Monroe, Marla - Belonging to Them [Men of the Border Lands 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (5 page)

Then there was the sex. No, it wasn’t just sex, but loving. They always pleasured her before taking their own. Sometimes they were tender and careful. But other times, they were wild and rough. She liked it both ways, and never complained. Sometimes, she would grab one of them and go to her knees to suck them off. They always praised her and thanked her for caring about them. She couldn’t seem to get enough of them, and they of her.

But always in the back of her mind was the fact that they basically owned her. She knew it wasn’t their fault, but just the way things were. Still, it felt suffocating to know that she couldn’t go anywhere alone for fear that someone would snatch her.

If they noticed her occasional quiet spells, they didn’t comment on them. They probably figured it was just hormones. She sighed and checked the corn. When she got to the end of the row, she looked out over the field of wildflowers behind it, and noticed the edge of the woods in the back had what looked like briars. Could there be blackberries among the briars?

Heather hurried through the field and checked the briars to find that there were. She eagerly began filling her bucket with the ripe berries. Time passed and she realized it was growing dark. She would have to hurry to get back to the house in time to start supper. She realized she’d worked her way much farther than she had planned. She hurried back along the woods until she reached the spot behind the corn.

She had just emerged from the garden when Brandon exploded from the house, his face much like a thundercloud.

“Where in the hell have you been? We’ve been frantic looking for you.” He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into the house.

“Brandon, you’re hurting me.”

“I’m going to do more than that. I’m going to turn you over my knee and spank your ass until it turns a rosy red!”

Bolton slammed into the kitchen, looking as frantic as his brother looked angry.

“Where have you been?”

Tears stung her eyes. “I was picking blackberries for pies. I didn’t realize you would worry about me. I was just along the woods’ edge.”

“You don’t ever go anywhere without one of us knowing where you are. Better yet, you don’t go anywhere without one of us being with you.” Brandon began unfastening her jeans and jerked them down to her knees along with her underwear.

“No, don’t hit me please, Brandon, don’t hit me.” She cowered trying to pull away from him.

Brandon cursed and turned away after letting her go.

“Go upstairs, Heather. Now!”

Heather was crying even before he pushed her away.

She jerked up her jeans and ran up the stairs. She could hear the two men arguing below as she threw herself on the bed and wept. She felt even more a prisoner than she had before. It had reminded her that they owned her. She was a possession, not a wife or lover so much as their property.

He wouldn’t have really hurt her. She realized that now, but for a moment, she’d been back at the brothel and panicked. What did bother her was that she couldn’t do anything without one of them there to watch her. She felt like a possession more than a human being sometimes.

She heard footsteps on the stairs and knew it would be Bolton. The bed dipped and he laid a hand on her back and rubbed light circles around it in a soothing motion.

“Heather? Are you okay?”

She just sniffed and refused to answer him.

“Honey, Brandon was scared to death someone had snatched you. I was scared to death.”

He sighed and smoothed her hair from her face.

“Don’t be mad at him, Heather.”

“I’m nothing to either of you but a piece of your property. You don’t really care about me. You just want to protect what you own.” She felt the tears begin anew.

“That’s not true.” Brandon had come upstairs now. “You mean more to us than that.”

“It doesn’t feel that way. I’m not supposed to go anywhere or get out of your sight. I don’t feel like I’m really part of you.”

“Don’t blame us for how things are. We can’t help it that the world is like it is. If you get out of our sight, anyone can take you, and we couldn’t do a damn thing about it. We would have to fight to get you back and there would be no guarantee we would ever find you,” Brandon said.

She heard him spew a string of curses before he stomped back down the stairs. She heard the front door slam.

“You don’t really believe all that, do you, Heather?” Bolton asked.

“I can’t help how I feel. You treat me kind and give me what I need to take care of the house, but you are always telling me don’t do this and don’t go there. You keep reminding me that I’m not a person because I can’t think or do anything on my own. It hurts, Bolton. I want this to be home to me, too. It doesn’t feel like my home. Sometimes it feels like a prison.”

How could she tell them that all she needed to feel a part of them was for them to tell her they loved her and needed her? She shouldn’t have to tell them. They should want to tell her that. The fact that they hadn’t only proved that they didn’t, as far as she was concerned.

Bolton sighed and got up from the bed. He seemed to hesitate, then turned and walked away as well. She felt truly alone now. After several minutes of feeling sorry for herself, she got up and rinsed off the ravages of her crying jag and went back downstairs to do something for supper. It was her job, after all. She saw the berries sitting where she’d dropped them and picked the bucket up, tempted to dump them in the trash.

An hour later, she had supper ready, but neither of the men showed up to eat. After another hour, she fixed them a plate each and left them on the stove, and went to bed.

Chapter Four

The next morning she awoke with the knowledge that they hadn’t come to bed during the night. She looked at the clock now sitting by the bed to find it was only five in the morning. She hurriedly dressed and tiptoed down stairs to start their coffee and breakfast. She figured they had slept in their old rooms. She hated that, but it was their prerogative.

An hour later, they clomped down the stairs and entered the kitchen. No one spoke. She served them their breakfast as usual with their coffee, but didn’t sit down to eat with them. She didn’t have a stomach for anything. When they had finished eating, they got up and walked to the door and left her in the kitchen. She felt a tear slip from her eyes, but she refused to let them take over.

She set up the kitchen to put up the blackberries as jelly. When lunchtime came and they didn’t return, she took their sandwiches out to the field where they were cutting hay to put up for the winter. She didn’t see them, so she called out. After a while, Bolton came up from the field. He looked at her with such sadness she wanted to hug him, but knew it wouldn’t be welcomed. She handed him the sandwiches and turned around to walk back to the house.

“Thanks.”

She turned around and smiled before heading back to the house. After that, things returned to normal for the most part. There was a wedge between them still, though, and she knew she was responsible for it. She didn’t know how to fix it, and wasn’t sure it was hers to fix.

One evening, Brandon announced they were going to Skylineto salvage again. He reminded her she needed more boots, and they needed to find her a coat for the winter coming up. He carefully laid out the rules to her. She was to stay with one of them at all times, and never go outside of one of the buildings alone.

“Do you understand why, Heather?”

“Yes. The wolves, and someone might snatch me,” she answered in a dull voice. She hated having them remind her of that.

“Okay. We’ll leave at dawn to make the most of the time we have. It gets dark earlier now,” Brandon said.

They went to bed earlier as well, so that when it was time to get up, they had been rested. They were on the road before the sun was up. Bolton put his arm around her in the truck and hugged her.

“We’ll find you some boots, and a coat, and some girly stuff.”

“I don’t need girly stuff. I don’t have anywhere to wear it. We need to stick to useful stuff like soap and shampoo.”

“Maybe I’d like to see you in some pretty things sometime,” he told her.

“You’re talking about lingerie?” She should have known.

“That would be nice, but maybe a pretty dress, too.”

“If she doesn’t want to wear it, don’t make her, Bolton.”

She noticed that Brandon gripped the wheel until his knuckles turned white. Did he not want her to dress sexy? Why? Maybe he was tired of her now. He still had sex with her and they still pleasured her, but he didn’t cuddle with her as he had before. It hurt. She supposed she’d screwed everything up by being honest about her feelings.

When they arrived at Skyline, they headed for the Walmart first. Brandon pulled right up at the doors in the back. The three of them climbed out of the cab of the truck and carefully made their way inside. She let them lead her through the back into the main part of the building.

“Okay, Heather, grab a cart and go to the shoes first. Then go after whatever else you need or you think we need. We’re going to be looking for some supplies in the automotive and hunting gear.” Brandon pointed her to the cart they’d used last time.

She found three pair of boots that fit, and grabbed heavy socks as well as all the thermals and warm-ups that would fit her. Then she headed back to the pharmacy area and loaded up on shampoo, deodorant, and other supplies. She searched for a coat, but could only find jackets. She wandered through the lingerie and picked out a few things. There wasn’t much to choose from in that department.

Bolton found her looking through the canning supplies. She had loaded another cart full of them and was struggling to pull one cart while she pushed another one.

“I’ve got this one. I’m glad you remembered the canning supplies. I had forgotten about them.”

If he noticed the underwear she’d picked out, he didn’t say anything. They made their way back to the double doors leading to the outside.

“Where is Brandon?”

“He’s already out loading up what we found.”

They eased through the back and loaded everything into the tubs they’d put there for that purpose. Then Brandon appeared and helped Bolton carry them to the truck. They left her in the back of the building to wait on them. The dark closed in around her, and she was tempted to slip out and get into the truck, but they’d been very clear she was to wait in the building. Finally, Bolton came for her.

“Remember, don’t run. Walk slowly to the truck and climb in. We have company.”

“Oh, my, God.There are wolves out there?”

“Just trust me and walk slowly to the truck.”

Heather nodded and followed him outside. He grabbed her off the landing and stood her on her feet. They slowly walked to the truck and climbed in. The wolves had just watched them. She couldn’t stop shivering.

“You okay?” Brandon asked.

“Yeah, they just scare me.”

“Did you find a coat?” Bolton asked.

“No. I did find boots though, and I got thermal underwear.”

Brandon maneuvered them around the deserted town until he pulled into a sporting goods parking lot. He pulled up close to the door.

“I’ve never been here, but they are bound to have coats here. Won’t hurt for all of us to have extras,” Brandon said. “Heather, stay in the truck until we get the doors open. Then one of us will come back after you.”

She nodded and watched them climb out of the truck and make their way toward the front of the store. They used a crowbar to pry the door open. Then they checked inside before Bolton came back to get her.