Monroe, Marla - Escape to the Border Lands [Men of the Border Lands 8] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Marla Monroe

  Rachael followed him, and when he started putting on his coat, she wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head against his chest.

  “Hold me for just a minute, Micah. I really need you to hold me.” She needed someone to make her feel like everything was going to be okay. She needed to hold on to him to know that he was real and would be coming back in. She didn’t know why she felt so needy, but she craved human contact. Jeremy was too sick to count.

  Micah’s hands slowly settled on her back. He even rubbed up and down it for a few seconds before gently pulling away. In a gruff voice, he told her everything was going to be fine. Then he resumed putting on his coat, hat, and gloves before opening the door and walking out into the snowy afternoon.

  Rachael watched through the window until he was too far away in the snow to see. The occasional flake fell from the sky, adding to the blanket of snow now covering everything in the area. It looked to be a good three feet deep. No doubt it would be tough to walk in. Would the wolves even attempt to walk in it? They were only about that tall anyway.

  She shivered and turned her thoughts to other things. She put on a pot of water to boil and added a bouillon cube of beef to make broth for Jeremy. Then she let it simmer while she checked on the fire. She noticed that they were low on wood. She would need to tell Micah so he could bring some more inside. She wished she could go outside to help but knew it would be stupid. She wouldn’t be able to carry but one log at a time and would expose herself if the wolves were out there.

  As she waited for the broth to simmer down, she thought about how her feelings for Micah had evolved into love. She wished she could tell him but figured it would only push him away. If he knew how she felt, he was liable to pull away from her. They had slowly grown closer the last few days, and she wanted to keep it that way. Ever since the first night he had played with her ass, he had been less snappish and more responsive to her. She wanted to believe that he was capable of loving her at some time in the future. It might not be in the next two or three months but maybe in a few years.

  Just being able to touch him was a gift to her, when before he would pull away from her. The way he checked on her when he got up in the morning or came back in during the day warmed her. He had some feelings for her. Maybe he only cared for her, but the feelings were there. She could work on growing them to something better.

  In the meantime, she had Jeremy to care for. She poured up some of the broth into a bowl and waited for it to cool down sufficiently so that it wouldn’t burn him going down. Then she sat on the floor by the couch and spooned it into his mouth until he finally woke up enough to try to help. He made more of a mess than was necessary, but he was getting enough in him to do some good. She cleaned him up before letting him lie back and relax again.

  “Rachael?”

  “Yeah, Jeremy.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “For what? You’ve been sick.”

  “I put those bruises on your arms, didn’t I?”

  “They’re just small ones. They’ll be gone before you know it. Rest, Jeremy.”

  He leaned back and closed his eyes. Seconds later, he was snoring. Rachael smiled. He would be well soon. It would be a while before he would have all of his energy back, though. In the meantime, she had plenty to do to keep her busy. She gathered up the dirty clothes and towels she’d used caring for Jeremy and washed as many as she could. Then she hung them around the kitchen by the stove to dry them.

  By the time that Micah had returned about five that night, it was dark outside and there was no moon to light the way. She had lit several lamps so they could eat in the kitchen away from Jeremy. The other man was resting after she had fed him his broth once again.

  “Everything okay?” he asked as soon as he walked in the door.

  “Yes, everything is fine. How are you doing?”

  “Tired but holding up. I’m going to sleep as soon as I finish eating. I’m beat today. The clouds are breaking up some off to the west. That’s good news.”

  “I’ll clean everything up, and we can all go to bed early. I could use the sleep myself.”

  She finished eating what she could and waited on Micah to finish his. He declined seconds. He said he was just too tired. There were lines in his face that hadn’t been there a few days before. The shadows under his eyes attested to how tired he was.

  “I’m going to go upstairs and take a quick shower. I’ll be down in a few minutes.” He stood up and headed toward the other room.

  Rachael quickly cleaned up the kitchen and checked on Jeremy. Then she walked upstairs to find Micah drying off in the bathroom when she walked in. His head jerked up.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. I do need something, though.” She went to her knees before him and ran her hands up his strong thighs.

  “What are you doing, Rachael?”

  “Taking what I need.” She wrapped her hands around the base of his cock and lightly squeezed.

  He reached out and grabbed her head. She leaned forward and licked his long dick from her hands to the tip of his cockhead and back down again. When she licked back up the stalk and across the slit, she tasted the tangy saltiness of his cum that had formed a little drop in the slit. She lapped at the slit, causing Micah to hiss out a breath and fist her hair in his hands.

  The slight pull of her hair added to her excitement at sucking Micah’s long dick. She licked him like an all-day sucker she couldn’t get enough of. Then she licked around the edge and nipped at the crown. He groaned but didn’t try and force her down on his cock.

  Instead of sucking him in and out of her mouth, Rachael slowly inched her way down his dick, licking as she did. When she was as deep as she could go, she swallowed around him then backed off of him with just the edge of her teeth teasing him. He groaned and held tighter to her head.

  “Fuck, baby. I’m already close. Let me have you, baby. Can I sink my cock in your hot cunt?”

  “Please, Micah. I want you inside of me.” It came out all breathy. She was already so excited that her panties were soaked.

  She expected him to just bend her over as he’d done before, but this time he slowly removed all her clothes and tossed them aside. Then he picked her up and set her on the bathroom counter. The cold countertop sent a chill down her spine.

  “Damn, that’s cold.”

  She squirmed but stopped when he picked her legs up and pulled her to the edge. Then he thrust his cock deep into her cunt. The combination of the cold counter at her ass and his hot cock thrusting through tender tissues stirred up sparks inside her. Micah’s dick throbbed inside of her as he pulled out and plunged in once again. This time he bumped her cervix. She called out and wrapped her legs around his butt. She didn’t want to stop him from moving. She only wanted to keep him inside of her. It felt good for him to be there, somehow right.

  “Aw, baby. Your pussy is like a velvet fist squeezing my cock. I can’t get enough of you.”

  “Please, Micah. Faster. Harder. I need more.” She threw her head from side to side trying to capture that elusive feeling of euphoria that was just out of reach.

  He redoubled his efforts and began tunneling in and out of her pussy, sending enormous sparks through her clit. They struck her in various areas, from her clit to her cervix. She jerked with each stroke of his cock that passed over her sweet spot. She moaned and leaned back against the glass of the mirror. She didn’t think she could possibly make it a minute longer, but he slowed down and drew it out.

  When she looked up to fuss at him, he had a massive grin on his face. He was up to something. She was in a bad spot. He leaned forward and licked her nipples then bit at them. The added pain doubled to pleasure when he then licked them once again. He buried his face between her breasts and licked his way from the valley up to one of the peaks where he sucked it in and drew on it. Then he captured the other one and repeated the move.

  “I want to eat you raw, Rachael. Your breasts and pussy are dangerou
s to someone like me. I can’t get enough of you.” He pulled back and began pistoning in and out of her cunt as he held tightly to her hips with his hands.

  She felt the telltale signs of her orgasm slipping up on her. The pleasure-pain of his hands gripping her ass and hips along with a funny expression on his face told her that he was close as well. He was having a difficult time maintaining the rhythm. She grinned and threw her head back to shout out her joy until he caught her head so that she wouldn’t hit the glass mirror behind her.

  Then he rasped his work-roughened thumb over her clit, sending her into heaven. Pleasure raced down her spine from her clit and on to her womb. Every cell in her body seemed to burn with it.

  Warm breath blew against her cheek as Micah bent over her and slammed into her pussy two more times. Then he held himself there as he coated her cunt in his hot cum. He didn’t move for several long minutes as he panted trying to catch his breath.

  Rachael gasped for breath leaning back against the mirror. She was sure there would be smudge marks on it when she looked next. Right now all she knew was that she couldn’t sit up straight on her own.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I’m dead. Ask me tomorrow after I’ve had some sleep.”

  “We both need to get dressed and downstairs where it’s warm or we’ll be sick next.”

  “I can’t move.” She didn’t want to move. Right then, her climax had her nice and warm all over.

  “You’re going to think can’t move when the room cools off some more. You’re going to wish you had hurried instead.”

  “I need a shower. I’ll be downstairs in a few minutes.” She let him help her off the cabinet before she slid off. Then she squeezed past him to turn on the shower again.

  “I’ll get dressed and wait on you. I don’t want you to fall down the stairs.”

  “Maybe you should check on Jeremy while I’m in the shower. It’s been a while since I came up here.”

  He frowned at her but nodded. She climbed into the shower and moaned at the feel of the hot water against her quickly cooling skin. She bathed as fast as she could and then dried off so she could dress. Once she had on all her clothes, she carried the lamp out of the bedroom to find Micah walking up the stairs.

  “Jeremy is fine. Come on. I’ll carry the lamp. You concentrate on making it down without falling.”

  “I’m fine, Micah.” She shook her head but was careful to watch her step.

  Once downstairs again, they climbed up in the recliner and talked about the snow and what they would do the next day, before drifting off. Rachael knew her brain was playing tricks on her when she thought she heard him say he loved her before she fell asleep.

  Chapter Eleven

  Several days later, Jeremy was up and moving around. He was still very weak, but mobile. That took a tremendous strain off of Rachael. She didn’t have to keep him turned, bathed, and dry. He could feed himself and even helped some in the kitchen.

  “I don’t see why I can’t go out and help Micah. He’s worn-out.”

  “You’re not completely over your illness. You’re still too weak to walk upstairs without resting. How are you going to walk through snow, much less shovel it?”

  “Fine. You’ve made your point.” He huffed out a breath and stomped into the living room.

  She just shook her head and continued chopping up vegetables for the roast she was cooking. Micah had killed a deer the day before. Dressing it had taken the rest of the afternoon and into the night. She was worried that he would get sick next, but there was nothing she could do about it.

  Instead, she had taken much of the meat and was cooking all of it she could then they would make jerky out of the rest. They had a good piece of it in the cold box outside. She had the roast she was cooking, several deer steaks for breakfast, and another roast she had in the oven now. They would have plenty of meat for a few days to a week, especially if the temperatures stayed below freezing.

  Micah walked in from the outside and pulled off his outerwear. He looked bushed. It hurt to look at him and know how tired he had to be.

  “I’ll fix some coffee.”

  “Don’t bother. I’m going to take a nap. I’ll drink some when I wake up.”

  “Okay. Dinner should be ready when you wake up.”

  “Looks like the snow is going to start melting tomorrow. It’s warmer out there now than it has been in over a week.”

  “That’s good news.”

  “Except for the mud we’ll track in.”

  Rachael stuck her tongue out at his back as he walked toward the other room. Great, mud. She would be mopping that up instead of snow for the next few weeks. She heard him and Jeremy talking in the background as she finished up the vegetables. After covering the pan, she shoved it in the oven and stood up, rubbing her aching back.

  That would need to cook for a couple of hours. She could relax until then. She walked into the living room to find Jeremy in his recliner and Micah stretched out in his. She curled up on the couch and willed her body to rest. After about thirty minutes, she realized she wasn’t going to sleep, so she got up and headed for the stairs. She needed to look through the room with women’s clothes for some more warm-weather things. She only had two sets of clothes, and it was too hard to keep up with the washing in the cold.

  It took her a while, but she finally located a couple more pairs of long johns and several more long-sleeve shirts. She had plenty of jeans. She did find another coat. It was a little large, but it would be good for keeping her warm.

  When she emerged from the room with her finds, she heard the men calling her name. She hurried down the hall and called out to them.

  “I’m up here. What’s wrong?”

  “We’ve been looking everywhere for you.” Micah stomped up the stairs. “What are you doing up there?”

  “Finding clothes to wear. I only have two complete outfits, and it’s hard to keep them clean in the cold.”

  “Next time tell us where you are.”

  “You were sleeping and I wasn’t going anywhere outside. I was in the stupid house. I shouldn’t have to tell you every step I take.”

  Jeremy stepped between them. “Easy. Let’s not get angry. Rachael is fine, and she was inside the entire time.”

  “But we didn’t know that.”

  “If I’d been outside, you would have seen my footprints in the snow. You knew I wasn’t outside. You’re just spoiling for a fight for some reason. Why?”

  He stood there staring at her for several long seconds before releasing a long breath and running both hands over his face.

  “I’m tired. I’m sorry. I need more rest.”

  “Go finish your nap. I’m downstairs now. I’m not going anywhere except the kitchen.”

  She watched Micah climb back on the recliner and push it back so that he was lying down. He laced his fingers together and put them behind his head. She waited until she was sure he was settled before grabbing Jeremy by the elbow and steering him in the other room.

  “Do you think you and I could do the chickens and the cow tomorrow if we go together? You can take the gun and I’ll do the work.”

  “We can do that. Micah won’t let us, though.”

  “I’m planning on him being asleep. I’ve had to wake him up the last few mornings. If he sleeps through it, he’ll never know until it’s too late.”

  “He’ll have a cow when he does find out.”

  “He needs the rest, Jeremy. You know he does.”

  “Yeah. I’m game if you are. At least I won’t get my ass chewed by myself. He’ll have yours to chomp on, too.”

  “Funny.”

  They sat around the kitchen table and discussed the weather and how much longer winter would last. She found out she had another two or three months of it.

  “How did you do it all before I got here? I mean I’m not doing a lot for you, but enough that I don’t see how you managed.”

  “We just did it. I think you know that the house d
idn’t get cleaned, and we ate plain meals. Nothing as nice as what you fix us.”

  “I hope Micah will decide to meet some of the other families around us. He knows they were right about the wolves now, so he might do it.”

  “It’s a possibility. He was pretty upset over the number of them at our last count. Makes you think that he will decide to join them for a hunt for sure. I’m all for it. I don’t like worrying about something attacking me while my back is turned.”

  “I want to meet the other women and see if they can teach me anything about canning and such that I might not know. I’m not an expert by any means. Mostly I froze vegetables, so canning is new to me. I barely got the garden put away this last time.”

  “If the women are as nice as the two men we met were, you shouldn’t have any trouble at all making friends with them.”

  “It really would be nice to have another woman to talk to on occasion.”

  “I knew it. You’re missing the female company after all,” he teased.

  She huffed out a breath but smiled. He was right. She was missing female company, but mostly she wanted to find out if any of the women would end up being her friends. She felt guilty at not trying to find them, but they had all agreed that once they separated, they weren’t to try to locate each other until everyone had time to settle down. They didn’t want someone to get caught by the dealers if possible.

  She continued to listen to Jeremy talk about how they had lived before she came and how much nicer it was since she had arrived.

  “We’re a family now, though. Maybe we’ll have kids one day,” he was saying.

  Rachael jumped back into the conversation. “What? Wait. Kids?”

  “Well yeah. Families are usually made up of a couple of kids. There are probably families around that already have kids.”

  “I hadn’t thought that far ahead. I mean, kids? I’d have to get pregnant. I’ve never been pregnant before. Who would deliver the baby?”

  “Baby! What baby?” Micah walked into the room with a look of fear on his face.

  “There’s no baby, Micah. Jeremy is talking about having kids in the future. I hadn’t even imagined it.”