Shades of Ménage : A Dystopian Romance Ménage & Post Catastrophic Romance Ménage Boxed Set Series - Ultimate Four-Book Collection (31 page)

But what?

Quite frankly, he didn’t want to know. She was here, and as far as he was concerned, she was staying here.

Keeping Callie safe was top priority.

“
If she’s not claimed, there’s no way we can protect her, and by the hints you were dropping in the cabin the other day, we figure you both have discussed this?” Colter asked.

“
We have,” Luke agreed.

“
And she’s agreed to being claimed by all four of us?”

Again, Luke nodded.

“
What’s your take on this, Luke?” Cade asked.

Luke glanced back at his brothers who sat side by side on the sofa watching him closely. He knew they wouldn’t agree to a Claiming unless he was absolutely sure.

“
Luke could take her to Canada,” Mac offered quickly, noting Luke’s hesitation.

“
Canada’s adopted the Claiming Law, too,” Cade said quietly.

“
You could take her away like Jude did with Cate. Go on the run. We could get another boat,” Colter offered.

“
I’m through running. Luke and I already discussed it.”

Luke and his brothers whirled around to find Callie standing at the hallway. She’d changed into a sexy, frilly, white nightgown. A virtual see-through gown he’d purchased years ago for their honeymoon, but had totally forgotten in the bottom of the drawer in his room here at the farm.

Obviously, Callie hadn’t wasted any time making herself at home here.

From beside him he heard Mac and Cade’s aroused inhalations. Colter swore softly.

Luke swallowed against the dryness in his mouth as he made out the lush outlines of her breasts pressed against the thin lingerie. He didn’t miss the pretty pink color of her hard nipples or darker pink of her areolas, nor did he miss the dark outline of her pussy hair.

Beneath the restraint of his jeans, his cock hardened like a piece of molten steel.

She looked directly at him.

“
I’ve already expressed to Luke my wishes of all of you claiming me. So what I’m asking is for an answer from all four of you. Will you claim me? If you say yes, I’d like to be claimed as soon as possible.”

* * * * *

Callie had expected Luke to explode when she said she wanted to be claimed. During their last conversation, he hadn’t come right out and said he was totally comfortable with the idea, so perhaps she really should have kept quiet. But time was of the essence. Besides, if Luke didn’t want to share her with his brothers, she would respect his wishes and bow out.

To her surprise, he didn’t protest. As a matter of fact, he’d reacted totally opposite of her expectations.

Instead of anger shining in his eyes, she saw love. And pride.

Not to mention an extremely large bulge tenting his pants.

The lusty way the other three Outlaw brothers were staring at her made her shiver with both excitement and fear. Fear that maybe she was doing the wrong thing in giving in to the Claiming Law. Excitement that Luke seemed more confident in their relationship than she’d thought he would be.

“
Luke?” Colter said in a strangled voice.

Colter didn’t take his hot gaze off her, but Callie could sense he as well as his brothers would only agree if Luke agreed.

“
I’m sure only if you’re sure, Callie. This is your last chance. Do you want the four of us to claim you?” Luke whispered.

For one split second, she wasn’t sure. The urge to change her mind almost won. But that was fear speaking, not reality.

The only way she would be protected as a woman and as an escaped lab rat were for these four sexy, testosterone-ripe men to take her sexually.

Had Luke had told them what she’d done? Had he told them how naïve she’d been in walking into the government labs in her innocent dreams of saving mankind? She’d strolled straight into the lab like some innocent sacrificial lamb.

It was as if Luke sensed her turmoil. As if he knew there could be no lies between her future husbands and herself.

“
Go into the bedroom,” he said quietly. “I’ll tell them everything. They can decide based on the facts.”

She nodded numbly.

Ignoring the puzzled expressions on the brothers’ faces, she slipped down the hallway and back to their bedroom.

In the living room, Luke explained to his brothers what she’d done and what Blakely had done to her.

* * * * *

“
She was young and innocent,” Luke finished.

“
She was stupid,” Colter snapped. His eyes blazed with red-hot anger. “Just like she was stupid to trust me out at your place by lowering her weapon. She’s still too trusting, Luke. You could lose her all over if she puts her trust into the wrong person.”

“
Like you did, Colter?” Luke said gently.

His brother flinched, but by the angry expression on Colter’s face, his brother knew what he was talking about.

“
She’s not you, okay?” Luke continued. “You showed her a valuable lesson by turning on her the way you did. She won’t easily forget. Just like you won’t easily trust another person, am I right?”

“
Shut up, Luke,” Colter warned.

“
That’s why you frightened her that day, isn’t it? Because you knew she trusted you. You don’t want her to end up hurt like you were because you trusted someone.”

The muscles in Colter’s jaws twitched angrily, and Luke noticed Cade and Mac edge up on either side of their brother, ready to grab him in case he started swinging like he’d done after Ashley, a conscripted woman he’d fallen in love with one weekend during the Wars overseas, had left him high and dry.

For a minute, Luke thought Colter might start swinging his fists now, but the tension visibly dissolved and his shoulders slumped.

“
So, sue me for trying to harden her. She’s just too damn trusting, Luke.”

“
It’s one of the reasons I love her and why you care so much for her. Do you really want her to change and become bitter and angry?”

Like you? The last two words were left unspoken, but Luke knew Colter got his message by the way his brother frowned.

“
Fine. I’ll go to the government office tomorrow morning and get the Claiming papers. At least then we can get the ball rolling.”

“
No, I’ve got another idea. I’ll explain it to you tomorrow. First, I’ve got to talk to Callie about it.”

His brothers nodded.

He wasn’t through explaining to his brothers.

When he told them what Blakely had done to Callie in the lab, his brothers looked fit to kill the scientist, but in the end, all of them reassured Luke he could count on them to help him protect Callie and if that meant claiming her then so be it.

To his surprise, having their agreement eased his mind, and it was as if the world had lifted off his shoulders. Making his evening farewells, he headed to their bedroom.

And to Callie.

* * * * *

“
Are you scared?” Luke whispered, as he gently nibbled on her earlobe. He’d come to bed and found her trembling uncontrollably. Trembling because she’d actually voiced out loud in front of the Outlaw brothers that she was willing to allow them to lay claim to her.

“
Terrified,” she admitted, loving the heated warmth of his cock as he slid slowly into her drenched vagina from behind.

“
Are you sure about what we discussed about the deal with the Barlows?”

Her heart said no.

But she knew there was no other way.

She nodded.

“
Do you think the Barlows will take to blackmail?”

“
They don’t have much choice. They only have three brothers left now. If word got back to the government that the fourth husband is gone…there is a chance they could lose Laurie to another group of men. We’ll tell the Barlows we know about a certain accidental shooting and that we know where their brother’s body is buried. If they don’t agree to our terms then I’ll tell them we’ll go to the government.”

“
What if the Barlows call your bluff? I mean all they have to do is find the grave, and then we’ve got nothing.”

“
Colter and I will move the body tomorrow to a place on Ty’s land where no one will find it.”

“
But what if they don’t care about losing Laurie? What if they threaten to kill Tyler? What if—”

“
Laurie is a beautiful woman, Callie. They’ll fight like the dogs they are to keep her. Besides, there are too many ‘what ifs’, Callie. Don’t worry about it. Let me go to the Barlows tomorrow—”

Panic seared through her. “You’re not going there alone. I won’t allow it.”

“
Colter’s coming with me. The other boys will stay here and keep an eye out.”

“
Are you sure it’s safe for you to go? I mean with the arrest warrant…”

“
Don’t worry, I’ll be careful. Now let’s get back to forgetting all our troubles, shall we?”

“
I love the way you make me forget our troubles,” she giggled, and arched her backside against his hard hips, allowing the rest of his thick cock to slide all the way into her warm and waiting pussy.

* * * * *

As the day dragged on and Luke and Colter hadn’t come back from the Barlow meeting, Callie grew more and more nervous.

Had something happened to them? Had the Barlows called the police on Luke and gone ahead and pressed charges?

“
They’re back!” Mac shouted.

A moment later, Mac and Cade’s footsteps stomped along the back porch where she’d secured the men to shuck beans and peel the potatoes for tonight’s dinner.

One quick glance out the window, and her heart picked up a wild pace.

Luke and Colter were getting out of Luke’s pickup truck and behind them a black stretch limousine pulled up.

Callie cried out as the three remaining Barlow brothers stepped out of the limo.

Followed by her sister, Laurie.

* * * * *

After Laurie and Callie embraced each other and cried in the kitchen, the Outlaws and Barlows made themselves scarce, telling them they had business to take care of.

Just by looking at Luke’s grim face, Callie knew the Barlows had accepted their blackmail deal.

Despite trying hard to stop it, her anger at those Barlows brewed inside her. It was obvious they had come for their ranch.

Sons of bitches!

But she didn’t have time to waste on them, she wanted to concentrate on Laurie. Her sister looked tired. And thinner. She’d even lost all of the baby fat she’d been trying to exercise away for years.

Her long, golden-blonde hair was styled in such a way it swept off her neck and curled up top of her head in tiny coils with a couple of ringlets dangling at the sides, giving her pretty face a warm, soft look. She was dressed in a sexy, red-velvet dress that showed off her bare back and dipped down low in front barely covering her full breasts.

She wore no jewelry and hardly any makeup.

She looked absolutely stunning.

“
Luke told me the Outlaws are going to claim you,” Laurie said softly, her eyes sparkled with excitement. She grabbed Callie’s hand and tugged her to sit down at the kitchen table.

“
That’s the plan.”

“
It’s a good plan. They’ll protect you, sis. They’re good men. I’ve always thought highly of each and every one of them.”

“
Wish I could say the same thing about the Barlows. Luke told me they originally wanted Cate. You should have known they would have figured out some other way to avoid the Barlows from getting her. Why’d you go and take her place?” Callie finally asked the question she’d been itching to ask since she’d heard about her Claiming.