by Marla Monroe
“Hi, Darla. Do you need something?”
“No, I just wanted to let you know lunch is ready when you are. Marcus isn’t here yet, but it’s noon.” She rubbed her hands up and down her thighs in an obviously nervous gesture.
“I’ll be right there. Thanks for telling me. I would have let it pass right by me if you hadn’t.”
She smiled and disappeared behind the door. He watched the door for a few minutes just thinking about her smile. It warmed his heart to see her mouth curved up and the light dancing in her eyes. One day he wanted to see that and know it was for them. One day soon.
He quickly closed out of the programs he was in and stood up to stretch. He’d been sitting there without getting up all morning. He did that sometimes when he was working on something particularly engrossing. He’d missed cooking meals on more than one occasion when it was his turn, much to Marcus’s disgust. Now he needed to pay better attention with Darla in the house. He needed to pay attention to her, which wouldn’t be a hardship at all.
He strolled down the hall to the kitchen but stopped to stare at the entrance hall. The wood floor gleamed as it never had before. Even the walls looked as if they had been freshly painted. Randall walked into the living room to the same magnificent transformation. Everything gleamed shiny and new looking. The furniture had been dusted and the floors polished to a perfect shine. The stone fireplace looked as if she had washed down the stones with soap and water. It glistened in the light coming through the freshly washed windows. How had she managed all of this in such a short time?
He found her in the kitchen stirring something on the stove and couldn’t resist coming up behind her to sniff over her shoulder as Marcus had done at breakfast. Around the wonderful aroma of stew her scent wafted to his nose—a delicate mix of cinnamon and sunshine. He breathed in, deeply holding her scent within himself as long as possible.
“You smell wonderful,” he breathed out.
Darla jumped. “Excuse me?”
He took a step back and corrected his statement. “I meant that what you’re cooking smells great.”
“Oh, thanks. It’s beef stew. I thought we would have it and cornbread tonight. I hope that will be okay.” She bit her lower lip as if in worry.
“Sounds great to me. I’m sure Marcus will think so, too.”
She hurried over to the table and opened the bread. “If you’ll tell me what you want on your sandwiches, I’ll fix them.”
“I can fix my own. Don’t worry about it. We aren’t helpless, Darla. Don’t fuss so much,” Randall teased.
She dropped her hands and stepped back. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to.”
Randall realized he’d hurt her feelings. Shit, this was going to be harder than he’d thought. Neither he nor Marcus had been around women much in the last couple of years. They would have to be careful.
“It’s fine.” He held out his hand, and she took it after hesitating for a few seconds. He squeezed it than let it drop. She turned away to once again stir the stew on the stove.
“Do you think Marcus is okay, or is he often late getting in for lunch?”
Randall grinned. She was worried about him. That was a start.
“I’m sure he’s fine. He’ll be in before long.” He started making his sandwiches.
Just as he was ready to sit down, he heard Marcus on the back porch stomping his feet.
“See, there he is now.”
He carefully watched Darla’s face when Marcus strode in grinning like an idiot. Her eyes brightened, and she smiled. Yeah, she already liked them. Maybe she had felt that spark as they had the first time she had seen them.
“Damn dumbass cows.” He took off his hat and hung on a hook by the door.
“What did they do this time?” Randall asked.
“Chased two of them stupid things halfway across the damn ranch. Then when I finally got them turned around, they didn’t want to move again.” He strode over to the stove and leaned in to give the stew a good sniff. “Man that smells good.”
Darla stepped back but didn’t turn away. She did smile though, and that seemed to make Marcus even happier.
“It’s for supper tonight. I’ll cook cornbread to go with it.”
“I sure as hell won’t be late for supper then.” He turned away to wash his hands at the sink then sat down to make sandwiches.
“Aren’t you eating with us?” Marcus asked.
“Oh. I already ate.” She licked her lips and turned back to the stove. “I’ve made a grocery list up. It’s on the counter. You might want to look over it to see if there is something you want to add to it.”
Marcus shrugged his shoulders when Randall looked at him. She was going to stir the stew out of the stew if she kept up. Randall took a bite out of his sandwich and got up to check the list. He skimmed down it and smiled. She’d pretty much covered everything. Except maybe…
“You might want to add shaving cream and soap for me. What about you, Marcus?”
“I’m fine. Just got all my stuff last week.” He winked at Randall. “Darla honey, you might want to stock up on any woman stuff you need just in case we get a storm early this year.
Randall groaned inwardly. He really hadn’t expected his brother to go that far. He risked a glance at Darla and noticed she was stiff as a board and no longer stirring. Hell, had they gone too far already? He stuffed the last of his sandwich in his mouth and grabbed the mayonnaise and mustard to return them to the fridge. Best to act like it wasn’t anything important.
“I noticed you like to read.” He began as he closed the refrigerator door. “We’ll stop by the furniture store and see about a bookshelf for your room.”
“Oh.” She turned around from the stove. “There’s no need for that. Really.”
“Can’t have your books stacked on the floor like that. It will ruin them. There’s plenty of room in there for a bookshelf or two.”
Marcus looked up from his sandwich. “Hell, I’d give you my half of the office shelves except brother here already took them.”
“If you would rather have those in the office, I can clear some shelves off for you,” Randall offered.
“Goodness, no. You are both so generous already. I don’t want to take your shelves, Randall. My books are fine like they are unless you rather there wasn’t anything on the floor in the bedroom.” She rubbed her hands together in a wringing motion.
He walked over to her and took her hands in his, stilling them. “We’ll get a bookshelf in town. You will need more books when winter gets here and you can’t go anywhere for a few months.”
She looked up at him and fell silent, then looked down at their joined hands. He squeezed them gently and reluctantly let go. She didn’t move, but her eyes followed him back to the table. There was something in her gaze for a few seconds. Was it longing? Whatever it was, it was gone just as quickly.
“Marcus, I’m going to work on the breeder registry this afternoon. Is everything in the folder, or do you have some of it in your desk?”
“It’s all in the folder. I updated it yesterday.” He finished his last sandwich and stood up. The chair scraped across the floor.
“Darla, I promise I’ll be on time for supper tonight.” He snuck a kiss on her cheek before she knew what he was about. “See you later.” Then he grabbed his hat and walked out.
Randall had to bite his cheek to keep from laughing at the look on her face. Then her hand came up and touched her cheek where he’d kissed her. He smiled and slipped out of the kitchen. Things were looking up, he decided. Marcus with his winsome ways and constant tomfoolery would win her for sure. Now he needed to work on his part of seducing her.
* * * *
She stood there for several seconds with her hand to her cheek where Marcus had kissed her. What had that been all about? Was he flirting with her? Surely not. She was their housekeeper. She pushed it all aside and set about cleaning up the kitchen again. She’d worked hard all morning cleaning the living room and hall. I
t fairly shone in the living room, and she was proud of it. Next were the men’s rooms. They needed a good cleaning and airing. She would do that next week when she would be home all day to do it. Home. She’d already come to think of the ranch as home after only one day.
She decided to start on the basement, as it would take several days to sort out. She checked the stew and turned it off to sit until time for supper. Then she climbed down the stairs to the basement armed with a bucket of hot water and a plethora of cleaning supplies.
Dust covered everything. She looked around for a few seconds and decided the best thing would be to start on the shelves with the canned goods. She located a ladder against one wall and moved it to the shelving area and climbed up. She moved the few jars off the top shelf to the next shelf and then, using a wet cloth, began cleaning the shelf off. She then cleaned each jar and set it back on the shelf. Then she moved down a shelf until she had them all cleaned off and the jars clear enough to see the contents once again.
She stood with her hands on her hips and viewed the shelves. She checked her watch and found she had maybe another thirty minutes before she would need to get supper ready. That gave her plenty of time to rearrange the jars so that they made sense to her. She climbed back up to the top of the ladder and began moving jars back down. A sudden noise startled her. She turned too quickly on the ladder and lost her balance. She cried out but found instead of hitting the floor as she expected to do, she landed in warm arms.
“Damn it! You could have killed yourself standing on a ladder that high up.” Randall held her against his chest.
“You startled me. I was fine until you snuck up behind me.” She glared up into his frowning face.
“I ought to paddle your ass for getting on a ladder in the first place. Next time you need something that high you ask me or Marcus for help.” He still didn’t put her down.
“You can let me go now.” She looked up into his eyes. There was something about the way he was looking at her now that caused her heart to speed up.
He let her slowly slide down from his arms. Her body touched his all the way down, and she felt the bulge of his stiffened cock against her belly. Oh God. He bent down and cradled her face between both hands.
“I’m going to kiss you. If you don’t want this, say something now.”
She couldn’t make a sound.
His mouth descended on hers. It was a feather of a kiss that slowly evolved into a full mouth orgy. He nipped at her lips until she opened her mouth and welcomed him inside. His tongue coaxed hers to play as he teased her mouth and nibbled on her lips. She pulled away gasping for breath. He let her, but didn’t let her out of his embrace. At some point his hands and made their way to her ass and held her tight against him.
She licked her lips and gazed up at Randall. Her face flamed at the realization she’d returned his kiss. She pushed against him, and he let her go. She didn’t stop until she’d climbed the stairs from the basement and made it all the way to her room. How was she supposed to face him again?
There was a knock at the bedroom door.
“Darla?” Randall called.
Her hands went to her lips. She could still feel him there. They felt swollen and hot.
“I’m sorry, Darla. I shouldn’t have done that. I couldn’t help it. You could have been hurt. I—” he stopped.
She hesitated for an instant then opened the door and peered out. He stood leaning against the door jam, a worried look on his face.
“It’s okay. Let’s just forget it happened.” She drew in a deep breath and walked past him toward the kitchen. She still had supper to tend to.
He didn’t follow her, for which she was exceedingly grateful. She assumed he returned to the office to finish what he was working on. Thirty minutes later, the sun set and Darla had cornbread in the oven. She’d just pulled it out when Marcus strode in. He hung his hat on the hook and washed his hands in the sink.
“Hi, Darla. I’ll go grab Randall, and we’ll be right in to eat. It smells great.” He disappeared through the door.
Several minutes later the two men returned and took their seats at the table. Marcus looked around and then stood back up and went to the cabinet and got out another bowl, then silverware and placed it on the table at the head. He frowned at her and sat back down.
“You eat with us,” Randall said without looking at her.
Darla sat down and joined them in passing the stew and then the cornbread. She managed to eat some of it, but found it difficult to swallow around the lump in her throat. The tension at the table could have been cut with a knife. Finally, Marcus took his bowl to the sink and rinsed it out. Then he took her totally by surprise and bent down and kissed her full on the lips.
“That was delicious. Thanks for cooking it.” He stood back up and strode out of the room.
What in the world was going on? Why were they acting like she was more than just a housekeeper?
“Is something wrong? You’re frowning awful hard.” Randall took his bowl to the sink and sat it with the others.
“Um, no. I’ll just clean up then go to bed if you don’t need anything.”
“No, we’re fine.” He started to turn around then stopped. “We’ll leave at dawn in the morning. Don’t bother with breakfast. We’ll get something in town.”
Darla stood with trembling legs and cleared the table, putting the stew in the refrigerator. There wasn’t any cornbread left. She would need to make more next time to be sure they had gotten enough. Next time…was she really thinking about staying after everything that had happened? Where else could she go? She felt at home here almost from the beginning. She touched her lips once again. She felt the beginnings of heat low in her belly. Surely she wasn’t sexually attracted to either of them? Her face heated. Or both of them.
She started the dishwasher and headed to her room. She would take that nice long soak in the tub before she went to bed. She needed it. She would be sore tomorrow and still have a long ride to make it through. Hopefully, she wouldn’t dream of them again tonight.
The water felt divine as she lay back in the huge tub. The jets pounded a soothing massage on her sore muscles. She sank beneath the water until just the tips of her nipples poked out from the frothy water. The cool air pricked at them, and they beaded. Her imagination had Randall playing with them. Then Marcus licked at them until she nearly cried out. She started in the water and sat up. What in the world was she doing?
Darla let the water out of the tub and stepped out. She dried off quickly since it was a little chilly after the hot water in the bath. She slipped into her sleep shirt and underwear and huddled beneath the covers. Exhaustion soon lured her into sleep, and the dream started almost immediately.
Chapter Three
Warm hands smoothed over cool skin. Hot breath tickled her breast. Two mouths latched on to her nipples and suckled until she writhed between them. Two sets of hands explored her body. Fingers pinched at her nipples until she cried out with desire. One of the men began kissing his way up her neck and nipped his way around her jaw to just behind her ear. He whispered naughty words in her ear.
“I can’t wait to get my cock inside you. I bet you’ll burn me alive.”
She could only whimper.
Lips kissed down her body, dipping into her belly button only to continue to her thighs. He shouldered between her legs and blew cool air across her pussy. She moaned and lifted toward him. He chuckled and spread her wide with his fingers. A warm, wet tongue licked her from top to bottom and back up again. She couldn’t be still, but another set of hands held her down as his partner in sin lapped at her, running his flattened tongue across her clit, back and forth until she was pumping her hips to meet the thrust of his tongue in her pussy. She was mindless with need.
He pushed a finger inside of her, then two, and she knew she was going to come. He stopped licking her pussy long enough to kneel over her and plunge his hard cock into her dripping center. God, he was big. It took him three t
ries to reach the end of her.
Warm hands and a warm mouth soon enveloped her breasts. Between the soft suckling at her nipple and the thumb and forefinger pinching the other one, she once again found herself sitting on the edge ready to plunge. The hard cock inside her pummeled her passage, and the first hints of her release hit her low in her belly.
She jerked awake in the heat of passion to find one hand on her breast and the other between her legs. Mortified she jerked them away. She’d never masturbated in her sleep before. It didn’t help her already heavy breathing to realize she had been dreaming about both of the Sanders men. God, she was a slut thinking about two men, let alone dreaming such an intimate dream about them.
She looked over at the clock and realized it was nearly time to get up. She opted for a quick shower then dressed in her best pair of jeans and a flannel shirt she’d bought in anticipation of the cold Montana winter ahead. She would buy the rest of the stuff she needed, too. Good Lord, woman stuff. Was he talking about tampons? She sure hoped they didn’t shop with her.
Darla started coffee as soon as she made it to the kitchen. She needed it strong and black to make it through the day with both men. She didn’t know how she would be able to look them in the eye after the dream. She groaned. Her womb tightened at just the thought.
“Morning, Darla. You’re up early.” Marcus entered the kitchen in just a pair of jeans, and they weren’t even buttoned.
She snapped her eyes back up and away from him.
“I was ready to get out of bed. I guess I’m antsy about getting the grocery shopping done and getting back h…to the ranch.” She had nearly said home. Not good.
He smiled at her, and she found herself mesmerized by the twinkle in his eyes. He broke the spell and poured a mug of coffee before leaning against the counter and looking at her. His massive chest had a sprinkling of black hair across it trailing down to disappear inside the open waistband of his pants. Yikes, she was looking again.