Springer, Jan - In Her Bed [The Desperadoes 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (6 page)

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.

Chapter Four

Liz always baked when she was nervous. Oh, who was she kidding? She was way past nervous. She was aroused.

Durango
always aroused her. Even when he’d told her about his sexual fantasies of sharing her with Landon, he’d aroused her. But she’d been terribly embarrassed, too. She was shy in the bedroom. She couldn’t imagine being with any other man, except with
Durango
. It was why she’d never had sex while he’d been gone.

Okay, so she’d masturbate to fantasies about him. About him sharing her. But that was it. She’d thought that had been enough, until he’d shown up with Landon and the stranger.