Texas Trio Ch. 24-End

NOTE: I just wanted to thank you guys for hanging in there with me while I revised Texas Trio. I especially enjoyed going back to visit Cat, Colt, and Jem while I edited TT2, which is Becky's story, set five years later, also in Liberty Falls. After I finish Sleeping Beast, I'll start posting that, too, if anyone is interested? (Shameless comment-seeking plea :)

REMINDER: This is the last 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 much more fun to read if you start at the beginning! Love-- Stefanie

--:--:--:--:--:--:--:--:-- CHAPTER 24 --:--:--:--:--:--:--:--:--

"Shit!" Colt yanked his hand out of the bush, scraping himself with another of the pig-sticker thorns adorning it, earning himself the right to another repetition of his favorite expletive.

Damn Jem for sticking him with all this domestic bullshit while he languished around the Matthews mansion like a prince, probably having a princely amount of incredibly hot sex with his-- Colt's-- angel, too.

Damn him!

When Jem's letter arrived, Colt had already visited Mrs. Marquardt, hiring her and the oldest boy to go over and spruce up the ranch. She'd promised to get a couple of girls from town to come out and clean while they did the heavy lifting, and she even said she'd be happy to pick out some wallpaper and pretty up a room for Cat. She'd been pretty damn amused by Colt's attempt to describe "pretty," too, he thought.

He had everything taken care of like they'd planned and was all ready to start out for Galveston the next morning when one of Harrison's stable boys came riding in at a gallop, with a flushed face and a hot horse.

Colt was imagining some kind of desperate emergency until he read his partner's letter, which ended up not being any kind of an emergency at all, but just Jem dumping a whole load of horseshit on Colt's head. That horseshit kept him out here all week, overseeing construction and hunting down rosebushes.

First, Colt had been forced to hire an extra hand to dig a new root cellar, because Cook had requested "direct access" from the kitchen, though he'd be damned if he saw why she couldn't use the perfectly good one they already had, three steps outside the kitchen door.

Then he had to find accommodations for almost the whole Matthews household, right down to the smallest stable-boy.

To top it all off, Jem claimed Catherine had mentioned a passion for white roses, and he decided it would be nice if there were a couple bushes out front to greet her when she they brought her home. There were no white roses in Liberty Falls. Period. Colt had ridden damn near to Waco before he found a fancy piano teacher with some in her yard, and now the piano teacher had enough money in her bank account for a couple more pianos.

For the third time Colt attempted to get the stubborn bush to stand up straighter, stabbing himself with yet another thorn. This one made it halfway through his thumb. Colt stuck the bleeding digit in his mouth and stood up glowering, determined not to kick the crap out of the rosebush, no matter how desperately he wanted to do just that.

The clockwork clop of a shod horse cantering up the hill from the creek toward the house got his attention, and he squinted to see who was coming. The glare of a sunny day on the pale dirt road made him squint harder, but as soon as he figured it out, he pulled his thumb out of his mouth and rushed forward to meet the rider. "Jem, what the hell--?"

Jeremiah barely had a chance to dismount and loop the reigns around a stanchion before he had to start explaining. Even with a week to plan, he hadn't been looking forward to this moment.

"Is Cat all right?" Colt's voice was loud and tense.

"She's fine," Jem hurried to reassure him. "She's about an hour behind me in the carriage. Her, Becky, and Nanny are with Caleb, and they'll all be here soon."

"What the hell?" Colt repeated.

"Partner, can we go up on the porch and get out of this sun, please, then I'll explain?"

Colt was on the verge of hitting him already. Jem supposed it didn't help that he detoured for a drink of water from the pump, but he didn't think anything on earth could stop what was coming his way.

"Colt, you aren't going to like this, but I'd appreciate it if you hold off hitting me until you hear the whole story."

Colt made an effort to uncurl his fists, at the ready by his thighs. He crossed his arms and leaned against the railing, waiting.

"First off, I have to say that I would have preferred to avoid almost everything I did this week--"

A flash of pure joy flitted over Jeremiah's face, so fast Colt wasn't sure he'd seen it.

"--but something happened and I chose the best way I knew to both protect Catherine from harm and ensure her future happiness."

He stopped. "All right?"

He waited solemnly for Colt's nod, inhaled sharply, and went ahead narrating his own death sentence, "About ten minutes after you left that morning, Nanny came running into my room, screaming. Harrison had seen Catherine leaving our suite and was in her room having his say. After I put a stop to it, I decided our best option was get the hell out of there as fast as possible before someone got killed, so that's what we did."

Colt stood as still as stone.

A great big stone... balanced on a little bitty pebble... ready to fall right over on my head, Jem thought, staring back at him.

"I made decisions that shouldn't have been made without you present, but if you got yourself hanged for murder, it would have killed Catherine, and I wouldn't have appreciated it either, Colt.

"The best way to protect her was to leave, and the best way to do that was to marry her."

Colt pushed himself off the railing, but stayed otherwise in place.

"I got a deputy sheriff and went to the executor of Catherine's parents' estate and told him what was going on, in the deputy's presence. Then I talked Harrison into moving up the wedding by alluding to Catherine's money and my own desire to share in it as soon as possible. I made sure everyone was packed and ready the night before-- not hard to do in secret since Harrison was in Houston-- and we went down to the church to take care of it."

Colt's hands had dropped to his sides, where they waited like two heavily callused ball peen hammers.

"We went from the church directly to the bank, where Catherine and I signed papers transferring her share of her parents' estate into my name. With Harrison expecting a bank draft, the sheriff and a couple of deputies strolled out to take command of him and Hawkins. Everyone who was in on it made sure to call me 'Allejandro' all the way through, bidding Señor and Señora 'bon voyage' when we left, with one of the deputies escorting us to the harbor, from which a supposedly Argentine-bound ship departed an hour later.

"The sheriff held onto Hawkins and Matthews until noon, by which time Catherine and I, and most of the household, were well beyond his reach. We disembarked in Matagorda and came up through Blanco to stay away from the railroad, just to be safe. No one in Galveston knows we're not all sailing peacefully along the coast of South America right now."

Jem stopped at last, confident he'd covered most of it. He didn't kid himself that the parts he left out-- like Catherine's beating-- would go unnoticed, but he couldn't put it in the first sentence without Colt tearing off for town to kill Harrison, voiding a week's planning and heartache. He waited for the blow he knew was coming.

Colt took the necessary step forward to put himself within hitting distance. "Cat is safe?"

"Yes, perfectly."

"She's on her way here?"

"She should arrive within the hour."

"Everyone is with her? Nanny? Becky?"

Jem nodded.

Colt calculated the time they'd spent in travel. "You two got hitched Tuesday?"

Jem nodded again, and... there it was.

Colt punched him square on the nose.

Jem felt the crunch all the way down to his shoulders, blinding pain shooting from his eye sockets up into his brain. He went down on his ass-- hard-- on the bare wood boards of the porch and braced himself for the blows to come. All he got was the sound of air hissing from between Colt's teeth, and silence after that.

When he opened his eyes, he saw a blurry version of Colt with his thumbs hooked in his belt. Holding his nose, Jem squinted up at his partner.

Colt, smiling slightly, leaned down so Jem could see his face more clearly and offered him a hand.

Jem made it to his feet and sat right back down, falling heavily onto the nearest of the big carved benches on the porch, blinking tearily at Colt. The broken nose was the only thing he understood at that particular moment, but he didn't know quite what to ask.

Colt, leaning casually against the railing, answered his partner's unsaid question, "Jem, I love that woman with alla my heart, but I love you, too. You never lied to me, you never snuck around behind my back, you never double dealt me in all the years I known you. You musta had a damn good reason for doing what you did the way you did it."

If his face hadn't hurt so much, Jem would have smiled.

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Colt wasn't quite as casual an hour later.

Outside, under the high-contrast glare of a Texas summer sun, her hat brim and the same short veil she'd worn in church were enough to conceal the leftover bruising, but indoors was a different story. She knew Colt would have to see her face eventually, but she was terrified he'd run off and do exactly what they all expected him to do-- kill her uncle Harrison. Once her bags were upstairs in the-- absolutely gorgeous-- room Mrs. Marquardt had prepared for her, Cat left Becky and the servants organizing the household and accompanied Colt across the hall to his room.

Jem, who'd been keeping himself and his two rapidly blackening eyes out of sight since her arrival, trailed along behind them.

Colt, circumspect in front of the staff, bent to kiss her chastely as soon as the door closed behind them. Restraining his ardor, he examined her face, leading her over to the window where he could see her better.

In the clear north light, every mark showed. The swelling was gone, and most of the bruises had faded to yellow, or at least medium green, but the cuts were still visible on her lips, cheeks and one eyebrow. The vessels of the eye on that side were darkly pink and inflamed, as well.

Instead of the immediate rage she'd dreaded, Cat got the softest caresses imaginable, long slow strokes touching every centimeter, outlining her features and the damage her uncle had done to them. Colt's blue, blue eyes looked right into her soul, as serious as she'd ever seen him, and tears filled her own at the tenderness he showed her.

"I'm sorry, Cat," Colt said, cupping her face in his palms. "I'm so sorry for what he did to you."

Cat buried her face in his shirtfront and wept while he patted her hair. Jem had been amazing in the days since her uncle's attack, but her healing hadn't been complete until that very moment. She'd needed her other husband's comfort, too.

Leaning on the door across the room, Jem smiled. And winced.

--:--:--:--:--:--:--:--:-- CHAPTER 25 --:--:--:--:--:--:--:--:--

A month later, her faced completely healed, Cat put her lips to use waking both of her husbands, one at a time. She knelt facing the head of her own bed, smiling at Colt and Jem. They slept like they lived; Colt sprawled wildly, taking up as much of the bed as possible, and Jem flat, limbs aligned, hands folded neatly over his midsection.

She kissed Jem first, nuzzling his cheek tenderly until he responded, then leaned to her left to repeat the gesture with Colt. Colt roused more easily and Cat had to wriggle free, laughing, to finish waking Jem with another kiss. Sitting on her heels, she watched their eyes open simultaneously and got her favorite morning greeting-- her husbands' loving smiles. Well, maybe not her favorite....

In concert, they reached out to her. Colt's hand landed directly on her naked breast while Jem's fingertips began a feathery stroll along the inside of one knee. Catherine closed her eyes to enjoy the sensations while she let her hands do some exploring, too.

A month into one marriage and only a few days into another, Catherine had become more sure of herself, losing most of her remaining virginal reserve. Her gestures showed no hint of hesitancy.

A palm skimming lightly over the sheet brought Jem's cock to attention, matching Colt's dependable morning erection in her other hand. She teased them through the silk, circling and cupping the two heated shafts. Colt broke first, shoving the sheet away and moving her hand to his bare skin. Cat half-opened her eyes to watch as she touched him.

Brushing along her thigh, Jem's fingers inched higher and higher.

Cat twisted around to take the head of Colt's cock into her warm, welcoming mouth. He groaned, and Cat echoed the sound a second later, when Jem's fingers nudged between her damp, pink folds.

"Someone got an early start." Jem's husky comment made her smile around Colt's velvet-covered rod. The soft skin over that most masculine, hardest part of their bodies hadn't lost any of its fascination for Catherine. She loved to touch and lick them, especially when she had the opportunity to be with both of them at once, like now.

Jem finally gave in to his lust and flung the sheet aside, removing the barrier between her hand and his hardness.

His expert manipulation of her clit didn't stop when his need escalated, though, and soon he was sliding a second finger into the heat between her lush, pale thighs. "Did you already have those sweet fingers down here this morning, playing with your beautiful pussy before you woke us up?"

Cat blushed, and thought a reprimand at Jem for making her grin while she was trying to concentrate on what her mouth was doing, which was difficult enough with Colt's hands at her breasts, alternating between her nipples, tweaking and plucking at the tender nubs. Cat often thought to herself that he could probably make her come with that alone, but so far he hadn't gotten the opportunity to try; one of her men was always taking care of her nether parts.

Colt growled something under his breath and grabbed her shoulders, pulling her away from his cock so he could taste her mouth. His palms moved to skim the sides of her breasts, delighting in the way her nipples teased his whenever she shifted, her soft mounds pressing against his chest.

Jem seized his chance, moving into position behind Catherine, using the hard head of his penis to continue the arousing task of smoothing her liquid heat through every lacy fold of her delicate labia.

She moaned into Colt's kiss, arching up to meet Jem and dying to feel his big cock filling her.

Colt gave her one last nuzzle and lifted his eyes. "Wife, is Husband Number Two right?"

"One," Jem corrected.

Colt ignored the interruption. "Did you wake yourself up this morning, playing?"

Catherine blushed prettily, her lips pursing of their own volition. Under their enthusiastic guidance, she'd lost much of her bashfulness, but that didn't mean she was prepared to discuss anything at all in the bold light of day.

Colt took her silence as a confession. "You did? With these fingers?"

He kissed each fingertip, his eyes never straying from her face.

Cat was teetering on the verge of the orgasm she so desperately needed and couldn't speak. The delicious friction of Jem's cock nudging at her slippery cleft was going to prod her right over the edge.

Colt sucked the tip of her index finger into his mouth.

Catherine whimpered.

"Jem, hold on a second there, partner," Colt ordered.

Jem stopped moving.

"I don't think we should get in our wife's way this morning."

Jem retreated, in instant comprehension and complete agreement.

Catherine, on the other hand, had no idea what her scheming husbands were up to.

Colt sat up and turned her around. "Bein' married to you doesn't give us the right to interfere in everything you do, Cat."

What in heaven's name was he talking about?

Jem assisted Catherine into her usual middle-of-the-bed spot, laying her against a hill of pillows as Colt arranged them. "Colt's right, my love. We don't want to get in your way."

Catherine suddenly realized what their babbling meant and blushed a brilliant scarlet, her hands flying to her cheeks.

Their earlier positions completely reversed, her husbands now knelt alongside her hips. Colt's big hand swept from her ankle to the inside of her knee, lifting and tugging outward, and Jem followed suit, smiling. He was a moment ahead of Colt in removing one of the hands which had failed to hide her blush. Kissing her fingers, he placed them where he wished them to be.

Cat jerked her hand away, curling both arms to her chest in consternation. "I can't do that!"

Jem leaned forward, his hand high on her thigh as he hovered above her, reminding Catherine of their picnic and the first orgasm she'd ever had.

"Catherine, you don't have to do anything you don't want to. Ever. You know that." Jem's hand ran gently over the silky skin of her inner thigh, circumventing her weeping pussy.

She tried to concentrate.

"However, if you wanted to touch yourself and allow us the privilege of watching, I would be more grateful than you can possibly imagine." His voice dipped and rasped and his eyes gleamed. Jeremiah obviously meant what he said.

Colt ran his hand up her other leg.

What Cat really wanted was to beg for their fingers, their mouths, the sweet slew of delights they gave her every day. She didn't know if she could do what they were asking of her.

"Cat, please. That would be so-- " Colt's sentence drifted into a primitive growl.

She looked pleadingly from one to the other. "I can't...."

Her pink cheeks darkened to raspberry red. In Cat's experience, touching herself was only a test of strength in the face of perennial failure.

"I never... that is..." She closed her eyes and attempted the leap, fumbling it. "I never... I can't."

Thankfully, that was all she had to say.

Colt reclaimed her hand. "You never gave yourself an orgasm?"

Her eyes closed, Cat shook her head, thinking there was a good possibility she'd burst into flames at any second.

"Catherine, that was before us."

She heard Jem's smile.

"I think your body may have learned a few things since then."

She opened her eyes and glanced nervously between the two, but with a bracing breath, she retrieved her hands. Two pairs of eyes leapt simultaneously away from her face when she began to move. One slim hand slid hesitantly across her belly while the other went to her hip. The fire on the faces of the two men watching ease Cat's mood from anxiety into mere uncertainty.

As her fear dissipated, Catherine's body came bubbling back to life.

Over the shallow sound of her own lungs struggling to provide the air she needed, her husbands' small rumbles and harsh breaths were plain to hear. The pulsing of blood in her temples echoed the growing ache between her thighs. Her pussy throbbed.

It was true; she hadn't touched herself this way since marrying, and the feeling of her own fingers delving between her legs this morning had been far more arousing than any of her lonely premarital experiments. This time she hadn't given up in disappointment: she'd quit because the men who slaked her desire daily were right beside her.

And now they wanted to watch.

Slowly her right hand crept down to cover her mound. Their eyes followed as her fingers curled, slipping into the grooves on either side of the swollen ridge of flesh she'd found so frustrating. She spread her fingers, opening herself for their perusal. Closing her eyes to concentrate, the tip of her other index finger slid up the middle of her slit, circling the tender bud and returning to sample the liquid seeping from her core. With hardly any pressure, she repeated the move until every sensitive fold was slick.