Their Captivated Bride (Bridgewater Menage Series Book 3) (15 page)

Simon shook his head. "We've kept him separate for now, so he hadna been out this way."

"This means—"

"Olivia came this way."

OLIVIA

The men should have returned to the ranch by now, but I was woefully lost. I'd fled, afraid Mr. Peters would follow, so I'd quickly put only a bridle on the new horse and rode it off in the direction I thought the men would be working. I'd been wrong in my direction. Very wrong, for the sun had just set and I had yet to find them.

I fought tears that I'd held at bay but when I knew I would not find my men before darkness fell, they slipped down my sweaty cheeks unbidden. Mr. Peters' appearance had scared me, for I'd been alone and he'd surprised me. I'd remembered the painful feel of his grip upon my wrist, the dark and sinister look in his eyes when I'd spurned him in Helena. The throbbing in my cheek prompted me continually to his danger. All I wanted was to find my men and accept the shelter they continually offered.

While Simon was the least communicative of the three, he was the most demonstrative. I felt a bond with Rhys and Cross as well, for they were able to share and show their connection through debates or humor, but with Simon, who was so staid and reserved, what we shared was...elemental. It couldn't be faked, it couldn't be bought as Mr. Peters had said; it couldn't be anything but real. So when Mr. Peters insinuated the worst, all I wanted to do was to get to my men, to have them hold me, reassure me.
Love me.
My hastiness was costly though. I didn't know where I was and none of the men did either. How could they find me if I didn't even know my own whereabouts?

Once I realized I had misjudged their location, I assumed it would be easy to find my way back, but I must have followed the wrong creek downstream and then became turned around. My dress had been fine for daytime, but the air was quickly cooling and the wind was picking up, whipping my hair into my face. Clouds had moved in, thick and heavy with the promise of rain, just as we’d seen the previous night. I had to find some kind of shelter. Unfortunately, the open prairie was not a safe place in bad weather and the few cottonwood trees that dotted the creek were a definite danger. Based on the severity of the mudslide the previous night, I knew that being near the water was not a choice so I spurred the horse up and away from the creek bed in case it swelled.

Large boulders dotted the landscape and I stopped and dismounted beside one of the larger ones. My first thought when I saw it was that it was the perfect height for my men to bend me over and fuck. While it couldn't shield me from rain, if I sat curled up on one side of it, the wind would be blocked. I shifted to sit sideways so I could lean against it, bent my legs up, wrapped my dress over my legs and put my head on my knees, holding onto the horse's lead with one hand.

I began to think of Rhys, Simon and Cross, their varied smiles, their varied kisses, their varied techniques with their cocks. I thought of their hands on my body, how they felt and the way I was beginning to recognize the differences between them, how they warmed my skin.

At first I thought I heard thunder, but it was actually the heavy beat of horse hooves that shook the ground. "Olivia!"

I didn't believe my ears, but when I heard my name a second time, I lifted my head. A group of men on horseback approached and I stood quickly. Elation flooded me, making me almost weak with relief. When Simon dismounted with the animal still moving, heading directly for me, I started to cry once again. I could tell by the fierce gaze, his clenched jaw and quick step that I'd been right in my thoughts and Mr. Peters was dead wrong.

He pulled me into him, his big hand cupping the back of my head against his chest. "Are ye hurt?" he asked, his voice rough.

The other men circled around me, their bodies blocking the wind. I glanced up at Rhys and Cross and I could easily read their relieved expressions.

Simon kissed the top of my head before pushing me back enough so that he could lean down and look me in the eye, and when he saw the tears on my cheeks, wiped them away with his thumbs. When he glanced at my cheek, his face hardened, the dark eyes of a warrior appeared. "Who hurt you?" A bruise must have formed on my cheek.

I tensed at the question. "Mr. Peters."

Simon's fingers tightened on my arms as he glanced at Rhys and Cross, then focused on me. "Did he hurt ye anywhere else? Did he—?"

I shook my head fiercely. "No. I got away."

The relief was visible, then his gaze roamed over my face with the tender look I'd been thinking of when I was lost. His dark gaze searching mine, as if he could see all the way to my soul. "He said disparaging things about you, but...but I didn't believe him and then I wanted to be with you."

He cupped my face and kissed me, pent up emotion and longing forged in that kiss. He eventually releasing me so Cross could pull me into his hold. By now, I was breathing hard, as if Simon had taken my breath away.

"What did he say?" Cross asked as he kissed the top of my head. His scent mixed with sweat and horses had me closing my eyes briefly to savor it.

"He said all three of you worked for him and that you made an arrangement so that Simon would marry me and give him my inheritance and you'd get a portion of it, along with me as a bonus."

Cross stilled his hand that was stroking up and down my back. "What else did he say?" His voice seemed to have dropped an octave.

"That you and Rhys were wooing me at the dance while Simon finalized their arrangements in the saloon," I added.

Rhys turned me to him and took my hand. His hold was firm, yet gentle, especially when he lifted my hand to place it over his heart. I felt it beating steadily and it was reassuring.

"He must have said something about the three of us claiming you," Rhys added.

I nodded, remembering the crude words.

"Tell us," he prompted. I glanced over my shoulder at Cross and Simon and saw that Ian was with them as well, although he stood back about twenty paces beside his horse.

"That Simon would share me with both of you as part of the arrangement. Payment."

"Do you believe anything that bloody fool said?"

I shook my head vehemently. "No!" I cried, worried they'd assume the worst of my imaginings. "I discounted him right away, but he grabbed me, said that he'd...he'd have me since I fucked three men already."

The men's spines straightened and their fists clenched.

"I fought him and then kneed him...him in the cock. I got away and took the horse to find you. I needed to be with you." I stepped out of his hold and put one hand on Cross' chest, the other on Simon's as I looked directly at Rhys. "I'm right where I want to be, between the three of you."

They each took a step inward, closing the space between us.

"I love the way you bicker and argue with me," I told Rhys. "I also love the way you have such focus and precision when you touch me, as if every move you make is deliberate and you know just how to bring me pleasure."

I turned to Cross and looked into his green eyes. "I love the way you make me smile, the way you poke fun at my city ways." The corner of his mouth turned up. I felt Rhys' hand on my arm, stroking it, as if he couldn't keep his hands off. "I also like the way you claim me with such inventiveness, eager to show me new ways to...to fuck."

I turned one more time to face Simon as I felt not only Rhys touching me, but now Cross as well. "I can't stay away from you...from any of you. Simon." I met the warrior's gaze. "There's this...bond that I feel with you, as if I can't get enough, as if I take you inside of me, not just your cock, but
you.
Is it that way for you?" I asked, a tinge of doubt in my voice. Thunder rumbled in the distance.

"Ach, lass, ye are mine."

"You are mine," Rhys added.

"You are mine," Cross agreed.

"I don't want just one of you. Combined, all of you are what I want and need." I looked at each of them in turn. While they were big and brawny and brave, they were also flesh and blood with feelings and their own hurts. While they protected and sheltered me, it was my job to be there for them, in any and every way the needed. "I want to be with you, all of you."

The men's hands stilled as Simon tilted my chin up with his finger. "Do ye ken what that means?"

It meant that I would take all three of them at the same time and one of them would fill my bottom. I clenched there at the thought, but they'd been preparing me for this, not only by stretching me to accept a cock, but to accustom me to the incredible feelings that could be found with something there, whether it be fingers, a plug or even a cock. They'd played with me so that I would
want
it, to need to feel that good.

"It means I belong to all of you. Not one at a time, but all of you at the
same
time, for that's how it is, in here." I placed a hand over my heart.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

SIMON

Two hours later we were home with Olivia settled in the bath, steam rising up from the water that didna hide her body from our gaze. This wouldna be a simple fuck up against the wall, this would be a claiming and it needed to be done right. That began with getting our woman clean and comforted after her ordeal first. My cock wanted to rush, but it wasna the time to do so.

She rode with Rhys, sitting on his lap as we rode back to the ranch. While I didna wish to take my hands from her, I knew that my need for her was too great to hold her so close. I was afraid I might hurt her in my intensity. Just the feel of her soft skin, the smell of her would be too much.

Ian had led the new horse—thankfully we hadna shod the horse's back feet yet—back to the ranch ahead of us to let everyone know Olivia had been found. He would also lead a group that would track Peters and take care of the bloody bastard once the storm blew past. I had a good idea what they'd do with the man and would make sure no one would see him again. While I wished to be the one to finish him off, it was my job—
our
job—to take care of our wife before anything else. Besides, if word of Peters' demise got back to Olivia, I didna want her to have the weight of her men committing murder upon her dainty shoulders. Nothing would come between us now. Nothing.

"You have nightmares," she stated baldly, skimming her hand over the surface of the water, her beautiful pale eyes on mine.

Rhys, who was selecting a plug from the shelf, turned.

Cross paused in unbuttoning his shirt.

Keeping my past a secret wasna easy, as Olivia was verra receptive, and also the first lass with whom I shared a bed. I could hide it while I slept alone, but not when I held her all night in my arms. I must have had a nightmare and nae remembered.

"Aye."

"You all seem to be haunted by events in the past," she added. Thunder rumbled in the distance while the rain continued.

"I grew up in an English orphanage," Rhys confirmed, his mouth a grim line. "Life was...bloody horrible. Then, in the army, we saw terrible things."

"I grew up with a father who liked to use his fists," Cross shared. "Then there was the war. I fought for the North." His mouth formed a grim line.

Olivia watched closely as the men—my true brothers—bared their souls. If Olivia wanted us to claim her, then we needed to give her everything, to share our darkest of secrets. It was time.

I picked up the washcloth from the floor and dipped it in the water. "I was responsible for a girl, for protecting her, but I failed. She and her family were murdered by our commanding officer."

Sadness filled her eyes, so I shifted my gaze to the soap, which I picked up. "Alea?"

I lifted my head in surprise, but I shoulda known she'd seen one of my nightmares. "Aye, lass."

"Did you love her?" Olivia whispered, worry etching her face.

"Nay." Shaking my head, I told her, "She was too young to even consider, but she was my charge and I let her down."

"You weren't even on duty then," Rhys added. "It wasn't your fault. It was Evers. You can't let it haunt you this way."

"I canna control my dreams," I replied, knowing they came to me unbidden as I slept.

"I'll be there to help," Olivia offered.

I ran the washcloth over her shoulder at her tender words. "Aye, lass, ye are there to help, but ye canna share my bed every night. Ye have two other husbands to tend."

"Now I know though, and we can share the burden, the pain, together," she added. "And, I will—from now on—be quite easy to keep safe."

She grinned impishly, for I knew her words were in jest, for it seemed danger followed her everywhere.

"Verra well, I'd like that," I replied. Perhaps her knowing my past could help heal it. If not, I could pull her close and hold on. "Ye, lass, have some worries as well."

"We must know all your secrets, love, to make you happy," Rhys added, holding one of the plugs he made in his hand. Olivia's eyes dropped to it and she frowned, but I took her chin and turned her to look at me. Rhys would play with her arse soon enough.