The house was quiet. Too quiet, Ethan thought as he stood on the other side of the river watching the thick white spirals of fog block out the surrounding jagged mountains in the distance and settle over the valley, caressing the century-old stone house. Hell, it was even quieter than when they’d arrived in the rain early this morning.
Teyla had shown up an hour ago where they’d been working, telling Logan that it was time for them to go back home, meaning their place. She’d been acting easygoing as if nothing was wrong back here, which meant if something had happened it had happened within the past hour.
The cozy way Teyla had nestled against Logan and the sultry way she was eyeing Cassidy and Spencer as they walked quickly to greet her made Ethan realize the three men would be giving her some hot, tender loving tonight. Suddenly he hadn’t been able to wait to get back home himself.
Home. The word made him feel all warm and bubbly inside. Made his heart happy. Yet the moment he’d realized no spiral of smoke wafted from the fireplaces and no buttery glow of lights drifted from the windows of the house in the gloomy twilight, alarm bells began to go off inside his head.
Maybe what Logan had said earlier about the cannibals coming meant they were already here? He couldn’t see the lean-to where they’d stabled the horses from here, but even if they were there, it didn’t mean anything.
Had the cannibals taken out Landon and Tyrell? The men couldn’t get too far with their injuries if their stitches bust open, and riding horses would make their injuries worse.
Liz was a lousy shot even if she tried to shoot straight. Which she didn’t, because she refused to take any shooting lessons from him or anyone. Every time he’d brought up the subject of learning to shoot properly she would quote the Hippocratic Oath saying she’d sworn to save lives and not take them.
Fuck. He’d been surprised she’d been using the gun he’d left her when he’d shown up and she’d fired a shot. It had gone wide, but with her carrying a gun, it meant she’d been more scared than she’d been letting on to the guys who’d dropped by to check up on her.
Shit, he’d left her unprotected for months. And today, he’d simply gone off to visit Logan and the guys without a second thought to any security measures. Man, he was a real lousy protector, wasn’t he? He resisted the overwhelming urge to start running toward the house.
Okay, he’d already covered the selfish asshole part. Now he was caught out here in the open with anyone inside the house watching his every move. He needed to act as if he didn’t suspect a thing. If he went for his gun, then whoever was watching him would know he was on to them. The gun he wore in his holster suddenly felt like a dead, useless weight.
Damn! He would have to keep walking as coolly as possible, acting as if he suspected nothing. His stomach clenched in dread as he neared the house, his gaze sliding off every window pane, looking for the slightest evidence of someone standing to the side watching him. He saw nothing out of the ordinary.
No sound sifted from the house. Just the eerie presence of the cold wind snapping through the branches of the nearby evergreens.
When he neared the front door, he slipped into the evergreens lining the front of the house and held back a groan as fiery pain zipped along his wounded arm. With his fingers feeling numb and icy he could barely hold the gun in his right hand. He switched to his left. He’d been practicing shooting with his left lately, just in case, yet he’d never been able to accomplish a quick and accurate shot as well as with his right hand. Nothing he could do about that now.
Keeping his back to the tangled ivy climbing up the wall, he quickly turned the corner and edged up to the nearest window. The living room. The curtains weren’t drawn, and he peeked inside. Darkness shrouded the furniture. Nothing moved.
Frig! Maybe the cannibals had grabbed Liz, Landon, and Tyrell and taken off with them?
His heart crashed against his chest as he crouched and ducked beneath the window and did the same with another living room window further down. Popping around the corner, he peeked into the next window he came across. A bedroom. No one there.
He came to the back door, held his breath, and twisted the doorknob. It was unlocked. Oh, great. Either the intruders had watched Teyla leave and weren’t expecting him or they’d left the back door unlocked because they were making it look like nothing was wrong.
The moment he pushed open the door a crack he smelled it. The scent of baking bread. Totally normal. Yet he hadn’t seen any smoke from the oven or the fireplace. Totally not normal.
And then he heard something. A soft whisper. A sultry whimper. What the fuck?
He resisted the urge to charge in blindly. Held himself in check as he stopped visions of any intruders attacking Liz. Doing to her what had been done to Eve.
Chill, man! Chill. Don’t think it.
He forced his breaths to slow. Forced himself not to panic. Stepping into the back hallway, he aimed the gun in front of him, expecting someone to step out of any one of the three bedrooms. Nothing happened.
Except he could now hear grunts. Male grunts that sounded oddly like Landon.
He stopped in front of the closed door of the bedroom he and Liz had once shared. The room the guys and he had taken over. Soft, sexy whimpers drifted to his ears. He could hear the sound of bed springs creaking. Landon moaning. Tyrell groaning.
Damn! Obviously they’d gotten acquainted faster than he’d expected. He should be pissed off that he wasn’t included. He wasn’t. He was relieved that nothing bad had happened. Quite to the contrary. Something good was happening. Liz was loosening up.
He twisted the doorknob. It creaked open, and he pushed it inward. The next thing he knew a strong hand was yanking the gun out of his hand, and another hand grabbed his wrist and yanked him inside. It happened so quickly he didn’t get a chance to react.
A rough push from behind him had him flying onto the bed with one hell of a jolt. He landed on his gut, pain ripping through his already-sore freaking arm. He tried to get up, but someone strong was flipping him over onto his back and then climbing onto his torso. He came face-to-face with a grinning Landon. In the background he saw Tyrell, with a huge smile on his face.
“What the fuck are you doing? You scared the shit out of me,” Durango shouted.
He tried to buck Landon off him, but he realized Liz was standing there and she had the cutest playful smile on her face.
“You’ve been a very bad boy, Durango. Making me believe that I shot you. I should have known better since I am a lousy shot,” Liz said softly as she moved to the head of the bed and reached down, grabbing his left wrist. He inhaled at the sultry way her fingers wrapped around his flesh, and she led his arm up over his head. He tried to look up to see what she had in mind, like he didn’t already suspect, but Landon’s hand cupped Ethan’s chin, holding him firmly so he couldn’t see.
Landon’s green eyes twinkled with obvious amusement. “Let Liz get her payback, my man. I told you the truth would come out. It always does.”
“Payback is a bitch, buddy. Now she gets to tie you up and have a little fun with you.” Tyrell chuckled as he walked to the other side of the bed and grabbed his wrist, bringing it up in the same way as Liz was doing.
Immediately Ethan relaxed and stopped struggling. All was well. No cannibals. No posse. Things were good. Just a playful bunch of guys and a woman who were pretending to have sex so they could lure him into the bedroom, tie him up, and let Liz get some payback. He could handle this.
Liz’s soft, sultry voice whispered through the air. “I have payback planned against you two for going along with him, so consider yourselves not out of the woods yet.”
On top of him Landon tensed. Tyrell’s eyes widened in surprise, and maybe even a shade of fear?
“Suckers,” Durango joked.
“Fuck off, my man,” Landon quipped, but suddenly Durango was sensing messages shooting from his friend. He cast a quick glance at Tyrell, who was also looking a bit weird, and Durango was suddenly getting it.
“Okay,” Durango replied, understanding what the eye signals from Landon were meaning.
“Now!” Landon shouted.
He jumped off Durango, who in turn quickly reached out with his wounded arm, groaning and wincing as pain sliced through his injury, but he managed to grab Liz around her waist. She squealed in surprise, and Landon was quickly untying Durango while Tyrell was grabbing restraints on his side of the bed. In seconds, Durango had her on her back, with himself nestled on top of her hips and Landon and Tyrell quickly placing the restraints on her wrists.
Anger and excitement lashed at him from her gorgeous sparkling eyes.
“You bastards! Traitors!” she screamed and laughed at the same time.
“Never threaten two men when their friend is about to be restrained.” Landon snorted as he and Tyrell moved to the foot of the bed.
Landon grabbed her left leg. She tried to kick at him with her right leg, but Tyrell managed to grab it before too much damage occurred. Both men managed to tie her ankles without too much trouble. A moment later he climbed off Liz, and all three men stood at the base of the king-sized bed, peering down at her.
She looked properly pissed. And so beautiful. Her blonde hair was a sexy mess, her cheeks were flushed the prettiest pink, her breasts were heaving against her wool dress, and her legging-clad legs were nicely spread. There was only one problem. She was fully clothed.
“I will get you guys for this!” she spat and tugged at her restraints. But they didn’t budge.
Durango slapped Landon and Tyrell on their backs, congratulating them on a job well done.
Liz stopped struggling and glared back at the three of them. But Durango saw the heated stare lusting across her face. She liked being tied up. Liked that she had no control over what they would do to her.
“Remember what I said, Doc. We’ll take you whenever and wherever we want. We want you now. All three of us.”
She visibly shivered at his words, and he heard Tyrell and Landon inhale softly. He saw the fear flash in her pretty blue eyes. Fear and excitement. Whether she knew it or not, she was ready.
“And now, gentlemen, onto our next phase of the plan,” Durango quipped. Having said that, he ushered Tyrell and Landon out of the bedroom and followed them.
“Do you think you can handle it?” Durango asked Tyrell and Landon as the three of them began undressing out in the hallway.
“Fuck, yeah,” Landon growled. “I’ve been ready since the first time I saw her.”
Durango grinned and focused his attention on Tyrell. “You?”
Tyrell nodded. Yeah, his side ached like a bitch, but his cock ached more. Ever since he’d laid eyes on the picture of Liz that Durango shared with the gang all those cold lonely nights on the trail, Tyrell had loved her. Hell, he’d fallen in love with a freaking picture.
She was so cute. A nice set of dimples popping out in her cheeks as she’d smiled for the camera. She looked like the girl next door type. Shy, pretty, and sweet, and to him she was the sexiest-looking woman alive. She was a doorway to life before the Catastrophe, because if Durango hadn’t found Liz first, he would have asked her to marry him on their first date.
Durango had never bragged to the gang about his sexual intimacies with the gang. He wasn’t that kind of a guy. And Tyrell knew if Durango had bragged publically then he would have socked him in the mouth, telling him he should respect his ex-fiancee, because Tyrell was that kind of a guy.
By the time Durango had approached Ty and asked him to be the third guy to bring Liz’s fantasies to life, Ty had been more than ready to meet her. When he had met her, she’d been exactly how Durango had expressed her to be.
Concerned, tender, and passionate. In that order. Oh man, was she ever passionate. The eager way she’d taken Landon into her sweet, pouty mouth had just about made him come in his jeans. The erotic way she’d moaned while Durango had smoothed his hands over her silky ass, then put the plug in and then taken her from behind, had set Tyrell on fire.
When he’d heard Durango tell her that any one of them could take her whenever they wanted and wherever they wanted, Ty had waited for her to protest. She hadn’t. Hadn’t protested, either, when they’d tied her to her bed. He’d expected her to struggle when he’d brought her arm up and lashed the leather restraints around her wrist. She hadn’t. She’d been too willing. Then when she’d kicked out at Landon with her leg and he’d grabbed her ankle, he’d handled her loosely. Had she wanted to, she would have been able to break free. She hadn’t. Instead a wild, gorgeous fire danced in her eyes.
She wanted to be taken. Wanted to lose herself in something, yet she hadn’t figured out she’d wanted to lose her self-control. And he would make her lose it, too.
“Ready, boys?” Durango asked, his voice breathy and aroused. Tyrell didn’t have to gaze down and check if the other two were ready. He sensed the pent-up sexual tension zapping the air like lightning bolts all around them. He knew Liz would feel it, too.
“Condoms? Lube?” Durango asked.
“I placed them in her top right drawer beneath her panties when she wasn’t looking earlier,” Landon acknowledged. “Sex toys?”
“Snuck them in from the saddle bags while she was kneading her bread,” Tyrell answered.
Both men visibly tensed.
“You men sure know how to pleasure a woman.” Tyrell chuckled. “And that’s all I’m saying.”
He grinned as Landon and Durango cursed softly as they understood he’d been watching while Liz had gone down on Landon and Durango had taken her from behind.
“You weren’t as bad off as you were playing, were you?” Durango asked, shaking his head in amazement.
“Playing on a woman’s sympathy is what gets me some tender loving care,” Tyrell joked, although he really had felt bad before Liz had removed the bullet with such tenderness he’d just about died. “And I can tell she likes me. I noticed the way she looks at my muscles, which by the way are bigger than either of yours.”
Durango and Landon grinned widely at him.
“Big talk for a big man, eh?” Landon wiggled his eyebrows, dropping his gaze to Tyrell’s extremely long, hard, and swollen erection. “So, let’s go and see if size truly matters.”
Landon and Tyrell made a move toward the bedroom door behind where Liz was lying restrained on the bed.
But Durango’s fingers curled over Ty’s and Landon’s shoulders, stopping them cold.
“If all three of us go in with our huge sizes, she’ll get scared. Her sweet, tight pussy and ass are begging to be taken, but let me go in first and get her ready.”
Tyrell knew the man was right. Although privately Durango had told Landon and Tyrell about Liz, and Ty had known about her even before meeting her, she really didn’t know him and hadn’t slept with Landon either. So yeah, she would be frightened having three big guys coming into the room at the same time. The last thing he wanted was to frighten Liz. So, he’d have to be patient.
Beside him Landon agreed. Tyrell put in his acknowledgement and watched a totally nude Durango open the bedroom door.
Due to the sudden turn of events of finding herself tied down on her bed instead of Durango being here, Liz could not believe the wicked excitement lashing her senses. Earlier, after Teyla had left, and Liz had come into the bedroom to inspect Landon’s and Tyrell’s wounds, they’d noticed her agitation almost immediately. Their concern had her feeling she could confide in them. She’d confessed she’d discovered she hadn’t been the one who’d shot Durango after all. When she’d asked if they would help her with a payback plan forming in her mind, they’d eagerly agreed.
She’d trusted them, but she totally understood why they’d turned on her. Their fear of her retribution made her realize the guys felt they needed to stick together. United they conquered, divided they fell, was the old saying. Instead of being angry for too long, she’d realized the loyalty between the three men was as thick as thieves, and it made her happy that such a bond existed between them. They had each other’s backs, and that was pretty rare for people these days.
Being tied down here on the bed with three men lurking around in the hallway ready to carry out exquisite, naughty stuff exhilarated her, and it made her imagination come up with all sorts of wicked things. She could hear them whispering in the hallway, and when the door creaked inward, Liz tensed. Realizing she was breathing hard and hoarse, she held her breath and watched and waited.
Durango strolled in, and she exhaled in relief. The relief was short-lived as he was totally naked and fully erect, his toned body laced with muscles. Lots of delicious muscles. Very nice.
Her gaze dropped and her eyes widened at his immense size. She realized she’d forgotten over the months how truly big his erection could get when he was aroused. Or how it made his cock swollen and rigid and flushed to an angry red color, not to mention raising a magnificent web of elevated veins interwoven along the engorged length. She swallowed. Her throat felt suddenly dry with excitement and fear. Her senses were in full alert as he strolled confidently to her dresser and slid open the top right drawer where she kept her panties. He dipped his hand inside the open drawer.
Tension sliced through her. What was he up to in there? She didn’t remember him having an underwear fetish. She blinked in surprise when he lifted out several packages along with what was unmistakably a black blindfold.
Oh. How had they gotten there?
She wanted to ask him that question, but she was mesmerized now as he placed the packages and blindfold on one side of the dresser and took out other items. Lying them out on top of the dresser, he lifted lids on boxes, and she realized they were several boxes of condoms as well as tubes of lube and a massive pink dildo. Have mercy, she hadn’t realized such items were still being produced these days with the chaos running rampant around the world.
“Where…where did you get those?” she questioned softly.
“Abandoned sex toy shop in some deserted town we passed through weeks ago. Of course we thought of you, and we all helped ourselves to some sealed packages.”
He said nothing else as he arranged everything on the dresser, and then he moved in front of the items, his back to her, blocking her view. She heard him rip open the other packages that he’d laid at the side of the dresser.
She stretched her neck as much as she could, trying to get a view through the dresser mirror at what other items he had there, but she saw nothing. She did however see the wonderful expression of anticipation on his face. Watching his face in the mirror, she noted his cheekbones were flushed and his eyes filled with lust and eagerness.
She trembled with excitement.
As he turned from the dresser, she spied the blindfold in his hand.
“I’m going to be using this on you,” he said as he sat on the edge of the bed near her and placed the blindfold on the pillow beside her head. “It’ll heighten your senses. Make you more comfortable with three men your first time.”
Her tummy hollowed out in a very nice way at the mention of her being pleasured by three men. She shook her head, not wanting her sight to be cut off, but wanting it at the same time. She realized she was teetering on the edge of doing something she’d been raised to believe was improper, but something she truly wanted and craved. This. Durango and two other men fucking her.
Just then she noticed a smear of blood on the white bandage she’d wrapped around his upper arm wound. Her doctor’s training snapped aside her arousal.
“You’re bleeding. I should check that.”
He shook his head, the tips of his lips lifting into a warm smile. “I’m fine. You don’t have to worry, Doc. When I’m around you I don’t feel physical pain. I feel pleasure and happiness. I feel you, sweetness.”
Oh my gosh.
“I feel you are ready, Doc. But I want to hear it from you.”
Her, ready? A sudden bout of panic snapped through her, but she forced it away. “I don’t know. I don’t know if I would ever be ready for something like this,” she answered truthfully.
But her body was betraying her brain. Her breasts felt swollen, her nipples tense beneath her wool dress, her pussy creaming. Even as she kept her gaze glued to Durango she could seen how hard and fast her breasts were pressing against the restraints of her clothing.
The plug impaling her ass clenched with a wicked pulsing as her muscles spasmed in an unusual eagerness to be penetrated and her drenched pussy ached to be filled. It seemed over the past several months the only one she’d been kidding was herself.
She wanted Durango and Landon, and she wanted this new man Durango had brought here, too. Why would she want a total stranger to be intimate with her? Because, she realized, Durango and Landon trusted Tyrell, and so she trusted him, too. As if Durango knew what she was thinking, he spoke again.
“Then you’ll have to trust me, Doc. Trust me to give you what you crave. What we both crave. Can you do that for me?”
She nodded, realizing she didn’t even hesitate. His eyes flared even darker, and she trembled at the erotic intensity of his gaze.
“If there’s anything you feel uncomfortable with, say the word no and we’ll stop.”
She nodded again. Sweet heavens! What was she agreeing to?
“Then I hope you’ll forgive me for ruining your clothes,” he breathed.
She blinked with momentary puzzlement and gasped as he turned swiftly on the bed, repositioning himself, and suddenly placed both his hands on the lapels of her dress. The harsh sound of clothing ripping and buttons popping off onto the floor shot through the air. Cool air breathed against her exposed breasts. His palms settled over her mounds, and he squeezed them gently. “Remember, Liz. You are always my heart.”
“And you mine,” she answered back, loving the intoxicating way he stared at her. He inhaled softly at her words, his smile widening. He remained silent as he began massaging both mounds at the same time, his eyes studying her.
“I like the way your eyelids drift halfway closed whenever I touch your breasts,” he murmured. “I like how the tip of your tongue peeks out between your lips when you’re aroused.”
Her tongue did that? She checked and realized that, yes, her lips had slightly parted and the tip of her tongue was settled there. Lust shone brighter in his gaze as he suddenly lowered his head over her chest area. She stared at his lips, mesmerized by their seductive plump curve as they parted and he sucked her left nipple into his hot mouth.
She jerked, loving the warmth of his mouth as his lips tugged her nipple and the wild sensations raced through her breast, arrowing down to the sensitive areas between her thighs.
Her heart pounded as he took her tender bud between his sharp teeth and held tight as his tongue swiped back and forth across her imprisoned nipple. Her heart beat faster, and she couldn’t stop the moan of arousal as sweet bites of pleasure-pain lashed her captive flesh.
Naughty sensations twisted through her, and she became achingly aware of her sexual needs and every erotic spasm rippling through her body. Became in tune with Durango’s erratic breathing, the intoxicating waves of heat lapping against her flesh where his hip touched hers, and she loved the lashes of anticipation snapping through her like jolts of electricity.
He let her tender nipple go with a pop and lifted his head. “I know what I’m forcing you into isn’t the most conventional of relationships, Doc. But it’s a desire we both crave. Something we both need. You wouldn’t be twisting and writhing in your sleep when you fantasize if what I’m about to give you isn’t what you crave.”
She didn’t protest as Durango slid a gentle hand beneath her head and slipped the blindfold on. She blinked as darkness enveloped her. Immediately her senses snapped to listening mode.
“I’ll let Landon and Tyrell undress the rest of you.”
She creamed in her panty at that comment and felt the mattress move as he got up. She listened intently for what he would do next.