by Marla Monroe
The Men of Space Station One 5
The Carpenters' Helper
Sharing Carmen is all new to Brad. He's used to having things his way. Carmen is happy with the arrangement, but Kirk knows that if he and Brad don't iron things out soon, she'll catch on. Can he learn to share with Kirk before it's too late?
When Carmen is becomes ill from one of the native plants on planet Alpha, the men find that they have to work together to help her through the deadly illness. It takes both of them to handle the garden, the house, and her. Brad realizes that he will do anything to take care of her, and that means sharing. He accepts the importance of it and trusts Kirk to help him.
With dangerous creatures, native plants, and the unknown, there is little time for jealousy. Together, though, they can handle anything the planet throws their way.
Note: There is no sexual relationship or touching for titillation between or among the men.
Genre: Futuristic, Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Science Fiction
Length: 38,154 words
THE CARPENTERS’ HELPER
The Men of Space Station One #5
Marla Monroe
MENAGE EVERLASTING
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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IMPRINT: Ménage Everlasting
THE CARPENTERS’ HELPER
Copyright © 2012 by Marla Monroe
E-book ISBN: 1-61926-503-6
First E-book Publication: March 2012
Cover design by Les Byerley
All art and logo copyright © 2012 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
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THE CARPENTERS’ HELPER
The Men of Space Station One #5
MARLA MONROE
Copyright © 2012
Chapter One
Carmen waited impatiently for her men to return to the station to pick her up. She had gathered all of their luggage together and stood waiting, tapping her foot. They had gone to pick up supplies before they headed out to one of the already-built homes in the outlands of Planet Alpha.
Earth was deteriorating faster and faster with each year that passed. When the sun began to have massive solar flares, it started to destroy the Earth’s atmosphere, changed the climates, and gave Earth’s women Shear’s disease. The dreaded disease left the women barren. The government began rounding up all the women still able to have children, and sequestered them in bunkers deep beneath the Earth in an effort to keep them fertile.
They had located three planets on the other side of the solar system that seemed to be able to support life. So far, they had sent two shuttles to each planet in an effort to colonize them. They hoped to save as many of Earth’s people as possible, but Carmen knew they didn’t expect the Earth to last more than another few years and were just trying to ensure the continuation of the race now.
Earth would send out ships as long as they had the ability to do it. Now they weren’t asking for volunteers. They were picking out men and women according to what they could do for the new planet. Carmen was listed as a fertile woman who had experience in gardening, canning, and animal husbandry, since she had grown up on a farm.
They used a computer program much like the social dating sites on the Internet had done in order to match up men and women. Carmen had stood with her two appointed men along with nineteen other couples for the marriage ceremony that was performed the day before they were to leave Earth. It wasn’t exactly the happy occasion she had envisioned when she was a starry-eyed teenager.
Now, as Carmen waited, she thought about her two men. They were carpenters, construction workers. They would be building houses for the new arrivals as they were sent. Groups of four men would build houses as fast as they could to accommodate the coming families.
Brad Jordan was twenty-five and stood about six feet three inches. He had coal-black hair that he kept pulled back, and piercing black eyes. Broad shoulders and a wide chest tapered down to a narrow waist with six-pack abs. There was a no-nonsense air about him, and he was broodingly handsome with his square jaw and narrow face.
Kirk Matthews had shaggy, light-brown hair with hazel eyes that danced with amusement when he smiled. He was a year younger than Brad, but the same height. He also had broad shoulders and yummy abs along with a delectable tight ass.
Carmen doubted either man would have looked twice at her dumpy self in a normal world, but this wasn’t a normal world. In fact, this wasn’t even the world she grew up on. She was on Planet Alpha, at Space Station One, across the solar system from Earth. Her new life was about to begin. If her men ever showed back up from getting supplies.
About the time she was ready to sit down on one of the trunks, a transport pulled up hovering about two feet off the road. Then the driver settled the transport with a woosh of air to the ground. The doors opened and Brad and Kirk climbed out. Watching their muscles ripple beneath their shirts sent flames dancing inside Carmen’s pussy.
“You ready?” Kirk asked.
“I have all of
our luggage right here. Were you able to get everything you needed?”
“Yep. We’ll have to make another trip as soon as we get settled in for more.” Brad helped Kirk load the trunks.
“When will we meet up with the other family?” she asked. Carmen was anxious to meet the other woman.
“Supposed to do that next week.” Kirk winked at her. “Are you already wanting some female company?”
Carmen laughed. “No, just trying to keep up with what is going on.”
She moved out of the way when they picked up another trunk. She figured that they had some of their tools in theirs. She had brought two of them and two suitcases of clothes and necessities. They each had three and a suitcase apiece.
Once they had finished loading the luggage, Kirk opened the transport’s passenger door and helped her inside. Then he showed her how to strap in.
“Never jump up or down from a transport until it’s on the ground and the engine is off. It’s dangerous, and always wear the safety harness.” Kirk nodded at Brad once he was strapped in.
“We’re going to be living about halfway between the farms and the ranch,” Brad told her. “We’ll build houses on each side to accommodate the rest of the crews they need.”
“Our house is already built. It’s been empty for nearly two years, so it’s going to take some work to get it cleaned up, I’m sure.” Kirk pulled out a booklet and read through it. “It has four bedrooms and three baths.”
“Wow! I’m surprised they would have built houses that large,” Carmen said.
“Don’t forget, they plan on us populating this planet so they built the houses to support a family.” Kirk winked at her.
Carmen felt the blush creep up her neck and into her cheeks. Of course he would bring that up. She swallowed and tried to change the subject.
“How many other people are going to be living around us?”
“There are already six families in the area, and there will be three more with this batch that have arrived. One will be our partners and their wife.” Kirk handed her the booklet he had been looking at. “This is about what has been going on lately. It didn’t come off the shuttle. It’s from the city folks. You need to read it.”
“I get the feeling that I’m not going to like it.” Carmen could tell by the men’s faces that something was wrong.
“They didn’t exactly tell us everything while we were on the shuttle. You’ll see when you read it,” Brad said.
Carmen sighed and opened the little booklet to read. It was a summary of sorts of the life on the planet and what they had discovered in the last two years. By the time she had finished, she was angry and a little scared. Creatures that looked like giant praying mantises and huge rats the size of cats had been plaguing the new inhabitants of Planet Alpha. They were going to have to be careful and only touch or eat what they had been shown as safe. That included the animals or creatures on the planet.
“Oh dear,” she said, and closed the booklet.
“Fuck that,” Brad said. “They’ve sent us here without the information we need to stay alive.
“I guess they figured we had a better chance here than on Earth.” Carmen noticed a building in the distance. “Is that our house?”
“That should be it, according to the directions we were given.” Brad slowed the transport down some.
As they pulled closer, she could see that it was a rather large house. There were three other buildings behind it. One would be the barn and another, the chicken coop. Since she had experience with animals, they were going to eventually have a cow and chickens. The third would be where the men stored their supplies and tools.
Brad stopped the transport under the large garage of sorts next to the house. He cut the engine and began pulling off the harness.
“Stay here until we’ve checked out the house for any of those creatures,” Brad said.
He and Kirk jumped out of the transport then opened the back and rummaged around before closing it again and walking toward the door to the house. They were now each carrying a rifle. She strained to see inside the house through the now-open door, but couldn’t see around them. Then they closed the door behind them.
After what seemed like hours but was probably only fifteen or twenty minutes, they emerged from the house and walked back toward her and the transport. Kirk opened the door and helped her down.
“Nothing inside. The place has been cleaned, though, so you shouldn’t have that much to do. We’ll have to find out who cleaned it and thank them. There’s also plenty of food in the pantry and freezer. I have to say, the place is modern. I wasn’t expecting it to be this nice.” Kirk handed her one of her bags.
Carmen carried the bag into the house. She walked through the living room with the fireplace and comfortable-looking couch and chairs. She took the stairs leading up and quickly located the master suite. There she sat down her case and immediately headed down for another load.
The men were busy unloading the rest of the luggage and shooed her away.
“Let us get this inside for you to unpack while we unload the trailer of supplies,” Brad told her.
Carmen sighed and walked back upstairs empty-handed. She surveyed the bedroom and found that there were two walk-in closets. The men would share, she decided with a smile. There was one dresser and two chests. They got the chests and she got the dresser. She opened the suitcase on the bed and began putting away her things.
By the time they had the rest of the luggage upstairs, she was finished with her first suitcase.
“Does it matter where I put your things?” she called down the stairs.
“Nope,” Kirk called back up.
She read the name on each trunk she opened and made sure to keep their things separated. She didn’t know why because they each wore the same size. Still, they would want their own things. It would be a challenge for her to keep them that way.
Once she had emptied the luggage and put everything away, it was growing dark outside. The solar generators had kicked on and the lights came up inside the house. She hurried downstairs and searched around until she was able to make a dinner of soup and sandwiches. The men would be in soon.
She explored the rest of the house and found the pantry, the cellar, which she didn’t go check out, and the office. There was a radio base station in the office, and three radios. Good, she would be able to keep up with them when they were gone.
Carmen had just returned to the kitchen, when the men walked in the back door. They looked grimy and exhausted.
“Why don’t you two go shower, and then come down to eat? I have soup and sandwiches for you.”
“Sounds good,” Kirk said. He followed Brad out of the kitchen.
She could hear the rumble of their voices as they climbed the stairs. Until then, she hadn’t been nervous about what was to come. Now that they were in the house with her for the rest of the night, she felt the flutter of nerves in her stomach.
They had spent very little time together on the shuttle getting to know each other. Most of their time had been in class learning about the planet and what they would be doing there. Her classes had consisted of canning, gardening, cooking with the planet’s foods, and what to expect in a ménage relationship. She had books on each of the subjects they had taught and tried to remember what she had learned on the subject of ménages.
The three people in it had to learn to trust each other and be honest with each other about everything. She didn’t have any trouble telling anyone how she felt, but trust had to be earned. She didn’t arbitrarily believe someone until they proved otherwise. It was the other way around. They had to prove she could depend on them.
Kirk was the first one downstairs. He stretched then sat down at the table. Brad was right behind him.
“Soup smells good.” Kirk watched her as she dipped his bowl.
“Hope you like it. It’s just a simple potato soup.”
“Right now, anything would taste good. I’m starved,” Brad said.
“Asshole.” Kirk shook his head.
“Go ahead and eat before it gets cold.” Carmen dipped her bowl then returned the boiler to the stove. She sat down and the men began to eat. They had waited on her.
“This is good,” Kirk said as he dipped his sandwich in the soup.
“Is there more?” Brad asked, getting up.
“I’ll get it for you.” She started to stand, but Kirk reached over and grabbed her wrist.
“He can get it. Eat your food.” Kirk smiled at her.
Brad returned to his seat with a full bowl. It didn’t last long, either.
When the men finished, they sat and talked about the supplies while she ate. When she got up to clear the table, they got up with her and walked into the living room to continue their conversation.
Carmen quickly washed the dishes and cleaned up. Once she had everything clean and put away, she joined the men in the living room. They were sitting in the recliners talking about the garden.
“Any idea how many rows you want?” Brad asked.
“I have a drawing up in the room of how long and how many. I’ll get it for you.” She started to get up, but he stopped her.
“We can look at it later. We’re going to plow up the garden tomorrow so you can get to planting. We don’t want to waste any time.” Kirk crossed his legs at the ankles.
“I agree. We don’t know what sort of weather we will have until we’ve been here a while.”
“Well, I’m ready for bed. I’m tired. This has been one hell of a long day.” Kirk stood up and stretched.
