For the Love of Anna (The Town of Pearl 1)

* * * *

Her body felt heavy and weak, and she couldn’t move. All she could do was lie there and watch the events unfold. Stacy looked so beautiful. She rubbed her hand over her slightly protruding belly as she leaned against the front porch. Her smile had Anna smiling as well. How wonderful that Stacy, Eric, and Max were going to have a baby. She thought about the men. They were nowhere in sight. As Anna slowly looked across the landscape around the ranch, she tried to move. She wanted to join Stacy, but she couldn’t move. Suddenly, she heard the gunshot. One, two, three…Stacy’s eyes widened in shock as blood covered her body. “The baby!” Anna screamed as two men walked over toward her, standing above her head.

“Did you really think we wouldn’t find you? We’ll kill everyone if we have to.”

Anna was shaking and crying as Wyatt, Ben, and Charlie tried to wake her from another nightmare.

“Anna, honey, wake up. Come on, girl, wake up!” Ben exclaimed, holding her by her arms and giving her a little shake.

“This one is worse than last night’s!” Wyatt exclaimed.

“Last night? This happened last night? Why didn’t you say something?” Charlie asked, and then he caressed Anna’s cheek.

“She said she didn’t want to take the meds because they make her feel funny. We told her she had to take them tonight and that we’d be here for her,” Wyatt added.

“She didn’t take them again,” Ben whispered in an angry voice as he tried to wake Anna. He was so damn angry with her.

Slowly, Anna began to come to again. The tears rolled down her cheeks, and she sobbed and held her stomach.

Wyatt tried to pull her to him, but she pushed him away. Charlie tried as well, and she did the same thing then tried to hurry off the bed.

Ben snagged an arm around her, pulling her across his lap.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he demanded, holding her tightly against his chest.

Anna continued to cry and shove against him.

“Stop, Anna! I’m not letting you go. You have some explaining to do, and you’re racking up points in the punishment department. You keep this shit up, and I’ll turn that pretty little ass of yours pink.”

Anna froze and stared at Ben. He kept his triumphant smile submerged when the sight of her fear and upset tore at his gut. No, he couldn’t be weak around his Anna. She needed tough love, and he knew how to give it.

He watched her chest rise and fall. The T-shirt she wore was raised over her hips, her thighs exposed to them, and her nipples were hard and pressed against the white cotton. He assumed his brother Wyatt told her to forget about wearing any panties. She didn’t need them, and they wouldn’t stay on long.

He turned her legs so she straddled him, and he began to caress her skin and wipe the tears away.

“You’re safe. It was just a bad dream,” he whispered, and she closed her eyes and looked away. He felt her flinch as her eyes apparently made contact with Wyatt and Charlie.

Ben remained in control of the situation as he tapped her thigh, indicating for her to place her full attention on him.

“You didn’t take the medicine again.” It was a statement, not a question, and Anna seemed to get that. She pressed her hands against his chest and tried to escape. He held firm, and Wyatt took position behind her. Ben’s legs hung over the bed, making Anna probably feel as if she could fall off his lap and onto the floor. She grabbed his shoulders but didn’t press against him. She tried to keep space between them, which only pissed him off more. He was determined to possess her in every sense of the word. He wanted her to know that the four of them were one and that together they could defeat and conquer anything.

“Didn’t you tell Wyatt and me that you would take the meds tonight after what happened last night?”

She swallowed hard and nodded.

“So you lied to us?” Her eyes widened, and he pulled her hips closer against him, spreading her legs and opening her pussy and ass to their touch.

His cock throbbed against the material of the boxers he wore, and all he wanted to do was use it to pound some sense into her. What a fucked-up thought, but she made him crazy with want and need.

“That will cost you a good spanking, Anna. Do you want to know why?”

“No. Why would you do that? I didn’t mean to.”

Ben cut her off by placing a finger gently over her lips. “We’re here to protect you, care for you, and keep you safe. We trusted your word and that you would take the meds, and you didn’t do it. You caused yourself unnecessary pain and heartache. Wyatt, Charlie, do you agree she needs to be punished?”

“No. They don’t agree, you’re crazy,” she blurted out as Ben caressed her ass cheeks before dipping a finger inside her channel. He pressed up, and Anna pushed against his chest. Just as he thought, their little woman was hot and wet. He winked at his brothers’ concerned faces, indicating what he found. They seemed to understand his silent signal and moved in to assist.

“She also put herself in danger at the restaurant today,” Wyatt added as he ran his hands up her back, through to the base of her neck and hair, taking a handful to grip her, and slowly turned her head up toward him. Her chin was raised and her neck accessible as their gazes locked.