“You’re looking like the cat that ate the canary.” Tyrell grinned as Durango stepped back into the bedroom where Ty and Landon were sequestered. In the old days having two men lying leisurely on a bed together meant comments about them being gay. But these days, men huddled together all the time for warmth. Modesty and friendly jokes were quickly forgotten.
“Move your ass over so I can climb in, and I just might tell you how sweet our canary tastes.”
Both Tyrell and Landon blinked up at him, their mouths parting in shock as his meaning came across. They both swore softly, and they grimaced in pain as they moved and disrupted their injuries. They gave him more room than he needed.
Dropping his jeans, both men whistled as his painful erection boldly pressed against his underwear.
“Fuck, my man, what did you do to deserve that?” Landon chuckled.
“More like what didn’t you do to deserve that,” Tyrell said, shaking his head. “She must be some fantastic chick.”
“If you two hadn’t gotten yourself shot up so bad, then you might have been able to partake in the pleasures. But, alas, lucky I, for taking only a flesh wound.” Durango winked at them, and they cursed him down.
“You shouldn’t have made her believe she was the one who’d shot you,” Landon said softly as the three settled beneath the covers.
“Yeah, that wasn’t nice. When the lie comes out, and it will, she’s going to be doubly pissed off.” Tyrell grumbled.
“At all three of us, because you two had plenty of opportunity to speak up and set me straight. Now you are my accomplices and thus will harbor her wrath when she learns the truth,” Durango quipped, trying to hide his smile as he teased the guys and they once again cursed him down.
“Yep, she did taste very good. Too bad you two are so badly shot.”
“Durango,” Landon said, and Durango could hear the warning in his voice to stop.
“You’re torturing us, my man,” Tyrell replied in a cool tone.
“Sorry, guys, sweet dreams. I know I’ll certainly have them.”
He closed his eyes and smiled as the other two men shifted uneasily, obviously getting very uncomfortable as their imaginations ran wild about what he’d been doing with Liz.
Good. They should be miserable, because misery, meaning him, loved company at the moment.
She couldn’t believe she let Durango go down on her after he’d only been in her home for a couple of hours. He’d been gone for months. How dare he come back into her life and think he could just start having sex with her. She didn’t want to be sucked into what he wanted from her. Didn’t want to become a sex toy to him and his friends. Where would it stop? Would it go beyond three men? Although that idea terrified her, it also aroused her.
God, was she ever screwed up!
During her last visit, her nearest neighbor, Teyla Sutton, had confided to Liz that since being with three men at the same time, Teyla didn’t dream of going back to having sex on a regular basis with just one man. She simply enjoyed menages too much.
Is that what would happen to her? Would she lose herself in the pleasure of three men?
Liz bit back a sob. She wanted her old life back. It had been so simple back then. One man who’d loved her, family, and the conveniences of civilization, which included a phone and electricity, running hot water and an abundance of food.
Instead, she was freezing her butt off out here. She stood naked, her bare feet wobbling on rocks in the cold water of a river that ran through her property, and she had the most picturesque scenery of snowcapped craggy mountains in the distance while she washed herself. Her teeth chattered so loudly she wouldn’t be surprised if her closest neighbors heard her two miles away.
She sighed and dipped a bucket of water into the cold water. Bringing it up over her head, she held her breath and tipped it, gasping and cursing as the liquid practically froze her sensitive skin as it washed over her.
Sweet mercy! But that water was cold!
Dropping the pail, she grabbed the face cloth she’d placed on a nearby boulder and dipped it into the water before generously soaping the cloth. Normally she would have lugged in some buckets of water from the well outside her house and warmed it in the cast-iron pot she kept hanging over the fire in the living room fireplace. But she didn’t want Durango and his friends walking in on her while she washed her intimate parts. Parts that were exquisitely tender after Durango had had his way with her.
She held her breath as she splayed the cold, soapy washcloth over her right breast. Talk about freezing! She’d hoped the cold water would distinguish the heat of arousal flaring through her body since she’d woken from her nap after Durango had left her spent. But the cold air breathing against her moist flesh, and now the water dribbling erotically over her fevered skin, only seemed to heighten her senses and awareness that sleeping in her bed were three very sexy, well-muscled men.
When she’d awoken, the house had been too quiet and panic had sawed through her like a painful blade as she’d wondered if Durango and the others had left once again. Her uneasiness had only increased as she’d rushed down the hallway. Holding her breath, she’d pushed open the doorway to her bedroom, and thankfully they’d still been there. The three of them were fast asleep, their soft snores zipping through the cool air.
She’d watched them.
The new man, Tyrell Mathews, looked exquisitely handsome as he slept, his long, dark eyelashes framing his cheeks. His hair was dark brown, and he had a short, military-style cut. He was as darkly tanned as Durango, and he’d smelled very nice. While she’d tended to his wound, he’d kept quiet, his dark brown eyes studying her. Whenever he’d answered her questions, he’d answered in a mannerly tone which gave her the impression he was sweet and nice. Durango had been right though. Tyrell’s muscles certainly had made her insides twist about in an erotic way. Damn Durango for bringing another muscle-bound man into her home and into her life.
Landon Leigh’s light coloring was in direct contrast to Durango’s dark coloring. Where Durango had shoulder-length straight dark brown, almost-black hair and dark blue eyes, Landon’s hair was just as long and straight, but light sandy brown, almost blond, with green eyes. All three of them were big men, heavily muscled with dark five-o’clock shadows hugging their cheeks and chin.
They were sexy, dangerous desperadoes who were wanted by the law. Well, not that there was a legitimate law around these days. Vigilantes, people who’d taken it upon themselves to protect others or use their power over vulnerable people, preferred to hang people, before asking questions.
Lately the Durango Gang was on the top of their hit list, with their pictures on wanted posters all over town. They were a gang who robbed from the rich and gave to the poor, the rich meaning people who made extremely high profits off the misery of others.
Liz didn’t have a problem with the Durango Gang. These days lawlessness ran rampant, and one had to do anything to survive. She just wished Durango hadn’t decided to run with such a crowd that seemed to get shot up almost every time they did a bank heist or some other sort of robbery. Making enemies of the rich people was never a good thing.
The entire time Durango and Landon had been gone, she’d worried for their safety. She had inquired after them whenever one or more of the Durango members came to her for a referral to a pleasure girl or if they were injured. That was how she’d kept tabs on them.
She knew Landon wanted her. Durango had told her that shortly before they’d left. And Durango had wanted to share her with him. She liked the man. Okay, so just looking at him made her pussy pulse and her breasts yearn for him to touch her, but that didn’t mean she had to sleep with the guy. At least it hadn’t been required of her before the entire world had gone mad, including Durango.
Her gaze had then settled on Durango, the man she’d once called her heart. He did look much better than when he’d left, she had to admit. Before he’d gone away he’d possessed the look of a caged animal. Dark circles had hung beneath his eyes, and furrows had appeared at the sides of his mouth, compliments of a constant frown.
She realized now that she hadn’t been good enough for him. She’d wanted to be, but she wasn’t. He’d wanted more out of life than just settling down and trying to survive. He’d wanted to make a difference in this new world. Apparently, for him, joining the Robin Hood-style gang was the ticket.
Liz frowned and combed her fingers through her wet hair. Well, perhaps he’d gotten his adventurous streak out of his system and had come home to be with her? Yeah, right. Wishful thinking. He was probably here because she’d been convenient to patch up Landon and Tyrell and the three of them wanted some hot sex before taking off on her again. And it was at that exact moment she’d realized she didn’t want to fight with Durango anymore. She was holding onto an old way of life that would never come back. She hated change, but she now realized that changing and adapting to this new environment was the only way she would have a chance at being happy again.
Why should she deny herself the pleasures that Durango and his two friends wanted to give to her? Since the Catastrophe everything had become distorted. Why not live a few hot fantasies while she was still alive?
In town, she’d heard gossip that the environment may get even colder. God forbid if that happened. People were having trouble keeping any outdoor crops alive, let alone trying to grow feed for livestock that could be ultimately butchered for meat.
Times had gotten harsh since the Catastrophe. All of her family and extended family must have been wiped out. She’d never gone back East to find out. How could she? Nothing was running. No trains, no buses, no planes.
The only way back would be on one of those pioneer wagon trains that some people were signing up for. Caravans or something like that. Just like in the Old West days.
No, it was best to stay put. She knew if one of her three brothers or her parents had survived they would have come looking for her. She’d sent several letters back recently through what they were calling “The Pony Express,” named after the original Pony Express that the United States had had back in 1849 where riders rode all day and all night to get mail from East to West and vice versa.
The price for the Pony Express service was steep, and because most people didn’t have a job anymore, they didn’t pay her money for her doctoring services. Instead of giving her money, they gave her food or handmade items.
The lavender-scented soap she washed herself with had been a gift from one of her patients, a little old lady whom Elizabeth knew only by the name of Sally. She lived alone in the next valley. Obviously no pensions existed anymore, so she’d been cut off.
Sally’s entire family had disintegrated in the solar flares, and Sally had found herself totally alone and fending for herself. She hadn’t sobbed in the middle of a river like Elizabeth was doing herself. The old woman had accepted the change, and she’d gone into the soap-making business in order to survive. If Sally could survive without looking back, then Liz should be able to do it, too, right? Right. Liz firmly nodded and inhaled sharply as she washed off the soap and quickly soaped her shoulder-length blonde hair.
Bending over to grab the pail so she could rinse the soap from her hair, she sucked in a breath as cold water touched her tender pussy. The lapping of liquid evoked all kinds of naughty images of what had happened early this morning with Durango’s face buried between her spread thighs.
Oh boy, she was in so much trouble here just thinking of Durango and of why he’d brought Landon and Tyrell back with him. She swallowed as her ass clenched with anticipation when she remembered Durango warning her if she wanted more she’d need to wear a butt plug.
She had plugs in the bedroom drawer where the three men slept. She’d used them when she’d been with Durango. Used them a lot. And if he got his way she’d be wearing them again. Probably more than ever.
Erotic heat zipped through her, and she blew out a tense breath. Okay, she needed to get out of the water and stop thinking about him and the other men. She needed to do it now, or with the intoxicating way the water stroked her clit, she’d begin masturbating.
She didn’t want to do that. Not with three men sleeping in her house, and who knew if they’d followed her out here and were watching her right now while she bathed. That thought both alarmed and excited her as she cast a fast glance at her surroundings.
From where she stood, she saw nothing but rain-dampened bushes lining both sides of the river. Here and there a bird chirped, and the ever-present cold wind whipped through the bare branches. Even the bushes and trees were barely surviving. Leaves still came out, but they didn’t look as green and lush as they once did. They appeared gnarled with a yellowing, sickly tinge. Everything looked dreary in the valley now. Despite the rain and clouds moving out of the area, the sun had come out. But it was still cold. The sun always came out and kept on shining as if nothing had ever happened.
Biting back a bitter sob, she rinsed her hair and then splashed herself, making sure all the soap was cleaned away before she hurriedly stumbled out of the river. Gathering the fresh pair of clothes she’d laid on some bushes in the sunshine, she quickly slipped into a pair of black leggings and a warm, wool, knee-length, tunic-style wraparound dress. Sliding on her warm brown leather jacket, Liz began to feel much warmer as the clothing chased away her shivers. Before long, her chattering teeth had stopped, and she was feeling back to her old self again.
Taking a deep breath, she gazed at the stone house nestled about a quarter of a mile away. Most of the roof was covered in a green moss, and wild vines clung to the stone walls. To any passerby the place would look serene. Maybe even deserted. Little did they know she had three fugitives lying fast asleep in her bed.
Three sexy desperadoes who wanted to be with her. Have mercy, she was beginning to feel terribly warm again just thinking about the things she wanted them to do to her. She ignored the gush of warm cream seeping from between her thighs. She would have to be strong now. She would have to stick to her morals no matter how much she craved to explore this sharing thing that Durango wanted. Elizabeth swallowed and started walking toward the house and toward her destiny.
She was coming up the well-trodden trail that meandered through the yellowing grass of the nearby meadow. Landon watched the lone feminine figure walking leisurely toward the stone house. He’d taken sentry beside the bedroom window shortly after hearing her leave an hour or so earlier. Pushing aside the dainty white lace curtains, he’d watched her sweet hips swaying and her shoulder-length, honey-gold hair waving in the wind as she’d strolled across the yellowing field. She’d been carrying a pink towel, so he knew she’d been heading down to the river to bathe.
Brandy. He liked that name on her. His nickname for her, because her hair looked just like the color of golden brandy when the sun hit it, and heck, with her last name of Brandywine, that name just fit.
The sun was hitting her hair that way right now as she strolled closer, the golden blonde strands waving like spun gold drying in the wind. He remembered from his previous stay here that she liked to air-dry her hair while going on solitary walks after bathing.
She looked really pretty. Even prettier than when he and Durango had left to join his cousin’s gang. She even reminded him a little of his wife, Betty. She’d been a blonde, too, and they’d been so in love and recently married when the Catastrophe had come calling. Betty and he had been at her parents’ house over in Calgary when the solar flares had flashed against the windows.
He’d thought it had been lightning, and he’d looked toward one window, his gaze leaving his startled wife one final time, his hand letting go of her hand as he thought about getting up to go and see what was going on.
At the same time he’d heard moans from around the table where he’d been sitting with his wife, her parents, and her two sisters, sharing the news that Betty was four months pregnant with twins.
One minute they’d been there, the next minute flashes of fire, grey smoke, and a really bad smell of burning flesh had burst through the dining room. When he’d swung his head to look, thinking maybe some sort of gas explosion had occurred, the woman he loved and her family had been piles of smoking grey ashes on their seats.
A really cold, creepy feeling slithered through Landon at remembering how he’d been stunned for hours afterwards. How the icy goose bumps had scattered along his arms and lasted for months after that day. He preferred not to think about that day. Preferred not to relive it.
Hell, he still had lots of nightmares about it. Still had lots of dreams of what life might have been like with Betty still alive and with two toddlers running around following him while he did the household chores. He pushed the anger and the despair back down inside himself where it belonged. He figured it was best not to ponder on it during daylight hours. Nights, he had no control over.
Instead, he preferred to focus on Brandy. She was his future. Their new future. He would protect her with his life. He would protect their children. That is, if she agreed to having a couple kids with him. He didn’t want her to think she was a baby-making machine, but yeah, he’d dreamed of having a couple of kids. Maybe it was some weird twisted dream to replace the two he’d lost? He hoped not.
Truthfully, he had probably fallen in love with her the minute he’d seen her when Durango had brought him home from Heart Creek, the nearest town where he’d been looking for work. He’d been half starved, and he’d been willing to work for food and a roof over his head. Durango had said he and Liz had just moved into the old place and that it needed fixing up big-time. He’d said they’d picked the quaint century-old home because it was the sturdiest abandoned building they’d come across and it was far away from the chaos of town, yet not so far that people who needed doctoring couldn’t find them.
Yeah, he’d liked her right from the start. Liz was a tall woman. Thin with curves in all the right places.
While working around the house he’d seen that look of interest flare in her pale blue eyes when she thought he didn’t see. But he also knew interest didn’t mean she wanted sack time with him. It was very obvious she was in love with Durango, and so he’d watched the two lovebirds and had tried hard to remain neutral. Had managed fine until that day Durango had told him he wanted to share Liz. With him.
That’s when his old world had shattered and his new world had been born. Unfortunately he was still the one on the outside looking in. He wanted to change that, but he didn’t want to make the move. It would have to come from Durango or Liz herself because she knew she had Durango’s blessing.
As she neared, he noticed her stiffen, and as if sensing she was being watched, she snapped her head up and gazed directly at him.
Shit. Too late to move from the window. He’d been caught.
Hesitantly she lifted her arm and waved. She smiled, and his heart warmed at the sight. She looked really pretty when she smiled, especially when her dimples exploded in her cheeks like they were doing now. He didn’t waste any time in waving back.
A couple of minutes later he heard the front door open as she entered. The hinges creaked as they had early this morning when they’d arrived. Durango had knocked the signal they used, not too loudly because he hadn’t wanted to frighten her if she’d been home and asleep. But he said she would recognize his knock, and if she wasn’t still really pissed off, she would answer. She hadn’t answered. Upon discovering her horse wasn’t around, Durango had thought maybe she’d gone to visit a client or maybe she’d moved out altogether.
Although, her moving from this place hadn’t been too likely, because before coming here, Durango, Tyrell, and he had visited Landon’s brother Logan where he now lived with two men at a farmhouse on the other side of this valley. They said they’d spoken to Liz only a couple of weeks ago, and everything had been fine then.
Logan and two other gang members had given up the gang for a cute pleasure girl they’d taken a shine to. Landon had to admit she was a very nice-looking woman and very pleasant to talk to. Seeing his brother happy and settling into farm life made him want to settle down, too. With Liz.
He hoped Durango and Tyrell were on the same wavelength. Although he didn’t know exactly how they could swing it with a vigilante wanting to hang them. It would most definitely be a problem. But since there was no real law to speak of, they could surely work around any potential mob by shooting at them and forcing them off the property.
He could hear Liz moving around in the kitchen. Could hear some pots clanging and knew she would set upon making something for everyone to eat. She was like that-enjoyed cooking-and Landon had never gone hungry when he’d lived here.
On the bed, Tyrell and Durango stirred, and their movement prompted Landon to hobble away from the window. Thankfully, the bed was so close that he didn’t have to put pressure on his bad leg more than a couple of times, because his thigh was still pretty sore, and most likely would be for some days to come. He should lie down and go back to sleep. Rest. Get reenergized for when the time came to take Liz.
“You should go out and talk to her. Get reacquainted.” Durango’s sleepy voice zipped through the air, making Landon tense. It still felt odd sometimes thinking that Durango had agreed to share his girl with him. And that Durango wanted to share her with Ty, too. Not that Landon had a problem with sharing. He and his wife had been swingers. That’s how they’d met, at a swingers club.
Throughout their relationship he’d shared his wife with other men. That’s how he’d known Liz would be acceptable of it. She had the same twinkle of curiosity in her eyes as his wife, Betty. But Betty and he had been confident in their relationship. They enjoyed swinging and having sex with others. But at the end of each session, they knew they belonged to each other and went home together, to their own bed.
“She needs time to get used to the idea,” Landon replied, grimacing back a shard of pain that zipped through his wounded thigh as he slipped back under the comforters beside Ty, who still slept.
“She’s had months to get used to the idea,” Durango said. “Deep down inside of her, she knew I’d eventually come back. She was pissed off back then, and it clouded her needs. She’s ready. I know it. I know her.”
Landon nodded. Yes, Durango knew her, and Landon knew her as well. She was ready. She just needed to be pushed.
“What about after we recuperate? After we take her? We can’t just leave her here, like before. Something is going to happen to her. We can’t have somebody protecting her all the time while we’re gone. It would have to be one of us. Someone we trust.” Like me, Landon replied silently. He hadn’t told Durango that he would quit the gang before he left Liz on her own again.
Sure, they had his brother, Logan, dropping in and keeping tabs on her. Durango, as well, sent members of the gang here to get checked out before Liz sent them to the pleasure girls in her care. But what about in between those long periods when she was alone out here? Anything could happen. People were getting desperate as the climate continued to grow cold.
A woman living alone would be easy pickings for the gangs of men who were now roving around looking for easy prey, as well as the cannibals who preferred eating humans. Those were just a couple of dangers.
She was a doctor. She would be a valuable asset for someone who wanted to kidnap her and sell her services. It was only a matter of time before something bad happened, and he wanted to be here to make sure it didn’t.
Durango didn’t say anything, and Landon glanced over to see his friend staring up at the ceiling, his mouth pursed in thought. He could see the wheels grinding in his friend’s head. Knew he was most likely thinking of the same scenarios like Landon. A decision would have to be made, and it would have to be made soon.