Monroe, Marla - Their Border Lands Temptress [Men of the Border Lands 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (5 page)

Brice took a towel and dried off her hand, then removed the bucket. Then he did the same thing with her foot.

“They both already look better. We’ll do it again tonight before bed.”

“Did you cut up my meat for me?” she asked.

“No, Garrett did it. He figured you couldn’t do it one-handed.”

“Um, tell him I said thanks.” She looked down at her plate and began eating.

Brice returned and ate with Garrett in the kitchen.

“She said thanks for cutting up her meat for her. I honestly wouldn’t have thought of that.”

“Just figured she only had one hand.” Garrett gathered their dishes and put them in the sink to wash later.

“I think I could take a nap before it’s time to work on the evening chores,” Garrett said.

“Doesn’t sound like a bad idea to me.”

They walked into the living room to choose chairs to relax in. Brice noticed Ronnie had nearly cleaned her plate and set it on one side of the couch. He picked it up and carried it back to the kitchen. Then he helped her arrange herself on the couch for a nap.

“We’ve got a few hours, so we thought a little down time would do us all good, considering how little sleep we got last night.” Garrett settled himself in a recliner and got comfortable.

He noticed Garrett had chosen another one and was already reared back and looked to be already asleep. He’d know for sure when he started snoring. The big guy snored low, but enough you noticed it. He always teased him about it. He wondered what Ronnie would think.

Finally he settled down, and though his mind kept churning wondering about her background, he finally fell asleep.

* * * *

Ronnie woke up sweating. She felt like something was sitting on her chest. She coughed and coughed, and immediately, Brice was by her side.

“Damn, you’re getting sick. We’ve got to get you back to bed and bundled up.”’

“Why am I getting sick? I don’t get sick.” She began coughing again.

Garrett jumped up and walked over. “What’s going on? Why is she coughing?”

“She’s getting sick. Carry her upstairs and get her in the bed just like she is. Cover her with all the covers you can find.” He felt of her forehead. “She’s got a fever. We need to sweat it out of her.”

Garrett gently picked her up and carried her upstairs while Brice grabbed the medicine. He walked into the room with a glass of water and gave her two Tylenol while Garrett held her up.

“I’m going to go fight that cow and put up the chickens. You get in bed with her and keep her warm until I get back. Then you can do whatever chores you have next.”

“Really, I’ll be okay in a little while. You don’t have to get in bed with me.” She hated that her voice wobbled.

Garrett had already pulled off his boots and was taking off his shirt then his jeans. He had on thermals, which didn’t do much to ease her mind. Especially considering his dick was tenting them. She immediately snapped her eyes back up to him. He looked miserable.

She turned over on her left side and winced, but once she settled, it actually felt better, especially when she coughed. The bed dipped and he climbed beneath the covers. Then he spooned her from behind. He wrapped an arm around her waist. His cock was caught between them in the small of her back. She could feel his hot breath on the back of her neck.

To his credit, he didn’t try anything. He just held her close. She wanted to turn over and find out what his kiss would be like but decided that was just the fever talking. She knew better. Kissing led to other things, and she was not going there.

“Relax and try to rest. Are you having trouble breathing? You’re panting.”

“It’s a little hard to take a deep breath, and it makes me cough.”

“Coughing is probably a good thing to get all that stuff out of your lungs.”

“But it hurts, Garrett.” She sniffed.

“It’s okay, baby. Just snuggle up to me and I’ll keep you warm. If you need to cough, let me know, and I’ll hold your ribs for you.” Garrett’s voice sounded so sincere.

“Thanks,” she whispered.

The more she breathed, the harder it became, and when she coughed, it hurt so bad. Then she began to shiver all over. Garrett all but lay on top of her, trying to keep her warm.

She heard Brice walk into the room. He took one look at the situation and cursed.

“It hasn’t been four hours yet, so I can’t give you any more Tylenol. Let’s add another comforter. I’ll go grab one off another bed.”

He disappeared out the bedroom door but returned seconds later with another comforter. He settled it over her, then stripped down to his thermals and climbed into the bed with her.

“Do I need to go do anything?” Garrett asked.

“I fed the horses and the cow and the chickens. There was still hay out in the pasture, so I think they are all right for the night.”

“I-I can’t stop sh-shaking,” she told them.

“I know. We’ll get you warm soon.” Brice eased closer to her.

She no longer cared that they were in the bed with her. She was miserable. Between her chest hurting and not being able to take deep breaths, not to mention the shakes, Ronnie welcomed them there.

She drifted toward sleep, but instead of sleeping, she began to hallucinate instead. She remembered Carl forcing himself on her and telling her it was only fair. He was taking care of her. She’d tried to endure it and ended up fighting him. He hit her, and that had been the beginning of the abuse.

The pain was terrible when he hurt her. She’d try to make sure everything was perfect for him, but it was never enough to suit him. She tossed and turned in the bed, crying out from her ribs and ankle. She knew someone was trying to soothe her, but Carl was always there with his fists.

Sometime after midnight, her fever broke and she sweated something fierce. She was dimly aware of someone stripping her and bathing her and re-dressing her. They’d changed the sheets as well. It felt so good to lie back on the cool, crisp sheets. Finally, she rested and never noticed that the men held her through the night.

The next morning, she woke up feeling much better. She still had a cough, but it was productive, and she no longer had a fever. She needed to go to the bathroom and was covered up by two very large men. She wasn’t sure who to wake up. Finally, she chose Garrett because he was closer to the bathroom.

“Garrett?” she whispered.

He instantly woke and stared at her. “Is something wrong? Do you need me to wake Brice?”

“No, I need to go to the bathroom. Can you carry me?” She wouldn’t look him in the eyes. It was embarrassing to have to ask.

“Of course, baby. Hold on and let me get up.” He climbed out of bed, then reached over and picked her up with no effort at all. She felt safe that he wouldn’t drop her while she was in his arms.

He carried her to the bathroom and left her standing by the counter with a firm word to call him when she was finished. He made her promise, which she thought was cute.

She finished and washed her hands, then looked in the mirror and realized they’d actually bathed her. Even her hair, for the most part, was clean of blood. She still had some around the stitches. She felt clean, and it felt good. They’d really taken care of her. It made her feel bad about the way she’d treated them. But she had no idea what kind of men they actually were. Maybe she could begin to trust that they were decent men after all.

She called out that she was ready, and Garrett opened the door and walked in the bathroom to pick her up. He carried her back to bed and tucked the sheets around her and Brice.

“Where are you going?” she asked.

“It’s morning. Time to do chores. I’m going to fix coffee and breakfast. Brice should wake up in a little bit. He’ll be glad to know you’re feeling so much better.”

“Thanks, Garrett, for taking care of me. I appreciate it.”

“It’s my pleasure, Ronnie. I want you well again.”

He walked out of the room and she heard him walking down the stairs. He wanted her well again. Did that mean he was ready to move on again? For some reason, that made her sad. She’d gotten used to them being there. Surely they wouldn’t leave before she was completely healed.

A few minutes later, the aroma of coffee reached the room, and Brice stirred. He finally lifted his head and sniffed. One eye opened then the other. She giggled.

“Hey, you’re feeling better,” he observed.

“I do feel much better. I just wish my side didn’t hurt so much when I cough.”

“That will take time. Give it a chance.” He rolled out of bed, then tucked the covers around her. “Do you need to go to the bathroom before I go downstairs?”

“Um, thanks, but Garrett took me. I had to wake him up.”

“Okay, we’ll bring you something up to eat before we head out for chores.” He began to pull on jeans and his shirt, then his boots. “Keep the covers over you, even if you feel warm enough.”

“Okay. I will. I don’t want to get sick again. It was terrible.”

“Won’t be long before you’ll be on your feet again. You’ll see.”

She watched him walk out, then heard his tread on the stairs. It sounded like they were both looking forward to her recovery. It hurt to think they wanted to leave. She would never have believed she would be sad about them leaving.

* * * *

“Did you hear her talking in her delirium?” Garrett asked Brice.

“Yeah. She’s had it rough. Some bastard named Carl abused her. I wish I could teach him a thing or two about how to treat a woman.”

“Me too.”

Garrett couldn’t imagine someone wanting to hurt her. She was so beautiful and sweet. Sure, she was rough around the edges at first, but she’d warmed up to them quickly enough. With time, he was sure they could win her over. He just wasn’t sure how much time they had left. Brice said a few weeks, but was that enough time to change her mind about men?

“What’s for breakfast?” Brice asked, breaking into his musings.

“Omelets. We have plenty of eggs that will spoil if we don’t do something with them.”

“Sounds good. You know, she could trade her eggs and milk if she didn’t have to worry about being grabbed.” Brice seemed to think about it.

“If she had a man with her, no one would bother her,” Garrett added.

Brice sipped his coffee.

Garrett could tell his buddy was thinking about it. Maybe he was thinking about settling down. He sure hoped so. He’d been thinking a good bit about it lately. He wouldn’t mind settling down with Ronnie. They just had to convince her.

“You’re thinking awfully hard over there, Garrett.” Brice sipped his coffee.

“Ever thought about settling down?” Garrett finally broached the subject.

“Not until now. You thinking about settling down here?”

“Yeah, the idea has crossed my mind.”

“How are you going to talk Ronnie into letting you?”

“I was sort of hoping you might want to settle down here, too.” Garrett watched his friend closely.

“I guess. I haven’t let myself think along those lines because she’s so leery of us.”

“I want to try to convince her. I think she’s closer to accepting us now. She just needs to know we aren’t going to force her into anything.” Garrett walked over to the doorway and looked in on Ronnie.