“What the fuck, Caelan!” Gavan said springing back to his feet with balled fists.
“Ye didna talk about our bride that way. Lizzie has done nothing since ye wed her to warrant that kind of distrust from ye. If Lizzie is missing, and that’s still questionable, what makes ye think something hasn’t happened to her? What makes ye think that she’s played ye false? For Christ’s sake, she’s naked and has no clothes! Have ye done something that would make her run? The lass has exceeded every fantasy either of us ever had about a shared wife and seemed to be well on her way to giving us her heart and soul. And, at the first sign of trouble, ye make accusations and threats? What the fuck is wrong with ye?”
Gavan felt the blow from Caelan’s words far more harshly than he had the fist in his face. He looked at his oldest and best friend and felt ashamed. Caelan was right, Lizzie had done nothing to deserve his mistrust.
Holding up his hands, he said, “Yer right, Cae. The lass has done nothing wrong that I know of and deserves better from her husband than to be accused until we know the truth of it. I just…she wasn’t there…”
“And yer madly in love with her and terrified that, since we forced her into this arrangement, she’s going to leave.”
Gavan nodded. “Aye. I tried telling myself that it was just my cock she had from the get-go, but it isn’t true. I love her.”
“Me, too. Then, let’s go find her. Let’s see what happened and, whatever it is, we’ll figure out a way to make it right for her, even if that means we lose her.”
“Aye. I’ll apologize to her, tell her I love her, and beg her forgiveness, in the hope that she’ll stay, but I will accept her decision. And it must be her decision.”
The truth of it hung in the air between them. Both men saddled their horses and rode back to the place Lizzie had bathed.
ELIZABETH
She woke feeling groggy, not in the sated, happy, and hungover from sex and love groggy, but hit over the head groggy. She was bound and gagged, draped across the front of a horse and wrapped in a scratchy blanket. At least, her husbands had made their bridal bed with soft blankets, silken sheets, and pillows. She smiled, some girls might have wanted a swanky hotel room, but not Lizzie. Her smile widened as she realized she had become their Lizzie and wanted to be no other.
“You’re a filthy outlaw and a wanton temptress to boot, living with your gang of thieves and rustlers and now taking up as a fuck toy to two foreigners,” Gutherie spat. “Did you like it when they plowed your cunt? Did they do you together, a dick in each hole? You should have hanged, Morgan. I was going to get you to plead for your life and do whatever I told you,” he said with a nasty laugh, “and then watched you swing. I’d have fucked your cunt, your ass, and your mouth, and sent you to the gallows dripping my cum. I suppose I could hang you, anyway, when I’m done and blame it on them two pricks, but shooting you is probably safer.” He chuckled, “Well, safer for me. Either way, you end up dead, but only after I get to have a go at you.”
As abrasive as the blanket was, she was glad of the protection it offered her, at least for the moment. She had to hope that Gavan and Caelan would realize she was missing and come find her. They had saved her from the hangman; she had to pray they’d be in time to save her from the sheriff.
Lizzie wasn’t sure how long they rode for; it seemed like hours over rough terrain. Finally, the sheriff rode up a steep incline and into a cavern. In some ways, it was nicer, as it was considerably cooler, but she would have preferred the heat. Out in the open, it would be easier for Gavan and Caelan to find her. She also knew, from her outlaw days, the sheriff was in a far easier position to defend inside the cave.
The sheriff stopped the horse and dismounted. He grabbed the rope that was around her waist and gave it a tug, tossing her on the ground, and knocking the wind out of her.
Lizzie tried to get to her feet.
The sheriff spotted her and kicked her in the back of the knees, throwing her down and forward. He moved away and went to tie his horse to a clump of bushes outside the cavern.
“Stay down, bitch. I gotta hand it to them two foreigners, they know how to treat a woman like you. Keep her naked, spank her ass, and fuck her often. I saw you all this morning. I just don’t like to share a woman, but watching this morning while I jerked off was kind of fun. But it just left me wanting to fuck you even more than before. So, when you went off to clean their spunk off you, I came to get you. Them two boys were hung though. Have they fucked your ass yet? I’ll bet you didn’t like that. Most women don’t. But, when you’re fucking a whore, it’s safer and a tighter fit.”
Lizzie said nothing and lay perfectly still. She was terrified on many levels, primarily for her life, and those of Gavan and Caelan. She knew, if the sheriff hurt her, her husbands would kill him. Nothing would stop them. She also feared that, somehow, he would make her recoil from their touch. They loved fucking her, and she enjoyed being fucked by them. Sometimes, it was full of fun and laughter; others it was slow and sensual and full of love; and still others, it was raw and primal. She enjoyed
