Saving Treasure (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (3 page)

He settled the woman in his passenger seat and laid it back some before fastening her seat belt. He ran back to her car and found the ragged, colorful bag he had seen slung over her body earlier before snagging her keys from the ignition and locking the car. He checked the damage on the front of the car again, and he knew that it wasn’t too bad. Her whole front end would have to be replaced, and her engine would have to be checked thoroughly for any damage that was sustained. He also noted that her airbag didn’t deploy. That was a problem that would have to be fixed.

He studied the car and looked back at his truck. If she had been going full speed, he knew she wouldn’t be alive right now.

He quickly ran back to his truck before cranking it and heading toward the vet’s clinic where his friends would be waiting. She barely stirred during the trip, despite being jostled some, which he made in just over twenty minutes. He tried to take the rough roads as easily as possible, but driving smoothly over potholes was not going to happen.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw his friend’s truck and his wife unlocking the back door of the clinic.

His little beauty would now get the attention she obviously needed.

James laid the woman down where Jackson’s wife, Selena Barns, had indicated. She looked at him with a brow raised before stating rather emphatically, “You had better do some good explaining for this! First, I’m checking her out.”

He was shooed out of the back room before Jackson looked at him curiously. “Who is she?”

“Come on, man. We’ve a car to go get. I don’t know everything, but she hit a tree while avoiding a deer. She was already bruised up pretty good before that, though. Most of what I see on her was done before the wreck. She begged me not to get the police involved or take her to the hospital. I know she is running from someone or something, but I don’t know what…yet.” He was practically dragging his friend to the other truck while checking for towing chains before heading to his own and checking for his own chains. He was still hoping that this wouldn’t came back to bite him in the ass.

Jackson looked at the wreckage once they arrived, and whistled. “It’s not nearly as bad as I expected it would be from the way you were carrying on. Well, let’s get it out of here before highway patrol comes along. I bet this shit is something you don’t want to have to explain to them.”

They set to work, chaining and pulling the car out. It only took one truck, and Jackson began trying to fix some of the damage caused by the wheels of the small car by using his boots to push down the sides of the ruts from where her tires had cut into the soft ground. If they were going to conceal the accident to help her hide, they may as well do a good job of it. With a nod, Jackson followed James as they started hauling the car to their construction yard where all of their equipment was stored. The car could hang around back until its owner decided what to do with it.

Nearly three hours had lapsed in their brief adventure by the time they pulled into the parking lot of the clinic. James couldn’t quite explain the feelings he was experiencing as he stepped in the back room and saw the woman still sleeping. He took more time to study her.

She was beautiful and sexy even with the bruising. That just added a tragic quality to her looks. He knew that her smile wouldn’t be perfect, and her lower lip was fuller, resulting in a cupid’s bow that he wanted to suck between his teeth and torment until she begged him to tease her body in other ways. The pout she had in her sleep was adorable, tempting any man to kiss her, and he found himself wanting to be that man. That only served to make him want to kiss her more. Her skin was really pale considering that he now knew she was from Taos County, New Mexico, according to the tags on the car she was driving. He caught his hand as it reached for her hair and snatched it back, sliding it in his back pocket as casually as he could. Two sets of eyes noticed the movement, though.

“Do I need to take her to the hospital?” he asked as he considered the fact that she was still not conscious.

“I would prefer if she went, but I think I’ve got her patched up pretty damn well for the time being. I gave her a tranquilizer meant for some of the larger animals since she needs some good sleep, and I needed her still.” She stopped at the looks she got from both James and Jackson.

James started to say what was on his mind when Selena stopped him abruptly. “Yeah, I know. But it’s that or nothing unless she goes to the hospital. Ya mind?

“Your girl has gotten herself a lot of bruising from someone else, but there is only the one from her seat belt forming. Her ribs are bothering me. She took a side hit from something fairly big, and it wasn’t from that wreck either.

“I secured them with an ACE bandage, and she needs to be careful for a little while with how she moves around. They need to be bound for awhile. They aren’t broken or cracked, from what I can tell with my equipment, but they are really bruised. I could be wrong about not being cracked, though. I want you to try to convince her to go to the doctor when she wakes up. I don’t have anything that can tell me definitively at the moment about them being cracked since all of my X-ray equipment for large animals is being repaired.

“She did wake up. She must have thought she was in a hospital because she tried to get up and get out of here lightning quick. Princess’s name is Treasure Patience Lane. It took me a bit of soothing to get that much. That and I found her ID while checking for any clue that she would have any medical allergies and anything she might be currently taking.

“You had better get her somewhere before I decide to take her to the hospital myself. She’ll probably need to see a doctor for some antibiotics and all of that as well as a good X-ray. I hope you are prepared for the trouble you know she’s bringing because I am betting she has bagfuls.” Selena finished stating her piece with a firm look and double-checked that everything had been cleaned back to its bright, shiny sterility. She was a reticent woman when it came to talking to others about problems, but when she had something to say, she didn’t hold back. She always made herself quite clear, even if she had to snatch an ear down to her level.

“Thanks. I owe you both a good cookout and a hell of a lot of work on that back deck y’all’ve been planning.” He grinned and began to scoop up the little woman. He knew that he owed them more than that for not ratting him out to Jules Rodes. That deputy was a letter-of-the-law kind of man. Since James didn’t yet know what she was running from, he didn’t want to do something that he couldn’t take back later.

“Oh, you owe us, all right! I’ve a mind to have a cookout in a day or so now that Jackson is back, and I expect you, Chad, and Little One to make an appearance as well as bring plenty of contributions. I will also expect something sweet and chocolaty,” Selena quipped. A smile lit her face and shaded her brown skin with a pretty flush. “I also have some ideas for that back deck that I need designed when folks have a chance to get around to it. No rush though. I know y’all won’t forget about that.”

“No problem. See you day after…today since it is one in the morning.” James made a show of checking the clock hanging high on the wall across from them, and grinning widely. He stretched out his muscles that were screaming how tired they were despite the fact that as soon as he touched the sleeping woman, his cock hardened in anticipation. He willed it under control.

Jackson yawned. “Well, I’m heading home. I barely made it there before you called. Although, I am glad you stayed and did all of the closing paperwork this time. I intend to enjoy the two or so weeks of downtime we have coming now. The last ten weeks felt as though they would never end.” He leaned over and kissed his wife on her cheek.

James found himself alone again with Treasure.

He lifted her into his arms and slid her into the passenger seat of his truck, tucking her in carefully.

James pulled up in his driveway and parked in the carport behind the house. He slipped around the truck to pull Treasure out of the passenger seat. He was exhausted and looking forward to getting some sleep in a few minutes after a long, hot shower. He didn’t know where to put this woman. The little sounds she made in her sleep hadn’t given his cock much of a chance to go down, and his jeans were starting to chafe. He knew that Chad wouldn’t get off work for another three and a half hours. Maybe he would just join James in his bed, and she could use Chad’s. He had a feeling that she wouldn’t appreciate waking up next to a guy. Although, he had a feeling he would like to wake with her snuggled into him. James’s bed was bigger than Chad’s since James took the master bedroom, and when they did share a bed, it was always his. A grin lit James’s face when he remembered Chad insisting he didn’t want to change rooms. They knew then that it didn’t matter who had which room because they would be sharing. Yeah, Chad’s bed was probably the best place for her to sleep.

He laid her on the bed and went back to his room, grabbing one of his clean T-shirts and a clean pair of sweats since he didn’t think she would appreciate waking up either really uncomfortable or nearly naked. He pushed down the thought that he wouldn’t have a problem finding her naked next to him in his bed. It kept creeping into his mind over and over again. If she knew the thoughts that were occurring to him, she would really believe him to be a pervert and not the Good Samaritan he was trying to be. He was sure of that.

Her shoes and socks came off easily, and he tugged her jeans down her legs as carefully as he could. He noticed the patches of bruises that littered her legs. Some were a fading yellow and green. There were others that were really dark that would start fading soon, and there were some that still were somewhat red from being dealt to her really recently.

His mood quickly soured as he gently put the sweatpants on her, and the erection he had been trying to suppress was no longer an issue. He still really wanted to beat the bastard who would do something like that to a woman, especially this small woman. He took her tank top off and studied the bandage that was tightly wrapped around her middle. Her bra followed. He sucked in a gust of air as the sight of erect, sweet, pink nipples greeted him. In those tight berry peaks, little silver rings glinted in the dim light of the lamp. As gingerly and swiftly as he could, he began to pull the T-shirt over her head before he gave in to temptation and sucked and played with those peaks. He had to get out of there and get a shower fast. His cock was hard and leaking without a single touch and mostly likely gaining a permanent imprint of his jeans. He felt almost dirty from thinking the thoughts that were trying to push their way into the forefront of his fantasies. She was drugged and injured and completely at his mercy. Only a terrible man would try to take advantage of that.

He nearly ran to his bedroom with the attached bathroom and stripped faster than his clothes should have allowed, despite his shaking hands. The shower was frigid, but it worked for his body. He regretted that it didn’t clear that image from his mind, which made the freezing shower moot.

He went straight to his bed after he finished cleaning himself, fully intending on sleeping until afternoon the next day. He knew he should have been asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, but his body once again began to respond to the picture of Treasure in the next room, on the bed and laid out for him and Chad to savor. The rings were taunting him to taste those pretty dusky-pink peaks.

His cock painfully hardened further, straining against his boxer briefs as he tried to will away the thoughts until his balls ached and the length throbbed. With a frustrated groan, he pushed the confining cotton down and out of his way, grabbing the base and squeezing just firmly enough. He stroked upward, swirling his palm along the head. His pumping became faster and faster, his breathing picking up speed and matching his strokes. Thoughts of her small hands pumping him had his balls drawing tighter. The thought of her sucking Chad off while he fucked her sweet pink pussy had his release spurting from him to cover his chest.

He panted, coming down from his erotic high before cleaning himself off and settling in bed once again. His dreams were filled with scenes of Chad, her, and him in the throes of passion as well as spending time together in comfortable companionship that had nothing to do with sex.

* * * *

Chad slipped into the house after a long twelve-hour shift at the hospital. In just about an hour, the sun would be rising, and he couldn’t wait to fall asleep in his bed with the really thick curtains drawn tight. He knew that James was supposed to be coming home at some point. He had not gotten even a text from him, so he assumed his buddy wasn’t back quite yet.

He slipped in his room, pulled the curtains closed securely, and began to strip his scrubs off, revealing his naked, tired body. He lifted his covers and slipped inside before finding a warm body that was definitely not James’s or familiar. It was feminine and small, much smaller than his. He sprang from the bed with a shout that alerted the bed snatcher and, apparently, his roommate in the other room.

The small body jerked up and gasped roughly, and James ran into his room, yelling to know what happened. Whoever was in his bed was obviously disoriented and in some pain. Chad looked up to see James snatching an old pair of sweatpants up his body.

“James! Who the hell is in my bed?” he demanded with a growl.

“Well,
her
name is name is Treasure, and she wrecked her car right in front of me. Selena said that she needed to rest. You always share my bed after I’ve been gone. Figured you wouldn’t mind her using your empty bed. Nice to see you again.” Chad watched as James eyed his bare chest, giving him a meaningful look. Chad knew he was trying to get him to leave her alone in his own room and go with him to the bigger room. James checked on the girl quickly, realizing that she hadn’t actually woken up.