Colters' Woman (6 page)

“Thank you.” She couldn’t manage much more around the huge knot in her throat. She felt dangerously close to tears and fought to contain them.

Adam leaned forward and brushed his mouth across hers. He was surprisingly gentle. For the first time, she reached a hand out to touch him, running her fingertips across his cheek, feeling the slight stubble along his jaw.

When he drew away, his eyes were burning with passion, and she felt heady with the knowledge she had affected him.

Ryan stood up from his seat at the bar. “Well if we’re going into town, we need to go now. We don’t want to be late getting back if it’s going to snow.”

“Is it…is it safe for me to go into town?” she asked. The idea that someone might see her and report back to Mason struck fear into her heart, despite the brothers’ vow to protect her.

“We’ll make sure you’re not seen,” Ethan said. “Riley’s Western Store is on the edge of town. We’ll park you in a corner of the store and do your shopping for you, let you try on stuff if you need to, and we’ll keep a sharp eye for anything unusual going on.”

She expelled a long breath. “Okay. Let’s do it then.”

***

The drive into town was long and quiet. Holly sat up front while Ethan drove and Ryan sat in the back of the Land Rover. During the course of the trip, Ethan entwined his fingers with hers, and she drew comfort from the gesture.

By midmorning, they drove into the small town of Clyde. Adam had been right. There wasn’t much beyond a grocery store, a feed mill, a few cafes and the western store, but there was a quaint main street and the businesses were clean and well kept.

Ethan pulled up at the western store, and he and Ryan surveyed the area before getting out. Ryan opened her door and held his hand out for her. Once she was out, Ethan and Ryan flanked her, and they headed into the store.

They led her to the area beside the one small dressing room and had her sit.

“Now tell us what sizes you need, and we’ll bring you some stuff to look at,” Ryan directed.

She laughed. “There’s no one else in here. I think I can look myself.”

Ethan glanced around once more. “Okay, I’ll go stand by the door. Ryan, you keep an eye on Holly while she shops.”

Holly walked over to the racks in the center of the store and began thumbing through the shirts. She found a few long-sleeved flannel shirts in her size and removed them from the rack. She wasn’t sure how much she should spend so she only took a few and moved on to the jeans.

As she was searching for her size in pants, Ryan walked up behind her with several more shirts over his arm. At her self-conscious glance, he shoved the shirts toward her, his expression brooking no argument.

Then he reached for a heavy, sheepskin-lined coat on the rack next to her. “You’ll need a coat too.”

She turned and let him help her into the sleeves. Once she was sure it would fit, she shrugged out of it and handed it back to Ryan. “Will you take it all up to the counter for me? I’ll be up in just a minute.”

“Want me to pick you out a pair of boots while I’m up there?” he asked.

She smiled. “I’d like that. Thanks.”

She walked closer to the window overlooking the street and picked out a few pairs of jeans in dark blue and one each in black and khaki. As she turned to follow Ryan to the checkout, her gaze stopped on a familiar black vehicle pulling down the street.

Frozen to the spot, she watched in horror as Mason Bardwell climbed out of the flashy BMW.

Her stomach knotted, rolled, tightening until she knew she would vomit. She glanced around in panic, looking for a place to hide.

***

Ethan frowned as the BMW pulled into a parking spot across the street. Unusual vehicle for this part of the world. If it wasn’t four-wheel drive, the locals had no use for it.

He glanced back to where Ryan was looking at boots and then at the racks where Holly was. Only she wasn’t there. He scanned the store, looking to see where she’d gone, but she wasn’t anywhere to be seen.

“Ryan,” he barked.

Ryan turned around, searching for Holly as well. His features hardened when he saw no sign of her.

They fanned out, darting between the clothes racks. Ethan walked to the back toward the fitting room, and Ryan scoured the front by the window.

He found her huddled behind a clearance rack, only her feet sticking out from under the clothes. When he parted the hangers, she flinched, as if afraid of who had come.

“What’s wrong?” he asked sharply

She covered her face with her hands and moaned low in her throat. “He’s here. Outside. He’s come for me. He knows I’m here.”

Ethan’s nostrils flared. “Black BMW? Is that him?”

Holly nodded and shrank further into herself.

“I’ll kill him.”

For a moment, Ethan thought he had spoken his thoughts aloud, but then he realized Ryan had spoken from behind him.

Her head shot up and she looked pleadingly at them. “No!” she protested. “Please just take me home before he sees me.”

Ethan turned to Ryan. “Pull the Rover around back. I’ll take her out that way.”

He turned his attention back to Holly and gently picked her up. Cradling her to his chest, he strode toward the rear of the store, careful to keep her hidden from view.

He stopped at the counter for the briefest of moments when he caught the storeowner’s curious stare.

“Riley, I need a favor,” Ethan murmured. “There’s a mean son of a bitch outside, and he’s looking for this woman. If he asks, you haven’t seen her.”

Riley’s gaze hardened, and he fingered the shotgun he kept behind the counter. “You got it.”

Ethan nodded then hurried out the back. Ryan was there, holding the door open. “You drive,” he ordered as he climbed into the back, still holding Holly.

A few seconds later, they pulled onto the main street. Holly lay in the seat, her head on Ethan’s lap. He stared at the BMW on their way past, committing the license plate to memory. Not that it was hard. California plates. Personalized. MASON. Arrogant bastard to boot.

He stroked Holly’s hair, his rage building as he felt her tremble beneath his touch. When they were out of town, he pulled her up beside him.

She clung to him, her face buried in his chest. She felt better than he had ever imagined a woman could feel. That the woman who would complete them all was finally with them was incomprehensible. And he sure as hell wasn’t going to let some abusive bastard take her away from them.

“How is she?” Ryan asked from the front seat as he sped up the mountain, taking the switchbacks as fast as he dared.

Ethan smoothed the hair from her face. “Good question. How are you, doll?”

“I’m okay,” she said in a shaky voice. “He didn’t see me, did he?”

“No, he didn’t. I promise. You’re safe.”

He continued to caress her, running his hand up and down her back. “We’re almost home.”

He nuzzled the top of her head, pressing kisses to her hair. Gradually she ceased shaking, but she held him tightly, a fact he wasn’t complaining about. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, she trusted him. It was a start.

Chapter Six

Adam was furious when Ethan and Ryan arrived with a visibly shaken Holly. He scooped her up in his arms and hugged her tightly against his chest. His eyes flashed over her head, demanding to know what happened.

“Her h—the bastard was in town,” Ethan spat.

“Did he hurt you, baby?” Adam demanded.

She shook her head against his chest.

He looked up to his brothers for confirmation.

“He didn’t see her,” Ryan said. “At least we don’t think. He was parked on the street. Holly saw him from the store window.”

“Fuck.”

This certainly complicated things. He exchanged glances with his brothers. All silently agreed. Something would have to be done about the bastard. They couldn’t allow Holly to be terrorized any longer.

Adam lowered Holly to her feet and then framed her face in his hands. “Listen to me, baby. We won’t let him hurt you, I swear it.”

She stared at him for a long moment then said in a low whisper, “I believe you.”

He held her face in his hands for a long moment, and then he lowered his mouth to capture hers. Her lips melted over his in a sweet rush. They were on the verge of something wonderful. Her trust. Carefully given, and very precious.

Adam ran a hand down her cheek, down the curve of her slender neck and down to the neckline of her shirt.

“Let us take care of you,” he murmured. “First a bath…” He let his voice trail off, suggesting there was more to come.

She shivered underneath his touch. But she didn’t look at all worried about the idea of more to come.

“I’ll run her some bathwater,” Ryan said as he turned to leave.

Holly watched him go and then turned nervously to Adam. “There’s something…there’s something you should know.”

He lifted his brow at the hesitancy in her voice. He looked over at Ethan who shrugged.

She pushed away from him, and he allowed her space. She moved several feet from both him and Ethan.

“I feel so stupid saying this,” she began. She wrung her hands in front of her, her agitation increasing.

“Holly,” Ethan said. “Whatever it is, just tell us. It can’t be so bad, no matter what you may think.”

She took a deep breath and looked between them. “I thought you should know, I mean I don’t even know how this whole thing works. Between us, I mean. About sex.”

She broke off, her cheeks pink with a blush.

Adam waited patiently for her to come around to her point. The fact she was entertaining thoughts of sex was promising, but she wasn’t sure how it would work between them. He smiled. She was delightfully innocent.

“It’s just that I’ve never done this before,” she said awkwardly. “I mean sex in general.”

Not that innocent surely… His head jerked in surprise, and he looked at Ethan to see the same surprise emblazoned on his face.

“Say that again?” Ethan said.

Her blush deepened.

“But you’re married,” Adam began.

“I left him on our wedding night,” she mumbled.

A slow smile spread across Ethan’s face, and the same sense of satisfaction took hold of Adam. She was going to be more than just theirs. She would
only
belong to them. They would be her first. And her last.

“Water’s ready,” Ryan called from the door.

“We’ll let you talk in the tub,” Adam said. She stepped back slightly when his hand slid under her shirt. “Trust me, baby. I won’t hurt you. We need to get you out of your clothes.”

She licked her lips then captured her bottom lip between her teeth and nibbled furiously. She was, in a word, adorable.

Holly glanced between the three men in front of her and nearly hyperventilated. She wanted them, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to be naked in front of them again. The mere idea had her wanting to hurl.

Adam’s hand slid underneath her shirt, his fingers brushing the underside of her breast. The thin material of her bra did nothing to diminish his touch. She felt the scorching blaze of his heat to her very depths.

Feather light, his fingers brushed across her skin, around to her back and to the clasp of her bra. With a flick of his hand, the clasp broke free.

Another hand slipped underneath her shirt, shoving it upward. She gave a startled gasp as she realized Ethan had joined Adam.

Ethan pushed her shirt to her neck then Adam gently tugged it over her head. She self-consciously covered her chest with her arms.

“Don’t,” Ryan said huskily. “You’re beautiful.”

She looked up to see him staring at her from across the room, his eyes burning into hers.

Slowly she let her hands fall away until she stood in front of them in only her jeans.

“Jesus,” Ethan breathed.

Adam undid the button on her jeans then slid the zipper down.

“If you don’t hurry the water’s going to get cold,” Ryan drawled.

“We can’t have that,” Adam said in a voice that sent spasms from her belly to her pussy. Her muscles clenched in red-hot need.

He began to peel her jeans down her body until she stood in only her panties. Ready for the agony to end, she hooked her thumbs in the waistband and quickly shimmied out of her underwear.

Satisfaction and approval glimmered in Adam’s eyes. “You’re perfect.”

She found herself lifted in his arms, and he carried her into the bathroom. He lowered her into the huge tub of foamy suds, and she moaned in pleasure as the warm water lapped over her body.

“We’ll give you some time to relax,” Adam said as he stood back up. He dropped a kiss on top of her head. “I’ll be back to wash your hair and dry you off in a few minutes.”

She watched as they filed out of the bathroom, and she sank lower into the suds, closing her eyes. Would they want to have sex with her now that she had told them she was a virgin? She was nervous about the whole idea. Not only had she never done it, but she had three men wanting to make love to her. And she had no idea how they planned to go about it. But damned if she wasn’t eager as hell to find out.