by Sam Crescent
EVERNIGHT PUBLISHING ®
www.evernightpublishing.com
Copyright© 2018 Sam Crescent and Stacey Espino
ISBN: 978-1-77339-538-8
Cover Artist: Jay Aheer
Editor: Audrey Bobak
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
BRED BY THE BUSHMEN
Breeding Season, 2
Sam Crescent and Stacey Espino
Copyright © 2018
Chapter One
Caleb White tapped his fingers on the steering wheel as he waited for his brother to finish collecting their mail. He hated coming to town, but once every couple of months, they made the long trek from their cabin back to civilization. They had to buy food supplies for their pantry. In another three months they’d make the same damn trip but it would be to stock up for a lot longer as they were forecast to have a rough winter.
Damon was taking too damn long, and it was starting to piss him off. He nodded at the townsfolk and played the polite card, when in truth, he couldn’t give a shit about what people thought about him. The only reason he played along was so it made life easier.
Their parents had decided to live off the grid before they were born, and it had been the only life they knew. When their parents got killed in a bear attack, they’d been shipped off to the city to live with their estranged uncle.
Going from complete freedom to living within boundaries, and constantly being told what they were doing was fucking wrong, it had gotten tired real fast for him.
They’d done their time in the city, going to college, building a business, and finally, selling up, and returning back to their old life, which Caleb loved.
At forty years old, he’d finally found the life for him. His brother, being two years younger, felt the same way. The only problem? They were … lonely. It had been an unexpected variable. When they were kids, living off the grid was perfect. They never thought about women, too busy helping their father build and farm.
It didn’t take long after moving back home as adults to realize something was lacking. But they didn’t just want any woman.
It would have been easy to phone up an escort, meet her in town, and then go back to their life, but they didn’t want that.
They both wanted a woman to share, and who’d love to live their life with them outside of the parameters of society where they could make their own rules. What woman would want that life? He doubted they’d ever find the woman for them.
“Come on, Damon,” he said, starting to lose his patience.
Finally, his brother came out of the shop, carrying their letters with a huge smile on his face.
“Took you long enough,” Caleb said the moment he got in the truck.
“Stop your whining. If you’ve got an issue with how long I take, next time you go in, and stop fucking riding my ass.” Damon chuckled. “She was flirting with me, and so I was flirting back with Dana.”
“She’s married with three kids.”
“And I’m this strange guy from the wilderness. Give me a break, will you?” His brother sat back. “I heard they’re doing one of those self-discovery camping trip things again.”
Caleb cursed. “Why do they fucking bother?”
“It’s big money. A bunch of rich people pay to think they’re one with nature,” Damon said.
“Most of the time they end up lost and we’re the ones that have to find them, and I don’t want to be the one to have to deal with that.”
“At least they’re not doing it in the dead of winter this time. I nearly froze my dick off because of them last year,” Damon said and rubbed his crotch.
“We don’t have time for a bunch of people who are out of their depth. We’ve still got to finish canning the fruit.”
“Please, do not say canning while anyone can hear. I don’t want the guys in town to know that while they were chasing women, we were learning the dangers of canning the wrong way.”
Caleb burst out laughing. Even though they’d been with their uncle, he’d known he was going to go back to his parents’ way of life one day, and so he spent every available second learning what he could. He remembered a lot from when they were teens, but hadn’t paid attention to many of the important elements of survival.
“Maybe there’ll be a woman in this group, and we can, you know, lure her into our cave. Convince her that being around us is better than the whole world, make her fall in love, and we can have lots of sex and babies.”
Even though Damon tried to make a joke, Caleb still heard the yearning in his brother’s voice. They both wanted a woman together. To love, to cherish, and to fill her with their child.
They’d shared women in the past, and it felt right to the both of them to have a woman between them. They hadn’t found one worth keeping.
“We’ll find her, Damon,” he said.
“Yeah, we will.”
Each time they came to town, his brother lost a little more hope along the way. Caleb hadn’t lost hope yet. He did truly believe there was a woman out there who’d like to live their lifestyle.
Neither of them spoke for the rest of the drive, arriving back to their cabin, and working in silence.
They carried out the large abundance of cans, tubs, dried pasta, rice, and everything that would keep them going.
Once their pantry was full, and organized by date, he liked to keep everything in its appropriate spot. Then he headed out into the garden to finish harvesting potatoes while Damon got the canner ready.
For a couple of weeks, they harvested the ripe fruits and vegetables from their garden, and preserved them with their canner.
He loved this life more than anything else, leaving the smallest footprint possible, but each night he fell asleep holding on to a pillow. He’d remember his parents and the love they shared. They were taken away too soon. Now it was just him and Damon.
This was what he wanted, but he’d not planned for the loneliness, or the need for a woman’s touch against his skin, or the sound of her laughter filling the air.
He couldn’t give up hope, otherwise he’d failed his brother. Even though there were only two years between them, his father always told him to take care of, and look out for his brother, and he’d keep doing that.
They’d find a woman, and then their dream would be complete.
****
“You’re too fat, Opal. You need to lose weight. There’s nothing you can do about being ugly, but you should lose the weight. Are you thick or stupid?” Opal Clark held on to her hiking bag as she made her way through the forest, wondering if she actually was thick and stupid. At least talking to herself made her feel less alone.
She paused near a tree, leaning against it and wiping the sweat from her brow. She didn’t believe coming out to the wilderness would help her in any way. All of her life she’d been told what a waste of space she was, how useless, and pathetic, and annoying she was. That she’d never be good for anything, and it had all taken her to the edge that one Friday night. She’d gotten drunk and started to take some pills. Only they hadn’t worked fast enough, and so, slamming her fist in her bathroom mirror, she’d grabbed a shard of glass, and placed it against her wrist.
For thirty minutes, she’d sat poised and ready to end her miserable life.
Then, through her thin
apartment walls, she’d heard the subtle sound of a baby cry, and something snapped inside her.
She’d cleaned up the glass, tossed the pills and alcohol out, and entered into this camping trip that helped people shed off the layers of control from modern day society. She thought it would be a really great way of finally finding herself, but right now, she just felt miserable as she grabbed her bottle of water.
I spent my life’s savings on this?
So for the past two weeks, she’d been around a bunch of strangers, who happened to be wealthy men and women, who were looking for a good time. Trying to pretend their wealth meant nothing to them, when the truth was, they’d never had to go a day without anything in their lives.
There was no way she was bonding with people who didn’t understand what real struggle meant. They were spoiled and arrogant, and made her feel worse about herself.
Why was she alone right now? Well, she’d been able to afford the hiking, and soul-searching part, just not the scenic plane ride. While the rest of the group left to go and have that life-altering experience, she’d been told to wait, and a pickup would be along shortly to collect her. That had been two days ago, and now she was trapped in the wilderness, where everything looked exactly the same.
“I won’t cry. I will not cry. This is the whole process. Being at one with nature, and learning to thrive in an environment I’m not used to. Everything is going to be okay. I’m fine. I’m not going to die a miserable death because no one cares if I’m here or not.” She breathed in deep, drank another sip of her water, and tapped the tree. “You look exactly the same as all your brothers and sisters. Got to keep moving, and talking to myself, because that is totally fun, right?”
When did she become the kind of woman who talked to herself?
“Only twenty-two, and already going loopy. What was I thinking? Sure, Opal Clark, find yourself in the wilderness, it’ll totally make sense. I should have just phoned one of those stupid lines that offers to hel-ahhhhhh…” She screamed as she suddenly tripped over a root of a tree, and rolled down the hill, coming to a stop right next to a rock, hitting her head. She pressed a hand to her suddenly aching head, and came away with some blood. “Ouch.” Rolling over, she went to stand up, and squealed as pain rushed through her ankle, making her collapse in a heap. Staring down at her boot, she couldn’t make out any damage, but she had heard trying to take your boot off was dangerous. She leaned against the large rock that she just hit her head on, and winced. Taking several deep breaths, she paced herself, and finally tried to lift up but nothing was happening.
Dropping back on the ground, she glanced around and saw nothing that could help her.
Reaching into her bag, she found her cell phone, and it was indeed dead as well. No miracles tonight. And only one jerky left.
She rested her head on the rock as panic tried to take over. “Don’t panic. Don’t worry. Everything is going to be fine. You waited an entire day in that spot they told you to stay at, and now you’re in the middle of nowhere with a really bad ankle, and a throbbing head. It could get worse.”
As if someone was determined to mark her words, she heard the thunder, followed by a sudden flash, and rain began to fall.
“Seriously! Right now? You’re going to rain? Like I don’t have enough on my plate without you mocking me at every damn turn.” She slammed her hand on the ground and growled. “Give me a damn break.”
The rain didn’t let up, and as she couldn’t move, she grew wetter. She wrapped her arms around herself, feeling the chill seep into her clothes. Tears filled her eyes as the true extent of her circumstances settled in.
She was alone.
No one knew where she was.
She didn’t have a working cell phone.
Her ankle was either sprained or broken.
No one was coming for her.
The hours passed, and she watched the sun go down until it disappeared with the last of her hope. The rain still fell but more in a light drizzle. When she heard the howl of a wolf, that was it. She let out a scream, hoping that somewhere, someone was as crazy as her, and wanted to spend time in the wild.
****
“What is it, Bear?” Damon asked, watching his St. Bernard’s tail wag as he looked off toward the forest.
“He’s getting old. He probably heard a rabbit or something,” Caleb said, standing in the doorway.
Bear patted his foot then rushed toward the edge of the forest, and came back to him.
“I don’t think it’s a rabbit,” Damon said.
He’d been the one to train Bear after they’d saved him from a rescue center five years ago. He was a huge dog, and being out in the middle of nowhere was the perfect place for him.
“It’s dark.”
“Yeah, and I don’t care. I don’t like the way he’s acting. What if someone’s hurt?”
“Ugh! Fine. Let’s go and see what’s wrong with your damn dog.” Caleb grabbed two flashlights and handed one to him. They’d explored the forest surrounding them so many times that they knew all the dangerous spots where bears liked to hunt.
He had no intention of being eaten by bears or by wolves.
Caleb had also grabbed one of their shotguns as well.
“Come on, boy, go on, go find it.” Damon followed Bear’s trail. The dog sniffed at the ground.
“You know if he brings home a rabbit, I’m not eating it,” Caleb said.
Damon laughed. His brother didn’t like killing and eating rabbits, but then, neither did he. Maybe he was lame, but he’d rather have a big pot of vegetable soup than have to kill a fucking rabbit. Their father never killed a rabbit, and they actually kept them to eat the scraps. They had yet to purchase some, and were using the scraps to help make compost.
They’d been out in the forest for a good twenty minutes when Damon was tempted to head back.
Caleb was moaning, which was what he liked to do. He figured Caleb was lonely, just like him. They’d gotten the life they always wanted, the only problem was, they didn’t have the woman, and they both wanted one.
They wanted to start a family, keep their family name alive.
The right woman would have to live away from society and share her life with the two of them. It was more of a dream than an expectation. It would be a miracle for that to ever happen. What worthwhile woman would want to live out in the middle of nowhere with two very demanding men?
None came to mind.
He was just about to tell Caleb they should head back when he heard the moan. A feminine, pain-filled moan.
Bear whined, and as Damon shined his torch toward his dog, he saw him standing next to a large rock, and leaning up against it was a woman.
“Holy shit,” Caleb said.
They both rushed toward her.
Damon tried not to shine the light in her eyes, but she moaned, and her teeth chattered from the cold. Removing his coat, he wrapped it around her shoulders, and immediately began to check her over.
“What’s your name, sweetheart?” Caleb asked.
“It’s Opal. I was … part … of the … thing.”
“The thing?” Damon asked.
“The camping trip thing.”
Caleb asked her questions, and Damon held her hand as they discovered something was wrong with her ankle, and also, she’d banged her head pretty good against the rock. “We’ve got to move you, baby. You’re in good hands now. Nothing bad is going to happen to you.”
The moment Caleb lifted her up, she gave out a cry and then passed out in his arms. His brother gave a little grunt as he moved her into a more comfortable position.
“Damn, I didn’t expect her to slump down like that.”
“Do you have her?” Damon asked.
“Yeah, I’ve got her. We’re going to have to call the doctor to come out here and have a look at her. Go on ahead, Damon, we’ve got to make sure she’s okay.”
Damon followed Bear, who led the way back to their cabin. After opening the door, he wa
s met by the warmth of the fire.
With the light, he saw the raven-haired beauty was covered in mud but beneath that, he saw a really beautiful woman.
Caleb placed her down on their sofa and stared at her ankle.
“What is it?”
“I don’t want to take that off in case something bad is going on.”
“You think it could be a break?” asked Damon.
“It’s something. The pain was enough to keep her ass sitting there in the rain, and when I lifted her she passed out.”
Caleb grabbed a couple of blankets, and Damon went to their supply closet to grab the thickest ones they could find.
“How long do you think she’s been out there?” Damon asked.
“A couple of days now. The camping trip left, remember?”
“Why would they leave a girl out there on her own?” Damon started to get angry. He was pissed off. If they hadn’t shown up, he had no doubt she’d be dead by morning.
He and Caleb had warned the organizers of the camping trips that they were fucking dangerous, and at every single turn they were thwarted. Not this time. This woman could have died out there, and no one had even sent out an alert of a missing woman.
“Call the doctor. Get him out here. I don’t want to risk moving her in case she’s taken a fall or something more.” Caleb reached out and slowly moved some of her hair off her face, which covered a large cut against her forehead.
“That doesn’t look good.”
“I have a feeling she tripped, fell against the rock, and hurt her ankle in the process. Anyone who’s not used to these forests can hurt themselves pretty easily.” Caleb cursed. “I’m making some tea.”
Grabbing the phone, Damon sat on the wooden coffee table, watching her as he waited for the doctor to answer his call. He gave him a rundown of what happened and hung up.
Without waiting for instructions from Caleb, he dialed the camping trip organizer, and didn’t give a fuck that it was nearly eleven at night. The moment Rich answered, Damon quizzed him.