by Cheri Chaise
My bird, however, was more than a bit dry, but I received not one complaint from my husband, his brothers, nor the ranch hands who joined us around the table today. I suspect that had more to do with the knowledge they no longer have to stop the work they love so much to cook meals.
Yet they still find ways to help me in the kitchen, evidenced by the loud clanging of pots and pans I currently endure as they attempt to clean up the mess I spent all day making. Even the hired hands have made themselves useful on my behalf. This tradition of breaking bread all together is one I hope to repeat again soon, as those few hands who’ve been around for many years have a plethora of interesting stories to tell about the Carston men when they were boys. They kept us entertained around the table for hours.
The light from the nearby window dimmed, and the deepening cold seeped in as I tugged the shawl around my shoulders – just like on that afternoon in the window seat nearly a year ago when I’d made a decision that would so alter my life. I never could’ve imagined how much.
Nor how rich my life was about to become again.
The men trailed around the kitchen corner, the hands bidding me a happy Christmas and thanks for the meal. One-by-one they put on the gifts I’d knitted for them and headed out into the cold toward the bunkhouse before the light dissipated into the haze of night.
It was just the five of us now. My men with me.
I set aside the letter and joined my family around the tree, decorated with an assortment of ornaments I’d brought with me from back east. Surprisingly, most of the delicate glass had survived.
Cole perched me on his lap as Bret passed around the steaming coffee. Evan sat in the rocking chair near the fireplace and propped his feet on the couch arm near where Cole and I sat. He lit his pipe and winked at me through the rising tendrils of smoke, the hint of a satisfied smile on his lips partially hidden within the thick beard that swathed his face.
But I saw it mostly in his eyes.
I accepted the smile with a hand laid on his boots as we waited for Drew to pass out the gifts. I’d come to recognize since that fateful day with Mr. Jahan in the yard that Evan cared about me – in his own way. He might not join in bedroom tumbles, but his affection for me was obvious in that he’d saved me from a terrible fate, not once but twice.
The moment Mr. Jahan had bent me over with the intent to enter me from behind, Evan had seen his opportunity. His shot from atop the stable was true, sailing clean and clear through Mr. Jahan’s temples.
With his body landing on mine as protection, the Carston men made quick work of the remaining bandits that had mistakenly come out into the open to watch the action. Those they didn’t kill ran off into the wilderness, never to be seen around the ranch again.
Soon after, the Canadian winds came barreling down from the north and across the Montana prairie, giving me a better appreciation for all of the hard work put in over the summer months. We had food aplenty and fires to keep us warm.
And together we made plenty of our own heat – enough that I had the best gift of all to share with my husbands on this special night.
However, Drew’s came in a close second. When I presented Cole with the cambric shirt I’d labored over for months, he and Evan stepped out onto the porch. I never expected the incredible present they carried inside.
Tears started in a rush the moment they removed the quilt from the bookcase. The enormous piece of furniture gleamed in the firelight, the stained wood smoothed to a perfect finish as I ran my hand over the surface.
“When did you have time with all of your other work?” I asked after offering up a kiss to the youngest that left us both rather breathless and his hardness pressing against my belly.
Drew grinned in that goofy way I’d come to love so much. “Oh you know…a little bit here and a little bit there.”
“It’s so beautiful.” I traced my fingers along the intricate scrollwork of each shelf. “This amount of detail must’ve taken weeks. Months even.”
“All worth it so you have a place to put your books.” He laughed when I raised my brow. “Okay, some of your books.”
Cole tickled my waist as he came up from behind. “We’d have to build a whole new room onto the house in order to unpack all of them.”
“That’s the plan anyway,” Bret said. “Come the thaw.”
I stilled, laughter dying on my lips. I pushed Cole’s wandering hands away and faced the four men who’d come to own so much of me. Mind, body, and soul.
I twisted the gold band on my finger. “Well…two rooms might be even better.” All eyes were riveted on me in a heartbeat – a heart that beat for two. “There’s no better time than Christmas Day to share the news with you…my family.”
Cole came forward and took my hands in his, his face pale. “What are you saying, Stella?”
I stared at him through a veil of happy tears. “We’re going to have a baby.”
The stunned silence morphed into a whoops and hollers as first Bret swept me from my feet, Drew planted another kiss on my lips, Evan gave me a hug, and then Cole took me in his arms.
Deep green eyes held mine. “You’re sure?”
I nodded, unable to squeeze any further words past the emotion swelling my throat and beating in my breast.
“Who’s…?”
I placed a hand to his cheek and kissed Cole’s welcoming lips as Bret joined from behind. My hands warmed on my husband’s cheek and then on his perpetually tanned brother’s as I alternately gazed at each man who I loved so dearly. Completely. “I guess we’ll have to wait six more months to find out.”
They both smiled and slapped each other on the back as Bret ribbed his brother. “If I was a betting man, I’d lay big money down on the strength of my seed.”
“But mine swim faster,” Cole jabbed.
“Mine got there first.”
Drew broke in from across the room. “You know what this means then, don’t you?”
Evan blew out a stream of pipe smoke. “That we’ll soon have someone other than you keeping us up at night with his incessant whining?”
“Nah. This means it’s time for a celebration.”
I couldn’t help but laugh as the brothers tried to warn Drew off. “No, he’s right,” I interrupted, walking across the room and pressing myself into Drew’s side as I kissed his cheek. “But I’ll have to deal with you later, young man.”
I turned to take Cole’s and Bret’s hands, tugging them toward the bedroom. “Tonight is a night reserved for mothers, fathers, and their children waiting to be born.”
I shut the door and leaned against it to take in the two men before me. So warm. So giving of everything they had to keep me safe and give me a home. A family.
A hint of fear swam in Cole’s eyes as he sat on the edge of the bed and kissed my belly, his lips lingering and spreading warmth even through my clothes. “Are you sure this will be safe?” He glanced over his shoulder to Bret. “I mean, for the baby?”
After what he’d shared of Sky, I’d already read up on what to anticipate of any problems. “Three months along is the threshold for continued viability,” I said, then allowed the grin to tug at the corners of my lips. “Besides, it hasn’t stopped us up to this point, has it?”
Bret’s heat cocooned me as he came up from behind and kissed my shoulder, releasing my hair in a tumble of waves. “We’ll take it slow, Stella, but you let us know the moment there’s the slightest pain, okay?”
I nodded as Bret unfastened my skirt and let it drop to the floor then trailed his hands down my legs before skimming fingertips along the inside, slowly working from my ankles to my thighs, just as he’d done those many months ago.
As Bret reached around and unbuttoned each button of my shirtwaist, Cole kissed his way up my stomach, leaving a trail of gooseflesh in his wake that peaked my nipples and readied them for his attentions. His lips closed around my dusky buds and sucked them to hard points, one after the other.
I groaned and threaded my
fingers through Cole’s thick mane, urging him on as moisture pooled between my thighs. Then wetness flooded as Bret kissed the inside of my thigh and pressed a finger against my tight opening.
“I claim this for tonight,” he whispered against my flesh before sliding his finger through my seam.
I shuddered and my knees threatened to buckle as Bret’s tongue followed to taste my salty wetness.
“Then get your tongue out of my claim, brother,” Cole growled before driving his fingers deep between my thighs.
I cried out in ecstasy as he swirled my hot juices over my nub, and this time my knees did buckle, and I collapsed against Cole’s shoulder.
“Mmm,” Bret hummed as Cole laid down with me atop him. “Stay right there, Essie.”
His warmth against my backside left only for seconds, but in that moment I missed Bret so desperately I could barely breathe. I’d grown so accustomed to feeling all of the love and strength that surrounded my body, that to be without it felt like an emptiness I’d never known even in all the years I’d been sequestered by my father.
Which would never occur again. Not when so much affection surrounded me. So much love. Now with the new life beating within me, my heart stretched further to make more even room.
Much like my tightness stretched to not just accommodate but welcome the love the Carston men bestowed on me. A new warmth coated my opening as Bret bathed it with the greasy oil, preparing me to receive the love he offered as these men worshiped my body.
Cole kissed my neck, my shoulder, and kneaded my breasts as I lay against him, feeling his hardness grow against my leg. “Breathe, Stella, oh beloved mother of our children.”
Cole lifted my hips arching his glistening manhood into the air to slide into me. A groan escaped both of our lips before he reached around to spread my cheeks wide open.
Bret ran his velvety tip over my tingling tightness as he slid a hand over my hip and along my spine. “Oh, Essie. You’re so giving. So offering of your love that keeps our hearts so full, we want to always fill you.”
“Then fill me, Bret,” I begged. “Fill me utterly and completely.”
Cole rasped against my ear as he pumped once deep into my sheath. “You like it when we take you this way. Don’t you, Stella?”
“Yes-s-s,” I hissed as Bret’s earnest tip sought entrance.
Cole pulled my cheeks apart even more then pumped again, driving himself in deeper. “You like it when we fuck your sweet pussy.”
Instead of being shocked or outraged by my husband’s salty language, hearing those dirty words caused my heart to race faster. The heat to flame higher. My wetness to drip hotter.
“When we fuck your tight ass too.”
All I could manage was a loud and guttural moan of pleasure as Bret fully penetrated my pucker and slid in as if my tightness sucked him in greedily. As if it had missed him as much as my heart.
They stilled to allow my body to grow accustomed to this delectable invasion. This fullness I never wanted to end.
“Oh…yes.”
“But you really like it when we fuck both your ass and pussy.” Cole licked my ear and suckled the lobe.
Bret reached around and pinched a nipple, holding on as we rode this building wave of ecstasy together. They both pumped and pistoned in rhythm, in and out of my openings that welcomed them so eagerly. An overload of sensation swept through me and set my smoldering skin alight like a spark to wood, growing into a burning flame. My twin flames.
The slightest squeal broke through the pleasurable haze, and I glanced over my shoulder to see Drew’s green eyes peeking around the corner.
“Drew…come,” I whispered between pants. “In my mouth.”
No sooner had the words passed my lips than his velvety tip glistened before me. Drew’s groan of ecstasy shot straight between my thighs as I swiped my tongue to taste the salty pre-cum before taking him fully in my mouth for the first time.
The pace of thrusts increased as the smoldering burst into a conflagration that spread through my belly, our love enveloping the child we’d created.
Cole groaned as his hips arched deeper into me. “This is what I’ve always wanted with you, Stella. Fucking your pussy, fucking your ass, and fucking that mouth all at the same time.”
“Oh-h-h,” I moaned as the inferno built and my nails dug into hard flesh when Cole pressed his thumb against my swollen nub. The sounds of our lovemaking, the slap of flesh to flesh, the suction of multiple manhoods sliding in and out from between my legs and lips, all served to raise my senses higher and higher until my body reverberated with more love than I thought I’d ever contain.
My scream of release came at the height of our passion. Cole bit down on the sensitive place behind my ear, extending the wave to ride out until tall three joined me together in its shattered embrace.
The snow continued to fall outside the window as our breathing slowed, but inside we were warm, cradled in the musk of love we’d created. We snuggled beneath the thick coverlet together, our celebration complete as Bret curled against my backside and rubbed a hand over my belly beneath the covers while Drew laid down at my head.
Cole traced my face with a fingertip. Across my forehead. Down my nose. Along my jawline. We stared deep into each other’s eyes.
In our moment of wonder, I contemplated what might never have been if I hadn’t answered that ad. “Thank you for wanting me, Cole.”
“I’ll never want another,” Cole whispered. “You’ve captivated me, Estella Carston. Taken a heart that was once broken and captured it for your own.”
Tears filled my eyes. Tears of joy. Of fullness at all life had offered me here. “And mine yours.” I rested a hand over Bret’s as he kissed my hair then looked up at Drew. “All of you.”
A noise outside the bedroom door stretched a smile over Cole’s cheeks. Then unexpectedly he climbed from the bed and took my hand. “Come on. It’s time we showed you what a real family looks like.”
“But I…”
My confusion was short-lived as Cole leapt into his pants and clambered out of the room. Bret, Drew, and I made quick work of clothing and were coming out of the bedroom as Cole lumbered down the stairs carrying one of my trunks all by himself.
He plunked it down on the floor in front of the bookcases where Evan had somehow made room for the new one.
Cole looked up at me and flopped open the trunk lid to reveal a mass of my books. “I don’t want to wait another moment to fill these shelves with your things. To show everyone who walks through that door that you really are a Carston.”
He kissed the tip of my nose. “To show our children.”
Warm tears trailed down my cheeks as I stood on tiptoe to kiss Cole, wrapping my arms around his neck. “I can’t think of anything better.”
“Except maybe reading stories to help get us through this long winter,” Drew said.
Laughter filled the house. Filled my heart. After years of heartache, loneliness and despair, I’d finally found my place. My home.
Surrounded by the men I loved.
Under the big sky at Carston Ranch.
THE END
But only of the beginning of the Carston family saga…
Other Works by Cheri
Big Sky Brothers, reverse harem Wild West romance
Captivating Cole
Big Sky Babies – an in-between novella
Bewitching Bret
Delighting Drew (coming 2020)
Enticing Evan (coming 2020)
And watch for spinoff novellas
Space Courtesans Saga, space opera romance
Courtesans in Space
Courtesans and Lovers
Courtesans Go Undercover
Courtesans and Pirates (coming 2020)
Courtesans at the Galactic Games (coming 2020)
And more!
The Call of Darkness, a dystopian/sci-fi reverse harem series
Darkness Calls (coming 2020)
Darkness Walls
>
Darkness Falls
Sucky Succubus, hot and humorous novellas
Sucky Succubus (2020)
Sucks to be a Succubus (2020)
And many more to come!
Want More?
If you enjoyed this novel and would like information on new releases, special sale pricing, and personal messages from your new, favorite steamy romance author, be sure and add your name to Cheri’s MAILING LIST. From sultry space opera to the wilds of the 1800s American West, you’re sure to discover something new to stir your blood and tempt your emotions to ravishing new heights.
About the Author
Cheri Chaise writes seductive and sensual romance novels set in a galaxy far, far away or the wild, Wild West of early America. A previous career in finance and a love of history allowed her to travel across the country to gain direct knowledge of many of the settings in which her novels take place, though she’s still waiting for a return call from NASA.
Cheri calls Florida home for now, but she continues to pine for the cooler temperatures and rugged terrain of northern climes that she once called home. But as long as her beloved husband is by her side, anywhere they are together feels like home.
She loves to hear from happy readers!
Feel free to contact Cheri through Email follow her on Facebook Amazon or BookBub.
