Chapter 3

3

Cassie

Iswipe away another army of tears as they roll down my cheeks.

It’s the morning after my birthday and I’ve picked a secluded spot way out in the pasture to lick my wounds. I’m not sure how I would explain my blotchy cheeks and red eyes to my father, so I’m staying far away from the farm.

For the thousandth time this morning, I replay the scene inside Miles’s bunkhouse last night. I can’t believe he rejected me. Have I been imagining his affection for me this whole time? Was I naïve to think I would show up naked and he’d fall at my feet, asking for my hand in marriage?

Oh yeah, I was. Embarrassingly, stupidly naïve.

As soon as I’m done having this cry, I’m going to head back to the house to Google ways to change my identity and flee the country. How am I ever going to look him in the eye again, knowing he doesn’t think of me as anything but a child?

My heart wails like a lone wolf in my chest and I flop back in the tall grass, wishing there were clouds in the sky, so I’d at least have a chance of getting struck by lightning. More tears track paths down my temples and I don’t bother wiping these ones away. Maybe I’ll just cry forever—

An unfamiliar face appears above me.

A scream lodges in my throat and I push up on my hands, crab walking backwards a few feet. “Wh-who are you?” With my heart going a hundred miles an hour, I suck in a breath and scream at the tops of my lungs, even though it’s futile. I’m way too far from the farm. “Miles!”

How telling it is that I scream for him and not my own father.

Whether or not he rejected me, Miles would still guard me with his life. My father loves me, but I’ve never been quite so sure he would do the same.

“Now, hold on, miss,” says the man, in a Yankee accent. New York or Boston, maybe? “I won’t do you any harm.”

The sun has been in my eyes, so I’ve only caught the barest glimpse of the stranger. His head blocks the light now, bringing his face into view and…my tummy gives a little kick, my toes curling in the grass. Who is this man?

His hair is black as night, unruly, eyes a deep, haunting gold.

He’s extending a hand to me and I see it’s covered in tattoos. Rough ones, with no discernable rhyme or reason. My, he’s tall. Almost as tall as Miles and I’ve spent most of my life thinking Miles was a giant.

I’d feel so small between them.

I’m not sure where that thought comes from, but it makes goosebumps rake up my arms and my palms turn damp. Stop being an idiot, Cassie. You could be in danger right now. How many times has Miles warned me to stay out of situations where I’m alone with men? Hundreds. I square my shoulders and try to sound confident, instead of fearful. “Who are you?”

The young man visibly shakes himself. “I’m sorry, I…just. Hell if you don’t have me tongue tied. I was driving by down on the road and I thought you might be a mirage or something.” His golden gaze falls to my bare legs and he curses, wetting his lips. “I’m Sam. I’m interviewing for a farm hand position just up the road.”

“Oh.” Relief floods me at finding out he’s not a random drifter. “That’s my daddy’s farm. I’m—”

“Gorgeous. You’re…” His laugh sounds pained. “I’m still not sure you’re real.”

Even though I know I should be wary, after the harsh way Miles spoke to me last night, Sam’s compliments are like a balm on my open cuts. “Thank you,” I murmur, holding out my hand for a shake. “I’m also Cassie.”

“Cassie,” he breathes, taking my hand, shooting a current of energy straight up the limb. “Baby, you ought to be inside where it’s safe.”

And then he drops to his knees in front of me, bringing my hand to his mouth, pressing his slightly parted lips to my knuckles, kissing them in a way I know must be indecent. It reminds me of the way Miles kissed my mouth last night. “Am I not safe with you?” I ask, not taking my hand back. Nor wanting to.

A smile makes the corner of his mouth creep up. “What do you mean by safe?” His voice is husky and it thickens my pulse, turns my nipples to tight, concentrated aches. With him closer now, his dangerous good looks are even more apparent. The slight crookedness of his nose makes me think he’s a boxer. A fighter. A man who has seen things far beyond my secluded farm.

“I mean…are you going to hurt me?”

“Hurt you?” Genuine puzzlement transforms his expression. “God, no, I’m not going to hurt you, Cassie.” He’s still holding my hand and he turns it over now, studying it with fascination. “I’ve known you for two minutes and I want to protect you. Is that crazy?”

“I don’t know.” Although I speak the truth, there definitely is something happening here. With Sam kneeling in front of me, there’s a restlessness in my tummy, like my body is craving an anchor. But…this is how I feel when I’m around Miles. I’ve spent time with other men, too, so I know these are unique sensations. None of my teachers or guys I went to school with make me feel this way. None of the farm workers who have passed through, either.

Only these two men seem to turn a dial to ten inside me when they’re near and…I want to understand why. I want to explore why. Meaning, I don’t want Sam to leave yet. Not that he’s showing any signs of going. Or even letting go of my hand.

“Where are you from?”

Gold eyes tick to mine. “Originally? Boston.”

Originally.“Have you been traveling?”

His body language turns guarded, his jaw going tight, eyes evasive. “I’d rather talk about you.” He brings my hand to his face, pressing his nose to my wrist and inhaling deeply. “Are you old enough to be sitting this close to me with your legs open, Cassie?”

“Legs open—” I look down and realize I’ve crisscrossed my legs. In a skirt. The fresh pair of pink underwear I put on this morning are almost completely showing. Flushing to the roots of my hair, I curl both of my legs to one side, yanking my skirt down as far as it will go, which is about halfway to my knees. “I-I didn’t know.” I swallow hard. “But to answer your question, I turned eighteen yesterday.”

Sam’s eyes close tight, his breath coming faster against my wrist. “Thank you, Jesus.” Gold peeks out between his lids and I feel his attention roaming over my breasts, making my nipples peg inside my tank top.

His touch feels restrained. Like it could give way at any moment.

He settles my hand on his shoulder and walks closer on his knees, looming over me, blocking out the sun. With his eyes holding on to mine, he trails a finger up my throat slowly, slowly, eventually tipping up my chin.

Through the thin layer of his white T-shirt, I see his shoulder muscles tense, hear his breath turn short, labored. The wildness of his energy makes me wish for Miles. Not Miles alone. Miles and Sam. Miles wouldn’t let anything happen to me. I could just give in and enjoy the excitement Sam stirs in me without worrying my lack of wits would land me in trouble. Miles would keep a tight rein on everything and maybe if I was lucky, he would touch me, too.

Both of them might.

Thoughts of Miles, along with Sam’s touch and presence, have turned my panties moist. There’s a yearning in my tummy that makes my backside restless on the grass and I need something, something, so when Sam leans in close to kiss me, I soften my mouth and prepare for the kiss I want. The kiss I need—

A shotgun cocks behind me.

* * *

Sam

Today is notthe first time I heard the click of a shotgun loading.

It’s not even the first time I’ve had one aimed in my direction.

It does mark the first time I’ve had one pointed at me while my dick is harder than steel and I’ve got the most beautiful woman alive sitting in front of me.

Excellent timing.

Careful not to move any part of my body, lest some of it get blown off, I tick my eyes up at the man—and goddamn, there is murder written all over his features.

“Back the fuck away from the girl,” he grits through his teeth.

Cassie’s exhale bathes my neck and I almost give my life, then and there, for a kiss. Almost dive on top of her and take it. I might get a bullet in my back, but at least I’d die knowing what a mouth that perfect and sweet-looking tastes like.

There’s an angel walking the earth and I found her.

“Miles,” she whispers. Then louder, “Miles. Put the gun down.”

“Like hell,” he growls.

“He isn’t hurting me.”

“He was going to kiss you, Cassie.”

“I know.” Tempter lights up her blue eyes, somehow making her even more breathtaking. She twists around to face the man she called Miles. “I wanted him to kiss me. What do you think of that?”

My cock grows that much stiffer just hearing her say it.

Fuck, I need her. Need Cassie on her back, catching my thrusts.

I’m so hot for this girl, I’m barely aware of the man who is clearly looking for any excuse to pull that trigger and end my twenty-six-year-old life. And it has been a rocky one. They just let me out of the pen two days ago where I’d been locked up for three years on an assault charge. Before that, I served an armed robbery sentence. Juvenile hall, where I spent a lot of my youth, was a cake walk compared to where I’ve been recently. Add up all those years being kept off the streets to make them safer? I’ve been locked up almost more than I’ve been free.

But I’ve never, ever felt as free as when Cassie looks into my eyes.

This man wants to stop me from having her.

Anger makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. The metal of the handgun strapped to my ankle heats, burning my skin.

Meanwhile, the man with the shotgun—Miles—looks almost stricken over Cassie’s confession that she wanted to kiss me.

“You’re a child,” Miles says harshly, though his tone lacks conviction. “You don’t know what the hell you want.”

Cassie flinches. “I know there are only two men who’ve made me…made me feel like a woman is supposed to feel. And they’re both right here.”

Jealousy rips through my middle. Cassie and Miles? There’s something between them? I don’t know why I’m surprised. I’m willing to bet every man who’s ever laid eyes on Cassie wants to lock her down. If Miles hadn’t come along with the shotgun, I’d be doing my damnedest to convince her to let me fuck her with no rubber. To put my child in that tasty, little belly.

Still…I thought we had a once in a lifetime connection.

I don’t want her having it with someone else, too.

“Why haven’t you backed away from her yet?” Miles spits at me.

“Put down the gun and come make me.”

With a guttural sound, he fires a deafening shot into the sky.

“Miles, stop!” Cassie jumps to her feet and I mourn the loss of her heat, her magnolia scent immediately. I’m already in love with her, but when she shows no fear in the face of the shotgun, poking Miles in the chest with an adorable frown on her face, she becomes my obsession. “You don’t want me. But no one else can have me, either? Is that it?”

He doesn’t take his murderous eyes off me, following my progress as I stand, hands up and level with my chest, because I’m not stupid. “You must not have been listening last night, girl,” he rasps. “I never said I didn’t want you. I said I can’t have you. It’s wrong.”

There’s no mistaking the hurt on her face. “Well then you should let me go.”

“Is that what you want?”

“No,” she whispers, her eyes growing luminous.

“What do you want, Cassie?” I ask.

Cassie splits a look between us, her own answer seeming to come as a surprise. “B-both of you.” She puts a hand on Miles’s shotgun, pushing it slowly downward until the muzzle faces the ground. Then she crooks her finger at me—beckoning me closer—and I don’t know how to resist. She’s a fucking siren and my body moves without a command from my brain.

As soon as I’m within reaching distance, she curls her hand in the front of my T-shirt, urging me closer. Ignoring the growl of warning from Miles, she does the same to his shirt, pulling him near, leaving this little blonde goddess between us, holding us by our collars.

“Miles…” she says quietly, her voice reminding me of a warm, summer breeze. “You guard me, keep me safe. You…run my life. We pretend you don’t, but you control everything I do, down to the amount of time I spend with friends. You bring me for haircuts, teach me to ride. Things my father should do, but he doesn’t…because I don’t think you’d let him. I’m already yours.”

She turns to me and I try not to let it show how badly I’d like to steal her away. Belt her into my stolen truck where I left it idling on the road, take her somewhere no man would ever see her, and make her mine. Only mine.

“Sam,” she whispers, shivering as she turns to me, gooseflesh appearing on her arms and neck. “You walked out of the sun and I knew…you’d be important. I’ll drown in your kisses, the same way I drowned in Miles’s. I think if you left now, I’d miss you until the end of time. I’d wonder what could have been.”

“So I won’t leave,” I say thickly, my chest so full of pressure, I’m worried it’ll cave in. “I’ll stay, baby. I’ll stay.”

“You will not stay,” Miles roars, yanking Cassie up against him, her back to his front, the shotgun levered at me once more. “You heard her. She belongs to me. Now go back to where you came from or I’ll send you somewhere a lot worse.”

“If you make him leave, I’ll go with him!” Cassie says, haltingly.

Miles stiffens. “You’ll…what?”

“I’ll leave. And if you drag me back…o-or hurt him…I’ll never speak to you again. I’ll never look at you again.”

The other man tries to hide it, but Cassie’s threat puts the fear of God in him—and I fully understand. Being around this woman and not getting her eyes or words? They’d have to fit me for a straightjacket. “You don’t mean that,” Miles says, carefully.

“I need you both,” Cassie says, once again using her hand to lower the shotgun, taking me out of its sights. “I don’t know how I’m so sure, but…I am. If I don’t have you both, I won’t be complete.”

Pain lances my side, winding me. “I don’t want that.”

Miles takes longer to answer, his jaw on the verge of buckling. “Me either.”

Cassie gives a long exhale, reaches up to stroke Miles’s jaw. With her other hand, she reaches out and trails her fingers down my chest. “Miles, Sam is here to interview for the farm hand position.” She presses her backside into the older man’s lap and he bites off a groan. “You won’t do anything to stop him from getting the job, will you? Please say you won’t.”

A beat passes. “I’m not agreeing to this yet, Cassie,” Miles pushes through his teeth. “I won’t be able to stand another man’s fucking hands on you.”

You think I’ll be able to stomach it, man?

“I want you to myself, too, Cassie,” I say firmly.

But when she tucks her finger into the collar of my shirt, pulling me closer, closer, until her tits flatten against the top of my abdomen, my mind blanks of any protests. “Neither of you will know if you’ll like it until we try,” she whispers, her blue eyes blinking up at me, wide and innocent. “I want to try tonight.”

I’m so hypnotized by her, I stumble a little when she slides out from in between us, leaving me face to face with Miles.

“If you manage to work out your differences…” she says, sounding anxious. “Come and find me.”