Monroe, Marla - Their Reluctant Submissive [Knights in Black Leather 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Marla Monroe

  Kelly thought back to what had happened. She remembered going to bed worried about Steve, Ben, and Stacey. She woke up hot and having trouble breathing. That was when she realized there was a fire. She had gotten on the floor and tried to crawl out of her bedroom. She hadn’t been able to see a thing in the dark, but she remembered there had been a lot of smoke. Her eyes were stinging, and she couldn’t manage to get a deep breath. The noise had been deafening, a roaring that made her think of the old monster movies. Something fell on her, and that was all she remembered.

  “Hello, Kelly. How are you doing? Do you remember me from yesterday?” A man in a white coat stood at the foot of her bed when she opened her eyes gain.

  “Dr. F.” She knew it started with an F, but she wasn’t sure about the rest.

  He chuckled. “Well, you did slightly alter my name a few times when we first got that tube out of your throat. Tell me how you’re doing.”

  She rolled her eyes at him. “Chest hurts. Hard to breathe.”

  “I’m sure it is hard to breathe. Let me listen and see how you sound. I want you to take as deep a breath as you can each time I move my stethoscope.” He leaned over and placed the metal piece on her chest, moving it several times when she breathed.

  Kelly couldn’t help coughing with the deep breaths, but he didn’t seem to care. He just nodded and moved to listen to her back. Over and over she drew in deep breaths and ended with a painful cough. When he had finished listening to her, he looked in her throat and checked her burns. At some point a nurse came in and helped him with the burns. She looked at them as they uncovered the ones she could see. They really didn’t look all that bad. Knowing that she had been in a fire, she had expected to see terrible burns that would leave behind hideous scars for her to have to live with.

  “Well, young lady, you’re doing remarkably well considering what you’ve been through. I don’t think any of the burns are going to leave any scarring. That cut on your head is so close to your hairline that the small scar that it leaves won’t be noticeable.” He propped one hip on the edge of her bed.

  “What about my voice? It’s horrible. When will the cough go away?”

  “You’re voice will slowly improve, but there is a small chance that you might have some damage to your vocal chords. That means that if you do, there will be some rasp in it left over.”

  Kelly opened her mouth to ask if something could be done to fix her voice if there was any damage, but he held up his hand when she started to speak.

  “Don’t worry about it right now. Our main focus for now is your lungs. You’re slowly recovering from a light case of pneumonia. It is vital that you do the breathing exercises the respiratory therapist is helping you with and taking the breathing treatments. I know that with your cracked ribs the coughing is rough, but you have to get that stuff out of your lungs. Don’t try to keep from coughing.” The doctor wagged his finger at her.

  “Can I at least have something to drink? My mouth and throat are so dry it’s hard to swallow.” She saw the nurse wink at her from across the room.

  “I think that can be arranged. I’m going to start you off on clear liquids, and if you handle them okay, you can have soft foods at dinner tonight.”

  “When am I getting out of here?”

  He chuckled. “Pushing it, aren’t you? I think we’ll move you to a room tomorrow morning if you don’t spike a temperature tonight. How is that for a start? I know for a fact you have two nice men who have been keeping the coffeepot in the waiting room empty since you got here.”

  Kelly couldn’t stop the smile that stretched her parched lips. She knew they had been visiting her. She remembered hearing them talk to her off and on over the last several days. She couldn’t wait to see them.

  The doctor left, and not five minutes later, the nurse returned with a mug of ice water for her.

  “Don’t make yourself sick by drinking too much at one time. Small sips until your body gets used to you drinking again. I’m going to go let your men in to see you now. It’s a little early, but you’re our only patient back here today, and the doctor is finished.” The nurse slipped back through the glass door.

  Kelly concentrated on sipping the cool water without choking. It was difficult at first, but after a few seconds the soreness settled down some. Mindful that she didn’t want to end up getting sick from drinking too much at one time, she set the mug back on the table by her bed. That little bit of activity had exhausted her. She closed her eyes and waited on her men to come in.

  A noise at the door alerted her that she had company. She opened her eyes and smiled to see both Jackson and Marx standing at the foot of her bed.

  “I told you to be quiet, she was sleeping.” Marx sounded aggravated at his brother.

  “No I wasn’t. I was waiting on you to get in here.” She winced at how bad her voice sounded.

  “Shh, don’t try to talk, baby. I know your throat has to hurt.” Jackson hurried to her side and took her hand.

  Marx took the other side of the bed and carefully picked up her other hand. She still had an IV in her arm and dressings on the back of her hands.

  “I missed you two.” She couldn’t help the tears that filled her eyes. For some reason she was getting emotional.

  “We missed you, too, kitten. We’ve been so worried about you.” Jackson bent over and kissed her lightly on the lips.

  “The doctor said I can move to a room tomorrow if I don’t run any fever tonight.” She couldn’t help but wish that they would stay with her so she wouldn’t be alone, but she knew they had a ranch to run.

  “Can’t wait, babe.” Jackson smiled down at her.

  Kelly turned to Marx. He was watching her closely as he held her hand with both of his.

  “How are you, Marx?”

  “Better now that you’re awake. Are you hurting anywhere? Do you need something for pain?”

  “I’m fine.” She started coughing again. “Or at least I am when I’m not coughing.”

  Marx handed her the water so she could take a sip. He held it for her then set it back on the table.

  “The doctor said you need to cough though to get rid of the pneumonia,” Jackson said.

  “Doesn’t mean I have to like it.” She pouted. Then she sighed and decided she needed to find out how bad the fire was. Deep down she knew everything was probably gone, but she needed to hear it out loud so she could prepare herself for starting over.

  “Did I lose everything?”

  Marx frowned. “Don’t worry about that right now. All that’s important is that you’re alive and getting well.”

  “I know, but I need to know what I have to deal with when I get out. I’ll need clothes and a place to stay. Can you find out if they have something open in one of the other buildings?”

  The look on Marx’s face scared her. Oh, God! Did all of the apartments burn? Was anyone killed? What about Tessa?

  “Is Tessa okay?”

  “She’s fine. Her building wasn’t burned. There was some smoke damage and water damage in some of the apartments, but your building is the only one that burned to the ground.” Jackson quickly spoke up as if to reassure her.

  “And you can stop worrying about where you’re going to live when you get out. You have a home.” Marx folded his arms across his chest.

  Chapter Twenty

  Tessa stared at Marx then looked over at Jackson. Both men looked settled on the subject of where she was going to live. She had a niggling of an idea that they were talking about out on the ranch with them. That wasn’t happening. It was too soon to even contemplate that with them. Things had been going so well lately, she didn’t want to take a chance that it would change the dynamics in their relationship.

  “No. I’m sure Tessa will let me crash at her place until I can find another apartment.”

  “Not happening, kitten.” Marx’s voice brooked no argument.

  She looked over at Jackson, but could tell she would get no help from him on the issue. H
ow would she ever be able to resist anything they asked of her if she was always surrounded by them? They would have her trussed up and at their mercy in no time. Where they were concerned, she was afraid she wasn’t strong enough to refuse them anything.

  “Kelly, why is the idea of staying with us so abhorrent to you?” Jackson asked.

  “I–I can’t think around the two of you. You’re too overwhelming.”

  “All we want is to see you happy and to take care of you. We would never hurt you.” Jackson’s words seemed so innocent, but she latched on to the take care of her part.

  “I don’t need you to take care of me. I can take care of myself. I like taking care of myself.”

  Marx walked over to the door and back before speaking. She couldn’t help but notice how agitated he was. It didn’t scare her as much as arouse her. She was lying in a hospital bed, and she wanted them. It didn’t make sense. She wanted her independence, and yet they called to her in a way no man or men ever had. She wanted to let them take care of her, and that was what frightened her more than anything.

  “We know you can take care of yourself, Kelly, but we want to do it for you. You don’t have to lose your independence just by letting us care for you as well.” Marx sounded desperate.

  It was something she didn’t associate with the man. He was always in control, and nothing seemed to bother him. For a second, the idea that he was afraid she would reject him crossed her mind, but she dismissed it. She wasn’t that important to him, or Jackson, for that matter. She was just one in a long line of submissives they had selected to entertain their needs for a while. The more often she repeated that the less chance she would end up a basket case when they eventually tired of her. Because they would grow tired of her.

  “Babe, is there anything we can get you? We’ll bring you some clothes for when you get to leave.” Jackson looked from her to his brother and back again. He was obviously trying to change the subject.

  “Thanks, but I don’t know of anything. Hopefully they will let me leave in a few days. I can’t stand to just lie around. I need to get back to work. I have a lot of orders to catch up on.”

  “Even once you are discharged, the doctor isn’t going to let you go back to work for a while, babe. You’re going to have to rest up your lungs. You’ve got pneumonia. You don’t just get over that in a few days.” Marx watched her.

  “I’ll go crazy just sitting around. I’ll have to do something.” She didn’t like to think that she would be stuck at their home all day long.

  The realization that she was actually thinking about going there told her that she knew deep down they weren’t going to give her a choice one way or another. She dropped her eyes to where her hands where fiddling with the covers.

  “If the doctor agrees, maybe we can bring some of your things home and you can work on them for short periods of time,” Marx said

  She jerked her eyes back up at his suggestion. She couldn’t believe it had come from his mouth. When she looked over at Jackson, it was to see the other man grinning over at his brother. He obviously thought the fact that he had compromised was funny. She felt the small smile on her lips. It was sort of funny, she decided. Marx didn’t compromise on much of anything.

  “What? Why are you both looking at me like I’ve sprouted horns or something?”

  Jackson shook his head and clapped him on the back. “You may think you’re the boss, big brother, but we both know that Kelly runs this show.”

  Marx grumbled then shrugged. Kelly couldn’t help but stare at Jackson with an open mouth. Then her coughing started back, and the moment was lost as both men rushed to give her some water and pat her on the head. She waved them off and finally got control of her breathing once again.

  “Looks like you’re worn out, kitten. We’ll leave you to get some rest. I don’t want you having a relapse and running a temperature tonight. I want you in your own room so we can stay with you.” Jackson brushed his lips across her forehead.

  Then Marx did the same thing and squeezed her fingers before they both turned and walked through the glass door. A few minutes later, the nurse came in with some medicine, followed by the therapist with her breathing treatment. She sighed and resigned herself to more coughing and gagging. She just wanted to go to sleep and pretend that everything was fine. The idea of going to stay with Jackson and Marx scared her. To her, it made her believe it would be the beginning of the end for their relationship. She wasn’t ready for that. She didn’t want to give them up, but once they started hinting at taking their liaison to a deeper level, she would have to break it off. There was no way she could even contemplate living like that again. It hadn’t even been living to her. It had merely been existing.

  * * * *

  Marx climbed out of the truck once he had parked in front of the house and waited for his brother to do the same. They had decided that they would both go home since Kelly was doing so much better. They would visit her again that night. Right now, though, they had a lot of things to talk about and take care of to prepare for her coming home with them in a few days.

  “She looks good despite how weak and sick she still is.” Jackson followed him up the steps of the porch.

  Once they were inside, they headed straight for the kitchen. Jackson worked on making sandwiches and he pulled out two beers. Excitement that they were going to finally have her under their roof for more than just a night or two flowed through his veins. Soon she would be theirs for always.

  “I don’t like how pale she is and that she’s still in so much pain.” Marx handed Jackson a beer.

  “Me either, but she’s getting better. That’s what matters.”

  “She’s so damn stubborn about being independent. We’re going to have to be careful not to overwhelm her.” He looked over at Jackson and the look on his face made him grimace. “Right. I’m going to have to be careful not to overwhelm her.”

  “Just don’t push her too much. Remember that she values her independence and let her exercise as much of that as she safely can.”

  “I’d like to know more about what brought her here and what kind of situation she left behind. I think that is where the problem is.” Marx took the plate of sandwiches his brother handed him.

  “I suspect we won’t be happy about it. I’ve been thinking about some of the things she’s said here and there, and I’m beginning to think she was in a slave relationship with her last Dom. Nothing else makes sense.”

  “Well, she doesn’t have to worry about that with us.” Marx had no intentions of trying to control and manipulate someone’s life like that. No doubt it worked for some, but it wasn’t for him or Jackson.

  “I have a feeling she isn’t convinced of that. We’re going to have to be extra careful around her until we can convince her of that once and for all.”

  They ate their sandwiches in silence. Marx considered what they could do to assure Kelly that they valued her independence as much as she did. Caring for her wasn’t the same thing as taking away her free will or ability to make her own decisions. Yeah, he wanted to wrap her up in cotton wool and keep her safe, but even he knew it wouldn’t work. She was an intelligent woman who had a lot to offer.

  After lunch, they divided up and readied the house for her arrival. They would get the maid who came in once a week to give the house a thorough cleaning just before she was released. They wanted everything to be perfect for her.

  Marx made a list of things he remembered from her apartment to pick up from town. Then he and Jackson got online and ordered a few more that they wouldn’t be able to get there in Perkins City. Hopefully they would arrive before she made it home. He smiled at that word. It would truly be a home with her there with them. Once they convinced her they loved her and wanted her as their wife, they would start adding children.

  He realized that loving her was much easier to admit now than it had been. He was sure nearly losing her in the fire played a big role in that. Telling her would be important, but they would n
eed to give her time to adjust to being in their house first. Otherwise, she might not believe them.

  “Anything else you can think of we need to order?” Jackson sat back in the chair at his desk.

  Marx stood looking over his shoulder with his arms crossed. They had spent the last hour browsing the Internet for things they wanted for their woman. A lot of what they had picked out had both him and his brother hard at that thought of Kelly wearing them. Somehow though, the Kindle Fire was what he figured she would appreciate the most. She loved to read, and losing her Kindle would be the hardest on her.

  “Naw, I think we pretty much covered it. I do think we should look at Heavy Trinkets for a couple of books for her, though. She’s going to want something to read right away while she’s recovering in the hospital. That Kindle won’t arrive for a few days.” Marx walked over toward the door.

  “Good idea. We’ll stop by there on the way back to the hospital. Are you about ready to go?”

  “Give me twenty minutes to check in with Gil, and I’ll be ready to go.” Gil was their foreman.

  He quickly walked out to the barn and checked to see if he was there. One of the ranch hands met him on the way and told him that Gil was out in the west pasture. Marx settled for calling him on the cell phone and going over everything with the other man. Gil was a top notch foreman and a good friend. Marx trusted him to keep things running smoothly even when he wasn’t around. Still, he knew there would be some decisions that he had to make and wanted to be sure everything was okay.

  Twenty minutes later, he and Jackson climbed into his truck and drove toward town. When they stopped at Heavy Trinkets, Steve met them midway through the store.

  “Hey! How’s Kelly doing? I heard she’s awake now.”