Three to Ride

Chapter Fifteen

Rachel woke up to the sound of shouting. She tried to snuggle back under the warmth of the comforter but was disconcerted to find herself alone. When she’d been allowed to sleep, she’d slept wrapped in their arms. Rachel was rapidly getting used to cuddling.

“Fuck you, Stef!” Max yelled. His voice pulled her roughly from her attempt to get back to sleep.

“I can’t believe you’re yelling at me.” Stefan’s voice was calmer than Max’s, but it rang across the yard all the same. “You got exactly what you wanted.”

Rachel opened her eyes and saw Rye kneeling on the bed. He was looking out the window behind the big king-sized four-poster bed. “Is Max making an ass of himself?” Her voice was husky with sleep. It was fitting. She hadn’t gotten much sleep last night. Max and Rye had been incredibly demanding. She was sore, but she already felt her body heating up at the sight of Rye’s gorgeous backside. He hadn’t bothered with clothes.

“I think this is going to be a spectacular scene, darlin’.” He reached down and helped her up. “Really, you shouldn’t miss it.”

Rachel rubbed her eyes and watched as Max stalked after their host. Stefan was already a vision of elegant masculinity in a dress shirt, slacks, and shoes that were probably worth a fortune. Max, on the other hand, only had on a worn pair of Levi’s. His hair was slightly unkempt. His six-pack was on heart-stopping display. He looked delicious.

“You manipulative son of a bitch,” Max growled. “How dare you go behind my back and talk my woman into doing something as stupid as auctioning herself off in front of the whole town!”

“I didn’t think it was stupid,” Rachel muttered.

Rye patted her ass comfortingly. “I thought it was a brilliant plan.”

She smiled, remembering how pissed he’d been at the time. One night of incredibly indulgent sex seemed to have done wonders for Rye’s mood. She filed that information away for future reference. When Rye got upset with her, she’d take him to the bedroom and end the argument.

“How do you know it wasn’t Rachel’s idea in the first place?” Stefan crossed his arms over his chest. His handsome face was contorted into an expression that conveyed his general annoyance.

“Because she is a sweet girl,” Max proclaimed righteously. “She is just a little naïve. You used her.”

Rachel shook her head. “Naïve?”

Rye shrugged. “I was going to take issue with sweet.”

She elbowed him playfully.

“I want my three thousand dollars back,” Max shouted.

Even from a distance, Rachel could see Stefan rolling his eyes. “You cheap son of a bitch. You think I don’t know how much you have in the bank? You might not be rich, but you’re not going to starve. That money went to charity. You’re not getting it back. Besides, you only chipped in a grand. I hope Rye got two-thirds of the sex last night.”

Max stood his ground. His body was tense, and he looked ready to attack. “You tell me something, Stef. Did you or did you not bring in those dumbass boys to drive her price up and make me crazy?”

A little wicked grin flashed on the artist’s face before he became serious again. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about. Did you bring those boys to town to ogle my wife and milk me for cash? They were talking about my sister, you know.”

Stef held his hands out as though to placate the beast he found himself with. Rachel thought he should have brought out a chair and maybe a whip. “I would never let Bay and Shane anywhere near Brooke. Brooke would eat them alive, and Bay is too talented an artist to die. Seriously, I’ve just started collecting him. His stuff is going to be worth millions one day. I don’t want Brooke to screw that up.”

“Shit. He shouldn’t have done that.” Rye sighed like the outcome was now inevitable. Rachel felt his hands wrap around her waist.

Max practically vibrated with rage. “Asshole! That’s exactly what you did. I bet you gave them the cash they bid with. Those cowboys couldn’t afford two grand.”

Stefan gave it up and began laughing loudly. “That asshole cowboy is who the grant is for. He’s a sculptor. He applied for the Foundation grant this year. You paid three thousand dollars for a woman who already wanted you, and one of the guys you were trying to keep her away from is getting the money.”

Rye pulled her away from the window. Rachel found herself flat on her back, legs spread, with Rye’s face nuzzling her neck. “They’ll be at it for a while, baby. We’ll have to find something to occupy our time while they beat each other down.”

“I’m gonna kill you this time, Stef!”

Rachel tried to get up, but Rye held her down. “Don’t you think we should stop that?” Rachel asked.

“Hey! Not my hands,” Stefan was screaming back at Max. “Or my face!” There was a loud groan as someone got smacked.

Rye seemed blissfully unconcerned. “Nah. They do this at least once a year. I think they both have an inner need to kick some ass, and this way no one really gets hurt. I mean, at least Max doesn’t get hurt. Usually.” Rye continued kissing her neck as his hard cock found her pussy. He entered her with one long thrust.

Rachel gasped and locked her legs around Rye’s waist. He thrust in and out easily, as though he enjoyed the exercise.

His face was serene as he gazed down at her. “I think a psychiatrist would say Stef has some deep-seated issues that cause him to seek out pain. Max is really just therapy for him. About once a year, he pulls something that causes Max to beat the shit out of him. The next day, Max has to buy the beer, and we all go back to being friends.”

“That’s terrible.” She managed to breathe through the pounding of her heart. Rye was slowly grinding against her clit. He knew exactly how to play her.

He shrugged and continued fucking her. “That’s just Max.” She could see he was still looking out the small window over the bed. He grimaced. “And that’s a black eye. Sorry, Stef got in a lucky shot.”

Rachel was about to ask if Max was all right when Rye exerted just the right amount of pressure. The orgasm caught her off guard. She gasped as her body seized and released in spasms of pleasure. Through it all, she could see Rye looking incredibly pleased with himself. She had the feeling he could go on for hours, but the door to the cabin slammed open, and he grimaced.

“Time’s almost up. Next time you come five times before I let go.” Rye picked up the pace. Within a minute she felt the wash of his release as Max slammed into the room.

Rye rolled off her. He was every inch the satisfied man. His eyes were lazy as he looked at his brother. “What did you force him into this time?”

Max was sporting a hell of a cut over his right eye. Rachel sat up and tried to look at it. “He’s paying for our honeymoon. So, baby, you pick someplace expensive. We’re going first-class all the way. That should teach him to mess with me.” Max reached down and scooped her up into his arms before she could protest. He glared at Rye. “And you. She’s probably sore. Do you give her any time at all to recoup from our sexual marathon? Hell no, you’re on top of her the minute you wake up.”

Rye grinned. He was devastating when he smiled. “Not the minute. We watched you yell at Stef for a while.”

“I’m going to take her to bathe,” Max said, sounding as prim as a half-naked man with a black eye could sound. “Maybe she’ll feel better after a nice long soak.”

He started to carry her off when Rye laughed. “Baby, you do know he’s going to fuck you in the tub, don’t you?”

Max’s hungry smile told her everything she needed to know.

Thirty minutes later, the water was still warm as Rye eased into the marble monstrosity of a tub. Max moved back a little, making room for his brother to sit opposite them. His arms were lazily wrapped around Rachel. She let her head fall back against his chest. She was going to take a long nap when they got home. Rye pulled her feet into his hands and started rubbing.

“That feels good.” Rachel sighed.

“I’m glad to help,” Rye replied with a wink. “Tell me, baby, did he even let you get into the tub, or did he just bend you over the sink?”

Max’s head came up. “Hey, I was a gentleman. I shoved her up against the wall. I did all the work. All she had to do was hold on.”

“Yes, it was all very polite.” Rachel reached down in the warm water and found Max’s hand. She wound her fingers through his. “Listen, Max, I never meant for the bidding to get crazy like that. I have some money…”

Max nibbled on her ear. “It’s fine, Rach. Don’t worry about it. I’m pissed at Stef, not you. I can’t be mad at you for bringing us together.”

She shivered as Max sucked on her sensitive earlobe. “No, I want to put in my share. I have about seven hundred dollars. I know it’s not much.”

“We’ll take it,” Rye announced, never letting up on his slow rub. His strong hands worked the arches of her feet. She would have given him every cent just for him to continue.

“Rye, she is not paying us back.”

Rye shrugged. “All right. I just thought, that since we were getting married, we should probably set up a household account and put all the money in it. If you think Rachel should have a separate account…”

“Hell no!” Max turned her around so he could see her face. Rachel protested the loss of her foot massage, but Max didn’t seem to care. “Let’s get one thing straight, Rachel. This is not one of those roommate-style marriages where we just come together for sex. This is a traditional family. We make the decisions together, and everything we have is ours.”

Rachel suppressed her need to laugh. “Yes, I can plainly see how traditional we are,” she remarked to the man she planned on referring to as Husband Number One.

Husband Number Two smiled brightly. “Maybe we should change the name of the business to the Harper-Swift Stables. I don’t want Rachel to feel left out.”

A vein right above Max’s left eye throbbed and looked as though it might explode. “Why the hell would you keep your name? You’re marrying us, Rachel. You’ll take our name. Even if this marriage is a damn democracy, we can outvote you. You’re going to be Mrs. Harper.”

Rachel stared at Husband Number Two. “Will you stop baiting him?”

“But it’s fun.”

She shook her head. “Stop it.” She turned to Max. “You calm down, you Neanderthal. I never said I wanted a separate account, and I never wanted to keep my last name.” She bit her bottom lip, gnawing at it nervously. Now was as good a time as any to fess up. It was time they knew about her past. Rachel was surprised to find she wasn’t terribly worried about how they would react. Something soft, but infinitely strong, settled into her heart. They loved her. They would never leave her. It gave her enormous security. She reached out and took both their hands in hers. “The truth is, I’m not that attached to this name.”

She felt both of them tense.

“How attached are you to Elizabeth Courtney?” Rye asked quietly.

She felt her eyes widen and her mouth drop open. “You know?”

Max nodded. “Yeah, baby. I searched your car and found your fake IDs.”

“You searched my car?”

Max didn’t even bother to look guilty. He simply nodded. “Oh, yeah. I would have searched your house, if you had one.”

“He’s a nosy guy,” Rye interjected.

“Well, you were obviously hiding something.” Max’s fingers curled around hers.

“And it never occurred to you to give me my privacy?” Rachel know the answer but felt compelled to ask any way.

“Nope,” Max replied.

Rye joined him. “No, darlin’. And just to fess up, I would have searched your car, but Max got there first. You know, I did run a trace on you.”

Her heart raced a little. She had tried not to think about the fact that Rye had requested information on her. Tommy still had contacts in the police departments all across the southwest.

Rye’s face was set in stern lines as he sat back against the curved wall of the tub. He did not look like a man who was going to let her go because he was shocked at the truth. “You were running. No one shows up in Bliss with just the clothes on their back and a beat-up Jeep as a living space.”

Max immediately refuted his brother’s statement. “Now, the way Mom told it, that was pretty much the way Teeny showed up. And Holly Lang, you know, that waitress at the Bear Creek Lounge. Oh, and don’t forget Laura Niles. She’s the checkout girl at the Stop ’n’ Shop. She didn’t even have a car, though. She hitchhiked into town and liked it so much she stayed.”

Rye’s feet rubbed against hers under the warm, bubbly water. “Teeny was living in her VW bus with Logan, and she was on the run from an abusive husband. Marie took care of him with her twelve-gauge.”

“There is a reason I play it safe about Marie. That old woman can still castrate a man at twenty paces,” Max murmured.

“Can we skip the roundtable discussion of women on the run?” Rachel interrupted. If she let them go on, she would hear about every woman who ever sought refuge in Bliss, and it seemed like there were a whole lot of them. Maybe they should form a club. “So you know about Tommy?”

Rye and Max got very serious. “Yes, I know all about him,” Rye replied. “I’m going to make sure he can’t hurt you again. I think we should all go back to Dallas on Monday. We’ll stand beside you while you press charges.”

She took a deep, steadying breath. She had been pretty sure that was what she needed to do. She didn’t want to hide for the rest of her life. How could she move on, marry Max and Rye, and have babies with them if she was always looking over her shoulder? Her running days were over. She’d only run in the first place because she’d been all alone. She wasn’t alone anymore. She had more than just her life to fight for. She was fighting for a future.

“I’m ready.” She squeezed their hands.

Rye pulled her close. “I love you. He’ll have to kill me to get to you.”

“And while he’s killing Rye, we’ll run, Rach,” Max promised with a glimmer in his eye.

Rye groaned and splashed his brother in the face.

Rachel tried to get out of the line of fire. In the end, she gave in and splashed them both. She was going home to face her demons, but she wasn’t going alone.