Monroe, Marla - Their Bartered Bride [Men of the Border Lands 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Marla Monroe

  “Hey, Leigh. Do you mind if I stay with you while they are out hunting?”

  “Of course not. Come on to the kitchen. I’m finishing up the dishes. We can let the men have the living room.”

  The two women left the men to discuss hunting and talked about the snow. Leigh finished drying the dishes while they talked.

  “You’re sure you don’t mind my staying here? I didn’t want to be alone while they were gone.” Ronnie looked back over her shoulder toward the living room.

  “I’m sure. I had already asked the guys if I could stay with you anyway. I didn’t want to be alone, either. I’m going to be worried to death as it is, until they get back.”

  “They’ll be fine. With four of them, the wolves won’t be so eager to attack. Depending on how many they find, they might invite another family in to hunt next time. I think they mainly want to find out what they’re dealing with this time.” Ronnie took a seat at the kitchen table.

  They talked about the other families that Ronnie was aware of for a few minutes. Then Joel, Jonathan, and the other men walked into the kitchen, all carrying guns.

  “We’re leaving, baby. No matter what, you keep the doors closed and locked. We’ll be back in a couple of hours.” Jonathan bent down and kissed Leigh.

  The other men hugged and kissed Ronnie. Then they all four pulled on their coats and walked outside. Leigh closed and locked the door, praying they would all come back soon unharmed.

  “They’ll be fine. You’ll see,” Ronnie assured her.

  “Let me show you around the house while we have enough light to see by. With the cloud coverage this morning, I thought for sure it was going to snow some more, but it cleared off while we were sleeping.” Leigh put on some coffee for them.

  “It will snow again in the next day or two. Garrett can tell for some reason almost a hundred percent of the time. Helps with knowing what to expect when you’ve got a garden you’re tending to.”

  “How large a garden do you have at your place? I’m not sure how big they need to make next year’s. I’m still getting used to how much food to cook for them. They’re big men,” Leigh admitted.

  Ronnie told her about her garden and how many rows of what vegetable she planted and how long the rows were. They talked about everything, from canning to the men themselves.

  “You mean you haven’t had both of them inside you at the same time yet?” Ronnie asked with a shocked expression.

  “Um, no. They’ve been preparing me, but we haven’t actually done it yet.” Leigh was embarrassed to talk about it.

  “Well, all I can say is, wait until you have them both filling your body at one time. It’s the most amazing feeling in the world. It sort of seals the three of you together. It hurts a little at first, but it changes really quickly if they know what they’re doing. The fact that they are getting you ready says they do.” Ronnie smiled a smug smile and leaned back in the kitchen chair.

  Leigh jumped up and grabbed the coffee pot to pour up more coffee. She couldn’t help the heat creeping up her face. Talking about sex embarrassed her with this woman. She barely knew her two days now. Still, she was easy to talk to.

  The howl of a wolf jerked both of their attentions to the window.

  “That sounded really close,” Leigh said in a whisper.

  “Yeah, it did, but sound really travels over snow on a clear day.”

  “Do you think the men heard it?” Leigh asked.

  “Yeah, I’m sure they did.” Ronnie cleared her throat. “Why are we whispering, anyway?”

  “I guess because I don’t want the damn wolf to hear me,” she said with a nervous laugh.

  They both laughed then sipped their coffee in silence for a few minutes.

  “Want to know a secret?” Ronnie asked.

  “What?”

  “You can’t say anything to anyone.” Ronnie leaned forward.

  “Who am I going to tell?” Leigh asked, shaking her head.

  “Not even your men.”

  “What?” Leigh was intrigued now.

  “I’m pregnant.” Ronnie smiled.

  “Oh. My. God! Your men don’t know yet? Why not?”

  “Well, I spotted a few days and I wanted to wait for a few weeks before I said anything in case I miscarried.”

  “They’re going to be pissed that you didn’t tell them, especially if you do miscarry,” Leigh warned.

  “I don’t want them worried about me right now with this wolf situation and all. They need all their wits about them. I’ll tell them next week.”

  “I think you’re making a mistake not telling them now. It’s not good to keep secrets between husband and wife.” Leigh’s mind clicked back at Joel and wondered if he was keeping his feelings about having bought her a secret.

  “You looked sad just then. What were you thinking about?”

  “Nothing.”

  “No, I told you my secret. Tell me what made you look so sad.” Ronnie crossed her arms, waiting.

  “I just think that maybe Joel is feeling guilty about having bought me. He and Jonathan felt really strongly about buying women and then they bought me. They saved me, though. I don’t want him to regret it, regret me.”

  “Don’t worry yourself about it. He’ll come to terms with it. It’s nothing on you, I’m sure. It’s a code of ethics that he had, and he breached it, but there are always times when you might have to make allowances for things.”

  “I wish he would talk about it. I feel like I’m making him unhappy.”

  Ronnie reached across the table and squeezed her hand. “Give him time. He’ll come to terms with it and everything will be okay.”

  The sounds of scuffling outside the kitchen door had both women jerking in their seats.

  “What’s that?” Ronnie asked.

  “I don’t know.” Leigh stood up and inched toward the kitchen door.

  “Don’t open the door,” Ronnie yelled out.

  “I’m not. I’m just going to look out the window.” Leigh eased forward and leaned in to see out of it.

  “Fuck!”

  “What is it?” Ronnie asked, backing away from the door.

  “There’s a wolf out there digging at the door.”

  “Where’s your cellar? We need to get down there, now.”

  Before Leigh could tell her, there was a crash of glass and a wolf flew through the kitchen window next to the door. Another one followed by yet another one. Both women screamed as the wolves stalked toward them.

  Chapter Twelve

  “There are more than the dozen we saw. I saw more than that the other night when I was out here,” Joel said.

  “We’ll, we’ve managed to kill three. That will let them know we’re after them and not to fuck with us,” Brice said.

  Garrett shook his head. “I don’t get it. They ran. Why did they run?”

  Jonathan and Joel exchanged glances. Joel was thinking the same thing. They had chased them deep into the woods past Brice and Garrett’s house. Something wasn’t right.

  “They act too intelligent for my thinking, too. It’s almost as if they’ve learned from how we’ve been watching them,” Brice said.

  Jonathan looked back over his shoulder in the direction of home. “Joel. I want to get back to Leigh. I don’t like this.”

  “Fuck. You don’t think they split up and are back at the house, do you?” Garrett asked.

  “Yeah, I do,” Joel said and took off running toward home.

  “Slow up, Joel,” Garrett yelled. “The cold air will kill your lungs and you won’t be able to even walk in a few minutes. We’ll get there.”

  Joel stopped and bent over, knowing Garrett was right. It didn’t make him feel any better. He had a sick feeling about the entire thing.

  The four of them walked for nearly an hour back toward the house. The first howl spurred them back into a sprint, though. The second howl had them running. Joel wasn’t going to lose Leigh. They had told her to keep the doors closed and locked. She wou
ld do it. She wouldn’t have opened them for any reason without her men being there.

  The cold air was burning his lungs as he fought to keep up the fast pace he had set for them. Thank goodness the snow had been less than a foot deep in most places, or they would have been slowed way down.

  As it was, when they reached the house and saw the window broken in, Joel nearly went to his knees. He started forward, but Jonathan grabbed him.

  “They might still be in there, and we don’t know how many there are. We need to surround them.”

  “Brice and I will take the front door. Do you have a key?” Garrett asked.

  Joel dug in his pocket and pulled out his keys. He handed him the right key.

  “On the count of twenty we’ll all go in. Remember the women are in there, so don’t shoot one of them,” Joel warned.

  They all nodded and the other two men ran around to the front of the house. Joel and Jonathan would go through the window.

  As soon as he reached twenty, Joel nodded at Jonathan and they went through the window with their guns at the ready. There was blood everywhere, but no sign of the women. A wolf lay on its side in front of the pantry with a knife sticking out of it. Just as the other two men walked inside, a wolf came running from upstairs. Brice shot it before it ever reached the ground. Another one came barreling down the stairs as well. Joel caught it as it rounded the corner to the kitchen.

  “Brice and I’ll go upstairs and clear it. How many bedrooms?” Garrett asked.

  “Three. We’ll look for them here,” Joel said.

  “Leigh! Ronnie!” Jonathan called out, walking toward the pantry door.

  There was a murmur of voices from somewhere. Joel and Garrett both jumped for the pantry at the same time. They had to kick aside the dead wolf. Then they wrenched open the door, only to find the room empty.

  “Leigh? Where are you, baby?” Joel called out.

  The murmur of voices was closer but still muffled.

  “They’re in the cellar, Joel,” Jonathan said.

  Joel grabbed the cellar door and pulled, but it wouldn’t open.

  “Fuck, they have it barred on the inside. Why don’t they open it for us?” Joel kicked the door.

  “Open the door, baby. We can’t help you if you don’t open the door.” Jonathan banged on the door.

  More murmurs sounded below them.

  “The second story is clear,” Brice said. “We didn’t find them.”

  “They’re in the cellar, but the door is barred on the other side. I’m trying to get them to let us in. I don’t know what’s wrong.”

  “Maybe they are looking for the stairs. There’s no light down there,” Jonathan pointed out.

  “Leigh! Follow the sound of my voice. Come on, baby. I know you can do it.”

  Joel called out for several seconds. The sounds of footsteps on the stairs beneath them silenced his voice. He sighed. She was coming.

  The wood beam on the other side started moving, and then the door creaked open. Instead of Leigh’s face emerging from the gloom, Ronnie’s did. She had blood all over her chest, arms, and hands.

  “Leigh’s hurt, bad. She saved my life. You’ve got to help her.”

  Garrett grabbed her up and carried her into the kitchen. Brice handed Joel a lantern.

  “You’re going to need this. Where is your first-aid kit?”

  “Under the kitchen sink,” Jonathan answered for Joel, who was already descending the stairs.

  “Baby?” Joel steeled himself for what he would find when he found her. It didn’t help.

  She lay against the potatoes, curled up on her side, covered in blood from head to foot. Joel felt tears brim in his eyes. He swallowed around them and called out for Jonathan, but the man was already there, picking her up and holding her close.

  Joel held the lantern as they walked back up the stairs. It had grown dark now. The other men had lit several lamps around the kitchen to light the room. Jonathan sat on a chair, still holding Leigh. She hadn’t said anything.

  “Jonathan?” Joel was afraid to ask.

  “She’s alive, but I don’t know how badly she’s hurt. I’m scared to look. You’re going to have to.”

  Joel sat the lantern down on the table next to where Brice and Garrett were tending to Ronnie’s wounds.

  “Is she okay?” Jonathan looked over at the other woman.

  “She’s going to be. She has some bad cuts on her hands and arms, but that’s it. What about Leigh?” Garrett asked.

  “I don’t know.” Jonathan almost whispered it.

  “Joel?” Garrett asked.

  “She’s bleeding, but I haven’t figured out where yet.” He pulled her hands away from her abdomen and cursed.

  “What is it?” Jonathan asked.

  “She has a bite on her stomach. Can you hold her hand away from it for me so I can tell more about it?”

  Jonathan took her hand in his and held it still as Joel checked her belly. “Her arms are all scratched and cut up.”

  “We’ll take care of her, Jonathan,” Joel promised.

  “She’s got a bite on her belly that’s bleeding, but I don’t think it went too deep. I think she’s more in shock than anything,” Joel said with some relief.

  He knew they weren’t out of the woods yet. There was the threat of infection, and the wounds had to be sewn up. First, they had to clean her and see which ones would need closing.

  “Do you need anything from us?” Brice asked. “I want to take Ronnie home and see about these cuts that have to be sewn up.”

  “No, I’m glad she’s going to be okay.”

  “She saved my life. She pulled the wolf off of me and kept stabbing at it with the knife.” Ronnie was crying.

  “We owe her,” Garrett said.

  “You help us kill those fucking wolves, and that will take care of it.” Joel was so upset he was shaking.

  “It’s a done deal, man.” Garrett picked up Ronnie and carried her toward the front door.

  Brice laid Joel’s keys on the table and looked him in the eye. “We’ll get them. Every last one of them.” Then he followed Garrett and Ronnie through the living room.

  Joel didn’t even hear the front door close.

  “Let’s get her upstairs and clean her off in the tub so we can see the wounds better. I’ll carry her. You need to get the lamps and the first-aid kit.” Jonathan stood up, cradling Leigh in his arms.

  Jonathan seemed to have his head on straight. Joel wasn’t doing so well. All he could see was a lifeless Leigh curled up covered in blood. He shook his head hard to clear it and grabbed the lamps to lead Jonathan upstairs. He made several more trips with lamps, the first-aid kit, and bags of snow from outside to help cut down on the swelling around the wounds.

  Jonathan had stripped her and, after padding the tub with towels, laid her in the tub so they could pour the last of their peroxide over her wounds. Her hands were bleeding the most. They packed icy towels around them while they worked on her abdomen.

  “Joel?” Leigh finally spoke in a small voice.

  “Right here, baby. We’ve got you.”

  “It hurts.”

  “I know, baby.” Joel thought he was going to break down and cry, but he refused. He had to be strong to get them all through this.

  “Is my belly okay?” she asked.

  “It’s fine, baby. You have a bite there, but it’s shallow.” This time Jonathan answered, smoothing her hair out of her face. “We’re going to fix you up, Leigh. Then we’re going to hold you close.”

  “I was so scared.” She began to cry now, low sobs that were breaking Joel’s heart.

  “I know you were, baby, but you did well. You did well.” Joel leaned in and kissed her gently on the mouth.

  They tended to her wounds for nearly an hour before finally finishing. Leigh had passed out as soon as they began sewing up the worst of the cuts. Joel knew she had been damn lucky to be alive, much less having survived with so few wounds. She had the bite on
her belly that was shallow and only required a couple of stitches. Then there were the various cuts on her hands and up one arm. He had to be thankful. It could have been so much worse.

  Jonathan had cleaned her up and carried her to bed while he cleaned up the bathroom. He had time to gather himself and come to grips with the fact that they had almost lost her. They wouldn’t underestimate the wolves again.

  “Joel, come to bed, man. She needs the warmth. She needs you,” Jonathan called from the bedroom.

  He could hear the tears in his brother’s voice. They matched the tears in Joel’s eyes. He leaned into the counter and swallowed hard around the lump lodged in his throat. Once he had his emotions under control, he blew out two of the lamps and brought the other one to the bedroom. He quickly pulled off his clothes.

  Jonathan had Leigh lying almost on top of him. “She woke up. I gave her some Tylenol. She swallowed it without water. I know she’s hurting. I can’t stand it, Joel.”

  “I know. I know.” Joel climbed into bed after blowing out the lamp. He scooted over close to Leigh’s back and turned on his side to offer his warmth.

  “Leigh, baby. I love you.” Joel needed to say that. He’d wrestled with it for several days, but held back because he felt guilty for buying her. He knew she needed to hear the words, and he needed to say them. He hoped she was awake enough to hear them.

  “Love you, too, Joel. So much.” Her tiny voice sounded strained.

  He knew it had to be from the pain. “Don’t talk, Leigh. Just rest for now. We have you.”

  “Joel. I’m happy with you and Jonathan. I wouldn’t have been happy in a brothel.”

  “We’ll always try to make you happy, Leigh. Now get some rest.”

  Joel had closed the bedroom door to be sure nothing got inside to them through the open window downstairs. They would tend to it in the morning. Hell, they had to see to the horses and the cattle as well. They weren’t going to leave Leigh alone, though. They would have to take turns. He didn’t plan on ever leaving her alone again without someone to protect her.

  He heard Jonathan’s light snore and could tell Leigh was asleep by the laxness of her body. He kept the covers pulled well over her. He didn’t want her to catch a cold and was scared to death of an infection in her wounds. He knew the woman who’d survived the attack last year had nearly died from an infection.