by Sam Crescent
“Oh my god. Poor Amy.” Anna had put her knife and fork down and was staring past his shoulder.
“Yeah. The problem is half the people in CapeFalls think she’s lying about the whole thing. She’s had to deal with some horrible threats. I know the chief has had enough.” David started eating.
“I really don’t get this town at times.”
“She was in the hospital for two weeks. Her folks took care of the little ones until she was fit to care for them herself. She keeps to herself.”
They finished their meal in silence. David knew he’d landed something horrible in her lap.
Afterwards they drank their coffee, and once most of the people had left, David took her back to the car.
“Where do you want to go?” he asked.
“Can I go home? I think I want to get ready for the party tonight and relax.” He nodded and helped her in the car before moving round and getting in himself.
David started up the engine and pulled away from the kerb.
“Are you all right?”
“Yeah. I’m just so shocked. Three years feels like nothing, and yet the town seems different somehow. As if in the last three years it’s taken a more backwards approach to everything,” Anna said.
“Makes you wonder what will happen when a titty bar is started up.” He chuckled at his own joke.
“Or a BDSM club.”
The car swerved as he glanced over the small distance between them.
“Fucking hell, David. Watch the road,” she said.
“What do you know about BDSM clubs?” he asked. David couldn’t believe what he’d just heard. How did Anna know about that kind of action?
“Come on, David. I went away to college, and people learn things. I haven’t visited one. I’ve just heard rumours.”
He waited for a car to pass before joining up on the road. His heart had picked up speed. Fucking hell. He’d heard and even been to a few clubs when he was travelling in his late teen and early twenties. Never had he imagined Anna knowing what the words stood for, let alone knowing clubs existed for an exclusive clientele.
“Out of curiosity, you’re one of the Steer brothers, living in a rather strict town. How did you know what I meant?” she asked. He heard the teasing tone to her voice. The sound did nothing for his equilibrium.
“First, I wasn’t always a good boy, and second, I’m twenty-nine years old, Anna. I’ve lived a little and know quite a few things that I’m sure would shock you,” he said.
Stop fucking taunting her. She’s not yours yet.
“That sounded like a promise more than a threat. What do you have planned for me?” she asked.
Where was the woman who was quiet and didn’t speak her mind? The good girl who’d rather watch television than talk? Anna had changed, and David wasn’t sure if he’d be able to live through all the revelations he was sure would come with time.
He and Paul were up shit creak without a fucking paddle.
****
Paul watched the car pull up. Anna was laughing as she got out of the car, and David was as well. He turned away from the scene and went back to answering his mails. They always had the summer off work and stayed close to home. Over the years the Steer name had built up, so their presence wasn’t always needed.
The yearning inside him was growing. How could he leave Anna alone when his own brother had made his point about staking a claim? He knew it was only a matter of days until Anna either accepted them or declined them.
Could he live with her answer if it turned out to be the latter?
Chapter Four
“Are you going to be nice?” David asked his brother.
“I’m always nice,” Paul said. He poured himself another generous glass of bourbon. Since hearing Anna and David laughing in the house, he knew he needed the courage the alcohol would give him. His brother drove him crazy with his endless questions. He, Paul Steer, could be a nice guy. Okay, he could be a nice guy when he chose. He was just choosing not to be nice. It had been three years since they’d last seen Anna, and she’d come back home yesterday. Her presence felt like a bullet to his gut. She was different from how he remembered. Her hair had grown out. The long ebony colour locks were down to her waist. She wore glasses, and where there was once a freedom with her emotions, now they were closed. When she’d arrived with a placid smile and the calmly voiced hello, instead of her full-on attack of hugs and kisses, Paul had known she’s changed. Within an afternoon and night her entire attitude had changed. Yes, she laughed, but he knew there was still something missing. Anna was different, and he knew without a shadow of a doubt, she was scared of letting go.
He missed her carefree spirit, and he knew he was the one to blame for the lack of it. Over the past three years, she’d gained a little weight and had filled out. Her delicate vulnerability had evolved into a patient and full woman. David had tried to bring her out of her shell. The easy laughter was no longer reflected in her eyes. There was a reserve about her. They’d planned a party for her twenty-third birthday, even though she’d said she didn’t want one last night. If he’d known sooner he would have cancelled everything. Spending time with her without the town present would have been more ideal. He sipped his glass of bourbon and tried to keep his mind and body in check. He needed the drink to help him past the wave of guilt at seeing her again.
“Yeah, right. Anna is home, and you’ve been like a beast in a cage.” Could anyone blame him? The last time he’d seen Anna he’d treated her like shit, and it was not acceptable. Paul thought back to the cause of why Anna had begun to stay in their house. He couldn’t recall – he didn’t want to recall – whose clever idea it had been to have her stay in their house, but he could personally throttle him.
The problem was, Paul had been the one to suggest it. So, short of trying to strangle himself, he’d had to live with the decision. He could threaten all he liked, but to throttle himself was useless. At the age of sixteen, Anna’s parents had died in a plane crash, leaving her alone in the world. Being the closest to family she had, Paul and David Steer had taken it upon themselves to care for the younger woman. To care and then fall in love with the younger woman, nine years their junior. Not a huge age difference, but enough to make Paul uncomfortable. They’d looked after her since she was sixteen, and yes, they hadn’t felt any attraction toward her until she was over the legal age, but it didn’t stop the unease or the stigma in his mind.
“It’s her birthday.” David began to argue.
“I know. We’ve got the house all set for a party.” Paul gestured around the sitting room. Balloons, alcohol and streamers littered every surface. The place looked a mess.
“It’s not every day a woman turns twenty-three.”
“We should have done this to celebrate her twenty-first,” Paul said.
“Yes, but someone sent her running far away from us and CapeFalls. Don’t screw this up,” David said.
Paul could have killed his brother with his arguments. No, it wasn’t every day a young woman came home, looking more stunning than ever, highlighting how he could never have her. It was so ironic. His biggest secret was his absolute need for the younger woman. That diary and past generations had a lot to answer to.
Should he be selfish and just have her?
“She’s special, Paul. Maybe one day you’ll see that.” David made a move to leave the room, but Paul turned on him.
“Special? There is nothing special about her. Not one thing. The only thing special about her is you want her badly. You want to take her and make her yours. There is nothing special in that.” I want her. I want to own her. To love and care for her for the rest of my life. But of course he wouldn’t say the words. With the last sentence hanging in the air, Paul spun back to his position of pouring himself another generous shot of bourbon while his younger brother cursed and left the room.
Paul’s stomach was knotting, his heart aching. How could he tell his brother how much he wanted the younger woman? He was
the older of the two and should be keeping a level head on the situation. But the diary made him push Anna away. He wanted Anna, not just as part of his life but as part of their life. A ménage wasn’t a common practice, but through the generations of Steers it had become common-place for one brother, the elder, to share his wife.
For some reason it was figured one woman would satisfy the whole group and in doing so cement the Steer name for future generations, enabling growth and prosperity, whether it were three men to one woman or simply one to one. David and himself had been the only sons born to their fathers and mother. Swallowing down the dark liquid he wondered what Anna would think if she knew he craved not only her body wrapped around his as he made her his over and over again, but in his blood he desired, wanted and needed to see her with his brother. To know if he died that she would be safe.
It was not the simplest of conditions to a relationship.
“Hi, will you marry me? Oh, by the way, you’ll have to fuck my brother for me as well.” That conversation would never be the ideal way to start up any relationship, let alone explain their situation to Anna. Paul didn’t know how much she knew about their love lives, and he didn’t want to risk losing her even if he never had her.
Shaking his head against the beginnings of a migraine he made his way out of the sitting room in search of the party which in a few hours should be in full swing.
At least he could try to find some willing female for a few hours.
****
Anna was looking at her reflection. The simple black dress highlighted her small waist and full hips. Her long black hair tumbled down her back in waves. She’d never dream of cutting the length. She could remember, not long after her parents died, sitting in the front room looking into the fire brushing her hair. Paul had come up behind her, and for the entire night, he’d brushed her hair until it shone. Whenever she ran her fingers through the length, it would always remind her of him. Another memory to plague her constant obsession with the Steer brothers. Such a shame considering Paul hated her.
Spending time with David in the morning into the afternoon had been a welcome distraction. As always, Paul stayed away and remained in his office.
Coming back after being away for three years had been scary. She’d stopped sending letters because she couldn’t handle their responses anymore. David was always caring and considerate and wouldn’t dream of hurting her. Paul was different. He wouldn’t spare her feelings, and she believed one day she’d open a letter to find he was getting married. Or there was a special woman in his life. David and Paul had taken her in when her parents died, and how did she repay them? By falling in love with them. What kind of a person was she that she fell in love with not just one brother but two? Henry had been a welcome distraction. They’d both been in love with someone else. Someone they couldn’t have and had decided to find some solace with each other. The only thing that had happened was she’d been the cause of his black eye. Henry had understood. The pain he’d been in wasn’t right.
Anna couldn’t recall what had happened to make the older man despise her other than getting older and trying to have a life. Since she’d turned eighteen, Paul no longer had any time for her at all, not even to brush her hair. David was there, but Paul had withdrawn from her.
Paul had no time for her to make polite conversation, but he had plenty of time to criticise her and barge in when her date was kissing her and making with the heavy.
There was no point thinking about the past. Three years ago, she’d run away and made a mistake. She wouldn’t be running anymore.
Sighing, she ran her fingers through her hair, trying to give it some life. She wondered if the rumours surrounding the Steer men she had heard since the last time she’d been in CapeFalls were indeed true.
Henry had kept in touch when she left and stayed with a few friends while she studied at the local college. With her away the gossip had run rife about her leaving. He’d found out from several older women that the Steer men had a history of taking one woman. The oldest brother would marry her, but the brothers born would never leave the house. There was no proof if they shared the same woman. The rumours had continued, but there was never any way of proving it.
Is that why Paul had become angry with her and kept pushing her away? He wanted her. Did David want her as well? Since Henry had told her about the sharing, her mind had run rampant with all the thoughts of being sandwiched between two men as they took her body.
Her curiosity had gotten the better of her, and she’d gone looking to find out more about three people together in bed. What she’d found had made her crave more. Travelling back home had become a necessity. She wanted to be with Paul and David. For the longest time she’d been in love with both of them. Her feelings scared her, but she couldn’t stop whom she loved.
Internet searches of ménage relationships had opened her mind. She’d purchased books and watched sex tapes. Anything she could get her hands on.
The wetness from the stories she’d read had made her crave a relationship with two men. To have two men devoted to her pleasure.
Man. She’d read way too many erotica books and movies to send her spiralling.
Since Paul seemed determined to keep her at arms’ length from any male with a willing cock, she’d ended up remaining a virgin. She’d had opportunities, but whenever she’d gotten close to giving herself to someone there had been a part of her that hadn’t felt right. In her heart and mind she belonged to Paul and David. The only men she’d give herself to would be her men. The Steer men.
“Are you decent?” The masculine call came through the door. Anna smiled as she called for him to enter, and there was David, in the flesh. One of the two men she couldn’t stop dreaming and fantasizing about. Would his cock be as long as the men she’d seen in the videos? One of her room-mates had talked to her about what happened during a woman’s first time. She wasn’t scared. Her virginity was a matter that would be taken care of soon. Paul wouldn’t push her away again. Anna Myers wanted to belong to the Steer brothers. This visit would either cement their bond, or she’d leave and never look back. One thing was clear in her mind. She wouldn’t leave until she knew her answer.
Holding her hands out to her side, Anna gave him a little twirl. “What do you think?” Time hadn’t changed the way David responded to her. He always made her feel wanted.
“You look amazing as always,” he said stepping further into the room.
“Amazing? Is that it?” she asked disappointed, but she tried not to show it. When would a guy tell her she was sexy or beautiful?
“What more is there?”
Anna sighed and turned back to look at her reflection. “You know I’m not a child anymore?” She wouldn’t beg for attention. It wasn’t in her style.
David joined her, standing close to her back placing his hands on her shoulders. “I’ve never seen you as a child.”
Anna couldn’t concentrate as his thumbs moved along the angle of her neck. She almost leaned back and pressed her body against his much larger warmth. This is what it was always like. Wanting but refusing, scared to move past the age barrier. Yes, she understood they’d taken her in when she was sixteen, but she had her own mind and knew what she wanted. She wanted to be able to be part of their lives. In her heart she dreamed of being married to both men. Anna knew if she didn’t react soon she would always remain in the closed off bracket.
What Paul had said all that time ago no longer mattered. She loved them both and could overlook his hurtful words.
Impulsively, Anna leaned back. David’s body consumed her. His shoulders could be seen on either side of her. She watched in the full length mirror as his gaze moved down the line of her body and back up again. The first real sign of interest in her as a woman. She held it as a sparkle of hope it was.
With her palms down by her sides she brushed them on his thighs. He didn’t move, but she heard him take a deep breath. The air he expelled ruffled the hair at the nape of her neck
.
“What are you doing, Anna?” His voice took on a deep growl.
Tilting her head back Anna looked into his eyes. His beautiful green eyes, so beautiful and earthy they took her breath away. Bringing her other arm up, she looped it to the back of his head. With her free hand she held his arm where it circled round her waist. This was the first time they’d been this close.
Was that his cock pressing against her ass?
“Aren’t you going to kiss the birthday girl?” she asked. Her heart pounded in her chest. Her nipples ached for him to reach up and cup them. It had been years since she’d held him. The past three years hadn’t stopped the yearning to be near to him. His scent invaded her, turning her inside out. She wanted this man as much as she wanted his brother. Was she sick? Anna crossed her legs as the ache in her pussy built. Could she grab his hands and place one on her breast and the other on her mound? Her body was alive, and she wanted to feel closer to him. To take all of her clothes off and beg him to make love to her.
A moan escaped between her lips, and at the moment she didn’t care as he leaned down to give her a kiss. She noted the way his lips were closed and his eyes firm. She knew he would try for a peck on the lips or a brush. She didn’t want a peck. Anna wanted it all.
His lips brushed hers. A brotherly or friend type kiss. As he moved away her hand tightened around his neck refusing to let him go. She turned slightly in his arms so her body was in a better position to receive his kiss. Closing her eyes she deepened the kiss, opening her lips and running her tongue over his lips.
He pulled away. A hand on her cheek. “Anna, don’t do this.”
“Please, please. David, kiss me like you want too. Just once,” she begged.
“Anna, please. Don’t make me start something we won’t be able to finish.”
Hope sprang inside her. David felt something. “Then don’t stop, and let us continue until we finish.”
She watched as he closed his eyes. “Don’t say stuff you don’t mean.”
