He barely gave Andrew a glance. He didn’t notice Robert at all.
He looked frustrated that his access to me was impeded. “The hansom is waiting.”
My heart beat in my chest so hard I assumed he could see it. “I’m not going with you.”
“You heard Ann. She’s not going with you,” Andrew repeated.
He looked to Andrew then with blatant hatred. “We will talk about your behavior when we get home. You’ve had your two days to run wild. I’ve spun it so that Mr. Atherton is more eager than ever to have you.”
“Spun what, Father?” I had an idea, but I wanted him to say it aloud.
“That your true nature came to light before the marriage and he does not need to treat you as… gently as before.”
I felt Andrew’s hand tighten on my elbow as he pushed me back further. He widened his stance as I watched Robert’s fists clench at his sides. “What are you insinuating, sir?”
In his dress uniform, Andrew looked so serious and foreboding, especially when a man spoke dishonorably about me.
My father took two steps toward us so our conversation wasn’t overheard. Robert moved closer, blocking me from any chance of my father touching me. This was the first time someone had protected me. Their ferocity was obvious to those skirting around us to disembark. Just as they’d promised, I felt protected and cherished.
“That she had two days to fuck some randy soldiers.”
Robert took a step toward my father, anger radiating from his body. I now knew how fierce he’d look in battle. My father cowed and took a step backward.
I tugged at Andrew’s arm, trying to get around him to confront my father. His words were… cruel, and insinuated that Andrew was not honorable. He had more honor than my father had in his little finger.
Worried, I glanced up at Andrew. He was grinning. “That’s true,” he replied.
My father’s face turned a mottled red. His interest in the business arrangement with Mr. Atherton must have outweighed his self-preservation, for he reached for me.
“You will get off this ship and in the hansom. Now,” he hissed.
Andrew put his arm up to block him, not that there was any chance he’d reach me, and Robert grabbed my father by the lapels of his coat and walked him over to the railing.
“You can walk down the ramp by yourself or I can help you off the ship a much faster way,” Robert said, pushing his shoulders back so my father was tilted slightly over the side.
“I’m her father,” he blustered. “She has no choice but to obey me.”
“I’m her husband and she has to obey me,” Andrew countered.
I’d never seen my father so stunned in my life. He was always in control, always the one with the power. In that moment, he had none. His plans for me were gone. I was gone. I clenched down on the plug in my bottom. While uncomfortable and a tad ridiculous, it was a reminder that I belonged to Andrew and Robert. It reminded me that they had put it there, that they cared about me and cherished me and would protect me from this man.
“You married him?” My father’s words hissed out of closed lips. Robert let him go and he leaned against the rail, this time for support. Perhaps his defeat was finally becoming apparent.
I nodded. “The captain on ship performed the ceremony two days ago.”
“Is everything all right here?” The man who’d barged into the cabin while the men were… oh God. He was here, standing at military attention and looking at my father as if he were the enemy he needed to run through with a bayonet. Beside him were three other men, equally large, equally dangerous looking. None wore uniforms, but I knew just from their bearing that they’d served.
Robert remained directly beside my father, ready to toss him over the edge if he so much as breathed the wrong way. I had not just Andrew and Robert, but four other men to fight my battle for me.
“This is Ann’s father,” Andrew said. “The man who put bruises on my bride.”
The line of men stood even taller, even more imposing. One of them clenched their fists, another took a step toward Father and he slid sideways down the railing, eyes wide with fear.
“He was offering his best wishes on my marriage and saying goodbye,” I said, my chin up. I was exhilarated that I could stand up to the man who’d controlled my life. I would not cower any longer, so I came out from behind Andrew, who settled his large hand on my shoulder. I knew it to be a casual gesture, but if there was any kind of danger, he’d have me behind him before I could blink.
I knew he and Robert wished bodily harm on my father for hurting me, but he would not do it here. Not in uniform, and not where attention could be drawn.
“You hurt her?” Robert asked, his voice cold. He’d seen the bruises, so he knew the answer, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t taunt and put the fear of God into my father. “Should we kill him here or take him somewhere else to do it?”
“There are too many witnesses here, boys.” Kane crossed his arms over his chest. “Let’s find somewhere else. Quieter.”
“Yes, quieter,” Robert agreed.
Father’s jowls wobbled and in one last bit of bluster, he pointed at Robert, then Andrew. “This isn’t over.”
“It is over,” Andrew repeated. “She’s mine now. Leave. You didn’t want her anyway.”
“I wanted her for Atherton.” Desperation coated his words. I wondered if his business arrangement would fall through without me.
“And I just want her,” Andrew said, his words breaking through all my anger, all the years of disappointment of never being enough for my father.
With one final glance, my father turned on his heel and walked away, the crowd quickly swallowing him up. I knew I would never see him again.
I wilted into Andrew and he put his arm around me. Robert came to stand beside us and stroked a knuckle over my cheek. “Are you all right?” he asked, his voice soft.
Nodding, I looked up at them both.
“Do ye want us to kill him, lass?” The red-haired man looked to me with a gleeful eagerness. I couldn’t help but smile.
“No. With all of you about, I doubt he’ll bother me again.”
Andrew and Robert glanced at each other, then nodded. “Bridgewater.”
I frowned at Robert’s single word.
“You’ll join us then?” Kane asked.
“We will. Ann’s right. At Bridgewater, we can all protect her.”
“Bridgewater?” I asked.
“We are going to the Montana Territory to buy land and start a ranch. A large ranch where we can live in peace.” Kane glanced at the red-haired man. “Like Andrew and Robert, Ian and I hope to find our bride.”
Kane and the red-haired man planned to share a bride!
“We, too, will share a bride. In time.” One of the others, dark and with a beard, pointed to the last man, who nodded.
Andrew’s hand slid down my back in a reassuring gesture, then lower still, to pat my bottom where the plug was lodged. “Soon, sweetheart, Robert and I will share you,” he whispered in my ear. “Completely.”
Robert looked deeply into my eyes and asked the only question that mattered. “We told you about moving west to ranch. We want to join these men in the Montana Territory. Will you like a quiet life with two ranchers?”
Did I want a new life? Did I want to go to the Montana Territory with two husbands and a band of men looking for brides willing to accept their unconventional customs?
Did I want Andrew and Robert forever?
Yes. Yes, I did. I wanted everything they were offering. I wanted Robert’s unabashed dominance. I wanted his powerful hands on my body, his strength, his intensity. I wanted Andrew’s calm demeanor. I wanted his focused attentions. I wanted his eagerness and desperation. For me. I wanted everything they were.
“Yes.”
With that one word, I rid myself of my old life and, as we stepped from the boat, it was the beginning of our journey to Bridgewater.
* * *
Thank y
ou for reading THEIR RUNAWAY BRIDE! If you want more sexy alpha cowboys, read the next book in the Bridgewater Menage series…
ONE-CLICK THEIR KIDNAPPED BRIDE >
“It’s regrettable that I can only give this book five stars. It’s that good.”
– Ladyreadsalot
Emma James felt secure in her life. Money, social standing and the protection of her step-brother. Or so she thought. When she discovers his dark secrets, he turns on her and sells her to a western brothel to keep her quiet. There, she’s forced to work or participate in an auction. A virgin auction…and she’s the prize.
One look at Emma James and Whitmore Kane and Ian Stewart know she would belong to them. Marriage was the only way to truly claim her…so they bid and bid well. As their bride, they return to the Bridgewater Ranch and teach her the ways to please not one husband, but two. But danger has tracked Ian around the world and threatens their newfound relationship. Together, can they fight the demons of the past while forging a future?
ONE-CLICK THEIR KIDNAPPED BRIDE >
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. Except for use in a review, the reproduction or use of this work in any part is forbidden without the express written permission of the author.
Even Better © 2015 by Skye Warren
Theirs to Take © 2017 by Laura Kaye
Their Runaway Bride © 2016 by Vanessa Vale
Google Play Edition
Cover design by Book Beautiful
Formatting by BB eBooks
Three of a Kind Page 24
