Blake, Abby - Keen Inclination [A Bride for Eight Brothers 4] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever) (4 page)

Then the part about taking her to Earth sank in.

“Brock and I think it would be a good idea to renegotiate our contract,” Lachlan said to him. John nodded. He’d been thinking the same thing ever since the raids had started. This was not the situation they’d signed up for, and it would be a plausible excuse for getting Mikayla off the planet without upsetting the others. Although, he suspected that, like him, his brothers would be happier to have her somewhere safer until they could sort out the security issues.

“I’ll go run a systems check on the cruiser. Brock’s driving,” Lachlan said as he headed out the door. John nodded again and then pulled Mikayla closer.

“Hear that, princess? Big brother still won’t let me fly the family spaceship.” She smiled slightly, and he felt reassured by the fact that she hadn’t withdrawn completely. She was hurting and very tired, but at least she was still acknowledging his presence. “It’s not like I crashed it on purpose,” he said on a pretend grumble, trying to inject a hint of “normal” into their conversation. She nodded slowly and then wriggled closer.

When he and his brothers had discussed buying their own intergalactic transport, John had nearly gagged at the exorbitant expense, but with the current situation, he was very glad his brothers had insisted. The trip back to Earth would take just over thirteen hours. If they had to wait for commercial shipping lines, it could’ve taken weeks to get Mikayla back to Earth.

“I’ve packed some things for Mikayla,” Brock said as he came in the door. “Give me a minute to pack some stuff, and I’ll get Mikayla to the cruiser while you grab some clothes.”

John nodded and then leaned forward to press a kiss to his wife’s cheek. “I love you,” he whispered, unable to think of any way to reassure her more than he already had. Reluctantly, he rolled off the bed and let Brock lift Mikayla to her feet. John nodded once and then headed for the door.

* * * *

Lachlan watched his normally controlled brother practically twitch with agitation as he filled him in on the last twenty-four hours since they’d left the jungle planet.

“She’s okay,” Brock said through the intergalactic connection. “The doctor said everything is fine. Mikayla’s tired and rundown and low on vitamin D.”

“That makes sense,” Lachlan said, turning the information over in his mind. “Vitamin D deficiency can trigger depression in space travelers. I’ll check the UV lights on the station are working correctly.” Brock nodded his agreement. Either the lights they used as an equivalent for the Earth’s sunshine weren’t working the way they were supposed to, or there was something on the planet draining vitamin D from their bodies. Either way, Lachlan and his brothers probably hadn’t been affected because of the vitamin supplement they were taking to counteract the mouse tears’ effects.

“Anyway, the doctor has suggested she take vitamin supplements while she’s off planet, but the good news is that she should be fine in a few days.” He ran a hand through his hair and huffed out a tired breath. “But emotionally, she’s still pulling away. I can feel it, Lachlan, and I don’t know how to stop it. I wish you or Bryce were here. Maybe you could tell me what we’re doing wrong. I feel like we’re losing her.”

“I doubt you’re doing anything wrong,” Lachlan said sympathetically. It wasn’t often that Brock was unsure of himself. “Just keep her close.”

Lachlan didn’t voice his theory out loud for fear that it was very close to the truth. He suspected that their beautiful wife was considering leaving them partly because the female scientists seemed to undermine her confidence and partly because she was frightened to fall pregnant again. He and Mikayla had very briefly discussed trying again when they got back to Earth, but the closer that time came, the more she seemed to withdraw into herself. Of course a vitamin D deficiency would probably exacerbate those emotions.

Brock ran his hands down his face and made an obvious effort to try to pull himself together. “We’re booked on the next sky-pod to California. Hopefully spending time with Tracey will help.”

Lachlan nodded and went to say something when the proximity alarm started howling again. “Damn, the raiders are getting bolder and far more stupid. This is the third group today. We’ve started wearing protective gear just so we don’t end up splattered in something unpleasant.” He gave that last word a whole lot more meaning just by the way he said it.

Brock nodded, seeming in control once more and closed the connection. Lachlan had barely a moment to consider his brother’s uncharacteristic behavior as he headed to the communications room to gather his equipment and find out where the raiders had landed.

* * * *

It was probably really silly considering that Mikayla had eight husbands, but arriving at Tracey’s home made her feel like she finally had someone she could lean on for a little while. Her men were very supportive, but it felt awful to lean on them when it was her own fears causing the problem. It would seem, however, that the doctor’s theory was proving correct because the more time she spent in the sunshine the more she felt like herself.

Tracey took one look at her and pulled Mikayla in for a hug. How she managed to get John and Brock to leave the room was a mystery, but leave they did. They hadn’t left Mikayla alone for a single moment since they’d boarded the cruiser back on the jungle planet. She understood what they were doing, and she was somewhat annoyed by it, but she wouldn’t give them grief for trying to help her.

“What’s going on?” Tracey asked immediately.

Mikayla tried to smile reassuringly, but when Tracey gave her a knowing look, she said, “Just working through some stuff in my head.”

“Stuff?” Tracey asked. “What sort of stuff?”

“I’m just being silly. Everything’s okay. I’m fine really.”

“I know you,” Tracey said with a wag of her finger, “you’re not fine, and the last thing you would’ve done is lean on those husbands of yours, so explain to me what this stuff is about and we can work through it together.” Mikayla smiled slightly. Yes, Tracey did know her. She knew how Mikayla sometimes struggled to retain her sense of self when faced with eight very large men with personalities to match. She loved them dearly, desperately even, but it would be very easy to stop being herself and become the helpless, pathetic female she’d always despised. As much as she enjoyed their coddling, there had to be a limit.

“So talk to me, Mikayla?” Tracey asked slowly as if she was measuring every word. “Is this about getting pregnant again?”

Mikayla shrugged, trying to hide just how scared she felt. When she’d learned she was pregnant, she’d been so excited, but that high had dived to a new terrifying low when she’d miscarried. Time hadn’t made things less painful. In fact, the passage of time had just made the memories more powerful. She closed her eyes as if by admitting the truth without seeing anything it would somehow make it less damning.

“I don’t think I can go through it again,” she said, nearly whispering. The tears leaked out of her closed eyes and Tracey made a sympathetic noise.

“Do your husbands know how you feel?”

Mikayla shook her head but added, “I think they suspect it, though.”

“Good,” Tracey said, sounding for all the world like an avenging angel. “It’ll save me time if I don’t have to kick their asses. You need time to heal—emotionally as well as physically. Take a year or two off from planning a family. Just enjoy being married and forget about babies for a while.”

Mikayla nodded, feeling a guilty relief that someone else shared her opinion. She kept telling herself it was silly to be reacting the way she was, but she just couldn’t shake the fear. And of course that niggling doubt of her own worth as a woman reared its ugly head, and she once again found herself wondering if her husbands would be better off without her as their wife. What if it happened again? What if she was never able to give them children? Maybe if she got out of the way, they could find several wives between them and have a whole houseful of kids within a couple years.

“I should let them go,” she said, shaking her head sadly, “but I’m such a coward. I don’t want to live without them.” She whispered the words even as she meant to hide the thoughts.

“No,” Tracey said, sounding horrified. “You love those men, and they love you.” Tracey glanced at the closed door, and Mikayla found herself kind of hoping that her men were listening. Maybe if they knew she was willing to step aside, they’d take the hard steps for her.

“You listen to me Mikayla Davidson,” Tracey said angrily. “Not one of those men will ever look to replace you. They love you with everything in them. I may not have met Bryce face-to-face, but if he’s as much like Matt as you’ve told me, he’ll never let you go either. You’re it. You’re the one for all of them.” She took a deep breath, grabbed both of Mikayla’s hands, and squeezed reassuringly. “They will love you until the end of time whether you stay with them or not. Don’t you dare go doing something stupid out of misdirected loyalty. All you will do is make yourself and eight wonderful men miserable.”

Mikayla nodded. Her heart squeezed at the thought of hurting her guys, but she worried that she’d never find the courage to try to become pregnant again. She feared that years into the future, when they were old and gray and there weren’t any Davidson children to carry on the family name, her husbands would grow to resent her.

“John is renegotiating the mining survey contract, so we’ll see what happens before I make any firm decisions.”

Tracey still looked worried, but she nodded once as if she sensed Mikayla couldn’t take much more and then changed the subject.

They spent some time talking about day to day stuff, catching up on each other’s lives. By the time Mikayla finished telling Tracey about the mating musk of the mouse tears and the interesting effects it had on the human male population, they were practically giggling like a couple of schoolgirls.

“Thank God we landed on the planet at the beginning of mating season. The stuff seems far more potent now.”

Tracey waggled her eyebrows suggestively, and Mikayla laughed again. “Ah, no. If it’s potent enough to have raiders rubbing against trees, I don’t even want to think about what eight husbands would be
up
for.”

They giggled again at Mikayla’s double entendre. A moment later, Rick came through the front door. He was dressed in his police uniform and smiling widely. “That,” he said as he stepped toward Tracey, “is a very lovely sound to come home to.” Rick kissed his wife tenderly and then turned to Mikayla with a broad smile. “So did you get out without your husbands, or are they lurking on the other side of the door?”

“Other side of the door,” Mikayla said, feeling happier than she had in months. Things weren’t perfect, and she still had a lot of emotions to work through, but at least she had a clearer outlook. How could she have forgotten how much her husbands loved her?

Chapter Four

“Shit, get Mikayla out of here.” John’s whispered order had Brock going immediately to red alert. They were in the middle of New York standing out the front of their lawyer’s offices. What the hell could be so dangerous? “That’s Peter’s ex,” John growled as he moved to intercept the woman. She’d spotted Mikayla and was marching in her direction.

Brock grabbed Mikayla, turned her around, and headed into the nearest dress shop. Hopefully, she hadn’t seen Jessie Evans. The woman was toxic. Even after she’d had a breakdown in open court, she’d continued to harass Peter via intergalactic messages. Her last had almost been comical. She was sorry—yeah, right. She still loved him—still? She would do anything to win him back—never going to happen.

Without the threat of further legal action, Peter, Mikayla, and all the brothers had simply ignored Jessie’s ever increasing messages. They would probably need to file for a restraining order before long, but with the distance between Earth and the jungle planet, they’d felt safe. Too bad they hadn’t considered having the worst luck in history by running into the woman in a crowded city on a planet that few knew they were visiting.

“What’s going on?” Mikayla asked, sounding a little alarmed. He considered lying, but she hadn’t been happy about them keeping her in the dark over Peter’s legal battle, so he caved and told the truth.

“Jessie Evans is just outside. John is making sure that she knows to send any further communications via our lawyers.” Mikayla nodded, but he could see her curiosity and concern. “Please just let John handle it this time.” Mikayla hadn’t been herself lately. The last thing she needed was to be called all sorts of nasty names by a woman with no class and zero sympathy for others.

“Okay,” Mikayla said, moving to look at some of the clothes. Stunned to near speechlessness, Brock opened and closed his mouth several times. He’d at least expected to have to argue a little.

Mikayla tried on three dresses before John joined them in the clothing store. He looked pale, so it was a pretty good guess that whatever Jessie had said wasn’t good. He wanted to ask for a word by word accounting but didn’t want to upset Mikayla, so he stayed quiet. Mikayla saw John and stepped into his embrace for a moment.