Their Bridgewater Brides Omnibus: Books 1 - 11 E-Book

Vale Vanessa

• Herausgeber: Bridger Media
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

All 11 books in the USA Today bestselling Bridgewater Ménage series!

This complete omnibus includes:
Their Runaway Bride
Their Kidnapped Bride
Their Wayward Bride
Their Captivated Bride
Their Treasured Bride
Their Christmas Bride
Their Reluctant Bride
Their Stolen Bride
Their Brazen Bride
Their Rebellious Bride
Their Reckless Bride

Binge read them all with one click!

Leseprobe

THEIR BRIDGEWATER BRIDES OMNIBUS

BOOKS 1 - 11

VANESSA VALE

Copyright © 2015 - 2019 by Vanessa Vale

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the products of the author's imagination and used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Cover design: Bridger Media

Cover photos: Bigstock- John Bilous; Period Images

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CONTENTS

Their Runaway Bride

Their Kidnapped Bride

Their Wayward Bride

Their Captivated Bride

Their Treasured Bride

Their Christmas Bride

Their Reluctant Bride

Their Stolen Bride

Their Brazen Bride

Their Rebellious Bride

Their Reckless Bride

Note From Vanessa

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Also By Vanessa Vale

About Vanessa Vale

THEIR RUNAWAY BRIDE

1

ANN

"You will marry him."

"I will not," I replied.

My father stood, looming over me as I sat in one of the room's very uncomfortable chairs. I looked at the floor, the carpet's dark colors swirling as my eyes filled with tears. Taking a deep breath, I willed them away. My father had ruled my life, squeezed every bit of enjoyment from it until there was barely any left.

"I will not have Mr. Atherton thinking you are common. We are anything but."

Yes, common. My father did not lower himself to be like everyone else. God forbid I stopped and petted a dog. A pedigree dog in first class. Thomas Geary did not stop to pet a dog. He did not stop to deign anyone with his miserable presence unless it was of value to him. Including me. I was just his daughter. I wasn't a son—just a daughter who enjoyed petting dogs and helping the elderly woman on the stairs going to dinner. A daughter who refused to conform to his every wish.

"I am not common, Father. You've ensured that," I countered. "But Mr. Atherton holds no appeal to me. I've told you that time and again."

He walked over to me and I had to tilt my chin back to look at him. "He holds appeal to me and, more importantly, you hold appeal for him. Merging his railroad with my land holdings is crucial, Ann, and I will not have you ruining our arrangements."

"So marriage to the man is part of the arrangement? What about love?"

Father laughed. "Love? This isn't about love. This business venture, even this trip, it's all about money."

Shame made my cheeks heat, for I believed in love wholeheartedly, while he did not. He'd married my mother because of an arrangement, and there had been no love between them. I didn't remember her, but I could not imagine any woman loving my father. She was just someone to produce an heir for him, and she hadn't even done that right. She'd made me, a female, then died giving birth to Father's true heir. The baby boy had died as well.

He'd been stuck with me ever since. Why he hadn't remarried and found another woman to breed, I had no idea.

I stood up and lifted my chin, met the same blue eyes as mine. I hoped that was the only thing we had in common. "I refuse."

His eyes widened and the cords of his neck stood out. "You refuse?" He took a step toward me but I had nowhere to go, the chair pressing into my lower legs. "You will do exactly as I tell you."

I shook my head, but my flare of defiance was weakening. "What happens if I don't?"

He grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards him. His hold was unbreakable, his grip painful. I winced at the way he pressed against my bones. Tighter and tighter, until I gasped.

"This will happen, Ann."

Wincing against the pain, I tried to tug my arm free, but he wouldn't relent.

"Do not defy me." He paused. "To ensure this arrangement is… complete, instead of waiting to dock, the ceremony will happen on this ship while you are much more docile."

He let me go and I stumbled away from him, clutching my wrist in the palm of my other hand. "Tonight, Ann. The dress you wear to dinner will be your wedding dress."

He opened the door.

"Father," I said, ignoring the throb in my wrist and my tingling fingers.

He turned to face me.

"Don't you wish to lock me in?"

He looked at me as if I were a simpleton. "On a ship? Where are you to go?"

Where was I to go? There was no escape. I had three hours, then I was going to be Mrs. Abel Atherton.

2

ANDREW

"I didn't think there were others like us," I said, glancing briefly at Robert, my closest friend and traveling companion, then to the men who were playing Poker with us. "I'll take two." I tossed down my worthless cards and was dealt the replacements—which, when I added them to my hand, weren't any better.

"Others like you? You mean men who claim a woman together?" Whitmore Kane, a fancy English lord, sat relaxed in his chair, a cigar clamped between his fingers. For all of his fancy upbringing, he was now a soldier who'd abandoned his post along with the other three men who sat around the table with us. Abandoning your post was a dishonorable action in the military, one Robert and I could not tolerate, but these men had reasons. Serious and tenuous reasons. Kane, along with Ian, Brody and Mason, had all been stationed together as part of an English regiment in Mohamir, a small country near Egypt.

"We'd imagined we were the only ones," Robert murmured. While there were other men in the ship's card room, none were paying us any mind. "While it's not unusual where you've been stationed in Mohamir, we're American. Unless a whore's up for a little extra fun, it isn't done."

"British customs are perhaps far worse," Kane added, tipping his cigar's ashes into an ashtray. "I was supposed to marry Clara Dunsworth-Day, daughter of the third Earl of Arrandale. I assure you, she would not have been thrilled to see Ian waiting in the bridal suite."

Ian grinned. "Aye, that lass was a wee bit frigid and I didna want to bed her, let alone cherish her my entire life. She wasna for us." Ian tilted his head toward Kane. "We'll find her. Kane and I will know her right off," Ian said, nodding his head. He sobered. "Whether you wanted to marry that frigid British lass or not, whether she'd like a good fucking by two brawny men, it was taken out of our hands by Evers."

I arched a brow at Ian's dark tone, for that name was new to me. By the look on Robert's face, he had not heard it either.

"Evers was our commanding officer. He killed an innocent Mohamiran family and shifted the blame to Ian." Kane tilted his head in his friend's direction.

"Since a Scot is not well loved in England and a fair trial a slim chance, I chose to flee the country," Ian added.

"The alternative, being hanged, wasn't an option." Kane tossed in a coin.

I couldn't imagine how I'd feel if Robert were framed for a heinous crime. I'd protect him with my life. I'd go to another country and start over again, just as they were.

"We hear the West has plenty of land and that the mountains are so tall they touch the clouds," Ian added.

Robert shrugged. "I've heard that as well. I'm from Virginia, and Andrew's from Pennsylvania. Neither of us have been far from the eastern seaboard."

"The Montana Territory is where we will settle," Kane said. "We will ranch—an American term—and we will call it Bridgewater."

"Back to your comment, lads, nay, you two are not the only ones who will claim a bride together. We will embrace the Mohamiran custom as well." Ian looked to Kane and then Mason pointed between Brody and himself.

Robert and I were on the ship with these men, sailing out of Portugal. We were returning to the United States after being stationed in Egypt for two years, finishing the last of our own time in the service. We'd had our last orders and were ready to be free of command. We'd find that place to call home, claim the bride who would share it with us.

"We've spent years in Mohamir, appreciating their custom of more than one man marrying a woman, but what's your reasoning?" Kane asked.

"Andrew and I, we've known each other since the US war between the states." Over fifteen years had passed since we fought together. "Just like you Brits, we've seen good men die, their widows left homeless and penniless, their children begging for food. This is not something we could subject a woman to, therefore we decided we'd take a bride together."

"To protect her," Ian added. I looked his way and all of the men at the table nodded their agreement.

"Cherish her," Kane added. He asked for a card and Ian dealt him one.

The coins were tossed into the middle of the table. Mason folded. The game progressed.

"And yet here we all sit, bachelors playing Poker. This is not a way to woo a woman," Kane said, his English accent crisp, a smirk on his face.

Robert tossed a coin into the middle, then glanced at me. "We've found her."

We had, we just hadn't spoken much of it. We just… knew. "Yes," I agreed.

The other men looked up from their cards to stare at us, surprised. There weren't many opportunities in the military to interact with women. "A lass on this ship?" Ian asked.

We nodded. "Fair haired, a tiny thing. In first class."

Robert and I were relegated to second class, our tickets purchased by the US government. As for the other men, many of them rich in their own right, they chose to blend into the boat's populace instead of drawing attention to themselves in the small group of first class passengers. While Ian was a wanted man and they'd been careful to travel incognito, they were cautious about leaving a trail for someone to follow.

"Have you spoken with her?" Ian asked.

"Not yet. We've been watching her," I replied.

The first time I saw her, I'd stopped in my tracks. She had been on her knees on the wooden deck, petting a passenger's small dog. Her dress had matched the soft blue of her eyes and the wind whipped a wisp of her blonde hair into her face. She'd laughed out loud as the dog jumped up and licked her face.

Her amusement had evaporated when two men came over to her. Her smile fell as she was publicly scolded by the older one. She was not a child; while her figure was small and slim, her woman's curves could not be missed beneath her fashionable dress. The man had to be her father, for they had the same color eyes. The other, I had no idea. The way he was looking at her it made it clear they were not related, yet the man had intentions toward her. Whether they were honorable or not was unclear.

By the cut of her dress, the men's suits and their place in first class, she did not want for money. Money, though, did not buy happiness, for in that moment, she was definitely not happy. I didn't have to hear her voice to know. I didn't have to touch her soft body to know she was tense. I didn't have to hear her thoughts to know she didn't like her father's associate.

As they'd passed us, her eyes met mine. Her cheeks were pale, her eyes dull with a level of dejectedness to which she seemed to be very familiar. I had to assume then that her joy with the dog had been a rare occurrence. I remained against the rail as she walked by with the men. When she looked at me, she stumbled and slowed her steps, her father continuing to talk to her in a low voice. I felt the heat, the sizzle of the connection. Her eyes, pale as they were, should have been cold, but everything about her was hot. When her father scolded her for losing her focus on him, she broke the connection with me and lowered her head as they continued on. She might be cold with her father, but she would be hot with me. With her between Robert and I, surely we would all burn up.

"When Andrew pointed her out to me, it was impossible to look elsewhere. It's as if I've been stepped on by a camel."

The men burst out in laughter.

"What?" Robert glanced at the other men, then shook his head. "We were in Egypt for two years. There are camels there as much as in Mohamir." He grinned. "Very well. She is the most beautiful thing in the world. There is no question she belongs to me and Andrew."

"None," I repeated. It was instantaneous, the knowledge that this woman belonged to us. "As you said, Ian, we knew her right off."

"She is with a very controlling father," Robert added, all humor stripped from his voice. "A business associate is traveling with them, however, it is hard to avoid the way he looks at her."

"Competition," Ian offered.

We laid out our cards and Mason swept his winnings in front of him.

"Competition? No. Annoyance, absolutely," I said. I thought of the odious man with the mustache and glasses. I knew the look, all men did, for it was a look of a man who wanted to fuck a woman. I doubted his thoughts were the least bit honorable. Society may dictate that he was not to touch her until wed, but I doubted he would hold to that mandate if she were not so closely monitored by her father. For Robert and I, we definitely intended to fuck her, but we would wait because our honor demanded it. "Once on land, we will learn more about her. Court her."

"She will be ours," Robert vowed.

Kane slapped me on the shoulder. "Good luck. It sounds as if you may need it."

3

ROBERT

The water in the copper tub was just starting to cool. It had been worth every penny getting the porter to deliver it along with pails and pails of scalding water, even with my knees bent almost up to my chest. A bath was a treat not offered in the military and I looked forward to it on a regular basis once my commission was retired.

I was just rinsing the soap from my arms when my door opened and shut with a flurry of pale green silk. My hands stilled, holding the dripping cloth as my eyes widened in surprise. It was her. For a second or two, she leaned back against the door as if someone were going to break it down, not paying me any mind. I saw the moment when her eyes found me in the tub.

"Oh," she gasped, spinning back around and putting her hand on the door. Had she entered the wrong room? I knew her to be a first-class passenger so her appearance on the lower level of the ship was unusual. What the hell was she doing here? I assumed she'd flee once she caught a glimpse of me, but she didn't. That was a telling sign. Whatever she was hiding from—and she had to be hiding from something—was worse than being alone in a cabin with a naked man in a tub.

I stood up directly and she slapped a hand over her eyes and gasped. I worried more about the person who was bothering her than her virtue. Opening the cabin door, I stepped out into the hall. Since I was dripping wet and naked, it was fortunate that no one was about. Satisfied danger had not followed the woman, I returned to my room and closed the door.

"Has someone been chasing you? No one is there now, but have you been threatened?" I asked. She still had her hand covering her eyes. "Is that why you remain?"

"I remain because you are blocking my way and I can't see where I'm going with my eyes covered. I can't believe you went out into the hall like that. Are you still naked?"

I grinned. Her voice was soft and melodic, and her innocence endearing. By her accent, she was American. I took a quick moment to study her. Her hair was the color of wheat, twisted up into a fancy and stylish knot at her nape. Her neck was long and slim, her entire body petite.

Surely my hands would span her slim waist.

"Yes."

"Don't you wish to… to dress?"

I grabbed my bathing towel and wrapped it about my waist. "I was in the bath when you barged in. I have to assume that since you chose my room, you are eager for my attentions. It is advantageous then that I'm already unclothed."

She dropped her hand—just as I'd hoped—her eyes wide with surprise and indignation, but after she took a moment to look her fill, she looked away, her cheeks turning pink. Good, she's curious. While she might be a maiden, she certainly wasn't a cold one. Andrew and I had no doubt she'd be hot in bed and her reactions to me confirmed it.

"I… I am not eager," she replied. She gasped when she realized she'd been ogling and brought her hands back up over her eyes. "It's just that I… I mean, oh my…"

While the air in the room was cold from my being wet, it did nothing to diminish my cock. It stood out clearly, even beneath the cover of the towel. There was no chance it would go down. Not with her standing before me and while I could breathe in her soft, feminine scent.

Andrew came in through the door adjoining the rooms. "Ready for another night of—" He cut off his words when he saw the beautiful woman, saw me standing before her in just my towel. His eyes widened in surprise.

"Hello," he offered, instead of finishing whatever he was going to tell me. He was wearing his uniform, ready for dinner. I just wore a towel, and had the woman we planned to marry standing before me. Andrew was unflappable. "I am Andrew."

The woman lowered her hands, but kept her gaze clearly diverted to Andrew. "Has Robert introduced himself?" he asked.

She shook her head, but tilted it a little more away from me.

"No? He's usually more polite than that, but you did, I assume, interrupt his bath? Who might you be?"

"Ann," she whispered.

Ann.

Only a few feet from her, I breathed in her floral scent. Soft and feminine, just like her. I itched to touch her, to stroke her hair and feel the silky strands beneath my fingers. I didn't dare, especially practically naked.

"I won't hurt you." I held up one hand in front of me, the other securing the towel about my waist.

"No, we won't hurt you," Andrew repeated.

Her eyes darted to the door, then back at the two of us. "Humorous, isn't it?" she asked. "I'm safer in a stateroom with two men—one of them completely naked—than with my own father."

I did not like her words, nor the tone with which they were given. A young woman should not be afraid of her own father. I looked her over. Her dress was of the latest fashion, a high, demure neckline, long sleeves with lace at the cuffs, a full skirt. The soft color showed off her pale complexion and equally fair hair perfectly. She was lovely, stunning even, and yet she was upset. My eager cock could wait.

"You're hiding from your father?" Andrew asked.

She nodded. When someone knocked briskly on the door, she jumped away from it as if burned. "It's… it's him," she hissed. Her pretty blush leached from her cheeks, her eyes widened in fear and she backed into the corner.

I didn't have to tell Andrew anything, for he came around and took her hand. "Come with me, sweetheart," he whispered as he leaned his head close to hers. She went with him easily enough, clearly more worried about the person at the door than wherever she was being led. "Robert can deal with whomever is knocking."

He gave me a meaningful look as he closed the connecting door. I heard the snick of a bolt sliding into place just before I opened the door to the hallway, holding the bath towel up. Whoever was there could get an eyeful for all I cared.

"Yes?" I asked. Instead of the softer tone I'd given to Ann, the one word was laced in annoyance and years of command.

Before me stood Ann's father. The only times I'd seen her had been at his side, but up close, he came across as a pompous asshole and he hadn't even spoken yet. A short man, his ample rolls and loose skin indicated a lavish lifestyle. The cut of his suit, the ring on his little finger all spoke to money. The sweat dotting his brow and the nasty gleam in his eyes indicated a frustration and anger.

"I am looking for my daughter and I was told by a porter that a woman entered this cabin." He flicked his gaze down my body, then tried to look around me.

The fact that he dared insinuate such a dishonorable action on a military man only showed his callousness, as well as a level of desperation. He didn't just want to find Ann, he had to. He wasn't a worried father. He was a worried man. A man who wanted Ann for something. Something she obviously didn't want.

I looked down at myself, water still dotting my skin. I opened the door a tad wider so he could see the tub. "As you can see, you've interrupted my bath, not a tawdry love affair."

"She was seen entering your room."

I sighed and pointed to my navy coat hanging from a hook on the wall. "Obviously I'm not wearing my uniform, but do you think a Lieutenant Colonel in the US military needs to answer to you? Get the hell out of here and leave me alone. Your daughter is your problem."

The man stilled then, realizing his gaffe. "My apologies, sir. But my daughter's behavior of late has been… questionable."

My eyebrow went up at the brazen way he construed his daughter to be a whore.

"I assure you, no one is within." When he didn't move to leave, I sighed. "Search it if you wish."

Turning sideways, I allowed him narrow access to my room, but he'd have to squeeze past me first. As I was just holding my bath towel over my cock, he decided against it and remained just in the threshold. He angled his jowled chin toward the adjoining door. "Where does that lead?"

I walked around the tub and to the door in question. If he had issues with my state of undress, then he shouldn't have continued to question. I turned the knob and tugged on it, proving that it was locked from the other side. "To the next cabin. Many of them have adjoining rooms in second class. Some purchase two rooms for a more spacious crossing. First class is more agreeable, is it not?"

Straightening his back, he replied, "Indeed."

"Do you plan on searching every room on this level, or just mine?" I began to use the towel to dry myself, letting him get an eyeful. He glanced left and right down the hall, not interested in being seen talking to a naked stranger. The situation was far from dignified for someone of his grandiose stature.

"We are on a boat, sir. I would think she would show up by the time we reach New York." I ran the cloth over my one shoulder, then the other. Talking to Ann's father had removed any eagerness I had toward her and my cock lay long down my thigh. "While I have no interest in letting others know that I've been accused of dishonor, I assure you that others may not be so… discreet."

His cheeks mottled with color at my barbed words. He wished to put me in my place—which he considered a class or two beneath him—my size and background must have assisted him in holding his tongue. Instead of apologizing, he reached in and grabbed the knob, pulling the door shut behind him. I sat down on the bed and pulled on my pants, letting the suspenders dangle down the side of my legs.

Andrew opened the connecting door and I grabbed my shirt as I joined them. Ann stood between us—where she should be—wringing her hands.

"I don't mind you seeing my cock, Ann, but since your father also got an eyeful, I think we deserve an explanation, don't you?" I asked.

"Yes, how can we help you?" Andrew added.

Instead of tears in her eyes as I'd expected, when she looked up at Andrew I saw a hint of fire there. Anger, but not at us. "Help?" She laughed, but without a hint of humor. "You saw my father. He's ruthless and will get his way. I'm just a pawn for him in his business negotiations with Mr. Atherton. The only way you can help me is by finding me a husband in the next half hour."

Andrew's eyebrows went up at her words, then he grinned. "All right, sweetheart. I'll marry you."

As her mouth fell open in utter surprise, all I could think about was how those lips would look wrapped around my cock.

4

ANN

"I beg your pardon?" I repeated. Had I heard Andrew correctly?

"I said, I'll marry you."

I stood in a cabin with two men whom I knew nothing about other than recognizing them from up on deck. Now Robert had covered up, at least partially. His… his cock, that's what he'd called it, had been huge!

It had been difficult not to look at him, for he was the most amazing specimen of a man. Tall, broad shouldered and… and large. Everywhere. Now, I took in the well-defined chest, the dark sprinkling of hair there that narrowed to his navel, which formed a line that went into the top of his pants. His skin was tanned in comparison to the white shirt he was donning. I'd only seen them impeccably turned out in their dark uniforms and it now felt… intimate to be able to see the disheveled man beneath.

I'd first noticed these men on the third day on the ship, sitting together outside in the cool air. I'd noticed their size first; they were quite large, much bigger than my father, and they made Mr. Atherton look weak and scrawny. While the businessman ran a railroad empire, he didn't work as these men did. Their well-formed chests and arms, the bulging muscles of their thighs, indicated a life hard lived. I shouldn't have noticed such things about strange men, let alone two of them, but it was impossible to ignore them. From first glance, I felt hot all over as I snuck glimpses of them. One was fair, the other dark and had a beard. Both wore crisp uniforms and were always quiet and courteous. Formal.

It was when they'd met my curious gaze and held it, returned it even, that I began to think about them. What would it be like for either one of those men to be the one who wanted me instead of Mr. Atherton? What would it be like if one of them set their sights on me—more than just a look across the bow of a ship? That thought kept me up at night, tossing and turning in my private bedroom. How could I choose? While they looked so different, I was attracted to them equally. I imagined them equally. I touched myself and brought myself to climax with visions of pale and dark eyes, of sandy colored hair between my fingers and the soft dark beard against my tender skin.

"You will?" I squeaked. He would marry me. The fair-haired one, Andrew, smiled at me, as if he'd just asked me to join him for dinner, not spend the rest of my life with him.

"I will," he repeated.

"And so will I," Robert added as he finished the last button of his shirt. While he was completely covered now, knowing what was underneath would not leave my mind.

"You… I mean, I don't think… well—" I couldn't do anything but sputter, which was horribly unladylike, however they had made me speechless. I took a deep breath as I'd been taught at Mrs. Carver's School for Girls and smiled serenely, completely at odds with how I felt inside. "I can't marry either of you. I'd been joking."

Andrew shook his head. "You weren't joking. You were very serious."

Robert took a step closer and the small room seemed even more crowded. "Your father seems very eager to find you."

I pursed my lips.

"Why is that? You mentioned a business arrangement," Robert added.

I looked at the brass buttons on the front of Andrew's military coat. "I'd rather not say."

"Sweetheart, Robert's going to go and get the ship's captain to marry us. I think you can tell us what has you hiding in a random cabin."

"With a naked man," Robert added.

While it was embarrassing and shameful to admit being used as my father's pawn, it wasn't all that difficult to share with these men. I'd been brought up to keep my thoughts and feelings to myself, to behave as the docile and obedient wife I would someday become, but with Andrew and Robert, it felt… different. "My father is forcing me to marry Mr. Atherton to expand his business empire. Mr. Atherton is a very wealthy man, but I do not desire the match."

"Why not?" Robert crowded me but I held my chin high.

"Because he is vile, his touch like a serpent's on my skin."

Andrew stepped closer and, for the first time, touched me. It was only his finger beneath my chin, but I gasped at the heat of it and looked up at him. "Ah, there you are," he said, his voice gentle. I was almost mesmerized by his pale gaze. Little crinkles formed at the corners of his eyes and I felt… safe.

"You ran off to avoid marriage?"

I nodded. "I refused him. My father's reply was to tell me he was going to have the captain marry us after dinner, so I decided to hide. I know it was silly, but I really don't want to marry him."

"And you picked my cabin?" Robert whispered the word in my ear, the sensation causing goose bumps to rise along my spine. "Why this cabin?"

Andrew wouldn't release my chin, instead stroking my cheek with his thumb.

"I didn't know it was yours. Remaining on the first class level seemed unwise and so I came down here. No one there would understand my need to escape. Clearly, I'm well cared for and to be married to a man of wealth and position. They'd all wonder what was wrong with me to desire more, for I have everything, don't I?" I glanced at them, but they remained silent. "I saw a porter approach, so I slipped into the first unlocked cabin."

"Lucky us," Robert said. "Instead of marrying this Mr. Atherton, you will marry us."

I blinked once, twice. "Um, did you say both of you?"

Robert moved to stand shoulder to shoulder with Andrew and I had to tilt my head back even further. "Yes. Andrew and I have always intended to share a bride. Since you are in need of a groom, and this Mr. Atherton will not do, we consent to take his place. I can see you are still confused. Andrew will marry you legally, but do not doubt that I will be your husband just as readily. If you are married to Andrew, you are married to me as well."

I couldn't fathom his words. "It isn't done," I countered.

"It is done, but not in America. It is for the bride's protection, having two men to cater to her, shelter her, protect her, cherish her."

"People will know! It's unseemly." I shook my head in refusal as I spoke.

Andrew went to the cabin door and put his hand on the knob. "It is all right, Ann. While we were genuine in our offer, we will not hold you to it. Unlike your father, and perhaps Mr. Atherton, we are honorable. We will not take what is not freely given."

He opened the door and the empty hallway loomed. I could go out the door and find another place to hide, but I doubted other passengers would be as accommodating, or I could return to my cabin and become Mrs. Atherton. I glanced once again at the men. While imposing, I did not sense any danger from either. I touched my wrist where my father had grabbed me, felt the bruising. If he'd done that just for a verbal refusal, I couldn't even guess what he'd do to me when I returned. He'd be livid I'd run off. I had to assume Mr. Atherton was of similar persuasion.

"I will be turned out. If you're after my money, there will be none."

When neither man responded, I glanced up at them. Their expressions were hard and I took a step back.

"We do not want your money," Robert said.

"Money is not a concern for us," Andrew added as he closed the door. "While we are mere military bachelors, I assure you, we can meet your every need. We want you."

"Why?"

"You think your only worth is your bank account?" Robert asked.

"Mr. Atherton thinks so. My father as well."

"You have known the wrong men then."

"I don't even know where you're from, where we would live." This was all so absurd! I knew nothing of these men. Men! Yet, I was seriously considering their offer. "New York is not an option, as my father has too many connections."

"We will settle far from your father, I assure you. We are returning from being stationed in Egypt. Our last mission in the military. Upon our return, we are retiring. Ranching out west seems to be our future."

Out west? Lord, while I'd been to Europe, I'd never been further west than Pittsburgh. Since my father deemed anything beyond Albany or Baltimore to be the land of heathens and Indians, I doubted he'd ever come after me.

They had an answer for every argument, but there was still a crucial one. The most important one, for I didn't care about being a rancher's wife or being poor so long as I wasn't married to a man who was cruel.

"You… you won't beat me?" I asked.

Andrew tilted my chin up. His dark eyes bored into mine. I glanced at his mouth, wondered what it would be like to kiss him. Just the touch of his fingers beneath my chin were gentle. Would he kiss gently too, or would he ravage me with wild abandon? "Someone hit you?"

Robert tugged up his suspenders. "Who the hell hurt you?"

I sensed they'd go after my father—or whomever would do me harm—then and there. I'd gone to a strict Catholic school. Stern nuns and no coddling. My father had left me with a nanny and I was completely taken aback by the concern and anger I saw on these two men's faces. It was the first time I'd been valued as a person, not a bank account, not an asset to be raised and groomed for an arranged marriage. They actually heard my concerns and listened. These strangers cared about me.

"No one," I replied, worried they'd confront my father.

They didn't seem to believe me, but let it rest.

"We will never hurt you," Andrew said.

"Never," Robert vowed. "I assure you, your father will be sorry for his actions."

He'd seen through my vague response and knew the truth. My father had just knocked on Robert's door in a desperate search. The connection was not difficult to make.

"Ann, a husband's job is to love her, cherish her, protect her."

"Possess her," Robert added, his voice deep. "Claim her."

"We do not want you as part of a business transaction. We want you because we want you."

The last made gooseflesh rise on my arms, even beneath the confines of my long sleeves.

I closed my eyes for a moment, struggling with the pace at which my life had changed. An enjoyable trip to Europe had turned into a nightmare. These men were willing to save me—but two of them!—and give me a life I'd never even fathomed. I knew nothing about them other than that they were military. I didn't know where they were stationed, if I would be stationed with them, if they had sisters, brothers, a dislike for green beans. Nothing. I did know that Robert was… eager for me. I did know I was very responsive to him. My nipples had hardened as I'd glimpsed him naked. My womanhood had become damp and my drawers clung to my aroused flesh. Would being married to him be such a hardship if I desired him so easily? And Andrew, while I hadn't seen him unclothed, my feelings for him were the same.

When Mr. Atherton first bumped into me and grazed his hand over my breast, I'd thought it had been a simple fumble. When he'd cupped my bottom in passing another time, I realized then that he was groping me intentionally. The feel of his hand, the look in his eyes made me nauseous. Marrying Andrew—and Robert—was better than marrying Mr. Atherton. The fact that Andrew and Robert were honorable, were so intent, made them even more appealing. Surely there was something wrong with me if I was desiring two men! Even so, I was going to marry both of them.

5

ANDREW

I knew we would marry Ann. There was no question she had been ours since the first time I saw her. I had expected to court her, to slowly coax her to the idea of not only marrying me, but Robert as well. Fate was fickle though, and for once, in our favor. Especially since she walked in on Robert during his bath. He'd done an exceptional job testing her interest. Even my short glimpse of her before her father had knocked had shown me how interested she was. I could see her hard nipples poking through the material of her dress. The color had been bright in her cheeks. Her eyes had been wide not in fear, but in surprised desire. Her lips had been parted and she'd been quietly panting, her short little breaths making her breasts rise and fall beneath her demure dress.

I would bet my military commission that her pussy was wet.

"You enjoyed seeing Robert naked, didn't you?" I asked Ann.

Robert had finished dressing and gone to find the captain. He may have been presiding over Ann's marriage tonight, but it would be to me, not Mr. Atherton. We had no intention of letting Ann go anywhere until the vows had been said and the marriage consummated. Only then would she be safe from her father and Mr. Atherton.

Ann refused to look at me and I wouldn't force her. It would be hard for a woman of her upbringing to admit desires she was supposed to repress. I doubted Mr. Atherton wanted a hot, wild woman in bed with him. He would expect that kind of passion only from his mistress. Robert and I would coax it out of Ann with every touch, every kiss, every fuck, and show her that it was exactly what we wanted from our bride.

"As our bride, you'll hide nothing. We will see all of you. Answer me, sweetheart, did you like watching Robert?"

After a short pause, she replied with a whispered, "Yes."

"Good girl."

She closed her eyes and a single tear slid down her cheek. "I'm not good. I can't be good if I… if I like that."

Using my thumb, I wiped the tear away. "Good girls can have very naughty thoughts. Whatever you've been told about the way a woman is supposed to behave and feel and love should be forgotten. You only need to worry about Robert and I. All right?"

She opened her eyes and the pale blue sparkled as I saw hope there. Hope that what I said was true. "And what of love?" she asked. She swallowed then, realizing she had made a misstep. "I was hoping for love."

I lifted her hands, kissed her knuckles one by one. Her mouth fell open then and I saw the line of her straight, white teeth. "I don't expect it from you after only fifteen minutes. You have to admit, however, that there is a connection, an attraction that is undeniable. I feel it. You saw Robert's cock and how he was hard for you. He feels it. Do you?"

Her pale eyes met mine, roved over my face as if studying me, thinking of her answer. I knew what it was to be. I had seen her interest from the very first.

"Yes," she replied, her voice soft and her eyes lowering.

"Ann," I said, and waited for her to look at me again.

"There is no shame in sharing your feelings with me. With Robert. Soon, we will be your husbands and there will be nothing between us."

A little frown formed in her smooth brow. "What do you want from me?"

"Everything," I replied. "Do you know what that means?"

It was lovely to see the way her cheeks turned pink. "You want… sexual congress with me."

It was hard to keep from laughing at that term, but I knew it would not help my cause if I did so. "We call it fucking, sweetheart. Robert and I, we're going to strip you bare and show you all the pleasure to be had between us."

She couldn't look at me as the pink turned even darker and crept down her neck and beneath her dress.

"The feeling you had when you saw Robert naked is attraction. Lust. Need."

She shook her head as if clearing it from a lust filled fog and changed the subject. "What if… what if my father went to the captain first? If Robert brings the captain here, he will force me back to my father. Perhaps even wed me to Mr. Atherton directly."

There was a chance of that, but knowing what I did about the man from overhearing the conversation with Robert, his pride would get in the way. "Your father won't tell the captain or anyone that you've run away. As Robert said, we're on a boat and you can't go anywhere. Your father has to save face. He's probably telling Mr. Atherton you have a headache or some such nonsense until he can locate you."

Robert knocked once on the door, then entered, the ship's captain in tow, distracting Ann from thoughts of her father. The captain's uniform was a crisp white in comparison to our navy ones.

"Thank you for coming," I said as I shook his hand.

"Weddings are always a rare treat for me." He glanced at Ann, then at me. Obviously, he knew nothing about Ann's father and his plan to have the man marry her to Mr. Atherton. I shifted so I was at Ann's right as the captain opened his Bible.

"Shall we begin?" he asked.

I looked down at my nervous bride as I took her small hand in mine. I felt it shake and gave it a gentle squeeze of reassurance. She would have become ours anyway; this… situation just moved things along a bit.

Her eyes held such doubt, such nervousness, but I saw the hint of interest that I'd seen before as well. I gave her a smile, something I doubted either her father or Mr. Atherton would offer. She knew nothing of us, but I had to trust that the attraction, the connection we shared, was enough to get her to say the words, to commit to me before God and the captain, and to Robert as well. When it was time to kiss the bride and I lowered my mouth to hers, she stood stiffly for a brief moment before giving over to the kiss. It was then that I lifted my head, smiling. She'd submitted so sweetly to the simple kiss. When the captain left us alone, I was eager to see all the ways she'd submit to us. "You saw Robert's cock. Now it's time to see mine."

6

ANN

The walls of the small cabin seemed to close in as they began unbuttoning their uniform jackets. The compartment was smaller than what was on the first-class floor, but even that room would have seemed small with two large men and the knowledge that they would both soon be naked. While they didn't mean to loom, they could hardly do anything else.

"While you were getting the captain, I told Ann that we would have everything from her," Andrew said, shrugging the jacket off his shoulders.

Robert stroked a hand over his beard and I wondered if it was silky soft or prickly. "Do you know what everything means?" he asked, looking to me. His dark eyes held such heat, the same heat from when he watched me as he'd stroked himself.

I glanced at Andrew as I bit my lip. "You're not going to make me say it, are you?"

"Yes, Ann. I am." Robert crossed his arms over his chest, still in full uniform. The stark white of Andrew's shirt did not hide his muscled physique one bit. Neither man seemed to mind waiting for my words and in that moment, I hated their ability to be so patient.

I sighed. "Very well. Andrew called it… fucking." I whispered the last, but I had done it.

"Good girl," Robert said. Somehow, those two words, the same words Andrew had said earlier, made me feel good. I'd pleased him, and by the look on Andrew's face, him as well.

"We have to do this… this right now? It's, oh, it's happening so fast." I gripped my dress, the silky fabric cool beneath my fingers.

Instead of answering my question, Robert asked one of his own. "Did you like seeing me naked?"

My cheeks heated and I looked up at Andrew through my lashes.

"Tell him what you told me, sweetheart, or you will get a spanking."

"A spanking?" I said, my voice now quite loud. "I'm not a child!"

Both men eyed me in a way that made me feel like anything but a child.

"I have a strong suspicion you would like it very much. It would not be much of a punishment," Andrew said. He began undoing the buttons of his shirt as Robert toed off one shoe, then the other.

"Very well, yes. I enjoyed watching you."

Robert grinned as he hung his jacket on a hook on the wall. "You're wet then."

"Wet?" I asked, then pinched my lips together. I knew what he meant a second after I spoke. Oh God, there was a term for it when my womanhood became damp?

The men delayed no longer. They were stripped bare within a matter of seconds. Both men stood before me, unabashedly naked. I couldn't do anything but stare at their bodies, at the differences between them, and they didn't seem to mind at all. Perhaps their patient demeanors were worthy after all.

Where Robert was dark, Andrew was light. While muscular, he was leaner than Robert and only a touch shorter. He didn't have much hair on his chest, but the line from his navel down was wheat colored and the thatch that circled his… cock was the same color. It was their cocks though, that I ogled. As Robert's had been the first I'd ever seen, I had to wonder if it was indecently large. Seeing his beside Andrew's, I knew that they both were indecently large.

I clenched my inner walls at the possibility of them going inside me. Surely they wouldn't fit. There was no way.

"You've had your turn to look your fill. Now it's our turn. Take off your dress." Robert's voice, while quiet, was very commanding.

"I can't… I can't just disrobe," I countered. "I barely know you!"

"I'm your husband," Andrew replied. "You know more about us now than most, sweetheart. We stand here before you, hiding nothing. We're yours."

"I'm your husband," Robert added. "Everything we have, is yours."

"I don't think everything is going to fit."

My words made them laugh and I flushed hotly with embarrassment. Robert came around to stand behind me and placed his hands gently on my hips. Lowering his head, he kissed the side of my neck, then higher and higher still until he was murmuring in my ear. "Everything is going to fit just fine. To reassure you, we won't fuck you until you beg."

I stilled, thinking about that. "All… all right."

"Good, now I think I would like to kiss my bride." As he spoke, he turned my head so that his lips met mine. It was a gentle, light kiss, a mere brushing of lips. But that lasted for just a moment as he pressed more firmly, learning the feel and shape of my mouth. It was when I gasped in sweet surprise at the feel of it that he slipped his tongue into my mouth. At the same time, he pulled me back and I felt every long, hard inch of him against my back.

I was lost in this kiss. While Andrew had given me a simple, chaste kiss in front of the captain, this was anything but. I sank into it, as if the boat were filling with water beneath me. My body came awake with the same awareness, the same need as when I looked at him, water dripping down every hard inch of his body, when he'd stood from the tub. My skin heated, my womanhood swelled and ached, my nipples hardened.

I didn't realize that Andrew had dropped to his knees before me until I felt cool air on my legs and his hands on my knees making me step wider. I broke the kiss with Robert when I felt Andrew press one against my inner thigh. I looked down and Robert had the hem of my dress bunched up in his hands at my hips. Andrew glanced up at me. Two fingers tugged at the string on my linen drawers.

"These, sweetheart, are not allowed."

I frowned. "My drawers?"

He nodded. Robert was nibbling at the side of my neck again and I couldn't help but tilt my head for him. I was overwhelmed in sensation and I couldn't make sense of anything. The boat hadn't swayed or rocked the entire time we were at sea, but now, I couldn't get my balance.

"They're lovely." The string loosened and the garment slid down my legs to pool over my feet. I moved my hands to cover myself, but Andrew blocked me. "This, though," he kissed right over my soft hair there. "This is so much lovelier."

I gasped at the feel of his lips there.

"Andrew, what… what are you doing?"

He looked up at me, his pale eyes dark and stormy. "I've been thinking about burying my face in this sweet pussy all week."

The conversation was over, for he put his mouth on me then. I had no idea a man would do that. He wasn't done though, for his hand slid up the sensitive inside of my thigh and touched me, right on my secret place. It was feather light, a mere stroke of his fingertip and I startled, then melted into Robert's hold.

"That's it, sweetheart. Just feel," Robert whispered, then licked the shell of my ear. "Let us learn your body, what you like, what makes you hot, what makes you wet. I bet you taste so good."

"Mmm." Andrew's sound vibrated across my tender flesh. "Like sweet ripe peaches."

Robert groaned then against my ear. "You'll come for us."

With a finger on my chin, he turned my head and kissed me as Andrew kissed me much lower. Their lips were firm and yet gentle, insistent, yet patient. I was the frantic one, my hands finding Andrew's head and tangling in his hair, pulling him closer. Touching myself late at night, I knew what it felt like to 'come' as Robert called it, but it had never been like this. It was hot and consuming and breathtaking and scary and exhilarating. My body was not my own. I had no control. The insistent flick of Andrew's tongue, then some kind of swirling or curve had me gasping into Robert's kiss. It was the one finger he slipped inside me and curled just right that had me scream. Robert pulled back and my cries of pleasure filled the room. His hands tightened on my hips, keeping me upright. I clenched down on Andrew's one finger, eager to pull it in deeper.

I needed more. I wanted more. "Please," I begged, as I tried to catch my breath. What were they doing to me? I barely knew them—no, I really didn't know them at all—but they certainly knew me. They knew where to touch, what to say, how to make me come alive. I shouldn't feel like this for two strangers. Two! But I did, and there was no chance they were going to let me think otherwise.

They'd been honorable, only Andrew had touched my hand before we were legally married. Now, now that I belonged to Andrew, I'd first expected that he'd throw me down on the bed, toss up my skirts and rut into me. That was what husbands did, wasn't it? I'd assumed a husband would take what he wanted then leave me in peace. Only then would I be able to find my own pleasure with my own hand.

Andrew and Robert did not follow this at all, for I felt their hard cocks brushing against me, pressing into me and they were doing nothing about their own needs. They were seeing to me.

Just as they'd said, they were cherishing me and most certainly possessing me.

Andrew stood and I watched as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, realizing the glistening wetness was from me. Undoing the buttons down the front of my dress, he asked, "Please, what?"

I shifted my hips, back into Robert, which only pressed his hard length into my back, then forward, where there wasn't anyone. My body wanted Andrew's mouth on me again, or something else. "I need… I need more."

Robert parted the loosened fabric and slid it down my arms, then pushed the dress over my hips so it joined my drawers on the floor. They made quick work of the remainder of my clothes until I was just as bare as they were. With Robert pressed against my back I was anything but cold.

Andrew stilled. "What's this?" He lifted my hand up so Robert could see.

Bruises.

"Who did this to you?" Andrew asked.

I bit my lip when I saw his stormy gaze. He looked ready to kill.

"Who, Ann?" Robert asked.

"You said you wouldn't beat me," I whispered, my voice rough with unshed tears.

Andrew's eyes widened, then he sighed. "Sweetheart, we won't hurt you. Ever. I'm sorry I scared you, but I want to give whomever did this to you, shall we say, a dose of his own medicine?"

"My father," I admitted.

Andrew lifted my bruised wrist to his mouth, kissed the inside of it where my pulse beat.

"He will never lay a hand on you again."

With that, he grinned. "Now then, I believe I just licked your pussy and you were begging for more."

7

ANN

Their emotions were like quicksilver. I could only shake my head. I wasn't as muzzy headed now and couldn't admit the truth.

"You want more, sweetheart?"

I couldn't respond. If I answered yes, they'd think me wanton. If I answered no, they'd surely stop.

"Yes, you do, and your husbands are going to give it to you," Andrew chided. "More of my mouth? My fingers sliding into your pussy? Our cocks?"

I moaned at the thought of being filled, but his one finger hadn't been enough. I wanted to feel their thick cocks inside me. Who would take me first?

"Tell us," Robert growled.

"Your… your cocks." The words flew from my mouth.

Before I could feel embarrassed, the room spun and I was placed on the small bed. Andrew settled back against the brass bed frame and pulled me into him. I settled between his legs with my back against his front. I was remarkably comfortable, but when he hooked his feet around my ankles and spread them wide, I couldn't close my legs. I knew they could see all of me, especially Robert, who loomed over me, big and virile and, by the look in his dark eyes, as needy as me.

He settled between my spread thighs, his fingers stroking over my slick folds, just as Andrew had. His blunt fingers weren't quite as gentle, but I liked it. "We'll shave this bare, Ann, so you can feel everything."

I frowned. "Shave?"

Lowering his body, I felt his soft beard on my tender skin before he put his mouth on me. Insistent and very intent. While Andrew only put one finger inside me, Robert used two, for the way he stretched me open was so much more. I gasped at the feel of it, the way he worked them in and out, a little deeper each time. As he did this, he plied that sweet spot with his tongue.

"Don't come, sweetheart," Andrew said, his voice soft by my ear.

I pressed my head back into his shoulder. "What? Why?" I gasped.

"Your pleasure belongs to us. Your body belongs to us. We know what you need. It's our job to give it to you."

Robert lifted his head and I saw how wet his beard was and I knew that was from me. "I want you to come all over my cock. You're going to milk my seed from me and take it deep."

"Oh God," I moaned.

I felt more than heard Andrew's chuckle. "It seems, Robert, that we have a very naughty wife. She likes it when you say such dirty things to her."