STORY EXCERPT

She stared at him, feeling her jaw slack and her face contort with disbelief. “What are you, some kind of old-fashioned basket case? I said I would, but things didn’t work out. I tried, but it’s not my fault this isn’t working.”

Stetson shook his head with obvious repulsion. “It’s that sort of shitty attitude that will fail your marriage.”

“Excuse me?” She unfolded her arms and ran at him, but someone strong held her back.

“Whoa, easy there, spitfire.” Sawyer held her easily with one hand while still carrying the saddle over his shoulder with the other. His strength made her hot and bothered, but at the same time it was downright irritating the way he kept her from hitting his older brother.

“Let me at him!” she demanded, swinging her fists.

Stetson smirked at this. The bastard actually smirked at her.

Sawyer laughed. “I like this one. Thanks for bringing her here, bright eyes.”

Kellan grinned. “No problem. I like her, too.”

Doc finally turned to look at them. Without even glancing at him she could feel the weight of his sorrow bearing down on her. He wanted her to stay. What the hell for? So he could get in a few more good fucks before dying and not really giving a shit about her?

“Fine. I don’t need money. I’ll walk to Bane if I have to. What do you think of that, cowboy?” she taunted.

Stetson wasn’t impressed. “I think you’re a fucktard.”

“What?” she shrieked, trying to lunge at him again. Damn Sawyer for holding her back.

Doc spoke up. “Jade is helping me cross off my bucket list.”

Sawyer sounded like he was grinning from behind her. “I’ll bet she is.”

Kellan’s face lit up with enthusiasm. “That’s a great idea. I want a bucket list, too. Jade, baby, you can help me cross it off.”

Stetson scowled. “Wonderful. Let’s all make bucket lists and hold hands.”

“Now what do you want to go and make a bucket list for, crab cakes?” Sawyer teased. “They say the ornery ones live forever, so you got nothing to worry about.”

Jade tried not to laugh at this and the way Stetson’s eyes narrowed when they fell on Sawyer.

Doc sounded desperate. “You made a promise to me, too, Jade. You said you’d be there to help me cross those things off my list.”

Her eyes stung and her chest hurt. “I said I’d help you. I never gave my word.”

Stetson shook his head. “You’ve got a shitty sense of honor.”

“Yeah, well, fuck you,” she retorted. “You give me back my things, asshole.”

“You’re not getting your shit back, and that’s final. Bane wanted you protected, and that’s exactly what you’re going to be. You should at least respect his wishes even if you can’t keep your pants on.” Stetson turned and walked away.

That final whore remark was the last straw. She scanned the ground, picked up a small rock, and hurled it at his ass. The sight of it smacking the cowboy’s buns gave her a smug sense of satisfaction.

Take that, you jackass.

Stetson stopped walking and slowly turned to face her with a lethal expression that let her know she was toast. He calmly closed the distance between them and unfastened his belt buckle. The clink sound of it coming undone titillated the hell out of her, but she was confused. He hated her. Why was he taking—

“Clearly your father didn’t beat your ass enough,” Stetson told her as he yanked his belt out of the loops of his jeans and doubled it with a startling degree of confidence. “Maybe I ought to fix his mistake.”

Oh, shit, he was going to spank her with his belt. Jade panicked and got behind Sawyer. “Don’t come near me!”

Sawyer glanced back down at her with a saucy grin. “I’d get between you, but I have this irresistible hankering to see your gorgeous ass blushing cherry red. You might even enjoy getting spanked by Stet. God knows what a sadistic bastard he is.”

She bolted over to Doc and got behind him instead. “Doc, save me. I’ll stay if you do.”

Doc looked down at her with a sad smile and then turned to face them. “I have cancer.”

Stetson stopped walking toward them, looking like he’d seen a ghost. Sawyer and Kellan appeared equally shocked.

Jade couldn’t believe Doc told them. She wanted to be spared the god-awful belt spanking, but she wasn’t sure she wanted anyone else to get hurt by his news. Still, it was good that he told them. They had a right to know, and he deserved to be well cared for during his final days on earth.

“You what?” Sawyer asked.

Stetson looked at Doc seriously. “You’d better watch yourself making up shit to keep a whore from getting the spanking she deserves. Cancer isn’t anything to joke about.”

Doc’s voice caught for a moment like he was getting choked up. “I’m not joking, Stetson. I have lung cancer.”

Stetson’s lips parted and he just stared at Doc in silence.

“Lung cancer? You son of a bitch, why didn’t you tell us?” Sawyer tossed the saddle down and glowered over at Doc.

Kellan gaped at him, looking devastated. “Doc, why didn’t you say anything? How long have you been sick?”

“A while now,” Doc replied sadly. “I would have said something sooner, but—”

“But what?” Stetson growled.

“I didn’t want to worry y’all none.”

Kellan snorted. “Didn’t want to worry us? Jesus, Doc, we’re your friends. It’s our job to worry if you get sick.”

“Have you tried chemo and all that other shit, you dumbass?” Sawyer inquired.

Doc nodded. “Nothing worked. I was too far along by the time they found the cancer.”

Another moment of stunned silence followed.

Kellan ran his hand down his face in worry. “Doc, what does that mean?”

Jade saw Doc swallow, and his eyes slid over to meet Stetson’s shocked stare. “It means I’m dying.”

Stetson’s eyes squeezed shut and he turned and walked away without a word.

ADULT EXCERPT

The words moved and hurt her. Another gift to take with her. It was sweet and depressing. Like the jade heart locket Doc gave her, she would always keep these, and the items would remind her of her cowboys when they were gone.

“Thank you. That was very sweet of you guys.”

“Don’t mention it. They look really pretty on you,” Kellan said with pride. He flicked his finger back and forth against one of the clamps, making the metal teeth tug on her breast tissue.

Jade gasped. “Oh.”

He grinned. “Do you like that?”

“I’m not sure.”

He chuckled. “Here. Let me help you decide.”

She moaned when he repeated the action. Who knew a trace of annoying, biting discomfort could be so hot?

Doc pulled something out of a cooler and ran what looked like a dildo made of ice under some water. He approached her with it and handed the icy minion to Sawyer. “I want to play with the ginger.”

Sawyer nodded and elbowed Kellan aside. “I call ice and pussy.”

“Hey!” Kellan snapped. “What the hell am I supposed to do?”

Doc supplied him with the answer. “Play with her breasts or use that feather on her that we brought.”

Jade gulped hard, feeling her body tingle with excitement. Even the tiny drops of perspiration trickling down her skin felt wicked and unrestrained. “This all sounds really hot and everything, but isn’t it a bit intense at once?”

“That’s the point, dear,” Doc explained. “As you may recall, you agreed to help me cross off my bucket list. And one of the things on that was having Stetson join us with you.”

“Yeah, but you said I wouldn’t have to worry about him going all crazy monkey on me.”

Sawyer shook his head and strummed the ice through her slick folds, tearing a wild gasp of frozen torment from her. “No, we said you probably won’t. There is always the off chance that he’ll jump in all the way, though I doubt it. He hasn’t had a sub in six years.”

“They can’t handle him, huh?”

He shrugged and grazed her clit with the cold, wet dildo, evoking chilly tingles. “I don’t know what his problem is or if he’s just decided to go eunuch.”

Doc pushed the ginger into her anus, but it didn’t hurt like she thought it might. “Or he could decide to make up for lost time with her.”

She shuddered and watched as Kellan searched the bag. As sensual as a feather would be on her skin, she half hoped he couldn’t find it to avoid the maddening tickle it was sure to bring her.

“I’ve got it,” he said happily.

Ah yes, luck was on her side as usual.

“Let me know when your ass starts to feel warm,” Doc instructed.

“Okay.”

His seductive voice hovered near her ear. “I told you before we came here to call me Sir, Jade.”

She threw her head back and let out an ecstatic little scream when his teeth grazed the bite mark Bane had left on her. Evidently the spot was an erogenous zone she hadn’t been aware of. A surge of liquid need flowed from her cunt when Doc bit down playfully on her mating mark, eliciting a long, deep moan.

Something animalistic in her snapped and she went completely feral. She snarled and thrashed in depraved madness as the urge to shift became almost uncontrollable. Her wolf wanted to bite Doc, and Sawyer smelled mighty fine, too. They were asking to be chomped on. She’d already claimed Kellan. Now for the other two.

“Oh no!” she yelled. “I can’t stop myself. I want to claim you guys so bad. Don’t get near my mouth or unchain me or I might bite you.”

“Go for it, baby girl,” Kellan encouraged.

“No. I can’t. Bane told me not to.”

He groaned in frustration. “Damn it, Jade. You were meant to be with us.”

“But he’s my mate, too.”

“Then sex him up until he agrees to share you with us. All you got to do is go all dominatrix on him, tie him up, and not let him come until he gives in.”

She smirked and flinched when the heat of the ginger in her ass kicked in. “I think the ginger is working.”

Doc’s tone rang with enthusiasm. “Oh good. Time for your spanking.”

“What?”

“Oh, didn’t I tell you, darlin’? I’m going to spank you and you’re not to clench. On second thought, clench all you want to and see what happens.”

“But I already got cropped.”

“I won’t spank you very hard.” He swept over her sensitized butt cheek with his fingertips, making her shiver. “I won’t have to since they’re still sore from a little bit ago. Be a good girl and remember my title. I won’t remind you again, not verbally anyway.”

“Yes, Sir. Ooh! It burns. Ow!”

She danced on her toes as the spicy fire of ginger leached its searing juices into her butt. The subtle warmth it started out as had quickly heated to a level that burned with intensity.

“While he spanks you and makes your asshole nice and hot, guess what I’m gonna do?” Sawyer wiggled his eyebrows and pushed the icy phallus upward until it propelled into her dripping channel.

She came up on her toes again and mewed when her ass clenched, encouraging the sadistic root to emit more punishing heat. “Oh God, it’s like fire and ice.”

“And spankings all around,” Sawyer added. “Any objection to being fucked, spanked, and brought to orgasm?”

She could tell the question was rhetorical. “Why the hell would I have any objection to that?”

Her eyes popped open and felt huge when he swatted her mons and her vagina hugged the frozen dildo. The cold fire in her pussy was the stark opposite of the scalding burn of ginger in her bottom hole. Fire and ice. Heaven and hell. It was intolerable and absolutely delicious.

“Sir!” She recalled his title and understood why he spanked her cunt. “Sir!”

Sawyer chuckled at the way she cried out and struggled while he slowly fucked her with the chilly penis.