On My Own [Liberty, Wyoming 2] (Siren Publishing Menage Amour) Page 5

  She watched him leave with troubled eyes. “I didn’t mean to make him mad.” She wrapped her arms around her waist.

  Clay stepped up to her. “Oh, honey, he’s not mad. Neither of us is mad. We both just want to care for you and Tommy, and it’s very hard to walk away from you. The first time we saw you, we felt this amazing connection, and we know you felt it too. But we see we’re making you uncomfortable, so we’ll step back for a bit to give you some time.” She looked so sad it made his heart clench.

  “If this is going to be a problem, I can leave. I don’t want to make life hard for you two.” Isabel blinked back the tears and swallowed the lump of emotion that scorched her throat.

  He placed a hand on her cheek and bent down so he could see her face more clearly. “It’s not going to be a problem, but I wouldn’t say anything else about leaving to Royce. He’s liable to lose it and put you over his knees.” He gave her a cocky grin. “I’ll warn you right now, he really wants to get his hands on your ass. And then it will be my turn.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “We’ll talk more about that later.” He pressed a soft kiss to her cheek and walked out the door, closing it behind him. A gruff “‘Lock the door” had her rushing to lock it. She grimaced when the voice said, “Good girl,” because, for some undeniable reason, it made her happy to please them.

  Isabel shook her head, confused at her feelings of safety, happiness, and lust she felt for both of them after such a short time. She felt like she was finally home, finally found a place she fit, and that scared her. She couldn’t think that way right now. There was too much at stake, and it could be dangerous for her to get too comfortable anywhere.

  After showering, Isabel pulled on a short nightgown and brushed her teeth. She turned off the bathroom light and climbed into bed beside Tommy. She curled her arm around his waist and hugged him tightly to her chest.

  Sleep that night did not come easily to her. Thoughts and concerns swarmed her mind. The biggest concern was if she was making the right decision to stay. They were right about her and Tommy being tired. Sometimes she felt she’d never feel rested or safe again. The fact that she was almost out of money made the decision easier. Most of all, she hadn’t been anywhere that made her feel the way she did here. She already made friends that she felt she could count on, a job, and a place to live.

  Isabel needed to decide how much she should tell them. If she didn’t tell them enough, she was worried they would have their brother run a check on her. If that happened, it wouldn’t be long before Allister came for her. He had a talent for charming people into believing anything he said, and if they didn’t, he’d have them killed. He was a psychopath and a narcissist, and didn’t care about anyone but himself.

  She would think about it in the next few days. Right now, she needed to sleep. Her body cried out for rest.

  Chapter Six

  “Mommy, I hunry.”

  “‘I’m hungry,’ not ‘I hunry,’ baby.”

  “You’re hunry too?”

  She laughed as she pulled his shirt over his head. “Yes, I’m hungry. Let’s get you dressed, and we’ll go to the café, grab breakfast, and talk to Carol. How does that sound?”

  “Can I have pancakes?” he asked hopefully.

  She looked down at her beautiful precious son. He had the same dark brown hair her husband Evan had and the same chin. Thoughts of Evan always sent pain through her chest. She missed him so much. The car accident that took Evan, their friend, Dave Mason, and his young son, Davey annihilated a part of her soul that day. A part that had been destroyed and she knew she’d never get back.

  The only thankful thing was Tommy was supposed to be with them that day. The four were headed to a hockey game, but Tommy had been sick and stayed with her.

  The two men and one boy hadn’t made it to the game that day. A streak of terror always raced through her at the thought she had been so close to losing her son that day too. Thank God, she hadn’t, but she lost her husband, home, and any sense of security she’d had.

  Isabel often wondered what Evan would tell her to do with her situation with his brother. She’d known her husband hadn’t trusted his brother with the family estate that his parents had left to them and didn’t really care for him. Allister became the executor of the estate when their parents died, only because he was the oldest.

  Thankfully, Allister hadn’t been able to touch Evan’s money. Although Evan had found out Allister had tried on more than one occasion to embezzle the other half of their parents’ estate, the legal document for the estate was iron-clad.

  Evan had wanted to talk to a lawyer about his suspicions and about making changes, but she’d never heard what the lawyer advised Evan, or if they even met.

  The brothers hadn’t seen a lot of each other over the years. There were no Christmases together, no turkey at Thanksgiving, no birthdays. Social functions were the only place Isabel remembered seeing Allister. When they were together, they’d been cold, but civil. At least in front of her, although looking back, she now recognized the undercurrents of hostility between the two on several occasions.

  She swallowed her tears. “Absolutely.” She smiled brightly at him.

  After dressing herself in jeans, T-shirt, tennis shoes, and putting her long dark hair in a ponytail, they headed downstairs. Isabel felt a bubble of pleasure in her chest when Carol hollered from across the room with a big smile. It had been so long since she’d seen a friendly face and one that cared for them.

  “There they are. I was about to come see you.”

  Isabel smiled back at her and impulsively hugged her when she stopped in front of her. Carol seemed surprised and then pleased, hugging her back.

  Carol cleared her throat, then laughed when she saw Tommy already in a booth, already asking for pancakes. She looked at Isabel with a twinkle in her eye. “Let me guess. He wants pancakes?”

  They both laughed. “Pancakes have always been his favorite.”

  “Well, my husband makes the best pancakes this side of the Rockies. Go have a seat, hun, and I’ll bring you both waters and menus.”

  Isabel smiled her thanks and went to quiet Tommy, sliding across from him in the booth.

  When Carol came to the table, Isabel was talking softly to Tommy, but she didn’t think he was listening because the whole time he had his eyes on her but kept whispering “pancakes.” She laughed. “Here you go you two. What can I get you to drink?”

  “I’ll just take coffee, and Tommy will have orange juice. We both know he wants pancakes, and I’ll just take an egg and a piece of toast.”

  Carol shook her head and frowned. “That’s it?”

  Isabel smiled. “Yes.”

  “That is not enough, young lady. Good heavens, birds eat more than that.”

  Isabel laughed. “That’s all I’m hungry for, I promise. I’ll eat more for lunch.”

  Carol put a hand on her hip and raised one eyebrow. “And where exactly will you be at lunchtime?”

  A voice boomed out of the kitchen. “A little nosy aren’t you, wife?”

  Carol threw a scowl over her shoulder. “Oh, you hush, Bruce.”

  Another voice came from the other side of the café. “That’s four. Keep it up, woman, and we’ll just keep adding to it.”

  Isabel tried looking around for who the voices belonged to, but Carol blocked her from seeing them. “That’s four what?”

  Carol bent close to Isabel and whispered so the boy couldn’t hear. “Oh, poo, four swats on my bottom.” A quiet laugh burst from her. “The look on your face is priceless.”

  “Sorry, Carol, I’m just shocked. Royce and Clay mentioned that. Do a lot of men in town do that?” She ignored the tingle that started in her midsection and spread through her body at the thought of those men’s hands on her.

  “Every man has their own preferred forms of punishments. As for Royce and Clay, you’ll have to ask them yourself. Don’t look so scared. The men in this town would never hurt
a woman. They just take our safety and welfare very seriously. Those men of yours will do everything in their power to make you happy and keep you safe.”

  Isabel’s eyes widened. “They’re not my men. I just met them.”

  Carol smiled brightly. “That doesn’t make a difference to them. The way they looked at you the first time you were in here…” Carol visibly shivered. “It gave me goosebumps.” She continued when Isabel shook her head. “They claimed you the minute they saw you, and the way you looked at them, young lady, said a lot. It took my breath away.”

  “It’s ridiculous, Carol. I don’t care how much attraction there is between us. They can’t just claim m—”

  ‘You want to bet,” came a dark voice behind her.

  Isabel jerked around and gasped when Royce slid her over in the booth so he could sit beside her. “W-what are you doing here?”

  Carol and Royce both laughed. “The boys practically live here, hun. They can cook, but just barely.”

  Royce mumbled, “Hey, I’m better than Clay,” making both women chuckle.

  Isabel couldn’t take her eyes off him. God, he was beautiful.

  He bent to her ear and whispered, his breath making shivers run up her spine and her eyes close, “If you keep staring at me like that, I’m going to carry you upstairs and take what you’re promising me in those beautiful eyes of yours.”

  “Mommy, I hunry.”

  She jerked her eyes to her son, breathing deeply to regain some control.

  Royce’s mouth quirked. “And that right there is why we can claim you. The feelings between us are too strong to ignore.” Before she could reply, he said, “I’ll have what she’s having, Carol.”

  “Young man, you might need to rethink that as she only ordered an egg and a piece of toast.”

  He hadn’t taken his eyes off her, but they changed immediately, becoming hard little slits. “What the hell is that about?”

  Isabel shot a frown at Carol then turned back. “I’m just not hungry. I’ll eat more at lunch or when I get hungry. Besides, I’m not exactly a normal-size person, so I don’t need as much as a regular one does. And you’re double the size of a normal person, so you really can’t judge what a person my size needs.”

  He snorted but then stared at her for a good minute. “I’ll have three eggs, a slab of ham, toast, pancakes, and coffee please.”

  “Coming right up.” Carol moved off toward the kitchen.

  Royce slid closer, pressing his thigh against hers, and threw an arm over the back of the booth, closing her in. “Hey, buddy, how are you feeling today?”

  Isabel tried moving away from him, but he only moved his thigh, keeping the contact. She listened with half an ear to Tommy tell him about the Spiderman and Iron Man action figures he brought with him to play with.

  Although she knew he was listening to Tommy, she could feel the majority of his attention was on her. The way his hand played with her ponytail or lightly caressed her neck above her collar confirmed it. She tried very hard to ignore the riot of feelings his touch was doing to her body, the liquid heat seeping into her panties, her hard little nipples rubbing against her bra.

  Carol setting their drinks down jolted her out of a daze that his nearness was causing. When Tommy stopped to drink, Royce turned toward her. “What are your plans for today, Isabel?”

  Her mouth opened, then closed again when no sound came out because of her struggle to breathe normally. He smiled at her embarrassment. She frowned at him and cleared her throat. “Um, I was planning on working at your house today, if that’s still okay?”

  “Are you sure you feel up to it?”

  Isabel nodded as she stretched across the table to wipe up little drops of orange juice Tommy had spilled.

  His first thought was she needed to rest another day, but then the thought of her in their house made his heart seize with excitement. “All right, we’ll go after breakfast, and I can show you a few things we’d like done. I’ll have to leave later morning for a meeting, but I should be back late afternoon. Clay won’t be home until tonight.”

  “Oh, I’ll be done and gone before you get back.”

  He frowned, watching her intently. “I was hoping you would still be home when we got there.”

  She fidgeted under his scrutiny. “I thought I’d spend several hours there a few days a week. It can change of course depending on what you want to be done, but I don’t want Tommy and me to get in the way.”

  He ran his finger down her neck to rub lightly back and forth under her shirt collar, smiling knowingly when she visibly trembled. “You two won’t ever get in the way, Isabel. If we had our way, you both would be living there for good.”

  “W-w-what?” she stuttered. “You can’t mean that,” she whispered urgently, not wanting to draw attention to them.

  He leaned forward until their faces were inches apart, letting his breath wash over her face. “Oh, we absolutely can mean it, and I’m warning you now, we’ll do our damndest to make it happen.”

  She shook her head and tried to move away from him, but he just pressed closer until she was against the window. “We need to talk about this. You guys are not listening to me, or don’t believe me when I say I won’t be here long enough—”

  “Here you go,” Carol interrupted. She set the plates in front of them. Isabel tried to smile when Tommy squealed as he saw the bear pancakes on his plate.

  “Enjoy your breakfast.”

  Isabel nodded and watched Carol walk toward the kitchen.

  “Stop frowning and eat. We have a lot to talk about, but not here and not without Clay.”

  She picked up her fork but still didn’t move to eat, just stared at her plate.

  “Honey, eat. Don’t worry. Everything will work out. I promise. Now eat so I can, because I won’t start until you do.”

  She looked toward his plate to find he hadn’t touched it and really was waiting for her. She sighed. She picked up a bite of egg and put it in her mouth, not tasting it, but chewing and swallowing until it was gone. She ate her toast the same way. It didn’t take her five minutes. She sat and watched Tommy and Royce plow through their food like they were starving. It had always fascinated her how fast and how much men could eat, and this very large one next to her was eating more than she did in a week.

  Royce noticed her staring, swallowed his bite with a long drink of water. “I’m a large man who works hard. I need a lot of calories to keep me going during the day.” He shoved another huge bite into his mouth.

  Isabel agreed. He and Clay were the largest men she had ever been around before. She secretly loved the way they made her feel very small, feminine, and safe. She smiled and leaned over the booth to wipe syrup off of Tommy’s face.

  Carol stopped by their booth to pick up the empty plates and refill the water glasses. “Royce, you need to talk to our girl there about her eating habits. It’s not healthy. Now can I get you anything else?”

  Isabel gasped and sat up straighter, a grimace line appearing between her eyebrows. “I eat just fine, Carol. Please don’t worry about me.” She scowled at Royce as he sat with his eyebrows raised. “I would like our check now. I really need to get going.”

  Carol rolled her eyes and smiled at her, then looked at Royce. At his nod she scampered off.

  Isabel looked from Carol’s back as she left to Royce’s close determined face. “What was that about?”

  He shrugged his shoulders as he pulled his wallet out of his back pocket. “I told her to put yours on our bill.”

  Isabel gasped. “Absolutely not.” She poked a finger into his shoulder. “You cannot pay for us. I am perfectly able to take care of us—”

  Royce placed two fingers over her mouth. “Enough! I am well aware you can take care of yourself and Tommy, but I want to help.” She shook her head, but before she could say anything, he bent until his lips were pressed to her ear and softly said, “Isabel, you need to stop pushing me on this. We can fight about this later, but if you’r
e determined to do this the hard way, I certainly can oblige you.”

  Isabel tentatively moved her head back to look into his eyes. “What does that mean?” She stiffened when he smiled.

  His smile reminded her of a pit bull, fierce and predatory. It sent shivers up her spine. A few of the tremors were caused by fear, the rest by lust. He smoothed the back of his finger against her cheek. “It means we can talk about this later, in private, or I can put you over my knee now if that will help you to choose the right answer.”

  Isabel inhaled sharply, outraged. Her eyes narrowed. “You wouldn’t dare. And what do you mean the right answer?” She scoffed. “What you deem right might not coincide with what I’m thinking, so you’re going to have to come to terms with that.”

  A loud laugh came from the other side of him. “Oh, honey, I love your spunk, although I know it’s going to give them fits, and if you keep pushing this hard, you might not like the way they handle that. About the spanking here, he absolutely would.” Carol looked around the room and then back at Isabel. “Everyone in this room wouldn’t bat an eye. They’ve all seen it before. Don’t ever underestimate how much they want to protect and take care of you and Tommy.”

  She sputtered and moved her gaze from Royce’s compelling eyes to Carol’s. “But they are not responsible for us.”

  “They made you both their responsibility when they claimed you.”

  Isabel started shaking. She didn’t know if it was from fear or anger, or a mixture of both. She crossed her arms over her chest. “How does someone go about claiming someone, especially since that someone has no knowledge of this claiming and seems to not have a choice?” she said between clenched teeth.

  Carol picked up a few more dishes and turned. “This is my cue to leave.” She looked sympathetically at Isabel. “I’ll see you later, honey. Bye, Tommy.”

  Tommy waved a distracted bye to Carol but continued to play with his toys. He didn’t seem to care or understand what was happening across the table, although he rarely saw his mother angry. Maybe because it wasn’t him she was angry with, even though that didn’t happen very often at all, but this time, it was happening to the big man beside her.