She dropped their hands, crossed her own gently over her breasts and allowed them to reach for each other without knowing the difference, at least not at first.
Levi twisted around and a few minutes later, she felt Luke’s arm move with the gentle suggestion. Both cowboys looked startled and immediately yanked the coverlets down to find they were holding hands with one another.
“What the—” Luke yanked his arm back.
“You were trying to hold my hand!” Levi hollered.
“You stroked my thumb,” he snarled. “Bastard, can’t you keep your hands to yourself?”
Emily giggled until she couldn’t contain it. The more she watched the cowboys blush, the more she felt inspired to let out a rip-roaring good laugh. She started rolling with a good, hearty chuckle.
“I didn’t know you men liked each other so well,” she said.
“Why, you devil woman you.” Luke started tickling her and Levi held her down.
“She’s cute as a little filly.” Levi watched her squirm.
“Yeah, but you have to break the young, you know.”
“Uh-huh, you do,” Clay shouted over his back with a snort. “I reckon you think you’re the man for the job.”
Holding her arms above her head, Levi pinned her wrists under his and watched her chest rise and fall. His gaze remained on her breasts as Luke’s hands went from her ribcage to her nipples.
The laughter fell quiet and she stopped moving. The heat rose between them.
He scraped his thumbs over her nipples again. This time he took it upon himself to do it slow. He moved over them in a circular motion before he pinched them tight.
“That’s sore,” she said. “It hurts.”
“They roughed her up around her tits,” Clay said. “Don’t mess with them.”
“You’re funny, Clay. If you don’t want your cousins touching me, you’d better come on back here and do something about it.”
He pulled back on the reins and stopped the team. “All right. I will. You all want to stop here for the night and risk getting caught by that posse coming? I’m willing to chance it for a roll on the ground all night with Emily but then what? Huh? Marshall Coe is going after blood—ours and hers. Now can you keep the horseplay to a minimum so I can drive these horses?”
“I think it’s gonna be all right, Clay. I swear it. If everything goes according to plan, Coe and his men will find the dead, read her note, and have plenty to keep them busy. They’ll ride back to Central City to look for her.”
“Maybe you’re right but I’m not gonna take a chance. I know the Marshall in Cripple Creek. We won’t have any problems there once I talk to him. You’ll see. This here pleasure can wait.”
She batted her eyes. “And just what if it can’t?”
“I reckon you’ve kept your legs closed for the better part of the last year, the least you can do is wait for me to open them for you again.”
“You’d like it if I waited, wouldn’t you?”
“Flirt,” he said. “And I’d like it very much. I have plans for that pretty little pussy.”
“Yeah, they do too,” she pointed at Luke and then Levi, who quickly nodded.
“You’d better believe I’ve got a mind to do all sorts of man and woman things to her right here in this wagon,” Luke admitted.
With a huff, Clay turned back to the reins and snapped them over the horses. “Let’s get it, boys. I got a woman to breed.”
“Breed?” She looked at Luke. Heaven help her if Levi gave an opinion now.
Levi answered anyhow, “He means screw but he figures you’re the proper type who wouldn’t want to hear it.”
Emily put her hand over her mouth and hid an outburst.
Luke leaned over and whispered, “He doesn’t know how intimate our conversations got, Emily. I never told him.”
She guessed as much. They’d even talked about doing the dirty deed and called it what it was—fucking.
After a quiet ride deeper into the darkness on somewhat rough paths, they found a smooth trail and headed for the river. "We gotta let the horses rest for a bit," Clay declared as he hopped down from the wagon.
He peered over at the others and Luke pressed his fingers to his lips. Levi did the same.
"She's asleep?" he asked.
Luke kissed the top of her head. "Looks like it. She's gotta be tired. Think about what she's been through.”
"I had a thought," Levi said.
"Let's hear it," Clay called over his shoulder before he started working with the leather harness. "It's sure enough a good one if you have one. Lord knows it's rare when you do."
Levi never acted insulted. "If Emily ain't ever been with a man, then we shouldn't try to take her in this wagon."
"Yep, like I said, if you've got a thought, it's a good one. Since I’m not back there with the three of ya, I couldn’t agree more."
Levi hopped out of the wagon and started toward his cousin. "I'm talking about it from a gentleman's standpoint. Assuming I can learn how to act like one with Emily. You know, try to do things right rather than just rush right in, leave money on the table and drop my pants."
"You mean you don't plan to screw her with your boots on?" Luke chuckled as he joined them. He led Emily's horse out in front.
"No, I don't and I don't think you should either."
"Well, I sure would if it was the only way to get to her," Luke admitted.
"It ain't gonna happen," Levi firmly told him. "She deserves better than us groping at her in the middle of some open range. I'm not doing it and you ain't either."
"I ain't?" Luke drawled. "What if she reaches over and pats my cock all gentle like, then what?"
Clay nodded in her direction and grinned. "You had a nice nap."
"Yes, I did," she placed her hands on her hips, "and an earful to wake me up."
"Oh," Levi said tugging the lead horse by the leather strap before he pulled him away from the team. "About that—"
"Shut up, Levi," Luke warned. "Just shut up now."
She stretched her arms out in front of her. "So nobody here is interested in fucking me in the wagon?"
"Is that an invitation?" Luke asked.
Clay shook his head. "I know I didn't just hear the most beautiful word in the English language fall from the most gorgeous woman's lips."
Levi stared at her in disbelief too. "You did, I heard it. I swear it. Heard it just as plain and simple as it's spelled."
"And how is it spelled boy smarts?" Luke poked fun at his cousin.
"F-U-K." He was close.
"Shit, Levi. Come on," he said before he grabbed another horse from the team and started for the water.
Clay watched her curiously. "I hesitate to ask you what you make of all this."
"Are you hesitating or asking?" she cocked her hip and put her palm against the curve of her waist.
"You thirsty?" he changed the subject.
"Sure," she said. "I need to fill these canteens too." She pulled two from under some horse supplies at the edge of the blankets.
He held his arms out for her and watched. Emily pretended to leap. She held her arms forward and let them swing back and forth.
"One, two, three. Ready or not, here I come!" She jumped right into his arms.
He lost his balance for a second, but regained it in time to relax with her body. Then he thought what the hell. He fell to the ground with her body right on top of his.
"Good Lord, woman, you could break a man's back."
Tempting lips formed a quick pout. "I'm heavy?"
"A load," he teased.
"That's not funny," she said while she struggled against his grip.
"No, it's not. If I was you," he drawled, "and this is just a suggestion, I'd try to get some cowboys to help you work this weight off of ya."
Her mouth dropped into an o-shape and he laughed. "I'm kidding you. I don't see an inch of meat on you." He thought twice and tried to add something a little sexier. "You got all your weight in one place," he said staring at her chest.
Her soft red hair tumbled over his face then and he felt like he'd died in her arms the second it fanned over his cheeks. "They’re gonna kill me for this."