Bred by the Bushmen

Bringing the axe down on another plank of wood, it shattered in two, and it didn’t help his mood at all. Caleb was pissing him off with all of his serious man bullshit, and right now, his desire to be fucking selfish was riding him high. What was wrong with taking Opal as their own? It wasn’t like he planned on using and discarding her. She’d be their woman. Their everything.

He’d seen the pleasure on Opal’s face as she listened to the quiet sounds of the wilderness surrounding the cabin. By her own words, she was poor, which meant her life back home was nothing to covet. She probably lived in a rundown apartment building that was more suited to being demolished than refurbished.

Damon had explored the city at great length. The poor parts and the wealthy parts. Their uncle had asked them to try to involve themselves in city life, and to make a go of it.

From the start, he’d done what he’d been asked to do, and what he found hadn’t enthralled him. It had turned him off. The city was a cesspool, and he was just as eager to escape as his brother.

Caleb thought he lived in a fucking fantasy land for being hopeful. He wasn’t naïve to the evils in the world, but he chose not to dwell on them. Pushing the bullshit and pain away made life tolerable. He’d learned that once his parents died.

“Any reason you’re attacking our firewood?” Caleb asked, leaning against the porch railing.

He ignored his brother and placed another log on the tree trunk, lifted the axe, and brought it down.

Before they died, their mother would often watch their father chop wood, doing all the manly chores that living in the wilderness demanded of him. Their father taught them almost everything they knew.

“Why do you think our parents decided to live out here?” Caleb asked.

Chopping another plank of wood, he lifted the axe out, and stared at his brother. “We know they were wealthy. Money was never a problem.”

“No one would accept our mom,” Caleb said.

“What?”

“I asked our uncle that question one night, and he told me that the moment Dad saw her, he wanted her. She was some waitress or something. Our grandparents didn’t approve. They wanted someone from wealth to marry their son.”

“How did I not know this?” Damon asked.

“Did you ask?”

He shook his head. “No, I didn’t ask.” He placed the axe against the tree trunk, and sat down, not caring about the uneven surface. Damon took a deep breath, calming the beast within.

“Is this about our mom and dad, or is this about a certain woman who’s cleaning up our home?”

“I heard her in the bathroom,” Damon said, running a hand down his face.

“You heard her what?”

“I heard her touching herself. She was trying to give herself an orgasm.” He chuckled. “Well, I wouldn’t call it an orgasm. She gasped at the end but that was about it.” He shook his head. “I know you want to wait, and you don’t think she’s the one, but I’m telling you, she is.”

“I never said she’s not the one, Damon. I’ve asked you not to get your hopes up because I don’t want to see you sad. You’re my brother. My little brother. You see the world as sunshine and rainbows.”

“I know the world is a fucked-up mess, Caleb. I know our way of life isn’t understood by a lot of people. Even our uncle never understood why our parents did what they did. We do, and we know this is what we want.” He stepped up close to Caleb. “Tell me that when you look at her, you don’t imagine her pregnant with our kid. That you can’t imagine her coming apart as we touch her.”

“Damon, don’t. It’s not that simple.”

“Life isn’t simple, but this doesn’t have to be so fucking complicated. What is it with you constantly being Mr. Negative?”

“I’m trying to protect you.”

He shook his head. “You can try to protect me all you want, but I’m not going to end up lonely because of it. Don’t ruin this for us.”

Brushing past his brother, he entered their home, and went straight toward the kitchen where he found Opal sitting at the kitchen counter. She wore one of their shirts, and it looked good on her. Her pale features now had a little color in them. She smiled the instant he entered the room, and that smile, it went straight to his cock, and made him think all kinds of dirty thoughts. He wanted her, fuck the consequences.

Something told him that Opal was different from a lot of women. His brother would think he’d gone crazy, but the moment Damon saw her, he knew she was the one.

She’d been on that trip to find herself, and he knew she’d tried to end her life, or at least thought about it once. This woman was screaming for help, but no one was listening.