Allister, J. Rose - Discarded Cowboys [Lone Wolves of Shay Falls 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (20 page)

“You should have listened to me,” Zakono whispered in her ear. “It wouldn’t have had to be this way.”

Tears sprang to her eyes, threatening to drown out the sight of Drew, and over his shoulder, Russell.

“They are made of the devil,” Zakono said. Then to the rest, “They are wolfkind, including Talaitha. We must end them all.”

“No!” Russell shouted. The gun behind him cocked as he and Drew sprang forward, but even with their speed, she knew they would never make it before Zakono opened her throat.

She shut out the sight of them as she closed her eyes. The knife slid into her flesh, spilling the first drops of hot blood. Then the loud protests around her were silenced in a deafening roar that made her eyes fly open wide. The gunshot froze everyone in place with wide, disbelieving expressions. After several long heartbeats, the knife slid away from her—as did the man who had wielded it.

She turned to see Zakono crumpled on the ground, a black hole all that remained of one of his shrewd eyes. Her cowboys rushed to her side, Russell pressing a hand to her throat. “Jesus, Tal. He cut you.”

“I’m fine,” she whispered in a half daze. Then she glanced upward to find the smoking gun quivering in Vanje’s still-aimed hand.

“What have you done?” Marko barked at Vanje. “You murdered one of our own!”

The gun came around to bear on Marko. “And you would have let him murder Talaitha.”

Marko glared at her in contempt. “She is tainted.”

“No, you are. All of you, if you would sit by and let a man slit the throat of a defenseless, tied-up woman.”

Glances were exchanged.

“Zakono murdered my mother and lied to cover it up,” Talaitha said. “He blamed the werewolf who died trying to save her. If you can truly condone his actions, perhaps I never knew any of you at all.”

Marko’s hardened gaze wavered. “And we never knew you.”

“My only crime is wanting to make my life elsewhere,” she went on. “Since when has leaving a clan become grounds for a death penalty the Romani do not even believe in?”

“It isn’t,” Vanje said, lowering his weapon. “You are free to go. No one here will stop you.”

Tomas scowled at him. “Since when do you speak for the clan? You are not our leader.”

“Perhaps I should be if none of the rest of you plans to return to your senses.” Vanje’s dark eyes met each one of the men’s. “The only ones here who have been harmed by these wolves are me and Marko. I have no quarrel with them. It was self-defense.” His eyes shifted to Marko’s in challenge. “And you?”

Marko raised the cattle prod, and Talaitha felt Drew stiffen beside her. “And when we release them and they set their fangs in someone else, the blood will be on our hands.”

“We don’t kill humans,” Drew said. “Not ever. Which is more than I can say for your clan.”

Talaitha’s gaze slid again to the man lying dead in the dirt. She’d trusted him implicitly, never knowing about his lies. He’d taken her mother’s life. And he had nearly taken hers.

“Go.” It was Tomas this time, though her eyes sprang to Vanje.

He came forward and picked up the knife on the ground beside Zakono. Her eyes widened for a moment, but he began slicing through her bonds.

When she was free, she sighed. “Thank you.”

He nodded with a small smile.
“Dza devlesa,”
he said.
God go with you.

“And with you,” she said. Their eyes held for a long moment before she turned away.

Her legs were shaking as Russell and Drew took her from the clan for the second and last time. Her teeth were on edge with the fear someone would make a move to pursue, but no one did. It wasn’t until dirt had kicked up behind the tires of Drew’s dusty black truck for many miles that she understood she was truly and forever free.

Her shoulders began to shake as the tears finally came.

Chapter Nine

“Now you’re absolutely, positively certain you want to do this?” Drew asked.

“All things considered, I wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t,” Russell said, shaking his head. “But it’s her call.”

The afternoon sky was dropping into a wildly chaotic sunset as Talaitha stared at the contraption in front of them. “No, I want to do it.”

Most women might find it bizarre, a cage sitting on a truck in the middle of deserted woods. Talaitha, however, had grown up around enough similar sights to feel oddly at home.

She glanced at Drew. “I mean I really,
really
want to do it. Besides, we’re celebrating your and Russell’s new jobs.”

His concerned frown warmed to a slow, sensual burn. “Fair enough. And I guarantee this will be a celebration you won’t forget.” He moved closer to her, stirring the naughty tingle in her stomach that triggered quite readily whenever her wolves were around. “But if at any time you change your mind, just say the word.”

“Atch,”
she said, Gypsy for
stop
. “I know the safety word.”

She reached out and ran a hand along the smooth, black metal. This cage was quite different from the one the clan used for animal attractions. This one was taller, much narrower, and had a domed top not unlike a giant bird cage. “I know you said the bar owner owed you a favor after you helped break up that fight last week,” she said, “but do I even want to know how he happened to have one of these to loan you?”

Drew snorted. “He owed us, all right. “We got plenty more than we bargained for when all we wanted to do was stop off for a couple drinks. The owner uses cages like this there at the strip club.”

She arched a brow at it. “Why? In case the men get a little too out of line?”

“No, darlin’.” Russell came up behind her, and she felt a little chill run along her arms at the feel of his breath on the back of her head. “It’s a dance cage.”

Her brow rose. “Doesn’t have much room for dancing.”

He chuckled. “Ladies who work at the bar dance in it. Guys like to watch.”

She turned with a flirty look. “And you? Did you enjoy watching the cage dance when you were having your drinks?”

He favored her with a smile. “I’ve got a few colorful tales that started off with eyein’ up exotic dancers. But that ain’t what we borrowed this for, is it?”

“Isn’t it?”

His hands glided sensually over her shoulders, pushing down the sleeves of her blouse until her torso was bared to the men. Her nipples hardened under their hungry stares, and she balanced herself with a hand on Drew’s chest while she shimmied out of her skirt. Once she was naked, Drew held the door open for her while she stepped inside the cage.

Her legs were shaking as she positioned herself in the cage, but not out of fear of being closed in. Her body tingled with anticipation.

“You’re sure you’re okay?” Drew asked. “Wasn’t that long ago you were in one of these under other circumstances.”

She nodded. “And dreaming of what I wished what was really happening in it. Do it.”

The door swung shut with a clang, and Drew jumped down off the bed of his new truck. The men stared up at her, their eyes smoldering. A dance cage, was it? She closed her eyes and imagined hearing strains of sultry Gypsy music around the campfires, the special tunes reserved for Romani ears only. Her body began to move, her hips swaying and undulating to the inner rhythm of Gypsy magic.

“Holy shit,” Drew said. “I didn’t mean
you
had to dance, Tal.”

“Shut up, you idiot,” she heard Russell say. “Let her dance. Keep goin’, darlin’. Fuck, I’ve dreamed this before. I kid you not.”

Eyes still closed, she gave a smile and reached for the bars, using them to steady herself while she arched her back, thrusting her breasts through the slats and rubbing her pussy against the cold steel.

She heard Drew’s distinctive growl of arousal. “Do you have any idea how many times I’ve fantasized about walkin’ up to a cage dancer and fuckin’ her right through the bars?”

The sound of him hopping back up on the truck bed spurred her into wilder, more frenzied motions. When her eyes opened, she found his eyes glowing wild just outside. He reached for her, cupping a handful of her breasts. She pulled away with a teasing gaze and backed up to the rear of the cage, reaching up to take hold of the bars behind her head as she made exaggerated, suggestive circles with her hips.

“You are the hottest thing I ever saw,” Drew said. “You dance like you know you’re gonna get fucked righteous in there. Squirm away from me and play games all you want, baby. I’m still gonna peg you with my fat cock. But me and Russ got a little surprise for you first.”

A loud, metallic slam announced Russell’s jump onto the truck bed behind her, and her heart fluttered in surprise. Still, she kept up her motions. Here she was, out in the woods dancing like a wanton bar girl for two men clearly dying to fuck her. The whole thing lit a fire inside her and set loose a warm rush of fluid from her pussy. For all the unpleasant things she’d associated with cages in recent days, she really liked this one. She liked it a whole lot.

“What kind of surprise?” she whispered.

“Remember I said we wouldn’t be even until you’d been naked in a cage with some guy shockin’ you through the bars?”

That brought her eyes wide open. Drew was naked now, his reddened cock stiff and straining toward her. More important, however, was that his hands were behind his back.

She swallowed hard and backed off. “Surely you aren’t hiding a cattle prod back there?”

He shook his head. “Nope. Much better.”

The device he pulled out brought a puzzled frown to her face. “Come closer to the bars, darlin’. I got a little somethin’ for ya.” He swung a pair of wires like a lasso.

“What is it?” she asked, creeping forward and gazing at the little device attached to the wires.

“Just enough of a tingle to get you really hot.”

“With you two around, if I get any hotter, I might burst into flames.”

He shot her a drop-dead gorgeous smile and a wink as he reached through the bars, wires in hand. The ends of the wires had flat disks on them, and he proceeded to plaster one over each of her nipples.

“This is weird,” she said, staring down at herself.

“It’s about to get weirder.” Drew turned a knob on the device, and she felt a tiny little prickle shoot through her breasts. “That’s the lowest setting. How’s it feel?”

“I’m not sure.” Her heart began to pound harder. “More.”

He twisted the dial, and the tiny prickles became tingling goose bumps. Then came an insistent flicking that hardened her nipples wonderfully.

“Oh!” she gasped.

“Like it?” Russell asked.

In reply, she pulled her hair on top of her head and began dancing again, reveling in the feel of the electrical stimulation while she cavorted in the cage for her men. Her clit began a rhythmic throb that was well-timed to the pulses being delivered to her nipples. She reached down and began stroking her clit to ease the ache as she danced, but only succeeded in turning the dull throb into a sharp need.

Russell’s hands came through the cage bars from behind to circle her waist and pull her backward. The attached wires tugged on her nipples, but the adhesive held. She felt the hard shaft of his cock pressing against her ass and realized that he’d stripped naked, too.

“No more teasin’,” he said in her ear. “You put on a show like you’re a hot wench wantin’ to get fucked? We’re gonna call you on it.”