Protectors (12 page)

his forehead in a dramatic fainting gesture. “Whatever will the three of us find to do when we’re all locked in a confined space?”

Sara giggled, and Gage shot them a glare that clearly said this

wasn’t funny.

“Oh come on, Gage,” Sara said. “Ty’s right. We might as well

enjoy the time together.”

“I did insist that we build that bathtub big enough for three for a

reason you know,” Tyler added.

Gage rolled his eyes but caved. “Fine. Last one naked and in the

tub has to do the dinner dishes.”

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Chapter 10

Detective Filley flashed a recent picture of Jeremy Granger at the

store clerk.

“No, that wasn’t him,” the clerk said.

“You sure?”

“Yeah. The guy that picked up that sleeping bag and ammo was a

lot younger than the guy in that picture. He was a kid, maybe eighteen or twenty. Nothing but sticks and bones. That guy’s a good bit

bigger.”

Filley looked at his partner, Ryder, across the counter. It seemed

as if Sara Effese knew her stalking ex-boyfriend well. She had been

right about the sporting goods store being a wild goose chase.

“Thank you,” he said, lifting the photo from the counter and

heading back to the car with Ryder.

“So we’re three hours out of the way? And our suspect is probably

still hiding out back in town?” Ryder asked.

“Yep.”

“Fuck.”

“Think we should call those cowboys that she’s staying with and

let them know that this was a dead end?”

“Might not be a bad idea. They seemed to be pretty well-prepared,

but we should still keep them in the loop.”

Filley flipped open his cell phone and placed the call. The phone

rang four times and then went to voicemail. “Gage, this is Bob Filley.

We have another update on the case. Please call me when you get a

moment.”

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* * * *

While the detectives were heading back north, Jeremy was

formulating his next attack. He’d circled around after this morning’s encounter and ditched his truck in a small cave not too far from town.

He tossed a camouflage tarp over it, just in case, but no one would

find it. Even he wouldn’t have found the cave, but he’d caught a

couple of drug traffickers a few years back, and one of them had

given up their natural storage space. It paid to know the town’s secret hiding spots.

He didn’t need the truck anyway. It would be better to stay off the

roads. Since he’d missed the stupid bitch by a hair this morning, it

would escalate the case to attempted murder. He was going to have to

be more careful.

The Big Sky was bordered in the front by Route 87. The backside,

where Sara and Tyler had rolled in the grass earlier that morning,

butted up against state game land. Neighboring on both sides were

privately owned plots of land. One was an active cattle ranch of about seven thousand acres, but the other property, which separated Gage

and Tyler’s ranch from Sara’s family home, was only about twelve

hundred acres. An elderly man who could barely see, and heard even

less, owned that farm. It was a simple thing for Jeremy to walk into

his equipment barn and borrow a four-wheeler in broad daylight.

Jeremy filled the ATV with off-road diesel siphoned from the

other equipment and pushed it until he thought it was safe to start the engine. He rode it across the neighboring land to the patch of woods

where he’d taken aim at Sara earlier. He cut the engine once again to reduce the noise, and then hid the vehicle in a thicket of brush. He left his service firearm, a Glock .40, tucked under the seat, just in case.

He slung his hunting rifle over his shoulder and scouted for a spot

closer to the house where he would be able to keep an eye on his girl.

He’d missed her once because of the instincts of that damn horse, but
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he wasn’t likely to miss her again. If she set foot outside, she was

dead.

There was a large maple tree behind the house set between the

back door and the closest barn. Crossing the yard in broad daylight to get into the tree might be a little tricky, but he didn’t fear discovery in the branches. Truth was people very rarely took the time to look up. If he didn’t make any noise to give himself away, he could probably sit

there for days without notice.

Jeremy listened for any sign that someone might be preparing to

leave the house, or even looking out into the backyard, but everything was quiet. If he wanted to get into the tree, he was going to have to take a risk.

Stupid bitch had to run off with her goddamn flip-flops on.

Jeremy had placed tracking or listening devices in most of Sara’s

shoes, purses, and even cell phone, but the sandals had been too thin to hide a bug. He always knew she was planning to run off, and he’d

been well prepared. It was by sheer luck that she had run away with

nothing. If she’d worn her old sneakers, he’d be able to hear what was going on inside the house.

Considering his options, Jeremy decided on the path that would

leave him out in the open for the shortest amount of time. He crossed carefully from the patch of woods to the barn. No one was outside. He was fairly certain of that. A glance through the open barn door

revealed the barn to be empty as well, at least of humans. There were two horses present, but neither of them so much as looked in his

direction.

Keeping as much to the shadows of the barn as possible, he picked

his way from the barn to the short stack of straw bales. The tree was only fifty feet farther. Taking one more glance around the yard, he

made a break for it, running full out, until he caught the lowest limb and was able to swing his feet up off the ground.

There had been as much as a thirty-second window where he

could have been spotted, but as he climbed up into the leafy branches,
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he believed it less and less. No one appeared at the base of the tree with a loaded shotgun.

Double-checking to make sure that his gun was secure, Jeremy

climbed carefully one limb at a time until he was straddling a wide

branch parallel to the second story of the house. From here he could

see into the open window that he believed to be the master bedroom.

It was hard to tell in the daylight, but he would have an excellent view when they turned on the interior lights.

If he closed his eyes and listened hard, he could hear Sara giggling

from time to time. He couldn’t make out the conversation, but they

were all in there together. He was sure of it.

Lying, cheating, slut. Of course the first thing she’d do is whore
herself out to a couple of queers.

Unhappy with his options at the present moment, Jeremy decided

to catch a little sleep. He’d been running on nothing but adrenaline

and hate for almost forty-eight hours, and he was going to need a

break if he wanted to put that bitch in her place.

* * * *

A feminine giggle escaped Sara’s lips as Tyler pulled her foot into

his lap, and gently pressed his thumb into her arch under the water.

“That feels amazing.” she sighed.

“I beg to differ,” Gage stated. “I can’t stand to have someone

touch my feet.”

“No? Oh, you’re missing out. Tyler is very talented.”

“Don’t you worry, honey. Gage gets plenty of rubs from me. It’s

just not his feet that are in on the action.”

Tyler leaned over and gave Gage a brief kiss. Sara watched them

with a mild envy. She wanted the obvious comfort that they had

together so badly. Of course that kind of relationship took years to

develop. That kind of trust and respect didn’t come overnight, no

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matter how good of a start you made. After only two short days, Sara

was beginning to wonder why she had ever been afraid of them.

“Come here, sweetheart,” Gage said, beckoning to her. “I want to

work on another part of you.”

Sara slid over so that she was sitting between Gage’s legs, with

her back to his chest and her feet still propped up on Ty’s knees. Gage kissed the nape of her neck lightly, brushing her long hair out of the way before trailing his hands down her sides.

Tyler’s thumb pressed hard into the arch of her foot, and she

moaned aloud. Gage chuckled behind her.

“If Ty can make you moan like that with just a foot rub, I can’t

wait to hear what you’ll sound like when I finally get my cock in your tight ass.”

Sara’s breath caught in her throat as Gage lowered his hands,

cupped her ass, and pulled her cheeks apart. The warm water caressed

every inch of her, and she squirmed appreciatively.

“Relax, baby, I’m going to stretch you out a little.”

Sara did as he asked, closing her eyes and giving herself over to

the incredible sensations. Tyler slowly worked over her ankles and up to the hard muscles of her calf. Gage gently teased her pussy and her ass, the hand over her leg rubbing light circles on her clit before

dipping inside her pussy, and the other stroking her virgin opening.

It was such a foreign sensation when Gage’s finger slipped past

the tight ring of muscle that Sara instinctively clamped down on him.

Gage pinched her clit in an effort to make her open up, and she

gasped.

“Don’t tense up. Let me in.”

“It burns.”

Tyler slid off the ledge, releasing her legs and moving closer. He

cupped the side of her face and kissed her gently. Sara moaned into

his mouth, and Gage took the opportunity to move his finger gently in and out of her tight passage.

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She slowly adapted to the strange sensation. After the initial shock

wore off, it began to feel better and better. Gage began a rhythmic

motion, his finger pressing deeper into her after each time he

withdrew. She relaxed and let herself feel the new but exquisite

pressure.

Tyler kissed her lips and gently caressed her body. He could fire

her up so easily with just the tips of his fingers. Eventually, his hands replaced Gage’s, working over her swollen pussy and enflamed clit.

“Do you like it now?” Tyler asked. “Does it feel good to have his

fingers working you like that?”

“Oh yes. God, I feel so full.”

“Mmmm, you haven’t even come close to full, baby. Just wait

until we both have our cocks up inside of you. I can’t wait to feel you squeezing me while Gage’s cock rubs against mine.”

Gage withdrew farther and then pushed forward with the tips of

two fingers.

“Oh fuck,” Sara swore. She pressed herself harder into their

hands, wanting more, more of everything. “Don’t stop. Please.”

“We’re only just beginning, honey,” Tyler assured her. “I want

you riding my cock while he stretches you.”

He reached over the side of the tub and pulled a condom from the

pocket of his jeans. When Sara laughed, he winked and said, “I’m like a boy scout, always prepared.”

“You’d make a sexy boy scout,” Sara agreed, “but I think I like

your cowboy look better.”

“Well then, cowgirl up.”

With their help, Sara managed to straddle Tyler’s hips. His cock

slid easily into her drenched pussy. The bath water shifted around

them, lapping against the side of the huge tub as she began to bounce on his shaft.

Gage’s teeth sank into her neck, biting, then soothing the pain

away with his tongue. Sara arched back into him, offering him more

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of her body as she fucked his lover. Gage was relentless in his pursuit, scissoring wider and stretching her a little at a time.

“That’s right,” he encouraged. “Fuck my fingers. Ride us both.”

“I can’t,” she protested. “I need… I need to—”

Tyler’s lips closed over hers, cutting off her weak protesting.

“You want to come for me. Don’t you, Sara?”

“Oh yes,” she said with a sob.

“Come on, baby.” Tyler’s thumb rubbed gentle circles on her clit,

tying a knot of desire inside of her. “I want to feel you fall apart

around me.”

Gage’s fingers increased their pace, thrusting in and out in time

with Tyler’s hips. The feeling was indescribable and completely

overwhelming. With a sharp cry, Sara dropped down onto Tyler’s

cock one last time, taking them both deep inside of her as she let the orgasm take over her body.

Tyler followed her, his head dropping back onto the cold ledge of

the tub. He held her hips firm and rocked into her as the shaking

subsided and the bath water calmed her.

Gage gently withdrew his fingers and lifted Sara out of the tub.

“Let’s get you dry.”

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Chapter 11

“Keep her in the house,” Tyler said. “I’m just going to run out and

muck a couple of stalls. I’ll be gone an hour and a half tops, and then we can figure out what to do for dinner.”

“Sounds good,” Gage replied. “Be careful. I don’t want anyone

letting their guard down outside of this house until they have that

bastard behind bars.”

“I’ll be careful.” Tyler dropped his hat onto his head and reached

for the knob on the back door. “Gage?”

“Yeah?” Gage looked up at the beautiful man, dressed in his

cowboy gear.

“I love you.”

“Love you, too, cowboy.” Tyler shot him one last devastating