Saving Emily (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read online

  Cole was so close to blowing his wad in his pants he was shaking. He’d been lusting after her for six long years and now that he was actually touching her in a sexual way, he was losing control. He shifted his hands down to her hips and ground his throbbing dick into the top of her ass and back. A tremor of arousal shot through his whole body, pre-cum leaked from the tip of his dick and his balls drew up closer to his body.

  When he felt her shiver, he wasn’t sure if it was with fear or lust. He wanted to look over her shoulder and see if her nipples were hard but if he did he just might end up fucking her on the kitchen counter. He couldn’t do that to her. She was a virgin and her first time should be special and full of romance. If he touched her any more right now, he was scared he would lose total control.

  “W–What are you doing?” She asked in a breathless voice, but he could also hear uncertainty.

  Dropping his hands from her hips, he turned from her and headed toward the door. He’d scared her and that was the last thing he’d wanted to do. He paused in the doorway without looking at her. “I’m sorry, Emily. It won’t happen again.”

  * * * *

  Emily watched as Cole hurried from the room, her heart breaking. She’d been so excited when he pressed his body against hers. And when she’d felt the hard ridge of his erect cock against the top of her ass and lower back, her pussy had clenched and started getting wet. She should have known better. Cole still thought of her as a kid and treated her like a sister. Well, maybe that wasn’t quite true. Especially after what had just happened. She was still breathing heavily and her face felt hot and was probably as red as it felt when, Adam walked in.

  He must have seen Cole as he hurried out.

  “What’s that all about?” He asked jerking a thumb in Cole’s direction.

  Emily felt her face flame even more and quickly looked away. “You’d better ask, Cole.” She headed for the back door off the kitchen and didn’t look back to see if Adam was watching her. She didn’t need to, because she could feel his eyes on her.

  As she walked, she savored the cool night air on her flushed face and breathed in the wonderful scents of animals and hay, pine and sage trees. By the time she was nearly back to the cabin, she felt a lot calmer and just hoped that Chris didn’t come back until after she’d gone to bed. She didn’t think she could stand another run-in with him tonight.

  Unfortunately, she arrived back at the cabin just as Chris was getting home and even though she wanted to run to her room and lock herself in, she was too scared to move and waited for him on the front steps.

  “Where have you been? I’ve been so worried about you.” Emily cursed under her breath. When was she going to learn to keep her mouth shut?

  Chris grabbed her by the arm, gripping it so hard she knew he was going to leave more bruises as he forcefully dragged her into the cabin, slamming the door behind him.

  “I’ve told you before, you little bitch, what I do is none of your business,” Chris snarled through clenched teeth.

  And then he shoved her so hard she tripped over and fell to the floor. She sat there and stared at him with shock and fear at the stranger her brother had become. When she looked into his eyes, there was no semblance of the wonderful, loving brother she used to know. He rushed toward her and as he moved he raised his fist into the air. Emily cried out as she curled up into a ball and covered her head with her arms and hands. She never once made a sound while her brother beat her, but tears rolled down her face and her nose started to run. She felt every blow and kick, and the pain was so intense she didn’t know how much more she could take.

  He finally stopped hitting her. The door slammed shut and when she looked up, she groaned and whimpered with pain, but sobbed with relief that he was gone. Her whole body hurt and ached but she managed to get to her hands and knees, and slowly crawled to her bedroom. She didn’t even bother trying to get her clothes off, just carefully got up onto the bed on her stomach and cried her eyes out. She managed to drift off to sleep after a few hours but each time she moved she woke in pain and started crying all over again. If she had the energy, she would have tried to find him and ask him why, but she hurt too damn much.

  She had no idea how she was going to work tomorrow but right at the moment that was the least of her worries.

  When she opened her eyes again the sun was just lighting up the sky in the east. Emily knew she should have been at the ranch house to fix Cole’s and Adam’s breakfast, but it was too painful to move.

  She heard the knock on the door but couldn’t even get out of bed to open it so she ignored it. Emily was surprised when she heard Chris answer the door. She hadn’t even heard him come back after he’d taken off.

  She heard Adam’s muffled voice through the thin wall of her bedroom.

  “Where’s Emily?”

  “She said she wasn’t feeling well last night. Something about coming down with the flu.”

  “Oh, that’s too bad. Tell her Cole and I hope she gets better soon and not to come back until at least Wednesday. She’s been looking real tired lately and the rest will do her good.”

  “Yeah, I’ll tell her. Thanks Adam.”

  Emily didn’t move when she heard Chris’s footsteps heading toward her room, nor did she look at him when he opened her bedroom door.

  “Adam said to take a couple of days off to get better. He doesn’t want to see you back at work until at least mid-week.”

  She didn’t acknowledge that her brother had spoken but waited until she heard the front door of the cabin slam as Chris left for work before she gingerly rolled over onto her back. She hurt everywhere and just hoped that her muscles wouldn’t be too stiff tomorrow. She’d never taken time off before and if she could go back to work tomorrow, she would. There was nothing else she could do.

  If she had a car and a license, she would have left by now, but she had nowhere else to go. Emily fell asleep again and didn’t wake until lunch time and after a long hot shower she felt a little better, so she caught up on some washing and then spent the rest of the afternoon in her room reading. She didn’t even get up to make Chris his dinner.

  She was back at work the next morning with breakfast on the table just as Adam and Cole entered the kitchen. They both stopped in their tracks and glared at her before moving closer to her.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” Cole asked with a frown.

  “My job,” Emily answered and held his glare with what she hoped was a stoic expression.

  “Adam told you to take until at least Wednesday off. What day is it, Emily?”

  “Don’t be obtuse, Cole. You know what day it is as well as I do. I’m fine. It was just a twenty-four hour bug. I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t feeling better.” Emily continued to hold his gaze but it was really hard since she wanted to look away. But she didn’t dare in case he figured out something was wrong. She just hoped they didn’t notice her moving more slowly than usual or that she held herself stiffly.

  Adam stepped closer to her until they were practically standing toe to toe. She had to crane her neck back to meet his eyes. He must have seen how that position made her neck ache because he placed his hands around her waist and lifted her until she could look him in the eye.

  Her back and sides were on fire and she had to bite her lip so she wouldn’t cry out.

  As she looked at him she felt like she was drowning in his amazing green eyes and she couldn’t get over how strong he was. It took incredible strength for him to lift her straight up like that without seeming to make any effort. She placed her hands on his shoulders to steady herself and hoped he couldn’t see how much she was hurting, or the desire in her eyes. It was really hard to keep her emotions hidden when all she wanted to do was tell him and Cole how much she loved them.

  “What have we told you about adhering to our rules, Emily?” Adam asked in a cool voice.

  Emily couldn’t think coherently. She couldn’t get her brain to make her mouth respond as she stared at Adam’
s lips. They looked so soft and all she wanted to do was place hers against his. He must have seen where she was looking or maybe something in her eyes had given her away because the next moment he groaned and then started kissing her.

  He didn’t coax or cajole, he plundered. He pushed his tongue into her mouth and she whimpered with need as she tasted him for the first time. He shattered her.

  She groaned and then rubbed her tongue along his, relishing his flavor savoring it on her taste buds. It was so good she wanted more. He tasted like mint, coffee, and man. He explored her whole mouth, sliding his tongue over her teeth, inner cheeks, and up to the sensitive palate.

  She couldn’t help but move in his arms when her body was on fire. When he shifted his hold from her waist to her butt, she wrapped her arms around his neck and legs around his waist and lost herself in his passionate flames.

  Emily moaned with frustration when Adam broke the kiss but she was pleased to see the hunger in his eyes and hear that he was breathing just as heavily as she was. Her response frightened her a little. His inner fire had made her feel so much and she wondered why she hadn’t gone up in smoke.

  “You are ours, baby. Mine and Cole’s. I’m just waiting for him to make the next move. When he does, there is no looking back. You won’t ever escape us, Emily.”

  She gaped at him as he slowly lowered her down his long body and she nearly gasped when she felt his hard cock against her belly. He slowly released her and she placed her hands on the counter behind her so she wouldn’t fall in a heap on the floor.

  Adam winked at her, perused her body up and down, and then he walked out without looking back.

  She was just glad that Cole had left the room for some reason and hadn’t seen Adam kissing her. Emily decided she needed to retreat before they came back to eat and hurried out the back door and toward the barn.

  Chapter Three

  She grabbed a brush from the shelf and slowly walked up to the horse she needed to groom, crooning to him softly. Emily lost herself in work and tried to push that devastating kiss from her mind. When she heard the small side door to the barn open, she didn’t look up or even acknowledge whoever had entered. She loved spending time with the animals because they never yelled at her or hurt her.

  But an hour or so later the barn doors slammed shut and Star, the stallion she was grooming, startled, rearing up. As his legs came back down, she was too slow to move out of the way and one of his front hooves slammed into her forearm. She gasped with pain and tears streamed from her eyes, but she needed to make sure the horse was calm so he wouldn’t hurt himself. She reached for his bridle with her uninjured arm and crooned to him, but before she could settle him, her injured forearm was grabbed in an agonizingly painful grip and she was being dragged from the stall.

  “What the fuck do you think you’re doing, you ungrateful little bitch?” Chris shouted.

  She was in so much pain she couldn’t even speak, so she just stared at him and then she cried out as his grip on her arm got even more brutal. In too much pain and shock, Emily couldn’t have uttered a word to her brother, not even if she’d wanted to. She saw stars as her brother’s grip on her injured arm tightened.

  “Chad told me he asked you out, again. You won’t be going out with that asshole. He’s only the fucking foreman. I warned you before about accepting dates from men. I want you to marry one of the McCade brothers. I’ve worked hard to get where we are. You’re not going to ruin my plans by going out with a lowdown ranch hand. This could all be mine…ours, one day. I won’t have your stupid ass wrecking everything.”

  Just as Emily caught movement near the tack room and she turned to see who was there, a fist slammed into the side of her face. Agony shot through her face into her jaw bone and up into her head. Her vision dimmed and then blackness consumed her.

  She had no idea how much time had passed when she woke but as she looked up at the ceiling, she knew she wasn’t in her room. A whimper escaped as pain radiated from her arm and throbbing cheek when she moved. She couldn’t hold her tears of misery at bay but since she didn’t want anyone to hear her, she buried her face into the pillow to stifle her sobs.

  When arms wrapped around her waist and lifted her, she screamed with fear. Her ass landed on rock hard thighs and she lifted her head to see who was holding her. She met Adam’s green eyes and quickly looked away when he looked angry. He started rubbing her back as he held her against his chest and even though she liked having him touch her, he was hurting her. But she would never tell him that. He didn’t know about the bruises on her back. At least she hoped he didn’t. She clenched her teeth to keep the whimpers building in her throat from forming and nearly sighed with relief when his hand stopped moving.

  “It’s okay now, baby. Don’t be scared. I won’t hurt you. No one will hurt you again,” Adam said in a soft voice, which belied the anger in his eyes. She snuggled into him and whimpered when she hurt her bruised swollen face. “Shh, shh.”

  The gentleness in his voice and his hands as he started to caress and croon to her were the catalyst that broke the dam. Turning her face into his warm, hard chest, Emily sobbed her heart out. Once she started, she couldn’t seem to stop.

  All her past grief came to a head. All the pain she had suffered from her own brother’s hands, grief over the senseless death of her parents, she cried and cried and cried. By the time her tears finally stopped, she was hiccupping and trying to regain her breath.

  Adam just held her, rubbing her back soothingly until she was so exhausted from trying to keep quiet about how he was unknowingly hurting her that she drifted off to sleep.

  * * * *

  Cole walked in the room and saw Adam cradling Emily in his lap. She was so tiny compared to his brother and him. Anger permeated his soul at seeing her injuries again. How could her brother hurt her? He didn’t understand it and probably never would. He just wished he’d moved faster and stopped that asshole from punching her in the face, but he’d been so furious he’d forgotten about the saddle he had put on the ground and had tripped over it.

  He wanted to go and hunt that fucker down and beat on him again, but he knew that wouldn’t help Emily now. He flexed his sore knuckles as he walked toward her and stared down at her swollen cheek. “How is she?”

  Adam looked like he wanted to hit something, too, and from the way he swallowed, he was just as cut up as Cole was at seeing Emily in such a state. He shook his head and then kissed the top of Emily’s head.

  Cole gently reached out and tilted Emily’s head up so he could see her face more fully. When he saw her tear-ravaged face, swollen eyes, and red, bruising, swelling cheek, he sucked in a breath and tried to get his rage under control. To see such a small, gentle woman hurting so much filled him with so much anger that it nearly consumed him. Turning on his heels, he left the room and hoped he could get his ire under control before she woke up.

  * * * *

  Adam did not want to put Emily down. He knew he should so she could sleep more comfortably, but she felt so right in his arms. So small, soft, and feminine, he didn’t want to let her go. He sat there holding her until his arms began to ache, and just as he was about to lay her back on the bed, she moved and sighed. He looked down as she looked up and he wished he could take her pain away from her. If he could have suffered instead of her, he would have gladly.

  “I’m sorry,” Emily croaked.

  “Ah, little one, you have nothing to be sorry for. None of this is your fault.” Adam kissed her temple.

  “I soaked your shirt,” Emily whispered.

  “You can soak my shirt any time, baby.” He nuzzled his nose against her neck.

  Emily finally pushed off his lap and turned to face him. She jutted her little chin up and looked at him with determination. He wished he knew what she was thinking but didn’t have to wait long.

  “I should get back to work.”

  Adam stood and raised his hand to push a strand of hair back from her face. Seeing her flinch ne
arly broke his heart. Dropping his hand to his side before he touched her was really hard, especially after the passionate kiss they had shared just that morning. “No, baby, you’re not going back to work.”

  Emily dropped her gaze but not before he saw the tears in her eyes, and when she whispered her reply pain shot through his heart for her. “I’m sorry, I’ll leave straight away.”

  She turned so quickly and staggered away from him before he could stop her. He wondered if the abrupt movement had made her dizzy. He started to go after her but saw Cole in the doorway and cringed when she smacked into his brother. From the way she gasped, that must have hurt, but he wanted to see what Cole would do, if anything. It was long overdue for him to make a move on Emily. His brother had been adamant about not touching her before she turned twenty-five but that had been a few months ago now, and he’d been chomping at the bit so they could woo her into their lives.

  Cole reached out a hand to steady her but he realized too late that she hadn’t even seen him and plowed right into him. When he saw her wince, rage consumed his brother’s eyes and he could see he was having a hard time containing his fury. Adam stepped up behind Emily, gently clasped her shoulders, and drew her back against his chest.

  She leaned her head back on him and tilted it up to look at Cole. They were so much taller than her and she looked so damn petite sandwiched between them, but Adam knew she was where she belonged. Between him and his brother. Now all they had to do was convince Emily of that.

  “I’m sorry,” Emily said quietly.

  Cole raised his gaze toward the ceiling and Adam could see how he was trying to control his anger and get his emotions back under constraint. He knew how hard that was since he’d been doing the same for the last four hours.

  “You have nothing to be sorry for, sweetheart,” Cole took her hand in his, raised it to his lips, and kissed the back of it. “Where were you going, Emily?”