Barefoot Bride for Three
Page 21
Trace lifted Beth into his arms.
“Put me down! Trace, what are you doing?”
He turned in a circle with her in his arms, around and around, laughing.
“No! You’ll make me sick again!”
“Better listen to her,” said Jack. “She looks pretty white. Or maybe green.”
Trace stopped and set her feet down. She dropped to her knees, gasping and holding her belly.
“What’s the matter, sweetheart?” Trace rubbed her back.
“This happen before you shot those bandits, Beth?” asked Simon.
She nodded. “I think I ate something bad. The last couple of mornings I felt miserable, but it went away.” She took Simon’s hand and stood up. She frowned and stared at the ground as if thinking hard.
“Trace, Beth’s been awful tired lately. I came home to change horses and found her in your old bed yesterday. She never even knew I went by.”
“We’ll take her into town first thing in the morning,” said Trace. “If the doc isn’t around, Miss Lily might know what’s the matter.”
Simon looked at Jack. Jack’s lip twitched. Simon snorted. Jack slapped Trace on the back.
“Wait until we tell Miss Lily that we figured it out before the bridegroom,” said Simon. They were fifteen when Trace was injured. Refusing to leave him, they’d lived with Miss Lily for the few weeks Trace was bedridden. Among other things, they’d learned how to spot the early stages of pregnancy. A lesson that Trace had obviously missed.
“You really don’t know, do you, bro?”
Trace grabbed the front of Jack’s shirt and hauled him on to his toes. “Tell me what’s so funny. Now!”
Beth pulled at Simon’s arm. “Do you think I might be growing a baby?”
Since Trace’s hands were full of Jack, Simon drew her close to him. He wrapped his arms around her and inhaled deep. Only then did he step back and kiss her forehead.
“Yep. You’d best start knitting, Beth. Tiny things.”
Beth gasped. She pressed a hand on her lower belly. A smile wider than Montana appeared on her face. Trace, watching her dawning comprehension, shoved Jack away. He held out trembling arms to Beth.
“Oh, sweetheart! I wanted to believe but wasn’t sure.”
Jack, smile wide, smoothed his shirt front as he watched Trace and Beth kiss.
“We’re gonna be uncles, Sy.”
“Next one’s mine,” said Simon. “I want a sweet little blonde-haired girl like Beth.”
“Mine’ll be a boy,” replied Jack. “Unless it’s one of each.”
“Excuse me.” They turned to Beth. “May I have one baby before you decide on more?”
Jack and Simon looked at each other. They shrugged and then turned to Beth. “Whatever the momma wants,” said Jack. “Miss Lily said her girls get all hot and bothered once the morning sickness passes. Then they want to scratch their itch pretty bad.”
“You feel itchy, Beth?” asked Simon.
Beth lifted her head from Trace’s chest. “I don’t know about itchy, but I need some loving and a long nap. It’s been a very long day.”
Trace placed one hand behind Beth’s back, another behind her knees, and lifted her into his arms once more. He turned and started walking toward the house.
“You didn’t tell me you were feeling poorly,” said Trace. “That’s one. You scared the hell out of me. That’s two. This daddy thing, well, that’s number three. I’ve been meaning to spank you for some time. Racing down that mountain I realized things can’t wait. So I decided today’s the day, wife.”
“What? Simon, Jack, help me!”
Simon knew that any spanking Beth received would be gentle love pats, but he’d let her discover that for herself. Struggling in Trace’s loving arms would help release the tension in her muscles from the afternoon’s ordeal.
“Afternoon, ma’am,” he said, lifting his hat as she passed.
“Nice ass you got there,” said Jack.
“It is nice,” said Trace. He stopped, letting them catch up. “Feel how soft her skin is, right there.”
Jack took the initiative and slid his fingers between her thighs, drawing out her nectar with a rough finger. He licked his finger. “She’s ripe all right.”
Trace winked at his brothers. “You helped save her. Want to help paddle her?”
“No!” Beth squealed and kicked. The men laughed, more in relief than at her predicament. “Let me go!”
“Not until we’re finished with you.” Trace’s smile was wide. “Right, boys?”
“We’d better wash her off and rub something into those scratches first,” said Simon.
“I guess it’s time to haul out that new copper bathtub I ordered.”
“You got the bathtub?” Beth stopped struggling.
“I’ll fire up the stove and fill the reservoir,” said Jack.
“Set the tub by the kitchen door in the sun,” ordered Trace. “We’ll have to check every inch of her to make sure there’s nothing sticking in her.”
“Nothing but us, you mean.”
“I know what we can rub into those scratches, Beth.”
Trace slowed to let his brothers set things up. When they were alone, he held her tight and dropped his head onto hers.
“This has been the worst and best day of my life,” he whispered.
“I was so scared when I saw those men ride up.”
“But you did what you had to do.” Trace kissed her forehead. “I knew you were the woman for me. Strong and proud. I do love my wild barefoot bride.”
She wiggled her toes. “That’s not all that’s bare.”
“Saves me ripping all those buttons off again.”
“I love you, Trace Elliott. And I love your brothers, too.”
“Good. We’re going to be together for a long, long time.”
He followed the sound of Simon and Jack’s squabbling as they fought over who would get to wash Beth, to kiss her, and to drive deep inside her.
He hugged her tight, knowing the answer was simple. All three of them would love her, forever.
THE END
www.ReeceButler.net
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Reece Butler lives outside a large city just far enough to commute to her full-time job, yet come home to the quiet countryside. While her hardworking husband and sons are proud of her, they do miss the baking and special things she used to do before writing erotic romance took over her so-called spare time.
She takes her research seriously and recently returned from a week at a dude ranch learning how to be a cowboy. She gained a few bruises, sore muscles and learned about feeding, riding, roping and cleaning up after horses. Wranglers, and cowboys, are up before dawn to get the grain buckets ready and last feeding is late in the evening. Fantasy cowboy life is far easier than reality!
Reece then spent a couple weeks conducting in-depth research while driving around southwest Montana where this fictional erotic romance series is set.
There is, unfortunately, no room in her life for a horse. However, fantasy fills the gaps and in her dreams she rides Dee-Dee, the Arabian bay mare, up the trail to view the sunset on a Tennessee evening.
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