Protecting Bethany Read online

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  They were waiting for her, three horses saddled and ready to go. Both were leaning against the fence, watching some of the horses lazing the day away in the paddock, their backs to her approach. Their hats were tipped back and they each had a booted foot up on the railing. The looked just like ranchers in their ass-hugging jeans and soft cotton shirts.

  Cornelius, the big stallion that Brendan rode whenever he was home, flicked an ear at her approach. He shot her a disdainful look, typical of the temperamental and high strung beast. Pattycake and Pumpkin didn’t even give her a look, just kept on scrounging through the grass by the fence line.

  With the large basket in her hands she looked up when she heard Cornelius and smiled. “Hey guys. I had thought I was going to ride out and meet the two of you?” She passed the wicker basket off to Brendan and looked to Connor. “Are you okay?” she asked with a frown. “Or did you just get done early?”

  “We got done early,” he said with a smile to her. “Even with big brother trying to staple me to a fence.”

  “That was your own fault, at least it was only your shirt and not your thumb.”

  “Oh god, not the thumb again,” Connor groaned. She knew that when they’d been teens Connor had gotten distracted and put three of the large staples they used to secure the barbed wire to the posts, through Brendan’s thumb. Brendan still had the scars and only because he’d reacted instinctively and jerked back after the shock had worn off.

  “Dude, I had to get a fucking tetanus shot! You know how I feel about needles,” Brendan muttered, poking into the basket.

  Bethany snickered. “Oh god I recall that. You were hell to deal with. Patty was beside herself. She was just as creeped out with needles as you were and when you got that shot that’s when she decided that being a nurse wasn’t for her.” She walked to Pumpkin and ran her hand down her neck. “Hey there, Pumpkin. I’m glad they got you out for me today. You and I have always gotten along.” She looked to Connor and then Brendan. “I need the stool please. Even though she’s far smaller than your horses I’m also a short munchkin remember? I need the stool please.”

  “You’re not short, you’re petite,” Connor told her. Moving to her side he put his hands around her waist and shot her a look. “You’d better be ready.” That was all the warning she got before he lifted her up. She had to throw her leg over the saddle quickly or fall right back down. He would have caught her, she knew that, but instinct and survival kicked in and had her clutching at the pommel.

  Brendan, basket still in hand, stepped up into the stirrup and swung the other leg over Cornelius’s back with ease. Settling in he picked up the reins in one hand and turned his stallion so he didn’t get the bright idea to nip at Pumpkin while Connor was adjusting the length of her stirrups.

  When Connor finally had her stirrups settled correctly she looked at him. Before she could even filter her words she answered his earlier statement about being ready. “I think that I’ve been ready for years. This is long past due in my opinion.”

  He just stared at her blankly, obviously not getting her meaning. Brendan laughed softly. “Just get on the horse, Connor. You’ll find out what’s going on soon enough.” He moved Cornelius sideways and looked to her. “Ladies first, Bethany. Lead us wherever you want to have this chat.”

  “I thought that we were going to the watering hole? That would be best. It’s nice and shaded, it’s out of the way and no one really goes there if they see others are down there.” It was secluded so that they could have their chat. She clicked her tongue and got Pumpkin on the move, riding a horse coming second nature to her as she moved along with them flanking her.

  “Like I said, lady’s choice,” he looked over at her. “But that’s probably best. At least for this discussion. And we’ll leave the horses up the trail a bit so when Connor clues in and hits the dirt we don’t have them spooked.”

  “That sounds like a good plan.” Bethany did smile however and shook her head. “I don’t know if he will hit the ground but we will see. We will figure this all out, eventually. Right?” She hoped so at least. She wanted and needed for this to somehow work out between the threesome.

  He eased Cornelius closer and leaned over to bump shoulders with her. A daring move on an animal as temperamental as he was riding. But he made it look easy. “We’ll figure out everything. As long as we do it together, we can overcome anything we set our minds to, Bethany.”

  “I hope that you are right.” Beth looked shyly up at Brendan and sighed. “Especially after I tell you what I have to tell you. I really hope that you are right and you both don’t hate me for the last couple years that have been forced upon me.”

  He looked at her with a frown. “Bethany, I could never hate you. Hate the effect you have had on my body and forcing me to many a cold shower, absolutely. But never hate you for anything else. So stop getting so worked up about it, all right. I promise you, nothing you could tell us would ever make us hate you.”

  “I am going to trust you,” Bethany whispered with a smile. “Enough of that for now. Let’s enjoy this lazy walk to the watering hole for now. Oh, and what time are you supposed to be back to help Blake? So that we have a time window that we need to stay inside of.”

  He checked his watch and then looked to her. “We have to be back by three. So you have us for two and a half hours from now,” he told her quietly. “We have plenty of time, Bethany. You just tell us what you need to tell us and let us worry about the rest.”

  “Sounds good. I am going to hold you to that,” she said with a smile and goaded her horse into going just a little faster. She didn’t want an all-out run, but she wanted more than the very slow walk that Pumpkin seemed to be eased into at the moment.

  Both the brothers stayed right with her. Though she did note that Cornelius kept trying to get hold of the bit. Brendan kept the wily animal from getting it and still looked like he was just lounging in the saddle.

  “So, you going to tell me what you two have been whispering about?” Connor asked on her other side, his voice low.

  “Not yet,” Bethany said with a smile. When they got to the watering hole Bethany waited in the saddle, the knowledge that Connor would come and help her in her mind. When he walked to her with his long legged stride she licked her lips. Goodness he was a handsome man. His burnished red-brown hair glinting in the sun from where it escaped his Stetson. It was very nice and begged to be touched.

  When he held his arms up for her she slipped down into his arms and smiled when he pulled her out of the saddle. “Hi,” was all that she could think to say in that moment. She was nearly face to face with him, her heart pounding and god help her need thrumming through her veins. She wanted him to kiss her. Lord help her but she needed him, both men.

  Holding her to him he let her slide down, slowly. “Hi yourself,” he said, a crooked grin on his face. He lifted a hand to her cheek and brushed back some of the hair that had escaped the messy knot she’d made. “You okay?” he asked softly.

  “Very.” She leaned into him. Her hand on his chest and the other still holding her horse’s reins. She licked her lips, her eyes turned up to him and for several minutes she just stood there. Finally however she pulled back. “We need to talk. Let’s spread the blanket out and have lunch and then talk?” That way they would at least eat before leaving her.

  Nodding he rubbed his thumb to her cheek. “I’ll get the horses settled and join you momentarily. Go ahead and get settled, I won’t be long.” Giving her a kiss to her cheek he winked and stepped back.

  “Sounds good,” she whispered. Turning around she grabbed the blanket to spread it out for their lunch. Unpacking the basket she put the covers for the plates aside. Grabbing out the bottles of icy cold water she waited for the brothers to join her.

  “Hey.” Connor crouched next to her. Rubbing a hand over her back he looked at her. “You okay, Bethany? ’Cause I have to tell you, darling, you are not looking it right now.” Settling do
wn next to her he took her hand in his and squeezed her fingers gently.

  “I’m okay. I will be better after we have eaten and had our talk.” She didn’t let his hand go however, she looked up at him and smiled. “It’s going to be okay. I’m sure of that. It’s just that what I have to say isn’t the best of things and I know the two of you far too well.” It would either be they hated her or they would want to hunt down her ex as well as her father and kill them both. Which, she wasn’t too opposed to oddly enough.

  “Hm, yes, that could cause some issues I’m sure,” he said, making a face. “Though, you could just pretend that summer when I was sixteen didn’t happen. I’d be ever so grateful actually. And if we never, ever, ever spoke of it again, I’d be even happier.”

  A laugh behind her announced Brendan’s arrival. He settled down on her other side and shot his brother a look. “I have photographic proof of your idiocy that summer that will forever exist. Especially since I had it all put on disc not that long ago.”

  Laughter bubbled up inside of her and Beth found herself shaking her head. “Eat,” she commanded sternly and pulled her food closer to her. Looking to her left and then right she shook her head. “Come on boys, eat up. The sooner our meal is over and cleaned up the sooner we can all talk about everything.”

  “Yes ma’am,” they each said. Picking up their plates they dug into the meal enthusiastically. Not that either had ever been really picky eaters. Of course, she may have brought out some of their favorites to sweeten the whole deal. Maybe.

  Chapter Six

  She had tried to come up with a way to start this conversation while they ate, but it didn’t come to her. There was no ray of sunshine that held the power of knowledge in it that hit her. Instead she fiddled with her food and ate simply because it was there before her. Finally though she was sure she had come up with a way to broach the topic at hand.

  “I kissed Brendan last night,” she blurted. “I made a confession to him that is like crazy overdue.” She looked to Connor as she spoke. “I’ve had deep feelings for the two of you my whole life. Not just oh you’re my bestie’s brothers but, you are a part of my soul kind of feelings.” She swallowed. “I need you both in my life as more than we are now. I would love to have what Patty has with Corbin and Blake, but with the two of you. If that would be possible? If you might maybe possibly feel something for me?” she asked more than anything, the worry was there and clear in her words, the fear that Connor would walk away from her.

  Connor looked to his brother and then back to her. Setting his plate aside he took hers from her hands and set it out of the way as well. Then he tugged on her hands until she shifted around to face him. Leaning in he cupped her cheeks and looked into her eyes. “Anything we put our minds to is possible, Bethany. As to what I feel for you,” he said with a slow smile. “I don’t think I have a big enough vocabulary to truly do justice to the feelings I have, sweetheart. Is this what all this was about?” he asked softly.

  “Part of it,” Beth said as she moved in closer to Connor, her cheek rubbing against his before she gave him a hug. Pulling back from him was miserable, but she did it all the same because she had to. “Now on to the hard part.” For this part she took a seat between them, but now facing them. She shook her head when Brendan went to object. “I need to see your faces, I need to tell you this like this so that I don’t lose my courage. You are both worth so much more than I could ever express. To me the two of you are utterly amazing,” she whispered honestly.

  Taking a deep breath she began. Bethany didn’t leave anything out in telling these two the story as she had told their father. When she finished she felt depleted and empty. “So the last thing that I was told before Mark and Anthony came to rescue me with their team was that the marriage wasn’t legal and that when I actually do legally marry the Mason-Dixon comes to me and every single dime in the accounts as well as the accounts that my grandfather hid from my father come to me and my husband. He will lose everything, utterly everything, and I want that to happen. It will happen without marriage too, I will just have to give it until my thirty-second birthday which I’m fine with.” If she lived that long. “So yeah. That’s why I needed alone time with you both.” And now she had to wait for their judgment.

  They both were sitting there with slightly stunned looks on their faces. No judgment, yet, just looked a little shell shocked. She let them take the time to think in peace even though she was nervous.

  Brendan seemed to come out of the stupor first and frowned. No, that wasn’t quite right, it was more of a glower. “I’m going to kill them both,” he muttered, sounding sincerely pissed off.

  “Fuck that shit, I’ll kill them off and then you get my ass off of all potential charges,” Connor said. He grabbed her hand and lifted it to his lips where he pressed a kiss to her knuckles. “You should have come to us sooner, sweetheart. You have to know we’d never have turned you away. Even if we weren’t both completely and hopelessly in love with you, we still would have helped you.”

  “I couldn’t. I was literally his prisoner,” she whispered and felt such intense and incredible relief that she felt lightheaded. “It was just by chance that I saw my grandfather’s attorney at the market and the husband was busy trying to chat up some unknown woman. That was the only way that I was able to get away. If not for those chance happenings I would still be there. That’s why I had the disguise. We all know how small this county truly is and the moment he learns that I’m here, he will do everything possible to get me back. He wants the money and the Mason-Dixon and I refuse to let him have either. I would rather give them all away than him having them.” Which was the cold hard truth. “And you can’t kill them. I can’t lose either of you, not now that I finally have you. It would destroy me.”

  “Let them try it,” Brendan said. His voice was so hard she shot him a look. His face could have been set in granite. “They come here and then they are on our turf. And no one hurts those we love and lives. Besides”—he smiled slowly, the smile of a predator—“accidents do happen and, while unfortunate, this is a very dangerous landscape we call home.”

  Connor nodded and punched Brendan’s shoulder lightly. “That’s better, I was wondering if you still had that vicious streak or not. Good to know the city hasn’t totally softened you up.”

  “So that’s all that I had to say.” Bethany shrugged and watched both men. “I was sure your daddy was going to ask me to leave. With all the crap that went down with Patty and all. I was sure that he wouldn’t want anything coming here that could possibly do her harm but this was the safest place I could think of going to. I knew that if I ran he would somehow find me and drag me back, but here I felt safer. Felt as if I could hide and no one would be the wiser.” Boy was she wrong. But it was okay, she was coming clean with them now.

  Brendan took her other hand and gave it a squeeze. “You did the right thing coming here, Bethany. Thank you for telling us everything but, like I told you before, nothing you could ever say would change what we feel for you. I just hope you understand that now.”

  She hoped that he was right. “I needed to tell you both everything before we even thought about doing anything. It was important to me to ensure that you both knew everything. I want and I need you both in my life. I want to have a loving and lifetime relationship with you both. Do you think that will be possible?”

  She watched as the brothers shared a look and something more. Like most siblings they had a way of communicating silently. Damned annoying to outsiders who didn’t get their own private little code. Connor looked to her with a smile. “Of course it’s possible. I told you, darling, anything is possible. Especially when you have us on your side. Now, come here.” He tugged on her hands. “And give me a hug damn it.”

  She didn’t hesitate for even a moment. Bethany moved quickly and launched herself into Connor’s arms, knowing that he would catch her and not let either of them fall backward. She hugged him tightly, her nose pressed to his neck
and simply breathing in the clean and fresh scent that was all Connor. Wild and leather, it was an amazing combination.

  He wrapped her up tight in his arms and rubbed her back gently. Rocking her ever so slightly he got her straddling his lap. It allowed her to wrap his legs around her waist. “It’s okay, babe. We’re not going anywhere for a damned long time.”

  “That’s a very good thing,” Bethany whispered against the side of his neck. She held onto him and closed her eyes. She breathed in the scent that was all man and let the heat of him wrap her in his safety. She was home, finally she was home.

  He squeezed her tighter and just held her.

  * * * *

  After they’d all had a round of hugs they’d ditched their clothing and had a quick swim. They’d made it quick because they didn’t have a lot of time and also because the water had been a mite chilly. Not that they’d really noticed once they’d started goofing around, but then other issues had come up. And since they’d all agreed that a hard rock wasn’t the place to start their relationship, they’d gotten out and dressed.

  With the brothers having to help with the new horses coming in they wouldn’t have had a lot of time. Something that both men really hadn’t been thrilled about either. They had told her, rather graphically, that they intended to spend a lot of time getting to know her intimately. Which had made for an interesting ride back to the house. The steady rhythm of her horse, Pumpkin, hadn’t helped cool her need any.

  When they finally made it back to the ranch Bethany was more than a little needy, and she was ready to take a strip from Blake’s hide just as her men were. They still had a great deal that they all needed to come to terms with, one thing that they all agreed upon however was that waiting to cement the bond that they all would share wasn’t one.