Their Conquered Bride Read online

  “Ma’am.” Xander’s eyebrows rose in curiosity, but he must have been raised right, for he didn’t comment on her obvious upset. Nor did he step forward, keeping his distance.

  “How long have you been married?” Kane asked.

  I couldn’t help but grin. “Yesterday.” I still felt like the luckiest man alive, and wasn’t above gloating.

  Kane laughed. “Well then, a celebration—and a bed—are certainly in order.”

  Xander offered to tend to our horses as Kane walked with us to his house.

  “We eat meals as a group on most occasions. My house—the one I share with Ian and Emma—has a large kitchen and dining room for it. We’re growing quickly, we now have baby Ellie. There are a few others who have children. Christopher and Abby are toddling about as well. With your arrival, and the addition of your other men—wait, where are the others? We were expecting a dozen.”

  “Six are on their way with the wagon of supplies,” I explained.

  The house before us was large white clapboard with an expansive porch. It was set back from the other buildings by a fair distance. In fact, all of the houses and work buildings were far apart. While Bridgewater was turning into a community, it would seem everyone still wanted their privacy. I approved. I had no desire to share Lizzie’s cries of pleasure with the other men on the ranch. That sweet sound was for her husbands’ ears alone.

  “I expect them to arrive tomorrow. Four more are traveling with Lizzie’s two younger sisters.”

  Kane nodded, taking the news in stride and not asking unwelcome questions. We would tell him everything, later. All too easily we fell into our old custom. War and hardships were not to be discussed in front of the women. Kane smiled pleasantly at our bride and she seemed to relax once we’d left Xander behind. “Are you from these parts, Lizzie?”

  She smiled and chatted with Kane as he showed us his home. She was much more in control than she had been at the stables and it was clear she had issue with Xander. Had they met before? How was that even possible? Had he somehow threatened her? Did he remind her of someone she feared from her past? As I tried to make sense of it, I realized how little Logan and I knew about our wife, and how badly I wanted to remedy the lack.

  “No, from Omaha.”

  “You are a lucky woman then, meeting these two. There aren’t many men who I would trust with my life, but your husbands rank high on that list. You’ve got good men, Elizabeth.”

  His words were profound, and the trust and respect mutual.

  Holding open the front door, he let us enter first. With my hand at the small of Lizzie’s waist, we met everyone. Everyone. Faces that were familiar. Ian. Brody. Mason. Simon. Rhys. Connor. Dash. It was exhilarating to be with them all again, this time safe from Evers and the law. We also met Cross, Tyler, Andrew and Robert. Quinn and Porter, two of the foremen, were with Xander in the stables, but would join us when the meal was ready. Then there were the brides. Emma, Laurel, Olivia, Emily, Rebecca and Allison. The children brought the brightest smiles from our bride, and I knew we’d made the right choice, bringing her here. There were three children, all quite young, but they were bright, happy beings and I watched Lizzie closely, noticed the softening of her eyes and the bright hope that took root in her.

  So, our lovely lady wanted children. I’d be happy to give her a dozen.

  With this large of a group and knowing how the men must tend to their brides, surely the ranch would be overrun with young ones soon.

  Perhaps even one or two of our own.

  Logan took Lizzie by the arm and escorted her around the room, introducing her to everyone. She smiled and nodded, shaking hands when manners dictated she should, but I saw the lines of strain form beside her eyes, noticed when her smile changed from natural to brittle. She was being completely overwhelmed.

  I didn’t blame her. From what she shared, her childhood was less than warm and this brood would be quite an adjustment. When her sisters arrived, perhaps that would help, but their arrival would also bring ten more men.

  Dinner was a loud affair; there was enough catching up and telling of old war stories to go late into the night. While Lizzie ate her share of roast and potatoes, she remained quiet. That was expected, as she knew no one but me and Logan, but she continued to eye Xander, along with Tyler and their wife Emily, with a mix of nervousness and obvious interest.

  Leaning down, I whispered in her ear, “You seem scared by Xander. Has he done something to upset you?”

  A piece of bread was halfway to her lips and she paused, then put it in her mouth. I saw it for what it was, stalling. The way her cheeks turned red, I knew that she’d had some kind of interaction with him. Whether I needed to punch the man in the face was yet to be determined.

  She shook her head.

  Ford glanced at me over Lizzie’s head. “Xander’s done something.”

  “No, he hasn’t.” She took a sip of water, then turned to me. “Truly.”

  “Xander,” Logan said. The man turned his head and raised his eyebrows to indicate he was listening. “You don’t live here at Bridgewater?”

  “No,” he replied. “We have a ranch past Helena. Kane bought some of our cattle a few years ago, then Tyler’s sister, Olivia, married those three besotted fools.” He pointed to Rhys and Simon, who I knew from my days in Mohamir, and a third man who had been introduced as Cross. Three husbands? Interesting. I didn’t have much time to ponder because Xander continued, “Now Tyler and I come back to Bridgewater a couple of times a year to make sure they’re treating his baby sister right.”

  At the other end of the table, Rhys and Simon shouted insults at Xander for insulting them. Cross bent Olivia over backward and kissed her senseless, right there in front of everyone. It was all in good fun and I watched Lizzie’s eyes widen in alarm, then surprise as Olivia kissed him back, passionately, and the rest of the women seated around the table merely smiled with that look women get when the men they love are acting like idiots.

  “You’re just visiting then?” Logan pressed for more information as Lizzie stiffened in her chair, taking three times longer than it should have for her to chew that piece of bread.

  Tyler put his hand across the back of Emily’s chair. “We bought a bull past Lewistown and wanted to make a trip of it. We arrived yesterday.”

  “We just missed you then,” I added. “We were in Hayes just yesterday morning.”

  Xander offered a smile, but it was partially hidden by his dark beard. “We followed the stage line. Safer that way. Didn’t linger in Hayes though. Spent the night at the town before. Nothing little town. Never bother to remember what it’s called.”

  “Drummond,” Tyler offered.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lizzie’s cheeks turn pink and she stared at her hands, which were tightly fisted in her lap.

  Nothing about Xander made me think he’d done anything untoward to Lizzie. So, what was wrong with our bride? Did she lust after Xander? Did she wish she’d married him instead? The thought made me angry, and I vowed to get her naked and remind her exactly who she belonged to at the earliest opportunity.

  Logan seemed to be oblivious. Either that, or he was having fun pushing our bride as far as he could, looking for clues. “Lizzie was on the stage from the east that day. I’m surprised you didn’t see her or her two sisters.”

  Emily tilted her head and looked at Lizzie. “I would have remembered seeing you, you are so pretty.”

  Lizzie lifted her head swiftly, as if Emily’s comments shocked her. “Thank you.”

  The other women at the table added to the conversation then, voicing their jealousy for Lizzie’s darker complexion. “No freckles!” Anne commented with a smile. “That is completely unfair.”

  “I love your freckles, wife. They provide the perfect map for kissing you all over.” One of Anne’s husbands, Robert, leaned across his plate to kiss her. Olivia’s men had started it, but an air of sensuality had quickly settled over the room and the looks between
the married groups in the room grew longer and more direct.

  Lizzie blushed and murmured her thanks as the ladies around the table ignored their husbands’ groping hands and attention as they continued to discuss her rare and exotic beauty. I agreed wholeheartedly, but her confused expression confirmed what I had already begun to suspect. No one had told Lizzie she was beautiful before. She wasn’t used to hearing the words, and didn’t believe them.

  I decided then and there it would be my personal mission in life to change that. Our wife was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen, and I would dedicate my life to making sure she believed me when I told her so.

  The conversation veered toward the fall harvest, yet I had not had my questions answered. Later, I would ask Lizzie and she would tell us the truth, even if we had to spank it out of her.

  Elizabeth

  Logan and Ford both watched me with too keen an interest through the rest of dinner. I’d handled myself poorly, I knew. But the first sight of Xander walking out of the barn, and all I could think about was the sight of his massive chest and strong legs, his flexing hips as he knelt behind Emily, his hand in her hair and his cock deep in her ass while her other husband, Tyler, fucked her pussy.

  The sound of Xander’s deep voice when he had spoken outside the stables had hit me unexpectedly and I was instantly flung back into my fantasies on that balcony. I remembered the deep sound of his voice commanding me—no, commanding his wife—to come.

  And poor Emily. She was a truly beautiful woman. She’d been kind and welcoming at dinner, a genuine person with whom I knew I could become friends. Shame flooded me as I remembered what I’d believed that night. I’d mistaken her for a prostitute in that hotel suite, not their wife!

  And sweet, gentle Olivia? I’d thought two husbands scandalous, but seeing the way Olivia’s three men stroked her hair and kept her close, always touching her, watching her, and making sure she felt surrounded, loved and happy? After growing up with a cold stepfather, a disapproving uncle and a town full of people who referred to me simply as the bastard? I saw Olivia’s happy glow, the attention she received, the acceptance. I choked on the admission, but I knew enough to know that the churning in my stomach was caused by an acute case of envy. I wasn’t only envious of the way her men treated her, but of the contentment and happiness that made Olivia’s skin practically glow. She was in love. She was loved. And she knew it. She did not doubt her men, or their feelings for her. She had not one husband who worshipped her, who found her beautiful, interesting and worthy, but three! She did not question their devotion or attention, simply accepted it as her due.

  I was still shocked that Logan and Ford would want me at all. Inside, where the darkest pieces of my heart had long ago been ruined, I was still in pieces. I was broken and I wasn’t sure I would ever be able to love and be loved the way Olivia did.

  I walked silently between my husbands as Kane showed us to one of the new houses built on the property. It was small, only a main room—with a large fireplace, kitchen area and a dining table—a bedroom and a washroom. This, it seemed, would be our house until we were ready to build one of our own. Logan had been adamant that I help choose the location for our new home before the men could start building.

  My own home. Children. A house full of family and friends and no one to bat an eye at the strangeness of one woman with two husbands. Sitting at that table, watching the women settled comfortably between their men, I’d felt something shift inside me as well. Hope. Though the new emotion was fragile, like a new butterfly’s wings, it was growing stronger every moment I spent with my men.

  For the first time in my life, I felt welcomed and respected. Seated between Logan and Ford, I’d not been without one of their hands on me during dinner, the connection so simple, but a powerful reminder that I would never be alone again. They made sure my plate was full, listened when I spoke, and surrounded me with such warmth and affection that I found myself laughing and teasing as I had not since before my mother died.

  They made me feel safe. Protected. Free to be myself.

  They made me feel important and beautiful.

  In two days, they’d shown me more caring and respect than I had received these past years from my own flesh and blood. They did not disgrace or shame me for enjoying their touch. No. They demanded it of me.

  Why did loving more than one man have to be wrong? Who declared it so? Surely my uncle did not have that power.

  “All right, sweetheart, tell us about Xander.”

  I went to stand on the far side of the dining table, my hands placed on the back of the chair. “I don’t know what you mean,” I replied, not meeting their gazes as my cheeks heated, giving me away. Damn it! If only I had not been so aroused that night. If only I had not been so brazen and touched myself as I watched them. I could not admit that now. Not here.

  Never.

  Xander had done nothing wrong; he’d been with his wife, fucking her without any knowledge of being watched. I was the one at fault. It was just ridiculously hard to sit across from him—from all three of them—remembering how they’d fucked her, how they’d taken her back entrance with as much eagerness as her pussy, how she’d squirmed and begged, sobbed and gasped, demanding more.

  “Lizzie,” Ford warned. “It’s our job to protect you. We can’t do that if you don’t talk to us. You need to tell us what’s bothering you. Xander has done something to upset you and we need to know what it is so we can take care of it.”

  They were starting to get annoyed. “Truly. He’s done nothing.”

  Logan watched me silently, his gaze missing nothing. When I refused to answer, he crossed his arms over his chest. “You can tell us now, or we can spank your arse a bright pink and you can tell us after.”

  I took a step back. “What? You’d spank me?”

  I thought of Emily and how she’d enjoyed the way Xander had spanked her.

  “You have to the count of three to tell us the truth.” Logan came around the table, ducked his head and the next thing I knew, I was tossed over his shoulder like a sack of grain. “Starting right now.”

  “Logan, put me down!”

  He carried me into the bedroom and dropped me onto the bed. I bounced once and tried to scramble as the men each took one of my ankles—now exposed by my dress, which had tangled and risen to mid-calf—and easily flipped me over onto my belly. As soon as my feet touched the floor, a hand went to the center of my back and held me down.

  The hand was gentle, but Ford’s voice was stern. “No secrets, sweetheart.”

  I tried to push up onto my elbows so I could look over my shoulder at them, but I could not move as Ford knelt beside me on the bed, one hand pressed between my shoulder blades, the other pressed to the small of my back where he held my dress up.

  “What are you doing?” My head was turned to the side, my cheek pressed to the mattress. I knew what was coming. Logan said he was going to spank me like a three-year-old, but I hadn’t truly believed him.

  “You’ve been keeping secrets, Lizzie. Lying to us.” Logan’s rough hands massaged my ass cheeks through my drawers and I felt my pussy grow wet. Seconds later, he ripped the thin material from my body and threw it to the floor. Fresh air hit my bare bottom seconds before Logan’s first, soft strike.

  If that was a spanking, I didn’t mind it. In fact, I wanted more. Ford’s dominant hold combined with the sensation of offering myself to Logan, just as Emily had when Xander was behind her, made me nearly swoon.

  “God, Ford. That swat made her drip with cream.” Logan swatted me again as I bit my lip and closed my eyes against Ford’s knowing gaze on my flushed cheeks. “She’s so wet I could fuck her right now, take her hard and fast.”

  I moaned at his words and Ford’s hand clenched into a fist high on my back and his voice was deeper than it had been before. “Don’t fuck her yet.”

  I opened my eyes to find Ford watching me.

  “Before she gets fucked, she has to tell us all her
secrets.”

  Logan swatted me again and I squirmed in an effort to tempt him to touch me. I needed him inside me. His cock. His fingers. His tongue. I wasn’t choosy. I wanted him to fuck me and pull my hair, just like Xander had done to Emily. I wanted to climb up Ford’s body and ride his cock as Logan took me from behind. I wanted to be Emily.

  But I couldn’t be. I was legally married to another man, a man named Jenkins, a man who had a lawful claim to me. I was still just a whore fucking two men who didn’t know the truth. The fact that I didn’t tell them, that I couldn’t bring myself to tell them about my proxy marriage to Jenkins, made me worse than a whore. I wasn’t just a whore; I was a liar, a selfish, spoiled liar who would do anything to feel the pleasure of their touch. Anything but tell them the truth, because the truth would end this dream for me. The truth would cost me everything.

  Logan caressed my ass and kicked my ankles wider so my pussy was ripe and spread open for him. He teased me, inserting one long finger for just a moment before leaving me empty once more. “Tell us why Xander makes your face turn pink and your pussy wet, my Lizzie.” Logan fucked me a bit harder, using two fingers and thrusting deep, leaving them buried inside me as he waited for my answer. “Tell us why watching him makes your pulse race and your breathing quicken.”

  What? How did he know? How could he know? “I don’t—”

  Smack.

  “Ahhh! That hurt!” Logan had spanked my bottom with his free hand, hard. He pulled his fingers out and drove them deeper the second time. Spanked me again and again.

  Smack.

  Smack.

  Smack.

  “Do you want to fuck Xander?”

  “No.”

  My pussy clenched at his words, a vivid image of Logan fucking me from behind as my dark hair fell forward on the bed. I didn’t want Xander. I wanted to be like Emily, but I had no desire to be touched by her men.

  I wanted my own.

  “Your words say no, Lizzie, but your pussy says yes.” Was that disappointment in his voice?