Sanctuary in Submission [Sanctuary, Montana 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Lara Valentine

  “I told you to leave yesterday. I’m pissed at you.”

  Noah picked up her hand. “You can be pissed all you want, sweetheart. We’re not leaving you.”

  She reached up and felt a bandage on her forehead. “My head hurts. You were fighting. You promised you wouldn’t fight anymore.”

  Riley held up his hands in surrender. “Now, honey, we were only defending you. This wasn’t about the feud.”

  The door to the room swung open, and Riley and Noah’s brothers, Alex and Mason, walked in.

  “That doesn’t make it okay,” she demanded then winced as pain sliced through her head. “You got in a fight. Eric and Matt had everything under control. That guy wasn’t doing anything they couldn’t handle. Hello, Alex, Mason.”

  Alex gave her a gentle smile. “Hey, there. You had the whole family worried to death. Mom and Dad sent us over here to see if there’s anything the three of you need. Can we water your plants or something?”

  She’d always liked Alex and Mason. They were both tough and sweet at the same time. “I won’t be here long enough for my plants to die. I assumed you came here to keep me from killing Riley and Noah.”

  Mason barked with laughter. “I’m not that protective of my brothers. They can handle themselves. Although my money would be on you in a fight. You always were scrappy.”

  “Apparently, your brothers don’t agree. They think I’m helpless or something.”

  “You belong to us,” Noah said, crossing his arms over his chest. Noah was an easygoing man, but he looked implacable at the moment. “You’re ours to protect. That man needed a lesson. It was our job to teach him.”

  She pointed to Noah. “You of all people should know better. I expect this shit from Riley, but you?” Her hand dropped down to the bed. She was too tired and in pain to deal with them. “You didn’t punch him because he was coming on to me. Get real. You punched him because he questioned your manhood. I was standing right there, remember?”

  She closed her eyes, exhausted and hurting, both her body and heart. “Get out. You broke your promise. I’m done.”

  Her men started to protest but she cut them off. “Out. I mean it. Get out.”

  “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to interrupt.”

  Aubrey looked up in amazement at her cousin, Sophie. She looked familiar but sadder and a little haunted. It made Aubrey want to reach out and hug her tightly.

  “Sophie…is that you? Oh, my God, girl. You look fantastic.” Sophie navigated around the men and came to her bedside. Aubrey gave in to her impulse and hugged Sophie.

  “Aubrey, it’s been so long. How are you? I just came from the middle school to register Alice, and a lady in the front office told me you were here. I came right over.”

  “Guys,” Aubrey said, “can you give us a few minutes to chat?” Her men’s expressions turned stubborn, but Aubrey was in no damn mood. “I mean it. Out.”

  Sophie looked surprised at the steel in Aubrey’s tone. She’d probably have to explain the history to her, but not today. Riley’s expression turned mulish, and he pointed to the door.

  “We’ll be right out there. I’m going to call Mom and Dad and give them an update on you. Behave, or I’ll call your mom and dad.”

  She sure as hell didn’t want her parents here. She sighed and turned back to Sophie.

  “Tell me what’s going on. When you called I knew something was up, but didn’t have a chance to grill you about it. Then everything last night went to hell, and I forgot you were going to be here today.”

  Sophie hesitated for a moment, her eyes sad. “I’m hiding out from my ex-husband. I’ve got a restraining order out against him, but that doesn’t stop him from tracking us down.” She shook her head and took a deep breath. Aubrey could only imagine how hard it was to tell her what was going on. “We’ve moved too many times to count, and this time, I’m hoping he won’t be able to find us.”

  “You’re staying at the boarding house?” Aubrey asked gently, putting her hand over Sophie’s.

  “Yeah, and looking for a job. I don’t have much cash left. I went around town this weekend, and most places need a social security number or a resume. I can’t give them any information. I can’t chance him finding us. Trust me, that man is too damn smart.” Exhaling, Sophie leaned against the edge of the bed.

  “I have an idea. Nothing one hundred percent sure, but I think I might be able to find you something.” Sophie’s expression brightened with hope. “Are you against cooking, cleaning, or doing ranch work?”

  “No, I’ll do anything.” Sophie’s voice was full of desperation and it made Aubrey’s heart ache.

  “Don’t worry. The folks around here take care of each other. You’re family.” Aubrey smiled and Sophie leaned down to hug her.

  “I told you my story, now you tell me yours.” Sophie leaned back.

  “I went out on Saturday night with my boyfriends, Riley and Noah. Nothing unusual, just the normal stuff.”

  Sophie shook her head as if she hadn’t heard correctly. “Boyfriends? You have two boyfriends?”

  Aubrey smiled. “Well, right now they’re both in big trouble, so I’m not sure I have even one boyfriend, but yes, I’ve been dating both Riley and Noah McLean for almost ten years now.”

  Sophie’s eyes went wide. “They’re related?”

  “They’re brothers. If you’re going to be in Sanctuary, you need to know that some men like to share in this town. Noah and Riley share me.”

  “Share women? You’re putting me on?”

  Aubrey shook her head. “It’s true. It’s a tradition that was a holdover from the Old West when women were scarce. You’ll see quite a bit of it here. So you disapprove?”

  “No! It’s just kind of shocking that’s all. Seems like one man is trouble enough, let alone two.”

  Aubrey groaned. “You’re not kidding. Those two men have been driving me crazy for years. I don’t know whether to marry them and have their babies or kick them to the curb and never see or speak to them again.”

  Sophie swallowed. “Do they…do they hurt you?”

  “No way. They’re just ornery, partying cowboys that’s all. They’d never hurt me.”

  Sophie nodded. “I’m sorry. I interrupted your story. You were telling me about what happened.”

  “I’ll make it short. Some drunk cowboy tried to put the moves on me, and Noah and Riley didn’t like it. Then the cowboy had the audacity to be friends with the Baldwins and insult their manhood. Well, punches started flying and next thing I know I’ve been knocked into a table.” Aubrey touched her cheek ruefully. “I bet I’ve got a black eye to go with this headache.”

  Sophie bit her lip, clearly not wanting to give bad news. “A little one. I can show you how to cover it with makeup if you like.”

  A middle-aged nurse bustled in and started taking her vital signs. “Good, you’re awake. The doctor will be along in a few minutes, and if everything looks good, you can go home. Do you want me to get you a set of crutches?”

  Aubrey frowned. “Is my ankle that bad?”

  The nurse pulled the blanket up from the end of the bed. “It’s double its usual size. Or at least what I assume is its usual size. It’ll be hard to get around on your own without them.”

  Aubrey leaned up to look and then fell back on the pillows. “Shit. I guess I’ll take those crutches.”

  Sophie peered at her ankle. “It looks pretty bad. Are you going to be okay? Will you be able to get around?”

  Aubrey thought of the two men probably standing inches from the door to her hospital room. She had an uphill battle on her hands. Her men were typical Doms and they were in protective mode at the moment.

  “I’ll be fine. It’s barely a sprain.”

  Sophie smiled. “I need to go. If you need anything, you’ll let me know, right?”

  Sophie pushed open the hospital room door, and Aubrey could see the four men huddled together, probably plotting how Riley and Noah were going to get on her good
side again.

  “I will. Let me work on this job thing for you. I’ll call you at the boarding house, okay?”

  Before she stepped over the threshold, Sophie looked over her shoulder at Aubrey.

  “If you hear anything, call me. I…uh…can’t wait too much longer. I’m going out to look again today.” Aubrey nodded, and Sophie glanced up at Mason before shimmying past him and leaving.

  Her men and Alex and Mason came back into the room. Mason pushed up his hat and stared at the door Sophie had just walked through.

  “Aubrey, I hate to bother you, but what does Sophie need? Why can’t she wait much longer?”

  “I was going to talk to you about that, actually.”

  “Good. I wouldn’t want to make Noah and Riley torture it out of you.” He grinned and Aubrey laughed. Riley and Noah both grumbled something, but her focus was on Mason at the moment.

  “She needs a cash job. The only reason I was even going to ask you is because I saw the way you were staring at her. She hasn’t had the best life. You and Alex are really good men. I’ve known you for most of my life and trust you.”

  Smiling broadly, Mason nodded. “Thanks, Aubrey. Please, call her and tell her that you found a job for her. Also, mention that her employer won’t ask too many questions and will pay cash.”

  “I told her that she would probably be doing housework, cooking, and maybe some ranch work. I wasn’t too specific.”

  “I’ll figure it out. Tell her right away, I know she needs the money. Ask her to be at the ranch tomorrow morning after she drops off her daughter at school.”

  “I will. Thanks, Mason. You’ve always been a good man.”

  “You get better. Alex and I are gonna head out. I’m sure Riley and Noah want to have some alone time with you.”

  “I’ll call Sophie right away. Oh, and Mason, her daughter’s name is Alice.”

  “Thanks.”

  Aubrey knew the look on Mason’s face well. She’d known the McLean brothers for years.

  “I’ll call her, but you have to promise me you’ll go easy. She’s had a tough time of it. I don’t know all the details, but you can see she needs some peace in her life.”

  Mason nodded. “You know we’ll respect her, Aubrey.”

  “I know, I just worry about her. She looked ready to break into a thousand pieces. Honestly, I’d feel better knowing she had you two looking out for her.”

  Riley tossed his hat down in a chair in disgust. “You trust them to look after your cousin, but you don’t trust us to look after you? Shit.”

  She gave Riley an evil smile. “Alex and Mason are more mature than you are.”

  “I’m mature, woman. Fuck, we were going to propose Saturday night. That’s how mature we are.”

  Aubrey’s mouth fell open. Alex and Mason had the same expression. The only one not surprised was Noah. He sighed and stared at the ceiling for a moment.

  “We didn’t mean to tell you like this. Hell, we wanted it to be romantic, dammit. We love you. You can’t get rid of us or push us out of your life. It won’t work.”

  Aubrey steeled her heart. They were only saying this to get her to forgive them. Once she did, she doubted she’d ever hear about marriage again.

  “Not sure you make good husband material. You keep getting into bar fights.”

  Mason shook his head. “I’m getting out of here since this is obviously none of my damn business. I hope you feel better, Aubrey. Let us know if you need anything.” He shook his finger at her. “Let people help you. Don’t overdo things, young lady.”

  Aubrey rolled her eyes. “Geez, okay. Got it. Damn, the McLean men are bossy.”

  Noah laughed. “She’s got that right. Come on, Riley. Let’s get things ready for when our princess gets out of here. She’s going to need us to take care of her.”

  “I can take care of myself, thank you very much.”

  All four men turned and started for the door. Noah slapped Riley on the back. “She can’t even get to the bathroom by herself. She’s a ballsy one, our woman.”

  Aubrey grabbed one of the pillows from her bed she was propped up on and threw it at their retreating backs, drawing laughter from them. She crossed her arms and gritted her teeth. She was still pissed off, and they weren’t going to get their way this time.

  This time would be different.

  * * * *

  Noah’s ear was pressed to Aubrey’s hospital room door. “She’s calling Aaron.” He straightened up and grinned. “Thinks she’s pretty smart. Luckily, we already called him.”

  Alex shook his head. “I don’t even want to tell you how pathetic you look eavesdropping on Aubrey. She’s pretty pissed off at you, and listening at doors isn’t going to change that.”

  “We know that,” Riley replied. “We just need an opportunity to talk to her and calm her down. She’s mad, but she’ll cool off. She always does.”

  Alex motioned to Mason, and they started heading for the exit. “I hope you’re right. Mom and Dad sure want her as a daughter-in-law, and we think she’s terrific. Don’t screw it up, brother.”

  Riley turned to Noah. “What do we do now? She’s going to kick our asses good.”

  “She’s got a bad ankle so she can’t kick our asses until she heals. She needs us whether she admits it or not. We have to show her we’re serious about taking care of her. We’ll apologize about the fight. It’s my fault, and I’ll take the blame. When I talked to Aaron, he agreed that we need a chance to make things up to her. He also suggested something kind of radical.”

  Riley nodded. “I’m listening. Whatever makes Aubrey happy is what I’ll do. Shit, we were going to propose last night, and now look where we are.”

  Noah knew this was going to go over like a lead balloon. “He suggested we hire a forensic genealogist to find out the truth about how the feud started. He postulated the only way the feud can be stopped is if we go back and find out why it truly started to begin with. I don’t know if this investigator can actually find out anything, but I do know Aubrey would appreciate the effort on our part.”

  Riley fell back into a chair in the hallway, a stunned look on his face. “He wants us to stir up a bunch of shit about the feud? Won’t that make things worse instead of better?”

  “It could, but I think it’s worth a try. She needs to know we’re serious about this. Be honest. Do you really hate the Baldwins? Really?”

  Riley shrugged. “Shit, I don’t know. I know Mom and Dad do. I know I’m supposed to. It’s just that Eric and Matt actually seem like pretty good guys. I’m not sure we’d all be friends, but they don’t seem like the Antichrist either. What about you?”

  “I don’t have anything personal against them. Like Aubrey said, I’m not sure they did all those things they’ve been blamed for. Aubrey’s usually spot-on about people, and she says they’re good and honest. I just think we should try for her. We need a big gesture to prove our sincerity. She didn’t think we were serious about marriage.”

  Riley frowned. “Does she not want to marry us anymore? Do you think she’s that mad?”

  Noah slapped Riley on the back. “She wants to, she’s just got to get over being mad. She’s going to be pissed at us many more times in the coming years. I doubt we’ll stop screwing up.”

  Riley laughed. “Damn, I do love it when she’s all fired up. So, what now?”

  “We go back in there, take the shrapnel, and bring her home. Our home. The nurse already told me the doctor isn’t going to want her being alone for the next few days, and she sure as hell doesn’t want her mom or dad there.”

  “She’s going to be so mad. Her hair may catch fire.”

  “She’s already worked up a head of steam.” Noah nodded toward the door. “Don’t argue with her. Just act calm and cool. It’ll take the wind out of her sails pretty darn quick.”

  They both headed back into the hospital room. Riley stopped. “Noah, when are we going to ask her to marry us?”

  Noah grinned. “Just a
s soon as she doesn’t want to rip our balls off, bro.”

  Riley shuddered. “That may be a very long time. Maybe we could just ask her from a distance?”

  Noah threw back his head and laughed. “Just toss the ring at her? Naw, we’ll cowboy up when the time is right. Right now, the time is to get her home with all four of our limbs still attached.”

  “And our balls,” Riley agreed.

  They’d get Aubrey to their home, nurse her back to health, subdue her temper, and propose marriage.

  “We can only hope.” Noah snorted.

  Chapter Eight

  “Dammit, Riley. Put me down.”

  Riley was carrying Aubrey up her porch steps to her front door. She’d protested, but he’d been hell-bent determined she wouldn’t limp on her ankle with ten inches of snow on the ground. She didn’t want to admit she was relieved. Her driveway hadn’t been shoveled out, and it would have been rough going.

  Noah wriggled his fingers for her door keys. “Hush, and let Riley carry you.”

  She stuck out her tongue and handed him the keys. He barked with laughter but unlocked her door, stepping back so Riley could carry her in first. He set her gently on the sofa and pointed to her bedroom.

  “Just tell me what to pack, and I’ll get it for you.”

  “I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying here. You’re going.”

  She rubbed her temple where it ached. The doctor had given her a prescription for pain pills, but she wasn’t thrilled about taking them.

  Her men crossed their arms over their chests, their expressions hard, with a touch of “Riley and Noah have spoken” that always set her teeth on edge.

  “Argue all you want, honey, it’ll just make your head hurt worse. The doctor said you need someone to take care of you for the next few days, and that’s us. Unless you want me to call your mom and dad? I can do that if you like,” Noah offered.

  “You know perfectly well I don’t want Mom and Dad to know anything about this.” She shook her finger at them. “I can take care of myself.”