“Three men in your bed did that for you, did it?”
“You got it,” Coco said, standing and brushing off the seat of her faded blue jeans. In the distance riders approached and the sounds of hooves beating against the ground rolled over the land like an approaching thunderstorm. “Looks like your time alone with Dallas is about to start now.”
Drina peered over her shoulder, watching as Brandon and Dallas rode out to greet them. Dallas looked like one of those die-hard cowboys in an old western movie. His broad shoulders and big arms flexed as he reined in his horse, slowing him from a gallop to a trot and down to a walk by the time they reached the river.
As if he didn’t have a clue what was going on, Brandon said, “Drina, you’ve been keeping my woman tied up too long today.” Raw hunger existed in his gaze as he jumped off his horse and dragged Coco to him, his lips immediately assaulting hers. Brandon had never been one to show his affection. Drina couldn’t think of a particular point in time when she’d seen Brandon hold Coco’s hand, much less kiss her.
And that kiss turned quite ravenous in a short period of time, too.
Their lust for one another was apparent. For what seemed like minutes, Brandon and Coco made out and Drina became too aware of Dallas’s heated gaze on her as well. In fact, Coco and Brandon broke things off just in the nick of time.
Drina had unintentionally moistened her lips. Dallas’s eyelids had grown heavy and he’d finally swung his leg across his horse and dismounted. The way he’d stalked her, Drina had been convinced.
He’d meant to take a first kiss. He’d meant to gather her in his arms and cut straight to the chase.
Fortunately, Brandon and Coco separated right at the perfect time. Brandon shot Dallas a quick glance and snickered. “I highly recommend you rethink your next move.”
“Don’t worry about me, big brother. I already have permission from one. Now I just want the green light from the other.”
* * * *
Dallas wasn’t sure if he could do it.
Zak had already told him how much he loved Drina, how much he wanted to be a part of her life for the rest of his life, but then he’d offered to share her. If Dallas had been in Zak’s shoes, he wasn’t sure if he could’ve been as generous.
Drina was the epitome of a perfect woman. As Alberto Baldini’s daughter, which would’ve been a strong strike against her if Dallas and his brothers didn’t already have a few skeletons of their own, Drina hadn’t enjoyed an easy life, but her bad hand hadn’t been folded. Oh no, she’d played it out like a skilled gambler just daring Lady Luck to show her a low card in the hole.
“So you’re a real cowboy,” Drina drawled, reclaiming the seat she’d had before he’d ridden up with Brandon.
He laughed, released his reins, and let old Doll Baby have her way with the field and the river. “I ride.” He gaped at those long legs and couldn’t help but think about how many different ways he could ride a woman. “If that makes me a real cowboy, then yes, I’m your man.”
Drina drew her legs to her chest and propped her chin on her knees. “Is that a little play on words, there?”
He narrowed his gaze, loving the growing sexual tension between them and appreciating the fact that Drina was cutting right to the chase. “I take what I’m offered.”
“Ah,” she drawled. “And yet another play on words.”
Dallas reached over and touched her neck, noticing the infinity emblem in the center of her collar. He’d seen the choker before Zak had given it to her and he also knew the meaning behind it. Zak was crazy about this woman, completely and totally in awe of her.
Dallas could understand why. He’d first seen Drina a few years ago at a cookout and a friend had wanted to introduce them. He still remembered his exact words, “I’m looking to get laid, not married. That gal there would lasso a man’s body then take a real good hold of his heart. I ain’t interested in getting tied down.”
Only now he wondered if that’s exactly what would soon happen. Zak wanted to share. What Zak didn’t know was what Dallas had only recently learned—men in committed ménage relationships often found their partners were bored when they tried to return to monogamous relationships.
He wondered if Zak had thought this through.
Clearing his head, Dallas fingered the jewelry, admiring the neck wearing the collar more than the exquisite piece itself. As if Drina expected a kiss, she tilted her head back. Instead of giving her what she perhaps anticipated, he traced the links flat against her neck, loving the way she shivered when he toyed with the infinity sign and touched the skin underneath the charm. “He loves you, you know.”
“I hope so,” Drina said, watching him with eyes as green as fine emeralds.
“And yet he plans to share you,” Dallas said, his knuckles brushing the high mounds of her breasts.
She shivered then and her mouth fell open. That slight hitch in her breath, the feminine gasp made him horny as hell. And he couldn’t stop touching her then.
His fingers dipped below the neckline of her shirt, caressing the soft silk of her bra cup. He was tempted to move lower, caress that perky nipple now showcasing the signs of her arousal, too, but instead, he played her game, played by her unspoken rules.
Moistening his lips, he inched a little closer and whispered within a breath of a kiss, “If you were mine, Drina Baldini, I wouldn’t share you. I wouldn’t watch you fuck Zak or any other brother before I had you myself.”
“Then I guess it’s a good thing I’m not yours,” she said quietly, running her ton