Their Treasured Bride (12 page)

I could only nod.

"Now, are ye ours, lass?" Connor asked.

I looked from one handsome face to the other. "Yes," I
murmured.

Connor grinned as Dash climbed from the bed. "Good, then tis
time to keep preparing yer arse to be claimed. Up on yer hands and
knees."

CHAPTER EIGHT

CONNOR

We'd said we would push her, that she'd like it—need it, even—a
little rougher, but after we admitted some truths, my emotions were a
little raw. If I'd felt like I'd been ripped open, then surely
Rebecca and Dash felt the same, or even more exposed. Gentleness was
needed now. Rebecca went willingly and without complaint up onto her
knees. Perhaps it was her trust in us, her ability to believe in what
we were doing to her body was for all of our pleasures. I stroked my
hand down her spine, then kissed the same path. Dash had crooned
words of praise.

So beautiful, sweetheart. We are going to bring ye so much
pleasure. This pussy, God, it's perfect. It's ours. This arse, we
will take ye here, claim ye together. Good girl taking that plug.
Yes, push back on it.

She'd come alive beneath our hands,
because
of our hands.
She'd taken the plug in her arse beautifully. Her pussy was dripping
wet and she was remarkably close to coming—I recognized the signs
now—that Dash's cock slid in easily. Rebecca climaxed immediately
and intensely, her back arching to take him deeper, which pushed him
into an orgasm of his own.

I flopped down onto my back and Dash helped her straddle my waist.
Even though she had the plug in her arse and was unbelievably tight,
I slipped in perfectly until the crown of my cock bumped her womb.
She knew what to do now in this position, how to move and use my cock
for her desires. I lay there enthralled as I watched her breasts sway
with the motion of her hips. I gripped her thighs as her inner walls
clenched down on me. And when she ground her clit down on my lower
belly and made herself come, I gripped the sheets in my hands and
threw my head back, my balls emptying as my seed spurted hotly into
her. Chances were great that we'd put a baby in her belly and the
idea pleased me immensely.

When she fell asleep sprawled across me, the slick skin of her body
pressed into mine, as if she didna have a concern in the world, I
knew something inside Rebecca had shifted, perhaps even the smallest
bit, that she was now more ours than ever.

***

"I'm glad you are here to keep me company," Laurel told
Rebecca as she opened her front door and pulled her into an hug made
slightly awkward by the size of her belly. Rebecca stood there stiff
and surprised by the spontaneous affection. Laurel stepped back and
Brody came up behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I
would have come to your house, but it seems I am not allowed to go
outside in this weather." She rolled her eyes at us and it was
good for her that Brody couldna see it.

"We have the luxury of remaining inside and staying warm as the
men go out in the cold finding lost cows," Rebecca told her. "I
think we have the better arrangement."

God bless her diplomacy, for while Laurel wanted to go out and
wrangle the cattle all on her own, Brody and Mason wanted to tie her
to their bed to ensure nothing happened to her or their baby while
they were gone. Rebecca was skilled at soothing the woman who was
eager for freedom. When Brody silently mouthed 'thank you' from over
her shoulder, I knew bringing Rebecca was a wise choice.

Mason came into the entryway, shrugging into his coat. "You're
sure you're feeling all right? No pains?"

Laurel shook her head and shooed the men out the door with motions of
her hands.

"Then Rebecca will have you take a nap before lunch, then feet
up for the rest of the day," he ordered.

Laurel nodded and it was obvious she hadna actually agreed with her
husband.

"Shall we go?" I asked, for it would be noon before we
pulled Mason and Brody away at this rate.

"Quinn is at the stables today tending to the lame horse. Porter
and two others are nearby as well," Dash added. "Say
goodbye, gentlemen."

I kissed Rebecca on the head, and patted the pocket where I'd tucked
the larger sized plug. We'd wanted to fill her arse with it first
thing, but having it inside her while visiting was too long, so we
had her put it in the pocket of her dress. We wanted her to feel the
hard wood and be reminded of it, to think about what it was for and
that we would insert it when we returned.

I went out into the cold, lifting my collar up around my neck, Dash
following soon after. We stood there as we heard Mason and Brody
saying their goodbyes. "A month to go?" I murmured to Dash.
"They'll surely kill each other before the babe is born."

Dash chuckled as we unhitched our horses.

REBECCA

"What shall we do?" I asked, unsure what one did with a
very pregnant woman. Cards? Embroidery?

I followed her into the kitchen, where she plucked a muffin from a
basket on the table before carefully lowering herself into a chair.
She offered me the basket and I took it from her.

"Eat," she replied, breaking off a piece of the muffin and
stuffing it into her mouth in a most unladylike fashion. "I'm
always hungry these days." She chewed, then asked with her mouth
full, "You can't be anything but fastidious, can you?"

I put my muffin down on the table, took a cloth napkin from a pile at
the center of the table and wiped my fingers. "Whatever do you
mean?"

"I'm the one who lived at a boarding school just like you,
remember? I'm the one whose father had no interest in me until it
suited his purposes. I had the older man wanting to marry me solely
because I was young and would do whatever perverted things he
wanted."

We did have quite a bit in common, even while being raised on
different continents. "I doubt the man who was to marry me would
want to do anything immodest," I countered, thinking of the
earl. "He wanted an heir."

She eyed me like I had two heads. "How was he going to go about
getting that heir if you
were
modest?"

"Under the covers and in the dark." I frowned at the
thought of the earl touching me, but then my mind shifted to Connor
and Dash. "Do you think...? Never mind."

"Oh no," Olivia said around a mouthful of muffin. "Out
with it."

I glanced up at her through my lashes as I picked at my muffin. "Do
you think I'm immodest?"

"Do you think I am?" she countered.

I ate a bite of muffin to give myself a moment.

"You were yesterday in the pantry," I said finally.

Instead of being embarrassed, she had a dreamy look come over her
face. "Oh, yes."

"It doesn't bother you?"

She frowned. "It used to, but no longer."

"Is what Connor and Dash do with me...normal?"

"What's normal?" she countered. "I questioned
everything Mason and Brody did.
Everything.
Now I like it when
they drag me into Emma's pantry and take me one after the other."
She paused. "Do you think I'm immodest?"

"Not in your dress," I admitted. I did not know her well
enough for a broader answer.

"I don't think you're immodest either, especially in your dress,
but in your demeanor as well. I'm sure Connor and Dash have done
things to you that would make your headmistress blush."

I had to laugh at that. "Oh yes," I breathed. I felt the
heavy bulk of the plug Connor had put in my pocket and I discreetly
reached in and put the smooth object in my palm. Just holding it made
my core heat and soften. My back entrance clenched. Mrs. Dithers
would have been struck dead by my thoughts alone. Plugs and being
claimed
there
was certainly not part of her curriculum.
"Scandalized."

"Scandalized," Olivia repeated. "And yet, your men
want that with you.
With
you."

Yes, there was a distinction between doing scandalous things
with
me
instead of
to me.
I tilted my chin up, this time with
resolution. "I don't want to be fastidious and reserved all the
time with them. What should I do?"

She waved her hand in the air. "That's simple. Kiss them."

My eyebrows went up. "Kiss them? That's it?"

She nodded. "Trust me. You've never had a friend to share
confidences, have you?"

I bit my lip and thought back to school. "I had friends, of
course, but there was really nothing to share, for we were all
suffering the same fate." I folded my napkin neatly, then
realized what I'd done, then tossed it across the table. "I
didn't realize how miserable I was until after I left."

Olivia frowned, and then offered me a reassuring smile. "You
have friends now, four of us in fact."

She folded her hands, tilted her head to the side ever so slightly
and lifted her chin and I realized she was mimicking...me.

"I don't look like that, do I?" I pointed at her.

"Besides the huge belly? Absolutely."

I sighed. "Oh dear. I can only imagine what Dash and Connor
think of me. Surely they don't want a woman who's so tense all the
time."

Olivia shook her head. "Nonsense. I promise you, I was pretty
uptight and tense when I came here as well." She smiled slyly.
"I'm sure Dash and Connor have made it their main task in life
to make you less tense."

I flushed at her words, for every time that they made me come, I was
not the least bit tense. "Yes, I believe you're right. Dash had
no choice about marrying me. My brother took me from one arranged
marriage to another."

"Which bothers you—the fact that Dash was forced to marry you
or that you were forced to marry him?"

"You heard Allison yesterday. She has her sights set on Dash,"
I said, my voice a little dejected. "Even though he's said
otherwise, I wonder if there might be another woman to strike his
fancy and then wish he hadn't been shackled to me."

"I'm sure he'd enjoy being shackled to you," she replied
shamelessly. She frowned briefly, and then ran a hand over her belly.
"Don't worry about Allison. Quinn will redirect her right into
his arms."

I looked down at the crumbs on the table and realized I'd eaten my
entire muffin. "A man wants to be tied to a woman, like with
rope?" I thought about how they'd bound my hands behind my back,
restraining me. I'd been helpless against whatever Dash had wanted to
do to me. Connor had spanked me once, but it had been Dash who'd
pushed me all the way to my pleasure.

Olivia nodded dreamily, then frowned again, this time shifting in her
seat.

"Are you all right?"

"My back hurts, but it's nothing. It's been this way since last
night. We can talk about this all day long, over and over again, so
I'll ask, do you like being in their arms?"

I nodded.

"Do you like how they touch you?"

I nodded again.

"Do they give you pleasure even—and especially—when you
question them?"

"I do enjoy it."

"Then don't wait for them. Seduce them."

I laughed at that. "I don't even know how to talk about my
feelings, let alone show them."

"As I said, all you have to do is go up to Dash and kiss him. Or
Connor. Start with that."

"Really?" It was that simple?

Olivia pushed off the table to stand. "Really," she replied
with a groan. "I think I need to lay down because—
oh,
I
think I just wet myself."
Water trickled, then pooled on
the floor at her feet. "The baby!" she cried, then glanced
around. "It's time. This happened to Emma, too. What do I do?"

The baby was coming? I knew nothing about having babies; I'd only
just learned how to make one! I stood abruptly and spun in a quick
circle as if the answer were somewhere in the room, then stopped,
took a deep breath and looked at Olivia's panicked expression. She
needed me to be calm and in control, even if I pretended.

I tipped my chin up in the exact way Olivia had mimicked me a few
minutes before, and went over to take her hand. "Babies take
time to come, or so I've heard. Let's get you out of these wet
clothes and into something more comfortable. I'll help you upstairs."

By the time she was in a clean nightgown and propped up in bed, she
was calmer. I wasn't calm in the least, but all the years of learning
to hide emotions was useful now. I didn't know how to deliver a baby,
but I
could
help keep Olivia calm.
I
had to remain
calm.

With her head leaning back against the headboard, Olivia breathed
slowly through her mouth, eyes closed at the beginning of the next
round of pains.

"I'm going to go and get help," I told her, turning toward
the door.

Olivia's eyes flew open and she reached out and grabbed my hand in a
tight grip. "Don't leave me!" she cried, her eyes wild once
again.

I patted her arm and shook my head. "No. I'm not leaving, only
going downstairs to fire the gun. Isn't that the way to get help?"

She nodded as her face contorted in pain. I tried not to wince as her
grip tightened painfully on my hand.

"I'll be right back," I vowed, yanking my hand free and
hurrying down the steps. I remembered a rifle on pegs above the
kitchen door at our house and when I entered the kitchen, was
relieved to see one in the same place here as well. It was too high
for me to reach, so I slid over a chair, stood on it and pulled the
heavy weapon down.

I had no idea how to fire it. I'd seen a gun used before and knew
about the trigger and had to assume the rifle was loaded and ready to
use. Pushing the chair out of the way, I opened the door and went out
onto the back porch, the cold air making me shiver.

I gripped the weapon, put my finger on the trigger and pulled. The
sound of the shot was deafening and the butt of the rifle hit me in
the shoulder, knocking me back a few steps. The pain from it was
jarring and I cried out. Thinking of Olivia upstairs and the
possibility that I'd have to help her deliver her baby by myself,
spurred me to lift the weapon again, this time placing it directly
against my shoulder. I closed my eyes and fired. The kick wasn't as
bad, but the pain in my already bruised shoulder had me hissing out a
breath. My ears rang. Unfortunately, when I shut my eyes, I'd moved
the gun and I shot a chunk out of the porch railing.