by Marla Monroe
Granger had finally worn him down, and they were going to drive another day before they searched for a place to settle down. His friend was convinced that they would be safer farther west. While he had his doubts they would be safe anywhere, he let the other man talk him into it since Granger had been out this way and he hadn’t.
He glanced up to the mirror to see how Destiny was doing. She’d abandoned her book and was asleep, or resting her eyes. She looked better than she had when they’d first found her, but she was still too thin and there were still circles beneath her eyes. She was amazing, though. Despite having been raised a virtual prisoner by circumstances in her aunt and uncle’s home and never allowed to go outside for fear of being taken, she was a wealth of information. She’d have nothing but time to read and study the books they’d gotten for her.
“What are you thinking about?” Granger asked in a soft voice.
“She’s special, Granger.”
“Yeah.” The other man turned and studied her for a few seconds. “That’s why I want to look farther north for a place to live. She deserves the chance to live a little without being constantly hidden away inside to keep her safe. I don’t know how long it will last, but for a while, anyway, she’ll have that freedom to move around some out here.”
“I just hope we find a place soon. The air is a lot cooler during the day than it’s been.” Marty looked up at the clouds building in the distance.
“We’re getting close to Yellowstone now, Marty. We’ll find somewhere soon. I’ve been looking at the maps, and there’s a lot of cabins and such along the Yellowstone River. I think that’s our best bet to find a place to settle down. There should be people in that area.”
“I hope you’re right. I wish we’d started this trip in the spring instead of the fall,” Marty muttered.
“Guess we didn’t have much of a choice, Marty. Wishing for something we don’t have any control over isn’t helping things.” Granger glared at him.
Marty sighed. “You’re right. Sorry. I’m just on edge. I’ve been through the winter back there”—he nodded his head behind him—“and it was hard enough then. I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like out here. Plus, we’re farther north than we were to begin with.”
“I know, but we’re safer out here. If it was just me, I’d move deeper north, but it would be too hard on Destiny.” Granger stared back at the still-sleeping woman.
“Um, she’s been moving sort of stiff the last few days. Do you think we hurt her the other night?” Marty asked.
It had been bothering him ever since they’d taken her together that maybe it wasn’t the right thing to do. He worried that Granger was too much for Destiny, that his need to take her that way was based on what had happened to him in prison somehow. He hadn’t broached the subject with the other man because they hadn’t really had the opportunity to talk alone before now.
Granger stared at him for a long, silent minute. “Are you really saying that maybe I hurt her the other night, Marty?”
“That’s not what I asked. Don’t go putting words in my mouth, man.” Guilt ate at Marty’s insides. Guilt over using Destiny like they had, and guilt over thinking that Granger might hurt her even accidently.
“It’s what you meant, Marty. I can see it in your eyes.” Granger’s voice had tightened, sounding cold.
“I’m just saying that maybe we were too hard on her. Anal sex isn’t exactly something that most women enjoy, and she was a freaking virgin when we met her all of, what, a week ago. Maybe you’re moving too fast, Granger.” Marty felt marginally better for having gotten it out, but he hated putting his fears into words at the same time.
“And how would you know what most women enjoy when it comes to anal sex, Marty? I got the impression it wasn’t something you’ve ever tried before.”
Marty glared over at the other man. He’d almost implied that Marty didn’t know much about women or sex. It burned his ass that the other man could read him so well. No, he probably didn’t have as much sexual experience as Granger had, but that didn’t mean he didn’t listen to what others said.
“No, I’ve never done that before, but I listened to others talk. And my sister and I were once pretty close. I’m not ignorant about the subject of sex, or even anal sex. I just don’t see why, if it’s not something most women enjoy, you are so serious about it. If Destiny doesn’t really like it, are you going to be able to give it up, or is it something you can’t live without?”
“What the hell? Marty, if she didn’t like it, she wouldn’t have had the best damn orgasm she’d ever had before. What is this really about?”
Marty struggled to put into words what was bothering him. He liked Granger. The man knew how to handle himself, and beneath all of the gruffness, he had a heart of gold. But there was a wildness about him that worried Marty. He didn’t want Destiny hurt.
“I think you’re too hard on her sometimes, is all. She’s not a woman who’s been around men before. She was a virgin when we found her, Granger. You all but run over her sometimes. Maybe we shouldn’t have pushed her into taking both of us together like that until we’d settled down and had a real home around her, maybe other women for her to talk to.”
The muscles around Granger’s jaw worked as he seemed to struggle to remain in control. Marty watched the man in his peripheral vision as his friend worked at reigning in his emotions. It had obviously struck a nerve with Granger that he hadn’t lashed out at him immediately. Marty expected the other man to throw a punch despite the fact that Granger was driving.
“I would never harm her, Marty. She’s my life. If you don’t like the idea of sharing her with me, you need to come right out and say it, because I’m not giving her up for you or anyone.”
Marty’s head jerked toward Granger, surprise clogging his throat. He hadn’t expected the other man to think he didn’t want to share her with him. Yeah, in a perfect world he would have wanted her all to himself, but he loved her too much to risk her life because he was too possessive to want her safe.
“I don’t expect you to, Granger. She needs you as much as she needs me. That’s not what I was saying at all.” Marty ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “I’ve always associated anal sex with degradation. It was something men enjoyed to prove their dominance over someone, man or woman. It isn’t normally very enjoyable for a woman, and asking someone to endure it just because I liked it seems selfish to me. I wouldn’t force a woman to swallow if she didn’t want to either.”
“So you think I like anal sex because it makes me feel superior or something?” Granger’s expression hadn’t changed. He still appeared cold and indifferent to Marty’s insinuations.
“I don’t know what you think, Granger. I just know how it looks, what it suggests.”
Granger looked back at their woman, sleeping quietly. Marty could see a soft smile on her face as if her dreams were pleasant for a change. He glanced at Granger and saw the softness for her there before he masked it once again and turned back around.
“Just because I was raped in prison doesn’t mean I’m too damaged to know what I really feel, Marty. I enjoy anal sex because it feels amazing. I liked it before I ever went to prison. I like the intimacy of it, how it shows the ultimate in trust when a woman allows you to take her that way. I like the way it bonds the three of us when we are all three joined like that. We feel more like a family in that moment than in any other.” He stared out the passenger window.
Marty felt like a total asshole at the depth of emotion that finally slipped free of Granger’s ironclad hold. It was obvious the other man felt deeply about them as a unit.
“To answer your question, Marty, if Destiny didn’t like anal sex, I could do without it and would. She’s more important to me than sex, period. But sex is a part of any relationship, even the lack of it. It’s part of what binds people together or tears them apart. If she didn’t like anal sex, I would never bring it up again.”
The silence in the Jeep gre
w thick and palpable to him as he drove. Granger didn’t say another word the rest of the day until they reached an intersection and he told Marty to turn right. Thirty minutes later, Granger pulled the map back out and stared at it. After a few minutes, he looked back up and sighed.
“There are three roads coming up in the next few minutes. All three roads lead to different areas with houses and such on them. I’m not sure which one to pick. I think the best one is the last one because it will be closer to the river and afford a better chance of fresh water and fishing,” Granger told him.
“Then what’s the problem? Why aren’t you settled on that one then?”
“I’m not sure of the type houses there. It may be a primitive area with the bare minimum of living conditions. That’s not what we need so close to winter.”
“So, we go there and check them out. If they aren’t what we want, we spend the night and backtrack to the next set tomorrow,” Marty said.
“That’s what I had about settled on, but those clouds worry me. They look too much like snow clouds to me. You’ve had the heater on all day, haven’t you? That last time we stopped to syphon gas it was nippy out, and I was wearing a coat.” Granger stared at the map once again.
“I vote for the road closest to the river. We’ll make the best of whatever we end up with,” Marty told him with a sigh.
“Okay. Then turn left at the third road you come to. It looks to be a gravel road according to the map. I hope it’s gravel and not dirt, or it won’t bode well for the type of accommodations waiting at the end of the line.”
When Marty reached the third turn off, he sighed at the sight of gravel and turned down the road. Almost immediately, Destiny woke up with the change to the uneven road.
“Hey, where are we?” she asked in a husky voice.
“Almost home, ladybug.” Marty smiled at her in the mirror.
Almost immediately her eyes brightened and sleep fell away. He liked seeing her smile, loved hearing her laugh. He glanced over at Granger and found the other man staring out the side window. He’d created a rift between them that he had to figure out how to fix. They couldn’t afford to have it stretching between them.
Thirty minutes later it started to rain. Great big fat drops that seemed to have more weight to them than he would expect splattered the windshield as the trees around them swayed in the rising wind. He was having trouble negotiating the road in the downpour, and the wind only added to the problem. His fingers cramped from gripping the wheel so tightly, but it took holding it that way to keep from ending up in a ditch or careening into a tree. He prayed one of those massive things didn’t fall either on them or in front of them.
A few times, they seemed to be driving parallel to the river, worrying him that he’d lose control and they’d end up in the water. If that happened, they didn’t stand a chance in hell of survival. The one good thing about the state of the world was that he was pretty certain they wouldn’t be meeting any other cars on the road, which meant he was fairly safe driving down the center.
“How much longer ’til we get there?” Destiny called over the noise of the wind and rain.
“Hard to tell,” Granger said. “With the weather like this, I can’t tell how far we’ve driven. I think we’re nearly there.”
Almost like he’d called it up, they emerged into a clearing with a large building looming ahead of them. He could see a flickering light in one of the windows. Slowing down, Marty looked over toward Granger.
“Looks like someone lives there. Do we stop, or do we keep driving and look for another place?”
A tree fell off to the side, barely missing them. Destiny screamed when some of the limbs brushed the side of the Jeep.
“We can’t keep driving in this,” Granger said. “Let’s go see if they are friend or foe.”
* * * *
Destiny gripped the seatbelt with both hands as they pulled up in front of the large building. It looked a lot like some of the ski lodges she’d seen in books she’d read. It was much too large to be one person’s home since they weren’t in any of the larger cities like Hollywood, where people had ridiculously large houses. The door swung open, and an enormous man stood staring out at them with a gun that was much larger than Granger’s rifle. It looked like a shotgun from what she’d read.
“I’m going to step out and talk to the man. You two sit tight,” Granger said.
“He’s got a really big gun, Granger. What if he shoots you?” Destiny didn’t want him taking the chance. “Let’s just leave and find another place.”
“It’s okay, darling. I’ll be fine. You just sit tight. Marty, if anything happens…”
“I know. Be careful, man.”
The look Granger gave him seemed odd to her. What was going on? She didn’t like this one bit. Granger opened the door and held his hands up as he got out into the blinding rain. She started shaking, worrying that any second she’d hear the sound of a gun going off.
With the wind and rain as loud as it was, she couldn’t hear anything and could barely see Granger as he slowly walked toward the strange man. Then he disappeared altogether when he stepped inside.
“Marty?”
“Shhh, honey. He’ll be fine. They’re just talking. If they’d been going to shoot him, they wouldn’t have allowed him inside the place.” Marty’s voice sounded confident, but she wasn’t feeling the same.
After what felt like forever to her, the door opened and Granger ran back out to the Jeep. Marty unlocked the door just as the other man reached it and snatched it open. Granger climbed inside, an umbrella in his hand.
“They’re going to let us stay with them temporarily while we finish fixing a cabin close by they’ve been working on. The men aren’t real comfortable with us, so go slow. They have a child and their woman, so they’re cautious,” Granger told them. “Marty, we’ll grab the packs. Destiny, take the umbrella so you don’t get too wet. With the wind like it is, I’m not sure it’s going to help much.”
Destiny was excited to be staying somewhere other than abandoned buildings for a change, but she was nervous about meeting the others. Granger had said to be careful, so that meant he wasn’t one hundred percent sure of their welcome. When he opened her door, she was ready, opening the umbrella and jumping out at the same time. She ran for the door and was instantly plucked from the rain by a mountain of a man. He set her down and took the umbrella from her.
She looked way up at him and quickly took a step back. The man had to be six and a half feet or more. His shaggy black hair and equally dark eyes frightened her. When he turned away from her to close the door once Marty and Granger were inside once again, she breathed a sigh of relief. Marty and Granger quickly pulled her behind them.
“Thank you for letting us stay tonight,” Marty said.
The big man grunted but didn’t say anything more. They stood staring at each other in silence until the sound of someone hurrying down the stairs had him turning in a flash.
“Abe, stop glaring at them. They’re soaked to the skin and need to dry off.” The sound of a woman’s voice had Destiny peering around Marty’s side.
The woman standing in front of the giant looked tiny compared to the big man. Her light brown eyes sparkled with amusement as she looked up at him. Poking him in the chest, she walked around him, but he pulled her back into his arms.
“Hi, I’m Celina and this is Abe, one of my husbands. Russell is upstairs getting your room ready.” Her sweet smile made Destiny feel slightly less fearful of the giant of a man behind her.
“I’m Granger, and this is Marty, and our woman, Destiny,” Granger told them.
Destiny noticed that Celina was about three inches taller than she was. The woman’s smile was infectious, and she found herself smiling back. She started to slip around Marty’s side to say hello, but he kept her behind him. When she would have said something to him about letting her go, another man descended the stairs carrying a child who looked no more than five or six months old
. She had a head full of honey-blonde hair that looked soft as a cloud.
“Your room is ready. The bathroom is open to the room on the other side, but you can lock the door if you feel more comfortable. There’s no one here but us, though.” The man shifted the child in his arms.
“This is Russell. The young woman behind them is their woman, Destiny,” Celina told him.
Russell nodded toward them, then handed the baby to Abe. “I’ll show you the way.”
They followed him toward the stairs, the light from the roaring fire in the fireplace lighting their way. Destiny looked back to see Abe talking softly to Celina with a stern expression on his face. The woman laughed and hugged him. Evidently she wasn’t scared of him.
When they reached the landing, Russell grabbed a lantern sitting on a table and led them down the hall to one of the rooms with the door open.
“Here you go, keep the lantern. I’ll grab another one. When you’re dry and ready to come downstairs, we’ll fix something to eat and talk.” With that, Russell left them in the hall and disappeared into the darkness.
Granger hurried her into the room behind Marty and closed the door behind them. Marty set the lantern on the dresser in front of the mirror, and the two men began rummaging through the packs for dry clothes.
“Get out of those clothes, ladybug. I’ll grab a towel and dry you off.” Marty hurried into the bathroom and returned with several towels.
They all stripped and quickly dried off, then dressed in dry clothes. She hung their wet things around the room to dry while Granger draped the towels in the bathroom to dry. The sight of the bed looking all comfortable and inviting sent a longing inside of her she hadn’t realized she had. It had been several nights since they’d slept on a real bed. She was eager to climb into this one.
“Let’s go on downstairs. I want Destiny in front of that fire so she doesn’t catch cold,” Granger said.
Marty grabbed the lantern, and they filed out of the room and down the hall to the stairs. Granger immediately put her next to the railing and made sure she gripped it as they descended the steps. She wasn’t sure whether to feel annoyed or cherished. Before she could dwell on it too long, Granger was pulling her in front of the fireplace.
