Submitting Sarah (Montana Maiden Series Book 4) (4 page)

"No. We'll get this done," Garrett told him. "I doubt you'll wish to spend the night."

Ian grinned, well aware no man wanted guests about on their wedding night. "As you said, let's get this done and I'll be on my way. I long for a bed, although for completely different reasons than yours."

"Get the quilt from your bed and cover yourself with it," I called out, not willing to share one inch of her delectable body with our friend. "Then join us."

A few minutes later, Sarah returned, her hesistant steps almost silent.

All three of us stood abruptly, our chairs rubbing noisily against the wood floor. The colorful quilt covered Sarah from shoulder to toes, a small hand grasping the two sides tightly by her neck. Her red hair went long down her back, the curls tumbling wildly. She looked clean; neither bits of grass nor smudges of dirt marred her porcelain skin. Her green eyes, while wary, looked alert. She seemed tentative, but not fearful and panicky as she had this morning. Perhaps the rest, and the removal of the harness, did her good.

"Hello, Sarah," Ian said, his voice neutral.

"Sheriff."

"You'll be pleased to hear Devney has married Sam Bridger."

Her head whipped up at his words, her mouth falling open. "Married? But...but they met just yesterday." Her eyes narrowed. "Did he force her?"

Ian held both hands up in front of him. "No. I guarantee she readily agreed."

Sarah considered his words, but appeared doubtful.

"Are you hungry?" I asked. Even though we'd offered her a meal earlier, she had yet to eat today.

She eyed the food upon the table greedily, thoughts of her stepmother's marriage derailed by hunger. "Yes, thank you. It looks delicious, but I wanted to ask after my bag. I'd like to put on a clean dress as I feel a little...inappropriate in just my shift."

"We'll talk about your clothes later," I told her. Garrett went and fetched a plate and utensils, a glass, a napkin and placed them all in front of the empty chair. "You haven't eaten all day and you're too small to miss meals. Sit, please." I gestured toward her plate.

Once she did, we sat as well.

"Ham?" Garrett asked.

She nodded and he forked a piece onto her plate.

"Potatoes?"

Her eyes widened at the sight and watched as she breathed in the good smells. "Everything, thank you."

We ate in companionable silence, watching as Sarah ate one-handed as she held the quilt tightly about her with the other. She cleaned her plate, even ate the seconds Garrett offered. Where it all went was unknown since she was so petite, but it certainly showed the extent of her hunger. She wiped her mouth and placed her napkin on the table when she'd had her fill.

"May I please have my bag now?" she asked, glancing between us. Her focus was honed solely one thing, Garrett, and I on another.

Garrett shook his head. "No. You won't need it, baby."

Her mouth dropped open. "But I'm in my...my shift! I can't go into town like this." She looked appalled by the idea.

"Of course not," Garrett replied, frowning. "No one will see you dressed like this -" he gestured to her wrapped in a quilt " - or in anything but modest attire, but Tagg and me."

"Good, then give me my dress." She was starting to get riled. Her tone was sharper, her body tense and her eyes flashing in anger.

"You're ours now, Sarah, and our woman doesn't wear dresses. I picked up everything you will need from the Mercantile when I went in town to get the sheriff."

Sarah's eyes darted to Ian. "Why is he here? I left money for the horse, so I didn't exactly steal it."

"The sheriff's not here about the horse. He's a Justice of the Peace," I added.

She looked between the two of us, then stood, slowly stepping away from us. She was smart enough to grasp the situation and perhaps smart to be leery. "Why ever would you have need of a Justice of the Peace?"

"To marry you."

SARAH

"Marry me?"

The men were insane. Completely and utterly insane if they thought I'd marry them.
Marry!

They remained calm, seated as they were about the dining table. The sheriff didn't seem the least bit surprised, nor concerned that I'd only just met the men. He knew firsthand that I'd been stuck on my father's ranch since I was twelve and had been one of the men to come to take Devney and me into town. And that had been just yesterday!

"You're willing to marry me off to not just one man, but both of them?"

The sheriff did not seem affected by an hysterical female, and I was well on the way there. "I am. Did you, or did you not, show them your body?"

"Show them?
They
came upon me. I most certainly did not flaunt myself to them," I sputtered.

"Did they see you unclothed?" he countered.

I lifted my chin. "You know very well they did. I'm standing here with a quilt wrapped around me!"

"We saw everything, Ian," Garrett said. "Her breasts the perfect size. Small with large pink nipples."

I gasped. "How dare--"

"The hair on her pussy is as fiery as the rest of her," Tagg added.

"Did they remove your harness, Sarah?"

"They had to."

"Did they remove it against your will?" The sheriff eyed Garrett and Tagg, and both men stiffened at the accusation.

"No. I...I asked them to." Oh, how torrid that sounded! It wasn't as if I had been offering myself to them! He had to understand there were basic necessities that needed accommodating.

The sheriff gave a little nod of his head. "Then you belong to them."

I shook my head in disbelief. "What? Absolutely not."

"You can't go back to town unwed. These men have taken your virtue."

"But...but I'm a virgin!" I clenched my fist around the blanket while I waved my other hand in the air. Was the sheriff as daft as the others?

"I wouldn't expect otherwise. Garrett and Tagg are gentlemen and wouldn't disrespect you by taking you before marriage."

"I didn't mean--"

"Enough," Tagg said, rising to his full height. "We told you earlier that if we took off the harness that you would be under our protection. That means marriage."

"But--"

He held up his hand to silence me. The hand didn't keep me quiet, but the stern and serious look he focused on me most certainly did. "You will want for nothing. We will take care of you, protect you, cherish you. Make you ours."

"I had a plan!" I cried, upset because I knew I was going to lose this battle. Just like Devney yesterday back at the ranch. I was no match for three men. I wasn't in danger of them harming me, but I was certainly trapped into doing as they bid. "I was going to go and see the world I read about in books. Be free!"

"You want to see the world, baby?" Garrett asked. He ran a hand gently over my hair. "We'll take you. You want to be free? I promise, you'll have more freedom with us than any other husband."

Tears filled my eyes and all three men blurred.

"Think who would have found you if we hadn't, Sarah. Most men aren't like us," Tagg said, coming over to me, taking me into his arms. "He would have used you, killed you even."

His voice hardened at those possibilities.

"I can't marry two men!"

Tagg tilted my chin up, forced me to look at him. "You will marry Garrett, but you will belong to both of us. In every way."

I shook my head. "I don't...I don't know how," I admitted.

"No woman should. That's her husband's job, to teach her. For you, you get two husbands to do that."

I looked pleadingly at the sheriff. "Do I have to do this?"

I saw sympathy there in his dark eyes. "If an unmarried woman is caught kissing a man, what happens?"

"They have to marry," I answered.

"If an unmarried woman is caught alone with a man overnight, even in a snowstorm and they are trapped together against their wishes, what happens?"

"They have to marry," I repeated. I knew exactly the direction of his questioning. Two men had caught me out of my dress. Then they'd seen all of me when I fell in the water. Then they removed the harness that offered me the protection from marriage. It didn't matter that I was still a virgin. In the eyes of society, especially in Liberty, I'd been ruined.

"In your case, the list of inappropriateness is extensive," the sheriff added.

"No one knows but you." I looked at all three men. "You wouldn't tell, would you?"

All three looked appalled at the idea. "We wouldn't disrespect you in that way," the sheriff said.

"No one will know what has occurred between us. That is not anyone's concern," Garrett said, his tone severe. "The sheriff will keep the confidence."

The man nodded his assurance.

"You ran away from Doctor Graham's protection and everyone in town knows that," Garrett continued. "It's salacious news. Once you slipped out of town, you were tarnished. Your actions and your actions alone brought you to this juncture. You would be married to whichever man found you, if not us. No man in Liberty is going to want you, Sarah. Only Tagg and I know you still had the harness protecting your virtue."

Oh God. He was right. They may be forcing me to marry them, but it was my fault. I hadn't thought about the consequences of traveling as a woman alone. I'd only imagined success in reaching a big city, blending in, but I'd never imagined failing. I never imagined that if I didn't succeed that I couldn't return to Liberty. I'd escaped the protection of the town doctor and could have been prey to any kind of villain, just as Garrett and Tagg had said. I moved to a chair and sat down, the heavy weight of what I'd done finally sinking in.

"You will marry us, Sarah. Now."

"You can't marry me just because I'm ruined. You don't want me! You spanked me and...and you don't even know me!"

The sheriff's eyebrow went up in surprise, but he remained quiet.

"We know enough. And want you? Trust me, baby, once the vows have been said and the sheriff's on his way back to town, we'll show you just how much we want you." Tagg squatted down in front of me so I was forced to look at him. Hear him.

"I did spank you, and I'll probably do it again," Garrett said. I looked over my shoulder at him. "I spanked you because you belong to us, even from the first moment we saw you. You were alone on the side of the river and wouldn't tell us why. We didn't know why you'd run away, if someone had been cruel to you or hurt you. It's our job to keep you safe and when you don't let us do that, you'll be punished. I don't just go around spanking women. I want you so much that I spanked
you
, Sarah."

In the most perverse, illogical way, Garrett's words made sense. My father had ignored me for years, offered little to no guidance in my upbringing. If it hadn't been for Devney, I'd probably be illiterate. The loneliness of the ranch, being forced into isolation like I had, made me feel unwanted. My father hadn't thought about anyone but himself. I'd been stuck for years without friends or even a parent who truly loved me, all because he wanted to keep his relationship with another man a secret.

But in less than a day, Garrett and Tagg had helped me, cared for me, even disciplined me because they considered me theirs. They were thinking of
me.
They were doing what was best for
me.
And ridiculously enough, Garrett had spanked me because he was trying to protect
me.

And that was why I stood up looked the sheriff in the eye and said, "Please begin."

GARRETT

Although only I would be legally wed to Sarah, Ian went through the ceremony asking both Tagg and me to say the vows. It was important to both of us for her to know that she was ours. Not mine, not his, ours. When my lips touched hers for the first time at the end of the short ceremony, I knew. She was the one.

Her lips were warm and soft, but tentative. Clearly she had not been kissed before. I grinned down at her and watched as my brother spun our bride around and kissed her as well.

"My work here is done. Garrett, Taggart, congratulations," Ian said as he slapped me on the shoulder, grinning. "Sarah, you're in good hands, or I wouldn't have performed the ceremony."

"Thank you for riding out here after a hectic day," I told him.

When I'd found Ian in town, he had just returned to the jail from Doc's office where Devney and Sam Bridger had been wed. He didn't elaborate, but it was clear that Devney had been truly claimed directly after the union. Learning that Sarah had been found had made his job easier; he didn't have to continue to track a wayward woman across eastern Montana.

"Glad everything came to an amicable and pleasing conclusion," Ian replied. "Ma'am." He doffed his hat and tipped it toward our bride, then left, the screen door slapping shut behind him.

In his wake, the air was still, the sun low in the sky filling the kitchen with soft beams of yellow and orange light. On the porch, a cricket could be heard singing. But that was outside. In the room between us, Sarah stood so small and delicate, with the quilt held snug about her like a shield. Her hair curled and went down her back. Right now she was fearful; she wouldn't meet either of our eyes, and that was not a sight I liked to see. I never wanted her to cower to either of us; I rather enjoyed her spit and vinegar. Was there a way to ease the fears of a virgin on her wedding night?

Tagg pulled back a chair and sat down, held out his arms. "Come here, baby."

Sarah turned her head and looked at him, unsure, then went into his arms. He lowered her gently onto his lap and just held her, running a hand up and down her quilt covered back.

I watched as Tagg comforted her, soothed her, which seemed to be exactly what she needed. Relieved, I pulled a second chair out and positioned it so I sat directly in front of them, close enough that I stroked a hand over her leg.

"Scared?" I asked, my voice low.

She shook her head. "This...everything...has happened so fast. I...I don't know what to do."

"You don't have to know. We do."

"But--"

Tagg put two fingers over her lips. "Right now I want to kiss you."

I watched as Sarah's eyes slid shut as Tagg kissed her, his lips brushing over hers. He tilted her back in his arms so he could deepen the kiss. When his tongue slipped into her mouth, I heard her moan and her hand came up to clench Tagg's arm. It was the most erotic sight. This woman, sitting in my brother's lap, was our wife. I needed to touch her, to feel how soft I'd imagined her skin to be. Peeling back the bottom of the quilt, I skimmed my fingers over her smooth calf to her knee. She stiffened in surprise, but kept kissing Tagg. Once she settled again, my hand moved up her thigh, finding the thin edge of her shift. As I did so, Tagg pulled the quilt from her grip, letting it fall open, part of it still trapped between them. I watched her shift slide up her body as it caught on my hand. When my fingertips brushed her belly and dipped inward to touch the curls that covered her pussy, she broke the kiss and looked at me. Her lust filled eyes were a deep, dark green, half lidded and unfocused.

I gave her a small smile but kept my hand where it was. Tagg turned her so she faced me, her back to his front. The quilt was beneath her and bunched behind her lower back. One thin strap of her chemise dangled off her shoulder.

"My turn," I said and knelt on the floor, spreading her thighs with my palms.

I left them in place as I kissed her. I didn't start tender or gentle, but slid my tongue in to taste her. Sweet like honey. Her lips were soft and supple, her tongue tentative, which made this simple act even more erotic. As I worked her mouth, my tongue dipping in then retreating like my cock would in her pussy soon enough, I slid my palms up her thighs as Tagg widened his stance, which opened Sarah's legs even further.

The tips of my fingers brushed ever so lightly over her pussy. The hair there so silky soft, her flesh hot and wet, she gasped and pulled away from my kiss. "Garrett," she cried out, her voice throaty and breathy.

"What, baby?" I hadn't moved my hands at all, but kept them just barely touching her.

She tried to close her legs, but Tagg wouldn't let her. Neither would I, using my forearms to keep her spread wide. Tagg reached down for the edge of her shift, tugging it up to her hips before lifting it up so it gathered at her waist.

"Does it feel good when we touch you?" I asked, holding her gaze. Her lips were red and swollen, damp from my kisses.

"Yes, but--"

"Lift your arms, Sarah," Tagg whispered in her ear. He nipped the lobe and she dropped her head to the side to give him better access. As he licked and nibbled at her nape, he worked the shift up her torso and she lifted her arms without thinking. He was able to get the shift over her head and tossed onto the floor before she realized what had happened.

"You're so beautiful," I murmured, looking at her completely bare for the first time.