Steel and Hardness Read online

  “My turn.” Taylor rubbed his cock around her mouth.

  She flicked the small slit on the end of his dick with her tongue, trying to grasp the engorged head between her lips. She mewed. Her hips rocked back and forth. Bryce’s handy work on her breast sent a surge of moisture to her pussy. “Please.” She leaned forward to capture Taylor, but he pulled his cock back. His hand stroked the length, and precum coated the end. “I want.” She scraped the width of her lip with her teeth, her fingers working feverously on her clit. “Oh, God. I’m going to—”

  Bryce and Taylor both had her breasts and held her nipples, so every tug from her body sent a ripple of pleasure through her middle. She gazed up at them. Their eyes were glazed in sexual heat.

  “I’m gonna shoot my cum all over your ripe breasts.” Bryce’s hand stroked his cock, hard, almost violent.

  “Open your mouth, sweetie.” Taylor slid his fist more slowly in long, smooth caresses.

  Bryce groaned first, slamming his hand to the base of his dick and holding himself still while he spurted cum all over the front of her. Letting go of her nipple, he rubbed himself against the sensitive nerves. Her body seized at the sight. Juice coated her fingers, and she opened her mouth and screamed through the spasms flooding her body.

  Taylor aimed for her mouth. Her tongue licked his cum off her lips greedily. Her butt slipped between her heels, and she sagged to the ground in total contentment.

  A car horn honked from the front of the ranger station. Her brows lifted. “Oh, shit. I’m a mess.” She hurried to retie the strings of her top.

  Bryce and Taylor helped her up. She rubbed her neck, sticky with their cum, and held her hands out. “What is Tony going to think when he gets a look at me?”

  “There’s a water faucet by the back door.” He put his hand on her back. “Taylor can clean you up while I load the inner tubes.” Bryce moved away to pick up the floats.

  “Bryce?” She turned around and glanced between him and Taylor. “Thank you…for everything.”

  Chapter Three

  Pauline’s booted heels clapped down the aisle of the stables toward her office door. She lifted her arm and glanced at her watch—six minutes early. Good. She wasn’t going to give her Uncle Jack any excuse to use a tardy against her. She’d made the deadline. Now all she had to do was sign the papers, and the money would be deposited into her account by the end of the day. She’d have everything wrapped up in time to spend time with Bryce and Taylor when they came over to spend the night with her.

  She strolled faster to the end of the barn. Those two men had taken her by surprise. Never in a million years had she ever dreamed of loving two men…two agents who worked for the federal government, no less. She’d tried to break up with both of them when she found herself falling for them equally, but they never gave up on her.

  They’d talked and listened through all her worries of what a ménage relationship can do to the people involved, and after one wonderful night spent making love to both of them at the same time, she never had another thought that their relationship was anything but meant to happen. Having all the agents on their team support them was surprisingly nice. Even Jolene and Josie seemed not to have a problem with their relationship. She grinned. They might even be a little jealous, going from some of their comments over the weekend.

  Outside the door she paused, inhaled deeply, threw back her shoulders, and opened the door. The room sat empty. She frowned. Weird…she thought the others would have—

  A hand covered her mouth and nose. She pulled, but the arm tightened. Shaking her head, she tried to break away from the nasty-smelling glove, but the person was stronger than she was. Lifting her foot, she stomped behind her. Help!

  Her legs wobbled. She scratched at the arm holding her, but her muscles grew heavy. She closed her eyes. Oh, God. Bryce…Taylor…

  * * *

  Knock.

  Knock.

  Knock.

  Bryce tilted his head. “Something’s wrong.”

  “She’s probably in the shower.” Taylor stepped away from the door. “Let’s give her a few minutes more, and we’ll try again.”

  Something was off. Pauline always had the door open and stood ready to jump in their arms every time they’d spent time on the ranch with her. Bryce’s chest grew tight, and he pushed his fingers through his short hair. Today was a huge day for her. He’d expected her to want to share her good news. She hadn’t answered the phone when they called earlier, and now she wasn’t at home.

  “I’m serious, Taylor.” He moved a few feet along the side of the house and peered through the window. “I can feel it. She’s not here.”

  “Why wouldn’t she be?” Taylor knocked on the door, turned the handle, but it didn’t budge. “Pauline! Open up!”

  Bryce removed the loaded pistol from the side of his jeans. “I’m taking a look around.”

  “I’ll check the back of the house. Maybe she left a door or window unlocked.” Taylor lifted up his pant leg and removed his government issued 40 caliber from the holster tied to his leg.

  Bryce headed straight to the stables where he knew her office was located. Easing between the doors, he tuned his ears for any noise aside from the normal horses neighing, the clop of a hoof, and the rattle of the doors as the animals moved to stick their heads out into the aisle looking for more feed from whoever entered the barn. Trained to never yell out during an investigation, he stayed to the side of the walkway and headed toward the office.

  Pauline was an independent woman, a business owner, and more than strong enough to handle any chore on the ranch. He clenched his teeth. None of this explained his worry. Around him, or Taylor, her devotion and love consumed their time together. She threw all her attention into pleasing them. If she knew they were coming, and she did, she’d damn well be at the house to greet them.

  The office door was open, the lights on, and Pauline’s desk was immaculately in order like every other time he’d stepped foot in the room. He shoved the pistol in the front of his jeans. Dammit. Where could she be?

  He turned around, paused, and searched the room. Something piqued his attention, but what? He narrowed his eyes. Saddles, extra boots, ropes, a couple chairs, the coat rack—his body tensed.

  On the edge of the chair sat a white disposable cotton glove, the kind Pauline wore when she applied liniment on the horses. She was the tidiest person he knew. She’d never leave a glove, used or unused, somewhere out in the open.

  Stepping over to the computer, he removed a piece of paper from the printer, and delicately grabbed a finger of the glove without compromising the evidence. He lifted it to his nose, sniffed, and groaned. Wrapping the glove in the paper, he stalked out of the office.

  He broke out running. “Bryce.” He came to a stop. His chest hurt, and he had the worst storm brewing in the pit of his stomach. “Someone has kidnapped our woman.”

  * * *

  Pauline tried the door handle again. “Shit.” She paced to the other side of the room and peered out of the window. Even if she had a chair or something to break the glass, the bars would prevent her from escaping. She stared outside. Wherever she was, there were no neighbors, businesses, or a living soul in the area, only trees, grass, and a single clothesline in the distance.

  Her head pounded, and she swallowed the bile that continually came up and choked her. Whoever took her must have poisoned her. She leaned over and put her hands on her knees. None of this made sense. She didn’t have any enemies, and most of the time she struggled to pay her monthly bills. Unless the person wanted to get me away from my horses…

  She straightened up. Jack.

  Rushing to the door, she pounded her fist against the wood. “God damn you, Jack. Let me out of here!” She kicked out with her boot and groaned. God, my head.

  Not wanting to admit that her uncle had fucked her out of the sale of her best horse, she leaned her forehead against the doorjamb. “Fuck you, Jack.” Then she closed her eyes and prayed that
Bryce and Taylor, her steel and hardness men, would find her.

  Chapter Four

  The next day, a dually pulled up to the barn with a horse trailer. The truck backed up to the sliding doors, and an older man stepped out of the cab. Bryce glanced at Taylor. “You were right.”

  Taylor’s jaw muscle flinched. “We still have to convince her uncle to take us to where he’s hiding Pauline.”

  He nodded. “When we get her back, we need to figure out a way to make this relationship permanent. I don’t want to put her in this kind of predicament again."

  Bryce lifted the collar of his shirt where the wire was attached. “Wait until he’s brought out the horse.”

  “Roger.” Tony’s voice came over the earpiece.

  “We’ll find her,” Donovan replied a second later.

  Bryce let the edge of the curtain close and held up his hand. “Let’s go, partner.”

  Taylor clasped his hand and squeezed. “Watch your back. Pauline would kill me if something happened to either one of us.” He swallowed.

  “Always.” He slipped out the back door and ran straight across the yard to the front of the dually. Hunkering down in front of the grill, he waited. We’re close, brown eyes. Hang on a little bit longer.

  “He’s in with the horse,” Tony whispered.

  Bryce stood up and darted inside the horse trailer. Okay, you bastard, come on.

  The men had worked many cases together over the years. Every move was planned to include the unexpected. Bryce trusted them, depended on them, and would put his life on the line for any one of them, and yet, it didn’t explain the uneasy queasiness in his gut. It was more than his life they were playing with…it was Pauline’s life.

  “Sergoni’s headed your way. Keep your head on, Bryce. Don’t do anything stupid and jeopardize finding Pauline.”

  He slipped the safety off his pistol. The horse’s neigh warned him that Jack Sergoni was near. He slowed his breathing, raised his arm, and shifted his weight to the balls of his feet.

  The groan of the metal door had him standing up. Jack jolted at finding himself facing an armed man.

  “Arms up in the air!” He stepped to the end of the trailer. Out of his peripheral vision he saw the other agents circling the rear. “Hold it right there.”

  Jack dropped the reins and raised his arms. “What’s this about? Who are you?”

  Donovan slipped behind Jack, grabbed his arm, bent it behind his back, and snapped the handcuffs on. “You’ve fucked with the wrong men, Sergoni.”

  Taylor slipped his pistol into the back of his jeans, stepped up in front of Sergoni, and stared the man down. “Where is she?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He motioned with his head. “Somebody grab my horse before he hurts himself or runs away.”

  Taylor nodded at Tony, and then lowered his voice. “I’m going to ask you once more. Where is Pauline, Sergoni?”

  Jack snarled, and he turned his head to spit on the ground. Taylor’s hand itched to curl into a fist, but he kept his composure. “Three. Two…”

  “That bitch could be anywhere.” Jack shrugged. “Rumors going around say she’s fucking not one, but two—”

  The older man dropped like a sack of potatoes. Taylor leaned over, grabbed the front of Jack’s shirt, and hauled him back to his feet. “You’ve got one second to tell me what you did with her, or we’ll skip the charges already piling up on you and let one of the men who loves Pauline put a bullet in your forehead, you piece of shit.”

  A click behind Taylor might as well have been a gunshot. Jack squeezed his eyes shut. “I didn’t hurt her. She’s locked…”

  Taylor shook the man. “Where?”

  “Two miles out Fox Road. There’s an abandoned house.” The man sagged in Taylor’s hold. “I didn’t hurt her. The horse is mine. It’s always been mine.”

  Sweet relief flooded through Taylor. He pushed Jack away from him and turned to Bryce. Hope shone in his eyes. “Let’s ride.”

  * * *

  The hum of an engine growing closer woke Pauline up. She pushed herself off the floor, groaning, and ran to the window. “Hey!” She picked up her boot off the floor and beat it against the wall. “Over here. I’m in here.” She laid her ear upon the glass. Please let it be someone who can help me.

  A door slammed. She frowned. What if it was Jack? She pursed her lips. He’d turned nasty over the last few years, but did he have it in him to kill her? Clamping her lips together, she marched over to the door, lifted her arm, and smacked the door. “Open this door right now, Jack. So help me God, you are a pathetic excuse for an uncle.” She screamed loud and long. “You’ll never get away with this.” Stepping away from the door, she turned and threw her shoulder into the wood. “God dammit! Open it up. I’m hungry. I want to use the bathroom, and…and…I’ll enjoy watching Bryce and Taylor kill you!”

  She rubbed her arm. “You heard me, asshole. My men will shoot your cold, dead heart out of your chest. They never miss!” She wrapped her arms around her waist and leaned against the wall. Tears slid down her cheeks. A sob came out, and she wiped her hand across her nose. “They love me!” Not giving up, she picked her boot back up and hurled it against the door. “I’ll give you the damn horse…all of it, the ranch, the business, everything. Just let me go. I don’t need anything…just them.”

  The handle clicked. She hurried to take off her other boot. Holding it above her head, she stood to the side. Come on, fucker…

  The door swung open, and Taylor stepped into the room. “Brown eyes?”

  She cried out, dropped the boot, and flew into his arms. She squeezed him, sobbing. Her hands touched him all over his body, reassuring herself that it was really him.

  “Sh…I got you.” Taylor smoothed her hair back from her face and peppered her mouth, her cheeks, and her eyelids with kisses. “You scared the hell out of me.” He cleared his throat. “I thought we’d lost you.”

  She shook her head rapidly. “Never.” She sniffed and noticed Bryce standing behind Taylor. “Bryce!” She stretched out her arm.

  He walked up to her and clasped her face in his hands. His lips captured her mouth, plunging his tongue inside. She gave him everything she had in that kiss, all the desperation, fear, and happiness over them finding her. Pulling back, she gazed at the two men who meant the world to her. Each of them holding each other, they were linked, a chain that would never break.

  “You found me.” She let the tears fall. “I thought I’d never get the chance to tell you both how much I love you.”

  “We love you too.” Taylor’s eyebrow twitched.

  She shook her head. “I mean really love, love you. The most important thing to me is that I’m with you two. I don’t need the horses…the ranch…nothing. I just want us to all be together. I don’t care if the world knows I sleep with two gorgeous men. I don’t have to explain what is in my heart…that’s only important to the three of us.” She gazed at Taylor. “I don’t want to go another day without you reminding me not to pout when I don’t get my way.” Pauline turned to Bryce. “And you”—she laughed—“I’m going to hide the batteries in the remote control, because your channel surfing drives Taylor and I crazy.”

  The men grinned at each other. The weight of figuring out how to make their relationship work lifted off her shoulders. It took a kidnapping to help her make up her mind, but she had no doubts about what she wanted.

  “Will you guys marry me?”

  Chapter Five

  Every light in the small cabin was on. Jolene sat on Tony’s leg at the end of the couch while Donovan had Josie wrapped up in his arms, both of them laughing at the story Jolene was retelling for the third time. Pauline absently ran her finger along the tiny rip in Taylor’s jeans. Bryce had his arm around her shoulders, his finger curling the ends of her hair. She lifted her chin and winked at Taylor.

  “Ready?” He leaned down and kissed the tip of her nose.

  She nodded and turned to Br
yce. “Do you think they already know?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. Jolene is getting so damn good at eavesdropping. She might have overheard us the last couple days.”

  Pauline laughed. “Josie and I have already talked Jolene into giving us lessons on her stealth skills next month when you guys leave to go undercover.” She lifted her brows. “There will be nothing you can do around us that we won’t figure out ahead of time.”

  Bryce pushed himself off the loveseat and held his hand out to Taylor. “Steel or hardness?” He reached into his pocket and extracted the coin she had made especially for them. On one side was the word steel, and the other side read hardness. Those two had come up with some pretty kinky games to play with the gag gift.

  “Hardness, of course.” Taylor grinned.

  Bryce flipped his thumb, caught the medallion, glanced down, and groaned. “You win.”

  A hush moved across the room. Pauline stood up between her two men. Her stomach fluttered. She wasn’t afraid of what everyone would say about their news. Every one of them in the cabin had told them one way or another how happy they were that they’d all found love. But she was nervous about Jolene’s reaction to their request. Her answer meant so much to her.

  Taylor cleared his throat. “Bryce and I have something to tell you all.”

  Every head turned in their direction. Pauline slipped her arms around Taylor and Bryce’s backs and hooked her fingers in the back pockets of their jeans. This was the perfect place to share their love with others. The agents were family, the women had become best friends instantly, and good news should always be shared.

  “Pauline has agreed…” He leaned down and gave her a kiss. “…to marry Bryce and me.”