Still… I had to say, “This isn’t payment for staying here with you.”
Charlie’s eyes widened and Hank’s narrowed, his jaw clenching. Both took deep breaths and didn’t respond right away.
“I’m not sure if I should spank your ass again for thinking so poorly of us, or pull you into my arms for a hug knowing someone did something to you to make you say that.” Hank ran a hand through his hair, made the strands stick up every which way as if he’d just rolled out of bed. “Fuck, tell me who hurt you and we’ll go make it right.”
He’d… he’d go after Barton Finch for me?
“I’m going to eat that pussy because I want it. I want you.” Charlie cupped his cock. “See this? It’s for you. I want you.”
“Why me? I told you, I’m not a lady.” Maybe he just wanted a hole to wet his dick, just like Travis used to say. If that were the case, they’d have taken me back at the shanty. They didn’t need to bring me to their home for that.
“From where we’re standing, it’s pretty clear you are,” Hank said, making me tighten my arm over my breasts. He took the bath sheet I hadn’t noticed he’d been holding and opened it wide, held it out for me to step into. “Climb out, sweetheart. We won’t hurt you. We’d never hurt you.”
I studied them again, patiently waiting. “If I didn’t want to, would you make me?”
Hank’s eyes narrowed even further and if he clenched his jaw even tighter, surely his back teeth would crack. He dropped the towel and turned on his heel to face the house. Charlie winked at me, then did the same.
Slowly, I stood, then got out of the water, grabbing the large cloth and wrapping it around myself. I had no idea if they would turn around and I wanted to be covered as quickly as possible. It was large, but certainly didn’t offer much in the way of modesty, especially once it absorbed the water and clung to my skin.
“Decent?” Hank asked.
“Well, I, yes, but—”
They turned.
“—my clean clothes are in my saddle bag.”
They stared. I tried to shift and move the bath towel to cover me better, but it was of no use.
6
C HARLIE
BLOODY FUCKING HELL, she was going to kill me before the day was out. Who the fuck was this woman? Why had she been on that bluff? Why had she shot the Grove men? Why did she wear men’s clothing when that gorgeous body would be so beautiful in fancy dresses?
“For every answer, doll, you get a reward,” I said.
“Answer?” The white cloth covered her body from the top swells of her breasts to mid-thigh. The material was transparent and didn’t hide anything much. Her hand held the two sides together in a white-knuckled grip, but it did little to hide the color of her nipples through the material, the curve of her hip, her long legs. Her hair was dripping down over her shoulder.
“To our questions.”
I was impressed Hank hadn’t pried before now. It was obvious she was hiding things, and not just her lush body. Did they matter? No. I wanted her no matter her story. The way she acted around men, she hadn’t been with one before. She wasn’t married. In fact, she behaved as if she didn’t like men, that perhaps one had gone too far with her. The way she responded to my finger fuck earlier, it hadn’t been rape. Thank fuck. If someone had hurt her, we’d take care of it. Of him. No one would harm her again.
I dropped to my knees before her. Startled, she took a step back, but I hooked my hand behind her thigh. Her skin was chilly and damp, but so soft. Smooth but when I gripped it, I felt her firm muscles.
“Stop that,” she said, fighting me at first, but realizing she wasn’t going to win, placed her free hand at the bottom edge of the bath towel to ensure it stayed down. I’d get it off of her soon enough.
Of course, she didn’t know that stripping her bare was to her own benefit. We intended to give her the pleasure we’d denied her earlier. It was apt we were on the bank of a creek again. A bed would have been nice, but I’d make her come outside just as easily. And I wasn’t wasting another second carrying her back to the house.
“Answers, doll. Or Hank may throw you in the water again,” I warned, even though I had no intention of her getting out of my hold now.
“He’s the one who got me wet in the first place,” she grumbled, giving Hank a dark look.
Out of the corner of my eye, I couldn’t miss the grin that spread across his face at her words. “Sweetheart,” he began. “I hope so, but are you still wet after all this time? I’ll find out soon enough.”
Clearly, from the frown on her face, she didn’t understand the secondary, and more carnal, meaning of those words.
“Why were you up on that bluff earlier?”