Monroe, Marla - Their Bartered Bride [Men of the Border Lands 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read Online Free PDF

before we do anything. I don’t want her to wake up one day and feel like she was forced. I’m a demanding lover, Jonathan. You know that. She has to want to come to our bed more than anything.” Joel shoved his hands on his hips and shook his head.
    “I’ll work the garden today. You can check the herd.”
    Jonathan nodded and started to leave, then turned around and looked at Joel.
    “I think she knows what she wants already. We started out treating her right, so she already likes us.”
    “Regardless, we need to take this slow, Jonathan. Forever is a long time to live with two demanding men, and a hell of a lot longer to live with a miserable female.”
    He watched Jonathan walk out then sighed and followed him down to the kitchen. Leigh had coffee ready and breakfast on the table by the time he had his first sip. She smiled at them and made sure they had plenty before they got up and pulled on their coats to get to work.
    “I’m working the garden today while Jonathan tends the cattle. You need anything, just holler,” Joel told her.
    She followed them to the door as if expecting something. Joel realized she was hoping for a kiss. Maybe Jonathan wasn’t all to blame . He put on his hat and closed the door behind him.
    He pulled out the tractor and poured some of their precious fuel into the tank before cranking it and getting to work. With someone to actually work the garden in spring, they should probably plan to enlarge it some. They had only tilled up a small patch in the past since they didn’t have a lot of time to work it.
    Leigh would change a lot of things around the place. Her safety was first and foremost. They had to worry not only about other men, but the wolves as well. They had become more devious and brave in the last couple of years. With more people moving to the Border Lands, they were losing some of their land and didn’t like it.
    Joel looked up at the gathering clouds and hoped it wouldn’t rain until he had made a few rounds with the tiller. Once the rain started, it sometimes didn’t stop long enough for the ground to dry up enough to till again for weeks this time of year. Then the snows came and the land froze. He pushed to get as many rounds as possible in before the first fat drops would put an end to his tilling.
    He was just making it to the end of a row when movement drew his eyes upward. Standing in front of him at the edge of the garden was Leigh with a raised glass of tea. He quickly looked around for any sign of the wolves. Finding none, he finished the row and turned off the plow.
    “Thanks,” he said, taking the proffered glass of tea.
    “I figured you would be thirsty by now. Is it going to rain?” She looked up at the darkening sky.
    “Probably. I want to get as much plowing done as I can before it does.”
    “If you get muddy, remember to take your boots off at the back door.” She took his empty tea glass and smiled.
    Before he knew what she was about to do, she had reached up and pulled him down for a quick kiss. Then she turned and left him standing there. He felt like an idiot. Why hadn’t he stopped her before she kissed him? Joel shook his head and returned to plowing.
    He managed to work four more rows before the rain began to dampen his coat. He cursed and put the tiller up in the toolshed. Then he sprinted across to the back porch, where he dutifully removed his now-muddy boots at the back door. When he walked in, the room was toasty warm.
    The scent of something good drew him to the stove, and curiosity had him removing the lid on the pot simmering on the stove. It looked like stew to him. Smelled even better, he decided.
    “It’s almost ready. I figured with the rain you could use something warm in your bellies today. We’ll have it with a sandwich for lunch and then over rice for dinner tonight. I’ll make biscuits to go with it.” Leigh walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist with a squeeze before stepping back.
    “I’m