Tucker cocked his head again. “He’s not your fiancé?”
No, all of it. But I couldn’t say that. “We’re not engaged.”
Both men eyed me closely.
“Has he hurt you? Are you afraid of him?” Gabe asked.
He looked ready to go to Butte and beat Aaron’s face in. If he even existed. A warm feeling washed over me at his concern. Besides James, no one had defended me before.
“What? No,” I replied. “He’s… perfectly fine.”
Tucker grunted and crossed his arms over his chest. “Does your friend Theresa think her new husband is perfectly fine?”
No, of course not. She practically worshipped the man.
“It is not the same.” Theresa loved Emmett, where I… had made someone up. How could I have feelings for someone who didn’t exist?
Gabe raised one dark brow. “Oh? What does your man feel for you?”
I felt exposed, and their questions poked, as if they were prodding at a wound with a stick. Instead of facing the truth, I used defense to deflect. I straightened my spine. “Quite a personal question.”
Gabe leaned in slightly. “A man should be desperate for his woman. Mindless being with her. In her. Over her.”
I stifled a whimper with a fake cough. Over her? Oh dear lord, the man’s words had me all but melting. They were crude and forward. Bold for one of just familiar acquaintance. And, yet, I wasn’t offended. I was aroused.
“Yes, my brother is correct,” Tucker added. “Our woman would know, with absolute certainty, she was the center of our world, and we would make her every desire come true.”
Our woman. Yes, it confirmed they’d claim a woman together. Ah, how I wished it might be me.
They could do it, too. I had no doubt they could fulfill my every need, even if I didn’t know what they were. I just wanted to… feel. Feel their hands on me, their lips. I wanted to be surrounded, overwhelmed. Taken.
“You speak out of turn,” I replied, trying to sound prim when I was, instead, eager to hear more.
“Really? And where is Aaron?” Gabe asked, looking around for the man as if he were hiding behind a tree. “Has he come to visit you once since you returned?”
I shook my head. “No, he’s been busy. Besides, I’ve only been home for a few days.”
I had five more days to return with money for Mr. Grimsby.
“If you were ours, we would not allow you to venture so far. We would want you near,” Tucker said. “Very near.”
My mouth fell open, but no words escaped.
“You learned of the Bridgewater way from Laurel,” Gabe said. It wasn’t a question.
I blinked. They waited.
“Yes, you claim a woman together,” I replied, my voice soft. While those from Bridgewater didn’t go around telling everyone the men shared a bride, if it was discovered, they didn’t lie about it. Laurel had Mason and Brody as her husbands, and I knew Olivia had three. The way their men looked at them had me eager for the same from husbands of my own. And ever since I was fourteen, I’d known I wanted them to be Gabe and Tucker.
“That’s right. Tucker and I will share a bride. Think what it would be like.”
My eyes fell closed then, thinking of being married to Tucker and Gabe Landry. Stepbrothers, as different as their appearance. Having them come in the back door to wash up for supper, waking between them in the morning.
“But you are claimed by another,” Tucker said, his tone disappointed.
Another. Oh, yes, they were speaking of Aaron.
Gabe grunted, looked left and right then murmured. “Imagine what it would be like, between us. I want to kiss you, Abigail.”