Dalton, Tymber - Hernando Heat (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (8 page)

Now crying with relief, she reined in her horse and brought the trembling beast to a stop as Joe pulled his own mount up short next to the buggy.

“Katie? What in hell is wrong with you? What do you think you’re doing?” he yelled over the storm’s fury. He jumped off and tied the reins to the back of the buggy before climbing up next to her.

She threw herself into his arms and hugged him. “I’m sorry! I finished early and thought if I came home it’d save you a trip.”

He pulled her closer. “I left the sawmill early to put in a feed order. By the time I got to the livery, he said you’d already left. Why didn’t you stop when I yelled for you? Didn’t you hear me?”

She cried harder, unable to admit the terror that she thought it was one of Dorchester’s men after her.

“Shh, it’s all right, sweetheart,” he soothed, his voice gentling. He draped his jacket over her and kept one arm around her, pulling her tightly against his side as he snapped the reins with the other to get them moving again. She felt him nuzzle the top of her head. “It’s okay, Katie. I’ve got you. You’re safe.”

“I’m sorry,” she finally sobbed. “I just felt so scared. I didn’t realize it was you.”

He laughed harshly. “Obviously.” He squeezed her tighter. “Next time, listen when we tell you what to do.”

By the time they reached the house, they were both drenched through and she was shivering from the cold rain. No sooner they pulled up in front of the house that the rain petered off and the sun broke through.

She looked up at the sky. “Thank you very much for the inconsideration!”

He laughed. “If you’d waited, we would have hung around your shop and stayed dry.”

One of the stable hands ran over to take the horses. Joe climbed out then offered his hand to her. She reddened in the face when she realized even with her chemise, she was so soaked he couldn’t miss but see her body. Every inch of fabric on her was sodden and clung to her.

When he helped set her on her feet, she also didn’t miss the feel of his stiff cock through his trousers. She looked up into his blue eyes. There was no mistaking he understood she’d felt and recognized the significance.

After a moment he finally stepped back from her. “Go on inside, honey,” he hoarsely said. “I’ll bring your things. I need to clean and oil that shotgun before it rusts.”

Wordlessly she nodded and hurried inside. In her room she dropped her wet clothes to the floor where they landed with a loud splat. She threw on a housedress after drying herself. Carrying her things so not to get herself wet, she dumped everything into the kitchen sink until she could get a washtub filled on the back porch to wash and hang them out.

She heard Joe in his room and rapped on his door. “Give me your things and I’ll wash and hang them.”

Footsteps crossed the floor, and then the door opened. He stood there, a towel draped around his shoulders, dry trousers on, feet and chest bare.

Wet, his blond hair almost looked like the color of honey, and the damp golden whorls on his chest were still plastered to his skin.

When their eyes met, he pulled her into his arms and planted a kiss on her she didn’t want to fight and wouldn’t if she could. His body felt hot against her still-damp flesh, warm and inviting and she felt she could…

He pulled away, his face reddening. “I…I’m sorry, Katie.” He turned away from her. “That was wrong of me. I’m so sorry.”

Refusing to let him retreat, she followed him, grabbed his arm, and spun him around. “You don’t get to turn away from me like that.”

“You have every right to be angry—”

She kissed him. This time his arms slipped around her waist, holding her body tightly against his as he thoroughly explored her mouth with his.

Katie whimpered with need as the feel of his body flooded her mind and heart with long-suppressed desires. Mason made her body burn. Joe made her heart melt.

He lifted his lips from hers. “We can’t do this,” he whispered. “This isn’t right. Mason loves you.”

“You love me.”

“That’s not the point!”

“Yes, it is!” She looked into his blue eyes, her own filling with tears. “I love both of you.”

There. It was out.

He stared at her, stunned. “
Both
of us?”

She nodded and buried her head against his chest as she cried. “I can’t and won’t choose between the two of you. I love both of you.”

If he pushed her away she knew she couldn’t stand it. But instead he held her tightly against him, his lips pressed to the top of her head as they stood there for what felt like forever.

Eventually, she composed herself and carefully pulled away before turning for the door. “I know what you must think of me,” she softly said, “and I’m sorry I’ve disappointed you.”

He grabbed her, not letting her go. “What do you think it is I’m thinking?”

Forcing her gaze to his, she whispered, “That I must be some sort of loose woman.”

He looked angry and pulled her tightly to him again. “I think you’re a smart, beautiful woman any man would be proud to have by his side. If any man ever said a bad word about you, I’d show him my fists.”

“But how can I feel like this! The two of you are so different, and I love you both so much…” Tears prickled her eyes again. “I can never choose one of you over the other, because it would hurt both of you.”

“Both of us?”

“Whoever was chosen would still end up estranged from the other, right? How could I ever do that to you!” She felt her heart breaking as she stared into his beautiful blue eyes. “I’d rather be alone and watch the two of you find happiness with someone else and still be friends with each other than to ever break the bond you have.” She quickly pulled free and scooped his wet clothes up before heading to the kitchen.

He followed her a moment later, now with an unbuttoned shirt on. He didn’t say anything as he stepped behind her at the sink and slipped his arms around her waist.

Katie closed her eyes and let him pull her back against him, wordlessly holding her. After a few minutes, he asked, “What if you don’t have to choose?”

She shook her head. “I won’t allow one or the other of you to leave because of me. I’d leave first before I come between your friendship.”

* * * *

Fear gripped him unlike any other. The feelings he’d had for her terrified him, ironically, more before her confession. He’d loved her but thought her heart belonged to Mase. Now that he knew how she felt, he suspected there might be an unusual solution to keep everyone happy.

If Mase would agree to it. Not exactly how Joe would have wanted it, but however imperfect, it meant both she and Mase would also be happy, and he wouldn’t lose her.

When Mason had confessed to him that afternoon what he felt for Katie, his next admission had shocked Joe even more. “I can’t do this,” he’d whispered. “I love her, but as much as I love her, I can’t court her.”

Joe had stared at him, stunned. “What the hell are you talking about? Why not?”

He’d never forget the pain in Mason’s brown eyes when he looked at him. “Because I know you’re in love with her. And I can see she loves you. After what you went through, I’d rather see you happy. You’ve been through enough pain. When I get back, I’ll have a talk with her and tell her I can’t court her and that she has my blessings for you to court her.”

The revelation had spun his world on its axis. The truth was he didn’t need to place a feed order today, but he’d used the excuse to get away from the sawmill early, to take his time riding to town, alone, to clear his head before he picked her up to bring her home.

Pulling his thoughts from that afternoon, he kissed the back of her neck and enjoyed the way her body melted against his. “What if,” he slowly said, “the two of us don’t want you to leave?”

“What?”

He made her turn and look him in the eye. “He loves you. I love you. What if we both love you and won’t let you leave?”

“What are you saying?”

He kissed her again, deeply, waiting until her body relaxed into his before he answered, “Do you mean it when you say you love both of us?”

She nodded.

“Then you let me talk to Mase,” he hoarsely said.

“I won’t come between you!”

He smiled. “Baby, if I get my way, you won’t have to worry about that, and we can all live as a happy little family.”

Chapter Seven

Her mind reeled at the implication as she prepared their dinner while Joe sat at the table and cleaned and oiled the shotgun.
Both
of them?

Between her legs, she felt her clit throb with the thought. How many nights had she wickedly fantasized about being wedged in bed between their hard bodies? Could her dreams really come true?

She started to hope then stopped, chastising herself for the silly, fruitless thought.

It was selfish. It was brazenly wrong. If anyone found out, it would sully not just her own reputation, which, truth be told she didn’t care about, but ruin Joe and Mason in the town.

Wouldn’t it?

Despite the warm kitchen, she deliciously shivered at the thought of lying with both men.

She couldn’t deny the way her heart screamed for it to be so, with no one hurt, no painful good-byes.

Her hands paused. No more loneliness. No more nights crying herself to sleep.

Maybe the love of not just one but two good men could finally heal her perpetual pain.

When she turned to set a bowl of mashed potatoes on the table, her eyes met Joe’s blue gaze. He laid the gun on the table and pushed his chair back. Patting his thigh, he held out his other hand to her.

In a daze she walked over to him and let him pull her down onto his lap. Settling her arms around his neck felt more than comfortable.

It felt right.

His gaze lingered over her face. “I love you, Katie,” he whispered. “And I won’t deny the thought of Mason owning your heart, too, makes me a mite jealous, but I want to make you happy. Putting a smile on your face is all that matters to me.” He kissed her, sweet and slow and, outside of her dreams, sending heat coursing through her body in a way she hadn’t felt since…

No! Not tonight!
She wouldn’t think about her poor Paul tonight. Instead, she ran her fingers through his still-damp hair and kissed him back fiercely, softly moaning as one of his hands pushed her housedress up and his fingers slipped between her legs.

Her eyes dropped closed and she rested her head against his shoulder as he sought out her intimate places, his fingers unerringly centering on her throbbing clit, gently rubbing.

“Does that feel good, baby?”

She whimpered a reply, her hips now rocking in time with his fingers. It’d been so long since she’d felt the hot, hard hands of a man on her. Praying he wouldn’t stop, she clutched his shirt with one hand, the back of his neck with the other, and clung to him.

His hand pressed forward and she gasped as two fingers easily parted her damp curls and slid inside her lubricated channel.

“Jesus!” he moaned. “You do enjoy that, don’t you?” His rock-hard erection dug into her thigh.

Her nipples rubbed against the soft fabric of her housedress, adding pleasant friction to the delicious delight of his fingers exploring her now-gushing pussy.