[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
with white stockings, added another half bucket of oats to the
animal s feed bin, then looked over at Ben. Their eyes met, and
without exchanging a word, each voiced identical questions.
Will we make love to Ella tonight? What about Blue?
During the time he d been riding with Ella, her lush beauty
haunted Dirk day and night. He, quite naturally, often thought about
their shared passion. Once her inhibitions had been seduced away, she
had given herself without reservation. As she explained several times
between bouts of lovemaking, her behavior simply wasn t indicative
of the woman she looked at in the mirror in the mornings. Knowing
her licentious behavior was so out of character for her made the
ménage a trois lovemaking even more intensely satisfying for Dirk.
But sex wasn t the only thing that played with Dirk s thoughts. In
his mind he heard the music of her laughter even when he was all by
himself, like earlier when he had ridden out ahead of Blue and the
others to reconnoiter from the top of a hill into the neighboring valley.
And of course there was that certain something in her eyes that was so
completely different from all other women. Her eyes were a deep, rich
navy blue that glistened wetly in a healthy way, though they could get
cold and flinty in an instant if she thought she was being talked down
to. And her breasts! Was there a woman within a thousand miles of
the Badlands with such extravagant, round, responsive
Dirk? You all right there, my friend? It was Ben, and he was
giving Dirk a studied look.
Sorry. You ready to go inside? He was embarrassed at being
caught daydreaming. Ella had a peculiar ability to make him feel
positively adolescent.
Ben grinned then glanced over to see that Blue was still on the far
side of the barn. In a whisper, he asked, You were thinking about
94 Brandi Maxwell
Ella, weren t you?
When I m around her, I feel like a boy, a damned love-struck
pup.
Me, too, my friend. I never dreamed I d feel so...
Naive?
No. More like giddy or something like that. Ben s brows
narrowed, and his shoulders rose and fell briefly. It s like sex is all
new to me again. But hell, you and I have been cutting a pretty wide
swath through the ladies for years now.
Does it bother you we re sharing her?
I d be lying if I said I didn t think about it. But she s such a
woman! Sharing her passion is better than not experiencing it. He
looked away for a moment. For all the things you and I have done
over the years, this is the first time we ve ever done something like
this. And I ve got to tell you, at first watching you with Ella really
made me jealous, but now it just excites me. When I see you with her,
it just makes me want to join in.
It was Dirk s turn to grin. I watched her sucking you the other
night. It made me hard as stone.
Blue, having finished feeding, brushing, and watering his pinto
and Ella s Appaloosa, crossed the barn.
It ll be a bit crowded inside, I m afraid, but at least we ll all have
a roof over our heads, Blue said. There s only one bed. He stepped
outside and looked up at the dark sky. I smell rain. Wouldn t surprise
me if we had some coming our way soon.
Only one bed, Dirk repeated, putting a hand on the much
smaller man s shoulder, but I ve heard it has more than one occupant
as often as not.
Blue grinned. It was common knowledge that wealthy ladies in
the territory, typically married, wishing to have an exotic
experience rode to Blue s out-of-the-way cabin or met him in a
rented hotel suite. When he slept alone, it was by choice.
Smoke rose from the cabin s two chimneys. One was for the
Ella s Desire 95
fireplace, the other for the stove. Dirk was pleased that Ella, despite
her vast wealth and numerous servants, hadn t simply waited around
for others to do what needed to be done. She took the initiative to get
the fires started.
When he stepped into the cabin, last in the queue of men, he saw
Ella standing near the stove. There was a smile on her lips, and it was
obvious that she had undergone some physical exertion.
I found your water buckets, and I followed your tracks to where
you take your water from the stream, she explained, talking to Blue.
Since you re our host, I think you should take the first bath when the
water s the hottest and cleanest.
She had taken off her jacket and unfastened two of her blouse s
buttons at her throat, and now showed a hint of cleavage. Dirk
thought it ridiculous to be so aroused by the woman s modest display,
but he was coming to understand that everything about Ella affected
him more strongly than with other women. He couldn t say why it
was so, but he felt its proof in his soul and in his slowly lengthening
penis.
There was a sheen of perspiration on her forehead, and Dirk
suspected she hurried when getting the water, evidently determined to
do her fair share of the work. The more he knew of the woman s
character, the more he found there was to like.
He turned his back, pretending to be surveying the cabin, but what
he was really doing was telling himself that being caught having a
raging erection would be wildly embarrassing. A perfectly natural
occurrence, given Ella s ostentatious charms, but embarrassing just
the same.
Blue, of course, refused to be the first to bathe. But Ella insisted,
and while it was true that the men in the cabin with her were
notoriously stubborn, so was she. Confronted by an intractable
woman, Blue relented.
I ll just be outside, Ella said quietly, heading toward the door
once the last boiler was poured into the galvanized bath tub.
96 Brandi Maxwell
No. Dirk said the single word without actually thinking it. In a
slightly softer tone, but with just the same authority, he said, You
can t leave, Ella.
But... Her protest dissolved in the air.
He watched as her gaze darted left and right. She caught her lower
lip between teeth that gleamed white in the pale light of the three
kerosene lanterns. He sensed her confusion, her fear...and her desire.
He d seen what happened when she released her inhibitions, and he
knew that such extreme behavior frightened her. He also knew that
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]