Ecstasy in Elk's Crossing (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (17 page)

“Oh?”

“A lot more deadly.”

David felt a sudden surge of confidence. He didn’t know anything about guns, but with Paulie’s help, he’d know a lot more before he walked out of the gun shop.

“What would you recommend, then?”

Paulie pulled a weapon from the rack, pulled back the bolt to see for himself that it was unloaded, and then handed the rifle to David.

“If it’s deer you’re after, this is all the weapon you need. It’s easy to use, and with the four-power scope, you can’t hardly miss.”

David’s brow furrowed. “The barrel doesn’t seem to have a real big hole.”

Paulie laughed softly. “You’re thinking of the old days when you had to have a bullet as big around as your wrist in order to drop a deer. Those days are long gone, my friend. This is what puts ’em down and keeps ’em there.” He winked conspiratorially. “And it’s a bargain at an even one hundred fifty bucks.”

David had hoped to spend less than that, but the weapon seemed so perfect, and Paulie had given it such glowing praise, that he just had to have it.

“It’s a deal,” he said.

“Fine. You’ve made a fine choice. Now let me tighten down that scope, get you some ammunition, and you can be on your way.”

A shiver went through David as he held the gun in his hands. This time he wasn’t going to set it up so that an “accident” happened. This time he was going to look at Katie through the four-power telescopic sight. He’d be looking right at her face when he squeezed the trigger.

And once that happened, David would finally have settled a score, and justice at last would be served.

* * * *

Katie stood in the kitchen wearing jeans and a man’s strap-sleeved T-shirt that showed the curvature of her breasts, smiling softly, thinking that she wouldn’t mind considering this kitchen as
her
kitchen for the rest of her life.

On the table were four segregated meals, each pile containing two large sandwiches wrapped in tinfoil, with similar-sized squares of tinfoil containing freshly baked caramel rolls. In the middle of the table was a large insulated plastic jug containing coffee that had finished brewing only minutes earlier.

Katie inhaled deeply, savoring the fresh scents of caramel rolls and coffee. When she exhaled it was a long, slow sigh of sweet and utter contentment.

It wasn’t just the fantastic sex, though if she wanted to be honest with herself, Katie would admit that sex was a prime source for much of her contentment. It was really nothing more than, well,
everything
. And
everything
had names. The names all ended in McGowan.

Katie’s name never would end in McGowan. A woman simply didn’t marry four men. It just wasn’t done. Elk’s Crossing was a long, long way from San Francisco, and what might be accepted in the city by the bay wouldn’t fly in North Dakota.

Bitterly, Katie reflected that in some places in the world, men were allowed to marry more than one woman. In fact, having multiple wives was commonplace. But a woman marrying four men? Unthinkable! Even in Katie’s hometown of San Francisco, one woman marrying four men would cause an absolute uproar.

My love will have to remain a secret, that’s all. As long as I love the McGowans and they love me, I don’t care if I can’t go public with it. What difference does it make if other people don’t know?

In a large wicker basket, Katie packed the lunches she’d prepared for her men then picked up the heavy container of coffee and stepped outside into the midday North Dakota sun. After the recent storms, the air seemed cleaner than it had been, the sun brighter and more welcoming.

She put the food into the bed of a Ford pickup and was just about to get behind the steering wheel when a thought struck her. What if she showed up at the worksite wearing nothing but some sexy lingerie, like she had that first night she arrived at the Circle-Square-Circle Ranch when it had been raining so hard? The look of stunned surprise on all of their faces when she’d removed her raincoat had been nothing short of priceless.

Stop thinking about sex all the time. That’s not the only reason they love you, after all.

That morning, the only concession she had made to overt sexuality was that, for one of the extraordinarily few times in her adult life, she had consciously decided to go outside without wearing a bra. Garrett had teased her that she didn’t need to wear one all the time, especially around the ranch, and though she had pooh-poohed the idea when it was first presented to her, on that morning, she had decided to be a just little naughty, but not a lot. She’d found a strap-sleeved T-shirt in Garrett’s bureau.

The men were working the high-country pasture that was bisected by a slender, slow-moving mountain stream aptly named Meandering Creek. Though Aaron had written down very precise directions on how to drive to the pasture, she was glad that Garrett had punched the coordinates into the GPS unit. Up in the unpopulated Badlands, street signs were a luxury the taxpayers could afford to do without.

The narrow, gravel road split into a
Y
, and Katie brought the pickup to a stop. The GPS unit didn’t seem to show definitively which direction to take. When she checked Aaron’s handwritten directions, it made it very clear she was to go to the left. Katie smiled. Her men looked after her. Garrett, more tech-savvy than Aaron, had programmed the GPS unit for her. Aaron, an old hand at the unmarked mountainous Badlands roads, had printed clear and precise directions that were easy to follow.

It’s easy to be in love when you’re treated with such respect and with such consideration. How did I get so lucky to have such men in my life?

Five minutes later, when she found the elbow bend in Meandering Creek and saw the four horses loosely tied to the stream’s grassy bank, Katie eased the pickup half off the gravel road and put the transmission into park. The brothers were in the stream, apparently sitting down since they were all in water up to their necks.

Aaron noticed the pickup truck and waved a long arm. All heads turned instantly toward Katie. Then Aaron stood up, revealing several critical facts. The first was that the water was only knee-deep. The second was that he and his brothers were completely naked. The third was that the water was from melted snow high in the hills, and that it was still very cold.

“I thought you were supposed to be working?” Katie called out, opening the truck’s door. Seeing her men all entirely naked made her nipples pebble up instantly, causing distinct dents in the thin cotton T-shirt she wore. “Swimming doesn’t seem to me like working.”

“The horses needed a rest, so we thought we’d take one, too,” Aaron countered with a smile, walking slowly toward the nearest grassy bank. “Besides, it feels good to soak in a cool stream every now and then.”

As Katie approached the men with the wicker basket in the crook of one elbow and the insulated coffee container in the other, she smiled broadly, giving a general nod in the direction of Aaron’s penis. “From the looks of things, I’d say the water’s more ice-cold than cool.”

Blair, Flynn, and Garrett laughed at the jibe.

“You men seem to be of diminished stature as well,” Katie said, making sure she didn’t single out any of her lovers for teasing. She doubted these men were insecure about such things, particularly since they were all gorgeously endowed and spectacularly responsive, but sometimes insecurities lurked even in the most confident of men. “I’ve brought you sandwiches, caramel rolls, and plenty of fresh, hot coffee.”

“Everything smells wonderful,” Aaron said, stepping closer to Katie. With his hands, he wiped water off his arms, chest, and legs. “If I’d have thought this through properly, we’d all have been sun-dried and completely dressed by the time you got here.”

“Trust me on this,” Katie said quietly, her gaze alive on Aaron’s face. “I’m not offended by seeing my men nude. I’m just a little worried that some other women will drive by, see you men, and try to steal you away.”

“Never happen,” Aaron said. “We’re yours. You’re ours. And that’s that.”

“But she’d get to see what I have, and then she’d be envious.”

Garrett shook his head. “You’ve got to get used to Badlands life. We could be here three or four days and maybe not see another truck drive by.”

Aaron started to put his clothes back on, but Katie stopped him. “You’d normally just let yourself dry in the sun, and then you’d put your clothes on, right?”

Aaron nodded. “A man gets a little chafed in the saddle riding in wet underwear.”

“Then please, eat your meal and dry, just as you normally would.” She smiled teasingly. “I promise, no more jokes about cold water.”

“That,” Aaron replied with mock annoyance, “will be greatly appreciated. Now, let’s see what you’ve brought us.”

They sat cross-legged in a circle in the thick grass, with Katie passing out the sandwiches, knowing that Blair preferred the roast beef with spiced mustard, and Garrett was especially fond of summer sausage with Monterey Jack cheese and just a touch of mayonnaise. She passed out blue enameled tin coffee cups then walked around and filled them in turn. It gave her exquisite pleasure to be serving her men, to help them with their cowboy duties in a manner that made them grateful.

For her part, with each passing second, Katie felt the juices flowing more freely to the lips of her pussy, and she experienced that sensation in the pit of her stomach that was always there whenever all her men were around and she could sense their virility. Her nipples, without a bra to hide them, were hard little pebbles of aroused tissue showing plainly through the snug strap-sleeved T-shirt. Her amorous emotions were on display. And the movement of her breasts inside the T-shirt, causing her nipples to rub against the well-washed cotton, was a small but evocative caress that sent little tingles throughout her body.

The men fell into an easy banter. Each one in turn complimented Katie for the quality of his sandwich, and she made a mental note to always pay special attention to which of the brothers liked what. She would have to be careful to never assume that, for instance, just because Aaron liked to have a whiskey once in a while with his beer, that any of the others brothers did.

It’s going to be so damned complicated loving four men simultaneously...but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

As time passed, Katie became more and more aware of the men looking surreptitiously at her, casting sidelong glances when she was looking in a different direction.

They like me going braless.

She rose to her feet and slowly walked around the circle of men, bending low each time she filled a tin cup with coffee. The men all voiced their appreciation, and Katie moved leisurely so they could look at her charms.

She filled Aaron’s cup last, and when she stood upright, he put his hand on her calf, touching her through her jeans.

“Nice to see a city girl like you dressed like a cowgirl,” he said, smiling up at her.

“You like me in jeans and a T-shirt?”

Garrett piped in quickly, “My T-shirt, if I’m not mistaken. And you’ve never looked better. Seriously.”

“I decided to go without a bra.” Katie leveled her gaze directly on the young man’s. “Just for you.”

“I like it.”

Aaron’s deep voice cut in. “Yes, it’s fine for you to go without a bra, but only when you’re coming to see us exclusively. If you went without a bra at the Mountain View Saloon, then I wouldn’t like it.”

Katie raised her eyebrows. “Oh? You wouldn’t like other men looking at me, watching my breast jiggling as I poured beers and served drinks? And if I thought of you men, my nipples would get all hard and tingly, and those other men would see that, too, wouldn’t they?”

She watched color come to Aaron’s cheeks, and she knew that she had piqued his anger a bit more than she had intended. With Aaron and his brothers, jealousy didn’t scare her, didn’t make her feel like she was being controlled without her consent. She had, against her better judgment but of her own free will, consented to be their lover, their woman. Their
only
woman. If they were jealous and possessive, it was only because they cared, and they wanted to hold on to the good thing they had.

Aaron suddenly tossed his tin cup aside and rose swiftly to his feet. Katie was reminded once again of his great size, of the breadth of his shoulders and the leanness of his hips, of the clearly defined muscles in his chest, shoulders, and abdomen.

“Be careful how you tease me.” Aaron’s voice was low. Katie looked straight into his eyes, but with her periphery vision she saw that all the other brothers were quickly getting to their feet. “Being in love is new to me. It’s never happened before, so I’m just learning now how to deal with it.”

“Don’t be—”

Katie silenced herself before she finished the sentence. She had almost said “afraid,” but she knew instinctively that no man as alpha as Aaron could ever allow the word “afraid” to be tacked onto him. Not without rebelling, he couldn’t. As she looked up into his eyes, feeling small and fragile and deliciously protected and coveted, she was aware of the other McGowan men slowly surrounding her. It was almost as though she could feel the heat of their nearby bodies going straight into her bloodstream, warming and exciting her, and making her clitoris pulse and throb with hungry anticipation.

Aaron prodded with suspicion. “Don’t be
what
?”

Despite her best intentions, Katie couldn’t keep her gaze from flicking down to Aaron’s penis, which was no longer showing the truncating effects of the icy stream.

“Being in love is new to me, too,” Katie replied, opting for honesty. “I’m just as confused as you are.”

Aaron smiled, and Katie realized that she hadn’t changed the conversation properly.

The man she adored smiled down at her and said, “How about if you let me and my brothers love away any confusion you’ve got? Out here. Under the sun. What could be more natural than that?”