Anita's Triple Temptation [Men of Montana 4] (Siren Publishing Menage Amour) (10 page)

BOOK: Anita's Triple Temptation [Men of Montana 4] (Siren Publishing Menage Amour)
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There was an awkward moment of silence before the sound of boots on the tiled floor along with the sound of little feet came their way. Dave turned to find his two fellow ménage partners walking toward them, James carrying Eli. Joshua and Joey walked somberly in front of James and Kevin.

Pulling himself together, Dave put a smile on his face as the small group came to a stop in front of him. “Hey, guys,” he said, bending down to be eye level with the two oldest boys. “You’re going to go with Storm, Lyndee, and Austin. They are going to be taking care of you for a few days until your Mommy gets out of the hospital.”

“Why can’t get we go to our house?” Joshua asked sadly.

“‘Cause that’s not where Storm and Lyndee live, stupid!” Joey said, punching his brother in the arm.

“Hey,” Lyndee said, stepping out of Storm’s arms and kneeling down next to Dave. “I know this is a rough time for you, but it will help your Mom a lot if you are nice to each other. I promise you that we will have lots of fun. Perhaps Wolf will help you with your riding when we get there, but first, we have to go shopping.”

As if by magic, smiles lit up all three faces. “Can we get some toys?” Eli asked from up above them.

Lyndee let out a laugh which was followed by laughter from all the men. Standing, Lyndee tapped the youngster on the nose. “I’m sure we can find some toys for you guys. Let’s get going. Storm told me he was going to feed me, and I want pancakes.”

“Yeah,” the two older boys cheered while Eli giggled in James’s arms.

Lyndee turned to face Dave, placing her hand on his arm. “Call us if you need anything.”

“I will. Thanks for taking the boys for us.”

“Ok, everyone, let’s get going,” Storm said, coming to stand next to Lyndee.

James set Eli down to stand next to his brothers while Austin came over to stand next to Storm. “Let’s get going, guys. We have a lot of shopping to do.”

Dave watched his three boys rush toward the elevator, anxious to complete the goals that had been set out before them for the day. He had to laugh at their enthusiasm, resiliency proving they were kids. Storm and Lyndee trailed after the boys while Austin lingered a moment.

“Take care of your lady, Dave. She is the most important part of your family now. She is who is going to keep you all together. Treasure her.”

“Thanks, Austin. I will,” Dave responded. “We all will.”

Austin left to catch up with the others as the elevator doors opened. Dave watched them enter the vertical lift. At that moment, he got a glimpse of his own family. That was going to be them in a few days.

As the doors closed, Dave turned to James and Kevin. “Austin’s right. Anita’s the center of us, but those boys are our responsibility now.”

“We know,” Kevin said solemnly. “They’ll be in good hands until we get home. Take care of our woman. We’ll be back once we get her stuff moved.”

“She’s in good hands,” Dave started. “I want you to keep all her paperwork separated. Keep an eye out for anything from Cantrell. We need to get to the bottom of this.”

“Right,” James responded, playing with the set of keys in his hand with the miniature leather flogger as the key ring. For a moment, three sets of eyes stared at the item, snickers of amusement on their lips.

“Looks like our lady has some explaining to do,” Dave chuckled. “But that’ll have to wait until she gets better. Since she’s alone right now, we aren’t doing our job properly, so I’ll get in there. You guys pack her up and bring her home.”

James and Kevin chucked their friend on the arm and made their way to the elevator. Dave set off down the hallway to Anita’s room.

Walking into her room, he found Doc Anderson sitting next to the bed in the uncomfortable chair that he himself had slept in the previous night. As he entered, Doc stood up and Anita glared at him.

“I finished looking over her chart,” Doc Anderson said. “As I have observed more of these relationships springing up, I wanted to make sure one of you was here before I left.”

“I appreciate that, Doc. How is she doing?” he asked while making his way to the other side of the bed.

Doc Anderson glanced down at Anita before returning his attention to Dave. “She is going to make a full recovery. She’ll have pain so I have prescribed some painkillers for her. You can have them filled at the pharmacy before you leave here.”

“How much longer does she have to stay here?”

“I’d like to see her stay one more night just to make sure there are no further complications. Let’s let the swelling go down a bit before she leaves.”

Dave gathered Anita’s hand in his, letting his thumb graze across the knuckles there. “We can live with that. It’ll take the day and night to get our home ready for her arrival.”

“Hmph!” came from Anita as she continued to glare at him. He knew she was upset that they had railroaded her into moving to the ranch, but she had to see that it was best for her safety. They would discuss it once Doc left.

Doc Anderson glanced at his watch. “Well, I have more rounds to make, so if you’ll excuse me.”

Reaching across the bed, Dave extended his hand to the doctor who shook it before he looked down at Anita tenderly. “I will see you tomorrow morning, my dear. Just relax and let this gentleman take care of you.”

“Yes, doctor,” Anita said as she looked up at the physician. “Thank you.”

Doc Anderson walked over to the door and closed it behind him as he left.

 

* * * *

 

Anita had watched the older man walk out of the room, conscious the whole time of Dave watching her. Once the door was closed, she continued to look at it, avoiding the man next to her. Her heart beat wildly in her chest at being alone with him, but she knew that at the moment, her men were totally taking over her life and she wasn’t happy with it. She feared if she looked at him, she wouldn’t be angry any more.

“Look at me, Anita,” Dave said softly. “I know this is difficult for you, but we promised to keep you safe.”

Still looking at the door, she sighed heavily. “It’s not just you guys.”

His hand wove through her hair tenderly, his fingertips finding her scalp. They rubbed softly, a nice massaging motion. With a kiss to her temple, he whispered, “Then what is wrong?”

Tears began to sting her eyes. She didn’t want to cry. There had been too many tears, but she also didn’t want to appear weak to them and all she had done in the past twenty-four hours was show them how weak she was.

“I don’t understand why you want me.”

“What do you mean, darlin’? Of course we want you. We want to spend the rest of our lives with you.”

Sniffling, she wiped away a tear. “It’s been such a whirlwind since I first met you guys. I can’t get my life back in order. I know you want to help me, but I can’t seem to help myself. How can you want a woman like that?”

Dave pulled his hand away from her hair and she was afraid that he was even more upset with her. Surprise enveloped her as he moved down the bed a bit and then gently slid his arms under her knees and her shoulders. She felt herself being lifted in his arms, swung around as he sat on the bed, and then cuddled up against his chest.

The scent of him was strong. There was an underlying scent of fabric softener mingled with the cologne she had bought him as a Christmas gift along with the smell of his body wash. She breathed in deeply as he settled her body alongside his in the crook of his arm, her head against his shoulder.

Instinctively she slid her arm across his waist to hold herself against him. For the first time in a long time, she felt safe in his arms. His free hand moved over and his fingers began to rub small circles on her forearm. Feeling a kiss on the top of her head made a smile appear on her face, the first she had since before she left for work last night.

“Sweetheart,” he began, “you have been through more in the past few months than anyone should have to deal with. The fact that you are still pushing forward proves how strong you really are. Many people would have laid down and let life punch them in the face, but not you. Not our woman. You are strong because you are raising your children alone. You have gone to work in a bar to make a living and you are having to battle Virgil for what is rightfully yours.”

Anita felt her body warm at his words. She felt he was singing her praises truthfully, but her doubts were still underlying in her brain.

Amazement filled her when she felt her hand move up to his chest and slip within the opening of his shirt. Her fingers came in contact with coarse short hairs that seemed to cover the hard pecs of his chest. Not having seen him without his shirt, she got a good idea of what he would look like by what her fingers were feeling.

“Honey, you need to be gentle with me,” he whispered against her hair. “I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to be a gentleman if you continue to do that.”

“Suck it up, cowboy. Look what you did to me last night,” she teased.

“But yours was a punishment,” came his deep chuckled response. “This is foreplay.”

Tilting her head, she looked up into his face. His green eyes glowed as he watched her. A shadow was appearing on his jawline and above his lip, an indication he had shaved before they had come to find her last night. The scar on his cheek seemed to stand out a bit more than usual, but that was probably a play on the dim lighting in the room.

Dave leaned forward and captured her lips with his own. He tasted of spearmint and coffee, a testament of what he had for breakfast. Opening her lips to his probing tongue when he requested entry caused a thrill to run through her body. His tongue swept past her teeth and over her tongue. It ran along the roof of her mouth and then to each side as if it was memorizing every inch of her mouth. Finally, it returned to her tongue, teasing it until they were dueling with each other.

Anita tried to breathe through her nose, but he seemed to be sucking the breath out of her. Her hand began to clutch at his chest, curling into the hair she found there. Feeling her breasts getting heavy with sexual need along with her core beginning to throb, she tried to move to where she could climb on top of his body, but his arms kept her in place.

Euphoria settled upon her at his attentiveness to her. It felt as if her body was floating above her and she was looking down upon the two of them, though she still felt every little nuance of his actions. He held her close as his mouth feasted upon hers. His right hand came up to finger through her hair as he held her head still.

They remained this way for another minute or so until Dave finally pulled away from her, dragging in a breath of air. His eyes were a dark emerald green, a bit glazed. A blush covered his cheeks as he watched her expression.

“You really know how to make a man lose his breath,” he whispered.

Blushing wildly at his statement, she could only smile. Not used to compliments such as that from men, she wasn’t sure what to say.

“I could lie here all day kissing you, darlin’, but I don’t want to hurt you any more than you already are.” He smiled at her. “I just wanted a moment to myself with you to kiss you. Now, let’s just lay here for a while. You had a rough night, and need a nap.”

Laying her head back down on his shoulder, she cuddled in closer, letting his arms hold her close. With her hand on his chest, she felt not only his breathing which was still a bit ragged from the kiss, but also his rapidly beating heart. Did she really do that to him? Was she really able to get a man that worked up? Even though she had been married, she was still naïve when it came to sex since she had only been with Craig.

Coyly, she had to ask, “Why is your heart beating so quickly?”

Kissing the top of her head again, he chuckled. “Isn’t yours beating that fast?” Anita shrugged. Dave chuckled again and held her closer. “Go to sleep, little one. I’ll be right here when you wake up.”

Snuggling against his side, she let her body relax. As the heart and lungs beneath her hand began a steady rhythm, she soon drifted off. Her last thoughts were of being held within his strong arms.

Chapter Seven

 

After cuddling blissfully with Dave the previous day, Anita’s spirit was a bit more at ease, though now her stomach was filled with butterflies. The drive from Kalispell was long as she sat in the front seat of Dave’s pickup. Since they had been on Circle G property, the road was bumpy from the potholes that had developed over the winter and each dip of the truck caused her face to ache. He had already had to stop once to let her relieve her stomach in the bushes as she was nauseated from the drive. And now she feared she was going to have him stop again.

“I’m sorry the ride is so rough,” he said as if reading her mind. “The road will be fixed once the snow stops.”

Anita looked over at the man driving the truck. His chiseled jaw was set firmly as he concentrated on the road. It did seem as if he tried to avoid the rough patches as much as possible but even she could see how bad the road was from her vantage point.

Her hand flew to her stomach as she felt it begin to protest again. The truck came to a quick stop and her other hand was on the handle before she knew it. Pushing against the door as she pulled on the handle, she jumped down from her seat and ran to the bushes a few feet away from the road. Bending over, she waited for the vomiting to begin, but her stomach was empty. Only a bit of bile came to her mouth, which she spit out.

BOOK: Anita's Triple Temptation [Men of Montana 4] (Siren Publishing Menage Amour)
11.73Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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