The Trouble with Holly [Merricks, Montana 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by McKinlay Thomson

  She was now nervous, as well as in pain and exhausted. What if they didn’t want her in their home? What if they didn’t like her? What if she smashed or dropped or spilt something? She would never be able to face them again, and they lived too far for Holly to escape back to town on her own.

  “Here we are,” Chase said as he pulled the truck off the road and onto a long, unconcealed driveway. Holly looked at the big house that the truck was rapidly approaching.

  The large double-story weatherboard house was painted cream and had a long wraparound porch. It was warm and welcoming, lit up from the inside with a gentle glow from the windows.

  Holly couldn’t see much else of the MC ranch in the dark, and she was too tired to take it in anyway. She let out a big yawn as Chase pulled the truck up almost to the front door.

  When Jarrod opened his door, the cold night air rushed in and Holly shivered. She scooted across the seat and went to jump down, but Jarrod scooped her up into his arms and carried her up the porch steps to the door.

  Holly was amazed at the strength of the men. They didn’t seem to have any trouble lifting her weight and carting her around. They had both carried her now, and neither one struggled at all. Must be from all that cattle mustering they did on the ranch.

  But Chase was a vet. Where did he get his muscles? Maybe he worked out. Holly wasn’t sure. She would have to find out. Yep, Chase’s big strong arms came from somewhere and Holly was going to make it her mission to explore them.

  The painkillers must be kicking in for her to be thinking about Chase and Jarrod’s muscles the way she was. She had already decided that she was avoiding them after her drunken blunder. Look at how well that was going. She was about to stay at their house. Just her and Chase and Jarrod…and his parents.

  Oh god, she’d forgotten about them. Chase opened the front door and Jarrod carried her over the threshold. The house was warm, and the heat surrounded her when Chase closed the door behind them.

  “Is that you, boys,” a female voice called from the interior of the house.

  “Yes, Ma,” Chase replied as they walked farther into the house. Holly closed her eyes and buried her face in Jarrod’s chest.

  “We were just about to turn in,” their mother said. “What’s going on?”

  “Yes, son,” a male voice said. “Who have you there?”

  Holly didn’t want to lift her face and look at Chase and Jarrod’s parents, but she knew it was rude not to, and she had been brought up better than that. So, reluctantly, she lifted her head and turned to smile at the occupants of the room.

  Jarrod had carried her into the kitchen and their mother was standing next to an old scarred wooden dining table, while her three husbands sat around it.

  “Hello,” she said. “I’m Holly. We have met before at Stephie’s.” Chase and Jarrod’s fathers were big men. They all towered over Holly when she was standing, and it was easy to see where the brothers got their height.

  Helen, however, was a short, round woman. She was wearing a pink fluffy dressing gown and a warm, welcoming smile.

  “You can put her down now, Jarrod,” their mother said. “It’s good to see you again, Holly. Let me look at you. What have you done to yourself?”

  Jarrod walked her over to an empty chair and carefully placed her down in it. He didn’t go far, but moved to sit next to her.

  “I fell at work and broke my wrist and sprained the other,” she told them. This was so embarrassing, not the way she wanted to meet the parents.

  “Oh dear,” Helen replied. “Well now. You just sit back and let us take care of you. Mark, could you please go and get the guest room ready? Jason, you can find her a towel and a spare toothbrush. Daniel, please shut down the house and I’ll make Holly a nice cup of cocoa.”

  Holly watched in amazement as Helen’s husbands moved to do her bidding. She sure had them well trained.

  “I’ll go help,” Chase said, and he rushed from the room.

  As Helen bustled around the kitchen, Holly looked around. It was a well-used and loved kitchen. The cupboards were old, but still in good condition and painted an olive green. A large window sat above the sink, and a chopping block sat between the stove and the dining table.

  Holly would have loved to have grown up in a house like this. Back in Chicago, she and her mother lived in a small apartment on the second floor of a crammed apartment building. It only had two small bedrooms and a shared bathroom.

  The kitchen was tidy and functional, but it had no bench space and very little character. While she had a happy childhood, their apartment had no room to play and she had spent most of her time outside and in the street. She had other kids to play with, so she couldn’t complain.

  Her father had left when she was a baby and Mother was gone now. She had died from a complication with her heart, when Holly was nineteen. She missed her very much. Holly often thought about how her life would be if her mother were still alive. Would she have been able to warn Holly what a bum Steve had been? Would Holly have moved to Merricks?

  Holly sighed. She was tired and getting melancholy, and she was about to cry again.

  Helen placed a cup of cocoa in front of her, and Holly thanked her politely. She took a sip and the chocolate exploded on her tongue. The hot milk warmed her belly and settled her nerves. She started to feel better and yawned loudly.

  “You must be tired, dear,” Helen said. “Are you in much pain?”

  “No,” she answered. “They gave me pain killers at the doctors.”

  “Well then, you just relax and let my boys take care of you. Tomorrow one of them will go and get some of your things. You will stay with us until your arm heals. It will be a pleasure to have you.”

  “Oh, that’s really nice of you, Mrs. Walker, but I don’t want to be a bother.”

  “No arguments, young lady. You need help and we have more than enough room. I’m sure Chase and Jarrod will have it no other way.”

  “Damned straight,” Jarrod added.

  “No swearing, son,” Helen said. “It’s decided. Now, how’s the hot chocolate?”

  Holly knew that Helen had put an end to that discussion. It looked like she was staying with the Walkers until her wrist was healed. She was frightened and excited at the thought of spending that much time with Chase and Jarrod.

  “Time to get you off to bed,” Jarrod said.

  Holly was in no mind to argue, and when Jarrod scooped her up in his arms, she snuggled into his big warm chest.

  * * * *

  Chase helped his dad Mark change the sheets on the bed in the guest room and then fluffed the pillow. He wanted Holly to be comfortable. She was going to have enough trouble sleeping with her injuries as it was.

  “You really like this girl,” his Pa said as he smoothed out the comforter. It was a statement more than a question, so Chase just nodded in answer.

  “She had a rough go of it,” Chase said. “And now her injuries on top. I swear, Pa, I just want to wrap her in bubble wrap to save her from herself.”

  Holly meant more to him than any other women he had ever dated and they hadn’t even kissed properly yet. He didn’t count the drunken one she had planted on him that night in his truck. She probably didn’t even remember it and he had barely kissed her back.

  “Holly is a strong woman,” Mark replied. “So, she had a run of bad luck lately. It will all settle down.”

  Chase almost laughed at that. “You don’t understand, Pa. The woman is a one-person wrecking machine. Since moving to town, she has killed two cars and had her house burn down.”

  “I’m sure it’s not as bad as all that, son.”

  Chase was certain that it was.

  “Yes, it is. At the doc’s, she said she had fallen down the stairs and off monkey bars, and that she’d been hit by a car. Pa, the list goes on.”

  Chase was starting to work himself into a panic attack. Holly had had more injuries in her twenty-three years than Chase and Jarrod put together. Probably more th
an his whole family combined.

  “Holly is a strong woman to endure all that and still be able to face the day. You can’t get upset about something that you had no control over. Just be there for her and help her where you can now that she is in your life.”

  Chase smiled at his Pa and looked then toward the door when he heard the approaching footsteps. Jarrod walked in carrying a sleepy Holly in his arms.

  His Pa excused himself, saying a quick goodnight, and then pulled the door closed behind him. Chase watched as Jarrod carefully placed her down on the bed and stepped back.

  “Let’s get you undressed, sweetheart,” Jarrod said, reaching for the bottom of Holly’s tight work shirt. “You can wear one of our T-shirts.”

  “I have already grabbed one,” Chase added, but Holly wasn’t cooperating and had her arms pinned to her side, shaking her head back and forth.

  “I can undress myself,” she said. “Go away. Leave me be.”

  Chase sighed at her stubbornness. Now wasn’t the time to be shy about being naked. She was in pain and they weren’t about to jump on her in her state.

  “Holly! Enough!” Jarrod said, in a stern, no-nonsense voice. “You need help and you are going to get it. It is not up for debate. Do you understand, little sub?”

  The look on Holly’s face was almost comical. She was equal parts shocked and aroused. Her pupils dilated and her breathing went shallow.

  “I’m not a sub, let alone your sub,” she said, her voice just above whisper.

  “You are submissive,” Jarrod told her. “Whether you realize that or not, and you may not be our submissive yet, but you are ours. You said so yourself and there is no going back.”

  “When did I say I was yours?” Holly asked.

  Chase could remember the exact moment that Holly had declared them hers. She might have been in pain at the time, but she had still said it. In a roundabout way, anyway.

  “It was when you told Candy to fuck off and get her own man,” Jarrod said. “And stop stealing everyone else’s.”

  Holly looked confused and befuddled. It was a cute look on her. Her little nose scrunched up, and one delicate eyebrow lifted.

  “I was not declaring you mine. I was simply—”

  “Yes, you were,” Chase cut her off. “You were telling the whole damned bar that we belonged to you.”

  “But you don’t even like me.” It was Chase’s turn to be confused. Why would she think that?

  “Don’t know what gave you that idea, baby, but we have been chasing you for months,” Chase told her. Holly’s eyes grew big and wide as she stared back at them.

  “But since that night after you drove me home, I haven’t seen you once.” Chase and Jarrod had been giving her space. She obviously thought that they were avoiding her.

  “Oh, we want you,” Jarrod said. “We were just giving you time. That time is over, and now you will never need to doubt our interest in you again.”

  “Um…” Holly bumbled. Chase watched as Jarrod went back to trying to remove her clothes. Holly was still having none of it.

  “But that night I—”

  “Were way too drunk to say anything meaningful,” Chase said.

  “Oh, I suppose I was.” The look in Holly’s eyes told him she had taken that as a rejection. His words weren’t going to change that, but the actions in the future would.

  “Yes,” Jarrod added. “We owe you a spanking for that night.”

  Chase looked over at his brother. He was serious. Jarrod wanted to spank Holly for getting wasted. Chase was all for it, but he couldn’t see Holly letting them.

  “You want to spank me? What for?”

  “For drinking too much and making yourself sick,” Jarrod answered seriously.

  “I think the hangover was punishment enough,” Holly said. Chase thought so, too, but he wanted to turn her ass red and any reason would do. His cock grew hard at the thought of her bent naked over his lap.

  “Let’s not forget her little potty mouth tonight,” Chase said, adding to her transgressions.

  “Yes,” Jarrod added. “You are certainly racking up the punishments.”

  “I’ve had enough of this discussion. No one will be spanking anybody. Now I’m tired. Go away.” Chase admired her gumption, but it wouldn’t work. She would get her punishment, but they would wait until she was recovered from her injuries.

  “If you want to sleep, stop fighting us and lets us get you ready for bed.” Jarrod told her.

  “Fine,” she replied, huffing, and lifted her arm up, letting Jarrod carefully drag the T-shirt over her head.

  Her big full breasts bounced out of her bra when Jarrod reached back to undo the straps. Chase tried not to look, he really did, but it was no use. His eyes kept wandering back to the bountiful mounds, and his mouth watered at the sight.

  He was a breast man, what could he say? Then again, when it came to Holly, it seemed he was an ass man, too. Surely he’d add pussy man to the list, when he got close to the thing. Let’s face it, he was a Holly man.

  Jarrod slipped the large T-shirt over her head, covering his view. She leant back and let him undo the buttons on her jeans and pull them down her legs. When Chase got a look at the scrap of lace that barely covered her pussy, he almost drooled.

  “Let’s get you tucked in,” Jarrod said, breaking him out of the spell that seeing Holly undressing had put him in.

  “Goodnight, baby.” Jarrod leant forward and placed his lips gently on Holly’s. Chase watched as the kiss turned from a gentle goodnight kiss into something more passionate.

  When Jarrod finally lifted his head, Holly wore a dazed, passion-filled expression. Chase elbowed Jarrod out of the way, knocking him off the bed in his haste to get to Holly.

  “My turn,” he said and latched himself onto her already bee-stung lips. She tasted sweet, with a hint of the chocolate she had drunk earlier. Chase’s already hard cock pounded and throbbed in his Wranglers, desperate to come out and join the party.

  When he thrust his tongue into her mouth, hers hesitantly tangled with his and Chase moaned deep in his throat. He heard her answering moan, and he knew if he didn’t break the kiss now, he was going to shoot his load in his jocks like a teenager.

  Slowly, he lifted his head and smiled down at the woman who had rocked his world with one little kiss.

  “Sweet dreams, baby,” he said, placing one more small kiss on her lips before standing up. “We are right down the hall if you need anything.”

  “Goodnight,” she replied, reaching her good hand up and gently placing them against her lips. She looked stunned and aroused. Chase had to leave now. He could easily spend the entire night kissing her.

  “Night, beautiful,” Jarrod added and then pulled him by the scuff of the shirt out the door, closing it behind him.

  The fist to the gut was a surprise, and Chase glared back at his brother, before slamming him against the wall and returning the favor.

  “What was that for?” Chase asked as they walked down the hall toward their separate rooms.

  “Thought it might help,” Jarrod told him then walked into his room and closed the door.

  Chase rubbed his gut and walked into his room, shutting the door behind him. If it was supposed to help with the current predicament his cock was in, it didn’t work. He was still hard as a rock.

  Chase flopped down on his back on the bed and undid his jeans. His hard length flopped out into his palm, and he stroked it slowly. He let his mind wander to all the naughty, delicious things he wanted to do to Holly, and it wasn’t long before he was exploding onto his chest and groaning in satisfaction.

  Chase sighed and got up to clean himself. It was going to be torture to have Holly so close and not being able to touch her the way he wanted. He hoped she was a quick healer and he wouldn’t have to wait too long. His wrist was going to get a workout in the meantime.

  Chapter Eight

  Holly had been staying with the Walkers for two weeks now, and she had fallen
in love with the MC ranch, as well as Helen and her three husbands. They all treated her like family, and she hadn’t had that in a really long time.

  The Walker family was all so loud and boisterous, constantly teasing each other and having fun. It took Holly a while to get used to their strange sense of humor, and the first time Mark had teased her, she had almost fled the room. But it didn’t take her long to figure out he was teasing, and Chase and Jarrod had given her ways for her to tease them back.

  Now she joined in all the ribbing that went around the table at mealtimes and was comfortable in her surroundings. She almost wished she wouldn’t get better, so then she wouldn’t have to go back to sleeping in Emily’s living room.

  Not that she wasn’t grateful for all that Emily had done for her. It was just that she had started to feel like part of the family and she didn’t want to let that go.

  Holly hadn’t seen much of her men either. At nights she was able to spend time with them, but during the day Jarrod was out on the ranch working, and Chase had his vet clinic to run.

  She spent most of that time helping Helen with the chores. There wasn’t much she could do one-handed but she helped out as much as possible. Her sprain had healed nicely, and the doctor had given her the all-clear on her elbows, too.

  During her time with Helen, the woman had filled her with tales of Chase and Jarrod’s escapades growing up. They were a handful and always getting in to trouble. The brothers had always been close and did everything together.

  Holly looked up as the door in the kitchen banged open. She smiled at Jarrod as he walked into the kitchen with Chase on his heels.

  “What are you doing, woman?” Jarrod said, wiping the smile from her face.

  “Helping your mother get supper ready,” she replied. Holly had absolutely no idea what had upset him.

  “You are injured,” he told her. “You shouldn’t be cutting vegetables one handed with a knife that size.