The Cowboy Who Strolled Into Town (80 page)

Chapter 4

              The rest of the day dragged by for Beatrice, as she waited on customers and watched the crowded tent slowly empty as it drew closer to eleven, and closing time. By ten-thirty, the place was empty, and she was left wiping down the long wooden tables to the sweet harp music that played on repeat.

              A sound at the door had her checking the clock.

              “I’m sorry, the kitchen’s closed. You have just enough time to have one drink, but the lights go out at eleven.” She finally looked up from the stubborn wine stain she was trying to clean off of the table as the footsteps drew nearer. Finn and Sebastian stood in front her, so much taller than her, but instead of feeling threatened or intimidated, it made her feel sheltered.

              “Oh.” Her mouth was left stuck in an ‘O’ shape as Finn took one hand, while Sebastian took the other.

              “Beatrice, sit.” Again, the commanding tone of Sebastian’s voice made her body go hot and cold at the same time. She sat.

              Finn reluctantly let go of her hand, walking around the picnic style table to take a seat on the bench across from her. Sebastian leaned over the bar, grabbed a clean pint glass, filled it from the tap, and walked back setting the beer in front of her before sitting down beside Finn.

              She opened her mouth to ask what they wanted, but Finn forestalled her, a finger to her lips, the pressure deliciously soft against her tingling lips, demanding silence.

Finn’s eyes met hers in a stare that was impossible to look away from.

              “We have already told you we want you.” Finn’s musical accent made it difficult for Beatrice to realize at first that he had asked it as a question, and was waiting for her response. His finger still rested against her lips, so she nodded briefly.

              “Good.” The word, and the way he said it all drawn out, filled her with something, some feeling she couldn’t identify besides arousal, and the desire to please him so she could hear him say it again in his deep, lilting voice.

              “And we asked you a question.”

              “You didn’t answer us.” Sebastian leaned forward, Finn finally removing his finger. They both looked at her, expectancy and desire lighting their eyes, each so different. Beatrice swallowed hard under the weight of both gold and emerald green gaze.

              “I…” She had to swallow again against the sudden dryness of her mouth. “…yes.” The softly spoken word was like catalyst as both men released a sigh, but rather than ease the mounting tension between them, it seemed to grow that much thicker, winding around them like honey until it hard for Beatrice to draw breath.

              Finn slid a small object across the table towards her, then stood. Sebastian soon followed.

              “Meet us in Finn’s tent when you’re ready.” She knew he didn’t mean when she was done with her shift. They were going to be sure this choice was hers, not made under the sweet assault of her senses or pressured by their overwhelming presence.              

              As they left, she wondered if it was part of their shape changing abilities that made them so breathtakingly seductive, or if it came naturally. She sighed, looking down at the object Finn had left behind, a small gold coin with a stylized horse on one side and a bearded face on the other. There were some markings around the edge as well, but so dulled with time that she couldn’t make them out, other than the fact that it looked very old and Celtic.

              She turned it over curiously, wondering why he had left it for her, but the thought was brief and mainly so she could have a minute to let her body get back to normal, or at least slightly normal.

              She laid the coin down with a quiet clink on the dark wooded table, wrapping her hands around the cold glass of beer but not drinking it. Their question repeated like a broken record in her mind.
Do you want us? Do you want us?

              Beatrice knew she had been completely honest when she had answered. Ever since that night in the forest, watching them, imagining it was
her
stretched out between them, she had known that’s what she wanted. She looked down into the pale golden liquid, tiny bubbles still rising in trails to the top. Then what was she doing still sitting there?

              She grinned to herself as she stood, hands still shaking, but determined. She flicked the last of the lights off in the big, empty tent with a single look back. It was time to go get what she wanted.

Chapter 5

              As Beatrice neared the tent that she knew was Finn’s, her nerves exploded like a flock of hummingbirds knocking around in her chest. She stopped, arm outstretched to walk in, but let it drop, shaking. She paced back and forth, watching the dim light of the half-moon cast deep, mysterious shadows across the fair ground.

              “Beatrice” The sudden voice coming from just inside the tent made her jump. “We can hear you pacing, sweetheart.” She could practically hear the grin on Finn’s face, and her heart made an odd jump when he called her
sweetheart
in that accent of his. Taking one final deep breath, she walked inside.

              She looked around Finn’s tent, always having been curious about what it was like inside, and she took it all in with wonder, distracting herself from the two large men sharing it with her. It was just a plain, large tasseled tent on the outside, like the offices or the blacksmith’s tent, but that’s where the similarities ended.

              The first thing she noticed was how open it was. There was a small fireplace crackling cheerfully in one corner, casting its warm light on a low, leather couch and matching love seat, both piled high with pillows and soft, furry blankets. The biggest arm chair she had ever seen sat against one wall with a side table piled precariously with books, the small lamp on top was shoved to the very edge.

              A big bed sat on the floor, disregarding a frame or even a headboard, it screamed masculinity with its rumpled sheets that she could so easily picture Finn wrapped up in, and the pile of furs stacked at the foot for quick access on cooler nights. There was something so ancient, so primal about the room. It was hard to tell what colors things were, everything cast in hazy golden bronze by the flickering fire.

              She inhaled the scent of cedar, smoke, and…Finn. She could almost pick out the earthy, sensual notes that were his alone. She finally turned to look at them, Finn still standing by the front where she had entered, Sebastian reclining lazily on a stool at the tall, two person table. At least his posture seemed lazy and relaxed, but that impression was belied by the tenseness of his thick muscles, the way his golden eyes followed her like a hawk as she made her way slowly around the living area of the tent.

              “So,” Beatrice had to clear her throat several times before anything came out, but she was proud of how steady her voice sounded when it finally did.               “are you just gonna stand there all night?”

              A rough chuckle exploded from Finn’s chest as he stalked closer, the sudden outburst of humor morphing the stark desire in his expression into something softer, kinder.

              “My dear,” His harshly whispered words rushed past her ear, tickling her as he bent closer in front of her, his broad body blocking her view of the rest of the tent, and Sebastian, although she could hear him stand, hear the scrape of his boots on the wood planks of the floor as he moved closer. “We were just waiting for you.”

              She could feel the warmth of him at her back like a furnace. She could feel the weight of his hands as he grasped each softly curved hip, the brush of his body as he moved closer.

              “I’m so glad you decided to join us.” His voice was like gravel, causing another round of shivers to dance down her spine. His mouth flitted from her ear, down her neck, barely making contact, teasing her in a way she never would have expected from the big, demanding man. She always though he would be a ‘give me what I want right now’ type of guy, but it thrilled her to learn otherwise.

              She felt like her skin was on fire. With both hard, very male bodies pressed against her softness she felt her own body begin to move of its own accord, too impatient to wait for her lust-drenched brain to keep up. She pressed forward instinctively, biting back the grin at Finn’s growl as her hips met his, the proof of his arousal spurring her on.

              But as she pressed even closer, as close as they could be with the layers of clothes still between them, she realized she was missing the warmth of Sebastian at her back, and threw a look over her shoulder at him. His bright gaze watched her and Finn move together, his features sharp with desire.

              “Beatrice, turn around.” She whimpered at the command, not wanting to lose the delicious slide of Finn’s hard body against hers.

              “Turn around, now.” Her entire body responded to the tone of Sebastian’s voice. The patience, and the surety that she would follow his softly spoken demand.

              “Do what he says, sweetheart.” Finn’s hushed word tickled at her ear as she slowly turned around. Sebastian ate her up with his gaze. From the top of her long, brown waves now slightly tousled, down her body, tracing every curve until he reached her feet, just peeking out from below the skirt of the costume she still wore, and then all the way back up. She felt it like a brush of his hand along her whole body, feeling the heavy weight of arousal dripping down her body like honey.

              “Strip for him.” Beatrice had to strain to hear Finn’s quiet words, spoken into the side of her neck, followed by a sweeping touch of the lips that teased her, making her ache for more. “I want to watch you take off that pretty little dress, until we can see all of you…” His torturously soft lips moved to the other side of her neck, playing along her sensitive skin. “And touch all of you.”

              Her body tensed at the words he breathed out, shoving away all self-conscious thoughts, focusing on the feelings Finn drew out of her skin like magic. Wherever he touched her, it felt like she had never been touched before. The way his skin felt against hers so much better than she had ever imagined.

              Beatrice looked up at Sebastian, deciding he was much too far away. A playful smile tugged at the corners of her lips. Maybe she could turn the tables, and tease them for a change. Without drawing away from Finn, she swept her hand seductively down, then all the way up her sides, her fingers ending tangled in the cord Sebastian had so carefully tied earlier.

              She pulled, and in one motion the cord came loose, and the fabric hiding her breast slid down. The twin masculine gasps gave her the confidence needed, and she continued her little strip tease, slowly swaying her hips back and forth to some imaginary, sensual music.

              She caught the waist of the skirt, loosening it, and oh-so-slowly lowered it to floor, kicking it free. She was left standing in nothing but the lace slip, rendered completely sheer by the cast of the firelight.

              “Goddess.” Finn groaned, his mouth coming down in earnest on that spot where her neck meets the slope of her shoulder, and she gasped at the tidal wave of pleasure. His touch sent sparks shooting down her spine.

              Sebastian still stood, watching them, the hunger in his eyes so ferocious that Bea might have been scared if she hadn’t known, soul deep, that they would never hurt her. She had never felt more precious or protected then when standing surrounded by these two big men.

              She tilted her head to the side, giving Finn better access, and threw her dark chocolate eyes up at the man standing tensely in front of her. She wanted his hands on her. And mouth.

              “Sebastian.” His name left her lips as a moan, and it was like she flipped a switch. He swept towards her, his hand sweeping up, fingers tangling in her hair, and she had just a second to draw a breath before his lips crashed onto hers. No more teasing.  One large hand slid to the back of her head, angling her mouth so his slashed perfectly across her, the pressure of his lips made her open her mouth on a gasp, and Sebastian quickly took advantage, his tongue warring with hers.

              Suddenly, her shift was gone, the filmy material just a puddle at her feet as Sebastian’s hot mouth trailed lower, over collar bone, sliding down her chest. He left a trail of whisper soft kisses across each rib, and finally sweeping over the dip of her waist and the slight swell of her tummy.

              Kneeling in front of her, he threw one quick look at her face before his eyes were drawn back the bare flesh in front of him. He flicked out his tongue in a teasing swipe before laying a gentle kiss on either eye.

              “Was this for us?” Sebastian asked, teasingly, one eyebrow cocked as he nodded towards her center, completely smooth and hairless.

              “No, well…I…” Beatrice stalled, recalling earlier that morning sitting in her tub, and couldn’t deny that the thought of them had been dancing around her mind. His rough chuckle brought her gaze back down to his.

              “I like it.” The copper in his eyes flared as he inhaled deeply, at the same time wrapping one hand around each calf and urging her to spread her legs apart, and then even further until she stood almost straddling him, only held up by the support if Finn still at her back. She fidgeted unconsciously, suddenly feeling exposed.