His Golden Touch [Gold Rush 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) (2 page)

“Okay. What is it?”

Looks passed between the two men. They stood and quickly moved to stand on either side of her. Each man took a hand and in one voice said, “Miz Hannah, will you marry us?”

“Us? Did you say, us? Are you both asking me to marry you? I’m supposed to choose one of you with the other looking on?”

Brady gripped her hand a bit tighter. “Not choose. I know you and me are more friends than lovers and Wade has kissed ya behind the barn a time or two and I haven’t ever, but…” His voice trailed off.

Hannah had always been a little wary of the burly Brady. He was curt and polite yet always sent off vibrations of danger. Perhaps, the scar running from chin to cheekbone set her to imagining things. She’d danced with him a few times at the town socials, and his arms were steel bands, his hands vises around her waist.

Wade brought her hand to his lips and kissed the inside of her wrist. “Brady’s babbling ’cause he’s nervous as a pony wearing his first saddle. What he means to say is that we need to decide how best to protect you now you’re on your own.”

She shook off the thrilling chills generated by Wade’s kiss and slipped her hands into the folds of her best gingham skirt. “This is not your problem. I am a woman grown and can take care of myself.”

“No, ma’am, you purely can’t. This is prime land. All sorts of drifters and freeloaders are out there. I saw one of them grab you right at the funeral.” Brady’s gruff voice held a note of panic that touched her. He cared about her. He truly did.

Hannah was confused and tired and not in the mood for riddles. “What are you really proposing here if I’m not to choose?”

Brady’s head bobbed up and down. “You see, Miz Hannah, we want you to marry both of us, to be a wife to both of us. Yes, ma’am, we both of us wants ya and have since we came here four years ago.”

“I can’t marry two men. That’s impossible and against the law. You must know that.”

“Let me talk, Brady.” Wade knelt at her side. “Hannah, I’ve loved you for a long time. You must have noticed how much during the times we kissed whenever I could find you alone. I couldn’t speak before when your father was alive, because he advised me against it.”

Brady interrupted, “He said you wasn’t fit fer ranch workin’ and wanted you to meet someone to take you off to a big city.”

“My father said that? You asked my father for my hand, Wade?”

“Yes, Hannah. I ache to touch you every time I see you. Your hair glistens like a sunray when you’re outside. Like a miser with his gold coins, I can hardly keep from running my fingers through it, counting the silken strands over and over again. I die a little every time I look into those cool, brown eyes. And whenever I give you a boost onto the pinto or just into the buggy, I am wild with need for hours after.”

“Me, too, ma’am.” Brady shuffled his feet.

“You, Brady? I never suspected.”

“He’s always been too shy to speak his mind, but now we have to or you’ll sell the ranch and leave us both.”

Wade cleared his throat. “And I heard some speculating on how much of a low offer you’d be likely to take for the ranch ’cause a woman alone can’t handle it. Even worse, some talk says they should gradually force you out when you don’t keep up with the bills.”

Brady pulled out a kitchen chair and sat. “You look a mite pale.”

Hannah slumped and gripped the edge of the trestle table. “Father left records and instructions, and Mr. Vance, his overseer, knows what to do. I won’t lose the ranch if you’ll stay on with me and help me.”

“Yes, ma’am, but Mr. Vance, he has his own family to protect, and his cottage does not have sight lines to watch the house.” Wade upswept the hair drifting onto her cheek with one hand and rubbed the back of her neck with the other.

She knew she should object to his touching her, but it felt so good. Instead, she tucked in her chin to give him better access. Since Wade first came to the ranch four years ago, she’d had a mad crush on him. His touch always did something to her insides and made her restless.

“We have a suggestion.” Brady scooted his chair closer. “Hear us out, before you answer. This is important.” He sucked in a deep breath.

Hannah raised her head at his ominous tone, and Wade kneaded her shoulders with more pressure.

“Ma’am, will you marry me?” Brady asked in so solemn a tone she nearly laughed. But his face told her he was not joking.

Wade dropped to his knee beside her chair. “And me?”

Hannah stood so abruptly her chair crashed to the floor. “Enough of this nonsense. I swear you’ve both taken leave of your senses.”

Each man took one step back at her outburst. Wade spoke first. “No, we’ve thought this out very carefully. We can’t both of us be with you watching over you all the time. One of us needs be out in the field or trucking goods to market.”

“Because I need a chaperone, you think I need to marry both of you? That’s not only immoral, it’s crazy.”

“Of course you can’t marry both of us, legally. You’ll have to choose one for the license, but we both want you.” Wade went to the window and checked the lock. “If you choose one of us, the other will have no reason to stay put and the ranch won’t run well with one hand and Mr. Vance and itinerants from time to time.”

Hannah’s brushed her hair from her face. “I can’t believe you’re serious about this. I have never been with one man, and you think I’d consent to having two in my bed? Out, out of here before I scream.”

Wade, unable to think of anything to mitigate her outrage, grabbed her in a bear hug and kissed her. Gradually, she stopped fighting and melted against him.

He didn’t release her. He spoke with his lips against her forehead. “You have to think this over carefully. Sleep on it for a day or two, but don’t wait too long or the gossip mongers will have a field day over you living here by yourself.”

Wide-eyed, she stood still in his arms, and he wondered if she heard him. “Miz Hannah? Will you think on it?”

She touched fingers to her lips and continued to silently stare.

Brady tapped him on the shoulder. “I believe the lady is in shock. Best we leave her mull this over fer a spell.”

Wade hated to let her go. Small as she was, she fit nicely in his arms, her budding breasts pressed into his chest. She was almost over the hill for marriage in this town but didn’t know it. Her parents had been overprotective. He stepped back, afraid she’d recognize his growing interest in the soft feel of her body. “See you in the morning, ma’am.”

Wade and Brady retrieved their hats from the rack by the back door and walked outside. The key turned in the lock behind them. “Too soon, I reckon, to spring all this on her.” Brady said on the other side of the door. Hannah pressed her ear to the window in the door.

“No time to waste on either account. Slyke will be back. Harvest time is near. She’ll lose her shirt in more ways than one if we don’t intervene and fast.” Wade tried the door handle. “It’s bolted. I reckon she’s safe for tonight.”

Brady clunked a foot on the top stair of the back stoop. “Think we should’ve told her marriage to one of us t’were her pappy’s idea afore he died?”

“I don’t want to do that unless we have to. ’Sides, he never said nothing ’bout both of us having her.” They didn’t spare her ears as they tramped off the stoop.

* * * *

Hannah ran her fingertips across her hardened nipples and nearly jumped out of her skin. They ached. Her cotton bodice applied a rasp to them with every step she took toward the staircase that led to the bedrooms. Unease made her pace the upstairs hall. She wanted something. Her body wanted something. And Wade could give it to her. She’d known that since she was seventeen, before she’d been shuffled off back east to normal school to become a teacher.

He’d asked her to marry him tonight. She’d dreamed of him proposing but never thought it would come about this way. It was nice to hear him say the words yet disappointing because it had not happened on some romantic, moonlit ride the way she’d envisioned. She stopped pacing and leaned over the banister.

This was not the proposal she’d wanted. She pressed her eyes closed, ran into her bedroom, and flung herself across the bed. If she accepted Wade, she’d also have to accept Brady.

She imagined his big strong hands on her. The idea of making love with Brady actually excited her. He was strong and would take her with abandon, she was sure. How would it work when they were both at the ranch? Would they alternate days or take turns on her in the same night? Or would they both be with her at the same time? Would Brady touch her nipples while Wade pressed his male member into her?

Ridiculous. They couldn’t think she would do such a thing. Yet, her whole body quaked with the stimulation merely thinking about it caused. She was a grown woman, well past marriageable age. If she wanted to lie with both men, no one could tell her she couldn’t.

She felt the dampness between her legs and knew she was shameless to consider this proposal. She hopped up, grappled with buttons, shoes, and hose and pulled her blouse off, let her skirt sink down around her ankles, then tugged off her slip in one movement. Standing naked before the mirror, she imagined Wade kissing her while Brady touched her all over.

Hannah let her nightgown stay on the hook behind the door and dipped under the cool sheet. One hand pinched her nipples while the other slid along the slickness her thoughts had caused in her vaginal canal. Men called this part of the female anatomy a “pussy.” She liked the image of petting a smooth, soft pussy. She didn’t have to smother her moans, because no one else could hear them now. She was all alone.

The next morning, Hannah looked into her parents’ room for the first time. She couldn’t tiptoe past it any longer. She stripped the bed and pulled down the curtains. The furniture, everything would go to charity. A new day, a new life. Her parents would live in her memory and in her heart forever, but from this day on, her future would be in her own hands.

Downstairs in the kitchen, she once again mulled over Wade and Brady’s proposal. Silly to consider such a thing. She wanted to marry Wade. She loved him. No, it would not be the way she’d dreamed, but she had to admit it was a lot more interesting. If Brady came with the deal, so be it. She loved him, too, in a way. His strength, the way he looked at her as if to eat her up, always stirred her insides. The idea of two men in her bed, in her, was intoxicating, truth to tell.

Wade rushed into the kitchen by the back door and swept her into an embrace. His kiss was long with an open mouth. Brady came up behind her and nibbled at her neck. Wade released her, and Brady took his turn with long, luscious kisses, using his tongue to further stimulate her. When they both stepped away, she wanted both of them back.

Brady spoke first. “Wade said, I’ve been too in awe of you and should demonstrate how I feel. I hope I didn’t shock you, love.”

He called her “love.” Hannah tingled inside. He really meant it. He loved her. She could feel it. “I’ve been thinking about your offer, really thinking about it.”

“Have you made a decision?” Wade nibbled her neck.

“No, I need to understand how it would work, first.”

Brady took her shoulders and turned her to him. “Everything will be up to you, love. You set the rules any way you want.”

Wade ran a hand up under her hair. “As long as you’ll have us both, you can make any stipulations that make you feel comfortable.”

They took seats around the table.

“I haven’t exactly said I’d do it yet. I need to get it set in my own mind as to how it would all work.”

“Better find someone to stay with you while you’re thinking it over,” Wade said. “I don’t want any suspicious gossip runnin’ through the town to mar the wedding, if there is to be one.”

“I’ll take care of finding someone to stay with me today.” She looked around the barren kitchen. “I guess I was supposed to fix breakfast.”

“Mrs. Vance has been taking over the cooking duties. It’s something she can do without leaving her own house. The woman looks hale and hearty to me but always has a complaint when it’s time to visit a sick neighbor or travel to church.”

“Oh, thank heavens I don’t have to worry about feeding you. I have time to pack a lunch and get to school. Some of the older girls have been hearing the lessons of the smaller children while I was…indisposed. I will have a mess to straighten out, I’m sure.”

The men left, and Hannah had to rush to make it to the schoolhouse before the children arrived. At noon she spoke to one of the older girls. “Lou Ann, can you come stay at my house for the evening?” Lou Ann was engaged to be married after fall harvest and would most likely love to get away from a houseful of parents and siblings and have some time alone with her fiancé.

“Of course, Miz Hannah. Do you need some cooking or cleaning done?”

“No, I need a chaperone to keep the gossips at bay until I decide on a permanent arrangement.” If Lou Ann worked out as a companion and acceptable chaperone, Hannah intended to ask her to stay the week. If she was bothersome, she’d look for someone else tomorrow.

“Ah, I see. I’ll be there around four and help with dinner. I’m a really good cook. Ask my ma.”

“Great, and thanks.”

Lou Ann turned out to be a terrific cook. Mrs. Vance gladly let her take over the kitchen while she sat with her knitting. All through supper, Brady and Wade sent Hannah questioning looks while the others chattered on, mainly with Lou Ann. Absorbed with her own dilemma, Hannah avoided direct eye contact with everyone.

After supper the Vances went out on the porch for air and lemonade. Hannah waved Lou Ann out with them. “You’ve done most of the cooking so go sit while I clear the table.”

Brady carried the heated well water from the fireplace to the sink and went out to pump more water for rinsing the dishes. Wade stayed with Hannah. As soon as they were alone, Wade drew her into his arms. “You know I love you to death, don’t you, darlin’?”

“I do, but I don’t know if I can quite get my head around having two men. I’m scared.”

“Ah, don’t ever be scared of Brady and me. He’s so in awe of you, he thinks you walk on water. We’d never do anything to hurt you or give you a moment’s worry. We’ll make you happy, and we’ll make sure the ranch prospers.”