Sam was totally limp in his arms. The sign of her trust made his chest swell. He wanted to yell to the world that she belonged to him, but he wasn’t quite that stupid. Sam didn’t belong to him or his brother and she might never, not unless they could talk her into returning with them.
Darian had hoped sex would help tie her to them, but that was a double-edged sword. Every time he had her, he wanted her more and wondered how he would leave her when the time came if she refused to return to Javara with them.
He breathed in her unique earthy scent and kissed her temple. He didn’t want to let her go but felt Jace behind him. He turned his head and met his brother’s heated gaze. Jace wanted her again. So did he.
Darian straightened and tightened his grip, hugging her close, enjoying the weight of her in his arms. When Jace reached for her, he relinquished his hold. He would have her again. They both would.
But, for now, she was exhausted. A rest would do them all good.
Darian gritted his teeth as his semi-erect cock slid from her heated depths. Sam shivered as she was passed to Jace. Both men frowned.
“She needs a bath and food,” Jace declared.
Darian agreed with his brother. “We will go inside and see to her.” They hadn’t taken very good care of Sam since they’d met her and that had to change. How would she know how they would treat her unless they showed her?
His pants were around his hips so he tugged them back into place, not bothering to tie them. He didn’t expect to have them on for long. Maybe Sam had a tub big enough for two or even three. He quickly squelched that idea. Sam needed a break from sex, at least long enough for her to get cleaned up, rested and fed.
But the night would be long and he and Jace would be more than ready to pleasure Sam again and again.
Sam slowly slid from bed, not an easy task when she was sandwiched between two very large men. Both Jace and Darian were sound asleep and so had been she until moments ago. Now she was awake and her mind wouldn’t stop working.
She carefully plucked her robe from the back of her closet door and pulled it on as she crept down the stairs to the kitchen. The room was dark, but she knew her way around. She opened the cupboard and pulled down a glass and a dark bottle.
Whiskey wasn’t normally her drink of choice, but tonight she was making an exception. She poured two fingers into the glass and lifted it to her lips, sipping the strong, mellow liquor. It warmed her throat and belly but did little to stop the manic thoughts charging around her brain.
The room still smelled of slightly burnt toast and eggs. A faint smile touched her lips as she recalled the brothers’ adventure in her kitchen. They’d been determined to feed her and, once they’d gotten the hang of the stove, they hadn’t done half bad. Darian had enjoyed himself playing with the toaster and they’d ended up with an entire loaf of bread browned. Bacon, eggs, toast and some frozen hash browns had filled the hole in her belly, but it had done little to quell the ache in her heart.
She recapped the whiskey bottle and put it away before heading to her father’s study. Her muscles ached and her body hurt in places it never had before. After a hot bath and supper, Jace and Darian had led her upstairs and proceed to make love to her again.
After the hot tussle in the barn she’d been expecting more of the same. They were all aware that time was running out on them. Instead, they’d surprised her. With a man on either side of her, they’d licked and touched, kissed and stroked every inch of her body from her toes to the top of her head. Her skin tingled at the mere thought. She’d felt like a gourmet dinner spread before two food connoisseurs.
Then they’d made love to her. Yes, made love. It had been more than just sex. The way they’d touched her and the way she’d responded to them had been infused with a deep emotional connection that went beyond the physical. They hadn’t talked about their feelings, but she’d come to know the brothers well enough to know they were in this as deep as she was.
Sam took another drink, needing the burn to focus her thoughts. It would be too easy to lose herself in the physicality of their relationship and allow time to run out. But she was no coward. This was her decision to make, one way or the other.
She sat at her father’s desk, feeling closer to him here than she did anywhere else in the house. The land was where she felt him the most, but this was second best.
She set her glass down on the battered wooden desk that had served several generations of Calloways. Moonlight gave the room a glow, but not quite enough for her to see. The brass desk lamp sat where it always had so she had no trouble finding it. The click seemed loud in the room and the light bright. Sam blinked several times until her vision adjusted.
Several journals sat on the desk and she opened one, staring at the numbers. She closed it just as quickly, knowing the bottom line already. Sam stood and went to the family picture on the wall. She lifted it off its hook and revealed the safe beneath. The combination hadn’t changed since she was a kid. She put in her father’s birthdate, then her mother’s, then her brother’s and finally hers. “Twelve, thirty, seventeen, twenty-two,” she muttered as she spun the dial.
The handle turned easily and she opened the safe, pulling out the documents she wanted before closing it and returning the picture to its original spot. Sam sat back at the desk, took another drink and unfolded the papers. She stared at them for at least ten minutes before picking up a pen and drawing a fresh piece of paper to her. There had to be a way to make things work.
She thought and wrote and thought some more. Finally, she gave up, folding all the documents together and placed them on the corner of the desk. Tim’s phone was still in the kitchen. She hadn’t planned on using it, especially not so late at night, but she had to talk to someone not involved in the situation.
Sam turned off the light, grabbed her drink and padded silently back to the kitchen. She turned on the light above the stove and picked up the phone from the table, dialing before she talked herself out of it.
It rang twice before it was answered by a gruff male voice. “Sam? You okay, little girl?”
Tears pricked her eyes. How she loved Tim and Mary. They were like second parents to her. Sam lowered herself to one of the kitchen chairs, the phone clenched tight in her hands. “Hey, Tim.”
She heard rustling and knew he was getting out of bed. “What happened?”
She’d worried him for no reason and guilt filled her. “Nothing happened. I just can’t sleep. I don’t know what to do.”
Tim sighed. “Just the fact that you’re thinking about it at all means you have feelings for those fellas.” Tim gave a gruff laugh. “I still can’t wrap my head around that one. Neither could Mary when I told her. Let me tell you, it took some doing to keep her away from your place. She wanted to march right over and check them both out.”
Sam chuckled. She could easily imagine big Tim having a hard time corralling his tiny wife. “I’m surprised you won.”
“Well.” Tim paused for a moment. “I pointed out that you might be busy, so to speak.”
Sam felt her cheeks turning red. Tim and Mary would have definitely gotten an eyeful if they’d turned up after supper. “Yeah, that was probably for the best.”
Tim cleared his throat. “So what’s on your mind?”
She pulled one foot up onto her chair. “I love this farm, this land. It’s my home.”
“But?” he prompted.
“I might lose it. Not now, but maybe a year or two down the road.” She picked at a loose thread on her robe. “But how can I let it go without a fight? It would be cowardly to walk away from the farm, from my family.”
She could almost hear Tim thinking through the silence on the other end. Finally he spoke. “Well, like I said earlier, one of them boys could stay with you.”
Sam shook her head. “No, Tim. That’s not right. Their mother would be heartbroken and they have so many people depending on them.”
“It’s their choice,” Tim pointed out. “How long do you have?”
“One full day and another night. Then it’s anyone’s guess if the tapestry will even reappear.”
“Take tomorrow to think about things. Show the boys around and let them see your land. I assume they showed you around their home?”
“Yeah.” Not quite as much as she would have liked, but she’d seen the stables, the fields and the people living in and around the small castle. She’d hung back, determined to return home and hadn’t given any of them the chance to really meet her. Now it was too late.
“There you go. Let them work with you and see how you feel tomorrow night. Why don’t you all come over for dinner?”
“I’m going to take a rain check on that, Tim. I think we need to be alone to figure this out.”
“Good enough. But, Sam, call any time you want. And remember, I love you.”
Sam wished he was close enough to hug. “Love you too.”
“I’ll see you day after tomorrow. Early. Whatever happens, I’m gonna be there.”
“Okay. Thanks, Tim.” She ended the call and put the phone back on the table. Sighing, Sam downed the last of the whiskey before she pushed away from the table. She placed the empty glass in the sink and turned off the light before heading back to bed.
Sam paused in the doorway of her bedroom, studying the two men who currently occupied it. Thank the heavens she had a king-size bed, but even with that it was a tight squeeze. She removed her robe and quietly climbed between Jace and Darian. Sighing, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Beside her, Jace lay still as a stone. He’d awoken the moment Sam climbed out of bed and it had taken all his self-control not to go after her. Darian was wide-awake too. Neither of them had spoken, but Jace knew his brother was as worried as he was. Two days were almost over. Tomorrow was their final full day together.
He had to go home to Hunter Keep. Too many people depended on him and then there was his mother. He couldn’t leave her alone.
But Darian could stay if he wanted. Jace swallowed hard as emotion threatened to choke him. How would he lived without his brother and Sam?
A heavy hand fell on top of his and he clasped his brother’s hand, knowing Darian was thinking about tomorrow as well. Jace sighed and released his brother and wrapped his arm around Sam.
All he could do was try to change her mind. Although the longer he spent with her here in her home, the less likely that possibility became.