Olivia put a hand to her still flat belly. "The amount of times they took me back then—even now—you'd think it would have happened right away."
I was stunned by their easy conversation about a topic I would never have mentioned, let alone thought about, before Bridgewater.
"I became pregnant the first month," Ann admitted.
"Two months," Emma added.
All four women looked to me. "You think...I couldn't be pregnant," I sputtered
. The idea was preposterous.
All of them frowned. "They didn't claim you?" Emma asked.
I felt my cheeks heat. "Well, I mean...."
Ann held up her hand as she wiped her son's face. "You don't have to say anything, we can tell they did. And, yes, you could be pregnant. Those men of yours are most certainly virile."
I remembered the copious seed that had come from Dash's cock when he'd stroked himself to completion. Based on that and the amount that had dripped down my thighs, I had to admit the chances certainly were possible. I flushed at what we'd done.
"Don't worry, you'll be able to talk about it soon enough."
I shook my head then. "I'm not like you. I was raised to be seen but not heard, to accept whatever husband my father chose for me and then to turn a blind eye when he dallied with an opera singer."
"I lived in a boarding school in Denver from the age of seven," Laurel replied.
"I was six and the place was horrid," I admitted. "Just looking at that porridge makes me feel ill."
Ann glanced at the bowl in front of her son. "Oatmeal? I'll be sure to tell the others that they should serve you something else when we make it for breakfast."
Laurel smiled at me, but this time in a way that said she understood. "Mine wasn't terrible, they were all quite nice actually, but I pined for the day when my father would actually want me. That day came last winter, but it was not for love, but for an alliance. Needless to say that did not happen. I've learned that what you expect isn't actually what you really want."
I thought on her words as I drank some coffee, trying not to wince at the bitter taste. I found a small pitcher of cream on the table and added some, then stirred it with a spoon.
Did I really want a man who would pay me no attention and offer me no pleasure because it was appropriate? The man Father had chosen wanted me solely to beget an heir, but other than that duty, I was of no value to him. He'd have a mistress or two and would shower those women with all the carnal pleasure they desired. I, on the other hand, would have been left cold and without any knowledge of what Connor and Dash showed me in only one day. He'd have come to me in the dark and fumbled with my nightdress beneath the covers and rutted into me. I would never have known the pleasure to be found in my body, at the hands of men who were eager for me.
"Did you...did you know you were marrying two men?" I asked. I kept my eye on the spoon I stirred instead of meeting any of the women's eyes.
"I was sold to Kane and Ian in an auction at a brothel."
My eyes lifted to meet Emma's, shocked. She nodded at me as she bounced Ellie on her knee.
"I ran away from my father and an arranged marriage only to almost die in a blizzard. Brody and Mason rescued me from the snow," Laurel shared.
"My uncle shares a wife with a friend of his, but I did not know of this arrangement until my wedding night, when he married me to not one man, not two men, but three for my protection from a deranged ex-suitor," Olivia said.
"Andrew and Robert saved me from a cruel father. Unlike the others—and you—I knew I would marry both of them, but not what that really meant, that both of them would be so attentive and dominant," Ann added. "Then, I didn't care as long as they upheld their vow to never beat me."
"I...I had no idea you all had such...complicated lives as well. You all seem so happy," I said, my spoon forgotten.
"We are happy," Laurel said, her hand stroking over her swollen belly. The other three women nodded their agreement. "And in a month or so, I won't be quite so bursting with happiness."
I couldn't help but laugh with them.
"I'm just...just questioning everything they do," I admitted.
Emma rolled her eyes. "Good. Give them a hard time. They won't make it easy on you, for you have two men to please and there's only one of you."
"You may question their prowess and interest in your body, but you do not need to question their honor or their allegiance to you. You are the center of their world now, do not doubt it," Ann added.