How to Break a Cowboy (8 page)

A chair squeaks across the tile floor as Connor moves it to
grab a length of rope from a table. Let’s see if he can beat his best
calf-roping time. I count in my head as he stalks Wade, who is towelling off
with his back to us.

Once he’s got a towel around his hips, he turns to find
Connor standing in front of him, a loop of rope in his fist. “What the hell are
you doing?”

“You’re not going anywhere,” Connor says.

Wade glances from me to Dallas and back to Connor. “Look,
whatever game this is, I’m not interested. Okay? I’m beat. You three stay and
have fun. Really.”

Connor shakes his head. “No.”

Just then, Dallas starts to approach, walking slowly and
carefully toward Wade as if the big man really is an unbroken horse about to
rear.

I come closer too, watching the exchange from the pool’s
edge. Connor said if it came to this, he wanted me to stay in the pool because
he was afraid it might get rough. From the intensity of the looks flitting
between the three men and the tension in their sculpted bodies, I suspect he
might be right.

With a little bounce on the balls of his feet, Connor makes
his move. But Wade isn’t just big and strong, he’s quick too. He blocks
Connor’s advance and grabs the rope right out of Connor’s hand and tosses it
away. After shoving Connor aside, he turns his attention to Dallas and with the
force of an angry bull, slams into him, forcing him up against the wall.

Dallas’s grunt of surprise and pain echoes in the close
confines of the pool room and I jump out of the pool and rush toward the
grappling men. Connor grabs me about the waist and holds me, keeping me away
from the other two.

“Do something,” I say.

His grip is firm. “No. They need to work it out.”

“Work it out? They’re going to kill each other.” At least,
that’s how it looks to me. Wade’s got Dallas’s struggling body pinned up
against the wall.

But Dallas is strong too and he gains leverage by pushing
back against the wall, giving Wade a forceful push. “What the fuck is your
problem?”

“You. You are my fucking problem.” Wade shoves Dallas right
back and the men get into this pushing match that I swear is going to end with
someone falling and cracking their head on the tile floor.

“What do you want from me, huh?” Wade demands, his voice
hardened with some angry passion.

Dallas shoves Wade in one motion and then grabs for him in
another. He wraps his hand around Wade’s neck and draws him close. “You know
what I fucking want.”

Wade knocks Dallas’s hand away but Dallas is undeterred.
They do that a few more times, Dallas grabbing for Wade’s shoulder and Wade
pushing him away. But each time, it seems a little more reluctant, like he
wants to grab onto Dallas too and pull him close.

“Kiss me,” Dallas says.

“Fuck off.”

“Come on.”

“No.” Wade’s voice is ragged and breathless but he’s stopped
pushing and is holding Dallas at arm’s length, staring deeply into his eyes.

“If you can walk away after kissing me, I’ll leave you
alone. I swear to God. Just fucking do it.”

Wade roars. In all the time I’ve known him, I’ve never heard
anything like this heart wrenching, tortured sound coming from him. He releases
Dallas and stalks to the table where we’ve got our shit piled. With the frantic
way he goes through the pile, it’s a miracle he finds what he’s looking for.
Then he strides over to Dallas, who hasn’t moved except for the rising and
falling of his chest—breathing just as hard as both Connor and I are breathing
as we watch from the sidelines.

Wade holds up a condom package. “Is this what you want?”

Dallas’s eyes flick from the package down to Wade’s impressive
erection.

My eyes follow. For some reason my gaze is then drawn to
Dallas’s equally impressive cock before returning to his face.

“Kiss me,” Dallas repeats.

With an angry jerk of his head, Wade rips the package open
and rolls the condom over his length. “You want me to fuck you? I’ll fuck you.”

“I want you to kiss me.”

Wade ignores him and with a grunt forces Dallas around and
pushes him down over the table. There is no fight in Dallas as he bends,
widening his stance for Wade, holding onto the table with one hand and gripping
his cock with the other.

“Is this what you want?” Wade asks, rubbing himself hard
behind Dallas.

Although his response is quiet, I hear him say, “You know
what I want.”

Does Dallas also know how his answers are inciting Wade into
a lust-filled rage? I keep trying to move out of Connor’s arms. I’m desperate
to go up to these men and soothe the anger out of them, make it all better. But
Connor holds me tight.

“You can’t fix this,” he whispers close to my ear. “Only
they can.”

I don’t know how Connor can stand it. But he’s right and I
stay locked in his embrace, glued to the scene unfolding in front of us.

Dallas’s gasp indicates penetration. Watching them is like
nothing I’ve ever seen before. The fierceness of Wade’s thrusts met with the
wild reaction of Dallas’s hips. The men cry out and grunt like they’re engaged
in a fistfight, not sex.

“Have you ever seen Wade like this before?” I ask quietly,
finding comfort in Connor’s strong arms.

“Only once,” he says softly.

Glancing behind me, I look into his eyes. They’re flashing
with some burning intensity as he watches his lovers. It might be desire, I
don’t know, but it’s sure as hell potent.

“Is this how he was the last time he was with Dallas?”

Connor nods, never taking his eyes off the men grunting and
copulating like crazed animals.

When Wade shouts out long and loud, I turn back to them.
He’s flush against Dallas’s hips, every muscle in his back and ass rock hard
with the tension of his orgasm. I can see Dallas’s hand moving rapidly and then
he grunts his release.

“Holy fuck,” I whisper, rubbing my bare ass against Connor,
suddenly needing him inside of me.

The need is soon forgotten, however, because Wade pulls away
from Dallas, grabs a towel from the floor and storms out of the room.

I slide out of Connor’s arms, scoop my robe from a chair and
race barefoot after Wade. I don’t catch him until the Big House.

“Leave me alone, Tess,” he says, trying to shut his bedroom
door in my face.

“No way,” I say, stupidly shoving my bare foot between the
open door and the doorframe.

Wade doesn’t see it and closes the door, slamming my foot in
the process.

“Oh shit!” he cries when I shout out in pain and fall to the
floor, my bruised foot cradled in my hands.

Wade scoops me up and carries me into his room, setting me
down on a chair beside the fireplace. He kneels in front of me and gently takes
my injured foot. “I’m so sorry, Tess.”

I thread my fingers in his damp hair. “What are you sorry
for? This was an accident.”

Without looking up at me, he rubs the instep of my foot.
“I’m sorry for everything. This weekend has been one big cluster-fuck.”

“Hey,” I reach for his chin and tilt his head up. “I’ve
enjoyed the weekend so far.” I smooth the dent between his brows. “It’s you I’m
worried about.”

“Me? You don’t need to worry about—”

“Wade.” My voice is sharp. By the way his brows lift, I know
he’s surprised by my commanding tone. “You’re being an idiot. Don’t tell me not
to worry. Tell me why you’re being a jerk.”

He shakes his head out from my grasp and stands. The way he
paces across the room confirms all the conflict he’s stored up inside.

“Tell me why you’re torturing yourself.”

With his hand wedged in his hair, he groans. “Did you see me
just now? Did you?”

“Yes,” I say softly.

“Did you see how fucking out of control I was?” He halts his
pacing right in front of me. “I can’t stand it, Tess.” Shaking his head slowly
from one side to the other he goes on raggedly, “I can’t stand losing it like
that.” He squeezes his eyes shut and holds his forehead. “I practically forced
him…”

I push myself to my feet and limp right up to him. “If
Dallas didn’t want it, he would have stopped you.”

“I don’t know, Tess. I don’t know.”

“He loves you.”

Wade throws his head back and groans.

“You love him too.”

His gaze is fierce and tortured and filled with misery and I
know I’m right. “Why are you making everyone, including yourself, suffer?” I
step closer and sweep my hands up his bare chest, rubbing him just above his
heart. “Just give in.”

“I can’t.”

Quietly, I say, “You can.”

“You don’t know what it’s like.”

“Yes,” I say, planting a gentle kiss between his pectoral
muscles, “I do. And if you don’t stop being stupid, you’re going to lose Connor
and Dallas both.”

Something catches in Wade’s throat and he turns away, his
breathing ragged. I stand close behind him but don’t touch him. Something tells
me he needs to get his emotions under control before he’ll allow me to touch
him again.

“Do you know,” he says quietly, “the day we slept with
Dallas, I was going to ask Con to move in with me.”

Holy shit. Doesn’t that just add a new dimension to the
whole situation? I reach out and stroke his back. “So, why didn’t you?”

Slowly, Wade turns to face me. “How could I when I had these
intense feelings for someone else?”

“So you’ve been pushing the two of them together as a way to
alleviate your guilt about your feelings for Dallas?” I ask.

“Hell, I don’t know. I just know everything changed and I…I
don’t trust myself. Not around Dallas.” He leans down to me and grazes my
cheekbone with his thumb. “I barely trust myself with you.”

Finally, everything clicks. “It’s not just that you like to
be in control, it’s that you’re afraid of losing control.”

“I don’t know, hell…maybe.” He starts pacing again. “Dammit,
Tess. You saw me. If I let myself go, I’d end up hurting the people I love.”

“You’re already hurting them.” I catch his hand and hold on.
“Yeah, I saw you with Dallas and yes, it scared me a little because I’d never
seen you like that. But it didn’t scare Dallas and it sure-as-hell didn’t scare
Connor.”

He stares deep into my eyes, searching out the truth of my
statement.

“It’s true.”

Both Wade and I spin toward the door. Connor is standing
there. Behind him is Dallas. The two men enter slowly and I glance up at Wade.
He’s got a look of panic in his eyes.

Chapter Eight

T
here’s
only one thing to be done. I undo the sash at the waist of my robe and slowly
pull it through the loops. Without a word, I walk up to Wade and gently nudge
him backwards to the bed. From the corner of my eye, I can see the other two
following me, but keeping their distance. Wade’s gaze flicks from me to Connor
then to Dallas.

“Don’t,” Wade whispers. But his voice lacks conviction and I
know what I’m doing is right.

“Get on the bed,” I say. My tone is soft but commanding. I
may be small, I may be a woman, I may not know how to break a horse, but I know
how to take a business, cut through the bullshit and make it work, no matter if
it’s a small operation or a multi-national. If I can do that, I can cut through
Wade’s bullshit and make this thing work for the three of them.

“Get on the bed,” I repeat.

Wade’s got this look of surprise on his face, but he obeys
me. I crawl up onto the bed beside him and tug his right arm up above his head.
With the sash from my robe, I tie it around his wrist and then wrap it once
around the slotted headboard. He doesn’t fight me when I grab his other wrist
and do the same, securing his hands up above his head.

I let my robe fall open, leaving my chest bare. Leaning
down, I graze the tips of my breasts across his chest. With my head hanging
low, I swish my damp hair over his pectoral muscles and down, moving lower and
lower until I reach his towel.

“Sometimes,” I say softly, “you have to give up control.” I
tug at the place where the towel is tucked in on itself and flip it open. Wade’s
got the beginnings of a beautiful erection and I swing my hair up and down his
hardening length. “Right now, I’m in control and you’re going to do everything
I say.” I look up to meet his fiery stare. “Is that clear?”

His nostrils flare and he’s breathing hard. “Fuck, Tess. I
don’t know if—”

Lowering myself onto my hands and knees I take the head of
him in my mouth and circle him with my tongue. His hips lift off the mattress
to meet me and, with a firm grasp around his base, I say again, “Is that clear?”

I hear him swallow. With a glance up, I see he’s licking his
lips. Still fighting the thing he wants, still battling his desires. He
squeezes his eyes tight and then lets out a low moan that sounds suspiciously
like ‘yes’.

“Is it clear?” I ask with more force.

“Yes.”

“Good,” I whisper and then take him as deeply into my mouth
as I can. I press the tip of my tongue to the underside of his cock as I
withdraw and then play with the head of him, running my tongue over and around
his tip, revelling in how he’s grown hard in my hand.

I sit up and shrug out of my robe. “You’re going to be my
sex toy and you’re going to do exactly as I say.” I turn to the men who are
standing just off to the side, both of them flushed—from the pool? Maybe—from
what’s about to happen? I hope so. “Same with you two,” I say. “You’re all
going to do everything I say, because I’m the boss. Do you understand?”

The men nod. But I don’t want nods. I want acquiescence.

“Say it,” I bark.

“Yes,” Connor says with his usual smirk.

Dallas is quieter and there’s a hoarse quality to his voice
when he agrees to my terms. I like it.

“Good.” With Wade grasped firmly in my hands, I wriggle my
ass between his parted legs and spread my legs, knees bent, feet planted on
either side of his waist, so that my smoking slit is saddled right up along his
shaft. I shift so that I’m as close as humanly possible, his balls snugged up
against my ass, his cock extended up through my open legs so that it looks like
I’m wearing a strap-on. I lift my pelvis up and down, sliding my wet heat along
his length, my clit ring rubbing deliciously, increasing my pleasure.