Bred by the Bushmen

“You’re young,” he said. “You need a man to take care of you.”

“Is that you?” she whispered, looking up, daring him with her eyes.

“It’s me and Damon.” He stated the fact, waiting for her to protest, but she didn’t.

“How can you protect me here? Everything probably wants to kill or eat me,” she said.

Caleb shook his head. “You’d be surprised. With a little common sense, we all get along just fine. The only danger here, like the city, are people, not animals. But don’t worry your pretty head, because we’ll protect you from them, too.”

Besides the usual issues with squatters and drifters, they had relentless loggers pushing them to sell a good-sized chunk of their land on the west end. It wasn’t going to happen.

“This is fast and crazy and doesn’t make sense.” She was rambling, trying to make excuses when he knew what she wanted. Why did she have to complicate something so simple?

He braced a hand against the wall close to her head. Caleb leaned in, brushing his lips against her ear. “If you leave, you’ll destroy my brother. He thinks he’s in love.”

“Did he say that?”

“He asked you to stay, no? You refused. I’ve never seen him this broken—not since our parents were killed. He’s usually abnormally upbeat.”

“I’m sorry about your parents … and Damon. I wasn’t trying to hurt him,” she said. “I’m not going to fix anything by staying. He hardly knows me. I’m just a woman.”

“That’s all we want, baby doll. Life out here is rough, but it’s perfect. Almost perfect. We need that missing piece, a woman to share, a mother for our children.”

“And if you’d found a different woman in the woods?”

He smiled. Her insecurities were endearing. “We would have driven her to town so she could get the help she needed.”

“How am I different, Caleb?”

The sound of his name on her lips made his cock strain in his jeans. He’d been pent up for years, starting to feel like a monk rather than a man with base needs. Somewhere along the line, he’d given up hope. It was Damon who kept them together, convinced their day would come. To see him give up, his zest fizzled away, tilted everything off its axis. Caleb had to fix this for all three of them.

“I’m not one for fairy tales and such, but surely you’ve heard of love at first sight?”

She frowned, unconvinced. “Love? If I had to guess, I’d say you hated me. I hardly ever see you smile.”

He couldn’t keep his hands to himself. Caleb ran a hand through her dark hair, still slightly damp from her bath. She didn’t pull away. “Just protecting myself. No sense giving you my heart if you plan to run away.”

“And if I stayed?” She wet her lips—plump, pink lips.

“We’d take care of you, love you … pleasure you. Me and Damon have been on our own for a long time. Too long. It would mean everything to have a family again.”

****

Damon had blown off some much needed steam. Getting deep in the heart of nature always seemed to calm him. He wasn’t sure why Opal got to him on such an elemental level. He’d fucked around with women alone and with Caleb and he’d never looked back. Never cared once they parted ways. But their dark-haired beauty had gotten under his skin. Something about her called to him, demanded he claim her as his woman.

But she didn’t want him. She wanted her life back.

He took a deep breath, determined not to be an asshole for the rest of her stay. It was his father who’d taught him how to treat the opposite sex, and his mother who’d taught him to take a breather rather than speak out of passion. On days like today, the advice came in handy. It looked like the storm was picking up, and Opal would be stuck with them at least another couple days, depending on the roads.

Damon kicked the snow off his work boots and entered their cabin. Every knot in the wood, every nail, held memories. The warmth of the fire made his face tingle, the familiar scent welcoming him home. He closed the door and rubbed his arms. It was a stupid to take a run without an overcoat with the bitter chill, but his mind had been elsewhere.

When he glanced around the room, he caught sight of Caleb and Opal. His brother had her pinned to the wall by the fireplace, his hand on her hip. What the fuck?

“Something wrong?” he asked once beside his brother.

Caleb didn’t take his eyes off their guest. She looked so tiny and vulnerable next to his brother. They weren’t small men by any standard. “She doesn’t realize it yet, but I guarantee you our little dove wants to stay with us.”

It couldn’t be true. She’d made it clear she had a life in the city. Or maybe he’d been too quick to judge.