Trusting Them (2 page)
Authors: Marla Monroe
Tags: #Menage a Trois (m/f/m), #Menage Amour, #Fiction, #Romance, #Adult, #Erotica, #Western
Brock let out a breath and nodded. “Yeah, I feel it, too, Brady. She’s the one.”
“I didn’t believe it when the Dads told us we’d know when we saw her. I figured it was all bullshit,” Brady admitted.
“Evidently it isn’t. Doesn’t change anything, though. She doesn’t trust us, and we can’t keep her here. We have until she’s able to leave to change her mind.”
“I’m not letting her leave without knowing she’ll be okay. Hell, I’m not even sure I can let her leave even if she will be okay. All I can think is that she’s mine—ours.” Brady ran a hand through his hair.
“I know what you mean,” Brock said. “I’m going to go ahead and check on the horses. You go back upstairs and wait until she gets out. Oh, and find something for her to wear. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
“Be careful. Take the big light with you.”
“Good idea. I’ll be back.”
* * * *
Jeni sat up in bed and waited for a few seconds to be sure they weren’t going to come back in. Then she eased out from beneath the covers and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. For a few seconds, dizziness washed over her. Then it passed. She attempted to stand up and found it wasn’t as easy as she thought it would be. Her legs threatened to buckle. She stood swaying for a few more seconds then slowly made her way across the floor to the bathroom. She grabbed hold of the knob on the bathroom door and held on as she closed it behind her.
The bathroom was huge, with a massive whirlpool tub in one corner, big enough for two or three people. An even larger walk-in shower stood across from it with several shower heads. The vanity had three sinks with a mirror across the back of the entire thing. Why would anyone want three sinks? Since both men were huge in her book, she could understand everything being so big, but three sinks?
Jeni managed to get one leg into the tub and sit on the edge to maneuver the other one over the side into the water. It felt heavenly, and she wasn’t even in all the way yet. She reached over to one edge and slowly lowered herself into the water. It lapped up to the swell of her breasts. She leaned back and moaned out loud at the wonderful feel of warm water surrounding her body.
She felt guilty lying to them. She honestly didn’t know what to tell them that wouldn’t get them in trouble with her ex. Although she had awakened totally nude in bed with them, they hadn’t hurt her. Yes, they had been almost as naked as she, but she really wasn’t scared of them. They both appeared to be good men.
The one named Brock looked to be about thirty or thirty-two. He was at least six- five or six-six in height. His shaggy black hair reached just below his collar. His eyes were a gorgeous shade of brown, like dark chocolate. They seemed to be more serious than his brother’s.
Brady wasn’t quite as tall as his brother and looked to be younger. He might be twenty-eight or so, she decided. His rich black hair held a hint of curl to it. Dark eyes twinkled when he smiled.
Both men were rugged looking with broad shoulders that tapered to a trim waist and compact ass. She wasn’t dead. She had looked. It wasn’t easy not to see the bulges behind their boxers. They were impressive, to say the least. She sighed and closed her eyes. She shouldn’t be thinking about them at all. She was already in enough trouble. She sure as hell didn’t need another man in her life. She couldn’t seem to get rid of the one she had.
Glenn, her ex, had come into her life seeming like a knight in white armor. She had just lost her mother, her father having left when she was only ten. She hadn’t known what to do, but Glenn had swept her off her feet and taken care of everything. She should have realized then he was controlling, but she’d been so devastated at the time she hadn’t. She was definitely paying for it now.
Her body ached in so many places. The bruises on her ribs hurt the most, though her head was fast catching up with a doozy of a headache. She would have to ask for something for the pain. Surely, they would have Tylenol or ibuprofen. Since they had seen her naked, they knew about the bruising. With the blizzard, it would be awhile before anyone found her car. That would be a good thing. If no one knew she was missing, her ex wouldn’t be able to find her either.
Jeni was running from her ex when she hit a patch of ice and careened off the road into a ravine. Thank God, she hadn’t been hurt any worse than she was. The dumb thing had been trying to find help in the snow. The longer she walked, the colder she had gotten, until she guessed she’d passed out.
After what seemed like an hour of soaking, Jeni decided she better get out before she got chilled or one of the brothers decided to check on her. The tub was large enough she couldn’t stretch her arms across to push herself up so she tried rolling to her knees to get up.
Oh, God. That’s not going to happen.
Her knees hurt too bad to kneel. She tried pulling herself up by the side of the tub, but her ribs protested that. Nausea rolled through her stomach from the pain.
Finally, she gave up with tears running down her face from all the aches and pains she’d stirred up. What was she going to do? The thought of sitting there in the cooling water stirred more tears. She reached up and turned the water on to warm it back up. The move aggravated more sore spots. She gave in and silently cried. Nothing was going as planned.
Chapter Two
Brady slipped into the room and laid out a pair of warm-up pants and a rather large T-shirt on the bed for her to wear. He listened but didn’t hear any sounds coming from the bathroom. He walked over to the door and listened again. Still, no sounds emerged from within. Now he was getting worried. He knocked softly so as not to startle her.
“Jeni?”
“Yes.” Her voice sounded a bit breathy.
“Are you okay in there? Do you need some help?” There was a long silence.
“I can’t get out of the tub.”
“Aw, honey. I’ll help you.” He opened the bathroom door and walked inside.
She sat against the side of the tub with her chin resting on her folded arms on the side of the tub. Big, fat tears flowed down her face, but she didn’t make a sound.
Brady knelt by the tub and brushed the tears from her eyes. “Don’t cry. It’s all right. I’ll help you get out, and then we’ll get you dried off and dressed.”
He stood up and bent over to help her stand.
“Put your arms around my neck. I’ll get you out of there.”
“I’ll get you wet,” she warned.
“I’ll dry.”
She tentatively placed her hands on his shoulders as if afraid she would hurt him.
“Hold on.” He put his hands under her arms and stood up.
Jeni got to her feet with a slight hiss of breath as she did. He held her a second, looking into her eyes and making sure she had her balance before reaching over to snag the huge towel. Wrapping her up in it, he began gently blotting, afraid of hurting her. She let him dry her off without complaining. When he was satisfied she was dry enough to dress, he wrapped the towel around her. She looked up into his eyes and smiled.
Blue eyes. He just realized her eyes were the blue of a spring sky. Something in them called to him. He bent forward without thinking and gently kissed her. She didn’t pull away, so he repeated the kiss a little firmer. Then he drew her bottom lip into his mouth and brushed it with his tongue. She made a soft “hmm” sound then kissed him back. It felt so right.
He pulled away and picked her up to carry her to the bedroom. She needed to get dressed before he did something neither one of them was ready for. She was hurting, for God’s sakes. He sat her back on the bed.
“Good, she’s out of the tub.” Brock walked into the room. Cool air hovered around him.
“They okay out there?” Brady asked.
“Fine. We can add feed tomorrow.”
He risked a glance at their guest. She wasn’t looking at either one of them.
“Let’s get some clothes on you.” Brady picked up the T-shirt and helped her put it on over her head.
She pulled it down, and it pooled in her lap. She reached beneath the shirt and pulled the towel out. He knelt on the floor and held the warm-ups for her to step into. She tried to stand up but fell back on the bed. Brock was suddenly there helping her to stand while Brady pulled the warm-ups up and tied them as tightly as they would go around her waist. They still threatened to drop off her hips.
“Well, you’ll be in bed most of the time anyway,” Brock said.
“Damn, forgot socks. I’ll be right back.” He ran out of the room back to his bedroom.
He searched his drawer for the thickest pair he owned. When he returned, he knelt once again and rolled the socks on her feet.
“There, you should be warm enough now.” He looked at her. “How do you feel?”
“I’m sore, but I’m okay.” She hesitated, then continued. “I don’t suppose I could have something for a headache, could I?”
“Should have thought about that. I bet you’re thirsty too. I’ll go get you some ibuprofen. Should help with everything.” Brady nodded at Brock and headed to the kitchen.
He decided OJ would be good for her. He shook four of the pills into his hand and looked out the window. The blowing snow almost blacked out the light over the barn out the back. There would be at least a couple of feet of snow by morning, he figured. Maybe more. He hoped like hell she didn’t get sick during the night. There would be no way to get her down to Denton. He sighed and headed back upstairs.
* * * *
Brock knelt by the bed and looked Jeni in the eyes. They were blue, he noticed. He had been right about that. She flinched under his stare.
“Do you remember anything at all? Like how long you might have walked?”
“I don’t know. It seemed like forever. I wish I could remember what happened.” She averted her eyes.
Yep, she was lying about remembering. The question was why was she lying? She didn’t trust them. Surely, they had proved they weren’t going to hurt her by now. He leaned in, drawn by her scent. She turned her head about the same time. Their noses brushed. Her eyes lifted to his, and he kissed her. He didn’t know why. He just knew that he had to kiss her. It was tentative at first, but blossomed into a full-out kiss. Her lips parted without his prompting. They were sweet and tempting. He licked along them, then caught her tongue exploring his mouth. Then she pulled away with a jerk.
Brady walked in with a glass of OJ and the ibuprofen in his hand. He looked from Brock to Jeni and then back again. He raised an eyebrow at Brock. Brock shrugged. She swallowed hard and turned away from them. She busied herself fluffing the pillow, then scooted back to lie against it.
“Thought OJ would be better for you. I also brought some water, though.” He plucked the bottled water on the nightstand and handed her the OJ, making sure she had it before he let go.
“Figured four ibuprofen would do the trick.” He held out his hand and poured the four pills into her palm.
Brock watched as she took the pills. She settled back against the pillow and dug her feet under the covers. Brock reached over and pulled the covers the rest of the way up under her arms. She smiled and then blinked and frowned as if she remembered something.
“Get some rest. We’ll check on you through the night. If you need anything, just call out. One of us will come see what you need.” Brock patted the covers, then turned around towards the door.
“Thank you both for helping me.” She coughed and quickly covered her mouth.
“Just get some rest. If the snow isn’t too deep tomorrow, we’ll get you to Denton so the doc can check you out,” Brady said.
Brady followed him downstairs to the kitchen. He put on a pot of coffee. They could both use it. It looked like it would be a long night. Between watching the fire to keep it going and checking on their patient—because that was what she was going to end up being, by the sounds of her cough—they wouldn’t get a lot of sleep.