Denys, Jennifer - Wife for Three [Duoterra] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (6 page)

As he started to retreat, she whimpered. It wasn’t a good whimper but one he had heard from animals in pain. It struck him to his core.

Damn, I’ve fucked this one up soundly.

“I’m sorry, Brianna. I am trying to pull out.” However, he hadn’t reckoned on her wrapping her legs around him. Her voice was so quiet he had to strain to hear her. “It’ll be easier if you finish, I think. The pain is going.” He raised his head, looking at her incredulously. He could tell the pain wasn’t “going.” In fact, her body was rigid. The moment was gone when he could leave, and reluctantly taking her at her word, Adam pushed back in. Her eyes were still closed, but he could just discern tear tracks on her face. His heart hurt with the agony he was
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causing. That was the final straw, and he shuddered and spent his load.

It was a few moments before his cock had softened enough to shift his body, and he very gently withdrew, trying not to cause more pain, but he was aware of her wincing. As soon as he was free from her body, Brianna curled up on her side, her knees up to her chest, clutching the pillow.

Adam reached out a shaky hand to touch her, to stroke her, but when she flinched, he threw himself off the bed. Grabbing a robe, he ran down the stairs, seizing a bottle of moss liquor from the cupboard and downing a gulp straight from the bottle, its fiery taste choking him. He reached up a hand to wipe the liquid from his mouth and felt wetness on his cheeks. He wasn’t sure if it was from Brianna’s tears or his.

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Jennifer Denys

Eric woke up abruptly the next morning, his heart thudding. He frowned, wondering what had woken him up so early. He sniffed the air. It must be early if his big brother wasn’t cooking breakfast yet.

Then he remembered.
Holy shit!
I’ve got a wife.
They had a wife.

Brianna, that was her name, and she was a pretty little thing.

He jumped out of bed, pulling his clothes on haphazardly, grimacing as he tore a seam in his shirt in his haste, knowing he’d never get around to mending it, and rushed out of his room and down the stairs. There was no one around. He glanced at the clock and froze. It was six o’clock. The planet had a day slightly longer than Earth days, so clocks had to be specially made for a twenty-five-hour day. But normally at this hour, Adam would be in the kitchen making breakfast. Both Curt and Eric took after their father in that they were hopeless when it came to food. Well, cooking it at any rate. They had no problem eating whatever was put in front of them. But there was no sign of Adam. Curt, on the other hand, was a lay-a-bed and wouldn’t be up for a while anyway.

Opening the door to the yard, he shivered in the early morning chill and then saw the barn door was open, so he briskly walked over and saw Adam brushing down a horse.

Eagerly bounding over to him, Eric slapped an arm around his brother’s shoulder and then turned to lean against a post, beaming broadly. “So how was it?”

Adam barely glanced at him. “How was what?” He chuckled. His brother was being his usual quiet, introspective self. “The girl, Brianna. Our wife! God, that sounds so good.”
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“I guess it does.”

He waited, but Adam didn’t say anything more.

“Come on. How did it go?” His enthusiasm was beginning to flag against Adam’s stoic silence.

His brother stopped what he was doing and braced himself against the horse, his hands on the animal, his head bowed. But he still didn’t say anything. A worrying knot began to form in Eric’s stomach, and he frowned.

“You didn’t do it!”

That got Adam moving and he stood upright to brush the neck of the horse again. “Yes, I did.”

“So?”

As he turned around, Eric was stunned by the look of anguish on his brother’s face.

“For crying out loud, what do you want me to say? I consummated the marriage, okay.”

“Jeez. I just wanted to know some details, Adam. What was she like?”

“She’s pretty, blondish, small as you well know.” Eric growled in frustration. “I meant in bed.” He was beginning to think there was more to this than his brother’s usual reticence.

Adam rounded on him then, and Eric took a step back, so fierce was his brother’s expression. “Look, it didn’t go well. Leave it at that.” He then turned back.

His heart dropping into his stomach, Eric felt sick. “Oh, shit. What happened?” He waited a moment. “For God’s sake, tell me,” he implored, really worried now.

“It hurt her, okay!” It was Eric’s turn to be silent, stunned as he was. Adam continued in a pained voice, “You know how little experience I have of women.”

When Eric spoke, it came out as a rough whisper. “What did you do, exactly?”

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“I pushed into her, and she was so tight she yelped. I knew it’s supposed to be painful for virgins, so I pushed in harder. Christ, it was difficult. Eventually I got in, but I could tell she hated it. She was so tense, and afterward her face was teary. She turned away from me, so I left the room and went downstairs. When I got back, she had gone to her room.”

“Hell! So didn’t you try to arouse her?”

His brother frowned at him. “What do you mean?”

“Please tell me you kissed her? Fondled her? Caressed her?” When his brother was silent, Eric continued, “Oh, God, what have you done? I might have known you’d muck it up. Curt will kill you if she’s left, and I probably won’t stop him.” As he turned to leave, Adam called after his brother, “It might be better if she goes.”

“For you, maybe.”

Eric raced into the house and up the stairs to the room they had given Brianna. He could hear movement, so he knocked gently.

“Brianna. It’s Eric.”

He could hear a muffled query, “What do you want?”

“Can I come in?”

There was silence for a moment before she replied, “Okay.” Fear assailed him when he entered and he saw she was packing her bag. “Please tell me you are not going?” She refused to look at him and kept her head averted. “I–er–look, I don’t think it is going to work. I’ve made a mistake. I’ll ask the authorities to annul the contract or something.”

“Hell. I’ve just seen Adam, and he told me he hurt you last night.” Eric didn’t expect Brianna’s next reaction. She burst into tears, covering her face with her hands. Her shoulders trembled. At first, he was stunned, but his need to comfort took over, and he took her carefully in his arms, concerned about how much she was shaking. He wondered what to say and retreated into his usual humor. “Hey,
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sweetheart, we’re not that bad really. We don’t bite. Not on Thursdays at any rate.”

That got a laugh from her, and she pulled away, wiping a hand over her wet face. He let her go reluctantly. Despite the circumstances, he rather enjoyed having a soft body to cuddle. Curt and Adam didn’t quite come up to muster!

Forcing back a smile at his own joke, he cupped her shoulders, gently looking down into her beautiful, teary brown eyes. “Look, Brianna. I’m sorry about what Adam did. Even
he
is. He has no experience of women, and we all should have remembered that. In a way, it’s our fault, not just his.”

“I understand.”

He stuttered wondering how he was going to ask his next question. “You–you’re not–not–injured, are you?” A qualm went through him. In his anxiety about her possibly leaving them, he had forgotten that Adam had said he had hurt her. He tilted his head to try to surreptitiously study her body. He didn’t really know what to expect, but she didn’t look pained.

She laughed. That was promising, that she could laugh at him, not that he had been making a joke. “No, it’s not that. Well, I wasn’t particularly crying over that. But it’s Adam. He doesn’t like me. I can’t stay in a marriage where I’m not wanted.” She sounded so unhappy that he wanted to take her in his arms again. Instead he rubbed his thumbs soothingly over her shoulders.

“I know he takes some getting used to, but he will come round, really. And anyway, you can’t annul a marriage that has been consummated. Besides which, you haven’t had time to get to know Curt and me. I promise you, we are much nicer people than we seem—in bed and out of it.”

Her responding laughter warmed him.

“We won’t force you to stay if you really want to go, but please wait for a while and get to know us before you decide. Come and
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have breakfast at least. I couldn’t let you leave without something in your stomach.”

He breathed a sigh of relief when she relented. “All right.” They walked downstairs, and as Brianna automatically began looking in the kitchen cupboards to see where things were, Eric sat down at the table, enjoying watching her as she bent forward to get a frying pan out of the bottom cupboard.
Boy, she’s got a lovely ass.
He couldn’t wait until it was his turn. Then he took stock of his thoughts.

He might never have a chance unless they could persuade her to stay longer.

“Um, I didn’t exactly bring you down here to make breakfast. I was offering
you
some,” he said, but didn’t move from his seat. She didn’t appreciate the extent of his lack of cooking skills yet, but he didn’t want to put her off remaining by making her breakfast that was inedible.

“You’re okay.” She gave him a coy look. “Adam warned me on the journey here what a dunce you are in the kitchen, so I’m not letting you any closer. And don’t think I don’t realize that your kind words were just a way of getting a free breakfast out of me before I leave!”

He was momentarily stunned, then joined in laughing with her, grinning at their repartee. Out of the three of them, Eric was the one who loved joking and the fun things in life. If Brianna enjoyed those things too, she would be a terrific wife.

“So tell me something about yourself,” she said unexpectedly after she placed some steak in the frying pan.

Looking up, startled by her question, Eric responded, “What exactly do you want to know? I’m the youngest brother. You already know, I guess, that our parents started this farm but are both dead. We herd wilderbeast and live a long way from town.” She giggled. “No, you nutcase. I meant tell me about
you
.” Unsure what to say, Eric repeated himself, “I’m the youngest. I–

er–my name is Eric. What else do you want to know?”
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Her laughter at his confusion echoed around the room, and he grinned at the way she smiled, pleased she was relaxing and that it was his doing.

“I know Adam is the eldest and he is the silent type, brooding, rarely smiles, takes his responsibilities as the head of this family very seriously.” Brianna’s face took on a shuttered look as she recited his elder brother’s foibles.

Eric chuckled harshly. “Oh, you’ve got him sussed all right.” He leaned back in his chair. “Tell me what you think of Curt, then.” He watched as she pouted. “Hmm, don’t know him—or you—as well yet. Let’s see, Curt? He put the advert in the paper, and I got the feeling it was without Adam’s agreement.” At Eric’s nod, she continued, “I knew it! So that means he is probably impulsive. He seems cocky and maybe quick-tempered?”

“Oh, yes!”

“I know from the advert Adam is thirty-five and you are twenty-six, but I’m not sure of Curt’s age. His rash nature makes him seem younger.”

“Actually, he’s thirty.”

“Hmm, so that leaves you.” She tapped a fork against her face as she stared at him to gather her instincts about him.

He raised an eyebrow, a little worried about her assessment of him as, so far, she had been spot-on about his brothers.

“I’m afraid you’re a little more difficult to work out. What I do know is that you like a joke—not surprising with one brooding brother and the other impulsive, who probably clash. You might even be a peacemaker between them. You have shown you are caring.” Brianna dropped her head as she finished, clearly remembering why he had been caring.

Instinctively, he tried to think of a joke to lighten the mood again.

“You’ve forgotten the most important aspect of my personality.” She jerked her head up. “I have?”

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“Yup, my lack of cooking skills, and if you don’t get back to that pan, I’d think you had lied about yours.” Shrieking, she turned swiftly only to find he had been teasing her, and the steak wasn’t burning at all. He grinned at her as she glared at him, waving her fork in a gesture of “you naughty boy.” As the smell of the meat sizzling in the pan started to permeate the room a short time later, a sleepy Curt came shuffling down the stairs.

Leaning back in his chair, Eric stared at him. “Good Lord.

Wonders will never cease, Curt Hollis up before midday.” Eric then winked at Brianna as she looked at him startled by his teasing, showing her the fun side of their relationship as brothers.

Curt didn’t take offense, just swatted his brother on his head as he passed by. “Oh, funny man. Morning, Brianna, how’s you today?” Wincing at his brother’s badly-timed question, Eric cleared his throat loudly, hoping that Brianna didn’t see him shaking his head urgently at Curt, who gave him an inquisitive look. He must have guessed the object of Eric’s thoughts, as Curt suddenly swiveled his head to gaze apprehensively at Brianna.

“How are you, Brianna, really?” he asked again, this time with concern in his voice.

Groaning in dismay, Eric saw her go pale, clearly not wanting to rake it up again. He was then thankful when the front door opened abruptly, and Adam strode in.

“What’s going on here?” His elder brother was glaring at the woman in the kitchen. Eric closed his eyes. Everything had been going so well, too, but he knew that Adam would be put out as making breakfast was always his chore. One he always said he enjoyed.

Before Eric got a chance to smooth things over with a joke, Brianna flung the fork down on the table and stormed off up the stairs.
Great! Our first morning as a married foursome and two of
them are at loggerheads already.
This was going to be a wonderful
Wife for Three