A New Beginning [Liberty, Wyoming] (Siren Publishing Menage Amour) Page 7

  Before she could take a breath, he had her pulled across the bench seat and in his lap, holding her against his chest. “Yes, you will listen to me, baby. You will do exactly what you’re told.” Jake gritted his teeth and tried to get himself under some semblance of control. “You might not be our woman yet, but it’s only a matter of time.”

  “What makes you think I’m going to be your woman?” She was trying very hard to sit still and stiff when all she wanted to do is sink back into him and lay her lips to his. She wanted a taste of him so bad her mouth watered.

  “Your body tells me, baby. The way your nipples harden, and your panties get all wet whenever we’re around.” He smiled when she gasped. “Yeah, we can tell when you’re wet. You press your legs together to help relieve some of the ache, like you’re doing now.” He laughed at the tide of red that was crept up her face. “And when I’m close, I can smell your sweet arousal.” He continued looking intently at her. “You tell us you’re ours whenever we touch you and you burn,” he said with a heavy look of a primitive, possessive male.

  Her face flushed a bright pink. She shook her head and tried to deny him.

  He lost what little control he had and crashed his mouth down on hers, driving his tongue past her teeth. When she whimpered at his force, he gentled his kiss only to have her pulling his head down, trying to deepen the kiss again. He pulled the hair clip she used to keep her hair under control. He lifted his head. His expression hot and wild. “I want your hair down all the time. I need to be able to sink my fingers into it whenever I want. Do you understand?” he said against her mouth before he deepened the kiss again. His hands ran through her long hair and then gripped it to hold her exactly where he wanted her. One of his hands slid down to cup her breast, his thumb teasing her nipple.

  Sara whimpered and curled her body around his waist. His erection pressed into her hip. A moan escaped her throat as she trembled with need. She was out of control. She knew nothing but being in Jake’s arms and taking everything he gave her. She heard him talking but didn’t understand the words and didn’t want to take the time to try. She couldn’t touch him enough. She couldn’t get close enough. She forgot where they were, she didn’t care.

  Jake tore his mouth from hers and looked down at Sara. God, she was so damn beautiful. Her eyes were glazed, and her lips were swollen and red from his kiss. Her breath was coming in fast pants. Jake lowered his head to take more when an abrupt knock sounded at his window. Jake jerked his head up and spotted Liam, the sheriff, grinning at him through the glass. “Shit!” He looked back down at Sara. She just stared at him, her eyes hazy and unfocused, not realizing they’d been interrupted. He started the truck and rolled down the window, letting fresh air in. Only then did he notice how hot it had gotten in the truck.

  “What?” he barked, making the sheriff laugh.

  There was a definite smirk on the sheriff’s lips. “Well, Jake, if you keep going the direction you are with your pretty little lady, I’m going to have to cite you for indecent exposure.”

  He scowled at his friend, feeling like he could murder him. “Fuck you.” He turned back to Sara when she started to squirm out of his arms. When he saw her embarrassment, he released her, letting her sit up and away from him.

  Oh, my God, she thought. I’m making out in a truck on Main Street and got caught by the sheriff. She moved back to her seat and straightened her clothes, keeping her head down. Her hair slid forward to hide her embarrassment. She wiped at the bead of sweat that had formed on her brow and ignored the conversation next to her.

  “Look at me, Sara,” Jake said, getting her attention. She realized the conversation had ended and the sheriff had walked away.

  She turned to look at him, not wanting to meet his eyes.

  “Let’s get you home. I’m betting Grant is wanting to see you pretty bad.” He reached out, pulling her seatbelt across her body and fastening it before bending to grab a quick, hard kiss. His eyes darkened further as he touched her swollen lips. “This is not over. I have a lot more to say and do.” He turned, putting the truck in gear and backed out and headed out of town toward home.

  Her thoughts and feelings were so frantic she decided to stay quiet until she calmed down and her thoughts weren’t so jumbled.

  Jake hadn’t put the truck into park when the passenger side door jerked open and a hard arm came over her to unsnap her seatbelt and pull her out of the truck. Grant pulled her into his arms and just held her.

  “Grant, I just went to the store.” She rubbed his back, trying to reassure him, about what, she didn’t know. A person would think she had done something dangerous. But she didn’t like that she’d upset them like this.

  He pulled back. Frowning, he held her away from him with his hands on her shoulders. “If you leave this ranch again without one of us knowing, I’ll put you over my knee and give you a spanking that will make it impossible to sit for a week.”

  “W-w-what?” she stuttered and tried to pull away from him. “You can’t spank me. I’m not a child for God’s sake.” What was it about the men in this town thinking they could spank a woman?

  Grants grip tightened. “You wanna bet, baby?”

  When he allowed her to pull away from him, Sara turned to grab her purse and drug store sack. When she turned back, both men were standing, legs apart and arms crossed over their chest, aggression and dominance bled from them. A stream of blood pumped powerfully through her veins. Her limbs grew heavy as her body tightened almost painfully, readying itself for their possession.

  Grant spoke up first. “Don’t push us on this, baby. When it comes to your safety we are very serious.”

  “My safety?” she sputtered. “This has nothing to do with me being safe and everything to do with you not trusting me.”

  “That’s not true,” Grant replied flatly.

  She rolled her eyes at them, which made the men straighten and glower at her. “Right, that’s why I’m the only woman on the ranch that has to have a man drive me to town and threatened with a spanking.”

  Grant bent toward her. “Every woman on this spread is taken care of. None of them can go anywhere without permission or a man with them. We all look out for them but it’s up to their men to discipline them.”

  Sara shook her head. “Good grief, guys. It’s not the middle ages. Besides, Gina can come and go whenever she wants.”

  Both men burst out laughing, making her grit her teeth.

  Jake spoke. “Gina doesn’t go anywhere without her husband. She hasn’t ever driven a vehicle in her life.” He looked at Grant. “That reminds me, we have to have a talk with her. Sara asked her if it was okay to use the truck and she told her yes.”

  Grant looked shocked, ignoring Sara shaking her head. “What the hell. She knows better than that.”

  “No,” Sara burst out, gaining both men’s attention. “Please don’t be mad at her. She was only doing it to protect you, I know she was. She wants you both to see me in a bad light and get rid of me before I can hurt you.” When both men looked shocked, she shrugged and looked down, uncomfortable with stares. “She loves you and doesn’t want to see you hurt again.”

  They looked at each other, undecided on how to handle the situation. They were doers, always taking action. They were not used to sitting back or leaving something undone. Grant cleared his throat. “We’ll let her husband deal with it. She knows what she did was wrong. If she takes that out on you, we’ll step in.”

  She nodded. “If you both are done with me, I’d like to drop this stuff off in my room and go check in on Callie.”

  Jake’s mouth quirked. “We’ll talk more about this later. We have some rules to go over with you.” Both men stepped aside to let her pass, ignoring her glower. They watched as she hurried up the front steps and into the house.

  Grant continued to watch her until she disappeared into the house. “What happened in town?” They started walking toward the barn, Jake telling him everything, making Grant throw back his
head and laugh. Jake punched him in the arm, grunting a “screw you” and walked off. Grant looked in the direction of the house, planning what he would do when he finally had her alone for their first kiss. He got hard thinking of his hands on her. It was sweet torture.

  When Sara got in the house, she closed the front door and leaned against it. Dealing with the men was aggravating but what made her stomach roll was the young man standing just outside the barn closest to the house. The look on his face scared the shit out of her. She could be wrong, she hoped she was wrong, but his expression seemed to show a raw violence and hatred. Why? She didn’t know, she had never talked to the man before. She didn’t even know the man’s name. Maybe it wasn’t her he hated, but the brothers? But this wasn’t the first time he’d looked at her that way.

  Sara thought about saying something to the men but decided against it. Hopefully she wouldn’t have to see him again. A grimace slid across her face. They both lived on the same ranch. It would be next to impossible to not run into him at some point. The good thing was there being so many people who lived here, there was always someone around.

  Shaking her head, she headed for the stairs. Maybe she was just reading more into his expression then was actually there. Right now, she just wanted to get upstairs, put her things away, and check on Callie. Sara would wait until she was alone tonight to think about all that had happened today.

  Chapter 9

  The next few days, Gina didn’t so much as look her way and that was okay with Sara. She didn’t know what she would say to the woman right now. Sara was still a little upset at her for causing trouble, even though she understood why she did it. At least Gina looked a little ashamed of herself and by the way she sat down gingerly, Sara suspected her husband had not been happy about her trick on Sara. Sara still didn’t know how she felt about the punishment. She knew she should be offended by just the idea, but the thought of being spanked aroused her at the same time it mortified her.

  Sara fidgeted. Never in a million years would she have thought the idea of a spanking would turn her on and it was making her look at herself more closely. Had she always been like this or did the men here make her want things she never would have thought she’d want or need? She would take some time later to think about it.

  Several days later, Sara and Callie relaxed on the porch swing, talking softly to each other when a gray car pulled into the drive going too fast and parked in front of the house. The door to the car opened and a rough but beautiful and very thin woman stepped out and looked around.

  Sara didn’t know her and by the look of her, in a tight white T-shirt, an indecently short black miniskirt and heels, Sara knew they would probably not hang around in the same group of people. She was very pretty though. She had long, light blonde hair. Her eyes were large, her face beautiful.

  Sara went to stand but Callie grabbed her arm and pulled herself close to Sara.

  “What…” Sara stammered as her heart jumped in her chest, confused at the anxiety that fluttered across Callie’s face. Sara’s instinct to protect tore at her insides. A black rage swept through her, seeing the fear in the little girl’s eyes. A little girl should never have to feel this fear.

  Sara was trying to understand Callie’s fear when the woman stepped on the porch and started their way. Something was off about the woman. Sara didn’t understand until the woman lost her balance, catching herself. She looked to be drunk or stoned or both. “Can I help you with something?”

  The woman laughed, the shrill sound grating down Sara’s spine.

  “Don’t you two look cozy?” she said snidely. She put a hand on her skinny hip. “Yeah, I want my daughter.”

  Sara looked back and forth between the woman and Callie, shocked. She would never have picked this woman out of a crowd as Callie’s mom. They looked nothing alike. While Callie’s hair had a light brown sheen to it, the woman had a color blonde that only came from a bottle but with black roots showing at the part in her hair. The eyes were shaped differently and the color of Callie’s eyes was a cloudy gray. The woman had light blue eyes that were more pronounced because of the red striations making her eyes look to be bloodshot.

  Nervous, Sara looked around hoping someone had seen her drive in and told the men. Sara tried to keep the situation calm and hold the woman off until someone else came. “Do her fathers know you were coming to visit today?”

  Dark brows snapped together. Her fists clenched at her side, her hostility and anger so plain, it made Sara flinch. The woman grabbed onto the railing when she wobbled on her feet. “I don’t need those bastards to tell me when I can see my daughter,” she snarled.

  Sara stood standing between Callie, who was crying softly, her small hands clenching the back of Sara’s skirt and the woman. She crossed her arms. “Yes, I think they do, I suggest…”

  The woman pushed her hard, surprising Sara enough she lost her balance and fell between the swing and the wall. Before she could get up, the woman grabbed a screaming Callie’s arm and pulled her along behind her on her way to the car.

  Sara gained her feet quickly and ran after them, fear and fury darting through her at the same time. She gripped the woman’s arm and squeezed until she let Callie go. “Run, Callie,” Sara yelled.

  The woman’s face was red. “You fucking bitch.” She swung at Sara, catching her on the cheek, making Sara fall back a few steps but otherwise staying on her feet. The woman started toward the porch again where Callie had run when Sara tackled her from behind, taking her down hard on the pavement. The woman rolled them, turning onto her back and was trying to claw at Sara’s face. Her nails looked like talons sharp and vicious. Her only thought was this woman was not getting close to Callie, not touching a single hair on her head. Sara started pounding on the woman, making her scream. She was so determined to protect Callie she didn’t feel the hits or scratches the woman gave her or the commotion around her.

  She was still swinging when a masculine arm came around her waist and lifted her off the woman. Sara kept on swinging and kicking until a hard voice growled close to her ear. “Enough, Sara.”

  Sara stilled and relaxed instantly, feeling like a deflated balloon. She was grateful Jake was holding on to her or she would have fallen on her face. Sara sobbed. “Callie, she was trying to take Callie and she’s drunk. I couldn’t let that happen.”

  “Oh, baby.” Jake swung her around and held her tightly against his chest, rubbing her back and whispering words in her ear to try to calm her. “Callie’s fine, honey. She’s inside with Gina.”

  “I need to go to her,” she said shakily, trying to pull away from Jake.

  Jake looked over at Grant yanking Christy up and handing her to a Leroy and another ranch hand. Grant looked at him. “The sheriff is on the way.” Grant walked over, pressed his chest against her back and circled his arms around her, hoping the heat of his body wrapped around her would stop her shaking and help comfort this sweet woman. Maybe tiger was a better description. He smiled to himself. The sight of her fighting and being hurt would stay with him for the rest of his life. He took a deep breath, trying to calm his own heart.

  She flinched when Grant’s hand slid across her midsection.

  He was concerned at the hits she took from Christy. “How badly are you hurt, sweetheart?”

  “I don’t know,” she sobbed. Both men were lightly running their hands over her, finding small scratches and smears of blood on her.

  “Jake, she’s hurt all over.” Anger made Grant’s voice deeper than normal.

  “Fuck,” came the reply and hands grasped her shoulders, holding her away from him so he could get a better look at her. Grant lifted her shirt and started cussing, ignoring her gasp and the small hands trying to pull her shirt back down.

  Oh, my God. They were taking her clothes off in the middle of the driveway. Damn, did she look that bad? She had mostly felt numb but now parts of her body were starting to get feeling back, the tingles of pain starting at her toes and moving stea
dily upward. She moaned under her breath. She didn’t understand why the numbness must wear off.

  Jake picked her up, ignored Sara’s gasp and demand to put her down, and walked up the steps and into the house. He took her straight into the bathroom off the office and sat her down on the counter.

  After shutting the door, Grant gathered first-aid supplies, setting them on the counter next to her. She tried to turn to the mirror to see the damage but Jake held her in place. They both started cleaning her up, apologizing every time she winced.

  They brushed away the small bits of rock and dirt embedded in her skin and wiped what blood they could see.

  “What’s going to happen to her?”

  “I don’t fucking care,” came Jake’s angry reply. The men were intent on finding everywhere the woman had touched and ignored Sara’s attempts to help them.

  “Is Callie okay? I really need to get to her.”

  Grant smiled gently at her. “You don’t want her to see you like this. It will upset her that you’re hurt.”

  She tried to turn to see but they kept preventing it. “Let me see, dammit.”

  “Watch your language, baby,” Jake growled.

  Her eyes rounded. “Are you kidding me? You cuss all the time.”

  “You’re a woman, you shouldn’t cuss.”

  She frowned at that and opened her mouth to speak when Grant interrupted her. “Watch what you say, honey. Our emotions are very volatile right now from seeing you get hurt and you’re in enough trouble already.”

  She gasped and winced, touching her lip and finding it swollen. She tried to evade the hands touching her. “Why am I in trouble? Didn’t I just protect your daughter? And you’re upset, what about me? I took the beating.”

  Jake growled. “Stay still. You put yourself in danger.” He gently grasped her chin, making her look at him. “You will be punished. You’re hurt because of a bad decision you made and we won’t stand for that.”