Their Border Lands Refuge [Men of the Border Lands 9] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (17 page)

Owen could tell that his friend was hurting inside at Skyler’s inability to remember him and the relationship they had. He didn’t know what to do about it and finally came to the conclusion that there was nothing that he could do. Only time would heal the rift between the two.

* * * *

It was obvious that she had hurt Simon’s feelings. He wouldn’t look at her when he had brought her plate to her earlier. She couldn’t help feeling uncomfortable around him without clothes on. She didn’t remember him. Every once in a while she got glimpses of a memory that startled her then slipped away. For a brief second, she felt as if they had been lovers, and that just couldn’t be true. Could it?

She turned to look at Owen. He was sitting up in a chair on the other side of the bed. Simon had stripped the bed and remade it while they were both sitting up. Owen looked a little peaked from being up for so long. He probably needed to lie back down.

“Are you ready to go back to bed?”

Owen’s head jerked over to look at her. She almost laughed at the look of desperation that crossed his face.

“No. I’m not getting in that bed again until time to go to sleep. I’m sick of it.”

She giggled, holding her side to keep from jarring it. She felt the same way, but he was hurt much worse than she was.

“I’ll probably be ready for a nap after lunch. You can keep me company then.”

He smiled at her and nodded. “I can do that. It’s not quite lunchtime yet though. No need to get in bed now.”

“Owen?”

“Yeah, babe?”

“Were Simon and I… Um, did we—” She couldn’t seem to get the words out. What would Owen think of her if she asked that question and what she was feeling wasn’t real?

“What, Skyler?” His eyes seemed to be encouraging her to say it.

“I keep thinking I remember something, but it seems so wrong. I’m scared I’m just making something up in my head.”

“Just say it. I’ll tell you the truth, Skyler. I always have.”

“I know. It’s just that this is really weird. I mean I don’t really know Simon, but I get these snatches of memory that make me think that–that we’ve been, um, intimate.” She hurried through the last few words and looked down at her hands.

“Hey, look at me.” Owen’s voice was soft and kind.

She expected him to yell at her. When he didn’t, she slowly lifted her eyes that were suddenly blurry with tears.

“You and me and Simon all live together here in his house. You’re both of ours’ wife.”

She gasped. Her mouth fell open and then closed again before she was finally able to speak. Shock had her head pounding as more thoughts tumbled through it. Pictures of them having sex in the bed together with Owen and then alone.

“That’s illegal!”

“Not now, it’s not. Things have changed in the world, Skyler. Most families now are made up of a woman and two or even three men. It’s how we keep our women safe. You’ll start to remember more and more now, I think.”

She began to shiver and wished that Owen was closer to hold her. Her side ached from the tremors.

“Simon!” Owen yelled from across the room.

Skyler was so shaken that she never even heard him run up the stairs and into the room. All of a sudden he was holding her in his arms with her sitting on his lap. One hand held her lightly at the waist while the other one smoothed her hair. His chin was resting lightly on top of her head.

“Shh, baby. It’s all right now. Just relax.”

She could hear Owen talking to him in a soft voice now.

“She remembered that you and she had been having sex and it overwhelmed her I guess. I probably shouldn’t have pushed it when she hesitated to tell me, but I was so excited that she was remembering that I did it anyway.”

“Skyler is strong. She’ll be fine. She just needs to rest and think now. Isn’t that right, baby?”

She couldn’t answer him. Everything was bombarding her all at once. She couldn’t stop the memories as they came flooding back into her mind as if a dam had broken farther up river. Events and emotions tore through her as if they had all just happened yesterday. It hurt. She wasn’t sure she could handle it all.

Finally, the whirlwind of thoughts and feelings subsided and she was able to catch her breath. She found herself enveloped in Simon’s arms. It felt right despite her earlier panic at finding out that they had been lovers. Now she felt almost empty inside from all the intense emotions that had nearly buried her. The only thing left floating around in her head was guilt in the knowledge that she had hurt Simon in forgetting who he was to her.

“I’m sorry, Simon.” Her voice barely made it past her dry, cracked lips.

“For what, baby?”

“For not remembering how important you are to me. For not remembering how much I love you.”

She felt his sudden indrawn breath and the slight tightening of his hand at her waist. His other hand hesitated in its downward caress over her hair.

“You love me?”

“Yes. I love you. I remember wishing that I had told you sooner when the men were coming to get us in the basement. I thought that I was going to die or be taken away and never have told you that I loved you.”

“Oh, Sky. I love you, too. When I saw you covered in blood, I thought I had lost you forever. I’ve never been so afraid in my life.”

She wrapped her arm around him and squeezed as much as she was able to. Never would she let a day go by without telling her men that she loved them. They were the most important things in her life.

“We’re going to be making some changes as soon as everyone is well again,” he told her.

“What kind of changes?” She pulled away to look up at him.

“Changes to make sure that you are always safe. I don’t ever want to have to worry about you like that again.”

Skyler wasn’t sure what sort of changes he had in mind, but as long as she wasn’t going to lose either one of them, she would be happy with them.

“I want to hear more about these changes you’re talking about.”

Owen’s bark of laughter reminded her that her other lover was sitting across the bed from her. She turned and scowled at him.

“I suppose you have a hand in these changes, too.”

“Of course, baby. We work together to keep you safe and happy and always will.”

Winter’s tight hold slowly loosened over the next few weeks, and Skyler felt as if she could finally breathe easier. Owen was back to doing chores with Simon now that he was fully healed. The two men had been driving her crazy ever since she had gotten back into the swing of things. They wouldn’t leave her alone for any length of time and followed her everywhere. Not only were they getting on her nerves, but they were wearing themselves out trying to keep up with everything while monitoring her.

She muttered under her breath that she couldn’t go to the bathroom in private as she was washing dishes one night and Owen heard her.

“It’s not that bad, baby.”

She turned and glared at him over her shoulder. “Yes it is. I haven’t had one moment’s privacy since the attack. I know you want to keep me safe, but this isn’t working.”

“Skyler. That’s enough. You know the dangers out there. We don’t have any other way of protecting you than to keep our eye on you.” Simon’s deep voice startled her as he walked into the room.

“What about combining families like they were talking about before? Then there would always be at least two men in the area all the time.” She dried her hands on her apron and fisted them on her hips.

“There are a lot of issues with that idea. Privacy being the main one.” Simon frowned.

“Sometimes you have to make concessions. You know that.”

“It’s not the only issue. We don’t know that it would be that much more effective. Taking a chance without thoroughly exploring all the options is just asking for trouble.”

“Who’s doing the thorough investigation?” She couldn’t help the bite in her voice.

“Hold on, you two. Let’s not get all riled up. Simon, you’re intentionally baiting her.” Owen shook his head.

“Why do you say that?” He wouldn’t look at Skyler, which told her that Owen was right.

“Simon.” Owen frowned now.

The other man sighed and finally looked at her with a rueful expression. She could tell that he was enjoying this.

“We’re all meeting next week to vote on the issue and iron out the particulars of combining households. I was going to tell you tonight at dinner.” He glared over at Owen.

She pursed her lips to hold in the smile of triumph that threatened to break through. It wouldn’t do any good to gloat on the matter. Still, the news thrilled her. She would have another woman in the house who she could spend time with and talk to. They would share chores and ultimately have a little more time to relax with their men.

“I can see from the smile you’re unsuccessfully trying to hide that you’re excited about it.” Simon leaned against the door facing.

“Well, yes. Naturally it will be nice to have a friend. You should like it because you’ll have more hands to help with chores.”

“There is that. Of course we’ll be combining the herds, making them larger and more difficult to handle as well as needing to enlarge the garden to accommodate more mouths to feed.”

Owen hooted with laughter when Skyler threw up her hands in exasperation. Simon couldn’t see the good side for anything. Why was he so determined to make it sound like a bad idea?

“Skyler. Simon doesn’t want to give up being able to grab you and fuck you in the kitchen or over the back of the couch or out in the backyard after you’ve just cooled off from working in the garden.”

She finally got it then. It would infringe on their spontaneity where sex was concerned to say the least. She would miss that. But surely they could figure something out to keep things interesting. She looked over at Simon, and a strange expression slid over his face. She knew that look. Skyler took a step back and bumped up against the sink. She looked over at Owen and found him grinning like a kid at a birthday party.

“Now, Simon.” She scooted closer to the edge of the cabinets.

Simon didn’t say anything. Instead, he started walking toward her in an unhurried manner. She wasn’t taking any chances. She pushed off the cabinet and raced toward the table, putting it between her and Simon.

“See, we wouldn’t be able to do this if we had other people here.” He started circling the table.

Skyler moved counterclockwise to his approach. He faked left and circled right. She hurried around the table and through the kitchen door into the den. Once again she managed to put something between them. This time it was the couch but she hadn’t anticipated that he might be able to climb over it as quickly as he did. He caught her around the waist, pinning her arms down in the process.

“Owen. Help me.”

“Why should I help you when I’m going to enjoy the fact that he caught you?” He slowly removed his shirt.

The intense look in his eyes had her pussy clenching and her nipples hardening into tight peaks. She could feel Simon’s steady heartbeat despite having chased her from the kitchen. Sometimes she wondered if he really ever got riled up. When she wiggled her ass against the hard ridge of his cock, his heartbeat picked up. She smiled.

“Do you know what I’m going to do to you, Sky?” Simon’s deep voice tickled her insides and her juices seeped from her pussy.

“What?”

“I’m going to strip you of your clothes first. Then I’m going to bend you over this couch while Owen holds you so you can’t get away.” He nuzzled her neck so that his hot breath tickled her ear.

“I think she likes the sound of that, Simon. I can smell her all the way over here.” Owen moved closer to them.

He brushed his fingers lightly over her distended nipples through the cloth of her T-shirt and bra. When she shivered, he smiled in a slightly evil way that had her heart racing with anticipation. He lowered his hands and slowly lifted her T-shirt so that Simon could reposition his arms against her bare skin and Owen could remove the shirt. He dropped it on the floor by their feet.

“Look at those plump beauties, Owen. I bet her nipples taste like the sweetest of strawberries.”

Owen licked his lips and released the front clasp of her bra. Then he peeled back the cups and stared at her aching breasts. Reaching up, he flicked one of her nipples. She gasped at the sudden sensation. He slowly lowered his head and drew in one straining nub so that he could tease it with his tongue. His teeth held it still as he lapped at it before moving on to the other one. Once he had them both tingling and wet, he stood up and the cool air soon had them even more taut if that were even possible.

“Please.” She almost didn’t recognize her own voice.

“Please, what, Skyler?” Owen asked as he knelt in front of her and rested his hands at her hips.

“Please, do something.”

He and Simon chuckled. She tried to wrench herself away from Simon’s grasp, but there was no moving him. Owen’s fingers quickly unfastened and unzipped her jeans before pushing them down to her knees. He stopped to remove her shoes then pushed the pants farther down.

“Step out of them, baby,” he whispered, looking up into her eyes.

She did as he said, her body too aroused to do anything else. A soft whimper left her mouth when he leaned forward and sniffed her panties. His eyes grew even darker if possible as he stared deep into her eyes. Then he slipped his hands underneath the waistband and slowly pulled them down.

“What does she taste like, Owen?” Simon’s voice had gone even deeper, raspier than before.

Owen had her step out of the underwear and spread her legs. He circled her opening with one finger, gathering some of her juices as he did. Then he sucked that finger deep into his mouth and closed his eyes as he slowly pulled it out.

“Like tangy honey.” He spread her pussy lips and licked all around her clit until it began to emerge in heated need.

When he pushed two fingers deep into her cunt, she rose up on her toes and moaned. God, it felt so good. She would never be able to stand it if they teased her much longer. Fortunately, Simon seemed to have had enough of not being able to participate. He pulled her from Owen’s grasp and turned her so that he could press her over the end of the couch so that her ass was up in the air and she could no longer touch the floor. She grasped the edge of a pillow cushion as Simon forced her legs wide.