Monroe, Marla - Their Bartered Bride [Men of the Border Lands 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (2 page)

Chapter Two

They rode the rest of the way in silence, and truly, Leigh was glad since her throat hurt to swallow, much less talk. She hoped she hadn’t ended up in a worse situation than she’d been in before. At least they appeared to be nice, and they were clean and smelled decent. Joel had been tender taking care of her neck as if he really didn’t like hurting her. That said something for them. They were big men, though. They could easily hurt her, and there would be nothing she could do about it.

Joel had to be about six feet four inches. He had rich black hair, and dark eyes to match. His hair was shaggy, falling to his shirt collar. It seemed to be more than one length, as if he’d cut it himself. She smiled. He probably did. He had broad shoulders, a muscular abdomen, and a wide chest that tapered down to a small waist and compact ass.

His brother looked just like him, except that he was about two inches taller and his hair was a little longer. Again, it looked like he cut his own hair. She could even it up for them. She sighed. Already she was thinking of them as if they were going to be a family or something. She had to keep reminding herself that they had bought her with a bottle of whiskey. It probably wasn’t even good whiskey.

She wondered if their cocks were as large as the rest of them, or if they had tiny dicks that couldn’t do a fly any good. She nearly giggled out loud at that thought, but her sore throat stopped that right quick.

Leigh sighed. She missed her mom. Ever since she had died, her stepfather had abused his power over her, making her take care of the house while he and her stepbrother lounged around selling off things to pay for food and beer. She’d had to scrounge food because they didn’t offer her enough to keep her alive. She ended up stealing food from them, and that got her in a lot of hot water.

Finally, they had sold everything they could, and the only possession he had left was her. Her stepfather dragged her into town one day and offered her to the first man that drove through town on their way to somewhere else.

Leigh hoped the two of them were knee-deep in filth and were hungry without her there to take care of their sorry asses. They deserved whatever befell them, as far as she was concerned. They had made her life miserable for the last four and a half years. Why had God spared them and not her mother? She sighed, tired of the same question that she always ended up with.

She snuck a peek at Joel through her eyelashes. He didn’t seem upset over being stuck with her. Would he expect part of her duties to eventually include having sex with them? He had said they wouldn’t force themselves on her. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that. They were good-looking men and seemed nice enough. But looks could be deceiving. She would wait and see if they gave her a choice or not. They hadn’t exactly said they wouldn’t want sex, just that they wouldn’t force her.

She kept expecting Jonathan’s arm to drop to her shoulders with one bump or another from the road, but he never did allow it to happen. Finally, she relaxed a little more, and soon the rhythm of the road lulled her into a semiconscious state where she rested until they stopped. She had eased over onto Jonathan’s arm, where she had rested her head. Now she woke up with a start, ready to fight.

“Easy there, Leigh. We’re home. I hope you’ll see it as your home eventually,” Joel said.

Jonathan jumped down from the cab of the truck and reached up to help her down. She winced when he sat her on the ground.

“What is it? What did I hurt?” He looked frantic.

“I’m okay. My knees hurt, but not as bad as my elbows.” She held up an elbow to look at it, and Jonathan swore.

“Damn it, why didn’t you say something when we were cleaning your neck?” Without another word, he picked her up and carried her up the porch steps to the house, where Joel opened the door.

“Why are you carrying her?” Joel’s eyebrows furrowed.

“We didn’t think about what else she hurt when he dragged her. Look at her elbows.” Jonathan’s voice sounded angry.

“Ah, hell, Leigh. Carry her into the master bathroom and we’ll clean her up. What else hurts?”

“Her knees hurt,” Jonathan said before she could.

“I’ll get the first-aid box out of the kitchen. You get her clothes off of her so we can clean everything at one time. I’m sure she’ll want a bath anyway. It will help with the soreness.” Joel disappeared in the dark house.

“Why is it so dark in here?” she asked.

“We don’t have electricity out here. Hold on to me while I grab a lamp.” Jonathan kept one arm wrapped under her knees and scooped up a lamp. “I’m going to sit you on the chair here while I light it.”

She watched as he set the lamp on the table next to the chair and then eased her into the chair. He pulled out a lighter and took off the glass chimney to light the lamp. He adjusted the wick and picked her back up.

“Can you carry the lamp while I carry you?” he asked.

“Um, sure.” She reached out and picked up the lamp when he bent over.

Jonathan carried her up the stairs and to the left. The lamplight did little to illuminate the room they walked into other than the immediate area. She made out a bed and then they were turning into what she found was the bathroom. He sat her on the countertop and took the lamp from her to place on the other side of the sink.

“Okay, let’s get your jeans off so we can see about your knees.” Jonathan started unfastening her jeans.

“Whoa! You’re not stripping me.” He loomed over her, overwhelming her in the small room made even smaller by the lack of good lighting.

“I’m not going to hurt you, Leigh. We need to see about your knees, though. That means either cutting your jeans or pulling them off. Which would you like me to do?” He didn’t look angry, though it was hard to tell in the dim light.

“I–I guess I’ll pull them off. But I want to do it. Help me down.” She needed some control over this to feel safe. She knew this was the reason for her demanding that she be allowed to do the undressing.

“Sure. Hold on.” He picked her up and gently sat her down on the floor, holding her steady until she got her footing.

She licked her lips and turned around as Joel walked into the room carrying another lit lamp and a bigger box than the one in their truck.

“What’s going on?” he asked, clearly puzzled.

“She needs to undress herself. I think she’s uncomfortable with us seeing her like that.” Jonathan acted as if she weren’t even there.

Maybe that was better because then he wasn’t focused on her pulling down her pants.

“Okay.” She slowly turned around to show them her scraped knees. Though she hadn’t torn through the material, it had rubbed skin off.

“Jonathan, sit her back on the counter between the two lights so we can see about her. Let’s work on the elbows first. They have dirt in them.” Joel smiled at her.

He walked over to the cabinet and pulled out several towels and a cloth. He filled the sink with water and soaked the cloth in it. When he squeezed out the cloth, she knew he planned to clean her scrapes. They were going to sting something fierce.

“Jonathan, hold her arm steady for me. I don’t want to hurt her, but she’s probably going to jerk,” Joel told him.

Jonathan gently held her wrist and supported her arm as Jonathan began cleaning her elbow over the sink. She did jerk and cursed as he rubbed out the grit and dirt from her elbow. Then he poured hydrogen peroxide over it to boil out anything left in it. Once he was satisfied it was clean, they switched to the other elbow and repeated the process.

“Sorry, Leigh,” Jonathan said. “That should be the worst of it. Your knees aren’t too bad, and they don’t have a lot of dirt in them.”

Joel held a towel beneath her knee as he poured some peroxide over it. He repeated it to the other side.

“There. Is there anywhere else you’re hurt?” Joel asked, looking her in the eyes.

“No, I think that’s all. I’m just sore all over right now. Can I take a bath?” she asked.

“Of course. Do you need anything other than the lamp?” Joel asked as he cleaned up the mess.

“No. I can manage from here. Um, thanks for taking care of me.” Standing in nothing but her blouse and panties, she couldn’t look at them.

“No problem. There’s stuff in the cabinet over there you’re welcome to. When you get finished, check the closets and the dresser for clothes. They should fit you.” Joel picked up the first-aid box and nodded for Jonathan to follow him.

The two men left her with an oil lamp to bathe. She couldn’t believe it. Before, well—she was in a different place now. So far, Jonathan and Joel had been perfect gentlemen. It seemed too good to be true. Something would jump up and bite her before it was over with. She was sure of that.

* * * *

Jonathan helped his brother unload the few things they’d bartered for, then sat in the kitchen while Joel made sandwiches. He had never talked overly much, but with just the two of them, he never had much to say. Now, however, he wanted to talk about their bartered woman upstairs.

“What are we going to do about her?” Jonathan asked.

“Nothing. She can stay here and we’ll watch out for her. She can help around the house and the garden like I told her.”

“You’re not planning on bedding her, then?”

“Not unless she’s interested. She doesn’t deserve to be treated like a whore. She’s a decent woman that ended up in a bad situation. Hopefully, we’re making it better. No pressing her, Jonathan.” Joel looked up at him.

“Don’t worry. I’m not planning on it. I just wasn’t sure about you. You’ve always been the more dominant one with women.”

“That was with women who knew the score. That was back when the world was slightly less fucked up.”

“You’re not wrong about that,” Jonathan agreed.

“She can have the master bedroom as it has a bath attached. I’ll share yours.”

“Good idea. Besides, that fourth bedroom is really too small for much more than what it was set up for.” It was decorated as a nursery and had all the trimmings that one would have.

“Do you think she knows how to cook or handle a garden?” Joel mused.

“Hope so. Our cooking sucks.”

“I can cook and clean and handle the garden just fine.” Leigh walked into the kitchen carrying the lamp.

They hadn’t even heard her walk down the stairs. Jonathan looked down and figured out why. She was barefoot. She had on a clean pair of jeans that fit her a little loosely in the waist, but were snug looking around her ass. Jonathan snapped his eyes back to her face, but could tell she had noticed by the frown lines between her eyes.

“The clothes seem to fit well enough,” he said.

“Yeah, I can manage with them. The blouses are a little snug, but the T-shirts should be okay.”

“How about a sandwich?” Joel asked, indicating the makings on the bar before them.

“Thanks, I’m starving. Can I fix my own?”

“If you want one that is actually fit to eat, you will.” Joel grinned then grabbed a glass from the cabinet above the counter and poured tea into it. “Not the best in the world, but drinkable.”

“Thanks.” She smiled, then went about making her sandwich. When she tasted the tea, she lifted her eyebrows and smiled. “I’ll be making the tea from now on.”

“Thank God,” Jonathan couldn’t help saying under his breath.

“I heard that, little brother.”

Leigh burst out laughing. “Little? He’s at least two inches taller than you.”

“And,” Jonathan said, “you’re only ten months older than me.”