“Logan’s fucking you?”
“I think he slept with it in there,” she confessed, laughing again at the look of astonishment he knew was on his face. “Come over here and give me a kiss.” It was something he was quite willing to do. As he moved, the arm around him loosened.
He missed it immediately. How had he not known he felt this way about Damien? About Logan? Had it always been there? Probably. He just hadn’t recognized it. The large, callused hand slid down over his hip, along his thigh. Trembling, he felt his nipples tighten. His balls, too. With his cock jutting toward the woman in the center of the bed, he kissed her softly on the mouth.
“You’re so beautiful in the morning.”
“With wrinkles in my face and my hair all messed up?” Ryan laughed. “Yes, with wrinkles and messy hair.” Moving closer, he nuzzled her neck, kissing the soft skin. She smelled like woman and sex. Lots of sex. The heady aroma drove him on. Sliding down in the bed, he pressed tiny kisses to her shoulder, her chest, the curve of her breast. The nipple begged for his attention. Flicking his tongue out, he teased it until it was as hard as his cock. Her fingers slid through his hair as he blazed a trail down over her stomach, to the smooth pussy lips. As he rubbed his chin against her swollen flesh, he was very aware of the huge cock stretching her cunt to its limits. Pushing the blanket back, he admired the beauty of their coupling. Her slender leg was hooked back over Logan’s muscular thigh, exposing the place where they were joined.
Grinning, Ryan attacked them both with his tongue, licking and kissing both female and male flesh, inhaling their musky sex scent, flicking Peaches’s demanding little clit until she whimpered with pleasure.
Logan grunted as a tongue lovingly caressed his balls. When the cock was withdrawn suddenly he took it into his mouth and sucked greedily, his jaw stretching, his cheeks hollowing. Swiping the wide head with his tongue, he tasted their beautiful woman on it. He slid his mouth along the cock as far as he could, moaning in protest when Logan withdrew his cock and slid it back into Peaches’s cream-filled pussy.
Ryan wasn’t given much time to suffer a loss. Not when Damien was pulling him over onto his back. Their gazes locked as his legs were lifted and his feet were braced against Damien’s broad shoulders. A moment later Damien was claiming him again, sinking balls deep into 104
his ass. Yes, in the scheme of things, he was the bottom layer in their wondrous relationship.
For him, it was a good place to be. He smiled happily when a small hand wrapped tightly around his aching cock. Yes, he was one very happy man.
When they finally managed to drag themselves out of bed, they showered together. And when they looked outside, they knew they would have to help the ranch hands contend with two feet of new snow. They went out after they ate large bowls of steaming oatmeal. Peaches had insisted they needed something good and hot in their stomachs. Once they had eaten, she kissed each before they headed out the door. Logan muttered something about being nagged to death, but she only grinned and waved. Ryan stole an extra kiss from her before he followed the other two out.
He found it very difficult not to let what he felt for the other two men show in his face as they worked around the other men on the ranch. While Logan probably wouldn’t care, he didn’t know how Damien would feel about having their relationship out in the open. It was so very new that he knew they would have to proceed carefully. What if Damien changed his mind? What if he decided that he didn’t want such an intimate relationship with Logan and him? The thought of it caused him pain, but he knew he would accept it, if that’s what Damien wanted.
“What’s got you so down in the mouth?” Logan asked over the howl of the wind. Snow was being blown, stinging the exposed bits of their skin.
Ryan shrugged. He broke the ice so the cattle would be able to drink. “I just have a lot of things going on right now. Peaches looked happy this morning.” He hoped the mention of the woman they loved would distract the other man. He felt Logan’s narrowed gaze on his face.
He forced himself to not squirm uncomfortably. “She loves the ring. She kept admiring it, when she didn’t think anyone was looking.”
“You guys did a great job picking it out.” They had sent him a picture of it, and he had approved their choice while Peaches had been none the wiser. He looked out over the snow-covered land. “It’s a good thing you got to go back into town. Otherwise, we could have been waiting weeks to get it.”
Nodding, Ryan returned his attention to the frozen water tank. “It was a good night. I think we made her happy. That’s all that matters.”
“It’s important,” Logan agreed, moving closer. “You’re worried about Damien. Don’t be.
He’s as committed to you as he is to Peaches and me.” He slapped him on the shoulder. “Come on. Let’s make sure the ropes are up. Then we had better get back in the house. We don’t want Peaches to get restless. Or have too much time to think.”
“She’s probably on the phone with her mom or her sister. Cherry will be coming up to visit the Preston brothers.”
Logan shook his head. “Poor woman, she hasn’t a clue as to what she’s letting herself in for. They’re a bunch of jerks.”
Laughing, Ryan checked the rope attached between the stable and the house. It looked good. “If she’s anything like Peaches, Cherry should be able to handle them. Their father will probably have a cow when he learns he has two daughters with unusual desires.” He and Damien had told Logan about John Malloy’s reaction to his daughter’s announce-ment that she would be dating them both. How would he feel when he discovered there were 105
three men in her life? Had she told him yet? Or was she going to wait until she saw her parents again?
They walked into the stable to get Damien, instead of going to the house without him.
They pulled the door shut tight against the blowing wind. They would help Damien finish with the horses before going back to the house.
“I believe Peaches’s parents know their daughter well enough not to be worried about her choices. She’s a strong, independent woman.”
“Not your usual kind of woman,” Ryan pointed out needlessly, watching Logan’s face closely. “Will you be happy with her?”
A smile managed to make its way to his friend’s ruggedly handsome face. “Yes, I believe I will. She’ll sure keep me guessing. That’ll be good. And you’re right, she’s not my usual kind of woman. I think that’s a good thing. Now that I’ve had time to think about it, I believe I would have been bored out of my mind with Sally. Peaches enjoys challenging me. And I enjoy that challenge.”
Ryan nodded, but didn’t comment. He was sure Logan was still feeling the sting of Sally’s rejection. Time with Peaches would cure that.
He wasn’t given more time to think about it. Logan changed the subject neatly. “I’m sick of waiting for those creeps to come after Peaches. The sheriff and his men haven’t seen anyone who matches what one of the gang would look like. With all the tourists in town, it isn’t making his job any easier. Whoever they sent after her is doing a damn good job of hiding.”
“They’re going to get tired of waiting. They’ll try again soon.”
“We may have to take matters into our own hands. The sheriff isn’t going to like it, but we may have to do something to draw these people out. We have to finish this.”
“We can’t risk Peaches getting hurt.”
“We won’t.”
While he tended to be a jokester, keeping the mood light, Ryan was far from a wimp. He was as serious about protecting Peaches as Damien and Logan were. But looking at Logan, he knew that if the man caught the person, or persons, trying to hurt her, he would make them pay dearly, regardless of the consequences to himself.
When they found Damien, Ryan was relieved to see the smile on his friend’s, his lover’s, handsome face. Who knew why they were suddenly feeling these things for one another? It didn’t matter. They loved one another and they were free to express it.
“Everything look okay out here?” Two of the ranch hands were at the far end of the long stable cleaning stalls. They waved to Ryan. He nodded and waved back.
“Yes, Demon could use a good workout. He’s storing up a lot of steam.”
“Peaches did a good job of keeping him happy while you were recuperating.” It was time for Logan to know his future wife was far from a wimp. He tried to keep from jumping behind Damien for protection when Logan turned blazing eyes on him. The man’s huge hand curled into a fist just looking for a target. “You let her ride him?” Ryan shrugged. “Sure. Why not? She’s an excellent rider. She says he’s going to be an excellent horse for jousting.”
Ryan could almost see the smoke rising from Logan. He was really pissed. “And she would know this
because
?”
“Well, it seems, she used to work for a man who trains horses…” 106
“For jousting?” His tone was one of incredulity. His golden eyes were filled with disbelief.
“For unusual careers. Movies, mostly. Medieval war movies have been big for years.” Logan shook his head. “That woman certainly has a habit of choosing the most interesting jobs.”
“Now she has us.” Ryan grinned broadly. “That should keep her busy.”
“I should beat the crap out of both of you, for letting her ride him. Demon is unpredictable at best.” He pulled the stallion’s door open after shouting a warning down to the men at the end of the stable. Lifting the heavy leather halter off its hook high on the wall, he slid it over Demon’s massive head. Demon snorted hard, his breath visible in the frosty air as he buckled it. A moment later, Logan led him to wide doors to the arena. The stallion pranced, huge hooves striking the ground, as he anticipated playtime inside the huge arena. “Go on. Go play.”
Play for Demon involved running, rearing, kicking, and rolling in the loose mixture covering the arena floor. When he had finished with that, he trotted along the wall, obviously scenting out the mares. He pawed at the wall, nickering softly, his body quivering.
“Hmmm, seems White Star is in season.”
“Poor fellow never gets any action.”
“Well, I’ve got that covered,” Logan said. Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he searched for a photo of a crossbred mare. “Six-year-old Clydesdale, Friesian. A beauty, isn’t she? She’ll be arriving in March.”
They admired the mare. Neither of them was surprised by Logan’s love for the big horses.
He was a very big man, and it was only the biggest quarter horses which ever caught his eye for personal use, not wanting to look too out of proportion when he rode them. During his years competing in steer wrestling, they had joked that the steers threw themselves out of a sense of self-preservation.
They talked horses while Demon finally lost interest in the mare before going for a second roll. Logan tossed a large ball into the ring. Nearly three feet across, it was tough, meant for a person to exercise on, but gave the stallion an object to focus his rough, playful side. Kinda like Logan’s playroom, Ryan thought ruefully. What went on in there was of little interest to him. Oh, there were moments when he would tweak a nipple a little roughly, or smack a shapely bottom, but he really had little desire to bend a woman to his will until she was completely submissive to his domination. He was relieved Peaches decided she was willing to play with Logan. She gave each man what he needed from her. With him, she was light and playful. She even tended to top him, which he
really
liked. Again, he didn’t mind. Damien was a little tougher, a little more dominant. He was more her equal in and out of the bedroom.
They played a little rough together, wrestling, one trying to dominate the other. Then there was Logan. He was all Dom and definitely the alpha male in their little pack. While he had done some bending for Peaches, even going a little vanilla at times with their sex, he still preferred dark and dirty. Nevertheless, she would never top him, even though he seemed to love when she challenged him.
“What’s making you so dopey-looking, numbnuts?” Logan growled, looking at him through narrowed eyes.
Ryan realized he was wearing a goofy grin. He shrugged broad shoulders. “I was thinking about Peaches.”
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“I fucking hope I never have that expression on my face.”
“Oh,” he said, stepping back while laughing, “I’ve seen it on your face more than once, when you were looking at her and didn’t think anyone would notice.” Damien was moving along the aisle with him, a grin on his face as he decided to take part in the teasing of their friend. He nodded. “It’s true. We’ve both seen you looking at her like a lovesick puppy.”
A growl accompanied the fist heading in his direction. Damien laughed and jumped out of the way. Ryan joined him, as they quickly left their friend to finish their chores. There would be more snow to move. The snow and the wind hadn’t let up all day. The weather system was holding steady over them, and they knew it would be a long time before they got out to see anything of civilization again.
* * * *
Peaches was sitting in the kitchen and looking suitably bored when they came in for a late lunch. Logan stomped around in the kitchen, growling, making a point of
not
looking at her, which made her look thoroughly confused and them laugh until they had tears in their eyes.
“What’s going on?” she demanded, hopping down from the tall stool she had been sitting on. The cats were sitting in their usual spot at the end of the counter. They patted the pages of the magazine she had been reading, trying to continue the game they had been playing as she looked through it. “Why is he being Mr. Grumpy again?” She looked at Ryan, her eyes narrowing. “What did you do to him, numbnuts?”
Ryan looked shocked at her use of his friends’ nickname for him. He clasped his hands to his chest, appearing wounded. “Me? I didn’t do anything. It was Damien.” Damien moved toward her, wrapping her stiff body in his strong arms. “We were just teasing him a little. Is it our fault that his sense of humor isn’t as advanced as ours?”
“You two are assholes,” Logan snarled, sitting down at the table. There was an empty bowl in front of him. He stared at it, as if food would magically appear. “I came in to eat. If you two want to chatter away like magpies, do it somewhere else. I prefer it to be as far away from me as possible.”
“I shouldn’t even feed you two,” Peaches told them severely as she went to the stove to get the new Dutch oven she had used for the stew. She carried it to the table and took the bowl from in front of him. She filled it with a thick chicken stew. Hunks of carrots, potatoes, and various other vegetables crowded each other for space. “There you go, sweetheart. You’ll feel better after you’ve eaten.” She smoothed his short hair, her fingers caressing him lovingly.
Damien’s lips twitched as Logan’s broad shoulders lost some of their rigidity. When Peaches lifted her narrowed gaze on him again, he decided that they’d better leave Logan alone before she followed through on her threat of not feeding them.
With the exception of Peaches, they were all in the middle of their third bowl of the hearty chicken stew when Logan spoke up. “You really are an excellent cook, baby.” Though he had manners as good as any other man, Logan rarely gave compliments. During meals, he usually did little more than grunt his approval. He and Ryan stared at him.
Peaches glowed. They watched as she jumped up to run around the table to hug him tightly.
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“Thank you, sweetheart. I made an apple pie for you. Would you like some?” When he nodded, looking up at her with a small smile, she pressed a kiss to his mouth before going to the counter where a beautiful pie awaited their pleasure. They groaned when she carried it back with a knife, a plate, and a fork.
“You just eat all you want,” she told him warmly, stroking his broad shoulders. “Those guys will just have to be satisfied with whatever’s left.” Ryan had to protest. “But, baby! Have you ever really watched Logan eat? Take him to a barbecue and he eats half the hog. Or steer. He could enter any eating competition and win.
There won’t be any pie left.”
“Quit your whining. You tease him way too much.”
They just learned there were consequences to annoying Peaches. Logan chuckled as he pulled the pie in front of him and attacked it with his fork.