Quickly closing the shade, she could feel her heart racing and her juices start to flow just from the sight of one of her men. God, what have they done to me?
Whatever it was, she never wanted it to stop and would make damn sure it didn’t. Smiling she turned and noticed a beautiful spring dress had been laid out over the back of one of the chairs. Picking it up, she looked for a bra and panties but found none.
So no under garments for her it seemed. Taking the dress, she headed into the bathroom to shower and dress, anxious to see her men.
* * * *
“She’s in the shower, I hear,” Ethan said as he came into the room from the office down the hall.
“Yeah, I was going to go and see if she needed help washing her back but decided against it. We’d all have her back in bed if I did, and she needs to get some food into her,” Adam said.
Smiling, Ethan stretched and headed to the coffee pot to grab a cup before he started making lunch for them all. He loved cooking but hadn’t had much of a chance to do it lately. He hoped that Amy would move there permanently, but they hadn’t really talked about the future much since the whole Jasper thing. When she lived there, he would cook something for her at least once a day if she’d let him.
Jordon came into the kitchen after taking off his boots and placing his chaps over a hook in the mud room. His hat was placed on one of the empty chairs as he sat down.
“So, how’s our little kitten doing?” he asked his brothers.
“She’s just feeling wonderful, thank you.”
They all turned at the sound of her voice. Amy was leaning against the doorway wearing the dress they’d gotten her. Her light-brown hair had been left loose and flowed over her shoulders and down her back to almost her ass. She stood there looking like she didn’t have a care in the world, her bare feet crossed at the ankles.
Ethan was the fastest and grabbed her around the waist and pulled her down on his lap, nuzzling her neck.
“Mmm…you smell delicious, baby!” he said and started kissing along her jawline.
Giggling and squirming on his lap, Amy tried to get up, but before she had the chance, Adam placed a cup of coffee in front of her.
After taking another sip of coffee, she placed the cup on the table and gently kissed the tip of Ethan’s nose.
“There’s something important that we need to talk to you about, kitten,” Jordon said and took her hand, helping her to stand. He walked with her into the living room where he sat down on the sofa and pulled her down beside him. Ethan sat on the other side, and Adam sat on the coffee table in front of her. “You guys are frightening me. You look like you’re about to tell me that Jasper is getting out of prison tomorrow,” Amy said.
Adam stood and started to pace around the room, stopping and looking at her every few moments.
“Dammit, will someone tell me what the hell is going on?”
Finally turning to face her completely, Adam started to speak.
“I’m sorry, kitten, but we’re all pretty nervous, and what we have to ask you is so important to us that we’re worried a little.”
“The only thing you need to be worried about asking me, guys, is to leave, because if you did that, I think I might have to do some real damage to you.” Amy smiled. Ethan put his arm around her and hugged her to him, laughing and commenting on how stupid they were.
“What Adam is trying to ask, and quite poorly, I might add, is if you can see yourself living here with us? All three of us love you so much, baby, and want to marry you and have babies, but if you want to wait for a while, then we’re okay with that,” Jordon said, raising her hand that he had taken to his lips and kissing the palm.
“We’ve told you how we felt since the first time we saw you and will continue to feel the same way until the day we die, kitten.” Adam’s sincerity brought tears to her eyes.
“I love all three of you and would like nothing more than to be your wife. But you have to understand that I have worked long and hard to feel proud about the things I have accomplished since getting away from Jasper. I won’t let you coddle me or tell me what to do all the time.”
* * * *
Jordon went to lean against the rock fireplace and watched his brothers try to get Amy to change her mind about listening to them.
He couldn’t believe the hold that this little bundle of woman had on their hearts. He had always known that he and his brothers would share a woman, but for some reason, when he saw it in his mind, he was always just a step away from them, as if he didn’t want to be too close. He’d never expected to feel such a strong connection to her. Oh, he would love her and take good care of her, but he always saw himself holding back a little
But with Amy, he couldn’t get close enough, and she definitely wouldn’t let him hold anything back from her. He wanted to spend every free moment with her, making her laugh and smile. She’d had such a shitty life and had come through it a strong, passionate woman.
“I will not be told what I can and can’t do with my own money, Ethan Kinsey,” Amy shouted.
“What is my brother telling you that you can’t do, baby?” Jordon smiled and sat down with them on the big sofa.
“She wants to pay for the wedding!” Ethan said, scowling at her.
“I can’t let you pay for everything all the time, Ethan. I’ve been able to save a little, and as long as it’s just a small one, I should be able to cover all the expenses.” Taking her hands in his, Jordon lifted them to his lips, kissing the back of each one.
“Look, baby, we know how independent you are, and we would never take that freedom away from you. I think all Ethan is trying to get you to understand is that we want to do things for you. We want to spoil you and make your life as easy as possible. We know how important working is for you, but you don’t have to work another day in your life if you don’t want to. Our ranch is one of the biggest in the province, and about five years ago, we struck oil in our northern pasture. We could hire people to run the ranch and do nothing but travel the world until the day we die and still have more than enough money to run the ranch for generations.”
The look on Amy’s face was priceless. Jordon figured she hadn’t realized just how wealthy they were.
“Oh my god, you’re not just rich, you’re filthy, stinkin’ rich.” Her face turned bright red. All three men burst out laughing.
Jordon picked her up and placed her on his lap. Still smiling, he said, “Yes, baby, we’re filthy stinkin’ rich, and what’s ours is yours from now on.”
Adam, who had been sitting on the coffee table, got up and went over to the desk in the far corner of the room. Ethan threw him a set of keys, and he opened a locked drawer at the bottom of the desk, pulling out a thick manila folder.
Walking back to them, the room seemed to be strangely quiet.
“Here, kitten, we were going to wait until our wedding to give you this, but I think you need to see them now,” Adam said, handing her the folder.
Amy opened the file on her lap and started reading, flipping through page after page of the information they gave her. When she was done, she closed the file and looked up at them.
“No,” was all she said.
“What do you mean no?” Ethan growled.
“Did I stutter?” she snapped back at him.
“Don’t get smart-mouthed with me, kitten,” Ethan said.
Jordan loved how comfortable she felt arguing with them.
“You three are not giving me this,” she said calmly. “Besides I don’t think your mom would like it very much knowing that her sons just tried to give their woman the proverbial ranch.”
“She knows all about it, honey,” Jordon leaned forward and kissed her temple.
“She knows?” Amy looked stunned. “Why would she let you do this then? I could take you guys for everything you have, and from the looks of these papers, there wouldn’t be a thing you could do about it.”
“That’s what we want you to understand, baby. That�
�s how it’s been for generations in our family.” Adam stood and, taking her hand, pulled her from Jordon’s lap.
Lifting her in his arms, he walked out onto the front porch and set her on the swing there. Jordon and Ethan followed and sat down on two of the loungers.
“For generations, our family has owned this ranch. It was built by blood, sweat, and tears from every member of our family. But the ownership has always been held by the lady of the family.” When Amy went to say something, Adam put his hand up to stop her.
Taking her hand again, he walked her into the kitchen. Pointing up at the portrait that hung at the entrance of two men and a woman holding each other and looking so much in love, he continued, “These are our great-grandparents, Jordon, Adam, and Rebecca. Jordon and Adam inherited the ranch from their parents. Rebecca came from a background of extreme poverty and violence. Her father sold her when she was only fourteen years old to work on a farm, and when she turned seventeen, she was to wed the old farmer, becoming his second wife. The first wife didn’t like the idea and was brutal to Rebecca until, finally, our gutsy great-gramma ran away and headed west. She had been selling little trinkets that she made and hiding the money away so that on her seventeenth birthday she could leave.”
Both Jordon and Ethan came to stand beside them as Adam continued.
“She caught a train heading west and never looked back. Once she got here, though, because she was a woman, she wasn’t taken seriously when it came to ranching and farming. No one would hire her except as a cook or housekeeper. Then one day, two retired military men moved to town. They had purchased a small ranch but didn’t know anything about running one. When they tried to hire hands, no one would work for them because the only thing they could offer was a bunk to sleep in, three meals a day, and a very small salary for the first year.
“Rebecca jumped at the chance, and the moment they saw her, they were hooked. It took them about three weeks to convince her they were the ones for her, but it wasn’t until the next year that she would marry Adam.
“She wanted to prove to them that she could help them build the ranch up into something of great worth, and she wouldn’t marry until then. When they started turning a profit after only six months, both men were ecstatic and started paying her a better wage. She saved almost every last penny of it out of fear that one day Adam and Jordon would tire of her and she would have to leave the ranch. When they found out and asked her why, she broke down and told them of her past.
“The next day, both men signed the ranch over to her. She had been the one with the knowledge and expertise that had built the ranch so quickly, and they wanted her to understand how much they loved her, and they wanted her to feel secure in the knowledge that she would never have to leave.”
Wiping away a tear that had fallen down her cheek, Ethan pulled her into his arms, kissing the top of her head.
“That tradition has been in our family ever since,” Adam said.
Placing his hands on her shoulders, Jordon pulled her back against him.
“The women in our family are our centers. They care for all of those around them. They keep a home, not a house. You are our center, kitten, and you calm us like nothing ever has before. Mind you, you also back-talk way too much.” Smiling, he turned her to face him.
“All the big decisions that are carried out on this ranch from this day forward will be decided by all four of us. Anything that you really don’t like or think is a real bad move for the ranch, all you have to do is say so. We all get a vote, but you have a veto which overrides us. But if all three of us think you are using it too much, there is a clause in the agreement that if all three of us agree and can prove it’s in the best interest of the ranch, your veto is squashed for one year. It’s been this way for always, baby.”
Chapter 10
Stepping closer to her, Ethan pulled Amy back against him. He needed to have her in his arms, to know that she was there with them.
“I love you, kitten, with all that I am. I’ve never even come close to feeling about another woman the way that I feel about you.”
Amy turned, and before he even was aware of her intentions, she was up on her tiptoes, grabbing the back of his head, and pulling his lips to hers in a ferocious kiss.
Ethan lifted her up by her ass, and she wrapped her legs around his waist. A growl came from behind, and Amy broke the kiss and leaned her head against his shoulder.
“I think your brothers want something,” she said quietly.
“Damn straight we want something. We want you to tell us that you can have a wedding ready in two weeks and that you’ll spend the rest of your life letting us love you and our children.”
Stepping forward, Adam leaned in and growled in her ear, “And there will be lots of children, baby, maybe a dozen or so.”
“A dozen…?” she cried out and placed her feet back on the floor. “Are you out of your mind, Adam? I love children, but a dozen…?”
Laughing, Jordon took her hand and brought it to his lips. “At least you didn’t say you wouldn’t marry us.”
“I can’t marry all three of you, unless you want to have our honeymoon in jail.” She smiled coyly.
“No, baby, you’ll marry Ethan on paper, and then in a separate bonding ceremony, you marry Adam and I. But we’ll all be your husbands for the rest of your days.”
Sighing, Amy walked away from them and headed for the big window at the front of the room.
“Two weeks, huh, I think that’s doable. There’s only one thing I need to do before, though.”
* * * *
Ryder, Sam, and Dan Kinsey were all sitting in the office at the club waiting for Amy and their cousins to show up. They received a call from Amy asking them to meet them there. She had something she needed to talk to them about, and it couldn’t wait.
“I wonder what the little bit’s got up her sleeve?” Sam said with a smile. He remembered the shy, reserved, young woman who they had hired as their receptionist a couple of years ago. She’d blossomed into an independent, young woman who could handle anything that life threw her way.
A knock on the door brought Sam out of his musings. Amy stuck her head in, a big smile on her face. She was accompanied by her men Adam, Ethan, and Jordon. “Can we come in, or is this a private party?”
“Get your butt in here, sweetheart, and give us all a hug before our wife shows up. She’s the jealous type, you know.” Ryder pulled her into a big bear hug before releasing her to be hugged by his two brothers.
“So what was so important that you just had to talk to us today about?” Dan leaned against the side of his desk and crossed his arms over his chest, looking all gruff and grumbley.
“You can stop the whole alpha male thing with me, Daniel Kinsey.” She scowled at him.
Uncrossing his arms, he smiled at the sweet woman across the room.
“Okay, little bit, what’s up?”
“I have something to tell you, and then I have something to ask you, and I’ll understand if the answer is no, but I wanted to ask the three of you because you are like brothers to me…”
Ryder pulled her to stand in front of him. “Slow down and tell us, Amy. You know you can tell us anything.”
“I’m getting married,” she said, but before anyone could get excited, there was a really loud squeal from the doorway as Tia Kinsey walked in.
“It’s about time they asked you.” She smiled, hugging her friend.
Ryder, Sam, and Dan pulled their cousins in for a congratulatory man hug, and hand-shaking started all around.
“That is great news, little bit,” Dan said, leaning over to give her a quick hug as well.
“That’s just the news, it’s not what she really wanted to talk to the three of you about.” Ethan looked so serious, Sam, his brothers, and their wife all gathered around Amy, questions flying right, left, and center.
“There’s nothing to worry about. Everything is fine with me. It’s just that since I have no family to speak of,
I was wondering if the three of you would walk me down the aisle at my weddings.”
Ryder, Sam, and Dan stopped dead in their tracks and just stared at her.
“If you can’t do it, I’ll understand,” she said quietly.
Sam was the first to pull himself together enough to even speak, “Amy, sweetheart, speaking for my brothers and myself, we would be so proud to walk you down the aisle, little bit.”
Dan pulled her into a bear hug and kissed the top of her head. “You make us so proud to be your friends, Amy. I can’t wait to give you away at your wedding.”
* * * *
Tia had felt the quick intake of breath from Ryder when Amy had asked them to walk her down the aisle. She knew that Amy held a very special place in all her men’s hearts, but with Ryder, it was different. He was the one she first turned to when Jasper hurt her that last time. He was the one that always felt most responsible for her. She had been like this little baby bird that he’d found and was trying to raise up big and strong so that it could fly. Well, Amy was flying now, and her big, tough Ryder had just had his knees knocked out from under him by his little bird.
“Little bit, come here for a minute,” Ryder finally said.
Amy walked to stand in front of him, looking up into his dark eyes with such trust.
Tia watched as one of the strongest and kindest men she had ever met spoke to their friend.
“Amy, since the first day you started working here you have been like a baby sister to us. We all took it upon ourselves to look out for you. When we found out what Jasper had done to you, we felt like we’d failed you somehow. I know, I know, there wasn’t anything that we could have done because we didn’t know about it. But that didn’t ease our pain for you. You are one of the strongest women I have ever met, right up there with my wife and my big sister, but you’re also a woman deserving of love, and that’s something I am so glad that you finally see. My cousins, though they may be a pain in the ass at times”—chuckles could be heard around the room—“love you with everything that they are. They are good men who will treat you well, and I can see you blossoming even more than you already have. For you to ask us to walk you down the aisle is such an honor for us, and we would be proud to do it.”
An Education for Amy [Men of Kinsey 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) Page 11
