Two Cowboys in Her Crosshairs [Hellfire Ranch] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (3 page)

A pang of homesickness shot through him so hard his headache returned full force. Jake put a hand over his eyes. He missed home. He missed his horses and civilization, his grandparents and his best friend.

He wondered what Hudson was doing at that moment. Probably giving some sweet thing a good time. Taking her out to dinner then dancing and finally back to his place for an all-night sex session.

Jake grinned into the darkness. Yeah, that’s just what Hudson Walker was doing. Damn, he couldn’t wait to join his old friend in some carousing the next time he was on leave.

As sleep crept through the barracks, Jake found himself unable to join in. His mind raced through the events of the day from the damn statue Shag had shown him to Reed’s appearance to Olivia’s husky demand to talk.

Reed’s visit was easy enough to dismiss, but the commander’s words weighed heavily on him. Combat didn’t scare him, but sending his men into battle did.

A creak swept through the barracks, and he looked toward the door from under his arm just in time to see Fischer slip into the night. Jake pushed up on his elbows and contemplated going after the man. This wasn’t the first time he’d slipped out, though he usually wasn’t gone longer than an hour.

Jake had no idea where he went. He’d tried to follow him a couple of times, but by the time he would make it to door Fischer would be out of sight. Brian Fischer reminded Jake of a highly intelligent rodent. He followed orders to the hilt and never made a mistake. Exactly what a commander wanted in a soldier. But Fischer’s beady brown eyes and long nose gave him a ratlike appearance. His persona perfectly matched the image. He was sly and sneaky and often watched his fellow marines with an almost predatory stare.

Try as he might, Jake couldn’t warm up to the little man. Jake lay back down. He rubbed his shoulders on the thin cot, searching in vain for a comfortable position.

Time drifted in and out as he dozed and thought about the object Shag showed him. It had to be a souvenir Briggs picked up. What else could it be?

The door moved once more, and he roused enough to see Boone Shepherd head out. Jake gritted his teeth but again stayed in his bunk. This one he knew. Shepherd habitually sought out the deepest part of night to sit on some damned rock and commune with nature.

Load of bullshit.

He knew all about Shepherd’s past. Born and bred in the East, he spent half his life with his purebred white family and the other half learning all about his Native American ancestry. He’d been educated at Harvard then joined the marines the day after graduation. If half of what Jake heard about Boone’s wild times during college was true, the man sowed enough wild oats to keep a thousand farms in business for decades. Jake wondered if some of those oats were what kept Boone from applying for Officer’s School. He’d taken his E-2 rank just like any other recruit. Jake sure hoped if karma decided to bite Boone’s ass, it did so on someone else’s watch.

Reed’s warning echoed through his mind again. He swallowed hard and looked through the dim light at the sleeping men. They’d been inordinately lucky this tour. Four skirmishes and they hadn’t lost a single person. How much longer could that good fortune last?

Taggart Cain lay on the bunk next to him. Tag was a big man with blond hair, green eyes, and a chip the size of Texas on his shoulder. He had anger issues that forever had Jake intervening in some way or another.

Tag had been busted twice in rank for insubordination. No matter how much Jake talked, Tag never listened. He never
heard
what he said.

Briggs was in the bunk directly across from Tag. The Alabama boy had the strange habit of talking in his sleep. Thanks to his loose lips and mostly understandable drawl they all knew how he really felt about his cousin Jessup Rae and just how far the two had taken their apparently mutual attraction.

Jake groaned and slammed his eyes shut.

Go to sleep.

He tried not to think of Olivia, but her sweet face and lush figure drifted onto the screen of his mind anyway. Instead of her utility uniform she wore only a pair of lacy pink panties and matching bra that shoved her beautiful tits to attention. She had long, lean legs honed to perfection by continual hikes and physical training.

Jake’s hand cupped his growing erection. Maybe a few quick strokes and he’d be able to finally get some sleep. He checked his watch and found it nearly eleven o’clock.

Yeah, that’s what I need.
He wouldn’t even give himself hell for fantasizing about Olivia.

Through the rough cut of his pants, Jake gripped his dick and tugged upward. A hiss escaped his lips at the contact. Olivia’s face floated in front of his eyes. She gave him a teasing smile, bit the fullness of her bottom lip then started tugging at her bra straps.

His hand tightened on his cock, and his breath grew ragged.

“Jake,” her soft voice vibrated with desire. “I want you inside me.”

“Fuck yeah,” he muttered then swallowed as his lust deepened.

The door squeaked, and he froze. His gaze flew to the opening, and he saw Olivia silhouetted in the moonlight. She looked right at him. Her lips curved in a sensual smile. She crooked her finger then turned and walked into the darkness.

Jake remained still.

Go after her.

Stay here.

Go.

Jake suppressed a growl and reached for his boots.

* * * *

Olivia skirted the glow cast by the security lamps and made her way to the motor depot. She settled her butt against the bumper of a troop carrier and waited. She hoped Jake showed up. This dance they’d carried out for the last few months was wearing thin. It needed to be resolved one way or the other. She hoped it ended with him deep inside her.

Sweat covered her palms, and she slicked them down the rough fabric of her camo pants. Her heart thudded loudly against her rib cage, and she couldn’t seem to stop fiddling with the small gold owl on her necklace. Her parents had given it to her the day she graduated boot camp. Her mom reminded her to be wise and watchful, but her father took her aside and told her that legend had it the owl was a protector of the earth and all things on it.

The necklace helped her feel closer to them even when she was half a world away. In the four years she’d been in the marines, she’d never removed it. It’d become her totem when she was worried or puzzled or nervous.

Where is he?

The faintest shadow passed between two trucks, and she straightened. Seconds later, Jake’s broad frame appeared. They stared at each other.

A million different thoughts ran through her head, all of them dirty. She pushed away from the truck and headed his direction. Jake moved forward at the same time.

He grabbed her around the waist and hauled her to his firm chest. Olivia held on to his shoulders.

“Jake,” she whispered.

“No,” he said and covered her mouth with his. The kiss was fast and hard and deliriously exciting.

His lips were firm and unyielding as if he sought to stop the passion from rising.

Olivia knew that was not possible.

She clutched the back of his neck and forced him closer. His groan slid into her mouth. It was all she could do not to crow with triumph.

She wrenched away from his kiss and spread her hands over his muscular chest. His pecs rippled beneath her palms, separated only by the thin layer of his T-shirt. Greedily she reached for the hem and shoved upward to expose his toned abdomen.

“Beautiful,” she whispered. Olivia trailed her fingers over the sharp cuts of his six pack until she reached his belt. Impatient need lent her speed as she unbuckled it. She parted his zipper and shoved his pants to the ground. Jake toed off his boots as he repaid the favor with her clothes. In less time than it took her to break down her M40, she stood naked in front of him.

Jake raked her body with a midnight-blue gaze.

Olivia tingled at his silent appreciation. She wanted to hear her name on his lips, though.

He reached for her hand and brought it to his hot and hard cock.

Olivia gasped and instinctively tightened her fingers around him. He shuddered then cupped her left breast and squeezed. As she stroked his length, he nudged her backward until she came up against the lowered tailgate of the half-ton. He lifted her up. When her butt hit the cold metal, she squeaked. A grin flashed briefly in the darkness before he took her mouth again. He parted her legs and found her already-wet pussy with his fingers.

Olivia moaned as he danced over her clit and dipped into her moistness. His hot touch ratcheted her desire even higher. Blindly she felt for his dick again even as she kissed him back with fierce demand.

He pulled away, and a deep chuckle rasped from him.

“No,” she whispered and clung to his arms.

Jake grinned again then fitted the swollen head of his cock to her dripping pussy. In one long stroke he was balls-deep inside of her.

They both groaned and bucked at the contact. Jake held still for a moment. Olivia tried to gain some kind of composure, but he overwhelmed her. His muscular body cradled hers as his thickness invaded her. The oak-sweetened musk of his sweat made her pussy throb and clench around him, eliciting another half sigh from him.

Jake tipped her chin up and kissed her softly then started a slow rhythm with his hips that soon drove her mad. Tiny pulses exploded inside her every time his skin slid against hers. His body trembled against hers, and he slammed deep inside then stilled. His breath escaped in huge gasps, and something that looked like pain creased his face. He opened his eyes and gave her a small smile then dropped his gaze to her neck. Jake picked up her owl necklace and studied it intently.

“For wisdom and protection,” she whispered when he didn’t ask.

His thumb brushed over the owl, and then he dropped his hands to her hips and gripped hard as he drove into her again.

Olivia grabbed his shoulders then his neck and thrust back for all she was worth. The night pressed in closer and darker. They were the only things that existed in the universe.

“Jake. Jake. Jake.” His name tumbled from her lips in a litany of half pleas, half demands.

She could feel her orgasm rising. He surged hard and strong within her. His hands at her hips felt like hot iron holding her down for his satisfaction while he pleasured her beyond all her imaginings.

“Jake.” This time her voice caught on a sob of need.

“Yes,” he muttered. His jaw clenched, and the tempo of his hips increased.

The need spiraled out of control, and Olivia shook and swayed as she came. Jake swallowed her scream with his kiss.

Her pussy clamped down hard, and he stilled then shuddered.

“God,” he murmured. He shook again and met her eyes. “Olivia.”

Then he came deep and hard. Olivia’s eyes widened at the hot and slick feel of his cum coating her. The unbelievably erotic sensation made her come again. Jake held her through the tremors that wracked her body until finally she wilted backward.

Slowly he pulled free of her still-clinging channel. The heated gush nearly sent her over the edge again, but the look on Jake’s face stopped her cold.

He looked tortured and oddly vulnerable. She reached out for him, but he shook his head. Olivia sat dazed and uncertain on the tailgate as he gathered their clothes. He set hers next to her then dressed swiftly.

“Jake,” she said. “Talk to me.”

He tucked his shirt into his pants and belted them before approaching her. Tenderly he slipped her shirt over her head then eased her into her pants. Olivia held on to his shoulder as she slid from the tailgate and into her boots.

His silence was unnerving. Shame bit at her, followed quickly by anger.

“Are you going to give me the silent treatment forever?”

He sighed then scrubbed his hand over his face. He looked haggard. “This won’t happen again.”

His words hit her with the force of a mortar shell. Tears threatened, but she ruthlessly blinked them away. She wanted to ask why not, but she knew. Jake Logan was a by-the-rules kind of guy. This encounter should have never happened in the first place, and she could see he already regretted it.

Olivia drew herself up and tried to appear as nonchalant and disinterested as she could despite the pain searing her heart. “Fine.” She stepped past him, but he grabbed her arm.

“Olivia,” he rasped.

This time her name on his lips twisted the knife deeper in her heart. She shook free. “Don’t worry about it, Jake. It meant nothing.”

She strode away and tried to pretend her heart wasn’t breaking with every dust-filled step.

* * * *

Jake raked a hand through his hair and cursed softly. He was an idiot to have followed her out, but the temptation of Olivia had been too much to resist. He had to know just one time what it felt like to be inside her. To touch her, kiss her, love her.

Now he knew, and Jake had a feeling he would be haunted by this encounter for a long time. Being with Olivia had surpassed every fantasy he’d ever had.

He trudged back to the barracks.