Monroe, Marla - Their Border Lands Temptress [Men of the Border Lands 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

Men of the Border Lands 3

MARLA MONROE

Copyright © 2011

Chapter One

“What the hell?” Brice slammed on the brakes and skidded to a stop not three feet from a downed buck in the middle of the road.

“Brice, there’s a truck off in the ditch over here. I bet it lost control when it hit that deer.” Garrett, his best friend, poured out of the cab and raced to check on the driver.

Brice threw the truck into park and got out to check that the deer was dead. He figured by the size of it that it had done some damage to the truck that hit it. The driver would be lucky to be alive. He slid down the bank of the ditch to the sounds of his friend cursing a blue streak.

“Fuck, Brice. It’s a female.”

“How bad is she?” Brice braced himself for the worst.

As a paramedic before the year of catastrophes, he was used to seeing the damage a car wreck could do to a human body. He didn’t want to see it on a female. There were so few left of them now, they were bought and sold like cattle on the black market.

“I can’t get to her. We’ve got to get the door open. It looks like the deer hit her on this side, and she lost control and ran into the ditch. She’s got a head injury for sure by the way she’s bleeding.”

“Okay, let’s work on this door,” Brice said.

They pried on the door until it gave and Garrett was able to get it open enough that Brice managed to squeeze in to check her over. She had a two-inch cut at the edge of her scalp that was bleeding like crazy. Blood covered her face, making it difficult to tell if she had any facial injuries as well.

“Garrett, get the first aid kit and hand me some gauze and tape so I can stop this bleeding.”

He heard Garrett climbing up the ditch. He returned to check out the unconscious female and found she had a swollen left wrist. He’d used his knife to cut her seat belt and slit her clothing, so he could check her chest for bruising from the steering wheel. Thank God there was none around her chest, but the left side of her ribcage was reddened and beginning to bruise. More than likely the deer hitting the door had slammed her into it. He hoped there weren’t any broken ribs.

“Here you go.” Garrett handed Brice a handful of gauze and a strip of tape already cut.

“Good going.” He gently applied the gauze then taped it securely around her head, adding enough pressure to slow down, if not completely stop, the bleeding.

He continued checking down her body. She had bruising all up and down the left side. He couldn’t see much of the right side to know how badly she was hurt there. They needed to get her out and somewhere warm. It was the early part of October, but already the days were beginning to get chilly and the nights downright cold.

He hated to move her because he didn’t know how badly she might be hurt internally, but there were no doctors or hospitals in the Border Lands, and she would die for sure if they left her in the car much longer. She needed what little medical attention he could give her.

“Got to move her. I’m going to need your help, Garrett.”

“I’m here. Just tell me what to do.”

“I’m going to lean her out the door so we can pull her straight out. You carry her to the truck once I get her legs off of the floorboard. Be careful of her ribs on the left side. I’m worried they’re cracked, if not broken. She’s bruised to hell back there.”

They maneuvered her around in the truck and finally got her out so that Garrett could carry her up the steep embankment of the ditch. She began to squirm and moan in his arms.

“Brice, she’s waking up, and she’s not happy.”

“Put her in the backseat, and I’ll work on her there. Then see what she was carrying and load it in our truck while I’m settling her down.”

“Put me down. Oh, God. What happened?”

Brice could hear the female fussing in a weak voice.

Garrett tried to soothe her as he carried her to their truck.

“Easy, there, little lady. You’re hurt awful bad. Brice is going to see about you, though.” He laid her in the back of the truck and backed away for him to get to her.

“Who are you? What are you doing to me?” she demanded.

“Shh, we’re not going to hurt you. You hit a deer and had a wreck. We’re just trying to help you.”

“God, I hurt all over. My head.” She moaned.

“Let me check your ribs now that I’ve got you so I can see you.”

“You’ve taken my clothes off! What are you doing?”

Brice ignored her fussing and warded off a few weak blows from her right hand. Her left hand hung limply and was already swollen. He hoped it wasn’t broken.

“You may have some busted ribs, and I think your left wrist is either broken or badly sprained.”

“I’ve got to get home. I’ll be okay when I get home. Everything will be fine once I’m home.”

She sounded like she was going into shock now.

“Do you have someone at home who can take care of you?”

“It’s just me. I’ll be fine. Just take me home.” She began to try to sit up.

“Don’t move. If you have a broken rib, it might puncture a lung. I need to tape them, but I can’t like you are now.”

“Is the blasted deer dead?”

“Yep, it’s dead all over.” He didn’t have a clue where this was going.

“Get it then and bring it with us. It’ll make good meat for the winter. I can use all the meat I can get.”

Brice stared at her as if she were crazy. Her head injury must have been worse than he thought. She had a good size knot on the outside, so he hadn’t thought there would be swelling on the inside, but he could have been wrong.

“I moved what little she had into the back of our truck. I need to move the deer out of the way so we can get going.” Garrett walked up to the truck and peeked in at the woman.

“She wants the deer.”

“Huh?”

“She said she needs the deer meat. I can understand. Can you load it, or do you need help?”

“I can get it.” He shook his head but walked over to the downed animal and began dragging it toward the back of the truck.

Brice picked up the female’s head and climbed in the back with her, placing her head in his lap. He used another piece of gauze and began to clean some of the blood off of her face. Most of it had started to dry and wouldn’t come off. He felt the back of the truck jerk. Then he heard the sound of the tailgate closing.

“Where to?” Garrett asked as he climbed into the cab.

“Drive straight up this road till you come to a crossroads. Go left and follow the curves around until you come to a big tree that’s split. Take another left, and it will lead you up to my house.”

Garrett followed her directions and Brice continued to check her eyes and the bleeding from the gash on her head. She kept talking about all the things she had to do when she got home, and he worried that her head injury was serious. He sure hoped the man who had her would be able to care for her. What in the hell was she doing out by herself anyway?

“Here we are, Brice. It’s a beautiful house. Big.” Garrett pulled up into the drive and parked under the carport.

“Let’s get her inside.”

“Did you get my pack?” the female asked.

“Uh, yeah. Why?” Garrett asked as he took her from Brice’s arms.

“Key is in it.”

“Hell, forgot to get the keys from the truck.” Garrett cursed.

“You’ll have to unlock the door,” she said.

“I’m getting the keys,” Brice told them.

“Your man isn’t home?” No wonder she was out by herself, Brice thought.

“Don’t have a man. It’s just me. That’s the way I like it.”

“Ah, hell,” Garrett muttered.

“Door’s open.” Brice held it open so Garrett could carry the female inside.

They walked in the door and she directed them left. They passed into the living room, where Brice could tell she’d been sleeping on the couch in front of the fireplace. It was probably the best way for her to stay warm without a man to share her bed.

“You can’t stay on the couch with these ribs. Where is the master bedroom?” Brice asked.

“Upstairs. Put me down, and I’ll walk. I’m too heavy to carry up there.”

“You don’t weigh much of nothing.” Garrett took the stairs without hesitating.

Brice grinned. He knew Garrett was strong and could handle her. He would have been able to carry her up, but it would have winded him. The big man wasn’t winded at all by the time they made it upstairs.

“First door on the left.”

Brice followed Garrett into the master suite. It was a nice size, with a king-size bed and plenty of room to move around in. He directed Garrett to lay her on the bed.

“We’ve got to get your clothes off of you so we can bind your ribs.” Brice began cutting the rest of her clothes off.

“Stop it. You’re not going to,
ow
!” She grabbed Brice by the arm and squeezed.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I think it’s my fault. I was pulling off her boots. I think her left ankle is broken. The boot didn’t come off very easy. I’m sorry, ma’am.” Garrett looked up with a pained expression.

“I’ll check it next.” Brice pulled the last piece of clothing from her top and reached around her to unfasten her bra.

“You’re not taking that off. I mean it.” Wild eyed, she glared at him then turned fearful eyes toward Garrett.

“We’re not going to hurt you. I promise. You’ve got to have those ribs wrapped, and we can’t do it without removing your bra. Look, I’m a paramedic. I’m used to doing this.”

“Please,” she whispered with tears in her eyes.

Brice saw the fear in her eyes and felt sorry for her, but knew it had to be done. She could puncture a lung if any of them were actually broken.

“I’m sorry. I’ve got to.” He unhooked her bra and pulled it carefully off.

She had the prettiest, plumpest breasts he’d ever seen. He quickly masked his interest and had her sit up on the side of the bed with Garrett’s help. He was careful to only touch her shoulders and arms.

“My foot is throbbing about as much as my head.” The tears had started to leak from her eyes now in earnest.

“We’ll take care of it next. Now I need you to put your arms on my shoulders while I wrap this around your ribs.” He took the wrap and began at one side and wrapped it around her back. When he got to the front, there were two problems. They lay right where he needed to go with the wrap.

“Um, Garrett, I need you to hold her breasts up so I can get under them.”

“Sure.” He climbed on the bed behind her and reached around her to lift her breasts.

She began to sob now, and it was breaking his heart.

“Only one more time, and he can let them back down. He’s not hurting you, is he?” Brice asked, knowing Garrett was being as careful not to be personal as possible.