Their Reluctant Bride (Bridgewater Menage Series Book 6) Read online

Tyler’s brow went up as he placed the tray on a table beneath a large window. I could smell coffee and cinnamon rolls. My stomach rumbled and Xander offered another light swat to my bottom.

  “Think your ass is ready for our cocks, baby?” Tyler asked as he came over to sit beside me on the bed. He reached down and took hold of the hard base that was keeping my cheeks parted. Tugging on it, I groaned, then clenched.

  “I… I don’t know,” I replied as I took deep breaths.

  He was pulling it out carefully. Once he dropped it onto the bed, he slipped his hand down my back, following the length of my spine until his thumb brushed over my stretched rosette, sliding in easily. He held it still.

  Xander rose from the bed and went over to our bags, retrieved the small sack that held the various plugs.

  After pulling one out, he dropped the sack onto the bed. He held it up. “This one is next, sweetheart. The biggest one. Then you’ll be ready. You’ll be taken by the two of us, together.”

  I couldn’t miss their eager looks as Tyler slid his thumb in and out a few times, then pulled out. He stood and went to the basin to wash.

  “We’ll play with this one after breakfast,” Xander commented.

  XANDER

  “It’s the only way to lure Ralph out into the open,” Emily said. She placed a tureen of soup in the middle of the table. While the cook made the meal, Emily couldn’t sit idly by and let the woman serve us.

  Since Tyler couldn’t sit idly by and let Emily serve us, he brought a loaf of bread on a cutting board to the table along with a bowl of fresh butter.

  “There’s no way in hell I’ll allow it,” I countered, drying my hands on a dishtowel. The very idea of my wife using herself as bait to pull that asshole out of whatever woodwork he lived in was not going to happen. “I’ll agree to staying here in Helena to do so, but you’re not going to just wander the streets hoping he’ll confront you.”

  We were at the kitchen table once again, this time for lunch. As Tyler had said, we’d kept Emily happy—and very busy—in our bedroom until after noon by teaching her to suck our cocks and to accept the largest plug. She was an avid pupil and we rewarded her skill and good behavior. Twice.

  “Why ever not? He can’t do anything if I am in public.”

  She was naive as to the way of desperate, corrupt people. I was glad for it, otherwise she would be like me, bitter and jaded. In the past few days though, I’d felt… better. It was amazing when I had to focus on someone else instead of myself. I had someone to live for, to cherish and protect, just as Tyler had said. That meant I would be extra vigilant with Emily, for I wanted no harm to come to her. Was this love? I had no fucking idea, but it was… good.

  “She can be with me.” Belinda came into the kitchen. She seemed to know what was going on without having been in the room. Having known her for several years, I’d dismissed the notion that she had special abilities, instead placing her skill at knowing everything that happened under her roof to being a mother.

  Tyler and I stood, then returned to our seats when she sat and reached for the ladle.

  “We will go shopping. It has been a long time since I’ve enjoyed that with Olivia.” She looked to Emily. “It will be a treat for me.”

  “So I’m to have my mother and my wife at the mercy of an extortionist?” I was glad to have Tyler agree with me.

  Belinda waved away her son’s gruff concern.

  “Before the two of you start blustering nonsense about danger, your fathers will be home tonight and can help. If they return early enough, perhaps you can go to the saloons with them, see if you can find him.”

  “I thought you said you wanted us to take Emily to bed,” Tyler countered.

  “You have the rest of the day.” His mother arched a brow at his contrary tone. “Then, later, have Xander stay here with her. Go to the saloon with your fathers. A celebration of marriage. Talk up your bride. This man, Ralph, might know that she married, but it’s doubtful he knows she married both of you.”

  That was true. A good perk of having two husbands. One to go out and find Ralph, the other to stay and protect their woman.

  “What am I supposed to say, I wore her out?” Tyler asked. “To my fathers? That seems unlikely.”

  I saw Emily flush.

  “A late bachelor party. It’s common knowledge that your fathers have been away. It’s only right that you three celebrate.” Belinda waved her hand through the air. “Pretend you’re drunk, let your fathers watch and see if he follows. Surely he’ll want to know where you live. Make it easy for him.”

  The idea was sound. I liked the part best where I would stay with Emily. It was the only time I knew she’d be safe.

  “Tomorrow then, for shopping,” Emily added, wiping her mouth with her napkin. “I’ve only shopped at the mercantile. This will be… fun.”

  Fun was not the word I would have picked, but if Emily wasn’t afraid or worried, then that was what was important. If Tyler and his fathers were able to catch a glimpse of Ralph then we’d know his intent to confront Emily again. We’d be ready this time.

  ***

  I was buttoning my shirt when I met the men as they came in the front door. I’d heard them approach the house, their voices loud like those who’d had too much to drink. Tyler had his arm over one of his father’s shoulders, laughing at something he said.

  Once the door was closed behind them, the pretense slipped.

  I shook both of Tyler’s fathers’ hands. They were both in their late fifties. While their hair was more gray than dark, they would not be men I wished to bother. They were powerful in town and had built the large ranch that Tyler and I now ran. I’d known them for years and they were the fathers I never had.

  “Well?”

  “First, congratulations on your marriage, son,” Roger Tannenbaum said, slapping me on the shoulder. He didn’t do it lightly. “It is good to see you smiling.”

  I couldn’t help the grin, for I’d just left a sleeping and well pleasured bride. While Tyler was out with his fathers, I’d spent the time tending to Emily. While I itched to get Ralph behind bars, I’d enjoyed my evening’s activities probably more than Tyler had his. “Thank you,” I replied.

  While they smelled of cheap whiskey, none appeared drunk. “Let’s go into the office and have a drink. And not rotgut.”

  I followed the men. As Roger poured, the others took seats in the comfortable armchairs. Allen had raised Olivia after her parents had died, under the pretense of being a bachelor, all the while being in a plural marriage with Roger and Belinda. He had lived elsewhere with Olivia until a man set fire to their house. Then, Olivia had married Simon, Cross and Rhys and Allen chose to move in—finally—with his own family.

  “I saw him,” Tyler said as Roger handed me a glass with two fingers of whiskey.

  My fist clenched around the glass at his words.

  “From what Tyler said, this man needs to be taken care of,” Roger commented, taking a sip of his whiskey.

  “Hell, yes,” I replied.

  “We need to let the ladies go shopping,” Roger admitted. I could tell he wasn’t pleased with the idea either.

  “You’ll let him confront them?”

  “Absolutely not!” Allen said, slamming his glass down on the desk. “They will shop, we will follow. Xander, you can watch the women with me and Tyler and Roger will grab the bastard before he even gets close.”

  I shook my head. “No way. I want the man. Emily’s my responsibility.”

  Tyler leaned forward, placed his elbows on his knees. “Are you sure you want to tangle with the law?”

  I looked at my friend closely, saw concern there. It was time I let my past go. Emily was my future and I had to ensure nothing—or no one—got in the way. “For Emily? Absolutely.”

  EMILY

  “What do you mean, they went after Ralph?” I asked, placing the pile of boxes containing my purchases on the entry table. My voice was shrill, my heart beat frantically. I could
n’t help it. The idea of Tyler and Xander confronting the man scared me. The enjoyment of shopping with Belinda disappeared and was replaced by fear. “We need to go to them. Stop them!”

  Tyler’s fathers, both formidable men themselves, didn’t seem concerned about it in the slightest.

  “No, Emily. They want you here safe,” Allen said, taking my arm and guiding me into the parlor.

  “They weren’t supposed to go after him!” I countered, turning to face them. Belinda was tugging off her gloves and paused.

  All three of them frowned. “What did you think they would do when the plan was to lure Ralph out into the open?”

  I shrugged my shoulders and paced. “I thought he’d come up to me and I’d tell him that Xander and Tyler knew what happened, that it wasn’t a secret any longer. He’d leave me alone.”

  Roger offered me a kind smile. “Do you think he’ll ever leave you alone? He might threaten to tell the authorities about what you did, or perhaps Tyler and Xander’s business associates.”

  I never considered that. My idea was all at once ridiculous.

  “He won’t stop, Emily. You have to know that,” Allen added.

  “Then I should leave them. They don’t need this kind of burden. I don’t want their business hurt. I don’t want them hurt.” My throat burned with tears.

  “You’re too upset. You’re not thinking clearly,” Belinda said softly.

  I was brushing my hands over my skirt, fiddling with the fabric.

  “You don’t think your husbands can defend themselves from one man?” Allen asked.

  I thought of Ralph. He was no competition physically, but that didn’t mean something bad couldn’t happen.

  “I… I guess so, but he’s… he’s mean.”

  “Darling, you have to trust that your men will take care of this. That they will take care of you.” Belinda placed her hands on my shoulders, looked me in the eye, then pulled me in for a hug.

  I cried then, realizing in that moment how much I cared for Xander and Tyler. I hadn’t wanted one husband, let alone two, now I couldn’t imagine not having either. They were risking their lives for me.

  Then there was Belinda and Roger and Allen. God, they were wonderful. They were parents. Real parents. There was so much I hadn’t even known I’d been missing. It took two men to show me what real love, real commitment was like. Caring. Protection. Devotion.

  I saw it in the way Allen and Roger looked at Belinda, cared for her. I felt it with Xander and Tyler.

  “I don’t want them to be hurt,” I murmured. “I don’t want Xander to go back to jail.”

  “Xander won’t be going to jail. Ralph will,” Roger said. He was so sure of himself, of my husbands that it offered me some comfort.

  Realizing I was a blubbering mess, I wiped my eyes and stepped back. Roger gave me a handkerchief.

  “You love them,” Belinda commented.

  I looked to her as I wiped my cheeks, saw the pleased smile on her face. “I don’t know. I’m not really sure what love is. Frank, my first husband, wasn’t… nice.”

  Allen came over, placed a gentle hand on my shoulder. “It’s love, dear. You’ve got those two boys in knots. I’ve never seen Xander so… fierce before. And Tyler, well, he’s more worried about Xander keeping you for himself than anything else.”

  My mouth fell open. “Why would Tyler worry about that?”

  “Have you seen the way Xander looks at you? He needs you in a way Tyler doesn’t. You soothe something in Xander. We can all see it.” Belinda looked at her men and they nodded. “We’ve known him a long time. It might not be lightning, but it’s… special.”

  “I want Tyler, too!” I admitted.

  They laughed. “Of course, you do,” Roger said. “Just remember, just because they’re big and bossy doesn’t mean they don’t hurt, too. Be… gentle with them.”

  I thought of Xander’s words, how he’d said he could never be gentle with me. While he touched me, he wasn’t gentle. I craved the rasp of his callused palms. The press of his body into mine. The dark bite of his voice. And yet he was out slaying my dragons for me. He was ridding me of my one heavy burden—Ralph. It might not be gentle, but it was what I needed. What our little family needed.

  I was about to respond when they came through the front door.

  I stood and spun around, saw that they were in one piece and ran out of the parlor and into their arms.

  I took deep breaths, savoring their scents. With them standing so close to me, it was a mix of peppermint, leather and pure male. Their hands roved up and down my back, over my hair as I wrapped my arms around them both.

  They pushed me back far enough to look at me. “You’ve been crying,” Xander said as he glanced over my shoulder at Tyler’s parents.

  “We didn’t make her cry. You did,” Allen said.

  Xander looked down at me and frowned. “We made you cry, sweetheart?”

  I nodded, then smiled. “I… I love you,” I admitted.

  Both men stared down at me with utter shock on their faces for a moment before something shifted. Their looks changed. Xander’s eyes narrowed, his jaw tightened. Tyler’s looked the same, but I saw something almost reverent there as well.

  Xander bent and tossed me over his shoulder and went up the stairs. His arm banded over the backs of my thighs. I wasn’t going anywhere and this time—carrying me like a sack of grain—I didn’t resist.

  “What about Ralph?” Roger called.

  “Jail. We’ll share details later,” Tyler said. I saw his legs as he followed us up the steps. “Emily comes first.”

  I didn’t hear any response from below, but Xander made quick work of the stairs and we were down the hall, our bedroom door kicked shut before I could even think straight.

  Instead of being placed on the bed as I’d expected, Xander slowly lowered me to my feet, my body sliding down the entire length of his. My nipples pebbled at the hard feel of him.

  “Is he really in jail?” I looked between the two.

  “He is,” Tyler said with a resolute nod of his head.

  “I didn’t know you were going to go after him,” I admitted.

  He frowned. “What did you think we’d do?”

  “I’d talk with him. Reason with him as you watched from afar.”

  Xander spun me back to face him, gripped my arms. He even bent at the waist so our eyes were level. “There’s no reasoning with that bastard. If you think we’d let you get within ten feet of him, then you don’t know the first thing about either of your husbands.”

  A dark intensity burned in his dark eyes. A fierceness that wasn’t directed at me, but was for me.

  “I am… I am just starting to see that,” I replied. “Our marriage, I wanted it because I needed your protection.”

  “If you think we’ll give you up now because Ralph’s in jail—”

  I cut off Tyler’s words. “No. That’s just it. I married you so you could save me, but I want to keep you because this,” I waved my hand in the small space between us. “This is so much more.”

  “You saved us right back, sweetheart,” Xander admitted.

  I frowned. “How could I save you? Look at you both. You don’t need saving.”

  The idea made me laugh.

  Xander scooped me up and sat down on the bed, settled me into his lap, my head tucked beneath his chin. “You are so brave. So strong. Me?” He gave me a quick squeeze. “Not so much. I let what happened to me in the past have a hold on me, a cruel grip, that made me bitter and miserable. I was content living on the ranch away from people.”

  “He was downright cranky,” Tyler added. He came to kneel before me. “He’s not that grumpy anymore, is he, baby?”

  The corner of Tyler’s mouth tipped up and I smiled. “He’s still bossy,” I admitted.

  Xander angled me back so I was staring up at him. His face, while all harsh angles and planes, wasn’t… rough as it had been even a few days before. It was clear in his eyes that he
wasn’t haunted any longer.

  “You like me bossy.”

  I swallowed, thinking about all of the ways he was bossy. “Yes, I do.”

  “As for me, sweetheart, I grew up with two fathers. They groomed me to the custom and I wanted to share a bride. I had no brother to do that with, but Xander became my brother. Not by blood, but a bond much stronger.”

  He looked down and I saw some of his confidence slip. “I see the two of you together, how you respond to his touch, to his command. I’m not like that.”

  “I don’t need two husbands like that. Xander’s enough that way, trust me.”

  Xander lowered his head and kissed me, a quick brush of his lips over mine. It was more of a tease than anything else. He sat me back up and tucked me into him again before I could even think to ask for more.

  “You balance each other. You balance me.” Reaching up, I stroked Tyler’s cheek. “I want both of you. I need you.”

  “You said something different downstairs. Do you regret the words?” Xander’s body stiffened beneath mine, afraid that I would take my feelings back.

  I remembered Roger’s words; while they were both big and brawny and brave, I could hurt them with just a few words. The power I had was almost dangerous.

  I moved from Xander’s hold and turned to stand before them. I took Xander’s hand, then Tyler’s. “I can’t really say I know what love is. Well, I never knew. What I feel for you both is… is amazing. Scary. Powerful. I’d say that’s love.”

  Tyler tugged me into his arms. As he was still on his knees, he titled his chin to look up at me. “Baby, I love you, too.”

  “Don’t forget me,” Xander added, turning me into his embrace. I cupped his jaw, the beard soft against my palm. “You’re exactly what I didn’t know I needed. I love you.”

  “It’s time, baby. Time to show you what it can be like. Both of us, together.”

  My pussy clenched at his words.

  “We’ve trained your ass,” Xander added. “You take the largest sized plug so beautifully. You’re ready for my cock in your ass.”

  “We’re going to fill you right up, baby. Both of us at the same time. Do you want that?”