Their Border Lands Refuge [Men of the Border Lands 9] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (3 page)

Owen walked into the kitchen, tearing her thoughts back from Simon. He had shaved and was dressed in blue jeans and a button-down shirt. He looked excited for the first time in a long time. Skyler realized that he hadn’t been very happy for several years now. Probably because of the hard labor that barely kept them fed.

“I thought I heard Simon down here.”

“You did. He went out to see about the chickens and the cow, he said.” She handed him a cup of coffee and returned to cooking breakfast.

“I’m going to go see what he’s doing. I’ll be back in when he is.” He dropped a kiss on top of her head and left her there to go outside.

Thirty minutes later, both men returned with a half bucket of milk and a basket full of eggs. She grabbed the eggs but let Simon carry the bucket to the counter for her.

“Breakfast is ready when you get washed up. Do you like your eggs scrambled or fried, Simon?”

“Scrambled is fine.”

She quickly scrambled up six eggs for the three of them and pulled out the biscuits. She had beef steaks ready and on the table by the time the two men returned from washing up. They all sat down. This time she found herself at the head of the table with a man on either side of her. She refused to think about the implications. There was plenty of time to worry about the future. She had a lot of things to learn about her new home.

“I usually see about the cattle after breakfast then work on the garden after lunch. I figure we’ll do the same thing for a few days until you get used to everything and then we can divide it up so that someone is with Skyler all the time.” Simon seemed to have been thinking about the situation pretty thoroughly.

She wondered if he had slept much the night before or if he had sat up thinking about how to arrange things with them there now. What if he wasn’t really happy that they had just appeared on his doorstep? Looking over at him through her eyelashes, Skyler studied his expressions as he ate and talked with Owen. He didn’t appear to be upset or unhappy about the situation.

“The canning supplies are down in the cellar, Skyler.” His deep voice directed at her snapped her back to the conversation at hand.

“Good. I’ll get right to work on those tomatoes. There’s no way we can eat all of them before they spoil. I’ll can them for soups and sauces this winter.”

“There will be a good dozen or so more this afternoon, so you might want to hold off until I get into the garden later.”

“I’ll go pull them myself. It will be cooler to can this morning.”

“That’s true, but I worry about you going out in the garden by yourself.” Simon frowned.

“I’ll be fine. It won’t take me long to gather them.”

She watched Owen and Simon exchange glances. Owen gave a small nod of his head.

“There are black market agents around here as well as out east, Skyler. I would rather you weren’t outside alone.”

“I’ll clean up the dishes after you leave. I’ll hurry out and pick tomatoes while you’re still here.” She stood up and wiped her hands on the apron she’d found to wear while cooking.

Simon stood up as well. “I’ll go with you.”

Owen looked from one to the other of them and took another bite of his meat. He wasn’t going to help her. It hurt that he was going to let Simon boss her around. She glared at him and turned on her heel to find something to carry the tomatoes in.

“I have a bucket outside on the porch to put them in.” Simon stopped her search in the cabinets.

“Fine. Let’s go.” She hurried out the door before he could open it for her.

She located the bucket hanging on a nail by the back door. She carried it toward the garden out back. Splotches of yellow, red, and orange peeked out from all the vines and plants as she drew closer. She could feel Simon standing near her. He took the bucket from her hand and held it as she slowly picked the ripe tomatoes from the vine and filled it up.

“You’ve got a really nice garden going.” She couldn’t help but admire all the hard work that had to have gone into it.

“Thanks. It will feed us this winter, but I’m going to enlarge it some next year with you and Owen living here now.”

She didn’t say anything. Instead, she concentrated on locating the ripe fruit and watching for snakes. She had been raised around gardens and knew the dangers inherent with them. By the time they had combed the vegetables, the bucket was full of tomatoes and squash. She would cook the squash for dinner that night.

They returned to the house as Owen walked outside. She tried to take the bucket from Simon, but he insisted on carrying it inside for her. He set it on the floor so she wouldn’t have to stretch to reach the tomatoes in the bucket on the counter.

“We’ll be back around lunchtime. If you need us, ring that bell I have on the back porch. We’ll hear it.”

Skyler nodded and watched them walk across the yard toward the fence in the back. She had no idea how many cows he had or what they would do while they were out there. She shook her head. She had plenty to keep her busy without worrying about what they would be doing.

The breakfast dishes had all been stacked by the sink and the table wiped off. Owen had always been good about helping her despite working hard every day. She smiled to herself and quickly washed them before moving on to make bread. She would let it rise while she worked on the tomatoes.

While the tomatoes were boiling, she cleaned up the kitchen. It wasn’t exactly dirty, but she could tell it hadn’t been thoroughly cleaned in some time. Her mind wandered the entire time she worked. She couldn’t stop thinking about Simon and how nice he seemed despite being a complete stranger. She also had to admit that she was attracted to him to some degree. He was very good looking. So was Owen, but they were handsome in different ways.

Owen was a little shorter than Simon and wasn’t as muscular all over like the other man was. Both men had nice smiles that brightened their entire faces. Simon didn’t look as if he was used to smiling though. She guessed he hadn’t had much reason to smile living all alone all these years.

Though Owen would make suggestions on what she needed to do, he didn’t tell her like Simon seemed to be trying to do. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that. She didn’t like to be bossed around. She’d had a lot of that in her earlier years by her brothers when they had been alive. She took a moment to miss them then blinked away the tears and got back to work.

Mourning for them had long been over. She had too much to do to spend time crying over what she couldn’t change. By the time she was ready to start canning, it was time for lunch. She had made a quiche with the extra eggs and leftover meat from breakfast. It was cooling on the counter when the men walked in.

“Be sure you wipe off your boots before you come in. I just swept and mopped the floors.”

Owen laughed and stepped back outside. Simon looked shocked for a few seconds then did the same thing. He was going to have to get used to her telling him what to do as well. She smiled to herself and carried the quiche to the table for them.

“You’ve been awfully busy.” Simon remarked as they ate.

“She keeps busy. You have to sit on her to get her to be still.” Owen winked at her.

“I think we’re going to get about six quarts out of the tomatoes.” She quickly glanced over to where Simon was sitting.

“That sounds about right. There will be plenty more coming in, too.”

“Do you like tomato gravy with biscuits?” she asked.

“Can’t say as I’ve ever had it before.”

Owen grinned. “You’ll love it. She makes the best you can find.”

“I’ll fix some in the morning for breakfast for you to try. It’s better during the winter time.”

“Sounds good. I look forward to tasting everything you have.” He caught her eyes and smiled at her before she finally managed to look away again.

The little innuendo wasn’t lost on her. He was flirting with her. She wasn’t sure how to take it. Part of her warmed to the idea, but part of her was still uneasy with the entire situation of being shared between the two men. She loved Owen and didn’t want him to lose his love for her once another man touched her. Even more unsettling was the fact that her body reacted to Simon. How could that be possible? They had just met the night before and she knew nothing about him. Still, when she glanced his way while he was busy talking to Owen, she couldn’t stop the little shiver that traveled down her spine. Skyler quickly looked back at her plate. She had a lot to think about.

The days flew by, morphing into each other as they lived and toiled side by side. Owen was thrilled with how everything was working out so far. He loved Simon’s home and enjoyed working with the man. Slowly, the worry that had been riding him about his decision began to slip away like melting ice. It was pretty here, and already he could see a difference in Skyler.

Despite being upset over his decision to move them there, she was relaxing more and more every day. She was also getting some color to her skin now that she could spend some time outside with one of them around. He didn’t worry every second of the day that something was going to happen to her anymore. He knew that if he was out working with the cows, Simon would be working around the house or garden watching out for her.

He could see the budding awareness of Simon seeping into Skyler now. She would deny it, but she was interested in him as a man. Owen was thrilled at first about that, but the more he saw it, the more a small area in his heart tightened with jealousy. He fought it since this was what he’d proposed in the first place, but it didn’t stop festering as time went on. Deep down he worried that she would fall in love with Simon and have no room in her heart for him any longer.

As much as it bothered him, he continued to find opportunities to push them together. Despite everything, he wanted her happy. He loved her, and more than anything he needed her to be content. If Simon did that for her, then he would live with it. He had to admit that sex was even more intense than ever before since they had moved out there. It was as if she had been freed from her inhibitions when they moved in with Simon.

One day, they were working together in the garden and an afternoon thundershower surprised them. By the time they made it in the house, they were soaked and laughing uncontrollably. Without a care in the world, they stripped and she hung their clothes on a line in the laundry room to dry. Instead of heading upstairs to get dry clothes, they ended up chasing each other around the couch.

“When I catch you I’m going to fuck that hot pussy of yours.”

“You have to catch me first.” She laughed and circled around the furniture.

Owen grinned back and quickly climbed over the back of the couch to capture her in his arms before she could get away. He took her mouth in a scorching kiss that had his balls tightening as his cock grew thicker. He stroked his tongue in and out of her delicious mouth until she was moaning and straddling his thigh in an effort to grind her pussy on it. He knew all her moves after years of loving her.

She broke away from the kiss and knelt on the floor in front of him. Taking his engorged dick in her hand, she pumped him a few times before lightly licking across the slit where a drop of pre-cum had formed like a milky pearl. She hummed her approval of his taste and sucked in just the cockhead. She gently squeezed his balls then ran her nails across their bumpy surface as she teased his cock with her tongue.

“That’s it, Sky. Suck my cock. Take it all, baby.”

She opened her mouth and slid farther down on his dick until he bumped the back of her throat. He went to his toes when she swallowed around him before sucking her way back off of him.

“Holy hell. I love it when you do that.”

She resumed sucking on him and rubbing his balls. He looked up and saw Simon standing just inside the doorway watching them with lust-filled eyes. Owen started to say something, but a quick shake of Simon’s head kept him silent. Then he forgot about the other man as Skyler swallowed his cock down the back of her throat once again.

He couldn’t take anymore without losing his load. He wanted to be deep inside her cunt when he came. Grabbing her head, he stopped her downward spiral and pulled her to her feet with her back to the kitchen doorway. He didn’t want her to notice that they had an audience yet. No doubt, it would cool her down if she knew.

Owen bent her over the back of the couch and ran his hand up her back to cup the back of her neck. Then he drew the fingers of his other hand through her juicy pussy lips. She shivered all over.

“Please, Owen. Don’t tease me. Fuck me.”

“I’m going to fill you so full of cock you won’t be able to talk, baby. First I’m going to play with my pretty pussy.”

He spread her legs with his foot so that her pussy was easy for him to get to. He bent down and ran his tongue through her juices while sneaking a peek at Simon. The other man had lowered his jeans enough that he had one hand on his cock, stroking it and the other squeezing his balls. Their eyes met as Owen lapped at her cream. Simon drew in a deep breath and briefly closed his eyes as if he could taste her from there.

Owen speared her with one finger and slowly pumped it in and out of her hot depths before adding a second finger to torment her with. She loved having her orgasms drawn out. She said they were so much harder the longer she had to wait for them. Owen planned to draw this one way out. Seeing the want in Simon’s eyes spurred him on. He had her and Simon didn’t. He knew the time was close when he would have to share with the other man, but for right now, in this moment, he had her all to himself with another man lusting after what was his. It was a heady feeling that had his balls pulsing between his legs.

“Fuck me, Owen. Now! I need your cock in my pussy.”

Owen grinned. He popped her ass cheek with his hand. She yelped but wiggled her butt in his face. He slapped the other side, and she groaned. He laid four more swats to each side before sucking in her clit and pressing his fingers into her hot spot. She began to cry out in pleasure as he worked her orgasm into a frenzy.