He glanced in her direction. “I’ve got her saddled for you. Come hold the reins while I ready my mount then we’ll head out.”
Holly hurried forward and took the leather reins from Ryan.
Ryan motioned toward the back. “Take her over there and wait.”
Holly moved to the back, her horse clopping obediently behind her. While she waited for Ryan, she smoothed her hands over the mare’s neck. She was a beauty. Gentle looking. Her head bobbed appreciatively as Holly stroked her mane.
A few seconds later, Ryan walked up, leading his mount behind him. “You ready?”
Holly nodded. As Ryan moved ahead of her, she cast an appreciative glance over his body. Damn, the man filled out a pair of jeans like no one else. He looked exceedingly masculine in his lambskin-lined coat, cowboy hat and scuffed boots. And his ass. What could she say about a man who had an ass that begged to be touched, fondled and squeezed?
She squeezed her legs together and picked up her pace. She was a walking hormone. But who could blame her after the night she’d experienced? Her cheeks warmed to the point of discomfort when she thought of all they had done. She couldn’t wait to do it again.
“Do you need help up?” Ryan asked, his voice close to her ear.
She jumped and looked around. Hell, she hadn’t even realized they’d walked outside. Hard to notice the cold when her entire body was erupting in flames.
She flushed and turned her attention to the horse. She was short, and it was a long way up into the saddle.
She looked back at Ryan. He grinned and in one swift motion, he wrapped his large hands around her waist and hoisted her up as easily as a sack of potatoes.
“Misty’s a good mount. She’ll follow my lead, so don’t worry about it. Just enjoy yourself,” Ryan said.
She smiled down at him. His hand lingered on her leg then he squeezed it before he walked over to mount his horse.
They picked their way through the snow around to the front of the cabin and down the drive to the road. Holly glanced back at the cabin. It was fully ensconced on the mountain as if the brothers had carved their home right into the surface. Snow covered the roof, and smoke drifted lazily from the stone chimney. It looked like a scene straight from a Christmas card. And it was now her home.
Her chest tightened, and she had the absurd urge to grin like a kid in a candy store. Home.
Life was a strange chain of ironies. She’d learned that quickly enough. Only in the demise of her dreams had she actually found them.
But would it work out?
A shadow of doubt marred her jubilation. She’d thought Mason was the answer to her dreams. Wealthy, seemingly doting on her, protective. The stuff a girl’s dreams were made of. Or nightmares.
Was she making the same mistake again? She sure hadn’t given any more thought or care to this decision than she had the one to marry Mason, and it had landed her in a kettle of hot water.
She frowned. If there had never been a Mason, if she had never made such a monumental mistake, if she hadn’t desperately needed a place to run and hide, would she have been drawn to the brothers and what they offered?
She fought to try and place herself in the frame of mind she’d been in before she’d ever met Mason, but found it impossible to match the woman she’d become to who she’d been.
Her head hurt. She was trying too hard to analyze her feelings. She knew what she thought she felt for the brothers, but what if she was wrong? What if her attraction to them was merely a measure of self-preservation? Gratitude for the safe haven they provided?
Fuck a duck.
It wasn’t fair to them. They wanted a woman who could love all three of them, not a woman who couldn’t think for herself, who was a weak mess, one who’d made one bad decision after another.
“If you frown any harder, you’re going to screw up that pretty face of yours forever,” Ryan said mildly.
She glanced up, guilty heat suffusing her cheeks. She hadn’t even been paying attention to him, her horse or where they were going. And Ryan knew it.
“Sorry,” she said in a low voice. “I was just thinking.”
Ryan shrugged. “It’s why I asked if you wanted to go out for a while. You looked like you could use a break.”
He turned back around in his saddle and stared ahead, silence looming between them once more.
She sighed. He wasn’t pushy. She liked that. But then none of the brothers had pushed her hard. Adam could be demanding. Any fool could see that, but he hadn’t pressed her boundaries.
“It’s beautiful here,” she said, focusing her attention on Ryan.
He nodded. “No place on earth is more beautiful than the Rockies.”
He loved it here. She could tell by the way his eyes scraped across the landscape. Some of the bleakness and torment he wore like a permanent tattoo disappeared, replaced by satisfaction.
“How did you all end up here?” she asked.
He shrugged again. “We grew up on a ranch. It was only natural that we’d want one of our own. And we like to hunt. So we decided to combine those factors and make our living at it.”
She thought on that a moment. The cabin they lived in was large. Though they didn’t take meals in the dining room, the room sported a table that could easily sit two dozen people. And there were several rooms she hadn’t explored yet. An uneasy thought crept into her mind.
“So when it’s hunting season, there’ll be lots of hunters in the cabin?” she asked.
He studied her for a moment as if delving into her thoughts.
“Are you worried about what they’ll think?” he asked, his tone slightly challenging.
“I don’t know,” she said honestly. “I mean I don’t know how I’ll be presented. How do you introduce me to other people?”
“As our woman,” he said.
Her stomach turned over. On the one hand, it did funny things to her, the idea of three sexy as hell men claiming her as their woman, but on the other hand, it could be awkward as hell.
“You’ll get used to it,” he said.
She felt her cheek warming again as another thought struck her. One she hadn’t considered, but in light of their very different relationship, she wasn’t sure.
She cleared her throat, wondering how to present such an awkward question.
Ryan sighed. “Just say it, Holly. Whatever’s on your mind. I don’t bite.”
She stared up at him, sure she was growing redder by the minute. “It’s just that I wondered, that is I wasn’t sure…” She took another steadying breath. “You won’t want there to be others, right?”
His eyes darkened and a scowl twisted his features. “I’ll kill any other man who touches you.”
Her breath eased from her in relief.
Ryan scrubbed a hand over his chin. “Holly, just because we have a different situation, in that all three of us are f**king the same woman, it doesn’t mean we’re going to be sharing you with every man who crosses our path. You’re ours. You belong to us, heart and soul, and if another man so much as looks at you, we’ll rip off his dick and cram it down his throat.”
She couldn’t help it. She laughed. Then she sobered. “I hope you all aren’t making a mistake,” she said quietly.
He tipped up his Stetson to get a better look at her. “Are we making a mistake, Holly?”
She flinched under his frank appraisal. “I don’t want you to be making a mistake,” she whispered. “I don’t want any of this to be a mistake.”
“Maybe you’re rushing things,” he said. “There’s no hurry. We’ve got all the time in the world.”
She drew comfort from his words. And maybe she had felt rushed. As if she should immediately feel right with the situation she found herself—no, that she chose to be—in. Relationships took time, even if she had a habit of hurling herself into them. It sounded as though they were more than willing to grant her time, and for that she was grateful.
She was surprised to see they were nearing the cabin again. She hadn’t even paid attention to their ride, so deep in her thoughts she’d been.
They rode around to the back and stopped outside the barn. Ryan slid from his horse then held up a hand to help her down. She landed inches from him, his body heat reaching out and enveloping her. He smelled so damn sexy. Just like a man should. Of wood, leather and a hint of wildness.
She placed her hand on his hard chest, unable to resist the temptation. His heat seared her palm. He growled low in his throat.
“Let’s get the horses in before I f**k you right here in the snow,” he said.
Goose bumps assaulted every inch of her body. Her ni**les tightened and streaks of pleasure burned between her legs at his explicit words.
Her hands shaking, she followed him into the barn. She watched as he groomed the horses. She imagined it was her his hands roamed over instead of the horse. Sweat beaded on her brow. She wanted him. Right here. Right now. And if she could gain the courage, what was to stop her from taking what she wanted?
Chapter Ten
Holly’s courage deserted her halfway to Ryan. As if sensing her approach, he turned around after locking the stall. He studied her for a moment.
“Did you want something?”
What a question. She swallowed. Then swallowed again.
“I want you,” she said simply, it all coming out in a quick rush.
He flashed her a sexy, arrogant grin.
“Then come get me,” he said, spreading his arms out in a gesture or surrender.
She trembled with nervousness, but she walked slowly toward him. Her gaze focused on the bulge in his jeans, the bulge that had grown larger with her announcement. She knew precisely what she wanted to do with it. She wanted to taste it again. Like she had done before.
With shaking hands, she reached out for the button of his jeans. She heard his quick intake of breath when she worked it free. She pulled the zipper down until she could see the band of his underwear.
“Take it out,” she whispered. “I want to see you pull it out.”
Somehow the image of him pulling his c**k out of his pants excited her wildly. She wanted that image to come to life.
“Get on your knees,” he rasped.
She hastily complied, and he reached into his pants and pulled out his erection. She reached up, wanting to touch it. She curled her hands around it. It was inches from her lips, straining, hard as a rock.
She flicked her tongue out and delicately swirled it around the broad head. He flinched and groaned then moved forward, seeking more of her mouth.
She wrapped her hand around the base of his c**k and guided him toward her lips. She let him rest on her lips for the merest of seconds before sucking him gently into her mouth.
“Ah damn, sweetheart. That’s it. Take it all.”
His hand tangled in her hair as he gripped the back of her neck. His hips surged forward as he thrust into her mouth.
She delighted in the contrast of soft, smooth skin and iron hardness. He tasted exotic, all male, like he smelled. Silky fluid spilled on her tongue as he surged to the back of her throat. She wanted more. She wanted to make him come. Make him as wild for her as she felt in his arms.
Soft sucking noises filled the barn. They sounded erotic to her ears and spurred her excitement. She drew him in then slid her mouth back down the length of him until the tip rested against her tongue.
“You’re a temptress,” he said hoarsely.
She smiled. She felt like a temptress. Gloried in it. She let his c**k fall from her mouth and ran her tongue down the underside, following the thick vein down to his balls. She sucked one in her mouth, loving the way his entire body tightened. She lavished attention on the other, sucking and laving with her tongue.
“You have to stop,” he choked out. “Or I’m gonna come.”
She sat back on her heels and flashed him a wicked smile. “That’s the point.”
He hauled her up against him and slammed his mouth down over hers. Their tongues dueled. Their lips met in breathless gasps.
“Get your damn pants off,” he demanded.
She wasted no time shucking first her boots and then her jeans. He reached down and ripped her underwear, the slight material tearing easily from her body. Before she could register what he was doing, he hoisted her up in his arms, spreading her legs around his waist.
In one hard plunge, he thrust deeply into her wetness. She cried out, the noise echoing over the barn. Her pu**y convulsed around his cock, milking him, inviting him further.
He held her tightly with one arm and began yanking her coat off with the other. As soon as she was free, he wrapped both arms around her waist and began thrusting into her. She felt the denim of his jeans scratch at her ass as he worked his way further into her.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and threw her head back in abandon.
“You are so f**king beautiful,” he said tightly.
Buried deeply within her, he moved her back until she was firmly against the wall of the barn. Then he began to f**k her in earnest.
He kissed and sucked his way over her shoulder to her neck, and when he reached the delicate skin just below her ear, he sank his teeth in.
Her hands fisted in his hair. She wasn’t gentle. But neither was he. She yanked his head from her neck and fused their lips together. She was hungry. Hungry for him and she couldn’t get enough.
He f**ked harder and harder, her back slamming against the wall. She didn’t care. She wanted him deeper.
His hands crept downward, over the globes of her ass until he cupped both in his palms. He spread her wider to meet his thrusts. She felt his fingers feather across the tight entrance to her ass, and she tightened.
“Relax,” he whispered against her ear.