Duty Bound: Bound and Tied, Book 2 (7 page)

“At the very least let your hair down. For heaven’s sake, look like a woman.” Rosalyn unbuttoned several buttons on the front of KC’s shirt and removed KC’s overcoat.

“I’ll freeze.” KC reached for the coat, feeling naked even in the men’s shirt.

“You can stand a little cooling down. It’ll make your nipples pucker.” Rosalyn stared at the creek. “Even better, you could bathe in the stream naked.”

“You
have
lost your mind. Have you ever bathed in a mountain stream?”

She tipped her head. “No. I usually enjoy my bath in a tub.”

“The water comes from melted snow, not a heated pot.”

Rosalyn’s nose wrinkled. “Oh, I take it that it’s very cold, requiring a good warming up?” Her mouth slipped into a secretive smile.

“Try it.” KC bent to scoop a handful of water from the pool beside her. When she started to rise, a hand planted in the middle of her back, shoving her forward.

As she plunged into the icy depths of the stream, she heard a plaintive “Oops!” from behind her.

Chapter Five

KC struggled to the surface, splashing, her breath stolen away by the frigid water.

“Mr. Thompson, help!” Rosalyn called out.

As KC fought the current carrying her away from the shore, Jake came crashing through the woods, flinging sticks and logs aside as he took in the scene before him.

She managed to get her feet under her on a sandbar in the middle of the stream and was just about to tell Jake she was all right when he dove into the pool, surfacing beside her. He grabbed her in his arms and swam back to shore, dragging her with him, nearly drowning her in the process.

When they emerged onto a rocky ledge, KC glared up at Rosalyn. “That was not called for,” she said, her teeth chattering.

“I’m sorry, I saw you slip and reached for you, but you fell in before I could pull you away from the edge.” She smiled, her eyes alight with mischief.

Jake hugged his arms around himself, his lips turning blue. “I don’t know what just happened, but we have to get out of these wet clothes or we’ll catch our deaths.” He hurriedly gathered the fallen logs and sticks, arranging them into a pile, placing dry tinder at its base. With matches he retrieved from his saddlebag, he had a cheerful fire blazing within minutes.

KC shivered, she felt her body growing colder by the minute. Night dropped on them like a shade, the temperatures falling with it. Still she refused to remove her clothing in Jake’s presence.

“Oh, come on. You’ll die if you don’t get out of those.” Rosalyn reached for the buttons on KC’s shirt. “We can see straight through your shirt anyway. You might as well take it off.”

KC glanced down at the thin, light blue shirt, and her face burned. The dark circles of her nipples shown through in the firelight. She crossed her arms over her breasts.

Jake stood next to the fire, stripped his shirt off and draped it over a branch near the crackling flames. “If it offends you, turn your backs. I’ll only take a moment.”

KC obliged. Rosalyn had no qualms watching Jake strip out of his trousers. “My, my. He is quite the catch,” she whispered.

“Have you no decency?” KC hissed through her clattering teeth. Too cold to give a damn, she finally moved to unbutton her shirt, only her fingers were too stiff to maneuver the buttons out of their holes.

“Let me. After all I feel responsible.”

“Damn right you are. What got into you?”

“I don’t know. Seems like you might have taken all night to get naked.” Rosalyn removed the last button and slid the shirt from KC’s shoulders. “Falling in the creek sped up the process.” Her slim fingers trailed over KC’s chilled skin, spreading warmth where they touched. “Mr. Thompson, is it right to assume sharing body warmth is one of the best ways to warm somebody quickly?”

Rosalyn unbuttoned her riding coat and dropped it to the ground. She worked the buttons loose at the waist of her riding skirt and let it slide down her legs, leaving her standing in her blouse and drawers. She planted her fists on her hips and glared. “Are you two going to stand there and freeze to death?”

“No, ma’am.” Jake shucked his trousers and long underwear, standing there in nothing but the clothes God gave him, a grin spreading across his face.

“That’s more like it.” Rosalyn removed her blouse and twisted her arms behind her to reach for the strings of her corset.

Jake came up behind her. “Let me help.”

KC stood with her mouth open as Jake let Rosalyn manipulate him like she’d manipulated KC into the water and now out of her clothing. The cool night air made her sluggish and she’d stopped shivering. If she didn’t get out of the wet trousers, they’d freeze against her skin. The nights in the mountains sometimes got down below freezing. If she didn’t do something soon, she might as well die.

With a sigh, she unbuttoned her trousers and peeled them down over her thighs, kicking them and her boots off together.

Jake whistled when she stood naked in the light from the campfire, his hand growing still over the laces of Rosalyn’s corset.

Rosalyn reached behind her, finished loosening the laces and slid the corset down over her hips, pushing the drawers with it. Wearing her fancy black boots and nothing else, she pulled the blanket from the back of her saddle and spread it out beside the fire.

Jake grabbed his and the one from the back of KC’s saddle and held them out.

KC shook her head, the lure of the fire too much of a temptation. Rosalyn walked by her and squeezed her naked ass. “Shoulders back. Be proud of your body,” she whispered.

With a deep breath, KC pushed her shoulders back and forced her arms to her sides. Her breasts jutted forward, the nipples forming shriveled little peaks, gooseflesh pebbling every inch of her skin.

“Come, Katherine.” Jake held the blanket for her as she walked into it and let him wrap its warmth around her curves.

“My name is KC.” Her words shook with the force of a mighty shiver snaking down her spine.

“I’m not going to ravish your body.” He grinned. “At least not until you’re thawed out.”

Her lips pressed together. “Have I told you I’ve been known to throw a two-hundred-pound calf down in twenty seconds?” She lost some of the threat in her voice with the sound of her teeth clattering together.

Jake laughed out loud, the movement rumbling against her back. “I’ll be sure not to bawl like a calf.”

His laughter made the frown loosen on KC’s forehead. The man was almost human when he smiled. Still, she held tightly to her anger at the entire situation, while knowing she had to live up to her end of the ill-fated bargain.

A shiver shook his frame and he hugged her back to his front, fitting the curve of her bottom against his thighs.

Rosalyn took the other blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders, then she stood behind Jake, enfolding him into the warmth of her dry arms. They huddled together beside the fire, letting the blaze warm them.

As KC’s body began to relax, she could feel other parts of Jake’s body stiffen. Her breath quickened. How soon would he demand the ultimate payment? Would she be ready? Would it hurt?

Rosalyn’s hands moved around Jake and bumped against KC’s back, skimming down over her to her bottom. “It works better if you get skin to skin, KC.” She tugged at the blanket.

“Don’t push me, Rosalyn.” KC refused to let go.

“Fine. Have it your way.” She handed Jake the blanket and moved around to KC’s front, where she forced her to open up and let her slide into the circle of her arms.

With her breasts pressed against Rosalyn’s, KC’s blood heated infinitely faster. The previous night’s lessons came back to her in sordid, blood-stirring detail.

Jake left KC’s back, wrapping himself around Rosalyn’s naked backside, circling his arms around them both, crushing them closer. “Ah, Katherine, now I can see you. Did you know that your face tells me everything?”

“Wonderful.” KC frowned. “What is it telling you now?”

“KC…” Rosalyn warned. “You have a bargain with this man.”

“Thank you, Miss Rosalyn.” Jake winked at KC.

Her stomach flipped. The man had a way of making her insides stir, and KC didn’t want her insides stirred over the man who’d bought and paid for her body like she was a whore.

Not to mention, this entire situation was foreign to KC. Her world was working cattle, tending stock and taking care of a ranch. She’d never stood naked in the woods with another man and woman…total strangers.

The backs of KC’s hands rubbed against Jake’s furred chest. His muscles were taut, rock solid like she’d imagined when she’d been studying his shoulders on the ride up the mountain.

His gaze captured hers over Rosalyn’s shoulder.

Holding the blanket’s ends didn’t give KC the freedom of movement she’d hoped for. If she tried to feel more of Jake’s body, she’d drop an end and the cold air would chill their skin all over.

Rosalyn laughed. “You two are trying too hard to avoid what’s obvious.”

“And that would be…?” Jake pressed closer, his arms tightening around the two women.

“You’re attracted to each other.”

“I am not!” KC sputtered. “I’m only living up to my end of the bargain.”

Jake’s smile dimmed. “That’s right. I paid for her. And she was damned expensive.”

“Oh, pooh.” Rosalyn shook her head. “You two are fooling yourselves. Give in to the feeling and warm your bodies at the same time. Here, let me show you.”

“Is she always this bossy?” Jake asked KC.

KC smiled for the first time since she’d left Idaho Springs. “Yes. But she’s a fine teacher.”

“Damn right. So shut up and follow my lead.” Then she ducked out from between them, and with a hand on Jake’s back and one on KC’s, she shoved them together.

Jake’s naked chest bumped against KC’s naked breasts, knocking the breath right out of her. Not with the force of the blow, but with the attack on her senses.

She’d never been naked with a man. His rock-solid, angular body was completely different from Rosalyn’s curves. Her hands pressed against his chest. Instead of pushing him away, she juggled the ends of the blanket while running her fingers slowly over his skin, studying the different textures, comparing them to Rosalyn’s. Where the other woman had soft, smooth mounds with rosy brown nipples, Jake’s hard muscles were scattered with crisp hairs, the dark nipples buried in the matting. She had to search to find them, but when she did, they stiffened into tiny little peaks.

“Let me hold that.” Rosalyn stepped behind Jake and took his blanket. She flipped it around behind her and pressed her naked body to his back. “There, that ought to get you warm.”

“Oh, honey, I’m getting warm, all right.” His cock jutted straight forward, nudging against KC’s belly.

The decadence of it all made KC’s neck and face burn. She glared at Rosalyn.

With his hands free, Jake could do anything he wanted to her and all she could do was stand there holding the ends of the blanket. Exactly what Rosalyn had planned, no doubt.

And he went right along with her plan.

Jake’s hands circled her waist, pressing her closer, the hard ridge of his cock nudging into her skin.

His fingers curved around her bottom, sliding down over her ass, cupping her cheeks, lifting and squeezing them gently.

The fire burning beside her had nothing to do with the warmth spreading inside. KC didn’t want to feel anything with this man but couldn’t avoid the pooling desire in her belly or the throbbing ache down lower where moisture eased from her pussy.

Rosalyn sighed. “Could we lie down? My arms are getting tired of holding up this blanket.”

In answer, Jake’s hands cupped KC’s ass, and he lifted her legs up around his waist and carried her to the blanket stretched out in front of the fire, laying her down on the rough wool.

KC shivered, her body exposed to the cold and to his gaze. He leaned over her.

Rosalyn stood naked behind him. “I could leave you two to it, if you’d prefer.”

“No!” KC sat up and extended her hand. “Stay.”

Jake’s brows rose. “Stay?” He looked from one woman to the other. “My deal is with Katherine. You’re Honor’s companion. She’d skin me alive if I caused you to change your mind about coming up the mountain.”

“Relax. I’m not changing my mind. I’m here because I needed to…get away… Besides, I want to be a part of this. You two intrigue me.”

“She has been teaching me…lessons.” KC’s face burned and she tried to cover her breasts, her embarrassment complete. He must think she was a baby, unschooled in the art of pleasing a man.

“What lessons has she taught you?” Jake’s mouth curved upward.

KC gritted her teeth. If she had to provide this man amusement, she might as well get on with it. “Different ways a woman can entertain a man.”

Jake’s eyes narrowed. “I thought you already knew how.”

KC leaned forward. “Oh, I do. Rosalyn’s just showing me new and more interesting ways.”

Rosalyn wrapped the blanket around herself and nodded. “Show him what you learned.”

“Help me?” KC pleaded, suddenly afraid.

“I think you know how. I’ll stand back here and observe to be sure.”

KC gulped in a deep breath and laid her hand over her neck, letting her fingertips trail slowly down over her collarbone to her breasts. There she pushed the mounds together, plumping them, then tweaking the nipples into tight little nubs.

Jake’s eyes flared, his tongue coming out to sweep across his lips. She had his attention, but he didn’t touch her. “What else did she teach you?” he asked.

KC stared over his shoulder to Rosalyn.

Jake glanced behind him to the other woman, wondering if he’d dreamed all of this. Two women? Had he died and gone to heaven?

Rosalyn opened her blanket, her own fingers sliding down over her belly to the thatch of hair between her legs.

Jake’s cock jerked and his gaze moved back to KC to see what she would do next.

Her gaze shifting to Jake’s, KC repeated Rosalyn’s movement, her fingers pushing down over her flat stomach to the mound of hair covering her mons. KC parted her folds and stroked the nubbin of sensitive skin, once…twice…

Jake’s heart flip-flopped and he couldn’t
not
touch her any longer. His hands replaced hers, his fingers dipping into her pussy, coming out drenched in her sweet, thick moisture.