by Sam Crescent
“Deal.” He caught her yawn when she tried to hide it. Kissing her stomach once again, he moved up and held her in his arms. “Wait, you’re stopping?”
“You’re tired and when I take you, you’re going to enjoy it.”
* * * *
The following morning, Ryan walked downstairs to discover Jon and Luke sitting, eating cereal and talking. They were silent as he entered.
“Where’s Darla?” Ryan asked, feeling her loss even though she hadn’t been moved in for more than twenty-four hours yet.
“She’s gone to visit her mother with Nathan. When she’s done, she’s seeing about getting Nathan booked into Nursery and setting him up for school,” Jon said, flicking through the newspaper.
“What did she say about your scratches?” Ryan asked, looking at the side of Luke’s face.
“She bandaged them up and took care of me.” Luke smiled over at him.
Ryan raised an eyebrow. “Seriously? No argument occurred?”
“No, no argument, and we even had a conversation about the woman who gave them to me. I made her laugh.”
Rolling his eyes, Ryan poured himself some cereal in a bowl and coffee into a cup. “The highlight of her moving in was getting her to laugh?”
“It’s not that easy. Besides, she came wandering out of Jon’s bedroom. I thought we were going to take it slowly?” Luke said, giving Jon a pointed look.
“We are taking it slowly.” Jon shrugged. “Tate convinced her to go hunting in our space. She was asleep in my bed. I wasn’t going to kick her out.”
“And all you did was sleep?” Ryan asked.
“Yep. I may have touched her breasts and kissed her stomach, but nothing else. She was too tired.” Jon stopped talking to eat. Sitting down at the kitchen counter, Ryan settled his gaze on both of his brothers.
“How is this going to work with all three of us?” Ryan asked, finally broaching the subject of their relationship with Darla.
“How do you mean?” Jon asked.
“Three men, four bedrooms? We’ve not even got a large bedroom. Luke’s got the biggest bed. How are we going to do this?” Ryan asked.
Jon started off first. “I’ve been thinking about that and I think we could all start off dating her. All of us have a night that we call our own where we do what we want.”
“Independent dating?” Luke asked. “I like it.”
“How will that work?” Ryan asked. “There’s three of us.”
“Exactly. I love you guys, but I don’t want to risk touching you in bed. If we’re all sharing a room, one of us is going to be snuggling against one of us. It’s not like Tessie with two men. There’s three of us and nowhere else for us to go,” Jon said. “I’m not risking grabbing one of your asses and thinking it was Darla’s.”
“We’re going to share her, though,” Luke said. “All of us at the same time.”
“And your room is pretty big with a large enough bed,” Jon said. “We’ll make it work. We can have independent date nights and a night for all of us. What do you think?”
“It sounds very domesticated,” Darla said, appearing in the doorway.
Ryan tensed up, glancing over at her. She was removing her coat. Her hair was bound up on her head.
“I thought you were visiting your mother and sorting out Nathan,” Luke said.
“Mom wasn’t in good shape. She asked for me to come back another time.” Darla paused as her words sank in. Janet Rose was not going to last. “I took Nathan to nursery.” She reached into her jacket pocket, pulling out some forms. “And I got the details to get him signed up for school next September.”
“School? Already?” Luke asked.
“He’ll be five next year. I’m not going to risk missing the cutoff date to get him into school.” Darla went straight for the coffee. “I’ll phone around and get our son put into school for next year. It should be good for him, getting him involved with other kids his age before starting school.”
Ryan checked out her ass. The jeans molded to her ass beautifully.
“So, we’re all going to date each other, and share a room with Luke when we all want some loving together?” Darla asked, blowing on the hot coffee.
He was so hard from watching her. Glancing down the length of her body, he saw her beaded nipples and the dilation of her eyes. Darla was as turned on by the situation as him. Checking out his brothers, he saw Luke and Jon felt exactly the same.
“You all want me?”
“You’ve got no idea how hard I am for you right now,” Jon said.
“And me. Your ass looks too damn good.” Luke stood up, moving to stand beside them. All three of them stood in a line, looking at her.
Ryan saw the flare of interest in her eyes as she looked at each of them in turn. In the last twenty-four hours, he’d seen the old Darla in her place. There was no longer any fear or concern about pregnancy or what they thought.
“My ass?” she asked.
“Turn around and bend over,” Ryan said.
Her eyebrow shot up as she looked at him. “Are you ordering me around?”
“I certainly am.”
Smiling, she did as he asked, turning around and bending over.
“Fuck, her ass is so damn round,” Luke said.
“You three are the strangest men I’ve ever met.”
“Have you met a lot of men?” Jon asked.
They had her bent over in the kitchen, admiring her ass. Shaking his head, Ryan felt an answering pulse in his jeans at the sight that met him. He imagined sinking into her pussy from behind, watching her sweet flesh take his rock-hard cock. Damn, his imagination was running wild and there was nothing he could do to stop the rushing waves of arousal coursing through him.
“No, only the men at Stone Valley.”
“Then we’re all strange. We all want to share one woman, there’s nothing sane about us,” Luke said.
Ryan and Jon chuckled, waiting for Darla to respond.
She stood up, turning around to face them. There was a seriousness to her face. “Are we really going to do this?” she asked.
“Yes, we’re really going to do this,” Luke answered first, followed by Jon. Ryan stared at her, waiting for her to give him her gaze. He didn’t have to wait long.
“Are you having second thoughts?”
“No.” Taking a step closer, Ryan reached out, cupping her face. “As far as I’m concerned, Darla, you’ve been mine since high school. In fact, you’ve been mine before that.” He stroked her cheek, loving the smooth flesh of her skin against the pad of his thumb.
Licking his lips, Ryan leaned in close. He needed to touch her or do something that would rid him of this burning ache. For so long, he’d been yearning for a touch of Darla, always wondering what it would be like to kiss, to taste, to feel, and he’d held back because she never seemed ready. He couldn’t hold back anymore. His feelings for her were so damn powerful that there was no longer an “off” switch to his desire.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“I’m going to have a taste of you. I need to know you’re here and you’re real, and that I’m not dreaming,” he said.
“That’s a lot of reasons.” She stared up at him. Her hands moved to grip onto his forearms.
“I’ve got a lot of time to make up for. I’m not letting you go, Darla, never.” He slammed his lips down on hers, taking possession of her mouth like he wanted to of her body.
* * * *
Darla moaned. Ryan was not taking any chances, as his kiss was passionate and demanding. There was nothing more for her to do than let him kiss her. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she gave him everything in her kiss. Closing her eyes, she opened her mouth as he plunged his tongue inside. She’d only ever been with one man and that man stood watching them.
Opening her eyes, she pulled away, glancing over Ryan’s shoulder to see Luke staring at her. There was no jealousy in his eyes, only a burning need blazing back at her. Taking a deep breath, s
he then licked her lips and stared at him.
“You’re not jealous?” she asked.
“Watching you kiss my brother with so much passion is turning me on, Darla. Giving yourself to us turns me on.” He took a step closer as did Jon. “There’s nothing I want more than to see you happy between all three of us.” Luke took her out of Ryan’s arms, bringing her in close. “I’ve been too stupid to see what was right in front of me.”
Staring up at him, Darla saw the regret he felt even though it was not entirely his fault. She kept Nathan’s paternity a secret, scared in case he rejected her.
“This is not your fault. It was mine.” He pressed a finger to her lips, stopping her from talking.
“No, it’s not. I should never have touched you when I’d been drinking. I don’t handle my drinking well, and I was an ass to you. Loving you has kept me sane, Darla. I’m going to spend the rest of my life making everything up to you. This is all on me. Leaving and not coming back when Ryan and Jon told me you were pregnant was wrong of me. I was too damn proud, and I’ll have to live with that for the rest of my life.” He tilted her head back with a finger under her chin. “What I can promise you, Darla, is that it’s never going to happen again. You’re never going to have to worry about me rejecting you. I’m in this for the rest of my life.”
She glanced down at his chest, wishing she knew what to say. What was she supposed to say in a situation like this?
Taking a deep breath, she gazed passed him to look at Jon and Ryan.
“Do you feel the same?”
“We’ve been waiting for you, Darla.” Jon took her out of Luke’s arms. “Let us show you how good it can be between us.” He dropped his lips against hers.
“Are you talking sex?” she asked
“No, we’re talking dating, but sex is good. I’d like some sex,” Ryan said.
Darla giggled as Luke slapped his youngest brother around the back of the head.
“No pressure.”
“Okay, I like the thought of dating first. It should be fun. I’ve never been on a date.” Heat filled her cheeks as she realized she had a child, and most likely one on the way, and she’d never been on a first date.
“Hey, don’t feel embarrassed,” Ryan said.
“Yeah, we’re the ones at fault. We should have taken you out before now,” Jon said. “Instead, we got you to move in with us first. We’ll do everything backward. A child, then dating, and then sex.”
Jon got a slap around the back of the head.
“Ow, I’m being thoughtful.”
“I’ll have to arrange for a babysitter.” Putting hands on her hips, she stared at all three men. “I can’t stay here without earning my keep.” For a long time, she’d been caring for her mother and then earning for all three of them to keep them afloat. There was no way she’d be happy sitting at home, twiddling her thumbs while her men worked.
Her men? She’d have to get used to thinking of Ryan, Jon, and Luke as her men.
“What do you want to do?” Luke asked, folding his arms. His defenses were up.
“I’ve got to work. Sitting at home last night was no good for me at all. I love Nathan, I do, but I’ve got to work as well.” She faced all of them, determined to be independent.
Don’t forget you could be pregnant.
How could she forget that one small detail? She’d bumped into Jeremy Norris and he’d given her a stern talking-to. He would give her the month before he demanded her presence at his practice. That man had no right ordering her around. Even if he’d helped her birth her first son and been there for her when she’d panicked during the early months of Nathan’s birth, she didn’t owe him anything.
Now you’re being a bitch.
“Bessie has replaced you at the diner with reckless Lucy. She’s fond of the little drifter and won’t get rid of her because of you.”
“I can’t work for you at the Dancin’ Donkey. I’ll have Nathan then, and I don’t want to force him onto a babysitter.” She didn’t want to be a distant mom, just a working one.
“Why don’t you look at doing schooling online?” Jon said, suggesting the idea.
Looking at him, she watched all three men look at each other. It was amazing to witness the men agree without even talking. How did they communicate so easily?
“School?” she asked.
“You always wanted to go to college, Darla. Nathan came and money was tight. We can afford for you to go to college,” Ryan said, awakening the memories of her sobbing on his shoulder at her crushed dreams once again.
“Online college. I couldn’t handle you and Nathan being away for long periods of time. You’ll be here,” Jon said, pointing his finger at the ground in front of him.
“Yeah, I agree with Ryan and Jon. Find something you want to study and live your dream, but from here,” Luke said. “The more I think about it, the more I like it.”
“But I’ll need somewhere to study, which will mean books, a computer, internet access. All of that costs money that I don’t have.” Darla liked the idea of going back to school, even online. She’d always dreamed of going away to college or at the very least studying something at a higher education level. Her life had changed every chance she tried to get to college.
Jon grabbed her hand. “We’ve got most of that solved.”
Last night she’d not spent much time exploring the rooms downstairs. She’d been more interested in the rooms her men occupied.
He opened the door to a large space. There were empty bookshelves along the wall with a large, oak desk with a laptop resting in the center. Darla looked around, seeing it would be perfect as a study room.
* * * *
Luke saw the wonder in her eyes. Rubbing his hands together, he patted the sofa in front of the empty bookcase. They’d always wanted to fill the space but between life and getting the Dancin’ Donkey back up and running there was no time for hobbies.
“Your shelves are completely blank,” she said, moving to the shelves. He watched her run her hands along the edge of the shelves, imagining her hands running over him with the same kind of care and attention.
“We’ve never got around to filling them,” Ryan said. “After our stepfather fucked over the bar, we’ve been trying to get it back to its original glory.”
“Why did your stepfather get that?” Darla asked. She spun around to face them. Taking a seat on the comfortable sofa, Luke watched her.
“Our mother demanded a divorce and our two fathers, Jackson and Byron, ended up handing over the bar to her. Then Derek took over, fucking everything up.” Luke stopped as memories of the bitter arguments consumed him. Seeing the place his two fathers once admired hurt him deeply. Jackson and Byron did everything they could to make sure all of them had a good life.
“Derek hurt you guys a lot, didn’t he?” she asked, moving toward them. They were all sitting on the sofa and she took a place on his lap. Wrapping his arms around her waist, Luke buried his head against her neck, inhaling her sweet, lemony fragrance.
“He did,” Ryan said. “We don’t need to discuss it.”
“How did your mom let it happen? I mean, how could your real fathers not see what was going on?” she asked. “I don’t understand how anyone could hurt a child. I’d kill anyone who hurt Nathan.”
Luke felt pride swell within him. His woman was protective of their child. He knew she’d be the same for all of their children, Ryan and Jon’s included. The thought of making a baby with her made his cock harden.
“Our mom wasn’t good. She put on a show for our dads and they didn’t know what she was really like. She was after their money.”
Darla made them all pause. “Okay, so why didn’t you just tell your fathers what he was doing?”
Luke looked at Jon and Ryan as they looked at him. “We didn’t want to worry them. They were always worried about us, and I guess we figured we could deal with it. It wasn’t that bad half the time.”
He noticed her gaze shot to Ryan and his
youngest brother looked down. “What?” he asked.
“Tell them, Ryan.”
“After you and Jon left, I spent a lot of time camping out at Darla’s place. He started drinking worse and you were both busy with the bar. I didn’t want to worry you, either.”
Now Luke felt like shit. He thought the beating he’d given Derek would have stopped any chance of Ryan or Jon getting hurt. All he’d done was make Derek smarter in hurting his brothers.
“You couldn’t have stopped it, Luke. You were working hard, so when I turned eighteen, I had somewhere to go.”
Stone Valley was a very open town for the most part, but there were still some dark holes that people couldn’t escape. They’d lived with the consequences of those actions. Seeing his friends happy at school, or other families, Luke would do everything he could to hide the harsh conditions he lived in. The one thing he hated above everything else was people looking at him with pity in their eyes. He didn’t need pity.
She squeezed his hand. “They’re gone now?”
He nodded. “Last I heard, they owed too much money and skipped out of town. We paid for their trailer and the bills that stopped people knocking at our door. We’ve not heard from them since.”
“What about your fathers?” Darla asked.
Ryan spoke up. “They’re looking to move back to Stone Valley. They did offer to support us if we chose to move out of town and live closer to them. We love this place and wouldn’t dream of leaving it.”
“Aside from the crap we had to put up with from Derek, it’s an amazing town,” Jon said.
“It’s why I couldn’t take Nathan away from it all. I’ve got friends here, and support.” Darla rested her head against his shoulder. “I wish I could take away all the pain for you.”
Luke rubbed his fingers over her thigh. He wanted to do a hell of a lot more. Talking about the past always made him nervous. It was on that night four, nearly five years ago he’d learned that Derek had put the Dancin’ Donkey up as collateral for something. Luke knew he couldn’t make the money back in time to buy the bar, and he’d decided to go travelling, entering fights, gambling in order to win back as much money as possible. He’d taken a risk, but he’d been determined to get his family heritage back without their fathers finding out what happened.