Her eyes narrowed and her lips thinned as her back stiffened. That didn't seem to appeal to her. "Or...," she murmured.
"Or you become under our protection instead," Tagg added.
She tried to back up, shaking her head, but I held her in place easily enough. A lock of hair fell down across her face and she tucked it behind her ear. "No. Absolutely not. I could also get back on my horse and continue riding east."
"I bet that harness is going to be an issue for you soon enough," I commented.
Her cheeks flamed.
"I'll take it off of you right now," I offered.
Hope lit her eyes, then wariness. She was smart to see motive behind my statement. "But...."
"I'll take it off, but since Doc isn't here, we'll be the ones in charge of your maidenhead."
She darted her gaze between us once again. "Both of you?"
"Both of us," Tagg confirmed with a nod of his head. "We're brothers. We run the ranch together and we protect a woman together."
The word he didn't use was claim. By taking the harness off Sarah, we were claiming her. She just didn't know it.
TAGG
Sarah was beautiful. Utterly beautiful, with hair red like a burning sunset, long and thick down her back. She was so petite, so
dainty, that I felt sure I would break her, hurt her just by holding her arm. She was such a fragile thing, until I looked in her eyes. There, I could see a stubbornness that made her a feisty force to be reckoned with. She clearly had a mind of her own, and a sharp one at that. Somehow she'd escaped Doc's clutches and made it as far as our ranch. But the one thing she hadn't considered, probably hadn't even known existed until very recently, was the harness she wore over her pussy.
When I saw her on the ground, trying to cut the thick leather with such intense focus that she hadn't heard us approach, I knew if she'd have time, she would have completed her task. She wanted us to let her go, so she could follow through with whatever plan she'd contrived.
Like hell we'd let her go.
There was no need to even talk with Garrett about it; we were of similar minds here. I had less than pure thoughts of her; no doubt Garrett did as well. But we were both gentlemen, unlike the next man - or men - who might come upon her. My jaw clenched tightly at what could have happened to her if we hadn't found her. There were outlaws, ranch hands who hadn't seen a woman in a month, and drunkards more than eager to find a woman, willing or not. This untamed land was not safe for a woman alone. The fact that she'd been isolated on her father's ranch for years made her even more vulnerable. She didn't know it, but we'd saved her.
"Fine," she fumed. "I just need you to remove the harness."
"Sarah," I said, forcing her to tilt her head up to look at me. When she did, I continued. "Just to be clear. Unlike Doc, we won't be protecting you for another man, your future husband. We take the belt off, we take you."
Her mouth fell open and I saw her little pink tongue. "Take me?"
"Like Garrett said, we'll be in charge of your maidenhead. That means we decide when we take it."
"You?" She pointed at both of us, confused.
"Us."
She stepped back and Garrett let her go. Her shift had dried so that it no longer clung to her luscious body, now only offering a hint of a curve of breast, the tight peak of a nipple, the swell of her hip. The rest was hidden, yet burned into my brain. I didn't need to see it to see it.
"I will keep it upon my person then." She nodded as if validating her choice with herself. She was so self assured it was stunning to watch. Her father might have offered her protection, but he didn't make her biddable like the women we knew who bowed to their father or protector's wishes, or her husband's. Most of Liberty women were so submissive that they'd become meek. When we showed Sarah our dominance - and it was only a matter of when - she would learn her true power. By submitting, she would be the one in control.
It was difficult to discern if her change of opinion was because it would be the two of us taking her, claiming her, fucking her together, or if she needed more time to formulate some kind of escape. Perhaps both. As if we'd let her go. Any fears she might have about being claimed by two men could easily be assuaged, one orgasm at a time.
Garrett sighed and stood. Between the two of us, I was the taller, however he was broader and heavier. Regardless, the two of us together were quite formidable and I was impressed by her lack of fear, the way she stood her ground, even though it was slowly sinking from beneath her, like quicksand.
"Very well. We will go back to the house and have something to eat. Surely you are quite hungry," I guessed.
At that, her stomach gave a loud grumble. She placed one hand upon her belly and blushed quite prettily.
"Afterwards, we’ll do our chores, and then if we’re finished in time, we'll ride into town to return you to Doc. If not, then we’ll take you in the morning. In the meantime, your maidenhead is most assuredly safe from us," Garrett told her.