Snowed Under (6 page)

Ivy could feel the urgency in his hands, his efforts to be gentle as he helped her onto her knees, smoothing his palm over her back and sending shivers down her spine. The mattress sank as he moved around behind her. He skimmed his hands over her hips, squeezed the soft flesh of her bottom, found her wet heat still sensitised from his lips and tongue, and he teased her with his fingers, only to pull back just when she wanted him to increase the pressure. She felt the head of his cock at her opening, and Ivy spread her legs and lowered her head to the mattress, her heart pounding in her ears.

With one warm hand resting on the small of her back, Dean paused. “You sure about this?” he asked, his voice low. “We could always tell old Chuck we did, even if we didn’t.”

Ivy considered for only a heartbeat. She’d never felt this before, this craving to feel a man inside her, so instead of answering Dean’s question she rocked back, hearing his sharp intake of breath as he slid into her. He grabbed her hips and eased forward, filling her. Ivy braced herself, but Dean was completely still inside her. She could hear him taking deep, even breaths, as though he was forcing himself to remember that he needed oxygen. He was bigger than Chuck, and her tissues stretched to accommodate him, but there was no discomfort, just a delicious pressure. She needed him to move, but he didn’t, and Ivy ground her hips against him, making him moan.

“You sure you’re all right?” Dean asked, his voice a tight growl.

“I won’t be,” Ivy said breathlessly, “unless you start fucking me for real.”

He chuckled, and Ivy rolled her hips again. “Impatient, for a girl who says she doesn’t enjoy sex with men.” He withdrew slowly, nearly all the way out of her, then rocked back in at the same leisurely, delicious and aggravating pace.

Ivy grabbed handfuls of the blanket. “Could you go a little faster?” She spoke through gritted teeth, her entire focus on where his body joined with hers.

“No way, not yet,” Dean said, speaking in time with the smooth, steady movement of his hips. “This is my one chance, on behalf of all mankind, to convince you that sex with men is worth doing, and anything worth doing is worth taking your time with.”

“Very funny.” Ivy pushed back to meet his next thrust, doing what she could to pick up the pace and increase the friction. She caught sight of Nell near the head of the bed, lovely and naked, working one hand between her legs as she watched Ivy being fucked by Dean. The sight made Ivy’s pussy clench, and Dean, deep inside her, groaned in response. “Come here, Nell.” Ivy licked her lips. “I want my mouth on you.”

Nell wasted no time scooting across the bed, spreading her legs and opening herself to Ivy’s eager mouth. Ivy bent to Nell’s pussy, the familiar sensations a contrast and complement to the unfamiliar pleasure of a cock deep inside her.

“Now that is as nice a view as I’ve ever seen,” Dean said, “You ladies sure have made this an experience to remember.” He began to move faster. Even with Dean out of sight, with her face buried between Nell’s legs, there was no doubt that it wasn’t Chuck behind her, that this time was different from all the others, that this was what all the fuss was about.

Dean shifted, hitting something good, and Ivy moaned, her cries muffled in Nell’s pussy, as she clutched at Nell’s thighs. She lifted her head to breathe. “You first, baby,” Ivy said, then closed her lips around Nell’s clit, sucking hard and tickling the sensitive bundle with the tip of her tongue. Nell lasted no time at all under the onslaught, her legs clamping down around Ivy’s head as she panted and screamed her release.

As soon as she did, Dean tightened his grip on Ivy’s hips, holding her in place while he increased the tempo. Ivy arched her back and trembled as the pressure built. “Yes!” Ivy said, teetering on the edge, and Dean’s pounding thrusts pushed her over, sparks flashing behind the lids of her closed eyes.

Dean stiffened, his fingers digging into her flesh as he slammed into her one more time then collapsed on top of her.

Dean rolled down onto the bed, pulling Ivy with him to lie on her side, cradled in his arms. He kissed the side of her neck. “Good?”

“Good.” Ivy reached out to Nell and tugged her close before settling back against the solid expanse of Dean’s chest. Dean reached across Ivy and settled a big hand on Nell’s hip.

Ivy closed her eyes, feeling boneless and as sated as she ever had, wondering what Chuck Taggart would say if he could see her now.

Chapter Six

The banging woke her, and it took Ivy the space of one heartbeat to realise that there was someone trying to break the door down, and another to figure out just who it was likely to be. Reluctantly, she extricated herself from under Dean’s arm and Nell’s leg, managing to get out of bed before the other two had fully awakened.

“I know you’re in there, open up!” Chuck’s voice was muffled through the heavy wooden door he’d built. “You can’t keep me locked out of my own house, Ivy!”

Ivy thought about getting dressed, but decided to pick up the Sharps instead. “This isn’t your house anymore, Chuck, you gave up your rights to it and to me a long time ago.”

“You are my wife, you open this goddamned door for your husband!”

Dean came up behind her and put one warm hand on her waist. “I wish I had my pistol that someone made me drop in the snow-bank,” he whispered in her ear, his hot breath making her shiver. “You got a plan here?”

“Nah,” Ivy said, raising her voice a little over the renewed pounding on the door. “Not really. I just thought we’d let him in and see how it plays out.”

“You planning to let him shoot me?”

Ivy stood back and gave Dean a quick once over, taking in his rumpled hair and muscled body. “Probably not. I may find use for you again in the future.”

Dean flashed his dimples. “I’m pleased to hear it.” The noise from the door nearly drowned him out. “If you could just give her a moment,” Dean raised his voice so that Chuck could hear him, “Ivy isn’t decent for receiving company just now.”

There was silence from the other side of the door following his pronouncement, broken by Nell’s poorly stifled giggle. “He’s speechless.”

“It’s a miracle,” Ivy said dryly, “One that won’t last.”

“Rook, you son of a bitch,” Chuck exploded from outside the cabin, “You don’t talk that way about my wife, get your ass out here and face me like a man.”

Dean shrugged and reached for his pants.

“Wait.” Nell stopped him. “You shy about being naked?”

“Not especially,” Dean said, confused. “Why?”

“What’d you have in mind, baby?” Ivy asked.

“Give me the Sharps.” Nell took the big gun and positioned herself near the door. “Ivy, you and Dean wrap up together in a blanket or something, if you don’t want to be completely starkers. I’m guessing seeing the two of you in such a compromising position might just put him off his game.”

“He doesn’t have a game,” Ivy said. “What about you?”

Nell executed a pirouette. “I think I might be a bit of a distraction standing here naked as a jaybird, just hope he closes the door after him, ’cause it’s still cold out there.”

Dean wrapped a blanket around Ivy’s shoulders and stood behind her, one arm around her waist. “Sure wish I had my gun,” he said again.

“Ready?” Nell said, ignoring him.

Ivy tugged the blanket a little lower. No use hiding all her assets. “As we’ll ever be I suppose.”

Dean tightened his grip on her and pointed at Nell and the Sharps. “You sure she can use that thing?”

Nell stuck her tongue out at him and kicked the bar out of the door. It flew open with a crash and Chuck Taggart stood framed in the doorway.

His time away had not been kind to him. He looked a mess, from the tangle of greying hair that brushed over his collar to his missing teeth and bloodshot eyes that widened in shock at the sight of Ivy and Dean, his wife and the man he’d sworn to kill, looking every bit as though they’d just done exactly what Chuck suspected they had.

It took him less time than Ivy had expected to take it in and reach for his gun. She wasn’t sure whether he wanted to shoot her or Dean, but he didn’t get the chance to do either.

“Careful,” Nell said, the butt of the Sharps nestled against her bare shoulder as she eased up until the business end was a scant foot from the middle of Chuck’s chest. “You start shooting, and I start shooting. And yes,” she said, answering Dean’s question without taking her eyes off Chuck, “I do know how to use this thing.”

Chuck followed the barrel of the rifle back to Nell, his mouth dropping open as he lifted his hands clear of his holster. “Who… What…?”

Dean chuckled and Chuck’s attention snapped back. “Ivy, what is the meaning of this?”

“The meaning of what, Chuck? You forfeited the right to have any say over anything I do the minute you decided to abandon me on a mountain.” Ivy took a step forward. “I thought you were dead, Chuck, and I moved on.” She smiled at Nell, who winked. Chuck’s gaze darted between them, slack-jawed and stunned. “And then Dean appeared on our doorstep telling me that you were alive and well and nothing but a low down dirty horse thief who’d chased him up the mountain to kill him.” Ivy reached back and trailed her hand down Dean’s arm, twining her fingers with his. “I was mighty grateful for the information.”

“So you just jumped right into bed with him?” Chuck sputtered. He started to go for Dean, only to back off again when Nell gestured with the Sharps.

“Well, we had to hurry, didn’t we?” Ivy said reasonably. “I knew you’d be along soon.”

“You bring anyone with you?” Dean asked, his voice low.

“Of course!” Chuck avoided their eyes. “The place is surrounded.” He looked over at Nell, his eyes on her breasts instead of the gun. “You’d best lower your weapon, missy.”

“You’re lying,” Ivy said, familiar with his tells. “There’s no one. You didn’t want your men to know about this place, you didn’t want them to know about me.”

“That’s right,” Dean said, “even outlaws wouldn’t like the idea of a man who abandons his wife all alone on the mountain.”

Nell took a step forward. “She wasn’t alone.”

“That’s true.” Ivy smiled fondly at Nell. “Nell and I made a life for ourselves here, and we’d just as soon that you stayed missing.”

“Are you going to kill me, Ivy?” Chuck sneered at her from behind his scraggly beard. “I don’t believe you have it in you to kill.”

“I do.” Nell pressed the barrel of the gun into his chest. “You are not taking her away from me, and you are definitely not going to hurt her anymore.”

“Nell.” Ivy spoke softly, “I’m not going anywhere. Don’t shoot him, think of the mess.”

“Good point.” Nell hesitated. “He can go back outside and then I’ll shoot him.”

Ivy laughed, and heard Chuck breathe a sigh of relief. “You’re right, we won’t kill you. The hassle just isn’t worth it. But you will leave, and you will stay gone, or I’ll get in touch with the sheriff and tell him just what you’ve been up to. You know how the sheriff feels about horse thieves, don’t you Chuck?”

“Excuse me,” Dean said, and Ivy looked over her shoulder to see him raising his hand like a school boy. “There’s still the little matter of my horse. And the part where he tried to kill me.”

Chuck clenched his fists. “You shot at me first! If you wasn’t such a bad shot I’d be standing here a dead man.”

Nell giggled.

“You stole my horse, of course I shot at you.”

“All right.” Ivy raised her voice. “Chuck, you will leave Dean’s horse at the livery stable in town, and then you’ll head out for parts unknown, never to return, got it? I hear any word otherwise, and I’ll go to the sheriff.”

“And you’d best steer clear of me,” Dean said, “I’ll be holding a grudge.”

“You can’t tell me what to do! This is my house, I built it with my own two hands and I will not be spoken to this way in my own house! By my own wife!”

“Yes,” Ivy said, “You will. This is no longer your house, and I am no longer your wife.” Saying it out loud made it real for Ivy, and she felt as though a weight had been lifted from her chest. She drew in a deep breath. She was free. “Now let the gun belt drop, get back out into the snow, and head on out of here.”

“Ivy.” Chuck softened his tone. “Ivy, we had a lot of good times, we could have them again, it could be like it was.”

“Chuck.” Ivy took a few steps towards him, shrugging Dean’s hand off her shoulder and tugging the blanket away from him. She gazed into Chuck’s eyes and watched him stand up straighter. “We had no good times. Now go.”

“Fine.” Chuck narrowed his eyes. “But first, let me get this straight. You and her…?” He jerked a thumb at Nell and raised his eyebrows.

“Yes,” Ivy said.

Nell smiled beatifically. “All the time, actually.”

Chuck stared at her, distracted. “Yeah… And Rook?” He dragged his eyes away from Nell’s naked body. “Rook too?”

“Yep.” Ivy leaned close to him and lowered her voice. “And I liked it. Not only that, but I might even do it again.”

“Good news for me.” Dean slung an arm around Ivy’s shoulders.

“Nice of you to drop in,” Nell said sweetly, adjusting her grip on the Sharps. “Such a pleasure to finally meet you, Mr Taggart, you’re just like Ivy described. Such a shame you’ve got to be going so soon.” She advanced on Chuck and he fumbled with the buckle on his belt, dropping it to the floor with a clatter, as Ivy had instructed.

“This is my house,” he said, his voice losing conviction. “Built with my own hands.”

“And don’t think we’re not grateful,” Nell said fairly. “It’s a lovely house, and Ivy and I plan to enjoy it for many years to come.”

“Without you,” Ivy added pointedly.

“Fine,” Chuck said, sounding as though it really wasn’t at all. “I’ll go, but you’ll miss me one of these days.” He stepped back, towards the door. “Someday you’ll be sorry you sent me away.” His foot slipped on the snow that had blown in along with him, and his legs flew out from under him, his arms pin-wheeling until his head cracked into the heavy wood of the door and he lay still.

Nell poked him in ribs with the barrel of the Sharps. “Knocked himself plumb out.” She huffed. “Now what are we supposed to do with him? Nurse the fool back to heath?”