Battered Not Broken (10 page)

Conner’s hips thrust his cock further into
her mouth, and she swallowed convulsively around him as the head
nudged the back of her throat. She wanted it all, wanted him all.
The wind whipped and whirled around them, sprinkling snow over
their bodies, but her thoughts and actions were focused on giving
him pleasure.

Resting her hands on his hips, she inhaled,
savoring the musky scent of arousal and sex emanating from Conner,
and unable to help herself, moaned again. Increasing her suction,
she milked his cock with her mouth, begging…no, demanding from him
his release. In her mind she imagined him filling her mouth with
the salty-sweet tang of his very essence, and she craved it; wanted
to swallow every drop he’d give.

Her mouth stroked his staff as she teased and
tempted his orgasm from him. She had a feeling he’d come soon—his
moans came more frequently, as did his gasps. Gillian upped her
tempo, sliding her lips and tongue over his saliva-slicked shaft,
doing all she could to coax his warm seed to be released.

She sought out every vein and ridge of his
erection, flicking over and over the places she found to be most
tender and cause the greatest reaction. If he sucked in a breath,
she flicked. If he groaned, she licked. And if he swore her name,
she sucked the spot, aching to hear him scream again.

Her ministrations were soon rewarded, the
combination of licking, flicking and sucking pushing him over the
edge. His body tightened beneath her hands, hips jerking as he
roared her name, his cock pulsing to life within the deep recesses
of her mouth. Searing hot seed burst from the tip of his cock,
filling her mouth as she’d hoped. The salty, musky taste of
Conner’s very essence seeped into her, sliding down her throat as
she swallowed around him, savoring every drop her gifted her.

Releasing Conner’s deflating shaft with a
soft pop, she slid his underwear back in place before folding the
flaps of his jeans over him, placing a soft kiss on the
material.

Sitting back on her heels, more than
satisfied with her performance, she accepted Conner’s soft, sweet
kisses he rained on her face, neck and lips. Pressing his face to
her neck, sliding her fingers through his midnight locks, she
wasn’t expecting a large, dark moving object near the tree line to
catch her eye. As it trudged through the falling snow, her interest
piqued and she kept her eyes trained on the object. It slowly came
into focus as it stepped out of the shadows and into the clearing.
Gillian’s heart froze and breath caught—a bear.

The trudge from her and Conner’s “mountain”
back to the cabin took longer than Gillian would have liked. True
to form, Conner wouldn’t let her walk and insisted on carrying her
the entire way. He didn’t seem concerned by the bear’s appearance
and had only increased his pace at her urging. While Gillian
trusted Conner to know how to get back to the cabin, she kept her
eyes peeled for any sign of the great big bear following them,
waiting for its chance to pounce. Convinced the animal lurked in
the shadows and behind every tree, her heart didn’t calm until
Conner placed her on the cabin’s back porch.

When the back door opened, revealing Max, she
dashed past him into the house, anxious to wrap herself in the
protection the cabin offered.

“Shut the door, Max! There’s a bear!”

He seemed as unconcerned as Conner, closing
the door with a soft click as he stared at her, brow furrowed. “A
bear?”

“Where’s Ronan?” Conner looked around the
room, causing Gillian to do the same.

“Um, out?” Max replied, not looking at either
of them, but finding something on the floor very interesting.

Oh, God.
Ronan had gone outside…with
the bear!

“Do you two have guns? You should go get guns
and save Ronan from the bear.” When neither of the men moved, she
urged them further. “Go! Ronan’s your brother and he’s in trouble
and…”

“Oh. Who’s in trouble dear?” A short, rotund
woman with cinnamon skin and deep black hair stepped from the
kitchen, dishcloth in hand. “Are you boys scaring this dear
child?”

Conner’s exclamation of “Mom!” was drowned
out by Max’s reassurance of “No, Mom”.
Mom.
Good Lord, now
she was meeting their mother. The slut-of-the-universe in the same
room as the mother of the men who’d turned her into said slut.
Lord, strike her down now and make it quick.

Shocked speechless, she let Conner mumble
introductions. When their mother, who she now knew as Ethel,
embraced her, she distractedly patted the woman’s back as she shot
panicked looks at Conner and Max of her shoulder. Couldn’t they do
something? Why had they not told her their mother was coming to
visit? Not that she truly had any place with them other than a
woman who liked to give and receive oral sex, but…damn it! Somebody
should have said
something!

Clearing his throat, Conner spoke up after
introductions had been made. “Um,
Mom,
this is a surprise.”
He shoved his hands in his pockets, reminding her of a small child
who’d been caught doing something they shouldn’t. “You didn’t call
or anything. What brings you here? I assume you brought Dad?”

Ethel, with one arm slung around Gillian’s
waist, turned back toward the kitchen, dragging her along. “I had a
dream that my boys needed me, so here I am. Why don’t you two leave
us ladies to dinner and go help Father and Dad with Gillian’s car?
I heard Father cursing up a storm, and I could hear Dad laughing
like a damned hyena.”

Gillian gave Conner and Max a pleading look,
but both men shrugged their shoulders as if powerless against the
vibrant storm that was Ethel.

At least Max tried. “Um, Mom, we can
introduce Gilly to…”

“Nonsense. You boys go on outside and let
everyone know dinner will be ready shortly. Gilly and I have some
talking to do and its best done without the ‘men’ of the family
hanging around. Now, out with the two of you.”

No. Not out. Please not out.
Maybe
Gillian was the only one who remembered the bear lurking in the
snow. Bears were big and strong with massive teeth, which could rip
a person to shreds. Why weren’t they afraid?

“Um, what about the bear, Mrs. Bearclaw?”

Ethel patted her arm. “Now, don’t you worry
about the bear. The bear wouldn’t
dare
come near the house,
or I’ll have something to say about it. Didn’t I tell you to call
me Ethel, dear?”

Ethel’s kind blue eyes, so similar to Max’s,
met hers and Gillian felt some of her tension flow from her body—as
if a simple look from their mother could ease her fears and calm
her.

Conner tried one last time to get Gillian out
of the situation she found herself in. “Mom, we can…”

“It’s okay, Conner,” she stopped his plea
before he could finish. Maybe getting to know the woman who had
raised the three men she’d been spending time with would be a good
thing. “I’ll be fine, and if your mom says you’ll be safe outside,
then I guess you will. But, please be careful.”

“You sure, poppet?” She wanted to run and
jump into his arms and shower him with kisses. His nickname for her
gave Gillian the deep down warm-fuzzies like nothing else.

“I’m sure.” Smiling, she walked with Ethel
into the kitchen, leaving two of her three men standing in the
hallway.

Settling at the kitchen table, she watched
Ethel check the pots on the stove, adding pinches of this and that
to several of them before she sat across from her. Just as Ethel
opened her mouth to speak, Ronan stomped through the back door.
Ethel stood so fast, her chair nearly toppled backwards.

“Ronan!” Swiveling in her chair, Gillian was
surprised to see Ronan frozen in the doorway, half naked and pale
as new fallen snow. “Ronan Bearclaw, so help me. If you were
smaller I’d take you over my knee.” Ethel stomped her foot.
“Gillian said there was a
bear
outside. You wouldn’t know
anything about that, would you? Didn’t run into any
bears
by
chance?”

Ronan swallowed, Adam’s apple bobbing. “No,
ma’am.”

“Hmph. Go get dressed, young man, and then
help Pop chop some firewood.” Ronan moved like lightning, dashing
down the hallway as if the bear were on his heels. “And I better
not hear of any ‘bear’ sightings, that clear?” Ethel yelled after
him.

A muffled “Yes, ma’am” drifted back to them
and Ethel plopped back into her chair.

Gillian’s head spun with everything she’d
heard. From the sounds of it, Ethel had arrived with three other
people, but she couldn’t determine who they were, not really.

“Now then, where were we? Have to get the
‘woman’s talk’ out of the way before the boys and their fathers get
back or we’ll never have a chance to talk.” The way Ethel spoke of
her family, the warm smile and loving expression, showed Gillian
she cared for the brother’s and their…wait.

“Did you say fathers? As in plural? More than
one?” She’d grown up being taught not to ask such personal
questions, but she was pretty sure Ethel had said
fathers.

“Why, yes, dear. That’s what I wanted to tell
you about before they came stomping through the house. I’m sure the
boys haven’t told you about our family’s history, or you’d be on
your honeymoon by now.”

Gillian’s head spun. “Wait. Start at the
beginning.”

Ethel reached across the table, covering
Gillian’s folded hands with her own. “Dear, let me start by saying
that what you’re feeling for my boys is natural. I could see it in
the way my Conner carried you, the way Max stared out the window
waiting for your return and the way Ronan turned into a bear…of a
man without you. My husbands feel the same way for me, and I
imagine my feelings for them are similar to what you’re feeling for
Conner, Max and Ronan right about now.”

Gillian shook her head, unwilling to admit
her feelings for the brothers to anyone. She still hadn’t accepted
them herself. Good women didn’t go around fantasizing about having
three men at once. They just didn’t.

“It’s hard to accept at first, I admit.
Society doesn’t look upon our relationship as a normal one, but in
our tribe, it’s as normal as a man marrying a woman. When identical
twins or triplets are born, they are each part of the same soul.
Our tribe believes that in order for the men, or women to be happy,
they must find their true soul mate.” Ethel shrugged slightly, “But
how can identical siblings who share a soul find their soul mates
when part of their own being is so intimately connected to their
brother or sister? We believe that in order for them to be happy,
the brothers must stay together and search for the one person who
can complete and compliment them all.”

Gillian’s mouth went dry, her tongue sticking
to the roof of her mouth. “You’re saying…you’re saying I’m
their…”

“I believe you are, and I couldn’t be
happier. I have a feeling they believe you are as well, but they’re
afraid. But I didn’t tell you this to frighten or burden you, dear.
I just wanted to prepare you for the three hulking men who look a
lot like the boys and will be joining us shortly. My sons won’t
rush you into anything; their fathers and I raised them better. But
I also won’t hide my love for my husbands, and I didn’t want our
behavior to shock you.”

Tears burned Gillian’s eyes. Their mother
thought she was their soul mate and couldn’t be happier. With a few
chosen words and squeeze of Gillian’s hands, Ethel had eased her
fears about being in what society would deem a “perverted”
relationship. Not holding them back, the salty fluid leaked from
her eyes, streaming down her cheeks. Gillian wiped them away,
drying her hands on her jeans.

Ethel clicked her tongue. “None of that,
dear, none of that. No crying in heart-to-hearts. Dinner’s about
ready, and we’ll have six hungry men descending on us in any
second. Why don’t you pop into the bathroom and wash up?”

With a nod, Gillian rose on shaky legs. Not
questioning her need, she shuffled around the table to stand
face-to-face with Ethel and enveloped the older woman in a tight
hug. “Thank you.”

“Oh no, dear. Thank
you.
You’re
perfect for my baby boys and they’ve been looking for you for so
long. I meant what I said, you shouldn’t allow yourself to be
rushed, but I know the four of you will be very happy
together.”

Gillian had a feeling their mother was right.
Pulling out of the hug with a sheepish smile, she padded down the
hallway and into the bathroom, anxious to dash warm water on her
face and clean up any remaining blood from the scratch on her head.
She didn’t think much remained, Max hadn’t even seemed to notice
the cut, but she didn’t want to take any chances.

Running warm water in the sink, she splashed
it over her face, wiping at the last remnants of blood along her
hairline. With any luck, the other two wouldn’t notice. Turning off
the water and drying her face, she bent at the waist and crossed
her arms before laying them on the cool counter top. Propping her
chin on her arms, she closed her eyes, her mind rolling with the
information Ethel had shared.

Three men and one woman? Wow, apparently in
their tribe, such a relationship was viewed as normal. Gillian had
never been one to believe in legends and soul mates, but she
couldn’t deny the feelings Ronan, Conner and Max elicited from her.
A general sense of safety, along with warmth and protection
enveloped her when in their presence. She didn’t think anything bad
could happen to her with them around.

Ethel seemed to think she was the missing
piece of their foursome, but did Gillian feel the same way? Beyond
a sexual attraction lurked other feelings she didn’t know if she
could release yet. She’d trusted once before and loved fully, only
to be betrayed and nearly killed. Fear still lingered in Gillian’s
heart, but maybe it was time to release the fear and open up to
them. They had proven their worth to her already. The least she
could do was try.