Adams, Eve - Trio [Gideon's Ring 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (23 page)

Literally.

“Stubborn,” Barrett muttered and shook his head. After they all stood and dressed, he turned to her before flicking his gaze to Chris. “Fine. You stay here with her. Stick in this tent and watch the stove. This will be ours. It has a tricky flue, and I want to monitor it.”

This will be ours.
His words rang in her ears, and damn if it didn’t have her breathing in shallow gasps. She glanced at Chris and suppressed a shudder. It would be like playing house, which had her feeling nervous and silly at the same time.

She walked with Barrett to the snowcat and grabbed the folder out of the cab while Chris stayed behind to work the fire. With a quick glance up at the temperature gauge, she shook her head. “It’s getting colder.”

It had dropped to twenty degrees. Barrett glanced up at the digital readout and thinned his lips. “I know. That’s a good thing for the snow. If it drops much lower it will be too cold to snow.”

“Do you think these tents will keep everyone
comfortable
?”

He shook his head. “I doubt it. It’s only going to get colder as the sun goes down.
It will keep them from freezing, but not much else.
”

She watched as he snapped his brow into a frown. This weather had him worried. Because of that, it now had her worried, too. He already had so much on his shoulders. Adding the burden of keeping six couples, plus their third party, happy until he could get them out might be too much.

“Barrett, if you think it would be safer in the lodge…”

He grabbed the radio mic from the dash. “No, it will get even colder in there. At least with the tents we can keep the woodstoves stocked and ward off the chill. It probably won’t get any warmer than about fifty-five or sixty degrees, but it will keep everyone from freezing.”

“Who are you calling?”

“My brothers,” he answered before bringing the mic up to his lips. “This is Barrett. Does anyone have their radio on?”

“This is Matt. How’s it going out there?”

“We’re moving the guests to the tents.”

“This is Wyatt, and I just have to say, are you insane? It’s freezing out there.”

Barrett rolled those glorious eyes and then looked at Sarah. “No shit, Wyatt. But each tent has a heat source that will keep the guests warm until the power comes back on.”

“This is Michael, and I think it’s a great idea. Some of the guests are already complaining that it’s too cold.”

“What’s the temp inside the lodge right now?” Barrett held perfectly still as he asked.

“It looks like it’s about forty-five degrees. It’s dropping quick.”

He closed his eyes and muttered a curse. Sarah wanted to reach for him, but with them standing on either side of the cab
,
he stood too far away.

Chris walked up behind her and wrapped his strong arms around her, pulling her into him. He then leaned his cheek up against hers, warming it. She snuggled into him and secretly wished for the power to stay out, at least for a couple more days.

“
Chris, make sure the stoves stay lit.
”

“
I
’
m on it.
”
He nibbled at Sarah
’
s neck
,
and she twisted in his arms to protect her flesh.

Barrett let out a long, tired sigh. Chris loosened his hold on Sarah and stood up straight. “Cuz, the stoves are already started. By the time you get the guests up here the tents will be warm. It
’
ll be fine.
I’ll make sure of it.”

Barrett didn
’
t look like he agreed with Chris. He kept his handsome brow tight in a frown. He brought the mic back up to his lips.
“
I’ll be down as soon as I can. Get the guests ready. I want them all settled by dark.”

“This is Matt. I’ll get Gina and Donny to put stuff together food
-
wise to last the night, something more than canned beans and potatoes. Something easy to reheat on those woodstoves.”

“Sounds good. It shouldn’t take more than two trips to get everyone up here. Get the other snowcat warmed up. I’m on my way.” Barrett set the mic back on the dash.

He closed the cab
,
and the three of them went inside the tent. The chill in the air bit into
Sarah’s
flesh, and not in a good way. She tried not to shiver, but one escaped, and both men saw it.

Barrett turned and took her hand. “I’m sorry this hasn’t turned out to be the weekend you wanted.”

“Are you kidding? This is better.” And it was. Who wanted to spend the weekend in a stuffy lodge when they could rough it out in a glamp tent? She liked the idea of staying here. Of course, staying with her two favorite cowboys did have something to do with that.

Chris smiled and kissed her nose. “Somehow I knew you’d say that.
”

“
At least the guests will be warmer up here.
”
Barrett squeezed her shoulders.

“
Maybe they’ll find a way to make this fun.” Sarah set the folder down on the table and looked around. “Not to mention the fact they will be cohabitating with their ménage partner. I’m sure they won’t get bored.”

The Gideon Gods sandwiched her, instantly warming her. If she got to spend the night inside the tent next to these two men, she’d never feel so much as a chill. In fact, if they had a repeat of last night, she’d burst into flames.

She couldn’t wait.

Barrett kissed her soundly. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. Try not to get into any trouble while I’m gone.”

She lifted her chin and brushed her nose against his jaw. “Hmm. Can I get into trouble when you get back?”

He laughed and smacked her backside. “I have to go check on the horses before I head back to the lodge. Be good.” He glanced over her shoulder at Chris.
“
Take care of her.
”

“
We
’
ll be here when you get back, cuz.
”

“Oh!” She brought her finger up as she remembered. “The basketball. Put it in the water trough. It will stop the water from freezing over. It’s a little trick my grandpa taught me when I was a kid. We didn’t have the money for heated water troughs, so we improvised.”

Barrett
’
s lips quirked. “Impressive.”

“Baby, you ain’t seen nothing yet.”

Chris leaned in to kiss her and lingered as he nipped at her lips. “I can’t wait to find out what else you improvise on.”

“
That makes two of us,
”
Barrett growled and rubbed his hand along her shoulders.

She turned and glanced up into his hypnotic eyes. “Then hurry back.” She nibbled on his lower lip before pushing him toward the door.

Looking over his shoulder, he winked, and a flash of arousal burst inside her. Why would something as simple as a wink have her suddenly so hot, burning with need?

“Remember, you belong to
us
tonight to do with what
we
please. You lost. Twice.” After delivering a devastating grin, he slipped out of the tent and left her there to contemplate what exactly the night would entail.

“
Trust me,
”
Chris said.
“
When
we
wins a bet,
we
definitely expects payment.
”

She could hardly wait.

“Make sure you get those containers tied down.” Chris pointed at the stack of containers housing the food Gina and Donny packed for the guests. He shivered and pulled his collar up to protect his exposed neck. Damn
,
it was cold.

Michael nodded and went to work to follow his cousin
’
s orders. The second round of guests had already been loaded into the snowcats, and they now waited to be hauled up to the glamp tents.

Since Barrett was a pleasant shade of blue when he returned with the first round of guests
,
Sarah made him stay inside their tent and warm up a few shades while Chris retrieved the last group.

He climbed into one of the snowcats and grabbed the radio mic. “You ready, Mikey?”

“It’s a bit crowded, but—Hey! Watch the hands.”

Giggling filled the radio waves.

“Uh, Michael?”

“Lead the way. I said stop it. Rachel!”

He laughed and shook his head. Only his prudish youngest cousin would have a problem with a beautiful woman groping him in a crowded snowcat. Michael’s twin, Matt, on the other hand, would have welcomed having a woman like Rachel on his side, her slender hands wandering over to his leg and sneaking up.

His mind drifted to Sarah. She had the prettiest shine in her eyes when he or Barrett said something charming that made her smile.

Which had him scratching his head. Chris could charm the rattle out of a snake, but Barrett didn’t know how to be charming. Matt was the charmer amongst the Gideon brothers. Barrett was the hard-ass that drove the women away.

When did everything go ass over tea kettle?
He hadn’t been away from the GR&L for
that
long.

But, then again, if he’d been around, he would have never let Barrett get as buried in Gail’s bullshit as he had. Chris had always had a way of weeding through the shit that clouded Barrett’s vision, ever since they were kids. Gail definitely fell under the bullshit, can definitely do without, category.

The fact that the bitch had stomped on Barrett’s heart really pissed Chris off, but he was angrier at Barrett than Gail. Why the fuck did Barrett allow that psycho close enough to do any damage? He should know better.

His thoughts drifted to Sarah. Now there was a woman he’d definitely lose his sanity over.

“Are there going to be showers?” a woman from the back asked
, snapping him out of his thoughts
.

Was she kidding? “These are glorified tents. There won’t even be running water.”

“What? Two thousand dollars to stay in a tent?”

Chris rolled his eyes.
Barrett was right. Everyone expected more than what the dollar allowed.
“Apparently.”

“I demand a refund.”

Of course she did. “You’ll have to talk to Barrett.”

“The one following the little redhead around like he’s in heat?”