Tangled in Divine [Divine Creek Ranch 14] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Heather Rainier

  “Oh, yes! Here it comes.” She whimpered and raised her hands to grip the rails of the headboard as he thrust deep and then she wailed again as her orgasm milked his cock with hot, gripping contractions and nearly cost him his control.

  As her shuddering breaths quieted, he slowed his strokes and slid his arm under her shoulder and rolled her to her right side so that she was clasped against him and still impaled on his cock, completely at his mercy and his whims. Now that she was satisfied, all he wanted was to make love to her slowly, bring her to the sweetest orgasm she’d ever experienced, and give her one more reason to stay.

  She panted against his chest and stared into his eyes as he lifted her left thigh against his ribs and pulled nearly all the way out and slowly slid all the way back in. The sound she made told him he was right on track. He cradled her head in the crook of his arm and continued to look into her eyes as he fucked her slow and easy. She bit her lip and tears spilled from her eyes, but she never looked away from him. The tension within her built up like a storm growing until it reached gale-force proportions and she held tight to him, still looking into his eyes. Every inhibition within him ceased to exist in his need to please her. He was helpless but to give her the one thing he held in reserve.

  “I love you, Gwen.”

  Her panting signaled her release a split second before she cried out as though in agony. Her hot, silken cunt went slick around him and his frenzied howl matched her in volume as he slid even deeper within her, giving her that final inch that he was often afraid might be too much. He thrust again and again, unable to hold any part of him back until the climax exploded from him in searing bursts that were excruciatingly intense. He saw stars as he tried to catch his breath, and pressed kisses to her damp cheeks, and tasted the salt of her tears.

  With the aftershocks of his orgasm still rocking him, he lifted his head and looked into her eyes. Her lips were swollen and hot as she lifted her chin and kissed him, stroking his cheek and the back of his head. He released her lips to let her catch her breath and just gazed into her pretty, flushed face.

  She brushed a fingertip over his lower lip and more tears ran from the outer corners of her eyes as she looked deeply into his eyes. “I love you too, Chris.” It wasn’t until she traced her fingers over his cheeks that he realized tears were streaming from his eyes as well.

  He hadn’t cried since he was a child, when his brothers had finally taught him that men didn’t cry. He buried his face in her neck and fought the sob that shook him for all he was worth.

  When he’d regained control, he said, “How can I let you leave, knowing how temperamental your truck is, knowing you’ll be alone without someone else there to protect you and take care of you? How can I let you leave when I love you more than any woman I’ve ever known?”

  She looked up at him and her voice was shaky and hoarse. “I don’t think I can let you go, Chris. Either of you. I love you so much it’s killing me.”

  “I wish there was something I could do to help you. If it was possible, I’d leave Divine and follow you, on the rodeo circuit and to Colorado. I could help you on the ranch.”

  She placed her fingertips over his lips. “I know you have a commitment here that you can’t break. You’re an honorable man and I respect that about you. And, Chris, I’m not even sure I’ll have a place in Colorado to go to.”

  A tiny spark of hope lit inside him. “Great, then you can stay here. Julián and I are thinking of buying this place from Wilbur. If we do, you can live here with us. Train horses and their riders.”

  Gwen rested her head on his shoulder and moaned as he reluctantly withdrew his cock before he hardened again. She needed to rest. “I don’t know what to think, what to hope, or what to do anymore.”

  Realizing this might only add to the anxiety she already felt, he stroked her back and said, “We’ll sleep on it and see what happens tomorrow. Maybe we’ll hear from Julián too.”

  “I’m curious what took him out of town.”

  “Don’t know. I don’t think he’d have gone unless it was really important.”

  “You don’t think he’s trying to help…with the auctions I mean. Roger and his rancher friends are rolling in money from oil investments and he’s really competitive. I’m worried.” Chris smiled at her unspoken concern that Julián didn’t have what it took to swim with the sharks because Chris knew he did. Thinking about the possibility, he grew a little more hopeful but didn’t say anything else about it.

  She kissed him and said, “We’re going to lose sleep worrying over this. Surely we’ll know something in the morning.”

  “I’m sure we will.” Chris squeezed her and grinned. “And don’t call me Shirley.”

  Gwen raised her head and looked at him, smiled and chuckled before she laid her head back on his chest and squeezed him hard.

  I love you too, darlin’.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Gwen waved at Wilbur as he drove up the driveway with a big smile on his face and pulled his truck to a stop near the barn. When he climbed from the vehicle he looked like a new man, tanned and refreshed, as though he’d just come from a life-changing experience. He even appeared younger.

  “Welcome home, Wilbur,” she said as she held out her hand. “Brazil must’ve agreed with you.”

  Wilbur smiled and nodded. “It was incredible. I’m definitely planning on going back. My daughter got me set up with the right people and I helped to do some rebuilding on a hospital and helped to build a clinic in a rural community. It was…amazing. The people—I don’t know what I expected but the people were so welcoming. Heck, I could go on and on about it, Gwen.”

  He looked around the backyard and took in the view from the hilltop on all sides.

  Softly, he said, “This place needed you.” They took a walk around and she filled him in on all the happenings, and then they went out to the back pasture and she called Tutti who came running like her tail was set on fire.

  Wilbur scoffed and chuckled. “Well now, that’s a change right there.”

  “What do you mean?” She smiled at him as she put on the halter and attached the lead rope to Tutti without her moving an inch.

  “And there’s another. Care to share with me how her barrel racing training is coming?”

  Gwen grinned, so happy that Wilbur was pleased with things so far. “You don’t have to ask us twice. We haven’t had our session yet this morning. Let me get her saddled.”

  “I can’t believe she came to you so easily. She’s always been a bit tricky for me once she’s out in the pasture, especially this bigger one.”

  “Doesn’t want to come out?”

  “You got it.”

  “Tutti likes her running room, that’s for sure. I’ve just been riding, training, and caring for her on a schedule. Once she understood that I’m dependable and consistent, she agreed that I’m the boss…or at least I was, I think…”

  Wilbur turned a curious eye on her as they walked into the barn to the tack room. She tied Tutti’s lead rope off. “You heard about your horse yet?”

  “Not yet and it’s starting to worry me.”

  “Well, don’t let it, at least as far as you going out on the road is concerned. The offer of Tutti and her trailer still stands, sweetie. You’ve taken damn good care of this place, even gone above and beyond,” he added as he inspected the inside of the pristine barn. “There’s not a hair out of place in here. You put me to shame and I’m a stickler for cleanliness.”

  Gwen nodded. “Me too.”

  With the horse saddled, she led her through to the small arena outside the back of the barn, pleased that Tutti never pushed Wilbur once the whole time they talked as they slowly walked into the enclosure. Wilbur repositioned the barrels for her while she warmed Tutti up and then took her through several runs.

  Tutti seemed to know that she was being observed and maybe the competitive spirit in her wanted to show what she was capable of. She moved with Gwen like they were joined togeth
er, lending her energy and her willingness to the challenge. Looking very pleased, Wilbur came out into the arena again as Gwen cooled Tutti down and then took her back into the barn to comb and brush her down. Tutti’s coat gleamed with good health and proper care.

  Wilbur ran his hand along Tutti’s neck and chest then put his right shoulder against her left foreleg and leaned just a tad against her as he grasped her ankle. She willingly lifted her hoof for inspection and Wilbur gave it a thorough going-over. He quietly moved in a counterclockwise pattern, checking each hoof while Gwen waited.

  When he was finished, she asked, “How do they look? As good as you expected?”

  Wilbur chewed his lip for a second, removed his hat to rub his forehead, and then put the hat back on his head. He gestured with his thumb at the horse. “Never once have I been able to get her to willingly let me check her hooves, much less let me clean them.”

  Gwen blushed with pleasure at his slightly awed tone. “I never gave her the option. It’s part of what I do for any horse in my care. I’ll bet she’s cost you a mint in farrier bills just for simple checks, hasn’t she?”

  Wilbur whistled and Tutti’s ears pricked for a moment. “You have no idea, Gwen.”

  “The last two months with her have been good months. She already had a solid foundation that I could work with. Her main issue, in the beginning, was accepting that if we were a ‘herd of two’—just she and I—then I was going to be the one in control. She’s a good follower. She just prefers strong leadership from someone she trusts. And you were right. She needs—wants to be ridden every day.”

  Wilbur scratched his chin and said, “That’s understandable. Me with this bum knee,” he said, patting his knee. “I don’t know what I’m gonna do.”

  Gwen grinned at his persuasive tone. There was nothing at all wrong with his knee. He was just matchmaking. “I hope to hear something soon about Zephyr, and I promise to let you know when I do. Chris tells me that he and Julián are considering your place. They both know what they’re doing where horses are concerned, and I know they’d take good care of her if you sold Tutti along with the ranch.” They both know what they’re doing where a lot of things are concerned.

  “Any chance you might consider staying on too?” he asked gently.

  “That phone call I’m waiting on will determine a lot of things.”

  “Well, I guess I’d better get my luggage in and settle up your pay with you.”

  While he took care of what he needed to do, Gwen carried her luggage from her bedroom down to her truck and loaded everything. Her horse trailer and all of her personal belongings were already stored in the barn at the Cooks’ ranch. Julián and Chris had convinced her to leave everything in the area set aside for their storage space in the barn until she was settled and finally had a place of her own for everything.

  She walked out to the barn and picked up Tutti’s body brush again, wondering for the hundredth time why Roger hadn’t called, and angered because he’d made it patently clear that she was to wait for his call.

  Tutti shifted suddenly, a little spooked, and Gwen chided herself on bringing those feelings in the paddock with her. She spoke soothingly to the horse and tied off her lead rope before she began brushing her again, just for something to do. Tutti enjoyed the attention, and that was where Wilbur found her several minutes later.

  He handed her the final paycheck, which included a hefty bonus for her hard work and what she’d accomplished with Tutti. Gwen was so thrilled she hugged him and then blushed.

  “Thank you, Wilbur. Every bit will help.”

  “You’re welcome. And you let me know about Tutti.”

  “I will. I’m heading next door now.”

  “All righty then.”

  Unsettling emotion welled inside her as she took Tutti’s halter and lead rope off, patted her, and went back in through her stall to the tack room and put everything up. She might very well be walking away from Tutti for the last time. She would be leaving the two men she adored for a year that seemed like forever, and might well turn out to be. There was no way she could look forward to it now, even if it meant getting the ranch back, which brought Roger to mind again.

  Anger filled her as she fished the keys from her jeans pocket and climbed into the driver’s seat of her truck. The dusty scent of it. The worn palm prints in the steering wheel. The faded decal on the shifter. It was all so familiar to her but what she faced was a wide, gaping void of unknown. She drove the short distance next door and took her phone out of her pocket as she walked in the house Chris and Julián shared. She wasn’t going to be put off any longer.

  She smiled as she looked around and realized Chris had spent time cleaning that morning. Everything smelled fresh and it didn’t look quite as much like bachelor heaven, except for the gigantic eighty-inch flat-screen television hanging on the wall in the living room.

  She swiped at Roger’s number on the screen of her phone to call him as she noticed the heart-shaped note Chris had left on the bar. She saw the scissors on the bar and realized he’d cut it that way on purpose. What a romantic man.

  Hey Elmer,

  Gone to the store for groceries. I’m making you my specialty tonight.

  Love, your woobie

  She crushed the note to her chest with a smile. How could any woman not love him? And her stomach was happy about his note too. She’d discovered that Chris had quite a repertoire of gourmet Italian cuisine that he’d plied her with regularly during her stay. He was making his Grannie’s sausage and spinach ravioli in sage butter. Just the thought made her mouth water.

  The call connected and she was jerked back to the present moment with sudden clarity. The reminder of the conversation she was about to have, if he answered, was enough to snuff out her warm fuzzy. She slid the note in her back pocket.

  “Hello.”

  A tingle raced up her spine at Roger’s neutral, cold tone. Oh no.

  “Roger, this is Gwen.”

  “Hello, Gwen. Hold on for a moment, I was in a meeting.” His tone reminded her that he’d told her that he would be calling her, not the other way around. After a brief muffled conversation, it sounded as though Roger changed locations and closed a door. “There. Now we can talk.”

  Gwen bit her tongue and tried to breathe slowly. “Can you please tell me what’s happened, Roger? I’ve been waiting since yesterday afternoon.”

  “Sorry, darlin’. I was called away on business this morning. The auction didn’t go through.”

  “Didn’t go through?” The blood drained from her head and she had to sit down or fall down. Whatever that meant, it didn’t sound like a good thing.

  “I wasn’t able to win your ranch back for you. There was a bidding war. I was outbid. My heart just wasn’t in it, I suppose.”

  How unspeakably cruel he was, turning her words against her like that.

  A deep, painful void opened in her chest. The Bucking H was gone. For good. “Where’s Dad?”

  “I’m not sure. He has a place in town now.” That must’ve been a new development because he had been staying with Roger. He’d said it coldly like he didn’t care where her father was.

  “Did you do this to get even with me?”

  “Auctions are tricky things. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.” Roger cleared his throat. “Life goes on. Adults learn to compromise, darlin’.”

  If he calls me that again, I’m driving up there and ripping his throat out.

  “I do, however, have your horse.” His gloating tone sent a rivulet of fear up her spine.

  She did her best to not sound worried. “You do?”

  “Mmm-hmm. Yes. And at the moment she’s tying up quite a little chunk of change and I want you to come and get her.”

  “Fine. I can be there next week.”

  “No. This time it’s on my terms. You humiliated me in front of those ranch hands and your father. I can have any number of women at my beck and call in ten counties, but I drove through the night
to see you and bring you home—and you refused my generous offer.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “You have forty-eight hours to get to my ranch. If you’re not there by one o’clock on Sunday afternoon, she goes to the processors, to be butchered and made into dog food.”

  “I’ll be there.” I don’t know how in hell but I’ll be there. Then another thought occurred to her that made her go cold. She didn’t have enough money to pay for Zephyr and there was no way he intended to just give her to Gwen.

  “And Gwen. I’ll expect payment.”

  “You can have every dime I earned in the last two months, plus my savings and all the cash I have. Please don’t kill her.” She hated the pleading tone in her voice but she’d beg for Zephyr if she had to. He had her right where he wanted her.

  “I’m not interested in your money, darlin’. When you get here I’ll show you exactly what my terms are and you’ll put out exactly as requested. Once I’m well satisfied and finished with you, you’ll be allowed to take your horse and go. See you at one o’clock on Sunday. The anticipation almost makes the hassle of the last two months worth it.” The line went dead.

  “Bastard.”

  She started to dial Chris’s number and then stopped. There was no way they’d let her drive to Colorado knowing what Roger’s terms were. If she were in their shoes, she wouldn’t let her either. But they didn’t know Zephyr. They didn’t love Zephyr like she did. They couldn’t understand. Instead of calling Chris, she pulled out a piece of the same note paper Chris used. With shaky hands, she wrote her message explaining that Roger had Zephyr, that she had to arrive by Sunday to claim her or Roger would send her to the processors. It would be a horrible way for such a beautiful, valuable animal to die but that was evidently just how ruthless Roger could be in business dealings.

  Why didn’t I see it before?

  Because I trusted Dad to know a snake in the grass when he saw one.

  She could barely think as she ran out of space on the note and finally just signed it and ran out the door with keys in hand. She stopped, ran back inside, packed a lunch, a snack, and made an extra sandwich because she’d be in the middle of West Texas by the time supper rolled around. It was a bad idea to assume there would be a decent place to eat open whenever she rolled through. She also packed fruit and a cereal bar for the following morning because the stretch of Southern New Mexico she’d be driving north through would be pretty sparsely populated too.