by Lucy Kelly
Karlo wanted to do whatever would make Marla happy. If the law couldn’t help her, he was considering paying this Jake O’Brien a visit. The man needed to learn how unhealthy it was to hurt Marla. Karlo was enjoying the fantasy of how he would teach the man a lesson. Unfortunately, from everything he heard, the man was a coward and would be unwilling to meet him in combat.
As he walked back to the house, he wondered why he even considered fighting with the man. From what he’d seen, that was not normal behavior. Where were these ideas coming from?
Entering the kitchen, he saw he was right on time since Marla was pulling biscuits out of the oven; there were eggs and sausage gravy on the table. He was a lucky man.
Chapter Ten
Charl Darvik arrived in Boulder ready to search for the thief using his brother’s credit card. He didn’t know where to start looking, so he stopped to pick up some food and after parking his truck, he called Ishme. As he waited for the call to be answered, he dug into his bag of take-out. This ability to “drive-thru” and get a meal was an Earth invention he really liked. There was nothing similar on HeVan; they didn’t even have restaurants.
He’d just taken a large bite of his burger when the phone picked up. “Grmpf.” He swallowed. “Sorry, I was eating.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll fill you in while you eat. You made good time so you might be able to confront this guy tonight. Unfortunately, from what Becky has dug up, he’s not in Boulder. You’re going to need to drive northeast. It’s a rural address, a place called Happy Hummers HeVan. I’m dying to find out what the name means. I’m sending GPS coordinates to your phone. Enjoy your meal, you’ve got time,” said Ishme.
“Thank you, Ishme, and please thank Lady Becky for me. I’ll call you as soon as I’ve learned something,” said Charl.
“I’ll wait for your call. Good hunting,” said Ishme before disconnecting the call.
After ending the call, Charl opened the email with the map coordinates. He locked the cell phone into the dashboard holder. It was linked via Bluetooth to the truck’s speakers so when he tapped the destination he’d receive turn-by-turn directions to this Hummer place. Like Ishme, he was curious as to what the name meant.
Finished with his food, he put his drink in the cup holder. He pulled out of the parking lot and headed north. According to the map, it would take a couple of hours to get to his destination. Then he would force the man to show him where his brother’s body was. He planned to take Karlo back to HeVan so he could be given a warrior’s burial. Armus Hend had killed him during his escape. The other warriors and one human female had already left for HeVan. Karlo would be the last of those killed by the rogue councilman.
*****
Marla and Karlo were cooking dinner together. They had been discussing off and on all day whether or not to confront Jake O’Brien. There were pros and cons to both situations and they had some time to decide. For now, Mr. Edwards was looking into having an injunction delaying the auction of the property until Marla’s marital status could be worked out. He would let her know in a couple of days. First, he had to write the brief, and then he had to take it before a judge. He hoped to put it before Judge Davis, as he was already familiar with the situation.
Marla was showing Karlo how to make a salad, when they heard a vehicle approaching the house.
“I’ll go and see who it is. Stay inside where you will be safe,” Karlo told her.
“I’m not helpless, Karlo. I’ll just grab my shotgun and cover you from the porch. Besides, maybe it’s the deputy coming to give us news,” she said.
“No, it’s not him. I don’t recognize the vehicle. Stay in the house,” he said again.
As he left, Marla went for the shotgun. She had no intention of standing back and letting Karlo take all the risks. This was the west. In these parts, women stood and fought beside their men. You had to be tough to survive in Montana. Marla liked to think she could live up to the reputations of her ancestors.
She made it to the porch in time to see Karlo grab his head and moan, falling to his knees.
“Karlo!” she and the strange man both shouted. She stepped over to where he was kneeling and pointed the shotgun at the stranger. “One move and I shoot. What did you do to him?” she demanded.
Before the stranger could speak, Karlo stood and reached out a hand to her.
“No, Marla…don’t shoot…he’s my brother. The memories…ohh,” he groaned and fell to his knees again, holding his head.
Marla didn’t let her shock stop her from acting. Putting down the shotgun, she rushed to Karlo’s side. Even so, Charl got there first. He had his arms around Karlo before Karlo could fall off the porch and hit the ground.
“Will you help me get him into the house? He’s been staying in a bedroom here on the first floor,” Marla explained to the stranger as they maneuvered him through the door into the kitchen.
“If you’ll direct me, I can carry him,” said the man as he hefted Karlo over one shoulder.
Marla led the way through the kitchen and into the bedroom Karlo had been using. Since they’d been together, the two of them had been spending some nights in Marla’s room upstairs and some downstairs. It depended on where Marla was when Karlo decided he had to have her. Since they had started sleeping together, his need for her had grown stronger and stronger. She felt like the newlywed she was supposed to be.
That is, until the last five minutes when her future was put in jeopardy. Now that Karlo was getting his memory back, they would find out if he were married. If he were married, then it would mean she’d been sleeping with a married man.
“Oh, God, should I call a doctor? He’s not married, is he?” she asked.
They had laid Karlo down on the bed and now Charl was checking him over. When Marla spoke, he looked up from the face of his brother to hers. It took him a minute to make sense of her words. The female was obviously flustered. She was also beautiful. He could understand why Karlo didn’t want to leave her. What he couldn’t understand, though, was why Karlo hadn’t contacted him. Why had Karlo let him believe he was dead? He obviously had a relationship with this woman. She was even speaking of a human marriage. They were supposed to be bonded to the same woman together. What was going on? All these thoughts had been speeding through his brain.
“No, he’s not married. Why do you think he might need a doctor? He doesn’t look injured. I don’t understand why he collapsed though, do you?” Charl asked.
“Aren’t you here because of the crash? The computer said it was sending out a distress signal. Karlo doesn’t remember anything. Or he didn’t. It looks like when he saw you, he got his memory back. I’m worried there might be some kind of brain injury.”
“Did you take him to a hospital or call an ambulance after the crash?”
“The computer said he had a concussion but he would be fine in forty-eight hours. When he woke up in the morning, Karlo didn’t want to go to see a doctor. He also didn’t remember anything. His memory is a complete blank. Or at least it was; he remembered you. I’m worried about him,” she said.
“We never received a distress signal. Why did you ask if he were married?” Charl asked.
“We were in Boulder yesterday to get married. The judge said we couldn’t until Karlo got his memory back and could prove he wasn’t already married. I’m sorry if I sound self-centered asking about his being married when he’s lying here unconscious. I’m not really so callous. It’s just that we’ve also been intimate for a while now,” she said, her face turning red. “Karlo said you were his brother. What’s your name?”
“Charl. Karlo is younger than me by a couple of years. Our parents have been gone for a number of years. So it’s just been the two of us.” Charl had finished removing Karlo’s boots so he started removing Karlo’s shirt. “He’s probably going to be out for awhile, I want him to be comfortable. How long has he been here? He’s been missing for about ten days,” Charl said.
Karlo had actually bee
n gone for nearly three weeks. But if Karlo had lost his memory, then he couldn’t have revealed to this woman about them being Nephilim. So he used the date Armus Hend had landed on Earth. Where was the shuttle?
“I’m Marla Jones. Karlo’s been here for eight days. The computer said he was an engineer. Is that right? If you didn’t get the distress signal, how did you find us?” asked Marla.
“Yes, he is. We both work for the same…company,” he said.
He didn’t like lying to this woman. For now though, he needed to keep her calm. When he lifted Karlo, he had felt the movement of his wings just under his skin. It was one of the reasons he had removed his brother’s shirt. Normally, it took a couple of weeks, at least, for wings to erupt. Karlo had been here for eight days and if he hadn’t passed out, his wings would already be out.
Something must have happened for his wings to be erupting early. He needed to get Marla to talk because soon after Karlo woke up, his wings would emerge. That would trigger his wings as well. Even now he could feel it in his back, the skin thinning and his own wings pushing to the surface. Soon Marla would begin feeling the effects of the pheromone release as well. All three of them would feel the mating pull and he was a complete stranger to Marla.
He told her a few stories about him and Karlo when they were children. He added in a little background about their adult years as well. If Marla wondered for a moment why there were almost no women mentioned in any of his anecdotes, she brushed it off because they were two brothers and probably didn’t want to hang out with girls. And, of course, there were fewer women than men in the Air Force.
She assumed the Air Force because of the stories and the experimental craft in her barn. Looking over, she saw that Karlo was sleeping peacefully.
“We were in the middle of cooking dinner when you drove up. Will you be okay here if I go and finish up? Should we wake him up or let him sleep?” she asked.
“I think we should let him wake naturally. His mind is coping with a lot right now. If it looks like he’s sleeping longer than he should, then we’ll take steps. Do you need some help?”
“No, I’ve got it covered. Are you hungry? Instead of cooking, I’m going to put everything away and make a sandwich instead.”
“A sandwich would be great. I’m not picky, anything would be great. Thank you for the offer. Let me know if you need anything.”
Marla was glad to be leaving the bedroom. She was warm all over. Her nipples had tightened into buds and her panties were wet. Instead of going directly to the kitchen, she detoured upstairs. She needed to change her clothes. She also wanted to run a cold cloth over the back of her neck. She loved Karlo. She was ready to marry him, and not just to save her ranch. So she was appalled to think she could be getting turned on by his brother.
It had to be him, because Karlo wasn’t even awake. The pull was strong, almost primal, just the way she was pulled to Karlo. Only tonight, it was more. She didn’t usually get this turned on this fast. It took every bit of her strength not to show her reactions outwardly. It was embarrassing enough to be feeling the way she was for Karlo’s brother. It would be ten times worse if he knew about it.
When she stripped off her clothes, the scent of her own arousal struck her. Just thinking of the fact that she was naked and alone in the house with two extremely hot men got her hotter and wetter. Before she cleaned up and got dressed again, she decided it would be better to take the edge off a bit. Opening her bedside table, she pulled out her vibrator and then laid down on her bed. She’d barely touched herself when an orgasm rolled through her.
It wasn’t enough; she needed that sensation of being filled. She used one hand to insert the vibrator and move it in and out while she moved her hips and used her other hand to manipulate her clit. Within moments she tightened her legs, squeezing as another stronger orgasm went through her.
Panting, she lay back and tried to get her breathing under control. She decided to take a quick shower instead of merely cleaning her girly parts. She needed to cool off. After getting out of her quick shower, she dithered a little about what to wear. Part of her wanted to wear something loose that didn’t touch her skin as much.
But when she put on her long housecoat, the gentle fabric brushed against her and started tingles running up and down her skin. She ended up wearing leggings and a tight t-shirt. It was as if she were being held. Just before she left her room to go downstairs, she ran back to the bathroom and added a panty liner to her underwear, just in case.
Charl must have been tired, because he fell asleep a short time after eating the sandwich Marla had made for him. She had been washing the plates in the kitchen. When she went back to show him to one of the extra bedrooms upstairs, she found him asleep in the recliner next to Karlo.
After checking on Karlo, she went upstairs to change again. She debated sleeping upstairs and finally decided to go back downstairs, at least for a little while. Charl had fallen asleep and she was worried about what would happen if Karlo needed her. She decided to sit next to him and watch over him. When she got tired, she’d go up to her bedroom.
What ended up happening was she got cold. She got under the blankets and propped herself up on one arm and kept watch. With her free hand, she traced Karlo’s features, moving from his brows, down his nose, and over his lips. The love she had for him swelled inside her. After a while her arm got tired, so she laid down. She couldn’t see his face, but she ran her hand over his chest until she could feel his heartbeat through her fingers.
She was getting sleepy. She gave a brief thought of going upstairs, but she was nice and warm now. Her bed would be cold and lonely. Glancing over at Charl sitting in the recliner, she could see he was out for the night. She had tossed the spare comforter over him so she didn’t think he’d be waking up before morning. Since she was normally such an early riser, she’d be long gone before either of the two men woke up. On that thought, she’d talked herself into doing what she really wanted to do all along and drifted off to sleep.
Charl had been pretending to sleep. He watched Marla through his lashes after she came back into the bedroom wearing a knee length garment. When she picked up a coverlet from the bed and put it over him, he got a better look at the front. There was a picture of some type of animal sleeping. He didn’t read the words; his eyes were drawn to where he could see her nipples beading just beneath the soft fabric.
It was a good thing she’d spread the blanket over him, he was able to hide the bulge growing in his lap. After watching Marla give in to sleep, he let himself follow. Using techniques he’d learned as a Nephilim warrior, he kept part of his subconscious awake and aware. The slightest noise would bring him fully awake, ready to defend both his brother and the woman he knew they would share for the rest of their lives. Now they just had to convince her.
Chapter Eleven
Marla was dreaming. She knew she was dreaming because she was about to have sex with Karlo. That in itself wasn’t unusual. She’d had sex with Karlo while they were both awake plenty of times. The reason she knew she was asleep was because the bed was in the middle of the pasture in the middle of a sunny day. If having your bed moved to the middle of a pasture wasn’t enough, the fact that Karlo’s brother, Charl, was also there with them convinced her this was really a dream.
The weird thing was, Marla was aware enough to know she was dreaming. She could even direct her dream to some extent. What she couldn’t do was wake up. Her dream self was really turned on though and this wasn’t a nightmare, so she decided to throw guilt out the window and go with it. Heck, the dream was really good so far.
Marla’s breath hitched at the thought of letting both brothers have her at the same time. Since this was a dream, she decided to let go of her inhibitions and be bolder than she’d ever been while awake. She lay back on the bed and then lifting her knees slightly, she spread her legs wide. Let them have a good look.
Karlo approached from her right. “You look so beautiful. Doesn’t she make a beautif
ul banquet for us?” he asked, looking over at his brother as he sat next to her. Picking up her right hand in his left, he kissed the palm and then took one of her fingers in his mouth as he smoothed his right hand over her knee, down over the soft skin of her inner thigh to her nest of curls. He tested her arousal with a quick dip of his fingers before traveling up to her breast.
“Is she ready for us?” asked Charl, lifting one knee to rest on the bed between her legs.
“Oh, yes, she likes the idea of you being here with us. Don’t you, Marla?” he asked her.
“Yes, please don’t make me wait,” she said, tilting her pelvis in invitation and pulling her left leg a little farther to the left. She couldn’t really move the right one with Karlo there.
“So eager, I like that,” said Charl as he moved closer. Leaning over, he parted her folds to reveal the treasure within. “Mmm, ambrosia,” he said, just before he started using his tongue on her.
Karlo watched his brother for a moment, suckling her finger before nipping the pad at the tip. Then he moved her hand and, leaning down, put his mouth on her breast.
As Marla writhed on the bed, she made sounds loud enough to wake Karlo and Charl from their sleep. Karlo was still stunned and his perception was fuzzy, not yet aware of what woke him. He didn’t look around the room as he slowly sat up. He was thirsty so he tried not to wake Marla as he left the bed. When he passed by the chair, a sound made him look to the right, and he met his brother’s eyes.
Stunned, the memory of what had happened earlier flashed across his mind. He remembered everything! He wanted to shout, and almost did. Another low moan from the bed distracted him. He turned back to face the bed. He saw that she had pushed down the blanket and pulled up her sleep shirt. She had one hand at her breast and one in between her legs. Her head was moving slightly and her hips were rocking.
The strong scent of arousal reached him and his wings burst from his skin. As the wave of pheromones wafted into the room, Charl’s wings responded by also erupting. He barely got out of the chair and stood before they burst through his skin.
