County Sheriffs 1: Conquering Adversity (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read online

  She pushed her thoughts aside and watched with wonder when the deer lifted its head and sniffed the air before it turned and bounded into the trees, disappearing from sight.

  “That was amazing,” Misha whispered, turning her gaze up to Spence. Her breath backed up in her lungs when she saw that he was watching her with such lust in his eyes. She couldn’t help but shiver in response to his hunger.

  His arm moved from around her shoulders, caressing her back over her shirt as he moved until he was standing in front of her, facing her with his arm hooked around her waist. She unconsciously licked her lips when he lowered his head, and though she knew he was about to kiss her and she should be backing away from him, she just couldn’t seem to make herself take that first step. And then her brain turned to mush when his warm, soft lips pressed against hers.

  Misha sighed and that seemed to be what Spence had been waiting for. His tongue slipped in between her lips, flicking over her teeth, and rubbed along hers before swirling around in her mouth and dueling with her tongue. She tried to keep herself from responding but he tasted so good, felt so right, she just couldn’t make herself stop. A shudder raced up her spine when she felt heat at her back and she knew that Clay was behind her. His hands landed on her hips, his fingers brushing over her denim covered skin, sending another paroxysm of need coursing through her blood, heating her from the inside out.

  The lazy sensuousness of Spence’s kiss changed when he angled his head, kissing her deeper. She inhaled a breath through her nose and couldn’t stop the moan that formed in her chest from escaping her mouth when Clay pressed his groin against her back. His hands moved from her hips up under her shirt and caressed the skin of her belly. Her stomach muscles jumped in appreciation of those warm, slightly callused hands moving on her skin, and her clit pulsed along with her heartbeat. Cream dripped from her cunt, dampening her panties, and her internal muscles clenched on an emptiness that almost hurt.

  Spence slowed the kiss until he was sipping at her lips and it was only as he lifted his head away from hers that she noticed she’d somehow looped her arms around his neck.

  She lowered her arms just as Clay withdrew his hands from under her shirt and he gripped her shoulders, turning her around to face him.

  Misha tried to slow her panting breaths but the two big, handsome men being so close to her seemed to take up all the oxygen in the air. Clay locked gazes with her for what seemed like an interminable moment and the light from the sky was blocked out as he came closer.

  She held her breath for two beats of her racing heart and then the air exploded from her lungs as Clay breached the gap. His lips opened over hers, taking rapacious control of the kiss. His tongue delved deeply, stroking the inside of her mouth, licking her tongue, and exploring every inch of her mouth.

  His hands smoothed down her arms and then up and down along her sides until they were on the outside of her breasts. Her areolae ruched, her nipples hardening to the point of pain, and while she wanted to thrust her chest out and beg him to touch where she was aching the most, she wasn’t that brave.

  Clay broke the kiss and pressed his forehead to hers, his sweet breath puffing against her lips with each exhalation. Misha swallowed around the lump in her throat as she realized what she’d just done, what she’d allowed them to do. She finally managed to get her brain and body to work together and took a couple of steps to the side. She turned away, keeping her back to the two men as she wondered what sort of game they were playing.

  “Misha?” Clay’s voice was deeper and raspier than usual, but she could hear the concern in his tone.

  She sucked in a deep breath and turned to face him and Spence, scowling her displeasure at them. “What the hell are you playing at?”

  “What do you mean?” Spence asked, frowning.

  Misha waved her hands in the air toward them and back to herself. “What was that?”

  “It was two men kissing the woman they are very attracted to,” Clay explained slowly, as if she was a kid.

  She sighed with exasperation and quickly turned away when tears stung the back of her eyes.

  “Misha, honey, look at us,” Spence commanded.

  She shook her head and started walking away from them. She wasn’t about to let them use her because they were in lust with her. Two men with one woman? What the hell were they thinking? Or had they even been using the brain in their heads? Obviously not.

  “Misha!” Clay grabbed her wrist, halting her in her tracks. “We aren’t playing games with you.”

  “It sure the hell looked like you were to me.”

  Clay tugged her around until she was facing him. He cupped her cheek so she couldn’t look away. Spence moved to stand beside his friend.

  “We are very, very attracted to you, baby,” Clay began. “We’ve known for quite a few years that we wanted to share a woman between us.”

  “You could—”

  “Let us finish, honey,” Spence said as he placed a finger over her lips.

  “We’ve shared women between us a couple of times and we just seemed to connect to them on a deeper, emotional level together.” Clay paused and glanced at Spence.

  “We’ve seen a lot of bad shit while we were serving in the Rangers,” Spence explained. “We had to become cold, emotionless soldiers to deal with the atrocities we experienced. It’s not that we can’t be with women or pleasure them by ourselves.”

  “We are more comfortable loving a woman together rather than separately,” Clay said. “Ever since we retired from the military we’ve been searching for a woman who could complete us.”

  “We think you could be that woman,” Spence said with such an intense sincerity her heart stopped beating.

  “So you’re not playing with me?” she whispered.

  “We’d never do anything like that, baby.” Clay caressed his thumb over the skin on her cheek.

  “Then what do you want from me?” she asked.

  “We want a relationship with you,” Spence replied.

  Misha sidled out from between them, shaking her head. “And if I do, what are you going to do when people call me a slut or other disparaging names?”

  She knew they understood what she was getting at when they both tensed, their jaws clenched tight and their hands fisted at their sides.

  Clay unclenched his fists and took a step toward her. He stopped when she tensed up. “Do you really care what other people say or think about you? Would you let the small-mindedness of others dictate the decisions you make with your life, with your happiness?”

  “I don’t know,” she answered and took a calming breath when she realized her voice was strident. “I don’t know what to do, what to think, what to say.”

  “Honey, are you attracted to us?” Spence asked.

  Misha’s first impulse was to deny that she was but that would be a lie, and after the kisses they’d just shared, she knew that they would know she was lying, too. How could she answer that without hurting them, or herself? How could she be with two men and not suffer because of her choices? If she did agree to begin a relationship with two prominent men of the community, would they lose their jobs? Would she? Would people see her as promiscuous and turn their backs on her as well as Clay and Spence?

  “I can’t do this. It’s not right.” Misha headed back toward the horses, mounted up, and nudged the horse back toward their ranch house.

  Tears burned her eyes and her breath hitched in her lungs when her heart began to ache.

  As far as she could see, there was no way they could be together without being judged by others. She wasn’t sure she was strong enough to deal with the backlash of not conforming to the norm.

  You’re a coward, Misha Collette. You want them as much as they seem to want you.

  “Shut up,” she ordered her conscience but the annoying voice in her head, heart, and soul wouldn’t be silenced.

  You will regret walking away from them for the rest of your life.

  “I don’t wan
t a relationship,” she murmured. “I enjoy my own company. I love my job and want to keep it.”

  Will your job keep you warm at night? You’re lonely and have been for a long time. You just won’t admit it to yourself.

  “I don’t have time for this shit.” Misha urged her horse into a canter, ignoring the fact that her ass was going to be sore since it was slapping against the saddle.

  “Are you okay, Misha?” Cooper asked as he came hurrying out of the barn.

  She nodded and glanced away from his scrutinizing gaze as she dismounted.

  “Tell them thanks for the ride,” she called over her shoulder and hurried toward her car. When she was driving down the driveway, she told herself not to look back, but her eyes locked onto the rearview mirror and pain pierced her heart when she saw Clay and Spence sitting atop their horses, staring her way.

  “It’s for the best, Misha. You’ve never been with one man, let alone two. You wouldn’t be able to keep them happy. You’re too independent and set in your ways.”

  Misha swiped angrily at her cheeks when she felt the tears rolling down her face.

  Sometimes life was just too damn hard.

  Chapter Five

  He glanced out the window of the resort restaurant just in time to see her park her car and get out. She was frowning and looked as if she’d been crying, her eyes all red and bloodshot, and the sun gleamed on the residual tear tracks left on her soft, white skin.

  The roaring in his ears drowned out everything around him and he was immediately transported to another world. A world where he was a god in control of the gleaming knife blade as it sank into all that soft flesh. Where blood dripped from the steel when he pulled the blade back out, only to sink it into that softness over and over again.

  He shifted on his seat as his cock filled with blood as he imagined having her at his mercy just like he’d had with her friend. He could hear her screams of agony as she pleaded with him to stop, to spare her life. She should have been begging him for her last breath, the cessation of her beating heart, as he sent her to the heavens. His body trembled as the need to torture her and watch her eyes as her soul left her body had his heart beating so fast in his chest he could almost taste it.

  He shuddered when he heard that grating voice calling his name, quelled the flinch as her soft hand touched his. He turned his gaze from the resort’s assistant manager back to the woman he’d married five long years ago to find her frowning at him. There was anger in her eyes, which had his blood boiling. The cunt should have been looking at him with awe, not ire. He was her superior in every way. Didn’t she know that he had the power to choose whether she lived or died?

  Maybe he would get rid of her before going after the next one on his list. He wasn’t sure he could take any more of her nagging, of thinking up lies to keep her off his back. If she was no longer in the picture he would be free to do as he pleased. Free to see and do whatever he wanted and he’d never have to answer to another person again.

  Yes, she would be his next sacrifice. He shifted his hand and rubbed his aching cock under the table as he planned his next move.

  * * * *

  “What the fuck are we going to do now?” Clay asked.

  Spence scrubbed a hand down his face and sighed. What he really wanted to do was rub the ache over the vicinity of his heart but he didn’t want to show any vulnerability right now. “There isn’t much we can do. We have to keep our distance.”

  “She’s just as fucking attracted to us as we are to her.” Clay jumped off his horse and led the stallion into the barn.

  Spence followed him, leading his own horse and set about removing the saddle and bridle. He picked up the grooming brush and rubbed the bristles through his horse’s coat. He glanced up when Cooper stopped in the middle of the stalls he and Clay were currently tending their horses in.

  “I take it things didn’t go well.” Cooper leaned on the timber frame between the stalls.

  “That’s an understatement,” Clay snapped.

  “So what happened?” Coop asked.

  Spence told their friend what had gone on, keeping his voice low so he didn’t upset his horse. When he was finished brushing it down, he straightened up to see Coop frowning at him, to Clay, and back again. After making sure his and the other horses had feed and plenty of water, he closed the stall door and stood with his hands on his hips, his head tilted back as he stared at the barn ceiling. Cooper wasn’t that talkative on the best of days but Spence knew his friend was about to have one of his rare moments when he dished out some advice.

  “You moved too soon,” Coop said.

  “What would you know about it?” Clay snarled. “I don’t see a member of the opposite sex hanging off of your arm and staring at you in adoration.”

  “Hey, just because I don’t have a woman right now, doesn’t mean I don’t know how their minds work.”

  “Since when?” Clay asked in a growly voice.

  “Since I have two young cousins who also just happen to be women.”

  Spence glanced over at Clay, his eyebrow raised in surprise. The man never ever talked about his family and Spence had obviously assumed wrongly that he didn’t have any. Clay wasn’t looking at Spence though, he was scowling at Cooper.

  “Go on,” Spence encouraged Cooper to continue and was surprised again when the big tough man began to blush. Spence decided to keep his mouth shut and not tease the gruff bastard. He didn’t want Coop clamming up when he might just have some insight into the female psyche.

  “You shouldn’t have made a move on her on the first date. If I know you two, and I believe I do, you kissed her. Right?”

  “We did.”

  “That was your first mistake. Women liked to be wooed. They like to spend time dating and getting to know the man, or men, before they will even think about climbing into bed with them. I’ll bet you told her you wanted to share her, too, didn’t you?”

  “Yeah.” Clay sighed and threaded his fingers through his hair.

  “You might know what you want but women are more emotional than men. They might be physically attracted to a man, but they’re more likely to listen to their heads than their hearts or bodies.”

  “Where is all this shit coming from?” Clay asked.

  Spence mentally cursed when Coop glared at Clay. If the other man got pissed off, he was likely to clam up and not say another word.

  “The way to a woman’s heart is not through her body but her mind. You engage her intellectually, spend time talking to her and gaining her trust, she’s likely to open up to you like she wouldn’t with anyone else.”

  “That makes sense,” Spence said. “Don’t you agree, Clay?”

  Clay gave a slight nod and moved closer to Coop.

  “Women like to talk. We all know that. Misha seems a little more wary than the average woman, which means she could have been hurt by a man in a previous relationship, or maybe something bad happened in her childhood.

  “The way to get to a woman’s heart is to open yourself up to her. Tell her about yourself, your dreams, your fears, your flaws. Whatever. If you do that, she’s going to gravitate toward you without even thinking about the pros and cons.”

  “She was worried about how it would look if she dated both of us at the same time.” Clay frowned. “How do we get around that?”

  “Show her you aren’t just trying to get into her panties. If she realizes that you both really care for her after you’ve engaged her mind as well as her heart, she isn’t going to give a shit about what other people think. Women are loyal. If you can get her to fall in love with you, she’s going to jump at the chance to stay by your sides for a hell of a long time.”

  Spence clapped Cooper on the shoulder. “Thanks, man, but I think it’s already too late. We fucked up and I don’t know if she’s going to give us a second chance.”

  “I think you’re wrong. She’s very attracted to you both. Hardly glanced at me or Tanner. Give her a little time to digest what yo
u want and then ask her out. She might just surprise you and say yes.” Coop spun on his heels and walked away.

  “That’s the most I’ve heard him speak in the last ten years.” Clay smirked.

  “Maybe he’s just never had anything important to say before.” Spence chuckled. “Did you know he had female cousins?”

  “Shit no. I thought he was on his own.”

  “Yeah, me too. That man is full of surprises.”

  “That he is. Let’s head in and get some lunch. I’m starving.”

  “So how long do we give her to calm down?” Spence asked as they headed to the house.

  “As long as it takes.”

  * * * *

  Misha lost herself in work, and even though she tried to keep her mind from wandering to her time with Clay and Spence and what they’d said they wanted from her, she found herself thinking about them more often than not. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get those passionate kisses out of her mind, nor forget the way her body had reacted to them. She’d never felt such pleasure in her life, and now that she’d had a small taste, her body kept telling her she wanted more.

  She rubbed her tired eyes and leaned back in her chair, staring at the spreadsheet on her screen, trying to make heads or tails out of the black blobs in front of her. She glanced toward the door when someone knocked and smiled when Jayne entered.

  “Hi, Jayne, how are things in the kitchen?”

  Jayne smiled back and laughed outright. “I can’t believe how much fun we’re all having now that Phillip’s gone. Not that I don’t feel bad about him losing his job, but he really only has himself to blame.”

  “Yes, he does,” Misha replied and tried suppress the frisson of alarm that skated up her spine when she remembered the encounter with Phillip in the diner in Cody. The man had looked so angry with her, she thought he was about to burst. Thankfully, he was no longer at the resort and she would hopefully never see him face to face again.

  * * * *