by Marla Monroe
Men of the Border Lands 7
Finding Her Men
Valerie needs someone to take care of her, and she thinks she’s found it in Luke and Grant. But will they take her in, or must she continue looking? Luke and Grant are surprised to find a woman on her own out in the Border Lands. How can they turn her away?
She can’t help but fall in love with them, but Grant needs a little more convincing than Luke, and she struggles to prove to him that she is worthy of his love.
When someone tries to take her away from them, they realize how much she means to them and fight to get her back. Nothing will stand in their way. The others in the area agree that they need to work together to keep their women safe. Grant and Luke are eager to join forces for the protection of the woman they love.
Note: There is no sexual relationship or touching for titillation between or among the siblings.
Genre: Futuristic, Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Western/Cowboys
Length: 36,921 words
FINDING HER MEN
Men of the Border Lands 7
Marla Monroe
MENAGE EVERLASTING
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Ménage Everlasting
FINDING HER MEN
Copyright © 2012 by Marla Monroe
E-book ISBN: 1-61926-775-6
First E-book Publication: April 2012
Cover design by Les Byerley
All art and logo copyright © 2012 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
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DEDICATION
I want to say thank you to Brittany for her help with making my life so much easier. Without her help, I’d lose my mind.
FINDING HER MEN
Men of the Border Lands 7
MARLA MONROE
Copyright © 2012
Chapter One
Valerie had been watching them for two weeks now. They were hard workers and had been nice to the family that had been by earlier in the week looking for a place to live. So far, they were her best chance at making it through the winter alive. She had no idea if they would accept her proposition or not.
Ever since the year of catastrophes, women were looked on more as possessions to be bought and sold than as human beings. There were men who hunted them to sell on the black market and into brothels. Valerie had been living with another family back in what used to be Tennessee until they moved to the Border Lands during the spring. Their garden hadn’t gotten off to a good start because it had been so late when they planted it. Now there wasn’t going to be enough food for all four of them, especially with a baby on the way.
She’d had a long talk with Sam, one of Esther’s husbands, and he agreed where John probably wouldn’t have. She needed men of her own. They would stand a chance at survival through the winter without Valerie better than they would with her. Esther had been a good friend for a long time, but she would have never let her go if she had known about her plan. Sam had drawn up papers for her and signed her over to whomever she chose.
Now all she had to do was find men strong enough and decent enough to take her. She thought she had found them. Luke and Grant were clearing out the garden and plowing it under for the winter. There was the scent of snow in the air, and they appeared to be rushing to beat it. Valerie watched Luke’s strong body as he cleared away the dead and dying plants from one end while Grant handled the plow on the other end of the garden.
Luke stood about six feet three inches with shaggy, ebony-colored hair. There was just enough curl to it to give it a thick, healthy appearance. His face looked more like one of an angel than a strong man intent on his job. She knew from being closer to him that his eyes were dark and sensuous, as was his expressive mouth.
Grant, on the other hand, was a no-nonsense man who took nothing for granted and said what he felt. His startling blue eyes looked almost out of place with his rich black hair that brushed his shoulders. He had a square jaw with a small scar at the corner of his mouth, and a slight crook to his nose. He wasn’t handsome like Luke, but good-looking in a rugged sort of way.
She watched from the trees. She’d climbed one earlier that morning and had been sitting there most of the day now. Her legs were cramped, but not nearly as uncomfortable as she had been before. Why she kept putting off going to the two men, she didn’t know. She’d long since made up her mind on them. She figured a part of her was still worried they wouldn’t want her. Maybe if she waited until the snow came they would take her in out of the kindness of their hearts, and she could win them over to keeping her.
Finally, they finished turning under the garden and put up the tiller before going inside. She climbed out of her perch and hurried to the shed where she’d been holed up at night for safety from the elements and the wolves. It was already colder than it had been the night before, and the sun wasn’t even down yet. She shivered and uncovered the blanket she’d hidden in the back of the shed. If it snowed tonight, she would go to them and ask for help.
Two hour
s later, she was ready to give in as her teeth began to chatter. She didn’t think she would make it until it snowed. When she looked out of the shed she nearly wept with relief. Snow had begun to fall. She waited as long as she could stand for snow to begin to accumulate on the ground before heading toward the house.
As she approached the back door, she began to worry that she’d waited too long as her feet began to falter. Putting one foot in front of the other became a chore. Finally, she reached the door and all but fell against it. She lifted her hand and knocked on the door. Her hand was so cold it burned. She knocked again, waiting for what seemed an eternity before the door opened and blessed heat seeped out into the cold.
* * * *
“What the fuck?” Luke made a grab for her as she began to sink to the ground.
He picked her up and slammed the door against the aching cold encroaching on the heat in the house.
“Grant!” He yelled at his brother as he carried her out of the kitchen and into the other room.
“Who is that?” Grant asked, standing up from the recliner.
“Don’t know, but she’s ice-cold. What do we do?”
“Get her upstairs and we’ll warm her up. Any idea where she came from?”
“From outside in the snow, dammit.” He could tell Grant was getting exasperated with him. “I don’t know. I just opened the back door and she fell into my arms.”
They walked into the master suite. Grant hurried to pull down the sheets as Luke sat her gingerly on the bed.
“Her clothes are damp, but not enough to warrant a warm bath. Let’s just get them off of her and put her to bed,” Grant said.
“Do I need to fix some coffee and try to get that into her?”
“Probably wouldn’t hurt. You go do that. I’ll finish undressing her.”
Luke hurried downstairs and put a pot of coffee on the stove. He waited impatiently for it to boil. By the time he was back with a cup of coffee, Grant had the little woman in bed with covers up to her neck. She was still shivering, though.
“Here, give me that. I’ll try and get some of it down her. You get undressed and in bed with her. See if you can warm her up some.”
Grant took the cup of coffee from Luke and carefully lifted the woman’s head and placed the cup at her lips. She sipped some, then coughed and sputtered. He tried again and this time she managed to take a drink. He settled her back down as Luke slipped beneath the covers and curled up around the little female.
“She’s like a block of fucking ice. My dick’s shriveled up like a prune.”
“She’s still shivering, Luke.”
“I’m wrapped up around her as tightly as I can get. You need to get in here with her.”
Grant frowned but nodded. He quickly stripped and climbed into bed to curl around her other side. Luke rubbed his hand up and down one arm as Grant warmed the other arm.
Finally, her shivers calmed down enough that Luke didn’t think she’d bite her tongue off if they asked her some questions. Much to his amusement, Grant started with them.
“What’s your name?”
“V–Valerie.”
He asked how old she was and where she was from. She seemed to be thinking about how much to tell them. Grant frowned at her.
“I’m twenty-five, and I was from Tennessee in the beginning.”
“How did you manage to get out here in the Border Lands?” Luke asked.
“I came out here with a family who relocated about forty or so miles east of here.”
“Then how did you get way out here?” Grant asked.
“I walked.”
Luke grimaced as Grant cursed. Why in the world would she have walked away from a home and family?
“If we drive you there could you find it again?” Grant asked.
“I doubt it, but even if I could, I can’t go back.”
“Why not?”
“There isn’t enough food for all of us and they have a baby on the way. She needs both the men to keep her and the baby safe. I was superfluous.”
Luke couldn’t believe that a man would have let her walk away knowing she would probably die with winter coming on.
“How long have you been walking?” Grant asked.
“I don’t know. It all runs together. Maybe three or four weeks.”
“How in the hell have you been living on your own?” Luke asked.
“I’ve been eating a lot of jerky, and I killed a rabbit with a snare one day. That was food for two days. I stole some food from a family not far from here one night. They seemed to have plenty so I hoped they wouldn’t mind that I took a small piece of meat.”
Luke couldn’t imagine how she had managed to make it as far as she had. Were it not for the biting cold and snow, she might have made it even further. He was glad she’d had to stop at their house. They would take care of her and not hurt her. He couldn’t say the same thing about some of their neighbors. The majority of them were good families, but there were some who were little better than the wolves they sought to keep at bay.
She continued to shiver occasionally, but not nearly as badly as before. Grant shook his head, his jaw tight. No doubt he was thinking that he would like some time alone with the bastard who had let her leave. You didn’t put a woman out to survive on her own like that. It didn’t matter what the circumstances were.
“I’m Grant, and this is my brother, Luke.”
It dawned on Luke that they were all three naked in bed together, and she hadn’t gotten upset, or at the very least, tried to push them away. Was she delusional or so far gone with the cold that she hadn’t even noticed? Well, he had for damn sure noticed. His cock was hot, upright, and aching to burn some flesh. He willed it to obey, but it was having none of it.
Barely able to keep from pumping his dick against her sweet ass, Luke cleared his throat to ask her something when Grant put a resolute stop to everything by getting to the point. Luke wouldn’t have been as blunt, but Grant wasn’t one to mince words.
“What in the hell were you planning to do once you left them?”
“Find someone to take care of me. Will you take care of me?”
Chapter Two
Absolute silence filled the room. Grant stiffened. He couldn’t believe what he’d heard. She’d uttered the same words his ex-wife had said to him all those years ago when he’d been too young and naïve to know any better. Anger rolled through him like a giant tsunami. He jerked away from her and got out of the bed, nearly falling on his ass in the process.
Luke’s heartfelt fuck did little to soothe him.
He stared down at the little dark-haired beauty. Her tangled hair looked as black as coal and her eyes a mesmerizing gray unlike anything he’d ever seen. Right now, they were wide with alarm at his sudden departure and muttered curses.
Grant doubted she was much over five feet, and though she had a rounded ass with plenty of cushion and her breasts looked to be a pleasant handful, her body was tiny compared to theirs. He tore his eyes from her and grabbed up his jeans, thrusting his legs in them and pulling them up. He didn’t bother buttoning them. He pulled on his shirt and felt marginally better for having clothes on.
“What’s wrong? What did I do?” She curled in on herself in the bed.
“What sort of game are you playing, Valerie?” he demanded.
“I don’t understand. I’m not playing a game.” Her eyes held unshed tears.
Was she that good of an actress, or did she really not have anything to hide? How could a pretty woman manage to elude black market scavengers as well as the wolves for as long as she had? What would be the point of her trying to trick them into taking her in? There was nothing to rob and all the usual reasons didn’t float in the new world since the year of catastrophes.
Major floods, tornadoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, and diseases had wiped out most of the United States’ population as well as the world’s. The diseases had torn through the country, targeting women, children, and the elderly. Now, with the
infrastructure in shreds, those who had survived lived off the land unless they were in one of the few cities that had remained intact.
Supply trucks from those cities went out fairly often, but you either had to live in one of their stopping spots or go to Barter Town to get what you needed. Barter Town was a cesspool of human garbage where women were paraded around naked to entice men into the brothels.
“Grant?” Luke settled a hand on Valerie’s upper arm when she started to get out of the bed.
“Let go of me.” She pulled away from Luke’s hand and crawled out of the bed.
She grabbed her clothes and began tugging them on despite still shivering. Her face showed nothing of her feelings. Instead, it was as if she felt nothing. She had shut down. Grant knew that condition well.
“Valerie, what are you doing?” he finally asked when she was pulling on her boots.
She didn’t answer. Instead, she hurried out the door and down the stairs. Grant caught a glimpse of Luke scrambling out of bed to get dressed. He followed the woman downstairs where she went to the front door and pulled it open. Snow swirled inside the living room almost immediately. She hung her head and stepped out into it with nothing but the long-sleeve shirt and jeans she’d come in with.
Cursing, Grant followed her out the door.
“Where are you going?”
“What do you care? Just leave me the hell alone.” She walked through the snow with her head down to shield it from the driving wind.