Shotgun Bride [Tasty Treats 12] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Polyromance) Read online

  The sky darkened and the fee the helicopter pilot had wanted to charge them became less and less important. Blackout storms frequented the land during certain times of the year. It wasn’t unheard of at this early date but was very unusual.

  “If it weren’t a contingency for keeping the legacy land, I wouldn’t even consider taking a wife.” Colton had experienced a few bumps along the road with previous relationships.

  “Is that so?” Matt knew he was wary of women in general.

  “Yep. Love is inconsequential, and looks never mattered to me. Pretty women can lie just as easily as ugly ones. Buying the best fertility record we can is all I’ve ever cared about with regard to our future bride. We only need one child to keep our land.” Colton looked around as if to get his bearings, or perhaps he was searching for a cave or protection from the dark clouds rolling in from the west very fast.

  “Well, I want someone like Brianna. And love shouldn’t be trivial. What’s wrong with being in love?” Matt was definitely the romantic of the two of them.

  “Nothing’s wrong with being in love as long as you don’t let your heart or your head get involved.”

  “What does that leave, your cock?”

  Colton’s eyebrows went up, and he smiled as one shoulder lifted in shrug.

  Matt eyed the darkening western sky with a bit of disquiet. “You had a few bad relationships with lying, difficult women. That doesn’t mean all women are like that. Brianna’s not like that.”

  “I’m like four for four with ‘difficult’ women as you put it. And that doesn’t even count the women I didn’t last more than a couple dates with. I don’t want to make the next relationship five for five. Are you in love with Brianna or something?” Colton asked.

  Matt shook his head before his mouth would work. “No. She’s like a sister to me. But I do like her a lot. She’s the perfect example of the type of woman I’d like to have in my life.”

  “I’ve only met her once, but I agree with you. She’d be the type of woman I’d also like to have in my life. Actually, I’d be satisfied if our bride just didn’t lie to my face about all the fucking around she’s doing behind my back, while blaming me for her troubles because I refuse to borrow triple my weekly pay to keep her in expensive clothing, shoes, and jewelry.”

  Matt didn’t comment but silently agreed. Colton’s ex-girlfriends had all been truly horrible. They hadn’t started out that way or Colton would have ditched them or never gotten involved. They’d lured him in, lied about their ultimate intentions, changed, making it seem like his fault, and finally trounced his amorous feelings before ending the relationship.

  They’d almost reached the marker where five pieces of land joined. He would use the fence remote Alex had loaned him to get through the northwest borderland fence of his cousins’ property. The twelve-foot-high blue-tinted electrified fence separated Alex and Rafe’s property from the other land in the area. The former Welter land bordering the east line had been transferred to Brianna’s brother. Eventually it would be known as Lancaster land.

  Directly across the marker was vast Westmoreland land, but it was still three hours’ ride to the farm and any buildings. To the left was Parker land and to the right was Stevenson land. Otis and Owen Stevenson were mean as snakes and equally barbaric when it came to getting along with neighbors, with the single exception of Mr. Parker. He was sort of remote and a bit mysterious. They didn’t actually know much about Parker, with the exception that he and the Stevenson brothers were friends of a sort. And that single bit of knowledge made them distrustful of Parker.

  “Don’t get your hopes up that we’ll be able to find anyone close to Brianna in either looks or temperament. And trust me, I don’t have to be in love or even in like with a prospective bride in order to marry her.” Colton sat up straighter in his saddle.

  “Oh yeah? Are you going to leave the heavy lifting in the bedroom to me?”

  Colton laughed. “Not a chance. I’m not completely stupid. I also don’t have to be in love with a woman in order to fuck her. Besides, both of us taking turns will up our chances of success regarding a child.”

  “I’ve read the agreement your father saddled you with. Luckily, the child doesn’t even have to be male.”

  “Male or female child? Doesn’t matter to me either way.” Colton probably wasn’t thinking long term.

  “Me neither. And while we only need one child, just so you know, I’m planning to crank out as many kids as possible.”

  Colton shrugged. “I’d be happy to help you out with that, bro. However, as you well know, I’m more in this for the land.”

  A thunderous sound from the skies and a quick flash of lightning halted their progress and their conversation. They both turned toward the inevitable storm rolling in fast and hard from the west.

  Matt cast his gaze ahead, seeing the marker for the land corners. The only structure in the nearby area was on Parker land. But if bad weather came across the terrain, neighboring bordered lands were obligated to offer protection if available. It didn’t have to be inside a private home either. Even a barn or lean-to structure would suffice for those seeking sanctuary.

  “Parker land is the closest. Think that old hunting cabin is still standing?” Colton asked, kneeing his horse into a faster trot.

  “Let’s hope so. Once we get through the fence line, head there fast as you can.”

  Colton nodded and soon rode hard toward the opening Matt had just created in the fence.

  They raced quickly through the space and wordlessly spurred their horses toward a small structure in the distance. Matt closed the fence as they went through and pocketed the remote.

  He hoped the storm didn’t last too long. Matt didn’t relish being trapped in a dilapidated old cabin for an endless amount of time. And God forbid if old Mr. Parker were anywhere nearby. If the rumors around town proved true, Parker didn’t much like anyone near his land, neighborly concern or not. He’d just as soon see them fry in a lightning strike as give up an inch of space in his barn. He likely didn’t care if the unspoken law of the land regarding sanctuary was upheld or not.

  Chapter Two

  For what seemed like the hundredth time, Ella Parker circled the dank room she was trapped in, wishing with all her soul that she could escape. The surprisingly high ceiling of the basement space made it impossible for her to even touch the windows along the top edge of the wall.

  Even if she could stretch her body long enough to reach the bottom edge, pull herself up, and get the pane open, the windows were far too narrow for her to crawl through. Five inches by two feet wouldn’t work even for her slim frame.

  Truthfully, even the thought of trying to squeeze through such a tight space made her more than a little squeamish. Getting stuck halfway through the window was almost more horrifying than being trapped down here below the level of the earth. But only by a narrow margin. Because she detested being in the cellar. The cool, musty scent of the thin air made her feel like each breath was a struggle that might be her last.

  In fact, this dug-out basement with the spiderwebs in every corner was as close to a living nightmare as she’d ever been in. Her father had left her here because she couldn’t be trusted not to run away. In her mind, she had very good reason to attempt escape each and every chance she got.

  More than this place she was trapped in, Ella truly detested the turn her life was about to take. Any moment now, her father was going to return with a preacher and two detestable men in tow, ready to marry her because her father possessed a piece of paper saying that she had a better-than-average chance of conceiving a child.

  The two brutes her father had selected to be her bridegrooms had the worst reputation in the area. They’d take her precious virginity in a dual-groom wedding night, a drunken debacle she dreaded even contemplating. Even more importantly, she’d never again see the only home she’d ever known.

  The main homestead, where she’d spent the duration of her life, was half a day’s r
ide west.

  Meanwhile, this old hunting cabin on the edge of her father’s property had been the home of one of her ancestors. Upstairs was surprisingly well kept considering how old the place must be. However, the basement was the opposite.

  Ella circled the dank space once more, silently cursing her gullibility in even coming all the way out here. She really should have known better.

  When they’d arrived early yesterday, she’d been instructed to remove all the dusty sheets covering the furnishings in the scantly furnished four rooms and clean every surface. She’d done as ordered and cleaned the space quickly, accessing the rooms as she’d tidied them. She’d been under the mistaken impression that this was going to be her new home.

  Ella thought her father was kicking her out of the main homestead and exiling her out in the middle of nowhere at the edge of the land. She put on a command performance, pretending to be saddened by this sudden turn of events, but secretly jumped for joy at the prospect. She should have known her father wouldn’t give up the idea of selling her into marriage so easily.

  She’d run away three times in the past at even the mention of a pair of husbands. Especially the two her father had selected. He had told her on more than one occasion that he just wanted her out from underfoot at the main house.

  He then intimated in very carefully worded language that he only wanted to retire and remarry and live out the rest of his life in peace. Then he promptly tricked her into coming all the way out here to this far corner of the property so he could lock her in the basement and go fetch the two husbands he’d selected based on their willingness to pay a lot of cash for her bride price.

  Upon her father’s insistence, she’d entered the dank, musty space to see what she’d need for supplies to get it cleaned. But her father slammed the door and locked it from the outside.

  There was a small three-inch square hole cut at eye level in the door. She could only see part of her father’s face as he laid out what was going to happen next. That was the moment she learned of her new immediate future. The favorable fertility certificate he had from the doctor. The large bride price she’d bring due to the high percentage listed for her ability to possibly conceive. The existing marriage contract. And, of course, Otis and Owen Stevenson were quickly identified once more as her distasteful future bridegrooms.

  Ella had been foolish enough to believe that her father had brought her to this house because he’d planned to give it to her to live in once her brother took over the main homestead of the property. It was far enough away for privacy purposes but close enough for family visits during holidays.

  Informing her father of this notion had been a huge mistake. He laughed at her until tears filled his eyes. “You are so naïve, Ella. Why would I do that when I can get money for marrying you off to the highest bidder?”

  “Because I’m your only daughter, and I asked you not to?” Ella and her father hadn’t had the best of relationships, but she’d done her duty, taken care of him, and catered to his whims since her mother passed on. For some foolish reason, she’d expected him to treat her the right way in return.

  He’d merely rolled his eyes, shaking his head and muttering something about her being a very foolish female. In this one instance, she found it difficult not to agree with the foolish part. The rest of their conversation then unwound like a bad movie on an endlessly looping reel in her head. Stuck down here, she had little else to occupy her mind.

  “This is for the best,” he informed her callously. “It will do you good to have men to look after.”

  “Then pick different men. Not them. Please not the Stevenson brothers. Anyone else but them.”

  His eyes glazed over for a moment when she said the words, “anyone else but them.” He had the same look when eyeing the casino and gaming hall in town when they passed by. The money he’d earn on her bride price would go a long way into feeding his ample gambling habit. But her father promptly shook his head. “Can’t do it. The deal has already been struck. I won’t go back on my word.”

  Reason wasn’t working, so she begged. She pleaded. She fell against the door, willing to promise anything and everything not to be given over to the Stevenson boys and, more importantly, not to be left in the basement overnight until he returned with them…tomorrow. She’d be left in the dark. All night. Below the earth. In the first level of hell before the next two levels presented themselves as her new husbands.

  Ella stiffened her spine and threw out an ultimatum. “I won’t sign the paperwork. Every bride gets a choice. I won’t choose them,” she threatened. “And you can’t make me.”

  “We’ll just see about that, missy.”

  Ella saw the movement of another spider in a web near the door and flattened against it. “Don’t leave me here, please. I’m begging you.” She crossed her fingers before uttering the next heartfelt lie. “I promise not to run this time.”

  “I heard that before from you, and it ain’t happening, ’cause you ain’t getting out of the cellar to run away again.”

  “You know that I don’t like it down here. Please let me out.” Spiders and bugs made their primary residence in this dugout space beneath the cabin. It was the oldest structure on their property but also the closest to the land dividing marker. The home she’d lived in for the whole of her life was several miles away on the opposite side of their property.

  And she’d likely never see it again.

  “You should have thought of that before runnin’ out the last three times I left you on your own.” He did have a point. She’d taken every opportunity to get away, but he always caught her or found her. The last time, he’d shaken his head and muttered that he was tired of fighting about this every day. He stopped mentioning her pending marriage contract.

  Eventually, he had suggested that she should have her own place, as she was apparently underfoot living with him, even though she lived like a slave and catered to his every impulse. He remarked on several occasions that he wanted to change his circumstances. Making it seem as though she kept him from a better life with her very existence.

  A few weeks ago he’d mentioned wanting to take a look at the old hunting cabin out of the blue. He asked her if she’d ever considered living out there. She’d been elated. A place of her own and no more waiting on her father hand and foot. A veritable dream come true.

  In hindsight, she’d been utterly foolish to ever believe her father intended to give up or ignore the available bride price. Basically a favorable certificate put a price on her head much like the sizable reward on a wanted poster for an old-time Western criminal.

  “Please let me out. I really don’t like it down here.” Ella put the most pitiful sound in her voice that she could muster.

  He wasn’t the least bit moved. “Too bad. Quit your bitchin’. You’ll be fine down there. Safe, sound, and secure. And I can be certain that you’ll still be here when I get back. In the meantime, I’ll fetch Otis and Owen, your two new husbands. We’ll have a ceremony and a party after. And you’d better be thinkin’ about how you plan to make them happy. You’ll have plenty of time to ponder that while I’m gone.”

  What was there to ponder? How utterly miserable she’d be after tomorrow’s pending wedding to the two most vile men in the state of Wyoming? She didn’t care to think about making anyone happy, least of all the Stevenson boys.

  Ella decided she didn’t want to ponder her fate alone in the basement.

  “Please, don’t leave me down here. Let me go with you.” She eyed the large, empty spiderweb in the corner with bile crowding her throat. She shivered at the thought of the creator of the web returning and seeing her alone here.

  “Not a chance, Ella. You’re too good a rider. I’ll be back just as soon as I fetch the Stevenson brothers, the preacher, and the celebration keg of spirits that comes with the marriage license for directly after the nuptials.” He cackled with glee.

  Probably one of the primary reasons he looked forward to this was because of th
e added drinking opportunity that came with the price of a license. Plus, her father would be celebrating his freedom, with getting rid of her once and for all.

  “After the wedding tomorrow, you’ll be their problem if you run.” As Ella peered through the small hole in the door again, her father backed up a step toward the stairs. He was ready to leave her trapped in the cellar to ponder her miserable future. “But I’d consider carefully an ill-fated escape from them. They won’t be as easy or as forgiving as I am. There is another business they’re well known for being involved in, and you don’t want to end up in the middle of that industry for any of your bad behavior.”

  She knew all right. The Stevensons were rumored to own several black-market brothels. She shivered at the thought of ending up as one of the unfortunate “girls” in that particular trade.

  Ella doubted she’d have as much freedom or as many chances to escape once married to the Stevenson brothers anyway. They had too many friends in the area. She wouldn’t be able to trust anyone she didn’t know. Truthfully, she didn’t know too many people.

  The Stevenson boys would certainly punish her for any attempted escapes. Unfortunately, she knew exactly the punishment they’d use to threaten her if she didn’t cooperate. It was where she feared ending up if she didn’t produce a child for them quickly.

  Ella inhaled, and the dank scent of the basement didn’t ease her efforts to calm her panicked thoughts. She truly hated the cellar. Although she probably didn’t hate it as much as the two husbands her father had selected for her hand in marriage. Otis and Owen Stevenson were two of the most vile, brutal, and disagreeable men in the state of Wyoming.