“I can smell the steak already,” Trav said. “We’ll be right there.”
“I could eat a whole steak,” Roger said.
“Good, there’s plenty for you,” she said and headed back to the kitchen. After a few more minutes, they joined her. They’d dressed in clean clothes and looked refreshed. “I thought it would be easiest to eat in here tonight,” she said, smiling at them.
“This is perfect,” Trav said, taking it all in.
“It looks delicious,” Roger said, smiling at her and giving her a hug.
She joined them at the counter, sitting between them on the stool they’d left for her. She was glad to see they had good appetites. They all three enjoyed the meal quietly.
When they’d finished Roger put his arm around her and kissed the side of her face. “Thanks, babe, that was perfect.”
Trav put his arm around her and kissed her on her other cheek. “That hit the spot, hon, and it was delicious. Thanks.”
“I’m happy to do it for you,” she said, hugging them back. They helped her load the dishwasher after they put the leftover green beans in the fridge. After she turned the dishwasher on, they headed for the set of connected recliners in the den. They could sit together and position each of the recliners the way they wanted them. She sat in the middle and relaxed with them. They’d set their recliners so they were all at the same angle, halfway between sitting up and lying down. Trav and Roger took her hands in theirs and settled down, quiet and, she hoped, feeling much better.
“When Mark and I were searching for Roger today, I began to worry that we might not make it back to the top,” Trav said, his voice soft, sounding more concerned than Jen had ever heard him talk before. “We couldn’t find Roger, and I feared we’d all die in that cave.”
“The heat sapped my energy, and I didn’t realize how dangerous it was until it was too late,” Roger said. “I’m sorry I put you in danger, Trav. Before I lost consciousness, I prayed you’d find me. I didn’t want to leave either of you, and I was afraid I was going to.”
“But you didn’t, and Trav found you, and he and Mark got you out of there.” Jen looked from Roger to Trav. “I’m so proud of both of you. What you did today, surviving that heat, was amazing. Don’t be hard on yourself, Roger. You didn’t know it was that hot. Now that you do, you’ll be careful, I know, and that won’t happen again.” She squeezed their hands tight in hers. “I was worried something terrible had happened. But Tom helped me keep from thinking the worst. I’m glad you called them to come and help, Trav.”
“Thank God, Trav got Mark and Tom over there. The only thing I did right today was insist Trav take you back to the top.” Roger sounded down and depressed.
Roger’s reminder that he didn’t think she was strong enough, being a female, irritated her a little, but she also knew that she could have expired down in that hot, damp cave, or she could have caused them all to die there. If even only two of them had dropped from heat exhaustion, the third one could have died trying to save them. It was a threatening situation to get into.
Jen remembered that the doctor had warned that they might suffer depression from the heat exhaustion. She squeezed their hands. “Don’t be so hard on yourself, Roger. You’re tired from that overwhelming heat and humidity, and you’ll feel better after you get some rest.”
“I don’t think I can move from this recliner,” Trav said. “And I wasn’t down in that heat as long or suffer from exhaustion as long as Roger did.”
“We can all sleep right here in these comfy recliners tonight. If we need anything to eat or drink during the night, we’re by the kitchen and can easily get what we want. I’m so glad you’re all right. I just want to be here with you by my side all night.” She squeezed their hands in hers again. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.” She sat up and kissed first Roger lightly on his firm lips and then Trav. She smiled at them and snuggled back between their big bodies. “I’m ready to sleep. How about you?”
“Yeah, I’m ready to sleep all night,” Roger said.
“Me, too,” Trav said.
They squeezed her hands in their big hands, and Jen rested between them, relieved and happy to have them safe beside her.
* * * *
Trav tried to relax and sleep, but he kept remembering the fear he’d felt for his best friends in that cave. He thought that Jen had fallen asleep. She breathed evenly as if she had. The things she had said to them earlier made him believe that she cared for him and Roger more than as a good friend. If that was true, he feared that he wasn’t good enough to have a lasting relationship with her.
After the way their previous girlfriend had treated him and Roger, Trav didn’t believe any woman would love him in a forever love. Ever since she had left them, he’d felt insecure about having a successful love relationship ever.
He loved Jen, and nothing could change that. But he was afraid of believing she would love him the same. He wondered if he was unworthy of being loved. He’d talk to Roger about it tomorrow. Roger always had a way of seeing things clearly.
* * * *
The next morning when they decided they’d had enough sleep, Jen headed to her bedroom to dress, and Trav and Roger headed toward their bedrooms for clean clothes.
“I want to talk to you about something in private,” Trav said softly to Roger.
“That’s fine. Come in my bedroom when you’re ready,” Roger said.
When Trav had changed into clean clothes, he headed to Roger’s room. Roger was sitting on the end of the bed, putting on his socks.
“What do you want to run by me?” Roger asked him.
“I want to know how you feel about Jen and how our previous relationship, which didn’t end well, affects the way you feel about Jen.” Trav waited, hands on his hips, for Roger to tell him.
“As far as our previous girlfriend is concerned, that wasn’t really a love relationship. She didn’t love us, and I’m not sure if I knew what love was then. It hurt in an ego-bruising sort of way to be dropped by her for another guy. But I don’t believe the problem was with either you or me. I think she was looking for something different than the life we lead. I don’t think you and I were at fault.”
Trav thought over what Roger had just said. It made sense to him. Maybe Trav was taking the breakup with their previous girlfriend too seriously and too personally. “How do you feel about Jen?” he repeated, keeping his voice low so she wouldn’t overhear. “Do you feel like you could have a seriously long relationship with her? I feel like I could have a long-lasting, loving relationship with her if she feels the same way.”
“I’m crazy about Jen,” Roger said softly. “But I haven’t let myself admit how important she has become to me or how serious I feel about her until now. I realized yesterday that I could have died in that hellish cave, and I knew, at that moment, that I didn’t want to lose Jen. I also promised myself, alone and not knowing where you or Jen were, that if I could get out of there, I would destroy Wra or anyone who threatened to hurt Jen or take her away from me or from you.”
“I feel the same way,” Trav said quietly. “Should we tell her how we feel? I don’t want to accidentally chase her away if she doesn’t think about us in the same way and we upset her by how strongly we feel.”
“I think maybe the best way to handle it is that we should let her be the first one to say anything about our relationship and what it means to her.” Roger looked at Trav as if he waited for Trav’s response to what he’d just suggested.
“I believe you’re right about that,” Trav agreed. “It won’t be easy if we have to wait long for her to do that. Whether she wants to have a lifetime relationship with us or not, it will be best to let her bring up the subject when she wants to. Meanwhile, we can love and protect her as if she’s our own.” Trav gave Roger an understanding smile.
“Guess we’d better see if she’s ready and get going on what we need to do today to bring Wra in.” Roger headed for the hall with Trav.
&nbs
p; “The cave must be his new hideout, with all the tracks that had to belong to Wra and his gang inside the cave,” Trav said. “There wasn’t any evidence of activity such as a group camping in the caves.”
“I agree,” Roger said. “He has to be using the caves or some other part of the hill for secret meetings with his gang.”
“The sooner we get there, the better, before he moves,” Trav said.
Chapter Ten
They’d all three agreed the best place to search again for Wra was the red rock area. Roger parked the truck near the hot springs. Hoping they could attract Wra by acting as if they weren’t searching for him, they headed around the pool of warm water to the path that led to the cave above decorated with Native American paintings on the walls.
“Let’s see if our presence today will bring Wra out in the open,” Roger said softly.
“And not just his gang,” Trav added. Staying close together, they walked up the steep path to the cave opening.
Roger and Jen walked inside the cave while Trav stood at the entrance and watched the area below for any sign of Wra or his gang members.
“How far inside had that agent walked on the path inside when he fell?” Jen asked. She wanted them all to avoid that area.
“Not far,” Roger said. “I think it was downhill a little way to a curve with sheer drops along the way. I heard he lost his footing.”
“That would be easy to do on these gravel-covered paths.” Jen had almost turned an ankle stepping on a small rock a couple of times on these hillside paths. “Shall we rejoin Trav and see if he’s seen anyone around outside?”
“Yeah,” Roger said, joining her from the back of the cave near the small tunnel that led deeper inside.
They’d reached Trav at the large opening to the cave where he stood watch when the sound of a truck’s motor came to them from nearby. “See anything?” she quietly asked him.
“Yeah, there’s a truck down below that pulled up near ours. Are you ready to head back down?” he asked her and Roger.
“Sure,” she said. “Let’s go back down to the spring.” After what happened to Roger the other day, she just wanted to get away from the cave.
“Maybe we’ll get lucky and Wra will be there,” Roger said, his voice full of sarcasm.
“What if he is?” she asked, serious.
“I really doubt that he will be,” Roger said. “Could be some of his gang members though. Act like you’re not interested and get in the truck. We can keep an eye on them from somewhere nearby in the truck, which will be safer. Hopefully Wra will show up.”
They walked down the path to the hot springs pool, keeping Jen between Roger and Trav. The closer they got to the pool, the louder the voices sounded from below. They slowed their steps to be ready for any danger. Finally, she could see the pool and the area around it surrounded by vegetation. Several men sat on some of the boulders edging the water. One of the men was older by quite a few years than the other two, who looked like they were in their mid-thirties or so.
As the three of them drew nearer to the hot springs, she heard the engine of another truck driving into the parking area close by. “I think we should call it a day,” she said quietly to Roger and Trav.
“I agree,” Roger said. He nodded to the three men who watched them as they approached the pool. Then he headed around the pool well outside the jumble of boulders edging the water.
As she and Trav followed and neared their truck, Jen took a quick glance at the three men who had left their truck and were heading toward the pool. They looked a lot like the other men and reminded her of the rough men she’d seen at local dance halls a couple of times when she’d been out with Trav and Roger during their investigations. She’d be glad to get in their own truck and get away from here. She and Roger and Trav were outnumbered today.
Roger and Trav walked up to the passenger side with her and gave her a hand up. She slid quickly across the seat, and Trav slid in beside her as Roger walked to the other side and got in to drive. He turned on the ignition and backed the truck away from the parking area then drove toward the highway. No one followed them, thank goodness. She wanted to get her guys safely home.
“Let’s contact headquarters and tell them what we saw this morning,” Roger said as he drove toward their house.
“We should also contact Mark or one of the other agents who have had run-ins with Wra before and describe the older man who was with the younger, rougher-looking guys out there,” Trav said.
“Maybe someone will be able to tell us if the older man could have been Wra,” Jen said. After what had happened this week with Trav and Roger at the other end of the hill inside the caves, Jen wanted badly to go back to the house, call the agents for more information on Wra, and relax for the remainder of the day. “I vote that we head home and make calls about Wra.”
“Sounds good to me,” Trav said.
“Yeah, I think we did as much as we could and still be safe out there,” Roger agreed. “After we make our reports, we should relax and rest. Then we can decide what to do next to catch Wra.”
Roger drove into the garage and locked the door behind them. They all piled out of the truck and headed inside the house.
While Roger and Trav talked to headquarters, Jen fixed them all some sandwiches and fruit drinks for lunch. She heard each of them making calls to a couple of the C.P.O. agents who’d had dealings with Wra before. When they finished, they joined her in the kitchen.
“How about a swim after lunch?” she asked them. She thought they deserved to rest and to take it easy after the dangerous day they’d had the day before.
“Sounds like a plan,” Trav said, giving her a big smile.
“I can go for that,” Roger agreed, looking happy, as well.
“Good. Here you go.” She pushed plates filled with sandwiches and cookies toward Roger and Trav and handed their fruit drinks to them. She took the stool between her guys.
She enjoyed her lunch with them as they both ate like hungry wolves. It looked to her like they had plenty of energy for an afternoon swim and whatever else they wanted to do.
“Did you have a good talk with headquarters?” she asked them.
Roger and Trav both nodded in the affirmative. Roger met her questioning gaze. “We let them know what we’ve been doing and let them know about the dangers inside the cave with the extreme heat and humidity deep down inside.”
“Right,” Trav said. “After we told them what had happened yesterday, they suggested we contact the other C.P.O. agents in the area to help us catch Wra in a safer place, preferably outside the caves.”
“Do you think that’s possible?” she asked.
“I think we’d better give it a good try,” Roger said, meeting her gaze. “Hopefully we can catch him outside and surround him.”
“We’ll give the others a call later,” Trav said. “Right now, I just want to relax and enjoy being with you, babe.”
“How about a swim?” she suggested.
“Sounds perfect,” Trav agreed.
“After we put the dishes in the dishwasher, how about we change into our soft bathrobes and head for the pool?” She figured they’d say yes.
“That works for me,” Roger said, grinning at her.
She looked at Trav and saw that he was also pleased, as he smiled, the expression in his eyes warm. She smiled back at him and turned and headed for her bedroom to change. She had a feeling that they didn’t plan to wear anything at all under their robes when they changed out of their clothes for the pool. She planned to do the same. She knew that swimming nude was just the thing for all of them to relax.
After she took her clothes off, she took her plush white bathrobe from the hook in the bathroom and slipped into it. She loved the soft feeling of it. There were no buttons to worry with. It took but a moment to wrap the belt around her waist and tie it so they could easily untie it if she didn’t have a chance. She brushed her hair into a ponytail and wrapped it in a bun, securing it on
top of her head to keep most of it out of the water. She didn’t need any sandals. Damp feet wouldn’t hurt the patio or flooring. She walked back down the hall to the kitchen and out the French doors to the patio. Trav and Roger were already there by the loungers, leaving their robes on the chairs. They turned to look at her, both completely naked. God, they looked so good that just taking in their lean, muscular bodies aroused her and made her pussy ache.
They walked over to the side of the pool and jumped in the shallow end. When they turned to look at her as they waited for her, she untied her robe and dropped it on a chair. Walking over to the side of the pool, she watched their expressions. They already looked hungry for her. She walked around the pool to the stairs and took them down into the water. The water felt perfect and caressed her all over. She stretched out and swam across the pool to join her guys. They surrounded her with their arms and supported her as they treaded water down to the deeper end.
Roger put his hands under her hips and lifted her against the front of him so her head was well above the water. Trav moved close to her back and curved his hands around her waist. They floated together in the deep end for a while, bobbing in the water a little. Then Roger and Trav moved back toward the shallow end, continuing to support her. When they could stand on the bottom, they loosened their hold on her. She swam toward the side where the steps were and sat on the steps.
“Race you,” Trav challenged Roger.
“You’re on,” Roger said and took off fast for the opposite end of the pool.
Jen laughed as she watched them splashing water high on both sides of their bodies. They touched the end at the same time and turned toward each other, laughing and catching their breath. Suddenly she felt happier than she had been in ages, and she also felt as if they all three belonged together.
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