Pure Bliss

Chapter Six

Noah noticed that his brother managed to look everywhere but his direction. He had to hand it to James. He hadn’t thrown a punch yet, and that was kind of what Noah had expected after he stole Hope right out from under his nose.

But he couldn’t help it. He wanted her. It felt so damn good to want someone after all these years that he was willing to risk his brother’s wrath. Of course, another thought played at the edges of his consciousness as he watch Hope laugh at something the sweet-faced brunette named Beth said. Share her. Sharing her would bring James back into his life. Sharing her would set his own life back on track. It was what had gone wrong with Ally. He should never have tried it alone. It had been a compromise, and he didn’t want to compromise his future anymore.

But he damn straight couldn’t convince his brother to share Hope if James wouldn’t even look at him.

“Doc says I’m not very far along,” Beth said, digging into the meal she’d heated up. There were now a ton of casseroles in the freezer. Rachel Harper made a mean lasagna. How long had it been since a woman had cooked for him? Ally hadn’t even wanted to order takeout. She’d been dedicated to keeping herself as slender as possible, even going so far as to nag him about his weight because he wasn’t being supportive.

Hope didn’t seem to have the same problem. She took a healthy portion of lasagna. “I don’t know how much I’d trust Doc. He’s amazing if you get shot and need emergency field surgery. Don’t laugh, James. You know it comes up more than you would think.”

James smiled her way. “I wasn’t arguing with you. I totally agree. Bliss should be declared a hazard zone. Doc’s had to stitch up Alexei more than once. And he saved Logan’s life a few weeks back.”

“What the hell?” Noah felt like he’d been dropped onto a different planet. “What’s going on? Bliss has never been violent.”

James finally looked his way. “You’ve forgotten a lot of our childhood then. What about the time when Marie shot Teeny’s ex-husband after he tried to kidnap Logan? Or the bank robbers who tried to hide out on Mel’s land and found themselves taken out one by one?”

Yeah, maybe it hadn’t been the bastion of safety and peace he remembered it to be. “Or the bear who tried to mate with old Hiram. Hi did not take kindly to his near molestation. Does he still have that bear’s head over his mantle?”

James’s lips curved into a smile. “He still curses it every day. Says it’s part of his daily ritual. We should just be glad we have a people doc at all. Even if he can’t read a sonogram.”

Trev took a long drink of his coffee. “I’m grateful. I would be a little nervous knowing that something could go wrong with Beth or the baby and the nearest doc is thirty miles away.”

“The ski lodge has a nurse and a couple of guys who are trained paramedics,” Hope pointed out. “We’ve used them before.”

Beth grinned. “Are you talking about Ty? I met him in town a few days back when I was ordering some curtains.”

Hope flushed slightly, nodding. “God, that man is hot.”

“Who the hell is Ty?”

The question came out in stereo. Noah looked at James, who had said the exact same thing at the exact same time Noah had.

Hope shrugged, a secret little smile on her face. “He’s just a guy from the ski lodge. He came down to the station house to meet Nate. Apparently he carries concealed and wanted to inform the sheriff and let him know he’s got all his documentation. I could have told him that Nate just expects everyone is carrying concealed. So Bliss hasn’t changed in all these years, huh?”

She’d turned to Noah, her big brown eyes pulling at him. He would do just about anything to keep her staring at him like that. “Apparently not. Although having a people doc makes a difference. Back when Jamie and I were growing up, we had to take care of ourselves.”

James groaned. “There’s a reason he’s a vet.”

“Hey, you’re still alive.”

“No thanks to you.” James shook his head, obviously lost in memory a bit. “When we were kids, we would stay out at the east cabin for weeks and weeks during the summer.”

Noah felt his face light up. He hadn’t been there in forever. “The Man Cave. No girls allowed.”

“Except for Callie.”

“Callie wasn’t a girl. She was a Callie, and if I recall the incident you’re discussing, she was just as responsible as I was.” It felt so good to talk to him. Noah had known he’d been lonely for a while, but sitting and talking to his brother, reminiscing, made him achingly aware of just how lonely he’d been. He’d been without family, without anyone who deeply understood the forces that had created him. He’d been utterly adrift without his roots. He so wanted his roots again. “We were lucky Mom let us go back out after that incident.”

“What happened?” Hope asked, leaning forward. That deep anxiety that had plagued her seemed to flee as she listened to them.

“Yeah,” Bo said eagerly. “I love a good ‘broken bones’ story.”

Trev’s eyes rolled, but even he seemed to want to hear the tale.

James put his fork down. “Our dads bought us this dirt bike when I was thirteen, and Noah had just turned twelve. You’ve got to understand. We come from an incredibly frugal family.”

“Two bikes would have been an extravagance.” Noah could still remember how he’d felt when he’d seen that shiny dirt bike.

James took up the story. “So we’re up in the Man Cave, had been for about a week. We kept in touch with our mom and dads with walkies, and the hands would check on us from time to time. Mom came up once, walked in and nearly gagged. She said the whole place smelled like feet. She never came back.”

They hadn’t exactly been concerned with cleanliness. “We were kids. We didn’t have discerning noses.”

“So I took the bike out,” James continued. “Max told me I couldn’t get the bike up the mountain.”

Bo laughed. “You tried to take a little dirt bike up that huge damn mountain?”

James’s smile spread across his face like the Cheshire cat’s grin. “Oh, I did. I got to the top. It was getting back down that proved troublesome.”

Noah let his head fall to his hand. “He got down that mountain a hell of a lot faster than he got up.”

His brother grimaced. “And the bike came down with me. I was torn up and bleeding. That mountain shaved off layers of skin, I tell you. It was awful.”

Hope gasped. “Is that why you have those scars on your chest?”

James winked her way. “It sure is. It’s why I have scars on my chest, back, shoulders. Everywhere. It took my Indiana Jones T-shirt, too. I loved that T-shirt. So I’m half-dead, but I manage to walk two miles back to the cabin, pushing that bike along. And would you like to know what my dear brother said as I walked in bleeding?”

“I ran to get you,” Noah said, knowing where James was going.

“He yelled, ‘What did you do to the bike!’ He grabbed the bike, and Callie had to come out and help me into the cabin. Asshole. Then he and Callie cleaned me up with alcohol and put gauze over all my wounds just so we wouldn’t have to go home. Well, you can imagine what happened.”

Noah winced. “He scabbed over the gauze. It was horrible. It really is why I became a vet. Dogs don’t howl the way Jamie did that day. Mel was there, luckily. He said the same thing had happened to him during an abduction. I guess the aliens aren’t any better at first aid than Callie and I were. He took Jamie back to his cabin, made him soak in a hot tub, and the gauze sloughed off. Mel was a pretty damn good medic.”

James laughed. “Hey, I didn’t get an infection, and no alien death rays have come for me.”

“Damn, I miss the Man Cave. I want to go up there.” Noah wanted to see it again. Maybe if he could touch that place that had meant so much to him, he could start to feel right again. It was why he’d come home. He wanted to find the boy he’d been so that maybe the man he was could start healing.

James’s face shut down, all his joy fleeing in an instant. The rest of the table got quiet.

“What?” Noah wasn’t sure what he’d said wrong.

“The east cabin burned down when a wildfire burned off near five thousand acres. I got scars from fighting that, too.” James went back to eating.

“I didn’t know.” How could it be gone?

James shrugged. “You wouldn’t. You would have to have called or given a damn in order to know. Trev, do we have a feed shipment tomorrow?”

Noah sat back, his appetite gone. The conversation flowed around him, but he simply sat there. The cabin was gone. His brother was further away than ever.

It had been a mistake to come back. He should have found a job in some other town and started over.

“Give him a little time.” Hope smiled at him, her voice low as Trev and James and Bo discussed the feed shipment.

“I don’t know if there’s enough time in the world,” Noah replied in a whisper. He’d really hurt his brother. He hadn’t meant to. James seemed harder than before, but then it appeared life had kicked him in the crotch more than once since he’d left. Noah had thought he’d had the rougher road, but James’s hadn’t been easy.

“He’ll come around. You’re his brother.” Hope patted his hand.

And James noticed that. His gaze sharpened on the spot where Hope’s hand touched his. James frowned, his fork suspended in midair.

Noah smiled warmly at Hope, well aware that his brother was watching their every move. “Thanks, Hope. I’m looking forward to our date tomorrow.”

“Date?” James ground the word out.

Hope’s gorgeous eyes rolled. “He’s taking me to see Long-Haired Roger so I can find out how much I owe in order to get my car back. It’s not a date.”

“We’re having lunch afterwards.” He knew he was stabbing his brother in the back, but it was the only attention he could get. And once he had Hope in his arms, maybe he could find a way to ease James into the relationship. He knew damn straight that if James got her first, Noah would be left in the damn cold, and he didn’t want that to happen. He felt a connection to Hope. For the first time in forever, his brain and his dick were on the same page.

“Only because you guilted me into it,” Hope complained.

He shrugged. He was fine with that. He’d been guilted into many things himself. It was sometimes the way the world worked. He’d listened in a bit earlier to the talk in the living room. It was obvious she was in some kind of trouble. She needed someone to look after her. Noah couldn’t see why that shouldn’t be him. James hadn’t claimed her. She was alone by her own admission. She might actually need him. She might be the only fucking person in the world who needed him.

“I’ll take you,” James pronounced.

Trev, Beth, and Bo watched, their heads going back and forth as though they were watching a tennis match. Or a fight between two dogs over a bone. He wasn’t giving up his bone.

“She already agreed to go with me,” Noah said, willing to fight.

“You two stop.” Hope slapped at the table. “Both of you. You are acting like toddlers. I don’t know what is going on here, but you’re brothers. Don’t you talk, James. I know he left, but he’s back. And you, stop baiting him. Do you want to start a fight? I am not Rachel. I will not throw my body between the two of you and proceed to allow you to molest me. I will get a hose, and hose you both down. Do you understand?”

James’s eyes dropped to his plate, but there was the faintest hint of a grin on his face. “Yes, ma’am.”

Hope turned to him, a stern expression on her face. She was in charge. For now.

“Yes, ma’am.” Noah didn’t try to hide his smile. She was pretty when she was mad. And she could obviously handle unruly men.

“Excellent.” She sighed and picked up her iced tea. “Then we can finish a pleasant meal.”

She began to talk to Beth, but Noah just watched her. He was well aware his brother was doing the same damn thing.

Hope sat up in bed when the door opened. Long lines of moonlight transformed the little guest room, washing it with silvery light, making the whole space romantic and surreal.

When had she changed into a white gown? She was sure she’d gone to bed wearing a T-shirt and pajama bottoms, but the silky white gown felt right on her skin. It was luxurious, like she was wrapped in a soft cloud. She pushed the quilt back. The early-September air was already cold at night, but she was a little hot. She kicked the covers away, aware of the way the change in temperature caused her body to react. Her nipples tightened, and a little thrill of gooseflesh raced along her skin. Aware. She was so aware of her body. She stretched, feeling a little like a cat waking up from a nap, and that was when she felt his eyes on her.

James.

James stood in the doorway, his long, lean body wearing nothing but a pair of jeans. The moonlight caressed his flesh like an admiring lover. His chest was perfect despite the scars there. No amount of silvery scars could take away from how perfectly cut his torso was. His shoulders were broad, sculpted by an artistic hand. His arms were muscular but not bulky. He was a cowboy god. Sin walking on two legs.

“James? What are you doing here?” Hope asked. Was that throaty voice really her own? She knew she should cover herself, but she couldn’t quite make her hands work.

“I wanted to make sure you were okay.” He stalked into the room. His voice was a deep, velvety caress. He stood over her, his blue eyes staring down. “Do you have everything you need?”

Nope. Not even close. She needed him. She held a hand out.

His smiled warmed her. “I want you, Hope.”

Music to her ears. How long had she wanted to hear that from him? But she was leaving. “I can’t stay in Bliss.”

His handsome face tightened. “I’ll take whatever time we have. Come on, girl. Don’t keep me waiting.”

He’d kept her waiting, but she didn’t want payback. She wanted him. Years she’d gone without wanting anyone. She’d wanted solace. She’d wanted to disappear. She’d wanted to forget. But she hadn’t wanted a person for who they were, for their beauty and body and soul. James Glen was a man-whore. She knew it, but he was also honest and forthright and a gentleman. He was smart and funny, and he made her heart pound.

Her hands went to the silky straps of her gown, gently pushing them down. She showed him her breasts, praying he wouldn’t reject her. He’d been with so many beautiful women. What if he didn’t want her once he’d really seen her?

His eyes went to her chest, a sensual smile playing on his lips. His golden-brown hair fell forward. He was almost never without his hat, but the shaggy hair made him look younger, freer than he normally looked.

She caught her breath as his fingers came up to play with her nipples. The buds tightened, and her arousal started to flow.

He palmed her breasts and leaned forward, his mouth close to hers. “Tell me you want me.”

Oh, so much. She was drugged with desire. “I want you, James.”

He brushed their lips together, a little caress that left her wanting so much more. He stood back up. “Then show me everything. I want to see you. I want to see the hips I’ll hold, the legs that will wrap around me, and I definitely want to see the pussy I finally get to fuck. Show me, Hope.”

His words were fuel for her movement. With a languid sigh, she got to her knees and let the gown slip off her body. It seemed to almost evaporate, as though it knew it was no longer needed. She knelt there, naked before James Glen.

He studied her for a long moment, his eyes caressing her. She let her insecurity go. She breathed and let the moment last. Finally, his hand came out. The tips of his fingers barely touched the notch of her collarbone. She was sure he could feel her pulse pounding. He let his fingers float along her skin, skimming between her breasts, down her belly, across her navel. He stopped just shy of her mound.

“Are you wet?” His voice sounded like it came from all directions. It filled the room until it was all she could hear.

Her pussy flooded with moisture. It was his to command. “Yes.”

His hand moved quickly, tangling in her hair, pulling it back with a little bite of pain. “Yes, what?”

“Yes, James.”

“That’s right. You call me by my name.” He whispered the command in her ear.

She shivered at the dominant tone. “James.”

“That’s right.” He slipped in behind her and cupped her breasts.

“My James.” He was hers. For now.

His fingers tightened on her nipples, rolling them between his thumbs and forefingers. He tugged and rolled and played her like a finely tuned instrument. “You’re lovely, Hope. You hide this under all those clothes.”

She had her reasons for wearing her dowdy, sensible clothes. They reminded her that once she hadn’t been sensible at all, and it had cost someone her life.

She banished him. Christian had no place here. But Noah did.

“Hello, darlin’.”

James didn’t stop his slow exploration of her breasts even as his brother’s voice filled the room.

“You are one gorgeous woman,” Noah said.

Like his brother, he was half-naked, showing off a phenomenally built chest. He was bulkier than his brother. He obviously spent a lot of time in the gym. He was darker, more brooding. He was completely sexy. She could still hear his dark voice telling her to not lie to him. He’d taken control when he’d found her on the side of the road. He’d been commanding, and everything deep inside her had responded to his take-charge attitude.

She liked the fact that he was a little rough. He hadn’t tried to charm her. He’d told her what he wanted. Charm could be deceptive. There he was again. Christian was always there trying to fuck everything up. But this was her time, and he wasn’t welcome.

“She is gorgeous, brother.” James lowered his head as he gently pushed her back into the pillows. When had he gotten in front of her? He seemed to move like a wraith. One minute he was behind her, his denims making contact with the soft flesh of her ass, and then next he was easing her down to the bed.

Noah stood beside them, looking down on Hope with a satisfied smile. “I knew we would be here.”

She wasn’t sure why they weren’t fighting, but she was willing to go with it. The idea of both James and Noah wanting her made her heart soar. So different and yet so sweetly alike. Their shared history was so interesting to her. She’d never had a sibling. Her mom had one child, and that had proven way too much for her to handle. Hope had dreamed of a family and one that didn’t consist of mere duty. Her mother had shoved a plate of food in front of her at dinnertime and then turned on the TV. And when she was sixteen, her mom had screamed at her to get out because Hope hadn’t gotten along with her new boyfriend. She wanted a family like James and Noah had had. It was as alluring as their hard bodies and gorgeous faces. It was sexier than anything.

She imagined herself between them. Warmth and strength would surround her. She would feel small even though she wasn’t. She would feel safe, engulfed by their power.

“Could someone kiss me?”

Something was wrong. She could feel it. There was something she was missing, but James leaned forward and sucked her nipple into his mouth. Noah climbed on the bed behind her, turning her head gently so he could take her mouth. His tongue surged inside, playing against hers. So sweet. She loved the way he tasted and how James sucked her nipples. This was what she’d longed for—to be the center of their attention. She’d only known Noah for a day, but she longed for him.

She hissed at the little nip James gave her.

“Oh, he’s a bad man, Hope.” Noah chuckled against her lips. “He’s going to leave marks.”

She would take them. She didn’t mind rough. She liked it. She would like to walk around knowing her flesh bore a little bit of James Glen’s discipline. Damn. She was a freak, but it was fine.

“I’m going to leave a mark, too, darlin’.” Noah pressed kisses all over her face. “I’m going to spank that pretty ass of yours just before I fuck it. I’m going to open up your asshole and shove my cock in.”

She shuddered a bit. Dark and forbidden. He would take her to places she’d never been before.

“This is mine.” James’s fingers slid through her pussy. “I’m going to eat this like a ripe peach.”

That sounded perfect.

James kissed his way down her torso, dipping his tongue into her navel before rubbing his nose right in her pussy. “You smell good, Hope.”

“He likes to eat pussy,” Noah said. “I do, too, but I can wait my turn.”

She gasped as James’s tongue slid over her clit. It felt so good. Her whole body was languid and soft. She was their pretty plaything.

“You’ll be waiting a while, brother. This is my treat for now,” James said before shoving his tongue right up her cunt.

“He never liked to share our toys.” Noah frowned. “I’m going to tell Mom.”

“Are not.” James’s head came up.

“Are, too.” Noah was frowning like a mad toddler.

“Are not.”

“Are, too.”

Hope sat straight up in bed. “What is wrong with you two?”

“It’s his fault.” Noah pointed at James.

James rolled his eyes. “Is not.”

“Is, too.”

“You’ll have to forgive them,” a very cultured British voice said. Hope looked down, and Butch sat at the end of the bed dressed in a crisp doggy tuxedo. “They really have no manners. But that one does.”

She followed the dog’s line of vision.

James and Noah were gone. Christian Grady stood over the bed, the golden halo of his hair shining in the moonlight.

“Did you think I would let you get away from me? There’s no leaving me, Hope. You’re mine. Forever.” He smiled down at her, and that was when she noticed the long silver knife in his hand. It dripped with blood. “I can keep you with me forever.”

Hope woke up screaming.

Her heart raced as she clutched the quilt. The dream hung like cobwebs, muddling her mind. She was at the Circle G. She was in the guest bedroom.

And she suddenly wasn’t alone. The door slammed open and James stood there, his hair wild and wearing nothing beyond a pair of boxers. He had a baseball bat in his hand, his every muscle ready for a fight. “What’s happening? Is someone in here?”

James held up the bat as he walked around the room. He threw open the closet door.

Her hands were still shaking. She looked down to make sure she was still in her pajamas. It was stupid, but she was still foggy. Everything was in place. Before she could answer, Noah and Butch were in the doorway. Noah had on flannel pajama bottoms, and Butch was just a dog. His tongue lolled out, and his tail thumped. He looked excited about the potential of a little late-night play.

“Are you okay, Hope?” Noah asked, his eyes wide.

She was now. And she felt a little dumb. “I am so sorry. It was a bad dream. I take it I screamed?”

“Like someone was trying to kill you.” James’s chest moved up and down as he finally let the bat drop. He eyed his brother. “Were you going to have Butch lick the intruder to death?”

Noah absently ran a hand across his dog’s head. “Were you going to use someone’s head for batting practice? Let me point out that your batting average was under two hundred.”

James shot his brother the finger before turning back to her. “Would you like to tell me what the dream was about?”

God, no. Let’s see, it was about having some hot sex with both you and your brother, and then Noah’s dog turns out to be the voice of reason and oh, yeah, my criminally insane ex showed back up, and he was holding the knife that he used to kill my best friend. Yeah, no way was she telling him any of that.

Hope shook her head. “I really can’t remember.”

Butch hopped on the bed, obviously giving up on a late-night romp. He put his head down and closed his eyes. Not a guard dog.

“Can’t remember?” James asked, crossing his arms over his sculpted chest. Despite the fact that her hands were still shaking, she couldn’t help but notice that both men looked even better than they had in her dream. James’s chest was perfectly cut and tapered from broad shoulders to a lean waist. Noah’s pajama bottoms rode low on his muscled hips, revealing the glorious notches that pointed straight toward what Hope suspected was a really nice man part.

She didn’t have to suspect about James. His poked out of the hole of his boxers. She knew she shouldn’t look but couldn’t turn away. James was built on big lines, and his cock wasn’t any different. Her voice came out in a breathy whisper. “I don’t remember.”

“Dude, how can she remember a damn thing when your junk is practically pointing her way?” Noah asked.

James flushed, his tan skin turning the sweetest shade of pink. He tucked himself back in. “Sorry. I was having a dream of my own.”

“Yeah, I bet.” Noah’s mouth formed a flat line. “Do you know what I was dreaming about? I was dreaming about being warm because my own damn brother didn’t bother to give me a blanket. He told me to sleep on the couch and then he turned off the heater.”

James had a shit-eating grin on his face. “Well, you didn’t exactly call to let me know I needed to set up another guest bedroom.”

“If you two are going to fight, go to another room.” She was pleased that her voice sounded halfway steady. She could still see Christian standing there. She wouldn’t sleep the rest of the night. She would lie in bed and wait for dawn. It was the way it had been for a solid week. She thought about asking Noah to let Butch stay with her.

“We’re not going to fight.” James strode right to the bed and pulled back her quilt.

“What are you doing?” Hope asked as she scooted to the middle of the bed.

James climbed in, crowding her. “If I leave you alone, you won’t sleep a wink. I’m not stupid, Hope. You remember everything about that dream. It’s going to haunt you all night, and I would bet this ranch that you’ve been having the dream or something like it for weeks. You’re tired, baby. You have to get some rest. Noah, turn the light off as you go. You can take my bed.”

Noah snorted. “Not happening.”

The light went out as James pulled her close. She could feel his heat. He was better than any electric blanket. She knew it was a dumb idea, but her arms wound around his body, and she laid her head on his chest. The strong rhythm of his heart beat against her ear, a safe sound.

“I have to protect Hope. God only knows what you would do to her.” Noah climbed in on the other side. “Besides it’s way warmer in here.”

“Well, if you’re going to stay, you better stop complaining and go to sleep.” James sounded sleepy. His arms curled around her shoulders.

Noah’s arm draped over her waist. He sighed as he settled in behind her, pulling the quilt up. “I’ll stop complaining now. Now I’m happy.”

She should protest. She should force them both out, but her eyes were already closing as though her body knew to be grateful even when her brain held on to stubbornness. Her body was winning. Noah cuddled up against her backside. She was surrounded by warmth.

She slept for the first time in weeks, safe in between them.