Hard Ridin' (8 page)

What had they done? Passing Laurel back and forth between them couldn’t be a good thing for anyone. Especially Laurel. She couldn’t possibly make a choice, could she? And if so, based on what? The length of their cocks—how good they were in bed?

He snorted. He was pretty damn confident in his abilities in that department. His cock twitched at the memory of having her beneath him, of filling her hot sheath with his cock and gliding over her silken walls.

Groaning, he fixed his gaze ahead. The front door of the Ransom house opened and two figures trickled out. Jens in his cowboy hat and with a swagger Holden spotted even from this distance. And Laurel right behind him.

Their bodies stretched apart, held together by a thin connection between their hands. Their arms extended. Then Jens released her and blew her a kiss.

“Motherfucker.” It was the only word Holden hadn’t used yet, and he couldn’t think of why not.

He jammed a boot on the gas pedal and sped up, bouncing across the field, the discs deafening behind him. Jens vanished around the house, and a second later reappeared on horseback, his hat tilted at a jauntier angle than usual.

Holden bit the inside of his cheek, fighting to hold back a roar. Damn the man!

Jens pointed the bareback horse, Stargazer, across the field and straight toward Holden. The chestnut flanks of the beast rolled and bunched as Jens pushed him.

Within seconds, horse and rider drew to a stop twenty yards from the tractor. Jens tipped his hat.

Red spots flashed before Holden’s eyes. “You son of a—!” He threw himself off the tractor and raced across the dug-up earth. The horse danced sideways as Holden reached up, snagged Jens by the shirt front and dragged him off.

Jens flexed his arm and tried to shake Holden loose. “What the hell’s the matter with you?”

“You spent the night with my girl, that’s what!”

“My girl too! We made a deal, remember? Or did you think that by taking her to bed that you won? She’s far from making a decision, and I intend to get my fair chance.” Jens’s gaze burned into his.

Every muscle in Holden’s body quivered to beat the living hell out of his best friend—the guy who’d seen him through the soul-wrenching death of his father a few years ago, who had hauled his sorry ass to the hospital when he’d been kicked in the leg by a cow.

He’s the guy who just spent the night making love to Laurel
.

With a roar, he hurled himself at Jens.

Jens sidestepped, and Holden tripped.

At that moment, the howl of the discs sounded.

Jens’s eyes widened. Whipping around, Holden saw the tractor rolling forward, with no one at the wheel.

“Jesus, didn’t you set the brake?” Jens took off at a dead run, heels kicking up clumps of mud. Holden darted behind him, squinting to avoid the loose dirt thrown up by Jens’s boots.

Wildly, he tried to think. Had he set the brake? All he could recall was a haze of red and a bull’s eye drawn around his friend.

Jens reached the tractor. The tire rolled on by him, as tall as he was.

“Shit! It’s heading toward the house!”

At that moment, Laurel’s scream echoed across the field. Heart pounding, Holden glanced up in time to see her sprinting toward them.

Jens spotted her too and waved his arms. “No, no, no! Get out of here!”

She continued on, running as fast as her shorter legs could carry her. Her hair was a dark flag behind her, and her features were stretched with fear.

“Stop her!” At that minute, Holden didn’t care whether or not he and Jens were competing for the same woman. All he cared about was keeping that woman safe. She was just green enough not to know that deaths involving farm equipment occurred every day.

Holden’s muscles burned as he sprinted through the thick sod. The tractor rumbled slowly away, at a pace he or Jens could have easily caught up to had they been on flat ground.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught the flash of Stargazer’s chestnut coat.

“Jens! The horse!”

Whipping around, Jens stuck two fingers in his mouth and blew a shrill whistle that stood the hair up on Holden’s neck. Laurel stopped in her tracks as Stargazer answered his master’s call. The horse raced toward Jens. At the ready, Jens leapt as the quarter horse whipped past. Jens caught the mane and swung onto its bare back, digging in his heels and riding full-tilt for the runaway tractor.

The giant vehicle seemed to be bumping along faster. The screech of the discs extended into one long howl.

Running toward Laurel, Holden kept his gaze on Jens’s every movement. If the man was killed because of Holden’s stupidity, he’d never forgive himself. His heart drummed wildly at his ribs, and he fought for air.

“Oh my God, Holden! Jens!” Laurel’s face was a mask of horror as Holden reached her.

Holden snagged her, yanked her off her feet and into his arms. He cradled the back of her head and drew it to his shoulder. If Jens was about to be injured—or worse—Holden didn’t want her to see.

She quaked uncontrollably. The waves of her hair bounced on her shoulders and down her spine, releasing Jens’s musk. Holden’s gut clenched.

Jens spurred Stargazer on. The horse’s flanks worked as it struggled to gallop in this terrain.

A little closer.

Jens drew up beside the tractor, leaned all the way to the side and swiped a hand through the air to catch the steering wheel. He tilted precariously and nearly toppled off Stargazer’s back.

Holden sucked in a harsh breath. Jerking her head up, Laurel screamed.

Jens caught himself, using his strong thigh muscles to retain his grip on Stargazer. He pushed the horse forward again. The horse shied away from the enormous tire, so Jens took a chance—

And launched himself off the horse’s back. He sprawled over the tractor, legs dangling off.

“Holden, do something!”

Feeling as helpless as he ever had in his life, he released Laurel and raced across the field. The tractor had trundled about two hundred fifty yards away. His lungs were on fire and adrenaline sparked in his veins.

Clinging to the tractor, Jens kicked his legs, attempting to gain enough footing to hoist himself up onto the moving equipment. God, one slip and he’d be pulled under the tractor and crushed.

Holden’s throat clamped shut with terror, but somehow he continued to run.

Use your arms, man. Pull yourself up!

Had he said that aloud? Even if he did, there was no way Jens could have heard him above the drone of the engine and those maniacally squeaking discs.

But Jens pulled himself up inch by inch. His hat toppled off and rolled away into a rut of earth. Looking on, Holden’s heart squeezed as Jens suddenly surged upward. He caught the wheel and the tractor made a left-hand turn. His grip gave Jens enough leverage to throw himself across the seat.

With a sharp jerk, he set the brake.

Numbness infused Holden’s face and tingled in his fingers. Relief swept him and for the second time in days, tears burned in his eyes. He stopped and pinched the bridge of his nose hard, fighting the tears back.

Laurel rushed past him, cries bursting harshly from her with every breath she released. She reached Jens’s hat and scooped it up. Just as Jens cut the tractor engine and jumped off, Holden and Laurel reached him.

“Jens!” Laurel threw herself into his arms. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her against him, sealing their bodies together.

“It’s all right, darlin’. No harm done.” He met Holden’s gaze. Narrowing his eyes, Jens spoke in a soft but deadly voice. “You do that on purpose, Holden?”

“What—? Fuck no!”

“You didn’t purposely forget to set the brake, knowing I’d risk anything to stop that tractor?”

“Christ, Jens. You’ve known me for a decade! You think I’d do something like that?”

Jens pressed a light kiss to Laurel’s temple. “Things are different right now between us.”

Holden kicked a clump of sod, wishing it were something harder. Fury infused him and his gut churned. “I’d never wish for something bad to happen to you, Jens. Fuck, man. What’s going on between the three of us doesn’t make me happy in the least, but that doesn’t mean I’d cut you out of the picture. Jesus, I can’t believe the thought would cross your mind.”

Laurel looked from Jens to Holden, tears streaking her face. Holden ground his teeth together. Hating that she was in his friend’s arms. Glad Jens was here to hold her.

Holden tore off his hat and thwacked it against his thigh.

Jens’s shoulders relaxed. “All right. I believe ya.”

“Damn well better.”

“This rodeo ain’t for the faint of heart, Holden.”

Holden’s gaze traveled over Laurel’s lush curves crushed to his best friend’s body. She clung to him, still visibly trembling. The fact that she cared about Jens was apparent. Just how deep was she?

Holden felt as if they were racing toward an invisible goal. The landscape between them and the finish line was littered with obstacles—landmines of truths that could explode in his face at any moment, which in turn would carve away bits of his heart until he gave up the race altogether.

Twisting in Jens’s hold, Laurel met Holden’s gaze. Passion welled up, throbbing between them. Releasing a huff of breath, Holden took one step closer to the finish. Her gaze overflowed with emotion for him.

He crammed his hat back down on his head before climbing atop the tractor once again. A grin spread across his face—a result of Laurel’s obvious love and Jens’s safety. Before he started the engine, he tossed out the flag. “Game on.”

Chapter Six

As Laurel stepped out of the shower, she caught the faint grinding noise of the tractor again. Quickly, she wrapped herself in a thick towel and ran into her bedroom. Shoving aside a box and a pair of shoes, she attempted to reach the window, which faced the field.

At the back of the field, the tractor bumped along. Jens’s truck was parked crookedly at the edge of the field and her yard, but the man was nowhere to be seen.

Damn, what were those alpha males up to now? After the scare with the runaway tractor, Jens had told her to go inside and have some breakfast while he went home and tucked up Stargazer in his stall with a bag of oats and a nice blanket. Laurel hadn’t expected Jens and Holden to return so fast.

After hurrying into underwear and a pair of jeans and haphazardly buttoning up a flannel shirt, she rummaged through a pile of discarded clothes to find a pair of socks. Then she took a moment to comb through her wet hair before running downstairs.

Her body still hummed from her night with Jens—and her day with Holden. Between the two of them, she’d released so many times, she’d lost count. They’d given freely to her, careful to pleasure her before they took their own. Part of her ached with guilt over this. Yet another darker part—one deep down in her soul—burned with greed.

Having both of them was everything she’d ever dreamed of. Each lover provided something she needed, just as they both fulfilled her emotional needs. That’s why it would be so hard to choose between them.

Shaking her head, she finished putting on her boots and ran outside. No time to let her emotions obliterate her work. That’s exactly how Holden had let the tractor get away, nearly causing a disaster. She wasn’t within the safe confines of the hospital anymore. Out here, anything could happen.

Striding across the field, she approached Jens’s truck. The mere sight of the beat-up, black Ford inspired naughty thoughts in her. On their third date, he’d yanked her across the seat, cupped her breasts and fingered her nipples until she thought she’d melt through the vinyl seat.

Last night he’d stunned her with a demanding side she’d never guessed he possessed. Heat flickered low in her belly even as she thought about it.

And Holden…he was just as unyielding and passionate under the covers as he always had been. Consuming her with his need, stoking her fires until she felt she’d combust.

Now she was bouncing between both hunky men and couldn’t get enough. Wrong or not, that’s the way it was.

The sharp tang of manure burnt her nostrils and stung her eyes. In the back of Jens’s truck, a heap was steaming, with a shovel jammed into the odorous depths.

“Agh!” Spreading shit was far from the best job in the world, but it was a necessary one. Holden deserved a little something special for doing this for her.

Yesterday, between rounds of oral sex, wild reverse cowgirl rides and smoldering make-out sessions, she and Holden had discussed her plans for her organic farm, as well as touched on a few things that needed done on the Rope Burn Ranch. He’d been a little more hesitant to speak of the massive planting or improvements to be done on the big ranch, but she hadn’t pried into why.

Holden caught sight of her standing off to the side and waved. That was one cowboy accounted for. Where was the other?

Her little farm sat atop a knoll. The acres stretched as far as the eye could see, but when she started down any of the four slopes, she was on the Rope Burn Ranch. After she’d first signed the rental agreement, Jens had hand-drawn the lay of the land for her, as well as recounted the story of Old Ransom, the ornery man who’d first owned this farm.