STORY EXCERPT

She reached the hotel restaurant, but instead of stepping inside, she continued on, hoping with the heat that the kitchen door would be open. She continued down the wooden sidewalk toward the corner, following the sounds and smells to the side door.

Her stomach rumbled, the scent of steaks making her mouth water.

Keeping her head lowered, Belle stood there, watching the people inside from beneath the brim of her hat.

A middle-aged woman stirred something in a pot, barking out orders to the others inside, including an elderly man wearing a dirty apron who cooked steaks in three separate cast-iron frying pans while piling fried chicken from another onto a large platter.

Another younger man washed dishes, sneaking glances at a younger woman who bustled around the kitchen, filling plates and calling out orders.

The delectable scents of steaks frying, warm biscuits, and potatoes cooked in bacon fat had her mouth watering even more and weakening her knees.

Belle swallowed heavily. “Excuse me.”

No one appeared to notice her, so she raised her voice. “Excuse me!”

The older woman glanced in her direction. “Dining room’s the other door.”

Belle used her kerchief to wipe sweat from her face, the heat from the kitchen adding to her dizziness. “Can’t afford a meal. Can I buy a biscuit or two? Maybe a piece of fried chicken?”

She held out the paltry amount of coins she had left, hoping she could get something to eat and more water before she left for the Circle T.

Realizing how bad she must look after several days of traveling, Belle squirmed under the woman’s gaze, her face burning even hotter.

Giving her a faint sympathetic smile, the older woman retrieved a napkin, wrapping it around two chicken legs and two biscuits and handed it to her. “Put your money away.” She smiled. “Now go on. Get outta here before I have a line for free food.”

Choked by tears of gratitude at the woman’s kindness, Belle nodded. “Thank you.”

“Shade out back. Sometimes a breeze.”

Nodding again, Belle smiled. “Thank you.”

Moving away from the doorway, Belle peeled back the sides of the napkin and picked up a chicken leg and took the woman’s advice to head to the back where there’d be shade.

As she took her first bite of chicken, she moaned in delight as her tastebuds sprang to life. Forcing herself to eat slowly, she started down the back of the building, her mind on the meeting ahead, the map to the Circle T she’d taken from the kitchen drawer both in her pocket and imprinted on her mind.

It was the map Hayes himself had drawn when he’d left her, so that her uncle would know where he was.

Years of fear, of anger, and of helplessness had built inside her, and she wanted nothing more than to spew it all over him.

But doing so would do nothing to change anything in her life and would only bring him misery.

Her uncle had told her that Hayes had found happiness, but Belle had stopped believing him a long time ago.

She’d see for herself and then be on her way since her brother had made it clear that he no longer wanted anything to do with her.

“Hurry up and eat. Supplies for the Circle T should be going through Copper Pass before dark.”

Belle stilled at the mention of the Circle T, stopping just short of the open dining room window.

Copper Pass.

Belle tossed her eaten chicken leg aside and dug her map out of her pocket, finding the area just west of the Circle T.

Another man spoke, his voice low but filled with excitement. “Do you really think he’ll give us five hundred dollars for it?”

“If he knows what’s good for him. He wants the buckboard, but he said that we can keep the horses, too.” Familiar with the evil Belle heard in the tone of the man who sounded like the boss, Belle shivered, transfixed.

“Why doesn’t he just order his own damn supplies?”

“Because ever since Tillman left and went to open his store at the Circle T, that asshole Modder ran the business into the ground. He’s mean to people so he’s losing customers. He cheats them, and he buys shitty merchandise. Figures if he steals decent stuff from Tillman, he can get back on his feet again.”

Transfixed, Belle barely breathed, knowing that her brother could very well be one of their targets. Tucking the map into her pocket, she dug out the other chicken leg, determined to listen for more.

“So we kill the men?”

“Of course, you idiot! We can’t leave any witnesses behind. Word is that the men on the Circle T are not men to mess around with. They’re mean. Got a bunch of women there that they protect with violence. No one ever messes with them.”

“But we’re braver than that, aren’t we, Willy?”

“The only reason we’re doin’ it is to make the money to get to Mexico. Once we get the money, we’re pickin’ the two best horses and headin’ to Mexico.”

“Willy, I heard rumors about the men at the Circle T, too. Messin’ with them will get us dead.”

“Not if we move fast and they can’t find us.”

“They don’t have lawmen there?”

“Two. If they show up, we’ll kill them, too.”

Belle had heard enough. She’d known one of those lawmen her entire life, and as angry as she was at him, the last thing she wanted was to see her brother dead.

Munching on her chicken leg, she hurried back to the livery.

ADULT EXCERPT

Alan and Cull lifted her, each with a hand beneath her thigh, spreading her legs until the cool air washed over her slit.

“Oh God!” Unprepared for the too-stark sensation, she fought to close her legs, but Cull’s and Alan’s hold prevented it. “What are you doing?”

John ran a fingertip over her nipple before sliding it down her body and beneath her dress to her inner thigh. “I told you I wanted a taste.”

Alan watched John go to his knees and groaned. “Fuck. I want in on this. When you’re finished, I want to play.”

Cull groaned and bent to suck her nipple into his mouth before taking her lips with his, briefly catching her bottom lip between his teeth. Staring into her eyes, he slid his hand beneath her dress and caressed her ass cheek. “And playin’ with this ass a little ain’t gonna take away your virginity.”

“What? What are you…ah!”

Belle couldn’t hold back her desperate cry as the flat of John’s tongue slid through her slit. “Oh God! You can’t do that!”

Cull scraped his teeth over her lip. “It appears he can. I’d better shut you up so when you come your screams don’t bring your brother runnin’ out here.”

Covering her mouth with his, he immediately took possession, sliding his tongue against hers and exploring her mouth as if he owned it.

With John licking at her slit, flicking his tongue over a far-too sensitive spot, Belle writhed against them, Alan and Cull supporting her weight. Holding the underside of her knees in his strong grip, John kept up the firm pressure, using his mouth on her slit with intense ruthlessness, forcing her to accept a sharp pleasure she had no experience with.

Cull continued to use his mouth on hers, holding her left thigh, while using his other hand to caress her bottom, his fingers moving dangerously close to her bottom hole.

Alan, meanwhile, continued to hold her other thigh while using his tongue and lips on her nipples, warming one then switching to warm the other, the dampness left behind hardening her nipple even more against the cool breeze.

Bombarded with sensations, Belle dug her hands into Cull’s hair and held on, moving against them while he swallowed her cries and whimpers as a pleasure unlike anything she could have imagined overtook her.

Sliding his hand to the back of her head, Cull kept his mouth over hers, muffling her scream of completion. Once John stopped and rose again, Cull lifted his head while Alan did the same, all three men looking down at her.

John’s smile held an undeniable tension. Breathing heavily, he adjusted his cock where it tented the front of his pants. “Fuck, that was incredible. Damn it.”

Cull slid his hand from her hair to her ass again. “There’s more.” He held Belle’s gaze while sliding his finger down the crack of her ass and to her slit. “Gotta get some of these juices to lube my finger for her ass.”

Belle gasped, her pussy releasing another rush of juices. “You can’t! That’s not done!”

Cull gathered juices, spreading them around her bottom hole and went back for more. “Oh, it’s done, darlin’, and it’ll be done quite often with you.”

Belle moaned as John’s hands settled over her breasts.

Moving closer, he brushed his lips back and forth over her, leaving the taste of her behind. “There’ll be times we take you together. One cock in this smart mouth, one in your pussy, and one in your ass. You’re gonna come hard, baby.”

“I don’t…I can’t…Oh!”

Alan chuckled softly. “Better shut her up again. While Cull’s fuckin’ her ass with his finger, I’m gonna play with her clit and make her come again, and we’ve already heard how loud she is when she comes.”

“I’ve got her.” John closed his hands on her waist and took her mouth with his again. His slow possession of her mouth had a different rhythm than Alan’s or Cull’s but proved just as intoxicating.

Cull gathered more of her juices and pressed against her bottom hole. “Hold her. She’s gonna buck.”

Alan slid his finger through her slit, just lightly brushing her too-sensitized clit. “Just think about how hard she’s gonna buck the first time she takes a cock into her tight ass.”

Before Belle could fully comprehend Alan’s words, Cull slipped a fingertip into her bottom, and no matter how hard she tried to tighten against it, his fingertip began to move inside her.

John swallowed her cries of pleasure while Alan gently stroked her clit as if he knew that it was too sensitized for a firmer caress.

With a hand in her hair, the other on her breast, his attention on her nipple, John kept possession of her mouth, his kisses dizzying.

But it was the finger in her bottom that overwhelmed her, the unfamiliar and depraved sensation adding to her pleasure in a way that left her dazed and fighting to resist the hunger it caused.

Cull touched his lips to her shoulder. “Her ass is clenching on my finger. So fuckin’ tight. Damn.” He pushed his finger slightly deeper. “Hell, I’m ready to come in my damn pants at the thought of taking her.”

Alan’s soft strokes to her clit intensified the pleasure even more, making resisting their touches impossible.

Feeling herself climbing again, Belle tightened her grip on John’s shoulders, her entire body stiffening as the pleasure hit her again.