Spurred (Steele Ranch 1)

She returned to the kitchen as Riley closed the front door and gave me a meaningful look. She was ours. I’d have to go down to the bunkhouse and make sure they all knew that. She might wear the pretty dresses and have the lushest curves this side of the Rockies, but Riley and I were the only ones who got in her panties. Or tucked them into their shirt pocket like Riley’d done the night before.

As Kady pulled the milk from the fridge, I placed the keys to the SUV on the counter. “These are for your ride.”

She spun about, eyed the keys suspiciously as she held the quart jug in her hand. “Ride?”

“Your car. You can’t be stuck here on the ranch all the time. While the town’s small, you’ll want to be able to go out. The store, shopping, church. Hell, whatever you want.”

“I don’t have money for a car,” she countered, setting the milk on the counter and going over to the window to peer out at the SUV.

“Yes, you do.”

“I don’t need that.” She turned to face us, pointed out the window. “Something smaller and cheaper.”

“You’re not getting smaller,” I said with a growl. When she frowned, I sighed. “We want you safe, sweetness.”

“And as for cheaper?” Riley shrugged. “Think of it this way. It’s a ranch vehicle. Since you’re the only one here, you can drive it.”

She eyed us warily, even pursed her lips. She knew Riley was spinning the whole thing around, but she didn’t have any choice. She wasn’t going to win this round. “Fine.”

Satisfied, I went over to the coffeemaker and poured coffee into the three mugs.

“We’ve both got to be in court this afternoon. In Helena,” Riley said as I handed him a cup. His voice sounded as resigned as I felt. We couldn’t stay and be with her as we wanted—naked and in her bed. But we’d given her what she needed for today. Sturdy—and sexy—boots and the SUV.

“The trial might go all day and if the judge calls a recess, into tomorrow,” Riley explained. “We’ll be back then. If you’ll allow it, we’d like to take you out.”

I had no interest in staying in Helena overnight. The damned trial couldn’t have come at a worse time, but it had been in the works since before Aiden Steele died. And the judge wasn’t going to accept a delay because one of the lawyers and a key witness needed to fuck their woman.

“All right,” she said, easy enough.

Impatient, I went over to Kady and stroked my hand over her hair. Silky soft. I wanted to tug the elastic that held it back and tangle my fingers in the length. “Did we scare you off last night?”

Her green eyes met mine and I saw them flare, saw her cheeks turn pink.

“We were rough. Real rough. Fuck, sweetness, I don’t know how to be gentle. And with you I just can’t seem to control myself.”

I angled my hips against her belly so she could feel how hard I was.

“Like I said before, you weren’t too rough. Stop worrying.”

I cupped her jaw, tilted her head to the side. “I marked your neck. Got any bruises? Your back’s got to hurt.”

She shook her head. “I’m fine. I… um, told you, I liked it. I liked all of it if you hadn’t noticed.”

I grinned, relieved. “Yeah, we noticed.”

“And we want to do it again,” Riley added, coming up behind her and settling at her back. “Although maybe in a bed.”

“At least inside,” she countered, humor lacing her words.

“We don’t need a bed.” I looked over my shoulder at the kitchen counter. “This island will do.”

Riley groaned. “We can’t start this. If we do, we’ll never leave and we’ll be late getting to Helena.”

My dick didn’t like Riley’s words. I stepped back nonetheless, reaching down and shifting myself in my pants. I wasn’t keen on a zipper mark in my dick.

“I’m a big girl, I’ll be fine. And maybe we’re going a little too fast?” Kady asked.

“Fast?” Riley countered.