Chapter 4

4

Miles

Iwant to crush Sam’s bones in my bare hands.

When I rode up on my horse and found him seconds from putting his mouth on my Cassie, the world turned black. I didn’t sleep last night, sick over hurting her feelings and I was on my way to find her. God knows riding out into the field to be alone with her when my cock was still hard was a bad idea, but I couldn’t stop myself. She’s mine to soothe. Mine to make smile.

I never could have expected to find her in someone else’s arms—and goddammit, it terrified me. For a moment, I felt the agony of losing Cassie, and forget the world being black, it upended my whole universe.

She wants two men.

If I’d claimed her as mine last night, could this have been avoided?

Is she trying to punish me?

Part of me wishes that was true, but…I can’t deny the way she looked at Sam. It wasn’t quite the way she looks at me. It held the same level of potency, but their connection is volatile where ours is grounded. There is something there.

I lean back against the table and watch Sam sit down across from Cassie’s father, his hands clasped loosely between his knees. Where the hell did this man come from? His accent denotes Boston, but where the hell does a man get farm experience in Boston? There are tattoos on his fingers, his forearms, and I’m imagining they’re under his shirt, too. He’s the exact kind of man I’ve been warning Cassie away from for years—and yet here I am, considering…

Doing this…thing that will make her happy.

She seems to need us to take her. Together.

I’ve seldom heard her speak with so much conviction about anything. Most of the time she is sweet, happy-go-lucky, but this?

I’m not sure I can deny her something she wants so badly, even if it kills me. Especially on the heels of hurting her last night.

While Cassie’s father shuffles through a stack of paperwork, I close my eyes and try to envision Cassie being taken by us both. Me and Sam. My mind conjures an image of the girl on her knees, topless, sucking my cock eagerly with her pretty mouth while she strokes Sam’s dick in her free hand. I’m surprised as hell to feel precome beading on the tip of my shaft, even though Sam’s hand is in her hair, turning her face toward his lap, hoarsely asking for a turn.

It’s the euphoria in her eyes that makes me hot.

And the fact that I’m the one who grants her permission to suck Sam off.

Not yet, says my voice in my head. Not until he begs.

I clear my throat so hard, both men glance over at me, but I cross my arms and pace to the window, looking out. It was a given that I’d sit in on this interview. Sam would be working directly beneath me and I need to give my okay. But do I have a choice in the matter? If I did something that caused Cassie to run away from me, I would never forgive myself.

Nor would I survive being separated from her.

I look back over my shoulder to find Sam’s oddly colored eyes watching me steadily, as if trying to figure out whether or not I’ll ruin his chances.

Of getting the job.

Of having Cassie.

Cassie’s father leans back in his chair. “Well, Sam Bolton. Your résumé says you’re from Boston, but you worked summers on your grandfather’s farm?”

“That’s right.” Sam smiles, revealing a white row of teeth. “Best months of my life, working on the farm. Mucking stalls and rounding up cattle. Fixing fences. Whatever my grandfather needed done.”

My employer seems almost as charmed by this man as his daughter is, I note with disgust. “And he’s since passed?”

“Unfortunately, yes, sir.” Sam crosses himself. “God rest his soul.”

“That’s too bad.”

Sure is. Especially considering his grandfather is his only reference and now it can’t be checked. There is something about Sam that isn’t sitting right with me, but I’ll need more time to find out what it is. Maybe once I find out, I can convince Cassie he’s not right for her. To drop this notion of being intimate with both me and Sam.

Problem is, I don’t know if she’ll wait long enough for me to dig.

I want to try tonight.

Once again, I’m surprised when my loins tighten with anticipation of something I’ve never done before. Something I sure as hell never considered. Sharing Cassie with another man. Both of us giving her pleasure.

Don’t you think she deserves double the pleasure?

Fuck yes, I do.

She deserves anything her little heart desires.

But only last night, I vowed to stay away from her. Whether or not Sam is in the picture now, she’s still young as hell. She’s still my employer’s daughter.

I’ll still be violating the trust bestowed on me.

Am I breaking my vow to give her what she needs? Am I breaking it so I don’t lose her to another man?

“Says here on your résumé you’ve been self-employed for the last five years, working mostly in security up north,” says Cassie’s father, breaking into my thoughts. “What made you up and decide to come down south and work on a farm?”

Sam smiles, propping an ankle on his opposite knee, the very picture of casual. But I’m not fooled. “Like I said, the best years of my life were working on a farm. I’d sure be grateful if I could recapture that feeling while working your beautiful land.”

Smooth.

Too smooth.

Out of sight of my boss, I narrow my eyes on Sam to let him know I’m not falling for his bullshit. But for now, I’m biding my time.

Until I can bring Cassie’s father something more concrete.

“Can you start tomorrow?”

Sam puts his hand out for a shake. “I can and I will.”

Both men stand, Cassie’s father checking his watch. “I’ve got a phone call with a supplier. Miles, can you do me a favor and show Sam where the empty bunk house is? You know, the one behind yours?”

I nod briskly, watching my employer leave the room, painfully aware that he has no idea he’s in the company of two men who want to ravish his eighteen-year-old daughter. “Let’s walk,” I say, striding from the kitchen, not bothering to hold the screen door for Sam.

I’m surprised when he catches up with me almost immediately. “I’m guessing since you didn’t say anything back there to fuck me over…” Sam starts. “You’re considering following through on what Cassie asked us for?”

A growl kindles in my throat. “Might be,” I say. “But you’ll need to agree to some ground rules first.”

* * *

Sam

Rules.

A tingle works its way down my spine.

When I was teenager, I hated rules, but I’ve come to crave them.

Years of serving time in juvenile facilities and prison has molded me into a creature of habit. I was born with demons inside me and structure is the only thing that keeps them at bay. Ask any inmate and they’ll tell you, the hardest part about leaving prison is learning to accept your free will again.

I’ve never been able to do it successfully.

That’s probably why I end up back behind bars every time they let me out. I don’t know how to be out here, in this great big land, without having the law laid down on me, day after day. After getting out of prison the first time, I was only out for a few weeks before the pressure of free living got to me. Suddenly, there I was, provoking a bar fight that turned deadly. Hell, I was relieved when they locked me back up and I could rely on rules again.

Once again, here I am, lying to get employed. Skipping out of the state where I’ve been ordered to remain while on parole. I’m asking to be put away again, but I can’t help it. I don’t know how to be free. Normal.

Now Miles informs me he’d like to give me some more.

I can’t show him how badly I want those rules. How badly I need those restraints on my criminal nature. But I do need them. Especially if they’ll get me close to that sweet angel named Cassie. I already miss the sight of her in a way I never missed the outside world while in prison.

“Ground rules?” I echo Miles, trying to sound casual.

“That’s right.” His fast stride eats up the distance to the bunkhouses ahead and I follow. “You’ve met Cassie. You know she’s…”

“Special.”

“Yes.” Miles closes his eyes briefly. “A gift from God himself.”

When he doesn’t continue, I ask a question that’s been needling me. “You’ve been wanting each other. How have you resisted her all this time?”

“She wasn’t legal until yesterday.” He casts me a speculative glance. “I’m guessing that wouldn’t have stopped you?”

“Not sure anything could,” I confess, sweat forming on my upper lip just remembering the way her firm, round tits felt molding to my chest. “Maybe I’m not as honorable a man as you.”

“That’s why, if we do this, there will be rules.”

Again, I experience a neat little zip of anticipation. “What are they?”

We reach one of the bunkhouses, stopping at the base of the porch. Miles lays his arm on one of the posts, remaining silent for a few beats before he exhales. “Listen well, Sam. Every time you touch her, it will be under my supervision. Every time. I decide how she’s fucked. I decide how fast and slow we go. How rough or gentle. Whose turn it is. If she needs a rest. If I want to keep her panties on and play with her or make her ride you in cowboy boots and pigtails, that’s my call.”

To say I’m shocked would be an understatement.

“Damn, Miles. You’re kinkier than you look.” I reach down and adjust myself, a laugh puffing from my mouth. “Christ. That just made me hard.”

“Congratulations,” he drawls, his eyes narrowed toward the horizon. “Cassie was right when she said I control her life. I’m not sure she knows how much deeper that control is going to run when I take her to bed.”

I grind my back teeth. “When we take her to bed.”

He grinds his jaw a moment. “You going to abide by the rules?”

My balls cinch up. Rules. I need them. “Yes.”

Miles pushes off the post and strides away. “Meet next door at my place tonight. Midnight.” His stride slows and he curses vilely. “Her daddy should be asleep by then.”