Their Harlot Bride (Bridgewater Brides 7)

Straightening my spine, I nodded my head. “I will marry you. Both of you.”

Clive

* * *

“Why?” I asked suspiciously before William could jump on her acceptance like the eager puppy he resembled. He was practically wagging his tail and had been since we got our first good look at Miss Sassy McCloud—not that I could blame him.

She was stunningly beautiful, the kind of beauty that turned heads and made it impossible for people to forget her. She was aware of it, too, or she wouldn’t be hiding her face. It made me wonder what else she was hiding. There had to be something. What sent a woman who looked like that this far west for a husband? Surely, she hadn’t lacked for suitors where she came from.

My cock was hard as a rock, just looking at her and imagining stripping her of those prim clothes, so we could make her scream with pleasure.

She blinked, her long lashes sweeping over her cheeks.

“That’s what I came here to do, isn’t it? Get married? If two husbands are the custom of your town, I have no objection. I would rather two husbands than none at all.”

William started to open his mouth, but I held up my hand to stop him. I could practically hear his teeth grinding in frustration, but he didn’t intervene with my questioning. We both had to agree to marry her.

“How is it a woman as beautiful as you couldn’t find a husband before now?” I asked, glaring down at her.

She paled a touch, gulping, and her gaze dropped along with her voice, which became little more than a whisper. “There… there was man…”

Fear. That’s what I heard in the tremble of her voice, and a fierce protective instinct rose inside me, batting aside both my suspicion and my arousal.

“A man you didn’t want to marry?” William asked gently, reaching out to take her hand. She hesitated but put her fingers in his, nodding.

“H-he was very angry when I rejected him. And… he is a very powerful man. H-he did not want to marry me.” She bit her plush lower lip as anger on her behalf began to rise inside my chest. “I wanted to be far enough away, he would not, could not follow. I… perhaps this was a mistake. I do not want to bring trouble to anyone else. I just want to be safe.” Sincerity rang in every word she spoke.

So, she was running from a man she didn’t want, and it sounded as though he’d made her a dishonorable offer. I relaxed, although I still wished the man in question was in front of me, so I could teach him a lesson about how to treat a woman. William and I exchanged looks.

“We’ll keep you safe,” William said reassuringly. He was better at sweet talking than me. “You’ll be completely safe as our wife.”

Sassy’s head tipped back, and she peeked at me from underneath her bonnet. I nodded firmly.

“However much power he has back east, he doesn’t have any here. You don’t have to marry us, though. We can keep you safe, regardless.”

I wasn’t going to let any woman go unprotected. William glared at me, but then his expression softened, and he nodded, squeezing her hand as he realized what I meant.

“Clive’s right. You don’t have to marry us unless you truly want to.”

“I want to,” she said hurriedly. “I-I want to be a wife. And I find you, both of you, very, um, handsome.” She blushed a very charming color of pink.

William preened at her words. I couldn’t help but straighten up a touch myself. She was attracted to us. What man wouldn’t enjoy hearing that?

“Well, then, let’s get to the church, sweetheart,” William said, lifting her hand to his lips, giving it a kiss before he bent down to take her luggage from her. She only had the one case, which he hefted easily.

Placing my hand on the small of her back, I felt a slight tremble run through her as William and I flanked her, guiding her off the platform toward the church where the preacher would be waiting.

Sassy

* * *

Please, oh please, don’t let this be a mistake.

That was the only thought running through my mind as I pledged to love, honor, and obey my husbands. Any doubts that they were jesting about both of them marrying me fled once we were standing in front of the preacher, who immediately told them both to take my hands. It was a strange custom, but perhaps a very good one for my circumstances.

Two husbands to protect me.

Two husbands to please.