Texas Trio Ch. 15b-19

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Two hot cowboys-- does she really have to choose?
10.8k words
4.78
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15

Part 5 of the 24 part series

Updated 06/08/2023
Created 08/25/2016
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SteffiOlsen
SteffiOlsen
1,039 Followers

REMINDER: This is only part of a much longer story. If you're just looking for the naughty bits, you'll find those here, too, but they'll be more fun to read if you start at the beginning! --Stefanie

--:--:--:--:-- CHAPTER 15b --:--:--:--:--

Her first thought was that Colt was at least twice as handsome as even her most fantastic daydreams had allowed. Because there was no possibility that the giant bronzed god of a "Chinese manservant" was anyone other than her night-time caller. She'd never seen him unmasked before, and the shock of finding him here didn't stop her from appreciating the view. The hair that had brushed velvet-like across her cheek when he kissed her goodnight was jet-black, stick-straight, and long. There was no mistaking his Indian heritage in that, the head-to-toe tan, or the angles of his cheekbones cutting diagonals across his face. The shadow on his jaw spoke to the other side of his family tree. That and the blue eyes.

Words having deserted all three, no one said a thing as Cat glided across the carpet. She darted one sharp, distracted glance at Jeremiah before coming to a halt staring up at his friend.

"Colt?" Catherine asked, though she already knew.

He thawed, fast. The blue eyes began to take on a shade of the many apologies he owed her. "Cat, I--"

Catherine put everything she had into the swing, reaching way back behind herself and rocketing around to strike Colt squarely across the cheek, snapping his head to one side even though he'd seen it coming. He figured she owed him at least that much. He turned back in time to see her ire fall on Jem.

She dropped the velvet box unceremoniously at his feet, pointing a finger at him. "Don't you dare speak to me, ever again."

Spinning on her heel, she headed for the door.

In unspoken, unplanned agreement, both men leapt to halt her flight. If she told her uncle, not only would all hell break loose, but Catherine would be lost to them forever. They couldn't let her leave without an explanation.

In one giant stride, Jem blocked her path. Colt heard the deep breath she drew and did the same stupid thing he'd done that first night. He covered her mouth. This time, though, he held her in place with an arm around her shoulders.

Jem and Colt expected a fight, but Catherine moved not a muscle, not trying to bite or kick, not even clawing at Colt's arm, though he held her loosely and was well within reach.

But Jem was facing her, and every bit of violence constrained inside that lovely body sparkled in flares of green and gold from her eyes. He spoke quickly, not realizing that his voice, suddenly shed of its heavy Spanish accent, angered her further. "Catherine, I know you're upset, but please hear us out. Please allow us ten minutes to explain. We mean no harm, and at the end of ten minutes I promise neither of us will make a move to stop you from leaving. Please?"

Despite her anger, Jem's soothing tone and his courteous phrases had an effect. She didn't exactly soften, but the sparkling flash of her glare dimmed marginally.

"Please?" he begged her.

Cat dipped her chin sharply in agreement.

Jem's eyes rose to Colt, who shrugged. She wasn't likely to listen with him holding her like this. Lowering his arms, Colt stepped to one side.

Catherine crossed her arms across her chest, waiting.

Jem's eyes darted to the small padded bench in the middle of the room, but Colt was there ahead of him, setting it immediately behind Cat's feet. Jem gestured.

"Please. Have a seat."

Catherine sat stiffly, uncrossing her arms automatically, because a lady didn't sit that way. She folded her hands neatly in her lap instead, and stared at Jem. He dropped to one knee in front of her, reminding her of the earlier scene in her room. She jerked her mind to the present as he began to speak.

"My name is Jeremiah Wilson. I'm originally from Boston-- you might have heard of my family-- we have shipping and rail lines...?"

He hurried on when she showed no sign of responding.

"And you know my partner, Colt Kendall."

Cat's eyes stayed on Jem. Colt stood to one side, clad only in a towel, and she refused to heed his damp expanse of brown skin... or let the horrible scars she'd glimpsed on his back sway her resolve.

Jem continued, "Colt and I own a ranch and some other business concerns together."

He paused for only a second, conscious of the ticking time limit on Catherine's patience. "The night you met Colt when he-- God forgive him-- broke into this house, Colt overheard your uncle and his man Hawkins in the study discussing your future. Colt gleaned from the conversation that Matthews had plans for your inheritance which don't include you."

Catherine listened.

"A friend of ours asked around among colleagues in Houston and Galveston, and..." He glanced down, not wanting to tell her a tenth of what they'd since discovered about her uncle's crimes. "--Harrison Matthews does extremely bad things, Catherine."

His hands spread helplessly.

She realized that the spotty, halting sentence was Jem's way of protecting her, and Cat's fury began to fade, just the tiniest bit.

"When Colt heard about some of what he'd done, he knew we couldn't walk away and leave you here. Your uncle planned to marry you off to someone so they could split your inheritance. Colt asked me to help, since his heritage precluded him from being seen as an appropriate suitor for you."

Her lip twitched at the repeated mention of her lover's name. Jem saw, and his stomach tensed. In the back of his mind he began to pray that he was wrong. Colt would not recover if Catherine rejected him that way.

He gathered his thoughts and continued, "In order to remain anonymous to your uncle and Hawkins, and because I'm fluent in Spanish and French, I chose Argentina as my home. I pretended to favor the same kind of... activities that your uncle prefers, and he took the bait."

He cleared his throat, lowering his eyes. He clearly didn't want to tell her whatever came next. Involuntarily, Cat held her breath.

"Catherine, when he approached me, Harrison knew virtually nothing about me other than my purportedly foul pastimes, yet he was willing to give me your hand in marriage. He told me you should never be allowed to return to Texas, no matter what was required to make that happen."

He leaned forward, his hand halting an inch shy of her own. "Do you understand, Catherine? He didn't care if I killed you."

Catherine's fingers knotted as she tried to vanquish the sudden chill sending fine tremors skittering beneath her skin. She couldn't help being appalled by this new knowledge.

Her uncle may have changed since her aunt's passing, but she had no idea he was capable of such treachery. She and Becky had lived here for the past eight years-- they were family-- how could Harrison not care if one of them was harmed, or even killed? Her eyes fell to her hands, resting in the folds of her white nightgown. Suddenly, she felt very alone.

A month ago, she'd felt relatively safe despite Harrison's startling metamorphosis. She had a loving family, a solid roof over all their heads, and she'd been sure of both Colt and Jem's affection. Now she was more alone than ever before, with no way to escape these increasingly alarming circumstances, and the welfare of her sister and Nanny remained solely her responsibility.

Colt and Jem exchanged a glance at Catherine's downcast eyes. Something had changed in her demeanor that worried them both more than her anger.

"Catherine?" Jem let his hand rest atop hers.

Colt stepped hesitantly forward. "Cat, we just wanted to help."

Cat kept her head down, drawing a shaky breath. "So you decided to deceive me, seduce me, take my honest affection, my virginity, and laugh about it all behind my back?"

Jem shot a furious glance at Colt after Catherine confirmed his earlier suspicions about those midnight visits. Colt didn't see it: his attention was centered on the woman before them.

He lowered his big body to rest beside her, facing the opposite direction to mask his state of undress as much as possible. "Cat, we never laughed at you. We never planned none of this past knowing we had to help you. You have to believe me."

Jem eased himself toward Catherine's other side, trying to catch Colt's eye.

Cat remained silent and still, so Colt continued, "I knew your uncle would never go for me marrying you-- I'm not good enough and at least half-Injun besides-- but I couldn't leave you here. I just couldn't. This was the best we could do."

Colt couldn't help noticing the way Cat's mouth puckered momentarily into a tiny frown when he said "not good enough." It gave him the only spark of hope he had left. If she could still feel indignation on his behalf, maybe they had a chance. Maybe she'd be one of the few people who didn't see his heritage as an announcement of savagery or stupidity.

Jeremiah saw the same small frown and feared the opposite: that the woman they both loved so deeply was especially angry they'd concealed that vital bit of information, because she felt that she'd been tricked into intimacy with a man she despised for his heritage alone. He began to sicken inside.

Colt went on, "Jem's like a brother to me, and I asked him for help because I knew he'd never hurt you, either. We didn't want to lie to you, but there was no way you'da believed a crazy story like that from a couple of strangers."

One hand covering hers, Jem set the other on the bench beside Catherine, finally catching Colt's eye.

Colt shrugged. They were already in more trouble than they could handle, he didn't know if the final, preposterous plank in their rickety house of cards could do any more damage than the rest of their explanation.

Jem took over, settling on his heel and ducking his head to see Catherine's face, trying to read her expression. "I thought Colt was crazy, but he wouldn't let it go. Over and over, he told me you were an angel, and we couldn't leave you here. Colt is my brother, but I knew as soon as I met you that you're the only woman for me. I couldn't help falling in love with you."

He stopped, teetering on the edge of the pronouncement that would determine all their futures.

"Nothing else in the world could come between me and Colt, but neither of us could stand to be without you, Catherine. Either one of us would die to protect you. Won't you please let us keep you safe?"

Silence was her only answer, and Colt figured Jem's sideways proposition was a mite too polite. He made their offer plain. "We both love you, Cat. Come home to the ranch with us, and we'll both love your forever. Marry Jem, marry me, bed one of us, or bed us both. We'll both love you forever no matter what you decide."

Cat couldn't believe what they were asking her. She'd come to Jem's room aching with the terrible knowledge of what she was about to do. She'd been determined to confess her disgrace though she knew it meant losing a man she loved, only to find his deceit was far worse than the sin she'd committed. Her world collapsed on discovering Colt and Jem's dual duplicity, but in the past two minutes they'd built the wreckage of her past into a palace for her dreams-- more than her dreams.

As impossible as she'd considered Becky's unconventional solution, the images it created in her mind had haunted her in the intervening hours. Even more compelling than the tantalizing sexual premise of the plan was the possibility of freeing herself from the torture of a decision she'd found impossible to make. She was willing to try almost anything that meant she wouldn't have to give up one of the men who'd become so dear to her so quickly.

She didn't know if she should trust the relief blossoming in her soul, but she couldn't help being swept along in its wake. She loved them both so much.

Her welling eyes overflowed, and the mute tears were more than Colt or Jem could take. They knew they'd hurt her, but this new evidence tore at them.

"Cat--" Colt twisted and leaned toward her, wanting to gather her into his embrace but editing the gesture to a gentle caress along her satin-clad spine.

"Catherine--" Jem's fingers tensed over hers when her trembling increased. "Catherine, please, we're so sorry."

"Cat, don't cry," Colt implored from beside her other shoulder.

With a shaky indrawn breath, Catherine lifted her head, gazing pleadingly from Jem to Colt and back again, begging sweet providence for this not to be a trick.

Relief swept through him, and Jem wiped the tears from Catherine's ivory skin, as Colt's lips descended on her other cheek, tracing a line of happy tears to Cat's trembling lips.

She leaned into his kiss as her hand turned up to grasp at Jem's. When Colt released her, she opened her eyes to find his cobalt eyes staring deeply into her own. She couldn't speak.

Jem, seating himself to her left, turned her face to him with a gentle finger on her chin. "I love you, Catherine."

Her head fell to his shoulder, and they held her between them while she wept out the past months' strain.

They petted her as she quieted, and when she began to sniffle, Jeremiah offered his handkerchief. Catherine was wobbly and she felt a mess, but the heat of their large, solid bodies soothed her. For the first time in a long while, Catherine felt safe. In the wake of sadness, hope began to flower in the dark corners of her heart, where before she'd felt only loneliness and fear. She took a deep, life-giving breath and let her multitude of worries slip away.

The gift she'd been given deserved nothing less than her whole self. Shyly, she lifted her eyes to Jem.

Her lashes were spiky with lingering emotion, but her lips hinted at the beginning of a smile, and Jeremiah's soul took flight. He drew her to a standing position and held her eyes, letting her see everything he felt. Her lips curved and her chin rose as Jeremiah bent to claim her mouth.

It was a kiss of love and belonging, a promise of all the kisses to come, and her mood soared from hope into happiness. His kiss was sweet to start, but with possibility came passion, and she flushed beneath the fine silk gown. Jem sensed the tension running through the slim body which had been lying so softly against him

He deepened the kiss, letting his tongue explore the line of Catherine's lips until she yielded.

She was so swept up in the searing heat of Jem's mouth on hers that for a moment she didn't understand the faint touches on her shoulders, or the tender kisses trailing along the side of her neck. When Colt's tongue flicked her earlobe, she cooed with delight.

When Jem felt her tremble and intuited the cause, he lifted his head to murmur a reassuring promise. "We'll stop anytime you want, Catherine. If you're unsure, just tell us and we'll stop right away."

He covered his own trickle of anxiety with the warmth of his care, but Jeremiah was concerned. Not only was this the first time he'd be making love to his future wife, it was the first time she'd be with both of them at once. While he and Colt had shared women before, those women had years of experience, whereas only a few days earlier, their sweet Catherine had been a virgin.

Cat leaned against the warmth of Colt's bare chest while he cupped her breasts, his thumbs tweaking nipples already pebbled with desire. Her breath caught in her throat.

She heard the caution in Jem's voice, but all her anxieties had been drowned in a rising tide of anticipation. Tonight would be their first time, and she'd waited so long to know him in that way. Not only that, but they would share it with Colt, a concept so delightful she could scarcely believe it.

The thin silk layers of her robe and nightgown slid easily over each other, doing nothing to disguise the hard length of his cock pressed into the crease of her bottom, while adding another dimension to the sensual experience of Colt's skilled hands teasing her tender breasts.

When Jem's mouth returned to hers, his chest was bare under Cat's seeking palms, and his kisses more demanding. He pulled her hard against the bulge in his trousers, and Cat's desire became more focused, some part of her foggy mind landing on Nanny's admonition. As though his declaration of love had freed her from constraint, her hands sought him out, one molding itself around the swollen outline of his cock while the other fumbled with the buttons thwarting her desire.

Jem rumbled his pleasure against her mouth.

Having divested her of the robe, Colt pushed the thin straps of Cat's gown aside, bending to kiss from the inner angle of her neck to the slope of her shoulder. His fingers traced the lacy trim forward over her breasts, using the lacy edging to pluck at her tender nipples as it slid from her body. The rough texture over his soft touch brought a kiss of liquid to her lower lips, and increased the demands of her hands on Jem's eager body. He pried his mouth reluctantly away to assist her with the buttons of his fly.

When Catherine opened her eyes, she find Jem seated on the bench beside her. It was the first time she'd seen a man nude, and her eyes widened.

Nanny was right.

Cat was allotted neither time enough to look her fill nor time to become intimidated before Colt bared her breasts, drawing Jem's attention. His mouth was every bit as inflammatory as she remembered. He lifted and cupped the weight of her curves in loving palms while the wide, rolling pad of his tongue laved her tender peaks.

Catherine rocked her hips, unconsciously seeking fulfillment as the edge of an orgasm hovered oh-so-close, conjured into being simply by the touch of Jem's mouth on her aching nipples.

Colt's hands coaxed her nightgown over the swell of her hips and it dripped into a pool around her feet. His towel gone, Colt's cock, thick and hot, slotted into the groove between her cheeks. She moved against him, moaning, and he bent to claim her lips. He was so tall that the odd position worked for them, forcing her only to tip her head and turn her shoulders slightly, while Jem's mouth continued to make magic on her breasts. Catherine, desperate for more contact, pushed her bottom against Colt's hard cock.

He moaned, a rough, pained sound filling the panelled dressing area.

While he'd like nothing better than to bend his future wife over the bench and take her right that very minute, Colt had resigned himself to testing his patience tonight. Not only was this Cat's first time with both of them, but Jeremiah hadn't fully tasted the pleasures of their woman's sweet embrace.

Colt answered her unspoken request in a different way: the hand on her belly fell to her mound, resting lightly over the pale brown curls. When Cat's hips pushed forward, Colt allowed his hand to slip down, and the inverse V of his fingers curled inward, stroking slowly to part the light brown curls and slipping between the swollen lips of her sex. No matter how she shifted, though, he refused to touch her clit. His thick fingers lingered frustratingly close, slickly rubbing both sides of the hard ridge of nerves.

When Jem straightened and pulled his mouth from her luscious breast, his palms continued to move in small circles across Catherine's rosy pink nipples.

Yearning for release, she tore her mouth from Colt's, moaning softly, her head lolling against his chest.

As though they'd arranged a silent signal, Colt bent his knees, reaching around her waist to replace the V of one hand with the fingertips of both. The friction of his fingers slipping along each side of her clit made Cat want to scream. A second later, Jem's rough tongue lapped a long stroke up the center of her pussy, stopping to dwell on the tiny hard crest and shattering her world.

If Colt hadn't been supporting her, she would have fallen as she came; her orgasm was that intense. His thighs behind her own and his arms around her waist held her up, while his fingers and Jem's tongue did their best to pull her down. When her spasms began to recede, Jem slid a finger into the clenching wet depths and flicked his tongue from side to side, doubling the intensity of the contractions and stealing what little of her strength remained.

SteffiOlsen
SteffiOlsen
1,039 Followers