by Marla Monroe
“Hey, calm down. I’m not going to hurt you, baby.” He pulled her arms away from her face. “Look at me, Amber. You’re safe. It was just a dream.”
Tanner hovered in the back ground. He looked shaken. She wasn’t sure why. Slowly, her breathing returned to normal. What were they doing there? What time was it? She looked over toward the clock and realized it was nearly six o’clock. She’d slept the afternoon away.
“I’m sorry, Bryan. I honestly didn’t mean to hit you.” Her voice shook. She couldn’t help it.
“It’s okay, baby. I’ve had plenty of busted lips before. Have to say you pack a punch, though.”
“You were dreaming about someone beating you, Amber. Weren’t you.” Tanner didn’t move any closer.
He was probably worried she’d hit him, too. She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. She didn’t want to answer him. But they deserved an answer since she’d attacked Bryan.
“I have nightmares sometimes. It’s no big deal. I just usually don’t assault anyone when I do.”
“When I said that you’ve been hurt before, I didn’t realize you’d been physically hurt. I’m sorry, baby.”
“I’m fine now. You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to. I wouldn’t blame you if you’d like to leave now.” She really didn’t want them to leave her. She was still shaken up by the dream.
“We brought dinner,” Tanner said. “Let’s eat. I thought we’d eat at the table. You can prop your foot up on a pillow on the other chair.
“Um, okay. That sounds good. I’d like to get out of this bed for a little while.”
“You stay right there while we set everything up. When we heard you scream, we left it on the counter and ran back here to see what was wrong.” Bryan patted her upper thigh before he and Tanner left to set the table.
Amber cringed inside that they had witnessed her nightmare. She felt lower than a worm right then. Poor Bryan had a busted lip because of her. She’d had her share of them. They didn’t feel good.
A few minutes later, they returned to take her into the other room. Before she knew what he was going to do, Bryan picked her up and Tanner took the pillow. They settled her in the kitchen with her foot propped up on the opposite chair while they each sat on one side of her.
Dinner turned out to be meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans and rolls. It was delicious, and she realized she was hungry. She wolfed it down and then realized the men were staring at her. She felt her face grow warm in embarrassment.
“I’m sorry, I was hungry.” She bit her lower lip.
“Don’t be sorry. We enjoyed watching you eat. It’s not often you run across a woman who doesn’t worry about her figure so much that they pick at their food or only eat a bunch of lettuce.” Tanner grinned at her. “It was great to see you enjoy your meal.”
“It was very good. Where did it come from?” she asked.
“I cooked it,” Bryan said with obvious pride.
“You’re kidding. Really?” She was genuinely surprised.
“Hey! I’m not just another pretty face.”
Amber chuckled. He looked so hurt.
“How would you like to sit up a while and watch TV?” Tanner asked.
“Oh, that would be great.” She started to get up, but Bryan beat her to it and picked her up.
Tanner followed them into the living area where Bryan settled her on his lap on the couch. Tanner picked up the remote, and picking up her legs, he settled them in his lap on the opposite end of the couch. He turned on the TV then flipped through channels until he found a movie.
“How about a western?” he asked.
“Sounds good to me. I like them,” she admitted.
They watched the movie with Tanner massaging her good foot and Bryan running his hands up and down her arms. The movie finished at nine. Amber yawned, amazed that she could possibly be sleepy after having slept all afternoon. She guessed she was healing and it took more rest than usual.
“Looks like someone is ready for bed,” Tanner observed.
“I don’t know why I’m so sleepy. I slept all afternoon.”
“Your body’s healing.” He said just what she’d been thinking.
“Let’s get you back in bed.” Bryan stood up with her in his arms.
Amber had to admit she felt safe in his arms. She had no fear he would drop her. He carried her back into the bedroom while Tanner snagged the pillow on the way by the kitchen and settled it on the bed for her.
“Let’s get you into your nightshirt,” Bryan said.
“Oh, no! I can do that myself if you’ll just hand it to me.”
“I don’t want you out of bed again, Amber. Do you want me to do it instead of Bryan? I just figured you were used to him since he’d already seen you without clothes on.”
“You told him?” Amber felt the color rise in her face.
“Sure, he needed to know you’d gotten out of bed on your own and might have reinjured your ankle trying to get in and out of the tub.” Bryan didn’t look the least repentant.
“Please, I can change my own clothes. Okay?”
“Don’t be a prude, Amber. I’ve seen you naked. It won’t take but just a minute.”
He reached for her shorts and quickly pulled them down and off of her, being careful of her injured knees and ankle.
“See, that was easy. Now to change T-shirts.”
“I’ll just wear this one and change again tomorrow,” she quickly said.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. Thanks, but I’m fine from here.” Thank God he was giving in on the shirt.
He bent over and took her lips in a deep, sensual kiss. Then he smiled.
“Good night, baby.”
Tanner quickly followed him with a doozy of kiss as well. He held her face gently in his hands as he kissed her then smiled at her saying good night as well.
“One of us will be by in the morning to bring you breakfast,” Tanner told her. “Oh, and I have a locksmith coming by as well to change the locks on your door. They’re too flimsy. Bryan will be here to let him in and stay here with you while he’s here.”
“But–but I can do that. I didn’t realize anyone could come in. I’ll take care of it.” She couldn’t believe they were taking over her life already and she wasn’t even dating them. No, it couldn’t go any further.
“See you in the morning, baby.” Bryan followed Tanner out the door.
A few minutes passed where she heard them cleaning up in the kitchen. Finally she heard the front door open and close. She sighed with relief. What was she going to do about them? She figured that no matter what she was stuck with them while she was laid up. She’d give them the boot once she could drive again.
Amber adjusted her T-shirt and realized her panties had been showing. Oh God! What if Bryan had seen them and remembered that she had been wearing the red ones earlier. What would he think?
Realizing there was nothing she could do about it, she pushed it to the back of her mind and concentrated on going to sleep. This time when she drifted off, she didn’t dream.
Chapter Five
“She’s coming around,” Bryan said once they’d made it home.
“What makes you say that?” Tanner asked with a frown.
“She had on red panties this morning. She was wearing white ones tonight. What do you want to bet she changed because she got wet when we kissed her earlier?”
“I wondered if she was wet when I kissed her at lunch. She really got into the kiss for a while.”
“I guess I can see why she’s reluctant to get involved with us considering her past. If I knew who had abused her I would teach him some manners.” Bryan liked the idea of finding him.
“I think we need to focus our attentions on treating her right and not getting revenge,” Tanner said in a dry voice.
Bryan huffed out a breath. Tanner was right, though. Making sure she was happy would go a long way in securing a spot in her affections. Now all they had to do was fig
ure out how to make her happy and want to be around them more. He had a feeling that putting the new locks on the door wasn’t one of those ways, but it had to be done. Neither he nor Tanner could stand the idea of her living there with those flimsy locks.
“Bryan, do you think we’re coming on too strong for her considering her background?” Tanner seemed to have been thinking about it.
“Maybe, but I don’t want her to be able to shore up her defenses against us by staying away some. I think we need to break down her defenses and then shower her with love and affection. I’m sure that guy whoever he was started out nice to her. We’ve got to prove we won’t change.”
“We’ve got a long way ahead of us, then.”
“I think she’s worth it,” Bryan said.
“I do, too. I’m just worried she won’t come around. Then where will we be? I know she’s the one for us, Bryan. The idea we might lose her tears me up inside.” Tanner stood up from where he’d been sitting nursing a beer.
“I’m beat. I’m heading for a shower. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Bryan carried his empty beer bottle to the kitchen and tossed it. When he returned to head upstairs, Tanner still stood in the same place. His brother was deep in thought. He left him there and climbed the stairs to his room. He had his own bathroom, as did Tanner. Neither of them used the master suite. That was reserved for when they brought their lady home with them. Hopefully that lady would be Amber.
He stripped as soon as he walked in the bedroom then turned on the shower and adjusted the water temperature to how he liked it. Then, as soon as it was warm enough, he climbed in. After soaping up and rinsing off, he thought about Amber and her luscious pink nipples. His cock had been hard all day and was steel-hard after having been with her for the last three-and-a-half hours.
He lathered up his dick and stroked it slow and easy after squeezing the shaft at the base. Bryan imagined her hot and eager to suck his cock in her warm, wet mouth. Her pretty pink lips would surround his cock and suck on just the head until he was wild for her.
She would lick along his shaft then nibble at the underside of the mushroom cap. He began tugging on his cock a little faster. A drop of pre-cum beaded at the slit on top of his cock. He rubbed it around the cap, then pulled on it harder.
Bryan would thread his fingers though her hair as she bobbed up and down on his dick. He would stop her before she made him come and get to his knees to taste her sweet pussy. He bet she would be spicy like she was. He would lick her slit up and down then stab her with his tongue until he was fucking her cunt with it.
She’d cry out, begging for him to let her come. His hand moved faster as he reached between his legs with his other one to fondle his balls. He rolled them in his hand and lightly squeezed them. He went up on tiptoes as he grew closer to coming.
Amber’s sweet blue eyes would gaze down at him as he entered her with two fingers, then fucked her as he sucked at her clit. She’d explode around him, whimpering as she came. Bryan felt the electricity race down his spine and center in his balls as he tightened his grip on his dick and pulled harder. Cum shot out from his cock in ribbons that hit the back of the shower wall. He leaned against the wall with one hand as he slowly brought himself down, pumping his cock until he’d stripped every drop of cum he had from his cock.
He leaned against the ceramic tile for several minutes trying to catch his breath. He hadn’t come that hard in a long time. Fuck, he wanted her. How was he ever going to stand waiting? Already he was antsy just to taste her sweet pussy. He just wanted to pleasure her. He could hold off actually fucking her if she would just let him lick her cunt. Somehow he was almost sure that would be later as well.
He wondered if Tanner felt the same draw that he did. He seemed to be totally taken with her, but he was handling keeping it slow much better than Bryan was. He wished he had Tanner’s patience. Well, that was why he was a doctor and Bryan was a rancher. He grinned. He would push her, and Tanner would coddle her. Between the two of them, they should be able to keep her off-balance. Off-balance was good.
He crawled into bed and lay back with his arms crossed behind his head. He thought about her for a long time before he finally fell asleep to dream about her.
* * * *
Amber tolerated the guys coming to the house for the next three days fairly well. She kept her strength up in trying to resist them, but the moment they kissed her, she lost it all once again. And they kissed her every opportunity they got.
Bryan pushed her by running his hand up her thigh and fingering her panties. She slapped his hand away but hesitated long enough that he got a finger under the edge of them. Tanner talked to her, massaging her neck as he kissed her and running a hand up and down her arm. Together they kept her off-balance.
She wanted to give in, but kept reminding herself of what would happen eventually. She didn’t want to have to leave Blue Springs. She had made a life here and enjoyed the people and the small-town atmosphere. If she let herself get sucked into their bed, before she knew it, they would become mean and the entire town would know about her business when she called the police. At least in Memphis, no one cared. It would be different in a small town.
She was glad to have the new locks, but had thrown a fit over Tanner paying for them. She insisted he let her pay, and he’d huffed out of the room, obviously upset. She was just surprised he hadn’t blown up at her for defying him.
Finally the day came she was able to drive herself to work. The men were like mother hens arriving thirty minutes before she was ready to leave. They hovered as she finished getting dressed and had brought her breakfast.
“I wanted to make sure you ate. You still need to keep your healing process going,” Tanner told her.
“Thanks for the breakfast, but you two don’t have to come over anymore. I’m well now and can take care of myself.”
“Maybe we like taking care of you, baby.” Bryan gave her a hug.
She didn’t hug him back. That would only encourage him. Why did her arms ache to close around him? Because you’re stupid. You’re only going to get into trouble again, Amber. Put an end to it before it’s too late.
“Really, you don’t need to come back.” I don’t want you to hovered on her lips, but she just couldn’t say the words.
“You need to keep these numbers with you in case you run into trouble.” Tanner handed her a business card.
She flipped it over and found both of their cell numbers written there. She sighed and slipped it into her purse.
“Okay, I’m leaving now. Out, out, out.” She made a shooing motion and they moved ahead of her.
Her limp was only slightly noticeable now, thank goodness. She found when she put pressure on the gas or the brake it ached, but she made it to work without a problem. She spent the day sitting down. Everyone was sympathetic, having already heard the news of how it had happened. They also seemed to know about Bryan and Tanner’s interest in her.
“Really, they were just being kind because I didn’t have anyone to help me.” She tried to stop any gossip by talking to Elizabeth, her fellow teller at the bank.
“Honey, if those two men were paying attention to me, I’d be all over them like bees on honey. And they would be sweet honey, too.”
“I’m just not interested in dating right now.” She tried to make it clear that she wasn’t interested.
“Just don’t wait around long, honey. They’re in high demand. I’ve never been lucky enough to catch their eye, but I hear tell they take real good care of their lovers, if you know what I mean.”
Amber could guess what she was hinting at. She sighed already having a hard time keeping her mind off of them. Many more innuendos and she’d need to change her panties. She was glad when she was busy so that everyone stayed in their little windows.
Finally, the day ended and she could go home. Why wasn’t she surprised to see one of the brothers’ trucks sitting in her drive, minus the driver? She should have been furious,
but she was only mildly irritated. She guessed she was getting used to them barging in. When they had the locks changed, they’d each kept a key. She wasn’t even surprised.
She climbed out of her Pathfinder and huffed out a breath and walked up to the door. With an impish grin, she rang the doorbell. Bryan answered the door. His face broke out into a wide grin when he saw that it was her.
“What are you doing out there? Come on in. Tanner is cooking a celebratory meal for your first day back at work.”
“He’s cooking in my kitchen?” she yelped. “It’s such a small thing for him to be comfortable cooking in.”
“He’s doing just fine. Come on. You need a nice hot bath to relax, and a change of clothes. It will be another hour before it’s ready.” Bryan led her through the kitchen where something smelled heavenly.
“I’ll run your bath while you undress.”
It took a minute for what he said to sink in, and by then she’d already pulled off her shoes and was unbuttoning her blouse.
“Oh, no you don’t. You get out of this bedroom right now.”
“Come on, baby. I’ve seen everything you’ve got already. There’s no need for you to be shy around me.”
“Yes, there is. We aren’t dating. Much less married.” She settled her hands on her hips.
“Well, that could be easily remedied,” he said, waggling his eyebrows. “Anyway, the water is running. You better check it.”
She watched him walk out and close the door behind him. She hurried to check the water and turned it off before it got too deep. Now what had he meant by that? What could easily be remedied? Their dating or marrying? She shivered and quickly finished undressing before he decided to come back. She climbed into the tub, remembering too late that she hadn’t locked the bathroom door. Oh well. He wouldn’t dare come in knowing she didn’t want him in there.
The nearly hot water felt wonderful on her sore ankle. Despite trying to stay off it at work all day, she’d had to walk various places several times. Then there was driving, which had been harder than the actual walking and standing had been.
