by Marla Monroe
“But it hurts, Garrett.” She sniffed.
“It’s okay, baby. Just snuggle up to me and I’ll keep you warm. If you need to cough, let me know, and I’ll hold your ribs for you.” Garrett’s voice sounded so sincere.
“Thanks,” she whispered.
The more she breathed, the harder it became, and when she coughed, it hurt so bad. Then she began to shiver all over. Garrett all but lay on top of her, trying to keep her warm.
She heard Brice walk into the room. He took one look at the situation and cursed.
“It hasn’t been four hours yet, so I can’t give you any more Tylenol. Let’s add another comforter. I’ll go grab one off another bed.”
He disappeared out the bedroom door but returned seconds later with another comforter. He settled it over her, then stripped down to his thermals and climbed into the bed with her.
“Do I need to go do anything?” Garrett asked.
“I fed the horses and the cow and the chickens. There was still hay out in the pasture, so I think they are all right for the night.”
“I-I can’t stop sh-shaking,” she told them.
“I know. We’ll get you warm soon.” Brice eased closer to her.
She no longer cared that they were in the bed with her. She was miserable. Between her chest hurting and not being able to take deep breaths, not to mention the shakes, Ronnie welcomed them there.
She drifted toward sleep, but instead of sleeping, she began to hallucinate instead. She remembered Carl forcing himself on her and telling her it was only fair. He was taking care of her. She’d tried to endure it and ended up fighting him. He hit her, and that had been the beginning of the abuse.
The pain was terrible when he hurt her. She’d try to make sure everything was perfect for him, but it was never enough to suit him. She tossed and turned in the bed, crying out from her ribs and ankle. She knew someone was trying to soothe her, but Carl was always there with his fists.
Sometime after midnight, her fever broke and she sweated something fierce. She was dimly aware of someone stripping her and bathing her and re-dressing her. They’d changed the sheets as well. It felt so good to lie back on the cool, crisp sheets. Finally, she rested and never noticed that the men held her through the night.
The next morning, she woke up feeling much better. She still had a cough, but it was productive, and she no longer had a fever. She needed to go to the bathroom and was covered up by two very large men. She wasn’t sure who to wake up. Finally, she chose Garrett because he was closer to the bathroom.
“Garrett?” she whispered.
He instantly woke and stared at her. “Is something wrong? Do you need me to wake Brice?”
“No, I need to go to the bathroom. Can you carry me?” She wouldn’t look him in the eyes. It was embarrassing to have to ask.
“Of course, baby. Hold on and let me get up.” He climbed out of bed, then reached over and picked her up with no effort at all. She felt safe that he wouldn’t drop her while she was in his arms.
He carried her to the bathroom and left her standing by the counter with a firm word to call him when she was finished. He made her promise, which she thought was cute.
She finished and washed her hands, then looked in the mirror and realized they’d actually bathed her. Even her hair, for the most part, was clean of blood. She still had some around the stitches. She felt clean, and it felt good. They’d really taken care of her. It made her feel bad about the way she’d treated them. But she had no idea what kind of men they actually were. Maybe she could begin to trust that they were decent men after all.
She called out that she was ready, and Garrett opened the door and walked in the bathroom to pick her up. He carried her back to bed and tucked the sheets around her and Brice.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
“It’s morning. Time to do chores. I’m going to fix coffee and breakfast. Brice should wake up in a little bit. He’ll be glad to know you’re feeling so much better.”
“Thanks, Garrett, for taking care of me. I appreciate it.”
“It’s my pleasure, Ronnie. I want you well again.”
He walked out of the room and she heard him walking down the stairs. He wanted her well again. Did that mean he was ready to move on again? For some reason, that made her sad. She’d gotten used to them being there. Surely they wouldn’t leave before she was completely healed.
A few minutes later, the aroma of coffee reached the room, and Brice stirred. He finally lifted his head and sniffed. One eye opened then the other. She giggled.
“Hey, you’re feeling better,” he observed.
“I do feel much better. I just wish my side didn’t hurt so much when I cough.”
“That will take time. Give it a chance.” He rolled out of bed, then tucked the covers around her. “Do you need to go to the bathroom before I go downstairs?”
“Um, thanks, but Garrett took me. I had to wake him up.”
“Okay, we’ll bring you something up to eat before we head out for chores.” He began to pull on jeans and his shirt, then his boots. “Keep the covers over you, even if you feel warm enough.”
“Okay. I will. I don’t want to get sick again. It was terrible.”
“Won’t be long before you’ll be on your feet again. You’ll see.”
She watched him walk out, then heard his tread on the stairs. It sounded like they were both looking forward to her recovery. It hurt to think they wanted to leave. She would never have believed she would be sad about them leaving.
* * * *
“Did you hear her talking in her delirium?” Garrett asked Brice.
“Yeah. She’s had it rough. Some bastard named Carl abused her. I wish I could teach him a thing or two about how to treat a woman.”
“Me too.”
Garrett couldn’t imagine someone wanting to hurt her. She was so beautiful and sweet. Sure, she was rough around the edges at first, but she’d warmed up to them quickly enough. With time, he was sure they could win her over. He just wasn’t sure how much time they had left. Brice said a few weeks, but was that enough time to change her mind about men?
“What’s for breakfast?” Brice asked, breaking into his musings.
“Omelets. We have plenty of eggs that will spoil if we don’t do something with them.”
“Sounds good. You know, she could trade her eggs and milk if she didn’t have to worry about being grabbed.” Brice seemed to think about it.
“If she had a man with her, no one would bother her,” Garrett added.
Brice sipped his coffee.
Garrett could tell his buddy was thinking about it. Maybe he was thinking about settling down. He sure hoped so. He’d been thinking a good bit about it lately. He wouldn’t mind settling down with Ronnie. They just had to convince her.
“You’re thinking awfully hard over there, Garrett.” Brice sipped his coffee.
“Ever thought about settling down?” Garrett finally broached the subject.
“Not until now. You thinking about settling down here?”
“Yeah, the idea has crossed my mind.”
“How are you going to talk Ronnie into letting you?”
“I was sort of hoping you might want to settle down here, too.” Garrett watched his friend closely.
“I guess. I haven’t let myself think along those lines because she’s so leery of us.”
“I want to try to convince her. I think she’s closer to accepting us now. She just needs to know we aren’t going to force her into anything.” Garrett walked over to the doorway and looked in on Ronnie.
“She is going to get caught if she continues to go out looking for supplies by herself. I can’t stand the idea of some black market agent grabbing her,” Garrett continued.
“If she won’t accept us, there’s nothing we can do about it.”
“I know. Doesn’t make it any easier to take.”
Garrett finished making Brice’s omelet and slid it on a plate for h
im. Then he made another one and took it into the living room to Ronnie.
“Hope you like omelets,” he said.
“Love them. I eat a lot of them with all the eggs I end up with.”
He watched her dig into the food and enjoyed watching her eat. She looked up and smiled once, then returned to her meal. When she had finished, he leaned in to take her plate, and she surprised him by kissing him quickly on the cheek.
“Thanks for breakfast, Garrett.”
“No problem.”
He left her in the living room smiling so big that Brice asked what was wrong with him. He just shook his head and smiled wider. He didn’t want to share that just yet. He’d keep that to himself for now. She was warming up to them. Maybe if she did, by the time she was able to handle the farm by herself, Brice would have decided to stick around. He sure intended to.
Chapter Five
Ronnie felt much better after four days on the couch doing nothing but lounging like a kept woman. She quickly changed her thoughts from that. She was still injured and wasn’t really attractive to them right now. They’d probably start trying to push themselves on her once she healed.
Still, they’d been so kind to her. They’d kept her farm going and treated her like a princess. She smiled to herself. She hadn’t thought about princesses in a very long time. She could remember growing up believing in them. She’d been convinced her prince would sweep her away one day. Instead, she’d ended up with an ogre.
She stretched and picked her foot up off the pillow on the couch and looked at her still slightly swollen ankle. It was a mirage of colors. She could wiggle her toes much easier now, and even move her ankle without too much pain. Her wrist wasn’t a lot better. It hurt to move it and was swollen all the way down her hand. Still, she could wiggle her fingers.
Maybe they wanted to settle down with her because she had a farm already established. Maybe she wasn’t even the reason they were sticking around to help her. Still, they seemed to keep swollen cocks around her. They assured her they were fine and wouldn’t force themselves on her. But maybe she was beginning to want them.
The idea of kissing them had grown in her head for several days now. She often stared at their lips when they were asleep, wondering if she could brush them and not wake them up. She was too chicken to try it. She stayed wet around them, and her breasts would grow heavy. Several times when they were out tending to the farm, she’d been tempted to masturbate but was afraid they would come in and catch her.
Did they jack off? She would like to watch them do that. For some reason it sounded so intimate and sensual. Ronnie, you’re getting in over your head here. Have you forgotten what sex is really like?
She heard the back door open and close. A draft of cold air blew into the living room and hit her. She shivered and looked over at the fire. It was close to going out. She hoped one of them would come in and check on her.
It turned out to be Brice. He walked in and smiled at her.
“How are you doing?”
“I’m fine. Um, can you put another log on the fire?” She smiled sheepishly.
“No problem.” He added the log and stirred the embers.
“It seems like I’m always asking you for something. I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be demanding. You’re already doing so much for me.”
“You’re not demanding. Get that out of your head. We like doing things for you.” He did something he’d never done before. He leaned in and kissed her forehead. “How about something to drink?”
“That would be great. Tea, if there’s any left.”
“Garrett made some fresh last night. I’ll get you a glass and we can talk for a while.”
He walked into the kitchen but returned a few seconds later with two glasses of tea. He handed her one and took his over to the lounge chair to sit down.
“What did you want to talk about?” she asked cautiously.
Was he going to tell her they would be leaving soon? She was going to be on her feet before too much longer. Maybe he was going to suggest they become intimate, and she wasn’t sure she was ready for that.
“About what you’re going to do about staying alone. I’m worried about you.”
“I’m okay. I’ve been on my own for three years now. I’ll be fine.”
“More and more people are coming to the Border Lands to escape the violence in the communities back there. Some of them are good people, but some of them aren’t so nice. With more people out here, it’s going to be harder for you to stay hidden.”
“What do you think I should do?” She was scared of what he would say.
“You really do need to find a good man to take care of you. Someone you trust, of course.”
“Trust isn’t easy for me.” She sipped her tea and looked at the fire.
“We know some of what you went through. You talked while you were sick. Not all men are like this Carl person, Ronnie.”
“How am I supposed to know the difference? It could be too late by the time I find out he’s not trustworthy.”
“We could look for one for you that we trust,” Brice suggested quietly.
“I-I don’t know.”
“Do you trust us, Ronnie?”
There it was. The question she’d been anticipating for days now. How to answer it? She wanted to tell them the truth, but she didn’t want to pressure them into staying when they obviously were ready to go.
“Yes, I trust you. You’ve been nothing but kind to me, and worked hard for me. How could I not trust you?”
“So you would feel comfortable with someone we picked out?” he asked.
“I don’t know. I’m comfortable around you and Garrett now. But you’ve been nothing but gentleman. Of course, I’m not really in any shape for, um. Anyway. I’ll be better off by myself. Maybe I’ll move farther west.”
Brice stood up and crossed to the couch. He sat on the edge of it. “I’d hate for you to give up this place. It’s a really nice place, and you’ve already done so much work to it.”
Ronnie swallowed around the lump that had grown in her throat when he moved closer. She felt the now-familiar wetness between her legs.
“I do like it here. But I’ve had some close calls recently, so it’s probably time to think about moving.” She looked down at the as yet untouched glass of tea she was holding.
“You’ve had someone bothering you? Here at the house?”
“Once I had someone come up to the house and demand to see my man. I told him he wasn’t there, to come back later. He never showed back up. I kept the gun on him the entire time. Then there have been the times I’ve nearly been caught out scavenging.” She took a tentative sip of her tea to see if it would go down around the lump in her throat.
“See, that is why you need a man to help you and take care of you.”
She started to tell him that she had been doing fine without one for the last three years, but he stopped her.
“I know you’ve been taking care of yourself, but a man can keep other men away from you and protect you so that you don’t have to worry as much about them bothering you. He can help around the farm, too. You have a lot on you here. It’s taking me and Garrett to keep up with the place.”
“I’m sorry you’ve had so much to do.”
“I’m not complaining about it. Just making a statement. You could use help, Ronnie.”
“I’ll think about it. Do you already know someone you’re thinking about?” She hoped not. If she allowed anyone into her life, it would be one of them.
“I know a few men, but I’d have to think about it. I know you need someone sensitive to your, um, history.” Brice looked down at his nearly empty tea glass and turned it up to gulp down the rest.
“I better get back out there and finish up the chores I’m working on. Garrett is a slave driver,” he said with a grin.
“Thanks for the tea. I was thirsty.” She took another sip and sat it on the end table next to her.
“One of us will be b
ack in to check on you in a little while.”
She watched Brice walk back through the kitchen until he was out of sight. She liked watching both men walk away from her, because they had such delectable asses. She sighed and pondered her predicament.
There had actually been a couple of occasions when men had come to the house and tried to get in. She’d scared them off with the gun, but she knew one day one would catch her outside unawares if she wasn’t careful. Then there had been the close calls while she’d been out scavenging. One man had gotten so close as to have her in his hands, but she’d managed to fight her way clear. Her time was running out and she knew it. Why wouldn’t they just leave her alone? She wasn’t anything to look at. She was heavy for a female, and awkward.
Sighing, she leaned back against the back of the couch. What if she could convince one of the men to stay? The other one could come visit any time he wanted to. Who would she ask? She thought long and hard, and realized she couldn’t choose. She liked both of them, and her body reacted to both of them.
Garrett’s extra-large body didn’t really frighten her anymore, and Brice seemed to have a good head on his shoulders. Garrett remembered to be careful of her injuries and tried hard to make her smile. Brice tended to her and made sure she was comfortable. Both men were wonderful, for men. Still, they were men, and all men wanted sex. The bad thing was, she was beginning to be interested in sex as well. Mostly she was interested in sex with them.
* * * *
Brice and Garrett took a breather from fixing the fence they’d found down in the pasture. Despite the chill in the air, they were sweating.
“So, what did she say when you offered to find a man for her?” Garrett asked.
He really didn’t like the idea of looking for a man for her. For some reason it bothered him to think of her with another man. He realized he had become very protective of her and thought of her as his to take care of.
“She wasn’t real excited about it. She said she would think about it, but I don’t think she’s going to go for the idea.”
“She’s not safe here anymore. More and more people are moving out this direction.”