They knew they must have her when she answered the ad for a mail-order bride. They were ecstatic when she agreed to board the train and head to the frontier. It didn’t matter that they had already made up their minds. They had merely wanted to steal her away with as little fuss as possible. It also didn’t hurt to get her to agree to marry them either. Well…to be fair, she’d only agreed to marry one of them, but they were confident they could convince her that a life with two husbands to dote on her was infinitely better than the one she had planned.
Now she was here and the die was cast. She would agree or they would release her for another but, unfortunately for her, she was never going back home unless, like he and Lorcan, her mates wished to live there with her.
“You look hungry.” He made it a statement not a question because he heard her stomach grumbling in protest of its emptiness.
She rested her hand over her stomach, her cheeks growing a dusky pink. “Yes,” she said with a nod. “I am quite famished.” She bit her lip as though she were undecided on whether to trust him to find her sustenance.
Tarin grinned as he thought of the pert nipples beneath her jumpsuit that closely matched the color of her mauve lips. His cock hardened at the memory of dressing her in the jumpsuit she now wore.
The golden hair at the apex of her thighs reminded him of the real color of her hair. It framed her face like a golden cloud as she walked down the street toward the store where she would post her letters to them.
Dana lowered her gaze, her face turning a darker shade of red as she quickly looked away from his groin. The action told him much. Miss Prim-and-Proper was attracted to him and didn’t want to admit it. Perhaps it had something to do with her thinking about how she had already promised herself to another.
“Then we shall find the mess hall and get you something to eat right away.” With a smile, Tarin held out his arm in an invitation for her to take it. He wasn’t sure if she would or not. It was the custom where she was from, but he didn’t forget that in her mind, she was a prisoner, one brought here against her will.
After a few moments of clenching and unclenching her fists at her sides, good breeding won out and Dana placed her trembling hand upon his forearm.
Nothing felt like the touch of his mate upon his skin. Already his wolf prepared itself to mate with this one woman. He was screwed if she turned him down now, for once a wolf started down this trail, he must mate with the woman or never mate at all. Theirs was a society of weres who would remain devoted to the one they bonded with and, like it or not, his wolf had already begun bonding with Dana Worley.
“How did we get here?”
Unprepared for her question, Tarin swallowed thickly before deciding to tell her as much of the truth as he could. “We brought you here from the train. You were unconscious.” That much was true at least.
“Then you saw the monsters on the train?”
He shook his head. “I saw no monsters.” That was true as well. In his mind, he and Lorcan were not monsters. Tarin continued to lead her toward the mess hall. He could have easily had them transported there, but decided they needed to walk, at least for a while. They needed a little time alone.
“Well, I saw monsters. They were great, hairy beasts that looked half man and half…” Pausing, she shrugged and glared at him as though daring him to laugh at her. “This is so fantastic, but they looked like they were half beast.”
Tarin refused to comment on that. He just kept walking toward the nearest multi-lift. He wanted to get her to the mess deck as quickly as possible to slow the speed of her questions.
“What’s this?” she asked as he led her into the device.
“It’s a multi-lift.” Reaching out, he pressed the three buttons that would send them to the dining area and immediately pulled Dana against him so she wouldn’t lose her balance.
The lift took off with the usual speed, making him feel as though he’d left his stomach behind. When Dana’s color returned to normal and she could again stand on her own, she jumped away.
“Unhand me, sir!” Jerking away from him, she stuck her chin in the air. “I do not appreciate your advances. I am betrothed.”
Raising his brow, Tarin was tempted to tell her that she was indeed betrothed to him. Well…partly, anyway.
She looked around inside the lift. “What is this thing?”
Ah, a question he could answer without worrying that he said too much without Lorcan’s presence. “I already told you. It’s a multi-lift.”
“A what?”
“A multi-lift,” he said with a smile as she looked up and down, no doubt trying to see what it would lift.
“What, pray tell, is a multi-lift?” She leaned against the far wall, her eyes narrowed as though waiting for him to accost her again.
“It’s a device that can take us from one deck of the ship to another.” He frowned. “That’s not precisely correct. It not only takes us from one deck to another, but it can take us from one section to another. It not only moves up and down, but it moves side to side as well.”
As though attempting to prove his point, the lift came to a slow stop on its assent and almost immediately jerked sideways, again leaving him with the feeling of having left a part of his middle behind again.
“I don’t think I’m very hungry anymore.” Dana rested her hand over her abdomen, her face an odd, whitish-green color. She leaned against the far wall, her knuckles white as she gripped the handrail.
“The feeling will wear off. You’ll be fine in a minute.” Tarin moved to help her as she looked unsteady on her feet.
“Please, do not touch me, sir.” She held up her hand, palm out. “I cannot abide your tendency to be so familiar with my person. I don’t even know your name.”
Tarin held his hands up, palms out. “My apologies, ma’am,” he said with a slight bow. “I am Tarin Harunis, and I just wanted to help steady you. You looked ready to fall over.”
Dana took a deep breath, wiped her hands on the front of her jumpsuit then frowned. “I hate this thing. I have no apron to wipe my hands upon and…” She stopped, her eyes growing wide. “My money! All the money I had in the world was sewn into the hem, and your Captain said he burned it!” Her discomfort and questions forgotten, she began to pace the small space. “I told Mr. Matthew Harker that I had at least a pittance of a dowry. Two hundred dollars was better than the nothing I have now, thanks to your Captain.” She brought her hands to her mouth, her eyes filled with tears. “What am I to do?”
Tell me you didn’t really burn her dress with her money in it, Lorcan.
Of course not. I had it scanned to be certain that she had no valuables in it. I removed her money from the hem and it is safe with her jewels.
I don’t believe you really burned it.
“I don’t know why,” Lorcan said when the multi-lift doors opened just outside the mess hall. “The thing was ugly and stank of something akin to cow shit.” Though I didn’t really burn it. I shot the fucking thing out into space.
Tarin wanted to laugh, but had the feeling that Dana knew exactly what Lorcan was talking about. He was not about to incur their mate’s wrath.
Chapter Eight
Dana couldn’t believe it. Here the miscreant was, talking about her dress. She just knew that was what the man meant when he spoke of such horrible odor.
“It may have smelled bad, Captain, but it was not yours. You had no right to burn my dress.”
Lorcan stared down at her, his expression one she could not read. Was that arrogance or anger that had his mouth turning down at the corners?
“I had every right.” Reaching out, he grasped her upper arm and pulled her from the closet-like…thing and through a wide door.
“You have no right!” Dana jerked her arm from his grasp and stepped away. She turned to Tarin for help, but his expression was just as implacable as his friend’s. “I am engaged, sir! I have a life. I was on my way to be married.” She waved her arms wildly, finally losing the
tenuous hold she had upon her temper. “I demand you take me to my affianced. It’s obvious you have a way to deliver me.”
Lorcan grinned. The expression frightened her. Looking to Tarin, Dana found his countenance to be just as terrifying. It was almost as though they wanted her to demand they take her home.
“Is that what you want, Danabella Worley? You would like us to deposit you in the presence of one Matthew Harker?” His brow rose as if in challenge.
Looking around her, Dana noticed the room with its tables and chairs, just like the restaurant on the ground floor of Goody’s hotel. Several people sat staring at them as though what they said was most important. She didn’t care. All she cared about was getting home and fulfilling her promise to Matthew.
“Yes.” She raised her chin into the air, doing her best impression of Amelie as she looked down her nose at the two men. “I demand that you deliver me to Matthew Harker.” It wasn’t until after she agreed that Dana realized they shouldn’t have known the name of her husband-to-be.
“Then rejoice, Dana,” Lorcan said as he spread his arms wide. “Welcome to your new home, for Tarin and I are the man you know as Matthew Harker, and you have agreed to marry us.”
“M–marry you?” Her gaze bounced between them. “Marry you both?” Her stomach did a little flip at the thought and a lump formed in her throat. What could they possibly want from her? Marry both of them? Not only was it illegal, it was a ghastly idea. Wasn’t it?
Suddenly speechless, Dana turned her gaze to Tarin. He must be the voice of reason. He could tell her this was all some sort of horrible joke. “Tell me true, Tarin. Is what your captain says the truth?”
Dana wished for the oblivion of a good faint but could not force one upon herself. Instead, she merely stood before the two men speechless.
“Come. We are here to get you something to eat. We’ll discuss our nuptials afterward.”
“No, you two scoundrels, I will most assuredly not wait until after I eat.” She fisted her hands at her sides. “I demand we speak of it now!”
Lorcan reached up and tried to cup her cheek, but she moved away. “It can wait, love. You must eat to keep up your strength.” She knew he deliberately used the term of endearment that he’d used as Matthew. He probably did it to weaken her resolve, but she was determined not to budge an inch. Just because she decided to believe them didn’t mean she had to let them walk all over her the way her uncle had.
“I refuse, Captain. It cannot wait. If you want me to eat, then you will discuss this with me while I eat or I will not do so.” She wouldn’t either. What was starving herself compared to sexual slavery? Didn’t they mean to subject her to the same degrading treatment as her uncle? How was this any better than the life she thought she had escaped?
“Very well.” Lorcan waved to Tarin. “Go get us something to eat, will you, Tarin?”
He led her to a table in the corner as Tarin walked off to a strange-looking cabinet in the wall. He pushed a few buttons and when he opened the doors, plates of food sat waiting for him to remove them. He repeated the process two more times, each time opening the cabinet to more food. How remarkable!
Dana sat across from Lorcan and they waited for Tarin to join them. He brought their repast on a large tray that he set on a nearby table before serving them.
After Tarin sat, he stared into her eyes for a moment. “Eat.”
Turning her attention to the plate, Dana was prepared to turn her nose up at it, but it smelled delicious. She loved roast beef. All right, she could eat and talk as she promised.
“Why did you steal us away?”
“Our world needs mates, and your species is compatible to ours. Your genome and ours are nearly identical. In fact, the humans on your planet are more closely related to our kind than any other species we have ever encountered.” Picking up his fork, Lorcan scooped up a bit of the dish and watched her for her reaction.
Looking down, she stabbed a small piece of meat, hoping it was what it appeared to be and nibbled a bit from her fork. Her eyes widened with surprise. “This is very good.”
“We thought you might like it.” Tarin took a bite of his meal and winked at her.
Dana felt her face heat. It seemed that all she could do was embarrass herself around these two. They made her entire body feel a strange heat deep inside. She took another bite of her meal, hoping to ignore the feelings swirling around in her stomach. That peculiar, moist warmth settled in her womb and left her body to dampen her under things.
What was it about these two men that made her feel so extraordinarily alive? Why did they make her want to fly in the face of convention and do with them what the women at Agatha’s had described? She looked down at her plate, unable to meet their gazes when she thought of the depraved acts the women told her they had participated in and sometimes enjoyed. Why was she so eager to try them with these men? What was wrong with her that she could even think of such things?
“What are you thinking, my beauty?” Tarin asked with a smile in his voice. She could hear that he was amused. Did he know what she was thinking? Did they possess some strange magic that they knew her immoral thoughts?
Immediately, she shoved a large amount of her potatoes into her mouth to give her a moment to compose herself and to think of an answer that wouldn’t include the truth of her depraved musings.
Ask him a question instead, Dana. They agreed to answer your questions over a meal.
Mind made up, Dana swallowed her potatoes and posed another question. “What is it that you want from us?” Somehow, she knew the answer and it both frightened and exhilarated her. “Are you going to kill us?”
Setting down her fork, she awaited their answer. While she waited, she picked up the cup in front of her and sniffed it. It smelled odd. Sweet, but with some strange effervescence like champagne. Perhaps it would relax her like champagne. If so, she would drink a barrel full. She would need courage to go through with what her traitorous body now craved. Yes, there was no doubt. She had become a wanton while living in her uncle’s house of ill repute. Was she now guilty by association?
“What we want is exactly what we told you in our letters to you. We want a wife, a mate, a helpmeet. We want a woman to have our children. Without you and those like you, we will never know the loving embrace of a wife.”
Could what Lorcan just said be that simple? They wanted a woman to call their own? “Are you saying that you both wish to be my husbands, plural, as in we all live together as husband and wife?”
Her face grew warm once again, only this time it wasn’t embarrassment that turned up the heat. It was the idea that she could have two men as husbands the way she had heard that the men in Arabia had many wives. The idea was intriguing.
“Yes, Dana.” Lorcan nodded as he finished his meal. “That is what we wish.” He stopped to take a drink. “On our world, mates are rare. Very rare. We have only one or two born each year when there are hundreds of thousands of us in need. We searched the universe looking for a world like yours. However, worlds like yours are very uncommon. Humans tend to like confrontation and usually end up picking a fight they can’t win. Before you know it, their enemies have slaughtered them.”
Dana closed her eyes. Wasn’t it just like men to fight and kill until there was no one left? She’d heard of it countless times. Men out West fought the Indians over land, men in the East fought for money. They fought for silver, gold, jewelry. They even fought for women. Could they never be happy? Would they never learn to get along?
“So you search the…the stars for women?”
“We search for men as well if our females cannot find a mate amongst us. However, the shortage of mates is most common among us males. We outnumber our women almost ten to one.”
She wanted to believe them. She was beginning to like the idea of having two males who would protect her from her uncle. Even if they returned to her world, her uncle’s men would have a most difficult time extracting her from the protection these t
wo could offer and sleeping with two men was much better than sleeping with a different man every night the way the girls at Agatha’s did.
“If I say yes, will I lose the right to be my own person?” What was she saying…thinking? She stared at the two dark and handsome men who stared at her over the table.
How could she contemplate doing such a thing with these two? She took a deep breath. The two practically exuded male superiority and something else that was intrinsically male.
Reaching across the table, Lorcan covered her hand and looked deep into her eyes. “Never, Dana. We will not force our wills upon you. Just as we said in our letters to you, we want a partner in every way.”
“Yes, Dana,” Tarin interjected. “We will provide for you, protect you and cherish you as no Earth man ever could. The only lies in our letters to you were the ones that made you think we were but one man, not two.”
“And if I say no?”
“Then you are free to choose any set of males on our world.” Tarin’s expression filled with regret. “Though, we cannot return you to Earth unmated. If you return alone, your uncle would find you and sell you as he promised and there is the likelihood that you could be the mate of another of our kind.”
“So I must stay even if it’s against my will?” Dana sighed. It seemed as though she was in a tight spot. As she heard her father once say, she was damned if she did and damned if she didn’t. What did she have to lose beyond her virginity? It seemed that, like it or not, her life was already in their hands.
Lorcan shrugged. “Perhaps, if you will not accept us, those you will accept would like to return to your world as we planned to. However, we cannot make that promise to you.”
“You would return to–to my world and live there?” Hope blossomed in her chest as she pushed what was left of her cold meal to the side. “You would take me to Indian country where my uncle and his henchmen would fear to follow?”
Mail-Order Bride [Taos Wolven Mates] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 5
