Wild Montana Nights (15 page)

out there.

“Can I do anything for you?” she asked, wringing her hands with

worry.

“No. Be okay in a second,” Randall managed to get out between

puffs.

She decided she couldn’t just stand there and watch them

struggling to breathe and get warm. Instead, she began unbuttoning

Marcus’s coat and pulled it off of him along with his gloves and scarf.

She hung them up then warmed her hands under her arms for a few

seconds before helping Randall off with his coat, scarf, and gloves.

Both men took their hats off their heads and hung them on the hooks

next to their coats. Again she shoved her hands under her arms to

warm them.

“You two get in there where the fire is and I’ll have the chili ready for you in a few minutes.”

She shooed them out, then proceeded to turn the stove back on

medium to warm the chili sooner. She would have liked it to simmer a

bit longer, but it would do. The next time they had it, it would be

better.

Darla crossed the room to the living room and stopped to watch

her two men. She stopped and realized she had labeled them
her
men.

She thought of where she lived as home and now she thought of

Marcus and Randall as her men. It felt right to her. For the first time she thought they might just be able to make a family with the three of them after all. Beyond that she couldn’t even imagine.

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She licked her lips and walked into the living room. The men both

looked up and smiled. Her heart flip-flopped in her chest then lodged in her throat. It took two tries of clearing her throat before she could get out that dinner was ready. They didn’t seem to notice as they

pushed her along with them back into the kitchen. She ladled the chili into bowls and sat down to eat.

Once the dishes were put away some forty-five minutes later,

Darla dried her hands on the dish towel and followed the weird

shooshing noise to the living room. The couch and coffee table had

been moved back from the fireplace and the beginnings of a bed lay in the floor. Both men were on their knees beside the not yet aired up

bed. Randall plugged in a hair dryer and fit it in an opening on the side of the bed. Marcus held it in place as the dryer tended to blow the bed across the room as it inflated it. They were concentrating so hard neither one of them noticed her there watching them from the

doorway.

“I don’t remember it taking so dang long,” Marcus fussed.

“You’re just low on patience is all,” Randall said.

Unable to stand it any longer, Darla walked into the room and

plopped down on the couch. Both men looked up, and immediately,

their concerned faces turned to smiles for her.

“Hey, baby. We’re just about to get this thing up and ready,”

Marcus reported.

“It looks comfortable, but it will be a tight fit. Is it really a king-size bed?” she asked.

It really didn’t look much larger than a double bed. She couldn’t

imagine all three of them fitting on it, but they assured her it would work.

“Yep, it’s a king all right. A little snuggling will be fun,” Marcus

added.

Randall turned off the dryer once the bed would only give a little

bit when he pushed down on it.

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“If you don’t like how firm it is,” Randall began. “We can let

some of the air out to make it softer.”

“I’m sure it will be fine. Besides, I can always sleep on top of one

of you,” she teased.

Marcus growled and advanced on her. She backed up and then

turned to run around the couch. Randall shook his head at her and

Marcus and gathered up the bed linen and began making the bed.

“Truce,” she begged. “Let’s save this until the weather clears up

some.”

“You just want to wait until you can go outside to hide.” Marcus

clucked his tongue at her.

“Well, there is that,” she laughed and eased around the couch on

the opposite side of Marcus.

“Okay, truce…for now.” He smirked and helped Randall stretch

the comforter over the stack of blankets he had piled on the makeshift bed.

“Let’s get ready for bed. I’ll have to get up early and start

shoveling again,” Randall said.

Darla took the stairs intent on a nice soak before she went to bed.

When she had the water running and was just sinking down into the

blessed heat, Randall wandered in and sat on the edge of the tub.

Darla’s nipples peeked out from the water, and Randall took

advantage of it by running the rough pad of his finger over them until they grew harder.

“Your breasts are lovely, pale skin with dusky pink nipples on

top.” He pinched one of them before flicking them with his thumb and

forefinger.

Darla groaned then laughed when he lost his balance and nearly

fell into the tub with her.

“Guess I better leave you to your bath. I’ll be waiting in the

bedroom to help you dry off.” Randall held himself with his hands on

either side of the tub and swooped down for a quick kiss. Then he

walked out closing the door behind him.

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Her fingers rose to trace her lips where he had kissed her. She

tried to decipher her feelings for the two men. Every time they

touched her, she grew weak with need. When they went outside, she

worried and fretted over them. When they touched her, she fairly

caught fire. It sounded like love to her, but she refused to believe it.

She’d only known them a handful of days. Besides, they still hadn’t

told her how they felt other than to say they wanted her and she

belonged with them.

The water began to cool, so she stood up and stepped out of the

tub. She grabbed the towel and bent over to let the water out of the

tub. When a hard groin pressed against her, she yelped in surprise. A hand came out to steady her so she didn’t fall over into the tub.

“Easy there, baby.” Marcus held on.

“You scared me. Don’t do that,” she complained.

“Sorry. I thought you heard me open the door.”

“What are you doing in here?” she asked after standing up again.

“I’m going to dry you off,” he said, looking innocent.

“Yeah, right. We’ll see.” She jammed her hands on her hips and

cocked her head to look at him.

He took the towel from her hand and began drying her, making

sure to get under her breasts then between her legs. No spot was left wet on her body.

“Can’t let you catch a chill. I brought your underwear and a big T-

shirt for you to put on,” he said.

Darla smiled her thanks and found the pile of clothes on the

closed lid of the toilet. He watched her as she dressed. He’d even

remembered to bring a pair of the thick socks she liked. He was so

thoughtful. It made her feel cared for. If only they would say the

words, she thought.

Marcus opened the bathroom door and let her walk through first.

Randall was already dressed in thermals. His hair appeared to be

slightly wet.

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“You’re going to catch pneumonia with your head wet like that,”

she fussed.

“I’m going to dry it in a minute.”

“I’m going to take my shower now,” Marcus told her. “I’ll meet

you downstairs in the living room.” He placed a kiss on her nose.

Randall crossed the room to pull her into his arms. The minute he

touched her, Darla felt like she’d come home. His serious demeanor

made her feel safe. Sometimes it got on her nerves how controlled he

was, but for the most part she liked it.

“Come on,” she said. “Let’s get your hair dry. I’ll do it.”

Darla led him into the bathroom where her hair dryer was plugged

up. She’d have to do without the mirror since it was once again

fogged up. When she turned the dryer on, Marcus stuck his head out

of the shower and grinned.

“Will you dry my hair, too?”

“Yes.” She laughed.

Randall had to sit on the closed lid of the toilet so she could reach his hair. The long tresses could use a trim, but she would mention that another time. Instead, she picked up the dryer and turned it on, using her brush to draw it out so the hot air could dry it. It took a good five minutes before she had his hair totally dry and by then, Marcus was

out of the shower drying off.

“Don’t forget me,” he said with a grin.

“Never. Sit here and be still”

She didn’t miss the look he and his brother exchanged. Had she

really said never? Never was a long time. Putting it out of her mind, Darla began brushing Marcus’s hair using a brush and the hair dryer

on him as well.

“I’m going down stairs to check the fire,” Randall said and

slipped out of the bathroom door. The cool air rushed in and instantly sent a shiver down her spine.

“Are you cold, baby? I’ll dry my hair, and you go get in the bed.”

He reached up to take the brush from her.

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“Sit still. I’m not cold. I just got a little of the cool air when

Randall opened the door.”

He stiffened his jaw but didn’t protest as she once again began

drying his hair. Though he didn’t have hair quite the length of

Randall’s, he did have thicker hair. It took just as long to dry his as it had Randall’s. Once she had finished, she put away the dryer and

turned around to find him looking at her with barely contained lust in his eyes. She felt the now familiar butterflies twittering around inside of her.

“Let’s go downstairs and get you comfortable on the bed.”

She followed him down the stairs and over to the air mattress. It

looked like a giant pile of blankets, which is what it was. Randall sat on the couch listening to The Weather Channel again.

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Chapter Nine

“Any change?” Marcus asked.

“Nope. Still predicting it will go south and pull down the frigid air as far south as Purple Creek. We’re about thirty miles north of them. I don’t think we’ll get any freezing rain, but the snow is bad enough.”

The short reprieve they were going to get before it hit wouldn’t be

enough time to do all the things that needed to be done.

“Damn. What a freaking mess,” he groused.

“Might as well get some sleep. We’ll be up and down all night

shoveling snow to keep ahead of it,” Randall said.

Marcus blew out a breath in resignation. Randall knew how his

brother felt. It sucked to be them right then. Then he looked at Darla and realized he was wrong. They had her to come home to each day.

Nothing could put a damper on his mind as long as she was around,

he realized. With a smile, he walked over to where she sat on the foot stool in front of the chair. He pulled her to her feet and attacked her mouth.

She tasted like spring rain and vanilla. He dove into her open

mouth with his tongue and licked along the roof of her mouth. She

shivered and sucked on his tongue when he dove in again. She lightly

scraped her teeth over his tongue before sucking his bottom lip into

her mouth. Never had he enjoyed a kiss more, he decided in the back

of his mind. There wasn’t much of anyone to compare her with,

anyhow. They spent all their time on the ranch with quick trips into

town for supplies. He wanted more, and he knew he could get it from

her. As soon as he talked her into marrying them, then he would have

everything.

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They each climbed on the air mattress with them dipping low on it

pushing Darla up in the middle. Every time they moved, it threw her

up in the air. It surprised him when she didn’t complain that they kept moving. She didn’t seem to notice when he climbed out of the

makeshift bed to go shovel snow several hours later. She rolled over

and snuggled up to Marcus without waking up.

Randall stood there for several long minutes contemplating their

future. With her in it, they were complete. He worried though that she would refuse their plan to marry her. She had embraced the two of

them, but would she be willing to make it permanent? Throwing his

head back, Randall blew out a breath and turned and walked away.

That snow wasn’t moving itself.

As soon as he entered the kitchen, he knew the electricity was off.

The clock on the microwave was dark and the little night light next to the coffee maker was no longer on. Great, he thought. It would be at

least twenty-four if not forty-eight hours once the snow began to stop and the town started clearing the streets with the snow plows until

they got their power back on.

Pulling on his coat, gloves, and hat as well as the scarf, he took

stock of his clothes and decided he would do. It had been really

genius of Marcus to insist on a door in the kitchen that went out on the back porch. Had they not had it, they would have tracked in at the front door or in the backyard behind the stair case. Now he opened the door and walked outside struggling with the door to close it behind

him. Finally he got it closed, and he turned around. The snow fell

softly without the wind to blow it around.

He thought about the big freeze coming their way. Randall hoped

they were overestimating the storm. He pulled the door closed behind

him and nearly groaned at how much snow had accumulated not only

on the porch, but along the path they’d dug through yesterday