by Marla Monroe
“I think it has a baby with it. I saw it move, Porter,” she whispered loudly.
Edward chuckled. “Why are you whispering, Hannah? Afraid it can hear you?”
She glared at him, uncaring if he saw her or not. He was being an asshole. Sure she had taken the place of the woman he’d married and now he was stuck with her, but she hadn’t had much of a choice either.
“Crap. I can’t see it anymore now that we’re past it. You’re going to have to keep an eye on the screen from the cameras. I think Hannah is right though. I think it was trying to make sure we didn’t see its baby or come after it.” Porter shook his head. “That was one ugly fucker.”
“Hope there aren’t any waiting around on us when we get to the house. I don’t particularly like the idea of unloading this thing in the dark as it is,” Edward said.
“It’s going to be dark when we get there?” she asked.
“Yeah. Not full dark, but close. At least there are two moons here. That will help with visibility to some extent, but not enough to suit me.” Edward kept looking at the monitors that showed the view of what was behind them. So far there was no sign of the mantis or anything else for that matter.
“When we get there, stay right there until one of us comes and gets you to take you inside. Then stay inside. Got it?” Porter asked her.
“I’ve got it.” She didn’t like being treated like a child. She hadn’t been a child in a very long time. Taking care of her sister and the way things had changed so fast back on Earth had aged her far more than her mere twenty-five years.
“Keep an eye out for any more of those things. I don’t want any surprises if we can help it,” Edward told them.
Hannah scanned ahead of them while Porter watched out the side window. It was starting to grow darker as they raced toward their new home. When Edward started slowing down, she jerked her head around to stare at him. As if sensing her worry, he looked over at her.
“We’re here. Our new home should be right over that little hill.”
She held her breath, waiting for them to reach the top to get her first glimpse of her new life. When they got there, Edward drew to a halt so that they could all gaze down at the two-story house set slightly away from the trees that surrounded most of the land their house was built on. It looked to be a nice-sized house. They’d been told there were four bedrooms. It was expected that they would start having children right from the start. It had been part of the contract everyone had to sign. Of course, Hannah hadn’t signed the contract, Gladys had.
“So what do you think?” Porter asked.
“It’s pretty,” she said.
“Looks like our closest neighbors are about a mile away. See that roof outline over there?” Edward asked.
She nodded. She wondered what they would be like and if they had children yet. She wondered what her two men would be like to her and if they were going to be happy with her or wish they’d never been a part of the colony. Then a horrible thought occurred to her. What if they decided they didn’t want her at all and told her to leave? Where would she go? Was there somewhere in town she could stay? Would they even let her?
Hannah’s entire trip had been wrought with worry that someone would discover her secret and she would be sent back to Earth. Now that she was here, an entirely new set of worries kicked in. What if Edward and Porter didn’t want to have anything to do with her once they got to know her? What would they do with her? The thought of being alone on a strange planet where no one wanted her scared her to death. Panic hit hard, leaving her teary eyed as she looked out at her future, one she now had no control over if she ever had in the first place. The two men sitting on either side of her held it in their hands. With Porter, she felt like she might have a chance to win him into giving her a chance, but Edward didn’t seem to like her much. Suddenly the idea of returning to Earth didn’t sound like a bad idea anymore.
“Let’s get going, Edward. We need to get this thing unpacked before full dark,” Porter said.
“Think you can handle unpacking while we unload?” Edward asked her with a frown.
“I’m not an idiot or a child. I’ll unpack,” she said, staring at him.
“Just wondering what you know about how life is going to be here. I don’t want to have to constantly be watching you to be sure you don’t end up in trouble,” he said, obvious displeasure on his face.
“Edward. What the hell is wrong with you?” Porter asked.
“It’s okay, Porter,” she said. Turning to Edward, she smiled. “I attended every class on the ship and can handle anything that has to be done. If you want to know the truth about it, you should be glad it’s me and not Gladys since she’s lazy and hates anything that requires her to get her hands dirty. I’m not a spoiled woman, Edward. Gladys was very spoiled and very mean. Now get moving so we can get on with our lives. I’m sure you have a lot you need to attend to before we eat tonight.”
To her shame, tears spilled from her eyes, but she refused to wipe them away and draw attention to them. Instead, Hannah looked straight ahead as Edward took them down the hill to the beginning of the rest of her life.
Chapter Two
Edward felt like a total ass for the way he’d been treating Hannah. Yeah, she’d taken the place of the woman who’d been selected for them and deceived everyone, but she’d done it to protect her sister. It was obvious the woman they’d been paired with hadn’t been who she’d pretended to be. He didn’t know Hannah and wouldn’t have believed her description about Gladys except that the woman’s personality had come out in the note she’d written loud and clear. She was a very selfish person.
He fingered the envelope in his pocket before jumping down from the transport to check out the house and be sure it was safe inside. Edward dropped to the ground with a light thump as he stepped up on the porch.
“Got your gun ready?” he asked his partner.
Porter grunted and held it up.
“Let’s do this then. On three.” Edward counted to three before he opened the front door and let Porter aim the gun around the room before stepping inside.
He reached over to the wall and felt around till the light came on when his fingers hit the switch. They searched the entire house, making sure there was nothing waiting for them in any of the rooms. The place was nice and quite large, even for three people, but then they were expected to fill it with children as soon as possible. He sighed and followed the other man back outside.
“I’ll help Hannah while you open the back,” Porter said.
He nodded and watched for a second as the other man opened the passenger door to help Hannah down from the buggy. She protested when he tried to lift her down, saying she was too heavy for him, but Porter ignored her and swung her down from the transport, her hair caught his attention as it swayed down her back. He remembered the way it shined in the sun back at the station, a warm honey color with highlights of red and gold.
Why Hannah thought she would weigh too much to be picked up was lost to him. She had broad shoulders and round squeezable hips. Her breasts were slightly more than a handful and just right for a man to slip his cock between and ride them to completion. The plump, kissable lips were perfect on her cute face with her hazel eyes and pert nose. Bedding her wouldn’t be a hardship by any means, but he needed to get his anger over being duped out of his system and put it behind him before they moved any further in their relationship. They had a lifetime ahead of them. Starting out on the wrong note wasn’t a good idea and he’d already done that.
Shaking his head, Edward started unloading the various boxes and trunks from the transport. Before long Porter joined him and they started carting the luggage and supplies inside. When they were down to the last large trunk that would require them both to carry it, Edward pulled out the note that Gladys had sent them and handed it to Porter to read. His new friend looked at him with an unreadable expression before he opened it and began reading.
While Porter read, he kept watch
around them to be sure nothing snuck up on them while they stood out in the open under the two moons that illuminated their new home. He’d nearly forgotten they weren’t back on Earth while he’d been unloading the transport. Lapses like that would get them hurt or killed. He vowed to remember from then on.
“Hannah was obviously telling the truth about her being spoiled and mean spirited. I think we should count ourselves very lucky that Hannah is here with us and not Gladys. What do you think?” Porter folded the note into a small square piece of paper before tucking it inside his pocket.
“You’re right, but what does that say about us?” he asked. “I mean they supposedly matched the three of us based on the questions we answered.”
“She had to have lied when she filled it out. They would never have put someone like her with us. That woman needs a lot of supervision and daily spankings if you ask me,” Porter said, shaking his head and picking up one end of the trunk.
Edward picked up the other end. “I’m not one for corporal punishment, but my brother might have given her a run for her money.”
Porter chuckled. “I’d have liked to watch, but that’s not my idea of a perfect marriage either.”
Edward pushed open the door so they could walk inside the house. As soon as they made it through the door he shoved it closed with his foot and they carried the trunk through the living room to the stairs. He was happy as hell this was the last one. Carrying them up the stairs got old after the first two. Thank goodness there’d only been four with two of them his and two of them Porter’s. As they dropped the heavy trunk to the floor, he remembered that Hannah had only managed to pack the one suitcase and the pack she carried like a purse. Again he felt ashamed of how he’d treated her. No woman would have willingly left for another planet without everything she could have managed to bring along.
He looked up to find her stepping out of the bathroom. Her eyes held worry as she gnawed on her lower lip with her teeth. Edward could feel the tension and nervousness surrounding her and it was all his fault. He sighed.
“Is everything okay in the kitchen?” he asked, trying to sound relaxed and less hostile.
“Um, yes. Everything seems to work fine and there looks to be plenty of food to get us started. I have soup warming and thought I’d make sandwiches to go with it when you’re ready to eat,” she said.
“Sounds good.” Porter opened one of the trunks. “Would you mind putting away my things after dinner? Edward and I will need to contact the other farmers we’ll be working with to talk over schedules and such.”
“I don’t mind. Do you have a preference as to how you want things arranged?” She glanced over toward Edward but quickly turned back to Porter.
“Just however you want to set us up is fine with me. Edward?” Porter looked over at him for confirmation.
“I’m fine with it, too. I’d appreciate it, Hannah,” he said, giving her a slight smile.
She visibly relaxed and nodded. “I’ll put everything away for you as soon as I finish cleaning the kitchen. Let me know when you’re ready to eat.”
“Let’s go ahead and eat now, Hannah. It’s been a long day for all of us. I think a good night’s sleep will do us a world of good,” Porter said.
Had Porter seen her stiffen when he mentioned sleeping or had he imagined it? Edward wondered if she was anxious about sharing her body with them or maybe just him. It wasn’t like he hadn’t given her a reason to be worried. He’d been a complete asshole from the moment she’d revealed that she was replacing Gladys. Edward figured he had a lot of groveling to do in order to smooth things over. He wasn’t looking forward to it one bit.
* * * *
Hannah trudged up the stairs after cleaning the kitchen and putting away the dishes. She could hear Edward and Porter talking to the men from the other farms from the office as she passed. She knew they were living on the opposite side of the original farm where Cam, Phillip, and their wife Lacy lived. Another family lived on the opposite side. She didn’t know who they were yet.
The four trunks and two suitcases were daunting to look at, but she found that once she opened them they wouldn’t be all that difficult to sort out. With Porter being a little shorter than Edward, but beefier than the other man, she was able to determine which were his clothes and which were Edward’s. She figured Porter was about six foot two and probably weighed close to two hundred forty pounds. He wasn’t flabby by any means, with muscles and broad shoulders that reminded her of a wide mountain range. He had shocking green eyes that were mesmerizing when she looked into them.
Edward was maybe an inch taller but not as muscular as Porter. He had defined muscles but less bulky than the other man. His light brown hair was almost a dirty blond with highlights throughout that attested to his time in the sun. He had light blue eyes that seemed to pierce straight to her soul. The fact that he wasn’t exactly pleased that she’d duped them only made it more difficult to look at him. She felt very uncomfortable looking into those knowing blue orbs.
Looking down at her own body, Hannah sighed. She looked like a frumpy maid around them. Gladys had definitely been more their style with her slimmer body type and long blonde hair. Where she tended to burn in the sun, Gladys tanned a golden brown, not that they’d been allowed out once they’d been sequestered beneath the earth. Still, here, she would have looked good next to them.
She shook off those thoughts and continued putting away their clothes. Both men wore boxers but Porter was more adventurous, wearing plaids and bright colors while Edward preferred primary colors. Porter wore PJ bottoms but no tops to bed while Edward wore either boxers or thermals or nothing to bed. She shivered at the thought of him wearing nothing. What would it be like to sleep with a man who slept nude?
She’d had exactly one boyfriend before they’d been pulled from their homes to reside in the bunkers below ground with only other females to interact with. The only men they ever saw were physicians and an occasional older man who checked on how things were going down there.
Jason had been a nice kid, but he’d been just that, a kid. They’d grown up together and been best of friends until it changed into something more. She wondered what happened to him. Shortly after things had gone to hell with the Earth’s changes, Jason had joined a group of men who’d volunteered for the space exploration programs. He’d moved to Florida and she’d never heard from him again. Would he be somewhere on Alpha or had he been sent to another planet somewhere?
It didn’t really matter. They hadn’t been madly in love at any rate or he never would have left. It had stung a little at the time, but she was long over it. Now she had much more important things to worry about, namely, Edward. He obviously resented her for her part in Gladys’s switch up. She couldn’t really blame him, but they needed to get passed it. They were stuck with each other for the rest of their lives.
As she set up their things in the large bathroom next to one of the three sinks, Hannah realized that she’d taken the middle sink and put them on either side of her. It had seemed natural to do that. She just shrugged and made sure she had everything from the box that Porter had separated his bathroom supplies into. She broke down the box and carried it back into the bedroom. All that was left now was to put away the trunks and her suitcase.
The sound of boots on the stairs sent a feeling of panic to her chest making it difficult to draw in a full breath. This was silly. She shouldn’t be nervous like this. They were going to be living together for the rest of their lives. She needed to get control of her emotions and stop feeling so vulnerable around them.
Porter stepped into the room as she started scooting one of the trunks toward her closet. He took one look at her and hurried over to take the other end of the trunk. Edward stepped next to her and reached down for the handle she held with a telling look. Hannah immediately let go and stepped back.
“There’s no need for you to strain yourself with us around. Where were you taking this one?” Porter asked.
�
�There’s a lot more room in my closet. I think we should stack them in the back and along one side,” she said.
Both men frowned at her as they carried the now much lighter trunk into her closet. When they returned for another one, Porter seemed to want to say something but just shook his head. They put three of the four trunks in her closet then shoved the fourth one in the back of their closet. She’d already put away her suitcase and backpack.
“You don’t have very many clothes, Hannah. Most of what you have is only good for the spring and summer. You’re going to need more clothes for winter,” Porter pointed out.
“I know. I figure a few pair of thermals, a coat, and a couple of long-sleeved shirts should do it. I only had warm weather clothes below ground. They kept the temperatures steady year round down there,” she explained.
“You were supposed to be given an allowance to buy what you needed for the trip,” Edward said.
She winced. “Um, Gladys used it to get what she wanted since it was set aside for her anyway.”
“Didn’t she realize you’d need the clothes? Where was she going to run off to anyway? Didn’t she realize she’d end up with Shear’s disease by leaving the bunkers?” Edward asked.
Hannah sighed. “She wasn’t too worried about me and she didn’t want children anyway. She always worried about her figure. I don’t guess she cared if she developed Shear’s disease or not.”
“Do you have what you need otherwise until we go back to Space Station One in two weeks?” Porter asked after shooting the other man an annoyed look.
“Yes. I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me.”
“I didn’t mean it to come out that way, Hannah. I’m sorry. I just meant that you should have had what you needed since you were taking her place. It wasn’t fair of her to do that.” He sounded like he meant it, but she wasn’t sure if she believed that or not.
“I’m really sorry for my part in this, Edward. I didn’t know what else to do. I couldn’t let them throw my sister out with no one out there to watch after her. They wouldn’t have let me go with her. She was all I had left in the world.” Hannah’s voice broke despite clamping down on the tears just below the surface. She would not cry no matter how much she missed her little sister.
