The grip grew firmer.
“You’re going to do exactly what I say,” Katherine warned.
She turned to move toward the door and the look of surprise crossed her face when she saw James and Brad blocking the way.
“Let her go,” James said.
“What?” Katherine said. “Get out of my way. This has nothing to do with you.”
“Yes it does,” he replied.
An ominous silence filled the room as Katherine switched her gaze between the two men at the door of the room and her niece. Her eyes narrowed as she contemplated James’s words and the implications of them eventually dawned on her. She brought her gaze to Carla.
“Is this true,” she shouted. “Is he the man that got you pregnant?”
Carla screwed her face up and couldn’t bring herself to answer. Her silence spoke volumes though and Katherine’s anger erupted.
“I let you stay in my home to help you improve your life,” she screamed. “And this is how you repay me.”
“I’m sorry,” Carla let out in a whisper.
“Sorry... sorry,” Katherine repeated in a furious voice. “I take you in and you thank me by fucking the hired help. Did you spread your legs for just James or did you go all out and let Brad have his fun too.”
“Enough,” Brad shouted. “Don’t talk to her like that.”
“This is my house, my home,” Katherine responded angrily. “I can speak any way I like. If you don’t like it you can leave…, which is what I want both of you to do.”
Brad and James made no move to leave the room.
“Right now,” Katherine screamed. “GET OUT!”
James caught Carla’s gaze.
“Come with us,” he said. “If your aunt is anything to go by, you’re not going to get any help or sympathy from your family.”
“She’s staying right here,” Katherine replied.
Carla stared at the two men sticking up for her and in a moment of clarity in the chaos going on around her knew what she was going to do. She yanked her arm out of the tight grip and moved across to them.
“You can’t do this,” her aunt warned.
“Yes I can,” Carla said in a determined voice. “James is right in what he said. I’m not going home just to get kicked out by my parents when they find out I am pregnant.”
“But…” Katherine said.
“No buts this time,” Carla snapped. “The best chance of happiness I have is with James and Brad. I can see that now.”
She moved across to the wardrobe and quickly threw some of her possessions in a bag before moving back to the two men. The three of them walked out to the hallway and moved along to the bedroom the twins shared. They were quick to pack their belongings and move back out the room. Katherine was blocking the way as they approached the front door.
“You’re making a huge mistake,” she said.
“It’s mine to make,” Carla replied simply and pushed her way past her aunt to leave the property.
Brad and James followed and the three of them set off along the dirt track towards the ranch gates.
“You’ll regret this,” Katherine shouted after them, but Carla ignored it as she doggedly put one foot in front of the other to leave the ranch she never wanted to go to in the first place.
They walked in silence until they passed under the large ranch gate and it was only then that Carla stopped.
“What are we going to do?” she asked.
“Whatever you want,” Brad replied as he turned to look at her. “I promise we’ll look after you and support you with whatever decision you make.”
The smile played on her lips and she moved forward to wrap her arms around his neck.
“Thanks,” she said.
“What about me?’ James asked.
Carla moved to hug him too then reached in her bag to get her mobile phone. She switched it on to see that she couldn’t get a service.
“Fucking countryside,” she complained. “This never happens in the city.”
“We just need to get closer to town,” James said. “Let’s keep going.”
Carla kept her eye on the phone as they walked along the road that ran past the ranch. She only stopped when she saw the signal bars showing on her phone.
“No more walking,” she said as she sat down.
The two men looked at her as she searched in her bag and eventually pulled out a small card. She looked back and forth between it and her phone as she keyed in a number.
“Hi Hank,” she said when the call was answered. “It’s Carla Coleridge speaking. You gave me a ride out to…” She stopped and looked up as she listened. “Yeah that’s right,” she went on. “You gave me your card at the Harper Ranch. I’m on the road leading out to it. Are you available?”
The arrangements were made for Hank to come and pick them up and she finally ended the call.
“Do you have any ideas where we can go?” she asked when the twins sat down beside her.
“Get a room in town I guess,” James said. “We can take it from there.”
Carla let out a sigh.
“Take it to where exactly?” she said quietly almost to herself, but no reply came back.
Chapter Eight
“Are you going to get that?” James asked in a tired voice.
Carla opened her eyes and looked from side to side. She could barely believe that she was lying naked in the embrace of the twins. It was the first time since their encounters at the ranch house when her aunt was in Delaware. She let out a sigh as the sound of the ringing continued. There was no doubt who it was and the choice was either to switch off the phone and ignore it or go through with talking to her mother.
It was obvious that her aunt informed her parents of the events that took place earlier in the day. She stared around the stark surroundings of the rented room she and the twins were in for a few seconds, but finally extricated herself from the tangle of limbs and moved to the side of the bed. Picking her panties and t-shirt up from the floor, she put them on then got to her feet.
A glance at the screen of her phone showed that it was her mother that was trying to get in touch. The ringing stopped before she answered, but considering the number of missed calls that her phone was showing, she knew it wouldn’t be long before it rang again. She walked to the door of the room and looked back at the two men lying on the bed. It made her shudder as images of the sex they just shared flashed through her mind. It was even better than before and she knew that she was falling for them, but she pushed the thoughts away and turned to leave the room.
She sat down on the steps in front of the room and waited. It gave her time to think and she couldn’t help wondering if she was doing the right thing. She remembered her life in the city before the incident in the department store and found that she did miss it. It was certainly a million miles away from where she was now. The ringing of the phone startled her, but it wasn’t only the slight shock that was making her heart race. This time she was going to talk and she took a deep breath as she connected the call. The explosion of anger she prepared herself for didn’t come.
“Where are you?” her mother asked.
“In a rented room,” she replied.
“With those ranchers,” her mother went on.
The words were said in such a distasteful way that Carla almost laughed out loud. She knew it would only antagonize her mother and managed to hold it in.
“Yes,” she said. “I’m with James and Brad. I’m guessing that Aunt Katherine told you the whole story.”
“How could you?” her mother said and Carla heard the disappointment coming through.
“It…, it just happened,” she replied. “I didn’t exactly plan this.”
“So it’s true then,” her mother let out cautiously. “You really are pregnant?”
“Well…, the two home tests I did yesterday were positive,” Carla answered. “I think that is pretty conclusive.”
She heard the sigh coming down the line and
there was silence for a second or two.
“Are you going to have the baby?” her mother asked.
The confusion flared in Carla’s mind. In all the things that she’d considered since the previous evening, she’d never once thought of terminating the pregnancy.
“I…, I think so,” she said.
“You don’t have to,” her mother went on. “Your father and I discussed it at length today and we agreed that if you have an abortion, you can come home and carry on with your studies. We can put all this behind us and get on with our lives as long as you promise to make an effort to do the right thing.”
The annoyance welled up in Carla’s mind that her parents were making decisions about her life for her.
“Don’t I get a say in what happens?” she asked in an irked tone. “Maybe I am doing the right thing already.”
“Oh come on Carla,” her mother said. “You’ve been a foolish young girl, but there’s no need to let this ruin your life.”
“Who says it will ruin my life?” she countered.
Her mother’s anger began to come through.
“Look,” she snapped. “If you want our support, you’ll do as we say. An abortion is obviously the best solution for this situation.”
Carla shook her head and remained silent for a few moments as she rubbed a hand over her stomach. The threat of her parents not supporting her was what made her go to the ranch in the first place and here it was happening again. She couldn’t bear it and knew it was time to break free to live her own life.
“No,” she eventually said.
“What do you mean, no?” her mother replied.
“I mean no, I’m not going to do what you say,” Carla told her. “From now on I make my own decisions.”
“You stupid fool,” her mother yelled down the line. “You’ll regret this.”
It was the same words her aunt used when she, Brad and James walked away from the ranch house.
“No I won’t,” she replied in a resolute voice and hung up the call.
She was quick to switch off the phone before her mother could call back and she sat on the stairs staring out into space. It seemed that she’d burned her bridges with her family and wondered if they would ever be repaired.
“Time to move on,” she said as she got to her feet and walked back inside the room.
The smile flashed across her face as she stared at the twins lying on the bed. She removed her t-shirt as she walked over to it and lay down between them again. Their arms came around her and she felt safe as she snuggled down into their embrace. She kissed James first and saw his eyes open.
“I’m going to have the baby,” she said quietly. “Do you promise to help take care of us?”
“Of course,” he replied. “You can count on me one hundred percent.”
“And me,” Brad said and she shuddered as his kiss pressed on the back of her neck.
Carla closed her eyes as the embrace holding her in place between them grew tighter and a smile spread across her face again. She was where she wanted to be and knew that she and the baby would be looked after. It didn’t mean that life was going to be easy, but she knew that with Brad and James by her side, she would be able to deal with anything. The smile remained on her face as she fell into a content sleep that marked the start of a new life.
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He's a wealthy southern gentleman that any women would go through hell and high water to marry. So why has he secured a bride through a mail order bride service?
Madeline doesn't know, and she's concerned by rumors of his dominant personality - but rumors are just rumors after all, and she knows he's one of the few eligible bachelors left.
A letter in the mail, a hurried goodbye, and a long train ride later she meets her new husband - Robert Cortege. Tall and handsome, she begins to think that everything will work out after all.
Little does Madeline know her life is about to spiral out of her control, and there's only one man who will have the power to put her life back together - Mr. Cortege. That is, if he doesn't push her to the breaking point first.
There will be no mistake as to what is expected of her - total submission. She'll spend a lot of time bent over his knee with a bare bottom, and torn between pleasure and pain as the charming millionaire wastes no opportunity to make her moan shamelessly, no matter who's in earshot.
With a sick mother in another city, and multiple harlots chasing her husband and threatening to end her marriage soon after it begins, she doesn't know whether to fight tooth and nail or hope everything works out.
After all, if there's one thing Mr. Cortege teaches her, it's just how good surrender can feel.
This is a full length, stand-alone novella with a satisfying ending. No cliffhangers.
This historical western romance involves adult themes of spanking, sexual submission, alpha male domination, first time lovemaking, and domestic discipline.
Bent Over A Barrel Bundle: Western Cowboy Romance (Full Length Novels) Page 55
