My eyebrows went up. “Pleasure me? Like bring me chocolates and such frivolous things? That’s what you think I want?”
Xander stepped closer, his eyes on my mouth.
“I think you want to be fucked by two men who know what they’re doing. Who will put your pleasure, your needs first. I think you want us to take all your worries away, to make that pretty little head o
f yours forget about your troubles. By the fire in your eyes, that might just be from a good bare bottom spanking.”
My mouth fell open and my cheeks flamed at his words. “How dare you!”
“Emily, if there’s one person in all of Montana Territory who needs to submit, it’s you.”
“Submit?” My heart beat so frantically against my chest I thought it might burst free. I was breathing hard and so unbelievably riled. These men had set me all a-dither. “I submitted to Frank for two years,” I shouted. Tears blurred the men and I furiously wiped them away with my fingers. “If that’s what you expect of a wife, then I want nothing to do with you.”
“How we want you to submit is not the same thing at all, baby,” Tyler said, taking a step closer. “Giving us your troubles, your body, your trust. That’s submitting.”
“Olivia submits to her men,” Xander added.
Did she? I thought of my friend. Simon, Rhys and Cross wouldn’t hurt a hair on her head. In fact, they’d protect her with their lives. She didn’t appear cowed or belittled as a woman would who had to submit to her men.
“So do the other women,” Tyler continued. “Laurel, Emma, Rebecca. The others, too. Do you think they’re unhappy?”
They were the happiest women I knew. At the ranch, I saw the easy affection; holding hands, a brush of knuckles down a cheek, an easy kiss. I was so confused. I didn’t understand this type of submission, for I’d only known subservience and misery. I hadn’t been cherished, hadn’t felt a soft caress of Frank’s hand. He’d barely even kissed me. These men, they were offering things, expecting things from me I didn’t even understand. They were overwhelming!
“You may have submitted to your husband, Emily, but he didn’t give you what you deserved in return. We will show you how it should be. Will be. We’ll do things to your body you never even imagined. You give us what we want and we’ll give you exactly what you need.”
“By the confused look on your face, I’ll clarify,” Xander said. “We’ll fuck you. Your pussy, your mouth. Your ass. I bet your nipples are a pretty pink, tight right now inside that stiff corset. I like pinching them, tugging on them. I won’t be gentle, Emily. I can’t, but I swear you’ll love it.”
My mouth fell open at Xander’s very explicit words. My nipples were hard as he’d said. I liked the idea behind his dark words and that made me… crazy. It was madness that I was aroused by such talk.
“We’ll take you together, Emily,” Tyler added. They were surrounding me, bombarding me with mental images, thoughts so fast I couldn’t keep up. “You’ll be surrounded, overwhelmed, taken.”
“I can’t… it’s too much. You’re too much.” I turned and continued on. How could I think clearly when they were so… big? So virile. God, I wanted what they’d said. To be safely between them knowing I’d be taken care of. What would it be like to not have a care in the world, to be safe from the likes of Ralph or not legally wed to a brute like Frank? I doubted I’d have to touch myself alone in bed at night ever again if I married them.
“Do you want us to bring the wagon or do you wish to walk?” Tyler asked, still following but not too closely. I was surprised by his question, for it was completely a different topic, but I was pleased he hadn’t continued the heated line of conversation.
“Walk,” I replied. And so I did. I walked the path to the house once again, but this time I had two men behind me the whole way. They didn’t say anything further until the house came into view.
“We’ll watch you from here,” Tyler said.
I turned. They were brightly lit with the setting sun. Little crinkles were at the corners of their eyes as they squinted.
“Thank you for escorting me home.” Good manners dictated the response.
“We want to marry you, Emily. We want you to be ours. We’ll give you some time to think about it. To decide. You know where to find us, if you need anything.”
Tyler’s voice was calm, but his intent was serious.
“Lightning, Emily,” Xander said.
Tyler nodded and smiled. “Exactly. It’s just like lightning.”
I didn’t answer, just turned on my heel and walked the rest of the way to the house. I had thinking to do. Plenty of it, and I feared my thoughts would be filled with those dominant men instead of how I was going to handle Ralph.
CHAPTER FOUR
EMILY
“Don’t hide from me! I will find you and when I do, I’ll tan a stripe off your hide, then you’re going to do your wife’s duty.”