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That was preposterous and I was sure the expression on my face showed that. "I can't have two husbands!"
"Ye are legally wed to Kane, lass, yet ye are mine as well. I am Ian Stewart." Ian's voice was deeper than Kane's, darker and had a stronger accent.
I shook my head, the tears I'd held at bay for so long now filled my eyes, spilled over to run down my cheeks. "Why? I don't understand."
"As you can tell by our accents, we are British."
"Speak for yerself," Ian muttered. "I'm a Scot."
"I...I don't want to live in England," I said, shaking my head vehemently as I did so.
"Neither do we. We might be from another country, but we are home here in the Montana Territory."
He didn't seem the type of man to deceive, so I felt a small kernel of hope that I would not be living in a foreign country. I was only married to foreigners. What an insane notion!
Kane crossed his arms over his broad chest. "We're army men. Our lives have been spent defending the realm for Queen and country. This included a stretch in the small middle eastern country of Mohamir which broadened our perspective on the treatment and ownership of women."
Mohamir? I'd never heard of it, however I was not familiar with the further reaches of geography. "Ownership?"
Ian casually tossed the jar from hand to hand as he would a snowball in winter. "A wife belongs to her husband, ye ken? He can do with her as he sees fit. Abuse her, beat her, treat her poorly. Nothing can stop him, neither law nor God can protect a woman from her husband."
I felt all color drain from my face and I stumbled back. These men were like Thomas. Mrs. Pratt promised I would not suffer the fate Ian detailed. He stepped forward and took my elbow, his grip surprisingly gentle considering his size, his grim words.
"Easy, lass," he murmured.
"Please...please don't hurt me," I whispered, my face turned away, flinching from whatever the man would do to me next. I couldn't survive two men abusing me.
Kane stepped closer and I lifted my hand to cover my face.
"Emma. Emma, lass, look at me." Ian's voice was insistent, yet his hold remained gentle. Turning my head ever so slightly, I glanced at him – them – through my lashes. Both observed me intently, their jaws clamped tightly, a cord in Ian's neck bulging.
"We will never beat ye. Never be cruel," Ian vowed. "We will value and respect ye in the ways of the East. Ye will be cherished and protected."
"By both of us," Kane added, his words solemn. "As our wife, you belon
g to us. It is our job to keep you safe, to see to your happiness, to your pleasure. Beginning now."
"By validating my virginity. You doubt me and Mrs. Pratt," I countered.
"You will find pleasure when I find that validation, I guarantee." Kane sighed, probably when he saw the skepticism on my face. "Mrs. Pratt would not have left the room if she acted falsely, but I will know the truth. We will not leave this place until I do so."
"Why?" I asked, confused. Why did he need confirmation? "We are married and there's no undoing the vows. I am your wife, virgin or not." I glanced at both men as I said the last.
"We must know if you are a virgin so when we take you the first time, we do it right."
Not knowing what he meant, I asked, "You won't take my word on the matter?"
"We don't know you," Kane countered. "And we will change that readily enough."
I retreated a step, looked up at the man to whom I now belonged, eyes wide with fear. "You...you would force me?"
Ian and Kane glanced at each other, speaking without words, it seemed. Ian looked at the glass jar in his hand, considered something, then placed it on the desk.
"I will say this again," Kane repeated. "I am your husband. Ian is your husband. You will do as we bid in all things, but I can assure you, as can Ian, there will be no need for force. You will be well satisfied before we are done."
So arrogant! "Oh? And why is that?"
"Because you will be wet and want our hands on you. I am going to sink my fingers into your cunny to find your maidenhead and you will want them there. Then I will give you your first pleasure. Are you wet now?"
