by Marla Monroe
“Oh, well, if you think so. I was trying to keep a record so I’d know if something was wrong from year to year.”
“You can just look back at the diary and see what was different. I’m keeping all the pertinent facts about the day in it, like the temperatures and general weather conditions.”
Ashley shrugged and handed her drawings to him. “Go ahead. When I make new ones, I’ll give them to you to put in the diary.”
“Good girl,” Boyd said.
“I’m really tired for some reason. I’m going to go lie down for a while.” Ashley stood up and brushed off her jeans before grabbing up her drawing pad and pencils.
“You okay, baby?” Keeton asked.
“Yeah, just need a nap, I guess. I ate a big breakfast and it’s nearly noon now. Do you mind fixing something for lunch on your own today?” she asked.
“We can always fix our own, Ashley. Go lie down and get some rest,” Boyd said.
Keeton watched her walk inside and turned to Boyd. “She’s taken naps almost every day for the last few days. Do you think she’s okay?”
“I don’t know. Maybe we should ask Andrew or Danny if Rachel takes a lot of naps. It could be this atmosphere.” Boyd looked back toward the door.
“Or it could be a result of that fucking rat acid that got on her,” Keeton said.
“Let’s not jump to conclusions. We’ll talk to them first and see what they think. Then we can always call the doc up and ask his opinion.”
“You know, not only is she working harder physically than she’s ever worked before, but we have an extra hour in our day here than on Earth. It could just be getting used to things here. You and I are used to being out working all the time. She isn’t.” Keeton began to feel marginally better about her needing so many naps. Still, he worried.
“I’m going to deal with the horses today. Why don’t you go up and nap with her, Boyd. You didn’t sleep well last night.”
“You’re sure?” he asked.
“Yeah. I’ll wake you both up in a couple of hours if you’re not already up.” Keeton waved him off and headed for the barn.
He found the horses were doing well, but he let them out into the corral for a while, giving him plenty of room to give the barn a thorough cleaning. He cleaned out each stall and added fresh hay as well as food and water. Then he cleaned out the tack room. He took the brushes out and pulled one of the horses up to brush.
He thought about being a family and what that meant to him. He had never really had much of a family. His parents had split by the time he was eight years old and he lived with his uncle on their ranch. He had met Boyd in school and they had worked together ever since then. Boyd had been his family for so many years, he couldn’t count. Now he had Ashley to add to that. And, if Boyd had his wish, children someday.
Children. That scared him. He had never really thought about having kids, and that part of the agreement in coming to the space station hadn’t really bothered him. Boyd would be the father figure. He’d keep them safe and fed. That worked for him.
Then he thought about Ashley round with their child, and he realized he would like to see that. To feel a child moving in her belly would be really awesome. Maybe that wouldn’t be so much Boyd’s duty after all. He’d like to see a child grow up and get strong, or beautiful like their mother.
He finished up with the last horse and had them all back in the barn. He checked his watch. It had been nearly three hours. He wondered if the others were up yet, or if he needed to wake them.
Keeton walked inside and didn’t hear anything at first until he got outside the bedroom door. Then he heard the unmistakable sounds of the bedsprings. He grinned. They were fucking. He’d leave them alone for that this time. Instead, he went to the other bathroom and took a shower. By the time he was finished, they were quiet in the bedroom, so he walked in and found them dressing. Ashley had that just-fucked look about her, and Boyd was grinning and relaxed looking.
“Did I miss anything?” he teased.
“Only the best sex since last time we had sex,” Boyd said with a snicker.
“Well, you get to do the barn next time. I completely cleaned it and brushed all the horses.” Keeton walked over and pulled Ashley into his arms for a kiss.
He took her mouth when she opened to him and sucked her tongue into his mouth to tease with his. Then he thrust his in and out of hers before pulling back and kissing her nose.
“You look rested. Do you feel better?” he asked.
“I feel fine. Don’t know why I need a nap every day now. It seems like I just run out of energy.”
“Don’t worry about it. You can always take a nap when you’re tired, baby,” Keeton told her.
“I’m going downstairs to start dinner. I’ll see you two in a little while.” Ashley hugged them both and walked out of the bedroom.
“She really okay?” Keeton asked.
“She was fine when she woke up. I wouldn’t have had sex with her if she hadn’t been.”
“Whoa. I’m not accusing. I’m just worried that she had to have the nap. There’s a big difference in her. She was fairly droopy earlier, and she bounces now.
“Sorry for jumping at you.” Boyd looked embarrassed.
“That’s okay. We’ve been at each other a lot lately. We need to work together to be sure that Ashley is taken care of. She’s the most vulnerable of us,” Keeton said.
“I want to check with Andrew and Danny to see if Rachel is having more trouble with needing more rest than usual.”
“We’ll ask tomorrow,” Keeton assured him.
“Better go downstairs and see what she’s cooking for dinner. I’m hungry.” Boyd headed toward the door.
“Boyd,” Keeton said.
“Yeah.” He stopped and turned around.
“Thanks for sticking with me through all of this.”
“Hey, that’s what family’s for.”
Chapter Thirteen
Several weeks later, Ashley stood outside looking over her garden and feeling pretty good about it. Everything was growing just like the books had said it would, with the exception of the tomatoes, which were trying to take over the garden. She had even been able to corner the zucchini into behaving, but the tomatoes were turning out to be a problem.
She shoved her hands on her hips and figured out that next year she would plant them a little bit away from everything else if they were going to grow so wildly. She’d even pruned them, which didn’t really help much.
“We’re heading out, baby. Got your gun?” Keeton asked.
She patted her holster. “Yep, I’m loaded and ready for rat,” she teased.
“We’ll see you tonight.” Boyd pulled her in for a kiss.
“Be careful for me, you two.” She watched them head for the horses and then watched until they were out of sight.
She had thought about going with them and visiting with Rachel, but decided to work in the garden instead and maybe go tomorrow. She needed to get the tomatoes to act right. She picked up her stakes and string and started the arduous task of tying them up even more. They were full of blooms and baby tomatoes. She would have plenty to put up if they all came in.
She finished staking them again and returned her supplies to the cellar. She looked up and noticed that the sun seemed to have moved faster than she had been out there. That was weird. She checked her watch and couldn’t believe it. Where had the time gone? According to her watch she had been out there for over three hours. It had only felt like forty-five minutes at the most. No wonder she was so tired.
She walked back inside and poured a glass of tea. She would take a quick nap before lunch. She hated getting tired all the time, but she worked hard, too. Sometimes she ended up taking two naps a day, though. It was one of the other reasons she wanted to visit with Rachel. She wanted to know if she was feeling the same way or not.
She drained her tea and set the glass of ice back in the fridge before going upstairs to lie down. She took off her
boots and padded sock footed upstairs. By the time she finally got on the bed, she was almost asleep. Once again, she worried that something was wrong with her. Then she slept.
* * * *
Boyd and Keeton made it home a little after six and took care of the horses before going inside. They could smell dinner cooking, but Ashley wasn’t in the kitchen. Instead, they found her on the couch napping.
They exchanged glances before Keeton knelt and kissed her awake. She yawned and stretched.
“Goodness, what time is it?” she asked.
“Six forty, baby. Are you tired?” Keeton told her.
“No, not anymore. I better check on dinner, though. I left it simmering.” She swung her legs off the couch and stood up but had to grab Boyd to stay upright. “Guess I got up too fast.”
“Be careful, baby,” Boyd said.
“Let me see to dinner while you two shower and change. Should be ready by the time you are ready.” She hurried to the kitchen.
Keeton looked at Boyd once they had entered the bedroom.
“I think we need to look at taking her to the doctor soon. I know Danny and Andrew both said Rachel is sleeping more, but I’m worried.” Keeton noticed the bed had been slept on again, too. He brushed out a wrinkle.
“I think you’re right. We need to see if he can see her on our next days off. I’d rather be safe than leave something too long.”
“The other thing is that she’s been, um, more insatiable sex-wise. Have you noticed that? It’s almost like she needs sex every time she sees us,” Boyd said.
“Yeah, guess I wasn’t complaining about that.”
“Hey, I’m not, either, but it’s just sort of unusual in a woman, and especially one that is sleeping so much.” Boyd finished stripping.
“Let’s hurry up and get down there. I’m worried about leaving her alone so much now.” Keeton finished kicking off his jeans and headed for the shower.
He finished in record time and was dry and dressing when Boyd walked back in the room from the shower down the hall. Neither man bothered with a shirt since it was so hot outside anyway. They just pulled on jeans and headed downstairs barefooted.
Ashley had dinner on the table. She smiled at them and poured their tea while they sat down. She kept up a lively chatter all during dinner, and afterward, while she washed up the dishes, they stayed in the room and talked with her.
“Have you noticed that the vegetables are growing really fast?” she asked.
“I know you’ve mentioned it several times in your notes and with the pictures you draw. I guess I didn’t think much of it,” Boyd said.
“Do they look normal otherwise?” Keeton asked.
“Yeah, they seem to be the same size and all, except the tomatoes are really growing vine-wise like daily. I’m having to cut them back and tie them up.”
“That’s weird,” Boyd agreed.
“I think we’re going to go see the doc next week,” Keeton told her out of the blue.
“Is that really necessary?” she asked with a frown.
“Baby, we don’t want you to have some sort of bug that we could have done something about early,” Boyd said.
“I was thinking about visiting with Rachel tomorrow if that would be okay with you guys,” Ashley said, changing the subject.
They looked at each other and Keeton shrugged. “Sure, baby. If that’s what you want to do.”
“Yeah, I thought we could compare notes on our gardens and see if she’s getting the same results I am. She didn’t mention any of it when she was here before.” She walked over and wrapped her arms around Keeton’s waist and licked his belly.
“Um, Ashley?” he asked.
“Wouldn’t you like to go upstairs for a while? I want you, Keeton.”
“I want you, too, baby. Aren’t you tired after cleaning up the kitchen, though?” Keeton asked.
“No, I’m horny.” She grinned and licked his nipple.
He hissed out a breath. When she nipped the other one, he threw back his head and crushed her to him. Then he picked her up and carried her upstairs to the bedroom. He was barely aware of Boyd being behind them. All he could think about was getting inside of Ashley.
“Hurry, Keeton. I need you,” Ashley urged as he began pulling off her clothes.
Boyd joined them and unfastened her jeans. By the time they were all naked, Ashley was wild. She took Keeton’s cock in her mouth and swallowed him to the back of her throat.
Keeton couldn’t stand it any longer. He grabbed her hair and held her there then pulled her off of him.
“Fuck, baby. I want inside you so bad, but your mouth feels so damn good. Suck my cock again.”
She licked all around the rim of his cockhead and then across the slit before deep-throating him like a pro. She’d gotten more and more daring lately and Keeton had finally given in and let her have her way. She liked sucking his and Boyd’s cocks and swallowing around them. She woke them up most mornings sucking on them.
Right now, though, Keeton wanted in her hot cunt. He lay back on the bed.
“Ashley, climb on my cock so Boyd can take that hot ass of yours.” Keeton held out his hands to her.
She immediately climbed up and lowered her wet pussy over his cock. She had to try two times to finally take all of him. Then she leaned forward and began licking and sucking Keeton’s nipples. The stimulation went straight to his balls. He felt Boyd’s fingers as he prepared her for his hard cock in her ass.
“Hurry up, Boyd. I can’t be still much longer. She’s driving me crazy. She’s squeezing her cunt around my dick like a vise.”
“She’s almost there.”
After a few seconds, Ashley hissed out a breath and began pushing back. Then she went still as Boyd’s cock filled her ass and Keeton’s dick stuffed her pussy. As soon as she began to move, they started alternating inside of her. Boyd pushed forward and Keeton pulled out, and then Keeton pushed in her tight cunt and Boyd pulled out of her back hole.
She was panting. She was so close to her orgasm. Keeton didn’t think he was going to last anyway, but he would definitely lose it if she came around him. Her cunt muscles were like vise grips when she climaxed.
Over and over, they plunged in and out of her. She chanted, “Yes, yes, yes,” then exploded around them. Keeton gritted his teeth as she squeezed his cock. His balls drew up and he came hard enough he saw stars behind his eyelids. He heard Boyd curse over them. Then Ashley was dead weight on top of him. He panted, trying to get a full breath to tell Boyd to get the fuck off of them.
Finally, Boyd seemed to realize he was squashing them, and moved. Ashley didn’t even groan when he pulled out of her. Then Boyd helped pull her off of Keeton. They settled her between them.
“She’s breathing, isn’t she?” Keeton asked.
Boyd laughed. “Yeah.”
He walked toward the bathroom then returned with a wet cloth to use on Ashley. When he’d finished, he climbed back in bed on the other side of her.
“See what I mean about her being insatiable?” Boyd asked.
“Yeah. Like I said, I was just enjoying it and hadn’t thought much about it.”
“Well, I probably wouldn’t have noticed, either, except that she’s gotten rougher with you, but not with me. It’s almost as if she’s being who we need her to be.”
“Is there anything wrong with that?” Keeton asked. He really didn’t see why that had to be an issue at all.
“I don’t guess so, but it just seems too good to be true.” Boyd toyed with Ashley’s hair.
“Come on. She’s out for a while. Let’s go back downstairs and talk.” Keeton kissed Ashley’s temple then rolled out of the bed and pulled on his jeans.
Boyd was right behind him as he walked downstairs. He poured a glass of tea for each of them and then sat at the kitchen table. It was barely eight thirty at night.
“Here’s what we know,” Keeton began when Boyd sat across from him at the kitchen table. “She’s sleeping more t
han usual, taking one and two naps a day. She seems to want sex more than is normal, and she’s adjusting her sexuality to match our needs. Does that about cover it?”
“Except if you add to it the fact that she had that rat acid on her leg and the vegetables growing so fast. It makes me wonder if this planet isn’t doing something to her,” Boyd said.
“You’re serious.” Keeton looked at his friend.
“Yeah, I am. I’m to the point of being almost scared for her,” Boyd admitted.
“Then we’ll take her to the doc as soon as we can get her there. Let’s talk to Andrew and Danny again and be honest with them. They may have noticed the same thing in Rachel and not wanted to say anything to us.” Keeton took a swallow of the tea.
“It’s a good thing for her to go over to see Rachel tomorrow. She won’t be alone. Plus, we can see if the women are acting similar in any other ways.”
“I wonder if any of the other families have had any problems. It sucks that we don’t have a phone system of some kind,” Keeton said.
“Andrew has the radio, and some of the others have one. Maybe we can talk the guys into calling some of the other families to see if they’ve had any strange behaviors.”
“I think we need to find out first what the doc thinks about Ashley before we talk to any of the other families.” Keeton didn’t want to start a scare over nothing.
“What are you guys doing down here?” Ashley walked into the kitchen with a drowsy smile on her face.
“Didn’t want to wake you up, baby. We weren’t sleepy yet.” Keeton pulled her into his lap.
She took a sip of his tea and leaned back against his shoulder.
“Still tired, baby?” Boyd asked her.
“Not really. Just haven’t woken up yet.”
“How has your leg been feeling?” Boyd indicated her left leg.
“Huh? Why?” she asked with a strange expression.
“Just wondering if it’s been stinging or bothering you any,” he pushed.
“No, it’s not doing anything. It’s well now,” she insisted.
“Okay, just wondering.” Boyd frowned.