Chapter 57

The sun hasn’t risen yet when I stir and realize Dakota isn’t in bed with me. His side of the bed cold now so he hasn’t been in bed for a while. Strange. I didn’t expect him to leave.

I’m not in my room. This one is tidy and neat, every item in its place, so I know I must be in Dakota’s. I stretch my arms over my head and yawn, before shrugging on a t-shirt I find handing on the post and padding out of the room. When I look around, I spy light coming from a doorway down the hall and tiptoe toward it. Peeking through the door, I find Dakota sitting at a large desk, a bottle of whiskey in his hand, his revolver on the desk before him.

“You okay?” I whisper, making my presence known.

He glances up at my words, his eyes tracing down my body to take in my legs exposed beneath the hem of his shirt. “You come lookin’ for trouble?” he asks.

“I came looking for you,” I clarify, tilting my head. “The bed grew cold.”

He hums under his breath and takes another small sip. When he crooks his fingers at me, I come inside the room without hesitation and step around the desk. He’s sitting in a large cowhide chair, leaning back in it, his legs spread as he sets the whiskey bottle on his knee. I lean back against the desk, my eyes on his.

“You lookin’ to learn about my demons, city girl?” he murmurs.

“If you want to speak of them,” I nod. I can tell his demons are loud tonight, and I worry I’m the reason for it. I’d tried to run again, and they hadn’t liked it. I can’t imagine what they’re all thinking. I can’t be ashamed of my attempt though. Not a single one of them has really explained why they think they’ll be okay against The Crows. Three men against such a large crime ring just doesn’t make sense to me. And I can’t imagine the guilt I’d feel if something were to happen to anyone in this family.

He stares at me long and hard. He’s wearing only his jeans, no boots or shirt. His abs are on full display, his body beautiful in the low candle light flickering on the desk.

“Alright,” he finally says. “My pa died right here in this chair.” He points to the revolver. “And by that gun right there.”

My eyes jump to the chair Dakota sits in. “He. . . killed himself?”

“Sure,” he answers. “That’s what the police report says.”

“But that’s not what happened,” I hazard a guess, my eyes on his. The steel there in his eyes flickers with the light and it gives him an almost demonic look. Truth is, if he were the devil here offering salvation, I’d take his hand in an instant.

“He did kill himself,” he nods. “But the report won’t speak about how his hand wasn’t the only one of the gun.” He reaches over and grabs me, letting the liquor bottle hit the floor in favor of dragging me onto his lap. I gasp in surprise as his arms wraps around my waist, holding me fast, as he reaches for the revolver on the desk. “He’d ran Steele Mountain into the ground. We were thirty days from foreclosure and losing everything our family has worked five generations to keep. And he didn’t care.” He holds up the revolver. “This gun, it’s symbolic. Every Steele who ran this ranch since the eighteen hundreds has carried this gun and it has to be passed down. It was my turn, and the stubborn ass wouldn’t let me. The thing is, he was always so easy to manipulate while he was drinkin’. And this particular night, he’d drank enough to put a bear in the ground.” His hand clenches at my stomach. “It was hardly difficult to hand him the gun, to put the seed in his head. It took nothing at all to wrap his fingers around the trigger and point it at his chin.”

My breath leaves my body. “What did you do?”

“I told him to pull the trigger,” he whispers, his lips against the shell of my ear. He points the gun up at my chin and I tense. “I held his hand so it would be more steady. It only took him a few minutes to make the decision. That whiskey’ll get you.”

“Don’t point that at me,” I grunt.

I tip my chin away from the revolver and he sets it back on the desk with a chuckle. “Still thinkin’ it’s a good idea to love me, city girl?”

“I never said anything about it being a good idea or a bad one,” I say, rubbing my pussy against his jean clad leg. “It doesn’t matter.”

His hand stills on my stomach where he’d been caressing me and helping me move. “It doesn’t matter?”

“No,” I say. “I’ve already given my heart to the rattlesnakes. I’m okay with that.” I tip my head back to look him in the face. “I’m okay with your demons.”

His face twists with something feral. “It seems I’ve underestimated you, Kate.”

I grin. “You do that pretty often actually.”

“Fuck,” he groans, lifting me suddenly and pressing the front of my thighs against the desk. He bends me over it so fast, I barely have time to press my hands against the top of it. Papers go flying, but I don’t think either one of us cares as he shoves the t shirt up over my ass and grabs a handful of cheek. “How do you feel about me fucking you on top of the desk that his blood splattered over?”

“That I want you to hurry up and fuck me,” I groan, shaking my ass at him.

The sound of a zipper is my answer and then he’s shoving his cock inside me, a little roughly with the whiskey in him, but perfect nonetheless. The desk shakes with his rough thrusts as he grips a fistful of my hair and fucks me there, right where he convinced his dad to kill himself. I should be disgusted. I should be horrified of what he’d done and what I’m allowing him to do. But when he hooks his fingers in my mouth and forces it open, when he picks up at the revolver and drags the barrel across my tongue, it’s one of the hottest things that’s ever happened to me. And then he braces himself against the desk, that revolver beneath his hand, as he fucks me like an animal there. I cry out in pleasure, my body convulsing as he bruises the tops of my thighs against the desk.

“You’re mine,” he snarls in my ear. “They can’t have you.”

“I’m yours,” I pant, my nails leaving small marks in the wood on the top of the desk.

Movement at the door draws my eyes and I meet the hooded gaze of Levi as he stands there and watches. Dakota doesn’t slow. I know he must see Levi too but neither one of us stops. Levi just leans back against the wall, his arms crossed, and enjoys the show, his cock clearly straining in his basketball shorts. When he reaches down and strokes himself through the material, I come undone.

“You take our demons so well,” Dakota rasps. “You take my cock so deep, little troublemaker.

I’m convulsing, writhing beneath Dakota as he continues to slam me against the desk, as he fucks me so roughly, I know I’ll be weak after this, especially after the barn earlier.

“Milk me,” he growls. “Let’s finish strong for our watcher.”

He grabs my hand and wraps it around the revolver before holding it down, forcing me to hold the weapon that his demon lives in as he fucks me. I close my fist and hold on tight.

“Good girl,” he snarls. “Now, come for me!”

I shatter at his command, my body shaking as I scream, as he fucks me harder and so roughly, a bite of pain comes with the pleasure. His cock starts jumping inside me, his warmth filling me as my own release drips down my thighs. We’re both panting hard as he pulls out of me. When I move to stand, his hand on my back keeps me in this position.

“Don’t move,” he orders, reaching for the revolver again. I look over my shoulder at him as he meets my eyes and grins. “I want a piece of you here, too.” And then he drags the barrel of that revolver between my pussy lips, coating the shiny metal with our mixed release.

My legs go weak.

“There it is,” he purrs, admiring his handiwork. “What a good girl you are for me.” And then he pats me on the ass and gestures toward Levi. “Take our lady to bed, Levi. She’s gonna need her rest.”

Without a word, Levi comes in and scoops me up in his arms. My eyes linger on Dakota as he sits in that ugly cowhide chair, one that I know isn’t his style but he keeps around as a reminder.

“I love you,” I rasp as Levi carries me away. “You and your demons.”

His eyes crinkle as he watches me. “I know, Calamity Kate. Just as you know you’ve done stolen all our hearts in turn.” He winks at me and leans back. “I love you, too.”

Levi carries me away and when I look up into his eyes, they’re heated. “If you think you get to sleep after that little show, you’re mistaken,” he growls.

My body starts to warm. “Okay,” I rasp. “Let me dance with your demons, too, cowboy.”

The corner of his lips quirks up and I know I’m in trouble, but damn if I’m not looking forward to it.