Monroe, Marla - Wild Montana Nights (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Marla Monroe

  “Sorry. I thought you heard me open the door.”

  “What are you doing in here?” she asked after standing up again.

  “I’m going to dry you off,” he said, looking innocent.

  “Yeah, right. We’ll see.” She jammed her hands on her hips and cocked her head to look at him.

  He took the towel from her hand and began drying her, making sure to get under her breasts then between her legs. No spot was left wet on her body.

  “Can’t let you catch a chill. I brought your underwear and a big T-shirt for you to put on,” he said.

  Darla smiled her thanks and found the pile of clothes on the closed lid of the toilet. He watched her as she dressed. He’d even remembered to bring a pair of the thick socks she liked. He was so thoughtful. It made her feel cared for. If only they would say the words, she thought.

  Marcus opened the bathroom door and let her walk through first. Randall was already dressed in thermals. His hair appeared to be slightly wet.

  “You’re going to catch pneumonia with your head wet like that,” she fussed.

  “I’m going to dry it in a minute.”

  “I’m going to take my shower now,” Marcus told her. “I’ll meet you downstairs in the living room.” He placed a kiss on her nose.

  Randall crossed the room to pull her into his arms. The minute he touched her, Darla felt like she’d come home. His serious demeanor made her feel safe. Sometimes it got on her nerves how controlled he was, but for the most part she liked it.

  “Come on,” she said. “Let’s get your hair dry. I’ll do it.”

  Darla led him into the bathroom where her hair dryer was plugged up. She’d have to do without the mirror since it was once again fogged up. When she turned the dryer on, Marcus stuck his head out of the shower and grinned.

  “Will you dry my hair, too?”

  “Yes.” She laughed.

  Randall had to sit on the closed lid of the toilet so she could reach his hair. The long tresses could use a trim, but she would mention that another time. Instead, she picked up the dryer and turned it on, using her brush to draw it out so the hot air could dry it. It took a good five minutes before she had his hair totally dry and by then, Marcus was out of the shower drying off.

  “Don’t forget me,” he said with a grin.

  “Never. Sit here and be still”

  She didn’t miss the look he and his brother exchanged. Had she really said never? Never was a long time. Putting it out of her mind, Darla began brushing Marcus’s hair using a brush and the hair dryer on him as well.

  “I’m going down stairs to check the fire,” Randall said and slipped out of the bathroom door. The cool air rushed in and instantly sent a shiver down her spine.

  “Are you cold, baby? I’ll dry my hair, and you go get in the bed.” He reached up to take the brush from her.

  “Sit still. I’m not cold. I just got a little of the cool air when Randall opened the door.”

  He stiffened his jaw but didn’t protest as she once again began drying his hair. Though he didn’t have hair quite the length of Randall’s, he did have thicker hair. It took just as long to dry his as it had Randall’s. Once she had finished, she put away the dryer and turned around to find him looking at her with barely contained lust in his eyes. She felt the now familiar butterflies twittering around inside of her.

  “Let’s go downstairs and get you comfortable on the bed.”

  She followed him down the stairs and over to the air mattress. It looked like a giant pile of blankets, which is what it was. Randall sat on the couch listening to The Weather Channel again.

  Chapter Nine

  “Any change?” Marcus asked.

  “Nope. Still predicting it will go south and pull down the frigid air as far south as Purple Creek. We’re about thirty miles north of them. I don’t think we’ll get any freezing rain, but the snow is bad enough.” The short reprieve they were going to get before it hit wouldn’t be enough time to do all the things that needed to be done.

  “Damn. What a freaking mess,” he groused.

  “Might as well get some sleep. We’ll be up and down all night shoveling snow to keep ahead of it,” Randall said.

  Marcus blew out a breath in resignation. Randall knew how his brother felt. It sucked to be them right then. Then he looked at Darla and realized he was wrong. They had her to come home to each day. Nothing could put a damper on his mind as long as she was around, he realized. With a smile, he walked over to where she sat on the foot stool in front of the chair. He pulled her to her feet and attacked her mouth.

  She tasted like spring rain and vanilla. He dove into her open mouth with his tongue and licked along the roof of her mouth. She shivered and sucked on his tongue when he dove in again. She lightly scraped her teeth over his tongue before sucking his bottom lip into her mouth. Never had he enjoyed a kiss more, he decided in the back of his mind. There wasn’t much of anyone to compare her with, anyhow. They spent all their time on the ranch with quick trips into town for supplies. He wanted more, and he knew he could get it from her. As soon as he talked her into marrying them, then he would have everything.

  They each climbed on the air mattress with them dipping low on it pushing Darla up in the middle. Every time they moved, it threw her up in the air. It surprised him when she didn’t complain that they kept moving. She didn’t seem to notice when he climbed out of the makeshift bed to go shovel snow several hours later. She rolled over and snuggled up to Marcus without waking up.

  Randall stood there for several long minutes contemplating their future. With her in it, they were complete. He worried though that she would refuse their plan to marry her. She had embraced the two of them, but would she be willing to make it permanent? Throwing his head back, Randall blew out a breath and turned and walked away. That snow wasn’t moving itself.

  As soon as he entered the kitchen, he knew the electricity was off. The clock on the microwave was dark and the little night light next to the coffee maker was no longer on. Great, he thought. It would be at least twenty-four if not forty-eight hours once the snow began to stop and the town started clearing the streets with the snow plows until they got their power back on.

  Pulling on his coat, gloves, and hat as well as the scarf, he took stock of his clothes and decided he would do. It had been really genius of Marcus to insist on a door in the kitchen that went out on the back porch. Had they not had it, they would have tracked in at the front door or in the backyard behind the stair case. Now he opened the door and walked outside struggling with the door to close it behind him. Finally he got it closed, and he turned around. The snow fell softly without the wind to blow it around.

  He thought about the big freeze coming their way. Randall hoped they were overestimating the storm. He pulled the door closed behind him and nearly groaned at how much snow had accumulated not only on the porch, but along the path they’d dug through yesterday alongside the rope. His face grimaced as he tackled the first shovel of snow.

  An hour later, he’d finished the back porch and had stepped off the porch to find himself waist deep in the crap. It took him another hour of struggling to dig a path from where he had jumped to the porch steps. A few snowflakes still fell here and there, but nothing like the blizzard of earlier. He shoveled around to the generator and started it up. It only took a couple of tries. They kept it well tended all year long.

  Randall stomped the snow off his boots and quickly stepped inside the house where slightly warmer air greeted him. His gloves came off first, and he stuffed them in his coat pocket. He took off his boots right there, and then struggled with the scarf and coat. By the time he’d managed to strip down to his clothes, he was just as tired as if he’d shoveled snow another hour.

  A hot cup of coffee would be welcomed he decided and set about to fix a pot. Marcus would thank him for it when he woke his brother. Smiling, Randall thought about how he would wake up. Usually he was hard to wake and equally tough to get out of bed. Si
nce Darla had been there, he hadn’t had to wake his brother up once. She was good for many reasons, but the fact that she made Marcus happy made him love her even more. Maybe he could wake her up once Marcus left. He just wanted to hear her voice raspy from sleep tell him good morning.

  He waited until the coffee was barely dripping and slipped the pot out of the coffee maker and poured some in his coffee mug. He sipped the hot liquid and enjoyed the burn all the way down as it warmed tissues. Once he finished the mug of coffee, he rinsed out his cup and left it in the drainer. He could reuse it if Darla didn’t put it up later. She tended to keep things spotless in the kitchen and throughout the house.

  He poured a half cup of coffee into another mug and headed toward the living room. He found Marcus curled around Darla with his face buried in her neck. Resigned to the cursing his brother would do, he called his name softly and shook his shoulder.

  “Marcus, get up. I’ve got coffee for you.”

  After two more tries, Marcus finally turned over and eyed him, a pissed look on his face.

  “Man, you know how to ruin a great dream.” He glanced over at Darla and sighed deeply.

  “Sure hate to get out of bed and leave her,” he said.

  “I understand, but it’s your turn to shovel. I’ll keep her warm. She will be getting up soon, knowing her.” Randall stood up and waited for Marcus to do the same.

  His brother slowly slid from under covers and off the makeshift bed to land on his ass.

  “Damn,” he said. Then he stood up and took the cup of coffee from Randall.

  “We need to talk before you go outside,” Randall said.

  “What’s up?” he asked.

  “In the kitchen, I don’t want to wake her up.”

  Marcus followed him into the kitchen, still buttoning up his shirt.

  “I’m worried about why she left Mississippi, and I think it may have something to do with a man. I don’t want her thinking about that part of her life, and she is. Haven’t you noticed how she frowns sometimes and when we ask says it’s nothing?” Randall asked.

  “Yeah, but what are you planning to do?”

  “I’m going to check her references and see if anyone can tell us more about her. Maybe someone will know what happened to make her want to leave everything she knew behind to come up here.” Randall took a sip of the coffee.

  “Man, she’s going to think we don’t trust her,” Marcus said.

  “She doesn’t have to know. Besides, as employers, we have the right to check her references, right?”

  “Yeah, but we told her we trusted her and weren’t going to check them.”

  “I think knowing what is in her past will help us with our future with her. We’ll know what not to do to upset her,” Randall said as Marcus suited up to go outside.

  “If you say so. Just don’t let her find out,” Marcus said.

  He nodded and returned to the living room, where Darla lay warm and waiting for him in bed.

  Randall quickly undressed down to his thermals and eased into bed next to Darla. He grinned at how warm she felt. She soon had him toasty, too. It wasn’t long before he was fast asleep.

  * * * *

  Darla slowly woke from a restless sleep. She noted Randall was in the bed with her, so she figured Marcus was outside shoveling snow. He would be cold when he came in. She eased out of the bed without disturbing Randall. After handling the bathroom business, Darla dressed in warm ups, a pair of jeans, a shirt, and thick socks. As soon as she was dressed, she hurried back downstairs and into the kitchen. It proved to be even colder in there. She guessed it was because there were only two vents in the entire room. Then she noted that none of the devices worked. The electricity was off. She could have sworn Randall had coffee when he woke Marcus up.

  No wonder it was so cold, she thought. How would she make coffee? She had an idea. She got a strainer out of the cabinet and put two and a half scoops of coffee into it. Then she put a boiler of water on the stove and sat the strainer over the pot so that the coffee was below the water. The gas stove was wonderful since the electricity was off.

  After about five minutes of slightly boiling water, Darla turned the stove off and let the coffee steep for about ten minutes. She laid the strainer aside in case she needed to let it sit longer. Grabbing a mug, she poured a few swallows into her coffee cup and sipped at it after blowing. The coffee proved to be just about right. Smiling, she discarded the grounds from the strainer and poured more coffee into her mug.

  Unsure what she needed to do next with the electricity off, Darla sat at the kitchen table and surveyed her choices of what to feed the men. First of all, she needed to warm up the roast and take out the rolls. She rose and began setting up the boiler for the English peas. Maybe she should fix tuna salad for sandwiches. It would be a nice change for them. Grabbing four eggs from the fridge, she pulled out a pot and filled it halfway with water. Then she sat the eggs into the water while it started to boil. A few minutes later, she turned off the stove and let the eggs sit in the hot water for a few more minutes before she rinsed them in cold water.

  She began making tuna salad, adding chopped-up onion, the chopped-up eggs, sweet pickles, and some mustard to the mix before she added the mayo. Once the tuna salad was finished, she really had nothing more to do until time to start breakfast. She looked at her watch and frowned.

  She wondered how long had Marcus been out there.

  Darla peeked into the living room and saw that Randall was still asleep. She tiptoed into the living room and then up the stairs, making sure she walked as quietly as possible. She needed a change of clothes. She had on the jeans over the last couple of days now.

  She made it up the stairs without waking Randall up. The poor man was exhausted. He needed to sleep. Darla put on a new pair of jeans and her new blouse. She hurried down stairs when she was fully dressed and stood quietly in front of the fire. She added another log after standing there for a few minutes. Then she returned to the kitchen and sat on a bar stool. No sooner than she had, Marcus came stomping up to the porch. He opened the door then immediately shut it again.

  “Damn, it’s cold outside,” he said.

  “Shh, don’t wake Randall up. I’ll start breakfast while you clean up.” Darla started the meal, hoping Randall would sleep through the cooking part.

  No sooner had she started then he came shuffling in with his nose in the air.

  “Something smells good,” he said in a sleep-roughened voice.

  “It will be ready in a few minutes. Grab some coffee, and you’ll feel better.”

  Randall and Marcus discussed the snow and how much they would need to shovel out during the day. By the time they had finished breakfast, they had a plan in mind and Randall looked well awake.

  “I’m going to take a shower,” Randall said. “I smell.”

  Darla laughed, and he grabbed her around the waist.

  “How about scrubbing my back?”

  “Darla, don’t do it. Once he gets you in there he’ll have his wicked way with you,” Marcus teased.

  “Hmmm, maybe I’d like that,” she returned.

  Randall dragged her toward the stairs. She laughed all the way to the bedroom.

  “Off with your clothes, wench.”

  Darla made a big show of slowly removing her clothes. Turning around she bent over while she pulled her jeans off. She heard him growl behind her. She really wasn’t surprised when he gave her a swat on the bottom that stung just a bit.

  “Hey!” She yelped and stood up.

  “You’re taking too long. I’m already undressed,” Randall complained.

  “You go ahead and warm the water up, and I’ll be in there in just a second,” she said.

  Randall dropped a kiss on her head and walked into the bathroom to fiddle with the water.

  Darla sat on the edge of the bed and finished pulling off her jeans after removing her boots. When she was nude, she strode into the bathroom to find him already soaped up.
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br />   “You started without me,” she teased as she climbed into the shower.

  “That’s what happens when you poke around.”

  The second she was in the shower, he attacked. He pulled her into his arms spreading soap all over her chest as he did. When he took possession of her mouth, Darla didn’t resist. His kisses were like candy to her. She craved them. He sucked her lower lip into his mouth and stroked with his tongue. All the while, his hands caressed and explored her body. When one of his hands found her breast, she moaned into his kiss.

  “I want you all the time,” Randall said. “Even when I’ve just had you, I still want you. You go to my head like fine wine.”

  He took her words away from her by delving into her mouth again and drawing her tongue out for him to suck on. She all but climbed his body, and he had to brace himself against the shower wall.

  “Easy, Darla. We don’t want to fall.”

  “I need you,” she said.

  “I’ll take care of you, baby.”

  Randall walked her back to the back of the shower. His fingers delved between her legs as his mouth sought out her nipple. He latched onto it and sucked. She nearly screamed, it felt so good. His fingers found her opening and pushed inside then circled her clit. It wasn’t long before she was fucking herself against his fingers.

  When he removed them she cried out in disappointment, but he lifted one of her legs and aligned his hardened cock with her pussy. He pushed inside, and Darla muffled her scream against his shoulder.

  “Fuck, you’re tight,” he said.

  “Oh, God. You’ve got to stop.”

  “Why?” He continued pumping inside of her.

  “No condom.” She gasped.

  He stopped and leaned his head against the shower wall. She felt his chest heaving against her.

  “Hold on.” He dropped her leg and climbed out of the shower. When he returned a few seconds later he had one on.

  “What?” she asked as her brows furrowed above her eyes.

  “Nothing, baby. Just hated stopping. Now, where were we?” He took her mouth again and lifted her leg until she curled it around his hips.