Something was up with Julián and Chris, and Gwen wasn’t sure exactly what. Expecting that they’d want to hammer out what was going on between them after her woobie declaration, she’d been braced for anything that evening. But they’d swept her up into their arms the moment they’d walked in. They’d stopped long enough to fix supper together, kissing, teasing, and distracting her the whole time. Once they’d helped her get her evening chores done, they’d made her forget everything else. They’d brought her to orgasm so many times there had been no energy left for talking afterward.
Two weeks had gone by in much the same manner without them saying anything else on the subject. Not that she wasn’t a little relieved. She didn’t know how to explain herself. She’d stated in the beginning that their arrangement was temporary. She could blame her outburst on PMS or hormones or homesickness, but the truth was staring her in the face. She was in love.
Honestly, the fact that they’d not brought it up once was beginning to worry her. Had they resigned themselves to making the most of what remained of her time in Divine? That was what she’d wanted in the beginning, or so she’d thought. Now she wanted both. She wanted to be in Divine with them and she wanted what belonged to her in Colorado.
She frequently thought of Zephyr and prayed that she was being well cared for. She worried sometimes what she would find when she got Zephyr back, but she felt certain she would get her back. Hopefully whoever was boarding Zephyr knew how valuable she was.
When she walked in the door humming an Eric Church song, Tutti immediately nickered to her, making her smile.
“Hey, Tutti Frutti,” she murmured as she grabbed the currycomb and body brushes from the shelf in Tutti’s roomy stall. “I think you and I are both due for a spa day, girl.”
Tutti nickered and shook her head as Gwen started at her left shoulder, below her neck, and made swift work with the comb then repeated the process on her right side.
“I’m serious, later on today when it warms up, it’s you, me, and the wash rack, girlfriend. Wilbur’s daughter sweet-talked him into installing that water heater out here. The least we can do is put it to good use.”
Tutti sighed and Gwen chuckled. “Then it’s my turn. What do you think? Haircut? Highlights? Mani-pedi? Will you give me time off for that?” She’d noticed her hands in the shower the night before. The damage done during her trip through “the wilderness,” as she now referred to it, had healed but they still looked weathered. Owning horses was rough on the hands but that didn’t mean she didn’t care about looking like a girl.
She’d always carried on conversations with Zephyr, and Tutti seemed to enjoy the stimulation just as much. After she’d finished brushing the mare down, she opened the other door in the stall that led out to a paddock located next to a corral on the east side of the barn. Even with the benefit of having shade in the afternoon, the paddock boasted a roofed enclosure just outside the doorway. Tutti could come in out of the pasture, to which she also had easy access, if the weather turned foul or she needed shade from the blistering sun.
“Let me see to your stall and the livestock and then you and I are taking a run, girl.”
Tutti snorted softly and ambled out into the paddock to get some fresh air and wait while Gwen did her chores. Weather permitting, Gwen planned to allow Tutti to stay in the pasture, with access to the enclosure in the paddock so she could get her exercise and graze to her heart’s content. She’d seen the harm it did to a horse to spend too much time in a stall. Because Tutti was a relatively young mare and full of energy, it was even more important to give her room to breathe and be a horse.
During the course of the morning, Gwen found herself looking next door to the Cook Ranch, hoping for a glimpse of either Julián or Chris. One time she did see them and her heart lurched when they waved at her first. Maybe they were looking for her too?
Gwen had laughed and shook her head. They know you’re over here alone and they’re just watching out for you like they said they would. She’d considered inviting them over for lunch each day but thought better of it. She was taking them away from their home base often enough. She didn’t want to wear out her welcome with the Cooks by distracting their ranch hands too much.
With all the pertinent, but not necessarily pleasant chores done, Gwen went out to Tutti about midmorning and tied her lead rope off while she saddled her. She noticed when the mare shifted and her ears perked up. Trusting Tutti’s excellent hearing, Gwen patted her and went to see who her visitor was.
Her heart gave a lurch of the uncomfortable sort as she stopped in the barn doorway. The visitor was Hatch Dunlap and he’d brought his two buddies with him. Two thoughts occurred to her simultaneously.
Three against one. She stood a good chance of defending herself against one, possibly two men. But three? Not likely.
My handgun is still in the gun safe at Angel and Joaquin’s ranch. She’d just as soon shoot this rattlesnake of a man as spend time conversing with him as though he were a welcome guest.
During the weekend she’d spent with him in Laramie five years before, she’d realized she would look back on him someday as one of her big mistakes. He’d started out charming and complimentary but she’d found out firsthand that he was a jackass.
When he’d discovered that she actually had a brain in her head and could think for herself, he’d gotten angry and told her to shut up and look pretty. He’d wanted someone on his arm for the socializing after the rodeo, wanted to get laid, and wanted her to act like he hung the moon. The sex had been a no-go, for which she’d been grateful. He’d been so drunk that he’d fumbled around and ejaculated before they’d even gotten started and then had fallen asleep.
She’d counted her blessings and taken a long, hot shower while he’d snored away in her hotel room. Once her final event of the weekend was over, which she won, she’d returned to the hotel room, packed her stuff, and gotten the hell out of there without even saying good-bye. There was no good reason for him to come to Wilbur’s ranch.
“Why are you here, Hatch?” she asked, mentally inventorying the implements she could use for self-defense hanging on the wall inside the barn door. The only problem with any of the tools was that they could just as easily take them from her and use them on her. Wish I had my Taurus .38 Special. They wouldn’t be so quick to approach if she had it pointed at them.
Hatch leaned against his truck, taking in his surroundings with his beady eyes as his friends flanked him, arms crossed over their chests.
“Well, I thought my eyes were deceiving me when me and my buddies were out having a good time at that nightclub in Divine and I saw you. Then yesterday I saw you at the feed store in Divine. I asked the cashier and she was kind enough to fill me in on your whereabouts and what you’ve been up to, you naughty little cowgirl. Sounds like you’ve loosened up some since the last time we saw each other.”
“What exactly do you want, Hatch? I have a busy day ahead of me.” Gwen was beyond pissed and planned to call Mr. Cunningham and let him know that his employees were gossiping and sharing private information about his customers. Hell, who am I kidding? In a small town, everyone knows everyone else’s business.
“I just came around to say hello. I’ve learned a thing or two in the time that I’ve been here visiting. Divine’s a very…interesting town. I’m looking forward to hanging around and seeing just how interesting things can get.” He glanced at one of his friends and they shared a grin. They didn’t even bother hiding their erections, and real fear clawed in her belly, which she fought not to show.
“Where’s your girlfriend, Judith?”
Hatch made a disgusted sound and waved a hand like he was brushing away a pesky fly. “She’s around somewhere. Like a bad penny, she keeps showing up but she does have her uses.”
“Damned uncooperative is what she is,” one of the other men grumbled under his breath.
“That’s the other reason we stopped by, besides just bein’ friendly, Gwen. We were hoping
that since it sounds like you’ve embraced the Divine mindset that we might get together and have a little fun sometime, since we’ll be neighbors soon.”
The fact that he was referring to something that was precious to her both riled her and made her skin crawl. She knew why he and his friends were there. “What do you mean, we’ll be neighbors?”
Hatched tilted his head north toward the ranch that neighbored Wilbur’s on the other side from the Cooks’. “Gladys Dunlap is my aunt. She’s fixing to kick the bucket any day now and I’m her heir.”
Shit. Wonder if poor sweet Gladys knows how you talk about her.
“So, what do you think? Us four get together and have a little fun with you in the middle?”
“I’m in a committed relationship, Hatch. Even if I wasn’t, I don’t think we’d be…compatible.” She recalled all he wanted was a pretty cunt. He didn’t care about anybody else but himself. And with two more men who looked to be just like him, she could imagine the world of hurt an unwilling woman might be in in the middle of the three of them.
Hatch stepped away from the truck and sauntered toward her. “Aw, you never know. I think we’d manage just fine.” The fierce erection he was sporting told her that he wanted to find out right then. Her heart rate escalated as she backed into the barn. Which side is the pitchfork on?
“She said she’s not interested.”
Julián’s voice had never sounded so sweet in her ears.
“What’s it to you? Wait. You look familiar,” Hatch said as he squinted up at Julián.
She peeked out of the barn and was riveted by the sight of Julián who sat astride his enormous, solid black stallion, Mick. The Thoroughbred had to be all of seventeen hands high, and even he looked ready to do damage if any of the three men had made another move toward Gwen. Julián had one hand in his barn jacket pocket.
Julián stared at Hatch and smiled but there was no friendliness in his eyes. “Julián Alvarez.”
“This is between us and the lady, Alvarez. Doesn’t concern you at all.”
“Considering that she’s our woman, I think it does,” Chris said as he trotted up beside Julián mounted on a powerful-looking, solidly muscled quarter horse with a white star between its eyes. The horsewoman in Gwen noted that there must’ve been a draft horse somewhere in his lineage, given its bulky build. She blinked, thinking that she needed her head in the game while her men were outnumbered. Chris looked ready to do serious damage. If Hatch or his friends were armed, this situation could go bad fast.
Gwen stepped forward, being careful to inch in her men’s direction rather than place herself squarely between them. “As I said, Hatch. I’m in a committed relationship and I’m not interested.”
Once she stood between the two horses that Julián and Chris still sat on, Julián said, “Dunlap, I’d think twice about approaching defenseless women in this manner while you’re in town. You’re mistaken about how things work in Divine if you think the men of this community will tolerate you cornering and propositioning any of our women like that.”
Hatch’s face turned an ugly color. “You got no say in what I do.”
Chris pulled out his phone and started tapping the screen. “How ’bout we introduce you to someone who does, starting with the sheriff of Divine County. The lady isn’t interested in you and clearly doesn’t want you—or your friends—here.”
Hatch spit in the grass and turned on his heel as he glanced at Gwen. “See you around town, Gwen.”
Gwen heard a barely audible snapping sound and looked up at Chris.
He smiled down at her as Hatch started the engine on his older-model pickup truck, put it in gear, and sprayed gravel as he took off. “Got a shot of the truck and his license plate for Hank. You okay, darlin’?”
Holding her hands out for the two horses to sniff at her, Gwen finally released a shaky sigh as Hatch’s truck disappeared in a cloud of dust down the gravel driveway. “That was scary.” She looked from one to the other of them. “If you hadn’t been here, I don’t want to hazard a guess what would be happening right now.”
Chris softly growled and his horse shifted under him. “I’ll follow them out and lock the gate behind them.” He cantered down the driveway to do exactly that.
“If they’re determined, they’ll still get in,” she murmured, feeling very alone and vulnerable. They’d shattered the peace and tranquility of her stay on Wilbur’s beautiful spread.
Julián lifted his handgun from his pocket and put the safety on. “We should get your .38 back from Angel and let him know what happened so he can spread the word about those three.”
“Is there any chance I could’ve read that situation wrong?”
“That was no friendly ‘howdy-do’ house call, Gwen. They were ready for action. Your instincts are fine. One or both of us will be with you at night, every night.”
That made her happy and she smiled up at him as she stroked Mick’s neck. “Babysitting me?”
Julián gave her a sexy grin. “You’re no baby, love, and I want to do way more to you than sit with you.”
Her cunt throbbed and grew wet at the thought of what all he might do to her, especially since her men had agreed that she was nearly ready for a ménage. They’d teased her the night before, describing how they’d take her together, with Chris in her pussy and Julián in her ass. They’d practically set the sheets on fire with their fucking afterward.
“So you were watching out for me today?”
Julián nodded. “Yeah. Sound carries funny over this hill and we heard his truck when he was coming down the driveway. I was already mounted and called Chris who was at the house. I’m glad that someone had the notion to put in that gate between the ranches, otherwise I’d have jumped the pipe fence.”
“I wouldn’t want you to chance injuring Mick. He’s as beautiful up close as he is at a distance.”
Mick snorted as though disdaining both notions and she chuckled softly as she stroked his velvety muzzle, watching for any hint of teeth.
“He likes you,” Julián said in a husky drawl as he reached out to finger one of her windblown curls. “I’d love to take you in the barn right now.” Her cunt pulsed with excitement and she wished that he would. She knew she’d get the outdoor fucking of her life if he did, but they both had responsibilities.
“I left Tutti saddled in her paddock. I need to exercise her.”
“And we have work to finish too. But don’t worry. It’ll happen sooner or later. You been down to the creek yet?”
“Yes, the first day.”
“Good, the first warm day when there’s time, we’ll plan a picnic down there.” The heat in his eyes told her that sandwiches and ’tater salad wasn’t the only thing that was getting eaten on that picnic.
“I’ll bring the blanket.” She bit her lip as her eyes followed a path down his shirtfront to his waist and beyond. He was sexy as sin in his worn, red cotton Western shirt and his barn jacket. His Wranglers barely contained the bulging erection stretching toward his hip bone. The heat simmering inside of her spread through her body and made her want to forget her responsibilities if only for a few minutes.
“You keep looking at me like that and you’re going to get your wish, love.”
“Grace always tells me to seize the day.”
Julián growled softly and made to climb from his saddle, but his phone rang, interrupting him.
A moment later, he said, “I need to make a run into town with Del but Chris will be around. He’ll keep an eye on things over here for you.”
“He’ll never get any work done like that.”
“We’ve already been watching out for you since you took over for Wilbur, love. It’s not any different. But now that this has happened, you need your gun back from Angel. I’ll stop by and get it. In the meantime, can you whistle?”
“You mean a whistle that can be heard from over there?” she asked, pointing toward the Cooks’ place. She knew better than to demonstrate with Julián perche
d on Mick’s back standing right beside her. “Yes, I can. I’ve even had complaints.”
“Good. If you’re ever in trouble, you just give a whistle.”
“You may regret that when I bust your eardrums.”
“I’d rather you used every means available to stay safe.”
“Thank you. I’ll remember that.”
She stretched up on her tiptoes as he bent down and kissed her, and then maneuvered Mick away from her as Chris returned.
“Gate’s locked up tight as a drum. Can I have one of those?” Chris asked as he carefully drew near to her. When she smiled and puckered up for him, he surprised her by lifting her under her arms so she was eye level with him and kissed her until her heart and pussy fluttered with longing.
“You take my breath away, Chris.”
“Oh, am I squeezing you too tight?” he asked as he loosened his hold and rubbed the tip of her nose with his.
“Nuh-uh. You take my breath away with your kiss.”
Chris grinned. “There’s plenty more where that came from. See you this evening, Elmer Fudd. Holler if you need us.”
“I’ll give a whistle.”
* * * *
Chris and Julián made the short trek back to the Cook Ranch as the brisk wind whipped at their jackets. “This really is a beautiful place. Wilbur’s done a great job of maintaining it. So has Gwen.”
Julián looked back at the house on the gently sloping hill and caught a glimpse of Gwen’s golden hair before she disappeared back into the barn. Her voice carried on the breeze as she talked to Tutti, evidently preparing to take that ride she’d mentioned earlier. He’d go along with her if he wasn’t expected back next door momentarily.
He wondered what it would be like for that to be an option. He imagined a place—that place—with the three of them living there permanently. He questioned why he was torturing himself, going down that road, but either couldn’t help himself or didn’t want to.
Tangled in Divine [Divine Creek Ranch 14] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 25
