Covington, Cara - Love Under Two Lawmen [The Lost Collection] (Siren Menage Everlasting) (28 page)

“Warren, take Amanda over by the horses. I’ll light this bastard, and then we’ll see what’s what.”

“You be careful, Adam Kendall,” Amanda said. She grabbed his head, and pulled him down into a hard, but delectable kiss.

“What she said,” Warren said, then leaned in and kissed him too.

“Don’t worry. I’ve got an argument to win.” He let his gaze meet Amanda’s. When she turned and walked away with Warren, he had the satisfaction of knowing, from the look on her face, that she knew he meant it.

He waited until his lovers were safely away. Then he stuck his improvised torch into the fire.

It caught quickly, and he moved with purpose into the cave, to where the dynamite was lodged.

Inhaling deeply, he stretched his arm out, and touched the torch to the pile of kindling.

He didn’t expect the whoosh of the dry brush catching so quickly. His eyes widened as he realized the entire pile had caught almost instantly into a fierce and tall blaze.

He turned and ran like hell.

He was just out of the cave when the dynamite exploded, the noise terrific, the force from the blast pushing him forward and then to the ground.

“Adam!”

Amanda’s scream warmed his heart even as he hoped like hell Warren had a hold of her.

“I’m all right!” He called to them, despite that he felt a few more areas of his body smarting. It would likely take him a couple of months for all the insults and injuries he’d suffered on this adventure to heal.

The cloud of dust that came out of the cave began to dissipate. His lovers joined him and they waited together for the last of the dust to settle.

Together they walked to the entrance of the cave and took a few cautious steps inside. A hole had been blown where the dynamite had been wedged, a good sized hole they’d have no trouble fitting through. Beyond the newly gaping maw, the view appeared shadowy and dark. Warren turned and retrieved the makeshift torch Adam had used to light the fuse. There wasn’t much of Amanda’s chemise left on it, but the thing had gone out when it had hit the ground. Warren re-lit it and brought it forward, inserting it through the hole to light the interior.

In one corner, along the wall, laid out in a row, were the remains of the soldiers who’d accompanied Amanda’s father on his final duty as a Confederate officer. And there, just on the other side of the makeshift grave, stacked against a wall in neat piles, bars of gold bullion reflected back the light of the small torch.

“Well now, Miss Dupree,” Adam said. “I do believe we’ve found your legacy.”

“Our legacy,” Amanda said. “We agreed to split it, half for the two of you, half for me.” She frowned and looked up at Adam. “But how in the heck are we going to get it back to Texas?”

Adam smiled. “Don’t worry. I have a plan.”

* * * *

Amanda ached in places she’d never ached before.

“I had no idea gold would be so heavy,” she said. Sprawled by the fire, dinner a memory, Amanda watched the flames as she sipped the coffee Warren had made.

Adam was shaking out their bedrolls, just in case some of the stone dust from the explosion earlier had gotten caught in the fibers. He put them together upwind of the fire.

Warren had taken the coffee pot off the fire and replaced it with the cooking pot.

“I’m heating some water,” he said when she met his gaze.

“Why?”

“So we can take care of you,” Adam said. He came over to her and slipped his arms around her, lifting her to her feet.

Warren relieved her of the coffee cup, and Adam bent down and laid his lips on hers. She tasted only passion in his kiss. Whatever anger he’d felt earlier seemed to have evaporated.

Amanda didn’t kid herself into thinking he’d let the matter of their futures drop. His kiss seduced her and she gave in to it, and to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, leaned into him and used her tongue to taste him, drink him into her so that he’d become a part of her.

“I love you,” he whispered, and placed tiny little butterfly kisses on her cheeks, eyes and chin.

He stepped back just a little. Warren stepped up behind her, and the heat of his body seeped into her. The men undressed her until she stood naked. They took turns bathing her, using another piece of her sacrificed chemise.

Adam lifted her, laid her on the pallet he’d made. They washed her feet, and she didn’t think she’d ever been quite so cared for in her entire life.

“Now roll over, baby, and I’ll show you what Peter’s mother taught me about making those sore muscles relax,” Adam said.

Warren gave her one of his shirts that he’d folded to use as a pillow. Stretched out, she groaned the moment Adam put his hands on her shoulders and began to work the muscles. Then she felt another pair of hands, and groaned again as Warren set to work on her legs.

“How does that feel?” Adam asked.

“Oh, God. Don’t stop.” Amanda didn’t care that her words came out sounding weak and pathetic. The way they massaged her felt so good.

“Just relax and let us take care of you. Go ahead and drift off if you want.”

Their touch, their tenderness and their passion heated her, so that arousal became a gentle humming in her blood. “Mmm. But I want you. I want you both.” Even though she felt too relaxed to do anything about it at the moment, that much was true and it seemed vitally important, right then, that they know it.

“Don’t worry,” Warren said. “You’ll have us. After we ease the soreness.”

“Good.” Amanda wasn’t sure if she’d said that loud enough for them to hear. She felt herself nearing sleep, and as her muscles continued to relax, as the pain eased, she fell a little deeper into the land of slumber.

Sounds tapered, so that she no longer heard the crackle of the fire or the music of insects. She became aware that no one was touching her. And then the heat returned, and she knew her lovers had joined her, on either side of her. She was safe and warm.

The touch of male hands resumed, this time their caress more gentle, arousing. Eased onto her side, she recognized the presence of hard cocks, and the scent of hot male.

“Yes,” she said that, softly, as she felt them press closer, press in. Adam’s cock filled her pussy, a hard, firm possession that thrilled and drew her from sleep. He pulled her closer to him and she breathed him in as her face nestled against his chest.

Warren spread her ass cheeks. She felt the warm moist bathing of his tongue on her anus, and then pushed his erect cock against her, pushing until the ring of muscle gave way.

“Oh, God, yes. Yes, fuck me.”

“One flesh,” Adam said. “We are one flesh, Amanda Dupree. You belong to us just as we belong to you.”

Amanda wouldn’t argue. She only wanted to take and to give. To love them here and now, while she had them. Later would be time enough to try and get these two amazing men to see the truth, to see reality from her point of view.

Dropping those thoughts, Amanda let her lovers take her, as the friction of flesh, the thrust of hips and the sweet climb to rapture consumed her soul completely.

* * * *

“Hey, sleepy head. Want coffee?”

Warren’s voice awakened her. Amanda groaned as she stretched. Blinking, she sat up to see the sun shining brightly, high in the sky. They’d covered her with a blanket last night but it lay pooled at her waist now. Warren crouched by the fire, with Adam nowhere in sight.

“He left already?”

“He was anxious to get to town so he could get back, so he left just before dawn. If all goes well, we can begin to make our way back to Denison tomorrow morning.”

“I hope they have what we need in Tahlequah,” Amanda said.

“Likely. It’s a pretty big city,” Warren said. “Adam’s been there before. Since Chief Smith knew what we were doing here, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to discover arrangements have already been made.”

“The bank in Denison will take the deposit for us?”

Warren nodded. “Absolutely. I’d been half afraid the ingots would have been stamped with some sort of ownership number or name. But as they’re not, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

Amanda yawned, got to her feet and stretched. When she noticed Warren’s attention fixed on her naked body, she smiled. “Ownership name, like, United States of America?”

Warren shook his head then gave her a smile that told her he was aware she’d just blatantly teased him. “Yes, or in this case, Confederate States of America.”

“But they have no markings at all.” Amanda said.

“Exactly. So, finders keepers.” Warren said.

Amanda pulled on her remaining chemise. She planned to dress again in her shirt and pants, but she wanted to have a soak in the river first. Well, she wanted that soak second. First she wanted some coffee.

Warren handed her a cup. Then he took up the bedding, gave it a shake, and folded it roughly to go over their two saddles that he’d moved close to the fire.

Amanda thought he’d made a pretty good makeshift bench.

“We never told you what we wanted to do with our half of the gold,” Warren said.

“No, you didn’t,” Amanda agreed.

“We’ve wanted some land of our own for awhile now,” Warren said. “After Maddox died, and Caleb, Josh and Sara settled down in that big house far from town, Adam and I began to think about buying a parcel close to them, further away from Waco.”

“I remember you and Sarah talking about that at dinner,” Amanda said. She couldn’t help but grin. “Sarah was pretty peeved you wouldn’t let her just give you the land.”

“She’s a warm and generous woman. Loyal to her friends.”

“I haven’t known her long, but I got that. And I like her, a lot.”

“I’d figured I’d buy another building in town, one with an office for me, and a bit of space in back for a couple of bunks. So some nights I’d stay in town, and then other’s I’d go home.”

“If it’s a law office, you could buy a house, couldn’t you? Just off the main thoroughfare? Then you’d have a more convenient place to stay.”

“Perhaps. With Adam resigning from the Rangers, he’d be busy most days running the ranch. I can even see myself putting away my law career in favor of learning how to ranch. Then I wouldn’t have to travel that much at all.”

“And outside of town, close to friends, you’d be able to live as you choose,” Amanda said.

“Which would be true,” Warren said as he got to his feet, “of three people just as easily as two. I’m going to set things to rights here, sweetheart. Why don’t you go have that swim I know you want?”

Amanda felt small and mean, and that fact just made her even more depressed. She wasn’t trying to be difficult, and certainly didn’t want to hurt the two men she’d come to love.

If they had a place far from town and close to friends, then yes, they could live as they chose.

But would it last? And what would she do with herself all day? She needed more in life than keeping house and baking bread. She had a career, and that career made her feel free in a way she didn’t want to live without.

For the rest of the morning her thoughts circled round and round this dilemma. Warren seemed to understand her mood, for he gave her space, and not unkindly, either.

Just as she was getting sick of her own thoughts for company, a sound intruded on the stillness of the day. Squeaky, rhythmic, it seemed to be coming from atop the ridge behind them.

Warren already held his rifle when she reached for hers. Together they stood, not completely certain what was coming toward them.

They both sighed with relief when a wagon came into view, with Adam in the driver’s seat.

* * * *

Amanda sighed as she sank back into the wooden tub filled with steaming-hot water. Her eyes closed as she let her mind drift in purest pleasure.

“You look like you’re in heaven,” Warren said.

He sat on the bed, still fully dressed. She knew he was waiting for Adam, waiting until he was here and the door locked before shedding his clothes.

They were all a little more cautious when they were amongst civilization—even a civilization as rough and tumble as the one in Denison, Texas.

“Do you think the bank owner has gotten over his shock yet?” Amanda asked.

“Not likely. I do hope he’s made arrangements to transfer some of the money to the bank in Waco, though. Shouldn’t be a problem as both are owned by the same outfit.”

“Yes, I imagine it’ll be a good idea for you both to have your money close at hand.”

The sound of a key in the lock brought Amanda’s attention back to the present. The door opened then closed. Footsteps, and then, “You look very relaxed in that bath, sweetheart.”

“I am.” She opened her eyes just long enough to meet Adam’s gaze, then closed them again, listening to the sounds of movement. A kiss. Her smile spread.

“You could have started without me. I would have just joined in the moment I returned,” Adam said.

“I thought I’d let Amanda enjoy her soak first,” Warren said.