The Badger City Gang [Bride Train 7] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

Bride Train 7

The Badger City Gang

Craving the respect given to ranch owners, the three McInnes men will do anything to gain the Running W. Five years of long hours will pay off the debt to Walt and prove they’re nothing like their uncle, the Badger City Gang leader.

Desperate for a wife, Zach uses his uncle’s skills to kidnap a willing woman from the Bride Train. Kate Mason’s almost more than they can handle, full of adventure and a wild spirit. But, after their mother’s deceit, can they trust Kate’s words?

Kate wants Zach, Rusty, and Gideon, in bed and out, but insists on a husband accepting her as she is while loving her deeply. If not, she’ll keep her freedom.

Then Walt offers them a devil’s bargain—his wealthy daughter and the ranch free and clear, or take Kate and leave Tanner’s Ford forever.

Will they choose the woman they love, or the ranch and respectability?

Note: There is no sexual relationship or touching for titillation between or among siblings.

Genre:
Historical, Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Western/Cowboys
Length:
85,168 words
 

Bride Train 7

Reece Butler

MENAGE EVERLASTING

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com

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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

IMPRINT: Ménage Everlasting

THE BADGER CITY GANG

E-book ISBN:
978-1-61926-960-6

First E-book Publication: August 2012

Cover design by Les Byerley

All art and logo copyright © 2012 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED:
This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

PUBLISHER

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com

Letter to Readers

Dear Readers,

If you have purchased this copy of
The Badger City Gang
by Reece Butler from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

Regarding E-book Piracy

This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this book.

The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment.

This is Reece Butler’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Ms. Butler’s right to earn a living from her work.

Amanda Hilton, Publisher

www.SirenPublishing.com

www.BookStrand.com

To my fans, first of all. It’s wonderful to meet you by email, and in person. Thank you for believing in Tanner’s Ford.

A special thank you to the Montana men who were the inspiration for some of my characters. John Stapler, a volunteer with the Nevada City Living History Program, is the image of Walt Chamberlain. The inspiration for the Badger City Gang came from Ira, Zeke, and Zach, who asked to be in one of my books as bad guys (sorry, heroes can only be so bad). To John for the Sweat Ceremony. And to Wanda, Ty and Troy, their families and friends, for providing wonderful experiences of Montana ranch life. Of course, all my characters are fictional, created from every person I’ve met, seen, or imagined. And I have a very good imagination!

As always to the three men in my life: Paul, Andy, and David.

THE BADGER CITY GANG

Bride Train 7

REECE BUTLER

Copyright © 2012

Bride Train, somewhere east of Virginia City

Late August, 1872

“Here they come, boys. Pucker up!”

Zach McInnes poked the brim of his hat with one callused finger, just enough to see. An eager man leaped up to open the sliding door at the front of the carriage. Zach had taken the last seat when he climbed on board at a whistle-stop that morning. That way he could watch the women as they walked through.

He’d listened when Uncle Peyton boasted about his Badger City Gang robbing mule trains full of gold. First thing was to make sure the strongbox really held gold. Take it early in the morning, just before sunrise. And trust your partners to bring your horse alongside so you could escape.

But Zach wasn’t after gold. He wanted a wife, so he was robbing the Bride Train.

He’d talked it over with his partners, his brother Gideon and cousin Rusty. They’d just arrived from Texas with their cattle, the down payment to buy the Running W from Walt Chamberlain. They shook hands on taking up to five years to work off the rest.

He, Gideon, and Rusty had nothing but each other and a fierce determination to bring respect back to the McInnes name. Peyton had damn near destroyed it with his thieving and Ma had finished it off. Their only good memories were of Pa’s steady hand and encouraging nod. Once they had the security of owning a ranch, they could hold their heads up once more.

They’d planned to wait for a family, but when Zach saw the smiling Tanner’s Ford wives, he decided he couldn’t get through a Montana winter without one. At first Rusty and Gideon hemmed and hawed about Zach having a wife in their one-room cabin while they slept in the loft, but they finally agreed it would be good to have a hot supper waiting when they got home.

Zach had to fight to keep a straight face when he told them what he wanted in a wife. She had to be a decent cook and housekeeper, content to live on the Running W far from town. She had to be big enough to birth McInnes babies and live. And she had to eagerly take on the three of them. Day and night.

Gideon, the only virgin, dang near swallowed his tongue at that. Rusty, a ladies’ man since he realized his cock was good for more than pissing on ants, perked up like a hungry dog finding a juicy bone.

They’d been all ears when Zach explained that each Tanner’s Ford ranch had three men sharing one willing wife. Walt Chamberlain said the wives tended to be opinionated, ornery and, since they were from the East, well educated. That meant they were also strong-willed, but a woman living on a lonely ranch had to be.

Zach didn’t want a meek woman who’d lie on her back and cringe when he came near her bed. He wanted one with piss and vinegar, who’d stand up and state her mind when she needed to. It would help if she had looks and a decent figure coming and going, but he’d take a strong, plain wife over a useless, pretty one. But available women were as scarce as a sober bartender.

When Walt said the last Bride Train of the year would soon be chugging into Virginia City, they decided not to wait for slim pickings at the end of the line. And now, here he was, ready to choose his bride.

The carriage door slid open and Zach sat up to check out the possibilities. A dozen females, give or take a few, streamed into the carriage. After a quick look his stomach, and his hopes, dropped.

The first one blinked her eyes like she had an ash caught in her lashes. Her pinched lips curled up in a false smile. She was pretty and she knew it. From the top of her perky bonnet to her shiny buttoned boots she was perfect. Not a hair out of place, a smudge on her white shirt, or a speck of dust on her feet.

How the hell could a woman like that live on a ranch with three big men, hungry for a hell of a lot more than food? He snorted his answer. Easy. She couldn’t.

The next two were almost the same. Fancy-dressed, as if they were taking tea in a parlor instead of riding a rattling train into Montana Territory to find a husband.

Zach dismissed numbers four to eight as well. He saw how their eager eyes searched for men in rich suits flashing gold and diamonds. He, Rusty, and Gideon didn’t need a lazy gold digger for a wife. That type might be good in bed but one hour of sex out of every twenty-four wasn’t going to make up for missing eighteen hours of hard work. Their eyes swept past, dismissing him like a horse trader seeing a spavined old gelding when he wanted a rich-coated young stallion.

That’s why he hadn’t put on his going-to-town suit. He wanted a woman who’d take them as they were—rough, loud, and demanding. Pa had treated Ma like she was something special. No one swore or yelled around her without getting taken out behind the woodshed. None of them ever heard Ma raise her voice or argue with Pa. They accepted it as natural since they knew nothing else.

But then Ma betrayed them all, and his opinion of women changed. Zach now knew a woman’s nod of acceptance didn’t mean one damn thing. She’d smile and seem to agree with her husband, and then she’d do whatever she wanted behind his back. Though a wife vowed to obey her husband, she lied.

At least the women at the front of the line were honest in their greed. The last few kept their heads low as if too scared to see what was in front of them. They grabbed the edges of the wooden benches as if worried they’d fall over. The train rattled side to side, but they’d been on the damn thing for a week now, and should have learned to walk with the sway. They wouldn’t last until Christmas, when the real winter began.

Zach grunted in disgust, all his plans gone up in smoke. He tried to resign himself to facing a long, cold, Montana winter without a woman to warm him. He’d gotten Rusty and Gideon’s hopes up, all for nothing.

He looked up at the rattle of an opening door. Caught swallowing, he choked at the sight of a laughing woman stepping through. The wind had pulled at her bonnet and strings of dark brown drifted around her small face.

Her color was high, but Zach was damn sure it wasn’t from shame. She must’ve been standing between the swaying carriages, waiting for the line to clear. She had more life in her than all the rest combined. She was tiny but, from what he could see, all woman. His cock perked up at the possibility of taking her home.

Her dress was dark, the fabric thick and serviceable. A practical woman, or one without funds? Did she take the Bride Train willingly, eager for a husband? Or did her family, tired of feeding an unmarriageable spinster, send her away? Either was fine with him. They’d start their own family.