by Vanessa Vale
“Thank you for the whiskey,” Eve murmured, glancing my way. “I find I like it very much.”
Lane laughed loudly at that, slapped my shoulder.
I felt my cheeks heat, especially at being caught. “About getting married,” I said.
While I wanted to marry her, and doing so with Knox wasn’t such a bad idea, I wasn’t going to make her do it just because the Thomkinses had forced her into it.
“Yes?” She glanced at me, then Knox, pushing her glasses up as she did so. Her color was high, but her green eyes were clear. She might have been a little tipsy, but she had all her mental faculties. I had not taken advantage of her when I’d given her the liquor. That hadn’t been my intention. My plan to let her share her true feelings had worked, although I’d had no idea they meant marrying me and Knox.
To face the Thomkins men, she’d been witty and intelligent, responsive and yet with a weakened reserve that allowed her to deflect their serious intentions.
I glanced at Knox. The look he gave me spoke volumes. Don’t let her get away. No matter what I said next, I knew none of us would regret it because of overindulgence.
“I can see you liked kissing Knox and me.” Eve’s cheeks turned a pretty shade of red. “That bodes well for our marriage since I want to kiss you… some more.” I stepped up behind her, placing my hands on her waist. She shivered beneath my hold. Knox had helped her down from the stage, but for me, this was the first time I’d touched her body. She’d placed her hand on my elbow for escort, but that didn’t count. Even through her dress, she was warm, her body soft and lush. I could feel her bones, yet they were well padded. Just right.
She was small between me and Knox, but she was not delicate. Breakable. I knew once she trusted us, when she was comfortable with us, she’d be passionate. Wild. Able to withstand a good, hard fucking. She might not know it, but she needed it and would like it. Hell, she’d love it.
“I want to kiss you more as well,” Knox added, and I’d forgotten what I’d said. My cock was thinking for me now. That wasn’t good… yet. I needed her before a minister first.
“Oh, I… um—”
“We’ll go see how Piper’s doing with Lillian,” Spur murmured and I didn’t turn my head to see them leave the entry, but their footfalls indicated they’d gone to the kitchen.
Eve tried to move away, but neither of us let her. I kept my hands—quite happily—on her waist and Knox didn’t step back.
“I… I didn’t mean…it was just—”
“We mean to marry you, sweets,” Knox said. The endearment was new for him, but so was finding a woman we both wanted enough to marry.
She’d been staring at the buttons on his shirt, but she tilted her head back to look him in the eye. The back of her head bumped my chest and she startled.
“You do?” She sounded stunned and while I could only see her profile, her brow crinkled noticeably as if confused.
Knox nodded. “Of course.”
“But… but why?”
Why? Why wouldn’t we? Did she not think herself worthy for some reason? If so, it was time to dissuade her of that. It didn’t take much pressure of my hands to spin her about to face me.
“Why do we want to marry you?” I repeated.
She nodded. “You’ve just met me… and… and both of you? Perhaps it was the whiskey that made me do it, but I don’t go about kissing one man, let alone two.”
“No, of course you don’t,” I agreed. “Why us then?” Before she could respond, I continued. “Because you trust us enough to use us for protection against people like the Thomkinses. You feel safe with us.”
She opened her mouth as if to say something, then shut it. The little frown appeared, but this time it was because she was thinking. “I felt safe around some people at home as well, but I didn’t say I would marry them.”
“You didn’t want to kiss them though. Am I correct?”
She licked her lips, dammit.
“No. I didn’t want to kiss them,” she replied.
“I like your honesty, sweets,” Knox said. “Going back to the original point, you want to kiss us and we want to kiss you. That means we marry.”
She looked over her shoulder. “And back to my original point… why?”
Smart woman.
Knox tugged on a wayward curl. “Because you’re beautiful.”
She humphed.
“You don’t believe us?” I asked, eyeing her carefully. She wasn’t fishing for compliments. She truly believed she wasn’t appealing. That meant she’d heard the opposite far too often. “Who told you otherwise?”
She pursed her lips, refusing to meet my gaze.
“Your mother?”
She laughed dryly. “My mother died when I was little.”
“Your father?”
Something akin to wistfulness came across her face. “He’s gone, too.”
“Who then?” I was going to press her on this. We needed to know why she was so skittish, so reserved. So doubtful.
“I have a stepmother who married my father for his money, not for me. She has two daughters, twins, who are a year younger than I. They hate me.”
“Hate’s a harsh word,” Knox countered.
She did glance at him then. “Yes, I’m aware. Trust me, I don’t mix my words. Marina and Tara have always hated me, been cruel. While I am accurate with what I say, they are vicious. Why do you think I’m here?”
Yes, we didn’t know why she’d become a mail order bride.
“Tell us,” Knox replied.
The story she shared then had my fists clenching. We remained quiet as she outlined her stepsisters’ stunningly devious and cruel actions. Spreading lies, ruining her chances with the town council, her virtue in tatters, condemnation. Forced marriage. The list was long. “I don’t hit women, but if I ever lay eyes on those two, I won’t be held responsible.”
Eve finally lifted her gaze to mine. Perhaps it was because I said I’d be her champion that had the smile form on her lips. “I should think, based on what I know of your sister, that she’d be first in line.”
Knox laughed. “She would be. But she’d have to put her gun down to do it.”
“Then I might have to take some pointers from her.”
We both shook our heads. “Oh, no. We don’t need you to be anything like Piper.”
“Enough about her,” Knox said. “You’re beautiful, sweets and it’s our job to make you believe it. You’re smart. Witty. A good kisser.” Knox continued to list her positive attributes, clearly leaving out the plump curve of her breasts or the lush swell of her ass. I felt that delectable roundness when I stood behind her and my cock pressed against my pants in her direction.
“You know the Thomkinses. Why is it they are so eager for me to marry one of them? There must be some solid reason.”
Yes, she was smart. She’d barely met them and could sense their deviousness. Perhaps it was because she’d lived with her stepsisters, conniving in their own way. “The one that looks like a big toad is already married. Has children, even. Curtis wants you because their brother—your dead husband—was quite wealthy.”
The frown appeared again. “Ah.” She looked up at me through dark lashes. “Is that why you are so eager for me?”
I should have been offended by the question, but she had good reason to be wary, especially after her stepmother and the Thomkinses making their appearance for just that reason.
“We didn’t approach you as they did. You’re the one who said we were marrying. Sealed it with kisses, too.”
She blushed. “True.”
I liked the way she accepted responsibility instead of deflecting.
“Eve, you tempt us like your namesake from the Bible.” I stroked a finger down her cheek. So soft. Warm. “We don’t want you for the money. We have enough of our own. You won’t want for anything, even without Melvin’s funds.”
We’d come to Slate Springs to find Piper, who’d gone off on her own, citing brotherly o
verprotection as her reasoning. She’d taken the place of a woman who’d died en route to marrying Spur and Lane as a mail order bride. It had taken us longer than we’d imagined to find her; her trail had gone cold in Eastern Colorado. When we finally did track her to Slate Springs, we decided to remain. Learning as much as we could about mining, we’d become partners with the town mayor—and mine owner—Luke Tate, on a piece of land that held promise for silver. We’d dug and found a solid vein. The Dare All mine was doing well, better than we ever imagined. Better even than Melvin Thomkins’ mine, the one Eve now owned.
“Oh.”
For once in her life, most likely, she’d done something bold, something daring, and now she was having second thoughts. The discussion was over. Action would prove more valuable. “Hold onto your glasses,” I said.
Putting her hand up to her face automatically, she didn’t get a chance to question the reason why before I leaned down and tossed her over my shoulder.
“Mr. Dare!” she cried. “Put me down.”
She was small, lush… and wiggly. Putting one arm over the backs of her thighs, I held her securely.
Spur, Lane and even Piper with the baby came from the kitchen at the sounds Eve was making.
Knox grabbed both our hats hanging from hooks by the door.
“We’re off to get married,” Knox said.
We didn’t wait to see if Piper and her men followed. Eve was going to be mine—ours—and I wasn’t delaying another moment. Waking up this morning, I hadn’t expected to be married before dinner. Especially to a bespectacled bluestocking along with my brother.
CHAPTER FIVE
Eve
What had I done? I stood between two men, two strangers, getting married! I’d only met them earlier in the day and now I was vowing to spend the rest of my life with them. Them. Not one man, but two. How much whiskey had been laced in that cup of coffee? I either needed to stay away from liquor forever, or start drinking heavily.
But when I thought of Jed’s and Knox’s mouths on mine, how it felt to kiss them, I kept my feet firmly planted on the church altar. I had no other kisses to compare, but Jed was gentle and sweet while Knox’s mouth was insistent and potent. I’d felt hot all over, my lips tingled and my nipples had tightened into hard points. It felt… good.
I’d kissed them. Not the other way around. I’d been bold and wicked. Daring. I blamed it on the whiskey, but it had been me alone who had done it. I put myself before the town minister saying “I do.” Not the men. They hadn’t coaxed or lured me. They hadn’t demanded—well, at least not until Jed had tossed me over his shoulder like a sack of grain—or pushed me into it. They weren’t like Marina or Tara. They actually wanted me. They didn’t seem the sort to do something they didn’t desire.
That was why they stood like two tall pillars on either side of me, giving their vows, their pledges, to me. Me!
I was being kissed again and this time Jed and Knox were the initiators. This time, I felt no surprise in their lips, no hesitancy. This time, they took.
“Oh, my,” I whispered when both of them had finished their turn.
Knox grinned at me, the corner of his mouth tipping up rather wickedly. Leaning down, he whispered in my ear. “That’s just a kiss on the lips. Imagine what you’ll say, or scream, when my mouth is kissing you other places.”
Other—
I lifted my head to meet his pale eyes. He was so tall! I saw humor and heat there. He was not unaffected. Neither was I. From an academic standpoint, this interest in both Dare men made no sense. But it couldn’t be denied. I’d heard of the “head versus the heart” on occasion and I could understand it now. While I didn’t love Jed or Knox Dare, I couldn’t argue that I felt something for them. Something I wouldn’t find in any scientific book or primer. Instead, a dime store novel, where a heroine was swept away by a fiendishly handsome rogue held more value.
What an insane notion, but today, in my life, accurate.
Jed shook the minister’s hand as Piper came over to me. She had Lillian up on her shoulder, a knitted blanket wrapped about her. “Whatever you do, don’t let them be bossy.”
“Piper,” Knox warned.
She looked up at her brother, her face completely blank. “What?”
“We don’t interfere in your marriage—”
“Ha!” She laughed as she shook her head, countering his claim. “Don’t interfere?”
“In your marriage,” Knox repeated.
Piper pursed her lips, then shrugged her free shoulder. Her green eyes met mine. “Very well. Knox and Jed don’t interfere in my marriage. Before then, well, they were bossy.”
“Piper,” Jed chided, coming up to join us.
She held up a hand. “I’ve been warned. She’s new here. Knows no one, including her two husbands.”
“You didn’t know yours, who weren’t even really yours by the way, and she wouldn’t have known Melvin. Would you have meddled if he were still alive?”
I hadn’t thought about that. I hadn’t known Melvin Thomkins at all and I’d been wed to him. I had the proxy license to prove it. With that legal document, I’d had no choice but to be his bride, no matter my happiness. He could have been eighty years old or mean or a drunk. Anything, and I was his to do with as he wished. But he’d died.
I didn’t have to marry the Dares. If I’d said no to them, neither would have forced me. I didn’t know them well, but considered them to be honorable. Deep down, I knew. Perhaps it was living with three completely dishonorable women for so long it was easy to sense the difference. The men would have courted me, surely, but I’d been the one to catch them in the marriage trap.
I hadn’t given them a choice.
Oh.
“Meddled? Says the pot calling the kettle black,” she countered, the words laced with bitterness.
I heard her words, but my thoughts were tangled. I’d forced them to marry me.
“Precious, let them be,” Lane said, coming up behind Piper and gently brushing his big hand over Lillian’s head. Her blue eyes were open and she was looking at him intently. “There will be plenty of time to pester them after their wedding night.”
Oh, god. My wedding night. With two men who I’d snared.
“What’s the matter, sweets?” Knox asked, leaning down so his eyes met mine. “You’ve gone pale. That’s supposed to happen before the ceremony.” While he was trying to poke fun at our arrangement, he watched me with a serious gaze.
“I forced you into this,” I said.
Jed nudged his sister out of the way so he stood directly beside Knox. Tall and looming. Formidable. “Do we look like men to be forced into anything?”
In my periphery, I saw Lane and Spur lead Piper down the center aisle and out of the small church.
“I… I put you in a compromising situation and the Thomkins men will expect this. You did it because of… of—”
“What? Our virtue?” Knox asked. “Sweets, we wanted to marry you. Hell, I wanted you the first moment I saw you with that mining book in your hands.”
Jed nodded. “When you were in the kitchen with Piper, we were arguing over you. You were to be mine and Knox didn’t agree with that.”
“We’ve lived in this town for a year and forgot the new law. You reminded us of it. It saves us from killing each other.”
“Over you,” Jed finished.
Over me. I put my hand to my chest. “You were going to fight each other over me?”
Both men shrugged. “Doesn’t matter now. We both have exactly what we want. You.”
They had very earnest, very serious expressions. These men, lord, these men were my husbands. Their red hair was striking, their features bold, their size so big. They knew what they wanted and I couldn’t doubt their words. I nodded. “All right.”
“All right?” Knox asked, his brow going up in what I assumed was skepticism.
“Yes, why?”
“You’ve given in to this much easier than I expected,” he replie
d.
“Why? Because I’m a spinster bluestocking schoolteacher who should be thankful for any man looking my way?” I couldn’t help the bitterness that tinged my words.
Knox’s eyes narrowed and Jed clenched his jaw. “That deserves a spanking,” Jed said.
“What?” I asked, stepping back, grabbing hold of the back of the nearest pew.
“I told you before that talking like that about yourself would get you punished.”
“Yes, you’re a bluestocking,” Knox added. “You mentioned you’re a schoolteacher. As for spinster, you’re what? Twenty-two?”
“Twenty-three.”
“It’s the tone, sweets. We can hear how you belittle yourself.”
“Then it’s because I kissed you both and you think me forward.” It had to be that then, their reason for wanting me.
“Forward? As our wife, we don’t mind your forwardness. In fact, I’d like some more of it. We might have exactly what we want,” Jed said. “But not where we want.”
I frowned. “Oh?”
He leaned close, whispered in my ear, his warm breath fanning my neck. “Yes, beneath me. Between us.”
Knox moved closer. “Over me works, too.” He tucked a long tendril of hair behind my ear. The action was so gentle for one so big. I shivered at the heat from his fingertips against my nape. “But where? In bed. Now.”
Beneath… over… bed. Oh, my. Kissing was one thing, but what they were referring was something else entirely. Perhaps I wasn’t so forward after all. As they led me out of the church and down the boardwalk, I was glad to know they were forward.
***
Knox
“Where are you going?” I asked.
She was halfway up the stairs to the second floor of our house when she turned back at my words. For once, she was taller than both of us.
“I assume you want to bed me.” She pointed up. “I assume the beds are up here?”
My cock came to attention at her words, but I frowned at their casualness.
I leaned on the newel post. “They are, but we don’t need a bed to take you.”
