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Waving good-bye to Wyatt, she hurried over to meet Ben.

She missed him just like she missed Charlie. It was crazy how

concerned she was originally about being in a ménage relationship.

She didn’t think she had enough in her to be with three men at once. It

was different than anything she had ever heard of before, and she was

glad she had held on to her virginity. She could have made a mistake

and just had sex just to have it.

She slowed her pace as Ben continued to talk to the men. She

didn’t want to interrupt, and he held his hand up, indicating to give

him a minute. She froze in place then slowly walked to the right of

them and the horse corral. She noticed the cowboys glance her way as

they folded up pieces of paper, placing them in their pockets.

Anna looked out at the horses. It was beautiful here, and she loved

everything about Pearl. She didn’t want to think about her past

anymore. She didn’t want the nightmares and the bad memories to

rule her life and weaken her. There was a sense of newfound strength

inside her growing stronger every day. She knew where that stemmed

from. Between arriving on the Triple C, and having the initial support

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from Stacy, Max, and Eric she was beginning her healing process.

When she met Charlie that first night on the ranch, with his concerned

facial expression and ability to care for her, she knew he was special

she just had to release her fear and trust again. She had immediately

trusted him. Why else would she have allowed a complete stranger to

see her wounds and hold her in his arms while she processed through

another bout of nightmares?

Then there was Ben. Initially, she wasn’t certain about his

personality. He had that wild, confident look about him. Like he could

be narcissistic without coming across narcissistic, but instead, he was

just confident and sexy. He made her laugh now, but she recalled his

explicit language initially made her nervous and embarrassed. Boy,

had he changed her. Now, she loved it when he talked dirty to her,

and she was beginning to give him some of his own naughty verbal

medicine.

She smiled. Boy, did she get them all good last night. The look on

Wyatt’s face was enough to make her blush right now. Why she

started the game of making them come before her she had no idea. It

was how they made her feel. She wasn’t so shy and unwilling to

experiment with them. She loved them.

Her heart pounded in her chest.

“Hey, darling!” Ben exclaimed, catching her off guard. She turned

to him with a huge smile on her face and practically jumped into his

arms.

“Whoa! I am liking this kind of welcome,” he exclaimed,

chuckling.

She held him tight, with her arms around his neck before she

squeezed him to her.

“I missed you, Ben.”

“I missed you, too.”

He squeezed her back then let her feet back on the ground before

he held her from behind, and they looked out at the scenery together.

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She loved the feel of his strong arms. He was built trimmer than

Wyatt and similar to Charlie. The three Cantrells were in great

physical condition.

Ben kissed her neck as he held her around the waist.

“You smell good.”

“You must be hungry,” she retorted, teasing him. She reeked of

fries, burgers, and onions. Her specialty burgers were a huge hit at

Francine’s.

He chuckled.

“I’m hungry all right.” He licked her neck, and she rolled her head

back until he claimed her lips in a sensual kiss.

“Mmmm…honey, I could eat you up,” Ben replied after releasing

her lips.

“I smell like burgers, that’s why.”

“You always smell good to me and ready to nibble on.”

She began to laugh and pull away from Ben as he nibbled her

neck a little harder and tickled her.

She laughed as he held her hands at a distance, keeping her from

running off.

“Let me go take a shower before Wyatt and Charlie get here. Then

I can make some dinner.”

He pulled her against his chest and kissed her again.

When he released her lips, he smiled.

“You might just get you some company in that shower, darling!”

he exclaimed as he released her. She glanced down towards the crotch

of his jeans, and her heart hammered in her chest.

“You want some of that, baby? Go on up, and get started. I’ll be

up in a few,” he retorted, all sexy and confident as usual. She felt all

giddy inside as she shook her head and ran towards the house,

lighthearted and happy as could be.

Anna was upstairs taking a shower when she heard Ben and

Charlie call her name.

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“I’m in the shower!” she exclaimed as she let the warm water

caress her muscles. It had been another crazy busy day at the

restaurant. Considering she was around so much food, she felt kind of

hungry. Or maybe it was a different kind of hunger she felt once Ben

got a hold of her outside by the horse corral. Boy, was that man a

piece of work.

She wondered what the guys had planned for dinner. Maybe she

would cook for them tonight. She had wanted to mention it this

morning, but things got a little out of hand. She smiled as she

remembered the way they made love to her and the spanking. Damn,

there was something seriously wrong with her. She should be afraid

of that type of control, but there was definitely a difference between

the way they spanked her and the way she had been abused. It wasn’t

like her father had hit her all the time. Sometimes his insults and

hurtful comments about her looks or the way she did something hurt

worse than getting hit. She swallowed hard, then turned off the

shower.

When she looked up, both Ben and Charlie stood there waiting for

her. Ben held a large towel open, and she went right to him.

He wrapped the warm, fluffy towel around her body and hugged

her close. She closed her eyes and absorbed the love he gave.

Ben immediately held her from behind and nuzzled her neck after

pushing aside the wet strands of hair.

“We missed you,” Charlie stated, but Ben just squeezed her tight.

She got a little funny feeling in her belly but dismissed it. It was

probably from the thoughts in the shower.

Anna stepped away and smiled.

“I missed you, too.”

“Let me get dressed then I can start cooking dinner. Are you guys

almost finished with work?”

They eyed one another, and Anna got that funny feeling again.

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“We took out some chicken this morning. We can just throw it on

the grill with some barbeque sauce and have it on rolls with lettuce

and tomatoes. Is that good?” Charlie asked.

“I guess so, if that’s what you want.”

Anna felt like they didn’t want her in their kitchen. Was that too

intimate? Had she read their feelings and intentions wrong? Maybe

they did just want to share her for a while then move on? Her head

began to ache at the thoughts.

As she walked toward the bedroom, Ben grabbed her arm.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“Don’t give me a ‘nothing’. Didn’t you learn anything after your

punishment this morning?” Ben teased, squeezing her arm a little

tighter.

She lowered her eyes. She didn’t want to admit her fears, and she

didn’t want to hear him say that they weren’t serious about her. It

would hurt so much.

She felt his fingertips under her chin as he tilted her face up

toward him. Charlie stood beside Ben with his hands on his waist, and

his eyebrows crinkled. She began nibbling her bottom lip.

A gentle brush of the lips from Ben’s thumb stopped the nibbling.

“What’s wrong?”

“I understand, it’s okay, Ben, I just assumed too much.

Relationships are new to me.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I understand that you don’t want me in your kitchen. That’s too

personal, and we’ve just started…seeing one another.”

“What makes you say that?” Charlie asked.

“You don’t want me to cook for you. You don’t want me in your

kitchen and making myself at home. I understand.”

“No, Anna, you don’t. You got it all wrong. We didn’t want you

to feel you had to cook for us after cooking all day at the restaurant.

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And where the hell did you get some ridiculous idea that this

relationship isn’t serious?” Ben demanded to know.

“We want you here. We want you everywhere,” Charlie added as

he moved closer to her.

His eyes looked darker suddenly, and it warmed her inside.

“We’re looking forward to fucking you in every room in this

house. In the kitchen, on the table, against the door…fucking

everywhere.” Ben pulled her close and kissed her before she could

respond.

A second later, she felt the towel loosen around her body.

“I say we show her how much we want her in our home,” Charlie

whispered against her ear as he caressed her shoulders and nibbled on

her collarbone.

Anna rolled her head back against Charlie’s shoulder as Ben knelt

down in front of her. He placed her foot on his thigh and spread her

legs before blowing warm air against her folds.

“Just a little appetizer before dinner, baby,” Ben whispered as he

licked her folds and began to feast on her.

It was merely a matter of minutes before Anna moaned her release

while holding Ben against her with his mouth still latched on.

The sound of their cell phones ringing, then beeping, put an end to

the feast.

They each hugged her, patted and caressed her bottom, and told

her to come downstairs for supper because Wyatt was on his way.

Slowly, and still feeling a bit dazed, Anna began to dress.

* * * *

“We’ve been watching this place for twenty-four hours. What the

fuck are we waiting for?” Vinny whispered, agitated that they were

stuck out in the middle of a field with binoculars.

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“You have to have patience. Am I the only one who saw over a

dozen big ass cowboys and the fucking town sheriff? He don’t look

like no hillbilly to me,” Jake replied as he lifted the binoculars again.

“Fuck this shit! As soon as she’s alone and we get a chance to

grab her, let’s do it and get the fuck out of here. I’m all congested

from the fields, and these fucking hick clothes are putting a damper

on my style. How do they wear this fucking thermal plaid shit?”

Jake laughed.

“You’re congested because your nose is used to city air not fresh

country air. It’s probably better for your health to live out here.”

“With the smell of cow shit? I don’t fucking think so.”

“Those men are always around her. We should wait until night

when the workers are in their bunk houses or grab her at the

restaurant.”

“The restaurant is too risky unless we enter through the back, light

up the place with some gunfire, grab her, then speed out of town.

There’re only three deputies. We could take out the tires on their

vehicles first.”

“That’s a fucking stupid idea. The town has people everywhere.

It’s like fucking Mayberry and shit. No. We take her here.”

“Those three men, including the sheriff, are fucking her, I just

know it.”

“This is definitely a fucked-up town. We’ve seen a few women

with more than one man. It’s a twist on polygamy.”

“It’s twisted, period. I wouldn’t let another man fuck my wife.”

“You’re so full of shit. You just offered Marcus Anna, and me, if I

wanted.”

“She’s not my fucking wife. I was going to use her body to get

back the money.”

“Bull fucking shit! As soon as you have the chance, you’re

fucking her and keeping her for yourself. I’ve known you since

fucking grade school. Now shut the fuck up, and use those two

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hundred fucking dollar binoculars you insisted on getting and hope

tonight is the night. I want to get back to New York.”

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Chapter 16

It was after seven in the evening. They had finished dinner and

were sitting on the porch.

Stacy, Eric, and Ben had joined at Wyatt’s request. The sun had

set, and the darkness filled the yard except for the soft glow of the

lampposts that stood on the corners of Eric and Max’s house.

Stacy talked about plans for the nursery, and Anna made

suggestions for colors and themes. They were giggling and enjoying

the moment, and Wyatt felt sick to his stomach being the bearer of

bad news.

As the conversation quieted down, Wyatt took the moment to

speak. Everyone was silent.

“Anna, I received a call today at work.”

Anna and her beautiful, big, brown eyes focused on his every

word. He loved her, damn it, and this sucked.

“It was from a detective in New York.”

“What?”

He watched her glance around at everyone’s faces, and instantly,

she knew something was up. She clasped her hands on her lap and