"Those are my men, Jake."
The man Amos had called Jake looked back at the four men lined up in front of him.
"These are your men?"
"Yes they are."
"Amos, you know these men are perverts, don't ya? It takes two of them to please one woman. They both take her at the same time."
"I don't care about any of that Jake. Right now I just care about getting back what's mine."
Jake looked back and forth between Amos' shot gun, levelled at them, and the four men he'd been slandering. A thick silence hung in the air, the men behind Jake bristling at what might happen next. Finally, after some time had passed, Jake stepped to the side letting Annabelle pass between him.
She looked up at Rem and Blaise and for a moment Rem's heart leapt at the thought that she might run into their arms. He glanced at Amos who was looking at the two of them now, then looked down at the ground. Had he seen it too? Did he suspect how they felt about her?
Annabelle walked slowly out of the circle, turned towards the station and walked up to Amos who'd slung his gun into the saddle scabbard at his side and was now eyeing her as she walked towards him. The sound of hooves on dirt dissipated the tension that hung in the air and everyone turned to see the Sheriff come riding up the line of small buildings that made up the main street.
"What's all this about?" the Sheriff asked, looking from one group of men to the other. It was obvious by the way they were standing that there had been some kind of confrontation. He glanced towards Amos just in time to see Annabelle climbing onto the horse that had got her into the situation in the first place. Nobody said a word until Amos spoke up.
"It's alright Sam. Everything's alright. Had a horse get away from me is all."
The Sheriff nodded at Amos, then looked back down at the men from atop his horse, as if appraising whether the situation demanded more of his attention.
"Alright then," he said finally, apparently satisfied that there was no more to be done. "You men clear out of here anyways. I'd wager there's still someone here looking for a fight. Best get on your way."
The men in the group that had surrounded Annabelle stood their ground, staring at Blaise, Rem, Tex and Mack until finally Blaise, shaking his head, waved a paw in their direction and turned around. Rem did the same and Mack and Tex soon followed, mounting their horses and easing them into a walk back up the hill and towards Amos Evans farm.
Chapter 4
"I don't know boys, I just don't know what to do," Amos Evans said to the four men sitting around his table. They were each nursing a glass of whisky and watching Amos Evans pacing back and forth his kitchen. None of them wanted to say a thing, but Blaise knew exactly what was on each of their minds. "Do you think I should send her back?" Amos asked after more pacing and taking a swig of his whisky. Blaise heart jumped into his throat. If Amos was thinking of sending her back...
"Mr. Evans, I don't mean to pry or interfere, after all it is your life and your bride to be but..."
Blaise watched Amos scowl at Mack.
"Well? What is it?" he asked.
Mack paused a moment to collect his thoughts, but didn't change his mind.
"Mr. Evans I've got to be honest with you. I know you said you're not one to do this kind of thing but I think the only thing that's going to help a girl as wild as that is a sound spanking."
The men watched Amos clench his jaw and shake his head. He turned his back towards them and stepped towards the window, staring out it and down the dirt road. The men sat in silence, one by one sipping at their drinks until he turned back around, his face resolute.
"No. I appreciate the advice Mack, I do, but that's just not my way. I've made up my mind. I'm sending her back."
Blaise saw Rem's eyes widen. He glanced at Mack and Tex. Their stares were buried in their drinks.
"Mr. Evans," Blaise began, trying to keep the excitement out of his voice, "won't it cost a pretty sum to send her back?"
"It will but I don't care about that. I'm sorry for her more than anything but I'm just...oh I don't know, too old for a girl like that. I need a woman who knows how to be a woman already. I don't want to spend my days wondering what mischief that girls going to get up to next. No, I've made up my mind. I'm having her sent back and next time? Well, next time I will make very clear to the agency the kind of woman I am looking for." Amos Evans nodded solemnly as he spoke and turned back around to face the window.
Blaise and Rem looked at each other with wide eyes, not knowing what to do. Neither of them could believe their ears when Mack spoke up again.
"Mr. Evans?"
"Yes, Mack?" Amos asked, turning around to face him.
"Mr. Evans, I'm not sure how this will go over with you and that makes me a bit reluctant to..."
"Spit it out son! We've had enough drama for the morning!"
The men looked at each other, somewhat stunned. They hadn't heard Amos Evans raise his voice in most of the time they'd known him.
"Yes sir," Mack went on. "Alright, here it is. The fact of the matter is that...well, Blaise and Rem haven't got a bride yet, have they?"
Amos' expression turned suddenly grave and Blaise hoped Mack didn't regret what he'd just said. Amos thought for some time, leaving the four of them guessing in silence at what might be going through his head. When finally he did speak, it was in a voice much lower than before.
"I don't know Mack," he said, shaking his head and staring at the man. "You know I've got no problem with any of you or your way of life but the girl came here expecting a certain...arrangement. What you're proposing would be something else entirely." He looked at Blaise and Rem who were doing their best not to move. "Have you boys...spoken about this?"
Blaise caught the word "Yes!" in his throat before it burst from him into the room. His mind raced for a moment, wondering what to say and how to avoid the direct question. But after a few moments, his thinking slowed and he realized that there really was only one thing to tell Amos Evans. The truth.
"Mr. Evans," Blaise began, lowering his gaze, unable to meet the man's eye. "I've got a confession to make."
"We both do," Blaise heard Rem beside him and it gave him the courage to face what might happen.
"I don't know how it happened or why it happened and I swear to you it was not from any intention of ours but..."
Amos raised an eyebrow, anxious to hear the explanation.
"...but from the moment that girl stepped off the train...well, neither of us have been able to think of anything else but her. Now there's no way we would have done a thing about it had you married her, sir. But now that you say you might be thinking of sending her back well...well I just have to say that I couldn't imagine a thing that would make me happier than if...well, if she could be ours and I don't know why that is or how I come to feel that way but that's just how it is and I can't seem to do a thing about it."
Amos Evans stared at Blaise long and hard, his hands linked behind his back. None of the men could make out what he was thinking and he took so long doing it, Blaise worried if he hadn't just made the worst mistake of his life.
"That thing you've got is called love, son. And you're right, there's not a thing you can do about it. Rem, you feel the same way about this?" Amos asked.
"Yes sir, I do," Rem replied.
Amos nodded again. "And you boys are convinced you'd be good husbands for her?"
"I've never been so damn certain of anything my whole life, sir," Blaise answered, the conviction apparent by his tone.
"Like I said," Amos went on, speaking slowly, still thinking about the whole thing, "this is something entirely different than the arrangement the girl agreed to. I'd feel like I was being devious if I didn't ask her her opinion on the matter. Do you understand?"
"Of course we do, Mr. Evans," Rem answered earnestly, but puzzled somewhat. "Why would you think otherwise?"
"The way you were talking about spanking her and all that, I suppose I just assumed you'd not take into accou
nt a woman's opinion."
Blaise's mouth fell open slightly and he saw the same expression on Rem's face. "Mr. Evans," he said quietly, "I don't think you understand. We would never, ever hit a woman in anger. That's not at all what this is about."
"It's not?" Amos asked, uncertain of what it might be about.
"No sir," Rem answered firmly. "What that girl in there needs is a whole lot of love. Most likely more than one man can give. That could be why we feel the way we do. There's something about her that's just begging for affection."
Amos stuck out his lip and nodded. "If you say so," he said, not sounding quite convinced of their case. "Why don't we ask her and find out?"
***
Annabelle was still shaking slightly from her adventure into town as she sat in the bedroom and listened to the low tones of the men's voices outside her door. She couldn't make out what they were saying. The occasional word would slip through the crack beneath the door and she assumed that they were deciding what her fate might be. She didn't seem to worried about it. Amos Evans had told her he wasn't the spanking kind. How preposterous that sounded in the first place, she thought. It was probably much more natural out here where the men were wild and uncivilized but she'd never heard of such a thing back in the city.
When the door opened, it was Amos standing in it looking as stern as she'd seen him since they'd met. Annabelle put on the most politely bored expression she could muster. There was certainly no way she was revealing how scared she'd been to all those men.
"Annabelle, I'd like you to come out here please," Amos said, stepping to one side.
Annabelle saw the shapes of the four men sitting down the table. The two she'd dreamed about since the train station, Blaise and Rem she thought their names were, looked just as handsome as they had that morning. Annabelle felt the same swell of emotion she'd felt when Jake, the man who'd trapped her in the circle of men stepped to one side. All she wanted to do was run and throw herself into the cowboys arms. But that was not the way things were. She pushed the thought out of her mind. Things would never be that way. She was marrying Amos Evans now and she was determined to be happy about it.
Picking herself up off the bed where she'd been sitting, Annabelle walked slowly through the door and into the kitchen where the men were sitting, doing her best to look anywhere but at the ones she wanted to look at most.
"Annabelle," Amos began, his voice sounding very grave, "the boys and I have been talking."
"Oh really? You must be exhausted," she quipped with a smirk. She was determined not to let on to them how she felt about any of what had happened. She'd never needed a man in her life and wasn't about to start now.
"Now that's just plain rude."
Annabelle couldn't help but glance in the direction of the voice that had spoken the words. She tried to keep the shock from showing on her face, but feared she might have thought of it too late. It had been Blaise, the big one that had arrived in the town first, right after the men had surrounded her. As thankful as she'd been to see him, she wasn't about to show her gratitude. She'd thanked Amos already. That was enough.
"I beg your pardon?" she snapped, a defiant fist planted firmly on her hip.
"He's right."
Annabelle looked to the other side of the table. This time it had been Rem. He was leaning back in his chair, his arms folded across his chest. She shot a scowl at Amos hoping he'd understand how she felt about being spoken to so rudely by his men.
"They're both right."
This time her mouth dropped open. Had she heard him right? How was it that her husband to be was taking the side of a couple of farmhands instead of his soon to be wife? "I'll not stand here and be told I'm being rude by a couple of stall boys!" Annabelle declared as she started to turn on her heel and head back to the room she'd come from. It would be easier to wait until they left and then give Amos hell for what he'd let them say to her once they were gone.
"Don't you step through that door Annabelle."
There was something in Amos' voice that gave her pause this time, something that hadn't been there before. Something that stopped her from walking back into the room.
"You turn right back around and listen to what I have to say."
Annabelle felt a furious temper rising inside her. How dare he embarrass her like this in front of his men, by ordering her around and talking to her as if she were a child. Nevertheless, whatever note had changed in his tone made her unwilling to test him this time. Something seemed to indicate he meant to have no trouble from her on this point. She turned slowly, trying to calm her breathing. The trembling out of fear that had clung to her in the room had turned to a furious shaking that was moving from her center, out towards her extremities and threatening to send her rage boiling over.
"You must know Annabelle, before I say what I'm about to say, that I had every intention of sending you back."
The bottom dropped out of the pit of her stomach. The feverish rage vanished at the sound of the words, replaced by a silent void she'd never felt before. As the seriousness of the situation settled on her, the void travelled up her windpipe and clutched her throat, pushing even further and up against the backs of her eyes. But she held herself with dignity, moving only her eyes so they weren't fixed on Amos' anymore.
"I can see that troubles you," Amos went on.
It did trouble her and she resented herself for not being able to hide it. If it were true, if he did mean to send her back, she would have a black mark on her name and it was almost assured that the agency would not send her to any more husbands. That, in turn, meant only one thing. The room in the brothel she'd come to fear so. The thought made it even harder not to burst into tears, more so when she looked up and caught Amos' stern gaze upon her. She could think of nothing to say in response to him. She could only endure the humiliating silence under the stares of Amos and his four men.
"I can see it troubles you Annabelle so you'll understand what it is I'm about to say next will relieve that trouble somewhat."
She felt some room open in her throat, enough to take a slightly deeper breath and quell the urge to cry a little.
"My men here have made me a proposal, one that I think can benefit everyone involved. But before I tell you about any of it, there's something that needs explaining. Sit down, won't you Annabelle?"
Her mind filled with questions as she looked at the four men staring at her. What was this strange proposal going to be? She looked at Blaise and Rem who appeared to be looking at her particularly intently. A self-consciousness and longing filled her at the same time and she looked down to keep them from seeing her blush. She quickly took the seat Amos was offering and looked back at him to listen.
"Now you may have surmised some of this already from what you've seen and heard and from the goings on yesterday at the train station then again today in the town. But you're going to have to keep an open mind nonetheless Annabelle." Amos looked at the men, then back to her. "The boys lead a different kind of life than most men do. It's not any better, or any worse, just different. It's something that I've come to accept but not everyone has and in fact, most folks don't like it at all. But it's the way they choose to live and I respect that choice."
With each word, Annabelle became more and more confused. Everything she'd thought about the men had been wrong, it seemed. From the sounds of what Amos was telling her, these men were sodomites!
"So I ask you, Annabelle," Amos went on, "not to judge them or their actions in the same way that I don't. To show them the same respect that I do and to understand that..."
"What Mr. Evans is trying to say, if I may Mr. Evans?" Mack interrupted quietly. Amos nodded, somewhat furiously and pointed towards Mack, seeming quite relieved for the intrusion. "What Mr. Evans was going to say, Annabelle," Mack turned to her as he spoke, "is that the four of us and a few others we know of believe in a different kind of marriage than the traditional. We believe and practice that two men should marry one woman. Two men are ther
e to tend to her. Two men are there to help her bee a good woman. Two men are there to love her. Twice as much as one ever would."
Shock or surprise would not be an accurate description of what Annabelle felt in the moment. Her mouth hung open now and her eyes were as wide as they'd ever been in disbelief at what she'd just heard. Such an abrupt turn of events was the last thing she'd been expecting. After some time, she realized that her mouth was hanging open and she made to say something to fill the uncomfortable silence in the room, but no sound would come out and even if it had, she couldn't find the words with which to speak.
"I can tell you're surprise by this and I understand why," Mack went on. "That's why Rem and Blaise have both agreed to give you time to make a decision about what what they're about to ask next."
Annabelle turned her head slowly, her mouth still open in shock, until she was facing the two men who'd both taken up position on the floor, each of them kneeling on one knee before her. She felt her heart flutter at what might be happening next.
"Annabelle Atkins," Blaise spoke first, "from the moment I saw you, I knew you were the woman for me. I've never felt the way I have when I saw you stepping from that train and I know I'll never feel that way again, except for when I look upon you. It feels like my whole life has been leading up to this moment."
Annabelle felt her pulse thundering in her chest as she stared into Blaise's bright blue eyes.
"Annabelle Atkins," Annabelle turned to face Rem as she heard his voice, "I've never met a woman I could marry. When I saw you, I knew if I couldn't be with you, I'd probably not be with anyone else again."
Annabelle felt her head start to swim. If what she thought was happening, was happening, she was about to be asked for her hand in marriage by the two men she'd fantasized about from the moment she'd stepped off the train. Her heart sped even further at the thought of it and she felt the sweat gathering on her palms.
"But like Mack said, before you agree to any of this, you must know the whole truth," Blaise went on. "We will love you like you have never been loved, Annabelle Atkins. We will protect you with our lives and you will be the first thing in our hearts. But along with that love comes a responsibility, one we both feel deeply."
Annabelle: An Erotic Western Spanking Menage (Doms of Destiny Trail Book 1) Page 4