Rocky Mountain Freedom (17 page)

She was so close to going over the edge, using all her strength to resist, Travis stepping away barely registered. When he picked her up, though, she noticed, as did Cassidy who complained bitterly.

“I wasn’t done.”

Travis rolled on a condom, tossing himself across the bed like he was going after runaway sheep. He put her in his lap again, only this time facing Cassidy. Her back pressed against Travis’s chest, her ass hard against his covered erection.

“Put me inside you,” Travis ordered.

She wiggled onto her knees and reached eagerly between her legs, tugging his cock forward far enough to slide the hard head through her folds and get him wet.

Cassidy had rolled back onto his heels, watching intently as she lowered her hips slightly, surrounding Travis’s cock.

“So good,” she sighed, dropping another inch, rising again as she worked him into her body. Travis lifted her hips, his strong hands gripping her tightly as he helped her find a rhythm.

In front of her, Cassidy moved in closer, picking up her feet and balancing them on the edge of the bed. “Travis, lean back.”

Travis wrapped an arm around Ashley’s waist and obeyed, and Ashley moaned as she settled all the way into his lap, this time with his cock buried in her sex.

She rolled her hips, riding him smoothly, enjoying the feeling of being so full. She didn’t expect Cassidy to touch her. To place his thumb directly over her clit and apply enough pressure she gasped.

“Holy shit, what did you do?” Travis asked. “She about burst into flames.”

“Going to make her come like she asked, that’s all,” Cassidy said, but his gaze never left her sex. He teased her clit, catching it between his thumb and fingers, stroking and playing as Travis slid deep. Slowly at first, then faster, until Ashley couldn’t think anymore. Couldn’t do anything but feel their touch on her body. Travis’s cock inside, Cassidy’s unending caresses.

“That’s it,” Cassidy coaxed. “Oh, yeah, squeeze tight around him, baby.”

A tremor started deep, rising like buried magma. At the same time he pressed on her clit, Cassidy traced his fingers along the seam where Travis thrust into her, and Travis jerked upward.

Ashley lost the battle. Her body rocked into Travis, arching hard. She might have sworn. Might have called out something, but she wasn’t sure. It felt So. Damn. Good.

Cassidy rose and grabbed his cock, jacking his hand rapidly over the length while Travis pumped into her. Timing of their motions nearly synchronized. Ashley gazed through lidded eyes at the pleasure on Cassidy’s face, at how his eyes tightened at the corners and his lips pressed together as he got closer to coming.

Under her Travis went off, slamming her down on his cock as far as possible, burying his face in her neck and groaning happily.

Cassidy arched as he came, semen flying from his cock to spray her belly and breasts, ribbons of seed that trickled in warm strands down her skin.

They were all panting as if they’d been sprinting. Ashley reached for Cassidy and tugged him toward her, lifting her face for a kiss as he rolled onto the bed at her side. All tangled together, all naked.

There wasn’t a whole lot of talking, not for the longest time. Travis at her back, and Cassidy tucked in front of her, both of the guys stroking and petting her as they came off their high. Travis dealt with the condom at some point. Cassidy grabbed a T-shirt, wiping her belly and breasts tenderly as she stared into his face and wondered what he was thinking.

She’d wanted them both—needed the blast of pleasure to set her feet back onto solid ground. But while it had been the right thing to do, it hadn’t been enough.

Haunting memories lingered in spite of the physical satisfaction.

A careful roll brought her to her back between them, gazing into the rafters. The ceiling was built of rough timbers, the hand-hewn logs like the ramparts of a castle overhead, and the sight distracted her. “It’s a rustic fantasyland.”

Travis chuckled. “What?”

“It’s like a ride at Disneyland, only for grownups. ‘Enter the Log Cabin of Lust…’” she moaned,
“‘…
if you dare
.’”

“So we’re on a ride at a theme park?” Travis asked.

“Or we
are
the ride at a theme park?” Cassidy had lain beside her, his head resting on his arm, eyes closed as his breathing slowed. He cupped her breast lightly as if he couldn’t contain himself, continuing to caress his thumb slowly back and forth.

“That feels nice,” she murmured in approval.

A faint smile tugged his lips.

“I don’t know for sure,” she responded to Travis. “But either way, that was awesome, and if this was a ride? I totally want to go back for a second round.”

Travis leaned up on his elbow, dark gaze trickling over her naked body. He lingered when he reached the point where Cassidy was still playing his fingers over her nipple. He didn’t look upset, not really, more like he was considering hard.

Although, maybe it was her imagination because the next moment his grin was back. Lazy nonchalance in every inch of his body. “You got more itches to scratch, baby? Need us to give you more attention?”

“I have no trouble being with either of you,” she admitted.

“Good.” Travis tilted his head at Cassidy. “Maybe you’ll stop being such a hard ass now that Ashley sweetened you up a little.”

“Me?” Cassidy rumbled in surprise, pulled from his fixation on her breasts. “How did I end up the center of this conversation all of a sudden?”

Travis snorted.

There was one more matter that had to be dealt with. She hesitated. “You got more itches to scratch as well, Travis?”

His face tightened, and behind her Cassidy stilled as if waiting intently for the answer.

Travis’s response was about what she’d expected. He shrugged, as if it were nothing. “For now, I’m good. And I don’t want you to worry about me.”

“You’re my friend, I have to worry.”

So much more to be said. There was so much more that needed to be figured out, but in the meantime she relaxed back and accepted their caring. Let them wash away her sorrows in a flood of pleasure and satisfaction.

It wasn’t nearly enough, but it was a beginning.

Chapter Twelve

Travis was a mass of conflicted hungers.

His balls throbbed harder than his back, the lingering whip marks cutting an uneasy blur of pleasure and pain into his every movement.

Sick bastard that he was, the constant reminder of having been under Cassidy’s belt only made him feel more alive.

Spotting the terror in Ashley’s eyes had shaken him to the core, though. She hadn’t said anything more about what specifically had set her off, but he’d seen it. Known that there was more to her panic than simply being frightened for him.

He could only imagine what it would have done to one of his family to walk in on that kind of situation. There was no way that he was going to allow his family to suffer, but damn if he had any ideas other than keeping his secrets silent forever.

That, and the temporary solution of holding Ashley tenderly in the dark and soothing her when she called out restlessly in her sleep from the nightmares that had begun to haunt her.

He was an ass—tormenting the woman with his bullshit problems.

Work became a welcome distraction. Once the crew returned with the guests from the first of the trail rides, there was a ton to focus on. Dealing with the horses, and keeping up to date with Ted and the guides. Continuing to work on the physical camp setup took a lot of his day as well. He was surprised there were so few trips scheduled for the spring. While it didn’t seem to make sense financially, Travis was glad of the extra work time because there was a lot more building to complete.

His weekly phone call with Karen put him back on track.

“No, you’re right that we’re only running at half capacity this year. We can’t afford to run a full season and get things set up, but if we get the camp built, and run a solid ten rides this summer, it means that next year we can go in a month later and run a month longer and we’ll break even.” Karen paused, the connection buzzing slightly between them. “I thought you knew all this. Is something wrong?”

“No,” Travis confessed. “My own damn fault for not going through all your notes more thoroughly. It’s not like we can’t get it done, but yeah—we’re doing a lot more construction than I had at the last camp I worked.”

Karen laughed. “You’re just pissed it’s not as soft a job as your dad joked about.”

“Yeah. I’d like to see him doing the manual labour on this one.” Travis stepped into the sunshine and stared at the cloudless blue sky. “Things are going well, and the weather’s been great. That’s helping. I figure we should have both camps pretty much complete by the June-first trip.”

“That would be wonderful. We’ve got another small guest list set for that trip, but the following one over Father’s Day is fully booked. Only Travis?” Karen paused. “Not that I think you need the warning, but it’s a church group coming in that weekend. A father-son thing, so if you can warn the crew to watch their language? I’d appreciate it.”

“Hey, they want to curse and end up with a good praying-over, who am I to stop them?”

“Bastard,” Karen laughed. “Oh, and in case you haven’t talked to your family, all the fields are ready and they’ll be planting next week.”

Travis was impressed. “Really? That’s early. Maybe I should go away more often—they’re working better without me.”

“Drat. One sec,” Karen mumbled, right before a bunch of strange noises carried on the line.

“Karen? You still there?”

“Yeah, I’m here. Had to…move to a better location.”

Travis listened harder, slowly identifying the sounds in the background. “Karen, are you talking to me from inside a chicken coop?”

“Shut up,” Karen snapped. “Yes, it’s the only place I can go without being tracked down. Your family got the fields done fast because I sent the Marlette boys over to help to get them out of my hair.”

Oh ho, Karen was having guy trouble. “Tell me they’re all in their fifties with paunchy bellies, and I’ll feel sorry for you.”

“The oldest is thirty-four. I don’t care how gorgeous he is, the man is the biggest pain in the ass you’ve ever met. Bigger than you,” Karen grumbled. “His brothers aren’t as bad, but—”

She went completely quiet, but for the creak of a door in the background. The chicken noises increased, and a deep male voice joined in, and Travis laughed.

Seems her hiding spot had been discovered. “I’ll let you go, Karen. I’ll call next week with an update. In the meantime, have fun with the chickens.”

No answer.

He was still chuckling when he hung up.

Through all his work Cassidy and Ashley hovered in his mind.

He hauled another bale from the truck bed into the wagon, grateful for a reason to flex his muscles and forget about the rest. He took a side trip through the barn to grab a pitchfork and interrupted Cassidy loading grain into sacks.

“Why didn’t you ask for help?” Travis hurried to give him a hand. “Far easier as a two-man task.”

Cassidy’s jean jacket lay draped over the railing, hat on the post beside it. His blond hair stuck up like a haystack. “Looked for you, but didn’t find you.”

“Bullshit right there.” Travis grabbed the sack mouth and held it open. “I was in the office or just outside it all morning. Only way you couldn’t find me is to not look.”

Cassidy didn’t answer him. Instead he scooped a shovelful and tipped the load into the sack. “How’s Ashley?”

“You mean the woman who burst out singing this morning at breakfast and got half the crew clapping along?” She was impossibly gung-ho in the mornings. “I swear if she gets any more cheerful when she wakes up, I’m going to tie her to the bed and leave her there. It’s bloody annoying at times.”

“Good.”

That was it. Good. Travis placed the sack with the rest Cassidy had started stacking along the wall. “Good. What’s that mean?”

“Means I was worried she was still upset by what I did the other day. I know she’s prancing around like a perky pony, but I wasn’t sure if it was some kind of act.”

“She’s okay.” Travis crossed his arms and stared at Cassidy, uneasy at the sensation in his gut. “But that’s kind of you to ask. To be worried about her.”

They worked in silence for another thirty minutes, moving from one task to the next. The entire time Cassidy looked as if he was about to start a new topic, then he’d close his mouth and point to the next chore.

Travis had a lot of experience with waiting people out. In a big family, you did a lot of waiting for your turn, or in his case, delaying until everyone else had gotten tired and had wandered off.

Privacy meant a lot to a boy who was keeping secrets. Maybe even more once he’d reached adulthood.

Travis was figuring the topic would take, oh, if he was lucky, a good month before Cassidy brought it up. So when he turned from the tack room to find a very stern-faced Cassidy blocking the door, he wasn’t sure if he should shout
hell yeah
or cover his balls.