Monroe, Marla - Their Border Lands Gift [Men of the Border Lands 5] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (2 page)
Authors: Marla Monroe
“What can I do for you?”
“We want to barter for some gas. What do you need?”
“Don’t rightly need much of anything, but if you have something for my wife, I’d appreciate it. Something girly.” He leered at Kate. “I bet you’ve got something pretty for my wife, don’t you, honey?”
“Kate?” Mike took her hand. “Do you have anything like that? I’ll get it for you.”
“What color eyes does she have?” Kate asked, trying to think of what she had with her.
“Sue Ann! Come on out here, woman, and meet these nice people.” The man yelled back over his shoulder toward the building.
A small, waifish woman who couldn’t have been much older than twenty-one eased out of the station and walked toward the man. A bruise covered the left side of her face and eye. Immediately Kate wanted to take her with them, but knew that would never happen.
“Get my training case out of the back, and I’ll find something nice for her.”
“Keep your doors locked until I get back. Don’t roll down your window either.” Mike climbed out of the truck and locked the door behind him.
“Where you heading, pretty lady?” the man asked, squeezing the woman close to him.
“We’ve got relatives out west, and we’re going to move there with them.”
Mike walked up to the truck, and she reached over and unlocked the door so he could climb in with her case. She opened it and rummaged around until she found what she was looking for. She handed Mike a tube of lipstick and a pretty silver barrette that would look good in the woman’s brown hair.
Mike climbed back out of the truck, locking the door, and walked around to give the man the items. The man took them and handed them over to the woman. She smiled wide as the sky and teared up. She looked up at Kate and mouthed
thank you
. Kate smiled back at her and waved her hand. The man shooed the woman back into the station and proceeded to pump their gas.
Her brother got back into the truck and waited for the man to finish filling the truck up. Once that was done, he waved them off. Mike pulled out of the station and headed into the sleepy little town of Gateway. He refused to look at her. No doubt he knew what she was thinking.
“Don’t say it,” Mike interrupted her when she would have pointed out that it could have been her.
“Don’t you see, Mike? You never know if someone will be kind or mean. How can you chance it with me?”
“Fuck it, Kate! I’m doing the best I can for you.” Mike wasn’t known for cursing, so she knew she had upset him.
Good.
She crossed her arms and turned away from him. There was no reasoning with him like he was now. He’d argue with a fence post. Kate swallowed down the tears threatening to fall only to find a giant lump in her throat. She couldn’t understand why he thought he could choose someone safe without knowing them. He was desperate. That was the bottom line. Mike was scared he would screw up, and she would get taken while he was supposed to be watching her.
She leaned her head against the hot window and stared ahead at the dilapidated houses on either side of the street. No doubt there were other desperate people living in them, wondering where their next meal would be coming from or if they would wake up the next day.
They spent the night on the other side of the little town after negotiating some food for some clothes. Evidently most of the stores were out of the necessities, and the supply trucks were never predictable.
“We’ll reach Barter Town the day after tomorrow around lunchtime. I want you to remember to keep close to me, and if anyone asks, we’re husband and wife. We don’t exactly look that much alike with your honey-colored hair and mine being a lighter blond instead of your richer gold.” Mike checked the tires on the trailer as he talked when they were getting ready to leave the next morning.
“I know. Don’t worry. I’ll stick to you like glue. I have no wish to be stolen and sold to someone,” she said sarcastically.
“I’m not selling you, Kate!”
“Oh, no. I’m not worth anything. You’re giving me away.”
“Damn it.” He stomped off to the front of the truck and climbed in the cab.
He started the truck, but waited for her to walk around and get in as well. Neither of them talked much the rest of the day or when they stopped for the night. She knew better than to wander off, but kept her distance from him until they went to bed that night.
Kate tossed and turned, dreaming of strange men pawing at her and kissing her. She woke up tired the next morning, with a serious headache. She took the painkillers they had and prayed it would help. Today they would reach Barter Town, and she didn’t want to be sick when she needed to be at her best and aware of everything around her.
Chapter Two
When they reached Barter Town, Kate could tell that Mike was even more nervous than before. They bartered for some gas, and after the way the men everywhere tried to get a look at Kate, he decided that it was too dangerous for her to go with him to barter for more food and water.
“It’s worse than what they said, Kate. I can’t hold you and barter for what we need at the same time. Someone will snatch you from me for sure. You’re going to have to stay in the trailer until I get back,” he said.
“How long will you be?” Kate wasn’t getting a good feeling about this at all.
“Not long, I hope. It will be hot back there since it’s just a little past noon, but the water is back there. You can drink plenty while you wait.”
“I wish we didn’t have to stop here at all,” Kate muttered.
Mike pulled the truck into a parking place under a tree for shade and got out to help her in the back. He closed and locked the door once she was inside. He slapped the door once and was gone.
Kate huddled in the back of the camper, waiting on Mike to return for what seemed like hours. Surely he wouldn’t look for someone here to take her. Not in this godforsaken spot. Someone fiddled with the door to the camper. Since Mike had the key, Kate knew it couldn’t be him. When the door suddenly wrenched open, Kate couldn’t stop the tiny scream from escaping.
“Well, what do we have here?” a man’s voice asked.
Kate slipped down beneath the table and curled up into a ball under it.
The man climbed up in the camper and approached her. She couldn’t see him in the dim light with the bright sunlight glaring from behind him. His face was in shadow.
“Think I found me a little woman to play with.” He walked further into the camper and knelt down to look under the table.
Of course he knew where she was. He would have had a bird’s-eye view of her from the doorway before he climbed up.
“Come out, girlie. I can see you back there. I won’t hurt you.”
“My br—husband will be back in a few minutes, and you’ll be sorry you broke into our trailer.”
“Aw, well, we’ll be long gone by then. Come on out before you make me mad,” he said.
“No!” She tried to push even tighter underneath the table, but the wall was uncooperative in letting her go further.
He reached in, and she slapped at his hand. When he tried to grab her hair, she bit his hand.
“Bitch! You’ll be sorry you did that.”
He climbed under the table and grabbed her hair with two hands before she had a chance to bite him again. He yanked and pulled until she was following him out of sheer pain.
When she attempted to run, he grabbed her around the waist and stopped her. She screamed, but no one came to help as he dragged her out of the camper and out onto the street. She kicked back and tried to butt him with her head into his chin, but he managed to avoid her pitiful attempts at breaking free.
“Let go of me. Someone help me! He’s kidnapping me,” she screamed. Still, no one paid any real attention other than a passing interest. Kate tried scratching at his hands with her nails, but he retaliated by squeezing her until she couldn’t breathe. Tears flowed from her eyes as he started to carry her away.
“Let her go,” another man’s voice said.
“She’s mine, so butt out of what ain’t your business,” her captor said.
Kate looked up into the darkest eyes she had ever seen. His long black hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and he looked ready to do bodily harm. Standing next to him was another man with shoulder-length, shaggy brown hair and hazel eyes that seemed to be trying to tell her something.
“She says she’s not,” the brown-haired man said.
“They all say that. You know that,” her captor said.
“I’m not his. My husband is out bartering for supplies. This man broke into our camper. You can look at the door and see where he did.”
Her captor slapped a hand hard against her face, covering her mouth. She would have a bruise there for sure. She tried head-butting him again, but his hand over her mouth prevented her from any real movement. Kate began to feel as if she were suffocating despite being able to breathe through her nose. His smell made her nauseous so that she didn’t want to do it.
“There you go. She already has a husband. Put her down before we have to do something about it.” This came from the dark-haired man. He had a voice so deep it stirred something low in her belly.
Kate continued to struggle though it did little good. The two men advanced on them. Her captor couldn’t run with her, so he threatened to break her neck and wrapped an arm around it against her chin.
“I’ll snap her neck so fast you won’t have a chance of getting to her.”
“Kate! What’s going on here! That’s my wife. Let go of her now.”
Kate closed her eyes in relief to hear Mike’s voice. Surely he could talk some sense into the man.
“I don’t see no ring on her finger. As I see it, she’s free for the taking,” the man said.
“Let her go, now, before you make us angry,” the dark-haired stranger said in a low voice.
Mike advanced on the man. He swung Kate around to face Mike, nearly doing as he said he would and breaking her neck. She began to have trouble breathing as his grip was cutting off her air supply.
So preoccupied with trying to breathe, she missed it when the other two men grabbed her captor from behind and jerked her from his grip. She heard a bone break. She was so afraid it was her neck that she began to struggle just to know that she still could.
From somewhere, she heard a scream, but knew it wasn’t hers. Strong but gentle arms pulled her back against a firm chest. Then there were soothing words in her ear.
“Easy, Kate. I’ve got you. Nothing is going to happen to you. Your husband is right here. Everything’s going to be all right now.”
“Give her to me.” Mike’s voice didn’t even soothe her as much as the stranger’s voice had.
She was carefully passed off to Mike, who hugged her and kissed the top of her head.
“Thank you for helping us.” Mike stuck out his hand to shake. “I’m Mike and this is my—wife, Kate Shaw.”
“Pleased to meet you, and glad we could be of help. I’m Bruce Hannover, and this is my brother, Marcus.”
They shook hands, and Kate couldn’t help but stare at them. They were good-looking men with broad shoulders and wide chests that tapered down to small waists. Their muscular arms promised that they would have muscles all over. She’d felt Marcus’s muscles against her back.
“Where are you headed?” Bruce asked.
“Looking to settle around these parts. Just haven’t gotten that far. I had to stop and get gas and supplies. I never dreamed anyone would actually break into my camper.” Mike shook his head, still holding Kate close to him.