Legend Anthology

by Brynn Paulin, Lacey Thorn, Bronwyn Green, Carol Lynne

  “You really think that we’ll find a woman who will want to spend the rest of her life with both of us?” Tommy asked, his hands deep in the pockets of his worn Levi’s.

  Shawn sighed and ran his fingers through thick hair already blown about by the breeze. “I hope so. Mom seems to think that we will. Destiny and fate and all that blarney.”

  Tommy laughed and shook his head. “I don’t even want to think about your mom knowing about our sex life. I’m seriously glad that I wasn’t there for that conversation. And you’re just as Irish as your mom is. How can you call it blarney? You seemed to believe it well enough when you sold me on it the first time.”

  Shawn laughed and started to say something when he noticed something floating in on the tide towards them. “What the hell is that?”

  “I see it too,” Tommy said and they both stared as the object bobbed closer and closer to shore. “Can you believe the way that people just throw stuff out anywhere today? Some day we’ll have no resources left because of all the pollution.”

  “I know what you mean. It looks like a glass bottle or something.” Shawn almost laughed when Tommy impatiently tugged off his shoes and pulled his shirt off before heading out to retrieve the bottle. No way was Shawn getting in that water. It was only April and the water was still a little too cold for his blood.

  “Hey,” Tommy called as he grasped the bottle and waded back “There’s something in here. Looks like a paper and some type of jewellery. A necklace or bracelet of some sort.”

  “Let’s take it to the boat and have a look,” Shawn suggested and bent to get Tommy’s shoes and shirt for him. “Do you think Mrs. Davis is still cleaning and stocking?”

  “Nah, she’ll have headed home by now.” Tommy shook his mane of brown hair and water sprayed everywhere. “She’ll have everything cleaned and put away and all the supplies stocked for us. We should be able to leave anytime.”

  “Good, I’m ready to head out of here. Ready to get back to the office and see how things are going.” Shawn still wasn’t sure about leaving his younger brother in charge while he was gone. Patrick was still young and inexperienced but Tommy kept pressing that they had to give him a chance to prove himself.

  “I’m sure Pat is doing fine. He’s twenty eight now. Served ten years in the Marines. If anyone can handle the office while we’re gone it’s him.” Tommy was always sticking up for Patrick. He liked the fact that Tommy liked the kid and viewed him as a younger brother as well. Shawn just didn’t have Tommy’s confidence in Patrick.

  “Yeah but things aren’t the same in the private sector. We’re a security company and you have to use finesse in some situations and not just go in and take action. You know how hot-headed he’s always been.”

  “So were we when we were all kids. Pat has grown up a lot in the last few years. I’m sure he saw a lot while fighting in the Gulf.” Tommy leapt over the side of the boat as he made this last comment and stepped out of the way to make room for Shawn to join him.

  They moved about with the easy rhythm of friends who had spent a lot of time together. They both headed below deck to the galley and Shawn grabbed two beers from the fridge while Tommy worked at uncorking the bottle.

  Shawn saw that the bottle was old with thick clear glass and there was definitely something inside. He felt the hair on his nape prickle with chills. Somehow he knew that whatever was in that bottle would change their lives forever.

  “Wait,” he started to say but the cork slid out just then and the paper and a necklace spilled out onto the table.

  Tommy picked the necklace up by its silver chain and held it up to the light. “Damn, can you believe that someone put this in a bottle and just threw it out into the water?”

  It was beautiful. If he was not mistaken, and the Irish in him was pretty sure he wasn’t, the necklace was Connemara marble set in the silver setting. The silver cradled the stone, almost in a lovers’ embrace. And the silver had either been recently cleaned or was treated in something to make it appear so. There wasn’t a bit of tarnish on it anywhere.

  Shawn jerked his head up when he heard Tommy laugh softly.

  “You need to read this,” Tommy said and the smile on his lips sent another tingle down Shawn’s spine. Shit.

  He took the parchment from Tommy’s hands and rolled it back open. He couldn’t believe it when he readthe words.

  A stone that’s blessed by lovers’ hands

  To bless the wearer with a love that stands.

  Through time and toil, no stopping fate

  As lovers unite, no hand can break.

  So take this token and wear it true,

  Destiny awaits with love for you.

  A favour I ask from you to me

  Once blessed return my gift to the sea.

  For others await the hand of fate

  My blessing to love’s true mates.

  “Hell,” Shawn said. “If I didn’t know better I’d say my mother sent this.”

  “Yeah,” Tommy laughingly agreed. “It sounds like something she would say. You want to throw it back?”

  “No, I…” just then there was a crash from Shawn’s bedroom and they both jumped up and ran that way.

  “What the hell?” Shawn muttered as he took in the scene before him.

  The closet door was hanging open and the bar appeared to have been pulled from the wall. The shelf that rested on top of the bar had been tipped and books and boxes lay in shambles on top of what appeared to be blankets. But that wasn’t what drew the two men’s attention. No, it was the woman who lay partially hidden beneath the chaos. Her face was beautiful surrounded by a cloud of thick blonde curls and Shawn felt a tightening in his groin. One glance towards Tommy and he knew that his best friend was feeling the same thing.

  “How the hell do you think she got here?” Tommy murmured softly. “And what do you think caused that shelf to fall?”

  “Have no idea on either count,” Shawn muttered. “Let’s move her to the bed and then head out.”

  “Heading out to where?” Tommy questioned as he squatted down to help pull stuff off of the woman.

  “Heading out to sea. Getting the hell out of here.” Shawn grunted.

  “You plan on taking our stowaway with us?” Tommy questioned. They both bent down in front of her, just staring.

  “Well, what do you think she’s doing hiding in this closet? She was stowing away on this boat to get away from something.” Shawn shook his head, his thoughts tumbling through his head with numerous scenarios.

  “Or someone,” Tommy added, putting to voice what they were both wondering.

  “She was obviously planning on getting out of here for some reason. We’ll wait ‘til she wakes up and then find out what or who she is running from. By then we should all be far enough away that she can relax and talk.” Shawn immediately began to gently move the stuff on top of her away, uncovering her body inch by delicious inch. She had long tanned legs and high firm breasts, both of which sent another surge of blood to his cock and set his mouth to salivating. Fuck! He wanted her bad!

  “Yeah, I’ll go get started on that,” Tommy said as he stood up but his eyes were glued to the woman being uncovered and his feet were unmoving on the floor. “Need help moving her?”

  “Nope,” Shawn replied.

  “Coming up soon?” Tommy queried.

  “I’ll be up as soon as I get her settled on the bed.”

  “We’ll have to talk about what you want to do with her.” Tommy continued.

  Shawn heaved a sigh. “I know. Just get this boat moving and I’ll be right up.”

  Tommy and Shawn met each other’s eyes that spoke volumes with just a look.

  “I won’t touch her, Tommy. Not yet,” Shawn added and only after Tommy nodded and walked away did he add the rest of his thoughts. “Not without you. Not without knowing that she’ll have us both.”

  Hope almost gasped out loud at the words of the man who was lifting her into his arms. Just what had she g
otten herself into? Were they gay? Damn it! Why were all the gorgeous men either gay or married? And if they were gay what did they want with her? What did he mean that he wouldn’t touch her without knowing that she would have them both? And why were her nipples growing hard at the mere thought of having sex with both men?

  He eased her down on the bed and pulled one of the blankets over her. He ran his fingers down her hair, smoothing it away from her face and she wished that she had taken the time to really do her makeup before she left earlier in the day. But she hadn’t wanted to waste any of the precious time that she had left. Escape was all that mattered.

  “What are you running from little one?” he murmured and Hope prayed that he was only talking out loud and didn’t realise that she was awake.

  Her legs had fallen asleep and she had wanted to stand up and shake the feeling back into them. She hadn’t been in the closet too long and she wasn’t sure why her legs were already going numb. Must have been the way that she was sitting. But when she had reached up and tried to use the bar to pull herself up, the worst thing possible had happened. Instead of her going up everything else had fallen down. Right on top of her. Bringing the people on board right to her. And they weren’t even the nice older couple that she had envisioned seeing earlier. No, it was two of the hottest guys that she had ever glimpsed. Hope sighed with frustration. She hadn’t seen nearly enough before she decided to close her eyes and feign unconsciousness. What the hell else was she supposed to do? She needed time to figure out what the hell she was going to say to them.

  She’d wait until she was certain that the other guy had motored them far enough away before she suddenly awoke. Only she had no idea what she would do when they finally confronted her and asked just what she was doing on the boat. Something had pulled her to this boat in particular. Out of all of the boats docked her eyes had kept coming back to this one again and again. Maybe it was the name, Irish Dream, that called to her. Whatever it was she just had to maintain the hope that these two men would help her get away from the future that awaited her on shore. And pray that she hadn’t caught herself in an even worse situation.

  She did let out a sigh of relief when he finally moved from where she lay on the bed and left the room, pulling the door shut behind him. What should she do now?

  Shawn joined Tommy and stood staring out at the water as Tommy piloted them further and further away from shore.

  “She awake?” Tommy finally asked.

  “I’m fairly certain that she was when we got there,” Shawn replied.

  “I thought she was faking,” Tommy nodded his agreement.

  “Not sure what she’s hiding from or what she was planning when she climbed on board. But as soon as we’re far enough away we’ll go see what we can find out?”

  “How do you want to play this?” Tommy inquired.

  “I’m not sure just yet,” Shawn murmured. “We’ll have to wait and see what she tells us. One thing I do know for sure is that I’m not going to send her back if she doesn’t want to go.”

  “Think she’s running from someone?”

  Shawn sighed and ran his fingers through the thick length of black hair on his head. “Why else would she hide on a boat when she doesn’t know who owns it? Hell she could have found herself in a serious situation if she’d gotten on a different boat.”

  “Yeah,” Tommy agreed. “Instead of stuck on board with two men hornier than hell to get her under them and fuck the hell out of her. Good thing for her.”

  “Shit,” Shawn muttered and Tommy laughed.

  “Yeah, shit,” Tommy agreed but his grin said something entirely different.

  Chapter Two

  The men were gone for so long that Hope actually did fall asleep. She was in the middle of a very pleasant dream about the two men and herself in a very intimate position when she felt the gentle tug pulling her from her dream world. She didn’t want to leave. She wanted to stay in the dream until she had soaked up every pleasure implied. She wanted them. Badly.

  Things were still a little fuzzy when she woke up, nothing seemed real and the dream was so fresh that when she saw the face looming above her with thick black hair and big blue eyes she did the first thing that entered her mind. She reached up and pulled his head down for a kiss, a kiss that exploded into carnal exploration with the first slide of tongue on tongue. God, he tasted rich and dark, like melted chocolate. She could drown in his taste and die a very happy woman.

  She felt a hand stroking her hair and pulled reluctantly away to glance at the man on the other side of her. He had shaggy brown hair with blond highlights in it that a woman would pay a lot of money for. His big brown eyes held a touch of gold in them and she could feel herself falling into them as his head bent to hers. Then she tasted him just as intimately as she had tasted the first man. And he was every bit as good. Not chocolate here but a rich minty flavour that made her think of Christmas and candy canes…and home.

  He pulled back and she let her head fall back to the pillow beneath her and sighed her contentment. Until she realised that she was awake and these were the two men that had found her in the closet earlier. It wasn’t a dream. It was reality and she had no idea what to say under the current circumstances. She was lying on her back in a bed with one man on either side of her staring down at her with lust filled eyes. And God help her but she wanted them.

  “Who are you?” she whispered the first thing that came to her mind. She needed to know who they were, if they were single, if they were gay.

  “Don’t you remember?” the devil with coal black hair asked her with a touch of a grin on his lips.

  She knew that she didn’t know who he was. Hell she had hidden on this boat knowing fully that she had no idea who she was going to encounter. It was a chance that she had been willing to take. And she was suddenly very happy that she had. She bit her lip and shook her head no. She wasn’t sure what game he was playing but she was willing to play along for now.

  “Do you know who you are?” He asked her gently, his fingers whispering tenderly across her cheek.

  At the moment she knew nothing but the feel of his hand, the smell of his skin and the taste of his lips. She shook her head no. Not a lie at the moment.

  “Your name?” the other one queried and she turned to him and felt wrapped in his essence, his masculinity. His smile was warm and beautiful and his eyes promised things she was desperate for.

  “Hope,” she murmured.

  “Do you remember anything else Hope? Who you are or how you got here?” He prompted her to continue but she couldn’t. She didn’t have any clue what to say. Her brain was in chaos and she only shook her head.

  “Your name is Hope O’Grady,” the dark haired man lied and then followed it with an even bigger one. “You’re my wife.”

  “Your wife?” she and the other man made the comment at the same time, both with a heavy dose of doubt in their voices.

  “My wife,” he repeated firmly, the dare evident in his voice. He was defying her to admit the truth, that she knew who she was and why she was on this boat. But Hope had more to lose than he could ever imagine. So making a snap decision, she decided to play along and see just how far he was willing to take it.

  “I don’t remember our wedding day. I don’t even remember your name.” She gazed up at him trying her best to keep her secrets from showing.

  “My name is Shawn. We were married just a few weeks ago in Ireland. It was a beautiful ceremony under the stars.” She wished that he wasn’t telling lies. She could almost visualise a wedding under the stars, only she had never been to Ireland.

  “Just the two of us?” she questioned.

  “The three of us,” Shawn nodded at the other man. “Tommy was there with us.”

  “With us?” she asked wanting to see what he would say. She had kissed both men rather intimately.

  “Tommy has always been with us darling. When we took our vows you said that we had to include him in everything. You said that y
ou loved us both and that there would be no wedding unless you could have us both.” Shawn looked down at her and she saw more than he probably realised in his eyes. She saw his desire for exactly what he was describing.

  “I married both of you?” Hope wasn’t sure about the turn this was taking. How far would he go before one of them admitted to the truth? That they both knew she was lying about not knowing who she was.

  “The priest married us and you took my name. But you said that the real ceremony took place under the stars when you said your vows to both of us. You said it was the best day of you life. I can’t believe that you don’t remember it.” He was laying it on a little thick now but something inside her urged her to stay the course.

  “I wish that I could remember it all. The stars, the moon, and the three of us together. But I don’t.” She whispered the words softly, wanting more than anything for the words to be more, to be truth.

  “Maybe we can help you to remember,” Shawn bent close to her, his words whispered over her mouth before his lips teased hers. His teeth nibbled playfully at her bottom lip before his tongue licked over it, caressing where his teeth had nipped. “Maybe you just need to be reminded of how great we are together.”

  Hope was lost in the moment. The feel of his hands, his mouth, his very breath intoxicated her senses and left her gasping for air. She didn’t fight when hands eased her shirt up and over her head, leaving her arms lying limply beside her on the pillow. Her shorts were tugged down over her hips and suddenly she was in nothing but her bra and panties. She thanked God that she had chosen to wear the pale lavender lace set that Faith had sent her for her birthday, under the guise that it was a wedding present.

  Hidden in the lining of the box had been the directions to where her sister now lived with her husband, along with a little bit of money to help Hope get there. She’d planned to do just that. Until she found herself on a boat in the middle of who knew where at the moment, in her underwear with two gorgeous men looming over her with carnal intent in their eyes. They were going to fuck her. She knew that and should have been nervous, should have been appalled. But she was no shrinking virgin and Heaven help her but she wanted them, wanted this as much as either of them did.