Hired Hands

by Wendi Darlin

  Before she could gather her thoughts, Jesse’s tongue stroked her outer lips and a wild groan erupted from his throat. Nora’s elbows wobbled, and a second later she was flat on her back, watching stars shoot across the wide beams that braced her kitchen ceiling. Her breath came in pants, and she didn’t give a damn about what she should or shouldn’t do.

  “Yes!” she whimpered. “Oh God, yes!”

  He pushed her thighs further apart and tormented her with the tip of his tongue, teasing her mercilessly before sucking her clit into his mouth and dipping his finger deep inside her.

  Nora responded to the rhythm of his hand and exquisite torture of his mouth. Lost in greedy body-prickling desire, she grabbed the back of his head and pulled him closer. Her hips ground against him, and an orgasm gathered deep in her core.

  Lightning flashed behind her eyelids and hit every nerve as the storm of release rolled through her. The suddenness of it shocked her, and just as suddenly, a more fervent ache consumed her. She contracted around his finger, desperate to feed the hunger of her body.

  “More...” she murmured even as the last tremors lingered. “I want more.”

  Jesse pushed Nora’s blouse above her breasts, and his cock gave an appreciative throb. She was beautiful, responsive and way too long neglected.

  Leave it to Cole to play the gentleman. Couldn’t the dumbass see what really needed his attention around here? His teeth caught her nipple through the thin silk of her bra. She shot straight up, gripping his hair, squeezing his waist between her thighs. The woman had more triggers than a Roy Rogers marathon.

  “Goddamn, honey.” His throat was so tight the words scraped and crawled their way out of him. If he didn’t have any loyalty for his brother, he’d take her as high as she could go and keep her there. She was something else, and he was raring like a bull. He locked his jaw tight and steadied one hand on the rough hewn table to keep from reaching for his zipper.

  His entire body tensed with need to sink deep into her hot, wet pussy. But that would have to wait. His brother would make that call. If the damned slow poke ever showed up.

  “Get up, sweetheart,” he whispered, pulling her to her feet. He turned her toward the door and lifted the shirt over her head. A moment later, her bra lay on the floor.

  He pressed her back to his chest and let his hands roam her body while he tasted the light floral scented skin of her neck and the smooth curve of her shoulder. She sighed. So ready. Her soft moans poured through him. He’d never known a woman to need a man’s touch the way she did. He wanted to give it to her. All of it. Until she lay satisfied in his arms.

  But that wasn’t his job. Not today. Not ever if Cole came to his senses.

  A quick knock sounded at the door and boots scraped the floor of the mudroom. It was about time Cole showed up.

  Nora tensed in his arms, but Jesse held her against him. He filled one palm with her breast and slid his other hand over her stomach and inside her skirt. Lower. She trembled. Lower. Her breath stuttered. Heavy steps crossed the mudroom. Jesse’s fingers parted the swollen lips of her pussy. She whimpered as he squeezed her clit between his knuckles.

  “It’s okay,” he whispered. “You want him. Here’s your chance.”

  ****

  “Nora...” Cole came to a stop in the doorway. The papers in his hand crumpled as his fingers fisted around them. One look at Nora in his brother’s arms and he was harder than a horseshoe. And ready to kick Jesse’s sorry ass.

  His heart pounded and his cock surged, even as his temper flared.

  Jesse had gotten it wrong this time. So wrong.

  He raked his eyes over Nora. Sweet, beautiful, Nora. The woman he’d wanted since the day he set foot on this ranch. Her long dark hair spilled over her shoulders. Her breast was plump in Jesse’s hand. The rosy nipple peeked between his fingers, screaming for attention. Jesse’s arm moved slowly as he stroked beneath her skirt. Every movement twisted Cole’s gut and stoked the fire roaring through his veins. His cock gave another, almost painful throb.

  The challenge was clear in Jesse’s eyes. Cole hadn’t moved fast enough, and now he was being forced to claim what was his or give her up entirely. Speed had never been a problem for Jesse. He could love ‘em and leave ‘em faster than anybody.

  But not this one. Not Nora.

  She stood frozen in his brother’s arms, and her vulnerability knocked the wind out him. His hands fisted tighter, as rage battled with sucker-punching lust. Seeing her like that tore through him like a stampede.

  The first time Robert had introduced him to her, Cole swore when he owned a ranch of his own, he’d have a woman like her at his side to make it a home. And after Robert died...well, it just didn’t seem right to move in on the man’s wife.

  Cole pushed a stiff hand through his hair and forced his gaze to hers. Fear and desire flamed like he’d never seen it before. His protective instincts rose, sharp and strong, and the muscles in his arms bunched with the need to pound the shit out of his brother. He was going to kill Jesse. He meant to move, but his thighs burned with restraint as he stood his ground.

  Even through the lust-induced fog, his mind hammered out the truth. She wasn’t afraid of Jesse. Jesse would never do anything she didn’t want him to do.

  “Cole?” The breathy sound of his name on her lips shot another barrel of blood into his cock. He swelled, straining against the rough zipper of his jeans. Never did he think she’d want him like this, not in all the years he’d worked hard to keep her out of his head. Knowing she was in this big house alone ate at him day and night.

  Nora could take care of his every need. And he knew damn well he could take care of hers. He’d make sure of that.

  Jesse’s hands freed the button at the top of her skirt and slid the zipper down. “Let’s show him what he’s missing, darlin’.”

  Nora swallowed hard, her eyes locked on Cole’s as her skirt fell to the floor. “Cole?” she repeated. Her little red tongue darted out to moisten her lips, and it took everything he had not to lay Jesse out cold.

  There were plenty of things he didn’t mind sharing with his brother. Nora wasn’t one of them.

  His gaze fell to her wet, ripe pussy. Jesse’s fingers spread her open, exposing the swollen nub. Cole’s tongue pressed against the roof of his mouth, and a low moan rumbled through his chest. He had to taste her.

  “Come get her, shit head.” Jesse kissed her jaw. “You have no idea how bad this little lady wants you.”

  Nora’s ocean blue eyes flared again as Cole stepped closer. Her lips moved, and a soft sound rose in her throat. He’d pictured this look in her eyes a thousand times, but making a move she didn’t want would’ve gotten him kicked off the ranch. She and Dylan needed a man around the place. And he planned to be that man.

  He bent close enough to feel her breath on his cheek, to see her eyes darken. His muscles shook with restraint. He wouldn’t touch her. Not without knowing for certain that’s what she wanted. “Say you want me, Nora. I gotta hear it from you.”

  Her lips trembled. “I want...you. I’ve wanted you for so long.”

  Cole stepped closer, taking her in his arms, and Jesse had enough sense to back off.

  Behind her back, Cole raised a middle finger at his brother before he gave into his need to feel her soft skin in his hands. She had the waist and hips of a woman, curves a man couldn’t help but sink into.

  He took her mouth harder than he should have; he couldn’t hold back anymore.

  The taste of her, the feel of her tongue against his spurred a need more powerful than any he’d ever known. Cole reached for her breast. As soon as the hard peak of her nipple met his palm, she cried into his mouth.

  Leave it to Jesse to see what he was too stubborn to see for himself. Nora was more than just Robert’s widow. She was a woman, a woman who wanted a man to tend more than the livestock.

  “I’m yours, darlin’.” He stepped back and tossed the payroll papers on the table. “Let’s get
you upstairs, away from all these windows.”

  He jerked his head toward her clothes, and Jesse scooped them off the floor. No sense in having one of the hands walk in and figure out something that was none of their damned business.

  Cole’s body burned and trembled like a bull penned in a chute. Nora’s hands clung to the back of his neck as he carried her up the stairs. Jesse was two steps ahead of them, leading the way as usual. Thank God one of the Shanahan boys had been born with enough sense to see what was right in front of his nose.

  Nora nuzzled against his throat, and her tongue ventured out for a taste. He groaned and had half a mind to stop right where they were and brace her against the wall. His balls were in a knot and hollering for release, but he could do better than that. He could make this a morning she wouldn’t forget.

  She hadn’t indicated she wanted Jesse to leave, and she sure didn’t seem to mind his hands all over her. If that’s what she wanted, he’d give it to her. Once. But after that, she’d have to make a choice, and he’d make damn sure she didn’t choose Jesse.

  He glanced down at his calloused hand on her tender skin, and loosened his grip. She was about to be treated the way she deserved, loved tender and hard and any other way she wanted.

  It was no secret the ranch was more than she could handle, and now with a deep pocket investor breathing down her neck, she was carrying more on her shoulders than Robert had ever intended. She was stubborn and strong, holding things together in a man’s world. A world she would never have chosen for herself. She held onto the ranch for her son, any fool could see that.

  Cole planned to erase every worry from her mind. She wouldn’t be anything but a woman. For a few hours, she’d be his woman.

  “Is this one yours?” Jesse had stopped outside a doorway. Inside, a massive four-poster bed piled high with pillows anchored the room.

  She lifted her head. “Yes.” The word caught in her throat. Her voice was hoarse. When she looked up at Cole, the fear was back, stronger than before. “I shouldn’t do this.” She dropped one hand to cover her breasts, and indecision creased her brow.

  He gave her a squeeze and lowered her feet to the floor.

  “Say the word, and we’ll both get the hell out of your house.” His lips brushed her hair, and he dropped his voice. “But if this is what you want, you won’t ever wonder who’s better.”

  A rosy flush crept across her chest, and her lips parted in an invitation he couldn’t refuse. His kiss was feverish, but she met him stroke for stroke, giving him her mouth the way he wanted to take her body.

  He lifted her again and seated her on the satin comforter while Jesse circled around to the other side of the bed.

  Cole studied her eyes, so dark with desire only a faint rim of blue circled the windows of her soul. “Are you afraid of me?”

  She slowly shook her head. “Just of what you’ll think of me.”

  “I think you’re a damn sexy woman, and nothing that happens in here’ll change my mind about that.”

  He lifted her palm to his lips and gave her time to back out. He expected her to. Not every woman would climb into bed with two men, especially not a woman who had kept her sexuality clamped tight for a year and a half. But Nora wasn’t every woman. And something had always told him there was a lot more to her than she put out there for the world to see.

  Trembling fingers tugged open the snaps of his shirt before she reached for the button of his jeans. Without another word, his mouth was on hers, claiming her tongue, biting her lips. Promising she wouldn’t regret a thing.

  Behind her, Jesse stripped. Fast bastard. He threw pillows to the floor and crawled onto the bed with his dick stretched and jumping with desire while Nora worked to free Cole’s throbbing cock. His thick shaft sprang free, heavy as lead and hot as a branding iron. Her fingers stroked lightly before wrapping him in a gentle squeeze. His hand closed over hers, guiding a slow stroke that stole his breath and the last ounce of blood from his brain.

  “I’ve always wanted to do this.” She panted, cupping her other hand around his balls. “Tell me that’s not bad.”

  “Not bad.” He could barely form the words as her hands worked him, drawing his entire body into a knot.

  He couldn’t see straight, couldn’t breathe, until she released him and moved back on the bed. While Cole shed his boots and left his clothes on the floor, Jesse reached for her.

  Cole flinched, but the flash of a smile on her sweet lips and the excitement in her eyes revved him up another gear. The woman was a cayenne pepper hidden in a sugar bowl. Jesse’s hands covered her breasts, and her whole body reacted. The way she moved. The sounds she made. Cole’s groin throbbed, his chest pounded and his mouth craved the taste of her honeyed breath. Every damn thing about her made him crazy with want.

  The mattress shifted with Cole’s weight as he climbed on the bed.

  His brother guided Nora by the shoulders, but she held back. Her gaze met Cole’s in an obvious request. For permission. His heart swelled. There was no doubt where her allegiance lay. She wouldn’t put a hand on his brother if he didn’t tell her it was okay.

  He nodded. “Oh, hell yeah.” His hand curled around her ankle. “Give me a show, baby.”

  Nora flashed a quick smile at him, licked her lips and flipped over to drag her tongue across Jesse’s stomach. Cole flinched again, feeling her mouth as if it licked his own body, searing his flesh. She moved lower, her hair spilling over Jesse’s thighs. A territorial growl rose in his chest as she hovered over Jesse’s lap, and his generosity headed south.

  He reached for her shoulder. “Ladies first.”

  “I took care of that,” Jesse said, a big shit-eating grin on his face.

  Cole pushed his hand through Nora’s hair and stroked her slender neck. “Well, I didn’t.” He stretched out on the bed, easing her down with him. Goosebumps rose on her chest, and her small hand clung to his arm.

  She was something. Little red nipples, hard as candy. A whole woman’s worth of places to explore. And by God, he was ready to learn the ins and outs of every one of them.

  Bold as brass, Jesse moved in.

  Nora’s breath caught as Jesse traced the side of her breast with his tongue, spreading delicious sensations through her entire body and drawing her nipple into a knot. Cole’s big hand cradled her head, and his spicy scent filled her nose just before his mouth found hers. His kiss commanded her attention, but Jesse was making waves with his oral exploration of her skin that couldn’t be ignored.

  Cole’s open palm traveled over her belly and continued lower through the narrow expanse of curls on her mound. His kiss deepened as his fingertips met swollen wet lips and slid between sensitive pillows of flesh. Her hips rose to meet his questing hand. There were countless ways to love a woman and something told her these men knew everyone of them. Cole’s teeth caught her bottom lip, and his hand shifted to pluck her clit just as Jesse gave her nipple a wicked bite.

  She nearly came off the bed, but the weight of the men held her in place. Their hands and mouths covered her. She fought to breathe, to hang onto lucidity. But every stroke of their tongues, every brush of their bodies, dragged her thoughts farther and farther away until nothing was left. Her muscles tensed, and prickling heat swirled with dizzying speed in her belly.

  Closing her eyes, she surrendered, curling one hand behind Jesse’s head, holding him to her breast while she teased the soft hair on Cole’s chest with her fingertips. She was barely more than half the size of either one of them. Together they swamped her small frame. Jesse caressed her hip while his hot mouth worked magic on her breast. His erection pressed rhythmically into her thigh.

  Cole’s tongue continued to explore her mouth while his rough fingers moved between her legs. He traced the hot, wet opening of her pussy and circled her clit with his thumb until her whole body rocked in response to the explosions he was setting off in her nerves.

  “Please,” she begged, breaking the kiss and lifting her hips. />
  He answered by driving a thick finger in deep and curling it to stroke the trigger along the top of her inner walls. A cry rang from her mouth, and her head fell back, giving Cole all the invitation he needed to nip at the tender skin of her neck. Her hands fisted, and her breath became so shallow her lungs burned. Firm, muscled legs slid along her thighs, her calves, even the bottoms of her feet.

  “Come for me, baby.” Cole’s voice vibrated against her throat. His hand found a rhythm that took her breath completely and curled her toes. “That a girl. Give it to me.”

  Suddenly her world tumbled into black swirling heat that whipped through her core and through every limb. Her eyes slammed shut, and she yelled Cole’s name as waves of white-hot pleasure roared through her. The tips of her fingers tingled, the muscles between her shoulders burned with tension, and subtle pops tripped up her spine as delicate bones softly shifted into place. Then for the first time in over a year, she completely relaxed. Her hand slid along the damp skin of Cole’s chest.

  Slowly, she opened her eyes. Jesse patted her thigh and sat up with a chuckle while Cole pressed a kiss to her forehead. Near the foot of the bed, Jesse sat back on his heels and leaned forward to massage her calf. After-sparks still jumped in her nerves, and Cole’s dark hair clung to the sweat at his temples. She trailed her hand down his taut abs, wrapped her fingers around his cock and gave it a little squeeze as she caught his earlobe between her teeth.

  “Watch me first,” she whispered. “Let me show you.”

  A flick of her tongue pushed Cole’s cock to its limit. He responded with an affirmative grunt, and a hard swallow rolled down his throat as she gave him a ginger stroke. Two more just like that and he’d come as hard as she had.

  She quirked a devilish brow and turned away from him. On hands and knees, she made her way to Jesse, crawling like a cat. Her fine ass tempted Cole to the limits of his patience. He locked his jaw and reached for his cock. The big guy was ready. More than ready. It took all his control not to drag her back and bury himself deep.