Denys, Jennifer - Wife for Three [Duoterra] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (5 page)

Wife for Three

35

Curt looked at Eric, and then both swiveled their heads to stare incredulously at him before they both burst out shouting so loud he couldn’t tell what either was saying.

“Shut it!”

Silence followed Adam’s bellow before pandemonium struck again. This time the brothers stalked up to him to continue their protests, but all stopped when they heard the sound of crying coming from the wagon.

Eric rushed over. “Sweetheart, please don’t.” He reached up and this time helped her down, rubbing her shoulders to somehow calm her, glaring disappointed at his brothers.

Seeing his youngest brother was looking after the girl, Curt turned back to Adam, shoving him roughly up against the wagon, his pale-blue eyes flashing angrily at him. “
You’ve
married her? When it was
my
idea. You fucking bastard.”

Adam had had enough and angrily pushed his brother who staggered back several steps. Before Curt got the chance to come at him again, Adam firmly declared, “If either of you had stopped your insinuations long enough to listen, I would have explained. I had to marry her to make it proper, and I took out a contract for us. All
three
of us.”

Even Brianna’s sobs stopped at this proclamation, and the quiet that descended was palpable.

“She’s our wife? She’s married to
all
of us?” At Adam’s reluctant nod, Curt whooped, and pushing Eric out of the way, he grabbed hold of Brianna, dancing her madly around the yard.

“It worked. Yes! Oh, boy, oh, boy, oh, boy.” Watching the expression on Brianna’s face, Adam noticed it went from shock to amusement. Finally Curt stopped his crazy dance and held the woman at arm’s length as if to assess her. He was almost embarrassed by his brother’s action, looking her up and down like she was a piece of livestock he had just bought.

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Brianna clearly wasn’t happy either, as she raised her hands to pull her jacket together nervously. Adam tightened his lips. It was a similar gesture to the one she had done when the men in town had attacked her.

Before he got the chance to say anything, Curt apologized. “I’m sorry. I just wasn’t expecting anyone to answer the advert, and I certainly wasn’t expecting anyone so pretty.” He saw her flush at this compliment.

Curt continued, “Um, I’m Curt, and the ‘boy’ over there with the big gray eyes who hadn’t taken them off you and who is too stunned to speak is the youngest, Eric. Where do you come from? How old are you? Is there any more like you back home? Can you sew? Can you cook?”

Adam winced at Curt’s barrage of questions. The poor girl had a dazed look on her face.

By now Eric had unfrozen and had walked over to Curt and Brianna, slapping Curt hard on the shoulder. “Hey, give the poor girl a chance to take a breath.” Adam watched Eric smile at Brianna, and he relaxed. Eric was the most easygoing of the three of them. She would be fine with him, and he saw Eric deftly interpose himself between her and Curt and, taking hold of her arm, lead her toward the house with Curt nearly plastered at their backs. “There’s only one question I want answering at this stage.”

“I’m sorry. I’m an only child.”

Hearing Eric chuckling, Adam continued to watch them as they reached the house. “No, that’s not what I was going to ask. Can you cook?”

Why is Eric asking her that question? Isn’t my cooking good
enough?
Adam tightened his lips suddenly aware that the introduction of another person into their household was going to change the dynamics—a lot.

Wife for Three

37

As he stood in the bathroom, his hands clenching either side of the sink, Adam groaned.
How the hell did I get into this situation?
One minute he was in town getting supplies, and the next he was travelling back home not only with the said supplies, but a wife in tow. A woman, despite being pretty, who was a stranger to all of them.

He shook his head.

No, that’s the least of my problems at this moment in time.
He sighed. All his life his brothers had looked to him to take the lead.

Okay, part of that was the fact that he was the eldest, but part of it was also his natural dominance. But it had backfired now as they automatically expected him to be the first to consummate their new marriage.

And that terrified him. He, the bravest one, who aged fourteen had ventured into the path of the rampaging wilderbeast to save his baby brother, Eric. It was he who had rushed into the barn, when the others pulled back, to save the horses when a lightning strike had set it on fire. It was he who decided where they were going when they had gone out as youngsters on an adventure.

Taking a shuddering breath, Adam unclenched his fingers.

The reason he was afraid now was that he knew that Brianna was a virgin, and he’d had so little sexual experience. Okay, he had practically no experience, and what he did have had been appalling.

He could do this, he tried to convince himself, and pushing himself upright, he walked out of the bathroom and down the corridor to his room, where he had taken Brianna. She would have her own
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room, but after a brief discussion, it was agreed that when it was that person’s “turn,” she would go to their bedroom.

Groaning, he recollected the conversation he’d had with Curt and Eric earlier who, as soon as Brianna was out of the room unpacking her bag, had rounded on him wanting to know how things were going to work, who was going to consummate the marriage first, and what would happen after that. His heart thudding in anxiety, he had said the immediate thought that had come into his head—that as the eldest, he would go first.

Christ! Why on earth did I say that?
Curt, with his superior experience with women would be better, far better, but having said it, he couldn’t back down.

Entering his room, he saw Brianna standing by his bed. She had changed into a cotton nightgown. One of the original industries on Duoterra had been a cotton factory after the colonists had discovered a bush that resembled that Earth fiber. Therefore, most fabrics that people wore were made from this material. That, or leather made from the hide of the wilderbeast. His herd was useful for more than its meat.

Her nightdress was un-dyed so was in its natural cream color but had a pretty lace edge. He gulped in a breath. The pale color and the thinness of the gown enabled him to see two dark smudges beneath her bodice that heralded her nipples and another smudge farther down. His cock rose up alarmingly quickly, and he regretted even more saying he would be the first with her, particularly as she would be a virgin, and what little he knew of women, he did know that it was supposed to be painful for a woman when her maidenhead broke.

Actually, a wary-faced Curt had taken him aside as he went to climb the stairs and told him that, although it was something Adam had known. He could have used that as the moment to pass over the responsibility to his younger brother, but he had declined.
Why, oh,
why?

Wife for Three

39

Because Brianna is young and pretty, that’s why
. Because the part of him that he had kept locked away all these years was yearning to break free.

Brianna looked over and smiled tentatively. Unable to take her gentle, trusting look, Adam spun away and roughly pulled off his shirt before sitting in a chair to push a boot off and then the other before dropping his trousers and underpants, all without glancing up. He was worried what her expression was going to be.

His clothes removed, he did look up at her then. Brianna had turned her head away, but he could see she was flushed. Peering down at his erect cock bobbing against his stomach, he wasn’t surprised.

Clearing his throat, he said huskily, “Why don’t you get in the bed.” He then moved to blow out the lamp. The oil which kept it lit was cultivated from a particular tree.

Trying to calm himself, he studied the lamp. They were fairly expensive, made by a small glassworks on the coast, but most households had at least one, which he had brought up to his room for that night. Although it hadn’t really been needed as it was summertime and there was still light coming from the dusky sky, along with that from one of the two moons that circled the planet, which was just visible. This one was pale-pink.

When he turned to the bed, Brianna was lying down under the covers, but the sheet was only up to her breasts. Her hands were on either side of her head almost in supplication.

He swallowed partly in anxiety, partly in arousal. She looked lovely lying there. He couldn’t see her brown eyes, but her long hair was lying in waves around her face, its fairness glinting in the dying rays of the sun. She’d had it braided until now, and he was entranced by the curls he could see.

Pulling the sheet back so he could lie beside her, he moved onto the bed. She shifted over, giving him more room, and then moved a little farther. He smiled slightly. He took up a lot of room, but not that much. She was clearly nervous, but he didn’t know how to make her
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less anxious. Deciding the best way forward was to stroke her face, he reached out a hand, but drew it back when she pulled away.
Damn.

What now?
What had Curt suggested—say soft words to her? How
the hell can I of all people do that?
He wasn’t known for his eloquence.

“Brianna…” he began and then stopped, not knowing what to say next.

“Yes?” Her voice was so quiet he could hardly hear her.

He couldn’t answer her, and so to cover his embarrassment, he leaned down and took her lips in a hard, almost punishing, kiss. He could feel her body tense beneath his as he moved over her, pressing his chest against hers, cupping her head with his hand. As he softened his kiss, he felt her lips tremble and start to kiss him back.

After a moment, aware that he was probably suffocating the girl, he leaned his forearm on the bed to relieve some of his weight, lifting his head as he did, her lips leaving his with a soft slurp. But then he jumped when he felt her hand against his shoulder. It felt so small and soft he had to bite back a moan at the feeling of gentle intimacy.

Instead he bent his head and kissed her neck, pushing his legs in between hers, forcing her to widen them to accommodate him. He could feel her heart thudding rapidly against her chest, and she jumped as his cock brushed her pussy through her gown.

That made him aware that she was still wearing her nightgown and it was in the way.

He cursed, wondering how he could shift it from the position he was in, regretting once again his decision to go first. If it had been Curt, he probably would have asked her to take it off before they had gotten into bed. No, actually, that was more like Eric. Curt would have ripped off the offending garment so he could gaze lasciviously on her body. And what Adam had ascertained was that Brianna did indeed have a really lovely body.

Wife for Three

41

In some ways, he was annoyed that someone so stunning had answered the advert. It would have served Curt right if he had brought home a seventy-year-old, fat, toothless, balding hag.

Raising his head, he leaned forward onto his forearm some more, lifting himself off her body, and tried pulling at the gown, but it was firmly wedged under her bottom.

“Lift your butt,” he demanded, groaning at how terse he had inadvertently sounded.

Nothing happened for a second, and then she complied, and he was able to push it over her hips to lie around her waist.

He stopped when she shivered as his hand touched her waist.
Is
that good or bad?
Did it mean she liked it, or was she revolted by his touch? Was his hand too rough with calluses?

Worried that she hadn’t liked it, he avoided touching her again and settled back gently between her legs, nearly climaxing on the spot when his cock eased into her cleft. He felt her hold back a gasp and grimaced.
Okay, what do I do now?
He had kissed her. He was holding himself up so not to squash her and the nightgown was out of the way. He wasn’t sure if he should touch her anywhere or if she would hate it.

His indecision made him freeze until he felt her soft hand sliding over his shoulder, the other hand gripping his arm. Her fingers felt so gentle they almost stung his skin. He gritted his teeth and trembled.

He was not used to having a woman touch him.

Looking up, he could just see her eyes staring slightly warily at him. “Um, Brianna, I’m going to enter you now.” He wondered if he should say anything else but had no idea what.

“Okay.” Her answer was timid.

He shifted his weight and pushed forward. It was like he was trying to force a plum-apple into a jar that wasn’t big enough. He was rewarded by her jerking back. He stopped and reached a hand down to guide his cock, trying to ease it in slowly. When his thumb touched
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her slit, she nearly jumped out of the bed. “Sorry.” His voice sounded gruff as his arousal was getting stronger, and he was starting to pant.

Finally wedging himself just inside her soft folds, he pushed again and heard a muffled cry from beneath him, her fingers gripping him tightly. “You’re very tight,” he said.

“I can’t help it.”

Hell
. He had sounded like he was accusing her even to his own ears, but he had meant it as an explanation. His balls were tightening, and he knew he couldn’t stand it much longer, so he made a decision and thrust into her in one hard movement.

The yelp of pain that came from Brianna stopped him in his tracks. He didn’t remember the woman he’d had at the brothel all those years ago being this small, this tight. But that woman hadn’t been a virgin. That was the difference, surely. And now Brianna wasn’t anymore. It should get better, shouldn’t it? That thought left him as he felt her body tense considerably beneath him, her hands leaving his body to fall back clutching the pillow instead, her face averted. He could see she was biting her lip and her eyes were clenched tightly closed. His body shook with unreleased need, but at the same time, he didn’t want to cause any more pain to the tiny woman underneath him.