Their Independent Bride [The Men of Space Station One #6] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (14 page)

He walked up to the house and unlocked the door. When he stepped inside, he called out to let them know he was back. Steven walked into the kitchen from the living room.

“I’m glad you’re back. I was beginning to worry. You’re a little later than I thought you would be.”

“Took longer than I thought to locate the fencing supplies and load it on the transport trailer. How is Janet?”

“She’s doing fine. She’s probably asleep. I have something warming in the oven for you for dinner.” Steven walked toward the oven.

“Leave it for now. I need a shower before I eat.” He started to walk into the living room then stopped. Turning around, he stared at Steven. “You fucked her, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, she doesn’t make it easy to say no. But she’s fine. I didn’t hurt her.”

“Damn it, Steven! We agreed no sex until her leg was healed.”

“I know, but she grabbed me by the dick and there wasn’t much I could do after that. You say no to her when she’s milking your cock.”

“What in the hell were you doing naked in the first place?”

“Taking a nap?”

“Bullshit.” Greg drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly.

He should have known what would happen and sent Steven to get the damn fencing material. He wouldn’t have caved on her. He would have been able to say no.
Even with her hand around my dick? Fuck!

“Look, I’m sorry, Greg. I knew what she was about and figured I could just pleasure her and that would be enough for her, but she had me by the short hairs. I can’t resist her when she’s like that.”

“Oh, hell. I probably knew deep down you would end up having sex. If I truly didn’t want you fucking her, I would have sent you instead. Doesn’t make it right, though.”

Steven grinned. “Go take your shower so you can eat and we can both go to bed. If we’re going to work on the fence tomorrow, we’re going to need all the rest we can get.”

Greg nodded in agreement and headed toward the living room and the stairs. Once in the bedroom, he checked on Janet and found that she was sound asleep. He couldn’t see her leg to check it for himself since she had the covers over her. She looked much more relaxed than she had when he left. Maybe the sex had been better for her than he thought.

No reason to let her know that he wasn’t as upset as he should be. He would make sure she knew he was disappointed that she had seduced Steven into sex. Greg had to assure that she would follow his directions when it came to her health and safety. Everything else, he had agreed to relax his stance on. This had been in regards to her health and she’d deliberately disobeyed him.

The shower felt good to his aching muscles and cleared away the dried sweat from his skin. He quickly bathed then rinsed and dried off. He pulled on a clean pair of jeans and padded downstairs to the kitchen where Steven was pulling his dinner out of the oven.

“Thanks, I’m hungry. I had a sandwich of something while I was waiting on them to locate the things we needed. It wasn’t very filling, though.”

“Well, this might not be much better since I cooked it. Janet didn’t complain, so it must have been decent.”

“I can’t see her leg. She has it under the covers. How is it looking?”

“Her ankle is still a little swollen, but the bruising is beginning to change colors, so it will be fading soon. Her shin has a good scab over it. All in all, it looks better. She didn’t have to have any more pain medicine, either.”

“I’m going to fuss at her for disobeying me. She has to follow our rules when it comes to her safety and her health, Steven. So don’t interfere.”

“I won’t. You’re right. I wasn’t thinking about sending her mixed messages. I helped her do something you had said no about.”

Greg finished eating and rinsed his plate before setting it on the edge of the sink. He turned off the light in the kitchen and followed Steven back upstairs. This time when he walked in, Janet was awake but had drowsy-looking eyes. He wasn’t at all sure she would understand anything in that state.

“Hey, baby.”

“Greg? You’re back.” She smiled then stretched and yawned. “What time is it?”

“It’s only seven thirty, but we’re coming to bed. We’ve got to get an early start in the morning.”

Steven walked around and climbed into bed next to her. Greg stared down at her and frowned.

“Do you have something you need to tell me?”

“Um, do I?”

He scowled at her, and she winced. He figured she was awake enough to know she had been wrong. Her eyes cut over to Steven and then returned to him.

“We had sex today. But it didn’t hurt my leg at all.” Her voice rushed through the words.

“Didn’t I tell you that we weren’t going to have sex until your leg was healed? I said that for a reason, Janet.”

“I know, but I think you’re going overboard. It’s just a sprained ankle and a skinned leg. I didn’t break anything or have to have stitches.” She seemed to be trying to look serious, but lying in bed naked with the sheets up around her breasts made her look vulnerable instead.

“It’s for your health, and we agreed you would listen to us when it concerned your safety or your health. If you’re going to ignore me this time, how can I believe you won’t do it about something more serious?”

She sighed and looked down. Then she raised her eyes to look at him again.

“You’re right. I wasn’t taking what you said seriously. I thought it was silly, and I didn’t want to wait because I was horny. I’m sorry, Greg.”

“I don’t know what to believe. How am I going to trust you?”

“I promise. It won’t happen again.”

He looked at her until she sighed and lowered her eyes. He pulled off his jeans and climbed into bed beside her. She wrapped her arm around his chest and laid her head on his shoulder.

“You’re a little minx. Are you sucking up, now?”

“Yeah, is it working?”

“As long as you keep your hands north of the line.”

“Yes, sir.”

* * * *

“Wake up, sleepyhead. We’re getting ready to leave.”

Steven’s voice pulled her from sleep. Janet wanted to put the pillow over her head but knew she couldn’t do that. They were leaving to go to work at the house site. She needed to get up so they could settle her downstairs for the day.

The men had worked on the fence all day the day before and hadn’t come in until nearly dark. She knew they had to be exhausted and yet they were going off to work. That meant more physical labor. She wished they could have had a day off, but the house had to go up and the fence was still just poles in the ground.

“I’m awake. Let me use the bathroom first. Then I’ll be ready to go downstairs.”

“I have your clothes ready for you.” Greg ushered her into the bathroom.

Janet was able to walk gingerly on her foot now as long as it wasn’t too far or too often. They had agreed that she could stay downstairs as long as she was careful and didn’t walk or stand more than was absolutely necessary. She could go to the bathroom or fix something to eat and drink. The remainder of the time, she was to keep her leg propped up on the couch.

“Okay, I’m ready.” She hobbled out of the bathroom and let Greg help her with her clothes.

Steven picked her up and carried her downstairs to the living room. He settled her on the couch before arranging everything she might need close to her. He handed her the radio, and she stuck it between her and the back of the couch. Then he piled a small table that he’d put next to the couch with books.

Greg brought her breakfast and some coffee as well as a glass of water. When he stooped down to kiss her, she smiled and kissed him back. He was disappointed in her, but he wasn’t mad, at least not anymore. She would obey him from now on about things like this. It was a small thing really. They hadn’t asked her to do anything she knew was wrong or crazy. Staying off her foot made sense, and she knew it did. Why did she butt heads with him all of the time?

Because I want to make my own decisions and he wants to make some of them for me. I need to back off some and give him some control. I promised.
She sighed and sipped the coffee.

“Need anything else that you can think of?” Greg sat on the edge of the couch next to her hip.

“I can’t think of anything. I have the radio if something is wrong, and everything I need is around me. I wish we had a TV, though. I could really go for a movie or two.”

“Sorry. We can’t provide that.” Steven ran his hand over her hair, tugging on it just a little.

“Behave yourself, baby. We’ll be back around dark. Don’t try and fix anything for us tonight. We’ll fix something when we get home. Okay?”

“All right.”

Greg leaned forward and kissed her before standing up. She watched as the two of them walked toward the kitchen. A few seconds later, the back door opened and shut. She should be used to that by now. It seemed to happen a lot for her. They went out without her all the time. If they were back on Earth, she would complain that they were seeing someone as much as they left her behind at the house.

She spent the first two hours reading through the pamphlets and booklets about the planet, Alpha, that they were living on. She realized that the ones from the shuttle and back on Earth hadn’t included anything about the dangers, really. All they had provided them with were some names of plants and a few animals. They had identified several plants that were dangerous to humans. One was a pretty-looking blue-and-yellow flower. It was poisonous if ingested. Another one was a poisonous thistle plant. It was dangerous if the needlelike thistle poked you even once.

Janet finished the last pamphlet and checked the clock. A little over two hours since the men had left, with about ten more to go. She sighed and started thumbing through the books to find one that interested her. She opened it to the first page and began to read. Halfway through the chapter, she found her mind wandering to the men. She wanted them there with her. She didn’t like that they were separated even for an hour, much less twelve or more hours a day.

She had to be honest with herself. She was falling in love with them. She needed to figure out how to keep it from them. She was sure that eventually she would screw up and say the words to them after or during sex. It was when she was at her most vulnerable. Hopefully, when that happened they would take it as being from the heat of the moment.

If the men thought she loved them, they would probably use it against her. She would eventually do anything for them. She didn’t want to become some simpering little wife that bent at their every word. She was stronger than that. Being independent meant that she didn’t have to cater to anyone if she didn’t want to.

That was when she realized that she wanted to please them. She wanted to become the woman of their dreams. It frightened her. She started to get up and pace, but remembered just in time that she wasn’t supposed to be on her foot any more than necessary. Never mind that it had been Greg’s order. It was the best thing for her, and she could admit that. It didn’t mean she was losing her independence.

Conflicting feelings raced around inside her. On one hand, she wanted to be what they needed, but on the other hand, she wanted to keep her independence. How was she ever going to reconcile the two?

She spent the rest of the day on the couch only getting up for the bathroom, off by the office, and to get something to eat and drink. Her leg felt much better by the end of the day. She hoped they would let her off of couch confinement with bathroom privileges and let her walk around in the house. She was going stir crazy sitting there.

She turned on the lamp by the couch when it began to get dark outside and waited anxiously for the men to return. She missed them, even Greg’s bossiness. When she heard the transport pull up outside, she almost ran for the door to greet them. She remembered at the last minute to stay on the couch. No doubt they would unhitch the trailer and park the transport before they came inside.

Several minutes passed before she heard the kitchen door open and close. Footsteps crossed the kitchen floor. Finally, they walked into the living room to greet her. She couldn’t help the massive smile on her face. She’d been so lonely all day.

“Are you glad to see us, love?” Steven bent over her and kissed her.

She wanted to deepen it and pull him down on her but figured Greg needed his turn. She waited for him to kiss her. He hesitated and her heart fell. He wasn’t really as enamored by her as Steven was. She supposed she should have expected that since she was so far away from the type of women he was normally attracted to.

He kissed her then stood back up. “How did you do today?”

“I’m bored to death. There’s only so much sitting and reading you can do before you want to get up and do something. But I didn’t. I stayed on the couch all day like you said.”

“Good girl. I’m proud of you.” Greg nodded. “Are you ready to go back upstairs?”

“Yes, anything different. I’ve already eaten, but you are probably hungry.”

“Hungry is one word for it, love.” Steven headed for the stairs. “We need to shower first. Then I’ll carry you upstairs.”

“Yeah, you do smell a bit ripe.”