by Louisa Bacio
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
An Excerpt from Awake: Unsleeping Beauty
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The Brothers Menage
Copyright 2017 by Louisa Bacio
ISBN: 978-1-68361-182-0
Cover art by Ravenborn Cover Designs
Expanded and revised from a short story published in the Wickedly Twisted Box Set
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work, in whole or in part, in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.
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Awake: Unsleeping Beauty
Thank you so much for picking up The Brothers Ménage. After growing up in the forest with their adopted father the Huntsman, twins Cliff & Jacob don’t realize they’re looking for love, until they find it! Princess Daphne is making up her own escape from reality.
Ever since I was young, I loved the world of fairytales. In college, I took a few classes on these stories passed down from one generation to the next, and some of the original, more wicked tales.
If you haven’t already, check out where the story begins with Sleeping Beauty meeting the Princess & the Pea in the erotic lesbian tale Awake: Unsleeping Beauty.
Got a favorite tale? I always enjoy hearing from readers. You can reach me at [email protected]
Enjoy!
Dedication
For all those who still believe in fairytales, and enjoy the naughty versions.
Special thanks to editor and publisher Kate Richards, it’s always a pleasure, and to fellow author/editor Sascha Illyvich for pushing me to dig deeper.
The Brothers Ménage
By
Louisa Bacio
They looked nothing alike for being twins. One tall, one short. One dark-haired, and the other blond. Even their temperaments were in complete opposites. Their father used to shake his head at their differences, encouraging them to share and get along as brothers should. Until, one day, their dad led them out into the deep woods, and left them to survive or die.
Chapter One
Twelve Years Later….
The rustling of the wind through the leaves sounded like the laughter of maidens. From the corner of his eye, Cliff caught a flash of reddish-brown, so quick that, by the time he turned to look, it had vanished. Dry matter crunched beneath his feet. This time of year, in the heat of the summer, everything suffered. The noise made it harder for him to track because the animals could hear him coming. Still, the lure of the hunt drew him.
Ducking beneath a low-hanging branch, he again caught a streak of flowing hair, the color of glowing embers. A fawn, maybe? She’d make a fine kill. The air became cooler the closer he came to the river, and the ground softened. Stepping lightly, he approached the drinking area where animals and humans alike refreshed.
He stepped into the clearing, searching the area for his prey. If he returned with dinner, and his brother and father came back empty-handed, he’d be the hero—and full. What he found wasn’t what he expected.
A lone female sat on the riverbank, her delicate, pale feet resting in a pool. She brushed out her long, thick red hair. When he’d thought he was seeing a deer, it was her, this woman, and she was naked.
The sight of her, the awareness of her proximity, caused a physical reaction. His pants grew tight, as his cock pushed against the physical confines. He shifted uncomfortably. He didn’t interact with the opposite sex much. The time would come someday, but now?
Her light voice danced through the air. Was she singing? The woman leaned over, cupping both hands and capturing water to douse her body. As she moved, he caught sight of her breasts, perfectly formed, with light-pink nipples. His tongue dried, and he ground his teeth. What was she doing here? It wasn’t safe. If he’d come upon her, anyone could.
Should he leave quietly, as to not disturb her? As he turned, his foot slipped on a squishy patch of earth, and he went down to his knee with an ugh.
“Ooooh!” she exclaimed, startled. She turned to glance behind her, and they made eye contact. Hers were as wide as a doe’s, and as deep brown.
“Don’t be frightened,” he said. He stood, brushing off his pants and hoping she didn’t see the evidence of his arousal.
Rather than cowering or covering her body, she stood, proud and graceful. He drank in the sight of her curves freely—the smallest patch of matching red hair adorned her nether regions. Her breasts rose, almost asking for a licking. What am I thinking? I’ve never done such a thing. But being this close to such a gorgeous female brought out his basest needs.
“Who are you?” she asked. “What do you want from me?”
“Nothing. No one,” he stammered. “I mean. I’m sorry. I was hunting, and I found you.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Who were you hunting? Or, what were you hunting?”
“Whatever I could find, but I thought I followed a deer out this way. I’m sorry, again. I must have mistaken you.”
As if she was the hunter and he was the prey, she approached him. She drew closer and glanced down, right at his crotch. He suppressed the urge to cover his obvious arousal. That would only bring her attention more.
Never had he been so close to a nude woman. Never had he seen one as beaut
iful and alluring as this one. He lived in an isolated cottage, deep in the woods with his brother and their foster father, the man who’d taken them in and protected them. Danger lurked outside the forest. For one moment, his thoughts flew to his twin, Jacob. They shared everything. To share this experience—a first touch, a first kiss, whatever was to come next seemed natural. He’d been around animals his entire life. He knew the ways of relations. He’d just never experienced it. He felt it, being on the precipice of something grand, just as surely as his cock seeped pre-cum, as he anticipated whatever was to happen.
The nearer she came, the less he focused on her body and more on her lips. The pink hue resembled a flower, darker and more vibrant than any pink flower he’d ever seen. He longed to press his against hers.
“Who are you?” he asked, stepping forward to meet her.
“Who do you want me to be? What do you want me to be?”
As their lips pressed against each other, their bodies made contact for the first time. She tasted like honey, at the beginning of spring. The freshest combination of sweet with an underlying richness. Too much, and you’d know you overdid it. He slipped his hands downward, cupping her buttocks and feeling his cock seam against the cleft between her legs. It felt too good to be true, and he hardened even more. As her tongue teased his bottom lip, pushing him further, he questioned the scene.
He knew these forests too well. As well as he knew his twin. He’d never seen a woman, let alone a woman like her, at any time in the past. Where had she come from, and why now? He wanted to ask those very questions, but she slipped her hand between his legs, cupping his hardness. Hesitation struck as her thumb found the rounded tip of his cock.
Cliff fought the temptation. Breaking their kiss, he pushed away from her. “I can’t. I need to know who you are.”
“And so it shall be.” She retreated, breaking all physical contact, and sang:
You can’t catch love with your hands.
Not with your rifle, or
with your bow and arrow, or
with your trap or snare.
Love is the trophy.
Catch me if you can.
She shape shifted into the form of a deer and stood before him, proud and graceful, for a few beats. Then she turned, white tail raised high in the air, and bounded out of the glen.
His heart pounded, faster than ever before. He cried out, wanting to stop her escape. The loud retort of a shotgun blast shattered the silence, and he stumbled. No, it couldn’t be. He came from a family of hunters, and they were all in the woods. What were the odds?
Clutching his cold iron in his hands, he stumbled through the tall grasses, toward where she’d disappeared. Fear seized his heart, and he fought between the desire to look and to hide from the truth. From the other side of overgrown bushes, rumbling drew his attention. He crept closer, half afraid of what he’d discover, and half afraid of possibly scaring her away.
“Did you see where that gorgeous doe went?” His brother popped out of the bushes, all wired and edgy. “I fired, but I think I might have missed her.”
“Thank gods for that,” he mumbled.
“What was that?” Jacob asked.
“Ahhh, nothing.” Where could she have gone, and would he ever see her again? It wasn’t like they came across women out in the forest. His mind skipped to other hunting trips and other kills. What if they all had been shifters, and he’d never known? The gods!
Jacob reached out and placed his hand on Cliff’s arm. “Are you all right? You look awfully pale. Maybe we should head to the house.”
Empty-handed. While his brother didn’t say it, Cliff knew what he meant. They never came back without a kill. Never say never. Tonight, he’d lost his heart, in more than one way. If Jacob had seen her, he’d understand and agree.
The question was: How on earth do I tell him, without sounding insane? As twins, they shared a special bond. Did that transcend into believing in a magical creature—an ethereal woman who transforms into a deer?
Cliff was acting weird. All jittery and shit. He’d never wanted to turn back without a full load. From the corner of his eye, Jacob checked him out. As they walked, his brother looked from side to side, a little too aware of what might be happening. The crackling of dry leaves sounded from the trail ahead, and Cliff threw his arm out, halting Jacob.
“What the hell? That might be my kill,” he said, shoving his brother aside. As he attempted to walk past, Cliff snatched his sleeve, and a sick ripping tore through the air.
He yanked out of his grasp, the fabric tearing more.
“Wait up,” Cliff said. “It may not be safe.”
Jacob cocked the gun, the strong steel steady in his grip. Nothing like the power of lead to stop an attacker. “I’m not afraid. I’ll go ahead.” But the look in his brother’s eyes stopped him. As if he was going to hurt something that shouldn’t be killed. “What is it? You’ve gotta tell me.”
“You’d never believe me.”
“You’ll never know until you try.”
They could go back and forth like this forever, and lose their prey. Resigned to ignore any other attempts to block his intent, Jacob forged on. He caught sight of a flash of red, and his adrenaline kicked in.
He’d thought he’d lost the redhead beauty, but the hunt was on! Taking aim, he leveled the shotgun, and sighted the target.
“Wait!” Cliff grabbed the barrel and yanked it to the side.
“Dammit. Don’t ever do that!” Thankfully, he hadn’t fired. “What’s gotten into you?”
“It was a woman. I mistook a gorgeous woman for a deer. I just don’t want you to make the same mistake.”
Hands shaking, he lowered the gun. “A what?” He’d heard him, but he didn’t believe him. They never saw women this far out in the forest. Where had she come from, and where did she go?
“I’ll tell you more at the cabin, but, for now, let’s stop the hunt.”
On the way back, every snapped branch made both men jump. What’s Dad going to think? He’d taught them to go out and provide. They didn’t return without provisions. If they didn’t find, they didn’t return.
But the gold. There was always the gold. Their foster father did his best to hide the growing wealth from them. But, as each day passed, and each morning arrived, it grew harder to ignore the growing stockpiles. As time went on, either they stashed it in a bag or their father took each one wordlessly and did something with it. First, it went into a bag then a drawer and a closet, and, as time passed, their father built a storage shed. They didn’t fully understand what the gold was, only that it held value. Every few months, Father ventured to the city and returned with supplies.
He may not be our biological father, but he couldn’t love us more if he was.
A golden egg beneath their pillows every morn added up over half a lifetime.
“So, what’s for dinner?” Father asked as they pushed through the cabin door. He flicked his eyes to their empty hands and exclaimed, “What?”
“Cliff has this wild story you have to hear,” Jacob said, covering his own ass. Sure, that excuse didn’t include his own actions, but what was he supposed to do? Risk hurting or killing a woman?
“I told you,” he barked. “You’re not going to believe me.”
Their foster father dragged a chair from the table and took a heavy seat. “Try me out.”
And that’s when Jacob heard the full, far-fetched tale for the first time. The woman who’d shifted into a doe and bounded off, only to narrowly miss being hit by his own misfire.
“You can see why I stopped and brought him home. Something’s not right.”
The man who’d raised them looked him squarely in the face and turned to size up Cliff.
“I believe ’im. Why wouldn’t I?” he said. “There’s a lot out in them forests we don’t understand, and if your brother says he saw a woman turn into a deer and vice versa, then it must be true.”
***
“No, Dad, no! Do
n’t leave us.”
Cliff’s cries cut through the darkened room, waking Jacob. He sat up straight and fast, slamming his head against the wood of the bunk above.
“Owww!” He banged his fist on the underside of the bed. “Wake up, already. Wake up.”
“Wha-what?” Cliff asked. “What is it?”
“You’re having that nightmare again. The one where Dad abandons us. I’m trying to sleep.”
“It’s not a dream. It’s a memory that won’t ever go away.” Cliff swung his legs over the side of the bed, feet dangling in Jacob’s space, and jumped. He hit the floor with a reverberating thump.
“You’re going to wake Father if you’re not quieter,” Jacob said, throwing the covers over his head, hoping to ward off further conversation. He should have known better.
“Why do you think he did it?” The boards creaked with a well-known groan as Cliff paced the wooden floor of the small room. “Was it something we did?”
Jacob listened to each step, anticipating the squeak when Cliff reached the seventh pace, before turning around. After a few moments of sleeplessness, Jacob tossed off the blankets and faced the irritant. “Maybe it has something to do with what we wake up to every single morning.”
“Don’t you think that would have made him want us more? Not get rid of us?”
“I don’t know. I always like to think he did it for our own good,” Jacob said. The weight of their birth father’s actions weighed heavy on his heart, but he tried not to think about it. His twin dwelled on enough for both of them. “Maybe he was protecting us.”
“From what?”
“We’ll never know. Now go to sleep, so I can get some rest.”
The bedroom door cracked open, letting in a sliver of light. The man who’d saved them from the wilds of the forest, the Huntsman, stood, backlit in the crevice.
