The Trouble with Three Husbands (A Dystopian Romance Novella): Daughters of Venus 1

by Chris Genovese

  “Everything’s fine, Jack. I just wanted to stop by and see how things are going with our two visitors. Alé seemed quite upset last night and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Did they cause any trouble?”

  “No, not really. The one, the blond one, has quite the mouth on him, but Alejandro was pretty rough with him. I guess I don’t blame him none.”

  “Alé has a bit of a temper,” I agreed.

  “Yep, he sure does. But you sure do keep him in line.”

  I made a “cracking the whip” motion with my hand and Jack laughed.

  “They’re in the back?” I asked, knowing full well they were but giving Jack the hint that I wanted to be taken to them.

  “Umm, yeah, sure. Back here,” he said as he scurried towards the back.

  I followed and found the two men inside the cell. Pike sat on a cot with his legs pulled up in front of him, his hands resting on his knees.

  “You can leave us,” I told Jack.

  “Are you…are you sure?”

  “Yes, it’s fine. They’re locked up.”

  Jack hesitated for a moment, looked left and right as if expecting someone else to reassure him that it was okay, and then he left.

  The light overhead allowed a closer look at Pike. The sleeves of his sweater were pulled up to his elbows. Both arms were covered in tattoos. Random ones. Not the pretty ones models get that have no significant meaning. These all looked to have a purpose. Like artwork that put the inner soul on his outer shell. He was literally wearing his thoughts on his sleeves.

  And he’d washed up a bit. His clothes were dirty still but his face was clean. His blond hair was still back in a ponytail, the sides of his head shaved, and his face was one more day unshaven. The other guy, Harrison he’d said his name was, sat with his face in his hands.

  “Gentlemen,” I said.

  They both looked over at me. Harrison stood up and made his way closer to the bars. I held up a hand letting him know he should stop. I didn’t want him getting too close. At a closer glance, even Harrison wasn’t that bad looking. He was a bit older than Pike and had scraggly hair, but he had an interesting face. A wise face.

  “How long will you keep us in here?” Harrison asked.

  “I don’t know,” I said.

  “You’re the woman who tried to help us last night.”

  “I just didn’t want anyone to get hurt. Neither you nor my husband.”

  “The big guy who hit me,” Pike said as he too stood up from his cot and made his way a little closer.

  He was staring at me again. God, those eyes, those beautiful eyes. Hazel I think.

  “Yes, I’m sorry,” I said.

  “He swings a mean shotgun,” Pike added with a grin.

  And my panties were melting. The grin. Holy shit. If you could’ve seen it…it’s like he was telling me that he was going to get out of that cell soon and when he did he was going to bend me over the security desk and take me from behind. How I got all that from one upturned corner of his mouth is beyond me. But I did.

  I suddenly felt nervous.

  “Why…why are you here?” I asked.

  “We’ve heard of you,” Harrison said. “The Daughters of Venus, the Doves, the goddesses atop the mountain.”

  “And goddess is so true,” Pike said.

  He was flirting with me, this time not just through glances and grins. He was verbally letting me know he was into me.

  I think I may have blushed. I put a hand to my face, covering it for a second.

  “You’re very bold,” I said, trying to bring my hardened exterior back to the front. I was a Dove and these were just visitors, not even potential fellows…at least not yet.

  “I don’t intend to be,” Pike said. “I just haven’t seen a woman as sexy as you in a long long time.”

  This guy is slick. Wow.

  “So your goal here is to get some hot pussy,” I snapped, putting a sharp edge on the last two words.

  Harrison’s eyes shot open and his jaw dropped. He wasn’t expecting that.

  “No,” Pike said. “You don’t get it. I want to be one of your men here. Harrison and I were part of a biker gang on the coast but we’re ready to settle down.”

  I wanted to hear more. So I didn’t say a word.

  “You must let men in sometimes, right?” Harrison asked. “I mean…you must.”

  “If you want us to leave, we’ll leave,” Pike said. “We’re not here to cause trouble. But I hope you’ll give us a chance to wash up, maybe a change of clothes if possible, let us present ourselves for the men we really are, then you and the other ladies…”

  “Doves,” I reminded him.

  “Doves,” he said. “Give us a chance to do whatever we have to do to fit in. I, we, know you take more than one husband. That would be new to me. To him too. But I think it’s something I could get used to if it meant having you in my life.”

  Me? You want me specifically? You’ve got to be kidding me.

  “I don’t mean to offend you but I’m a taken woman. I have three husbands.”

  He just nodded, his eyes fixed on mine. His smirk grew. Cocky bastard. Didn’t he hear what I’d just said?

  “Just please help us get out of here and get a chance,” Harrison said.

  “I’ll see what I can do,” I promised.

  With that, I left the men alone in their cell.

  I called a meeting with the seven later that day. It was decided we needed a couple of fresh faces in the community. But we weren’t crazy. Nobody was able to just enter the potential fellow pool without first speaking with our resident psychiatrist and going through a strict set of tests, one of which being the lie detector test.

  I was satisfied with the decision. It wasn’t like I’d be able to take a new husband but there were so many women in need of a new suitor. All the best looking men were either already taken or too young. A few of the teenagers would grow to be fine, strong men but to take one of them so early would be morally wrong. We were Doves, not pedophiles.

  The day of the testing was my day with Alejandro. I woke up alone in my bed. The morning following my alone days was always strange to me. Most nights I spent pleasing or being pleased by one of my husbands so whenever I woke up alone I felt somewhat lost.

  I slept naked all nights, never liking the feel of fabric on my skin as I slept. I’d need to put panties on the next few nights. My period was coming soon. It always came right on time which meant I had just a few days. My horniness and slight cramping was a reminder.

  I stretched my naked body out, opening my legs and enjoying the cool breeze that floated through the window. I listened for the sound of the birds chirping outside the window but instead was greeted by a thudding sound that went off every thirty seconds or so.

  I pulled myself out of bed, wrapped myself up in my robe, and headed outside to see what the noise was all about. I barely made it out the back door when I saw Alejandro, his huge, massive chest and arms glistening with sweat, his tattoos moist. He wore only a pair of camouflaged pants and a wooden beaded necklace one of the kids had given him for his birthday. He didn’t see me watching him so I sat down on the edge of the patio and spied on him.

  My God he was beautiful. His tan skin and unshaven face. He was a man’s man, the toughest of my guys. He’d grown up in a rough neighborhood and had to fight his way through life. He had a few scars to prove it. Lying naked in bed, post sex, I loved to run my fingers over his scars, especially the large one that ran the length of his ribcage. Railroad spike. He got stabbed with one when he was a teenager.

  Alé lifted a large axe over his head, his arms flexing, carving out muscles I didn’t realize even existed. He brought the axe down hard onto a piece of wood, shattering it in two with one swing.

  That was my man. Holy hotness.

  I clapped my hands and he turned, surprised, and smiled at me. I loved his smile. When he was serious he was a badass, when he was in bed he was a beast, but when he smiled…at that
moment…he was a teddy bear, the warmest creature in the world.

  “You like that?” he asked.

  “I do.”

  “You want to try it?”

  “No way.”

  “Come on.”

  He held the axe out in one hand and his open palm in the other. The way he moved the axe around one would think it weighed nothing. I knew I probably wouldn’t even be able to pick it up with both hands. But it wasn’t the axe I was interested in. I knew giving it a go would mean being near him.

  I moved off the steps and approached. As soon as I got to within a few feet of him he wrapped his non-axe-wielding arm around me and picked me up.

  “Eww, you’re sweaty,” I complained.

  I really didn’t care about the sweat. I just wanted something to tease him about. He slid his hand inside my robe and grabbed my bare waist. I loved the feel of his callused hands on my skin. It tickled a little and my nipples hardened. He turned me around and gave me a hug from behind. I made sure to move my ass from side to side a little, teasing his dick. He loved to take me from behind so I knew this would arouse him. It did and I felt him harden a little behind me.

  “What do you want to do today?” he asked as he dropped the axe and slid his right hand up and cupped my breast.

  His left traveled down to the top of my pubic hair.

  “I want to play with some wood,” I teased.

  “Mmm.”

  I reached back and found his bulge. I rubbed my fingers over the outline of his cock. The pants were thin and I could feel him grow even larger.

  “You were alone last night,” he said. “I love when you’re alone before our time together.”

  “Yeah? So are you going to let me play with your wood?”

  He removed his hand from my breast and went to unbutton his pants.

  “Not that wood, dummy. That.”

  I pointed at the pile of firewood.

  “Show me how to chop the wood,” I added.

  I was being such a tease but I knew it would just drive him mad. I was really horny and I knew the more I turned him on the rougher he’d be with me later. Bentley was always gentlemanly and Connor was kind of a mix, a young bull I guess you could say. But Alejandro was all passion.

  “Here,” Alé said as he picked up the axe and pushed me forward toward the pile of wood, his cock poking against my tailbone, inching me ahead one small step at a time.

  He leaned over, grabbed a piece of wood, and set it on the smooth tree stump in front of us. Then he wrapped his arms around me again. God he was fucking beautiful. So damn strong.

  He brought the axe up and put it in my hands, cupping his over mine and making sure I could handle the weight of it. I could but with his help I did much better.

  “Now be careful. This is very sharp.”

  He lifted our hands up over our heads. I glanced up to see the gleaming axe in front of the blue sky, the sun shining off of it and into my eyes.

  “Are you fucking crazy?” came a voice from the back patio.

  We both turned to see Bentley standing there in a pair of navy sweatpants and a tank top. I always thought he looked a little like Jason Statham, minus the British accent of course.

  “What, man?” Alejandro asked, innocently as if he had no idea what might be wrong with the situation.

  “What? You’re hanging an axe over my wife’s head.”

  “Our wife.”

  “Our wife. You could chop off her fucking leg or something. You’re supposed to take care of our Dove, not cripple her. You chop the wood and let her be the goddess she is.”

  The goddess. I had to laugh under my breath. Sometimes my life was a dream. Two model-like men arguing about me. ME. For a second I imagined Alé taking me from behind right there against the pile of wood while I took Bentley in my mouth. I would have to seriously reconsider my refusal to have two of the men at once in my bed. Most of the Doves, from what I’ve heard, do it regularly.

  “Bentley, it’s fine. I wanted him to show me how,” I said.

  Alé tossed the axe into the grass and pulled my face to his. He planted a kiss on my lips.

  “No, he is right. You shouldn’t do these dangerous things. It’s not smart. I’m sorry. Let me clean up and we can get breakfast.”

  “No babe, I have to shower and get going. We have a meeting…”

  “…Yes, the two assholes we picked up the other night. I heard you will let them stay.”

  Bentley had retreated to the house. Alé looked away from me and watched him leave. I reached up to turn his face back to me.

  “I will let them stay?”

  “You…the Seven. You will let them stay.”

  “Babe, there hasn’t been a definite decision yet. They still need to pass the psych eval and all that.”

  “The psych eval is a joke,” he said sharply.

  “Well you passed it.”

  He stared me in the eye and I sensed that he wanted to say “exactly” but he didn’t. I remembered once again his shady past and wondered how he passed the tests. But he did. And I was so glad he did.

  “It’s how things have always been done,” I reminded him. “If we didn’t do this we wouldn’t have enough fellows to look after our Doves. We still have a lot of single women here and Jessica is turning eighteen and there will be others.”

  “So you want them to stay.”

  I couldn’t answer him. I didn’t want to lie. I did want them to stay. As long as they passed the tests and proved to be innocent and played nice with others then it made sense.

  “I need to get going,” I said.

  I walked back into the house to the sound of Alé picking up his next piece of wood and slamming the axe down into it. He was pissed. He’d get over it. All my husbands had been jealous or angry more than once and they always got over it. In truth, I liked getting them all worked up from time to time. The makeup sex was fucking incredible.

  When I got to the medical house, Dr. Goodwin already had Harrison hooked up to the lie detector machine. The man was sweating bullets. Selena and Samantha were both sitting on a couch watching the procedure. Pike wasn’t in the room so I could only assume they had him guarded somewhere else.

  “How did he do on the one-on-one with the doc?” I asked.

  Selena handed me his folder.

  I hated trying to read the doctor’s writing and since she’d simply handed me the folder instead of explaining, I sensed she hadn’t been able to understand much of what was in it. His writing was horrible, mostly looking like chicken scratch. I made out a few words.

  Seems to suffer from some sort of deep seated depression. Probably stems from the loss of his wife and young son. Doesn’t seem to have devious intentions.

  “What about the other one?” I asked.

  She handed over another folder.

  Pike, Darryl I read on the folder’s tab. I flipped it open to find the same messy handwriting.

  Very difficult to read. Seems content in his secrets. May have a difficult time getting him to open up. Hardened exterior. Tattoos on body suggest he has been a member of several different gangs. I don’t suspect he is Venenum.

  Harrison looked over at me and smiled. Doctor Goodwin unstrapped him from his chair and led him into a back waiting room. He brought out Pike who was dressed in a white T-shirt and jeans. He’d been given fresh clothes, the one decent thing our people had done for him since their arrival.

  He looked at me, then over at the chair. The doctor strapped him in and I sat down on the arm of the couch, next to the girls, and listened intently. I wanted to know his secrets.

  “Please state your name, full name,” Dr. Goodwin said.

  Pike hesitated then took a deep breath.

  “Darryl Randall Pike,” he said. “The second.”

  “Good. Please state the color of your eyes.”

  Pike looked at me as if to say, “What the fuck is the matter with this guy?

  Then he returned his gaze to the doctor. “Hazel.
”

  “Where were you before you came to our community?”

  “In the forest.”

  He was being a smartass and that wasn’t a good idea right now. Not if he wanted to stay.

  “Mr. Pike…” the doctor started.

  “Just Pike, please.”

  “Pike, sarcasm isn’t going to get you anywhere. Just answer the questions truthfully so we can get through this and you can either get the hell out of our town or become a part of it. The tough guy routine isn’t going to win anyone over.”