“Really, Zane? Done this much?” Callie didn’t seem to be in the mood for advice. It was the most irritated he’d ever heard her.

Zane flushed. “No, babe, but I’ve watched an awful lot of porn. Really, you can learn the damndest things off the internet. Listen, babe, I am really open-minded. If you do this and later on it leads to my dick sinking into this gorgeous little asshole, I promise I’ll let you play with mine.”

“Me, too, baby.” Nate wanted in so bad, he’d promise her the moon. He could take his sweet little Callie playing around with his backdoor if it meant regularly getting inside hers.

Callie groaned and leaned forward, going down on her elbows. The plug slid in as her rosy ass opened up. It was a lovely site. Nate worked the plug in and out gently. He fucked her with the plug, pretending it was his cock taking the virgin hole.

Zane groaned beside him. He was watching, too, Nate noted. He was probably thinking the same thing. Nate slid the plug in and pulled back out, noting the way Callie began to sway with the rhythm.

“Not so bad, huh?” Nate asked, adoring the way her anus clenched around the plug.

“It’s weird, but okay. I can handle it. I think it might feel good.”

Zane leaned over and kissed the small of her back. “It will, babe. It’s gonna feel so good. I promise, we’ll go slow. We’ll take care of you.”

Nate pressed the plug in one last time before he decided it was time to take care of her. She’d done beautifully for her first time. Next time, he’d have her wear it for awhile, but for now, he wanted her comfortable. He needed to pay her back for her openness. He pulled the plug out and dropped it discreetly in his desk drawer. Luckily, he was responsible for cleaning his own office.

“That was lovely, Callie. Now turn back over.”

Callie flipped herself around, just a little awkwardly. “Is it over?”

“Not by a long shot, babe. Now it’s your turn,” Zane said, proving he could read Nate’s mind.

Callie’s face was covered in a pretty blush. Her legs dangled off the desk. Nate reached down and rearranged them so her knees were up, her heels on the edge. It left her open and vulnerable.

“Let me taste this pussy, Callie.” Nate let his fingers find her soft flesh, and she squirmed as he cupped her.

“Only if I can taste you and Zane after. I want you both in my mouth.”

It took everything Nate had not to come in his jeans. He would fuck her mouth if that was what she wanted. He’d fill her up with his cum. But first, she was going to come and come hard under his tongue.

“That sounds perfect. Why don’t you start on Zane, baby? I’ll join in after I’ve taken care of you.”

Zane moved from Nate’s side. Nate looked over the expanse of Callie’s beautifully bowed body. Zane was pushing his jeans down. Callie’s head was just at the edge of the desk. Zane cupped her chin and turned her head to the side. He pressed his cock against her lips. Her tongue came out, licking at the head. Zane put a knee on the desk so she didn’t have to strain. He slid his cock into her mouth.

Nate knew just how good that felt. He loved it when that hot tongue ran all across his cock. She gave the best head. It was only fair she got some back. Nate breathed in her scent. Cream coated her pink pussy with a sweet musky smell. His cock twitched. He leaned down and licked, gathering her juice as he went. He licked her over and over. She tasted so good. He slid his tongue through her labia and up to her clit. That pink pearl was fully out of its hood and begging for attention. Nate sucked it into his mouth and tugged gently.

“Oh, Nate!” Callie’s legs shook as she came. Her hands wound into his hair, tugging and pulling as she pushed her pussy against his face.

Nate got to his feet and his hand was on the fly of his pants when there was a knock on the door.

“Sheriff.” Logan’s voice cracked through the intimacy of the office.

Callie sat straight up and started fumbling for her skirt.

“Not right now, Logan,” Nate barked. He wasn’t going to interrupt this because Logan had trouble with a tourist.

“Sorry, Sheriff. I think it’s important.”

Damn it. Zane cursed, too, but stuffed his cock back in his jeans. He helped Callie zip up her skirt. Nate nodded at Zane and sat back in his chair, pulling Callie into his lap. He needed her. He didn’t want his deputy to see that he had a monster erection.

Rye Harper had the right idea. He’d been the one to put up that sign that announced he was fishing. Nate needed a new one. Don’t Commit Any Crimes – I’m Fucking My Secretary.

Zane unlocked the door and it swung open, revealing a red-faced Logan with a piece of paper in his hand. Logan looked from Callie and Nate over to Zane and back again. His mouth came open and then closed. “Okay, well, I just wanted to tell you that some crazy-looking chick just walked in and handed me this note.” He held the folded piece of paper out toward Nate. Callie struggled to get off his lap, but he held her close. It was time for Callie to understand he had no intention of hiding the fact that they were lovers.

“Give it to Zane,” Nate instructed. If he took his hands off Callie, he’d lose her. He fully intended to get back to his fun the minute he got rid of his deputy.

Logan handed the paper to Zane, who immediately opened it and started to read.

Nate cuddled Callie close. She sighed and shook her head, as though trying to get him to understand how disappointed she was in his professionalism. He ignored her. He’d explained that he had no professionalism when it came to her. She would just have to learn to live with it. “Thank you, Logan. Why don’t you go and write the tourists some tickets? We could use a new microwave.”

Callie slapped at him softly as Logan walked out. “He will be on the phone to his moms, his girlfriend, and everyone else he knows in just about…now. Do you know how the gossip mill works in a small town?”

Nate didn’t care. Let ‘em talk. “You don’t think staying at our place last night escaped the town’s attention? Baby, I assure you they noticed you were in Zane’s T-shirt and clinging to one of us most of the time.”

He pulled her close. This was what he’d wanted since that first day when he walked in and realized how close he would be working with her. He cuddled her close and was satisfied when she softened against him, her head lying against his shoulder. He kissed her cheek and was about to tell Zane to lock that door again when he saw the look on his partner’s face. Zane had gone white, his jaw tight. A slight tick in the muscle of his left cheek let Nate know his friend was deeply disturbed. After the events of the morning, Nate had a feeling he knew who the note had come from.

Well, at least he didn’t have an erection anymore.

Nate sat up. Callie was watching Zane now, too. “What is it?” Nate asked.

“Bullshit, that’s all.” Zane folded the note again, and Nate could tell he was trying for a nonchalant look. “So, we checking into a motel, or what? I don’t think we should stay at Callie’s. I wouldn’t want someone chucking a fire bomb into her house.”

“Let me see the note.” Nate leaned forward. Callie hopped off his lap and went to sit in the chair beside Zane.

“Who was the note from?” Callie’s voice cajoled, her hand rubbing a circle over Zane’s denim clad thigh.

Zane tossed the note on Nate’s desk. “He’s someone Nate and I knew a long time back.”

Nate unfolded the note. “Shit. How the fuck does this bastard run things from his prison cell?” The note was from Ellis, though not in his handwriting. The “crazy-looking chick” must be one of the women from the gang.

“He probably dictated it to his lawyer.” Zane’s face was perfectly smooth. To an outsider, it would look like he didn’t care, but Nate could see the wheels working in Zane’s head. “You know some of those lawyers are as bad as the assholes they represent.”

The note was simple.

Give up Zane or else.

It didn’t have a place to drop him off or give a time limit. Just a simple threat. That was Ellis’s way. He would never tell you what he was going to do. He would rather his victim wondered. Nate’s eyes found Callie. She tried to get him to hold her hand, but he merely squeezed it and let it go again, shifting to get out of reach. Nate knew in that moment that Zane was going to leave.

“We need to think about moving Callie to someplace safe.” He didn’t want to get into it with Zane while Callie was around. It would just worry her if they came to blows, and they just might.

Zane sat forward. He seemed perfectly happy to talk about something other than that note. “Absolutely. Maybe you should take her away for a little while. You know, the two of you could go on vacation, maybe to the beach.”

Callie sat back, her mouth open in shock. “I’m not leaving. This is my home. Why would I leave?”

Zane’s face hardened. “Because it isn’t safe for you, Callie. I don’t know if you noticed, but someone’s tried to kill you twice in the last twenty-four hours.”

“And I’m perfectly fine, thank you.” She stood up and crossed her arms defensively over her chest. “I’m going to make some coffee and check the phones. I still have a job to do, you know.”

The minute Callie was out of sight, Nate leaned forward. “Whatever you’re thinking about doing, don’t.”

Zane’s mouth was a flat, stubborn line. “You know it’s for the best. I’ll just sit in that fucking bar until they come for me. I won’t go in alone this time. I’ll pack some serious heat.”

He would go down in a blaze of glory. Nate got the message. Only he’d made a promise to himself that Zane wouldn’t go down period. “Just sit tight. I’ve got this handled.”

“Like you handled it last time?”

The words cut through Nate like a knife to his heart. He felt himself pale as though he’d gone bloodless, and his eyes weren’t looking at Zane anymore, at least not the one in front of him. He saw Zane as he was that afternoon, laid out on a table, his skin smoking, blood leaking out onto the floor. When he’d uncuffed his partner, the big bull had managed to get up and beat the living shit out of a couple of his tormentors. It was only when he tripped from blood loss that he went down. He’d fell and hit his head on a mounting block and slipped into a coma. Nate hadn’t been able to catch him in time.

“Did you hear me?” Zane’s rough voice brought him back to reality. “I won’t let her get hurt.”

Blood rushed back into Nate’s body, pumping through his muscles with an angry vengeance. Damn it, how much did he have to do to make up for his mistake? Should he have rushed in to save Zane, guns blazing, when they were terribly outnumbered? He’d made the right call that day, and he was making the right one now. “You think I intend to throw her to the wolves to save your ass?” Resentment bubbled up. He’d put his career on hold to take care of Zane, and had the bastard once said thank you? Now he wanted to accuse him of putting Callie in danger? “Let me tell you something, Zane, I will let them carve you up if it means sparing her a moment’s pain, do you understand?”

Zane growled, baring his teeth. “Yeah, I got it, buddy. At least we’re in agreement on something. So, I’ll go and take care of this, once and for all. You get the girl and ride off into the sunset, Sheriff.”

Nate’s fists came down on his desk, making the thing shudder. “Why do you insist on killing yourself? You know what? I am tired to death of forcing you to live. You want to give Ellis the satisfaction of taking you apart, then go the fuck ahead. Who am I to stop you?”

Zane stood, shoving the chair back against the wall. He took up a lot of space in the small office. If only he had a big brain to go along with his bulk. Nate stood, too, facing down his oldest friend in the world.

“What are you waiting for, asshole?” Nate spat the question out. “The door is that way. I’ll take care of Callie, don’t you worry about it. I’ll take her out of this two-bit town and show her a real life. We won’t remember you at all.”

He didn’t mean a word of it. Even as the words spilled from his mouth, he knew that he would miss Zane. He would miss his friend. Why was he such a stubborn ass?

Zane hesitated. His face fell, but in the space of one breath to the next, he became hard as stone. “You don’t know her at all. She’s just a freaking trophy to you, rich boy. You can’t take her away from here. This is her home.”

“Her home is with me and where I decide to make it.” Even if Zane stayed, that held true. Nate was the only one of the three of them with a lick of ambition. Callie was a sweet little thing, and Zane spent all of his time reading books and watching baseball. It was up to him. He would pull them along and make a brighter future for all of them. Zane and Callie had grown up without. They had no idea of what real money could do for them. Callie lived in a run-down, two-bedroom cabin. Zane had grown up in a shitty apartment in a nasty section of town. When he found a proper job, Nate would make sure she had the best house they could afford where any kids they had would have every advantage money could buy. He would use his old connections to make her comfortable in society. She would adjust.