The Initiative: Book One of the Jannah Cycle

by D. Brumbley

  Rachel nearly choked on her drink, and she sputtered as she wiped at what little she had spit out, glad that she’d chosen a dark-colored dress. “Excuse me? Shouldn’t he be asking that question if he’s interested in that?” She definitely wasn’t looking at Liam anymore. Rachel held her hand out in Liam’s direction, but Liam was clearly too distracted to even notice it. “Does that look like a man who is interested in marriage right now?” She laughed afterward and attempted to take another drink.

  Logan had to laugh as he shook his head. “No, no it doesn’t. Which is why it’s a good thing he’s got an ten-minutes-older brother who takes a slightly longer view of things.” He chuckled and poured out the remainder of a bottle that had been nearly empty for himself, since he knew he was going to need it. Once he’d had a good sip of it, he turned back to Rachel with a sigh. Even though he was still smiling, he clearly wasn’t joking. “I like you, Rachel. I was shocked half to death when Liam started up with you, since you’ve got more common sense than all his former girlfriends combined. He doesn’t have a history of going for the smart ones, and you’re definitely one of the smart ones. I’m being serious when I talk about you marrying him. I plan to talk to all three of you tonight, to see where you stand and what your thoughts are on the subject. Before Anna and I leave for the Jannah Initiative, what I’m proposing is that you marry Liam. All three of you.”

  She guzzled the rest of the glass in her hand quickly before she said anything in response. “He’s going to kill you once he finds out you’re doing this.” Rachel shook her head and laughed incredulously. “And then he’ll probably thank you. But you should be prepared for the killing part first.” Rachel sighed as she looked down into the now-empty glass and then back up at Logan. “He’s never going to make a decision on his own, I know that already. I’ve been with him for a year, and I know him well enough to know that if he’s dating three women at once, he’s never going to pick one.” She was smiling as she shook her head, though. “And while he’s pretty smart, he’s going to need more people than just Larissa to help him run this place once you’re gone. He mentioned that you were accepted into the Initiative, but he didn’t say that you were going for sure.”

  “I don’t think Anna and I are a hundred percent packing our bags yet, but we’re certainly leaning heavily toward it. There’s too much to be gained for us to risk not being a part of it.” He shook his head and smiled over at Rachel. “And I can accept him wanting to kill me for doing this. But like you said, hopefully he’ll come around quickly. I’d prefer not to get the shit kicked out of me on my wedding night if I can avoid it. At least not by my brother.” He shrugged and tipped back his wine glass again. “Is that a yes, then?”

  “I don’t know that you’re going to get anyone else to agree. I can’t imagine that Margo would agree to something like this.” Clearly she was hedging on whether or not she wanted to absolutely say yes. “I just…I guess I figured one of us would end up getting pregnant and that would be the end of that. I didn’t consider something like this.” She refilled her glass and looked in Logan’s eyes again. “Alright. Yes. I love Liam, and while this is not what I imagined would happen, being in a plural marriage wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. It’s better than waiting a couple of years and being pushed onto someone else by my parents. Someone I didn’t choose. And having other women around will help with managing the estate. And managing Liam.” She laughed again, then reached up to tuck her hair out of her face and behind her ear. “You’re still crazy for asking, though.”

  “Oh I’m aware of that. But I’ve been crazy for a while now. I think I’m starting to get good at it.” He smiled down at her and took her in a brief hug, kissing her cheek afterward. “Goes without saying, but please go without saying for the time being. I’ve got Bri to talk to, then I’ll go see about getting murdered by my twin brother for trying to ensure his happiness and well-being.”

  “You should be happy he’s been drinking, then. His aim will be off.” Rachel went to a nearby table and filled up one of the untouched glasses with water from a pitcher at the center of the table, still shaking her head. “I’m gonna go give him this water and get him to eat something so he doesn’t get totally wasted. Good luck, Crazy.” She gave Logan another look of amusement and walked away, only to approach Liam and Bri who were off to the side after their scandalous dance. Logan watched as Rachel handed Liam the water and then convinced him to go with her to get food. Seemed as though every one of his girlfriends knew how to sweet-talk him in one way or another.

  Logan moved in smoothly once Rachel had sidelined Liam, and nodded to Brianne to follow him back to the drinks table. He had to chuckle at the fact that the woman was still breathing heavily. “So, that’s how they do it in New York, huh?” Margo was the only one of Liam’s current girlfriends who was actually from their district with family living close by. Rachel had come into town to work on one of the wind farms Logan operated farther west and Brianne…had just kind of been passing through on her way to wherever she wanted to go. Liam and Logan met her and her family three years before at an agrarian conference in St. Louis. Her brothers back at home took over her family business after the death of her parents, and Brianne just happened to be the free spirit of the family.

  “Oh, babe, if only I could truly explain how things go in New York.” Brianne laughed and ran her fingers through her strawberry-blonde hair as she grabbed a drink for herself. She didn’t even bother with the water, she went straight for the wine. Brianne was a year older than both Logan and Liam, but she certainly didn’t act like it. She had lived in the lap of luxury for most of her life, and she was wilder and far more playful than most of the women who were local. “What are you still doing around here? God, if it were my wedding night, I would have told everyone they could stay until the booze was gone, then they needed to get the fuck out. Then I would have just up and disappeared with my husband.”

  “Funny you should mention that. I actually wanted to talk to you about those kinds of plans.” Logan laughed, since that was his primary reaction to everything that came out of Brianne’s mouth. She was loud, she was every bit as crass as Liam, and she didn’t quit. He knew better than to think it was because she was just vapid. She was smart and she knew what she was doing, and that made her even more dangerous, in Logan’s mind. “You ever thought seriously about marrying Liam? I know you two haven’t been together that long, but you seem pretty sold on the guy.”

  “Thought about it? Sure. Seriously considered it? Not really. Your brother is a shitload of fun, and I love being with him, but there is no way in hell he’s going to choose me over the other two. No matter how wild he tells me I am. And between you and me, if he did pick me, I’m pretty sure Margo would poison me or strangle me in my sleep.”

  Logan rolled his eyes. “Don’t get crazy. Margo is a lot of things, but violent isn’t one of them.” He looked her up and down quizzically. “I haven’t hung out with you enough while you’re drinking to really be able to tell, are you sober enough to have a serious conversation about this? I want to make sure. Because that’s what I’d like to have.”

  “I don’t have many serious conversations, as a general rule. But on a scale of one to seeing ten of you, I’m fairly sober.” She took another gulp of wine and raised a rust-colored eyebrow at him. “You’re really fucking serious? You really want to discuss your brother marrying me? He’s a big boy. I’ve spent a lot of time with his penis, so I can confirm that. He can handle his own marriage arrangement.”

  “Can he, though?” Logan asked with a grin. “Look me in the eye and try to tell me with a straight face that you don’t think he’s playing sperm-donor Russian Roulette right now and hoping that fertility is gonna make his choice for him?”

  “Hey, I said it first. He totally is, but that’s only because we’re letting him do it.” She said with a shrug, since she was guilty of enabling Liam’s indecisiveness. “I like being a part of his game, thank you very much. I’ve
met very few men who fuck like he does. You can’t be serious about this, though. What makes you think he wants three wives? Can you imagine the horror that man would have to go through when PMS hits?” She shook her head. “Even I’m afraid for him.”

  “I’m a little afraid for him, but not enough to stop me from arranging this for him.” Logan continued, obviously unfazed. “He’s made no secret about how much he likes you, or you about how much you like him. That being said, I’m not looking to arrange a marriage for my brother to somebody’s who’s only interested in fucking him. Clearly the guy’s got no trouble finding that on his own. What I want to know is if you would want to be his wife, and be one of three. Help him run the estate, take care of the kids if they ever come around, keep him from completely destroying himself too many times a week, and actually step up to be with the guy even when things aren’t fun. I know you haven’t been with him that long, but you don’t seem to me like the kind of woman who takes very long to know when she wants something and when she doesn’t.”

  Brianne was quiet after that, since he was asking her to be serious and she really was quite terrible at it. “When someone matters to me, I stick by them. If Liam fucking wants three wives and he wants me to marry him, then I would be crazy to say no. I want an amazing ring, though. I deserve that much if I have to deal with Margo.”

  Logan felt like the axis of the world had shifted slightly once she agreed, but all he did was nod. “Amazing ring. I’ll make sure to pass along that particular demand.” He smiled and shook his head at her general attitude, then lifted his wine glass and clinked it with Brianne’s. “Time to go talk to Liam and let him know I’ve condemned him to holy matrimony. This should be fun.”

  “The other two already agreed? Are you serious?” She actually burst out laughing and then drank her wine quickly afterward. “I hope you can run fast. He’s going to want your head on a pike.”

  “Don’t worry, I have a plan, and I’m not as drunk as he is.” Logan said with a grin, then finished his wine and walked away, leaving his glass on the table. He went to find Anna first, and pulled her up out of her seat without any explanation, only to take her place and pull her back into his lap almost commandingly, sighing as he sat down and she got comfortable. “What did I miss?”

  Anna was quick to curl up into him with her bare ass on his lap, though no one else knew about that part except Logan. She kissed him several times before she responded. “Cory and Ben were telling me all sorts of stories about what they plan to do to expand the farm, I bugged Cory and Larissa for a while and told my brother to step up and propose already, and I danced with them each several times.” She kissed him harder and nipped at his bottom lip. “I missed you.”

  “I missed you too. And unfortunately, I’m not quite finished yet.” He explained reluctantly, though his hands moved over her waist and mostly-bare legs to enjoy the feeling of having her silky smooth curves against him. He kissed her with a low moan that only she could hear, then moved to whisper in her ear to make sure only she got what he was saying. “All three of them are in. If I’m being honest, a part of me thought that would never happen. But apparently it is.”

  Clearly Anna was surprised by that, but she kissed him again anyway before she responded. “Don’t let him beat you up, okay? You promised me a naked honeymoon, and I don’t want to have to tend to any broken bones.”

  “Every single one of you has said that to me in the last half hour. I’m beginning to take it as a vote of no confidence in my ability to kick my own brother’s ass. Are you people not aware that I’ve been beating the shit out of this guy since we were in the womb? Come on. Give me some credit. You’re my wife, you’re supposed to be on my side.”

  “I’m on your side. And under normal circumstances I would say that you would have no problem. But you just made a triple-arrangement of marriage for your brother behind his back. It’s not going to be pretty.”

  “I’ll give you the highlights once it’s over and done with. Just promise me that if I die, you’ll make sure to mourn me properly. I expect to be able to look in on copious amounts of masturbation to my memory when I’m a ghost.”

  Anna smacked his shoulder and slid off of his lap. “No dying. Now go take care of business and get back here quickly. My vagina can only take so much neglect.”

  “Neglect.” He scoffed as he stood up, one hand resting on her waist, his fingers moving over the smooth fabric of her dress to pointedly remind her that there was nothing underneath it to stop him. “Not a word you can use on me. I’ll be back soon, even if it’s not soon enough.”

  “You better be.” Anna pulled him into a heated kiss and then looked him in the eye with a smirk. “I’m going to say my goodbyes. I’ll wait for you in our room, alright?”

  “Sounds good. Tell everybody I had to step away for a minute and that if they need anything, see Larissa. She’ll handle closing up.” He kissed her again, closing her dress in one fist with a moan. “Keep the dress on until I get there.”

  “Aren’t you bossy.” She smiled as he held onto her dress to keep her from getting away, then she whispered to him again. “I was hoping you could rip it off of me.”

  “Great minds.” He chuckled as he finally let go. “Dirty minds, maybe, but still great ones.” He left a caress along her side as he stepped away, still looking back at her for a while before he had to turn his attention to finding his brother.

  Logan approached Liam cautiously across the trampled ground of the dance floor, and smiled when his brother greeted him with a hug. He’d clearly been drinking, but unlike Brianne, Logan knew his brother well enough to know when he was too drunk to take something seriously as opposed to buzzed and having a good time. “Hey, walk with me a minute, will ya? I want to talk to you about something.”

  Liam put down his beer and gave Margo a kiss goodbye to go along with a slap on the ass as he walked away, still grinning both at Logan and back over his shoulder at Margo. Apparently Margo had collected herself and returned, and Liam was none the wiser. “Yeah, man, what’s going on?”

  “Just walk with me someplace.” Logan put an arm on his brother’s shoulder as they walked, still smiling and trying desperately to think through what the hell he was going to say. “You feeling alright?”

  “Yeah, I’m good. Some of that old shit we had down in the cellar is stronger than I gave it credit for, but I’m alright. I switched back to beer a while ago, so I’m set.” He wasn’t walking crooked or slurring his words either, which gave Logan quite a bit of hope for the conversation to come.

  “The old shit is the good shit. We’ll have to see about picking up more from our cousin connection out on the West Coast next time we talk to them.” Logan agreed with a grin, then turned a corner on the trail to come around a rise, heading for the watchtower that served as the overlook for their estate.

  “What the hell are we doing out here?” Liam asked in confusion, finally realizing that Logan had a destination in mind for their walk.

  “I told you, there’s something I want to talk to you about. It’s right up here.” Logan reassured his brother with a tap on the shoulder, then pulled away to head for the foot of the tower where the lift was waiting to take them to the top. “After you.”

  “You’re worried about bugging the controls during your own wedding party? After the harvest is over? We’re not even gonna use this shit for another year, man, what are you doing?” Liam was still walking as he spoke, though, and he stepped into the lift to wait for his brother to join him.

  Logan calmly pulled the metal grating of the lift door closed between them as Liam looked around in confusion, then took a pitchfork that had been thrown down nearby and jammed it into the locking mechanism on one side, wedging it in place so that it couldn’t be opened until the pitchfork was removed.

  “Hey, what the fuck is this?!?” Liam began to shout, instinctively rushing at the bars to try and get out.

  “Calm down, it’s only for a minute.” Logan reassured
once he stood back up, looking Liam in the eye and remaining fairly close to the grate so he could talk to his brother. “I just needed to make sure you weren’t gonna try and beat the shit out of me and this was the easiest way to do that.”

  “What am I gonna beat the shit out of you for?” Liam was starting to get even more frantic, but he calmed down slightly with the reassurance that he’d be let out. “Can’t you just say ‘hey man, don’t punch me when I say this, alright?’ Don’t you trust me to hold my shit together for ten seconds?”

  “Majority of the time, yeah, I absolutely trust you. This time it’s iffy. So calm down and let’s talk for a minute, alright? I want you to keep an open mind.” Logan did back away once it was obvious that Liam wasn’t going to go completely ballistic and try to tear his way out. Logan wasn’t actually sure the metal grating would hold him for any significant length of time, but it only had to do the job until he calmed down. He didn’t think that would be too much to ask.

  “What am I keeping an open mind about?” Liam backed away from the bars, pacing behind them from one end of the lift to the other out of sudden nerves. “Is this something about Jannah?”

  “In a way, yeah.” Logan heaved a sigh. “Larissa looks like she’s pretty happy with Cory, but she’s not the one who’s gonna be head of the family while I’m gone. That would be you. You’re the one who’s gonna be in charge of the estate, running the business…”

  “What, and you don’t think I can handle that?” Liam started raising his voice again, approaching the bars like he was going to try and break through them.

  “No, you can handle it fine. I was just saying I don’t worry about that.” Logan snapped forcefully enough that Liam actually stepped back and resumed his pacing. “I don’t worry about you handling shit around here because you’re one of maybe three people in the world who I can always, always trust to have my back, no matter what, no matter where. I know you’re gonna handle it and I know you’re gonna keep it together. But it’s my job, as your brother, to make sure I help you do that any way I can.”