Logan watched her eyes drift closed. His heart warmed. Something it hadn’t done in years.
Gorgeous woman, very easy to fall for her. Too easy. What would happen to her when they left? She was strong. Could maybe hold out for another couple of seasons. But if something happened to her greenhouse and her food ran out, what would happen to her? What if the weather continued to get colder as scientists predicted? Her greenhouse definitely wouldn’t produce much. Plants and solar panels needed sunshine and warmth. He knew that much about planting even if he was brought up a city kid. What the hell was going to happen to her? He asked himself again, the nice momentary warmth disappearing from his heart. What if-
He stiffened as he heard the soft footsteps in the bedroom.
Uneasiness zipped through him like a torpedo. Had the guys returned? Or was it someone else?
Shit! He’d left his gun out in his jacket on the hanger in the kitchen! The rest were in his saddlebag. Earlier today, when the guys had arrived, he hadn’t noticed the saddlebag around either. Had one of the boys moved it? Dammit! He’d been so enthralled with Teyla, he’d forgotten to be alert. How could he have been so damn stupid?
Logan held his breath, quickly swept the wine bottle from the floor, and readied himself to smash it over the edge of the tub. He’d use the jagged edges as a weapon. A whole hell of a lot good it would be if the intruder had a gun, though.
A floorboard creaked.
He readied himself to stand but realized if he did, the water dripping from his body into the tub would let the intruder know someone was in here. He’d have to wait until he saw someone stepping inside the bathroom.
As if sensing a problem, Teyla’s eyes snapped open. Quickly, he lifted a finger to his mouth to tell her to be quiet. Her eyes darted to toward the slightly open doorway. Back to him again. She shook her head, lifted her hand out of the quickly dissolving bubbles, motioning him to stay put.
Before he could stop her, she rose out of the tub and took a few steps forward.
Any other time, watching her naked, wet, pink flesh caressed here and there with bubbles would have him reaching out, grabbing her and pulling her right back into the bathtub on top of him. That erotic thought died when he heard someone breathing. He knew the sounds of his partners’ breathing well enough to know it wasn’t either of them. A nasty feeling of sickness crawled through his belly at the thought that Cassidy and Spencer might have been taken out.
It wasn’t like them to not give him a warning. Something bad must’ve happened to them. Something real bad.
Logan readied the bottle. He’d crack it now and rush the intruder. As if sensing what he was thinking, Teyla shook her head, grabbed a robe hanging off the hook and put it on. Without another glance at him, she walked out of the bathroom, closing the door firmly behind her. Fuck!
Teyla’s knees literally shook as she closed the door behind her and came face-to-face with the law.
“Linus? I didn’t hear you knock.” She tried to keep the anger out of her voice, but it was hard. Linus McWilliams, the self-appointed sheriff around these parts, was a constant thorn in her side. Not only was he the law, he was also the banker who held the mortgage on her land. She’d never liked the creepy way he looked at her with the palest blue eyes. He wore his blond hair in a short military cut and had a large moustache that curled upwards at the sides. He was a short, plump man with a red face who was always dropping in on her uninvited, pretending to check up on her. But what he really wanted was to have sex with her. She’d told him many times she didn’t service married men. Under any conditions. He’d been pretty much the only man she knew whose wife had survived the Catastrophe. All other couples she’d known had lost their partners.
“I knocked, but you must not have heard,” he replied, but she could read the lie quite clearly in his eyes.
Like hell he’d knocked. She’d been drifting leisurely in the after-sex glow, but she hadn’t been asleep. She’d been enjoying the sounds of Logan’s easy breathing and the way his cock had been swelling once again against her foot, but she hadn’t heard anything aside from the creak on the floor of her bedroom to indicate someone had entered.
“I was bathing,” she explained, casting him a smile she certainly didn’t feel. Inside, she felt cold toward him and couldn’t wait for him to be gone. “I had a customer. You just missed him.”
His smile dropped at the mention of a customer. She knew he’d been chasing her clients away. Had heard the rumors and could tell by the way his eyes blazed that he was angry.
“I’m here on business, actually,” he said tightly. A muscle twitched in his jaw, giving away his tension.
“Oh? And what business is that? Your next payment isn’t due until the end of the month. That’s still a week away.” She wondered if he’d seen the saddlebag Logan had brought into her kitchen. She’d moved it off the table and placed it in the corner behind the table out of the way. If he’d glanced down at the floor behind the table, he would have seen it. Surely, he’d seen Logan’s black leather jacket. She couldn’t remember where he’d left it. And had his two friends left anything of theirs lying around? How was she going to explain that? Like it was his business. She’d tell him that straight out if he asked.
Without waiting for an answer, she walked over to her dresser, grabbed her brush, and started brushing her hair. If he thought it odd she hadn’t washed the top of her hair while she’d been taking a bath, he didn’t mention it. Perhaps it was damp enough from all that splashing around during their foot sex? She tensed as his eyes strayed to the closed bathroom door. Thankfully, though, he didn’t move toward it.
“There was a train robbery over in Parkway,” he said. Parkway was a city south along the quickly crumbling highway going through an area that had once been called Banff National Park. City and town names used before the Catastrophe were being changed as survivors took over. There were so many changes, she hadn’t bothered to keep track any longer.
“Oh? So that’s the one that’s thirty or so miles north of here?”
“Thirty-five miles south, actually.”
“Anyone hurt?” she asked as she kept brushing her mid-back-length strands and stared at him in the mirror. She noticed how his gaze drifted from the closed door to her face as she asked that question. Good. Now all she needed to do was keep his attention focused on her, and hopefully, he wouldn’t ask why the door was shut.
“One of the guards was wounded. Nothing serious.”
“Well, that’s a good thing. So what brings you here?”
She leaned over, allowing the top part of her robe to fall open as she brushed her hair from underneath. Hopefully he’d be distracted enough by a good look at her breasts to forget why he’d come? Yeah, right.
Linus cleared his throat, but his gaze remained on her the curves of her exposed breasts.
“T…The Durango Gang…was responsible. They…uh…split up…um…into groups of three men each.”
A blade of uneasiness swept through her. Okay, so she didn’t have to do the math regarding having three men on her property.
“They…uh…ride horses.” He cleared his throat again, and shifted uneasily on his feet.
Lovely, Logan had come with a horse. What about the other two? She hadn’t seen any, but they could have put their horses in the barn before they’d even come into the house to announce their arrival.
“Doesn’t everybody ride horses these days? Gas prices being the way they are.” God, she hoped he didn’t hear the loud thumps of her heart. Had he checked the barn? No, he would be jumpy or out of character if he’d investigated and seen a strange horse or horses. Or, for that matter, if he’d seen Cassidy and Spencer. And if those two had seen the sheriff approaching, surely they would have sounded the alarm. So, that probably meant the sheriff didn’t know she had company, and Spencer and Cassidy may not know. Great scenario if the two decided to announce their arrival in her farmhouse with this guy here. If they were the outlaws, there was the potential for a shootout here. She needed to get him out of here and fast.
Her blood froze at his next words. “I…um noticed…two sets of horse tracks about a mile from here. A single set…uh…two miles up the road. All three sets…um… disappeared into the river that runs directly through your land. Um…did you see anyone?”
Teyla laughed, hoping it didn’t sound as forced and nervous as it sounded to her.
“With most of the world’s population wiped out, I’ve seen maybe one stranger since the Catastrophe.” Too bad you didn’t get wiped out too, she added silently. Life would have been a whole lot easier if he had literally been snuffed to dust.
“I’m afraid you’ve come to the wrong place,” she continued. “If you’re looking for three men, sheriff, I only do one at a time and two a day. Keeps the doctor away.”
She winked at him, and the sheriff frowned and shifted restlessly, obviously not comfortable with what she was saying.
Once again, he cleared his throat as she stopped brushing her hair and straightened up, the top part of her robe naturally covering her breasts again.
“I just want you to…um…to be careful. You being here all alone and everything. People with self-sustainable farms are being killed outright and their homes taken.”
Great. Was that a threat? Teyla steadied her nerves and placed her hair brush onto the letters Dr. Liz had sent regarding Logan and his two friends, then slipped hand into her robe pocket, quickly withdrawing the item she kept there. It was her backup gun. One of many that she’d found while pillaging through neighboring homes after the Catastrophe. Homes where her friends had once lived before her friends, too, had disintegrated. No ammo for this gun, but, hey, he didn’t know that, now did he.
His pale blue eyes widened in surprise and his long moustache twitched nervously when she pulled out her gun. Bubbles of excitement burst inside her as he took a couple of steps backward. If the deep valley of her exposed breasts hadn’t fully caught his attention, well, her small derringer certainly did.
“Easy with that gun, Teyla,” he sputtered.
“I’m just showing you I can take care of myself. Now if you don’t mind, I really must get ready for my next customer. Can I show you out?” She purposely pointed the gun at him. He took another couple of steps backward.
“Easy with that gun. It might go off.”
“Oh, it’ll only go off if I want it to,” she replied, forcing a casualness into her voice that she didn’t feel. She strolled past him and out of her bedroom, thankful to hear his footsteps following behind. She sighed in relief to find he’d left the kitchen door wide open to the point where it hid the area where Logan’s black leather jacket would be hanging. Good. He hadn’t seen the jacket.
A renewed sense of urgency slashed through her as she stopped at the kitchen front door, her hand on the door knob, pushing the door open even more, making double sure Logan’s jacket remained hidden. She needed to get rid of Linus in case Spencer, Logan, and Cassidy were the men he was looking for.
It was at that moment she realized she may just have to shoot this man if any of the others decided to make an appearance. But could she murder someone? And why was she entertaining the idea of shooting this self-proclaimed lawman if the three men were fugitives?
A tremor of unease ripped through her at her next thought. The Durango Gang was notorious for stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. Until now, she’d thought those types of men were ruthless. But the tender, possessive and thoughtful ways Logan, and the other two, for that matter, had treated her threw the idea of them being ruthless right out the window.
“Maybe you should tell me their descriptions? Just in case?” she spoke, daring to keep him here a moment longer. For all she knew, she could have just slept with three ruthless bank robbers. Maybe even killers?
A shot of adrenaline zipped through her at the thought she may have experienced the most exquisite sex in her life with outlaws. Another idea rocked her. What if they decided she was a loose end that needed to be tied up? That they had no choice but to kill her? Maybe she should tell the sheriff the potential robbers were in her home? That two were outside, maybe even waiting to ambush him and that one was hiding in her very own bathroom?
Logan couldn’t make out what Teyla and the intruder were saying, no matter how hard he listened.
Damn her! Why had she shut the door? She could have at least left it open a crack. Was she, at this moment, turning him in? Had the others been caught? What was happening out there?
It had grown quiet out there. Too quiet. His uneasiness slipped up several notches. Were the hell had everyone gone? From his vantage point, he eyed the bathroom window and tried to see past the frilly white lace curtains. He couldn’t see a thing. Disappointment rocked him.
His gaze dropped to the bathroom floor, to the shattered glass and where he’d left his jeans. Had the intruder been able to see the glass and his pants when Teyla had stepped out into the bedroom? Or before that when he’d inadvertently left the door slightly ajar? Hopefully, if he saw, he thought she had a customer in here with her. Unless whoever was out there knew about Spencer and Cassidy. Shit, where the hell was she? Where were Cassidy and Spencer, damn their hides?
Another thought shot through him. Maybe the newcomer was another customer? Logan did not like the gut-twisting way he was feeling at thinking another customer had shown up. Maybe she was servicing him right now? Maybe she’d taken him upstairs into one of her other bedrooms? His grip on the neck of the wine bottle tightened to the point where his wrist and fingers actually hurt. He loosened his grip and forced his breaths to slow down. Tried to not imagine her with strange men.
She better not be with another guy. Man, he’d known her for such a short time and he was already dictating who she could or could not see? Not good, my man. Not good at all.
Maybe he should just go out there and see what was going on? Take what belonged to him and smash the bottle over the bastard’s head. Better yet, get his gun and shoot the fucker, ask questions later.
He should never have agreed to Teyla’s request that he keep his weapons in the kitchen. Hell, the intruder would probably find his stash and use it on him.
The bathroom door burst inward totally catching him off guard. But he reacted quickly, lifting the bottle, and he just about brought it down on Teyla’s pretty head.
“Fuck, woman,” he whispered when he realized who had entered.
The look of surprise and shock on her face had him holding back another string of curses.
“He’s gone. But I don’t know where your friends are. I hope they’re okay.”
Logan stepped around the broken glass and raced to the bathroom window just in time to see a man hop into a black car and drive away. No signs of his partners.
“They’re big boys. They can take care of themselves.” Yeah, he was worried, but if something had happened to them, surely this guy wouldn’t leave just like he had.
“Who was he?” Another customer, he asked silently.
“He’s the law around here.”
Great. Just great.
“Does he drop by often?” he asked a little too gruffly as he swept his jeans off the floor and hurriedly stepped into them. The last thing they needed was the law visiting her on a damned regular basis. He wanted to ask her if she serviced him, too, but he bit back that bitter question as he noticed she was hesitating in answering.
She averted her gaze and worried her bottom lip. Okay, not a good sign when she did those things and didn’t answer his question. Up until this guy had shown up, she’d been very cooperative. That her attitude had suddenly changed irritated him, and he grabbed her arm a bit too roughly. Immense guilt slammed through him at the look of surprise and fear slashing across her face.
“I didn’t tell him anything,” she snapped and tried to pull her arm from his grasp. Anger flared in her pretty eyes and he cursed himself for scaring her and forced himself to calm down.
“I didn’t ask that question, Teyla.”
“I said he’s the law. He doesn’t need an invitation. He drops by whenever he feels like it.”
Whenever he feels like it? Irritation snapped through him like a live wire.
Chill, Logan. Chill. The guys said she didn’t sleep with him. He needed to relax and remember that.
The jovial sounds of his friends’ voices outside made Logan realize they probably didn’t have a clue they’d just had a visitor.
“Get dressed. Wear something pretty. I need to talk to the others,” he told her and ignored the pout on her mouth. A mouth he wanted to kiss and make love to.
Damn, but he sure did have it bad for her, didn’t he?
He didn’t miss the pink flush in her cheeks or the sultry sparkle in her eyes. Maybe she wanted another menage?
Oh, shit. He needed to get away from her before he took her up against the bathroom wall or before he fell head over heels in love with the woman. He left the bathroom and rushed through the bedroom into the kitchen. Thankfully, the saddlebag had been out of immediate eyeshot and it appeared his jacket had been, too. He grabbed his jacket, donned it, and relief swept through him as he felt the familiar heaviness of the gun in the pocket. Despite the relief, his heart hammered insanely against his chest as he realized exactly how dangerous the situation had been. The law had come calling and the boys had been absent. Not to mention he’d been so fucking jealous, he’d almost turned on her.
Fuck, he was crazy. That cop could come back. Could have caught him literally with his pants down. Put a bullet into him.
He swore softly and headed outside.
Tugging her robe around her, Teyla took a shuddering breath and gazed at herself in the mirror. Sizzling shimmers scampered up and down her back. She looked…well, she looked erotic.
Her hair was a gorgeous mess, her mouth looked plump and red from kissing and her eyes seemed so bright, someone might think she had a fever. Opening her robe, she gazed at her nude body. It even looked different. Voluptuous. Her breasts appeared huge, felt swollen. Her nipples were pert and red from their touches. And the area between her thighs and her ass throbbed intensely with a need she’d not felt before.
She wanted to be taken by Logan again. Wanted to experience another menage. But these men could be dangerous if what the sheriff had said was true. The exorbitant amount of money they were paying her for her services proved to her they were into something illegal. And Logan’s uneasy reaction when she’d told him the law had been here pretty much confirmed he was part of that Durango gang.
Oh, crap. Wasn’t that just her rotten luck? Falling for a guy who was a desperado. A guy, who, if caught by the law, would swing by the neck until he was dead. These days, despite a self-appointed sheriff, there really wasn’t any sort of legal justice. It was vigilantism all the way around. Posses grabbed their suspects and dished out the punishment as they saw fit. Robbers and killers were treated alike. Hanged by the neck until dead. Which left her with the question what should she do now?
Up until now, they hadn’t given her a reason to be afraid of them. They’d been quite pleasurable. Kind. Studs. If they’d wanted to harm her, they would have done that, wouldn’t they? And her instincts would have told her to beware.
Besides, her friend, Dr. Elizabeth, had said they could be trusted in that note she’d sent with Logan. It was her handwriting, and her perfume splashing from the note, so there wasn’t any doubt about who had written it. And her friend wouldn’t have joked about sizes if she’d been under pressure to write out a note for Teyla.
Oh, for Pete’s sake, if they were dangerous to her, they would have rode in and taken her against her will, and not gone to all this trouble of coming with notes and paying her. Logan wouldn’t have been so damned nice to her and everything.
No, he wasn’t a danger. She wasn’t a judge on why he would run with the Durango Gang if he was with them at all. Besides, what they did was none of her business. Right?
Right, she firmly told herself.
Besides, she was just doing her job. Being a pleasure girl. No one could judge her for doing her job, and who was she to judge them?
Wear something pretty, Logan had said. Exactly what did he mean by that? Pretty like in a dress she’d wear to a cocktail party? Obviously that wasn’t happening, since she didn’t attend parties. Or did he want her to dress sexy like she wanted to get fucked by three men again? Oh, God, she had to be too stupid to live to actually be entertaining thoughts of more sex with potential outlaws. Teyla rolled her eyes and headed back into her bedroom.
Yep, obviously she was too stupid to live because that’s exactly what she wanted.
“You two were what?” Logan exploded. He couldn’t believe his ears.
“Fixing the door to her greenhouse out behind the barn. We tended to the horses and then took a walk out back, saw some work needed doing, and did it,” Spencer said, eying Logan as if he had two heads for even asking him to repeat what he’d just said.
Holy crap! They hadn’t been here more than a few hours, and they were already domesticated.
“Why? What’s wrong?” Cassidy asked as he came up behind Spencer, a frown of concern ripping across his face.
“Cop was here.”
Well, that certainly took the air out of both men’s sails, didn’t it? He took immense satisfaction in their sudden sobering looks as both men went for their guns. Their relaxed gazes snapped to the look of the hunted and Logan instantly felt better.
This was the way they were supposed to be. All three of them. On guard, ready to protect each other and cover each other’s backs, not fixing up a rundown farm. But wasn’t that exactly what he’d wanted to do when he’d sat up on that hillside gazing down at Teyla’s rundown farm nestled snugly in the valley? Yeah, he had felt exactly that way. Damned domesticated.
Hanging out with Teyla made them forget the fact they were fugitives. Wanted men. And he knew they’d die shooting to prevent themselves from getting hanged by the neck, compliments of a vigilante law.
“What the hell happened?” they both asked at the same time and crowded in around Logan. Their guns were now drawn, their backs against each other as if expecting shots to be fired at any second.
Good, he’d spooked them. This was the way they needed to be. Alert. Ready for trouble.
Not working a freaking farm and fucking the cutest woman he’d come across in one hell of a long time.
“He’s gone. Teyla got rid of him. She says he won’t be back, but as we know, any type of law is unpredictable.”
Both men seemed to relax, but the familiar tension remained. It sparkled between the three of them, reminding them of the close call.
“You sure she handled it okay?” As in can we stay longer? That was pretty much the message Logan was reading from Cassidy’s question and the eager look on both men’s faces as they awaited his answer.
“It needs to be all three of us together or just me.” Which, if he really thought about it, was what she’d originally agreed to. “She’s never done this before. I don’t want us scaring her off.”
Cassidy frowned. “I thought-” His words were cut off by a sharp jab to his ribs, compliments of Spencer, who of course wanted some one on one with Teyla.
“Logan set it up this time. If that’s what the lady says, that’s the way it will be. You know the rules. Always listen to the lady’s wishes. Now, let’s get washed up and get started on supper.” Spencer muttered his disappointment beneath his breath, turned, and strode toward the red water pump fifty yards away. Cassidy stayed, his intense gaze fixed on Logan. The guy was studying Logan as if he was some curious insect or something.
“What gives with the chick? Last night you said she was in agreement with us three doing her. That also meant some one on one, right? Who changed their mind? Her? Or you? Are you sweet on her?”
Who wouldn’t be?
“She’s tired. I don’t want to push her.” Damned if he was going to admit he wanted the woman within his sight all the time. Hell, who was he kidding? He wanted her first. Then he would share her.
“It’s what ladies do. They change their minds.”
“Uh-huh, if you say so, Logan. We’ll keep our hands off. Just don’t get too involved. You know the rules,” he warned.
Too late, my man. He wanted to tell Cassidy exactly that, but he kept his big mouth shut. They’d leave sometime tomorrow as planned, and once he was out of here and away from her, he’d forget her and they would rejoin the Durango Gang and could continue on with their crusade.
“Just keep your eyes open for anything suspicious,” he told Cassidy and headed back to the farm. He could hardly wait to see her again.
Oh, man, he was so fucked.