Their New Beginning [Men of the Border Lands 14] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Marla Monroe

  When they arrived on the second floor, Abby couldn’t help the way her mouth dropped open at the site of the wide hall and at least ten doors up and down it. Abe walked to the second door on the left and opened it wide.

  “This is the guest room. It has a king bed, dresser, and adjoining bath. We have running water and a hot water heater that works as well. Almost everything runs on solar energy. I’ll go over all of that with you later. Do you have any questions?”

  “Not for now. Thanks, Abe. We’ll clean up and settle in. How long until we need to be back downstairs?” Thad asked.

  “Supper will probably be ready in about an hour. The lighting works for four hours each night, then we rely on candles and oil lamps the rest of the time. There should be plenty of what you’ll need in the bedroom. If not, the door across the hall is to a closet where we keep supplies. Help yourself.” Abe nodded, then turned around to leave them.

  “This place is amazing,” Harry said. “I never expected anything this organized or advanced.”

  “Works for me.” Thad began unpacking and putting things away. “Let’s get all of this situated so we aren’t late for supper. I have a feeling it will be better than anything we’ve had lately, eh?”

  Abby had to agree with that. After surviving on cold canned foods for the most part, anything would taste better to her. Even though Thad had provided them with fresh meat a few times, it would be nice to have something someone else had prepared for a change. She felt as if she needed to pinch herself to be sure it was all real. Nothing she’d hoped for had even come close to how nice everything seemed to be there.

  I need to keep my head about me. When we get to meet some of the others we might find out that all isn’t as perfect as it seems. I need to remember that or I’ll end up disappointed again.

  Abby glanced around the room and marveled at how nice it was and the fact that despite it being chilly, she was sure the heavily covered bed would be warm once all three of them was buried down under the blankets and quilts. She could already imagine being cuddled between Harry and Thad. It was the best dream in the world to have.

  “Come on, babe. You need to get a move on. Don’t want to miss supper. You’re going to need the energy for later.” Harry winked at her before returning to his bag.

  Harry finished before Abby and Thad. He watched them for a few minutes, then walked over to the door. “I’m headed down, you two. I want to look around some.” He looked at his watch. “Looks like you’ve got about thirty minutes left before time to eat. I’ll see you downstairs.”

  Abby had been unpacking her meager clothes into the chest of drawers and turned around in time to see Harry winking in Thad’s direction.

  What was that all about?

  She didn’t have long to wonder when Thad set her half-empty pack on the floor before kneeling in front of her and unfastening her jeans. Her surprised shown on her face since he chuckled and kissed the exposed area on her belly before he started pulling her pants over her hips then down her legs.

  “I take it you’ve got something on your mind.” Abby smiled and ran her fingers through his hair.

  “I’m hoping you’re on board with it, ma chèrie.”

  “I suppose it depends on what you have in mind,” she told him as he had her sit on the edge of the bed so he could remove her boots.

  Thad just grinned up at her before pulling both her underwear and her boots off at the same time. Instead of folding them as she would have done, the man threw them across the room and lifted one eyebrow when she started to scold him. Abby rolled her lips inside her mouth to keep from saying anything then laughed when he scooted her farther on the bed.

  “What are you doing?” He left her legs dangling off the side of the bed.

  “Shush, ma chatte. I have plans for you.” Thad once again knelt, spreading her legs out wider before shoving his hands beneath her ass.

  “Oh. My. God!” The first time he ran his tongue up the entire length of her slit, Abby nearly came unglued.

  Thad only hummed before running his tongue around her pussy, paying extra attention to her clit before lapping at her pussy lips.

  “You taste like sunshine. I could feast off of you all day. Relax, Abby. Let me love you as you deserve to be loved.”

  “You’re driving me insane. Please, Thad.” Abby was sure she’d combust if he kept doing what he was doing to her.

  “Anything, mon cœur. Just tell me what you want.”

  Abby couldn’t think when he suddenly stabbed his tongue deep into her pussy. All ability to form complete thoughts left her head as he curled his tongue and rubbed inside her before pulling out and sucking on her clit.

  “Those sounds you make have me so hard. I love hearing your passion. I want to hear you scream when you come.”

  All she could do was groan and whimper as he licked and sucked on her pussy lips. She was sure she would scream if he continued torturing her like that. How could anyone not go insane with pleasure? Why didn’t he strip and fuck her? She wanted him inside of her.

  When he sucked in her clit and teased it with the tip of his tongue she was sure this was it, but before she reached the peak, he let go. She started to beg him to let her come only to scream, throwing her arm over her mouth to muffle the noise.

  Thad lightly bit her clit at the same time he shoved two fingers deep inside her and pumped them. The pleasure had her thrusting her pelvis against his fingers, driving them deeper still. Abby was sure there were fireworks behind her eyelids as she turned her head back and forth, unable to stop screaming into her arm.

  By the time she’d settled down, Thad had climbed onto the bed with her and was soothing her with soft kisses all over her face. When she caught her breath, he leaned down and shared her taste, rubbing his tongue over every surface in her mouth.

  “I wish you hadn’t stopped your scream. I wanted to hear it.”

  “Everyone else would have heard it, too. I don’t want them knowing we just had sex.” She grimaced. “Well, sort of. You didn’t come. Why didn’t you?”

  Thad smiled and kissed the tip of her nose. “Because I don’t have to always come. Sometimes it’s about making you feel good. Plus I want a lot longer to explore your body and fuck you slow and long when we next make love.”

  “God, between you and Harry, I don’t have a chance, do I?” she asked.

  “No, sweetness. Not a chance.”

  * * * *

  Abby followed Thad downstairs to find the table already surrounded by others. She could feel the heat of her blush cover her cheeks before settling over her chest. By the grins on the women’s faces and the way the men averted their gazes, it had been obvious what they’d been up to. If that wasn’t enough, Harry had a huge grin on his face when he stood up to direct them to the chairs next to him.

  “Sorry we’re late,” Thad said with a grin of his own.

  “We all just sat down.” Abe smiled but kept it low key.

  As if on cue, everyone began serving themselves, then passing the dishes around the table. Abby quickly forgot her embarrassment as she stared at the amazing dishes that smelled delicious. It had been a very long time since she’d had anything half as nice as what she spooned onto her plate.

  “I think I died and am in heaven.” Harry spoke up first.

  “Tell me about it. This is pure sin, if you ask me.” Thad passed a plate of meat to her. “Do you want me to serve that for you?”

  “Please. It looks wonderful. What kind of meat is it?” she asked no one in particular.

  “It’s elk,” Abe told her.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever had elk. Lots of deer, but not elk.”

  “The taste is very similar,” one of the women she hadn’t met yet told her.

  Abby smiled and nodded, then started eating. She’d been right. The food was better than she’d tasted in years. Maybe the community was just what she’d heard and there weren’t going to be any surprises after all.

  “How many families
do you have living here now?” Thad started the conversation after nearly five minutes of silence other than silverware clanging on dishes.

  “There are twenty families here now with your arrival. Everyone has a cabin, now except my family lives here. You’ll get to meet all of them tomorrow when we show you around the compound.” Abe was obviously the leader.

  “Are all the cabins in good shape?” Harry asked.

  “Most of the ones that are occupied are. There are a couple of families who may have to move in here during the worst of the winter, but the rest are in good shape.” This came from Russell.

  “I’d love to make a list of what needs to be repaired on each of the cabins. Then I’d like to look at fixing the others. How are you set on extra land to build newer cabins?” Harry sounded excited about the prospect of working on something he was familiar with.

  “That would great,” another man piped up. He smiled. “Oh, sorry. My name is Lance. Carver is my partner and Vella is our wife.” He pointed to each of them.

  “Great to meet you,” Abby, Thad, and Harry said together.

  “We can sure use some repairs that are a little more solid than some of the ones we’ve made. Some of the men here are good with their hands, but having someone familiar with log cabins and such is going to come in real handy,” Abe agreed. “You can start making notes when we look around tomorrow. As for land, we’ve got plenty already cleared that would make nice home sites.”

  “I take it you want to build a cabin for your family,” Russell said.

  “Yes, but only after we’ve made sure all the other cabins are in the best shape. Then I’d like to build ours and maybe start some for the others that need more room or have cabins that really aren’t in that good of shape.” Harry bit off a piece of meat.

  “I think that’s only fair. Several have growing families and more room would really help.” Abe’s smile seemed a little brighter than what Abby had seen so far. “It will be good to have more children and space for them to grow.”

  “How many children do you have here?” Abby loved children and hoped to spend some time with the mothers.

  “Celina, Vella? Do you know the count?” Abe asked shaking his head.

  The two women laughed. Celina spoke up. “There are twenty-eight now. The youngest is only two months and the oldest is ours, and she’s four now.”

  “Wow! That’s wonderful.” Abby couldn’t help the huge grin on her face.

  “You’ll be meeting some of the families and their children tomorrow. There’s no way to meet them all in one day if we spend any time with them,” Russell told them.

  Abby listened to the rest of the conversation with half an ear. She could tell that the people around the table were honestly happy. They all looked to be healthy as well. She hoped that when they met the others she saw the same thing. More than anything, Abby wanted this to be a real home. Now that she’d found another man—men—who treated her even better than her fiancé had, she wanted the whole thing. She wanted a house with children and friends to share it all with. It looked like she was finally going to get that wish.

  “So you’ve still had trouble with the wolves here?”

  Thad’s question startled Abby back to the conversation around the table.

  “Unfortunately we have.” Abe shook his head. “Normally wolves with plenty of game to hunt aren’t interested in venturing close to human communities. These, however, are fearless and intelligent. Sometimes they seem too intelligent.”

  “What do you mean?” Abby couldn’t help but jump in. After their experience on the way she had thought the same thing.

  “For one thing, they can adapt their hunting strategies to fit the situation. Wolves have historically hunted in groups and had a fairly consistent hunting style. Some of them would round up the prey into a particular area where the others were waiting. This enclosed them within the wolf pack and they could easily subdue their prey. Now, however, they will change their style even as we try to dissuade them.” Abe looked over at his partner. “Russell can tell you some of what we’ve seen.”

  The other man nodded. “In the middle of the day, when before they tended to attack in the mornings or evenings, they will show up when one of the women might be alone seeing to the garden or hanging laundry out to dry. In the winter, they wait until one of them are walking between cabins.”

  “Just the women?” Thad asked.

  “Mostly. We think they recognize that our men carry guns at all times and try to avoid us.” Abe leaned back in his chair. “We’ve started arming the women and those who don’t know how to shoot, we’re teaching them.”

  “That’s a good strategy, but at some point, they’re going to get lucky. I don’t understand why they even bother.” Harry shook his head.

  “We’ve tried to figure that out ourselves, but the only thing we come up with is that they see us as trespassing on their territory, and we’re in competing for their prey. Either they’ve evolved into a more intelligent animal, or they’ve been so outnumbered in the past that they curbed it in order to survive. Now we’re the ones outnumbered.” Russell.

  “On our way here we encountered a pack that didn’t attack us. In fact, they appeared more curious than confrontational. They actually walked around us. Even we thought that was weird,” Thad told them.

  “Don’t forget the bears,” Abby reminded them.

  “What about the bears?” This came from Russell.

  “We had some bears that lumbered through when we were hiking on the way here. One of them actually rubbed on Abby, but left her alone other than that,” Harry said.

  “We’ve talked about how the animals are changing. Not only that, but we’ve seen some of the big cats congregating more than they should be. Cougars and mountain lions usually don’t stick together. In fact, it’s not often a male and female will remain together after the cubs are born. Lately five and six have been spotted together on more than one occasion.” Abe nodded toward the man who’d been introduced as Carver. “Carver can tell you more about that.”

  “There’s a group of them living about three miles from here in an old cave cut into the Ruby Mountain. So far I’ve counted four individuals, two males and two females, but I think there are about three more that I haven’t seen.” Carver had finished eating and was sitting back in his chair as well.

  “What does it all mean? What could they possibly be planning?” Abby didn’t like the sound of all of the animals suddenly working together.

  “We’ve got several theories, but the most plausible is that they are banding together for safety from the wolves. The wolves are dangerous and have been known to take down a mountain lion,” Abe told them.

  “Wow. I never realized they could do that,” Harry said.

  “We’ve never seen it either.” Abe shook his head. “In the last two years we’ve found two partially eaten lions that look like wolf kills. Can’t be completely sure since the wolves might have come on the kills themselves and then left.”

  “Either way, two, or three if you count bears, animal groups are acting differently, and they happen to be the groups most dangerous to humans.” Thad shrugged. “What else can we do to keep them at bay?”

  “We’re doing everything we can come up with right now. Until we know more about their new habits and social structure, there isn’t much more we can do other than pray.” Abe stood up from the table. “I need to check that the night guards are set up and ready. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “So you station guards around the community for safety, then,” Thad said.

  “Yes. Not only for four-legged predators, but also for the two-legged variety. We’ve had our share of scavengers and bounty hunters trying to sneak up on us. It pays to be diligent.”

  “Mind if I tag along?” Thad asked.

  “Not at all. It will give you a chance to meet more of the men here and see how we patrol.” Abe nodded and kissed his wife good-bye. “Let’s go.”

  Russell st
arted helping the women gather the dishes and leftovers. Abby pitched in and helped Vella wash and dry dishes. Harry and one of the others wiped down the counters and food prep table before returning to the living area. The cooperation of everyone floored her. In her last community, no one had ever helped her or any of the other workers with anything, much less dishes. She hoped that when they met the others, there was nothing that would sour her view on the place. For once, Abby began to hope that life had finally given her a break.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “How are you doing, ma chèr?” Thad wrapped his arms around Abby as she brushed her hair.

  “Great, actually. We’ve only been here a few days but it already feels like home and you and Harry haven’t even built our cabin yet.” Abby set the brush down and turned in Thad’s arms to face him. “I love you, Thad. I should have said it sooner. You and Harry make me so happy.”

  “We love you, too. I love you. You’re the light in my life and have made this new world we live in bearable. Don’t worry, mon minou, we will build that cabin come spring.” Thad kissed her, drawing her tighter in his arms.

  “Is this a solo even or can I get a piece of the action?” Harry leaned in and kissed Abby on the side of her neck.

  “We were just talking about the new cabin you’re going to build.” Thad winked at Abby.

  “I distinctly heard you say that ‘we’ll build that cabin come spring.’ Isn’t that right, babe?” Harry rested his hands on her hips.

  “Normally I’d tell you both to work it out between yourselves, that I’m not getting in the middle of it, but in this I’ll have my say. Both of you boys are going to build my cabin just like I want it. Understood?” Abby tried to sound stern, but it was nearly impossible with both men kissing and nipping on either side of her neck.

  “Mmm we hear you, chèrie. Just like you want it.” Thad sucked on her ear lobe.

  “Both of us, babe. Don’t worry.” Harry blew along the wet line he’d made up her neck with his tongue.