Rewards of Bravery

by Dixie Lynn Dwyer

  As they got closer, he waited to see her response, even though he wanted to snag her around the waist, hold her in his arms, and kiss her as he inhaled her scent. He was practically shaking, trying to hold back. Then she locked gazes with him and smiled. His heart melted, that intensity lessened, and he felt a bit more confident that she hadn’t lied to him and Ortley about needing time to get her life together.

  “Hi, guys,” Genesis said, and they all greeted the guys hello, and Isla smiled up at him.

  He placed his hand on her hip as he lowered down to kiss her cheek. She squeezed his hip and shocked him as she hugged him around the waist. He pulled her close and kissed the top of her head.

  “How was work, gorgeous?” he asked her, and she tilted her head up as he caressed along her lower back and then up and against her neck in a possessive hold. She was petite compared to him and had to look way up toward him and shook her head and exhaled.

  “It was crazy. She should tell you guys about it. As deputies, you would find it interesting,” Genesis chimed in as Seren ordered them some drinks, and a few other friends joined them, saying hello.

  “What happened, baby?” he asked with concern. He stroked her neck with his thumb, inhaled her perfume, and felt himself calm down from earlier just from her being in his arms, this close to him. She was with him.

  “It was crazy. I mean, the last three weeks have been nuts, and the job, so much more responsibilities than they let on,” she said and took a sip from her drink of cranberry and vodka. He listened as she explained about what she found, then her bosses’ reactions, and then to top it off the sheriff getting involved.

  “That sounds pretty serious,” Seren said to her.

  “Sounds like you’re very good at what you do, Isla. It kind of borders on forensic accounting too,” Prime said to her.

  “I was thinking the same thing. Do they need you to look deeper, and where do things go from here with the guy, Sam?” Montana asked.

  “Well, I need to look back at the books and perhaps as far back as five years ago when Sam was hired. I document and make copies of everything, and then Hagerty has a lawyer he can will work with and hand those over. In the interim, Sam will be charged and he’ll need a lawyer. The complicated part is that he’s in the hospital, and apparently the accident he was in is under investigation.”

  “What do you mean?” Montana asked.

  “Well, the sheriff found out tonight that the accident Sam had was some kind of hit-and-run. A truck ran him off the road and down a ravine. He’s lucky to be alive.”

  “I don’t like the sound of this,” Seren added.

  “Neither do I,” Prime said, and Montana pulled her against his chest and hugged her.

  “I think I should look into this or maybe have Sheriff McCabe give a call to the sheriff in Benter. Just as a precaution.”

  “The sheriff said that whatever was going on that he wouldn’t be surprised if Sam was up to no good, and maybe the accident wasn’t an accident. He was going to talk to the Texas Rangers that were investigating it. I had no idea any of this was happening, and neither did my bosses. They’re so upset about it all but glad I found the money trail.”

  He rubbed her back and then a little lower. She tightened up in his arms. He slid his palm to her cheek, and at that point, the others continued talking and Montana held her gaze. “I missed you,” he whispered.

  Some people came by saying hello, and they both said hi and smiled, and then he turned her so that her back faced the bar and he had her locked in against his body and the bar. “I want to spend time with you. Can we get together tomorrow night or Sunday?” he asked and stroked her jaw and then her lower lip with his thumb.

  She looked away and put her drink down onto the bar. She played with the buttons on his shirt over his belly and he felt the warmth of her touch. He wanted her hands underneath his shirt and against his skin. She was feminine, soft, and he needed more of her.

  “Montana, I like you. A lot.”

  He gave a soft smile. “I like you, a lot too,” he said and winked.

  She chuckled and gripped a handful of his shirt and stared up at him. “I don’t want to make a mistake or feel needy.”

  “Needy?”

  “Like I can’t do life, these transitions and changes alone.”

  He cupped her cheek and held her gaze. “Why do it alone? It isn’t necessary. Don’t you feel what Ortley and I feel for you? Don’t you want to spend time with us? Be close like this?” he asked her.

  He saw the emotion in her eyes. “I do. I really, really do. I think about you during the day at work.”

  “I think about you too, and all the things my brothers and I will do with you when you’re our woman, officially.”

  Her eyes widened. “Brothers?”

  “Yes, we want you to meet Curren and Presley.”

  She looked away.

  “Montana, this is so much for me as is. I’m still in counseling, ya know?” she asked him.

  “I know, baby. I know you are, and you’ll get through those fears from the past. We’ll help you. Don’t you realize we’re in this for the long haul? That we want to be your everything and that we’ll put you first. Always,” he asked her, and stroked her jaw again.

  She looked up at him. “I’m scared, that’s all.”

  “No need to be,” he said and lowered down and softly kissed her lips. When he pulled back, knowing he couldn’t kiss her the way he really wanted to kiss her, he saw that her eyes were closed, and she looked so sweet and sexy. She blinked her eyes open, and then he smiled before he hugged her to his chest.

  It was late when they said good night to their friends and Montana followed Isla home. He walked her to her door.

  “Invite me in for a bit,” he said to her.

  “Montana, I—”

  He pulled her close and kissed her deeply. It was what she had longed for all night. The little short pecks to her lips and her neck made her hungry for more. She could do this. She could make out with Montana. It wasn’t as overwhelming as him and Ortley together.

  As he released her lips, she stared up at him. “Okay, for a little bit.”

  He smiled. She unlocked the door, and they walked inside. She placed her things down and offered him a drink. He reached his hand out to her.

  “Come on,” he said, and she took his hand and he led her to the couch. Stopped in front of it, and he took her into his arms again. He moved his hand along her ass and squeezed. She panted for breath, feeling incredibly aroused by his possessive hold and actions. She kicked off her heels, and he wrapped her up in his arms and lowered her to the couch as he kissed her. That kiss grew wild in no time at all. He cupped her breast, and she gripped his hair and kissed him right back.

  He lifted up. “I need more, baby.”

  She held his gaze as she held his head. “Montana?”

  He shook his head as he caressed his palms along her thighs and raised her dress to her waist. She covered his hands with hers as her lips parted.

  “I need a taste. You’ll let me, because one day real soon you’ll be my woman,” he said to her. The sight of him, so sexy with his dark brown crew-cut hair, those green eyes, and his macho, demanding attitude were all turn-ons. He lowered his mouth to her pussy, and the warmth of his breath tickled her mound with her panties still in place.

  “You smell edible,” he said and maneuvered his fingers into the thin strap of her thong panties and slowly glided them down and off her.

  She watched him, and then he spread her thighs wide. She shifted lower on the couch, gasped from his actions, and then hissed as he used his mouth to explore her cunt. The first plunge of his tongue was foreign yet effective. She never had sex before, and this was the beginning of ultimately having sex with Montana. She wasn’t as fearful as months ago. No, with every strike of his tongue and then thrust of his fingers into her pussy, she felt the fears lessen and the desire take over. She rocked her hips.

  “That’s it, baby.
You’re so responsive and very, very wet. Your body knows. This pussy is mine. Mine,” he said to her and nipped her clit.

  “Oh.” She puffed, and then he thrust fingers again and again until she felt something deep within her core and then cried out as she orgasmed. “Oh, that’s what that feels like,” she said without thinking.

  “What?” he asked, pulling her lower as he pressed his chest to hers and cupped her cheeks. She saw his wet lips, knew that was her cream on his mouth.

  “Never. That was a first,” she whispered as a tear fell.

  “Isla, you’re a virgin?” he asked her.

  She nodded.

  His eyes seemed like they darkened before he pressed his mouth to hers and kissed her deeply. She ran her fingers through his hair and squeezed him to her until they had to part in order to catch their breath. He moved his mouth from her lips to her neck and shoulder as he suckled and then breathed heavily.

  “My God, you’re a gift. You’re so damn special.” He lifted up and looked at her. “You think I’m possessive and protective now, Jesus, woman, just you fucking wait,” he said and then kissed along her belly over the material of her dress and then down to her pussy. He started to feast on her again, and his words echoed in her mind as he brought her to orgasm several more times.

  Montana didn’t want to leave Isla. He held her in his arms on the couch, and she used her palm and caressed his skin up under his shirt.

  “You okay?” he asked her, as he stroked her shoulder and back.

  She laid her head against his chest but now tilted up to look at him. “Sort of.”

  He scrunched his eyebrows. “What do you mean, ‘sort of’?”

  She nibbled on her lower lip and then lifted up. “I’m not as experienced as you obviously are.”

  He looked at her and how beautiful she appeared right now. Her hair a little messy, her top undone, and the deep cleavage of her breasts in full view. “That isn’t a bad thing.”

  “I want to do something for you,” she said, and he could hear her voice crack and knew she was nervous.

  He caressed her shoulder. “Do what?” he asked.

  She moved her hand from under his shirt to the button on his jeans. He gulped. “I want to, pleasure you too, but I don’t know how,” she said, and he thought he might come in his pants from her words.

  “You never did that either?” he asked and shifted slightly because he was so aroused right now, his dick hardened to the point that it needed relief.

  “No, never.” Again, she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth as she undid the button on his jeans. “Can you teach me?” she asked him.

  “Holy God, baby. Yes. Only if you want to, though. I don’t want you feeling like you need to pleasure me.”

  “No, I want to learn. Taking things slow kind of went a little crazy tonight, and I know you’ll need to, like I did when you pleasured me. I just don’t want you suffering, or maybe feeling like I can’t make you happy because I’m not ready to have sex.”

  “No, not at all. I care so much about you, and I understand what you went through. I’m not going anywhere, and Ortley isn’t either.”

  She pulled down the zipper, and he lifted his body as he helped her shimmy out of his pants and boxers. She adjusted, and the movement made her top lower more. He shifted, and she knelt on the floor now between his legs. She stared at his cock, and holy hell he was there already. “What do you like?” she asked.

  “Honey, I like you, and I want to know what it feels like to have your lips kiss my cock, suck it in and out of your sweet, sexy mouth, and to feel your hands on my—”

  She kissed his cock and then licked it. He hissed, tilted his head back, and begged himself not to come right now.

  “Isla.” He said her name and she continued. “Just like that. God, baby, it feels so good. You’re perfect,” he said to her, and she sucked up and down, and then cupped his balls. He gave her a few more directions, but he wasn’t even sure what he was saying because her mouth felt so good on him.

  “Isla, baby, you got me there already. I’ve wanted this, wanted to share this with you for so fucking long.” She bobbed her head up and down, and he gripped her hair and caressed it. “I’m coming, baby. If you don’t feel ready to swallow my seed, let me know.”

  She didn’t release him. She hummed against his cock, and he shot his seed down her throat. She suckled and suckled, and he grunted and cursed.

  “Isla, let go,” he said, and she did. He saw her flushed face, her wet lips.

  “Did I do something wrong?”

  He reached down and lifted her up into his arms so damn fast, she gasped, and then he kissed her and just kept kissing her and enjoying this time together. They lay there in one another’s arms and fell asleep.

  Chapter 2

  Ortley looked at his cell phone. Montana stayed over at Isla’s place last night. His heart hammered inside of his chest, and a bit of a jealous feeling hit his gut as he read the words. Then he read the next sentence.

  Made some progress. Will be home to shower and change shortly, then we’re taking her to lunch.

  The relief that his brother didn’t have sex with Isla without him immediately filled his chest. He had nearly given up hope on her, that she would even accept a relationship, a ménage, with him and his brother. He exhaled as he stared out the window in the kitchen. His life wasn’t exactly perfect, at least not in the eyes of a potential good woman. What did he have to offer such a sweet, young thing as Isla? He thought about her now, about her beauty, her classiness, and even how professional she looked when she was dressed for work. Work another whole town away, and that made him worry. Not just about the many guys that would hit on her and ask her out, just like here in Cherry Hill, but other men. Maybe men up to no good that could take advantage of her femininity and softness, plus her easygoing personality. He shook his head. How the hell could he feel so much for a woman he hadn’t even kissed, never mind fucked? He pushed off the counter and went into the living room.

  He thought of what he could do to keep busy. He had the weekend off, and then a new set of recruits who were starting the program at the military base were ready for training starting Monday. He was a drill sergeant, and a tough one at that. He was ornery and hard to talk to, and expected discipline and compliance at all times from his subordinates. Did he expect that in a woman too? His woman? He started to pick up some things around the room and tidy up, but he had already done that. His brothers were all neat freaks to a point. They did have a cleaning service that came into the estate because the house was big with six bedrooms and four bathrooms, a basement, an awesome backyard pool, hot tub, and even a gym and sauna, which he barely got to use. They had money. Lots of it, but they still did normal things, had their own professions, and lived life to the fullest.

  Curren was the main businessman of the family, the one who was hard-core discipline, sometimes worse than Ortley. He expected the best, a hundred percent, and compliance when he gave an order or expected a project to be done. In fact, he was a workaholic.

  Presley was a little more laid-back. He was content with what they had and couldn’t care less about doing more, but to not be bored, he was Curren’s business partner, and they did everything together as partners and made sure all their assets and funds were in order and growing. But Presley was a bit stuck-up. None of them had a problem getting women, and Presley definitely had his share.