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I turned to face her. All post-coital glow was gone from her cheeks and I wanted to berate the women for that alone. Whoever they were made my wife go pale.
I could tell she was thinking, quite hard at that. “Marina and Tara are here?”
She moved toward the door.
“Wait, sweets.” He took hold of her elbow and she looked at him over her shoulder. “You’re not alone now.”
“Yes, I know, and I thank you for that. They want something. They wouldn’t be here otherwise.”
“Use your brains then. If needed, we’ll supply the brawn.”
She smiled up at him. “I’ve had a few lessons from Piper, so I might be able to hold my own.”
I groaned. “We just fucked you so we know you aren’t carrying a gun. What did our sister teach you?”
Eve raised her hand and curled it into a fist.
Knox swore under his breath and held the door open for her. “Based on what you told us about your stepsisters, feel free to punch them.”
Those were my thoughts as well.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Eve
My men’s arousal flagged when there was any mention of Piper. Now, I understood why. I was fortunate that I’d come three times already—my husbands insistent of that every time—for the thought of Marina and Tara being in Slate Springs stripped my body of any and all tender feelings. While Jed and Knox were well skilled in pleasuring me and adept at clearing my mind of every little thought, I didn’t think they’d have the prowess to eradicate the two of them.
There was no denying that two women were waiting for me at the mercantile. Two women who said they were my sisters. Who else could it be but them? And why? We made our way across town, down the main thoroughfare. With each foot closer to them, I became more and more confused. They wanted me gone from Clancy and had seen to that with careful and ruthless planning. It hadn’t been a swift decision on their part. They’d known for months, writing to the mail order bride company, purchasing the train ticket. If they wanted rid of me so desperately, why were they here now?
I was flanked by my men and felt their protectiveness. Usually, I saw it with an unruly miner or a drunk who’d stumbled from the saloon. They’d block me from the unwanted attention, even going so far as to redirect the man’s focus to Knox’s fist. That worked well for those men, but I shouldn’t need protection from two women my size, but Tara and Marina were strong and formidable opponents. What they’d done to me in the past had been impressive. Ruthless. Hell—as Knox would say—they’d been the reason I was in Slate Springs in the first place. The rest, being married to Jed and Knox, and loving it, was serendipity.
No one was sitting on the bench outside the store as we made our way down the block, but the ladies came out and turned our way, hands folded at their waist identically.
Dread filled my belly while anger filled my heart. While the sun was shining brightly and the air was quite warm, goosebumps rose on my arms at the sight of them.
“I assume by the sound you just made these are your stepsisters?” Knox asked, his voice tipped low. I hadn’t realized I’d made any noise. “You sounded like a wounded wildcat. Don’t worry, sweets. If you want to jump them, claws unfurled, we’ll have your back.”
I stopped walking and tilted my chin to look up at him. He winked at me, then chucked me under the chin. The humor of his words had me smiling, had me realizing I wasn’t walking to my doom, just to confront my stepsisters. I wanted to do nothing more than jump on Tara’s back and rip her hair out for taking over the schoolteacher job. I wanted to punch Marina in the nose for the way she’d organized a mail order groom for me. But knowing my men heartily approved the action only made it seem… funny.
“I’m sure it would be quite the sight for all the men in town.”
“They wouldn’t question if it were Piper, but you? You might want to ask why they’re here first,” Jed advised.
Sage words. Yes. Ask first, punch and rip out hair second.
“Very well.” I offered a decisive nod and took a fortifying breath.
“Eve!” Tara said, her voice grating and yet surprisingly bright. Both of them smiled and walked toward me, arms out.
I froze in place, staring at them. I’d never once seen them behave like this.
Tara reached me first, hugging me tightly. Marina nudged her out of the way for a firm embrace of her own. The heavy scent of rosewater filled the air and I winced at their rough handling. It was as if they’d never hugged before and the action was new to them. I would have agreed with that about myself, but over the past month, I’d been held by Knox and Jed with high frequency. I enjoyed the simple feel of their arms about me just as much as their more carnal attentions. Well, perhaps not quite as much.
When they stepped back, I took a moment to look at them, to study. They were both perfectly styled, however their dresses—Tara’s pale and Marina’s dark to match their coloring—were creased and travel worn. Still at the height of fashion, their wardrobe seemed as out of place in a small mountain town as they did. There gazes weren’t on me, but Jed and Knox. I knew that look, the coy fluttering of their eyelashes, the soft smiles. They wanted their attentions, to be fawned over.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, frowning. All of a sudden I felt awful, my stomach roiling at seeing them again. The rose scent was cloying.
I realized I hadn’t really had any closure with what they’d done to me. I’d had the meeting with the Clancy town council just before boarding the train for Denver. I hadn’t had time to go home, to collect any of my things besides what they’d packed in a small bag. There were no goodbyes to those I called friends.
