.

  “We used to come out here when we were kids. Remember? What could be more fun for a bunch of teenagers? A deserted house with a swimming pond in back.”

  “Heard the pond finally dried up a few years ago.”

  “That’s a shame. We saw our first naked female by that pond.”

  “Miranda Anderson,” Jonathan said.

  James knew he and his brother had been using empty conversation to keep their emotions from boiling over. The land sloped upwards, a gentle rise similar to the one they’d taken Tabitha over the day they’d shown her the horses for the first time.

  He thought of her and her love for those untamed creatures. He thought of her naked and needy, lying between him and Jonathan, loving them both.

  And he thought of how she’d been in his arms last night, how hot and giving.

  “I’ll give my life to keep her safe.” The words emerged, whether as some sort of premonition, or just a declaration of his feelings, he didn’t know.

  When he looked at his brother, Jonathan’s expression turned haggard and hard.

  “I know.”

  They fell silent, words unnecessary. Jonathan continued to navigate the truck over the rutted trail, the ride rougher than James remembered. They crested the rise, and there, ahead of them was the hollowed out place where the pond used to be and, beyond it, the deserted house.

  “We told Pete twenty minutes. That was closer to fifteen.”

  “Yeah. If we’re lucky we beat that bastard here.”

  Jonathan brought the truck to a stop, and they both flung open their doors.

  The sound of a gunshot followed by a feminine scream exploded from the front of the house.

  * * * *

  “Pull the car up to within ten feet of that tree there.”

  Tabitha’s nerves were stretched tight. Terror had spread a film of perspiration on her skin. She thought her stomach might be permanently soured.

  She brought the car to a stop. Still holding onto scant hope that she could get herself out of this mess, she kept her foot on the brake, but didn’t shift the car out of gear.

  Hamilton had been sporadically rambling, his conversations with himself sounding like the litany of a petulant child. There’d been no spot on the road where she thought she might have been able to drive erratically and escape. No convenient cliffs to drive toward, jumping out of the car at the last moment. She’d been too terrified, really, to think of any kind of a concrete plan to save herself.

  He seemed to be staring at the house before them, as if he was in a little world of his own, as if he’d forgotten her. Boards nailed up where she knew windows should be clued her in that the place was deserted. Now if he would just get out of the car, she’d floor it and be out of there.

  Hamilton opened the door. Then he turned and gave her a really nasty smile.

  Leveling the gun at her he said, “Put it in park.”

  Tabitha’s heart sank as she obeyed. He reached forward, snagged the keys out of the ignition.

  “Now we’re getting out, and we’re going to have some fun. So slide that little ass of yours on over here.”

  How far back were the cops that had been following them? She knew that once they were contacted, James and Jonathan would be on their way. How long until they got here? Swallowing convulsively, she began to slide toward Hamilton. She hoped to God this was all over before they arrived. She was filled with equal parts hope and dread at the thought that James and Jonathan might actually show up here.

  Derek Hamilton hated her men. If he saw them, he might very well try to kill them.

  Her men.

  She was nearly out of the car when he yanked her arm hard, pulling her the rest of the way. Stumbling, she fell to the ground.

  “Get up.”

  He stood back a bit, giving her room to move. The moment she was on her feet, he grabbed her and shoved her against the front fender of the car.

  “That first time I met you, I thought you were a really nice lady. Thought I wouldn’t mind getting to know you a little bit better. But you’re no lady, are you?” He reached out and grabbed her right breast and squeezed hard.

  Tabitha snapped. Screaming, she lashed out, fighting back mindlessly, frantically. Arms swinging, hands clawing, feet kicking, she went at Derek Hamilton. The gun dropped from his hand as he seemed to focus on fending her off.

  A vicious backhand caught the side of her face, and the force of the blow shoved her back against the car.

  Her cheek stung, her eyes watered, and she fought off the urge to cry. Derek grabbed her, spinning her around and slamming her hard against the car. She struggled to breathe even as he wrenched her arms behind her back. The sound of clanging metal preceded the sensation of cold steel being snapped around her wrists.

&nb
sp; “Bitch. You’ll pay for that.”

  Leaning against the car, she drew in one deep breath, and then another. She squeaked when he hauled her up, over his shoulder. He carried her to the rear of the car. When he opened the trunk, she thought he was going to dump her in it. But he grabbed something out of it, then carried her away from the vehicle.

  She fought dizziness when he swung her off his shoulder, turned her around, and laid her belly down on the ground.

  She had no idea what he was doing, the sounds both foreign and ominous. Hamilton huffed a breath an instant before she heard a wisp, like the air being sliced by something, followed by a tap, and then a slither.

  She felt him kneel beside her, felt his touch on the handcuffs he’d so recently slapped on her. Her arms fell to her sides when the lock released, but her freedom was short lived. Quick as a heartbeat, he pulled her arms over her head, refastened the cuffs.

  She froze when he looped rope through the short chain and tied it.

  “I heard you like this game.”

  His words made no sense until he stepped back and pulled her to her feet. Then, as she watched, he grabbed the other end of the rope and began to pull.

  Images from an afternoon spent with her lovers flashed through her mind, and in that moment she hated this man with a passion. He was going to take a beautiful memory and make it ugly.

  Arms yanked high over her head, the steel of the handcuffs cut into her wrists as some of her weight was taken by them and the rope. Her toes barely reached the ground.

  He stood before her, sweating, breathing heavy. The look in his eyes terrified her. He reached forward, tore open her blouse.

  “Nice. How accommodating of you.”

  She’d donned a front-closure bra after her shower that morning. Regretting it now, she felt her face color when Hamilton opened it, when he gazed at her naked breasts.

  “You didn’t like me touching your tit a minute ago, you’re going to hate this.”

  She cringed, the feel of his hands on her flesh, squeezing, pulling, churned nausea deep in her belly.

  “Now.”

  He stepped back from her, and she saw that he’d retrieved his weapon, had tucked it into the waist of his pants while he’d tied her.

  “Maybe I’ll fuck you before your boyfriends get here. Maybe I’ll just shoot you. Oh, nothing serious. Just an arm. Or a leg. What do you think?”

  Oh God, he was going to rape her and kill her. Beyond the fear, beyond the loathing, one regret emerged, larger than any other.

  She’d never told her men that she loved them.

  His evil smile added to her terror. Then pointing his gun, he fired.

  Tabitha screamed. The shot went wide, splitting wood from the tree, sending shards of it flying. One hit the back of her neck, stinging her.

  “Hamilton! Stop!”

  He turned to face the two men who’d rounded the house and were even now running forward.

  Derek aimed his gun toward them.

  “No!” Tabitha’s world began to dissolve as she watched the two men she loved rushing headlong into danger.

  “Stop right there!” Hamilton screamed, then swung the gun wildly toward Tabitha. “I’ll kill the whore right now!”

  “No!”

  James stepped forward, his hands out in a placating gesture. “No, don’t hurt her. Please don’t hurt her.”

  Jonathan seemed to be limping. As they drew nearer, they increased the distance between them.

  “You don’t care about her,” Jonathan said, drawing Derek’s attention. “It’s us you want. Leave her be.”

  “Stop. Don’t come any closer!”

  Both men stopped, and Derek swung his gun between the three of them, clearly confused as to who he wanted to shoot first.

  “It’s Jonathan and me you want,” James said. “Let Tabitha go. You can have us instead. We won’t fight you. We swear it. You know we’re men of our word. Just let the lady go.”

  “Liars and cheats! That’s what you are. It’s in the blood. Wilhelm cheated Orville. Liars and cheats.”

  “What do you want, Derek? Just tell us what you want, and you’ll have it. But you have to let Tabitha go.”

  “You think I believe that? That you’d give me anything for her? She’s just a whore.”

  “She’s not,” James said darkly. “She’s not. And we’ll give you anything at all that you want, because we love her.”

  “So just name it, Derek. Name it and it’s yours.”

  “You need to kill someone? Kill me. Whatever you want. Just let her go.” James’s words thrilled and terrified her at the same time.

  Hamilton shook his head as if trying to make sense of everything. When he looked at her, Tabitha saw the madness in his eyes.

  “You’ll confess it. In the paper. That your great-grandfather cheated mine, that the land and the wealth was supposed to be mine!”

  “We will,” Jonathan said, his usual quiet voice sounding strong. “What else? You’re going to need money. And you’re going to need an escape route, and a hostage. We can get you all that. You know that either James or I would make a better hostage than Tabitha. Isn’t that one of the things that you hate most about us? That we’re so rich and important? The cops wouldn’t dare make a move against you if you held one of us.”

  Tabitha noted that every time Derek looked at one brother, or her, the other took a tiny step closer. Now, James was within five feet of the deranged deputy.

  Tabitha tested the strength of the rope holding her. She lifted her feet right off the ground. Satisfaction zinged through her, the rope held.

  “Yeah. Yeah.” He took a step closer to Tabitha, waving his gun in her direction. He turned his head toward James and said, “But maybe I’ll kill the whore just to make you suffer, first.”

  “If you do, you’ll get nothing.” James’s voice was hard, angry.

  “Fuck you,” Derek said, and started to turn toward Tabitha.

  Tabitha lifted her legs together and swung them up, fast and hard, connecting with Hamilton’s right arm, knocking it and the gun up and away from her.

  James launched himself, hitting the man mid section, tackling him into the ground. Jonathan hobbled forward and kicked the gun out of Derek’s fingers. Derek tried to fight back, but James brought his fist down hard on the man’s face. As Tabitha watched, Hamilton’s eyes rolled back and his body went limp.

  “Shit, he’s more of a wuss than Ego Ed,” Jonathan said disgustedly. “You knocked him out with one punch.”

  “I’m not so certain. He might be playing possum.” James hit him again, his second punch resulting in a sickening crack. Blood trickled out from Hamilton’s nose.

  Jonathan came over to her, his expression so filled with love it nearly broke Tabitha’s heart. She felt her body shaking and her vision blurred.

  Jonathan pulled something out of his pants pocket—a Swiss Army knife—and reaching up, sliced the rope. He caught her in his arms, hugging her tight. She collapsed against him and disgusted herself completely by bursting into tears.

  “Shh. It’s all right, darlin’. We have you. Everything’s going to be all right. Don’t cry. I love you.”

  “Here,” James had retrieved the key to the handcuffs. In seconds he had them unlocked. He rubbed her wrists, then brought them to his lips, kissing each in turn. Jonathan relinquished her, and James gathered her in.

  “In case you weren’t paying attention, Tabitha, we both love you.”

  Sirens screamed in the distance, drawing closer. Overhead a helicopter approached, and hovered for a moment over them before moving off slightly to the south and setting down.

  She wouldn’t let another moment go by. For a dreadful time she’d feared she wouldn’t have this chance. “I love you, too,” she managed through her tears. “Both of you.”

  “Then that’s all that matters,” Jonathan said.

  “You’re ours,” James said then. “And that, as I believe I said once before, is for keeps.”r />
  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Tabitha was glad when the last of the cops finally left.

  James and Jonathan had wanted to take her to the emergency room at Humboldt General, but she had refused. They’d come to a compromise; her men had taken her home and called their family doctor, who’d arrived at the Ranch nearly as soon as they did.

  Doc Jones prescribed ice for the shiner she was developing and aspirin for the pain.

  It was only after the doctor had left and she’d put on a clean shirt that they’d allowed the cops to question her. Jonathan and James took turns holding her as she recounted, again and again, the events that had taken place from the moment Hamilton had shown up at her office until he’d been knocked unconscious by James.

  The deputy was being held by the State Police, and it seemed likely he would have to undergo an extensive psychiatric evaluation.

  Her men had been simply wonderful, coddling her, taking care of her. Slowly, as she’d recounted the ordeal, as she’d relished the feel of their arms around her, her shaking had eased.

  As soon as the last cop car left—that of Peter Thompson, who unhappily was off to talk to Derek’s parents next—James scooped her up into his arms. Just then the phone rang.

  While Jonathan answered it, James simply settled her against his chest. She wound her arms around his neck, but her attention was on Jonathan.

  “Hello?” He listened for a moment, then looked at her and his brother with a funny expression on his face. “What did the man look like?” He listened some more, before breaking into a smile. “Really? Do you have any idea where they’re going?”

  Tabitha switched her gaze from Jonathan to James. For once, it seemed, one twin had no idea what the other was thinking.

  “Is that a fact? Well, thanks for calling. Yes, by all means wait until the plane takes off.” He hung up the phone, a huge smile on his face.

  “That was Williamson.”

  “Who is Williamson?” Tabitha asked.

  “Our chief of security at the casino,” James answered. “I had him keeping an eye on Phyllis just in case she decided to start trouble.”