Monroe, Marla - Their Bartered Bride [Men of the Border Lands 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (7 page)

“Sorry. I was just so happy to see you were okay. I heard the rifle fire and was worried you had been attacked.” Leigh gritted her teeth and turned with the lamp to march back into the living room, leaving them in the dark.

She wasn’t going to let them jump on her like that. She hadn’t done anything wrong. Jonathan walked into the room first.

“We’re okay, Leigh.”

“I can see that. I wouldn’t have opened the door if there had been wolves out there. I’m not that stupid.”

“I know you’re not, Leigh. But you have to be careful around here. The wolves are wild and very cunning. I don’t want anything to happen to you,” Joel said when he walked into the room.

He pulled her stiff body into his arms and hugged her. Finally, she relaxed into his arms and laid her head against his chest. She had gotten her feelings hurt too easily. That wasn’t good, she decided. It meant they were getting under her skin more so than she had planned on happening. They weren’t responding to her attempts to become intimate as fast as she would have liked. Now she was falling for them. If they found out how much she cared about them, they could hurt her so easily. She had to keep it from them.

She pulled out of Joel’s arms and walked over and hugged Jonathan quickly.

“So, did you kill any of them?” she asked, taking a seat on the couch.

“No, but we scared them off. There were three by the fence on the other side of the barn. They are getting more and more dangerous,” Jonathan commented.

“Have they killed any of your cows in the past?” she asked.

“They got one of our young cows last year that had wandered off from the herd. That’s why we try to keep them close together. So far they haven’t attempted to attack the herd yet.”

“What do you do when the cows have calves?”

“We spend a lot of time out there at night watching over them. We’ll be taking turns this spring.” Joel stood in front of the fireplace warming his hands against the fire.

“I think I’m going to call it a night,” Jonathan said, and stretched.

“That’s a good idea,” Joel agreed. “Come on, Leigh. You can go ahead upstairs with us so we can all have the lamp.”

Leigh was ready for bed. She’d worked hard and was ready to climb into bed after a nice soak in the tub.

“Can I keep the lamp? I want to take a bath.” She climbed the stairs between the two men. Jonathan led the way with the lamp.

“Sure. I’ll sit it on the bathroom counter for you,” Jonathan said.

He followed her into the bedroom and left the lamp for her like he said. Then he started to head out of the room. Leigh caught him by the shirt. When he turned to see what she wanted, she pulled him down and kissed him softly on the lips before pushing him out the door and closing it behind him.

Chapter Six

Jonathan wasn’t sure what had woken him, but he didn’t feel as if he’d been asleep for more than an hour or so. He lay there listening to the house with its creaks and moans. Nothing stood out as having been the cause. Just when he was about to drift off again, a loud scream pierced the relative silence of the house.
Leigh
. He jumped out of bed and ran down the hall to her room.

He reached it about the same time his brother did. They threw open the door and scrambled into the room, ready for whatever had attacked Leigh. Only there was nothing there. She was thrashing on the bed as if fighting for her life. Jonathan immediately climbed into bed and pulled her into his arms to try and calm her. She fought him at first.

“Leigh, it’s Jonathan. You’re okay. You’re safe. Calm down, Leigh.” He stroked her head with one hand.

Joel lit a lamp for them and climbed into the bed on the other side and stroked her shoulder as she settled down. Finally, she opened her eyes, still breathing heavily.

“They were everywhere. I couldn’t get away from them.” There were tears in her eyes.

Jonathan brushed them away with his thumb. “Who, baby?”

“The wolves. They were in the house, and no matter where I ran, they were there.” She still had wild eyes from her night fright.

“They aren’t here, Leigh. You’re okay now.” Joel leaned in and kissed her forehead.

“I was so scared.”

“I know. We heard you scream.” Jonathan realized both he and Joel were buck naked. At least she had on a T-shirt.

He started to pull away now that she was okay, but she latched onto his arm.

“Please don’t leave me. I don’t want to sleep alone. I’m scared.” She turned tearstained eyes up to him, pleading with him.

“Baby, you’re okay now. The wolves can’t get in the house. Everything is locked up tight,” he tried to explain to her, but she wasn’t listening.

“Joel, please don’t make me sleep alone. I’m so scared.” Tears began to fall again.

Jonathan knew the moment she’d won. Joel closed his eyes and nodded.

“We’ll stay with you, baby. Come on. Let’s get you back under the covers.” He pulled the covers out from under them and they all climbed beneath them.

She curled into Jonathan’s side with her head on his shoulder. She reached back and grabbed Joel’s arm and pulled it around her waist. Then she snuggled between them.

Jonathan sighed. It felt good to have her in his arms, but he knew this would be the beginning of the end of how things had been. He was positive she would weasel her way into their hearts in no time. He didn’t mind one bit, but he was sure that Joel was going to fight it, and that would cause problems.

The three of them huddled beneath the covers until one by one, they all fell asleep. Jonathan dreamed they were a family with kids and a large backyard on one side and a large garden on the other side. They cooked out during the summer and built snowmen in the winter. It was a good dream. So when he woke up, he should have been in a good mood.

Instead, he woke up in a worried mood. For one thing, Leigh wasn’t in the bed with them. He rolled out of bed wondering how he had missed her getting up. He padded down to his room and pulled on jeans, socks, and a shirt. Then he made his way down to the kitchen to find her busily preparing breakfast for them.

“Morning, Jonathan. How are you?”

“Been better,” he groused. Why was he in a foul mood?

“Thanks for staying with me last night. I was scared. I don’t have bad dreams as a rule, so it upset me.” She didn’t look at him as she spoke.

He poured up a cup of coffee and sipped it as he watched her cook. The fact that he had seen a future with her should have made him happy. What was bothering him?

Joel came stomping down the stairs and Jonathan knew what it was then. Joel would probably try and pull back again today after having slept with her. That worried him. It would confuse Leigh.

She turned and stared at Joel when he walked in the kitchen. He frowned, then headed for the coffee.

“Morning, Leigh,” he said.

“Morning, Joel. I was telling Jonathan that I don’t usually have nightmares. I was really freaked out by those wolves last night. Thanks for staying with me.” She continued stirring the hash browns she was cooking.

“No problem. Jonathan, let’s go ahead and move the herd over to the other pasture since we have the wolves to worry about right now.” He sipped his coffee then walked over to the kitchen table to sit down. “That way we aren’t as far from them, and we know they won’t get bogged up in mud.”

“Got you.” He watched Joel’s face for any sign of what he was thinking.

His brother was tops at keeping his thoughts to himself. You could rarely tell what he was thinking by looking at his face, but this morning, he appeared agitated. Something he rarely saw in his brother. Joel had an iron will and nerves of steel. What had him upset today, Leigh or the wolves, or both?

Once they had finished breakfast, Joel stood up and took his plate to the sink. He rinsed it, and sat it on the counter. Then he walked back over to where Leigh sat and kissed her on the head.

“Don’t get into any trouble while we’re gone, and stay inside.” He lifted an eyebrow at Jonathan. “You coming?”

“Yeah.” Jonathan got up from the table and rinsed off his plate as well.

While Joel shrugged on his coat and slipped on his boots, Jonathan wrapped an arm around Leigh’s middle and hugged her. Then he donned his coat, pulled on his boots, and followed Joel out to the barn.

“What’s going on, Joel? You’re never this unsettled.” Jonathan risked his brother’s ire to find out what he was thinking.

“Nothing. We’ve got wolves to worry about. I don’t have time to worry about anything else. That includes Leigh’s feelings. Best thing to do is give her what she wants and be done with it.”

“Well, that’s a fine attitude you have on having sex with her. She’s going to love that.”

Joel turned from cinching up his saddle to stare at him. “What in the hell do you want from me? First you want me to lighten up and give in, and when I do, you fucking complain about that, too.”

“I don’t want you to force yourself to do anything, because she’s going to know your heart isn’t in it.”

“I don’t think anyone’s heart is in it yet, Jonathan. That’s what I’ve been worried about, fucking for the sake of fucking.” Joel huffed out a breath and double-checked the saddle.

“I’m not planning on doing that, Joel, and you know that. I have feelings for her. It may not be love yet, but I have feelings for her. Are you saying you don’t?”

“Hell, I don’t know. I just know that what we have—what we’re going to have isn’t going to be what I’m used to, and that worries me.” Joel led his horse outside, where the early morning sun was just rising past the tree line.

Slivers of light played across the ground at their feet as they led the horses into the yard. Joel swung up into the saddle and waited for Jonathan to do the same. They rode in silence for a few seconds.

“She’s a wonderful woman, Jonathan. She deserves the best that we can be for her. I’m not sure I can be my best at something I’m not used to. She’s going to know if I’m not satisfied. That’s going to cause problems down the road.”

“Joel, maybe you will be satisfied. How do you know you won’t be until you’ve tried? Don’t go into a relationship expecting the worst. You’re only going to get it, and that will fuck us all up.”

Joel didn’t say anything more. Instead, they began moving the herd to the next area, working in silence like they normally did. They each knew their part in the process, and soon the cows were settled in a new pasture.

“Let’s check around the house for any signs of wolves. I want to see how close they are getting at night.” Joel climbed down off the horse when they got to the house and tied it up at the barn.

They walked around the yard and the garden. Wolf prints were evident all along the tree line and as far as ten yards into the backyard. They didn’t find any evidence of them near the garden or the barn, though.

After seeing to the horses, they checked around the outside of the house for any signs of problems before the winter snows set in. Usually, the men would sleep in the recliners during the worst of the winter cold to be close to the fireplace. But with Leigh, if they all slept together, they might be fine under a few comforters this winter. Jonathan hoped they would anyway.

They pulled off their boots at the back door and went inside to shake off the cold air. Leigh was nowhere to be seen when they first walked in. Joel called out for her when they walked into the living room. She appeared at the top of the stairs.

“I’m up here. What did you need?” she called down.