Finding Her Men

Men of the Border Lands 7

Finding Her Men Valerie needs someone to take care of her, and she thinks she’s found it in Luke and Grant. But will they take her in, or must she continue looking? Luke and Grant are surprised to find a woman on her own out in the Border Lands. How can they turn her away? She can’t help but fall in love with them, but Grant needs a little more convincing than Luke, and she struggles to prove to him that she is worthy of his love. When someone tries to take her away from them, they realize how much she means to them and fight to get her back. Nothing w ill stand in their way. The others in the area agree that they need to work together to keep their women safe. Grant and Luke are eager to join forces for the protection of the woman they love. Note: There is no sexual relationship or touching for titillation between or among the siblings. Genre: Futuristic, Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Western/Cow boys Length: 36,921 words

FINDING HER MEN Men of the Border Lands 7

Marla Monroe

MENAGE EVERLASTING

Siren Publishing, Inc. www.SirenPublishing.com

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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK IMPRINT: Ménage Everlasting

FINDING HER MEN Copyright © 2012 by Marla Monroe E-book ISBN: 1-61926-775-6 First E-book Publication: April 2012 Cover design by Les Byerley All art and logo copyright © 2012 by Siren Publishing, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission. All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

PUBLISHER Siren Publishing, Inc. www.SirenPublishing.com

Letter to Readers Dear Readers, If you have purchased this copy of Finding Her Men by Marla Monroe from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

Regarding E-book Piracy This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this book. The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment. This is Marla Monroe’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Ms. Monroe’s right to earn a living from her work. Amanda Hilton, Publisher www.SirenPublishing.com www.BookStrand.com

DEDICATION I want to say thank you to Brittany for her help with making my life so much easier. Without her help, I’d lose my mind.

FINDING HER MEN Men of the Border Lands 7 MARLA MONROE Copyright © 2012

Chapter One Valerie had been watching them for two weeks now. They were hard workers and had been nice to the family that had been by earlier in the week looking for a place to live. So far, they were her best chance at making it through the winter alive. She had no idea if they would accept her proposition or not. Ever since the year of catastrophes, women were looked on more as possessions to be bought and sold than as human beings. There were men who hunted them to sell on the black market and into brothels. Valerie had been living with another family back in what used to be Tennessee until they moved to the Border Lands during the spring. Their garden hadn’t gotten off to a good start because it had been so late when they planted it. Now there wasn’t going to be enough food for all four of them, especially with a baby on the way. She’d had a long talk with Sam, one of Esther’s husbands, and he agreed where John probably wouldn’t have. She needed men of her own. They would stand a chance at survival through the winter without Valerie better than they would with her. Esther had been a good friend for a long time, but she would have never let her go if she had known about her plan. Sam had drawn up papers for her and signed her over to whomever she chose.

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Now all she had to do was find men strong enough and decent enough to take her. She thought she had found them. Luke and Grant were clearing out the garden and plowing it under for the winter. There was the scent of snow in the air, and they appeared to be rushing to beat it. Valerie watched Luke’s strong body as he cleared away the dead and dying plants from one end while Grant handled the plow on the other end of the garden. Luke stood about six feet three inches with shaggy, ebony-colored hair. There was just enough curl to it to give it a thick, healthy appearance. His face looked more like one of an angel than a strong man intent on his job. She knew from being closer to him that his eyes were dark and sensuous, as was his expressive mouth. Grant, on the other hand, was a no- nonsense man who took nothing for granted and said what he felt. His startling blue eyes looked almost out of place with his rich black hair that brushed his shoulders. He had a square jaw with a small scar at the corner of his mouth, and a slight crook to his nose. He wasn’t handsome like Luke, but good- looking in a rugged sort of way. She watched from the trees. She’d climbed one earlier that morning and had been sitting there most of the day now. Her legs were cramped, but not nearly as uncomfortable as she had been before. Why she kept putting off going to the two men, she didn’t know. She’d long since made up her mind on them. She figured a part of her was still worried they wouldn’t want her. Maybe if she waited until the snow came they would take her in out of the kindness of their hearts, and she could win them over to keeping her. Finally, they finished turning under the garden and put up the tiller before going inside. She climbed out of her perch and hurried to the shed where she’d been holed up at night for safety from the elements and the wolves. It was already colder than it had been the night before, and the sun wasn’t even down yet. She shivered and uncovered the blanket she’d hidden in the back of the shed. If it snowed tonight, she would go to them and ask for help.

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Two hours later, she was ready to give in as her teeth began to chatter. She didn’t think she would make it until it snowed. When she looked out of the shed she nearly wept with relief. Snow had begun to fall. She waited as long as she could stand for snow to begin to accumulate on the ground before heading toward the house. As she approached the back door, she began to worry that she’d waited too long as her feet began to falter. Putting one foot in front of the other became a chore. Finally, she reached the door and all but fell against it. She lifted her hand and knocked on the door. Her hand was so cold it burned. She knocked again, waiting for what seemed an eternity before the door opened and blessed heat seeped out into the cold. **** “What the fuck?” Luke made a grab for her as she began to sink to the ground. He picked her up and slammed the door against the aching cold encroaching on the heat in the house. “Grant!” He yelled at his brother as he carried her out of the kitchen and into the other room. “Who is that?” Grant asked, standing up from the recliner. “Don’t know, but she’s ice-cold. What do we do?” “Get her upstairs and we’ll warm her up. Any idea where she came from?” “From outside in the snow, dammit.” He could tell Grant was getting exasperated with him. “I don’t know. I just opened the back door and she fell into my arms.” They walked into the master suite. Grant hurried to pull down the sheets as Luke sat her gingerly on the bed. “Her clothes are damp, but not enough to warrant a warm bath. Let’s just get them off of her and put her to bed,” Grant said. “Do I need to fix some coffee and try to get that into her?”

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“Probably wouldn’t hurt. You go do that. I’ll finish undressing her.” Luke hurried downstairs and put a pot of coffee on the stove. He waited impatiently for it to boil. By the time he was back with a cup of coffee, Grant had the little woman in bed with covers up to her neck. She was still shivering, though. “Here, give me that. I’ll try and get some of it down her. You get undressed and in bed with her. See if you can warm her up some.” Grant took the cup of coffee from Luke and carefully lifted the woman’s head and placed the cup at her lips. She sipped some, then coughed and sputtered. He tried again and this time she managed to take a drink. He settled her back down as Luke slipped beneath the covers and curled up around the little female. “She’s like a block of fucking ice. My dick’s shriveled up like a prune.” “She’s still shivering, Luke.” “I’m wrapped up around her as tightly as I can get. You need to get in here with her.” Grant frowned but nodded. He quickly stripped and climbed into bed to curl around her other side. Luke rubbed his hand up and down one arm as Grant warmed the other arm. Finally, her shivers calmed down enough that Luke didn’t think she’d bite her tongue off if they asked her some questions. Much to his amusement, Grant started with them. “What’s your name?” “V–Valerie.” He asked how old she was and where she was from. She seemed to be thinking about how much to tell them. Grant frowned at her. “I’m twenty-five, and I was from Tennessee in the beginning.” “How did you manage to get out here in the Border Lands?” Luke asked. “I came out here with a family who relocated about forty or so miles east of here.”

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“Then how did you get way out here?” Grant asked. “I walked.” Luke grimaced as Grant cursed. Why in the world would she have walked away from a home and family? “If we drive you there could you find it again?” Grant asked. “I doubt it, but even if I could, I can’t go back.” “Why not?” “There isn’t enough food for all of us and they have a baby on the way. She needs both the men to keep her and the baby safe. I was superfluous.” Luke couldn’t believe that a man would have let her walk away knowing she would probably die with winter coming on. “How long have you been walking?” Grant asked. “I don’t know. It all runs together. Maybe three or four weeks.” “How in the hell have you been living on your own?” Luke asked. “I’ve been eating a lot of jerky, and I killed a rabbit with a snare one day. That was food for two days. I stole some food from a family not far from here one night. They seemed to have plenty so I hoped they wouldn’t mind that I took a small piece of meat.” Luke couldn’t imagine how she had managed to make it as far as she had. Were it not for the biting cold and snow, she might have made it even further. He was glad she’d had to stop at their house. They would take care of her and not hurt her. He couldn’t say the same thing about some of their neighbors. The majority of them were good families, but there were some who were little better than the wolves they sought to keep at bay. She continued to shiver occasionally, but not nearly as badly as before. Grant shook his head, his jaw tight. No doubt he was thinking that he would like some time alone with the bastard who had let her leave. You didn’t put a woman out to survive on her own like that. It didn’t matter what the circumstances were. “I’m Grant, and this is my brother, Luke.”

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It dawned on Luke that they were all three naked in bed together, and she hadn’t gotten upset, or at the very least, tried to push them away. Was she delusional or so far gone with the cold that she hadn’t even noticed? Well, he had for damn sure noticed. His cock was hot, upright, and aching to burn some flesh. He willed it to obey, but it was having none of it. Barely able to keep from pumping his dick against her sweet ass, Luke cleared his throat to ask her something when Grant put a resolute stop to everything by getting to the point. Luke wouldn’t have been as blunt, but Grant wasn’t one to mince words. “What in the hell were you planning to do once you left them?” “Find someone to take care of me. Will you take care of me?”

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Chapter Two Absolute silence filled the room. Grant stiffened. He couldn’t believe what he’d heard. She’d uttered the same words his ex-wife had said to him all those years ago when he’d been too young and naïve to know any better. Anger rolled through him like a giant tsunami. He jerked away from her and got out of the bed, nearly falling on his ass in the process. Luke’s heartfelt fuck did little to soothe him. He stared down at the little dark- haired beauty. Her tangled hair looked as black as coal and her eyes a mesmerizing gray unlike anything he’d ever seen. Right now, they were wide with alarm at his sudden departure and muttered curses. Grant doubted she was much over five feet, and though she had a rounded ass with plenty of cushion and her breasts looked to be a pleasant handful, her body was tiny compared to theirs. He tore his eyes from her and grabbed up his jeans, thrusting his legs in them and pulling them up. He didn’t bother buttoning them. He pulled on his shirt and felt marginally better for having clothes on. “What’s wrong? What did I do?” She curled in on herself in the bed. “What sort of game are you playing, Valerie?” he demanded. “I don’t understand. I’m not playing a game.” Her eyes held unshed tears. Was she that good of an actress, or did she really not have anything to hide? How could a pretty woman manage to elude black market scavengers as well as the wolves for as long as she had? What would be the point of her trying to trick them into taking her in?

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There was nothing to rob and all the usual reasons didn’t float in the new world since the year of catastrophes. Major floods, tornadoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, and diseases had wiped out most of the United States’ population as well as the world’s. The diseases had torn through the country, targeting women, children, and the elderly. Now, with the infrastructure in shreds, those who had survived lived off the land unless they were in one of the few cities that had remained intact. Supply trucks from those cities went out fairly often, but you either had to live in one of their stopping spots or go to Barter Town to get what you needed. Barter Town was a cesspool of human garbage where women were paraded around naked to entice men into the brothels. “Grant?” Luke settled a hand on Valerie’s upper arm when she started to get out of the bed. “Let go of me.” She pulled away from Luke’s hand and crawled out of the bed. She grabbed her clothes and began tugging them on despite still shivering. Her face showed nothing of her feelings. Instead, it was as if she felt nothing. She had shut down. Grant knew that condition well. “Valerie, what are you doing?” he finally asked when she was pulling on her boots. She didn’t answer. Instead, she hurried out the door and down the stairs. Grant caught a glimpse of Luke scrambling out of bed to get dressed. He followed the woman downstairs where she went to the front door and pulled it open. Snow swirled inside the living room almost immediately. She hung her head and stepped out into it with nothing but the long-sleeve shirt and jeans she’d come in with. Cursing, Grant followed her out the door. “Where are you going?”

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“What do you care? Just leave me the hell alone.” She walked through the snow with her head down to shield it from the driving wind. “You’ll die out here if you keep going.” He continued to follow her without touching her. “Doesn’t matter.” “Like hell it doesn’t! Stop, Valerie, and let’s talk about this.” “There’s nothing to talk about. I made a mistake.” Grant felt Luke right behind him now. His younger brother knew what was going on in his head and wisely kept back to watch. Grant reached out and grabbed her arm, halting her progress with a start. She struggled and hauled back to hit him, but he caught her other hand in his and jerked her toward him. It pulled her off balance, and she fell forward into his chest. She didn’t seem to know what to do next. Her legs gave out, and she would have sunk into the snow had he not picked her up and carried her back to the house. Once inside, Luke shut the door, closing the cold snow and wind out of the house. Grant walked over toward the fireplace and sat her in an empty chair. She was shivering badly again, but at least her teeth weren’t chattering. If she got sick, it would be his fault for driving her away to begin with. Grant closed his eyes and grabbed on to his control with both fists. “Let’s start over, Valerie. Why did you knock on our door?” “I–I had been watching you and knew you were hard-working, good men. I figured that since you didn’t have a woman between you that you might take me in. I needed a place to live.” “Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?” “Yes, but I didn’t have much choice. You were the best of the ones I had been watching. With winter closing in on me, I was forced to make a hasty decision. It looks like I chose the wrong home after all.” She started to get up, but Grant stood over her. He wasn’t letting her out of the house now. He’d lost it earlier. Something he never did.

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He was always in control, but that one phrase had turned him inside out. “I can’t stay here. You’ve made it obvious that you don’t want me. Let me go.” Luke walked over and knelt by the chair. He reached out and gently pushed a strand of hair out of her face. She followed his movement like a scared rabbit, ready to bolt at the first opportunity. “Valerie, we don’t want you to go, especially not while it is snowing like it is. Stay with us for now and we’ll get it all straightened out in the morning.” She looked from him to Grant then back at Luke. “You’re not going to let me go, are you?” “No, it’s too dangerous for you out there. You wouldn’t live out the night,” Grant said. She sighed and nodded her head. “Good girl. Let’s get you back to bed. You’re going to be sick if you stay in those wet clothes. They’re even worse now.” Grant watched as Luke coaxed the female into following him upstairs. He could hear their murmurs as they moved around in the bedroom. He walked into the kitchen and poured a cup of the coffee from the stove, taking a bracing sip before returning to the living room and the fireplace. After what seemed like an hour, Luke walked back down the stairs with a scowl on his face. “What in the hell were you thinking?” “I wasn’t.” He wiped a hand over his face. “If she leaves this house, she’s going to die. You know that, don’t you?” “Yes, I fucking know it. I’m not letting her leave.” “You were thinking about her, weren’t you?” Luke asked. “She hit a nerve with that take care of me line. It was what Lydia said to me when she told me she was pregnant.” “Fuck, Grant. She was a two-timing bitch. Get over her and look at what the good Lord has laid in our laps. She’s beautiful.”

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“Somehow I don’t see her being too pleased with me right now. She’s not going to forgive me for rejecting her.” “Grovel, man. She’s perfect for us.” “Groveling is not in my blood, Luke.” “Well, you need to do something to apologize and tell her you want her to stay.” Luke looked at him with a worried expression. “You do want her to stay, don’t you?” “Yes, I want her to stay. It’s dangerous out there, and she’d never make it on her own. I don’t care how far she’s already come. Her luck would run out sooner rather than later.” “She doesn’t look or act anything like Lydia, Grant.” “Don’t you think I know that?” “So what are you going to do to convince her that you want her to stay?” “I don’t know yet. I’ll think of something, but she’s not going to leave.” “I have her settled in the bed for now. She’s still really cold. Do you think you could fix something for her to eat while I get her warm?” Grant smiled. “So you can hug up against her, you mean.” Luke’s wide smile was all the answer he needed. His brother was already smitten with the female, with Valerie, he corrected himself. “Go on upstairs and climb in with our guest. I’ll make some soup. That should help. Then we can add solid food tomorrow. If she hasn’t been eating regularly, we don’t want to push it.” “You’re probably right. Her clothes are at least one size too large for her, maybe even two. I can feel her ribs when I hug her up close.” Grant winced. He hadn’t even noticed any of that. Had he become so callous toward women that he wouldn’t notice when one was in trouble? He shook his head in self-disgust. He did owe her more than an apology. Luke hurried upstairs to see about Valerie, leaving Grant to fix some soup and think about the situation. A situation he couldn’t

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believe that he found himself in. He needed to apologize to a woman for making her feel unwelcome when she had nowhere else to go. That sucked, and he was the cause of it. Grant fixed up some canned soup from their pantry and a piece of leftover bread from some they had made up. It wasn’t great bread, but it was filling. He carried the bowl upstairs and took a deep breath before entering the room. He wasn’t sure what he would find, but seeing her stretched out on top of Luke wasn’t something he expected to see. He cleared his throat. “I’ve got soup for you, Valerie.” “She’s asleep, Grant.” Luke raised his head around her body. “Well, she needs to eat it while it’s warm. Wake her up.” Luke nodded and leaned in toward her. “Valerie? Wake up. The soup is ready.” She moaned but lifted her head then scrambled off of Luke, causing him to grunt and wince. Her face was an interesting shade of pink. Grant chose to ignore it and sit the bowl on the bedside table. “Let’s get you sitting up in bed to eat.” He lifted her under the arms, marveling at how little she actually weighed. “I’m naked. I can’t sit up and eat like this.” Grant realized she was right. He pulled off his long-sleeve shirt and handed it to her. She took it and, after holding it a minute, slipped it over her head. She stared at Grant’s chest. Then as if realizing what she was doing, she dropped her eyes. Grant handed her the soup. “Thanks.” “I’ll be back. I’m going to get something else to put on. It’s cold in here.” He turned around and walked out the door toward his bedroom. He lingered there even after he had put on another shirt. She had looked entirely too good in his. It made him want to tear it off of her and lay her back on the bed and…Fuck. He needed to concentrate on winning her forgiveness before he screwed up again. Why had he let

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the past in after all this time? Nine freaking years, and he hadn’t let it bother him. Not true and you know it, Grant. You’ve been wallowing in it since you found out she lied to you. He had treated every woman he had been with since then like a thing, someone to scratch an itch then set aside when it was over. Grant stifled the urge to throw something across the room. When would he learn to let go of how he had been manipulated? It was over, for god’s sake. Grant made himself walk back into the master bedroom. He grabbed a chair and dragged it over to the bed and sat down, watching Valerie eat. When she looked up at him, worry washed across her face. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Valerie, I owe you a sincere apology. I never meant to make you feel unwanted. I overreacted because of something that happened in the past. It’s no excuse, but I am sorry.” He waited for what seemed like forever for her to say something. She licked her lips and looked over at Luke, then back at him. She swallowed and opened her mouth to speak but closed it again. Finally she spoke. “I don’t want to stay here if you don’t want me here, Grant. If I’m going to remind you of someone else and it isn’t a good memory, maybe it would be better if I leave when the snow clears up. There’s another group of men that lives further down the mountain that I thought about. I’m sure they will take me in.” “No!” Luke all but yelled. “We want you to stay here with us. You don’t want to take a chance on someone you know nothing about.” “She doesn’t know us either, Luke. She’s taking a chance on us.” “Who do you think she’s talking about?” Luke persisted. “Um.” He thought about it. Then he growled. “No, absolutely not. You aren’t going to them. There are three of them. They’re the McKinleys. They would have you working your fingers to the bone and using you like a whore.”

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“We would never hurt you,” Luke promised her. “Tell her, Grant.” “He’s right, Valerie. I would never hurt you. You could help out some around the house and the garden, but you wouldn’t be expected to take care of everything.” “But you don’t really want me, do you, Grant?” “Honey, it’s not that I don’t want you. I’m just not sure that you would be happy with me. You and Luke will get along just fine. Let’s leave it at that for now.” He sighed and stood up again. “I’m going to go check on the animals before it’s time to go to bed.” With that, he left Luke and Valerie there and hurried down the stairs to put as much distance between them as possible. He needed to work out some stress now. It was a good thing they had animals to tend to, or he would have been forced to shovel snow at night for the hell of it. **** Valerie finished the soup and chewy bread, thinking that she could do much better cooking than they seemed to be able to do. She would be able to help them if they let her stay. But could she handle Grant and his slightly cold treatment of her? “What do you say, Valerie? You’ll stay, won’t you? We really need your help around here with cooking. And I like you, Valerie.” Luke rubbed her shoulder. “Is it just about the sex, Luke?” “No! I’ll be honest with you, though. I can’t help but think how good it could be with you, but that’s not the real reason I want you to stay. I want a family and something of a normal life. All I’ve ever known since I was a kid is first, Grant taking care of me when our dad took off, leaving Mom to work two jobs. Then, this blasted world we live in now when I was finally old enough to live on my own. I want a friend and a companion and maybe one day, kids.”

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“That sounds really nice, Luke, but what about Grant? Where does he fit in all of that? He’s your brother.” “He’s also one of the most stubborn men I’ve ever known. The fact that he not only apologized to you, but explained some of the reason why is more than I’ve ever seen him do. He likes you, Valerie, but he’s been hurt, and I’m not sure he’ll ever get over it.” “I don’t know, Luke. Let me think about it. With the snow coming down like it is, it’s bound to be a while before I can leave again anyway.” “Promise me that you won’t leave without telling me first. Don’t sneak out one day and leave me worrying.” “I promise not to leave without talking to you.” She hoped it wouldn’t come to her leaving at all, but she just didn’t know if she could handle her attraction to Grant when he wasn’t attracted to her. She lusted after both men, but with Grant not wanting her, she didn’t know if a relationship with just Luke would work, or if she would be miserable without Grant included. There was something about him that called to her. Maybe it was his need to be fixed. She had always been a nurturer. She’d helped raise five kids as a youngster herself. That was one reason it had been so difficult to leave the other family behind. She had wanted to be a part of the baby’s life. That was water under the bridge now. They were lost to her. She had to decide what to do about her life. She needed to figure out if it could work with Luke and Grant. She had at least a couple of days to find out. Luke pulled her back into his arms and kissed her shoulder before settling down. She rested her head on his shoulder and wondered what the future held for her. She could easily see herself settling down with Luke if Grant hadn’t been in the picture. If she hadn’t already been attracted to him, she would have said yes immediately, but she couldn’t hide her attraction for long. Luke would realize it eventually. Maybe this wouldn’t work out after all.

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“Don’t think so hard over there, Valerie. Everything will work out. You just have to relax and believe it will. Tomorrow, everything will look better.” “Nothing is that simple, Luke. Look at the world we live in now.” “That’s why I think it is that simple. We live off the land and have no one to prove anything to. We get along with our neighbors and help each other as we can. But there is no one to please other than us. Nothing can be simpler than that.” She sighed. “Maybe you’re right, and I’m making a mountain out of a molehill.” “Of course I’m right. I’m always right.” He squeezed her under the breasts where his arm was wrapped around her. Valerie could feel the hard ridge of his cock against her lower back. He hadn’t tried anything with her, nor had he hinted at wanting her right then. She was grateful because she didn’t feel like sex and sure as hell didn’t want things to start out all about sex if they were going to forge a relationship. One thing she knew was that if everything was based on sex, it wouldn’t last.

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Chapter Three Valerie woke up the next morning wrapped around Grant like an octopus. Darn. He wouldn’t like that, she was sure. She quickly and carefully pulled away, trying not to wake him. “It’s okay, Valerie. I’m awake.” She let out a breath in a sigh. He sounded as if he was resigned to having her there in his bed, but he didn’t sound thrilled about it. What was she going to do? “Do you need to get up?” “Um, yes. I’m sorry.” “Don’t apologize. I’ve been awake for a while. I didn’t want to wake you up. You needed to sleep.” He rolled over and sat up on the edge of the bed. When he stood up, she realized he was wearing thermal pants. She knew Luke wasn’t. The realization dropped her spirits even lower. This would never work out. “Come on, you need to hurry or you’ll catch pneumonia. Put on my shirt again.” Valerie scrambled out of the bed and dove into his shirt. He was right. She would get sick if she didn’t hurry. She nearly ran to the bathroom, finished up in there, and ran back. She climbed back into bed and pulled the covers up to her nose. Grant was nowhere to be seen. He had probably gone to get dressed. “Hmm, you’re cold.” Luke’s voice came out in a low, scratchy rumble. “I had to go to the bathroom. I’ll warm up in a minute.”

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He moved closer to her and wrapped her in his arms. “I’ll warm you up.” She allowed herself the luxury of relaxing into his embrace. She couldn’t help but want to experience it even if it was short-lived. The feeling of warmth and acceptance enveloped her, and she smiled. This is what it would feel like to have a man of her own. The sobering reminder that Grant was part of that equation had her stiffening in Luke’s arms. “What’s wrong?” “Nothing, just thinking. I suppose I better get up. I should cook breakfast.” “Naw, right now you are a guest. You haven’t agreed to be our woman yet, so you don’t have to cook.” “That’s kind of you, but I have to say that I like my cooking a bit better than Grant’s.” “I agree with you. Mine is even worse.” Luke squeezed, and then released her. “We better find you something to wear. Your clothes are in a heap on the floor, so they are bound to still be damp.” Valerie groaned. She didn’t want to get out from under the warm covers if she didn’t have anything to wear. “Stay there. I’ll find something for you. I’m going to run and dress first.” Valerie snuggled further beneath the covers and waited. She thought while she did, which probably wasn’t in her best interests. She tended to jump to conclusions and talk herself out of what she should do. Like she should give them a chance and stay with them. Her mind told her she was grasping at straws and wasting her time. But I can’t go anywhere in the snow and cold. I’m stuck here for winter unless I can talk them into taking me to someone else. Somehow I don’t see that happening. And if I stay here through the winter, how will I be able to leave them then?

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Valerie bit her lower lip and waited on Luke to return. She couldn’t do anything about it right away anyway. For now, all she could do was wait and see. “Here you go. I found some smaller warm- ups. They’ll still swallow you whole, but we can tie them tight with the drawstring and roll up the legs so you can walk.” He held them up with a grin on his face. Valerie jumped out of the bed and climbed into the too- large sweats. She pulled off Grant’s shirt and put on the sweatshirt. It did swallow her, but it was warm. “Sit on the bed and I’ll roll up the legs for you. Damn, we should have put these socks on first. Hold on while I get them on your feet. I think you can wear your own shoes with them. We’ll sit them by the fireplace to dry out if they are still wet.” “Thanks, Luke. I appreciate it.” He just smiled and finished what he was doing. Once he had her dressed, he stood up and held out his hand. “Let’s go see what’s for breakfast. It should be edible, if nothing else.” “I’m sure it will be fine, but you really should have let me cook. It’s the least I can do after throwing myself on you like I have.” “Put that out of your mind. You needed help, and we’re here. Stop worrying about it and relax.” Luke pulled her along behind him as he headed out the door and down the stairs. They walked through the living room into the kitchen. Grant was standing at the stove, cooking. “I figured you would be down soon. I’m fixing something to eat. I’ve already been out to check on the animals, Luke. We’ll need to add hay in a little while. I didn’t do that.” Grant handed him a plate of food. Luke placed the plate of food in front of Valerie at the table. She sniffed and smiled. It was definitely not her cooking. She waited on the others before she began to eat. Grant frowned then nodded when

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she began eating. It wasn’t terrible, but there was definite room for improvement. “I can cook. While I’m here, you should let me help with the kitchen things.” “That would be good,” Grant said at the same time Luke disagreed. “You’re our guest.” The two men frowned at each other. “She doesn’t have to cook if she doesn’t want to, but if she wants to, I say let her.” Grant took a bite of his food and stared at Luke. Great, they were already at odds over her. No, this wouldn’t work out at all. Why couldn’t it be like with her friend’s men? They got along just fine. They weren’t brothers, though. Maybe that was the reason. As a rule brothers didn’t always get along. “Stop thinking so hard over there and eat. You need the nourishment.” Grant pointed his fork toward her plate. Valerie began to eat. She really was hungry. She finished most of what was on her plate. She stood up and gathered the men’s along with hers and carried them over to the sink. She started the dishwater only to have Luke pick up a drying towel and stand next to her. “You don’t have to help, Luke. I can wash dishes by myself.” “I want to help. Besides it’s my turn to do the dishes anyway. If Grant cooks, I clean up, and vise versa.” She shrugged and began washing. They worked in companionable silence until the last dish was dried and put away. She began wiping down the stove and table. Luke watched her with a small smile. Then Grant was walking back in the room, grabbing his coat, and nodding his head toward the door. “Luke, let’s go feed the cattle.” He pulled on gloves and opened the door to the early- morning chill. Luke scrambled into his coat, gloves, and hat to follow his brother outside. This left Valerie all alone. She stood in the middle of the kitchen wondering what she needed to do next. Well, they could use

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some bread. She would make some, provided they had flour. To her delight, they had some of the rough, unprocessed kind. She quickly made up a couple of loaves and sat them out to rise. With nothing more to do, she walked into the living room and looked around. The fire seemed to be fine, so she didn’t need to add a log. She curled up on the couch in front of it and leaned her head back against the cushion to contemplate her problem some more. So far, she hadn’t come up with a solution, though. Although Grant had been perfectly civil to her this morning, he hadn’t appeared warm or welcoming. She knew he was sexually attracted to her by the bulge in his jeans. She imagined he was quite large, by the size of it. Even the addition of thermal underwear couldn’t account for all of the appearance of size. The fact that he could be aroused and still not warm up to her didn’t speak well of any sort of relationship that would last. The only possibility available to her outside of leaving was to stick around with Luke and live with the lack of intimacy between her and Grant. She still didn’t think that would work. She wasn’t sure how long she sat on the couch, but when the men hadn’t returned by the time the fire had begun to die down, she decided to put another log on. Once she had done that, Valerie climbed the stairs and put the big bedroom to rights. She could tell that the room hadn’t been used before. She wondered why she hadn’t noticed before that the sheets smelled a bit musty. The room was in desperate need of a good cleaning. She decided it was something she could do. If she were going to stay there for any length of time, it would be a good thing to have a clean room. With this thought in mind, Valerie located cleaning supplies and went to work on the bedroom. At some point, she heard the men return, stomping their feet and cursing the cold. She hurried downstairs to clean up the snow that was bound to be on the floor from their wet boots.

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“Hey there, Valerie.” Luke acted as if he hadn’t thought she would still be there. She had promised to talk to him before she left. She guessed he hadn’t really believed her. “Hi, Luke. Are the animals all okay?” “Doing fine. They’ve been fed and watered. We’ll have to check on them again tonight before bed, but they’re good for the rest of the day.” Grant brushed by her then stopped. “You smell like furniture polish.” “Oh, I’ve been cleaning the big bedroom. It was dusty.” “You don’t have to do that, Valerie,” he said. “I know, but I need something to keep me busy. I can’t just sit around all day with nothing to do. I’m bored.” “Suit yourself. Just know that you don’t have to.” “Is that bread I see on the stove?” Luke walked over to look underneath the cloth she had placed over the top of the two rising loaves. “Yes, don’t mess with it. I want it to rise.” “Yes, ma’am.” He grinned and carefully replaced the cloth. “You made bread?” Grant’s interested appeared piqued. “That’s great. Thanks, Valerie.” She watched him walk off toward the living room. “Don’t mind him. He doesn’t say a lot anyway.” “I wish he didn’t dislike me so much.” She sighed. “He likes you fine, Valerie. He’s normally quiet. Now he’s worried that you’ll leave because of him, and he doesn’t want you to.” “Are you sure about that, Luke? I mean he really wasn’t happy about me when I got here last night.” He pulled her into his arms and hugged her. Then he pulled back and lifted her chin with one finger. “I promise he doesn’t want you to leave at all. Give him a chance, Valerie. Please?”

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“I’ll try.” She gently pulled from his embrace and wondered where to go. If she went into the living room, she figured Grant was in there. Staying in the kitchen didn’t seem like a good idea either, since there was nothing for her to do in there right then. She decided to return upstairs and finish cleaning the bedroom. It seemed the safest thing to do at the moment. She turned away from Luke and walked into the living room to find that Grant was nowhere to be seen. Great, did that mean he was upstairs? Valerie didn’t know what to do now. “You look lost. What’s wrong?” Luke asked when he followed her into the room. “Oh, I was trying to decide whether to finish the bedroom upstairs or just sit downstairs for a while. I don’t want to bother Grant. He must be up there.” Valerie clasped and unclasped her hands. “Don’t worry about cleaning, but more than likely, Grant is in the office instead of upstairs.” He took her hand and pulled her toward the couch. “Sit with me and let’s get to know each other better.” Valerie wasn’t sure what he meant by that, but she sat down anyway. If he seemed to be moving too fast, she would escape upstairs to finish cleaning. She wanted him—them—but still thought jumping into sex too soon would end up a disaster, relationship-wise. Still, she let him pull her down to sit next to him. “Tell me about yourself.” He left his arm loosely over the back of the couch behind her but had turned to face her. “Well, like I told you before, I’m originally from Tennessee.” She filled him in on her background up until she ended up at their doorstep. “Hell. You’ve been through it, Valerie. You deserve a little happiness.” “Oh, I’ve been happy. I enjoyed taking care of my brothers and sisters. I hated watching my mother work herself to death, but for the most part, we had a good life. I don’t want you to feel sorry for me.”

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“Still, you should never have been allowed to walk away from your second family. You were part of it. What you did was admirable, but foolish.” She lifted her chin and frowned at him. “I did what I thought was best, and I would do it again.” “No doubt you would.” Grant walked in from around a corner by the front door. “You’re a brave woman, Valerie.” “Not really. I was scared to death the entire time.” “Doesn’t make you any less brave. It just meant that you had a good head on your shoulders. Surviving like you did was nothing short of miraculous. It took brains to outwit the wolves, black market scum, and lack of food.” “I didn’t have a choice.” “Sure you did. You could have just sat down and given up, but you didn’t.” She couldn’t believe that Grant was talking to her like this after the night before. It seemed like an abrupt change to her. Had he thought about it and changed his mind, or did he feel guilty and was trying to assuage his guilt? “Um, okay. I’m going upstairs to finish cleaning the bedroom. I’ll be back down in time to fix something for lunch.” She stood up and started toward the stairs. “I really meant it when I said you don’t have to do anything, Valerie.” Grant stopped her and looked down at her. “I know, but I want to. I can’t just sit around. I’ll get bored.” “Okay, as long as you understand that.” “Want some company while you clean?” Luke had been quiet up until now. “No thanks. I mean, unless you really want to.” She realized she sounded rude when she said no. “Luke, let’s go shovel some snow instead,” Grant said. Luke grumbled but followed Grant back into the kitchen. She listened to the low murmur of voices as they got ready to go out into

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the cold. Then the door opened and shut a few seconds later. With a renewed sense of interest, she climbed the stairs to tackle the bedroom once again. Maybe things were turning around after all. Maybe, just maybe, Grant would mellow out toward her. She really hoped so. She liked Luke a whole lot and despite Grant’s initial cold-shoulder treatment, she liked him. Her body really liked both of them, reacting like a dog in heat whenever they were close. Like now, she was sure her pants were soaked in the crotch. Once she had finished the bedroom, she checked a windup alarm clock by the bed and found that it was nearing the lunch hour. The men would be inside before long needing a hot meal after being out in the cold winter air. Looking in the pantry afforded several viable options. She chose another can of soup and a potato from the wire bin that held them. She boiled the potato then cut it up to add to the now-warming concoction. It added a little more substance to the sadly lacking canned variety. She’d put the bread in the oven and hoped it would be ready by the time the men were ready to eat. With everything ready, Valerie returned to the living room to sit and wait on the men once again. Nearly thirty minutes later, she heard the kitchen door open and close with a swirl of cold air snaking around her ankles. She shivered and got up to check on the bread. The men were busy taking off their coats and fussing about the snow. “You’d think it was ten below out there as cold as it feels,” Luke complained. “It probably is with the windchill.” “Fuck, I’m cold. I’m going to go stand by the fire.” “Valerie, how long until lunch is ready?” Grant asked. “Give me about ten minutes to warm the soup back up. The bread should be ready. It will be hot and fresh.” “Fresh bread sounds really good. Grant followed Luke into the other room. She smiled. He sounded sincere and he seemed to be trying to be kind. She didn’t want to leave them. She would stay as long as he seemed happy with her being there.

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Chapter Four Luke pushed back from the table that night after a wonderful dinner of roast, carrots, and potatoes. He couldn’t fault her cooking one bit. He glanced over at Grant and found that he was smiling some as well. Grant hadn’t smiled a lot since his ex-wife’s betrayal. To see him smile meant a lot to Luke. “That was an excellent meal, Valerie. Thank you.” Grant’s face seemed relaxed. “It really was.” “Thanks. It was just a simple one. We can have roast sandwiches tomorrow for lunch if you like.” “Sounds good to me.” He began gathering the dishes. He planned to wash. To his amazement, Grant gathered up some as well and headed for the sink. He even ran the dishwater. “I’ll wash, Luke. You usually do. I don’t mind washing.” “That’s only because she’s already cleaned up most of it.” Grant smiled again. “You’ve got me there.” Luke shook his head. The change in Grant was nothing short of amazing. He hoped it lasted. So far it seemed that Valerie was going to be good for his brother. “Hey, what are you doing?” He caught her putting a log on the fire. “The fire was dying down. I just added one.” She looked as if he’d chastised her. “It’s okay to add wood, but you don’t need to do it. It’s too heavy for you. I would hate for you to hurt yourself, or worse, lose your balance and fall into the fire.”

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“Oh, well. I’m used to doing things like this. I’m sturdier than I may look.” “Doesn’t matter. If one of us is around, you let us do it for you. Let us pick up anything heavy. There’s no need for you to here, Valerie.” **** She shrugged and sat back on the couch. If they insisted on adding wood to the fire, she would let them. It was a novelty to her after having always taken care of everything in the past. Maybe she had done more than her share sometimes, but she appreciated that her friend’s family had taken her in after the world changed. Otherwise, she would have had nowhere to go and probably ended up in a much worse situation. “I’m going to have to go help Grant with the animals in a few minutes. We’ll be a while with the snow. We might have to shovel some more if we’ve gotten much more of it. There are plenty of books if you want to try to read by the lamp.” “I think I’ll just sit here and enjoy the fire before I head upstairs. I’ll probably take a quick shower. It will be too cold for a bath.” “Good idea. We should be back inside before too late.” Luke sat down next to her and slowly bent his head to kiss her. She knew it was coming. He gave her plenty of time to turn her head or push him away, but she wanted his kiss. Despite all her best intentions to hold off, she couldn’t stop her body’s response to him. When his lips touched hers, Valerie opened to him at the touch of his tongue to her lips. He groaned and slid it inside to rub along hers. He sucked in her bottom lip and licked at it before releasing it and slowly pulling back. His eyes had gone dark and heavy lidded. She was sure hers were the same. “We’ll be back later. Stay warm.” He stood up and disappeared into the kitchen.

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She licked her lips and imagined she could still taste him. His kiss promised her of more even better things to come. She wasn’t sure if she was ready for that yet. Maybe. She didn’t know. The fire crackled and danced as she stared into it without really seeing it. Instead, she imagined her naked body pressed tightly between the two men. She could remember the feel of Luke’s cock against her back that morning. She still saw the size of Grant’s as outlined by his pants. They were well-endowed men. She wanted to taste them, their cocks, their chests. She closed her eyes and allowed her mind to wonder over the possibilities with them. Maybe, Grant would grow to like her and she could become their wife. She would cook and clean for them during the day and warm their bed at night. Maybe eventually they would have children. She would finally have her own family to love and care for. She sighed. It was a nice dream, but one that probably wouldn’t come true. She noticed that the fire had once again died down. The men would need a warm fire to chase away the chill when they returned. Since they weren’t around to add the log, she did it. Luke had said when they were there. They weren’t. She smiled and stirred the fire then lit a lamp. She would need it to go upstairs in a little while. After about thirty minutes, she found herself nodding off. She decided if she didn’t want to still be sleeping on the couch when the men returned, she needed to hurry up and take her shower. They would want warm water for theirs later. Considering that it was cold upstairs, her shower didn’t take long. Drying off took even less time. She pulled on the long-sleeve shirt of Grant’s from the night before and dove beneath the covers. Chills chased up and down her arms as she tried to warm up in a little ball beneath the covers. She was wide awake now, and with the cold, she didn’t think she would fall asleep anytime soon. Before too long, she heard the slam of the kitchen door downstairs along with stomping feet. She hoped they cleaned up the floor so

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there wouldn’t be ice there when she went down to cook breakfast the next morning. Falling on her butt wouldn’t impress them one bit. It wasn’t long before she heard the men tromping up the stairs. Grant walked into the room followed closely behind by Luke. They whispered to each other. “I’m awake, guys.” “Sorry, hope we didn’t wake you up making so much noise downstairs. Not used to there being someone else here.” Luke walked over to the bed and smiled down at her. “No, I was still awake. It took a little while for me to warm up after my shower.” “I’ll take a shower in the one down the hall, Luke. You use this one.” Grant walked out, leaving them there together. “I’ll be out in a few minutes, Valerie.” She watched him disappear into the bathroom. He shut the door to hold what warmth there would be from the shower in the room. She smiled. He would be cold when he came to bed, and there went her newfound comfortable nest. Sure enough, when he emerged twenty minutes later, he ran for the bed totally nude and crawled beneath the covers. He pulled her into his arms and wrapped around her body. The chill of his skin leaked over to hers. “You’re cold. Now I am, too.” She fussed good-naturedly. “Sorry, but you’re nice and toasty. Don’t worry. Between Grant and me, you’ll get warm again.” He ran his hand up and down her arm. Several minutes later, Grant emerged wearing thermal bottoms but no top. He slipped between the sheets and turned his back to her. “You should scoot up next to him so you can get warm.” Luke urged her toward Grant. “He might not want me hanging on him,” she whispered back. “He doesn’t mind at all, Valerie. Give me your hand.” Grant reached back for it.

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She scooted over and let Grant pull her arm over his side. He was just as cold as Luke had been. She shivered. “Sorry, you’ll warm back up in a few minutes.” Grant’s gruff voice stroked along her nerve endings. She could feel her pussy juices wetting her between the legs. The fact that just his voice affected her like that wasn’t lost on her. She knew she was attracted to him as much as she was Luke. The problem was, what was she going to do about it? What if Grant wanted to make love? Should she risk it knowing he wasn’t as pleased with her being there as Luke was? How could she turn him away if he did? Thoughts like that ran around and around in her head until she thought she would go crazy. Finally, she fell asleep to dream about the two men. **** Valerie slowly woke up to the wonderful warmth of sleeping between two male bodies. Their scents surrounded her as she opened her eyes. She found herself staring into the intense dark ones of Grant. “Did you know you snore this dainty little snore when you’re asleep on your back?” “I do not snore.” She frowned at him. “Sure you do. It’s really cute. It’s real soft, but if you listen hard enough, you can hear it.” “You’re hearing your brother snore, not me.” “My snore’s not dainty.” Luke was obviously awake, though barely. His sleep-roughened voice startled her. “Let me up, you guys. I need to start breakfast.” She wiggled between them and realized that one of her legs was crossed between Grant’s. “Uh, Valerie. Careful there.” “Sorry. I, um, maybe you should move first.”

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Grant chuckled and rolled out of bed. He held the covers up for her to crawl out from under them. “Hey! Don’t let the cold air in on me. I’m not ready to get up yet. It’s barely light outside.” “Get out of bed, lazy. It’s your turn to get the milk and eggs.” “Oh, I can do that. I’m used to dealing with chickens and such.” “No!” they both yelled. “Absolutely not. You will never go outside alone, Valerie. The wolves here are dangerous. They’ve attacked several women around here. One of them was getting the eggs one morning.” Grant shook his head. “Really? I had never heard of that.” She shivered more from the knowledge that someone had been hurt than from the cold. “Let’s get you dressed before you catch your death of a cold.” He handed her the sweats and socks for her to put on. “Grant, we need to find some clothes for her. She can’t keep wearing the same things over and over again.” “It’s too late in the year to go to one of the surrounding cities. We could check with the other families and see if they have some clothes we could have.” “I hate to cause anyone trouble. I don’t mind wearing these and my other clothes. I can wash them in between.” She pulled on her shoes, propping first one then the other up on the stool to tie them. “It won’t be any trouble. You can’t wear the same two sets of clothes again and again. I won’t have it.” Grant held her chin up with two fingers as he spoke. “You deserve better than that, Valerie.” He dropped a quick kiss on her nose and left to go dress. She didn’t know what to make of that. He’d kissed her. Yeah, it had been a peck on the nose, but he’d touched her with his lips. Surely that meant something. “I’m going downstairs to start breakfast. Don’t laze around up here too long, Luke, or you might miss out.” She giggled then hurried out the door before he could catch her when he jumped out of the bed.

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Downstairs, she quickly set about cooking them something filling and found herself humming beneath her breath. She was content for now. She hadn’t felt this happy in several months. Ever since she had realized she wasn’t going to be able to live with her best friend for much longer. She wondered how they were doing. She bet Esther was quite large now. She was due the end of January. It was mid-November now. Tears formed and before she could wipe them away, Grant walked in and noticed them. “What’s wrong, Valerie?” He stepped up next to her at the stove. “Nothing. I was just missing my friend and wondering how she was.” “I’m sorry. I still don’t like the fact that those men let you leave. It was pure murderous to send you out in the winter like they did.” “Esther and John didn’t know. Sam and I agreed that it was for the best. He thought I would find a husband of my own pretty quickly.” “Still, it was wrong, honey. You didn’t deserve that.” She shrugged and continued cooking. She wasn’t going to argue with him. Part of her knew he was right. Part of her had been very hurt that Sam had so readily agreed with her. She doubted he ever let the others know that he was part of her leaving. “Breakfast is ready. Why don’t you have a seat? Where is Luke?” “He’d be late to his own funeral. He’ll be down in a minute.” Grant grabbed the plates and silverware from the drainer. Valerie poured a cup of coffee and handed it to him. Then she fixed his plate and set it on the table in front of him. “Better eat before it gets cold. I’ll fix Luke’s when he shows up.” “I’m here,” he grumbled as he walked through the door. “Did I really get you up that much earlier than usual? I’m sorry, Luke.” “Don’t let him deceive you. We’re normally up this early, or even earlier during the spring and summer.”

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Luke looked over at her and winked. Then he sipped the coffee she handed him and hummed his approval. He obviously liked how she made it. They all quickly ate and Valerie cleared away the dishes as the men donned their coats and such to go outside. She hated that they had to go out in the cold and snow. But it was a part of life now for everyone that wanted to survive in the Border Lands. Back in the cities out East, they had electricity, running water, and stores for the most part. There were still some areas without some of the nicer things in life, but not that many until you grew closer to the Border Lands. Once they had left, she washed and dried the dishes, and tidied up the kitchen before returning to the living room to find a book to read. She decided that she really needed to wash her other clothes and hang them up in front of the fire to dry. She laid aside the book and after grabbing her clothes, went in search of the washing supplies. There was an actual laundry room behind the kitchen. She had noticed the door, but thought it led outside. The only other door in the kitchen besides the back door was the pantry door where a trap door led down to a cellar. She scrubbed her clothes, and then strung them up in front of the fire to dry. She would have to find out how they normally dried their clothes. During good weather she was sure they hung them outside. In the winter, all she knew to do was hang them by the fire. It didn’t take very long for them to begin to dry. She had hoped they would be finished before the men returned, but she heard the back door open and shut followed by a brisk breeze that wrapped around her lower body. She stood up and hurried to the kitchen to see if she needed to clean up the floor. To her surprise, Luke was mopping up the water. “Um, hi.” “Hey, Valerie. Is something wrong?” Grant took a step toward her.

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“No. I just wondered how you dried your clothes in the winter.” “We hang them in front of the fireplace and the oven. It’s the only way when it’s so cold.” “Oh, good. I washed my clothes and hung them in front of the fireplace. I hope you don’t mind.” “Of course we don’t. You do whatever you need to do.” Luke wrapped a cold hand around her arm. The coolness seeped beneath the material of her sweatshirt. She shivered. “Sorry. I almost forgot how cold I was. I’m going to warm up in front of the fire.” “Watch out for my clothes. They’re on the sides of the fire.” “Come on, Valerie. You can sit with us while we warm back up.” Grant pulled her along behind him. When she went to sit down, it was to find that they had positioned her between them. It surprised her for a second. They she realized it was the only logical position if they were all three going to sit on the couch. She had already taken down her bra and panties since they had dried quickly. Her thermals, jeans, and the sweatshirt were thicker and would take longer. “Luke told me a little about your life before the catastrophes. I’m sure you miss your family. Are any of them still living?” “My brothers live in Missouri. They’re married to Linda, a really nice woman. I stayed with them for a while, but they were having trouble keeping me safe because I was young and unattached. At the time, Linda was pregnant and wasn’t a target. It was decided that I would be safer living with Esther and her men in the Border Lands. That was the plan, anyway. It didn’t work out.” “Nothing against your brothers, but I would never have let my sister go somewhere without me unless it was with her husbands, and I approved of them.” Grant sounded so sure of himself. She had to smile. “Well, they were younger than me by almost four and five years. They didn’t know what to do and did the best they could.”

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Grant just shook his head. He pulled her hand into his and squeezed it. Then he looked off into the fire. She sensed that he was thinking about the past. She didn’t say anything to interrupt his thoughts. After a while, she noticed that Luke had laid his arm across her shoulders and was rhythmically squeezing her arm. She looked over toward him and found that he was asleep or dozing. He probably wasn’t even aware of what he was doing. She smiled and turned to find Grant looking at her. “What?” she whispered. “You’re really pretty.” “Thanks, but I’m not. I have a funny-shaped mouth and pale eyes.” “You’ve got the perfect mouth for kissing, and eyes a man could get lost in.” “Kissing?” “Yeah. Like this.” He bent his head and took possession of her mouth with his. He licked along the roof of her mouth before sliding his tongue alongside hers. He sucked hers back into his mouth then thrust his suggestively in and out. She moaned and lifted her hands to his head. She wound her hands in his long black hair and held him in place. She tried to kiss him back, but he wouldn’t let go of control. She whimpered and still he controlled the kiss. When he finally pulled back, his eyes were so black she could see herself in them. He was breathing heavy, too. “You’re addictive, Valerie. I don’t want to want you, but I do. We’re not going any farther if you’re going to leave us come spring.” Valerie couldn’t believe what he was saying. Did that mean that he liked her, that he genuinely cared about her? What should she do? “I don’t want to leave, Grant, but it all depends on how you feel about me. Is this just sex to you? I don’t expect you to have fallen in

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love with me or anything, but I have to know that you won’t wake up some morning and not want me anymore.” “I don’t know what to tell you. I care about you, but I don’t love you. It’s too soon for anything beyond caring for you. I want you to stay with us, but I can’t promise you love.” She searched his eyes for some hint of the truth behind his words. She couldn’t see anything there at all. He seemed so in control of himself that he could hide his true feelings. Maybe she was making a mistake, but she didn’t want to leave them. She was already attached to Luke. He made her smile and treated her like a queen. “I won’t leave you, Grant. Not unless you want me to go.” “I would never ask you to leave, Valerie. Luke would have my balls if I did.” He smiled when he said that, and it softened the blow. For better or for worse, she’d agreed to stay. She wondered if she should give them her papers now or wait a while longer. There was no guarantee that they would want to marry her. That was what the papers basically signified. As long as no one had their names on her papers, she was a loose woman. That sounded bad, when in fact, it was worse. Any man could claim her. Maybe she needed to give them to Grant before anyone attempted to claim her away from them. Then she decided that with the winter weather having moved in, no one would be out in the icy cold with the snow and wind. “You’re face is so expressive. What are you thinking? You look happy one moment and then scared the next. We would never hurt you, Valerie.” “I believe you. I’m just thinking too much, is all.” She smiled and rested her head on his shoulder. “It’s almost time for lunch. How about I fix our sandwiches while you curl up with the sleepyhead over there?” “Oh, I can fix them.” “So can I, baby. Just relax. You can cook dinner tonight. I’m not going to pass that up. It’s a hell of a lot better than our miserable abilities.”

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“I have to agree with that.” Luke yawned then stretched before pulling Valerie into his arms. “Come over here and let him do the sandwiches. I want to hold you.” She didn’t argue anymore. Instead, she accepted Luke’s embrace and cuddled up next to him. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. Then he nuzzled her neck and kissed her there before kissing the outer corner of her eye. “Rest, honey. I’ll wake you up when lunch is ready.” Valerie sighed and closed her eyes. It seemed she was sleepy after all. She decided it was the sturdy shoulder and warm fire that soon had her eyes drifting shut. Her last thought was that maybe her dream could come true after all.

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Chapter Five After lunch, Luke showed her around the house. He was very excited to find out that Valerie had agreed to stay with them. He wanted to be sure she felt completely at home with them. Most women liked to have control over the house and most household things. He made sure she knew that she was welcomed to move his things over to the master bedroom. “Grant? What about yours?” He held his breath to see what he would say. “Sure. That would be a good idea. We need all of our things in the same place.” “Great. There you go. You can handle all of that for us if you don’t mind.” “I’ll clean the rooms up after I move your things out. I’m sure the rest of the house needs a good cleaning as well.” “Take your time. We don’t want you to wear yourself out. You’ve got all the time in the world. There’s not much for you to do around here in the winter except for cooking.” Luke hugged her and showed her the office. “We keep up with our records here.” “What sort of records do you have to keep up with when you don’t have to pay for anything anywhere?” “We keep up with the bloodlines of the cattle. You don’t want a lot of inbreeding or you end up with deformities and diseases. We traded bulls with another family this last spring so that wouldn’t happen. We also keep a log of such of how the garden does and where we plant stuff so we can rotate it out some. You can wear garden dirt out if you don’t keep a garden rotated and the soil fed.”

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“I never thought of that. I just always planted everything in the same place because it did well the year before. I suppose I can understand why that would happen.” She looked up at him and he swore she was the prettiest thing he’d ever seen. Her pretty gray eyes and soft black hair framed her oval face. When she smiled, it lit her entire face and reached her eyes so that they sparkled. “What?” She leaned back and looked up at him. “Just thinking how pretty you are.” “No I’m not. I’m not bad- looking, but I’m certainly not pretty.” “Yes you are. End of discussion.” He grinned down at her and pulled her out of the office back to the living room. “I’ve got to go help Grant with the animals. I’ll put another log on the fire. You curl up and wait on me. I want to shower with you, Valerie. Will you let me?” She blinked at him then nodded as if in a trance. He smiled and kissed her lightly on the lips before moving to add the log before he had to go outside and help Grant. He left her sitting curled up on the couch to put on his coat, hat, and gloves. Then he went out in search of his brother. He found him in the barn feeding their two horses. “How are they doing?” he asked. “Seem to be doing fine. I think Abigail over there missed you. I told you she’s in love with you.” Grant teased him about the damn cow all the time, just because it had followed him around outside the house one time. “Right.” He walked over to the cow and ran his hand over her neck. “Hey, Abby. How are you tonight?” “What do you think about Valerie staying with us?” Grant’s question came out of nowhere. “I’m happy about it. I wouldn’t think you would need to ask that.” “I guess I didn’t. I’m a little mixed up about it. I want her to stay, but I’m not sure if I can give her what she deserves. I’m probably

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never going to love her, Luke. You’re going to have to give her that. You’ll fall in love with her if you aren’t already.” “I’m getting there. Why don’t you think you could love her?” Luke didn’t like the way this conversation was going. All it would take to push Valerie out that door was for her to think Grant didn’t want her. He knew she was attracted to both of them and cared for them. She wouldn’t be able to handle living with them both and only one of them giving her affection. It would hurt her too much. “I don’t know. I guess because of Lydia and the fact that it tore me up inside. I’m not sure I ever healed right. I think there are too many scars over everything she put me through to ever get past it.” “How do you know until you try, Grant? Maybe you don’t want to try, and that’s the problem. Don’t drive her away before she’s even settled in with us.” “I don’t plan to, Luke. I told her that I wasn’t sure I would ever fall in love with her but that I cared about her. I’ll take care of her and do everything in my power to keep her safe and happy, Luke. You know that.” “But you don’t think you’ll ever love her. What about fucking her, Grant? Does that fall into taking care of her?” Luke was angry now. He should have known his brother would let the past interfere with the future. He had wallowed in that hole for nine long years. Luke was tired of it. “It’s not like that, Luke, and you damn well know it. I’m attracted to her. I can’t help it. She’s pretty and she’s sweet. I won’t act on it if she doesn’t want me.” “Hell, I know. I just can’t see how you can keep from falling in love with her. I know I will before it’s over with. She’s everything I’ve ever wanted in a woman. All I’m asking is that you try, Grant. Try to open up with her. You might find out that she can help heal that broken part of you if you give her a chance.” Luke walked back out of the barn and headed for the fence to check on the cattle. They had moved them closer to the house so it

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wouldn’t be so hard to keep water free of ice for them. He took the pickax and broke the ice on the two water troughs before he headed to the wood pile to take in more logs. He would pile it on the front porch. The snow made it difficult to maneuver to the front yard, but he finally stomped a path after several trips. On the third trip, he noticed tracks in the snow. “Fuck! Wolves.” He looked all around him but didn’t see anything. Then he piled the wood on the porch and walked back around to the back to let Grant know. Standing not fifty yards from where Grant was by the fence stood two wolves. Grant shook his head to tell him not to move. He had his handgun out and aimed in the general direction of the animals. He wouldn’t be able to kill them from a distance with the small gun, but he could wound them if they decided to jump him. They should have carried the rifles out with them. They knew better. In the winter they were worse and tended to hunt around the houses. The men from the families had been hunting them together over the last two years and had thinned them out to some degree, but they kept coming back. Suddenly a crack rang out and one of the wolves howled and dropped before getting back up and following the other one as it raced off. He and Grant both turned toward the sound to see Valerie standing on the back porch with the rifle at her shoulder pointing in the direction the wolves had taken. “What in the hell are you doing outside?” Grant holstered his gun and headed toward her at a dead run. Luke ran as well, hoping to intercept his brother before he reached Valerie. He could only guess at what he would do. He didn’t make it in time, and Grant had the gun in one hand and her arm in the other, marching her into the house when he got there. Ah, hell!

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He hurried to follow them as Grant dragged her behind him toward the living room. He didn’t think Grant would hurt her on purpose, but he was holding her arm fairly tightly. He reached them as his brother put up the gun and turned to look at Valerie. “Let go of my arm! You’re hurting me.” She glared at him. He jerked back, releasing her arm. He took a step back then frowned. “Do you realize how much danger you were in? One of those wolves could have attacked you.” “I would have killed it. I’m a damn good shot. I wasn’t about to let you deal with two wolves with one small handgun. That was ludicrous. You’re the one who could have been killed. If the wolves are as dangerous as you say, you should have taken the rifles out with you in the first place.” Because she said what he had been thinking earlier, he winced. Grant saw him and frowned. “Stay out of this, Luke. It’s between us.” “No, it’s between all three of us. We’re talking about being a family, so we have to treat it like a family. I have just as much right to fuss at her as you do.” “You can both go to hell. I was never in any danger. They were looking at you, Grant. I hit one of them. I would have gotten the other one, too, if it had turned toward me.” Valerie planted her hands on her hips with a furious expression on her face. It almost matched Grant’s. Luke wanted to knock some sense in both their heads, but that wasn’t realistic. He would never hurt a woman and he didn’t stand a chance against his older brother, and he knew it. It looked like they were at a stalemate when Grant suddenly acted. He grabbed the woman and threw her over his shoulder, heading for the stairs. What in the hell was he doing? “Grant?” “Shut up, Luke.” “Put me down this instant. You have no right to manhandle me.”

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“Baby, I’m not manhandling you. I’ll admit I was too rough dragging you inside, but you scared the hell out of me.” “Out of you? You scared me standing there as if you were carrying a cannon to ward off those wolves, when all you had was a measly pistol.” “I knew what I was doing.” “And you think because I’m a woman that I didn’t?” “Valerie. I told you to stay inside. Why didn’t you just stay inside, honey?” Luke wasn’t sure what Grant had in mind. He reached the bedroom and dropped her on the bed. Then he sat down next to her and drew her into his arms and kissed her. It wasn’t an easy kiss. It was passionate and hard and totally arousing to watch. Luke couldn’t believe he was getting turned on watching his brother kiss Valerie. She struggled halfheartedly at first before weaving her hands in Grant’s hair and holding on. She was obviously kissing him back. This was not what he had expected when Grant had thrown her over his shoulder like he had. He wasn’t sure what he expected, but this really wasn’t it. They pulled apart, panting and staring at each other as if they couldn’t believe what they had just done. Luke wanted to laugh but knew it would be a big mistake. Instead, he began to remove his clothes. He wanted to have a head start because he was sure that they were about to tear each other’s from their bodies any minute now. Sure enough, Grant grabbed the hem of her shirt and yanked it over her head. She wasn’t wearing a bra beneath the heavy material. Luke watched as Grant stared at her beautifully full breasts. His brother reached out and held them in his hands as if weighing them. Then he was suddenly on his knees kneading them while sucking on a nipple. Luke took the other one in his mouth and hollowed his cheeks, sucking it in. He couldn’t get enough of her as she grabbed each of

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them by the shoulders to hold on. He took in her moans and mewing noises as they suckled at her breasts. Grant began untying her sweatpants and pulled them down for her to step out of. She groaned in frustration since she still had her shoes on. Grant cursed when he pulled away from her breasts. He quickly did away with her shoes and helped her out of the offending pants. Then he was tearing her away from Luke, dropping her back on the bed. Luke quickly climbed up to return to her breasts as Grant stripped, throwing clothes in all directions. It was so unlike his brother that Luke nearly choked in amazement. He grudgingly released her other breast for Grant. The other man quickly resumed sucking and nipping at Valerie’s breast. Luke ran a hand down her abdomen and through her pubic curls to check her pussy to see how aroused she was. To his delight, honey coated his fingers when he got to her pussy lips. It had even leaked over to her thighs. She was with them all the way. Slowly he made his way down her body, kissing and licking his way until he reached the apex of her. There he settled between her legs, pushing them further apart. Her smell had him closing his eyes in pleasure. She smelled of lust and excitement. He looked back up to see Grant dividing his time between either breast. He had her top half under control. Luke concentrated on her bottom half. He quickly sucked in her pussy lips and moaned at the exquisite taste of her. It was a mixture of tangy and sweet. He couldn’t get enough of it, and licked her slit before stiffening his tongue to slip into her pussy for more of the delectable stuff. When he did, she opened her legs even farther for him. He smiled. She was something else indeed. She seemed to enjoy sex as much as they did as she began to pump her hips in time to his thrusting tongue. When he pulled away, she whimpered. “Don’t worry, honey. I’m going to take real good care of you.” Luke lapped at her pussy before inserting one finger to test her size. She hissed out a breath. Her cunt quivered around him as he

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pumped it in and out before adding a second one. He fucked her with his fingers for a while, then searched for her hot spot. Once he found it, he stroked over it until she was writhing on the bed. Her cunt muscles contracted around him over and over. From the way she was moving, he knew she was close. Grant seemed to notice as well, because when Luke looked up, he was twisting and pulling on her breasts. He dove for her clit and sucked it into his mouth to tease with his tongue. Her orgasm shocked him as she screamed and thrashed around on the bed. Luke placed an arm over her pelvis to keep her in once place as he stimulated her clit over and over while stimulating her sweet spot deep in her cunt. God, she was so responsive. “Fuck, look at her. She’s a rosy glow all over,” Grant said in obvious awe. “Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God. I’m burning up. Please, do something.” “You heard her, Luke. Do something.” Grant smiled, shaking his head. Luke was so mesmerized by the fact that Grant actually smiled that he almost missed what he had said. Without waiting a second longer, he pulled her legs over his arms and positioned his straining cock at her slit and surged forward. He barely got inside of her tight pussy. With a curse, he pulled out again and delved deeper this time. Slowly he pumped in and out of her until he’d fully seated himself against her womb. Her cunt muscles sucked at him as he pulled back out to thrust back in. “She’s fucking tight.” His strained voice sounded odd even to his own ears. He’d never been inside anyone as tight as she was. His dick was in heaven. He was in heaven. He tunneled in and out of her several times, then nudged her cervix by accident. She yelled out a resounding yes to this. He marveled that she liked to have it bumped.

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He did it again and again. She thrashed on the bed, making Luke curse as he tried to ride her bucking form. “Whatever you’re doing is driving her wild.” “She likes her cervix bumped. Oh, fuck! I can actually get all the way inside of her.” He was longer than Grant, where Grant was thicker. He’d never been able to bury himself inside a woman for fear of hitting her cervix. Most women didn’t like that. The fact that Valerie did only proved she was the woman for them. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for her. He was sure that she would complete them if Grant would just relax and let her in.

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Chapter Six Valerie couldn’t believe how good it felt to have Luke inside of her. She wanted to shout to the rooftops the joy she felt. They both were driving her closer and closer to climax. It loomed ahead of her, a bright dot waiting for her to reach for it. Luke stroked in and out of her cunt, bumping her cervix with nearly every thrust. It burned so good. There were so few men who could reach that odd spot of pleasure inside of her. “Oh, God. Don’t stop, please.” “Don’t worry, baby,” Luke managed to get out. Grant was pulling and nipping at her nipples. The small bite of pain thrilled through her, adding to the fast-approaching orgasm. She reached for it, but it was just out of her grasp. Then Grant reached up and tapped at her clit and she flew. Pleasure coursed through her body as nerve endings ignited and sent her farther than she had ever been before. Suddenly she realized she was screaming and grasping Grant’s head in her hands. She felt Luke still above her as he emptied his cum into her cunt. The warm splash of it against her womb sent shivers back through her body. She finally released Grant’s head, appalled that she was still holding it. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” She let go, panting, gasping for breath. “Don’t be. That was amazing. You can grab my head anytime you want.” She continued to pant as Luke collapsed above her. He managed to stop at his elbows, short of crushing her with his weight.

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“Fuck, that was good. I don’t think I’ve ever come that hard before.” Grant pushed him off of her, and then took his place. “I want you, honey. Can you take me so soon after Luke?” She glanced down at his ruddy cock. It was so much larger than Luke’s. She licked her lips and nodded. She wanted him to stretch her. She could just imagine the wonderful burn that would warm her body once again. He lifted one of her legs over his arm and held his dick at her opening before pushing inside of her. He groaned as he made his way slowly deeper into her pussy. “You’re so fucking tight. Luke, you were right.” He pulled back and thrust forward, making some headway into her wet cunt. She jerked when he pulled out again and pushed forward. This time he lodged himself deep inside of her. She couldn’t help contracting around him. He cursed and pulled out only to surge back inside of her. Although he didn’t bump her cervix, every rasp of his thick cock stroked over her sweet spot, sending tendrils of pleasure straight to her clit. There was no way he could possibly send her into orgasm again. She’d already come twice. Yet as he tunneled his way in and out of her, she grew closer and closer to climax. The burn of his thick cock pushing his way in and out of her tight pussy soon ignited into another climax that when he hit her hot spot just right, threw her into bliss. She called out his name in a hiss of breath. Then she soared even higher as he came as well. It wouldn’t have taken much more for her to have passed out from the pleasure he had given her. She realized she was digging into Luke’s arm where he’d planted it next to her. Her nails hadn’t broken the skin, thank God. She turned stricken eyes up to him, unable to apologize for trying to breathe.

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“Don’t, baby. You didn’t hurt me. I enjoyed every little prick. Seeing your body respond to my brother was the best thing I’ve ever seen.” He laid a gentle kiss on her lips. Grant pulled out of her and backed off the bed. He stared at her for several long minutes then walked toward the bathroom. When he returned, he was carrying a wet bath cloth and proceeded to clean her up. She was soaking wet from her multiple orgasms and their combined cum. It dawned on her that she could become pregnant even from that one episode of sex. The thought thrilled her. Somehow she managed to hide it. “Get dressed, guys. We need to talk.” Grant grabbed his clothes and walked out of the bedroom. Valerie had no idea where he was going. It hurt that he had closed off from her so quickly after they’d made love. Maybe that was too strong of a word for what had happened between her and Grant. Between her and Luke, it had been special. They had made love. He had given her his all. Grant was holding back. She couldn’t help but wonder why he was so against succumbing to his attraction to her. She knew he was attracted to her now, at least on a sexual level. “Here you go, baby.” Luke held up her underwear and sweat bottoms. She slipped into them, tying the cord as tight as she could make it. Then she pulled on the thick, long-sleeve top. Last she pulled on her socks and shoes with Luke tying them for her. He had his clothes on and was waiting on her to finish. She turned and looked at him with worry in her heart. Was Grant going to tell her that she had to go once spring got there? He had seemed fine with her staying earlier. The unknown was weighing heavy on her heart. She just wanted to get it over with. With that thought, she hurried down the stairs with Luke rushing behind her. “Don’t run, Valerie. You could trip and fall.” Luke took her hand in his and looked around for Grant. “He must be in the kitchen.”

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They walked into the other room to find him sipping coffee at the table. “There’s plenty more.” Luke looked at Valerie and at her nod, poured them both a cup. She took hers over to the table and sat down across from the nowsilent man. Luke pulled up a chair at the head of the table. She wanted to grab hold of his hand for strength, but refrained. She didn’t want Grant to think she was pulling favorites, because she wasn’t. She just needed some strength and knew that Luke would give it to her. “What is it, Grant?” Luke started the conversation out. “I’m not sure if this is really a good idea, but we’ve gone too far to stop now. You could be pregnant, Valerie. You’ll not leave with our baby inside of you. I want this to work as best as it can. I want us to be honest with each other in everything. Honesty is very important to me, Valerie. I’ll always be honest with you, which is what I’m doing now.” He paused and ran a hand over his head. He took another sip of the coffee then held it between both hands. “I like you, Valerie. I probably even already care about you, but I doubt I will ever love you. Sexually, you drive me to distraction. You’re so fucking responsive. I doubt I will ever be able to get enough of you. You’re going to have to decide if you can handle that or not. If not, then I’ll back away and you and Luke can become a couple.” Of all the things he could have said, she hadn’t expected that. His ordering her to leave come spring had seemed to be the worst thing he could have said to her, but to tell her that he would never love her… She looked down at her coffee and struggled not to let loose the tears hiding behind her eyes. She would not cry in front of him about this. “Honey, he doesn’t mean it to sound so harsh. He just talks like that. I think he can fall in love with you. Don’t give up on him.” Luke tried to smooth it over.

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She looked up once she had herself under control again. She lifted her chin and looked Grant directly in the eyes. “Then I guess we’re even, because I don’t know that I can ever love you, either. You’re demanding and arrogant. It’s not a flattering picture. I already care about you, perhaps too much. I can’t help how I feel, though, so don’t expect me to change that. I won’t let you dictate to me, either.” She knew her eyes were probably flashing. Valerie tended to get angry when she was hurt. She lashed out at whoever had done it in a defensive mechanism. Even though she knew what she was doing and why, she couldn’t stop the words. “As long as you mind us when it involves your health or safety, I understand. I won’t insult you by telling you what to do.” She let out a breath that she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. He had taken it better than she had expected. Probably better than she would have. He reached across the table and took her hand before she realized what he was going to do. “I’ll protect you and care for you and make sure you have everything you need, Valerie. I know I’m a difficult man to get to know and I tend to keep things to myself, but I will always be honest with you and I will try to make things as good as they can be between us.” She realized how hard that was for him to say. His eyes, though dark, seemed a little more alive with a light in them than she had seen since she had been there. It gave her hope that they could work things out between them. She hoped so for Luke’s sake—for all their sakes. Luke shook his head and jumped to his feet. She knew he was going to say something to Grant that he didn’t need to say. “Luke, it’s all right. This had to be said. Don’t say anything you’ll regret.” His mouth worked as he seemed to be struggling with what he wanted to say. She could see his jaw tightening up. “I’ve always admired you, Grant, for all you’ve done and sacrificed, but right now, I’m almost ashamed to be your brother.”

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“If you’re going to fight because of me, I’ll leave. I won’t be a bone of contention between you two.” She stood up so quickly the chair scooted back and nearly fell over. “Luke, you need to understand how hard that was for him to do. He obviously isn’t attracted to me like you are. It’s different for him. You can’t make him feel something he doesn’t.” “He didn’t have to say it like he did. It was demeaning to you.” “He’s right, Valerie. I was insensitive. It’s one of the things I’m bad about. Luke is used to it directed at him. I was wrong to say what I did the way I said it. I’m sorry. And, thank you for helping us by killing wolves. I just wish you wouldn’t have come outside. It was dangerous. If something happened to you I don’t know what we would have done.” Luke’s anger was a living thing as he breathed heavily through it. Finally, he seemed to have it under control and sat back down. He wasn’t happy, but at least he seemed to have overcome the intense anger. “I’m going to take the rifle and check the cattle. Stay inside with Valerie, Luke. I won’t be long.” Grant stood up and walked into the living room to get the rifle. Then he put on his coat, gloves, and hat before walking out the door. Valerie got up and dried the floor where the snow had blown in. “I’m sorry, Valerie. He’s really a good man. He’s telling you the truth. He’ll take care of you and make sure you are safe. He’d give his life for you. He’s been hurt in the past by a conniving bitch. It seems to have hardened his heart more than I had thought, or at least more than I wanted to believe. I guess I believe it now.” “Don’t worry about it, Luke. He’s your brother and deserves your love and support. We’ll work it out between us over time.” She walked over to him and kissed him. “I know he’s a good man.” Luke stood up and wrapped his arms around her. She could tell he was still upset by the fierce way he held her. She didn’t pull away.

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When he picked her up and carried her up the stairs, she knew where he was headed. She let him seek his comfort in her body. When they reached the bedroom, Luke began taking her clothes off almost reverently. Then he removed his almost violently. When he came to her, though, he was gentle as he stroked her hair. She closed her eyes, soaking up his attention. Luke took her breast in his mouth, sucking on it like a hungry man. Then he pulled back until just the nipple remained in his mouth. He nipped and pulled on it with his teeth. He treated the other breast the same way. Valerie held his head to her until he pulled away and moved down her body with openmouthed kisses along the way. When he reached her belly, he licked around her belly button. He ran his hand down her pelvis and through her trimmed mound to her pussy. There he circled her clit and plunged his fingers into her cunt. He wiggled them around until he located her hot spot and began stroke over it until she was moaning and thrashing her head from side to side. He fucked her with just his fingers and latched onto her nipple at the same time. Valerie shouted out his name as her climax snuck up on her. It had roared through her before she had time to prepare for it. She had been so caught up in the delicious feel of his body over hers that she’d let it sneak up on her. Then Luke was plunging into her cunt with his cock. His thick dick rasped over her sweet spot, sending chills down her spine. He fucked her hard as he held one hand on her hip. The feel of his cock tunneling in and out of her already-sensitive pussy was almost too much, too much stimulation and too much emotion. “God, baby, I can’t get deep enough inside of you. I want to feel your cunt suck me up.” She squeezed her cunt muscles, earning her a Fuck as he squeezed in and out of her. His thick dick filled her to overflowing as he continued to pummel her body. Her cunt began to quiver as she grew

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closer to climax. Luke’s pubic hair rasped at her clit every time he filled her with his cock. Valerie began to quiver all over and fire melted her blood to a fine liquid that coursed through her body faster and faster. Her heart thundered in her chest as she went up in smoke. Her orgasm was a living, breathing thing that took over her body in mindless pleasure. Luke pushed through her spasming cunt twice more before shooting his cum deep within her cunt. He pulled out after several seconds, trying to regain control before he pulled out. She immediately felt bereft without him inside of her. “I love you, Valerie. I love you with all my heart.” “I love you, Luke. I love you with all that I am.” **** Grant walked out into the cold, welcoming its biting sting on his face. He was angry at himself for having been so insensitive with Valerie. He’d let his emotions rule his tongue, but that was no excuse. He scanned the nearby woods for any sign of wolves as he walked toward the fence. The cattle seemed to still be keeping close to the house. He walked around both sides of the fence to make sure there were none down. Everything looked to be normal. Then he walked out to where they kept the wood stacked and carried some to the front porch. He made several trips to make sure they had plenty should it snow again. Even though they had eaten dinner early that night, it was already getting dark outside. He knew he needed to head back in the house, but hesitated. He lingered outside long enough that he hoped they had already gone to bed. He was considering sleeping in his old room but vetoed that idea. That would be childish and crazy as cold as it was. It would take two of them to keep Valerie warm in the bed, and he’d be miserable alone, as well as cold.

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When he finally went back inside, it was quiet and dark in the house. He lit a lamp and mopped up the water from the snow he’d tracked in. Then he slowly climbed the stairs to the bedroom. He walked in as quietly as he could to find them sound asleep in the bed curled around each other. They looked right together. He wasn’t sure he belonged in the equation, but he couldn’t back away now. She’d accepted him into her life to some extent, and then into her bed. He was already addicted to her sweet loving. There was no way he could give her up now. After taking a quick shower, Grant dried off and slipped into bed, careful not to touch her since his body would still be cold. He didn’t want to wake her up. “Grant? I’m awake. Is everything okay outside?” her sweet voice whispered into the darkness of the bedroom. “Everything is fine.” “You were gone so long. I was worried.” “I checked all the animals and then brought some wood around to the front porch.” “Oh.” She was quiet so long after that he thought she had fallen back asleep, but she spoke again. “Scoot closer. You’re bound to be cold. You need to warm up.” “I’ll just get you cold, honey.” “I’m warm enough for both of us. Come on.” A hand closed over his arm and tugged at him. Its blessed heat called to him. He grunted and turned over to curl around part of her body. To her credit, she didn’t flinch away from the coolness of his skin. She was nothing short of amazing. Knowing how he felt, she still offered him comfort. It boggled his mind. With that thought, he fell asleep.

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Chapter Seven As soon as the snow cleared up enough that they could get the truck out, Grant and Luke took her to one of their neighbors to meet them, and see if they had any clothes that might possibly fit her. “You’ll like them. Their wife is named April. They’re expecting a baby soon.” Luke patted her thigh as they drove up the road toward the other family’s house. Valerie wasn’t sure about how to act. The other family was made up of two men and a woman, and she was used to that sort of family, but being in one was a little odd to her. She almost felt guilty. They pulled up into the drive of a very large house. Grant got out first and walked around with the rifle before allowing Luke to help Valerie out of the truck. They walked up on the porch just as the door opened. A dark- haired man stepped out, closing the door behind him. “Luke, Grant. What brings you out in the snow? Trouble with the wolves?” “We’re having some trouble, but nothing unusual.” Grant shook hands with the man. “This is our wife, Valerie. We hoped that maybe April might have a couple of things to fit her. She came to us with only one set of clothes to wear, and it’s too late in the season to make a run to one of the cities.” “Valerie, I’m David.” He nodded at her and then opened the door. “Come on in. We’ll ask April.” They walked inside to a warm room with a roaring fire in the fireplace. Standing in a doorway was a lighter- haired man a little shorter than David. Valerie kept close to Luke. She was

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uncomfortable around the other two men. She wasn’t afraid. They seemed nice enough according to Luke and Grant’s description of them. “Hey, Grant, hey, Luke. Great to see you. Who do you have with you?” He remained in the doorway. “This is our wife, Valerie. Valerie, this is Gary. We’re hoping your wife might have a couple of things that would fit her. She’s without a change of clothes.” “Hmm, too late to go to Middleton with the snow.” He turned toward the other room and held out his hand. “April, come meet Valerie.” A beautiful woman walked into the room to stand next to the other man. She was obviously pregnant. Valerie smiled at her. The other woman smiled back. She held out her hand and walked toward her. “Hi, I’m April. It’s good to meet another woman. I hear you need something to wear. Let’s go upstairs and see what there is. I think the woman who lived here before may have been your size. We’ll go see.” Valerie followed April up the stairs. She watched as the other woman made sure to hold on to the railing. She noticed when she turned to look back at Luke and Grant that the other men were watching April carefully. She could tell they loved her by the adoration evident in their eyes. She longed to see that in her men. She could almost tell it in Luke, but definitely not Grant. She sighed and followed April up the stairs. “Come on back here. We packed all the things we didn’t need or couldn’t use in the last bedroom. It’s the smallest.” She followed the other woman into a musty-smelling room at the back of the house. Inside were furnishings and boxes of things stacked two and three high. There were labels on the boxes so she figured that April had done it when she wasn’t pregnant.

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“Let’s see. I think we put all the women’s clothes back here. She walked carefully around a stack of boxes and pointed to a couple of boxes that said women’s clothes. April started to lift one of the boxes, but Valerie yelped and stopped her. “You can’t lift anything. I’ll get it. Your husbands would have a fit!” She pulled one of the boxes out and set it on the floor. April smiled and opened the box. “Maybe some of this will fit.” She pulled out a pair of jeans. They looked to be about the right size. She licked her lips, then figured it wouldn’t matter and pulled off the oversized sweats to try them on. They fit with the exception that they were a few inches too long and the waist was a little large. She smiled. “I think they fit well enough. I’ll roll up the pants legs.” “Wonderful! Let’s look at the rest of the clothes.” They pulled out blouses and T-shirts for her to try on. Everything fit for the most part. A few of the blouses were a bit tight across her chest, but not enough to be uncomfortable. All in all, they managed to dig out three pair of jeans, four blouses, and a half dozen T-shirts. There were socks, but the bras didn’t fit. She did find a pair of thermals. Valerie levered the boxes back like they had been stacked and gathered up the clothes. She and April carried them out of the room and to the stairs. She made April set hers down and called down to Luke. “Can you come up and get some of the clothes? I don’t want April to carry anything down.” Immediately all of the men hurried to the staircase. Then Gary chuckled and shook his head. “I think one person can go at a time.” The other men grinned at that. Luke went up and grabbed the clothes, making Valerie put her load down, too.

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“You’re not carrying anything down those stairs. You could lose your balance and fall.” “You’re worse than Grant.” She frowned at him but didn’t attempt to carry the clothes down the stairs. Grant climbed the stairs and got the rest of them. “Thanks so much, April, for letting me borrow them.” “Keep them. I can’t wear them. I’m too tall for them, and besides, I have all I need.” “Thanks.” “If you have any more trouble with the wolves, let us know. We’ll go with you to do a hunt. We can probably get Joel and Jonathan to go along, as well.” David shook their hands after Gary. “Thanks, we’ll let you know. Be on the lookout for them.” Grant walked toward the door with the clothes in his hands. “I’ll watch for you since you have your hands full.” David picked up a rifle and stepped out on the front porch with them. Grant nodded and walked out to the truck. Luke followed him, ushering Valerie in front of him. They stowed the clothes in the backseat then climbed in and shut the doors. After waving to David, Grant started the truck and backed out of the drive. The ride home was difficult through the snow-covered roads, but they soon made it home. “Luke, I’ll watch for wolves. You get Valerie inside. Then we’ll take turns carrying the clothes in. I don’t want any of us outside without a rifle.” Luke nodded and waited until Grant was standing on the running board with the rifle before hauling her out the door and rushing her toward the front door. He unlocked it and pushed her inside before closing the door and heading back out to the truck. Valerie watched through the living room window as he grabbed a load of clothes and carried them back inside. Then he stood at the door as Grant grabbed the others and brought them inside. They closed the door and looked at her expectantly.

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“Where do you want them? You said you wanted to wash them first,” Luke asked. “In the washroom, silly. I’ll start on them after I fix lunch.” “What’s for lunch?” Grant followed behind Luke, heading toward the kitchen and the washroom off the back. “Sandwiches today. I’m going to make chili tonight.” She watched as they dumped the clothes on the floor of the tiny room. She sighed, rolling her eyes. “Thanks, guys.” They headed back to the living room, leaving her to sort through the mess in the washroom. After separating the clothes into piles, she returned to the kitchen to make their sandwiches. Once lunch was over, they all settled into the living room where the fire would keep them warm. She climbed up in the recliner with Luke. His warmth soon seeped into her, and along with the fire, kept her toasty warm. At some point, she began to doze. She could hear the soft murmur of voices around her but couldn’t really concentrate on what they were saying. She felt Luke stand up from the chair and carry her somewhere. She assumed he would put her on the couch in front of the fire, but instead, she found herself lowered into Grant’s lap. She opened her eyes and looked up into Grant’s dark ones. “Go on back to sleep, Valerie. Luke had to run to the bathroom.” She settled down into Grant’s warm body and fell sound asleep. **** “Wake up, sleepyhead.” Grant’s voice woke her from a nice dream where they were a happy family with two kids. She frowned and grumbled, but opened her eyes and started to get up. Grant stood up with her and let her slide down his body, holding on to her until she’d found her legs. “I better go start the chili. What time is it? Where’s Luke?”

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“It’s a little after two and Luke is in the kitchen getting ready to go out with me to check the animals.” Valerie nodded and trudged into the other room. She was still half-asleep and feeling grumpy. She wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was because her dream wasn’t real. “Hey, baby. How do you feel after your nap?” Before she could say anything, Grant spoke up for her. “Grumpy.” Luke chuckled and pulled her in for a hug. “Don’t be grumpy. You have new clothes.” She smiled and nodded. Then she turned to work on the chili as the men finished dressing for the outside. Valerie looked over her shoulder as they opened the door and hurried out into the snow. This time, no snow fell into the room for her to clean up. She guessed the men had been able to shovel off the porch enough to keep it from falling in when they opened the door. For that, she was very grateful. Once she had the chili simmering, she made up a batch of pan bread and set it aside with a cloth over it until the men returned. Then she set up the washroom to do laundry and washed her new clothes. By the time she had the majority of them done, her hands were shriveled up into wrinkly prunes and her back was killing her. Because it was too cold outside to hang up clothes, she had to hang them in the kitchen and in front of the fire in the living room. It would take some time for them to dry, too. She would need to turn them around to get both sides dry. Nearly two hours later, the men lumbered through the door, stomping their feet on the porch before breaching the warmth of the kitchen. She pulled out the mop and cleaned up the small mess they left when taking off their boots. “I’ll fix you some coffee. Give me a few minutes.” Valerie set the pot on the stove and spooned coffee grounds into the cloth she used to keep them out of the liquid. Then she turned the flame up to boil the water.

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“Is everything all right out there?” “As well as can be expected. The cattle are beginning to spread out some since the snow has stopped. The temperature doesn’t seem to be quite as cold out there, either. We may be getting a warming trend.” Grant set his hat on one of the hooks by the door. “Great, that means mud instead of snow to clean up.” “We’ll do our best to keep it to a minimum,” Luke assured her. “I’m not fussing at you. You can’t help it. It’s just a general observation.” She smiled at them and then returned to the stove. The men pulled out chairs at the kitchen table and began to talk about the cattle and what they should do when it did thaw. Valerie half listened as she watched the chili simmer and the water for their coffee boil. Once it had come to a soft roiling boil, she dropped the cloth with the coffee grounds in it and waited until it grew dark. Then she turned off the fire and grabbed mugs to pour it in. The men thanked her for the coffee and continued to talk. She went to the living room to turn the clothes around. Looking over at Grant’s recliner, she thought about waking up to find herself in his lap. She knew that he didn’t love her, but she was fast falling in love with him. Valerie sighed and sank onto the couch. She had cared deeply for him all along, but realizing that she was well and truly on her way to loving him scared her. How could she deal with knowing that he would never love her? Could she live with him day in and day out without letting him know? She could never tell him. He could use it to control her. She would do anything for him. She had done anything for him in bed. No, she had to keep it to herself. Her newfound knowledge was unsettling. She went about finishing up the pan bread and dipped up the chili for their dinner in a daze. If Luke or Grant noticed, they didn’t say anything. Dinner was a fairly quiet affair. She didn’t try to start a conversation as she did some nights. She had too much to think about.

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Once she had finished the dishes, she checked the clothes and folded the ones that were dry to carry upstairs. The men had moved to the living room to the recliners and were lying back, talking. She gathered up the folded clothes. “I’m going upstairs to put these away. I think I’ll take a quick bath and then go on to bed.” “Are you feeling okay, Valerie?” Luke sat his chair upright and stared at her with concern in his eyes. “I’m fine. Just a little tired from washing clothes.” “We’ll be up before long, baby. Don’t stay in the tub long. I don’t want you to end up with a cold.” She smiled and carried the clothes upstairs. After putting them away, she ran a bath of the hottest water she could stand so that it would warm up the bathroom. Then she climbed in and gingerly lowered herself into the steamy froth. It felt so good to sink into the warmth. She quickly bathed, and then just soaked until the water began to cool. She quickly got out and dried off before the room began to get chilly. She dreaded getting into the bed because she knew it would be cold without the men to warm it up. She pulled on a large T-shirt and quickly slipped between the sheets to curl up into a ball. After a few minutes of chattering teeth, the bed in her little spot began to warm up some. She was soon able to relax and think. Without the men to distract her, Valerie thought about her plight. Loving two men where one loved her and the other one assured her that he never would was heartbreaking. Lately, Grant had softened some around her, but still didn’t say anything to make her think that he was falling for her. Maybe he was telling the truth and he couldn’t love. She shook her head. No, she didn’t believe that. Everyone had the capacity to love. It all depended on if they chose to love or not. Obviously Grant had chosen not to love her. She sighed. It sucked, but there was nothing she could do about it. She had Luke, and when sex was involved, she had Grant. Between

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the two of them, she was relatively happy. What more could she ask for when she’d basically forced herself on them?

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Chapter Eight Once again, snow moved in with a massive storm that made it almost impossible for the men to move around outside. They spent most of the day shoveling snow and tending to the animals. Where before they frequently saw wolves on the edges of the woods, with the new snow so deep, and the wind constantly blowing it around, they rarely saw them. Still, the men took the rifle with them wherever they went. It seemed like such a cruel joke by Mother Nature. They had thought it was going to warm up and melt the snow on the ground. Overnight, though, everything changed. They woke up to blowing snow and nearly five inches already on the ground. Valerie spent the long, bleak days cooking and cleaning. Even though the entire house had been cleaned once, she repeated it to give her something to do. She made bread and cooked stews to keep the men fed. They had deer several nights when Luke killed one that wandered out of the woods one day while they were shoveling snow. The rest of the meat they packaged and buried in the snow in a locker to keep it frozen until they needed more of it. She sometimes read by a lantern when the sun wasn’t out, but frequently it was still too dark, and she didn’t want to waste the oil. She knew that she should enjoy the downtime because once spring arrived, she would be busy with the garden. They would need a larger one to accommodate her living with them now. With so much time on her hands, she often thought about her friend, Esther, and wondered how they were doing. Did they have enough food to last through the winter?

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Then she would start to think about her plight and the strange relationship she and Grant had. She had yet to give them the papers that had been hidden in the lining of her coat. If they were going to be her husbands, she needed to give them to Grant to fill in their names, but something always interfered when she thought about them. Grant was the oldest, so he had to be the one to sign them. She would have been much more at ease giving them to Luke. Several times she almost did that, but knew it wasn’t the right thing to do. So many worries circled in her head. It gave her a headache thinking about them. What if she hadn’t turned them over to Grant and someone tried to take her away from them? She would give it to him tonight no matter what. She needed that off her mind before she made herself crazy. She was certain now that she would stay come spring. They had all settled into a workable routine. She provided for them and they took care of her. They made love most nights unless the men were dead tired. Then she cuddled between them and listened to them snore with a smile on her face. She and Grant had sex, but always with Luke in the room. She and Luke often made love without Grant. Even if it was a bit quirky, the relationship worked. It was time to hand the papers over and be done with it. Later that afternoon, the men pushed through the door then slammed it shut against the blowing wind and snow. After cleaning up the mess, Valerie handed them cups of hot coffee and sweet rolls she had made. They grunted their appreciation since their throats were raw from trying to breathe out in the wind and biting cold. She pushed them toward the living room and the fire she kept going in the fireplace. The men backed up to it, drinking their coffee. She returned to the kitchen to finish up dinner, intent on putting something hot and filling in front of them. Tonight she had venison steak, gravy, beans, and biscuits. As soon as the men had warmed up, they returned to the kitchen to hug her. Luke wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. He put

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everything into his kisses when he’d been outside for long periods of time. Then Grant would hug her and kiss her on the forehead. He seemed to hug her longer and longer with each passing day. When he kissed her on the lips the first time, she hid a smile so as not to let on that it had surprised her. Tonight, she could tell the men were antsy. They were ready for the snow to end and melt away. It was taking a toll on them both physically and mentally. Grant hung around the stove as she stirred the gravy. “That smells delicious.” “I hope it will taste as good as it smells, then.” She smiled up at him then continued to stir. “It will. Your cooking is always great.” He walked over to the kitchen door and looked out the window. The late afternoon light was slowly dimming. She was going to have to light the lamps for them to eat by. With a sigh, she finished the meal and set the table. The men helped her move the food and they all sat down to eat. No one said much throughout the meal. The men seemed intent on their own thoughts and Valerie didn’t want to bother them with mundane things that meant little to them. The one thing she did want to discuss sat in the pocket of her apron. She intended to give them to Grant as soon as they finished dinner. After finishing the meal, the men leaned back and thanked her for the wonderful food. Luke started to say something else, but the howl of a wolf close by had both men jumping from their chairs, heading for the rifles leaning against the wall by the back door. They quickly threw on their coats and outer gear before grabbing the rifles and heading out the door. Valerie worried and fretted when she heard shots until they walked back through the door. “What happened?” “There were two wolves out by the fence line. We got one of them, but the other one ran off. They hadn’t done any harm, but the

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cattle were spooked. We don’t think any ran off.” Luke pulled off his coat and gloves before settling his hat back on the rack. “We’ll go out tomorrow and see if we need to round any up. The snow has settled enough that we should be able to follow any tracks fairly easily.” Grant ran a hand through his hair. “Go stand next to the fire and warm up. You’re both cold as ice.” She shooed them out of the kitchen so she could clean up the floor and calm down. She’d been so happy to see them that she was about to come out of her skin. Once they were all in the living room sitting on the couch, she reached into her pocket and pulled out the papers that would change her status in life. Or at least, the life that she knew. She licked her lips and handed them to Grant. “What’s this?” He looked at her with a question in his eyes, then slowly unfolded the papers. He smoothed them out and held them up to the light of the fire to read them. When he realized what they were, he stared at her. “Why are you giving me these now? Why not when you first decided to stay? Or have you really only just now decided?” His face became unreadable. “No, I had decided a long time ago, back when we talked. I’ve been afraid to give them to you. I didn’t want to be owned by someone, but I’m afraid someone will try and take me away from you. I don’t want that.” “What made you think someone would get you?” Luke asked. “From talking with April. She talked about needing the paperwork to prove who she belonged to so they wouldn’t make her leave. I didn’t want to lose the two of you.” Grant got up off the couch and walked over to the table where they had left the lamp. He looked back at her again. “Are you sure? Once I put our names on here, we’ll never let you go.”

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She looked from him to Luke. Luke had a fearful expression as if he believed she might change her mind. She turned back to Grant and nodded. “Yes, I’m sure. There’s no one I would rather be with than the two of you.” “Even me?” “Even you.” She smiled. He nodded and pulled a pen out of the drawer in the table. Then he wrote on the papers. Once he had finished, he brought them over for her to see. There on the bottom lines he had written his and Luke’s names as her owners. He carefully folded the papers and pulled out his wallet to slip them inside. Then he replaced the wallet and pulled her into his arms. “Like I’ve told you before, we’ll take care of you. That means me, too.” “I know, Grant. You always take care of me and make sure I have what I need. I appreciate that.” “Let’s go to bed, baby. I want to love you like you’ve never been loved before. Grant, I think she’s ready.” “Ready for what?” Valerie looked from one man to the other. “We want you, honey. Both of us—together.” She still wasn’t sure what they were talking about, and she guessed it showed. “At the same time, baby. We want in that sweet ass as well as your pussy.” “Oh. I–I…” “We’ll make it feel so good, honey. You won’t believe how good until you try it.” Grant cupped her cheek with one hand. “Come on. Let’s go upstairs and we’ll show you how good it can be.” Luke took her hand and they climbed the stairs together with Grant bringing up the rear.

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He pulled her into the bedroom and into a kiss that seared her lips. His mouth ate at hers as if he would never get the chance to kiss her again. She let him take it and loved every minute of it. Then Grant was pulling her out of Luke’s arms into his. His kiss was just as powerful, but different. Where Luke kissed like a hungry man, Grant kissed like a man intent on conquering another nation. He made her mouth his with his teeth and tongue. Luke’s body pressed against her from the back with Grant’s at her front. They gave her an inkling of what they were talking about as they each thrust against her body in an alternating rhythm. Their hard cocks pressed into her body from in front and behind. In no time she could feel her pussy juices flowing. Her panties were soaked and she was sure her pants were fast going the same route. When Grant pulled back to let her breathe, she let her head fall back against Luke’s shoulder. Her lips felt swollen and bruised. Her breasts were tingling as they rasped against her top and the pressure of Grant’s chest. It was always this intense despite the many weeks they had been together. She thought each time it would lessen, but it hadn’t. If anything, it had grown more so than before. Luke began to inch her top over her body toward her head. When it reached her neck, he drew it over her head, placing a kiss on her neck before her hair fell back down. Grant unfastened her jeans and slowly pushed them down her hips to her thighs and lower. “Step out of your boots, honey.” Grant waited patiently as she did. He lowered the jeans to her ankles, and Luke held her steady as she stepped out of them. Then he kissed her belly as he stood back up. She licked her still-swollen lips as he laid a row of kisses across her breasts. Then Luke was turning her around to take his turn. He sucked in a nipple and teased it with his tongue. Over and over he nibbled and sucked until she was groaning in the back of her throat. “Move her to the bed, Luke.”

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Luke picked her up and carried her to the bed where he gently laid her in the center of the bed. The cold covers sent shivers down her spine. “Don’t worry, baby, we’ll warm you up soon enough.” Luke climbed up and sat with his back to the headboard. “Suck my cock, Valerie. I want to feel that hot mouth on my dick.” She turned over and crawled up to lower her head over his thick cock. She licked around the rim of his cockhead then licked across where a drop of pre-cum had pearled in the slit. When she licked across it, he hissed out a breath and grabbed her hair. Then she felt Grant get on the bed behind her. When he touched her ass, she jerked her head up and looked over her shoulder at him. She wasn’t sure about taking him in her ass. It seemed too decadent and sounded painful to her. “Easy, Valerie. I’m not going to hurt you. I’ll make it feel good. First I need to stretch you some, honey.” He spread her ass cheeks and bent and kissed each side. She felt Luke’s hand in her hair pulling on it. She returned to lavish his cock with her tongue and mouth. Sucking in just the head of him, she felt him push upward with his hips, trying to go deeper into her mouth. She smiled around him and pulled back. He growled at her and pulled her head back down by her hair. She giggled and was rewarded with another growl. Something cold dripped on her ass. Then Grant was smoothing it around her little rosette, pushing inward a little each time. It didn’t bother her so she concentrated on Luke’s cock, going down as far as she could. Then she relaxed her throat and took him farther down and swallowed around him. “Fuck! That feels amazing.” She swallowed around him again, then came back off him, raking her teeth lightly over his cock as she did. When he threw back his head to bump against the headboard, she knew she was getting to him.

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Suddenly Grant’s finger pushed into her ass a little ways with more lube. He pumped it in and out, just breaching her inner ring. The pressure wasn’t bad as he slowly added more of his finger until he was all the way to the webbing inside of her ass. It burned a little, but nothing she couldn’t handle. When he added more lube and a second finger, the burn turned hotter and the pinch a bit stronger. She panted as he slowly pumped them in and out of her back hole. She realized that she’d stopped sucking on Luke’s cock and resumed with the idea that it wouldn’t get much worse. When she began to suck harder, hollowing her cheeks with each draw of her mouth, he grabbed her head with his hands and pumped his cock farther into her mouth. “Valerie. Let go of Luke for a minute. I want to add another finger and I’m scared you’ll bite him.” Luke quickly pulled out of her mouth and stroked her hair. “Breathe out, baby, and push back.” She followed his instructions and nearly screamed when Grant began to work three fingers into her ass. She moaned as she tried to push out to let him in. It hurt, but she endured it, thinking it would get better once he was all the way in. Finally he was pumping them in and out of her in a slow rhythm that began to feel better with each push. Soon she was pushing back against his hand as he thrust inward. “All right, Valerie. Climb up on Luke’s cock.” Luke scooted down the bed beneath her body. She took his slippery dick in her hand and held it still so she could impale herself on it. She had to work to get him started, and then fuck him up and down to finally seat herself all the way to his groin. It was deliciously tight and pulled on her soft tissues. His groin hair tickled her clit and she could imagine if she ground her body against his that it would rasp over it quite nicely. Grant gently pushed her down on Luke’s body and spread the globes of her ass apart. Then the cold feel of lube coated her anus once again. This time she felt the spongy head of his cock pressing

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against her back hole. She didn’t think anything of it as he pressed forward until it began to burn. She whimpered but continued to pant and push out. “Easy, honey. Just breathe through it until I get all the way inside. It will feel so good once I’m there.” Valerie wasn’t so sure about that. The burn turned into a sharp pinch, and more pressure than she could imagine. She cried out in pain and Grant stopped. “Do you need me to stop? I’ll quit if you’re hurting too much, Valerie. Tell me what to do.” “No, don’t stop. Please, keep going.” She ground her teeth and pressed outward until he slipped past the tight ring and into her ass. He slowly began to fuck her there until he had his entire length inside her back hole. The burn had morphed into a pleasure that seemed almost more than she could stand. Now she felt full. So full that she didn’t know where one of them ended and the other began. Never had she imagined something so naughty could feel this good. The pressure built. She tried to move around them, but couldn’t get any traction with them buried balls deep inside of her in both holes. “Please, do something. I need you to do something. Please.” She whimpered and tried to sit up. “Let us do the work, baby. Stay still.” Luke held her upper arms, anchoring her to him, and began to pull out as Grant pushed further inside of her. Then Luke was pulling out and Grant tunneled back in. Over and over they rocked her between them. Nerve endings she’d never known before fired to life and added to the thrill racing up her spine. Nothing could have prepared her for the sensations of two cocks stroking over sensitive tissues at the same time. Before she knew it, her climax rushed up on her and threw her over into a bliss unlike anything she’d ever envisioned. Sparks ignited throughout her body and lightning danced in front of her eyes, and then there was darkness.

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Chapter Nine Grant felt Valerie’s muscles contract around his cock, squeezing the life from it. He filled her back hole with his cum, curling his toes and bending him over her body as he did. He was vaguely aware that his brother had shouted out his own climax. All Grant knew was that in that moment, he truly felt love for the first time. She’d trusted him twice with her body. Once when she had given him the papers to her ownership and now when she’d allowed him to take her ass. The trust that took was amazing to him. “She’s passed out, Grant. Do you think she’s okay?” Luke’s winded voice reached him from below. Grant kissed her back then rubbed it over and over again. “I think she is. Let me get something to clean her up with.” He carefully withdrew, groaning as he did. He still couldn’t quite catch his breath. After padding into the bathroom, he wet a bath cloth with warm water and took it back into the other room to clean her up. First, he helped Luke pull her from his body. Then he ran the cloth between her legs, taking away much of the evidence of their passion. He hated to do it. He liked seeing his cum on her body. But it wouldn’t feel good when she woke up to a cold, sticky mess there. He tossed the cloth in the bathroom and crawled into bed with them. Luke had pulled the covers from beneath them and spread them over Valerie’s sleeping form. Grant pulled her back into his arms, not caring that it only left her arms and legs for his brother to hold. He could have her later. Right then, Grant needed her body close to his.

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He didn’t want her far from him ever. Somehow, he thought Luke would understand. Grant struggled to understand his feelings, but the more he thought about it, the more the word love came up in the mix. He didn’t want to believe that he’d fallen in love, and fought the feeling. In the end, he had to acknowledge it. Then he buried it. He didn’t want to think about it right then. Instead, he concentrated on the feel and warmth of her skin next to his. He knew the instant she woke up. Her body stiffened and then she moaned as she yawned and stretched against him. He had to let her go for her to fully stretch out. He did so reluctantly. “I can’t believe I passed out like that. I’m sorry, guys.” “Don’t be sorry. We didn’t hurt you, did we?” Luke still sounded worried. “No. It was wonderful. It stung and burned at first, but then it turned into something really good. I want to do it again.” Grant chuckled. “Maybe another time. I’m too tired to do much more than fall asleep. You wore me out, honey.” She grinned then looked over at Luke. “What about you?” “Don’t look at me. I’m in the same boat. Give me a night to recuperate. Then I’m your man, baby.” She reached out and took his hand in hers and squeezed it. “We need to get some rest. Luke and I have to check on the cattle in the morning and may be gone for some time. We’ll take the horses.” “And the rifles,” she added. “And the rifles,” he repeated. **** Early the next morning, Valerie had breakfast ready for the men by the time they made it downstairs. She poured up the coffee and set it on the table in front of them. They discussed what they were planning to do while they ate.

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Before they left, Grant took her by the shoulders and looked her in the eyes. She knew what was coming next and sighed. “Please stay in the house while we’re gone. The wolves are out there, and are deadly. I don’t want to have to worry about you and not be able to concentrate on keeping Luke and me safe.” She was surprised. He hadn’t demanded it. In fact, he’d actually said please. She nodded her head. “I promise. I won’t go outside.” Luke added, “And don’t open the door for anyone. Not even our neighbors that you met.” “Okay, I won’t.” She watched the smile light up Grant’s eyes for just a second, and then it was gone. Back was the usual neutral stare that she had grown used to over the weeks. They pulled on their boots, coats, gloves, and hats before picking up the rifles and leaving. She locked the door behind them and watched as Luke and Grant headed toward the barn. Once they were out of sight, Valerie cleaned up the dishes and wiped down the kitchen before heading for the bathroom to start another round of cleaning. Hours later, she had just finished the bathroom and picking up the bedroom when a chilling howl sang out and was joined by another one. She shivered, wondering why they were howling during the day. They usually only did that at night. She prayed the men were okay. She checked the doors and windows to make sure they were locked, then added another log to the fire. Picking up a book, she settled herself on the couch to read as long as there was enough light in the room to see by. Then she sat closer to the fire until it was time to start dinner. The men would be back soon. They had promised to get back before dark. She looked at the clock ticking on the mantel. It was closing in on three o’clock. She wound the clock to be sure it wouldn’t stop running and headed into the kitchen.

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An hour later, she began to fret. It would be dark in little while. Surely they would be back soon. Dinner was about ready. She hesitated about making coffee so soon. She would wait another thirty minutes. A little later, she started the coffee. When the clock said a quarter to five, she began to pace the kitchen floor. Something had to be wrong. She couldn’t believe they would wait so late to come back knowing she would be worried about them. She heard the thunder of horses’ hooves and barely managed to keep from throwing the door open to be sure they were both all right. She waited and waited, wringing her hands until finally she heard the stomp of feet on the porch. She looked out the window but couldn’t tell anything in the waning light. The door handle rattled, and then the sound of a key in the lock let her know it was her men. She nearly sank to the floor in relief when both of them walked through the door. Then she saw the blood on both of their shirts. “What happened? Where are you hurt?” She began searching for the injuries on them. “Whoa! Easy, baby. We’re okay. It’s just a scratch on Grant.” “How bad a scratch? There’s blood on both of you.” She began looking over Grant and found a long rip in his shirt where the blood was the darkest. “Come over to the sink where I can clean it. Luke, bring the light.” She tore the shirt the rest of the way and stifled a groan. It was a fairly deep slash about five inches long. It would need stitches to heal properly. She turned on the water to let it get hot. “What happened?” “Wolf jumped us. We killed it, though,” Grant said. “Luke, do you have anything to put stitches in him? He’s got to have them. It’s deep.” “Yeah, we’ve got a stocked first aid kit. I’ll go get it.” “Luke can stitch pretty well.”

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“I’m doing it. I sew and have stitched up Esther’s men before.” She wasn’t about to let Luke do it. Men weren’t normally very good with a needle. Luke brought in a large plastic bin and sat it on the table. He pulled out supplies and set them up. Valerie finished cleaning the wound with hot water, and then she picked up a bottle of peroxide and poured it over the wound. She knew it didn’t hurt, but it wouldn’t feel good, either. After that she had Grant sit at the table with his back to her. Luke brought over the two lamps and sat them around for optimal light. “Luke, do you have whiskey? He’s going to need some. This will be a lot of stitches.” He nodded and found the whiskey in the back of a cabinet and handed it to Grant. She watched him take a healthy swig, and then another. “Tell me when you’re ready.” “Go ahead. It’ll take a lot to get me drunk enough not to feel it. I’ll drink while you stitch.” “I’m sorry, Grant. I know this is going to hurt.” “Just get it over with, Valerie,” he said in a resigned voice. She began stitching, wincing with each prick of the needle. Grant cursed loudly until he eventually got drunk enough that he was feeling no pain. Finally, she put in the last stitch. Luke brought over a pan of hot water and she rinsed her hands before cleaning off Grant’s back. They cut the rest of the shirt off of him and Luke helped him upstairs while she cleaned up the mess. Her hands were shaking as she emptied the pan of water and rinsed out the sink. She stood with her arms braced, leaning on the sink, trying not to completely lose it. Then she felt Luke’s hands on her shoulders. He whispered soothing words in her ear before moving her hair aside and kissing her neck around to her cheek. “Let’s go to bed, baby. Grant’s going to need some extra warmth.”

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“I’ll be up in a little bit. I need to put the food up so we can have it tomorrow.” “I’ll wait on you.” She hurried and put everything away, then followed Luke upstairs to the bedroom. She peeled off her clothes, wishing for a bath, but knowing it was better to go ahead and get in the bed. She slipped beneath the covers and crawled almost on top of Grant to keep him warm. Luke spooned her from behind and they fell asleep. **** Early the next morning, Grant woke up to a serious headache and pain in his back. He remembered what happened and groaned. Then he realized he had a body almost on top of his. He ran his hand through her long black hair and thought about her sewing him up the night before. He’d heard the sniffles while she took care of him, and knew it had cost her a great deal to do it. He carefully attempted to move out from under her to go to the bathroom, but she woke up and turned sleepy eyes toward him. “Are you okay? Do you need something?” “Go back to sleep, Valerie. I need to go to the bathroom.” He stood up and found he was a little bit shaky. Slowly he shuffled toward the bathroom. Once he was finished, he grabbed some clothes and pulled them on. He tried to get his shirt on but found that it pulled at his stitches. Gentle hands took the shirt from him and put his arm through one sleeve then helped him with the other one on his good side. He gingerly buttoned it up. He would have to stay close to the fire without the thermals on under his clothes, but there was no way in hell he’d ever manage to get them on. “Thanks.” He winced at the gruffness in his voice. “How about some coffee and something to eat? The stew will be good and filling.”

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“Sounds good, but you don’t have to get up so early. You were up late last night.” “Not so late. It probably felt that way to you.” He watched as she headed downstairs. He followed at a more sedate pace. His back was killing him. Once he was in the living room, Grant tried to pick up a log and realized it was too heavy and pulled on his stitches. He cursed and sat down on the couch. He hated feeling like an invalid. He could smell the scent of coffee and the stew he knew would be simmering on the stove. When Valerie returned he was staring at the embers, disgusted with himself. “What’s wrong?” She began adding logs and setting up the kindling to start the fire. “That’s what’s wrong. I can’t even start a fire without pulling on these fucking stitches.” “They won’t be in but for about seven days, maybe less if you’re careful with them.” She ran a hand across his forehead and frowned. “You’re running a slight fever. Come on and eat.” He stood up and swayed a little bit. She steadied him, but didn’t try to walk him to the kitchen. He wouldn’t have let her. Once he was settled in a chair, she served him the stew, toast, and a cup of coffee. “Thanks.” A few minutes later, Luke walked into the room, his hair still mussed from bed. He watched as Valerie shook her head and tried to smooth it down when he sat at the table. He pulled her into his lap for a kiss. She slapped him on the shoulder. “Let me up so I can get your breakfast. You’ve got to be starved.” “I could eat.” She fixed his and gave him a cup of coffee, and then fixed a bowl for herself. They ate in silence. The only sounds in the kitchen were spoons raking over the bowls.

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Grant had a terrible headache from all the whiskey he had consumed the night before. He wished they had some painkillers of some kind to take, but medicine was out of date everywhere and too dangerous to try. Once they were finished, he watched Valerie clean up. Grant stood up and headed for the living room. He sat in his chair with his body slouched away from the back. When Valerie walked in, she suggested he lie on the couch. He scoffed at the idea. Luke repeated her suggestion. “Grant, get on the couch. If you fall asleep like that you’ll bust your stitches when you fall.” “Fuck.” He got up, thought, and sat on the couch next to Valerie. “Are you going to move?” “No, you can rest your head on my lap.” He started to say no and get up, but he changed his mind and sighed. Then he lay down on his stomach and settled his head on her lap. She brushed his hair out of his eyes and gently massaged his head and neck. It wasn’t long before he was asleep.

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Chapter Ten Seven days later, Valerie sat in the same position at the table as when she put the stitches in to take them out. They pulled and Grant cursed, but soon she pulled the last stitch and smiled at the closed wound. It had healed up nicely. She was sure it would have a smaller scar than if Luke had sewn him up. “There, all finished. You survived.” “Hum. I suppose. Thanks.” He stood up and slipped into his shirt with only a little grimace. It was going to be sore for a while, but if he didn’t do anything real strenuous, it should be okay. She quickly cleaned up the mess. Then she waited to see what the men were going to do. She had an idea that Grant would want to check the cattle since Luke had been doing it without him for several days. “I’m going to check the cattle. I’ll be back in an hour.” “I’ll go with you.” “Nah, I’ll take the rifle, but I’m not going far.” “Be careful, Grant.” She couldn’t help herself. She had to tell him. Valerie was finding it harder and harder to keep from showing her feelings for the man. Sooner or later he was bound to notice. She wasn’t sure what would happen when he did. If he scoffed at her loving him, or made fun of her, it would break her heart. She already had a crack in it because he would never love her. She basked in Luke’s love, but she didn’t feel complete inside. “Let’s cuddle on the couch, baby. I’ve missed loving you each night. I’m going to love you all night long tonight. Grant can join in or not. He’s well enough now.”

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He kissed her, running his tongue across her lips until she opened for him. He took the invitation for what it was and plunged into her mouth to tickle the roof of her mouth before sliding along her tongue with his. Then he thrust it in and out in a parody of what he wanted to do to her. She pressed her body against his in desperate need. She rubbed it against his groin and the hardness of his cock. She was already wet and ready for him. How could she possibly wait until night? He seemed to be reading her mind because he voiced out loud what she’d been thinking. “I can’t wait.” He pulled back away from her and began unfastening her jeans. She worked on his at the same time. He shoved hers down to her feet before turning her quickly around and pressing her over the back of the couch. She spread her legs for him as far as they would go with her pants around her ankles. She felt his fingers testing her readiness. With a groan, he pushed his cock into her slit in a quick jab. “Fuck, you’re so wet and tight. I love being inside of you.” She whimpered when he pulled all the way out. Then he was thrusting back in and managed to get his massive cock all the way inside her this time. She pushed back against him in an attempt to take more of him, but there wasn’t any more to be had. He plunged in again and again, thrusting as she drove back on him. “Oh, God.” She felt her climax building deep inside her cunt. Luke tunneled in and out of her pussy, grunting as he stroked his dick through her tight passage. She tightened around him and smiled when he cursed. “Play with your clit, baby. I’m getting close and want you to come first.” She didn’t hesitate. She reached between her legs and fingered her clit in a desperate attempt to reach her climax. She drew in deep breaths between each of Luke’s plunges inside her cunt. Finally, she squeezed her clit between her thumb and forefinger. It sent her flying.

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She called out Luke’s name, going to her toes as he thrust one last time and held still, splashing her womb with his cum. The warmth sent chills down her spine, triggering another small orgasm that caught her by surprise. “Fuck, that was good. I missed you, baby.” “You missed fucking me, you mean.” She chuckled. “That, too. I love making love to you, baby, but sometimes a quick fuck does wonders.” She breathed out when he pulled from her body. Then he helped her stand up, kneeling to help her pull her pants up. She turned around and wrapped her arms around him for a few seconds. Then she pulled back and found that he’d only bothered to zip his jeans and had left the buttons open. Shaking her head, she walked around the couch and sat down. Luke started to sit down next to her when the sound of the back door opening then closing had him striding for the kitchen. Valerie remained on the couch, needing a few minutes to regain her breath and settle her racing heart. Grant walked in and paused. His eyes went darker. She should have known he would smell the sex in the air. He continued into the room and pulled her to her feet before she knew it. He crushed her to him and found her mouth with his. Then he was plunging his tongue inside and ravaging her. She moaned into his mouth at the sheer animal in him. Luke plastered his body at her back, thrusting against her lower back. Grant picked her up and carried her upstairs. “Your back!” “Is fine,” he growled out. He didn’t stop until he had her in the bedroom. Then he set her feet on the ground and began tearing at her clothes. She tried to help him, but he swatted her hands away and finished in seconds. He stared at her for what seemed like forever. “Get on the bed, honey. I need inside you. Luke, on the bed. Let her ride you.”

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Luke looked at her as if making sure she was okay with what Grant had planned. She nodded and quickly climbed up on the bed. Luke was right behind her. He lay back, and then helped her climb on top of him. She shuddered when he began to thrust up into her weeping pussy. She was slightly swollen from their recent tryst. It took him several tries before he managed to completely surround his cock with her pussy. Grant climbed on the bed and ran his hands over her ass cheeks. He massaged them and kneaded them. Then he spread them and she felt his tongue on her tight rosette. He licked all around it. The next thing she felt was the cool lube before his finger began inching its way past the tight ring and into her back passage. She shivered at the decadent feel of pressure inside her there. “You’re so fucking tight. I can’t wait to get my dick inside of you.” More lube, and then he worked two fingers inside her. It pinched, but nothing that she couldn’t handle. Three fingers and the burn became more intense. He fucked her with them until he seemed satisfied that she was ready and removed them. Then his cock was there pushing into her. She moaned at the intense pressure as he breached her ass and the tight, resistant ring. He worked his way all the way inside her, and the pressure turned into something amazing. Nerve endings came alive that thrilled along her spine. She couldn’t believe how full she felt and wanted to feel them rasping in and out of her. She struggled to get free from Luke’s arms, but he held on tight until Grant began to move. “Oh, God! Yes!” They began to move in tandem. Each plunge of a cock inside of her shot her higher and higher. She could feel them moving inside like pistons inside an engine. Fire flared, and then flared again even hotter. How would she survive this? It was a dark pleasure that seemed wrong, but somehow, so incredibly right. “Faster, harder,” she all but screamed out.

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Grant took her at her word and began to tunnel in and out of her ass as Luke struggled to keep up. She felt like their vessel as they plunged in and out of her body. Nothing felt like this. She was surrounded in her men and didn’t want it to end. Her body wouldn’t cooperate, and she exploded into a thousand pieces before being remade. She was dimly aware of Luke spilling his cum inside her cunt. Then Grant was pistoning in her body like a madman. Suddenly he stilled deep inside her and she felt the heated proof of his release coating her tender tissues. She collapsed between them, unable to hold herself up. Grant’s forehead rested on her lower back before he kissed her all the way down her spine. “You’re amazing, woman. I can’t get enough of you.” He carefully pulled out and left them. Valerie knew he would return with a wet cloth to clean her up. He always took care of her. She could hardly believe that he didn’t love her. Yet it was there in his eyes, a slight distance there that didn’t ever quite go away. Tears formed in her eyes as he returned and wiped the evidence of his passion away. Then he was helping her off of Luke and tucking her in the bed. Luke curled around her as she silently cried herself to sleep. **** Grant padded down the stairs nude. He needed a drink something fierce. He rarely drank, but tonight was an exception. He had done it. He’d gotten too close to Valerie. He could feel her wrapping around his heart. He needed to distance himself from her but didn’t know how to do it. Everything inside of him ached for her touch. He reached inside of the cabinet and pulled out the bottle. He contemplated getting a glass and vetoed that idea. He took a swig from the bottle instead, letting it burn its way down to his belly. He grimaced and took another swig before putting the bottle back in the

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cabinet. He put a log on the fire before he climbed into the recliner. He’d sit and think for a while. It lasted most of the night and into the next morning. In all that time, he didn’t come up with a single idea of what he could do to stop the slow destruction of his heart. When Valerie padded down the stairs at dawn, he saw a question in her eyes when they settled on him. “You didn’t come to bed last night, did you?” “No, I couldn’t sleep and didn’t want to wake you and Luke.” “Is your back bothering you?” “No.” She nodded and continued into the kitchen. He heard her moving around in the other room and wondered what she was thinking. He finally got up and walked into the other room. She paused at what she was doing. “How about some coffee?” “Coffee would be great.” She poured a cup and brought it to him. Then she leaned in to kiss him but stood back up. “You’ve been drinking.” “I had a drink, that’s all. I thought it might settle me down.” “What had you so upset that you had to drink to get over it?” “Nothing. Just nothing.” He took his coffee and started to walk away. “Is it me, Grant? Do I bother you? What do you want me to do?” “Nothing, Valerie. There’s nothing you can do. I’m fine.” He knew that she didn’t believe him. What in the hell was he going to do? Then Luke was bounding down the stairs. “You better go brush your teeth and gargle before he smells it on you. He won’t be so understanding.” Luke walked into the room and smiled, heading straight for Valerie. Grant walked out and up the stairs. She was right. Luke would demand to know what in the hell was going on. He obviously

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didn’t know he hadn’t slept with them the night before. He wanted to keep it that way. By the time he made it back downstairs after a shower and a thorough rinse with mouthwash, breakfast was on the table. He poured another cup of coffee and joined them at the table. Luke talked as if nothing was wrong. He guessed nothing was. He would go on like he was and try to deal with the growing feelings he had for her. “I’m going out to gather the eggs and milk the cow. I’ll be back inside in about thirty minutes.” Grant got up and gathered the bucket and basket after putting on his outer gear. He looked at Valerie then walked out into the snow. At least it wasn’t deep anymore. Maybe it would help to clear his head. He felt off-balance around her. There had to be something he could do to stop the intense emotions he felt. Nothing could come of them. He wouldn’t fall in love with her. Love brought heartache. He’d had more than his share and didn’t think it was fair that he go through it all again. Luke would tell him he was crazy for thinking Valerie would use them and then leave. She wasn’t like Lydia. He wanted to believe that, but something blocked him from doing that. He gathered the eggs and milked the cow. Before he returned to the house, he fed the horses and made sure they had plenty of water. Then he made himself go back. He set the milk down and placed the basket of eggs on the counter. Cold air circulated around him and Valerie was nowhere to be found. He listened but didn’t hear anything in the house, not even noises coming from upstairs. When he walked into the living room the front door was wide open, looking as if it had been forced. He ran for the door and found Luke lying facedown in the snow. There was blood on the back of his head. He grabbed him up and half carried, half dragged him into the house. The head wound was bleeding like a faucet. He tore of his shirt and packed it at the back of his head. He searched for any other wounds but found none.

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Then it hit him. Someone had Valerie. She was gone, just like he had worried about. Pain sliced through him. He shook Luke. “Wake up, Luke. What happened?” The other man moaned but didn’t come to. “Luke, wake the fuck up. Someone took Valerie. What happened?” Luke groaned and raised his head. He rolled over and started to put his hand to the back of his head, but Grant stopped him. “You’ve got a cut back there. Don’t touch it. What the fuck happened?” “Valerie!” He tried to get up, but couldn’t stand on his own. Grant helped him over to the couch to sit down. “They took her. Fuck, they took her. We’ve got to go after her, Grant.” “Tell me what happened.” “We were talking by the fire when the door crashed opened and two men ran in. One of them grabbed Valerie and threw her over his shoulder. The other man had a crowbar and swung it at me. I blocked it with my arm, which hurts like a son of a bitch. Then he managed to get me in the back of the head. I made it outside, but then I blacked out.” “Did you see a truck? What color was it?” “No truck, they carried her down the drive. Must have parked down on the road so we wouldn’t hear them drive up.” He tried to stand up again and managed to stand without falling down. “Do you feel like tracking her?” “Hell, yes!” He lunged for the door. “Let’s go.” “Go put your fucking coat on, Luke. Think. If we go off halfcocked we’re going to screw up and lose her.” Luke nodded and ran for the kitchen. Grant was right behind him. They suited up and hurried out to the truck. “You drive and I’ll track till we have to follow them on the road.”

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Luke climbed into the cab of the truck and started it. He shadowed Grant as he followed the tracks to the road. There he pointed in the direction the other one had headed. He climbed in with Luke and they took off in the same direction. The other vehicle made several turns before it reached a main road with other traffic. Grant cursed and got out to figure out which way to go. He finally found what he thought were the same tire tracks several yards down the road and motioned for Luke to pick him up. Then they were off again. They finally located a road that looked as if they had turned off. Luke made the turn and followed the tracks back up into the hills. They had to take it slow because the snow hadn’t melted as much higher up. Finally they located a cabin where a truck was parked. Grant studied the tracks and determined they were the ones from their house. He motioned for Luke to back up. He followed on foot and then climbed in the truck with his brother. “We need a plan. We don’t want them to hurt her when we go in after them.” “I say we just ram the door and go on in. I don’t want their hands on her any more than they’ve already been.” “Do you want them to kill her, Luke? ’Cause they might do it rather than give her up. It’s happened in the past.” Luke drew in a deep breath and nodded. He knew the men that it had happened to. He didn’t want to lose Valerie at any cost. “We didn’t think to grab the rifles so we’re going to have to rely on our hands. That means watching out for their guns.” “Got you.” “As soon as we go in, you go right and I’ll go left. It will divide their attention. Go for maiming them to incapacitate them. First one of us who gets their gun goes for Valerie. She’s the most important one. If you get her, leave with her.” “I’m not leaving you behind.”

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Grant grabbed his brother by the shirt and pulled him toward him. “The fuck you won’t! Valerie comes first. Do you hear me?” “Fuck, yeah. I’ll get her out of there, and then I’m coming back for you if you’re not with me.”

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Chapter Eleven Valerie had fought the man carrying her as he took her down the road. She kicked and scratched at his back. He grunted, but didn’t drop her as she’d hoped. When they made it to the vehicle she had hoped they would dump her in the truck so that she could climb out the other side. Instead, the man hauled back and hit her, knocking her out. When she came to, she was in a room in a cabin, completely naked. She screamed and tried to open the one window in the room. Just as she got it to move a couple of inches, the door slammed open and one of the men walked into the room. She tried to cover herself, but she realized it was useless and stood up straight. She’d fight him all the way. He took off his belt and grinned. “I’m going to teach you not to fight me, darling. He advanced on her. She darted away, heading for the door, but he cut her off, grabbing her and tossing her on the ground. Her knees and the palms of her hands hit hard enough that she lost her breath with the pain. Before she could get up, the belt came down again and again. She screamed and the door burst open in the other room. The man turned and raced for the door. She couldn’t get up to run into the other room. She saw Grant and Luke, and then they were fighting. She couldn’t tell who was doing what. She prayed they would be okay. She couldn’t bear it if one of them got hurt because of her. The sound of flesh hitting flesh reverberated through the room. Then Grant was free and running toward her. He cursed when he saw her and picked her up. He ran through the door, yelling at Luke to get

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his ass out of there. Then they were running through the snow. She looked over Grant’s shoulder searching desperately for Luke. When he emerged from the cabin, she cried in relief. They reached the truck and Grant all but threw her inside before starting the engine. Luke climbed in the other door, barely getting it closed before they were pulling out onto the road. Grant cursed how slow he had to go in the deep snow. Valerie kept looking behind them, her only relief being that the men would have to go just as slow. Her body ached from head to toes. There wasn’t a place on her that didn’t hurt. She moaned and Luke tore off his shirt to cover her. “Get the damn heat all the way up, Luke. She’s freezing.” “Hell, I’m scared to hold her. She’s a fucking mess.” “Anyone following us?” “Not that I can see. I think we hurt them pretty badly, Grant. I don’t really expect mine to get up anytime soon.” “Mine was still on the floor when I ran through with Valerie. Maybe you’re right.” “Baby, what can I do to help you?” Luke kissed her forehead and ran his hands through her hair. She sighed at the gentle touch of his hands. She wanted to lay her head on his shoulder but was scared to move. “It hurts, Luke. I’m scared to move again.” “I know, baby. God, I wish I’d killed them.” “Hold me, Luke.” She needed to feel him. If he moved her, maybe it wouldn’t hurt so badly. “Baby, I’m scared I’ll hurt you.” “We’re almost home. Hold on, honey.” Grant’s steely voice chilled her. Was he mad at her? She couldn’t believe that he was. She hadn’t done anything. Tears sprang to her eyes again. Her jaw hurt as she began to tremble all over. “Hurry, Grant. She’s shaking all over. I think she’s going into shock.”

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“Hell, I’m going as fast as I can. I don’t want to put us in a ditch.” Finally she recognized their drive and sighed in relief. She was home. Everything would be okay now. “I’ll get the door out of the way. You bring her inside.” Grant climbed out of the truck and raced for the house. Valerie watched as he moved the door out of the way, and then Luke was picking her up in his arms. She stifled a scream at the pain. She could hear his indrawn breath at her whimper. He knew he was hurting her. She hated that he would feel guilty about it. Once he had her inside, he carried her to the couch. Grant was putting the door up. “She needs covers, Grant. Watch her while I get some.” Grant walked over and knelt by the couch. “Honey, listen to me. Everything is going to be okay. Nothing matters except that we have you back, understand?” She was sobbing now. The shivering was hurting. Finally Luke returned with enough blankets to smother her. He had a pillow and put it behind her head. Grant built up the fire until she began to stop shaking. “I’m going to get some things to secure the door. You stay with her. I’ll be back as soon as I can. Get the rifle and shoot anything that comes through that door.” Grant left them heading toward the kitchen. “I’m sorry, Luke. I fought him.” She couldn’t stop the tears. “It’s okay, baby. It’s not your fault.” “It hurts, Luke.” “I know, baby. I know. I’m so sorry I couldn’t stop them.” She could see the tears in his eyes as he continued to run his hands over her hair. She wanted to touch his face and brush them away, but she hurt. Her hands were raw from her fall. When Grant returned, he had a hammer, nails, and a piece of wood. She started as he began hammering the nails into the door. Each crack of the hammer sounded like the belt.

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Luke shook his head and leaned down and kissed her. He was hurting as much as she was. She closed her eyes and wished it all away. **** Luke wanted to kill the men for hurting her. Nothing could be too harsh for them. Grant had managed to secure the door. He sat at one end of the couch with the rifle in his hand just in case. “She’s finally sleeping. I can’t stand to see her hurting like this. She kept saying she was sorry. I told her it was okay, it wasn’t her fault.” “Nothing they did to her matters, Luke. Do you understand?” “God, do you think they raped her?” “I don’t fucking know, but it doesn’t matter to us other than we hate that it happened to her. We’ve got to make her believe that.” “I’d never blame her or turn away from her, Grant.” “Neither would I.” He drew in a deep breath and let it out in a soft hiss. “I love her, Luke. God help me, I love her.” Luke thought that was the best thing he had ever heard. That it took something like this to make him admit it hurt him. She was so much better than this. He should have been able to tell her without something like this happening. “Hell of a time to admit it, Grant.” “I know. I should have told her a long time ago.” “Why didn’t you?” “I thought I could outrun it. I thought if I didn’t admit it, it wasn’t true.” “Fuck you, Grant.” “I know.” Luke lowered his head to hers and whispered to her how much he loved her over and over. He hoped it was seeping into her head so that she would believe it. He could see Grant’s hands gently cupping her

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feet. He knew his brother was hurting, but he didn’t have anything left inside of him to offer him any comfort. He was focused on Valerie and praying that she would be okay, that one day everything would be okay. Several hours later, she stirred. Luke waited for her to open her eyes. When she did, he smiled down at her. “Hey, baby.” “Hey. I’m thirsty.” Her voice was raspy. “I’ll get it, Luke. I’ll be right back.” Grant gently laid her feet back on the couch and headed toward the kitchen. “Is there anything else you need, baby?” “No. I just want you to hold me, Luke.” “I’m holding you, baby. I don’t want to hurt you.” “I don’t care. I need you.” Tears formed in her eyes. He cursed and wrapped his arms around her. She moaned but held on to him. He saw Grant return with her water, looking at him, concern in his eyes. “Valerie, Grant has your water.” She slowly let go of him and relaxed back against his chest. She reached for the water with shaky arms and hands. Grant placed the water in her hands and helped her to get it to her mouth. She sipped at the water, and then gulped it down. “Careful, honey. Don’t drink it too fast and make yourself sick.” She backed off from the water and nodded. He took the glass and set it on the end table. Then he knelt in front of her and kissed her gently on the lips, careful of where her lip was split. Luke watched with mixed feelings. Part of him was angry with Grant, but part of him was pleased to see him showing his feelings for the first time in a long time. He nearly shouted with joy when Grant told her he loved her. “What?” Valerie whispered. “I love you, honey. I’m sorry it has taken me so long to tell you. I denied it for so long.”

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“I love you, Grant. I’ve loved you for a long time, too.” “No matter what happened, Valerie, it doesn’t matter. We still love you, with all our hearts.” She looked confused for a few seconds, but then she smiled. “Nothing happened. They didn’t rape me. They just hurt me.” Luke relaxed with relief. He wouldn’t have treated her any different, but for her sake, he was grateful that they hadn’t hurt her that way. He glanced over at Grant. The other man had his eyes closed, and obvious relief showed on his face. **** Several days later, Valerie was able to sit up and walk around the living room without crying out. She was tired of lying on the couch. She wanted to return to the bed. The men were scared for her to sleep between them. They also didn’t want her away from the fire. She’d started running a low-grade temperature. She guessed they were afraid she’d caught a cold. “How are you feeling, baby?” Luke walked into the living room with a cup of coffee. He held it out to her. “I’m ready to go upstairs. I need more than a spit bath. Plus, the hot water will help me feel better. Please, Luke.” Grant walked into the room with a frown on his face. “I’m scared you’ll get a chill in the bathroom.” “If you run the shower for a few minutes then the water in the tub, it gets pretty warm in there. You know I’m right.” She hated to beg, but she was just about to that point now. “Okay. Luke, go run the shower. We’ll be up in a minute.” Luke kissed her then got up and headed up the stairs. Valerie smiled. Relief and triumph filled her. She caught a look from Grant. He wasn’t happy about it, but he had caved. “You’ll get out as soon as the water starts to get cold.” “Okay. Can I go up yet?”

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He sighed and took her hand to help her off the couch. Then he led her to the stairs. He held her hand as she slowly climbed the stairs. It took her several long seconds to finally make it up them. By the time she had, she was worn out. “Still want that bath?” Grant seemed to know that she was on the brink of exhaustion. “Yes. I’ll feel better all over once I’ve soaked a while.” He nodded and helped her into the bathroom. She closed her eyes, basking in the warmth of the bathroom. She pulled her clothes off as gently as she could. She didn’t need Grant’s help. He looked a little hurt, but she needed to do it herself. She couldn’t let him do everything for her. She needed to be able to do it herself. If she let him handle everything, she would lose some of her independence. “Let’s get you in the tub. If we don’t hurry up, you won’t have much time there to soak. I’ll bathe you, honey.” She nodded because deep inside, Valerie knew she was a little too sore to get to some places. She let him help her in. She eased into the water and smiled at him. “It’s just right.” Luke returned with clothes for her and knelt by the tub and helped Grant bathe her. Once they were finished, she relaxed and let the warmth from the water seep into her sore muscles. It stung her knees and hands some, but all in all, it was perfect. The men didn’t leave, saying they would be letting the warm air out and cool back in. She couldn’t argue that point, so she closed her eyes and pretended she was alone and everything was okay. After about fifteen minutes, Grant checked the water and added more hot water as if sensing that she needed longer in the tub. But after another fifteen minutes, he called time. He and Luke helped her out of the bath. They quickly and carefully dried her off before helping her into the soft warm- ups Luke had found for her to dress in. “How do you feel, baby?” Luke brushed her hair away from her eyes.

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“So much better. Thank you. Can I go to bed for a while?” “Honey, the bed is too cold for you to rest in. Let us take you back downstairs.” Grant rested a hand at the back of her neck. “You could take a nap with me and keep me warm. Please?” Luke and Grant exchanged glances. When Grant sighed, she knew she had won. “I’m going to go check the animals. You two go ahead and climb into bed.” Luke kissed her gently on the mouth then bumped foreheads with her before walking through the door. Grant ushered her over and turned back the covers for her. Then he carefully picked her up and laid her in the center. He pulled off his boots and climbed in after her. She could tell he didn’t know where to touch her, so she scooted over toward him and curled up against his chest. He slowly lowered his arms and wrapped them loosely around her. It was her turn to sigh. She felt safe and loved being in his arms. She listened to him breathe for a long time. She could tell when he fell asleep by the way it evened out. Then he began to softly snore. Valerie was sure that he and Luke were exhausted from taking care of her and the animals. She wished she could at least cook for them, but they wouldn’t hear of it. Not until she was completely well. I’ve been nothing but trouble to them. No matter what, though, I can’t give them up. It would kill me. What would it do to them? Would they want and love her enough to come after her? She believed they would. They’d rescued her from the kidnappers. How they found her, she had no idea. The other men had been convinced that no one would be able to. Before they had knocked her out, she had warned them that her men would track them down. Valerie finally relaxed enough that she grew sleepy. She was almost asleep when Luke returned. He tried not to make any noise, she was sure, but he couldn’t help it, as large as he was. “It’s okay, Luke. Come to bed. I want to feel your arms around me, too.”

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“What are you doing still awake?” “Waiting on you. I’ll always wait on the two of you.” “We’ll always come and get you, Valerie. Remember that. No matter what happens, we’ll come and find you. You’re our woman, and we’re your men.” Tears burned in her eyes as she smiled up at Luke. He slipped into bed and snuggled up to her, his hands careful of where to touch her. She leaned her head back against his chest and fell asleep listening to his heartbeat.

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Chapter Twelve Two weeks later, Valerie stood in front of the stove stirring soup for the men. They had finally let her back into the kitchen with words of warning. “No heavy lifting,” and “Call us if you get tired.” She smiled. They were so protective of her. And Grant was like a different man. Still gruff, he showered her with love nonetheless. She heard footsteps and looked up to the heavens for patience. This was the third time one of them had been in to see about her. “I’m still fine, Luke.” She didn’t turn away from the stove. “How did you know it was me?” “You shuffle your feet when you’re inside.” “Oh. Are you sure I can’t help you with something?” “Nope. Don’t need any help right now.” “We’re going to be in the office working if you need us. Just yell, we’ll hear you.” “Okay. Don’t worry about me.” She turned around and smiled at him. “I’m doing fine.” He smiled back with a little sheepish grin. Then he turned and walked back into the living room. She heard the murmur of voices that soon faded as they walked toward the office on the other side of the house. Shaking her head, she turned back to the stove and began cutting up the carrots to add to the soup. She woke up on occasion with nightmares, and that only added to their worry and overprotectiveness. There was nothing she could do about the nightmares, but she was going to wean them off of their constant

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attention. It could be stifling at times. She hadn’t been able to take a bath alone since the kidnapping. Once she had everything added to the soup, she left it simmering and settled herself in the living room. It felt good to relax without them hovering over her, but she wouldn’t take anything in the world for them. They were her life and happiness. After an hour had passed, she checked on the soup, and then returned to the couch. Just as she sat down, Grant walked out of the office. He spotted her on the couch and hurried over. “Did you get tired, honey? Do I need to do anything for you?” She laughed, shaking her head. “No. I didn’t get tired. The soup is simmering. I’m just waiting for time to check on it again.” “I’m going out to check on the animals. I’ll go get Luke to keep you company.” Valerie knew that was a euphemism for “to keep her safe.” They didn’t leave her alone much anymore. The front door had been repaired and reinforced so it would take more than two men to burst through it. They had done the same thing to the back door. Still, they almost always had one of them nearby with a rifle. The fact that they had left her alone in the kitchen so much had pleased her. “There’s no reason for him to stop what he’s doing. I’m just sitting here enjoying the peace and quiet by the warm fire.” She smiled at him. He nodded his head and walked toward the kitchen. Once he’d closed the back door behind him, she relaxed again. She was almost asleep when a knock at the front door startled her awake. Fear washed through her like cold ice water poured down her back. She froze, unsure of what to do. Fortunately Luke heard the knock and came running into the living room with the rifle. “Upstairs, Valerie. Now!” She finally made her body move and hurried up the stairs to hover just out of sight. She wasn’t going to leave and not know if Luke was

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all right or not. She heard him call out asking who it was. The muffled reply was lost to her. She heard the door open, and then the sound of voices as Luke let them in the house. She wanted to sneak down a step and see who it was, but wouldn’t take a chance in case it was someone strange. If they didn’t know she was there, they wouldn’t be interested in her. The soft murmur of several voices filled the room and drifted up to her. She strained to make out anything they said, but from her angle, it was all lost. Finally, Luke walked up the stairs and caught her on the landing. He frowned at her and let out a breath. “I should have known.” “Who is it?” “It’s our neighbors with their wife and another set of neighbors wanting to talk to us about seeing strange men around the area. I told them what happened, baby. Do you want to come downstairs to see the women, or would you rather stay up here?” “I’ll go down. I’d like to see them. What about Grant? Doesn’t he need to be here?” “Yeah, but I’m not leaving you. He’ll be in shortly.” She nodded and followed him downstairs. There were six people in the living room waiting on them. She recognized April, Gary, and David right away. She didn’t know the other three. “Valerie, this is Ronnie and her husbands, Garrett and Brice.” She nodded her head at the new ones and smiled. She licked her lips then invited the women into the kitchen. They followed her to the other room and took a seat at the table. “Would you like some tea or coffee?” April spoke up. “There’s no need to go to any trouble, Valerie.” “It’s no trouble. I’m going to fix some for the men anyway. Grant will need some when he returns from caring for the animals.” She hurried around making the coffee using two boilers so there would be enough for everyone.

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“How are you doing? Luke told us a little about what happened. I can’t imagine how scared you must have been.” “I’m doing fine. I, um, have nightmares sometimes, but other than that, I’m healing fine.” “That’s good. I wish they would have come and gotten me,” April said. “I’m sure you could have used another woman to help you.” “Thanks, April. That’s really kind of you.” “Valerie, Ronnie has been living out here a long time. She has taught me quite a few things about how to take care of myself. Maybe once you’re feeling 100 percent, she can teach you, too.” “Oh, that would be wonderful! Anything to help me not feel so helpless. Thanks, Ronnie.” “I know how it feels to nearly be torn away from the men you love. It almost happened to me when Garrett and Brice and I first met. Only my papers kept me with them. You do have papers, right? If not, I can make them for you.” “I appreciate the offer, but I have some. Well, Grant has them.” Valerie poured up several cups of coffee, and the women carried them in to the men. When they had returned, Grant walked in and flashed the other women a questioning look. “Ladies. How are you doing?” “Grant, this is Ronnie. She’s here with her husbands, Brice and Garrett. They’re in the living room with Luke and April’s husbands.” “Think I’ll go mingle with the men, then.” “Here’s some coffee.” She handed him a mug. He dropped a kiss on her cheek and took the coffee as he walked toward the other room. “You have very nice husbands,” Ronnie said. “Thanks. What are you doing over here? Not that it matters. I love having you.”

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Ronnie started off. “The men have noticed some strange men in the area. They could be the ones that kidnapped you, but I don’t know what they looked like. Brice and Garrett tend to be overprotective.” “I guess there’s a reason for it, now.” April sighed. “So much for a little more freedom.” “Right now, they hardly let me walk out of the room alone.” Valerie sighed. “I guess I can’t blame them,” Ronnie said. “You were taken from them. They’re scared they might lose you again.” “I know you’re right, but it’s hard to deal with always having them underfoot. I mean, I can’t even take a bath alone anymore.” “Oh, I don’t know if that’s such a bad thing.” April wiggled her brows. The three of them dissolved into laughter. Valerie missed this from the old days, the time before the disasters. She hoped that maybe they could visit more in the future. She could see herself visiting with them and exchanging ideas on cooking, canning, and just living. She wondered how the men were doing. Would they enjoy the company so much that they would go and see their neighbors more often? Loud chuckles could be heard drifting into the room from the other one. She smiled. She figured she could talk them into it without too much trouble. **** “I appreciate your coming over and telling us this.” Grant looked over at Luke. “It doesn’t sound like the men we dealt with before. I don’t know if those other men are still in the area or not. If they are, you need to watch out for them as well. They were bold enough to knock down our door to get to Valerie. There’s no telling what they will do next.”

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“I agree with you. We’ll watch for them as well.” Brice stood up. “We’d better gather our women and get back. It will be dark before long.” Everyone stood up and shook hands. “Think about what we said, guys. I think forming a group is our best bet against the wolves and any strangers that move in.” David shook Grant’s hand and headed for the kitchen. Grant looked over at Luke and his brother nodded, following the other man to the kitchen. He knew he could trust them, but it wouldn’t hurt for Luke to go along anyway. No matter what, Valerie came first. David and Luke soon had the women walking into the room and making a beeline for their men. Grant smiled when Valerie walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. They all walked the group to the door and watched as they drove away. “What did you think about the women, baby?” Luke pulled her into his arms once they’d closed and locked the door. “I really enjoyed talking with them. I hope you’ll let me see them more often.” Grant winced when she turned her gray eyes his way. She knew he was the harder of the two to convince about things. When she looked at him like that, he almost always gave in. This wasn’t such a bad request to cave to, though. He was beginning to feel like they needed the help of everyone that had a stake in surviving and keeping their wives safe. Gary and David bringing Brice and Garret over had been a good idea. They had a lot of things to suggest that they could use. She was probably right that they would all benefit by becoming more neighborly. He needed to talk to Luke about it and be sure his brother felt the same way. They had to be in 100 percent agreement in bringing others into their life. Once they opened that door, there would be no going back. “We’ll see, honey.” He kissed and tugged on her hair.

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“I’m going to get the bread ready for dinner. It will be ready in another thirty minutes or so.” She left them in the living room and disappeared into the kitchen. “What do you think?” Luke asked. “I’m leaning toward giving it a try. They’ve been hunting the wolves for some time now, and we’ve benefited without helping.” “I’m with you on it. I see nothing but potential in combining our efforts. I’m not sure about actually hunting down the men, though.” “That is a little extreme, but it may be necessary, Luke. We almost lost Valerie. I don’t want to go through that again.” “Let’s think about that. Otherwise, I’m all for it. I know that Valerie is.” He grinned. “She looked really happy about having had time with the other women. I like seeing her that way.” “Yeah, me, too. I think we can take her to see them occasionally.” They discussed more about the meeting and the concerns of the other men. When Valerie walked in and announced that dinner was on the table, Grant looked outside and noticed that it was full dark. He was glad he had already checked the animals. He followed Luke into the kitchen and sat at the table. She ladled up their soup and passed them the bread. He could tell she was a lot more relaxed, and that made him smile. “So, you enjoyed visiting with April and Ronnie.” “It was great to actually talk to another woman again. Plus, they have some great ideas on canning and cooking.” “That’s good, baby. Maybe we can get you over to their house again sometime.” “That would be great. Oh, and once spring gets here and we’ve all got our gardens in the ground, they are planning on having a big picnic lunch one day. I can’t wait for that. There will be several other families there. Oh, and there are more children!” “Sounds like you three made some big plans.” Grant hoped they could participate. It would break Valerie’s heart if they decided they didn’t want to risk becoming part of the group.

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“Grant? You do want to be friends with the other families, don’t you?” He was amazed that she always knew what he was thinking. He drew in a deep breath. “I do, honey, but we want to make sure that it’s right for us before we jump up and join in.” “There’s strength in numbers, Grant.” She frowned at him. “I know. Just give me and Luke some time to think about it.” She nodded, but he could tell she wasn’t happy anymore. It tore at his heart. He almost gave in, but he knew he was right. They really needed to consider all the angles. It was a big deal. After dinner, they helped clean up the kitchen, and then sat in the living room to talk. Valerie had come to tell them that she was taking a bath and she did not want them to watch her like they always did. She could do it on her own just fine. He knew she was angry with him, but she would get over it. “What are we going to do about Valerie?” Luke asked. “She’ll get over it. I don’t want to jump into anything.” “I can appreciate that. I’m not all that wild about hunting the men.” “Maybe they will decide against going that far. I do like the idea of figuring out some way to get our neighbor’s attention if we need help.” He leaned back in the recliner and shoved his hands beneath his head. “That would come in handy. We could have used their help when we went after Valerie.” Luke looked up toward the stairs. His brother still felt guilty over not being able to have stopped them from taking her. He’d ended up with three stitches in his head, but it didn’t matter to him. “Luke, she’s worth everything. Maybe we need to really think about this and ask more questions.” “I agree. More questions couldn’t hurt. Now let’s go up and see about Valerie.”

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Grant nodded and pushed his chair back up. They hadn’t made love to her since the kidnapping because of her injuries. Maybe tonight was the night to take care of her. He’d wanted her so badly, but hadn’t wanted to hurt her. She’d been hinting for several days now. He didn’t want her to think that they didn’t want her anymore. Just the opposite was true. They both wanted her with a vengeance. Luke took the stairs two at a time, but Grant just shook his head and followed behind him at a more sedate pace. He walked into the bedroom to find Luke removing the T-shirt Valerie had put on to wear to bed. “We want to love you, baby. T-shirts get in the way.” “It’s cold, Luke. Are you going to keep me warm?” Grant walked up and wrapped his arms around her from behind. “I’ll keep half of you warm. What about you, Luke? Can you manage the other half?” She laughed and leaned back against Grant when Luke ran his hands over her breasts. When she moaned, Grant moved her hair from her neck and nibbled on it. She made little mewing noises that drove him crazy. He sucked at the junction of her neck. Then he bit her lightly on the shoulder. Luke was commanding her mouth with his. He had her face between his hands. Grant used the opportunity to run his hands around to her breasts. He squeezed and pulled on her nipples. It turned him on when they pebbled beneath his hands. He wanted to suck on them, but couldn’t get to them with Luke in the way. “Move this to the bed, Luke.” Luke groaned but pulled back and bent to pick her up. Grant hurried and jerked back the covers so that they could pull them over them later. Right now, he was hot enough to fry an egg. He didn’t need the blankets. He had Valerie.

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Chapter Thirteen Valerie moaned as Luke drew a nipple into his mouth and flattened it against the roof. He rubbed at it with his tongue. Then Grant was at her other breast, and she couldn’t concentrate on either one of them. All she could do was run her hands into their hair and hang on. Grant left her breast and trailed his mouth down her body to lick over the ticklish spots at her groin before climbing between her legs and spreading them farther apart. He spread kisses along her inner thighs on either side before adding more to the top of her pubic mound. Then he blew across her wet pussy, sending chills along her skin. Every draw of Luke’s mouth on the breast pulled at her cunt and sparked at her clit. She couldn’t help lifting her pelvis off the bed in search of something to stimulate her. Grant obliged and ran his tongue all along her pussy lips before drawing them inside to tease with his tongue. When he released them and began lapping at her slit, gathering her juices, she groaned. The sensation of his tongue on her there yet not entering her was almost overwhelming. She wanted to grab his head and hold him to her. She needed him to fuck her. She didn’t need all the stimulation. She was already wet and ready. “Please, Grant. I need you. Please, I need you inside of me.” “Easy, honey. We’ll get there. We want to make you feel good first.” “I feel good. God, if I felt any better, I’d die.”

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He chuckled and continued torturing her with his tongue and teeth. Finally, he pushed two fingers inside of her before pulling them out and doing it again. He slowly pumped them in and out of her pussy, driving her higher with each stroke against her cunt walls. When he rasped over her hot spot, she jerked. He chuckled and did it again. Luke’s mouth was busy pleasuring her breast with his hand at her other nipple. He twisted and pulled on it, giving her just enough of the pain she liked and craved. When he bit her nipple and pulled on it, she thought she would come unglued. They played with her, manipulating her into one great big sexual need. She begged them to let her come, but they held back until she was thrashing on the bed. When she least expected it, Grant sucked her clit between his teeth and rubbed it with the tip of his tongue. Luke pulled on her nipples, sending mixed messages to her pussy where Grant was pumping his fingers in and out of her. She screamed. Everything went crazy inside of her. She lost her breath and began to pant as colors exploded behind her eyelids. She grabbed Luke’s head with her hands and dug into his scalp as they both continued to play and tease her. Now she begged for them to stop. She was thoroughly spent. Finally, they pulled back and held her close to them. Then Luke pulled her over on top of him. She grinned. This was what she wanted, her men inside of her. “Ride me, baby. I want to feel that tight pussy around my cock.” He held up his hands to help steady her as she positioned herself over his hard dick. Valerie slowly lowered herself onto Luke’s throbbing cock. She loved the sound he made when she slowly consumed him with her cunt. His hissed-out breath was music to her ears. She moved up and down on him as he filled her. Once he was all the way inside, she squeezed her muscles around him. He cursed. “Stop that, baby. I won’t last long enough for you.”

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Grant chuckled. “She’s a naughty girl, isn’t she?” His hands slowly pushed her over Luke’s body until she was lying on his chest. She could hear his heart racing already. Then Grant was covering her back hole with lube. He entered her with two fingers. The slick jelly eased their passage through the tight resistant ring. She breathed through the pinch and burn. When he added more lube and another finger, she had to push out and bite her lower lip to keep from crying out. He pumped them slowly in and out of her, twisting them as he did. Finally, he removed them and the next thing she felt was his slickened cockhead pressing into her dark hole. The tiny rosette opened for him as he pressed forward. She moaned and pushed out so that he could pass through her tender tissues. “Aw, fuck. Valerie, your ass is so freaking hot and tight. I’m not sure I can get all the way inside you without coming. Hell, honey.” She panted as he pulled out and tunneled in once again. This time he made it all the way inside of her. She hissed out a breath. The burn was growing, but it soon changed into a warm pleasure as both men began to move. Grant’s cock rasped over nerve endings that normally remained untouched. They sent dark thrills down her spine as Luke thrust up into her, hitting her sweet spot with each rub of his thick dick. “Yes! Oh, God! Yes!” She couldn’t help but shout at the feel of them inside of her. She couldn’t move between them. She had to let them do all the work. She was just a vessel that they were filling over and over again. Nothing could ever feel better than them working their way inside her. The pleasure she got from this was impossible to explain. Then the pleasure-pain began to fill her until she was overflowing. Her pussy wept, spilling juice on Luke while her ass clenched over and over around Grant. She squeezed down on both of them as her orgasm grew closer. She wanted them with her. They both cursed. “Aw, holy hell, baby.”

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“Hell, yeah!” Grant’s voice was raspy as he chanted her name over and over again. Just when she thought she would never make it over the top, Luke reached up and squeezed her nipples, throwing her into a climax so brilliant it was blinding. Her mouth opened but nothing could make it past the silent scream in her throat. Her ears rang while fireworks burst behind her eyes. Valerie collapsed on top of Luke, spasming around him. She heard Grant curse and felt him lean over her back with his hands holding her shoulders. Luke slammed into her twice more then emptied his cum into her body. She wasn’t sure how, but somehow, they all ended up on their sides, still attached. Grant was the first one to move. He gently pulled from her body and left them. When he returned, he had Luke pull out so he could clean her up. She shivered at the stimulation of oversensitive nerve endings. They curled up around each other without talking as each struggled to regain their ability to breathe normally. As close as they were, she felt Luke’s heart against her cheek and Grant’s against her back. Hers was still pumping in her throat. She smiled. She would remember this night for the rest of her life. It was the first time that they all made love together. Before, it had only been sex with Grant, but he loved her now. They loved her and she them. She’d found her men. **** Valerie carried another platter to the table. They had plenty of food, but not enough room for everyone to eat together. She was looking forward to their spring lunch where they would be outside and have extra tables.

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Today, Gary, David, April, Ronnie, Brice, Sonya, and Garret all gathered around the table to bless the food before the men retired into the living room to eat on TV trays. The women would have the table. After a minute of silence, voices broke out as everyone talked at once. She tried to hear what all was being said, but gave up when all she could figure out was that the food looked good. They had all contributed, but gathered there at their house this first time. She had been so scared the men wouldn’t want to work with the others in forming a community. They hadn’t been real sure about some of the things the other men were talking about, but so far, they were working through it. It meant that she got to spend more time with the other women, and would meet more of them later when spring came around again. The fact that it wasn’t long away lifted her spirits. She was ready to put in the garden and see something that she’d had a hand in grow. Her men were having a hard time keeping her excitement at the warmer temperatures under control. Luke kept calling her a bouncing ball. She supposed she couldn’t be still, or stay on a single subject for long, for that matter. Everything was working out so well and she wanted it to continue. “Valerie, have you planned your garden yet?” Ronnie asked. “Yes, I have it all drawn out. I used a lot of your ideas. I really appreciate both of you giving me pointers on what to plant next each other. I never knew it could make a difference.” April smiled and nodded. “We’ll teach you how to make butter from your milk next. I brought the instructions with me, but you need to see it done once before you try it.” There was so much to learn, and she couldn’t wait to start. The women were generous with information and their help. Luke and Grant had both agreed that the men were free with their help as well. Once everyone had left late that evening, Grant and Luke helped her with the last of the cleanup. Most everything had been taken care

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of by the other women. She was grateful for their assistance since it would have taken hours to wash everything and put it away. “Did you have a good time, baby?” Luke pulled her in for a hug. “I had a wonderful time. They are all so nice and I’ve learned so much from them. They’re teaching me how to churn butter!” “Hmmm, butter would be nice to have sometimes. Like on toast or your rolls.” Grant leaned over and kissed her on the mouth before heading toward the stairs. “Let’s go to bed, guys. I don’t know about you two, but I’m bushed.” Luke grinned and pushed Valerie after Grant. “You heard the man. It’s time for bed.” “Hmmm, bed, or something else?” she asked. “Well, I’m sure we could be persuaded to see what comes up.” Luke chuckled. She ran across the landing to the bedroom and wrapped her arms around Grant as he was pulling off his shirt. “I love you, Grant. I’m so glad I found you two. I knew when I chose you that you would be perfect for me.” Grant turned in her arms and held her face still as he looked into her eyes. “I’m glad you chose us, too, honey. I can’t imagine what my life would be like without you in it.” Luke pulled her out of Grant’s arms and carried her to the bed. He dropped her so that she bounced, then threw himself over her. “You’re our choice, too, baby. We were waiting for someone and didn’t know that she was out there looking for us at the same time. I love you, baby.” “I love you, Luke.” She reached out to Grant and held his hand as she held Luke against her breasts. She hoped that Esther and her husbands were doing well. If not for them, she would never have found her two men. But she had, and their lives had just begun.

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THE END WWW.MARLAMONROE.COM

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Marla Monroe lives in the southern part of the United States. She writes sexy romance from the heart and often puts a twist of suspense in her books. She is a nurse and works in a busy hospital, but finds plenty of time to follow her two passions, reading and writing. You can find her in a bookstore or a library at any given time when she’s not at work or writing. Marla would love for you to visit her at her blog at themarlamonroe.blogspot.com and leave a comment or email her at [email protected].

Also by Marla Monroe Ménage Everlasting: Men of the Border Lands 1: Belonging to Them Ménage Everlasting: Men of the Border Lands 2: A Home with Them Ménage Everlasting: Men of the Border Lands 3: Their Border Lands Temptress Ménage Everlasting: Men of the Border Lands 4: Their Bartered Bride Ménage Everlasting: Men of the Border Lands 5: Their Border Lands Gift Ménage Everlasting: Men of the Border Lands 6: Sharing Her with David

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