Cowboy Boots and Unadulterated Pleasures [Cowboy Boots 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (18 page)

The graphic scene was like one from a horror flick. Blood and brains squirted to the side as the gunshot resounded. His brother screamed, leaping sideways as if an afterthought, but not at all an afterthought. Kemper and Brand rushed him, their pale flesh obvious signs of their very real despair.

Then there was Gabe. Where the hell had he been? He sprinted across the room with his gun drawn. He stilled before them, his mouth gaping, his eyes wide.

Fury spun through Crue’s veins as he watched Kelly sink into a deep grief, one he and Colt knew well. When a parent died in front of their child’s eyes, regardless of their age, death took a very cruel toll. He should know. Thanks to his father’s career with the Underground Unit, both of his parents had died execution-style.

Snatching his cell phone, he hit the code for his brother and the others. After five rings, they were all connected. “What happened?” he asked, barely able to speak as his heavy gaze met Kelly’s.

She propped up her elbow on the chair, placing her chin on her hand. Looking the other way, she sobbed as the intensity of her pain increased.

“Are we on speaker?”

“No,” Crue said. “Do we need to be?”

“Yes,” Colt replied. “I need her to know we couldn’t stop this, Crue.”

“That’s debatable.”

“No,” Brand said. “We were there, but it all happened so quickly. If you watch the replays—”

“Replays?” she asked suddenly, apparently able to hear every word. “Replays?” she screamed as her tears streamed down her face. “Who the fuck replays death? It’s not as if we’re watching television! We aren’t watching a football game where a man steps out of bounds and the commentators are talking amongst themselves, saying, ‘Oh, this one is just too close to call.’ The end result is obvious! His death is set in stone and Brock Donovan is responsible!”

By this time, Crue had pressed the speaker button and he held the phone between them. He placed the device on the computer desk and stroked her head, trying to comfort her, but failing miserably at giving her what she needed. Fact was, she needed Colt. He was better at consoling her. He’d been there for her when her mother died and beautifully stepped up to the plate to help her deal with her grief in a timely manner.

He’d help her through her father’s death, too.

Crue cursed himself as he thought of how he so easily passed the buck. Colt wasn’t there. The others couldn’t help him. At this moment, when she needed someone most, he was all she had.

Damn if she didn’t have sorry luck.

Gathering her in his arms, he held her against him and tried to reassure her as Colt gently explained what they’d learned from Brock. He promised to e-mail a copy of the fax and other proof of what her father had planned to do—trade their lives in exchange for his gambling debt.

“Kelly, I’m so sorry,” Colt said. “I want you to know we’re all here for you. We will protect you. We will help you get through this.”

Kelly glared at the phone. “How do you propose to do that, Colt? Hmm? From what you’ve said, there’s a man out there who wants to extinguish the threat our division represents. My father gave him too much information. How the hell do you think we’ll ever protect ourselves when he knows our moves before we make them?”

Colt cleared his throat. “Kelly, the Unit isn’t your responsibility. You’re our responsibility. We will protect you. We’ll keep you safe, but you will not fight beside us. Your father had no right to induct you into our training program and our ways. I’ll talk to Donovan and make sure he understands. You are not indebted to the Unit and you pose no threat by walking away from the duties your father inflicted on you because of his own personal distress.”

“Colt?” Her eyes became dark and distant.

“Yes. I’m still here.”

“Good. Go fuck yourself.”

Rebounding from grief wasn’t exactly a tissue box with a million-dollar prize on the bottom, but the tears ceased to fall after Kelly read the details of what her father had proposed.

Kelly’s father had offered her life and the lives of his operatives in exchange for debt relief and a fresh start. He allowed for certain stipulations in regards to the casino, but when it came to negotiating the terms for his daughter’s life, Daniel had no real interest in doing so.

In exchange for their lives, Lorenzo had promised to vacate the premises and guaranteed that his associates wouldn’t try to go after the casino and its holdings. The sorry bastard didn’t know her father never owned the casino in the first place. The casino belonged to the Underground Unit.

After Kelly scarfed down a freeze-dried meal for nutrition purposes, she walked in the bathroom and glared at herself in the mirror. She looked like hell.

Crue had been working with Riley Donovan. Together, they’d been trying to find Lorenzo’s whereabouts. Several calls and e-mails had been exchanged.

Kelly had a good idea where Lorenzo might be, but she wasn’t about to tell them what she knew until she had a chance to speak with Brock Donovan. As she considered what she might say to Brock, she also thought about Colt and his damned determination.

He didn’t want her in the Underground Unit. He would do whatever he could to convince Brock to release her from her duties. With deep concern, she eyed Crue. He was engulfed in whatever he and Riley were discussing, rapidly entering data as they planned for hypothetical attacks, trying to guess at how many men Lorenzo had at his disposal here in the States.

Easing into the bedroom, Kelly sat on the edge of the bed and concentrated on the terms of agreement from the papers she’d read. Her father, without a doubt, had grown to resent those he’d once claimed to love. He’d developed a profound bitterness for the team he’d trained, for the men he’d once loved like his own sons.

His gambling debt had overwhelmed him. His involvement with Lorenzo had ruined him. He didn’t just have an addiction. He had a sickness, one which ate away at his heart and soul worse than any cancer.

Retrieving her phone, she dialed Brock and waited.

“I’ve been expecting your call,” he said.

“If I’m out, you tell me I’m out. I don’t want to hear the news from Colt Candy.”

The line went silent.

“So?” she pressed. “What’s it gonna be, Donovan?”

“I think you know more than you’re telling us.”

“Damn straight, and the information I have is valuable. Do you really want to cut me free just because Colt isn’t comfortable working with a woman?”

“I think his reasons for wanting you out are a little more complex than that.”

“Then why don’t you explain them to me, because I’m not a little girl who can be told to go sit and mind her manners in the corner.”

“I know, Kelly. I’ve seen you in action.” His voice held a hint of humor and she felt her skin flush as she thought about the facts as she knew them. He had surveillance planted in her father’s Nevada home, which meant he’d undoubtedly seen plenty. The night before had been recorded for the boys watching upstairs.

Shit
. He probably saw her as a liability, or perhaps he viewed her as any other man might if they had been watching from the outside. “Just because you may have seen clips of an intimate moment, don’t mistakenly believe I’m just another submissive woman spreading her legs wide, willing to wait for a good fuck.”

He remained silent. Knowing Donovan, he was trying to get a read on her stability. A lot had occurred in the last twenty-four hours.

“I’m serious, Brock. This is business. The other stuff you’ve seen doesn’t matter here.”

“I disagree,” he said. “It matters. At least it matters to someone—Colt, Crue, hell, probably the lot of them—but as far as I’m concerned? That’s their business. I have a submissive woman and I could care less about putting the screws to you or anyone else. Do your damned job and you can keep it. If you don’t, you know the consequences and no one leaves this business unscathed, Kelly. Colt Candy in their corner or no Colt Candy.”

“So will you tell him, or shall I?”

“I have a feeling he already knows.”

* * * *

“You called Brock?” Crue asked, standing in the doorway. He’d overheard bits and pieces of the conversation while he’d been talking to Riley.

“You finally decided to dress?” she asked. Her gaze flitted over him. By the disappointed look on her face, she appreciated him more when he’d strolled around without a thread of clothing to cover him.

“Was that a wise decision?”

“What, calling Brock, or doing it without asking permission?”

“You don’t need my permission to lead your life how you see fit. I’ve always made my wishes known. I don’t role-play, but outside of our bedroom, you’re free to do whatever you choose. We understand one another, or so I thought.”

“Do we?” she asked, rising to her feet. “I don’t know, Crue. I’m constantly in a state of confusion around you.”

Her hot gaze seared his skin. His cock twitched in his jeans and he found himself moistening his lips, craving her kiss. Maybe she was in a constant state of confusion, but he was in a steady state of heightened arousal and had been since her father—louse that he was—had assigned him and Gabe to cover her as shadows.

“How do I confuse you?” he asked.

“For starters, you mention ‘our bedroom’ as if we’ve been in bed together in recent weeks and months.”

“How easily you’ve forgotten our time together last night.”

“And you think a quick romp across the sheets makes me yours again?”

“It does,” he deadpanned. She was trying to piss him off and it wasn’t working. She belonged to him as much as she belonged to Colt. End of story.

She snorted. “Just like big brother.”

“I’m nothing like my brother, but if I were, it wouldn’t offend me in the least. He’s an honorable man, a man who happens to adore you.”

“And you don’t?”

He swiped at his lips again, watching hers as she put him on the spot.

“What I thought,” she muttered, walking past him.

Before he let her slip away, he bracketed his arm around her waist and yanked her to him. “There are significant differences between brothers. Then again, you already know this. Kelly, I won’t apologize for what I am or what I long for most, and I won’t let you make excuses for needing what only I can give you.”

“You don’t know what I need,” she whispered, squirming in his arms.

“Oh, sub,” he crooned. “Nothing could be further from the truth.” He lowered his lips to hers and held her in place, determined to help her through the pain. He nipped at her lips, drawing her arms around his neck and holding her close.

“Crue, no,” she whispered, her body already defying her.

Her nipples hardened against her thin shirt. He stuffed his hand under the material, taunting the aroused gem until she moaned. Her body gave away her desires, indicating she would easily surrender to the pleasure.

Smiling to himself in satisfaction, he stripped her shirt away and returned to her lips, smoothing the texture of his mouth across hers before thrusting his tongue between her parted lips and losing himself in the heat of her kiss.

She drew him closer, clawing her way up his arms. “You’re right, Crue. I do need you.”

And he would hold nothing back, no small part of himself. Today, he would give her everything she desired.

Lifting her to him, he carried her to bed. “On your knees, sub.”

“Do you still want me, Crue?” she asked, watching him carefully. “After everything that’s happened today?”

Was she out of her mind? Of course he wanted her! The fact she’d shown her more vulnerable side only pulled those heart strings tighter. He wanted—no, he needed—to take care of her.

“I’m going to love you,” he promised her. “I’ll take care of you, Kelly.”

Her hooded gaze followed his as she wiggled away from her shorts and panties. , too, undressed.

Walking to the bedside table, he grabbed lube and a condom. Hearing a loud wallop above them, he knew it was only a matter of time before the others would join them, but the chance of a possible interruption didn’t deter him.

Approaching the bed, he sheathed himself as he knelt on the mattress behind her. Dousing his fingers with lubricant, he moistened his shaft and ran the tip between her cheeks, rubbing her puckered hole with his wet finger.

“No, Sir,” she rasped. “Not there. Not right now.”

“Soon,” he said, toying with the tight rim. He pressed his finger inside her until she clenched around the digit.

As her head dipped to her chest, he lowered himself to her, withdrawing his finger as he slipped inside her cunt. Her hot juices coated his sheathed cock and he nearly cried out in gratification.

Her pussy milked him. The sweet, repetitive pulse from her channel sent exquisite sensations up and down his cock.

“I told you. I know what you need,” he crooned, grinding against her. He admired the way she rocked to and fro, sliding forward and gliding back.

“Oh yes!” Her movements immediately quickened. “Don’t take me easy.”

As their bodies came together in an electrifying fuck, he clutched her hips and rode her from behind, his balls slapping against her ass as he indulged in the tight grip of her sweet cunt.

Reaching around her body, he cupped her breast, fingering her tight nipple as he pounded inside her. The feel of her vibrating pussy closing around his prick made his balls burn as his cock surged forward.

He couldn’t think of a time when he’d needed Kelly more, when he’d yearned for her in such a way that all he wanted to do was take her in his arms and never let her go. He tossed his head back and sank inside the hot depths of her core, reaching for another piece of satisfaction, another way in which he could satisfy her as well.

Her shapely hips shook as he impaled her. Locking his cock deep inside her sex, he called out her name while cursing the damn rules he’d rarely bent and never broken.

“Come for me, sub,” he whispered, trying to bite back the raging need, anything to slow down the perverse yearning he possessed. He wanted to slam inside her, hammer forward as if she were only a sensual tool for his pleasure.