Chapter 8

eight

. . .

Cross

" N o one has time for your pity party, Walker. Answer my damn calls, or get your ass home. We've got shit to do," I snarled.

I scrolled through our text thread, unconsciously counting the unread messages I'd sent him since he'd stormed into the kitchen yesterday and dropped a marriage bomb.

Me:

If you're done being a pouty bitch, come meet me in the office. We need to discuss how we're going to handle the new round of shipments.

Me:

What the fuck am I paying you for if you can't be assed to participate in the business?

Me:

Don't fucking ignore me.

Me:

Walker. I swear if you knock some girl up because you're on a bender, you'll just prove Dad right. Don't do something stupid.

Me:

At least let me know you're alive and not in a ditch somewhere.

Me:

Goddammit, did you block me?

Me:

Real fucking mature.

Me:

You better be in a fuckin' hospital with two broken hands, you selfish asshole. Get the fuck over it and come home. No one has seen or heard from you since yesterday.

I'd sent that one as soon as I'd woken up this morning and saw he still hadn't checked his phone. Then in a fit of desperation, I'd added:

Me:

River deserves better from you.

Walker was a grown-ass man, but we had too many enemies for him to go MIA like this. It was irresponsible, not to mention fucking annoying. I knew his ego was bruised, but this was ridiculous, even for him.

Which was why I'd begun to worry.

Snagging my hat off the rack, I put it on and went to search for him. Maybe the idiot had made his way home but was ignoring us all. Or maybe he's still sleeping it off. If he was, I was about to haul his ass outside and hose him down.

I made my way to his bedroom, not bothering to knock before throwing the door open. Bed was still made, no sign of my brother.

Fuck. Where the hell are you, Walker?

Maybe he wasn't in his bed because he'd fallen into River's. That idea didn't sit right with me. Not now. Not ever, if I was being honest. I wanted to leave my mark on every fucking part of her, even the ones I had to share.

"We don't go no contact," I muttered as I continued down the hall. "Rule one. Always respond."

Three cowboys stood around the island in the kitchen we had just for the ranch hands. Each of them had a steaming mug of coffee in hand as they shot the shit, their sunbaked faces all smiles and jovial laughter. Part of me wanted to remind them of exactly what they'd been up to last night, of the battered and bloody man they'd left hog-tied naked in his barn. All of it on my order. Fucker was just lucky he was still breathing. No one stole from me and got away with it. It didn't matter if it was a single steer or an entire herd.

"Mornin', boss," Tex said, lifting his coffee cup in salute.

"Mornin'. You seen my brother?"

He gave a slow shake of his head. "Not since last night."

"We could'a used his help last night with the herd. He was supposed to join us," Russ offered.

"Rusty's just mad because he got on the wrong side of an angry heifer."

I frowned, ignoring that for now and zeroing in on Tex. "Where was he?"

"The Prospector, that little dive down by the freeway," he added when it was clear I didn't recognize the name.

"What was he doing at that shithole?"

"Drinkin'."

"Of fucking course he was," I muttered. "Was he upright when you left?"

Tex nodded. "He was planning on meeting up with us."

Russ snickered. "Guess he found someone prettier to roll around with instead."

"Or he drank himself under the table. He was three drinks deep by the time I left and looking a little worse for wear." Tex gave me a solemn look. "That man was nursing a serious case of heartbreak."

Heartbreak that was all my fault, even if it'd been without my knowledge. Well, initially. The headline I'd insisted on certainly couldn't have helped.

"Do me a favor?" I asked, glancing over at Rusty before pouring myself a thermos of coffee.

"Of course."

"Check to see if Blue is in the stable. I doubt he crawled home and took her out, but at this point, we need to search for him. Tex, you head to the bar and see if he's sleeping it off, will ya?"

Tex nodded, draining his coffee and heading out.

Russ eyed me. "And you? Are you going to look for him?"

That had been the plan before I'd learned his disappearing act had been due to drinking himself under a table. I hoped he woke up with a hangover from hell for worrying me like that. But now that I knew someone had at least had eyes on him, some of the urgency had ebbed, allowing me to focus on other matters.

"No. I need to have a talk with my wife."

The last thing I expected to find when one of the new guys told me he'd spotted River walking in this direction was her on her knees with Bishop's dick halfway down her throat. But here we were.

"Jesus Christ," I groaned under my breath. I had to admit, she looked really fucking hot like that, with one exception. It wasn't my cock she was sucking or my hand in her hair.

From my angle, I was mostly behind her but just a bit to the right, so I could still catch glimpses of her face. Specifically the hollowing out of her cheeks and the way her eyes were currently squeezed shut. I also couldn't help but notice the way her fingers dug into her thighs.

"That's it, baby. Take it nice and deep. Goddamn, you feel good." Bishop's words were a harsh rasp, his head tilted back, eyes closed, fingers gripping her hair at the roots.

Lucky bastard.

I didn't have an excuse for why I was just standing there, watching like it was my own personal peep show, but I couldn't find it in me to move. Especially with how hard my own dick was. I adjusted myself on instinct, wishing I could tear her away from him and show her what she was missing, but that wouldn't help my cause one bit.

"Fuck, siren. You keep humming like that I'm gonna come down your throat."

Her head bobbed, a little whimpered moan escaping her that had my cock jerking. I took a step forward, and I must have stepped on a damn twig because Bishop's gaze shot my way. We were far enough apart that I couldn't read the expression in his eyes, but I had no difficulty interpreting the smug curl of his lips.

Fucker.

He didn't stop, just held my stare while River continued to suck him down.

"Look at you out here, on your knees where anyone could see you. Put your hand between your legs, baby. Touch your wet pussy and make yourself feel good."

She backed away from him, and to his credit, he let her. Hand holding her in place, he kept her from looking around. The man didn't want River to know I was here.

"Pull your skirt up and spread those thighs. I want to watch you get yourself off while I fuck your face."

The moan that left her was fucking obscene.

"Is that what you want? To be watched?"

I could stop this right now with a single word. Interrupt them before either of them found release. But I didn't. I was too invested in her answer.

"It depends on who's doing the watching," she said.

"Tug those panties to the side and show me how you glisten, beautiful. Show me what my cock in your mouth does to you."

As she obeyed, he kept on talking to her while he fed her his cock again.

"What do you think Cross would say if he saw you right now? His pretty wife, rubbing that greedy little clit and on her knees for me." It looked like she wanted to pull back and answer, but he held her in place and rocked into her some more. "I think he'd fucking love it. I think he'd wish it was him instead of me, but he wouldn't be able to look away long enough to do anything about it."

God, I wanted to see what she was doing. The way her hips bucked as she took him made me desperate to slide inside her heat and remind her what I could give her too. He could have her mouth. I'd claim that pussy. Again.

My sparrow made the sweetest sounds as she chased her release.

"Not yet, siren. Ride the edge for me. This is too perfect to rush." He pulled out of her mouth again, and she made a needy little noise.

"Why'd you stop me?"

"I have another question and want to hear your answer." He smirked down at her as she continued to work herself. "If your husband was here right now, what would you want? For him to try and take you from me or for him to join us?"

She paused, and he scolded her with a stern look.

"Keep rubbing that clit, siren. I didn't tell you to stop."

"O-okay. I'm just . . . so close."

Fuck, I was standing there, palming my hard dick, waiting with bated breath for her to say what she wanted. I couldn't leave now. Not until she answered.

"Tell me, and then we can get back to chasing that release."

"If he were here . . ."

I stopped fucking breathing.

"I'd want you both."

A heartbeat away from tearing open my fly, I gritted my teeth and worked for the control I so desperately needed. Until Bishop's eyes met mine again.

"What do you say, Mr. Cross? Are you going to give your wife what she's asking for?"