Day, Xondra - Menage on the Prairie (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) (11 page)

“God, that feels so good.” Ryan groaned, plowing deep. “You’re so hot and tight, man.”

“Yeah, baby, screw your boy nice and hard.” Winter leaned over him slightly, balancing himself against Ryan’s chest. “You’re so hot, man, I can explode just looking at you. Drill it in me, handsome.” Winter’s hard-on bounced in the air.

The sight mesmerized Ryan. With one hand he grabbed Winter’s cock and started jacking, rubbing his thumb across the head.

“Oh God,” cried Winter, his eyes clenched shut. “You’re going to make me blow!”

“I’ll make you feel so damned good you’ll never forget me.” Ryan fell into a rhythm, pummeling Winter’s butt, stroking his hot, thick hardness. Ryan felt his balls rise and fall, and when they rose again, he grunted, drilling deeper into Winter.

“Oh, yeah, shoot it for me baby,” pleaded Winter.

That was all Ryan needed to hear. The pleasure combined with the whole unexpected scenario. Here he was making love to this hot man he’d known only some hours ago, and now the guy was begging to be filled by him. It was way too much for him to handle.

“Oh yeah,” he grunted, feeling the cum jet from his cock into Winter’s clenching hole. “Take it, take it!”

“I’m going to shoot.” Winter hunched over, looking down at Ryan jacking him. “Here it comes. I’m going to shoot all over your hot chest, man.”

Ryan heaved a sigh of satisfaction when he felt hot rivets of cum land on his chest. Together, both men fought to catch their breath, to reclaim the situation that had just occurred between them.

Winter collapsed on top of him. “That was sure something.” He
gingerly kissed Ryan’s neck, nuzzling into him.

“It sure was.” Ryan ran his fingers through Winter’s locks. This is how it had been with Joe in the beginning. Suddenly he felt sad, very sad.

* * * *

A stranger in a strange land. That’s how she felt. Kate walked into the small bedroom, hell-bent on packing and getting out of what was nothing more than a house of lies.

She harbored no ill will toward Ryan, he was just another pawn in Joe’s game, like she was. He’d been smart to take off, and she was going to do the exact same thing.

Her mind reeled with everything she had learned less than an hour ago. How could he have led her here under false pretenses? She’d thought he wanted a wife, not a cover-up.

Removing her things from the dresser drawers, she jumped when she heard Joe say her name. He’d come back.

“Kate.”

She ignored him, keeping to the task of hand.

“Kate?”

Again, she went about her business. This man didn’t deserve her attentions. He could find solace elsewhere for all she cared.

“Kate, what are you doing?”

“What do you think? What does it look like?” she snipped. “I’m going to take a room in town for now, and when I can get it together, I’m heading back to the city where I belong.”

“You just can’t up and leave like this.”

“I can and I will. I refuse to stay with a man in a marriage that’s nothing more than a sham. When I said my vows I wanted them to be forever, but not like this.” She wanted to cry desperately, but she wouldn’t.

“It’s not a sham,” his voice was pleading. “Kate, contrary to what you may believe, I don’t regret our marrying.”

“Of course you don’t. I’m your cover-up. Just a woman who will stop them talking in town. You really don’t know how it warms my heart to know that.” Her voice seethed with cutting sarcasm.

What she said must have hit home. Looking like a man defeated, he turned from her. “You can’t go tonight, not in the dark. I’ll drive you to town in the morning. You can sleep in here, and I will sleep in the barn.”

As he walked away he muttered something to her that sounded remotely like goodnight.

Chapter Nine

Just after dawn, Ryan slipped out of Winter’s bed.

“It’s early,” said Winter, he stretched lazily. “Come
back to bed, and we can fool around some.”

“Can’t be done,” replied Ryan, sliding into his trousers. “I wish we could, but I have somewhere I need to be. My horse, where is he?”

Winter sighed, placing his hands behind his head. “I had him taken to the livery. It’s just down from the saloon.” His eyes connected with Ryan’s. “Will I see you again?”

Ryan shrugged. “I can’t answer that but maybe.” He walked to the bed and leaned down onto Winter, one knee resting on the mattress. “I had a great night and I thank you for it.” He placed a kiss on Winter’s left cheek. “You’re a great guy.”

“But there’s someone else on your mind. I can see it in your eyes when I look at you.”

He couldn’t lie to the guy. “There is. I have some unfinished business that I need to take care of.”

Winter wrapped his arms around Ryan’s neck, planting a deep kiss on his lips. “I hope everything works out for you, handsome. And if you need me, you know where I am. I’m more than willing to see you again. Guys like you are few and far between around these parts.”

A thought crossed Ryan’s mind. It wasn’t easy to meet men of their persuasion, it wasn’t like a guy could be open about this. “But you manage, right?”

“Manage?” asked Winter. “You mean, with men?”

Ryan nodded.

“I do okay, I guess. It isn’t easy but yeah, there are some that come and go. It’s hard when you’d like to have something more long-term and stable. I’m starting to think that it’s not meant to be. You just have to take what you can get and settle for that.”

Ryan sympathized with Winter. He’d thought he had it forever with Joe until Kate came along. Now, it was practically over and done with. Yet, something inside him was refusing to let go.

With one last kiss, he was gone. He promised Winter they would see each other again, though deep down he knew they wouldn’t.

After he had saddled up at the livery, he made his way out of town and home, or what he had known as home. Again, now he wasn’t so sure.

* * * *

Kate spent most of the night in bed awake, staring at the ceiling, looking to the lone window in the room.

She’d heard Joe banging around earlier and guessed from the smell of coffee that he’d fixed himself breakfast before continuing to his workday. She hoped he wouldn’t forget his promise to run her into town. But if he did, she’d walk, despite the long distance.

Today she felt calmer, less angry, but the hurt remained. And the funny thing was, after she got over the initial shock of knowing that Joe and Ryan had carried on an intimate relationship together, she was more upset with Joe’s lies more so than the actual act itself. Love was love, and she had nothing against where anyone else found it or with whom. It wasn’t her place to judge, nor did she want to.

The prospects of going back to the city, back to her father, caused her to shudder whenever the very thought entered her mind. But what choice did she have? She had some money, more than enough to set up house if she chose to do so. Yet, starting over somewhere new once again, well, it was off-putting.

Choices. Too many choices. She slipped out of bed and dressed. She felt lost. It wasn’t a feeling she hoped to ever feel again once this kerfuffle had come to pass.

Kate paused long enough to pour herself a cup of coffee, she wasn’t hungry, and after she finished she’d go and find Joe to take her from here.
That was her plan such as it was, the rest she could figure out later.

* * * *

Joe wiped the sweat from his brow as he cleaned the stalls in the barn. Only one horse remained, since Ryan had taken off with the other.

The trotting sounds were the first to catch his attention, causing him to look up from his work. Ryan.

“Where the hell have you been?” asked Joe, raising his voice as Ryan neared him on the horse.

Joe’s eyes followed Ryan as the guy swung himself down from the horse, landing on his feet just a foot away.

“I needed to get away, to clear my head. I wasn’t thinking straight,” muttered Ryan, walking into the barn. “But I’m back and I feel better.”

“You feel better,” scoffed Joe. “Well I’m sure as shit happy that someone is. She knows, I told her last night.”

“Knows about what?”

“Us.”

“There is, nor was there ever, any
us,
” spat Ryan.

“I hate myself. So much it hurts. And when you took off, I thought you’d never come back.”

“That might have been for the best, for all of us,” replied Ryan, lying back on a pile of hay. “I’m in no mood to fight, argue, or anything else.”

Joe stood over Ryan. He reflected on the first time they had come together. Falling to his knees, he reached out to caress Ryan’s cheek.

“That probably isn’t a good idea,” said Ryan, yet Joe couldn’t help notice that Ryan wasn’t pulling away from him. Try as he might, he couldn’t envision his life without Ryan. This man, this perfect, sweet, handsome man meant a hell of a lot to him. Even now his heart raced at just the thought of them being together.

“Don’t ever leave me. Promise me that you’ll never run off again.”

“I can’t and won’t promise you anything,” explained Ryan. “It really hurt to think that you could just toss me away like that. I understand the reasons behind bringing Kate here and I don’t dislike her. But I don’t have to like what you did to me. I didn’t deserve to be treated that way.”

“I’m an idiot.”

Ryan raised one brow. “I can’t say that I disagree with that.” A smirk rolled across his lips.

“Hey now. I’m trying my best here. The fact is, I love you so much and I don’t think I even began to realize it until I thought I had lost you forever.”

Looking at the man he’d just professed his love to, Joe searched Ryan’s eyes for some remnant of what he must have been thinking. He was torn—he didn’t want to lose Ryan or Kate. But Kate already seemed to be a lost cause.

Ryan’s hands ran the length of Joe’s shoulder as Joe closed in on him. “I missed you, I missed us. And most importantly I missed this.” They kissed.

* * * *

“Well now, what do we have here?” With both hands on hips, Kate eagerly waited for an explanation. She was amused more than anything, wickedly amused. “Welcome back Ryan, I hope you enjoyed your little interlude away. It’s a pity we now meet in passing.”

She watched, still amused as the two men scrambled from the pile of hay. “Joe, you promised to take me into town?”

“Yeah, we just—” Joe had now turned a bright shade of red.

“No need to explain.” She placed one hand out in front of her to silence him. She swallowed hard, the lump in her throat was back, making another appearance. And this time she knew she couldn’t hold back her emotions. One too many times things had went bad
…
Darcy, Joe. And for once she thought she had found it, a decent man, marriage, a place to call home, love.

In the flash of a moment, she was in Joe’s arms. She sobbed as he held her and when she tried to talk, she couldn’t. And if she could, what would she have said? Were there any words to describe emotions that had wound and mixed themselves up inside her, confusing her?

“Kate, I know you don’t believe me but I will say it again. I never meant to hurt you. I don’t want you to go. You’re my wife. That means more than just words to me.”