Their Reckless Bride (Bridgewater Ménage Series Book 11)

by Vanessa Vale

  “And?”

  “And because I hate them and they deserved to go to jail.”

  “They beat you,” Charlie said, clearly remembering what I’d said at the bank. I noticed his hands were clenched into fists.

  “Father did when he was drunk. When he was mad.”

  “And Travis?”

  I shook my head. “No, but he...” I looked down at the packed dirt at my feet.

  “He what?”

  “He didn’t need to use his fists to hurt me. Our older brother, Tom, he wasn’t as mean. He’d protected me from them. But then he’d was shot and killed. It got worse after that. And then the other day—”

  I bit my lip, glanced away. I couldn’t look at them, couldn’t see either the pity in their eyes or the hatred.

  “The other day?” Charlie prompted.

  “Father had the bag with all the money from the Travis Point bank. That was the robbery before Simms. He spent most of it at the saloon. Poker. Women. When Barton Finch found out his portion had been used on pussy—”

  Hank growled.

  “That was his words, not mine,” I clarified, putting a hand to my chest. “When he found out, he told Father he’d have to pay. So he gave me to Barton Finch as payment.”

  Both men went still, I glanced at them, and I didn’t even think they were breathing.

  “Gave you?” Hank finally whispered.

  “To use as he wanted. I didn’t know, but then he began to grope me, planned to rape me.” I shivered, even in the bright sunshine. “I had no intention of allowing him what he wanted. I… I kneed him in the balls and got away. I was why Barton Finch didn’t rob the Simms bank. He’d planned to be… busy with me.” I clenched my fingers together, wrung them as I spoke. “I knew Father and Travis had robbed the bank and knew which way they’d go to return home. I came across you and, well, you know this part.”

  Hank cleared his throat.

  “How many banks did you rob with them?”

  My mouth fell open and surely flies could enter. “None!” I practically shouted. “I swear. I didn’t do anything with them. They wouldn’t let me since I was just a worthless woman. Not that I had aspirations to do so,” I clarified, ensuring they knew I wouldn’t have participated if they’d let me.

  “And that fucker Finch?” Hank snapped.

  “It was the three of them. Together. Except the Simms robbery.”

  “Then why would you join him today? Why rob with a man who intended to rape you? Money?”

  I shook my head. Again and again. “He threatened me when Emma, Ann and I were in the mercantile. Threatened—” I bit my lip again.

  Hank reached out, turned my chin back and held it with his fingers so I was forced to look at him. “Threatened who?”

  “You.” Tears welled in my eyes. Tears I’d not shed in years. My heart had been hardened; my life had been fucking hardened until I’d felt numb. Nothing. But now, these two men made me feel everything.

  “He threatened me so you go off, by yourself, to rob a bank? To what, save me?” Hank snapped, tossed his hat down on the step beside him and ran his hand through his hair.

  “He threatened both of you. I couldn’t let him hurt you because of me. Don’t you see? I’m a Grove. I’m… bad.”

  “And you married us so you could have protection. Obviously, we didn’t put you in jail with the others,” Hank said. His calmness had chipped away until his anger broke through.

  “I married you because I wanted you. Want you.” My words weren’t enough to express what I felt.

  Charlie held up his hand. “You married us after he threatened you. The perfect protection.”

  I shook my head. “I wanted one day of a real family. A real life. I knew I’d have to leave. Have to go with him otherwise he’d come to Bridgewater. Shoot you, shoot the others. Everyone would stay safe only if I went and did what he wanted. So I had the wedding I wanted, the wedding night I never expected. Two men I never dreamed would want me. Then I walked away.”

  They were quiet, but I saw Hank’s eyes widen, his look change. “Oh fuck.”

  A hand came out, hooked about my waist and I was pulled into him. I felt his hardness, his heat. Breathed in his male scent.

  “You sacrificed yourself. You expected to go to jail. To be hanged with them.”

  I looked away, but Hank’s hand forced my head back. “I’m a Grove.”

  And with those words as the answer to everything that had happened, he leaned forward set his shoulder in my belly and stood so he was carrying me like a sack of potatoes.

  He spun on his heel and carried me inside, up the stairs and into his room.

  13

  HANK

  THE TRUTH WAS like a lightning strike. Sudden, severe and searing.

  She stood before me and I grabbed both sides of her shirt, yanked. The buttons went flying across the room, fabric rented. I didn’t give a fuck; she was never wearing that shirt again.

  “You robbed a fucking bank to keep me and Charlie, as well as the others at Bridgewater safe. Planned to hang.”

  I glanced at Charlie, who, by the look on his face, had come to the same conclusions I had. He stood behind her, reached around and undid her pants. He dropped to his knees, got her out of them and her boots in seconds.

  I grunted at the sight of the binding about her breasts. I found the little knot and loosened it, then tugged, forcing her to spin around in circles for it to unwrap. Charlie stood and moved out of the way.

  “You not only told us where the robbery would be, but intentionally played a meek, flippant woman so Finch would get caught.”

  “All the while, you assumed you’d go to jail, too.”

  “I robbed a bank!” she said once the end of the binding was in my hand, the rest of it a coil on the floor. I let it drop, as if it were a snake. It would all be burned so she’d never be able to wear it again.

  “You wore those stupid men’s clothes!” I snapped. “I should spank your ass for that.”

  Her eyes widened to tea saucers. “You want to spank me for my clothing choice, not because I robbed a fucking bank?”

  I grinned then. “There’s my fierce Grace.”

  Hooking my hand behind her neck, I pulled her to me and kissed her. Fiercely. God, her taste, the heat of her, the softness of her lips. The aggressiveness of her tongue as it tangled with mine.

  I finally let her up for air. “I don’t understand,” she murmured, her lips a bright pink and swollen. The rest of her was all pale skin, lush curves and other pink places. Places that made my mouth water to taste. My cock throbbed with the eagerness to fuck.

  Charlie began to shuck his clothes. “You aren’t Grace Grove. You’re Grace Pine. My wife.”

  “And mine,” I added.

  “We’re not going to spank you, we’re going to fuck you,” he said.

  She tried to step back, but I wouldn’t let her. Never again.

  “Why?”

  “Because you’ve got the sweetest pussy ever, love. I want you to know how much we want you. You’re the center of our world, Grace. We’re going to fuck you together, prove to you you’re the one who makes us a family. Makes us whole,” Charlie said earnestly. Fervently. Now naked, he stepped close to her, his front pressed to her back, and kissed her shoulder. “Because you told Finch you were protecting the men you love. Love.”

  “You’ve never done anything wrong, sweetheart,” I said. “Well, you should have told us from the beginning. It’s our job to take on your problems. We’re big men; we can handle the heavy weight.”

  Tears streamed down her cheeks, and I wiped them away with my thumbs.

  “I was hell bent on justice. I got it. And you,” I said. “We’re not letting you go, sweetheart, even if I have to handcuff you to the bed.”

  Charlie raised his head and growled. “An excellent idea.”

  That made her laugh and Charlie smiled. The first time all fucking day.

  “Are you ready to be ours, Grace Pin
e? Completely and with no secrets?” I wondered.

  We were married yesterday, heard her say the vows, but now we knew the truth. Her answer now sealed her fate.

  “Yes. Fuck, yes,” she murmured.

  Ah, that ladylike talk. I was content for the first time in… ever. Father would have fallen in love with Grace. All sass and fire, loyalty and devotion. Perhaps he’d sent her to us like I’d thought. I’d ended my quest for his killers and found a wife. The mother of our children.

  Our world.

  CHARLIE

  I SPUN Grace about and kissed her. My hands roved over her, breasts and waist, ass and hips, finally settling over her pussy.

  Drenched, just as I suspected. She might hide herself away, hide more than her emotions, but her body never lied. She wanted us. Needed us. And we’d give her everything her heart desired.

  It would take a lifetime of effort trying to compete with what Grace had done for us. She’d expected to die to protect us. She’d gone off with the man who’d planned to rape her so we’d stay safe.

  Yes, it was absolutely insane. We were men. Big men. Fuck, I’d been in the British military. I could protect Grace from that fucker. But she’d cared too much to see us hurt.

  And so I would spend the rest of my life showing her how much we cared about her.

  Starting right now.

  My fingers slipped inside her and I brought her to a swift, ruthless orgasm. I had no intention of teasing her, to watch as she gave over to the pleasure. No, I wanted her to succumb to it like jumping off a cliff. No escape, nothing but the fall. Except we’d be there to catch her. Every time she jumped with us, we’d hold her. Keep her safe.

  She would learn, by any means necessary, that we would always be there for her. When she screamed her pleasure, when her muscles went soft, her bones practically melted from pleasure, I scooped her up and placed her on the bed. Climbing over her, I kissed her, then worked my way down her body until I was between her thighs. Tossing her legs over my shoulders, I ate her pussy until she came again.

  By then, she was a sweaty, begging bride eager for her husbands’ cocks.

  Hank had stripped down and dropped onto the bed beside her. I moved out of the way and he pulled her up and on top of him. “It’s time, sweetheart.”

  She looked down at him, at his big cock.

  “Up you go.” With his hands on her hips, he lifted her up, then brought her back down. I watched his cock disappear inside her, saw the way her body took him deep. How she gasped and wiggled her hips to accommodate his large size.

  I found the ointment Kane had given me before our wedding, the slick oil that would coat my cock and ease its passage into her virgin ass.

  I watched as she rode Hank’s cock, circling her hips and learning her pleasure in this position. I couldn’t wait any longer and moved in to join them. With Hank’s legs spread wide, I fit directly behind our bride, my cock sliding through the crack of her ass, brushing over the tiny hole I’d soon breach.

  She was ours in every way. Our wife.

  GRACE

  I’D BEEN WRONG. So very wrong. They had no intention of sending me to jail. They did plan to send me to heaven. Charlie had brought me to climax twice and now I was close again riding Hank’s cock. I had no idea we could fuck this way, but it was incredible. I loved how deep he went, how I could control how I moved. But then that thought fled my mind like a cloth erasing words on a chalk board.

  Charlie’s cock pressed against my back entrance and I stilled, looked over my shoulder.

  “Deep breath, love. I’m going to take you, too. This hole we played with is going to open for my cock.”

  He pressed against me as Hank remained still. His hands, which had been on my hips, slid over my belly, then higher to cup my breasts.

  “Come kiss me,” he murmured, and I leaned forward.

  Our tongues tangled as Charlie continued to press and retreat, then press some more.

  I gasped when I opened for him all at once, the broad head of his cock popping inside me. “Charlie!” I groaned.

  His hand settled on my shoulder and I could hear his ragged breathing. “Bloody hell, love. You’re so tight.”

  “I’m not going to last,” Hank said. Sweat dotted his brow and he looked strained, as if holding himself still was the worst kind of torture.

  I panted as Charlie worked his way further into me, little in and out motions that were eased by something slick.

  “There,” he breathed.

  “I’m so… oh, god I’m so full.”

  I was. With both of them.

  “That’s right, love. You’re so full of us. Our cocks, all of us. You’ve got every bit of us.”

  “Including our hearts,” Hank added. “Now move.”

  Charlie laughed behind me and began to pull back. Hank thrust his hips up.

  My breath caught and I held onto Hank’s shoulders as if I could keep myself from going anywhere. I wasn’t. I was pinned between them, taking them, feeling them. Getting everything from them.

  They fucked me in alternating motions. In. Out. Slow and smooth until I couldn’t take it anymore. They were overpowering, in all ways.

  “Charlie!” I cried. “Hank!”

  I came then, squeezing and clenching on their cocks, holding them in, taking them deeper.

  They gave me everything and I took. Yet I gave them everything as well.

  We were one. I felt them come, the hot spurts of their seed deep inside me.

  Charlie carefully pulled out, then Hank and I was tucked between them. Their hands continued to roam, their lips kissing my sweaty skin.

  “You’re our prisoner, love,” Charlie whispered as I was sinking into sleep.

  “That’s right, sweetheart. The sentence is life.”

  Just as I wanted it.

  NOTE FROM VANESSA

  Guess what? I’ve got some bonus content for you with Grace, Hank and Charlie. So sign up for my mailing list. There will be special bonus content for books, just for my subscribers. Signing up will let you hear about my next release as soon as it is out, too (and you get a free book…wow!)

  As always…thanks for loving my books and the wild ride!

  EXCERPT FROM ROSE

  A historical romance in the Wildflower Brides series with a feisty heroine and an alpha cowboy determined to make her his.

  Rose Lenox has always been more comfortable on the back of a horse than wearing ribbons and bows. For years, she's been content working on the family ranch, but lately she's finding herself wanting more. She's determined to strike out on her own and find freedom from her unorthodox family.

  Chance Goodman has watched Rose grow up from a spitfire little girl into a fiery woman. He's wanted her for years, waiting patiently until he could make her his. When she leaves the Lenox ranch determined to abandon her former life and to stay good-bye to him, he knows now is the time he must claim her. Letting her go isn't an option.

  Read Rose now!

  ROSE - CHAPTER 1

  ROSE

  The kitchen at six in the morning was akin to what I remembered of busy Chicago intersections—crowded, loud and slightly dangerous. With ten women in the house, there was never quiet, never any peace. It was the same, day in and day out. Dahlia bickered with Miss Esther about how the bacon should be cooked. Poppy stood behind Lily and styled her blond hair in another inventive creation. Marigold set the table with a loud clatter of dishes, eager for her meal. Hyacinth sat at the large table humming placidly to herself as she sewed on a button. Iris and Daisy were most likely still asleep or at least taking their time in dressing as to avoid morning chores. I paused and watched the hubbub, shaking my head at the claustrophobic feel in the room.

  Nothing had changed. The room had not changed since the first day we'd all arrived from Chicago sixteen years before. Besides being older, no one had changed; our personalities were as varied as ever. Except me. I'd changed. Why did everyone irk me? Why did the house suddenly seem so small? Why did
my sisters seem so grating? Why did I feel like I was being suffocated?

  Wanting to escape, I dropped the armful of wood into the bin beside the stove and walked right back outside, and started across the grass to the stable. I took deep breaths of the cool morning air in an attempt to settle myself. It was too early to be riled, especially from just the normal morning routine.

  "Rose!" Miss Trudy's voice carried all the way to me. There was more than physical distance between us; there was an emotional separation as well. I stopped and turned back with a sigh, tucking my unruly hair behind my ear. The woman who'd raised eight orphan girls, myself included, held up a folded cloth. "If you won't eat at the table, at least take something with you."

  Her hair was up in a simple bun at her nape of her neck, the gray in her red hair bright in the sun just breaking over the mountains. She was still beautiful, even with the fine lines that showed her age. As I mounted the steps to take the food, I saw concern in her green eyes, but refused to speak of it.

  I smelled the biscuits and bacon and my stomach rumbled. "Thanks," I replied, with a semblance of a smile on my lips.

  "Where will you be?" she asked, her voice calm and placid. She never shouted, never raised her voice.

  No one went off without sharing their whereabouts, for dangers abounded the ranch and all of Montana Territory beyond.

  "I'll follow the fence line to look for any sections that might need repair." There was no damaged fence line. I knew it and so did Miss Trudy, but she only gave a small nod, allowing me to escape.

  Not sure what else to say, I turned to head towards the stable. I couldn't tell her I was unhappy, although I was sure she knew. Uttering the words would make me seem ungrateful. She and Miss Esther had provided a stable, loving home for all of us girls. I would have grown up in a large city, never knowing the open expanses and big sky of Montana if they hadn't claimed us all and brought us west. The thought had me rubbing the space above my heart, guilt and a restlessness pressing heavily. No matter the depth of her caring or the closeness I had with the other girls, I needed more. I needed to escape.